Crib Notes

Mastodon brought the Scion Rock Fest to a crashing finale on Saturday night. Scott Kelley from Neurosis made a cameo at the end of their set tearing through “Aqua Dementia” from Leviathan, “Crack the Skye” from their forthcoming full-length and “Crystal Skull” from Blood Mountain; which was preceded by an announcement from guitarist Brent Hinds that the cops were there to shut everything down.

Indeed they played slightly beyond 11 o’clock, but the show ended without incident.

In Purgatory inside the club, Zoroaster brought their set to a close with a noisy cluster of feedback and chaos after technical difficulties inspired bass player /vocalist Brent Anderson to kick over his entire bass rig. At some point during the melee a drum cymbal stand was propelled upward like a rocket and stabbed drummer Dan Scanlan in the roof of his mouth (which was pretty hardcore).  Afterward he looked dazed, but appeared to be no worse for the wear as he smoked cigarettes and recalled the story. At a metal festival of such caliber there’s bound to be some carnage.

Speaking of carnage, Norwegian black metal band 1349 wrapped up their set across the hall in Hell, shortly after the Zoroaster incident. Rumor had it that they had adorned their stage with severed pig heads mounted on spikes. If they were there the crowd had devoured them before I made my way into the room. At the end, vocalist Ravn lurched at the crowd in full corpse paint and blood stained hands, slapping high fives and grunting a ghastly war cry.

This was the real deal on all fronts. After stellar performances from Neurosis, Wolves in the Throne Room, Boris, Kylesa, Torche and so many others there was a feeling of wasted annihilation in the air, as though Cloverfield had paid a visit to the Masquerade Music Park and left a massive footprint in the dark red mud that stained so many shoes and pant legs of concert goers who filed out with ringing ears and a touch of whiplash.

(Photo by Chad Radford)

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Criminal Records announced this week that they have added Savannah’s Kylesa to the line-up for their pre SCION Rock Fest in-store that’s taking place on Fri., Feb. 27, the night before the festival at the Masquerade. So for anyone who’s keeping a tab, the line-up for the Criminal in-store now includes Kylesa, Skeletonwitch and Atlanta’s very own Withered.

In other news, this week Zoroaster — who will also perform at the SCION Rock Fest — released another new song from their forthcoming new album, The Voice of Saturn, through Brooklyn Vegan. The song is called “White Dwarf” and it features a searing guitar solo from Mastodon guitarist Brent Hinds.

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Wolves in the Throne Room
Malevolent Grain EP
Southern Lord

Olympia, Wash.’s black metal drone riders Wolves in the Throne Room’s pro-ecological rage in the battle of man against nature might better be labeled green metal.

From the dizzying cover art all the way down to the forest green wax on which this vinyl-only 12-inch is pressed, WITTR skews the genre’s typical scorched earth imagery in favor of a sound and vision that communes with the pure and majestic beauty of nature’s malevolence. The group pulls it off by blurring the edges and disguising any semblance of a clear-cut manifesto with a slow and angelic aural grind.

On the A-side, “A Looming Resonance” unfolds with elegant force and sadness as vocalist Jamie Myers (Hammers of Misfortune) chants a spectral accompaniment to the guitars. The song is tailored to her alluring voice, which stands as a strong contrast to the scraping and demonic yowl of “Hate Crystal” on the flipside.

The latter side is far more compelling as every level of this heavily textured dirge of minimalism is pushed into maximum overdrive that ebbs and ebbs and ebbs. To a passive pair of ears the hidden layers of noise, rumble and chattering percussion could easily go unnoticed under the roar of so much tumult. Listen to this record through headphones and gain a whole new sense of fear, respect and reverence for mother nature and all of the pain she could can and will inflict upon mankind when she decides to bite back.

5 stars

Wolves in the Throne Room play the SCION Rock Fest at the Masquerade on Sat., Feb. 28th.

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As the Feb. 28 date for the epic SCION Rock Festival at the Masquerade draws near, Criminal Records has announced that it will open its stage the night before the festival for bit of a preview of things to come. On Fri., Feb. 27 the store is hosting performances from Athens, OH thrash metal-death kings Skeletonwitch, and Atlanta’s very own blackened metal monsters Withered. More bands will surely be added to the bill soon, so stay tuned for details.

The shows are free. Music start at 5 p.m. There will be beer.

(Photo by Paul Romano)

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Static Tensions, the new album from Savannah metal staple Kylesa, now has a face. This week the group unveiled the album’s cover art — created by Baroness’ John Dyer Baizley and produced by the band’s guitarist/vocalist Phillip Cope (Baroness, Withered).

The album is scheduled for a March 17 release via Prosthetic Records. In the meantime you can hear the song “Said and Done” from the new album at Kylesa’s Myspace page.

“’Said and Done’ was the first song we wrote for Static Tensions and has a little bit of everything that can be heard on the album,” explains guitarist/vocalist Laura Pleasants in a press release. “We think it is a good introduction.”

Kylesa plays the SCION Rock fest at the Masquerade on Sat. Feb. 28th and again at the Masquerade on Fri., April 24th with the Haunted, Nachtmystium.

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The flier don’t lie. The Scion Rock Fest at the Masquerade’s outdoor Music Park on Sat., Feb. 28th is going to be a free, ticketed show and the line-up is truly astounding.

There’s a lot of clamor clogging up the blog world right now from people who are wondering where they can get tickets. Criminal Records and Decatur CD both have them for sure. A more comprehensive list of where to get tickets will be made a available at LambGoat.com on Thurs., Jan. 22.

Earlier this afternoon I was waiting in line at Criminal Records when a couple of kids asked about tickets. The clerk said that they are limited to two per customer and the recipients had to leave their e-mail address on file with them…

The Masquerade is located at 695 North Ave. 404-577-8178. Doors open at noon and close at midnight.

***Update***

According to Criminal Records’ weekly newsletter:

Go to the Scion Rock Fest website and give them your e-mail address (yep, that’s the catch!). And then, Scion will send you a confirmation e-mail on 1/28 (or some date thereabouts). You print out that e-mail and bring it in for your tickets. For reals.

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