BM Belts has revealed Nocturnus AD from Tampa, Florida will be headlining two nights of the three-day Insurrection of Darkness festival for their first ever performance on Australian soil. Nocturnus, formed in 1987 by drummer/vocalist Mike Browning (Morbid Angel) had released two demos before leaving their biggest mark in 1990 with The Key. The album was well ahead of its time, when keyboards were unheard of in death metal. This amplified the unique atmosphere and science fiction narrative, which was about escaping a cybernetic invasion set to invade earth by hijacking a droid to travel back in time to kill Christ. On Saturday June 10, Nocturnus AD will be performing new songs that continue the narrative from The Key, as well as various songs from Mike’s time in Morbid Angel and Incubus. They’ll be supported by the second international guest at the festival, Vassafor, also marking their first performance in Melbourne. On Sunday June 11, they’ll play The Key in its entirety. Backing up a bit though, Insurrection of Darkness starts Friday June 9 with Direblaze’s EP launch alongside Adelaide’s Troops of Doom, Faceless Burial and Fetid from Seattle US, who are touring the rest of Australia with Sewercide prior to their Melbourne show. There are no other shows planned so don’t miss out on being one of the 250 people to witness this exclusive event.
Ministry have announced their first ever Australian headline tour, marking their third visit to our shores. The first were Big Day Out in 1995 and Soundwave in 2015. As an added bonus for the east coast shows, the special guest will be American industrial rockers Filter. See them on Saturday September 30 at the Forum Theatre, tickets on sale now from Metropolis Touring.
Wednesday 13’s new album Condolences is out now via Nuclear Blast. The Duke of Spook also dropped the video for the title track, which features his own faux funeral.“We weren’t trying to do a really long, Iron Maiden-type of song – it just came out that way,” Wednesday 13 said of the song. “It wasn’t forced and I think it’s awesome! It’s one of the first songs I wrote for the record. The title Condolences came from when David Bowie passed away; I kept seeing ‘Condolences, sorry for your loss.’ I realised how powerful that word was, so I picked my guitar up and started writing the riff for it; I had the chorus instantly.”
San Fran’s Bay Area is one of the key cradles in the birth and ongoing journey of heavy metal. Earth Crawler has emerged from that very point, bearing all the marks of the Bay Area’s legacy. This band really does have something for every heavy music fan. Featuring the lead guitar talents of Glen Alvelais (formerly of Forbidden and Testament) Earth Crawlers’ debut album From Below displays a maturity of seasoned performers, yet still possesses a fresh and contemporary delivery courtesy of its other members Ryan Reynoso (vocals), Kimo Sanborn (guitar/vocals) and Nick Benigno (drums). From Below is out now an available on Spotify, iTunes and Google Play.
