FUCKING METAL!

Just so all you dear readers and submitters understand, we get a lot of press releases, show announcements, and material for review. A LOT. The thing about us, the fine bloggers of CIMTB, is that not only are we generally a busy lot- novelists, touring musicians, librarians, beardists, homoerotic fanfiction writers- but we are also guided by... and this may be what sets us apart... WHIMSY. Yes. So when your press release or show announcement or new single tickles our fancy, whether for good or ill, we post about it. I wish it was within our power to review everything.

That being said, here is the most recent thing to slip through the transom, from cool local venue Branx:



+ + + SATURDAY, JULY 2nd 2011 + + +




YOB

After the fallout surrounding the farcical lawsuit that befell YOB mainman Mike Scheidt concerning a former band that we cannot really say the name of because of legal reasons, a band that would then become Age Eternal which would also end up folding, it was inevitable and natural that Scheidt would start jamming once again with longtime YOB drummer Travis Foster and resurrect the beast with a vengeance.

Along with the legendary band Sleep, YOB were always considered one of, if not the heaviest doom metal three-piece ever and already have quite the massive and impressive repertoire (a good portion of it released by Metal Blade) at their disposal. Most importantly, the reason why YOB have such a respect amongst the doom metal scene, is that they have forged a distinct sound (culled from such influences as Black Sabbath, Neurosis, Obsessed and the aforementioned Sleep) that no other doom metal band could adhere to.

Over the years, YOB have gained quite the reputation with their signature and distinct style of epic elongated crushing atmospheric sludge doom. With “The Great Cessation”, YOB have undoubtedly churned out their heaviest, darkest, and ultimately, as Schedit confidently describes, their best album in their storied career. Following in tradition of the YOB sound, “The Great Cessation” also welcomes new elements into the YOB sound picture which could take a few listeners by surprise.

"The Great Cessation” is a time-stretching, timeless, and unearthly slab of monolithic doom metal art. Produced by renowned knob pusher Sanford Parker (Pelican, Minsk, Nachtmystium, The Gates of Slumber, etc.) in the band’s hometown of Eugene, Oregon.

New album due out in August 2011 on Profound Lore!



DARK CASTLE (FL)

Awake in Sleep - Dark Castle from Paul Myers on Vimeo.

Florida’s musical legacy, as far as those of us who walk the left-hand path are concerned, has always lain within the murky depths of death metal, spawned decades ago by the godless noise mongers of Death, Morbid Angel, Deicide and more. It’s fitting, then, that the two musicians behind Florida’s most crushing new export, DARK CASTLE, have spent most of their lives playing in metal bands and honing the tools of their trade.

Currently based in St. Augustine, Florida, drummer/vocalist Rob Shaffer and guitarist/vocalist Stevie Floyd met in 2005 and bonded over a shared musical vision (and love for Death). They immediately began writing the music that would, over time, form the skeleton of their first release. Heavily inspired by spirituality, nature and the flow of creation and life itself, DARK CASTLE incorporate multicultural scales (particularly Hungarian and Japanese) and the kind of innovative time signatures that doom metal has always yearned for to create something new, exciting but always conscious of its bloody roots and the all-important groove.

Drawing upon their artistic backgrounds (both Stevie and Rob are accomplished tattoo artists) and D.I.Y. know-how, DARK CASTLE self-released the handmade, limited edition Flight of Pegasus EP in 2007. Their forward-thinking, psychedelia-laced doom epics caught the attention of At a Loss Records, who signed on to release their debut full-length, Spirited Migration in June 2009. Since the band’s inception, they have shared stages and toured with the likes of Baroness, Pentagram, Zoroaster, Rwake, Weedeater, Black Tusk, Sourvein and Jucifer and took the continent by storm on their first ever European tour with Kylesa in the spring of 2010. On stage, bathed in glowing red light and billowing smoke, DARK CASTLE summon the power to open minds and move mountains using only a guitar, a drum kit, two voices, two minds and a bottomless well of earth-shaking riffs.

".....the band achieves an entirely developed atmosphere that borders on prog ambience with instrumental centerpiece “Weather the Storm,” while maintaining a stripped-down aesthetic that confidently snarls in the direction of Oceanic-era Isis and younger, rawer Crowbar." - The Obelisk



WIZARD RIFLE

"....this oft-shirtless two-piece serves up herky-jerky guitar squall and mind-bending time signatures." - Portland Mercury

".....a proggy, dry ice and goat's blood-imbibing duo." - Willamette Week

".....recalls the Melvins in their hammering, slowed-down punk beat and half-chanted, half-yelled vocal harmonies. In an unusual achievement for something this heavy, they also rivals perennial noodlers Hella in instrumental virtuosity." - Oregon Live



SLOTHS

Unfortunately, Sloths has no biographical info or available videos, so here are some cute sloths.



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7pm || ALL AGES, BAR W/ ID || $10 advance, $13 dos

ADVANCE TIX AVAILABLE AT BROWN PAPER TICKETS

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