We'll Do It Live Fridays: An Ache For Awesomeness

 

No special announcements here.....just another WDILF post coming your way to hopefully make your Friday more metal.  For this week's WDILF post, I decided to go with a Chicago based band whose latest album has been growing on me a lot as of late.  Check out who it is after the break.

 

Concert Review: Ghost (Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge - January 24, 2012)

Full disclosure:  I have wanted to see Ghost live since I first listened to their debut Opus Eponymous last February.  I thought I would get that chance when it was announced they were touring with Alcest and Enslaved; unfortunately they had to drop off that tour due to visa issues.  I still went, seeing as Alcest is incredible and Enslaved is, you know, Enslaved.  I enjoyed the show for the most part, but still found myself disappointed I didn't get to see the spectacle that is Ghost.  So you can imagine my excitement when Mick informed me that Ghost was returning to the States, for sure, no visa issues, for another tour.  That tour hit the Bottom Lounge here in Chicago this past Tuesday, so Mick, my roommate Zack and I ventured forth to celebrate a Black Mass with the Nameless Ghouls in Ghost.

Find out if they lived up to my anticipation after the jump...

Brand New Veil Of Maya!

A few days ago, Sumerian records released the above clip. It's a teaser for Veil Of Maya's brand new record, Eclipse. Seeing this clip above got me pretty excited to hear some new material from these Chicago natives. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long. Last night, around 11pm or so, the first single of Eclipse was released. Entitled "Vicious Circles," the new track is mighty impressive. If this is a good indication of the kind of material we can expect from the new album, count this guy as very interested.

Check out "Vicious Circles" after the break.

Review: Alcest - Les Voyages De l'Åme

Released by Prophecy Productions, 2012.

Les Voyages De l'Âme is not a metal record. It really isn't. But hold on, stop me if you've heard this sort of thing before… Les Voyages De lÂme is a truly groundbreaking record for metal. Alcest, and intrinsically the solitary soul behind its green curtain, Neige (Eng: Snow), has been painstakingly rigging impassioned, congenial explosives at the base of black metal's structure for nearly a decade. But unlike Liturgy, the assault comes unwittingly from within. The reality that Alcest and its creator are slowly tearing down the walls and preconceptions of metal's most infamous and tightly wound subgenre without intent, let alone malcontent, are what make the whole process that much more fascinating. Previous efforts Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde and Écailles de Lune served as the conceptual ordinance; Les Voyages… is nothing if not the arbitrary yet definitive detonator.

Read the rest after the jump.

Review: Nightwish - Imaginaerum

When Nightwish released their last album, 2007’s Dark Passion Play, fans were reasonably skeptical.  After all, the album was the band’s first following the highly acrimonious split with former lead singer Tarja Turunen.  New vocalist Anette Olzon was a relative unknown, and it was legitimate to question whether chief writer and band leader Tuomas Holopainen could keep the magic.  He did, and then some; Dark Passion Play is as soaring and ambitious an album as anything in Nightwish’s then decade-long discography.  Olzon’s vocal prowess was a perfect fit for the band, and Holopainen’s songwriting was as sharp as ever.  Fans breathed a sigh of relief, and when a new album was announced, it was greeted with enthusiasm; surely the album would rise to even higher heights than Dark Passion Play now that the group was familiar with each other and free of off-stage issues, right?

More after the jump.

We'll Do It Live Fridays: Neptune Is Dead!

Another Friday brings yet another We'll Do It Live Fridays Post from us here at Brutalitopia.  I'm particularly excited about this post because I've been dying to find a good live clip from this band for quite some time (Hint: this band was pretty far up on my Top 15 Albums of 2011 list).  See who it is after the break.

We'll Do It Live Fridays: Preparing For 13 Dates Of Doom (Ghost)

All of us here at Brutalitopia would be straight up lying if we said we weren't totally stoked for the upcoming Ghost North American Tour, appropriately entitled "13 Dates Of Doom."  We'd also be lying if we said we didn't hop on the Ghost-wagon as it took off with their release of Opus Eponymous last spring.  However, the real hook with this band is the mystery that surrounds their live show.  I won't go into full detail about all of it, but there's an awesome article about them from Invisible Oranges.  Entitled "Why Ghost Matters," the article explains just that.  Read it.  Love it.  Accept that Ghost rules.

Read after the break to view a FULL Ghost concert (in awesome quality no less).   

Killswitch Engage Parts Ways With Howard Jones

Word just got out, via their facebook page, that Killswitch Engage has officially parted ways with their lead singer, Howard Jones.  The official announcement is below.

"To our family, friends and fans: We have decided to continue on without Howard Jones as the singer of Killswitch Engage. We love Howard and are thankful for the nine years that we've had him in the band. Out of respect for everyone involved we will not be discussing the specific reasons behind this decision. Howard is a part of our family and always will be, and we wish him well. He has left big shoes to fill, so we certainly have our work cut out for us to find the next singer of Killswitch, something we plan on making priority #1 going forward. Most importantly, thanks to all of you for all the support throughout the years and for sticking by us for all this time. We really do appreciate it and we very much look forward to having a new record for all of you in the not too distant future that we can all be proud of. Sincerely, Adam, Joel, Mike & Justin."

This is big news.  What does this mean for the future direction of KSE?  Will Jesse Leach be back in the picture?  These are only speculations for now, but it will certainly be interesting to see what develops

- Mick

Trivium vs. Ghost (It's Not What You Think)

Trivium just posted this along with a few other pictures from a recent photo-shoot they did with Ghost on their Facebook page.  I thought this one would be worth a few good laughs.

- Mick