Essential Listening for today, January 10th, is a mother: War of Ages' self-titled Strikefirst Records debut that came out in 2005. Ten songs of metallic hardcore - featuring one of the most electrifying guitar displays in recent months. These kids can play. Check them out here and/or here.
From the ol' Email Bag:
Widows(formerly The Kirby) have a new song up online called 'I Kiss My Sweetheart With My Fist'(nice). They're booking a huge four-month tour starting next month, so keep an eye out and go listen to the song at purevolume or myspace or wherever.
Illect Recordings in Minnesota is working up some new albums for 2006. Check this highlight list: full-length from Sintax.the.terrific called Curb Appeal, two EPs from Cookbook and UNO Mas of LA Symphony and a collabo between Deepspace5 and producer Beat Rabbi called Deepspace5oul. Catchy. The heat will be here in the new year from the Illect crew!
Some news from the kidlets out at Tooth & Nail Records in Seattle now: Far-Less has a new song up over at purevolume and myspace; song's called 'Jumping the Shark', and there are two others taken from the band's upcoming debut Everyone Is Out to Get Us. Amusing title. As well, though their debut won't be out til March of 2007(that's right, '07), Seattle's own The Classic Crime have a very-advance song up over here. Lastly, Mae will be on tour for a couple weeks with Yellowcard:
1/19/06 - Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Café
1/20/06 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagles Club
1/21/06 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
1/22/06 - Cleveland, OH - The Odeon
1/24/06 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
1/26/06 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
1/27/06 - Boston, MA - Axis
1/28/06 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
1/29/06 - Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
2/01/06 - Chicago, IL - Metro
2/04/06 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
2/05/06 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
2/07/06 - Los Angeles, CA - Avalon
2/08/06 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's
Well, my day just got a little wrecked by the following statement from Further Seems Forever: "After seven years as a band with various lineups, three records and over a thousand shows, FSF agree it is time to move on to other things in our lives. Further Seems Forever will be playing our final shows in early 2006. They will be with the full electric band. We will be doing spot shows in various cities across the country and Canada. We will do our best to play as many places as possible but several members now have full-time jobs and other full time commitments. We hope to see all our fans out at the shows and look forward to playing for you one more time." Canada? Really? I will be there if it's Ottawa and/or Montreal. Remind me to construct a shrine of remembrance in honour of one of my absolute favourite bands. R.I.P. [saveyourscene]
More band-disbanding news...kinda. Vocalist Jesse Zaraska has left Misery Signals; the band will be holding auditions via their myspace page for a new frontman, while Zaraska has a new project going called Sleeping Girls, featuring other ex-members of Compromise, Zaraska's pre-MS outfit.
Former Ninety Pound Wuss misfit and current Suffering & The Hideous Thieves frontman Jeff Bettger, aka Jeff Suffering, is the man. Want proof? Check this here out. Schweeet.
Earlier today I was wondering with a friend of mine about what had become of Kittie, who are purportedly with a new label after Artemis, and then saw over on absolutepunk that they're indeed touring, in April - with Evergreen Terrace and Calico System? Weird cross-pollination of scenes there.
There's rumours afoot that former Blink-182 guitarist Tom Delonge's new band Angels And Airwaves will be touring with AFI this summer. Pure, sweet truth? Vile, slanderous fiction? Time will tell.
Furthermore, there are other rumours swirling that Slayer will be taking Lamb of God on the road. Wow. That's a lot of metal for one evening.
Zao's new album will done in a couple weeks; check out some tentative song titles thus far:
'Physician Heal Thyself'
'Everything You Love Will Soon Fly Away'
'American Sheets on the Deathbed'
'Killing Time Until It's Time To Die'
'Kingdom Of Thieves'
At least they're not like thirty-word song titles like Zao's old stuff. Remember Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest? Holy cow. I love me some Zao, I do.
I bet touring with Denison Witmer and Copeland last summer had something to do with it: Rainer Maria are insisting that they are not putting out an album on The Militia Group label(Witmer and Copeland both call TMG home). So there!
'Little Hitlers' is a brand-new Remembering Never tune, taken from their soon-to-be-in-stores third album God Save Us - download it over here.
The other day I mentioned a piece I contributed to cmusicweb, whereby Thrice had topped my year-end list. Now. Had Vheissu not come out, Comeback Kid's Wake the Dead would have won top spot in my humble book by a landslide - and they're doing some Canadian shows! Check it out:
01.24.06 | Regina, SK @ The Exchange | w/Go it Alone
01.25.06 | Saskatoon, SK @ The Basement | w/Go it Alone
01.26.06 | Calgary, AB @ The Underground | w/Go it Alone
01.28.06 | Vancouver, BC @ TBA
It doesn't lessen the blow of Further Seems Forever's demise, but everyone's favourite Weezer knockoffs, OZMA, are back in the saddle again. Hooray for power pop!
And just so no one accuses us here at the D of not being metal enough, I just wanted to say that Unearth's debut The Stings of Conscience remains an absolute landmark. See ya later, jerkies.
Posted by mike at January 10, 2006 06:18 PM