Black Metal @ The Scene Tonight!!

Tonight, Church of the 8th Day, apparently already rested from Murderfest, brings black metal to The Scene in Glendale.  Sandwiched in between the blast beats (a poor stereotype to use for this show actually) will be BLACK MATH HORSEMAN, with a name that ostensibly fits, but a sound that may leave some in attendance flummoxed.  Seeing the reaction will be fun in itself.

Pitchfork's Show No Mercy column published this interview with VELNIAS recently

Velnias are a young black metal trio from the outskirts of Chicago. Their first proper albumSovereign Nocturnal, which contains three 10+-minute songs, charted high on my best of 2008, and as a result, the band played the first Show No Mercy live event back in January, along with Nachtmystium and others. To get an idea of the sound take a listen to "Risen of The Moor." I caught up with vocalist/guitarist P.J.V. and drummer A.J.S.

MP3:> Velnias: "Risen of the Moor"

Pitchfork: There was quite a musical shift between the demo Pacing the Cyclic Nether and the new one. What inspired it?

P.J.V.: Pacing the Cyclic Nether, from writing to recording, was rather rushed and misguided. The change between albums was a natural shift that came when we dropped a genre-specific frame of mind. Without the constrictions of remaining bound to a single genre we found a voice that more accurately represents our vision.

Pitchfork: The move away from a more straight up black metal/black 'n' roll sound is pretty clear, but did the subject matter change at all? It's difficult to tell when just going on song titles...

P.J.V.: Our outlooks have not changed on things, but lyrically, Sovereign Nocturnal is more focused. As an entirety the album speaks of a yearning for cleansing and rebirth, a reflection and calling to the past, and a realization of the bleak horizon that lies ahead.

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It's Casual/Chingalera/Snakes Alive/GORT @ Viper Room

Tomorrow night (Tuesday) is the record re-release party for IT'S CASUAL's The New Los Angeles.  If you want to be on the list with a guest, contact us here or send an email to thecityofdevils@gmail.com.

Show Information:

• Date: Tuesday May 12th 2009
• Venue: Viper Room (www.viperroom.com) 
• Admission: $10.00
• Age: 21+ Website
• Doors: 8 pm

Bands:

• It's Casual 1115pm to 12am
• Chingalera 1030pm to 11pm
• Snakes Alive 945pm to 1015pm
• GORT 9pm to 930pm
• Internal Corrosion 815pm to 845pm

DJ's between bands: Larry Herweg (Pelican), Eddie Solis (Southern Lord), James Curtiss (Southern Lord), Jason Moore (Amoeba Hollywood), Pete Majors (Vacation Records Los Feliz), Yeti (www.cityofdevils.info)

Free Shows!!!

Ovrcast Productions seems to operate under the general principle that shows should be free.  I'm not sure how they pull it off, but in part it must be based on an understanding that metal fans will repay that generosity by drinking well and/or purchasing copious amounts of merch.  They've just announced two new free shows at the Mountain Bar in Chinatown, both showcasing favorites of City of Devils:  

May 16th -  BLACK COBRA/LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH @ Mountain Bar

June 20th - IT'S CASUAL/DARK CASTLE/GORT @ Mountain Bar 

More on DARK CASTLE later this week after I spend a bit more time digesting their new album, Spirited Migration.  

In other free show news, Scion is back with another night on Knitting Factory on June 10th featuring MUNICIPAL WASTE and TRAP THEM.  

Finally. the Relax Bar has announced all of its shows will now be free!!! A good week indeed.   

Set Times for Murderfest

Updated on Saturday, May 9, 2009 by Alan

This weekend is all about Murderfest.  So many bands, I have to add their links over multiple days.  Maybe I'll finish it before Monday.  This is worth going for just to see Eyehategod, but I'm also looking forward to leaving as a fan of quite a few bands that I never heard before.  

SET TIMES below the jump.

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The Professor's Evening with Coliseum

Sunday I went to the Napalm Death show at Key Club to meet up with Ryan from COLISEUM. I took punk photog Edward Colver because Ryan has done some t shirt designs for him. I was excited to meet Ryan, as was Edward, and Ryan was excited to meet Edward, but nobody was excited to meet me.

We watched COLISEUM’s crushing set—their second of the day. Giant power chords, barking vocals, no drum triggers and subsonic bass that reminded me of Electric Wizard for some reason. The band was intense, every song bleeding into the next on a wave of momentum. Maybe I didn’t want to meet Ryan. He looked pretty scary.

I was wrong as he turned out to be a very nice guy, and demanded we go to Astroburger to meet his vegan requirements. We forgot about the one on Santa Monica so we drove to Melrose east of Cahuenga. Edward narrated the punk history tour. COLISEUM’s drummer Chris came along, and despite his bruising set, he was still a ball of energy. This is a guy who travels with a bicycle in a van just so he can get some exercise and stay sane. A drummer’s drummer.

We were talking t shirts, punk, art, commerce and music. It wasn’t really an interview, and I wasn’t taking notes. But if you’re a COLISEUM fan, here’s the bullet point version of our conversation as it related to typical interview fare. The upshot is that these guys were super cool, work damn hard and bleed integrity:

• Ryan grew up on punk, not metal. His goal was to play guitar in a punk band, and I’d say he’s pretty much succeeded and then some.
• He’s huge fan of DC punk, including everything from the Teen Idles and Bad Brains up to Fugazi and later Dischord stuff. Also mentioned Pegboy, the remainders of early Naked Raygun.
• He doesn’t play a lot of solos, if any, but his songs are infused with some intentional subtle melodic elements. We lamented how Helmet could inspire a whole genre of bands that stole only the rhythm guitar and none of the melody or weirdness.
• He’s not a party guy. He tours more than most any Relapse band. The entire band, their merch guy, all the gear and Chris’s bike fit in one van. They were off to SF Monday morning, then all night driving to Portland.
• There’s always one slutty looking girl hanging around after the show. Some guy from Toxic Holocaust usually walks away with her. Tonight Chris was surprised that it was somebody else, but still somebody from Toxic Holocaust.