The Sludgelord News: ABSTRACTER: Wound Empire LP Out Today; Band Added To Southwest Terror Fest And Deadfest

Oakland, California's ABSTRACTER proudly unveils the apocalyptic sounds of their second full-length album, Wound Empire, as it is officially now available worldwide on a variety of formats through a tight-knit web of underground labels and allies. Interjecting a wide array of decimating elements into their crust-toned sludge attack, WoundEmpire boasts ABSTRACTER's most demoralizing songs to date, its four massive movements consuming forty-two minutes of material recorded and mixed at Earhammer Studios by Greg Wilkinson (Brainoil, Pallbearer, Noothgrush) and mastered at Audiosiege by Brad Boatright (Wolves In The Throne Room, Nails, Sunn O))), Sleep). The album is out today on 12" vinyl LP through Fragile Branch Recordings, Vendetta Records, 7 Degrees Records and Shove Records, on CD by COF Records, and on cassette tape co-released by An Out Recordings and ABSTRACTER's own Sentient Ruin Laboratories.

Wound Empire is streaming alongside orders for all digital and physical versions HERE, and internationally the LP can be ordered HERE and HERE.

In addition to ABSTRACTER's impending Wound Empire record release show in their hometown onMarch 7th alongside Dispirit, Alaric and Church, has also added another Oakland performance, as the band will take part in Deadfest August 14th through 16th with Terrorizer, Noothgrush, Come To Grief, Nausea, Capitalist Casualties, Gehenna and many others. Also, this week the band has been declared as one of the first acts confirmed for the upcoming of the mighty Southwest Terror Fest IV. Once again set to take over Tucson, Arizona on October 15th through 18th, the fest will see ABSTRACTER joining the likes of Bongripper, Graves At Sea, Gatecreeper, Skycrawler and Naught, with the majority of the four-day, multiple club lineup yet to be announced. Additional ABSTRACTER live performances will be announced in the weeks ahead.

ABSTRACTER Wound Empire Record Release Show:

3/07/2015 First Church Of The Buzzard - Oakland, CA w/ Dispirit, Alaric, Church [info]

8/14-16/2015 Oakland Metro Operahouse - Oakland, CA @ Deadfest [info]

10/15-18/2015 Southwest Terror Fest - Tucson, AZ [info]

http://www.abstracterband.com 

http://www.facebook.com/ABSTRACTER
http://abstracter.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/SentientRuin
http://www.fragilebranch.com
http://www.7degrees-records.de
http://www.facebook.com/hatecof/timeline
http://anout.bandcamp.com
http://vendettarecords.wordpress.com 

Source: Earsplit PR

Abstracter - Wound Empire (Album Review)

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 10/2/2015

Label: Sentient Ruin Laboratories

“Wound Empire” CS//DD//LP Tracklisting:

1. Lightless

2. Open Veins

3. Cruciform

4. Glowing Wounds

Review:

Abstracter is a musical force to be reckoned with and hail out of Oakland, CA. They bring a breath of fresh air to a heavily flooded “Post Metal” market, which is home to a long list of great bands already.  This blackened mass of malice began in 2010 and released ‘Tomb of Feathers’, with ‘Wound Empire’ set for release later this month. The entire album flows seamlessly in and out of a veil of darkness and the pits of corrosive dystopia.

‘Lightless’ begins like a lurking figure waiting to claw its way within the very depths of consciousness and reason, turning light upon itself. An ominous and controlled wall of feedback builds tension with discordant notes from picking the strings of the guitars headstock. Heavy drones are layering and washing in and out, beckoning for the listener to venture closer. Mid paced tempo drives this song forward with vocals that perfectly compliment the music, all the while having a demanding presence. There are some Blackened elements flowing in and out of the weighty driving drones, giving great diversity and dynamics. There are moments where the drums disappear allowing you to flow with the beautifully mind-numbing riffs.

‘Open Veins’ begins with an interlude, a melodic single note chord picking, layered over thick and brooding guitar and bass, setting a very debilitating melancholy mood. The kind of mood that is reminiscent of plotting your own demise. Through the dark haze grows the uncertainty and anger, as if this is actually going to happen or not. The sheer weight of these riffs, invoke an array of emotions for me, like that of controlled rage that is hanging on by a thread. Throaty slow vocals, comparable to that of Downfall of Gaia, mix perfectly into this bleak tonal mastery.  ‘Cruciform’ continues the albums decent into wretchedness and pain. Slow and plodding with controlled feedback and heavy riffs, keeping you in waiting, then crashing down with sonic obliteration. This crushing moment is kept alive with added tension right on its tail with more blackened elements, and then quickly swallowed by consuming crushing chugging riffs. ‘Cruciform’ is constantly on the move in aggressiveness and feel, of which I can only equate to moments of rapid bi-polar cycling, but well worth the ride.

Finishing out this 40+ minute soul crushing album is ‘Glowing Wound’. Ethereal vocals with heavy reverb sing out over very pensive yet soothing tones. Melodic layered guitar work floods over the levee that is already about to give way. But it all comes caving in, no matter how hard you struggle. Tension upon unrelenting tension, surfacing and burying all within its path, until its final crescendo of feedback; then dead silence, like lost hope at the end of a smoking barrel.

From start to finish, this album screams attention for its fluency and superb song writing.  A canvas so dark and inviting, slowly enticing the listener into an unsettled place of resolve for the moments to come in their lives. This darkness that surrounds us all is apparent throughout ‘Wound Empire’, and with music as crushing and emotionally crippling as this, there is no need for a band of this calibre to be flying under the radar whatsoever. Like I said earlier, ‘Wound Empire’ is bleak tonal mastery!

Words by: Eric Crowe

On February 10th, 2015, Wound Empire will be made available on 12" vinyl LP through Fragile Branch Recordings (US), Vendetta Records (EU/DE), 7Degrees Records (EU/DE) and Shove Records (EU/IT), on CD by COF Records (formerly known as Church Ov Fuck - UK), on cassette tape co-released by Sentient Ruin in collaboration with An Out Recordings, and digitally again through Sentient Ruin. For the LP, there will be 600 copies pressed; of which 500 will be pitch black and 100 on clear wax with black and grey haze. The CD will be in an edition of 100 hand-assembled, four-panel, gatefold, vinyl-styled cardboard jackets with a 6mm spine and insert. The tape will come in 100 units as a five-panel U-card in a clear Norelco box with a cardboard outer sleeve. 

For more information:

http://www.abstracterband.com | http://www.facebook.com/ABSTRACTER | http://abstracter.bandcamp.com | http://www.facebook.com/SentientRuin
http://www.fragilebranch.com | http://www.7degrees-records.de | http://www.facebook.com/hatecof/timeline | http://anout.bandcamp.com
http://vendettarecords.wordpress.com

The Sludgelord News: Daily Digest

Your rundown of the top sludge news stories of the day …

PRIMITIVE MAN - Relapse Records will be releasing the new PRIMITIVE MAN EP on February 17. The four song EP will be 31 minutes long and will be released digitally and on vinyl. The vinyl release will constitute 1000 copies, 750 on standard black wax and 250 on silver. You can stream the opening track “Loathe” at this location and you can pre-order the EP at this location.

The band has also announced a U.S. tour starting May 16 after they return home from their UK tour with Sea Bastard in late March and April. The U.S. tour will take the band from Omaha, NE through their scheduled appearance at the Maryland Death Fest and finish back home in Colorado on the 29^th.

Primitve Man tour schedule:

3/30/2015 Unicorn - London, UK w/ Sea Bastard
3/31/2015 TBA - Nottingham, UK w/ Sea Bastard
4/01/2015 Roadhouse - Manchester, UK w/ Sea Bastard
4/02/2015 South Sea Live - Sheffield, UK w/ Sea Bastard
4/03/2015 South Sea Live - Newcastle, UK w/ Sea Bastard
4/04/2015 Audio - Glasgow, UK w/ Sea Bastard
4/05/2015 Bannermans - Edinburgh, UK w/ Sea Bastard

5/16/2015 TBA - Omaha, NE
5/17/2015 The Black Hole - Cedar Falls, IA
5/18/2015 Skeletunes Lounge - Fortwayne, IN
5/19/2015 The Sanctuary - Detroit, MI
5/20/2015 Now That’s Class - Cleveland, OH
5/21 – 5/25/2015 Maryland Death Fest – Baltimore, MD
5/26/2015 Strange Matter - Richmond, VA
5/27/2015 TBA - Dayton, OH
5/28/2015 The Demo - St. Louis, MO
5/29/2015 Flux Capacitor - Colorado Springs, CO

Visit these links for more info:

https://www.facebook.com/primitivemandoom

http://instagram.com/primitivemane

https://twitter.com/primitivemane/

https://primitivemandoom.bandcamp.com/

http://primitivemandoom.com/

Source:

Relpase Records

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MIDNIGHT GHOST TRAIN - Napalm Records unleashed a maelstrom of announcements today, including the signing of band Unleash the Archers to their recording roster, Portuguese gothic metallers Moonspell have released a trailer for their new album, new Swedish heavy metal band Civil War have set release dates for their upcoming album set to drop in early May, German death/black metal band Thulcandra have released a preview of their new album, but the most exciting news for Sludge-o’s is the release of a new video.

Midnight Ghost Train have released a video for “BC Trucker”, the first single of their upcoming album ‘Cold was the Ground’. You can watch that clip at this location. No telling how much the album title has to do with the original Blind Willie Johnson song, but if you live in Europe, maybe you can ask them yourself when they roll through town (click to expand the poster next to this text).

For More Info Visit:
www.themidnightghosttrain.com
www.facebook.com/themidnightghosttrain
www.napalmrecords.com
www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

Source:

Napalm Records

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MARDUK - It’s not “Little Drummer Boy”, that’s for certain. Images of war and devastation waver in the distance. The march of war drums carry over wails and blast beats. That’s just some of what you can expect from black metal legends MARDUK’s latest promo video.

The clip is for the title track off their 13^th album, ‘Frontschwein’, just released through Century Media. The “Frontschwein” video is now playing at this location. War is the theme of the video and the album (which you can find at this location) and the soldiers of Marduk will be on the march around the globe through much of the next three months, touring Japan, Europe and the UK.

Here are the theaters of conflict:

JAPAN 2015
Jan 22 – Osaka – Nanba Rockets
Jan 23 – Nagoya – Imaike Club 3Star
Jan 24 – Tokyo – Shibuya Cyclone
Jan 25 – Tokyo – Shibuya Garret

EUROPEAN HEADLINER tour
with Belphegor (special guest) and two support acts
19.02.2015 HOL Rotterdam / Baroeg
20.02.2015 HOL Eindhoven / Effenaar
21.02.2015 HOL Sneek / Het Bolwerk
22.02.2015 BEL Vosselaar / Biebob
23.02.2015 UK Plymouth / The Hub
24.02.2015 UK Manchester / Academy 3
25.02.2015 UK Glasgow / Audio
26.02.2015 UK London / Underworld
27.02.2015 FR Paris / Divan du Monde
28.02.2015 CH Monthey / Pont Rouge
01.03.2015 FR Toulouse / Dynamo
03.03.2015 SP Madrid / Caracol
04.03.2015 SP Barcelona / Apolo
06.03.2015 ITA Turin / Cafe Liber
07.03.2015 ITA Brescia / Circolo Colony
08.03.2015 SLO Nova Gorica / Mostovna

HATEFEST 2015 with Six Feet Under, Vader and Hate
02.04.2015 DE – Leipzig, Hellraiser
03.04.2015 AT – Wien, Gasometer
04.04.2015 CH – Pratteln, Z7
05.04.2015 DE – Essen, Weststadthalle
06.04.2015 DE – Saarbrücken, Garage
07.04.2015 DE – Lindau, Club Vaudeville
08.04.2015 DE – Ludwigsburg, Rockfabrik
09.04.2015 DE – Hamburg, Markthalle
10.04.2015 DE – Geiselwind, Musichall
11.04.2015 DE – München, Backstage
12.04.2015 DE – Berlin, Postbahnhof

MARDUK online:
www.marduk.nu
www.myspace.com/truemarduk
www.facebook.com/mardukofficial

Century Media Records online:
http://www.centurymedia.com
http://www.myspace.com/centurymediaeurope
http://www.youtube.com/centurymedia
www.twitter.com/centurymediaeu
www.facebook.com/centurymedia
http://gplus.to/centurymedia

Century Media webshop:
www.cmdistro.com

Source:

The Noise Cartel

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ABSTRACTER - Oakland’s apocalyptic blackened sludge quartet ABSTRACTER are now streaming a new song from their upcoming LP at Vice Magazine. “Cruciform” is the second single from the album, the first, “Lightless” is being streamed at Cvlt Nation.

The four song, 42-minute ‘Wound Empire’ will be released on February 20 on vinyl through various labels around the globe and on cassette and digitally through Sentient Ruin. Vice Magazine wrote that “Abstracter must figure the end is coming any day now, so they've written the apocalypse a theme song” in their introduction to “Cruciform”. You can stream it now at this location. Americans can pre-order the album at this location while European readers might want to try 7 Degrees Records or Vendetta Records instead.

http://www.abstracterband.com
http://www.facebook.com/ABSTRACTER
http://abstracter.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/SentientRuin
http://www.fragilebranch.com
http://www.7degrees-records.de
http://www.facebook.com/hatecof/timeline
http://anout.bandcamp.com
http://vendettarecords.wordpress.com

Source:

Earsplit PR

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AKASAVA - Fans of the dark subgenre labeled occult rock, get your pen and paper ready, you may want in on the ground floor with this new band. Newborn French occult rock quartet are set to release their debut EP in late Spring, it was revealed.

The EP will be called ‘Strange Aeons’, and a single is expected to be released sometime in March. The band cites Jacula, 13^th Floor Elevators, Blood Ceremony and Kadavar among its influences which are high standards for a band just formed this past July to attain to. Though the world will wait 'til late Spring to find out just how high the band climbs in its artistic pursuits, the curious can get to know the band at the following locations:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/akasavaofficial
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5kNHITAE4VeS72p42CTREQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Akasava_band

Source:

Dewar PR

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CULT LEADER - Another band set to record a new album are Salt Lake City hardcore metal icons CULT LEADER. The band has booked studio time with Kurt Ballou in Salem, Mass, for after their month long Northeastern U.S. tour in March. The band is expecting their sophomore album to be released by Deathwish Inc. before the end of the year.

More information has been promised. For now, you can catch the band live at the following dates:

March 3 Denver, CO @ 7th Circle Collective
March 4 Kansas City, MO @ Art Closet Studios
March 5 St. Louis, MO @ FUBAR
March 6 Indianapolis, IN @ 5th Quarter Lounge
March 7 Columbus, OH @ The House with No Name*
March 9 Washington, DC @ The Dougout*
March 10 Wilmington, DE @ Claymont VFW*#
March 11 Montclair, NJ @ Uncle Slevs*
March 12 Amityville, NY @ Amityville Music Hall*
March 24 Burlington, VT @ Monkey House^
March 25 Sherbrooke, ON @ La Murdoch^
March 26 Montreal, QC @ La PBR^
March 27 Ottawa, ON @ Le Bistro^
March 28 Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck^
March 30 Buffalo, NY @ Sugar City^ %
March 31 Cleveland, OH @ Now That's Class%
April 1 Detroit, MI @ The Sanctuary%
April 2 Chicago, IL @ Club Rectum%
April 3 Omaha, NE @ Midtown Art Supply
April 4 Cheyenne, WY @ Ernie November

* w/ Purge
^ w/ Old Wounds
% w/ Hollow Earth
# Full of Hell

For more info visit:

https://www.facebook.com/CultLeaderMusic

https://twitter.com/CultLeaderMusic

http://cultleadermusic.tumblr.com/

http://instagram.com/CultLeaderMusic

Source:

Cult Leader

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KING PARROT - It was also announced that Australian thrash grind band King Parrot is set to invade American shores this March in support of Weedeater. After a short run in Europe, also supporting Weedeater, the month long American tour will take the quintet around the country, where they will visit two dozen cities.

"We're honored to be heading out with the legendary Weedeater,” the band said in a released statement. “We've heard only awesome reports about this great band live, and we can't wait to have our own chapter in the folklore of Dixie Dave and company. All the people working behind the scenes on this tour have been excited about pairing our bands for some time, so I'm sure this will be one for the ages! Expect all the crazy shit you would at a high octane punk or metal show, and then times it by ten, as I'm positive both bands will bring their proverbial A game. I've heard from people around the country, 'If there's anyone crazier than KING PARROT, it's Weedeater.' We'll be out to prove them wrong! We'll also be playing a swag of songs from our new album to be released mid-year, so come get a sample of what we have in store."

You can catch the craziness on the following dates:

3/06/2015 Kavka - Antwerpen, BE
3/07/2015 Sound Control - Manchester, UK
3/08/2015 Underworld - London, UK
3/09/2015 Aeronef - Lille, FR
3/10/2015 Glazart - Paris, FR
3/11/2015 Ptr,Usine - Geneva, CH
3/12/2015 Freak Out - Bologna, IW
3/13/2015 Juha West - Stuttgart, DE
3/14/2015 Vortex Surfer - Siegen, DE
3/15/2015 Burgerweeshuis - Deventer, NL
3/21/2015 The Lost Well - Austin, TX
3/24/2015 Launchpad - Albuquerque, NM
3/25/2015 Pub Rock Live - Scottsdale, AZ
3/26/2015 Casbah - San Diego, CA
3/27/2015 The Complex - Los Angeles, CA
3/28/2015 Catalyst - Santa Cruz, CA
3/29/2015 DNA - San Francisco, CA
3/30/2015Starlite Lounge - Sacramento, CA
3/31/2015 Dante's - Portland, OR
4/01/2015 Studio Seven - Seattle, WA
4/02/2015 The Pin - Spokane, WA
4/03/2015 Neurolux - Boise, ID
4/04/2015 In The Venue - Salt Lake City, UT
4/05/2015 Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
4/07/2015 Riot Room - Kansas City, MO
4/08/2015 Wooly's - Des Moines, IA
4/09/2015 Rock Island Brewing - Rock Island, IL
4/10/2015 Pyramid Scheme - Grand Rapids, MI
4/11/2015 Subterranean - Chicago, IL
4/12/2015 Grog Shop - Cleveland, OH
4/13/2015 Saint Vitus - Brooklyn, NY
4/14/2015 Nectars - Burlington, VT
4/15/2015 T.T. The Bear's Place - Boston, MA
4/16/2015 Kung Fu Necktie - Philadelphia, PA
4/18/2015 Ziggy's By The Sea - Wilmington, NC

http://www.facebook.com/kingparrotband
KING PARROT on YouTube

Source:

Earsplit PR

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WRATH OF VESUVIUS - And finally, it was announced that California technical death metal quintet WRATH OF VESUVIUS or WRVTH have signed on with Unique Leader Records to release their upcoming third album, which is expected this Spring.

"We are beyond excited to be working with Unique Leader Records,” the band said in a statement. “They have always had cutting edge heavy bands that stand out among the modern metal scene. They're a solid label which means a lot these days, and we couldn't have asked for a better partner in taking our next step. We took a fresh approach to writing this record and it’s really starting to come together. This band has changed a lot over the last few years, and we think this record will display the distinctive character and eclectic personality that we bring to each song."

In related news, the band will engage in a Western U.S. tour beginning late February to mid-March. The “Enter Into Atonement Tour” will see WRVTH co-headline with labelmates Inanimate Existence. Here are the dates:

2/26/2015 The 207 - Stockton, CA
2/27/2015 EPEK Print Shop - Salinas, CA
2/28/2015 Musichead - Medford, OR
3/01/2015 The Third Street Pub - Bend, OR
3/02/2015 The Pin - Spokane, WA
3/03/2015 The Palace Lounge - Missoula, MT
3/04/2015 Machinery Row - Great Falls, MT
3/05/2015 Loading Dock - Salt Lake City, UT
3/06/2015 Bushwackers Saloon - Denver, CO
3/07/2015 The Blu Phoenix - Albuquerque, NM
3/08/2015 Joe's Grotto - Phoenix, AZ
3/09/2015 Slidebar - Fullerton, CA
3/10/2015 Boondocks Tavern - Banning, CA
3/11/2015 White Oak Music - Van Nuys, CA
3/12/2015 Strummer's - Fresno, CA FREE Show!
3/13/2015 The Divebar - Las Vegas, NV
3/14/2015 Arlene Francis Center - Santa Rosa, CA
3/15/2015 On the Y - Sacramento, CA

http://www.facebook.com/WrathofVesuvius
http://www.uniqueleader.com
http://www.facebook.com/UniqueLeaderRecords

Source:

Earsplit PR

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And now you’re all caught up in the world of sludge.