Considering the recent demise of Dismember, it's good to know there are still bands out there churning out solid no-frills Swedish death (fucking) metal like mr. Death. I'm all for innovation and and originality and whatever, but there's also something to be said for sticking to a genre and doing it perfectly and mr. Death do just that. I'd even venture to say that their sophomore record "Descending through ashes" is an improvement on their totally solid debut. Also worth noting: there are few genres where the practitioners seem to improve as they get older and strangely, contrary to all expectations, death metal has proven to be an exception, alongside jazz and country. Yes, there are plenty of youngins who are able to nail that filthy old-school sound and so on, but more often than not, they end up coming off as try-hards or are sorely lacking in actual songwriting abilities. Not so with many of the other old-timers such as mr. Death; see also US counterparts such as Disma and Immolation who are both 40+ and at the top of their game. Respect your elders!
11/10 - Teatro Espace, Torino (ITA)
11/11 - Circolo Degli Artisti, Roma (ITA)
11/12 - Teatro Regio, Parma (ITA)
11/17 - Razzmatazz 2, Barcelona (ESP)
11/18 - Caracol, madrid (ESP)
11/19 - musicbox, Lisboa (PT)
11/18 - Cidade Da Cultura, Santiago de Compostela (ESP)
11/26 - Fuzz Club, Athens (GRE)
12/17 - mega Club, Katowice (POL)
01/14 - movistar Arena, Santiago de Chile (CL)
Freddie Wadling (Cortex, Blue for Two, etc.) will release his new album"With a License to Kill", a collection of James Bond soundtrack songs and other secret agent tunes, on November 9. I hesitate to say that I'm excited to hear it, but I am definitely curious.
Swedish rockers The movements willb e doing a split 10" with French act The Angry Dead Pirates via in early 2012 and will also be heading over there for a tour in April. Dates/details to be confirmed.
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continues to quietly release plenty of great music, regardless of whether or not anyone is paying attention, and they've been on a bit of a roll as of late. One such example would be "Sisters", a beautiful slice of pastoral pop fromThe Culture In memoriam that brings to mind similar rustic works from the likes of ex-labelmates The Bear Quartet, Neil Young and so on. Usually I'm not so big on the gentle falsetto as it's often way too much of an affect for my tastes, but there are always exceptions to be made and TCIm fit the rule. The song gets better and better as it goes along too, adding more and more subtle layers of sound and orchestration. And the b-side "Vanilla wreck"? I think I might like that one even more.
Haleiwa (nee mikko Singh) is back in the studio working on his next album, with 3 tunes in the can and an eye on a summer 2012 release. Stay tuned! In related news, mikko's other band Will Gambola Sing (which also features members fromThe Grand Opening) will begin recording something new in December.
Don't know anything about who Chicago Hartley is, but "Syrenhortensia" is their (his?) new EP (due out October 26) and it's produced by Jimmy Ledrac, a Swedish artist who's probably best known for his work with Looptroop and Promoe.