2013!

Here's a peek at what's ahead.

January 8 - Comadre - Comadre - Vitriol Records

The mighty self-titled album by this long-running Bay Area band, rooted in the early emo sounds of Rites of Spring yet evolving into a dynamic rock machine. Described by BrooklynVegan as a mix of "post-punk, Murder City Devils-style punk-n-roll, and all manner of rocking"! On Vitriol Records, the label founded by Graf Orlock/Ghostlimb main man Justin Smith.

February 26 - Old Wounds - From Where We Came Is Where We'll Rest - Glory Kid Ltd.

Metallic hardcore masterpiece by some young bucks from New Jersey - this is the next generation and they're breathing new life into the crushing, exhilarating vibe wielded by Indecision, Turmoil, and Buried Alive in the 90s.

March 19 - Globe & Beast - Grandfather's Axe - Melotov Records

The first release marking my new alliance with Melotov Records, the LA label that teamed up with Vitriol Records earlier this year to co-release Ghostlimb's Confluence album. Melotov's roster includes bands like The Banner, Vices, and Bone Dance. Good stuff ahead from these guys.

And coming up soon, so much more, including new noise from Black Market Activities, the label owned by Guy Kozowyk of The Red Chord, whose 2012 run included the year-end list-topping new album by Gaza, among others. I'm especially excited about the Stomach Earth debut on BMA - massive, creeping drum machine doom from Guy's bandmate Mike "Gunface" McKenzie!

!!!!!!

And on tour:

Ghostlimb - US, Dec 29-Jan 12

Graf Orlock guitarist and Vitriol Records boss Justin Smith takes his other band on the road for a two-week tear across the USA. Bruising, vise-tight LA hardcore drenched in emotional realness and littered with esoteric historical references. Newest album Confluence is out now on Vitriol and Melotov Records.

Jar'd Loose - US, Jan 8-Jan 19

Thrashing, noise-rockin' Chicago upstarts bring their unhinged show on the road. Names like The Jesus Lizard, Motorhead and Entombed have been thrown around in reviews of the debut album, Goes to Purgatory; Terrorizer called it "one of the most exciting debuts of the year".

!!!!!!

January 2013 also sees the end of Precious Metal, the live music series I have been running in New York since 2006. We have three shows to go! See you there, NYC.

And please look out for new actions from all three of my own musical projects: Today Is the Day, Wetnurse, and Body Stuff. There are new recordings in the works from all three. Today Is the Day headlines a big tour of the US and Canada in March and April.

Thanks to you all! Happy holidays!

TODAY IS THE DAY 2013 tour

It's official! Steve, Ryan and I will hit the road in March for a big tour of the US and Canada, including SXSW. Black Tusk, KEN Mode, and Fight Amp support.

Pitchfork's Top 40 Metal Albums of 2012

GAZA at #12! "A twisting, warping spin on hardcore-infused grind n' roll with songs that hit like grenades..."

PRECIOUS METAL 6.66

Friends, I am proud to announce the Grand Finale of Precious Metal. After 6.66 years and over 300 events, the series I started in May of 2006 will come to an end on January 21, 2013.

We had a good run! Monday after Monday, we brought all sorts of heaviness from across the city and around the globe (Iceland, Italy, Australia...) into the den of Downtown grime and glamour that is Lit. These forces combined and added up to something special. I like to think we played a part in the resurgence of a New York City metal scene, one which now looks stronger than ever.

Thanks to:

• The owners and staff of Lit who made this all possible over the years: Erik Foss, Max Brennan, David Schwartz, Matt Kepler, Jeanette Converse, Ryan Jones, Dorian Wolff, James Jameson, David Blackshire, Lori Murphy, Renee Armstrong, Nikki Sneakers, Kyle Krueger, Brian Shapiro, Ryan Piccirillo, Jason Tormos, Rob Walters, Quincy Cummings, and many more.

• Every band that played. Every DJ. For a full list of every lineup, May 2006 through January 2013, please enjoy my complete calendar of events.

• You. The people of NYC and beyond who came to the shows and supported this thing.

Now:

We have four Precious Metal shows remaining! The first is this coming Monday, December 17, with longtime Precious Metal favorites Tiger Flowers and Meek Is Murder. January 7, we have Ghostlimb, from LA, followed by Chicago's Jar'd Loose on January 14. Our Grand Finale is January 21 -- a celebration of 6.66 years and a benefit for The South Sound, a Brooklyn music space destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.

Please come and take part in the final four shows. Spread the word. Let's end this with a bang.

Monday, December 17:
TIGER FLOWERS
MEEK IS MURDER
I AM HERESY
BLACK TABLE

Monday, January 7:
GHOSTLIMB
OLD WOUNDS
DJ Fred Pessaro / BBG

Monday, January 14:
JAR'D LOOSE
GENTLEMEN
END IT
DJ Mike SOS

Monday, January 21:
Precious Metal 6.66 - The Grand Finale
A Benefit for The South Sound
HIVESMASHER
FASHION WEEK
FLAMING TUSK
SOS
DJ Zeena Koda

CR on MetalSucks

My top 10 of 2012.

1) Anasazi - s/t 7″
2) TV Baby - Wild Joy 7″
3) Abominable Putridity - The Anomalies of Artificial Origin
4) Converge - All We Love We Leave Behind
5) Napalm Death - Utilitarian
6) Swans - The Seer
7) School of Seven Bells - Ghostory
8) Violens - True
9) Lord Mantis - Pervertor
10) Pyrrhon - 2012 Demo

CR on CVLT Nation

I made a mixtape.

1) Ike & Tina Turner "River Deep Mountain High"
2) Company B "Fascinated"
3) Ghostface Killah "Be Easy"
4) Ministry "Revenge"
5) School of Seven Bells "Low Times"
6) M/A/R/R/S "Pump Up the Volume"
7) The Damned "In Dulce Decorum"
8) Call of the Wild "Autobahn"
9) Birds In Row "A Kid Called Dreamer"
10) Like Rats "Fire"
11) Jar'd Loose "Last Living Roach"
12) Gaza "Winter in Her Blood"
13) The Year Is One "Ungodly Behavior"
14) Pyrrhon "Implant Fever"
15) Flourishing "By Which We're Cemented"
16) Devourment "Fed to the Pigs"
17) Human Rejection "Abandoned"
18) Abominable Putridity "Blindfold Surgery"
19) Bloody Panda "Grey" (Mick Barr remix)
20) TV Baby "Powering"

Decibel's Top 40 Albums of 2012

2012 recap

Another year's worth of gold. For the year-end lists:

Jan 17 - Birds In Row - Collected - Vitriol Records

Mar 6 - Seas Will Rise - Disease Is Our Refrain - Man In Decline/Anxiety Machine Records

Apr 3 - Eye - Center of the Sun - Kemado Records

Apr 10 - Graf Orlock - Los Angeles - Vitriol Records

May 1 - Wild Hunt - Before the Plane of Angles - Kemado Records

July 10 - Ghostlimb - Confluence - Vitriol Records/Melotov Records

July 10 - Jar'd Loose - Goes to Purgatory - Cassette Deck Media

Aug 21 - Call of the Wild - Leave Your Leather On - Kemado Records

Aug 28 - Gaza - No Absolutes in Human Suffering - Black Market Activities

Oct 23  - Behold the Arctopus - Horrorscension - Black Market Activities

Oct 23 - Hivesmasher - Gutter Choir - Black Market Activities

Oct 23 - The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - Danza IIII: The Alpha - The Omega - Black Market Activities

Oct 30 - Family - Portrait - Pelagic Records

Oct 30 - Grails/Pharaoh Overlord - Black Tar Prophecies Volume 5 - Kemado Records

Nov 13 - Flourishing - Intersubjectivity - The Path Less Traveled Records

And coming up in 2013:

Jan 8 - Comadre - Comadre - Vitriol Records
tba - Stomach Earth - Black Market Activities
tba - Phantom Glue - Black Market Activities
tba - Bird Eater - Black Market Activities
tba - The Banner - Melotov Records

+ more, more, more...

New releases

Out today, the three new ones from BMA:

Oct 23 - The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - Danza IIII: The Alpha - The Omega - BMA
"The most aggressive, the most dominant, the most confident, and the heaviest album of the year." -MetalSucks

Oct 23 - Behold The Arctopus - Horrorscension - BMA
"Behold The Arctopus will have even the robots of this world headbanging to their own beat and stage diving into an unknown universe!" -CvltNation

Oct 23 - Hivesmasher - Gutter Choir - BMA
"The cold sophistication of technical death metal with the blood-soaked intensity of grindcore... In the palette of violence, Hivesmasher are equal parts Picasso and Pollock." -About Heavy Metal

And next week:

Oct 30 - Family - Portrait - Pelagic Records
"Perfectly psyched out... Equal parts heavy attacking, effects jamming and melody-making." -Decibel

Oct 30 - Grails/Pharaoh Overlord - Black Tar Prophecies Volume 5 - Kemado Records
"Lush and cinematic" -BrooklynVegan

And next after that:

Nov 13 - Flourishing - Intersubjectivity - The Path Less Traveled Records
"Where Tombs takes its extremes from the band Swans and black metal, Flourishing looks to Sonic Youth and industrial metal innovators like Godflesh for its own brand of melodic yet punishing death-grind." -NPR

Jan 8 - Comadre - Comadre - Vitriol Records
"With the new self-titled full-length, Comadre's finally fully exercising their potential as a band, crossing a lot of genres and offering an accessibility lacking in most punk/hardcore bands." -Justin Smith (Vitriol Records, Graf Orlock, Ghostlimb)

...and the new releases by Stomach Earth (Gunface of The Red Chord), Phantom Glue, Bird Eater (members of Gaza), and more!

New releases

Closing in on our October release dates!

Oct 23 - The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - Danza IIII: The Alpha - The Omega - BMA
"So shredtastic it may cause the skin to peel right off your face" -AltPress

Oct 23 - Behold The Arctopus - Horrorscension - BMA
"Skullgrinding mindfuckery" -MetalSucks

Oct 23 - Hivesmasher - Gutter Choir - BMA
"Top notch, tech-infused grindcore of the highest order" -MetalSucks

Oct 30 - Family - Portrait - Pelagic Records
"Lures you in with hooks then bashes you with leaden heaviness" -InvisibleOranges

Oct 30 - Grails/Pharaoh Overlord - Black Tar Prophecies Volume 5 - Kemado Records
"A complex kingdom of sound" -Stereogum

Coming up next, so much more, including releases by Flourishing, Comadre, Stomach Earth (Gunface of The Red Chord), Phantom Glue, and Bird Eater (members of Gaza)!

PRECIOUS METAL returns

Precious Metal returns Monday with Vattnet Viskar!

TODAY IS THE DAY in Miami

Saturday!

New releases

October 23 - The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza - Danza IIII: The Alpha - The Omega - BMA
October 23 - Behold the Arctopus - Horrorscension - BMA
October 23 - Hivesmasher - Gutter Choir - BMA
October 30 - Family - Portrait - Pelagic Records

TODAY IS THE DAY at Roskilde

July 5, Roskilde, Denmark.

Big thanks to Anders, Kevin, Izzy, Robert Smith, and all the good people we met.

1) In the Eyes of God

2) Spotting a Unicorn

3) Possession

4) The Color of Psychic Power

5) Free at Last

6) Mother's Ruin

7) Expectations Exceed Reality

8) 6 Dementia Satyr

9) The Kick Inside

10) Feel Like Making Love (Bad Company)

11) Temple of the Morning Star

12) Death Curse

13) Axis of Eden

14) If You Want Peace, Prepare for War

15) Pinnacle

16) IED

17) Willpower

18) Why Don't We Do It in the Road (Beatles)

19) The Man Who Loves to Hurt Himself

20) Going to Hell

INKED playlist

My DJ set from this Monday's Inked Magazine party at Precious Metal... Free Jager, free tattoos, guest DJs Jose Mangin and Zeena Koda, utter mayhem in the bowels of Lit.

M/A/R/R/S "Pump Up the Volume"
Whitechapel "The Night Remains"
Goatwhore "Death to the Architects of Heaven"
The Year Is One "Ungodly Behavior"
The Acacia Strain "Servant in the Place of Truth"
Decapitated "Homo Sum"
Devourment "Fed to the Pigs"
Landmine Marathon "Beaten and Left Blind"
Like Rats "Fire"
Jar'd Loose "Last Living Roach"
Falling in Reverse "Goodbye Graceful"
Plague Bringer "Burn Ward Whore"
Today Is the Day "Pain Is a Warning"
Decapitated "The Knife"
Gaza "Mostly Hair and Bones Now"
Saviours "Fire of Old"

PRECIOUS METAL 6th anniversary

TODAY IS THE DAY at MDF

It was an honor to play for all the metal maniacs at MDF X last weekend, alongside legends like Napalm Death, Godflesh, Unsane, and Nasum. Recap and pics here. Next stop, Roskilde.

New releases

Next up: new releases by Gaza, Ghostlimb, Jar'd Loose, and more!

TODAY IS THE DAY plays Roskilde

Today Is The Day has been added to this year's lineup of the legendary Roskilde Festival in Denmark. Today Is The Day is scheduled to perform Thursday, July 5.

Roskilde's official announcement states, "With legend, riff wizard and daredevil Steve Austin at the helm, Today Is The Day is a style-defining and cultish band of the extreme... These veterans carve their own bloody niche in today's metal scene."

Roskilde counts Bruce Springsteen, Bjork, The Cure, and The Roots amongst this year's headliners. Started in 1971, it is the largest music festival in Northern Europe, with a total capacity of over 80,000 people. All profits from the festival are donated directly to humanitarian and cultural purposes.

Today Is The Day's ninth album, Pain Is A Warning, produced by Converge's Kurt Ballou, is out now on Black Market Activities.

Prior to Roskilde, the band plays Maryland Deathfest X in Baltimore, MD, Friday, May 25.

PRECIOUS METAL upcoming shows

Our calendar is stacked with amazing shows. Some of the bands coming soon to Precious Metal: Czar (4/23), Rivers of Nihil (4/30), Vattnet Viskar (5/14), I Am Heresy (ex-Boysetsfire) (6/4), A Life Once Lost (6/25)...

New releases

March 6 - Seas Will Rise - Disease Is Our Refrain - Man In Decline/Anxiety Machine Records
April 3 - Eye - Center of the Sun - Kemado Records
April 10 - Graf Orlock - Los Angeles - Vitriol Records
May 1 - Wild Hunt - Before the Plane of Angles - Kemado Records

Coming soon: new releases by Gaza, Stomach Earth, Sodomia, Call of the Wild, and more!

"Dreams III" playlist

Last night's jams:
Gravediggaz "Deathtrap"
The Dying Light "The Killing Plan"
The Year Is One "Ungodly Behavior"
Like Rats "Fire"
Devourment "Fed to the Pigs"
Godflesh "Xnoybis"
Acme "Blind"
Decapitated "Spheres of Madness"
Psi Com "Xiola"
Lansing-Dreiden "The Advancing Flags"
Telepathe "So Fine"
Hate Eternal "The Fire of Resurrection"
Buried Alive "Watching You Die"
Pat Benatar "No You Don't"
Breathe Carolina "Blackout"

"Dreams Were Made for Mortals III"

This Sunday, the third installment of Karlynn Holland's series at St Vitus, with artwork by my friend Matt Kepler and others. I'm playing tunes at 11.

PRECIOUS METAL pics

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PRECIOUS METAL pics

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PRECIOUS METAL pics

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PRECIOUS METAL tonight

Precious Metal kicks off 2012 tonight at Lit with Tiger Flowers, Enabler (Fall Out Boy, Today Is The Day, Trap Them, Shai Hulud), and Brickeater!