Monday, February 28, 2011

HOLY GRAIL ANNOUNCE U.S./CANADA TOUR WITH CAULDRON

Fresh off a month long run with Eluveitie, Los Angeles' Holy Grail will be teaming up with Canadian band Cauldron for a North American tour April 15th through May 12th.  Holy Grail will close all U.S shows and Cauldron will close all Canadian dates.  Local bands chosen by Holy Grail, Cauldron, and the tour's promoters will fill out the bills in each market. 

Holy Grail has been touring in support of their fall 2010 release, "Crisis in Utopia", and has supported Exodus, Blind Guardian, and Eluveitie so far in the touring cycle.  Prior to this tour, Holy Grail will be going to the UK for a co-headline tour with Roadrunner Records band Revoker. 

Only assembled a few years ago, Holy Grail is already at the forefront of the new wave of metal that pays homage to such legends as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Dio.  The band's debut EP IMPROPER BURIAL (released in late 2009), featuring just two original tracks and two covers, earned Holy Grail significant press accolades including a 2-page feature in hometown paper LA Weekly, a spot on Decibel's "25 Most Anticipated Releases Of 2010" list and inclusion on Metal Hammer's "Guide To The Best In The Upcoming New Wave Of Trad Metal".  Holy Grail was also recognized with a nomination for Metal Hammer's 2010 Golden God Awards in the "Best New Band' category - quite an honor since they hadn't even released a full-length album yet!  Metal Hammer sums it up best: "With a killer name, awesome logo and a sound that is more metal than metal itself, Holy Grail are one of the most promising traditionally inclined metal bands to emerge from the US in the past decade...This is metal played with conviction and belief and you're going to love it."

Holy Grail on tour:

APRIL
15        West Hollywood, CA               Viper Room
16        Oakland, CA                           Oakland Metro Opera House
17        Portland, OR                           Dante's
18        Seattle, WA                             El Corazon
19        Vancouver, BC                       Media Club
21        Calgary, AB                            Republik
22        Edmonton, AB                                    Brixx Bar & Grill
25        Winnipeg, MB                         Royal Albert
26        Thunder Bay, ON                   Crocks
28        Toronto, ON                            The Wreck Room
29        Quebec, QC                           L'Agitee
30        Montreal, QC                          Il Motore
MAY
 1         Allston, MA                              Great Scott
 2         Hartford, CT                            Webster Underground
 3         Philadelphia, PA                      Trocadero
 4         Brooklyn, NY                          Union Pool
 5         Washington, DC                      Red Palace
 6         Columbus, OH                        The Summit
 7         Chicago, IL                              Subterranean
 8         Minneapolis, MN                     Triple Rock Social Club
 9         Kansas City, MO                    The Riot Room
10        Denver, CO                            Three Kings Tavern
11        Salt Lake City, UT                  Club Vegas
12        Mesa, AZ                                Nile Theatre



SCALE THE SUMMIT Streaming New Album Now

"The Collective" in Stores Tomorrow

Progressive instrumental act, SCALE THE SUMMIT, is streaming their new record, "The Collective," exclusively at the website of their hometown paper, The Houston Chronicle. Check out the record, which hits the streets tomorrow, now. The band will kick off a tour with Fair to Midland and Periphery in Houston on Thursday.
  
"The Collective" was recorded at Paint It Black Studios in Orlando, FL with producer Mark Lewis (Devildriver, All That Remains, The Black Dahlia Murder). The standard CD is available now, as is a signed booklet version bundled with a high quality, limited edition, American Apparel shirt. Order it now at.

The track listing of "The Collective," is as follows:
1.     Colossal
2.     Whales
3.     Emersion
4.     The Levitated
5.     Secret Earth
6.     Gallows
7.     Origin of Species
8.     Alpenglow
9.     Black Hills
10.  Balkan
11.  Drifting Figures

See the band live:

3/3        Houston, TX- Warehouse Live
3/4        Dallas, TX- Trees
3/5        Austin, TX- Emo's Inside
3/6        Lubbock, TX- Jake's Sports CafĂ©
3/7        Tucson, AZ- The Noise #
3/8        Mesa, AZ- The Underground
3/9        Victorville, CA- VVEC
3/10      San Diego, CA- Epicenter w/ Periphery only
3/11      West Hollywood, CA- Whisky A Go-Go
3/12      Bakersfield, CA- Jerry's Pizza
3/13      Sacramento, CA- Ace Of Spades
3/15      Portland, OR- Hawthorne Theatre
3/16      Seattle, WA- Studio Seven
3/17      Spokane, WA- The A Club
3/18      Boise, ID- The Venue
3/20      Colorado Springs, CO- The Black Sheep
3/21      Denver, CO- Marquis Theatre
3/22      Kansas City, MO- Scion Lab #
3/23      Cedar Falls, IA- The Wheelhouse
3/24      St. Paul, MN- Station 4
3/25      Flint, MI- The Machine Shop
3/26      Madison, WI- The Annex
3/28      Chicago, IL- Bottom Lounge
3/29      Toronto, ON- Mod Club
3/30      Pittsburgh, PA- Smiling Moose
4/1        Hartford, CT- Webster Underground
4/2        Worcester, MA-The Palladium
4/3        Philadelphia, PA- The Barbary
4/4        Portland, ME- Deering Grange #
4/5        Burlington, VT- Monkey House #
4/6        New York, NY- Santo's Party House
4/7        Springfield, VA- Jaxx
4/8        Knoxville, TN- The Cider House
4/9        Asheville, NC- The Orange Peel
4/10      Atlanta, GA- The Masquerade
4/12      New Orleans, LA- The Parish @ House of Blues
4/13      Little Rock, AR- Juanita's
4/14      Tulsa, OK- The Marquee
4/15      Oklahoma City, OK- Conservatory
# Headline dates

SCALE THE SUMMIT formed in 2005 while attending the Musicians' Institute in Los Angeles. The band relocated to Texas in 2006, where they recorded their first, self-released album. After signing with Prosthetic, they released "Carving Desert Canyons", which Revolver called, "a cinematic blast of intricately melodic fretwork and pummeling percussion," in 2009. 

The band, who received praise from Guitar World for their "tightly-woven guitar interplay, irregular time signatures and tasteful licks," has toured with the likes of PROTEST THE HERO, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, CYNIC, THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and were handpicked by DREAM THEATER to participate in the 2009 installment of their famed "Progressive Nation" festival tour. SCALE THE SUMMIT has also been featured prominently in Guitar Player magazine, and has tracks available for the Rock Band video game through the Rock Band Network.

  

Topshelf Records Reveals New Details For Upcoming YOU ME AND EVERYONE WE KNOW Release

‘Things Are Really Weird Right Now" To Be Available May 3rd as 7 inch, Limited
Edition CD, and in Digital Formats

Catch The Band On The Glamour Kills Tour And On Bamboozle April 30th

Topshelf Records is excited to announce some new details for the upcoming You, Me And Everyone We Know EP that they announced last week. The band has just wrapped up recording the EP in Chicago, IL with band member John Farrell and is gearing up for the Glamour Kills Tour that they'll join on March 3rd in New York.

The EP will be titled "Things Are Really Weird Right Now" and will see a May 3rd release date through Topshelf Records as a 7 inch, limited edition CD, and in digital formats. The band and label are also pleased to release the track names for "Things Are Really Weird
Right Now" (songs not in order):

-Things Are Really Weird Right Now
-Some Things Don't Wash Out (Second Rinse)
-There Was A Thump, Then Another
-Sad Bastard Music

The 7 inch will feature three of the new tracks while the CD and Digital releases will feature all 4 tracks.

Be sure to add the band's April 30th appearance at this year’s Bamboozle to your calendars as well!


For tour dates visit:

and

THE OCEAN Announce North American Tour With Between The Buried And Me

German atmospheric progressive metal collective and Metal Blade Recording artists, THE OCEAN,  are pleased to announce a near month-long North American tour this April! Presented by Peter Says Denim, In association with Guitar World & MetalSucks.net, “The Hypersleep Dialogues Trek”will begin in Farmingdale, New York at The Crazy Donkey, include a stop at this year’s New England Metal And Hardcore fest in Worcester, Massachusetts and wind its way through 20 cities before making a final stop in Ashville, North Carolina at The Orange Peel. The band will be joined by headliners (and recent Metal Blade signees) Between The Buried And Me, Job For A Cowboy and Cephalic Carnage on select dates.

Said guitarist Robin Staps of the upcoming live assaults: "THE OCEAN will be touring the US and Canada with Between The Buried And Me! We're excited to get back over there finally, and are particularly excited about our appearance at New England Metal Fest at the beginning of the tour!”
 
Peter Says Denim Presents Between The Buried And Me
In association with Guitar World & MetalSucks.net
With Job For A Cowboy, The Ocean & Cephalic Carnage (*on select dates)
 
4/15/2011 The Crazy Donkey - Farmingdale, NY
4/16/2011 The Palladium - Worcester, MA (New England Metal And Hardcore Festival)
4/17/2011 Chameleon Club - Lancaster, PA
4/18/2011 Atlar Bar - Pittsburgh, PA
4/19/2011 Club Infinity - Williamsville, NY
4/20/2011 Le National - Montreal, QC
4/21/2011 Opera House - Toronto, ON
4/22/2011 Headliner’s - Toledo, OH
4/23/2011 The Crofoot Ballroom - Pontiac, MI
4/25/2011 Eagles Ballroom - Milwaukee, WI
4/26/2011 Granada - Lawrence, KS
4/27/2011 Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO *
4/29/2011 Rickshaw Theatre - Vancouver, BC
4/30/2011 El Corazon - Seattle, WA *
5/01/2011 Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR *
5/03/2011 Ace Of Clubs - Sacramento, CA *
5/04/2011 Slim’s - San Francisco, CA *
5/05/2011 Glasshouse Music Hall - Pomona, CA *
5/06/2011 Soma - San Diego, CA *
5/07/2011 Nile Theatre - Mesa, AZ *
5/09/2011 The Door - Dallas, TX
5/10/2011 The Marquee - Tulsa, OK
5/11/2011 New Daisy Theatre - Memphis, TN
5/12/2011 The Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
5/13/2011 Rockettown - Nashville, TN
5/14/2011 The Orange Peel - Asheville, NC

Check out a live clip of “Firmament” filmed during THE OCEAN’s Heliocentric record release show on March 26th, 2010 HERE.

THE OCEAN will be touring in support of their 2010 separately-issued double album: Heliocentric and Anthropocentric (released in April and November 2010 respectively). This mammoth conceptual effort took almost two years to complete. From a lyrical and artistic point of view, the albums represent a fundamental and philosophical critique of Christianity. Both albums scored rave reviews worldwide, including Album Of The Month in Metal Hammer Germany, Italy and Greece, and a cover feature in the December issue of Metal Hammer UK’s/Subterranea (their extreme metal supplement).

LEAD SINGER JUNE PARK COMMENTS ON CLANDESTINE CD RELEASE SHOW

Last week CLANDESTINE released their debut album "The Invalid" on Nightmare Records.  In support of the album's release the band took to the stage at The Whisky in Los Angeles for an album release show.  Lead singer June Park commented on the gig:   

"The show at The Whisky on February 11th was a success; many supportive fans showed up and the crowd was great. CLANDESTINE performed well, although it was a rather hard time for me due to a respiratory illness I have been going through. It was extremely hard to suppress the cough while I was singing. Nonetheless I survived through the set, and it was like rain after a drought to talk to all of our great fans and friends after the show. Later that night I figured out that one person from the crowd voluntarily jumped on the mixing board to do sound for us. The house engineer asked, "Why didn't you tell us that you had a sound guy?" when the set was over. Well, we didn't bring one that night, so I was clueless! It was a surprise but felt kind of nice to know that someone made such a brave move for us."

In other CLANDESTINE news, the band has confirmed a March 18th European release date for "The Invalid" via Twilight Distribution and partners.

Heavy metal video website METAL INJECTION debuted the new video clip for "Disappear in You" You can be one of the first to see this breathtaking video HERE

"The Invalid" is available at a special price at ITunes, Amazon, Nightmare and all other major digital retailers. "The Invalid" is a must for fans of bands as diverse as Evanescence, Dream Theater, Fair to Midland, Rush, Lacuna Coil, Tool and Between the Buried & Me.

The Dwarves "Are Born Again" to be released May 3 Deluxe CD or vinyl package (with bonus DVD)

The Dwarves Are Born Again features all your  favorite heroes from the Dwarves long and twisted saga. Blag the Ripper,  HeWhoCanNotBeNamed, Rex Everything and a cast of thousands return to crush  the ears of a desperate public. Teamed with Top Ten producer Eric Valentine (Slash, All  American Rejects) they have created a perfect mix of hardcore punk, ear soothing pop, and everything in between. Damaged celebrity cameos mix with twisted phone messages, ear splitting noise with dance friendly grooves, all delivered with the Dwarves trademark humor and intensity.

Did you know of the stabbings, bannings, arrests, assaults and secret peccadilloes of the last punk band standing?

Did you know that The Dwarves have been members of groups as diverse as KMFDM, Gnarls Barkley, Excel, The Queers and Scream?

Did you know their music has been  featured in dozens of television shows from Viva La Bam and Jackass to Spongebob Squarepants or feature films like Hostel and Ghostworld

Click HERE to see all 25 things you don't know about the Dwarves!

NOISECREEP STREAMING NEW JAG PANZER TRACK "OVERLORD"

JAG PANZER are getting ready to release their new album "The Scourge of the Light" next Tuesday March 8 on SPV/Steamhammer.  Another new track from the album entitled "Overlord" is streaming exclusively at Noisecreep.  Check out the new track HERE and get ready for JAG PANZER's return with "The Scourge of the Light" next Tuesday March 8th.  

For the original band members Harry Conklin (vocals), Mark Briody (guitar) and John Tetley (bass), JAG PANZER has always been something they held close to their hearts. "We've known each other from our earliest childhood and have never lost sight of the idea that this band is based on," Tetley explains. "I don't exactly want to use the term 'spiritual', but the three of us are connected with this by a very special relationship. You could say that our lives are inseparably linked with the history of JAG PANZER."

This heartfelt passion has always been apparent in their songs, however: the American band has never sounded as impressive, mature and accomplished as on their latest album "The Scourge Of The Light" (out on 28 February 2011 in Europe, 25 February 2011 in Germany, and on 8 March 2011 in the US).

The reasons? Well, there are probably a number of them. Without a doubt, the band's two main songwriters, guitarists Mark Briody and Christian Lasegue, have never been in better form. Every one of their extremely dynamic riffs sounds haunting, every melody cuts their listeners to the core. It may sound like a contradiction, but since guitarist Chris Broderick, who was a band member between 1997 and 2007, left to join Megadeth, JAG PANZERhave returned to their old roots. "There can be no question that Chris Broderick is an amazing guitarist, and we were really happy for him that he got this chance with Megadeth. But we feel that thanks to Christian Lasegue, JAG PANZER's classic, clearly more melodic power metal style has returned and that the fans will definitely be happy about this." Tetley may well be right since JAG PANZER's most recent studio recording Casting The Stones (2004) was criticised, especially in Europe, for its noticeably harsher direction. "We knew that Christian was the best man for the job, after all he was a band member for three years in the mid-1980s."

But there are other reasons, too, why "The Scourge Of The Light" sounds so impressive. Despite their limited production budget, JAG PANZER spared no expense or effort to give their ten fantastic new songs a driving their trademark sound. For this reason, they asked Jim Morris to mix the recordings at his legendary Morrisound Studios in Florida and sent the result to New York's renowned Sterling Sound for mastering. The result is a real ear catcher, without any ifs and buts: "I feel The Scourge Of The Light is the best-sounding album in the history of JAG PANZER," Tetley rightly expresses his pride in the product of his group's labors.

LINE-UP:

Harry Conklin - vocals
Mark Briody - guitars
Chris Lasegue - guitars
John Tetley - bass
Rikard Stjernquist - drums

For More Info Visit:
http://www.myspace.com/spvmusic

FAITH COLOCCIA AND AARON TURNER CREATE SIGE

Faith Coloccia (Mamiffer) and Aaron Turner (co-owner of Hydra Head, ex-ISIS, Mamiffer) have formed a new label partnership dubbed SIGE, with the label's latest release, Mamiffer's Mare Decendrii, set for a Mar. 15 street date.
 
"SIGE was formed as an outlet for projects that Faith and I are directly involved in," said Turner. "The idea was to create a situation whereby we could maintain control over our own music and art to the greatest extent possible, from the process of inception all the way through manufacturing and distribution.  By approaching things this way we can have a greater level of certainty that the releases will meet our expectations and stay true to our original intent.  It also allows us a channel through which to work more closely with those we collaborate with and thus further strengthen those ties."
 
"Mare Decendrii is an emotional and intimate exploration of my relationship to piano, process, intuitive composition and to the collaborators and other band members involved.  Sharing excitement about sound and composition and forming new friendships through this recording was a very important aspect of making this album," explained Coloccia.  Co-produced by Randall Dunn (Sunno))), Bjork, Six Organs of Admittance, etc.), Coloccia and Turner were joined on the recording of of Mare Decendrii by Eyvind Kang, Earth's Don McGreavy, Thrones' Joe Preston, Mika Ratto and Jussi Lehtisalo of Circle, Russian Circles' Brian Cook, Black Math Horseman's Sera Timms, Travis Rommereim and others.  
 
Hydra Head, released Mamiffer's debut album Hirror Enniffer in 2008 with hometown weekly The Stranger describing the release as "brooding pieces of gripping drama" while Pitchfork said it was a "textural delight."  The Wire referred to Mamiffer as "both beguiling and terrifying" and Rock-A-Rolla said "its extended piano/guitar sequences are things of exquisite beauty and restraint, drawing down the curtain on a most satisfying subterranean collaboration."
 
Previous and upcoming releases from SIGE include a split between Mamiffer and House of Low Culture, a live collaborative release from Mamiffer, House of Low Culture and Merzbow, as well as other splits with Oakeater and Pyramids.