5 Minute Origin Stories with Crucible of Hate

Who out there remembers Crucible?!  Crucible was an amazing metal band that was based out of my delicious hometown of St. Louis, MO.

They were so metal, they had songs called well... A Dying Breed, and...other songs! Their lead guitarist later founded another St. Louis metal institution, Travail!

That man was truly an amazing guitarist, but wait! There's something wrong! We aren't talking about any of those bands and my formative years in The Murder City. 

I left out some words...it's Crucible of Hate. You've liked them on FACEBOOK right?

Keep an eye out for preordering information.

Road Warriors with Rob Williams of Texas Metal Outlaws

Formerly of IGNITOR and  currently of Texas Metal Outlaws, Rob Williams gets with us on what it's like to be out on the road.

Look out for coming details of their new record.

In the mean time, let's dive right in...

1. What's the right length for a tour? 

There are a lot of factors that go into answering this question. What is the makeup of your band and their priorities? Do they have families or jobs to attend to? 

Do they play in other bands and will they lose money in the long run if you're on the road too long? Do you have a band account where you take your earnings from playing clubs and invest into an account where you can afford gas, food and lodging while on the road? 

Is the tour a strong enough package to get people in another city to come see you on aTuesday night? All of these kinds of questions need to be carefully considered and discussed as a group.

1 Up with Nick Noro of Survival

Who wants Survival?

In this rare instance, we are talking about Survival Horror. This is a topic that's never been discussed on these pages. In nearly six years of music journalism excellence, we (there used to be others) have never discussed what it was like to be a member of the Raccoon City PD.

NOTE: I did see a Raccoon City PD T-shirt at Slayer...

Nick Noro, he's ready to get real about what's going on in that fictional town. He's the Roger Waters of  Post-Thrash something something metal band, Survival.

This spring they released their latest record, Murkin Hella Fools, and you can check that out on BANDCAMP. You can also get to the bottom of their mysteries on FACEBOOK.

Apparently, Nick, like this Nik (the one writing) likes video games.

Check out this meeting of the Nicks. (Niks?)

5 Minute Origin Stories with Hollow Leg

Hollow Leg

Have you ever been to Jacksonville, FL?

I have not, but being honest, this blogger still has a pretty exposed hatred for Jacksonville, FL. You want to know why?

Because of American Football.

1. Jacksonville got one of the expansion teams we were supposed to have gotten in St. Louis.

2. Jacksonville got the owner we were supposed to get in St. Louis, Shahid Khan.

Anyway, hockey and soccer are better sports (Fight Me. Fair warning, I'm three lessons into Karate.) than the NFL anyway.

Jacksonville, FL is not only the home to the football usurpers, but also to the acclaimed doom/sludge band Hollow Leg. Once again, they're rather willing to jump into my fray.

Make sure you read all the way to the end...there's a surprise inside!

As always, FACEBOOK and BANDCAMP are your friends.

Video: "Beast of Oblivion" by Solborn

If there's one place in this god forsaken world that we can count on for life, liberty, and health care, it's Canada.

Naturally people will want to talk about trendy Canada, the microbrewed beer of Toronto. The glitz of Degrassi Jr High. I've even heard tale of the Hash Dens of Montreal.

But all of those places, they're not real Canada. Where did Sean's brother move to on Degrassi? Calgary, to go work on the oil rigs.

Today, we're talking not about Calgarians, but Edmontonians and the sworn enemy of the Stampeders. Let's head to Rough Rider Country....wait...Eskimos Country I mean!

Canadian Symphonic Metal band, Solborn, has released their debut record, Dark Lights of Delirium, and you can order that HERE and become best friends on FACEBOX.

Now click play on the rawk!

Road Warriors with Jim Gregory of Solium Fatalis

Coming up in October, the latest album by Blackend Melodic Death Metal Band, Solium Fatalis, Genetically Engineered to Enslave, drops via Bancamp.

If you're into the metals, you can pre-order that HERE.

Genetically Engineered to Enslave is the fourth album from the New Hampshire quartet.

Their latest release features some cameo appearances by some of Extreme Metal's most famous faces. Track 5, A Gathering of Storms, features assists from Matt McGachy of Cryptopsy and Haydee Irizarry of CHTHE'ILST. Ask them what McGachy is like in person FACEBOOK.

5 Minute Origin Story with Hessian

Hessian hales from Portland, ME.

The only other artist that springs to mind from that part of these United States would be Spose. He typically rocks a Portland Pirates hat on stage.

Hessian though, they're about as far away from Spose as one could possibly be. 

Their latest album, Mercenary Retrograde. will be released on September 14, 2018 through the Urtod Void imprint.

It's been five years since their last release got the world shaking, and their Thin Lizzy meets Danzig approach to Heavy Metal and Roll ought get some more fans butts shakin' in the seats while they worship the devil and take shots with the Crystal Skull.

Before you jump over to Bandcamp to get your fix...find our more about how the band came to be.

1 Up with Mega Ran

MEga Ran

It was in the middle of my state, in Columbia, MO that I first laid eyes on Random aka Mega Ran.

Over the years, his usage of multiple monikers hasn't made it as easy to keep up with him, but for those of us that have, we've been rewarded.

Anyone who's seen any of his album covers, videos, etc, will know that he's probably the best person to kick off the new Glacially Musical Column on video games.

His catalog will reveal a love for Capcom, which is one I share as well, but he's a Megaman guy and I'm a Dungeons and Dragons guy.

The nerdcore hip-hop stalwart has a new album coming out that he's made in collaboration with MC Lars called The Dewey Decibel System and you can order that HERE.

Glacially Musical: My first system was a pong clone, the yellow and black Odessey 300. What was your first Console? 

Video: "Goodbye" by Tragul

Symphonic Power Metal band, Tragul, have covered the song Goodbye from the Netflix series, Dark, their third single this year.

Check it out below.

Tragul can be harangued on Facebook and you can order their music HERE.

5 Minute Origin Stories With Tongue Eating Louse

Tongue Eating LOuse

So, up there in the Fabled Canadas exist a band called Tongue Eating Louse.

Founded in 2013, the Ottawa based quartet is prepping their debut release on Sludgelord Records, Voidwalker, which can be preordered HERE.

This two track blackened sludgestravaganza will have you dripping with sweat and glistening with contentment.

Ask them all about that on FACEBOOK.

In the meantime, let's get to know more about the fellas and what makes them tick....

1. Is there an event you can point to you that made you say, wow, that's the instrument I want to play? Not like guitar or drums, but the reason why you play the model you do?

Film School with 1968

1968

OK, let's get straight down to brass tacks today.

There's this band, called 1968 and they were formed in 2013.

So, 1968 was apparently nearly fifty years late. That's kind of a scary thought. What if right now, 2018 is running ahead of schedule?

Well...moving on to the real brass tacks, or red carpets, 1968 was formed out of an interest in that time frame in American history. 1968 was a very tumultuous year for us in the U S of A....and 1968 has chosen to ruminate on 1968 in order to make cool music.

You can sample their tunage on SPOTIFY and make good friends on FACEBOOK.

1. What's the first movie you remember seeing as a child?

Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Video: "Unholy Lightness Summer Pt. 1" by Vardan

Vardan was able to set my nightmares to music in a truly chilling way. It's the kind of feeling that helped take the sting out of the pain though.

Vardan is able to create a strange, doom/black/atmospheric/electronic kind of thing.

The new album entitled, Unholy Lightness Summer, is being released on August 10, 2018. This record is a strange blend of the aforementioned elements in which Vardan works.

Allow me to introduce you to the first act in Vardan's macabre play.

Check in with him on FACEBOOK and preorder the album HERE.

Vinyloscopy with MC Lars

MC Lars

Now, you out there in the ether might think that I'm cool.

It's possible you've come to that conclusion, after all, you saw the interview I did with Rex Brown (Pantera, Kill Devil Hill) right?  Truly though, I am now, and always have been nerdy. I don't mean that hipster nerd BS that's out there these days.

So, one of the things I totally dig is music about fan cultures that I've always been into. Anime, Star Wars, Star Trek, video games, and literature.

MC Lars is one of the big names in Nerdcore Hiphop who's out there day in, day out, writing the songs he loves, spreading joyful smiles, and hustling as hard as he can. Toxic Toast Records just released his last two albums (of like 739) on glorious 33rpm vinyl, but those were his last two albums.

As a man who's always working and recording, MC Lars and Megaran have an album up for preorder now on Kickstarter, The Dewey Decibel System, about their favorite works of literature. If you're not up on the preordering, make sure you check out the Facebook.

As he's in the vinyl world now, it seemed like a good time to ask him about records.... see below.

LP Review: "Fringe" by Lurk

Fringe

There is just a time and a place for soul crushing doom metal.

That time is anytime. That place is any god damned place that has speakers. In previous epochs, doom metal, atmospheric metal, and avant garde metal would've been of little interest to me.

But over the years the avant garde metal set has largely coagulated into the doom metal sub-genre.

Lurk, for my money, has all of the hallmarks of what makes this music great. It's not just heavy, but dense. It's not just varied, but Lurk are likely suffering from multiple personality disorder.

Any fool with a guitar can go out and make an atmospheric doom metal record, but it takes a forward thinking band who's not sure if they're instrumental or not, to make a truly captivating doom album.

That's what Lurk have done...once they set their hooks in, you'll likely never leave the fringe again.

Release: 8/4/18 FACEBOOK ORDER

5 Minute Origins with Degrave

Degrave

For nearly 35 years, the wider world has known about thrash metal. It's a style of metal that even though is an ancestor to other more extreme forms, it never went out of style.

Thrash gave way to Grindcore and Death Metal, but unlike Homo Habilis, it kept on chugging along with thick riffs and reckless abandon.

Degrave is one those bands that's never let it go. Hailing straight out of Middle America's navel, Jefferson City, MO, they continue to let the fur fly. (St. Louis says hi, Jeff City, btw.)

Their latest record, Degrave, was just released without the aid of a record label. You can pick it up on Bandcamp. Don't forget to fistbump them on Facebook.