CALIGULA’S HORSE TO TOUR
Fresh off a wildly successful Australia-wide tour with Perth trailblazers Voyager, support for Canadian prog phenomenon Protest The Hero and a showcase at the prestigious Bigsound music conference, Brisbane based progressive alternative tour-de-force Caligula’s Horse once again hit the road to promote their brand new video from their critically acclaimed sophomore release The Tide, The Thief & River’s End, the epic opening track A Gift To Afterthought. Alongside the video track and all of their fan-favourites, the band will also be unveiling some new and never-performed material on the tour. You can catch them at The Evelyn in Fitzroy for an Australia Day Eve extravaganza on Sunday January 25. Joining them will be AlithiA, Orsome Welles and Kettlespider.
THE RETURN OF VENOM
Venom, the hugely influential British heavy metal trio widely revered for driving and shaping many aspects of the music industry, including black and thrash metal, plus their instinctive blending of metallic power and punk spirit – have confirmed the release of their new studio album, From The Very Depths, in January 2015 via Spinefarm Records/Caroline Australia. The band are led by vocalist/bassist and original Venom titan, Cronos. “This album is perfect, all three members are totally over-the-top confident with the new songs and the production,” he says. “We had a great atmosphere in the studio while we were recording, Dante created pure thunder from his drums, while Rage tears the flesh off your face with his riffs, making everything fall into place so well… It’s a strong release and really shows the band maturing into an unstoppable force of pure Black Metal. We can’t wait to play the new songs live for the Legions… Hell Yeah.”
BLUES SARACENO’S NEW BAND
Guitar great Blues Saraceno has got a new project called Courtesy Flush and they have a killer new song online called Pure Evil you’ve just gotta’ hear. It’s like dark blues-rock with an undercurrent of ‘70s metal of the Black Sabbath variety. Check it out at https://soundcloud.com/rustymassive/pure-evil.
BRODERICK & DROVER LEAVE MEGADETH
Trouble afoot in Megadeth. Long-time drummer Shawn Drover and almost-as-long-time guitarist Chris Broderick both left the band on the same day last week. Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson are writing a new Megadeth album and as of the time of writing Mustaine hasn’t publicly addressed the split, and I haven’t heard any rumours yet about whether any replacements are lined up.
ORSOME WELLES EP LAUNCH
Capping off a hugely successful year, following touring Australia with international heavy metal giants Orphaned Land (Israel) and Australian prog royalty Voyager, Orsome Welles will launch their highly anticipated debut EP Erth News Bulletin at The Workers Club in Fitzroy on Friday December 12. Having also supported the likes of Ne Obliviscaris, Caligula’s Horse, Toehider and Barbarion, the intangible force that is Orsome Welles have built a reputation nationally from fans and critics alike for their intensely unique, energetic and captivating live performances. Erth News Bulletin encompasses six of the band’s finest works, showcasing their signature heavy grooves, outstanding musicianship and soulful, distinctive vocals. Catch the EP launch supported by Troldhaugen (NSW), AlithiA and Full Code.
MINDSNARE AT THE BENDIGO
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Mindsnare’s The Death, Resist are re-pressing the bands fourth album on coloured vinyl. Head along to The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood on Friday December 5 for a rare and surely kickass show, also featuring Shackles, Rort, Internal Rot and Lion Fight.
CATCH MYRIDIAN ON A BREAK FROM THE STUDIO
Despite being hard at work on the follow-up to their 2012 debut Under the Fading Light, Myridian are taking a break from the studio to headline this show of atmospheric metal with their European-influenced style of melodic death/doom. Making the trip down from Sydney for the first time in far too long are The Veil, launching their new album Impermanence. Also on this Saturday’s show at The Bendigo is Aquilis and one of my favourite local bands, Catacombs.
KILLER BE KILLED ADDED TO SOUNDWAVE
Killer Be Killed, the supergroup comprised of Max Cavalera (Soulfly, Ex-Sepultura), Greg Puciato (The Dillinger Escape Plan), Troy Sanders (Mastodon)and Dave Elitch (Ex-The Mars Volta, Antemasque), will make its live debut as part of next year’s edition of Soundwave 2015 festival, set to take place Saturday February 21 – 22 at Bonython Park in Adelaide and Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, and February 28 – March 1 at Olympic Park in Sydney and Brisbane Showgrounds in Brisbane. The band recently released their critically-acclaimed, self-titled debut album, and its highest chart position in the world was in Australia. It’s great we get to see their very first shows ever.
