A reader named Joshua nailed this week's Indecipherable logo, Cephalotripsy, which made us wonder if he's a member of the band. So we did a little research and unless he's using a pseudonym, we determined he's probably not in the band -- which doesn't rule out the possibility of him being someone's relative.
Whatever, this San Diego death/goregrind group obviously have a huge collection of records by Carcass, and singer Angel Ochoa has even nailed that low-range belch/vomit that was endemic to Carcass' first two classic records, Symphonies of Sickness and Reek of Putrefaction.
But let us digress. Cephalotripsy named itself after the medical procedure of crushing the head of a fetus in the womb in order to effect delivery, an act strongly denounced by at least nine out of ten fetuses.
The group by formed in 2003 by Ochoa, who aborted various band members before finding guitarist Hux Zenthorva, bassist Shawn Whitaker and drummer Forrest Stedt. Cephalotripsy debuted with a demo in 2006, then signed to Amputated Vein Records, which released the band's full-length debut, Uterovaginal Insertion of Extirpated Anomalies. Messier than the floor of a slaughterhouse, the splattery disc featured such abscessed growths as "Intracranial Butchery," "Excavation of Encystation" and "Embryonic Gastronomy."
Not so coincidentally, the wonderfully vile art work for the album was rendered by Mike Hrubovcak of Visualdarkness.com, who you'll be seeing much more from today and in the days ahead on the Headbangers Ball Blog.
Cephalitropsy launch a tour to support the draining of their carcinogenic lesions on February 16 in Rowland Heights, California. On April 25 they'll fly across the Pacific for two nights of endocrinological embezzlement at the Tokyo Deathfest and on July 18 they'll begin a three-day blood drive at the Central Illinois Metalfest in Urbana. Plead to bleed.
Over the past few days, several impatient readers have begged to see the new Symphony X video for "Set the World on Fire." Since we can't think of anything particularly snarky or witty, here it is. Enjoy.
Sometimes, underground metal dudes wanna stay below the radar (see last week's Pig Destroyer podcast). They'd rather not have to deal with expectant corporations, mainstream audiences and major media, and feel more comfortable plying their craft for a loyal, if limited following. That's how High on Fire frontman Matt Pike used to be. His last band Sleep even metaphorically spat in the face of their major label by recording Jerusalem, a 52 minute album that featured just one droning song. But Pike has moved past that.
His current band, High on Fire (which formed in 1998), has spent much of the past eight years on the road to build its following. When he wasn't on tour or partying, Pike diligently studied his craft and wrote more material, getting better and better with each release. The band's newest album, Death is This Communion (which came out September 18, 2007), is a ripping slab of psychedelic metal that's mind-altering without being too sludgy and thunderous without losing its groove.
And now that High on Fire have been tapped to open this year's Gigantour, which also features Megadeth, In Flames, Children of Bodom and Job For A Cowboy, Pike may have a second chance to enlist arena crowds to his fiery cause.
During the Headbangers Ball Blog Podcast with High on Fire frontman Matt Pike, the singer and guitarist talked about ascending the metal ladder, the art of complex riffing, breaking out of the stoner rock box, the spirituality beneath the Fire, the influence of Megadeth, the politics listeners miss in his music and plans for the follow-up to Death is This Communion.
Click here for a direct MP3 download of the Headbangers Ball Blog Podcast interview with High on Fire frontman Matt Pike.
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Watch this snippet of the new
As I Lay Dying video for "The Sound of Truth" above, then read singer Tim Lambesis' description:
"The video is a sequel to the video we released for 'Nothing Left' back in August of last year," he says. "Brian Thompson is again directing and the conceptual clip takes place in a broken down futuristic world.
"The idea came from our guitar player Nick [Hipa], who was inspired by books like [George Orwell's] 1984 and movies like [Kurt Wimmer's] 'Equilibrium,' in which the future is very simplistic, cold, and stale. The characters are like mindless lemmings who follow one leader and there is no sense of individuality. In the 'Nothing Left' video, the main character decides to be herself and be free regardless of the consequences. Subsequently, she is publicly condemned.
"This is where 'The Sound of Truth' picks up. The courage of the main character inspires an uprising of people who also will be condemned unless they fight for their individuality. There are cool twists depicting the hypocrisy within the story.
"Both videos were shot in Los Angeles at Sound City Center Stage, which, interestingly enough, is the same place Metallica was recording their new album. Unfortunately, they wouldn't allow us to lurk on the recording process."
"The Sound of Truth" will debut in full on the Headbangers Ball Blog on January 17. And, watch it on the big screen on January 19 on Headbangers Ball on MTV2. For reference purposes, check out "Nothing Left":
The Maniacs of Nifelheim Flaunt their Nine Inch Nails Collection
Feel like bathing in a festering cesspool of fetid underground metal from the deceptively named Party San Metal Open Air festival in Bad Berka, Germany? Then you'll thank your lucky "Satanic Bible" that two double DVDs capturing the 2005 and 2006 events are scheduled for release April 1.
The "Metal Open Air 2005" DVDs include performances by Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Entombed, Enthroned, Moonsorrow, Necrophobic, Amon Amarth, Necrophagist, Krisiun and about 15 other bands.
"Metal Open Air 2006" features Marduk, Naglfar, Cryptopsy, Hypocrisy, Enslaved, Nifelheim, Kataklysm, Destroyer 666, Turisas, Kaamos, Severe Torture and a whole bunch of other soul-corrupting noise makers.
This year's Party San Metal Open Air festival will take place August 7 and 8. So far, Behemoth, Maroon and Purgatory have been booked. Many more will follow.
Now, here's Dark Funeral with "An Apprentice of Satan" from Party San Metal Open Air 2004: Dark Funeral - An Apprentice Of Satan (Live)
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Is that a trail of blood spatter on the wall from an arterial stab wound (we've been watching "Dexter" a lot recently) or is it bacterial growth under a microscope? Neither, it's this week's Indecipherable Logo.
Look carefully and you can spot every letter in the alphabet. On the whole it kinda reminds us of what our school notes used to look like and why we learned to type (no wonder we had to repeat First Grade).
Leave your guesses in the receptacle below.
"Politics, it seems to me, for years, or all too long, has been concerned with right or left instead of Right or Wrong."
-- Richard Armour
And yes, well, here we are again, wrapped snugly in the stink of another election season.
More solicitations, more scandals, more bias, more punditry, promises, defamations of character, and compulsive idealism. It's tantamount to mental murder in my book. Ah, but so it goes for those of us who carry the moniker "political junkie" with pride and honor. I get especially nostalgic during these days of combustion and chaos. I am brought back to memories of writing and recording our first (overt) political song, "Warhead," which successfully placed me on many secret government lists as an agitator, malcontent and refusenik. So be it. I am proud of this song and the bedlam it caused the Conservative Right, but also of the empowerment it gave to so many who needed to scream the rage away. I am also honored by all the messages we get from soldiers in Iraq and around the world thanking me and the band for creating this song and our new battle anthem, "Confrontation." Indeed, I sleep soundly knowing our small artistic contribution to Democracy is running amok among the stoic fields of yes-men politics.
Writing political songs is a different emotional experience for me. It's hard to explain but it feels like I'm doing some good on a level that someone like me was never intended to impact. When we filmed the video for "Warhead" it was in front of a green screen and, at first, I found it difficult to summon the emotion needed to fulfill its visual birth. So I asked the production crew to print out various photos of George W. Bush and hang them all over the lighting rigs and camera stands so that no matter where I turned, I had no choice but face this enemy swine. It was horrifying seeing that smug, pug-ugly grin and scumbag scowl staring back at me. But it heightened my awareness and made for great drama. In fact, I think I frightened the crew on several occasions because most people rarely see the kind of rage, dedication, and violence someone like me can conjure. I can't help it. I care about my country so it's impossible for me to know any other way. But I digress. Read more...
In a startling new interview in the March issue of Guitar World, the late Dimebag Darrell's girlfriend of 20 years, Rita Haney, accuses Down frontman Phil Anselmo of indirectly causing Dime's murder at the hands of gunman Nathan Gale on December, 2004 at a Damageplan concert in Columbus, Ohio.
The exclusive interview was conducted nearly three years to the day of Dimebag's murder, which Haney says wouldn't have happened had Anselmo never quit Pantera.
"The guy wouldn’t have been after Vinnie and Darrell if Pantera had not broken up," she told Guitar World and added, "If Phil Anselmo hadn’t quit Pantera, Darrell wouldn’t have been playing in that s--thole where that guy could get to him.”
In addition to lashing out at Anselmo, Haney criticizes Damageplan singer Pat Lachman, who was allegedly overstepping his boundaries and threatening the future of the band prior to Darrell's murder.
"I remember in his final days, Darrell was calling me a lot and he told me that he didn’t know what to do about [vocalist] Pat Lachman," Haney told Guitar World. "Pat said that he didn’t want to sing any Pantera songs, but he knew what he was getting into when he joined the band. It got to the point where Darrell blew up completely. He said, ‘Look, if I want a dickhead for a singer I’ll call up Phil Anselmo! I can at least make money with that motherf---er.’ ”
The full interview with Rita Haney is available in the March 2008 edition of Guitar World, which hits newsstands January 15.
Now here's Dimebag in Damageplan's video for"Explode":
Ozzy proves to all doubters he can count to five
Clearly, the Blizzard of Ozz wasn't taking himself seriously when he entered the CNN studios to audition for the announcer slot for Anderson Cooper's program AC360. And we're not sure how determined Cooper is to even find an announcer -- though he claims CNN have been searching for the perfect voice to introduce the show ever since NBC hired Michael Douglas to intro the Nightly News.
Of course, none of this takes away from the comic value of the Ozzy audition, which can be seen here in all its cringe-worthy glory. Kind of takes us back to when Ozzy tried to sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" at Wrigley Field in 2003 without knowing the words. Hear the audio of that debacle here.
Before forming the operatic avant-metal band Celtic Frost, frontman Tom Gabriel Fischer and bassist Martin Ain rained fire, brimstone and death on the metal community with Hellhammer, which released just one EP, Apocalyptic Raids, in 1984, but inspired the nascent black and death metal scenes to rise up and get evil.
Hellhammer were primitive, simplistic and low-fi, paling in quality to the Celtic Frost material to follow, yet they were undeniably savage and raw, leaving an indelible stamp on the underground -- so much so that their demos have been widely circulated over the years, first with tape traders and later Internet file sharers.
On February 26, Century Media will release three Hellhammer demos, Death Fiend, Triumph of Death and Satanic Rites on the two CD set Demon Entrails. The recordings were re-mastered from the original master tapes under the guidance of Fischer, and, according to a press release "the demos now represent Hellhammer exactly as the band sounded when recording these songs in June and December of 1983." Read more...
