News And New Opinions Roundup: Abbath, Hail of Bullets, Ihsahn And Many More
Oh hey. Didn’t expect to see you here. Anyway, here are things you should know about.
Some of you may have heard that drummer Kevin Foley has left Abbath’s new band, Abbath. He has credited personal reasons, and who am I to doubt him? And I didn’t, after all he has announced the upcoming The Black Dahlia Murder/Benighted tour will be his last one with the latter. Ever. Yet he does “look for new projects and do my best to keep making a living out of music.”
But, now Per Valla, the (touring) guitarist has left Abbath citing “personal reasons” as well. I’m thinking about what Abbath has actually done, what do we know. Abbath attempted to patent the name “Immortal”, and drive out the other guys from their rehearsal space. No matter what the conditions were, those things seem like very asshole-y things to do. The word “rehab” has come up on both stories, which doesn’t exactly serve to make Abbath look good. I know you want to believe Abbath’s not a bad guy and perhaps he’s right while the rest are wrong (because you can’t name Horgh or Demonaz, the other guys from the band, no less important outside the bands public image), but consider that maybe Immortal, who will be continuing without Abbath, aren’t the ones full of shit. [Joe Note: I’m inclined to believe this is all a series of coincidences.]
Oh, Abbath has a new song you can Count the Dead to. Or you can listen to “Winterbane“, or a live version of “Fenrir Hunts“, or “Judas Priest“ cover. Your call.
IN OTHER, LESS OPINIONATED NEWS
- On the day of February 26th, Värähtelijä, Oranssi Pazuzu’s fourth album will be released. You can view the cover art here. This is what guitarist/vocalist Jun-His (of Grave Pleasures as well) has to say about it:”Värähtelijä is continuing where we left off with Valonielu. But it plunges deeper into the pitch black hypnosis, combines progressive song structures to more free and flowing parts. At the same time, it’s the heaviest and the most atmospheric album we`ve done so far. The fusion between different ends of spectrum reveals new realities we`ve never discovered before. We really wanted this album to go to new places and to be the crossover album of genres we always wanted to do.To further boost the idea, the album was done with Julius Mauranen who had previously done lots of Finnish shoegaze and indie pop albums. I think it’s safe to say that this is by far the heaviest stuff he has done and for us, working with a guy like him stretched our sound to way more dynamic and trippy horizons.”
- In news that should excite
Avocado AllyGuacamole Jim, Stam1na has finished the recording of their new album, Elokuutio. - Now that we’re done exciting the Quack, let us continue by exciting our very own, newly-married elf. Eucharist will re-unite, if only for one show. For now…
“Eucharist to headline hometown show!
Eucharist will reunite for a one-off very special show taking place in Varberg, Sweden on the 16th of April 2016!
This will mark the band’s long awaited return to the stage, and the first live appearance in 18 years!
Comments from the band: “We are looking forward to ripping through classics from A Velvet Creation, Mirrorworlds and more! This will be one of those rare events that you won’t want to miss – see you there!”Line-up:
Markus Johnsson – Guitars, Vocals
Daniel Erlandsson – Drums
Tobias Bernström – Bass
Matti Almsenius – Guitars” - Neurosis has entered the studio to record their new album.
- Ihsahn is going to release a new album, Arktis. You can stream “Mass Darkness” – featuring that one guy from Trivium – below, and read what the man himself had to say about it, and gaze at the cover art.”my focus for this album was to write within more traditional song structures and still give each song a strong individual identity, be that through a re-occurring melody, a chorus, sound design or the good, old guitar riff. I also wanted to explore this on the production side, blending organic rock sounds with more modern expressions.”
- As the first rays of a new sun, on the first morn of a coming April – Moonsorrow will release Jumalten Aika, and tour Europe. Niner-niner.
- Dave Ingram is going to replace Martin van Drunen for Hail of Bullets‘ Maryland Deathfest show. I would not be surprised if Ingram (ex-Benediction/Bolt Thrower, Down Among the Dead Men) was offered the gig full time afterwards, nor would I be sorry. Although replacing MvD is going to be an extremely arduous task and regardless of who gets the job, it will take time to sink in.
- A new song, called “23 Wounds”, was released by Ordinance, featuring (ex-)members of Raunchy and The Faceless. It was aight; I dug the clean part.
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