Vinyloscopy with Black Tractor

There are so many bands, many of whom I know and love records, but never released anyvvinyl album. Hell, one band, I brought records and beers over to have dinner to and with.

It's funny if you think about it, unless...of course, you know a bit about it. Releasing on vinyl in 2020 isn't what it once was. Two masters are required.

I'll tell you know, Glacially Musical has a secret musical project, but it'll never be on vinyl. So what the deuce am I talking about?

Black Tractor though, they've begun the preorders for their upcoming album. I'll probably preorder the crap out of it shortly.

Because, let's get on that stuff. They're on BANDCAMP and you can learn how to love them.

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources?

I really enjoy the sound of albums recorded in the 1970s.  Gil Scott-Heron's Pieces Of A Man sounds great.  Something about dropping the needle and hearing that opening bass line of "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised"  never gets old.  

Roots: The Glitter of Infinite Hell by Clouds Taste Satanic

You know, if there's anything in this world I totally dig, it's whacked out doom metal and hanging out with my daughter.

The latest (re)release by Clouds Taste Satanic gave me just that opportunity.

I mean, there's really not a whole lot to SAY about it. It's a cool AF looking double splatter LP that features precisely no vocals, no lyrics, but amazing instrumental doom and the best packaging this side of Hell's Central West End.

That's what drew me to these guys. The cover, packaging, and color of Evil Eye was just too striking to scroll on by when I saw that pentagram.

The music contained within matches the packaging. That's a truly amazing feat.

Classic Spins with Ak Johnson of Special Ops

Let's talk a moment about Montreal based metalers, Special Ops.

If you need some more information, check out their BANDCAMP page.

1. My favorite kind of album is the concept album. The Wall is my absolute favorite. 

Beyond the amazing songs, it has spectacular nostalgia for me. What's your favorite one and why? 

There are a few that stand out. Helloween  -  Keeper of the Seven Keys, Manowar had -  "Achilles, Agony, and Ecstasy in Eight Parts"  that was supposed to be a predecessor of a concept album that never came, but instead in 2007 the band redeemed itself with "Gods of War" that is more focused on Norse Mythology. 

Those guys know their warrior history pretty well. But the most influential concept record to me growing up was WASPs "The Crimson Idol". 

5 Minute Origin Stories with Die Another Day

Die Another Day has released their latest EP, Wild Fire, on April 10th.

You should probably be listening to that on SPOTIFY right now. These Calgary metallers are ready rock.

While we're all waiting for the tours to get back up and going again,let's check out how it all began.

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?

It was definitely seeing Avenged Sevenfold for me. After seeing interviews where the members all talk about how much time they put into getting the exact tone they know their after through their instruments and amps, it helped me understand that those do take a huge consideration into what brand you want to work with.

Roots: "Extreme Power Metal" by Dragonforce

Welp. Dragonforce has the honor of being the first show I was attending to be canceled. First it was moved, then canceled.

All of this sucks, but that's the pandemic in which we live at present.

Honestly, it's been a very long time since I've really checked in on our international friends of Benetton Power Metal crusaders. There's been some member shake ups since when we last spoke, but in the end, Dragonforce remains the same.

They're the comfort food for the metal soul. It doesn't really seem like there's been any significant growth or change in the band, but who the  fuck cares?

Just crank those amps to 11 and melt my face off. 

Pizza Pie Do or Die with Nyiko

Every so often, it's nice for Glacially Musical to take a divergent path.

Sadly, my divergences are never quite as metal as the movie....of the same name.

But anyway, you might recall that I did a 7" vinyl review of his single, You Know I Loved It. I'm probably going to put that on the turntable today.

It's been too long I think.

But for the now, he's got a new single that dropped last month. The last few months for me have been just right for this kind of tunage.

Like The Movies has a modern era New Wave sound to me.

Check it on bandcamp, but right now, it's PIZZA PIE DO OR DIE!!!

1. Pizza is the world's most perfect food. This is not up for debate. Please define pizza as based on your geographical location.

5 Min Origin Stories with Turbo's Evan Frizzle

Check out the upcoming LP from Turbo. It's the only album that can be inspired by Black Sabbath and be called Fast As Fvck.

Still trying to work that out.

You can preorder it on BANDCAMP and preview the record.

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?

I (Evan Frizzle) believe in a "the wand chooses the wizard" kind of mentality when it comes to picking your specific instrument or what-have-you. 

Vinyloscopy by Traveler's JP Abboud

Calgary, Alberta is home to a traditional heavy metal band who's keeping it old school.

Traveler.

Their latest record, Terminal Shock, dropped a couple weeks ago.

Singer, JP Abboud was good enough to tell us about his records.

Check it!

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away. What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources? 

Definitely Genesis - Selling England by the Pound.

2. I was laying in bed one night and couldn't sleep and I figured, it was time to start buying records. 

How did you come to the idea that it was time to start buying vinyl instead? 

Woah, I mean, I had a killer outing when I was 17 iIthink in like....2004? I found, at a now defunct record store called Car City Classics, the first three Exciter for 99 cents, Grave Digger - Witch Hunter, Grim Reaper - See You in Hell.

Roots: "The IVth Crusade" by Bolt Thrower

In the summer of 2012, when I'd had every single slinger  and attended every single fish fry in St. Louis, I realized it was time for a change.

What became of that change was Glacially Musical. It was an idea that maybe I could acquire a larger audience by not writing about STL comfort foods.

So, as of right now, I'm creating a new column that that takes it back to the roots where I buy records and I tell you about them.

Here comes hot take Tuesday with Bolt Thrower.

Really, though I've seen the name bandied about on Twitter and in metal circles for what seems like an untold amount of decades, I've never heard them.

Hearing the reverence when their name was spoken though...it made me interested. So, based on C Rage Records's recommendation.... I picked up The IVth Crusade.

Here's where I tell you how amazing this record is that and it's changed my life for the better and there'll never be another band as good as Bolt Thrower.

Don't get me wrong, this is a great record, but honestly, it's not 1992 anymore, and I lack the proper context.

It's a lot like The Rolling Stones I guess.

But here's the unboxing video. I'll send you a CD if you comment on the post with the impersonation I'm doing.

5 Min Origin Stories with Tzimani's Ed Vasquez

You know, it's time to think about the beach, the sun, and staying the hell out of that. I'm the guy who on his last day of vacation was made fun of by the MC Lady at a Mexican resort for being so damned white.

Metal though, it doesn't matter where it comes from and we all know how idyllic scenes seem to create some amazing damned metal.

Seriously, how can you live in San Francisco and be angry?

That place is perfect but the Big Four found a way.

As it happens, Tzimani is from San Diego. Your average person wouldn't end up metal as hell there. It's not like here in St. Louis where it's too damned cold in the winter and too fucking hot in the summer.

But check out their tunes on Bandcamp.

Video: "Diamond Back (Guitar Playthrough)" by Lutharo

Unleashing their sophomore EP “Wings of Agony” this past March, Hamilton, ON's Lutharö are sharing with fans their latest guitar playthrough for their track 'Diamond Back'. 

The song itself is about doing whatever it takes to pursue your passion and growing a thicker skin in the process of doing so. Guitarist Victor Bucur explains the shredding of the track in further detail: 

“Diamond Back comes in guns a blazing with its crazy high energy and super-fast chuggy riffs! It then breaks into an extremely catchy harmonized chorus soaring above the madness and just when you think you’ve had a second to breathe, you get punched in the face with one menacing breakdown. 

Following the breakdown is one killer solo section filled with fast sweeps and tapping sections. One thing for sure, this song takes no prisoners!” 

Bandcamp Instagram

 

Pink Floyd Deep Dive #4: I'm The Man

We Miss You Floyd

Before, I get back to this project....It's time to get a couple of things off of my chest.

In the past month, my family has experienced some serious losses. Neither of which were related to the current pandemic, thankfully.

In early April, my stepfather died. I've known that man longer and spent more time with him than my biological father.

He's actually met my wife. It was wholly unexpected and was very, very painful.

Before he died, I noticed my kitten, Randall Pink Floyd, was losing weight. He wasn't nearly as active as he once was. I decided I needed to contact the vet and get him fixed up.

Well, we couldn’t  fix him up. He had a very rare disease and we had to put him to sleep that day. Then, a week or two later, I get the Facebook memories about my last cat we had to put to sleep.

Vinyloscopy with Chaka's Mark S. Sokoll

If I'm being honest with you, it's been far too long since we've had a column about records around this place and I, you friend and humble narrator gotta get busy living and get back to filling this joint up with misplaced content again.

SO...today we're talking records with the Bassist and Vocalist of Chaka.

Presently, they're still riding high on their EP, Neanderthal Tales, which you can stream up there on the BANDCAMP.

They've got some brutality waiting for you there.

In the meantime...there are records to talk about!!

1. Listening to Black Sabbath's eponymous debut the night I got it blew me away.

What's the album that sounds the best on vinyl compared to digital sources?

I believe that would be “Darkness Descends” by Dark Angel. The CD version just could not handle the drum sound.

2. I was laying in bed one night and couldn't sleep and I figured, it was time to start buying records. How did you come to the idea that it was time to start buying vinyl instead?

New Witchkiss EP Out Today

Great things can come out of trying times, and Doom distributors "Witchkiss" are proving just that! Saying goes, idle hands are the devils workshop. 

More like a creative persons playground! 

With time on their hands like so many others, Witchkiss has made good use of this to bring their self-isolated fans something significant to help them through the darkness.

The EP is called Transformation it is 2 songs, 18 mins long and will include the Single "Splitting Teeth" and and will be released 5/1/20 through our Bandcamp and all other major digital music outlets, including Apple Music and iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Etc....

Classic Spins with James Brookes of Evertrapped

Evertrapped (Frederick Blanchette)

If you don't mind me talking about myself  a bit before getting into it....

If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen, but personally I've been going through quite a lot lately.

Hopefully you're all surviving the quarantine and making it through.

So, without further adieu, let's talk about Evertrapped.

The Montreal based melodic death metal quintet's singer, James Brookes took some time to give us his classic spins.

This one is really, really cool because we see a different side of a death metal singer.

While you're thinking about it, check out their upcoming album, The Last Extinction.