Tuesday's Metal Releases

Barren Earth - Our Twilight (Peaceville)
Dark Tranquillity - Where Death Is Most Alive CD and DVD (Century Media)
Devin Townsend Project - Addiction (InsideOut)
Manegarm - Nattvasen (Regain)
Richie Kotzen - Peace Sign (Frontiers)
Rush - Working Man Live (Sony BMG)
Skitliv - Skandinavisk Misantropi (Season Of Mist)
Suffokate - No Mercy, No Forgiveness (Century Media)
Swallow The Sun - New Moon (Spinefarm)
Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures (Interscope)
Voivod - Tatsumaki: Voivod in Japan 2008 DVD (MVD)

THOUGHTS: Normally I would go with Richie Kotzen as my pick of the week but I got to go with Skitliv, surprisingly enough.  Richie's Peace Sign is solid, but his work in general is amazing and this latest release doesnt quite hold up to them.  Still, a better record than most anything released lately.

As for Skitliv, their new album is better than their previous - it's pretty cohesive but still bizarre and abstract enough to sound like themselves (distorted and DOOMY black metal).  And thus, we have our winner.

Them Crooked Vultures may not be a big name yet, but they are made up of big names (Josh Homme, John Paul Jones, and Dave Grohl).  Their debut album is good lo-fi rock.  It can be pretty heavy at times.  Josh Homme's influence seems to be the strongest of the bunch.  His distinctive falsetto makes it sound like Queens Of The Stone Age at times; certainly more than it sounds like Foo Fighters or Led Zep.

Devin Townsend Project is good.  Just like everything Devin Townsend releases.  How is this guy not a bigger name?

Band Of The Week - Skitliv!!

Maniac - the former singer of Mayhem, has got a new band to to act Maniacal in - Skitliv .  The band's not new new, but they are his main focus and he's actually sticking with it.  Anyway, Skitliv's new album Skandinavisk Misantropi hits the store in Europe today, but you wont see it in my Tuesday Album Releases blog posts until November 17th.  Bull crap!   Anyway, here is a sample of what us Americans can expect to hear in November.  Skitliv is doomy black metal, but very abstract and boarding on noise.  The new stuff sounds just as eerie, but definitely less confusing.

Inferno Festival - Oslo, Norway

First, some Inferno ’08 slang to know…

• Inferno Festival: Oslo’s annual metal festival featuring three days of primarily Scandinavian Black Metal bands, with a few Death, Thrash and Doom foreigners scattered in. This year, there is an added Club day- featuring acts at numerous venues throughout the city.
• BM: For the sake of my review, BM will stand for Black Metal (not bowel movements).
  
• Niklas Kvarforth: BM’s new ‘it’ boy, and member of half the bands at Inferno, most notably the extreme Shining.
  
• Gaahl: The singer of one of Inferno’s headlining acts this year, Gorgoroth, as well as key member in Trelldom, and Gaahlskagg. He’s intimidating, and kind of a big deal. (sidenote: I almost crapped myself when I first met him.)
  

The festival began within hours of stepping off of my plane to Oslo. Half the shops were closed for Easter (which is apparently a weeklong event in Norway), it’s cold as hell, and a cheap beer costs 10 bucks. I hurried over to one of the metal pubs, where I met up with some friends and bought expensive drinks. I noticed Gaahl and King of Gorgoroth, sipping drinks at the other end of the bar. This was the moment when I realized Inferno Festival was about to begin.

Wednesday, March 19:

The Club day is the festival's kickoff and included 14 bands, at 6 different venues, essentially all playing at the same time. Basically, Oslo was sprinkled with crazies dressed in all black, running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to see different bands all playing at the same time. Because of this, I had to choose carefully. The first band up was Cor Scorpii, who, like Vreid, formed from the remains of seminal folk BM band, Windir. Having only released a demo (that kicked ass), Cor Scorpiiis was highly anticipated, and the crowd didn’t seem to know exactly what to expect. The show was packed, and although frontman Thomas S. Øvstedal seemed to have some stumbling moments, the band was tight, and seemed highly reminiscent of Windir.