MAR MORTUUM STREAM NEW TRACK
Pop this one in the calendar: Mar Mortuum release their new album Nihilistic Advance via Impure Sounds on Friday December 12. To launch the album they’ll be hitting the stage with Dead River Runs Dry (NSW/QLD), Adamus Exul and Wood of Suicides at The Tote on Friday December 12, too. The title track of the new album is now available to stream from the Impure Sounds Facebook page.
BENDIGO HOTEL: SMASHING IT AS USUAL
Some killer stuff coming up at The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood this week! Thursday October 23: Dropbears, Hands Of Hope, Incentives, Arcadian and Harbour The Hostage. Friday October 24: Cabin Fever [CD Launch], Postal [NSW], Kodiak Throat, Organ Donor, Bombs Over Brunswick and Lion Fight.Saturday October 25: Eshkaton, The Nihilistic Front, Voidchrist and Hexreign.And Sunday October 26: Ne Obliviscaris Citadel listening party at 1pm.
CELEBRATE KISS AT CHERRY!
Melbourne glam-rock psychobilly, heavy metal monsters Thunderstag return to Cherry Bar on Saturday October (Stagtober) 25 to help celebrate the 40th Anniversary or the KISS album Hotter Than Hell. Also an all-star line-up of some of Melbourne’s most infamous rockers will be playing Hotter Than Hell plus the first KISS album in their entirety.
NEW SEGRESSION OUT NOW
My soundtrack as I’m writing this week’s column is the brutal new Segression album, Painted In Blood. It’s their first newie in three years, and is frigging massive. In addition to the already solid lineup of axe men Michael Katselos, Sven Sellin and enigmatic front man Chris Rand, the album features new drummer Adam Bunnell. And it’s a huge, world-class-sounding slab of metal, and the band are special guests on international metal legends Prong’s highly anticipated debut tour of Australia this November.
DEVIN TOWNSEND THIS WEEK!
Devin Townsend’s Australian master class tour for Thump Music is at St Kilda Town Hall this Wednesday October 22), where you’ll be able to get up close and personal with Devin hear him talk about guitar, production and vocals. He’ll be taking questions too, and promises to hang around afterwards to say hello. “It gives me an opportunity to dig into some of the things I’ve wanted to share with people,” he says. “I’ve spent a long time making records and I’ve kinda gotten to this point recently where it’s like, shit, now it’s time to step it up and get other people to start taking over. I think it’s an opportunity as well not only guitar-wise but production-wise, vocal-wise, recording techniques and questions, essentially. I’ve found recently that a lot of people have a lot of questions about production and I think an opportunity to do this is a forum for me to share some of that with people.” Devin’s new album, Z2, will be released on Friday October 31 but there will be a limited number of advance copies available for sale at the clinic.
SLEEP IN DECEMBER
US Doom/Stoner legends Sleep (featuring High On Fire’s Matt Pike) are here later this year for the Meredith Music Festival and they’ll also be playing some of their own shows. They’ll be at The Corner Hotel on Saturday December 6, and tickets are on sale now.
DREAM THEATER NEXT WEEK
Prog legends Dream Theater play at The Palais in St Kilda on Wednesday October 29. Tickets are on sale now! Keyboard player Jordan Rudess says, “I don’t think we’ve ever had this kind of show. The energy of the band is just wonderful and it’s in a very great place. We feel that we’re offering the best show we’ve ever had, really, production-wise. It’s the biggest, grandest show. It’s ‘An Evening With…’ and we’re playing music from a lot of different albums. There’s a little bit of focus on the new album but also a tribute to different anniversaries that we have with other albums. There’s a lot of video, a lot of really cool lighting… it should be a fantastic time for Dream Theater fans and also people who haven’t checked out Dream Theater before to come and see what we’re all about.”
RUBBER RECORDS CELEBRATES 25TH ANNIVERSARY
Indie label Rubber Records launched in a Melbourne bedroom in 1989, and has gone on to release over 250 titles in its 25-year history. In honour of its birthday, a celebration will take place in the form of some specially curated shows that feature rare performances by some of the acts that Rubber Records has played host to over its life span. Says founder David Vodicka: “I’ve always preferred being in the background and just releasing records by artists that I love working with. This series of shows is just as much a celebration of being around a long time and sticking with those artists, as it is an excuse to try and get some of them to play again.” Over the month of December there will be the opportunity to see one-off shows by a range of artists from the label, centred around a three-week Wednesday night residency at the Northcote Social Club, for which tickets are on sale now. On Wednesday December 3 The Casanovas will play their first show for several years; December 10 sees Melbourne legends bZARK play a strictly once-only reformation show with support from each of the band members’ individual projects; December 17 sees Hamish Cowan return for an extremely rare Cordrazine performance in an intimate acoustic mode to perform songs from From Here to Wherever; December 12 is 1200 Techniques at Howler; and December 19 is undergroundLOVERS at Howler. For more details visit the home of Rubber: rubberrecords.com
