Unleashed - "Where Is Your God Now?"

Unleashed has just released the lyric video from a song titled "Where Is Your God Now?", from the upcoming release 'Dawn Of The Nine'.

This track demonstrates why Unleashed is the death metal force that they are. It definitely delivers more of the Unleashed style that I love. I can't wait until I can get my hands on a copy of this album at the beginning of May!

Paganfest EU Thoughts

With rumors circulating that North America will not be getting a Paganfest tour this year, it makes the European Paganfest lineup all that more bittersweet. For many folk metal fans, Paganfest quickly becomes the highlight of the concert year, bringing together some of the finest of the genre into one venue, on one night. The North American versions of Paganfest have always boasted pretty decent lineups, but they never quite seem to match the lineups offered in Europe. While some of it probably boils down to logistics, it still leaves many North American fans shaking their heads. With the possibility of no Paganfest in North America this year, the lineup announced for Europe will no doubt leave many disappointed. 

The announced lineup is as follows:

Wintersun

Turisas

Heidevolk

Obscurity

Frosttide

Special ‘extended show’ guests at some of the dates include:

Korpiklaani

Grailknights

Finterforst

Personally, I don’t really care about Wintersun. While they have tons of ‘fanboys’ and ‘fangirls’, I’ve never quite seen the superiority that is preached regarding this band. Plus, Jari’s constant whining has basically turned me away from the band. I’ve seen them live once, and that was enough. Unless of course they come through on a package tour where I want to see other bands.

I feel somewhat the same about Turisas. I loved ‘Battle Metal’ and ‘The Varangian Way’, but it fell off the rails after those two albums. I have seen them a couple of times, and they are an energetic live band, but I can’t get into the newer material. 

Heidevolk, on the other hand, is a band I could see time and time again. The one time I did see them, they blew every other band in the lineup out of the water. (Including both Ensiferum and Tyr). With a new album that promises to offer more of the sheer awesomeness one would expect, it would be nice to see them again.

Korpiklaani is another one that I could see live time and time again. They have always been good, and stayed true to what you would think Korpiklaani should sound like. Paganfest or not, at least I will likely have the opportunity to see them again this spring.

Both Frosttide and Finterforst are bands that I would like to see. While I’m not overly familiar with their material, I have enjoyed what I have listened to. I’ve never listened to either Obscurity or Grailknights, but chances are if they’re included in a Paganfest lineup, they’re at least worth watching or being introduced to. 

While the lineup in North America would likely be quite different, it would still be nice to get a Paganfest tour this year. This does not appear to be in the cards, leaving many supporters wondering. 

Behemoth & Cannibal Corpse with Aeon, Tribulation Review

Union Hall

February 13th, 2015

Braving the freezing rain before doors opened on this miserable evening turned out to be a good choice. Perhaps the only way to guarantee a decent spot inside the Union is to arrive early and find a vantage point quickly. It seems like several people missed the first two bands, stuck outside waiting to get through the doors. 

Tribulation, a ‘progressive’ death metal band from Sweden, started the evening. Sampling their albums beforehand, I was impressed with ‘The Horror’. ‘The Formulas of Death’ was not as much to my liking, providing more of a doom-metal feel, which I am personally not a big fan of. I was however looking forward to seeing Tribulation live. The audience at this point was quite small, and reaction to the band seemed mixed. I enjoyed some of the setlist, but found that some of the instrumental parts dragged on a little bit too long to be effective live. 

Aeon, also from Sweden, proved to be the big surprise of the night. Perhaps their set was surprisingly excellent due to the fact that I had never listened to the band previously, but I did find it to be thoroughly enjoyable. Fast and heavy, Aeon managed to re-energize the crowd. 

Cannibal Corpse came on stage to an almost-packed house, blasting their way through new and older material. I fully expected Cannibal Corpse to be excellent, and they did not disappoint. “Kill or Become”, from ‘A Skeletal Domain’, turned out to be a solid choice to play live. Corpsegrinder wins an award for the most intense windmill head banging I’ve ever witnessed live (as well as the most drinks I’ve seen consumed within the span of a few minutes when I bumped into him at the bar). Both “I Cum Blood” and “Hammer Smashed Face” from ‘Tomb Of The Mutilated’ were big highlights, but ‘Tomb Of The Mutilated’ is perhaps the Cannibal Corpse album that I am most familiar with. Either way, I was expecting a set of pure death metal fury and it was definitely delivered. 

While I think that Behemoth puts on a very well executed show, I have seen Behemoth live so many times that they were not the highlight of the evening. I spent a portion of Behemoth’s set attempting to wander around a completely packed (and apparently sold-out) venue. Jumping in the pit for a while seemed like a great idea until I realized I had probably drank enough beer to make it a not-so-great idea. Needless to say, I didn’t actually pay that much attention to Behemoth and thus it would be unfair to write much of a review of their set. 

Overall, in spite of a venue that is really not set up to host these kind of events, I have to admit that I will likely be looking further into Aeon’s material, will probably forget about Tribulation, and that I am quite pleased to have finally caught Cannibal Corpse live. 

Unleashed - 'Dawn Of The Nine'

Swedish death metal legends, Unleashed, have finally released details of their new album. The release date looks as though it will be towards the end of April (as surmised from the Nuclear Blast website), although I am assuming that this pertains to the European release. This album is touted as a being a continuation from where 'Odalheim' left off. The cover artwork is slowly growing on me; I admit I didn't like it at first glance but I am beginning to like it now that I notice more of the details.

The one thing that I have not seen yet is a really sick pre-order package. I'm hoping a few different options come out that include some clothing. Whether or not this happens, I am still very excited for this album. Unleashed has managed to put out solid release after solid release and I have confidence that this will be no different.

The track listing for 'Dawn Of The Nine':

01. A New Day Will Rise
02. They Came To Die
03. Defenders Of Midgard
04. Where Is Your God Now?
05. The Bolt Thrower
06. Let The Hammer Fly
07. Where Churches Once Burned
08. Land Of The Thousand Lakes
09. Dawn Of The Nine
10. Welcome The Son Of Thor!

Live Wish List

I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to see a lot of bands over the years. I’ve managed to see a lot of bands that I would like to, but there are always those few elusive ones that either don’t tour often, or never tour anywhere that it is feasible to travel to. 

I chose not to list any ‘local’ bands, as I know there are upcoming opportunities to catch them live. I have also chosen not to include international bands that I am planning on seeing shortly. I attempted to list only bands that are considered active. There are a few bands no longer active that I would have loved to see (like Vomitory, Dissection, Bathory...). Anyhow, this is my somewhat impossible wish list for 2015:

Bands I have yet to see:

Unleashed

Entrails

Månegarm

Kalmah

Thyrfing

Vampire

Vallenfyre

Bloodbath

Varg

Wolfchant

Waylander

Hypocrisy

Hammer Horde

Põhjast

Frosttide

W.A.S.P.

Bands I would like to see again:

Moonsorrow

Belphegor

Heidevolk

Finntroll

The 69 Eyes

Ex Deo

Poisonblack

Grave

Of course it is tempting to make it out to a show any time that one of my favorite bands comes through town, but these are the short-listed artists I would like to see this year that I have already seen. Granted, neither The 69 Eyes or Poisonblack are as “metal” as the other artists on this list, but I would like to see them again nonetheless.