HIGH COMMAND To Release Their Debut Full-Length Beyond The Wall Of Desolation Via Southern Lord September 27th

Worcester, Massachusetts-based crossover outfit HIGH COMMAND set out on a warpath to create the heaviest work they have produced yet on their debut full-length and Southern Lord debut, Beyond The Wall Of Desolation, now confirmed for release on September 27th.

HIGH COMMAND is, in their own words, “five friends coming together to create the sonic equivalent of a barbarian horde.” The band’s lyrical world, created by vocalist Kevin Fitzgerald, is steeped in lore and savagery, heavily inspired by fantasy-based warfare, and in the band’s words, “boundless quests frozen in the aeons of time and space hacked out of ice and transcribed in lightning. Beyond the thin vail of sanity lies the forgotten age of mysticism and heroes.”

Their studio choice for such proceedings was the legendary Machines With Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, constantly challenging the boundaries of what is possible in the realm of recorded media. From hearing previous projects recorded there (Daughters, The Body, Lingua Ignota, and Churchburn to name a few) it was apparent to the band that this was a studio that had a focus on the unique and the organic. Seth Manchester, the head engineer, worked tirelessly for the week HIGH COMMAND was there, sculpting a record with a healthy respect to the Old Gods of metal they admire while at the same time, sonically speaking, also carving a realm of its own.

The eight bludgeoning tracks on Beyond The Wall Of Desolation cleave the tender cranium of the listener asunder across their forty-three-minute running time. Bringing forth the undeniable heft in their self-proclaimed New Wave Of Worcester Heavy Metal, the heaviest of armament is advised against the flail.

Stream HIGH COMMAND’s “Visions From The Blade” RIGHT HERE.

Southern Lord will release Beyond The Wall Of Desolation on September 27th. Find digital preorders HERE and watch for physical preorder options and additional audio samples to be posted in the days ahead.

Following their extensive tour with Spirit Adrift in recent weeks, watch for HIGH COMMAND to declare new waves of touring throughout the year in support of Beyond The Wall Of Desolation.

HIGH COMMAND:
Kevin Fitzgerald: Vocals
Ryan McArdle: Guitar
Mike Bonetti: Guitar
Chris Berg: Bass
Ryan Pitz: Drums

Beyond The Wall Of Desolation Track Listing:

  1. Inexorable Darkness
  2. Merciless Steel
  3. Impaled Upon The Gates
  4. Devoid Of Reality
  5. The Commander’s Code
  6. Visions From The Blade
  7. Forged To Kill
  8. Beyond The Wall Of Desolation

Review copies of Beyond The Wall Of Desolation will be issued in the days ahead. For coverage of HIGH COMMAND in The Americas contact dave@earsplitcompoud.com and all others contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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BIG|BRAVE Announces Western US Tours With Deafkids, Sunn O))); A Gaze Among Them Out Now Through Southern Lord

Montreal’s BIG|BRAVE announces new tour dates for this summer, including dates with Sunn O))), Deafkids, and more. The band continues to perform in support of their critically-lauded A Gaze Among Them LP, released in May through Southern Lord Recordings. Following recent tour dates in Europe with MyDisco and others, as well as North American tours with the likes of Primitive Man, Dreadought, Planning For Burial, and more, BIG|BRAVE will tour across the Western US in late August and early September.

Leading with two shows on their own August 15th and 16th, BIG|BRAVE will headline a run of shows running from the Upper Midwest down the West Coast with support from Brazilian trio Deafkids through August 30th. BIG|BRAVE will then join up with labelmates and familiar touring partners Sunn O))), supporting the group for a trek across the Southwest and West Coast from September 1st through 9th. BIG|BRAVE will tour their way back home with another set of headlining shows. Watch for even more tour dates to be announced in the days ahead.

Stream BIG|BRAVE’s A Gaze Among Them HERE, and see their “Sibling” video RIGHT HERE and the “Holding Pattern” video HERE.

A Gaze Among Them is available on CD, LP, and digital via the Southern Lord webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

BIG|BRAVE Tour Dates:
8/15/2019 Grand Gerard – Toronto, ON
8/16/2019 Ribco – Rock Island, IL
8/18/2019 Eagles 34 – Minneapolis, MN ^
8/20/2019 Mutiny Info Café – Denver, CO ^
8/21/2019 Diabolical Records – Salt Lake City, UT ^
8/23/2019 El Corazon – Seattle, WA [tickets] ^
8/24/2019 The Valley – Tacoma, WA ^
8/25/2019 High Water Mark – Portland, OR ^
8/26/2019 Old Nick’s – Eugene, OR [tickets] ^
8/28/2019 Elbo Room JL – Oakland, CA [tickets] ^
8/29/2019 Lexington – Los Angeles, CA ^
8/30/2019 HOCO Fest – Tucson, AZ ^ 
9/01/2019 Granada – Dallas, TX [tickets] *
9/02/2019 Emo’s – Austin, TX [tickets] *
9/04/2019 The Gothic – Denver, CO [tickets] *
9/07/2019 Arcosanti – Phoenix AZ [tickets] *
9/08/2019 Mayan – Los Angeles, CA [tickets] *
9/09/2019 The Fillmore – San Francisco, CA [tickets] *
9/13/2019 Mr. Roboto Project – Pittsburgh, PA
9/14/2019 – Basilica Hudson – Hudson, NY
^ w/ Deafkids
*w/ Sunn O))), Papa M

Since their inception seven years ago, BIG|BRAVE has remained loyal to a triad of key principles: space, volume, and raw emotion. That commitment to style and form has never been more evident than with A Gaze Among Them. Doubling down on their explosive chemistry, earsplitting dynamism, and sonic discipline, this new LP finds the trio more confident than ever.

A Gaze Among Them was spawned by a simple, but no less profound, question: “How do we take very little and make something bigger than what we actually have?” Toying with stark minimalism, melodic tension, and Wattie’s staggering vocal strength, the album serves as a culmination of BIG|BRAVE‘s near-decade of musical fearlessness. Anchored by their tried-and-true three-person lineup, A Gaze Among Them also enlists a who’s who of guest talent. With Thierry Amar (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt Zion) on Contrabass and Seth Manchester on synth overdubs, A Gaze Among Them is BIG|BRAVE‘s most evolved, inclusive work yet.  

For review copies of A Gaze Among Them and coverage of BIG|BRAVE in the Americas contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and abroad contact laren@rarelyunable.com.

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THE PRIMALS: Video For “Hello Cruel World” Video Premiered At Louder Than War; West Coast Tour Dates With Cave In And Helms Alee Announced

Los Angeles-based rock trio THE PRIMALS – founded by vocalist/guitarist John Henry (also of Darkest Hour), bassist Chad Fjerstad (formerly of Dead To Fall), and drummer Andrew Black (formerly of The Explosion) – has shared a new video for the track “Hello Cruel World,” through a premiere at Louder Than War. The new video hits as the band announces November tour dates with Cave In and Helms Alee.

“Hello Cruel World” is found on THE PRIMALS‘ debut album All Love Is True Love, out now on Southern Lord. Featuring ten infectious tracks produced by John Reis (Rocket From The Crypt, Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes) and completed with cover art by Laura K. Giron, the band’s fuzzy execution is equal slabs ripping guitar heaviness and infectious pop sensibility on All Love Is True Love. Concocted by a seasoned group of thrashers with a historical backbone in the D.C. punk community, the disintegrated spirit of grunge rises from the ashes, revitalized in a new light.

The footage from THE PRIMALS‘ “Hello Cruel World” video was gathered during the band’s debut visit to Europe earlier this year.

See THE PRIMALS’ official video for “Hello Cruel World” at Louder Than War RIGHT HERE.

Stream All Love Is True Love HERE and see the prior video for “Fortune & Sons” HERE.

All Love Is True Love is out now through Southern Lord on CD, LP, and digital platforms, available at the US label webshop HERE, the European webshop HERE, and at Bandcamp HERE.

THE PRIMALS will join Helms Alee supporting Cave In on a West Coast US tour this fall. The tour begins in Houston on November 8th and runs through Dallas, Austin, Mesa, San Diego, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle through November 19th. Watch for additional tour dates to be announced.

THE PRIMALS w/ Cave In, Helms Alee:
11/08/2019 White Oak Music Hall – Houston, TX
11/09/2019 Club Dada – Dallas, TX
11/10/2019 Parish – Austin, TX
11/12/2019 The Nile – Mesa, AZ
11/13/2019 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA
11/14/2019 Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA
11/15/2019 The EchoPlex – Los Angeles, CA
11/16/2019 Slim’s – San Francisco, CA
11/18/2019 Star Theater – Portland, OR
11/19/2019 El Corazon – Seattle, WA

For coverage of THE PRIMALS in The Americas contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and internationally contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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THE WRAITH: Los Angeles Dark Punk Band Signs To Southern Lord Records For Release Of Upcoming Debut LP

Less than three years since forming, Los Angeles-based dark punk band THE WRAITH has wrapped its debut full-length, Gloom Ballet, with Puscifer guitarist/producer Mat Mitchell. The foursome has signed to Southern Lord Recordings, who will release the album worldwide later this year.

“Southern Lord owner Greg Anderson has been amazing to work with, and we really appreciate his willingness to incorporate a different sound into his roster,” offers guitarist Kaz Alvis.

Infused with ’80s UK post-punk (Death Cult, Killing Joke, Chameleons) and SoCal deathrock (T.S.O.L., Samhain), THE WRAITH was founded by imposing frontman Davey Bales, formerly of Virginia peace-punks Lost Tribe, and Alvis shortly after they separately washed up in Los Angeles. Their irresistibly distinctive sound – skeletal basslines and tribal beats propelling Alvis’ textured swathes beneath Bales’ poetic, anguished bark – immediately gained a following, with homemade demo Comatic Romance racking-up thousands of YouTube views.

Convulsive, chaotic West Coast shows honed the songs that became THE WRAITH‘s lauded 2017 EP, Shadow Flag. A couple of videos and line-up changes later – the band is now completed by Belgian drummer Jef Pauly and Brit bassist Paul Rogers – their evocative songwriting and pure-punk authenticity earned the ear of Mat Mitchell, who has worked with Love And Rockets, The Flaming Lips, Meat Puppets, King Crimson, and more.

THE WRAITH is a flashback to many of the bands that inspired me to start making music,” said Mitchell. “Given the opportunity to work on an album with them, how could I turn it down?”

THE WRAITH has shared stages with the likes of Spear Of Destiny, The Dickies, Chameleons Vox, The Murder Junkies, and Generacion Suicida, among others. The band is confirmed to play at the newly announced installation of The Power Of The Riff in Los Angeles on August 31st with Zakk Sabbath, Fu Manchu, Entry, and host Don Jamieson. The band will also perform at LA Dark Fest on October 12th, with additional tour dates to follow in the coming months.

THE WRAITH Live:

8/31/2019 Fonda Theatre – Los Angeles, CA @ The Power Of The Riff [info]

10/12/2019 The Viper Room – Los Angeles, CA @ LA Dark Fest [info]

Watch for additional details on Gloom Ballet to be issued in the days ahead.

“This entire EP touches so many different corners of post-punk and related genres … Shadow Flag is a must-have.” – CVLT Nation

“Shadow Flag … viciously comes alive, onstage and off-.” – LA Weekly

“The Wraith pull everything from U2 to Fire Dances-era Killing Joke into an indelibly catchy four-song burst … Shadow Flag is a great spin.” – Bandcamp Daily

THE WRAITH:

Kaz Alvis – guitar/vocals

Davey Bales – vocals

Jef Pauly – drums

Paul Rogers – bass/vocals

For coverage of Southern Lord artists in North America contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and internationally contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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PELICAN Begins Eastern North American Tour Tomorrow; Nighttime Stories LP Out Now On Southern Lord

In the wake of their acclaimed Nighttime Stories LP, released this month through Southern Lord, PELICAN this week embarks on their first tour in support of the album. Nighttime Stories debuted on the Billboard charts at #23 Independent Albums, #6 on Heatseekers #6, #12 on Tastemakers, #28 on Rock Album Sales, #6 on Hard Rock Album Sales, and more.

With support by Cloakroom, PELICAN‘s run of Eastern North American performances kicks off tomorrow in Ferndale, followed by shows in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati before ending in Chicago on June 29th. Several of the shows have already sold out.

Following this tour, PELICAN has announced a batch of US dates in September which includes shows in Champagne, Cleveland, Columbus, and Grand Rapids. Early this fall, the band headed to Europe to tour on the record through much of October. Find tickets for upcoming tour dates HERE and watch for additional tour dates and announcements from PELICAN to be posted shortly.

Stream PELICAN’s Nighttime Stories at THIS LOCATION.

Nighttime Stories is out now through Southern Lord on CD, LP, and all digital platforms. Find merch and ordering options at the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp HERE.

PELICAN Nighttime Stories 2019 Tour:
6/20/2019 Loving Touch – Ferndale, MI *
6/21/2019 Lee’s Palace – Toronto, ON *
6/22/2019 Bar de Ritz – Montreal, QC *
6/23/2019 Great Scott – Boston, MA * SOLD OUT
6/24/2019 Brooklyn Bazaar – Brooklyn, NY *
6/25/2019 Boot & Saddle – Philadelphia, PA * SOLD OUT
6/26/2019 Ottobar – Baltimore, MD *
6/27/2019 Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA * SOLD OUT
6/28/2019 Northside Yacht Club – Cincinnati, OH *
6/29/2019 Metro – Chicago, IL *
9/13/2019 Loose Cobra – Tolono, IL
9/14/2019 The Shrunken Head – Columbus, OH
9/15/2019 Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
9/16/2019 The Pyramid Scheme – Grand Rapids, MI
10/05/2019 Soulcrusher Fest – Nijmegen, NL
10/06/2019 Lido – Berlin, DE
10/07/2019 Beatpol – Dresden, DE
10/08/2019 Futurum – Prague, CZ
10/09/2019 Feierwerk – Munich, DE
10/10/2019 Legend Club – Milan, IT
10/11/2019 Fuzz Club – Athens, GR
10/12/2019 AM Fest – Barcelona, ES
10/13/2019 Amplifest – Porto, PT
10/15/2019 Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK
10/16/2019 Gorilla – Manchester, UK
10/17/2019 Classic Grand – Glasgow, UK
10/18/2019 Asylum – Birmingham, UK
10/19/2019 Desertfest – Antwerp, BE
* w/ Cloakroom

Nighttime Stories marks PELICAN‘s first full-length in six years, and the band’s first release written front to back with guitarist Dallas Thomas, who took over guitar duties upon founding member Laurent Schroeder-Lebec’s departure in 2012. In the process of writing the album, the quartet endured a slew of realizations, tragedies, and glimmers of optimism that guided the creative process to the most potent work of their nineteen-year career. 

Nighttime Stories was an album title initially proposed for Tusk, the hallucinatory art-grind band that included PELICAN members Trevor Shelley de Brauw, Larry Herweg, and Schroeder-Lebec, in addition to vocalist Jody Minnoch. The writing of Nighttime Stories was instigated shortly after Minnoch’s unexpected death in 2014, and some of the dissonant viscera and dark psychedelic structures that were characteristic of Tusk’s sound began to unconsciously inform the album’s direction. In homage to their departed colleague, PELICAN applied the previously discarded title and pulled many of the song titles from notes Minnoch had sent to inspire the direction of the unrealized album. As the writing of Nighttime Stories progressed Thomas also experienced a heavy loss with the passing of his father, to whom the album pays tribute on opening track “W.S.T.” (on which he performed his guitar parts on his father’s Yamaha acoustic).

“…PELICAN has produced its most vulnerable yet overwhelming work to date… Nighttime Stories may have experienced a profoundly unhappy genesis, but it’s a monument to transcendence.” – NPR

“Nighttime Stories is powerful and pummeling, but there’s an inherent joy that comes through, as PELICAN sounds stronger and more self-assured than ever before.” – The Fader

“…Nighttime Stories sounds absolutely crushing – Stereogum

“The benchmark of their current sound is the warring, restless interplay of guitarists Trevor Shelley de Brauw and Dallas Thomas, whose soaring fretwork conveys the emotional candor that most metal acts seek from their vocalists.” – Pitchfork

“…PELICAN prove as articulate as ever.” – Decibel Magazine

“An eight-pack of tightly arranged compositions that underlines the band’s skill at harnessing volume and mayhem in service of melody.” – Chicago Tribune

For review copies of Nighttime Stories and interviews/coverage of PELICAN in The Americas contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and internationally contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER Announces European Live Dates; Reissues Of Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore And Koksofen Set For July Release Via Southern Lord

CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER has announced new live performances throughout Europe this year. These upcoming shows will feature a full live lineup, featuring CASPAR BRÖTZMANN on guitar, Saskia von Klitzing (Fehlfarben) drums and Edu Delgado on bass, and the tour dates include CASPAR BRÖTZMANN BASS TOTEM shows with Sunn O))).

Southern Lord has also launched the preorders for the next two titles in their ongoing CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER reissues series, with Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore and Koksofenapproaching release this July.

CASPAR BRÖTZMANN is one of the most unique and innovative guitarists of the last forty years. With his Berlin-based trio MASSAKER, he evolved a whole new autonomous approach to writing rock songs, starting from sounds that were widely considered ornamental if not detrimental “sonic waste,” such as shrieking feedback and droning overtones. This plethora of sounds were arranged into tracks to sound like breaking concrete, grinding metal, or bursting glass, at once monumental and threatening, impenetrable, and hermetic, yet also archaically tender and loving.

Even today, as the art of noise has reached a level of sophistication that no one could have imagined thirty years ago, CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER‘s music is resoundingly singular. Ultra-heavy riffs and beats, ominous tribal chants, and a raw physical force is conjured up by these three sinister and proud minds of their era. Their unhinged, unified stream of energy is captured on these remastered reissues and the results are thrilling.

Stream CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER’s “Bass Totem” from Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore HEREand “Die Wiege” from Koksofen HERE.

Both Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore and Koksofen will be reissued via Southern Lord on July 5th, with CD, LP, and digital formats made available. Find preorders at the Southern Lord Bandcamp HERE, US webshop HERE, and Euro webshop HERE.

CASPAR BRÖTZMANN BASS TOTEM w/ Sunn O)))::

7/30/2019 Festsaal Kreuzberg – Berlin, DE [tickets]

7/31/2019 Festsaal Kreuzberg – Berlin, DE [tickets]

10/07/2019 Backstage Werk – Munich, DE [tickets]

10/08/2019 ZKM – Karlsruhe, DE [tickets]

10/09/2019 Rosstall – Basel Kaserne, CH [tickets]

10/10/2019 Felsenkeller – Leipzig, DE [tickets]

10/13/2019 Kablys – Vilnius, LT [tickets]

10/14/2019 Vene Theatre – Tallinn, EE [tickets]

10/15/2019 Kulttuuritalo – Helsinki, FI [tickets]

CASPAR BRÖTZMANN MASSAKER:

11/05/2019 Hafenklang – Hamburg, DE

11/06/2019 MTC – Koln, DE

11/07/2019 Le Guess Who? – Utrecht, NL

11/08/2019 Oslo – London, UK

11/09/2019 Atelier Claus – Brussels, BE

Originally released in 1992, Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore is the third MASSAKER album, released by Rough Trade Germany. According to BRÖTZMANN, the title track and “Bass Totem” are the band’s most accomplished songs. It’s certainly the most sonically refined of their albums, recorded during a residency over several weeks at the pastoral site of Conny Plank’s studio near Cologne, and produced by Ingo Krauss and Bruno Gebhard, who had worked with the famed Krautrock producer until his death in 1987.

Der Abend Der Schwarzen also features their new drummer Danny Lommen, whom BRÖTZMANN and bassist Eduardo Delgado had headhunted at a concert with Lommen’s Dutch prog-core band Gore. Lommen shared their tastes in sheer volume and presence, and, “has a completely unique sound to his drumming, “as BRÖTZMANN marvels. “He plays ultrahard and clear, with authority and no compromise, nothing, not even the most turbulent and speedy beats, sound fuzzy – a statement.” This, he adds with a smile, would sometimes lead to intense moods during rehearsals, when he overpowered – no small feat – competing with the sounds of BRÖTZMANN‘s guitar.

The Tribe and Black Axis were still if very loosely rooted in some kind of heavy rock. Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore erases these residues from their genetic make-up, evolving into a free-form noise, strangely motionless like an earthquake rumble, that sounded like nothing else at the time. The opening title song gives the best example with its densely shifting chunk of howling and screaming guitar shreds and grimly determined rumbles from the bass, accented by heavy single beats or massively rattling, yet transparent outbursts from the drums. An impenetrable sense of threat fills the sound, interrupted only by breaks of skinny brooding, giving way to BRÖTZMANN‘s throaty growl evoking a lonely march through hostile wastelands under flaming sunsets. Culminating in an archaic choir chanting about black walls rising – a monstrous cloud of thick high-voltage tension.

BRÖTZMANN speaks of the heavy nature of the lyrics, inspired by 19th century artist Caspar David Friedrich’s painting “Das Eismeer,” translated to “the sea of ice,” which depicts a shipwreck the icy shores of Antarctica. It deals, of course, with ideas of the sublime in nature – but also “the end of hope,” as the painting was known until the sixties. And indeed, BRÖTZMANN credits his dark and brooding sounds to the uneasy times. With the wall down, the Eastern Block broken, East and West Germany were politically united but emotionally didn’t share much more than a certain angst and uneasiness with respect to the future, which erupted in ugly right-wing riots and violence. BRÖTZMANN felt the rise of a black folklore that he wanted to address, though he never admitted to it at the time because, he said, he didn’t want to sound like, “some naive romantic,” not underestimating the music’s gothic values; a weird idea, once you’ve listened to Der Abend Der Schwarzen.

Koksofen (which translates to “blast furnace”), originally released in 1993, has become one of MASSAKER‘s most popular albums. Like its predecessor, Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore, the album took shape in MASSAKER‘s rehearsal room below the Berlin subway station Schlesisches Tor, and was recorded at Conny Plank’s studio near Cologne, with Plank’s former associates Ingo Krauss and Bruno Gephard producing. 

There’s a different kind of intensity to Koksofen. The features of MASSAKER‘s sound are in full bloom. Mountainous noises tower up and crash down, and tormented sounds rise from ominously seething grounds, haunting the entire songscape. The feel of doom and dread hangs heavily over the five songs, and the title song rumbles, shrieks and wails, plagued by BRÖTZMANN‘s guttural growls of war, suffering, and death.

Reflecting on the album to this day BRÖTZMANN remarks “Koksofen is still a mystery to me.” He continues, “I can still feel the troubled times in these songs.” The effects are certainly potent for the listener too. And the album undoubtedly affirms MASSAKER as the fiercely original and compellingly raw musicians that they are.

For review copies of the Der Abend Der Schwarzen Folklore and Koksofen reissues in The Americas contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and elsewhere contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

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FRIENDSHIP: Southern Lord To Issue Undercurrent LP By Japanese Blackened Hardcore Outfit In June; Tracks Streaming + Preorders Posted

Japan’s FRIENDSHIP returns with their merciless new album, Undercurrent, set for vinyl release through Southern Lord on June 14th. Following its CD release through Daymare Recordings earlier in the year, preorders for the LP version have been posted and several tracks from the album are available for streaming.

FRIENDSHIP offers vile, antagonistic, and visionary blackened, sludge-tone hardcore, focused on delivering maximum auditory torture, with the blasting directives of Full Of Hell, Nails, and Infest, backed with the oppressive tonal amplification of Sleep, Coffins, or Iron Monkey. The band is now revered as one of the heaviest modern acts in Japan.

Their second LP, Undercurrent showcases FRIENDSHIP‘s hybrid of ultra-heavy doom sludge/powerviolence as audible torture. With a more technical and precise attack, and a brighter and sharper tone than the preceding Hatred LP, all tracking, mixing, and mastering duties for Undercurrent were handled in Tokyo throughout 2018. The resulting album strikes hard with ten relentless tracks delivered in just over twenty-two minutes.

Stream the tracks “Demise,” “Vertigo,” and “Fiend” from FRIENDSHIP’s Undercurrent at Bandcamp HERE.

Just like with the Hatred LP, Daymare Recordings handles the release of FRIENDSHIP‘s Undercurrent digitally and on CD, and now Southern Lord delivers the vinyl on Friday, June 14th. Find preorders at Bandcamp HERE and find merch options and bundles at the Southern Lord US webshop HERE and Euro shop HERE.

Undercurrent Track Listing:

1. Demise
2. Vertigo
3. Punishment
4. Lack
5. Abandon
6. Fiend
7. Plague
8. Garbage
9. Wrecker
10. Hatred

Following their 2014 formation in the Tokyo area, FRIENDSHIP quickly issued their debut demo cassette, and quickly became known for their monolithic live volume levels and became notorious for releasing over a hundred shirt designs. The band also shortly thereafter self-released two CD EPs which both sold out in under a month (recently reissued as I and II on vinyl and cassette via Sentient Ruin),

FRIENDSHIP signed with Daymare Records in 2016 for the release of their debut full-length, Hatred. Recorded in Tokyo, Hatred was mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege and released on CD and digital versions via Daymare in June 2017. The vinyl version and international digital edition followed through Southern Lord in November 2017, and a cassette version was released by Sentient Ruin.

Over these recent years, FRIENDSHIP has shared stages with Full Of Hell, Sumac, Primitive Man, Endon, Palm, and many others, including supporting the mighty Sleep in Tokyo, as a part of Leave Them All Behind 2018. In September 2018, the band performed at Bloodshed Festival, as well as seven shows across the UK. Immediately following the tour, FRIENDSHIP began the construction of their follow-up album, which now rears its bestial head as Undercurrent.

Watch for FRIENDSHIP tour dates and more to be posted over the months ahead.

For review copies of FRIENDSHIP‘s Undercurrent in North America contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and internationally contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

PELICAN Shares “Cold Hope” And Expands Tour In Support Of Nighttime Stories;Album Due In June Via Southern Lord + Beer Collaboration With Metropolitan Brewing Announced

Stream / Share PELICAN’s “Cold Hope” OUT NOW.

PELICAN, the instrumental quartet whose singular vision of heavy music eschews classification, recently announced their first full-length in six years, and today they’ve released a new song from it, along with US and new EU tour dates.

“Cold Hope,” the second track to be released from Nighttime Stories – due June 7th via Southern Lord Recordings – is an unrepentant crusher imbibed with moments of atramentous psychedelia and is arguably the heaviest track on the album. Not only a standout song on the album, it’s also the name of a new biere de garde that the band members, who are known beer enthusiasts, are releasing in collaboration with the celebrated Chicago brewery Metropolitan.

Of the collaboration, the band’s Trever de Brauw states, “Both PELICAN and Metropolitan have somewhat limited scopes due to aesthetic limitations we’ve self-imposed: PELICAN will always be a niche enterprise because we play instrumental metal; Metropolitan’s brewing output is limited due to the fact that they only brew lagers, which take much longer to brew than ales and therefore tie up the capacity of their equipment. Thus, both of us are pursuing a very specific aesthetic/artistic mission and creating a legacy rather than doing things that might be more immediately profitable.” For Chicago-area folks keen to try the beer and get an advance listen of Nighttime Stories, the band and brewery will be throwing an album listening/beer release party at 7pm on May 30th at Metropolitan Taproom, 3057 N Rockwell St.

Stream PELICAN’s new track “Cold Hope” now at THIS LOCATION.

Southern Lord will release PELICAN‘s Nighttime Stories on June 7th. Preorders for the album in all formats starts today via the label webshop HERE and Bandcamp where “Midnight and Mescaline” is also streaming HERE.

With sold-out shows in Boston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, PELICAN has also announced an additional batch of US dates that include Champagne, Cleveland, Columbus, and Grand Rapids, along with a fall EU tour. Find tickets for upcoming tour dates HERE and watch for additional tour dates and announcements from PELICAN to be posted shortly.

PELICAN Tour Dates:
w/ Cloakroom:
6/20/2019 Loving Touch – Ferndale, MI *
6/21/2019 Lee’s Palace – Toronto, ON *
6/22/2019 Bar de Ritz – Montreal, QC *
6/23/2019 Great Scott – Boston, MA * SOLD OUT
6/24/2019 Brooklyn Bazaar – Brooklyn, NY *
6/25/2019 Boot & Saddle – Philadelphia, PA * SOLD OUT
6/26/2019 Ottobar – Baltimore, MD *
6/27/2019 Club Café – Pittsburgh, PA * SOLD OUT
6/28/2019 Northside Yacht Club – Cincinnati, OH *
6/29/2019 Metro – Chicago, IL *
9/13/2019 Loose Cobra – Tolono, IL
9/14/2019 The Shrunken Head – Columbus, OH
9/15/2019 Grog Shop – Cleveland, OH
9/16/2019 The Pyramid Scheme – Grand Rapids, MI
10/05/2019 Soulcrusher Fest – Nijmegen, NL
10/06/2019 Lido – Berlin, DE
10/07/2019 Beatpol – Dresden, DE
10/08/2019 Futurum – Prague, CZ
10/09/2019 Feierwerk – Munich, DE
10/10/2019 Legend Club – Milan, IT
10/11/2019 Fuzz Club – Athens, GR
10/12/2019 AM Fest – Barcelona, ES
10/13/2019 Amplifest – Porto, PT
10/15/2019 Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK
10/16/2019 Gorilla – Manchester, UK
10/17/2019 Classic Grand – Glasgow, UK
10/18/2019 Asylum – Birmingham, UK
10/19/2019 Desertfest – Antwerp, BE

Nighttime Stories marks PELICAN‘s first release written front to back with guitarist Dallas Thomas, who took over guitar duties upon founding member Laurent Schroeder-Lebec’s departure in 2012. In the process of writing the album, the quartet endured a slew of realizations, tragedies, and glimmers of optimism that guided the creative process to the most potent work of their nineteen-year career. 

Nighttime Stories was an album title initially proposed for Tusk, the hallucinatory art-grind band that included PELICAN members Trevor Shelley de Brauw, Larry Herweg, and Schroeder-Lebec, in addition to vocalist Jody Minnoch. The writing of Nighttime Stories was instigated shortly after Minnoch’s unexpected death in 2014, and some of the dissonant viscera and dark psychedelic structures that were characteristic of Tusk’s sound began to unconsciously inform the album’s direction. In homage to their departed colleague, PELICAN applied the previously discarded title and pulled many of the song titles from notes Minnoch had sent to inspire the direction of the unrealized album. As the writing of Nighttime Stories progressed Thomas also experienced a heavy loss with the passing of his father, to whom the album pays tribute on opening track “W.S.T.” (on which he performed his guitar parts on his father’s Yamaha acoustic). 

For review copies of Nighttime Stories and interviews/coverage of PELICAN in The Americas contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and internationally contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

https://www.youtube.com/user/PelicanBand

http://southernlord.bandcamp.com

HALSHUG: Copenhagen-Based Heavy Punk Trio To Release Third Album, Drøm, Via Southern Lord In July; “Fantasi” Video Premiered At Cvlt Nation

Copenhagen, Denmark-based trio HALSHUG will release their third studio full-length, Drøm, through Southern Lord Recordings. Now confirmed for release on July 19th, the album’s cover art, track listing, preorders, and more have been issued, and a video for the lead single, “Fantasi,” has been premiered through Cvlt Nation.

On Drøm, HALSHUG expands their sound from the dirge-driven d-beat of their earlier albums Sort Sind (2016) and Blodets Bånd (2015), and explores the dynamics of longer songs, more audible lyrics, and altered tempos, which result in different shades of industrial, dark-wave, and post-punk. Drøm was recorded by Simon Sonne (Orm) in Copenhagen, mixed at Dead Air Studio in Western Massachusetts (The Men, Warthog), and mastered by Peter Peter (The Sods, Bleeder).

HALSHUG offers their first single from Drøm with a video for the track “Fantasi,” which was shot by the band with a phone and directed/edited by Christopher Leo Andersen. “Fantasi is the third song on our new record. It’s a song about getting lost in each other’s fantasies,” the band offers. The “Fantasi” video makes its debut through a premiere hosted by Cvlt Nation.

See HALSHUG’s “Fantasi” video via Cvlt Nation RIGHT HERE.

Southern Lord, who has delivered HALSHUG‘s prior two LP’s, will release Drøm on LP and digital formats worldwide on July 19th. Find digital preorders at Bandcamp where “Fantasi” is streaming HERE and watch for vinyl preorders and bundles to be posted in the coming days.

According to HALSHUG, the title Drøm (translated to “dream”) refers to a wider theme of the record which views dreams as, “a succession of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind. And also, sort of a vision, or a wanting of something more than just what is. The dream is volatile. It can burst. One moment it felt real, and moments later it can’t even be recalled.”

Other ideas come into play too, as the HALSHUG members describe, “A lot of the songs are about mirrors. The intimacy that is in privacy, alone with oneself. And the cathartic moments where interaction becomes wordless. They are mostly scenes or clips from dreams, that could have looked like either old movies or scenes from the hang-out area at a rave. Some of them are recollections of things that have happened, but most of them are dreamt or felt. Some songs are about dominance and submission, about letting go, either trusting or just not caring. Some of them are also statements, metaphorical or literate, about being subordinate as an individual in a complex power structure.”

To summarize on their intent, the band remarks, “The whole idea is to create a medium through which we can forward true human energy. It’s about lust, guts, and a protest against reality. A wish of life. It’s not important to us what genre we end up playing, it just happened to be like this.”

HALSHUG is also actively booking live actions around Europe, with new tours in May and September already posted and more in the works. Watch for updates to be issued through throughout the year in support of the new LP.

Drøm Track Listing:

  1. Kæmper Imod
  2. Dø Igen
  3. Fantasi
  4. Giv Alting Op
  5. Spejl
  6. 02.47
  7. Tænk På Dig Selv
  8. Ingen Kontrol
  9. Et Andet Sted
  10. Illusion

HALSHUG Tour Dates:
5/17/2019 Kasteneinkeller – Berlin, DE
5/18/2019 Ask A Punk – Hamburg, DE
5/22/2019 Sportamt – Bremen, DE
5/23/2019 OCCII – Amsterdam, NL
5/24/2019 The Pits – Kortijk, B
5/25/2019 Pitfest – Frica, NL
9/07/2019 Vaterland – Oslo, NO
9/12/2019 1000Fryd – Aalborg, DK
9/13/2019 Radar – Aarhus, DK
9/14/2019 Stengade – København, DK
9/20/2019 Kulturhuset – Gøteborg, SE
9/27/2019 Plan B – Malmø, SE
9/28/2019 Hus 7 – Stockholm, SE

HALSHUG:
Jakob Johnsen – bass/vocals
Mathias Schønberg – guitar
Mads Folmer Richter – drums

Review copies of Drøm will be released in the days ahead. For coverage of HALSHUG in North America contact dave@earsplitcompound.com and internationally contact lauren@rarelyunable.com.

http://halshug.blogspot.com
https://halshug.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/halshugcph
http://www.southernlord.com
http://www.southernlord.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/SLadmin
http://www.twitter.com/twatterlord