Martin van Drunen out of Hail of Bullets, News from Moon Tooth, Sumac And More
So, things happened.
Martin van Drunen left Hail of Bullets. And when I say left, I mean he was outright fired. I mean “On a personal level it’s no longer possible for us to continue the cooperation with Martin” -level fired. This sucks and blows. And not in the good, vacuum-y kind of way either. I know of at least one attempted hanging by the neck until death that’s occurred in the aftermath of this grave news (pray for Randall Thor). You can read the whole thing here as you weep. I, for one, sure as hell hope there aren’t problems between Martin and Paul, because those guys are pretty much the heart of Asphyx today as well.
Hail of Bullets has canceled all their gigs in the wake of this but promise to make a comeback. We shall see; there are few – if any – vocalists harder to replace than Martin.
On a more positive note, Moon Tooth have put their new album up for streaming. The first song off of it, anyways; ’tis called Queen Wolf. You can stream it here, which is where you can also pre-order the whole album, Chromaparagon, to be released on February 5th. Because I know you’re a lazy bunch I’ve also linked the song below. Now I don’t know who wrote this (the band’s PR most likely, whoever that is), but based on this one song, it’s accurate-ish.
“A fireworks display of melody and rhythm, Chromaparagon is more than that too – its progressive, aggressive sound is brimming with soul, riddled with hairpin turns, and delivered with the grace and swing of real virtuosos. Over the course of twelve songs, Moon Tooth mashes together rock, metal, and blues, into a fusion that bursts with color. There are few limits here. Moon Tooth possesses the imagination and skill to swerve into whatever musical direction it wants. But this band wanders without getting lost; it channels its wild dreaming and black-belt chops into an album that drives forward with purpose.”
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Sumac, a band featuring members of Isis (the band, jerks) and Baptists that everyone wasn’t all over last year (what do you mean The Deal came out this year), has entered studio with Kurt Ballou. The purpose is to record their sophomore full-length. Tracking took place in The Unknown, in Anacortes, WA if that means anything to you. In case you are unfamiliar with the band you can stream a song below.
- Speedtrap’s vocalist Jori Sara-Aho, having grown tired of the touring life, has decided to step down. His last gig with the band will be in January.
- Vader is going to re-release their cover album, Future of The Past, with a new cover album Future of the Pabst – Hell In the East. Albums will be available together.
- Omnium Gatherum will release a new album, Grey Heavens, on February 19th.
- Amoral will release In Sequence on February 5th.
- Pandora bought the bankrupt Rdio for $75 million. Also, Apple shut down Beats Music and absolutely nobody was surprised or cared.
