So February has come and gone, as did, undoubtedly, several of our voters.
Alt Metal, Death, Folk/Pagan, Gothic, Melodeath, Melodic Black, Power, Prog, and Thrash all exceeded 1,000 votes.
We had our share of the usual Big Band Beat Downs where the winner was a foregone conclusion about six minutes into voting… Saturnus, Be'lakor, and Enslaved pummeled the opposition, Meshuggah received almost 60% of the vote in Djent with over 500 while no one else came close to cracking the century mark, and Gojira racked up almost as many votes as the entire Stoner/Sludge field…
We also had perhaps our tightest race yet, with Neurosis and Atoma changing pole position repeatedly, and only a two vote gap between 'em as I started typing this a couple hours before votes close.
It's February 1st, which means it's the moment you've all been waiting for… The 9th Annual Metal Storm Awards are upon us. We've done a lot of work in setting this whole thing up and now it's your turn to bust your voting nut 30 seconds in to the month then spend the next 28 days whining because we didn't include your favorite album or put it under the wrong genre.
Seriously though, take your time and check out our nominees. We've got LOTS of first timers that made the cut and are worth taking a listen to before casting your vote. And for any questions regarding what category a band belongs in please ask HERE.
Looks like the biggest reason to go the 2012 Rockstar Energy Drink and Tooth Paste Mayhem Fest had to bail out... From an official press release posted up on their Facebook page:
Oakland, CA metal band HIGH ON FIRE has announced that it will be forced to miss this summer's Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival as front man and guitarist Matt Pike enters treatment for alcohol rehabilitation. The award winning power trio (also featuring drummer Des Kensel and bassist Jeff Matz) will put its scheduled touring plans on hold indefinitely as Pike takes the necessary steps towards regaining his health.
High On Fire would like to thank everyone involved with the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival for the opportunity to be a part of this year's tour," said the band in a statement. "We regretfully will have to bow out as our friend and bandmate begins his recovery, but very much appreciate having been asked to be a part of this summer's festival run."
Holy fuck balls! We know Slayer's Jeff Hanneman went through some serious shit when a spider bit him last year and he had to battle through the Slayer song-title sounding Necrotizing Fasciitis. Seems it was far worse than the band let on.
From Slayer.net:
Slayer fans everywhere - it's time to let you know what is going on with our brother Jeff Hanneman.
As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn't know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape. It's been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he's had several painful skin grafts, he's been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he's been playing guitar. We were all excited when he joined us onstage for the encore a year ago at The Big Four show at Coachella. Since then, we've given him all the time and support he's needed to continue his rehab so he can come back to the band fully recovered and able to deliver the kind of shows we all want him to. While Jeff's been doing some writing and has been coming to rehearsal over the past several weeks, he has decided he needs to take more time to continue his rehab. While we want him back onstage with the band, all of us support his decision. So, we're very grateful that Gary Holt will continue to fill in for Jeff, and will tour with us until Jeff completes his rehab and is ready to return. How long will that be? The best and most honest answer we can give you is 'as long as it takes.' We also wanted you to know that we've been doing some writing and recording for the next Slayer album - we've tracked a few songs, and will finish the album when we're off the road later this year. Gary will join us on tour in Europe and the UK in May and June, and then we'll all see you on this Summer's Mayhem Festival.
We interrupt our silence these last months to let you know that today we are back Europe! On track from 9th to 18th of December 2011 for our 4th trip to Europe, this time on a mini tour including some festivals such as Madrid is the Dark in Spain, Bracara Extreme Fest in Portugal, Eindhoven Metal meeting in The Netherlands and an exclusive show in Moscow, Russia.
We are glad to announce that we will have the participation of our former vocalist Marcelo Rodriguez for these shows and would like to thank our fans over the world, the Chilean Government and Ministerio de la Cultura and all partners/companies for their recognition and endless support.
Solitude Productions proudly presents the legendary Norwegian band Funeral's album To Mourn Is A Virtue. This release is the missing link between the classic albums Tragedies (1995) and In Fields Of Pestilent Grief (2002). This album is based on unreleased demo-recordings, and contains nine previously unreleased tracks that were recorded between 1996 and 2004, sent into orbit in the International Space Station, later jettisoned and crashed in the middle of the Indian Ocean, recovered, and, finally, remastered in 2010, almost 15 years (and several hundred orbits of Earth) after they were initially recorded.
The CD comes in an awesome looking digibook package limited to 999 copies.
For those of us Metalstormers who love the truly awesome, amazing, crushing wall of sound which is Minsk, it is time for a Saturday Feel Bad. The band is now on indefinite hiatus. Woe is us. From their facebook page:
Dysfunction, Sad News, Indefinite Hiatus...
by Minsk on Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 9:56am
We regret to have to say that for the immediate and indefinite future, Minsk will be on a continued hiatus. In the recent months, it's been increasingly difficult to answer the question "what is up with Minsk?" Truthfully, I don't think anyone has a definitive answer. It doesn't feel like we've done everything that we intended to do or exhausted the creative space that Minsk occupied. But times and people change.
We're excited to debut the the first recording specifically done under Metal Storm Music. Other bands had music done, but this is the first track recorded in house in the basement vault/studio of Metal Storm Towers.
Enjoy the extremely rough, un-mixed, un-mastered majesty of BitchTroll's "The Siren"
Click and brace to be rocked!
\m/
UPDATE!!!!!
The Bitches and the Troll just got done layin' down another smokin' track. Again, it's just a demo, but it is so hot I'm typing with oven mitts!
The Big Four of Thrash are ready to hit the US. Today is the big day, the day we've all been waiting for here in North America... the day when the mighty 17 horsemen that comprise Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica, and Slayer announce where they will plunder and pillage as they rip a swath of destruction across the land.
So, are you ready boys and girls? Here we go...
(Drumroll please!)
Saturday, April 23, The Polo Club - Indio, California.
I'll rewind in case the dates flashed by so fast you missed whether or not they were ready to come to your town on this epic tour:
Saturday, April 23, The Polo Club - Indio, California.
Ok, so you are probably so excited at this point that you need more time to go over the list to cross-reference cities nearest to you against which arenas have the best sound quality and seats...
So according to the website of Poland's pride and joy, Behemoth, front man Adam "Nergal" Darski has apparently kicked Leukemia in the crotch. He left the hospital and will be spending the next several months chilling in his cave somewhere in the area of Gdansk, continuing his recuperation process, playing guitar, and doing 5,000 piece puzzles with his main squeeze, Doda. From the band's website:
NERGAL RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL!
posted 2011-01-19 by Manticore
(Nergal's quotes in italics)
We are happy and relieved to inform you, that Nergal left the hematology division of Uniwersyteckie Centrum Kliniczne (UCK) in Gdansk on Monday, January 17th, four weeks after he underwent a bone marrow transplant procedure. Below you can find his comment:
Metalstorm Towers received the following sad news from one of our contacts at Relapse Records:
September 22, 2010
This e-mail is to inform you that the European Relapse Records office and warehouse was destroyed last night by a fierce fire.
The fire broke out around 5AM this Wednesday morning and reduced the warehouse and office to ashes, together with several other companies and houses. No one was injured in the fire. The cause of the fire is yet unknown, and is under investigation by local authorities.
Label operations will continue, and further updates will follow.
____________________________________________
...for all my dead metal cd and vinyl homies.
Good to know label operations will continue, hopefully they won't be horribly set back by this accident.
So your regular provider of epic metal video goodness, Thryce, is a busy little bee and authorized yours truly to give it a shot with the next installment. Here goes nothing.
Earlier this month I caught the Between the Baroness and Mastodon gig, and arrived early enough to enjoy the opening act, Valient Thorr. Their energetic stage show and "P-A-R-T-Y - you ain't go no alibi, YOU PARTY!" chant, coupled with some barley sodas got me fueled up to enjoy the rest of the gig. They were rocked hard enough that I took the time to chat with them at the merch stand, buy a disk after their set, and later went to their website where I discovered this inspiration for this column.
The creative mind and ambition of director Mike Aho combines special effects that make Avatar look lame with gratuitous violence and the best car chase scene since the Blues Brothers to great effect. His artistic vision with an amazing, Oscar-worthy performance by Valient Himself results in a truly fantastic metal video for "Tomorrow Police" off of their 2008 release, Immortalizer that is worthy of much praise indeed.
European tour: out, North American tour: in
For reasons far outside of our control, our European tour this Summer has been canceled. We're deeply sorry to our friends in Europe that this has happened. Instead, we'll tour North America with City of Ships. Please email Emulate_Booking@hotmail.com if you can help with any of the dates.
The current routing does not have any dates in Canada, but we are very interested in setting something up north of the border. If you can help us out in Canada, please get in touch.
ROSETTA + CITY OF SHIPS
July 5th Columbus, OH
July 6th Chicago, Ill w/ BATTLEFIELDS
July 7th Minneapolis, MN w/ BATTLEFIELDS
July 8th Fargo, ND @ The Aquarium w/ BATTLEFIELDS
(resumes rolling around the floor, laughing hysterically until my eyes water and my gut aches)
HEHHEHEHEHAHAHAHAHOOOHOHOOO!
So April 2nd is upon us and our annual April Fool's joke is over and done with. Kind of.
Now that much fretting has been done, threats hurled, legal battles (how Gorgoroth of Fire of us) challenged, contract killers allegedly hired and bribed, we'll help sort out what's true and what isn't from the smoking carnage of the day's fun fun fun.
Metalstorm.ee is now Metalstorm.net: This is completely true. It clearly says so right at the end of our web address in your browser. With the .net domain we hope to be viewed as more of the international website that Metal Storm is, rather than a localised Estonian site to those in the industry unfamiliar with our happy home.
