I DON'T KNOW, ASK OBSCURA!

Photo taken from MetalSucks.net

On December 5th, Germany's Death Metal master's OBSCURA will be having a little chat with yours truley, as they enjoy their current headline tour supporting their recent release Omnivium with Abysmal Dawn, Enfold Darkness, and Last Chance to Reason. Well, as I was on my way home from the recent Atlanta stop of the Exhumed All Guts, No Glory stop recently in Atlanta, I got the thought of this: instead of me asking your favorite band questions I want to know and hope you want to know, what if YOU asked YOUR favorite band what YOU KNOW YOU want to KNOW?...

With that being said, I am going to follow through with this, so much as you all keep asking questions. HERE'S HOW TO ASK!

1. Send ME (davidmetalinruins[at]gmail.com) what is called an "e-mail" with your name, homestate/home country, and of course your question with the subject OBSCURA QUESTION
2. That is absolutely it.

So get to work guys! Let's see all the rad things you guys can ask!

SEE OBSCURA ON THIS TOUR

Nov. 16 – Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theater
Nov. 17 – Portland, OR @ Branx
Nov. 18 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
Nov. 20 – San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
Nov. 21 – Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
Nov. 23 – Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
Nov. 25 – Denver, CO @ The Marquis Theater
Nov. 27 – Tulsa, OK @ The Marquee Theater
Nov. 28 – Dallas, TX @ The Rail Club
Nov. 29 – San Antonio, TX @ White Rabbit
Nov. 30 – Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live
Dec. 2 – Tampa, FL @ Brass Mug
Dec. 4 – Orlando, FL @ Firestone Live
Dec. 5 – Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
Dec. 6 – Richmond, VA @ Kingdom
Dec. 7 – Baltimore, MD @ Sonar

LIVE REVIEW: ANIMALS AS LEADERS

It all started after TesseracT's performance. They began taking their things off-stage as Animals' drummer, Navene Koperweis stepps out on stage to set up. Guitarist Javier Reyes enters the small lit stage to set up his gear, leaving the final peice of the puzzle to unveil it's appearance. Lead guitarist Tosin Abasi enters on stage to prepare his gear and instrument to play, as the crowd goes insane, just by the sight of Tosin. People are chanting his name and cheering as if their leader had shown himself from higher places. It was now showtime.

The lights go out and the audience cheers as "An Infinite Regression" the opening song off their new album Weightless, begins. Blending together the low and high pitches of Tosin and Javier's 8-string guitars, backed by Navene's intense drumming, a harmony so powerful is unleashed upon a started and starstruck audience that is pumped with all the energy fed from the stage. Soon the band goes silent after the song is through, the stage goes black yet again. With a sudden climactic increase, "Tempting Time" the first song off their self-titled debut, Animals as Leaders begins playing. Unvailing an even wilder side of the audience. The crowd is in attempt to synchronize head banging with the band, leaving an amazing sight to see from the corner of the room, as every head is moving at the same pace, the same way, giving Tosin Abasi a great smile as he plays the song. After that, almost immediately "Song of Solomon" kicks in as the crowd yells and claps along to Tosin. It  is amazing how much the energy of the crowd increases through each song. Next, the calming yet hard and heavy "Point To Point" makes it's appearance on the setlist, as everyone again claps along with the rhythm of Tosin's guitar. It's great to see the connection build up between the band and the audience. It was now where everyone began getting even more excited, as "Isolated Incedents", the first song on Weightless  to be officialy premiered by the band was being played. Portraying the advancement in sound Animals as Leaders has achieved.  Next, the heavy hitting "Thoroughly At  Home" was playing as people were jumping literally all over the place. Though not my favorite song from them, a definitely amazing piece to hear live. Up next is the digital release "Wave of Babies" a fun trip that combines several amazing Animals as Leaders elements into one song. Just as everyone made the assumption that the night could not get any better, Animals played yet ANOTHER new track off Weightless entitled "Cylindrical Sea" an adventurous jam of epic proportions with a very trippy and exciting intro. AaL hits the bottom of the setlist now, with the obviously obvious closer that will surely rip off any excrements of flesh you still have left on your body, "CAFO" the hard hitting purely face melting shreddage of a song, in which the crowd proves themselves worthy of being able to live through this night. Ensuring memories to last everytime they hear another Animals as Leaders song.

OVER-ALL: If this explanation seised to make it clear enough, this was indeed ONE HELL OF A SHOW. You had progression, smooth and soothing music, harmonies and melodies, fast picking, head banging, intense band to fan moments, fun, and most importantly, METAL. This whole tour deserves an A++ for being so fucking rad. Go do yourselves a favor and see the remaining shows on this tour, you will NOT be let down. Again, Go see this, Go see this, Go see this. JUST GO SEE THIS.

Dates below:

11/8      Indianapolis, IN - Egyptian Room @ Old*
11/9      Cleveland, OH - House Of Blues*
11/10    Detroit, MI - St. Andrews Hall*
11/11    Chicago, IL - House Of Blues*
11/12    Cincinnati, OH - Bogart's*
11/13    St. Louis, MO - The Pageant*
11/15    Little Rock, AR - Juanita's*
11/16    New Orleans, LA - House Of Blues*
11/17    Houston, TX - House Of Blues*
11/18    Dallas, TX - House Of Blues*
11/19    Austin, TX - Emo's Outside*
11/20    San Antonio, TX - Backstage Live*
11/22    Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre*
11/23    Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues*
11/25    Anaheim, CA - House Of Blues*
11/26    Los Angeles, CA - House Of Blues*
11/27    San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore*
11/29    Boise, ID - Knitting Factory Concert*
11/30    Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Concert*
12/1      Calgary, AB - The Republik*
12/2      Edmonton, AB - Starlite Room*
12/3      Saskatoon, SK - Louis' Pub*
12/4      Winnipeg, MB - Garrick Centre*
12/6      Pittsburgh, PA - Altar Bar *
12/7      Toronto, ON - Phoenix Concert Theatre*
12/8      Montreal, QC - Club Soda*
12/9      Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights*
12/10    Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts*
*  w/  Between The Buried And Me & Tesseract
^ w/ Between The Buried And Me, Cave In, The Red Chord, & Tesseract

SHINING To Release Live DVD

Norway's SHINING have released a video trailer of their upcoming Live Black Jazz. For the first time ever, the raw energy of SHINING's legendary live performances has been captured on tape and film, by the band themselves. The end effort is the live album/DVD package, entitled Live Black Jazz. Produced by the multi-talented front-man Munkeby, and backed by the same mixing and mastering team as on their previous Blackjazz studio album, we could not get a truer version of what Blackjazz is meant to be. Live Black Jazz will be released on January 17th, 2012 in North America. SHINING will tour Europe this November; the dates can be seen below:
11/05 -Damnation Festival, Leeds (UK)
11/06 -Fleece, Bristol (UK)
11/08 -Patronaat, Haarlem (NL)
11/09 -Doornroosje, Nijmegen (NL)
11/10 -Point FMR (Musiques Volantes Festival), Paris (FR)
11/11 -STUK, Leuven (B)
11/12 -ULU, London (UK) W/ Devin Townsend Project (Deconstruction show)
11/14 -De Kreun, Kortrijk (B)
Order links below
NORTH AMERICA
NORWAY
EUROPE
UK

5 Reasons you should buy the re-release of KVELERTAK'S Self Titled Album

To celebrate  the arrival of KVELERTAK'S Deluxe Re-Issue of their self-titled debut, we have listed 5 reasons in which you should go buy this release


NOTE: The item is for North American buyers only (sorry, not my fault.)


1. IT'S HEAVY


C'mon guys. I know a heavy record when I hear one, and this is absolutely insane. It's so heavy and hard-hitting it hurts! Hurt can equal brutality, and us metal heads LOVE brutality.

KVELERTAK showing how party worthy this album is

2. IT'S PARTY WORTHY


If an album has a sense of hardcore influence, and it's good, you can surely know that you'll open a few brew-ski's, bring forth the headband, and roll out the party!

This could be you if you don't buy this CD

3. IT  REPELS ZOMBIES


To ensure the party never ends and you get whiplash from headbanging so much, the album has a secret scent that warns away zombies. If however, Zombies do get near the album, a safety mechanism will trigger and will bring out vikings to slay the party-crashing undead fiends.

4. IT COMES WITH BONUS MATERIAL


You like extra shit? Well, along with the music, the party privelage, and zombie protection, you get some cool stuff with the purchase!
          
         - You get a sweet ass DVD!

• You like watching shit on your TV? Well, your in luck. This special re-issue contains a DVD that features THREE Music Videos, FIVE Live Videos, and a special Band Documentary.

         - More Tracks on the CD!

• KVELERTAK has some rad shows! And aside from being able to watch them on your TV screen, you can now listen to a few live songs in the comfort of your car, iPod, whatever you play your CD's in!
• Aside from live tracks, you get the Demo Tracks for Ordsmedar av Rang and Utrydd dei svake. Can you say "FUCKING WIN!?" 

          -Extended Artwork!

• For all of you who dig the artwork displayed on the album, you can now see more of it! The release comes with tons more artwork than the original release. HELLYES!

Simple enough????

5. THERE ARE ONYL 5,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you like being idividual, and you enjoy having bragging rights, you can tell your friends that out of 6.97 Billion people in the world only you and 4,999 others own this deluxe edition pack of amazing-ness!

There are tons more features that I have yet to explain about this release. But the only way you can find out about them is if you BUY IT!

KVELERTAK are on tour right now with Skeletonwitch, so if you hurry you can see them live!

10/19 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
10/20 Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
10/21 Brooklyn, NY @ Europa (no Zoroaster)
10/22 New York, NY @ Rocks Off Cruise (no Zoroaster)
10/23 Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda's
10/24 Columbus, OH @ The Summit (no Skeletonwitch)
10/25 Cleveland, OH @ Peabody's
10/26 Chicago, IL @ The Empty Bottle
10/27 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Schene
10/28 Pittsburgh, PA @ Belvedere's

Click the link to buy the deluxe CD before it's gone!

this is the link to buy the CD before it's gone

*WARNING: REASON #3 MAY NOT WORK ALL THE TIME. IF ZOMBIES ARE ABLE TO CRASH PARTY HIT IN HEAD WITH BLUNT OBJECTS. DO NOT TOUCH ZOMBIES DIRECTLY OR FEED THEM,*  

TEN Bands To Know: Criminal Element, Level the City, OCOAI and MORE

We've been lacking a tad on our Bands to Know's. And We're sorry. We have missed out on countless opportunities to support some rad underground acts. But now we're taking advantage of that and putting together a BIG ASS BANDS TO KNOW. Ten bands, Ten songs. Ten million little cells in my brain dying from such awesomeness. And I promise you all this selection is very diverse, so there's something for every metal head in this batch

ENRUINED -

Enruined is a Metal band from my current city of residence, Cleveland, Tennessee. With a bit of a modern thrashy sound mixed with a death metal element as well as s soothing melodic sound, Enruined is definitely a band your ears should enjoy. They are currently getting ready to enter the studio to work on releasing their next full length. Click a few of the links below to check them out!

FACEBOOK|REVERBNATION|TWITTER

MISGUIDED AGGRESSION -Incase you are not aware, Canada has some pretty fucking awesome metal. Misguided Aggression is one of those awesome metal bands from Canada. With a killer technical deathcore sound, these guys are sure to rise up to glory like their genre's biggest figures before them.

BANDCAMP|OFFICIAL WEBSITE|FACEBOOK 

 PROTESTANT -
This is one of my favorite bands right now. Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This Heavy Hardcore/Punk band is nothing but pure fucking music. Protestant was formed in 2004, and since then have released a shit-load of awesome tunes. You can buy their stuff here

NATUR - If you're into bands like Judas Priest, Merciful Fate, or any band that gives you an old school metal vibe, this band is your kind of tunage. Formed in 2008, NATUR is a Heavy Metal band from Brooklyn, New York. They recently got signed to Earache Records for being so awesome. They have shared the stage with acts like Ghost, Aura Noir, and Toxic Holocaust! Links below!
|MYSPACE|

O C O A I - If you're a fan of tunes that drone you into the music and get you mellowed out, only to get smacked in the face by hard hitting riffs and a cello, then you'll absolutely love O C O A I . These guys are a small instrumental band from Johnson City, Tennessee . With a bit of a metal sound and tons of melody, these guys are definitely one to know what a diverse sound is and how to create it. I have had the opportunity to see these dudes shred the christ out of my brains live. And let me tell you, that was one of the best underground show I have ever been to Period. |FACEBOOK|OFFICIAL SITE|LAST.FM|

IRE & SENTIMENT - Post-Hardcore fan? Well, if you are, keep reading. IRE & SENTIMENT is a post-hardcore band hailing from New Jersey. They have played with tons of huge acts in their genre, and have been receiving tons of acclaim for being good! 
OFFICIAL SITE|TWITTER|BIGCARTEL

GENERATION OF VIPERS - Oh, What's that? You like DOOM? and SLUDGE? Haha, no stress. Generation of Vipers has got you covered on that. These guys are from Knoxville, Tennessee. And if I could describe these guys in two words....FUCKING METAL...... Like O C O A I, I have had the chance to see this live I literally felt a spec of blood in my ears from the spine shattering show.
|BANDCAMP|BIGCARTEL|OFFICIAL SITE|

LION SPLICER -  You like Mastodon? Opeth? Clutch? or how 'bout Foo Fighters? Well, Lion Splicer has a sound combining all of those bands. Breaking out into the metal music scene, Lion Splicer are currently establishing a name for themselves in the abyss known as New York Fuckin' City! Lion Splicer put out a killer free release called Slicer, that you can download. But if and ONLY IF you click the following links. (just kidding, click this if you want it. But still. Please click the mother fucking links. Thanks.)








This is the only link....
|FACEBOOK|




               CRIMINAL ELEMENT - This band is for all of you pure fucking brutal ass Death Metal and Grind fans. Criminal Element in my opinion is one of the heaviest bands of this decade. The band hails from Washington, DC, and holds ex-members of Misery Index and Suffocation. Do yourself a huge favor and LISTEN TO THIS FUCKING BAND.
|FACEBOOK|MYSPACE|

LEVEL THE CITY- Hailing from Wisconsin, Milwaukee,  Level the City is pure deathcore at it's finest. Combining the sounds of bands like The Faceless, Born of Osiris, and OCEANO, These guys add a sick level of brutality  to their genre not to many can accomplish. Be on the look-out for these guys! Links below!


|TWITER|FACEBOOK|

HOUR OF PENANCE to Enter the Studio

The time has come friends and fiends! ITALIAN DEATHMETAL-ERS Hour of fucking Penance is entering the studio to record their Fifth-album! Guitarist Giulio Moschini commented on this news:

"Following the tradition of releasing an album every two years, the time has come now and we're ready to hit the studio and record our fifth album. You've probably read the same words million of times on the band's press releases so I will not tell you how much better this album sounds and how much faster and more technical it is compared to the last one we did , BUT -  we're fucking proud of this upcoming beast and we're sure you guys will love it! We know how much our fans are expecting from the new album so we worked as hard as we can to not disappoint any of them. Moreover, as some of you know, this will be the first album with a new line up and as you can imagine having a new singer and a new drummer helped us to renew and improve our sound, once again.. this will be like the rebirth of Hour of Penance, in a better shape of course !"

More news and updates about the upcoming release will be announced on their official facebook page. So be on the lookout!


-MIR

Interview: Pat DeFrancisci of Ninety Six

I like hardcore/punk alot, and we all know how rare it is to find a good one these days...(seriously. what the hell is up with that Post-Hardcore bullshit?) There are a few bands that bring back that good old Punk sound back to the modern times, and Ninetly Six is one of them. I got to have a spiffy little interview with their guitarist Pat DeFrancisci. Read it up!

Metal in Ruins:  Before I start this interview I just want to say thanks for doing this interview! Your band really kicks punk-ass ! How are you? How has reception from the recent release of "Dogs of the Day" been?

Patrick: Hey man doing good, reception has been great we threw it up on our bandcamp for free once it was all done getting mixed and mastered and whatnot and alot of people have been downloading/streaming it through there, we've been more than happy with the response MIR: What is 96 currently up to?

P: right now we are writing for a new full length we're hoping to have written by around february with a release around spring time other than that we're just gearing up for our show with Cro-Mags and Suburban Scum on the 27th and trying to book any show people will put us on in the meantime MIR:Tell me a little about the band. How did it form? What made you guys play the genre and style you portray in your music?  P: Well we are a 5 piece band from Essex County New Jersey story of how we formed is me (Pat) Corey (vocals) and Marc(guitar) went to go see Terror, Foundation and Gravemaker at Dingbatz (one of our favorite places to play now) and after the show Corey came up to me and marc and said " I want to start a hardcore band called 96, you down?" obviously the answer was yes and now a little over a year later here we are. We've always been into hardcore and we felt that true hardcore punk bands were becoming too few and far between in our area so we felt it was the best way for us to go being its peaked our interest for so long.  MIR: What do you guys write about when you create your music? What is the base of all the lyrics?
 P: Most the time me and marc bounce ideas off each other until we find that perfect medium between both our styles to fit into what we're going for as for the lyrics Corey is very creative whether he is writing about something that has happened in his personal life such as "Home Sick" or making up a character and building a story around him like our song "Lone Wolf" so it really varies from song to song there is no real common theme between all the songs which i think makes them unique

 MIR: Are there any bands you guys have been getting into lately? 

P: We just played with these two bands from Tacoma they were called Power and Wreck who were super nice dudes and killed it when they went on other than them Cruel Hand has always been a favorite of ours as well as Rotting Out whose new record has been spinning in all our cars for at least the past month and Backtrack those dudes have always ruled
MIR: How do you feel about the current hardcore music scene this nation has built? What do you expect of it in the future?

 P: I think the hardcore scene is flourishing now in regards to true hardcore the punk part of hardcore is coming back right now and we love it it's fast and intense again. The future seems bright for hardcore everyone always says things like music and style are cyclical and i feel like hardcore is coming back to where it used to be when it used to be about community

 MIR: Speaking of the future, what plans do you guys have in store for the future of the band?
 P: Like i was saying before we're just trying to book any show possible while we write for this new full length we're trying to put out by the spring
MIR: well, thanks for taking the time to do this quick interview. Is there anything you need to say before we go?

P: Support your local music scene hardcore, metal, punk whatever it is support it because if you don't all the good music is going to be washed out by the polished, mainstream bullshit radio and big labels try and shove down your throat, support your underground scene and make sure the people who really care about the music have the opportunities to keep doing just that care about the music...

If you want some rad music from these guys, visit their official bandcamp

Until next time guys! Thanks for reading!


-MIR