Toilet Ov Hell newz u can uze™ 4/13/15 – 4/17/18
Psalm Zero! Skinless! Lightning Bolt! Two girls, one cup! Goatwhore tour dates! Handshake, Inc! Get your ass in here to read more after the jump!
Are you getting tired of me telling you how much I love Psalm Zero? That’s unfortunate. Our pal and expert music reviewer Christian returned from whatever black hole or Tijuana gutter he was in to update me about a new Psalm Zero song which premiered at Stereogum on Tuesday. I have been impatiently waiting for news about Psalm Zero’s followup to their excellent 2014 album The Drain, which was released on Profound Lore Records. Stereogum reported that “Real Rain” would be the first of a series of cassette singles with accompanying videos. This news was initially upsetting to me – the idea of cassette only Psalm Zero releases was an idea my fragile psyche could not bear. Luckily for me, I am prone to poor reading comprehension and knee jerk reactions, and the cassette releases would be included on their next full length record. What about “Real Rain”? Psalm Zero have not failed to impress. “Real Rain” is an aggressive Gothic banger. Catchy riffs and keys stand alongside mournful singing and a thundering drum beat assault. I’ll put it to you like this: this song kicks ass. I’m even more excited for Psalm Zero’s next album than I was last weekend. Check out the song below, and stay tuned to the Toilet Ov Hell for updates regarding their next album.
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Bands releasing music in an effort to combat low quality leaks is all too common these days. Recent examples outside of the metalsphere include Run The Jewels and Death Grips. Fans of brutal death metal favorites Skinless were pleased this week when they released “Serpenticide” after a low quality version of the song found its way onto the internet. Skinless fans have been waiting for a long time since the release of their last full length album Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead, which was released in 2006. Long waiting periods almost always make fans skeptical. Will new music ever live up to the hype created by such a long period of absence? On “Serpenticide”, Skinless waste no time in crushing the listener. “Serpenticide” is like a challenge to see if you can make it to their first breakdown two minutes in. If this song is any indication of the quality of their 2015 release, it will be one to watch for come EOTY time [W. – I wear my Dying Fetus mesh shorts under my jeans every day in preparation for the spontaneous moshing this album will produce].
Check out “Serpenticide” below. Only The Ruthless Remain is due out June 2nd, 2015 on Relapse Records.
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Noise rock duo Lightning Bolt have been making waves in and around the metalsphere because of the release of their sixth full length album Fantasy Empire, which came out March 24th on Thrill Jockey Records. Though not exactly heavy metal, Fantasy Empire is an album that should appeal to metal fans like the aforementioned Psalm Zero, the new Liturgy, Swans, and a host of other bands on the fence between heavy metal and post-punk. Lightning Bolt also made waves earlier this week when drummer Brian Chippendale spoke about media outlet Vice and their takeover of legendary New York music venue Death By Audio. Below is an excerpt from the interview with The Observer, which you can read in full here.
Jamie Peck of The Observer: How sincere was that “hashtag fuck Vice” chant that you looped at the final DBA show? What was going through your head at that moment and during that show in general?
Brian Chippendale: What was going through my head. Maybe “deja vu”? This isn’t the first “end-of-a-legendary-space” party I or we have played. I also felt sort of honored to be part of Death by Audio’s final hours. I really enjoyed shows there and have been so blown away by the energy Edan and Matt Conboy and the gang put into making it a good place. Especially the gift of energy in the face of financial survival in Brooklyn. But I also had a certain strange disconnect. Because at the end of it all I just drove away. All the meaning and weight of what was going on there, and I just stayed up till 8 a.m. and drove back to Providence and left it all behind. Felt weird. Surreal.
As for the “fuck Vice,” I totally meant it. They seemed to be interacting in a total douchebag way with DBA. There was no reason for them not to be cool. I understand cities eat their young and bow down to the greater beasts and that’s the way it works but Vice should have been smart enough to really bend over backwards for a pillar of the underground community. They blew it.
I know I’ll deal with Vice in the future. Whatever. They fucked people over, they will again. They’re assholes right? Isn’t that their aesthetic? But they also do some interesting work as well. So it’s not forgivable, how they did what they did, but it doesn’t necessarily remove them from my circle of people I will deal with. They could have done worse. They could have done a lot better. But right there, right then, yeah. Fuck Vice. And fuck them if they don’t treat people better. I’ll hold onto my grievance and have a conversation with them about it if I ever get the opportunity. Remember “Vice Media,” brands come and go but the underground is forever.
Lastly, on Lightning Bolt, Thrill Jockey has just released a music video for their song “The Metal East” from Fantasy Empire. The video is a psychedelic thrill ride, like if the characters from your favorite He-Man and Flinstones cartoons took near-fatal amounts of LSD and ketamine. Watch it below!
Connie’s corpse paint courtesy of 365 Days of Horror
