Drowned in Sound Radio unveils its first special artist-orientated programme, replete with a very special exclusive session track and much more besides.
New British band Guillemots invited the editor of Drowned In Sound, Colin Roberts, who also hosts their podcasts, to spend the day with them, playing favourite tracks and new material. And now the podcast is available to download with an acoustic version of their new single We’re Here.
If you’re interested in this, check out this link:
Mean Fiddler,
London,
25.03.06
You’ve got to hand it to Cronos, he’s done a fantastic job of re-creating the classic Venom sound. Even without the original line-up, new members Antton and Mykvs manage to effortlessly sound as inept and unsophisticated as the classic Venom line up with Mantis and Abaddon. And if you think this is a criticism, then you’re missing the point.
What made Venom so special was their inability to really play their instruments, discarding technical proficiency in favour of hitting their instruments as hard as humanly possible to make the most horribly heavy and brutal noise they possibly could. Totally punk in spirit, they were a world away from the over-complicated riffing of much metal and created a sonic sludgy noise that was heavier than anything that had come before it. Combine this with an over-the-top obsession with the occult and you’ve got yourself one hell of a band!
Venom haven’t played live for nearly fifteen years and fans both old and new have gathered with expectations and excitement high. Kick-starting their set with the genre-defining ‘Black Metal’ (they end their set with ‘Metal Black’, the title track from their new album. If that’s not genius, then what is?), Venom are instantly brilliant. Cronos’ hair-line may have retreated somewhat, but little else has changed. He’s still a gurning lunatic, belting out the ludicrous lyrics as he hammers his bass as if his fingers were made of hammers. Still utterly simplistic and stripped-down, they make a truly disgusting sound that at times is devoid of all melody and utterly atonal, going for the throat on power alone.
While it would be impossible for the band to please everyone with their set-list, they cram about half of the new album into their set, meaning that many old classics don’t get an airing. We do, however, get treated to rabid blasts through ‘Countess Bathory‘, ‘Die Hard‘ and a raging ‘Witching Hour‘ as they hurtle to the end of the set. Finished by 9.30pm (hardly witching hour!) to make way for the venue’s clubnight, Venom threaten to keep playing. ‘Let’s lock everyone in the venue and play every album,’ screams Cronos. And while we all love Venom, playing every album back-to-back could be over doing it somewhat! What Venom do works in short, sharp shocks and tonight they were as outrageous as ever.
Go to www.venomslegions.com for more.
Fancy giving your desktop a heavy metal makeover? How about choosing from a selection of extreme metal’s most sinister artwork ever, all with the click of a mouse? Well, now you can.
The fine folks at TrueMetal.org have provided a headbanger’s dream with their vast and sinister gallery of heavy metal wallpapers. Whether you’re into the 80’s thrash stylings of Slayer and Megadeth, the black metal exploits of Mayhem and Satyricon, or even the power metal cheese that that is Manowar; it’s all here and yours to be had with just one click.
Grab your sword and head to http://truemetal.org/metalwallpaper/indexad.html and let battle commence!
Crossfire’s own James Sherry and partner in crime Neil Aldis have released their very own heavy metal book, simply titled: Heavy Metal Thunder – Album Covers That Rocked The World.
The 256 page book contains over 350 colour photos choreographing some of heavy metal’s best loved album covers since the genre’s birth over 35 years ago. Interviews with both the artists and bands involved are included, with pieces in question ranging from the greats such as Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, right up to modern day heavyweights Slipknot and Limp Bizkit among others.
Chapters include: Here Come the Americans – Hair Metal and Sex; Fist Bangin’ Mania and Punk Takes Effect!
The book is in stores now, with more information available at www.octopus-publishing.co.uk
Look out for an interview in this Friday’s Guardian with Mr Sherry and if you wanna congratulate him personally go here.
An independent British record label, Flowerburger Records, launched this week with a petition damning the music industry for suing people who download music illegally.
Flowerburger Records’ founder Chris Thomas, a long-standing music industry account who clients include Nick Cave, is one of a growing number of senior figures outraged by the industry’s stance.
The online petition has been launched to coincide with a report due to be published in April by an all-party parliamentary group looking to establish how consumers, artists and distribution companies should be protected in a continually evolving market place.
“I would bet my house on the fact that every single music executive arguing in favour of suing music fans has a computer full of music they didn’t pay for,” says Chris. “This hypocrisy simply has to stop.”
“We must make it clear to the British parliament and the music industry across the world that we will not stand for this heavy-handed solution to the problem of illegal downloading, and I invite everyone who feels the same way as us to sign our petition.”
Flowerburger Records is also planning to offer financial aid to people who are being sued by the music industry, and invites anybody who is being sued or knows somebody who is being sued to get in touch via their website where you can sign the petition at www.flowerburger.com
This Crossfire site you are looking into right now just got some decent props in this month’s issue of Rocksound Magazine.
We thought it was rather nice of them indeed and thought we would share it with you to see if you agreed with thier review which was er…amazing to say the least.
Check out their new issue with Panic! At The Disco on the cover, interviews with Tool, Placebo, Hundred Reasons, Stone Sour, Taking Back Sunday, Atreyu, Sepultura, The Bronx, Thursday, From First To Last, MC Lars, Klling Joke, Death Cab For Cutie, The Flaming Lips, Bleeding Through, Scarlet and much more.
The new mag also contains a free CD with tracks from bands such as Hundred Reasons, Atreyu, Seputura, From First To Last, MC Lars, Engerica, Free Diamonds, Left Side Brain, Scarlet, Narcosis and The Abominable Iron Sloth among others.
Ever searched for something on the web, mispelt the address and ended up somewhere completely opposite? Well, www.kuntandthegang.co.uk is about as far off from the legendary hip-hop crew, as pot noodle is from Haute Cuisine.
Kunt might be a lovely chap and a great guy to see live, but if bums, wanking or sexual fantasies about Carol Vordeman don’t get your juices flowing, then Kunt isn’t your friend. That said, after a listen to a few class tracks and a brief summary of his sordid and bizarre life, Kunt could find a place in your heart – or your bum depending on how you look at it!
Enjoy the music you deranged git!
There are not many artists out there that can say they have 18 albums out there that have changed a part of musical history but Stereolab can and this latest offering from the cooky, indie specialists is simply beautifully crafted from every angle.
All tracks recorded in their Instant Zero studio in Bordeaux have a quirky sound that i find very difficult to categorise as i write this as the entire album fitted like a glove, has left me in a trance like state that can only be described as lush.
This is a record that fits the same dreamlike stature of when people talk about the future, like the soundtrack to the film Gattica: dust free space walks, education checks and segregation yet, the style factor of such a unique sound bursts through like sunrays in an Arctic chapel, glittering and spare.
The beautifully haunting vocals of Laetitia Sadier are either going to make or break you, but with the mysterious underlay of moogs, samples, guitar licks and precision drum beats, this album may not sound live but it’s fresh out of the box and should have you hooked in two listens. Every track on this album has been available as a ltd edition single so far via 7″ but now you can have all 12 tracks on one CD for your listening pleasure and believe us when we say you will have a spring in your step after owning one of these, perfectly timed, finely tuned and simply stunning.
Look out for them live on May 11th at London’s Koko, as it is their only UK show booked this year.
Arguably the worst indie band in the UK, Embrace have been handed the opportunity to bore football fans this summer to prepare the official England World Cup song. The Leeds based bores were apparently quoted by the FA as “a top guitar band” and handed the deadly task in question where only New Order have retained credibility in the past with “World At Your Feet”.
With their drab vocalist Danny McNamara fronting the track, Crossfire think Embrace will be the hoodoo the England team are hoping to avoid this summer and should have approached Chas’n’Dave for credibility.. The tournament, which kicks off in Germany on 9 June should be a belter and rumours are surfacing that games will be shown on a large Snickers screen at the Download Festival this year.
If you would like a World Cup planner to insert into your outlook diary with every game listed, then click here and ask for a copy to be sent back to you.
Former Smiths frontman Morrissey has refused to tour Canada as a protest to their seal culling exploits. He wrote on his website:
I fully realise that the absence of any Morrissey concerts in Canada is unlikely to bring the Canadian economy to its knees, but it is our small protest against this horrific slaughter – which is the largest slaughter of marine animal species found anywhere on the planet. The Canadian Prime Minister says the so-called ‘cull’ is economically and environmentally justified, but this is untrue.”
Check it out here: www.morrisseymusic.com