Heavy Metal Superfan Blog

I know everybody's all jacked up about the Beatles reissues this week, but despite my willingness to admit that they had some good songs (Coroner does an excellent version of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"), I'm more focused on new music, by living musicians, in this spot. So here's what I recommend you investigate this week.

Celan, Halo (Exile on Mainstream): This is a supergroup, if your tastes run toward the 1990s noise-rock underground. Fronted by vocalist/guitarist Chris Spencer of Unsane, the band also features guitarist Niko Wenner of the always astonishing Oxbow, keyboardist Ari Benjamin Meyers of Einstürzende Neubauten, and Franz Xaver and Phil Roeder of flu.id on bass and drums. As you might expect, it's an arty but loud album full of songs with titles like "Sinking," "Safety Recall Notice" and "Washing Machine." Check it out if your tastes in rock run to the skronky, the experimental, and the occasionally hostile and unpalatable.

Ensiferum, From Afar (Fontana/Universal): Like GWAR, these guys are better experienced live than on record. That's not to say that they wear monster costumes or anything like that, but they are a Viking/pagan metal band (face paint, kilts, songs about journeying across the waves and drinking), so their polka-like rhythms, guitar riffs doubled by cheesy major-key synths, and general party-hard atmosphere just translates better in a room full of drunks jumping up and down than it does through living room speakers, or iPod headphones. That being said, if you're a fan of this kind of thing (I'm not, really - I saw Ensiferum on this year's Summer Slaughter Tour, and was just standing around bored waiting for Necrophagist and Suffocation to come on), this won't disappoint you.

3 Inches Of Blood, Here Waits Thy Doom (Century Media): Now this is what I'm talking about. These Canadians have released three albums to date of screaming, rifftastic battle metal, and disc number four is their best one yet. Songs like "Battles and Brotherhood," "Call of the Hammer" and "Fierce Defender" live up to their titles, offering high-pitched vocals, lightning-fast riffing and relentless drums guaranteed to turn the pit into an Ultimate Fighting free-for-all. But 3IOB have actually improved their songwriting technique on this album; there are some genuinely memorable, fist-in-the-air riffs here and a couple of choruses worth shouting along with. This is the pick of the week, no question.

Swedish melodic death metal band In Flames have announced a string of U.S. tour dates for September and October, on which they will be supported by Between The Buried And Me, 3 Inches Of Blood and The Faceless. (The Faceless sure are busy this year; as you saw on this blog last week, they're currently touring with Atheist. Good thing their last album, Planetary Duality, was so impressive - they're working hard and deserve to win over some new fans.) In Flames' last album was 2008's A Sense Of Purpose; Between The Buried And Me have a still-untitled disc scheduled for release later this year; and 3 Inches Of Blood will be dropping their new one, Here Waits Thy Doom, in August.

N.B.: In Flames guitarist Jesper Strömblad will not be with the band on this tour; he's drying out in rehab, and will be replaced by Niclas Engelin of Engel. Strömblad's troubles with the booze were the reason In Flames canceled several shows earlier this year.

Tour dates for what looks like a classic "arrive early/leave early" bill (seriously, In Flames are setting themselves up to be blown offstage by all three of their openers every single night) are as follows:

Sep. 18 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory
Sep. 19 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
Sep. 20 - Reno, NV - The New Oasis
Sep. 21 - San Francisco, CA - The Regency Center At The Grand Ballroom
Sep. 22 - Pomona, CA - The Fox Theatre
Sep. 23 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
Sep. 25 - Corpus Christi, TX - Concrete Street Amphitheatre
Sep. 26 - San Antonio, TX - White Rabbit
Sep. 27 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
Sep. 29 - Knoxville, TN - Valarium
Sep. 30 - Louisville, KY - Expo Five
Oct. 01 - Millvale, PA (Pittsburgh) - Mr Smalls Theatre
Oct. 02 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
Oct. 03 - Boston, MA - House Of Blues
Oct. 04 - Philadelphia, PA -Trocadero
Oct. 05 - Washington DC - 9:30 Club
Oct. 06 - Charlotte, NC - Amos Southend