With ten of this year’s artists announced in January, including Brainiac, J. Robbins (Jawbox), Part Chimp, and Thrones, Caterwaul now reveal the entire 2024 lineup. New additions include Oxbow, Couch Slut, Bronson Arm, Pretty Please, and many others. The event is set to take place in Minneapolis May 24-27th. Keep reading below for more information.
The organizers of Caterwaul Festival, May 24-27th, Minneapolis, Minnesota, have just revealed the event’s first ten confirmed artists for 2024. In alphabetical order, the fest will feature Brainiac, CNTS, Ganser, Gaswar, Gay Witch Abortion, J. Robbins Band, Lung, Part Chimp, The Austerity Program, and Thrones. The full lineup, consisting of at least 30 additional artists, will be revealed in the coming weeks. Find out more below.
Big|Brave, along with recent collaborators The Body (on Leaving None But Small Birds), Sunn O))) and Earth, are one of those bands whose music while fundamentally heavy and ‘Metal’ (for all intents and purposes) nonetheless expands far beyond the sometimes self-imposed conservative restrictions of the genre. Being a somewhat inactive member of a Metal group on Facebook, I am all too familiar with the more traditional brand of Metalhead for whom the genre stopped being ‘true’ after Iron Maiden‘s Somewhere In Time or Metallica‘s …And Justice For All. If you are of that ilk therefore, I have a sneaking suspicion that this album possibly won’t be for you.
Ghost Bath will be unleashing their new album, Starmourner, on April 21st via Nuclear Blast Entertainment, and we have two new songs for your listening pleasure today. Continue reading
Lord Dying is streaming the music video for the title track to Poisoned Altars, which was co-directed by Danger Ehren (Jackass) and Brett Roberts, here and here.
The video also includes cameos from members of Red Fang, Thrones, Yob, Witch Mountain and more.
“The video is a homage of 80’s horror and Sci-Fi movies pitting dirt bags vs. yuppies. In Portland we keep seeing our favorite hangs getting bulldozed for condo’s to go up and we wanted to return the favor,” states front man Erik Olson.
Poisoned Altars can be streamed in full here.
The band has a number of upcoming live dates, including supporting Anvil on their upcoming North American tour.
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Founded back in 2006, Aurvandil have released only demos, splits and an EP between 2007-2010. The first steps into the full-lengths were done with Yearning, in 2011, and now I declare Aurvandil are a serious confirmation within the atmospheric black metal sub-genre because of the brand new Thrones (Eisenwald). Including four magical hymns of Iron and Ice to cleanse the Earth of false designs, Thrones is able to take our body and soul into the gelid northern landscapes in order to reach the hyperborean purity.
The using of melodic and slow acoustic guitars in the album kick off with ‘For Whom Burnest Thou’ is like a ritualistic moment which is preparing us for this immaculate journey that will transcend us onto glacial rivers and misty mountains. These two environments I just described are personified by heavy and long hypnotic guitar riffs that are beautifully transfigured as cold breezes running in our veins. However, that’s not the only work done with guitars as we have some melodic lead passages that can be seen as black/post metal performances, like in ‘The Harvest Of Betrayal’ or ‘Ingen Lindring’.
‘Summon The Storms’ may be seen as the epic peak with its almost twenty minutes running time where all Aurvandil characteristics and aesthetics are blended. It’s genial and certainly created through hard work.
The frozen and harsh vocals are heard all along the album; sometimes a little far, but I interpreted this feature as being in an ample landscape. The lyrics include what best defines this kind of music: ancient values and the eagerness to fight a rotting modern world.
I dare to say I haven’t heard such good straight atmospheric black metal album since the day I bought Walknut’s Graveforests And Their Shadows. Thrones is marvelous, iconic, intriguing and devoted to the cause. It’s a must-have for the past-seeking devotees and for those who have embraced the majestic atmospheric black metal movement.
9.0/10
DIOGO FERREIRA