…And that’s only news because they’re from Chicago, which means the burger is at Kuma’s Corner, and it’s a unique and artery-clogging concoction named for the band. The Atlas Moth‘s Candlelight/Battle Kommand debut, A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky, is out Oct. 20. In the meantime, dig this recipe (and other info) as told by the PR wire:

The Atlas Moth have announced a record listening party on October 4th at Chicago‘s Kuma’s Corner (MySpace here), the restaurant known for naming its burgers after international and hometown favorite metal bands. Here they’ll unveil the mammoth “Atlas Moth Burger“… a 10 oz. slab of beef on waffles, topped with collared greens, fried chicken, chicken fried bacon and a bacon infused maple syrup. Amazing!

My chest hurts just thinking about it. Fortunately the band will get a good workout touring the US for about two months to support the album after a record release show at Reggie‘s in Chicago with Kylesa, Saviours and Red Fang. Other dates follow after the jump.

Read more »

With a truly international lineup involving members from Hungary, Italy, Poland and the UK (where the band as a unit makes its home), semi-psychedelic hard rockers Obiat are bound to cull together a unique bundling of influences. And just as diversity of culture brings different perspectives to other group works, Obiat‘s third album and first for Small Stone, Eye Tree Pi, leans toward post-metal without falling prey what are fast becoming the cliches of the genre, thanks in no small part to the individual elements each member adds to the sound.

Eye Tree Pi is an album that requires more than an immediate impression to go on. There is more to hearing it than just sitting passively and enjoying the sound; it is the process of digging deeper that gives the most satisfaction, and it was in that spirit that I hit up the band for an email interview, for which I was accommodated by vocalist Laz Pallagi and guitarist Raf Reutt. Among the issues discussed is the band’s storied heritage and how they all came to congregate around London and Reading, the making of Eye Tree Pi and how it stands in line with its two predecessors.

Interview is after the jump. Please enjoy.

Read more »

The children love Baroness, and though I don’t get it, I wouldn’t want that to stop anyone from checking out this combined listening party/show tomorrow night, Oct. 1, in Manhattan. They’re going to be playing the new Baroness record and there will be sets by Fight Amp, Moth Eater and Voyager, as you can see from the nifty poster below. You know you’ve been looking for an excuse to get wasted on Thursday…

If we?ve learned anything about Los Angeles thunder-thrash duo Black Cobra by this time, it?s that they kick ass. Starting with their 2004 self-titled, self-released EP, and across the two full-lengths that followed (2006?s Bestial and 2007?s Feather and Stone), guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian (Cavity) and drummer Rafael Martinez (Acid King, 16) have left boot prints in the glutes of the multitudes planet-wide, touring incessantly and becoming ever tighter and ever more aggressive. Kicking, in other words, more ass.

So with the surprisingly unceremonious release of their new Billy Anderson-produced Southern Lord debut, Chronomega, it?s not much of a surprise to hear Black Cobra doing what they do best; taking all the intensity of earlier High on Fire and ramping it up even further with Melvins-on-speed riffing and unhinged drum-work that would do Dave Lombardo proud (listen to ?Glacies en Spiritu? — it?s like the whole song is a fill!). Some subtle development in Landrian?s vocals is apparent throughout. Not so much in the beginning — opener ?Negative Reversal? keeps it pretty straightforward — but the echo on the title track gives his voice an early-?90s Ministry vibe and there?s some melody creeping into ?Catalyst? that shows some definite growth. It?s in there if you listen for it.

Read more »

Connecticut was where I ended up this past weekend after much back and forth indecisiveness. A familiar enough setting by now, I can even navigate around Wallingford without a map, which came in handy when for the third time (here’s the second) I stopped in at Red Scroll Records on North Colony and hit their precariously positioned used rack to see what I could find. Of note, they had both Croatan‘s Curse of the Red Queen and Soulpreacher‘s Sonic Witchcraft, which I picked up in Maryland at SHoD X, and there were a couple other points of interest along the way, but what I ended up leaving with, paramount in the haul, was Lamentations by UK epic doomers Solstice and Suspect Symmetry by Ontario sludge-grinders Buried Inside.

I’ll be honest, I almost didn’t buy the latter. After reviewing their latest record earlier in the year I barely listened to it, and Suspect Symmetry didn’t seem to justify my $7.50, but curiosity won out, and since this was the record that ostensibly got them signed to Relapse, I figured it was at least worthy of hearing. And yeah, I guess it was.

Read more »

They’re not signed, they don’t have a release ready yet, I don’t even know if they’ve played any shows, but Salt Lake City fuzz duo Dwellers come with built in interest due to guitarist/vocalist Joey Toscano‘s presence in the criminally under-noticed Iota and drummer Zach Hatsis‘ in I Hate Records doomers Subrosa. Does that officially make Dwellers a side-project? Probably.

In any case, there are two tracks over at their MySpace that are easily worth the time (hardly any at all) and expense (absolutely none at all) it takes to check them out. Go forth and groove.

Blood, the first album in 16 years by Seattle psych-stoners Snail (say that five times fast) is among 2009’s most pleasant surprises. Brought to light via the increasingly prolific MeteorCity, the album is comprised of 11 tracks the band had originally demoed before breaking up after releasing the All Channels are Open EP in 1994. It was to be their second full-length after their 1993 self-titled debut, and with the musical climate in Seattle at that time, the safer bet was it was going to get them noticed.

In the email interview below, Snail guitarist/vocalist Mark Johnson cites the usual suspects as reasons for the band falling apart, but what’s even more important is the vibrant tones the trio-turned-four-piece calls forth from the ether on Blood. Johnson, original drummer Marty Dodson and bassist Matt Lynch are joined by new guitarist Eric Clausen, whose presence not only adds texture to the songs, but fitting and killer solos as well. All around, it’s a win.

Also worth noting that of all the emailers I’ve done (and I’ve done a bunch at this point), this one required the least editing or formatting, so a special thanks to Johnson for that and for his time in general. Interview is after the jump. Please enjoy.

Read more »

…And because awesomeness is its own excuse for being: