LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH Announce Tour With MASTER

Los Angeles black metal heathens, LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH, are preparing to level the masses on a month-long U.S. tour supporting Czech Republic-by-way-of-Chicago death metal legends Master. The band will join the tour on March 4 in Brooklyn, New York and march through 30 cities throughout the country before winding down on April 3 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The band will be joined by Ohio thrashers Mobile Deathcamp on select dates.

Commented vocalist Autarch of the journey: "This is a pilgrimage reaching many places in our own country we have yet to poison with our gospel. We shall bring them the great gnosis of kaos, death and ecstasy. We will teach them to strangle the mundane with intestines of the apathetic."
 
LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH will be touring in support of The Extra Dimensional Wound, their second full-length, released via Metal Blade Records last year. The record, which Stereogum commended for being 'brutal, icy hot, super heavy, [and] full of lurching grooves, was released on vinyl in December via Canonical Hours Records and is available as a deluxe gatefold LP featuring two 200-gram discs with a 12-page booklet and expanded artwork in a limited edition of 500 copies.
LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH U.S. Tour 2011
w/ Master, Mobile Deathcamp
3/04/2011 Europa - Brooklyn, NY w/ Strong Intention
3/05/2011 Diablo - Buffalo, NY w/ Strong Intention
3/05/2011 Montage Music Hall - Rochester, NY (late show) w/ Strong Intention
3/06/2011 Popeye's - Peekskill, NY w/ Strong Intention

Mobile Deathcamp Joins Tour
3/07/2011 Now That's Class - Cleveland, OH
3/08/2011 The Summit - Columbus, OH
3/09/2011 Macs - Lansing, MI
3/10/2011 Vollrath Tavern - Indianapolis, IN
3/11/2011 Reggie's - Chicago, IL
3/12/2011 Fubar - St Louis, MO

Master/Lightning Swords Of Death Only
3/13/2011 The Bourbon Theater - Lincoln, NE
3/14/2011 The Marquis - Denver, CO
3/15/2011 Club Vegas - Ogden, UT
3/16/2011 El Corazon - Seattle, WA
3/17/2011 Branx - Portland, OR
3/18/2011 Thee Parkside - San Francisco, CA
3/19/2011 The Metaphor - Escondido, CA
3/20/2011 The Blvd. - Hollywood, CA
3/21/2011 Ub's - Mesa, AZ
3/22/2011 Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
3/23/2011 Emo's - Austin, TX

Master/Lightning Swords Of Death/Mobile Deathcamp
3/24/2011 The Rail Club - Ft Worth, TX
3/25/2011 007 Rock Bar - San Antonio, TX
3/26/2011 Walter's - Houston, TX
3/27/2011 Rouge - Fayetteville, AR
3/28/2011 The Muse - Nashville, TN
3/29/2011 Hideaway - Johnson City, TN
3/30/2011 Volume 11 - Raleigh, NC
3/31/2011 Tremont Music - Charlotte, NC
4/01/2011 Club 306 - Roanoke, VA
4/02/2011 Mojo 13 - Wilmington, DE
4/03/2011 31 Street Pub - Pittsburgh, PA

BUBONIC BEAR - Philadelphia Uber Sludge Up For Grabs

I wrote a review of Bubonic Bear's split cassette with Holy Dirt - which you can read here - a few weeks back and then I contacted the band asking them if I could post a link to a download for this recording. Unsurprisingly, they said yesssssss!!!!

Actually, this great Philadelphia band has every recording they've made up for free download directly from their MySpace page. I urge you, I fucking implore you to go there, copy and paste the Mediafire address into your browser and to let their sound bring you to your knees.

The case of Bubonic Bear is one of those not so strange occurrences, where either the talent has gone unnoticed by the deaf media or these boys just want to stay independent. I do not know, but I have heard a lot worse shit getting issued through some serious labels. The download link below only includes the Bubonic Bear half. I am not even sure if there are any tapes left, but if interested, you might want to check out with the charming folks over at Sloth Tapes here....

((Let This Beast Bite You))

Funky Artwork From John Dyer Baizley

No one can deny that Baroness’ singer and guitarist John Dyer Baizley is an accomplished artist. His artwork for bands like Kylesa, Torche, Skeletonwitch and his own, Baroness,  proves it. In the last couple of years his style has become iconic in the metal world and has served to up the ante as far as cover artwork is concerned. This is especially refreshing in the face of the Photoshop crapola that adorns every other metal release these days.  

That said, the first time I saw the cover artwork for Kvelertak’s self-titled debut I thought I was looking at a rip off. Really, I thought I was looking at a cheap imitation hastily drawned by a less talented hack. Maybe I am alone in this one but I think this cover fucking sucks. The style is recognizably Baizley; all the motifs are there, women, animals, nature in all states, etc. But the proportions seem odd, awkward and…well, disproportionate. The owl’s head is so big it looks as if it was placed to cover up a mistake. I am not an art critic, in fact I ain’t no critic at all, but I just couldn’t  help but be surprised when I found out that this artwork was in fact made by Baizley himself.

On the other hand, when I saw the cover artwork for US Christmas new album Run Thick in the Night I thought I was actually looking at the best piece Baizley had ever done. The main difference was in the color palette, which made heavy use of yellow, a color Baizley has mostly stayed away from. I was surprised then to find out that this piece is the oeuvre of Philadelphia artist Hush, whose work includes, unsurprisingly, pieces for Baroness and Skeletonwitch.