Mostly it will travel to and from YouTube, where it was posted and then promptly removed due to its explicit nudie content. How they can get down with banning nipples and show all those Bible-touting jackasses is beyond me, but I suppose there’s a reason I never got that censor job. Lair of the Minotaur‘s track “Evil Power” comes from their album of the same name, and if you managed to catch hold of their “War Metal Battle Master” clip, you should have some idea of what you’re getting here. Brutal, and obviously, NSFW.
My chief issue with destructive Chicago outfit Lair of the Minotaur has always been memorability. For each of their three albums prior to the latest, Evil Power (their first on self-release label The Grind-House Records), I’ve been psyched to get the disc, put it on, rocked the fuck out, usually woken up in a puddle of someone else’s blood not knowing where I’ve been or what I’ve done, then put the record on the shelf and completely forgotten about it. It’s happened three times now, and more if you count the Cannibal Massacre EP from 2005.
Back then they were on Southern Lord, and the hype around their brutal attack was palpable. Now people know what to expect from a Lair of the Minotaur album and dress accordingly — Kevlar, chain mail, bicycle helmets, etc. What that means is the trio, now consisting of guitarist/vocalist Steven Rathbone, bassist Nate Olp (Demiricous) and drummer Chris Wozniak, have to change things up a little bit.
On Evil Power, they do. Their sound is still based on some of the most pummeling metal the US has ever produced, but several of their tracks show an affinity for hard rock riffing that reminds of Entombed (Rathbone’s vocals also help in this regard; see “Hunt and Devour” and “Attack the Gods”) even as it reaches down your throat to pull out organs both vital and incidental. Whatever it can find, really.
Posted in Whathaveyou on February 9th, 2010 by JJ Koczan
By the hairy shoulders of Zeus, it’s Chicago crusher-killers Lair of the Minotaur! Verily, they are one of the most brutal, violent acts in these United States, sure to rip the faces off many an unsuspecting boozer in basements all across the land! And what’s this? They have their own label now and a new album? Certainly this is a reason to hide in the bunker you dug into your back yard last summer and subsist for several months on canned peaches and recycled water.
The PR wire incites a panic:
The Greek mythology-inspired carnage continues on Lair of the Minotaur‘s upcoming fourth full-length, Evil Power. The CD and digital download will be released on April 13, 2010 on The Grind-House Records, an independent record label started by Steve Rathbone, Chris Wozniak (both from LOTM) and Josh Diebel (former head of Alleysweeper Records). The record will be distributed by Southern Lord Records, who have released the band’s previous three albums on CD and vinyl, two EPs and DVD.
Evil Power lays all in its path to waste with an approach as heavy as the Kraken, while showing off the band’s heavy rock and punk influences. A deluxe LP version will be released in late summer 2010, featuring a bonus track not available on CD or digital download. Check out the Scott Jackson cover art, and hear the track “We are Hades” at the band’s MySpace page now: http://www.myspace.com/lairoftheminotaur.
Evil Power CD tracklist:
1. “Attack the Gods”
2. “Let’s Kill These Motherfuckers”
3. “Riders of Skullhammer, We Ride the Night”
4. “Evil Power”
5. “Goatstorm”
6. “Hunt and Devour”
7. “Metal Titans”
8. “Blood from the Witch’s Vein”
9. “We are Hades”
10. “Death March of the Conquerors”
11. “The Violent Iron Age of Man”
The album was recorded in the dead of winter in Chicago at Semaphore Studios by Sanford Parker, and mastered by Scott Hull. Rathbone states, “If War Metal Battle Master was the war, Evil Power is the party after a bloody victory.” The album features new bassist, Nate Olp (vocalist/bassist of Demiricous) and guest backing vocals by General Diabolical Slaughter (Usurper), bringing mucho mayhem to the fold.
A new video for the title track, Evil Power, will be released with the album. Rathbone warns, “There will be blood! This video is unrelentingly brutal.” Directed by Ryan Oliver, the special effects master behind the “War Metal Battle Master” video and head of Chicago based Deathblow Productions. The video’s horror theme graphically details the torment of some unlucky virgins, sacrificed to the mighty Minotaur. An uncut version will be available on the web (also in HD), and a TV edit will be shown on MTV2/Headbangers Ball, Fuse and On Demand.
Coinciding with the release, the band is headlining a US tour through the Midwest and East Coast in April:
4/16/2010 Melody Inn – Indianapolis, IN
4/17/2010 Peabody‘s – Cleveland, OH
4/19/2010 M Room – Philadelphia, PA
4/20/2010 Sonar – Baltimore, MD
4/21/2010 The Charleston – Brooklyn, NY
4/22/2010 Velvet Lounge – WashingtonDC
4/23/2010 Broadway Joe’s – Buffalo, NY
4/24/2010 The Summit – Columbus, OH
My chief issue with destructive Chicago outfit Lair of the Minotaur has always been memorability. For each of their three albums prior to the latest, Evil Power (their first on self-release label The Grind-House Records), I’ve been psyched to get the disc, put it on, rocked the fuck out, usually woken up in a puddle of someone else’s blood not knowing where I’ve been or what I’ve done, then put the record on the shelf and completely forgotten about it. It’s happened three times now, and more if you count the Cannibal Massacre EP from 2005.
