Were you at The Black Dahlia Murder’s show at the Corner Hotel a few months ago? The band has been riding high lately, and the addition of guitarist Brandon Ellis in 2016 really seems to have kicked them up a notch. Well how’s this? New album Nightbringers will be released on Friday October 6, and the band’s label Metal Blade has announced that it’s already the most highly pre-ordered album in their history. And we’re talking about the home of Cannibal Corpse, Behemoth, GWAR, Goatwhore, Between The Buried and Me, Whitechapel, Six Feet Under.
Speaking of Metal Blade, founder Brian Slagel has just released For the Sake of Heaviness: The History of Metal Blade Records, co-written with Mark Eglinton. It tells Slagel’s story, from a metal-obsessed kid who launched a fanzine through to kicking off Metal Blade via a 1982 compilation album called Metal Massacre that featured a few soon-to-be-known bands such as Steeler, Malice, Ratt and some kids calling themselves Metallica. I’m only a few chapters in and I’m already hooked. Slagel is one of the most influential figures in metal to this day, and his story would make a hell of a documentary or feature film.
In local heavy music news, Ne Obliviscaris have just released another track from their forthcoming album Urn, which is due on Friday October 27. Urn (Part I) – And Within The Void We Are Breathless is the first part of a 14-minute long title track which forms the album’s grand finale. In true prog fashion it’s not even the only two-parter on the record: the album kicks off with the 13-minute Libera.
Prog masters Caligula’s Horse are hitting the road this month and next in support of their album In Contact, with support on all shows from I Built The Sky. See them at Max Watt’s on Saturday September 30.
The progressive metal flame burns strong in Sons Of Apollo, perhaps the ultimate prog supergroup. This new quintet is made up of ex-Dream Theater-ers Mike Portnoy and Derek Sherinian, bass god Billy Sheehan (The Winery Dogs, Mr. Big, David Lee Roth, Steve Vai), guitarist Bumblefoot (Guns N’ Roses) and vocalist Jeff Scott Soto (Journey, Yngwie Malmsteen). Their debut album is released on Friday October 20 and it’s called Psychotic Symphony. The band will hit the road in 2018 for a worldwide tour and Portnoy stresses that this is his new full-time band while The Winery Dogs are on a break. You won’t have to wait until then to get your Portnoy fix though: he’s here in November with his Shattered Fortress project to play Dream Theater’s 12-Step Suite in its entirety. See them at The Croxton on Saturday November 25. And Dream Theater themselves are in town on Wednesday September 20, performing at the Palais Theatre. Tell ya what, Dream Theater are like patient zero for awesome prog projects.
