Maryland Deathfest: A Preview Part 3: Saturday May 24th

Saturday is another solid day for the fest and here, once again, is how it breaks down.

Maryland Deathfest: A Preview Part 2: Friday May 23rd

Previously I covered the small Thursday night offering which now has to be amended with the dropping out of Tom G. Fischer and Triptykon from the bill to help plan the funeral services for Swiss surrealist/artist H.R. Giger. Kudos to Tom for doing the right thing; I'm sure most would do the same thing. So without further ado let's see what each venue offers as far as Friday is concerned.

Maryland Deathfest: A Preview Part 1: Thursday May 22nd @ Rams Head Live

I know I speak for a lot of you out there when I say that I am excited for the upcoming Maryland Deathfest XII in Baltimore, MD. I also realize that some of the bands on this fight card might not be the most recognizable; I am here to help correct (most) of that. I have decided to cover each venue on each day so that everybody knows what to look for when drawing up a map of what to do night in and night out. Luckily, Thursday will be a one-stop shop at Rams Head Live. See how it all breaks down after the break.

Trioscapes and Rocket Miner at Beat Kitchen, Chicago, IL

This past Sunday, the Durfette and I skipped our typical Sunday night routine of looking forward to watching Game of Thrones and then actually watching Game of Thrones to venture out to Chicago's Beat Kitchen to catch the jazz/metal/something stylings of Trioscapes.  For those unfamiliar, Trioscapes is a project consisting of bassist Dan Briggs (Between the Buried and Me), tenor saxaphonist Walter Fancourt (Casual Curious, Brand New Life), and drummer Matt Lynch (Eyns).  The band's debut album Separate Realities is one of the Durfette's favorite metal-ish records, so when I saw the band would be in our neck of the woods, getting tickets was a no-brainer.

Mitochondrion's First Official Demo Released

The Canadian death-metallers in the ever so brutal Mitochondrion released, via their Facebook page, their very first official demo from 2006, entitled Through Cosmic Gaze. According to the comments left by the band in the facebook post, the youtube clip of the demo is "original sound but will be remastered for the eventual vinyl re-issue"...certainly good news for vinyl collectors who are looking to add a savage installment to their libraries.

Anyways, go on and check out the demo after the break!

Free Russian Circles Show Announced

Let me first apologize for our recent inactivity here on Brutalitopia. Despite any excuses I could come up with, I can say we'll back to our usual "two posts or so per week" schedule very soon. Sometimes, it can just take a fun little news story to get me back in the writing groove. So check out the news after the break.

Coffinworm - IV.I.VIII

It's rapidly approaching springtime here in Chicago, with baseball, barbecues, and other summer goodness finally near at hand. It's been a hell of a winter here, with lots of snow and even more cold, so I'm definitely stoked to be able to put on a pair of shorts, grab an ice cold beer, and commence my acquisition of some good ol' melanoma. Yet there's a part of me that's going to miss winter. Maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome, but as the days warm and the fair maidens of Chicago find less and less reason to cover up, I just find myself yearning for frigid temperatures, longing for a sense of cold bleakness that seems endless. I'm sure I'm not alone; spring is great for being outside, but it's pretty shitty for contemplating the futility of life, which is necessary thought process for a Monday morning. Luckily for myself and everyone else looking for a bit of misanthropy to accompany their sunshine, Indianapolis' Coffinworm has returned with IV.I.VII, an album that will make the next Polar Vortex feel like a balmy 70 degrees.

Exclusive Interview - Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater) #2

It was with great pleasure that Durf and myself were able to sit down and chat this past Saturday with Dream Theater keyboardist Jordan Rudess. In what was certainly the fanciest place we've ever conducted an interview, we ended up talking about the intricacies of what has gone into Dream Theater's current tour, thoughts on their latest album, and Jordan's best interpretation of the term "progressive music."

Check out the full interview after the break!

Animals As Leaders - The Joy of Motion

Whether you love or hate the whole djent movement, at least you have the instrumental trio in Animals As Leaders to thank for the good things that developed out of it all. On previous releases like their 2009 self-titled debut and 2011’s Weightless, the group has developed expectations for what forthcoming releases should sound like. For instance, such expectations might include Meshuggah-esque grooves and electronic soundscapes, melded with other-worldly technical abilities from lead guitarist Tosin Abasi; the outcome being something that’s usually both heavy and varied. In other words, the bar was set high for their latest release, The Joy of Motion…..but perhaps a little too high. Ultimately, The Joy of Motion fails to captivate as much as its predecessors had. With the majority of the songs sounding more like warm-up exercises than they do actual songs, it makes you question whether or not this album should’ve actually been called The Joy of Going Through the Motions.

Trenchrot - Necronomic Warfare

2014 has been a year that has been slow to materialize with great metal. Thankfully Unspeakable Axe Records have unleashed upon the unsuspecting masses a debut from a death metal band that isn't afraid to be traditional as well as adding other not so common elements to their sound. They thrash and bash their way through this album with what seems like a relentless assault from the early '90s, but it is when you subscribe to this notion that they surprise you... with melody. Enter Trenchrot and their debut Necronomic Warfare.