CountBlagorath interview!

Shawn, also known as CountBlagorath is a busy man. He is as active as ever in the metal scene, acting as vocalist for New York death metallers OMNIPRESCENT, reviewing albums online, planning a solo Power-Violence project, as well as running the up and coming atmospheric music label CELESTIAL OAK PRODUCTIONS I caught Shawn for an interview a little bit ago and he obliged.

1. So what got you started in the review game? 
Well, it all started about 7 years ago when I first discovered the Metal Archives and I saw there were user submitted reviews. I was really into the whole forum/message board thing and I was already talking about bands and albums I loved, so I figured why not write my own review? Sure, I wasn't professional, but you don't need to be to have an opinion. After writing 3, I grew tired of typing them. It just seemed dull and took me hours to do, so I just gave up. A few years later, I was hanging out with my friend and he brought up the idea of doing video albums reviews and I loved it. We sat down and recorded 2  reviews and for some reason, never uploaded them. I discovered the album reviewing community on Youtube and watched Coverkillernation, TheNeedleDrop, and JumbleJunkieMusic, and I decided I was just gonna try it. Thankfully, people enjoyed it!

2. Your thoughts about the music you review are very coherent and descriptive, do you write down your opinions first? Work from a script? Or do you just wing it? 
I normally just wing it. If I have notes or a script I just stumble over my words and the video feels forced. I just listen to the album a bunch of times, listen to it right before recording a review, turn on the camera and hope for the best.

3. Do you have a favorite musical medium? CD's, downloads, tapes, vinyl?
If I had to pick one, it would be vinyl. I love everything about it. You really feel like you get a lot more for your money. I love the packaging, the artwork, even the ritual of pulling it off the shelf taking the record out, putting it on the turntable, and dropping the needle.Plus the sound quality is just stellar with the right mastering and pressing. It's by far the most natural sounding. I do enjoy CD's and tapes quite a bit. CD's are great because you can just pop one in and let the whole album play without having to get up and mess with anything when you're feeling lazy. Tapes are great because they are so cheap and, for black metal, they work perfectly. The quality of the tape almost enhances the atmosphere of the music. As for downloads, I'm not a fan at all. It's the most shallow of all formats.

4. I want to touch on your "Controversial Metal Opinions" series. You go really against the grain with your ideas of genre and belief. Does this ever attract anger form the more typical metalhead? 
Well, I'd hate to say "the more typical metalhead" but I would say from the more old school "warrior" type. I've had death threats, hate pages on Facebook, impersonators, home address posted, and even a stalker who would message me under multiple accounts. Now, I must stress this, I have been greeted with more positive feedback than negative with those videos but of course, with the positive comes the negative.

5. I know you don't consider an artists beliefs or actions when you purchase their music. Is there a line you won't cross? Is there something a musician could do that would stop you from purchasing their music?
This is a tough question since I can separate personal beliefs from music. I feel like metal is all about self expression and you can express whatever you want as long as it's genuine. I have no issue with what people sing about since they have the right to express what they want, but I don't have to support them. The only thing that comes to mind is the current situation with Ian from Lostprophets. Anybody that can do something that sick not just to a child, but to a baby...just sickens me. If any band I listen to turned out to be pedophiles or rapists, that would be it for me. But other than that, I don't care.

6. Let's talk about your band, OMNIPRESENT. You guys play Death Metal and, from what I've heard, you guys sound pretty great. Are there any upcoming EP's/Full Lengths/Splits?
First off, thank you for the compliment. We are currently recording a five-track EP titled Media. As I type this, the drums are done and we're about to track guitars, bass, vocals ect. As for the full length, we have a full song written titled Force Fed Lobotomy and are currently working on two more songs that will be included on it. We're going to take our time on this and not rush anything so I can't really tell you when it'll be done. As for when the EP, we want it out by March.

7. Are you interested in keeping the band unsigned or, if the opportunity presents itself, would you sign to a label?
We would love to sign! Music is my life and my happiest moments are when I'm playing live, so it would be great to have a labels support.

8. You have a wide range, from guttural, disgusting lows, to more black metal highs. Who inspires you as a vocalist? 
Thank you so much! I'd say my biggest influences would be Travis Ryan from CATTLE DECAPITATION, Phil Bozeman from WHITECHAPEL, Igor Filimontsev, from KATELEPSY, Grimo from CYTOTOXIN, J. Read from CONQUEROR, Gaahl from GOD SEED and way to many more to list.

9. You mentioned a solo Powerviolence project in one of your videos, any progress?
I have the drums programmed and bass written since I don't have a guitar. Once I get one, I'd like to finish up. Name, concept, and some lyrics are done.I just gotta get myself into gear and hammer it out.

10. So I'm excited for your brand new album, CELESTIAL OAK PRODUCTIONS. When did the germ for this idea take root? Did you always know you were going to create a label?
The whole idea for Celestial Oak Productions came from browsing tons of distros on a nightly basis and just thinking about how cool it would be to run one. I started researching how small labels run and what I would need to buy and whatnot out of curiosity. Once I saw how tough it was, I wanted to do it as more of a challenge to myself. After months of thinking and looking more and more into it, I decided it was time for me to do something. If I'm to ever start a project this big, I should start it now when I'm young and have the motivation. As for me knowing, not really. I always thought it would be cool, but I never thought it would actually happen.

11. Is Celestial Oak Productions a label that that will focus on Black Meta? Or do you plan on branching out? 
Celestial Oak is about atmospheric and natural music. If the music has a dense atmosphere and feels extremely natural, then I'm going to be all about that. The styles I'm looking into at the moment are atmospheric black metal, sludge, funeral doom, folk metal, neofolk, and ambient. I refuse to limit myself to just black metal. Anything I put out has to move me in some way and honestly, a lot of styles outside of black metal hit me hard. Neofolk is one of my favorite genres and it's not related to metal at all.

12. I really enjoy DEUIL and their Acceptance/Rebuilt album. How did that relationship develop? Does your label accept demos? 
DEUIL came about through WOOOOOOARGH RECORDS contacting me about co-releasing the LP. I had no communication with the band outside of getting their permission to put the whole album up on the CELESTIAL OAK bandcamp. As for demos, I would normally say yes, but I have a lot on my plate at the moment with different releases and ,as much as I would love to put out 50 releases in 2014, I just don't have the money for that.

13. From what I've seen, the Acceptance/Rebuilt vinyl package is very high quality. It's rare to see an up and coming label with that kind of quality control. How did you swing that?
Once again, WOAAAAARGH has to take the credit for that. It's a stunning package and there's no way I could have done this without the help from them and the other labels involved in the project. I must say this, though, I will continue to release great packaging for Celestial Oak. I have a bunch of plans for the future involving great packaging, high quality pressings, posters, and even some odd extras to be included with certain albums. I want the customer to get great music with equally great packaging.

14. Could you key us in on any new projects? New reviews, stuff with the band, future label releases?
Sure, outside of the OMNIPRESENT EP, I'm going to be recording vocals for my friends tech death project called ASTROCYTE. It's melodic, technical, brutal, and heavy as an elephant. As for reviews, I plan on reviewing the WALDEN album next. Amazing Neofolk music in the vein of Empyrium. Over the next few months I plan on releasing three CD's. Two are from this amazing black/folk metal band from Canada called TROLLBAND. They are a hard working band that makes some extremely solid music that is not only catchy and fun to listen to, but also unique. The other album is a brand new EP from the the atmospheric Black Metal project KOLDSCOV. Stunning atmospheric black metal that gives off a fog like atmosphere with some water-tight songwriting. Great stuff! I also have a huge announcement concerning a reissue of a Quebec black metal classic!

15. Any final words?
Thank you so much for the interview and support!

Dishel- Final Matters review

. Many thought that D-Beat died with Kawakami of DISCLOSE but bands like this aren't going anywhere. It's a simple drum beat that pissed off kids are going to latch on to and make sweet, distorted poetry with. Beautiful, simply beautiful.

This album is rad, D-clone that's produced really well and includes a fucking CELTIC FROST cover and it's rad. Buy it.

Stream it: http://dishell.bandcamp.com/album/final-matters

Buy it! 

From The Vault: Winter

When people think about New York music, two images come to mind. One is the x'ed up, aggressive sound of New York Hardcore, and the other is the freak, literary-steeped coolness of art rock. It's a shame, because the New York metal scene produced some of the heaviest music ever put to tape. SUFFOCATION is the most well known metal export, but BRUTAL TRUTH, S.O.D, LIFE OF AGONY, TYPE O NEGATIVE, and THE STIMULATORS put out great music.

On In Darkness,WINTER that took the darkness and claustrophobia present in great New York music and cranked it up to eleven. This album is slow, painfully slow death/doom with a haunting, bleak atmosphere.  It sounds like a wounded animal crawling through black treacle, trying to get to safety but slowly bleeding out.

Every track has the same pace and atmosphere, which is something I would normally decry as boring but with this album it just adds to the sadness. WINTER is named after an AMEBIX track, and they live up to the former's grim aesthetic. The negativity is heightened because it feels realistic. There is no occult-leanings, no morbid tales of murder and sexual deviancy, just the endless sadness that is always present in life.

The album was very underground for a while, but was eventually reissued by NUCLEAR BLAST on CD and by SOUTHERN LORD on Vinyl.

Pick it up, but be warned that you are in for a harrowing listen.

Stoner Metal Vinyl comp.

Record heads rejoice! HEAVY PSYCH RECORDS has announced a Volume 1 split album between NAAM, WHITE HILLS, BLACK RAINBOWS, and FLYING EYES. The album will be released on double gatefold 12 inch.

You can find it at Desert fest in Berlin!

Listen to the album trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PrFKJ6_OE0#t=20

Helstar post new song!

Heavy Metal still lived! Us vetaran warriors have released a lyric video for "Fall of Dominion" a song from their new album The Wicked Nest, due April 29th.

Watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEEYK7b3_so#t=119

Unwound stream box set

 Noise rock fuzz legends UNWOUND are streaming their new box set, called Rat Conspiracy, on Spin.com. The set contains two albums and collects two studio albums as well as rarities, live recordings, and singles. Rat Conspiracy is part of The Numero Group's exhaustive reissue campaign. Stream the album here: http://www.spin.com/articles/unwound-rat-conspiracy-box-set-stream/

Hirax stream new album.

Speed metal gods HIRAX are streaming their new album Immortal Legacy. The album was released on March 4th through SPV/Steamhammer records.

Stream it here: http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/hirax-entire-immortal-legacy-album-available-for-streaming/

Coffinworm stream new album

Sludge/Doom/Post-metal band COFFINWORM are streaming their new album IV.I.VIII on the Profound Lore Bandcamp page.

Only esoteric metal is real!

Stream it here: http://profoundlorerecords.bandcamp.com/album/iv-i-viii

Impetuous Ritual release new track.

Australian occult-death metalers IMPETUOUS RITUAL have released a new track entitled "Inservitude of Asynchronus Duality." off of their upcoming album Unholy Congregation of Hypocritical Ambivalence. The album is set to be released on April 15th through PROFOUND LORE records.

I'm loving this wave esoteric, ritual based Death Metal bands. It's taking metal right back into the underground, where it belongs.

Listen to the track here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-obpap4WPSE

Triptykon release new song.

Swiss extreme metal band TRIPTYKON have released two new songs, taken from their upcoming album Melana Chasmata.

You can stream them here: www.soundcloud.com/centurymedia/sets/triptykon-melana-chasmata

Selim Lemouchi- dead at 34

Selim Lemouchi, axe wielder for THE DEVIL'S BLOOD and SELIM LEMOUCHI AND HIS ENEMIES died suddenly yesterday. His cause of death is unknown. Condolences to his friends and family.

The Oath post new track

Occult Doom metal group THE OATH have posted a new track on the official Rise Above records youtube channel. The song is entitled "All Must Die" and it comes from the band's debut album The Oath, set to be released on April 15th.

It totally rips. Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt6xCf9Iivk#t=123

Krallice announce split with Ekstatis

New York atmospheric Black Metal band KRALLICE have announced a split with EKSTATIS, the new band of BLUT AUS NORD's Vindsval through Facebook. The split is set to be released through Debemur Morti Productions.

Oneohtrix Point Never announce compilation

With record store day approaching, ONOEOHTRIX POINT NEVER has announced a new compilation entitled Commissions 1 made up of pieces composed for performance art and films. The tracklist includes

1. Music For Streamlined Rocks
2. Meet Your Creator
3. I Only Have Eyes for You

I'm stoked for this. Anything that warped records puts out is pure gold. If you catch the 12-inch at your local record store, pick it up.

Grim Visions of Battle

I'm a firm believer that if I were to make a mixtape with DISCHARGE on one side and HELLHAMMER on the other and give it to a friend, that friend would not hear a difference in genre. It's all crushing guitar, harsh vocals, bleak lyrics, and fast drums topped off by the occasional solo. Genre purists try and separate the two but there's really no-point, punk has been on a collision course with extreme metal since the early 80's and they are forever intertwined. Some bands get this, and strive for that genre-bending album, but very few succeed.

Sweden's SWORDWIELDER are that rare band that just hit the sweet spot between extreme metal and raw punk. Guitars are big and melodic, but with an occasional three chord bite. Vocals sway between a crusty bark and a chesty Cyriis impersonation. The album conjures images of plague and war. It has its black metal moments and they are steeped in misanthropy.

This whole album is just fantastic. This is what late-era DARKTHRONE wishes it could be.

Stream the album here: http://wieldthesword.bandcamp.com/

Buy the LP here: http://www.cubodesangre.com/

Die Young interview

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Daniel from the criminally underrated Texas hardcore/metal ruffians DIE YOUNG. They're a great band and Daniel seems like a great guy. He provides some interesting context for the new record and some information about where the band is going.

Alright. To start off, could you tell us the names of your bandmates and what everyone does?

Eric Gibson is our bassist. He actually started Die Young with me back in 2002. He was one of our guitarists then, because we started this band a sort of side project that would allow us to play different instruments than we played in our previous bands. But after the first tour we put Eric back on bass, because he’s way better at bass than he is on guitar. Our current guitarists are Jeff Williams, who lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and Chris Dawson, who is Eric’s old friend from high school who lives in Austin now. Jeff probably toured more with Die Young than any other guitarist back in our road warrior days. He took a semester off of college in 2006 to come out with us as a fill-in guitarist, but then he liked touring with Die Young so much that he quit school altogether and kept touring with Die Young until we broke up in 2009. Chris joined the band very recently when Hasp quit right after we recorded the new record and played our comeback show. Chris and Eric go way back, and they had played in bands together before, so Chris was actually one of about 2 people that came to mind to even consider asking to play for us. He’s a really good fit and we’re glad to have him. Our new drummer, Wendel, is really named Daniel, but everyone calls him by his nickname. He lives in Mexico City. He used to always ask me to reform Die Young to play a Mexico tour under the name ’Muere Joven’ just because he wanted the opportunity to say he played in Die Young. When I came up with the ideas for these new songs, he was first in line asking to play in the band. I figured if the dude wants to play in the band so badly that he will consistently come up from Mexico to record and play shows then he deserves a shot. So far, so good.

You guys went on a hiatus in 2009. What brought you back? Do you feel like the break helped you guys refocus/become stronger as a band?

When we broke up I was so burned out on writing this kind of hardcore. I ventured off into new projects doing Band of Mercy, and I also joined Will To Live to help them write a full-length. It was a nice change of pace. But you know, over time, when writing for those other bands, I would have obvious Die Young styled riffs come out of nowhere. By trying to write for other bands, I actually started developing material for Die Young again as an accident. For a good while I was really committed to the idea of not doing Die Young again, it just didn’t interest me for a couple years, but my attempts to start another band in a similar vein with the new material I was writing were fruitless. So when I moved back to Texas from Philadelphia late last year it just made sense to get the old dudes together and pick up where we left off. Everyone was excited to do it. And from there about 5 more songs wrote themselves in just a couple months. All that time off helped me realize that maintaining a band is often like maintaining a relationship. Sometimes things don’t go well, and rather than just calling everything off and walking away, you should just take some time apart to refocus and regroup. I do think we are in a position to come back stronger than ever. I think our new record is our best yet, and being that we won’t be touring all the time like we used, this band can actually be fun again. We know what our limits are now, and now things don’t have to be so frantic and obligatory like they were as a full-time band. At this point I want to focus more on playing quality shows versus a high quantity of shows, and the same goes for writing music—quality over quantity. I think we always grew with each release, but most of the writing was done by me, and overtime having only one songwriter starts to reveal its limitations. I think we can be much stronger now if we don’t have a crazy touring and recording schedule, and I can actually take the time to get everyone’s creative inputs for new material.

The band seems to be proud of their Texas roots. Any local bands that you like? What are you listening to now in general? Still living in Texas?

Yeh, I was living in Philly for most of 2013, and came back right before the end of the year. I mean, I enjoy being a Texan, but I am far from a Texan nationalist. There are a lot of funny things about stereotypical Texas character, but there’s a lot of embarrassing shit too—namely Texas politics. What I like most about Texas is that it’s decently cheap to live here and there is a lot of space to get away from other people. I don’t know how people live in the northeast. You come out of your apartment and there’s a crackhead on your stoop asking you for money. There’s no point in driving anywhere, because the freeways don’t have enough lanes, there are toll roads everywhere, and the sidewalks are just as crowded, so walking is miserable… and the weather fucking sucks. Seriously, it’s nice to visit up there, but no thanks to living there. 

Lately, I listen to pretty much what I have always been listening to: Bad Religion, Earth Crisis, Hot Water Music, Chuck Ragan, Crowbar, Propagandhi, Amon Amarth, Pantera, Integrity and In Cold Blood, Ringworm, Disfear, Motorhead, Cro-Mags, Ghost.

As far as Texas goes right now, I think the younger bands that I like the most are Vulgar Display and Snakeway, and there’s a lot of newer bands doing cool, interesting things: Concrete, Stymie, Afflictive Nature, Eightfifteen, Ivy League, and really a ton more than I can think of right now. 

The reviewer’s copy of “Chosen Path” that I received didn’t come with lyrics. What is the lyrical content on this album like? What place do your lyrics come from?

The lyrics for this record are a bit different than our previous material because I am primarily focusing inward rather than outward. I’m not offering a lot of social critique on Chosen Path. Instead I am talking a lot about personal choices and accountability, facing your future with regard to your past, and what it takes to emotionally maintain one’s self in a crazy, indifferent universe. I remember when we decided to make plans to break up after the Loss EP came out in 2008 I just didn’t know how I could write another record where I was condemning the outside world. You know, a person can only look around and point their finger so much. But that was Die Young’s thing—to be critical of society. In my defense, I was young and still figuring a lot of things out that I felt I needed to lash out about. It was all sincere and it was all honest, but I’m 31 now, and I have learned I wasn’t right about everything. I have learned that my decisions to spite society were bound to catch up with me, and now I am paying the price for a lot of my decisions back then. When I was 20 I thought I knew everything, and no one could tell me otherwise, but now I’m living like an adult and I am a bit more open to what the world has to teach me…just so I can live in it and try to lead a good and happy life. Reading  Joseph Campbell and Erich Fromm, as well as getting into powerlifting, really helped me put a lot of my feelings and experiences into perspective, and those influences all shine through in the concepts presented on Chosen Path. I promise you there’s nothing about straight edge on this record, nor has there ever been anything about being straight edge on any Die Young record haha. Not what you’d expect from a metallic hardcore band with a record called Chosen Path, I know!

You guys toured like MONSTERS back in the day (I actually caught you at the gilman). Are you going to be touring as rigorously? Do you find that touring is as rewarding as it was when you were younger?

I don’t have any desire to tour at length ever again. When the day comes, I’ll maybe agree to do 2 weeks, tops. Touring fucks up my eating schedule, my sleeping schedule, and it makes me weaker in the gym, which makes me weaker at just about everything. Touring, for me at this point, is no way to live at length, and I paid my dues with it. Thank you, I agree that we toured like MONSTERS back in the day, and I am very proud of that. That kind of show schedule may not be in the cards coming up for us, but I do enjoy playing shows more now. I enjoy simply practice songs with my friends more now. It’s good to get together and work on this vision of music that we have, and I really love that. I really need it in my life. One aspect of living in Philly that sucked for me was that I didn’t have the musical connection with anyone up there that I have with my friends in Die Young, Will To Live, or Band of Mercy. Those are connections and sense of understanding that we’ve developed for years now, and that makes them hard to replace.

Most hardcore bands, especially in this day and age, record a demo, an EP, some splits, and then implode into a million side-projects and short lived labels. You guys have stuck around and have quite a discography. What’s the source to longevity?

In our previous incarnation, up til 2009, the source of longevity was me running the band like a dictatorship. You don’t want to to tour anymore? Okay, see ya. Oh you’re not having fun anymore and can’t deal with me? Okay, see ya. Can’t manage your own finances to keep touring? Okay, see ya. I’m kind of an asshole, but maybe that’s why I am able to get shit done. You know, in the end the result is the same: members argue and burnout and feel like the band isn’t fun anymore whether somebody is an asshole or not, because touring typically offers you no real future, no money, and little prestige. Touring in a hardcore band generally doesn’t offer you women, so that’s one fault to it for most dudes. For most of us it was a way to escape the real world and responsibility at a pivotal time in our lives. Sometimes there are hard feelings, but usually there weren’t. Most all of us are still friends or at least on good terms. I tried to make everything as feasible for everyone as I could, and some guys would definitely have more complaints about me than others, but I had a vision I had to see through. I kept it going until I lost sight of my vision. I wish it could have been more of a collective vision, but when I quit school and jobs to tour in a band, I just couldn’t wait around for the original guys to get in gear with me. Some of them didn’t even have an interest in touring, so our lineup was bound to change a lot, for better or for worse. There were definitely some occasional tours that I felt we just weren’t as tight as we should be. So now the focus is quality over quality. I don’t want to compromise our quality to keep playing shows ever again.   

Ex-members of Die Young went on to form “Band of Mercy”, a very, very outspoken vegan band. Are any of you guys vegan? Straightedge? Do you feel that those ideas are still relevant in hardcore?

Three of us in the current Die Young lineup are vegan and straight edge, and those are the three of us who play in Band of Mercy. I think we’re all old enough to the point that being straight edge is almost irrelevant to us as far as the label goes. We are sober guys, but we don’t talk about straight edge much. To me, being straight edge without being vegan, or at least vegetarian, is a purely nerdy thing to go around claiming because it has no logical basis in regard to the idea of “self-preservation.” More people die of heart disease and cancer each year from diets rich in animal based foods than all the different types of drug-related deaths combined.  If you’re straight edge, but you eat meat, dairy, and eggs, you ought to reconsider the consistency of your moral platform. Meat and dairy are just vices that are culturally ingrained. I don’t know if you mean to imply that vegan or animal rights related issues are no longer relevant in hardcore, but even if they were irrelevant to most kids in the scene, I seek to keep them relevant. If people in hardcore don’t want to confront issues about the modern food system, or basic social justice issues, then they need a kick in the nuts. I get that it’s not the 90s anymore, but fuck it, I am going to have fun talking shit in my vegan band because it’s what I am passionate about.

Headfirst! Records, to me anyway, is a fantastic label for dark metallic hardcore. What is your relationship with Headfirst! Do they sign bands or are they more of a distributor?

I first got to know John and Caroline from Headfirst when they approached me about doing some tapes for Band of Mercy in early 2010. John said Die Young was always one of his favorite bands, so he wanted to work on anything new we were up to. From there the relationship began, and when it came time to do Die Young again, he and Caroline were excited to tackle the project. As far as their label goes, they do everything on a friendly level. There are no contracts or anything. It’s pretty DIY, but they work hard at it and invest a lot of time, money, and effort into it, so it is a good fit for Die Young.

Who did the cover art for Chosen Path? It gives me a real BURZUM type vibe.

Funny, I did the cover. I think Burzum is terrible. Can’t say I know what any of their particular album covers look like. I was just going for a visual vibe that captured the atmosphere of the music and some of the lyrical concepts on our record. I generally don’t like Scandinavian bedwetter music.

Are you involved in any side projects?

Just Band of Mercy and Will To Live, which aren’t really meant to be side projects, but they’ve taken a backseat lately.

Finally, could you clue us in on any upcoming projects with Die Young? Splits, shows, records?

Well, the Chosen Path record is streaming online now (http://toxicbreedsfunhouse.blogspot.com/2014/02/die-young-chosen-path-exclusive-stream.html). That record and the split with Confronto are coming out on April 1^st. We’ve got some Spring and Summer shows planned to support those records, which will include various fest appearances. Sell Your Soul Records in Germany will also be releasing a DVD/CD collection of our early works plus the high quality footage of our “final” show in Houston back in 2009. Other than that, there is much yet to be planned and written. I’d like to do another full length in the next couple years, but for now we are going to push these new releases and get in people’s faces as often as we can.

Thanks so much for the interview, Daniel! You can find more information about DIE YOUNG and buy the record at the links below.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Die-Young/156120297792080

http://headfirstrecords.limitedrun.com/categories/die-young-tx

Shared necrohell- The best of Death Metal flyer art

Making gig flyers is often times a subtle art that requires tact, enticement, and design sense. That is, of course, you are in a death metal band in the early 90's, then your gig flyer's are the cheapest, vilest, DIY advertisements ever. If you lived near a shitty VW hall or Moose Lodge, you probably saw these on telephones polls and bar windows. These are some of my favorites that I've come across. They are in no particular order.

1.

I don't know who these bands are. I can't read the font. I don't think it's in English. All I know is that this show brought the fucking mosh. The art is just disgusting in the best way possible. The more indecipherable the art, the better the band. Trust me.

2. 

Judging by the ticket price, this show was around 1993, when the genre reached some mainstream popularity. What mystifies me about this show is that it took place at a country club. Imagine MORBID ANGEL launching into Day of Suffering while middle aged white guys drink Arnold Palmers and nod approvingly.

3. 

This  looks like if the aerosol huffing baby from Gummo grew up, heard Seven Churches, and scrawled this in his notebook during detention at his shitty high school.

4. 

Not only is the art fantastic, Butchered at Birth looks good in black and white, but take a look at this lineup. CANNIBAL CORPSE, ATHIEST, GORGUTS, even atmospheric brutal death band RITUAL TORMENT is out. Sounds like a damn good show. 

5. 

Some interesting Paul Chadwick, Robert Crumb esque artwork. I'm surprised that alternative comics and death metal never coalesced anyway. I feel they would be made for each other.

6. 

Stone cold classic. Three of England's finest metal bands on one bill, plus some great old school horror art. I love that the early extreme metal scene had an air of danger and esotericism. As fantastic as metal is now, it's missing that element.

7. 

This is a ticket stub but I will let it slide for two reasons. 1. An Obituary/Napalm Death tour circa 1992 must have been dope. 2. This is one of the earliest uses of the "anti -music" insignia that's popular among powerviolence/grind/noise bands these days. Cool stuff. 

8. 

Besides the great lineup (Extreme Noise Terror!) this flyer is fantastic for its color scheme. Most flyers stick with black and white but this is pumpkin orange. It's eye catching and fits the early grind bands playing.

9. 

This is a boring flyer for what seems to be a fantastic fest. C'mon guys, let's bring all ages metal shows back. 

10. 

Let's finish this off with classic Death. Black Flyer. Grim Reaper. Mushroom Cloud. Total death worship. Perfect.