What do you do after you release one of the year’s most lauded metal records and crisscross the country promoting it? Well, you go to Europe, silly. So it is that Portland, Oregon, progressive metallers Lord Dying follow-up their late Spring jaunt across the US with a European run set to begin next month that includes stops at Into the Void, Desertfest Belgium, Dudefest, Darkhorse Festival and Damnation Festival heralding the formidable scope of Mysterium Tremendum (review here), their third album overall and debut release for eOne Heavy. Because that’s what you do.

It’s their first trip abroad since they toured with Voivod and Entombed AD in Europe circa 2016, following the willful aural gruel that was 2015’s Poisoned Altars (review here), and founding guitarists Chris Evans and Erik Olson — the latter also vocals — will welcome a new live lineup aboard as they go. The lucky rhythm section is comprised of bassist Alyssa Maucere (also Glory in the Shadows) and drummer Kevin Swartz (also Tithe and Serial Hawk), and the shows will begin Oct. 14, following Lord Dying‘s appearance at Northwest Hesh Fest this weekend, where they’ll be joined by original drummer Jonathan Reid (now also Glory in the Shadows, formerly also Megaton Leviathan) as a special one-off.

All sounds pretty badass, right? It is. Lord Dying are having that kind of year, much aided by the killer album. Funny how that kind of thing works.

Here are the tour dates:

Lord Dying – Euro Tour

This tour is to promote the new record, “Mysterium Tremendrum”, put out only a few months back (on eOneHeavy). This EU tour is shared with the excellent and heavy-trippin Earth Ship (Berlin, DE), who will be LD’s main support throughout (*Earth Ship not playing)

Lord Dying will also be playing INTO THE VOID FESTIVAL leeuwarden, 18.10 , DESERTFEST* BELGIUM Antwerp 20.10, DUDEFEST Karlsruhe 31.10, DARKHORSE FESTIVAL Paris 01.11, and DAMNATION FESTIVAL* Leeds 02.11!

NorthWest Hesh Fest in Portland OR is this weekend and Lord Dying asked the original drummer Jon Reid to come back to do a ONE-TIME ONLY classic LD set, blasting out several bangers from their first record, “Summon The Faithless” and their following, “Poisoned Altars”. Jon is also drummer in Glory In The Shadows.

Lord Dying EU Tour with Earth Ship –
14-10 CH Bellinzona @ The Pit
15-10 DE Munich @ Backstage
16-10 DE Wiesbaden @ Schlachthof
17-10 DE Bochum @ Trompete
18-10 NL Leeuwarden @ Into The Void
20-10 BE Antwerp @ Desertfest*
22-10 ES Barcelona @ Sala Rocksound
23-10 ES Bilbao @ La Nube
24-10 CH Martigny @ Sunset Bar
25-10 DE Cologne @ MTC
26-10 DE Lubeck @ Treibsand
28-10 CZ Prague @ Club Fatal
29-10 DE Berlin @ Zukunft
31-10 DE Karlsruhe @ Dudefest
01-11 FR Paris @ Darkhorse Festival – Espace B
02-11 UK Leeds @ Damnation Festival*
03-11 UK Glasgow @ Audio
05-11 UK London @ New Cross In

https://www.facebook.com/LordDying/
http://instagram.com/lorddying
http://lorddying.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/eOneHeavy

Lord Dying, Mysterium Tremendum (2019)

I know you’re supposed to write zhOra like that, with the big ‘o’ and the little ‘z,’ but somehow I just couldn’t make myself do it in the headline. It would be the same starting a sentence. Zhora. Look, they’re a cool band and all, but grammar can only bend so far before it ultimately breaks, you know what I’m saying?

No, probably not. Fine.

Zhora, or, if you prefer, zhOra, will be doing a quick run of Irish dates next month with Sail and Everest Queen, and I’m posting the tour info not so much because I expect everybody to make their travel plans and get to Belfast or Dublin or Cork or Limerick in time for a show, but because it gives me an excuse as well to post the video for “Ruthless Bastards,” the punishing vibe of which is very much suiting the kind of day I’ve had. I hope yours has been better, or if not, you find similar catharsis.

Have at it:

We are playing our final run of Irish dates for the year this October. We are joined by some old and new friends.

Oct 24th | Voodoo Belfast
Oct 25th | Sin É Dublin
Oct 26th | Fred Zeppelins, Cork
Oct 27th | Siege of Limerick*

Everest Queen are from Stevenage in the UK and have been good mates of ours for a few years now. We played Bloodstock Festival together back in 2017 along with some awesome UK tours. They are the best of people and they live for riffs. It’s there first time in Ireland and we know they are going to go down really well.

Sail hail from Somerset and are also hitting Ireland for the first time. It’s also our first time gigging together and we cannot wait to see their dense, stoney sludge music performed live with an awesome Irish crowd behind them.

The Siege weekenders are always phenomenal so we are really buzzing for this one. Cheers to everyone that has come to all the shows this year, bought a t shirt and just had a good laugh. We have had an awesome run and look forward to welcoming the darker months in style with all of our mental friends all over this mad country.

zhOra Line-up:
Colin Bolger, Tom Woodlock, Alan Hanlon, Ian O’Meara

https://www.zhorasludge.com
https://www.instagram.com/zhoraireland/
https://www.facebook.com/zhOramusic/
http://zhora1.bandcamp.com/

zhOra, “Ruthless Bastards” official video

I’m not saying I’ve heard it or anything, but if you think you have a sense of what Giöbia are all about, you’re probably want to going to expand that definition. The Milan-based four-piece get even more spaced out on their next full-length than they were on 2015’s Magnifier (review here), which is fair enough since it was four years ago. They’ve of course been plenty busy since that last album, touring Europe and playing fests like Freak Valley, which they hit in 2016 and released a set from the next year as the Live Freak live album that you can stream below, as well as the 2017 7″ What Have You Done through H42 Records. If you heard any of that stuff, you know it was plenty spaced. Well, get ready to get more spaced. Space space space.

Let’s assume that since the announcement of the album’s existence came in the other day and I’m only now getting this posted that the title and album details have been unveiled as of about three minutes ago and this post is already out of date. The internet is awesome.

From the PR wire:

Heavy Psych Sounds to announce a band re-signing: GIÖBIA are coming back with a brand new album

HEAVY PSYCH SOUNDS is so stoked to welcome back one of the best european psychedelic bands GIÖBIA with a brand new album coming out in early 2020 !!!

The mystical day 60s rock met neopsychedelic rock mixing up to the point of losing consciousness of their own essence, in an overwhelming and incessant soundtrack with an unmistakable Italian taste, that’s when Giöbia’s acid rock was born. In a vortex that leaves no way out, the unique melodies of this quartet take the listener into a world where the boundaries of reality are no longer defined and anything can ever happen. After their debut in 2009 with ‘Hard Stories’, the band firmly established itself in 2013 with ‘Introducing Night Sounds’, which suddenly brought them to the most important stages of Europe. In 2016 the milestone ‘The Magnifier’ assigned them a place among the most influential bands of the scene. Unable to stop in front of any challenge, Giöbia decided to go on astonishing their audience again finally forging a NEW ALBUM, which will see the light in 2020 via Heavy Psych Sounds, with the promise to upset and reconfirm them as the forefather of a genre that fascinates and amazes anyone who dare to leave themselves behind without fear of never returning.

PRESALE STARTS:
September 26th

The band will be also touring Europe in two slots:
– from February 28th to March 11th, including HPS Fests in Paris, Antwerp and London
– from May 22nd to June 2nd

GIÖBIA is:
Bazu – Vocals and String Instruments
Saffo – Organs / Violins / Vocals
Detrji – Bass
Betta – Drums

https://www.facebook.com/giobiaband
http://www.giobia.com/
https://giobiagiobia.bandcamp.com/
www.heavypsychsounds.com
heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/HEAVYPSYCHSOUNDS/

Giöbia, Live Freak (2017)

Greece’s Deaf Radio teased the promise of their next album with the release of the single ‘Astypalea’ (posted here) back in June. It’s been some three months since that track went out, so getting news of said album is welcome. It’s called Modern Panic and the release is set for Nov. 15 through Ihaveadrum Records. The art, which you can see below, is on-theme with what accompanied the single as well, and the band offers some illumination about what the general thematic is this time around, specifically citing, “lonerism, homophobia, racism, drug use and social media addiction.”

That’s not a little ground to cover, but if you’ll recall, one of the things that their debut, 2017’s Alarm (review here), had working in its favor was efficiency, so I have little doubt the Athens four-piece will get where they’re going this time out.

The PR wire has it like this, preorder link and all:

Rising Psychedelic Rockers DEAF RADIO Return with New Album, Modern Panic

Released on 15th November on ihaveadrum

Pre-order Modern Panic here: https://deafradio.bandcamp.com/album/modern-panic

Following the release of their ‘Astypalea’ single in June, Athens’s leading psych rock quartet Deaf Radio are thrilled to announce the official release of their sophomore album on 15th November via ihaveadrum.

As chief proponents of hard rock and grievous genre assault, ever since the release of their debut album in 2017, the band has been hailed by many as one of the most exciting alt-rock bands to emerge from Greece in recent memory. With Alarm garnering thousands of streams online and gaining ecstatic praise from sell-out crowds when performed live across Europe, expectation are high for the release of Modern Panic; a sprawling, exhilarating and breathtaking record that promises to leave no ear unturned:

“Modern Panic isn’t just Alarm’s successor,” explains guitarist, Panos Gklinos. “It’s a record through which we redefine the band’s identity. Composing it felt like looking at a mirror, suddenly noticing something is changed and then embracing it. Musically there are moments where raw and powerful elements come to surface and others in which we our reveal darker shades. Written between London, New York, Athens and Crete, the changes in the mood of the record are ferocious, while lyrically it reflects on modern society’s issues such as lonerism, homophobia, racism, drug use and social media addiction.”

Having shared bills with the likes of The Killers, All Them Witches, 1000mods and The Kills while touring in 2017 and 2018, Deaf Radio honed the sound and feel of these new songs on the road, live and in-person with thousands of fans in over thirty different cities across Europe. An endeavour which opened the band up to the most perfect proving grounds for testing new material, when seeking to make that perfect next record.

“There’s no doubt that Alarm’s success set the bar high, but in reality, once you put a record out there it’s all out of your control. People can resonate to it and give it a whole new meaning. It’s a chess game, we made our move, now we can’t wait to see how people react and how they will experience Modern Panic.”

Deaf Radio are:
Panos Gklinos (Vocals & Guitar)
Dimitris Sakellariou (Guitar & Vocals)
Dimitris Georgopoulos (Bass & Backing Vocals)
George Diathesopoulos (Drums & Backings Vocals)

https://www.facebook.com/deafradioband
https://www.instagram.com/deaf.radio/
https://deafradio.bandcamp.com/

Deaf Radio, “Astypalea”

Brew-loving Italian heavy rockers Humulus will release their next album, The Deep, in Feb. 2020 through Kozmik Artifactz. Sounds like something that’s going to happen way, way in the future when we have flying cars and colonies on Alpha Centauri and not-at-all a rising tide of right wing fascism? Well, it’s like five months from now, so unless we’re in for the most condensed stretch of awesome progress ever — and not to play the cynic but I’m guessing we’re not — it’ll probably just be more of that rising tide thing. The good part, however, is new Humulus. Keep up. Also, it’s happening on Kozmik Artifactz, which seems like a fair jump for the Bergamo/Brescia three-piece, who’ve worked with Kozmik-offshoot Oak Island Records in the past, including for 2017’s Reverently Heading into Nowhere (review here), as well as with Taxi Driver Records.

Drummer Massimiliano Boventi had some cool stuff to say about The Deep, so you’ll find below what he sent to me. They did some light touring for the last record, so I’d expect no different this time out:

Humulus – The Deep

Our new LP will be out in february 2020 for german label Kozmik Artifactz Records. The title will be “The Deep”.

We started working on this record less or more one year ago between tours and gigs around…one fun fact : when we met the first times for take decision about the direction of the new songs we said like “let’s try to compose shorter songs”, maybe just for make something easier to listen for more people…so not too much later the first 2 songs were ready, the first was 9 minutes long the second 15 minutes — so in a totally spontaneous and natural way we realized that this is our direction… we love to jam and make different atmosphere during our rehears and the result is that we can’t cut our songs.

So I can say the one of the detail of the new record is that more than in the previous one songs are more and more a mix between doom and stoner rock riffs and psychedelic and trippy atmospheres…

For the first time there will be also an acoustic song in the record.

As the last works (Reverently Heading Into Nowhere and Walrus EP) this record was recording during this summer at Indiebox Music Hall in Brescia by Giovanni Bottoglia.

Humulus is:
Andrea Van Cleef: guitar, voice
Giorgio Bonacorsi: bass
Massimiliano Boventi: drums

www.facebook.com/humulusband
www.humulus.bandcamp.com
http://kozmik-artifactz.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kozmikartifactz

Humulus, Reverently Heading into Nowhere (2017)

As you can see on the list of dates below, it’s a well-tagged tour upon which Doomstress will embark later this week, heading out from their home in Houston, Texas, in order to make a stop in Atlanta for the Slaughter Que festival, where they’ll join the very metal likes of Exhorder, Exodus, Kataklysm, Krisiun and copious others whose names either do or don’t begin with the letters ‘e’ and ‘k.’ I believe that in itself is enough to qualify as “metal AF” in social media parlance, but it’s not at all the only show Domstress have lined up, as they’ll make two stops in Louisiana beforehand and hit North Carolina, Florida and Mississippi before they’re done.

Over the last couple years, Doomstress have mastered this method of getting out for a week or so and carving up the US by region, hitting this or that part of the country on kind of a longform overarching tour. All the better for them to do so now that they have their 2019 debut album, Sleep Among the Dead (review here), out on Ripple Music and DHU Records to support.

You’ve heard it, I know, but you can stream the album at the bottom of this post just in case, and tell your friends to go see Doomstress even if you’re not somewhere they’ll be. You have friends everywhere, even if you don’t know it.

Dates follow:

Texas metal rockers Doomstress just back from 2 recent northern tours based around Ohio Doomed & Stoned Fest (Canton, OH) and Ancient Futures Fest (Madison, WI) prepare to embark on a southeastern run to play Slaughter-Que Fest in Atlanta, GA on September 21st w/ Exodus, Kataklysm, Battlecross, Exhorder, Hatchet and many more!

Doomstress returns to Atlanta GA September 21st for SlaughterQue Fest at Masquerade ATL.

Doomstress recently released their debut full length record “Sleep Among the Dead” in May on Ripple Music and DHU Records.

9/19 Lafayette LA @freetown_boomboomroom w/@sexlord_band_official & @high_horse_band
9/20 New Orleans LA @goatneworleans w/@nolapious & #Smoke
9/21 Atlanta GA @masquerade_atl #SlaughterQue Fest w/@exodusbandofficial @exhordernola @kataklysmband @battlecrossmetal @hatchet_official @krisiun & more
9/23 Raleigh NC @slims_tagrams w/@kultikon & @doomsday_profit
9/26 Jacksonville FL @jackrabbitslive w/@luna_cruise_music & #deadscrolls
9/27 Tampa FL @brassmugnights w/@beerwolfsucks &
9/28 Hattiesburg MS @ #MoMos w/#AstroTrain & #WitchDance

Doomstress is:
Doomstress Alexis – Bass/Vocals
Brandon Johnson – Guitar
Matt Taylor – Guitar
Tomasz Scull – Drums

www.doomstress.com
www.doomstress.bandcamp.com
www.doomstress.bigcartel.com
https://www.facebook.com/DoomstressBand/
instagram.com/Doomstress_band
www.darkhedonisticunion.bigcartel.com
https://www.facebook.com/DHURecords/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Doomstress, Sleep Among the Dead (2019)

Come on, Norway. You could let Wino in at this point. It’s been five years. Considering it as a punitive measure, I can’t even imagine how much the loss of European touring income would be in terms of paying a fine. Certainly enough for however much drugs it was he got busted with at the border. Shit happens. Dude took the hit, so maybe time to move on?

It’s a bummer that The Obsessed‘s return trip to the Schengen countries and greater Europe has been nixed on account of ongoing fallout from that arrest, but the band, who also toured earlier this year in the States with C.O.C. and Crowbar, will appear this coming weekend at Descendants of Crom III in Pittsburgh, so the news isn’t all bad. They’ll be more than welcome I’m sure as they take the place of ASG on that bill and join the ranks of Solace, Foghound, Valkyrie and hometown heroes Argus, among many others. That’s pretty much a guaranteed good time.

Wino posted the following through the social medias:

Hello to all our fans and friends .

We are saddened to say that all European Obsessed shows in fall have been cancelled .

The facts are: After an arrest in Norway I was banned from Norway and all the Schengen countries for five years. Its been five years . Recently we found out, only by chance, that the Norwegian govt was not only deceptive about the ability to enter other countries by visa but also intentionally delayed filing my appeal that I filed in a timely manner in accordance with Norwegian law. This added an extra year to the ban consequently keeping THE OBSESSED from being able to play in Europe (UK is not included in the ban).

I feel I have been wronged by these events. I have accepted responsibility for my actions initially but now our hands are tied. Knowledge of these actions by the Norwegian govt only came to light when i arrived in Berlin to play acoustic set at Desertfest earlier this year. After being detained 10 hours i was luckily granted a temporary three day visa, but advised by the German border police of the extended ban etc. We are seeking legal recourse now and will be over to play as soon as we can. Our most sincere apologies.

We will be playing in Pittsburgh Saturday September 21st at the Descendants of Crom III festival. Great lineup….. it’s going to be a kick ass night. See you there.

Thanks to all who believe.
WINO – THE OBSESSED

https://www.facebook.com/TheObsessedOfficial
http://relapse.com/the-obsessed-sacred/
https://theobsessed.bandcamp.com/
http://www.relapse.com
http://www.relapserecords.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/RelapseRecords

The Obsessed, Sacred (2017)

‘Doctor or lawyer, I’ll never be/Life of a drifter, only life for me/You can have your riches, all the gold you saved/Ain’t room for one thing in everybody’s grave.’ Tattoo it on every Clutch fan’s forehead. The new studio-recorded version of “Electric Worry” is more akin to how they’ve been doing the song live for the last however many years. Vocalist Neil Fallon calls it “leaner, meaner,” which is fair enough since the original had organ and blues harp on it, but really, if they wanted to do this song with an orchestra I think they could pull it off. Some things just work and this track is one of them. Got a new version? Yeah, I’ll take that. Put one out every other year from now until forever and I don’t imagine anyone would get tired of it, or if they did, that someone else wouldn’t pick up the slack. It’s that hook, man. Vamanos.

As it works out, the timing on the release of the single and video is a little awkward, as the press release below came in on Friday, tour dates rockin’ and all that, and then yesterday the band posted word that keyboardist Mick Schauer, whose contribution to the original “Electric Worry” helped make it such a landmark for the band, has died. Schauer had been out of the band for a decade at this point, but still.

The video, which you can see below, was filmed in Europe this summer. You can see the Hellfest crowd and a bunch of others. And of course Clutch are starting another tour this week, this time headed out with Dropkick Murphys, I guess because why not.

From the PR wire:

CLUTCH RELEASE BRAND NEW 2019 STUDIO RECORDING OF CLASSIC SINGLE “ELECTRIC WORRY” IN ITS PUREST FORM AS PART OF THE “WEATHERMAKER VAULT SERIES”

Clutch announce the release of “Electric Worry.” The single is the third in a series of new studio recordings that comprise the newly launched Weathermaker Vault Series and the first new official music Clutch is making available since the release of their critically acclaimed album, Book Of Bad Decisions.

When “Electric Worry” was released in 2007 on the album “From Beale Street To Oblivion” nobody knew that this track would turn into one of Clutch’s most recognizable songs. It is a fan favorite and a staple at live shows. Over the course of time, the song went through changes. What you are listening to here is a brand new studio recording of the 2019 live version of the song without the keyboards and harmonica that are on the 2007 rendition. This is “Electric Worry” in its purest form.

“Electric Worry” was mixed by 6X Grammy Award winner and Clutch collaborator, Vance Powell (Wolfmother, The Raconteurs, Arctic Monkeys).

“All in all it’s just a leaner, meaner song” states vocalist Neil Fallon. “We wanted to put something out there that was representative of what we do these days since it happens to be one of our most popular songs.”

Clutch has curated their own Spotify playlist “Clutch’s Heavy Rotation” at this location: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3NlZsjNNOoCvwjCv58mcNR

On Friday, September 20th, Clutch will embark on a Fall tour of the US with Dropkick Murphys along with metalcore veterans Hatebreed as direct support.

Clutch Fall Tour with Dropkick Murphys:
Tickets available here.
(headline** and festival* dates) = no Dropkick Murphys

Fri/Sep-20 Springfield, MA MassMutual @ Center Arena
Sat/Sep-21 Erie, PA Erie @ Insurance Arena
**Sun/Sep-22 Wilmington, DE @ The Queen (support: Lionize, Kingsnake)
Tue/Sep-24 Raleigh, NC @ Red Hat Amphitheatre
Wed/Sep-25 Charlotte, NC Charlotte @ Metro Credit Union Amphitheatre
Thu/Sep-26 Birmingham, AL @ Avondale Brewery
**Fri/Sep-27 Clarksville, TN O’Connors Outdoor Stage (support: Hatebreed, Cane Hill)
Sun/Sep-29 Detroit, MI @ Masonic Temple Theatre
Mon/Sep-30 Chicago, IL @ Aragon
Tue/Oct-01 Minneapolis, MN @ The Myth
Thu/Oct-03 Moorhead, MN @ Bluestem Center For The Arts
Fri/Oct-04 Council Bluffs, IA @ Westfair Amphitheatre
Sat/Oct-05 Broomfield, CO @ FirstBank Center
Sun/Oct-06 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Union
Tue/Oct-08 Los Angeles, CA @ The Palladium
Wed/Oct-09 San Diego, CA @ Park at the Park
*Fri/Oct-11 Sacramento, CA @ Aftershock Festival
**Sat/Oct-12 Bend, OR @ Midtown Theater (support: Red Fang, Mos Generator)
**Sun/Oct-13 Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theater (support: Red Fang, Mos Generator)
Mon/Oct-14 Boise, ID @ Outlaw Field at Idaho Botanic Gardens
Tue/Oct-15 Seattle, WA @ WAMU Theatre

** = HEADLINE SHOW
* = FESTIVAL

Says the band on the death of Mick Schauer: “We are saddened to hear the news of Mick Schauer’s passing. Mick was an incredible talent and he will be missed. His contribution to the albums Robot Hive Exodus and From Beale Street to Oblivion brought a new sound to the band at a time when the band sought to stretch into new territory. Mick helped us to achieve those goals and more. He was also a powerful force at our live shows. His natural ability was unmatched and his love for the music made us all play better. We are grateful for having had the opportunity to make music with you Mick!”

CLUTCH:
Neil Fallon – Vocals/Guitar
Tim Sult – Guitar
Dan Maines – Bass
Jean-Paul Gaster – Drums/Percussion

www.facebook.com/clutchband
www.instagram.com/clutchofficial
www.twitter.com/clutchofficial
www.pro-rock.com
www.youtube.com/user/officialclutch

Clutch, “Electric Worry (2019)”