American power metal stalwarts Twisted Tower Dire dig up old bones on ‘Reflecting Pool’ from Crest of the Martyrs Demos (Nameless Grave).
The post Track Premiere: Twisted Tower Dire ‘The Reflecting Pool’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Finnish teens Cryptic Hatred unleash their elite killing machine of a full-length.
The post Full Album Stream: Cryptic Hatred – ‘Nocturnal Sickness’ appeared first on Decibel Magazine.

Frontman Kirk Windstein of New Orleans sludge metal veterans CROWBAR spoke to Aftershocks about how his band’s upcoming North American tour with SEPULTURA and SACRED REICH might be affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It seems… They’re starting to talk — and they’re not just talking about Louisiana or the New Orleans area; they’re talking about the whole U.S. — where they think it’s about to hit a plateau. It’s spreading so fast, it’s so fucking contagious that… It’s one of two things — either we literally shut down the entire country or people get their fucking vaccines, whether they like it or not.

“I was not a big fan of it — I’ll admit — but I am fully vaccinated and I am fully proud of it,” he continued. “And I caught COVID — and so did my drummer — on tour with MUNICIPAL WASTE. It’s not those guys’ fault, but we did catch it. And it wasn’t a picnic, I’ll tell you that; it was no fun. But that’s done.

“It’s one of them things — wear your mask, do your social distancing, keep your fucking hands clean. If you don’t feel good, stay home.”

According to Windstein, he has “no choice” but to get vaccinated against COVID-19 if he wants to play in other parts of the world. “If I worked at the corner grocery [store] or something and that was my job and I never wanted to travel or go anywhere, who knows?” he said. “But guess what? I love to travel. And I love to travel around the world; I love to play. You tell me to get fucking two shots, I’ll get two shots. You tell me to get three, I’ll get three. Whatever it takes. That’s just the reality. Whatever it takes to protect myself and others around me, I’m gonna do what I can do.”

CROWBAR’s North American tour with SEPULTURA and SACRED REICH will kick off on March 4 in Sacramento and will make stops in Toronto, Cleveland, and New York before concluding on April 8 in Berkeley, California.

CROWBAR will release its new album, “Zero And Below”, on March 4 via MNRK Heavy (formerly eOne Music). The LP’s first single, “Chemical Godz”, was made available in December.

“Zero And Below” was produced, mixed, and mastered by Duane Simoneaux at OCD Recording And Production in Metairie, Louisiana and was previously described in a press release as “reverently old school, counterbalanced by a resonant melodicism that’s stunningly mature.”

So I got my second covid shot Friday. It started hitting me Saturday night and yesterday was miserable, but I’m feeling…

Posted by Kirk Windstein on Monday, August 9, 2021

Tube amplification remains the gold-standard for most players. But the growth and acceptance of digital modeling has made the issue much less black and white. In this more open field, where the presence of tubes has ceased to be a must, solid-state amplification may be finding a new audience. And light, inexpensive, and excellent sounding options like Orange Amplification’s Super Crush 100 may expand that audience even further. Taking inspiration from the company’s all-tube Rockerverb, it’s a flexible, 2-channel, solid-state, 100-watt, class A/B amp that can be had in head and 1×12 combo versions for $499 and $699.Just Stacked EnoughThe Super Crush 100 isn’t lean on features, but it’s pretty easy to navigate and work with. There’s a built-in digital reverb and a balanced XLR output that you can put to work via Orange’s CabSim speaker emulation technology, which offers closed- or open-back options via the CabBack switch. A channel switching footswitch isn’t included, but you can manually switch channels from the front of the amp. If you anticipate moving between clean and dirty a lot, Orange’s FS-2 footswitch ($41) is a worthwhile investment.Like all Orange amps, the Super Crush 100’s control panel can be a little confusing to decipher if you’re new to the brand. Pictographs rather than words describe the function of each knob, but knowing what’s what becomes intuitive quickly. Otherwise, the layout is pretty straightforward. Master volume and reverb are shared by both channels. The dirty channel’s controls include volume, treble, middle, bass, and gain. The clean channel has controls for treble, bass, and volume.Mic Centered 1″ Away: CleanMic Centered 1″ Away: DirtyMic Centered 1′ Away: CleanMic Centered 1′ Away: DirtyMic Left of Center: CleanMic Left of Center: DirtyA Clean SlateTo gauge the Super Crush 100’s ability to, well, crush, I ran the amp through a Celestion-equipped 1×12 cabinet and tried it out with an Ernie Ball Music Man Axis Sport and a Schecter T-7 7-string guitar, as well as a Line 6 M9 patched into the fully buffered effects loop for delay.The clean channel has two gain stages and sounds warm, if not super loud. With treble and bass knobs at noon and the channel volume up around 3 o’clock (and the master volume set more conservatively), the Orange had the lively feel and sound of an amp pushed right to the brink of distortion, but remained balanced and even in the high and low ends. Low E-string notes were robust and fat. And though I expected some solid-state brittleness from the highest strings, I was pleasantly surprised that the treble tones sounded just as full.At lower volume levels (noon or less), the Super Crush 100’s clean channel is a fantastic pedal platform. The overall character at these settings is somewhat neutral and darker than a sparkly Fender-type clean. But if you’re like me and occasionally have a hard time matching certain pedals with the super sparkly voice of some Fender amps, the Super Crush’s capacity for optimizing pedal pairings will impress.The Super Crush 100’s clean channel is a fantastic pedal platform.Crushin’ ItOver on the dirty channel, I started in with the gain set low and noticed something interesting. Between the full-counter-clockwise and 9 o’clock positions, the gain control doesn’t deliver much in the way of volume or dirt. At 11 o’clock the amp starts to sound and feel discernibly loud but remains relatively clean. Once you get to about noon, though, power chords sound robust and beefy, and I found the sweet spot for both crunchy rhythm and lead guitar to be right around 1 o’clock and 3 o’clock. Within this range you can summon enough grit and sustain for heavy rock soloing and rhythm rock, or liquid, near-infinite sustain. Solos feel effortless and energetic at these settings—especially with a bridge humbucker in the mix. And even with this much gain, there’s lots of crisp definition and low-end clarity, and the amp feels responsive and fast. It’s also touch sensitive, with a dynamic range beyond what I’ve come to expect from a solid-state amp. At the 1 o’clock gain setting, I could clean up easily with a light picking touch or sound hyper-aggressive and commanding when I hit the strings hard.Recording ReadyThe Super Crush does a great job of facilitating creative recording, too. The XLR and CabSim emulation—which I routed to a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, MacBook Pro, and GarageBand—make it easy to lay down tracks and take on silent recording tasks. The CabSim’s open- and closed-back options offer very different characteristics and, at least for the track I recorded, the open-back setting sounded more present and alive than the closed back. But both options are very useful, and the closed back will offer more low-end thump if that’s what you’re after.The VerdictIf you’ve always lusted after an Orange Rockerverb but don’t have $2,000 to spare, the Super Crush 100 is a killer alternative at a quarter of the price. While some tube purists might decry the lack of certain glassy tonalities, it still shines in the top end without sounding brittle and has lots of low-end power. But many more-convenience-minded players will revel in the Super Crush 100’s low maintenance and light weight (25 pounds) and amazing bang for the buck.

earMUSIC has released the latest single from ANNIHILATOR’s upcoming “Metal II” album, “Couple Suicide”, featuring Danko Jones and Angela Gossow (ex-ARCH ENEMY).

“Metal II”, which arrives February 18, kicks off earMUSIC’s long-term ANNIHILATOR catalog campaign, which will include special configurations, additional bonus material, exclusive and previously unheard new tunes from the band.

“Couple Suicide” tells the story of what may be a doomed relationship if only the protagonist could find a solution.

ANNIHILATOR leader Jeff Waters commented: “I’m a big fan of Danko and Angela. Danko and I have written songs over the years. He is a badass rocker meets punk rocker with a bit of pop and metal in there, plus he’s a nice guy. He and I discussed doing a project/record together someday. Angela was the vocal queen of her genre and I loved her in ARCH ENEMY. It’s such a conflicting, ‘opposite end of the spectrum’ vocal pairing, that it has to be cool! And it is!”

“Metal II” has been given an incredible overhaul with the one and only Dave Lombardo (SLAYER) killing the drums and lead vocals “re-invented” by the great Stu Block (INTO ETERNITY, ICED EARTH). The rest of the guest list on the album is huge: Willie Adler (LAMB OF GOD), Alexi Laiho (CHILDREN OF BODOM), Steve “Lips” Kudlow (ANVIL), Dan Beehler (EXCITER), Jesper Strömblad (IN FLAMES), Jeff Loomis (ARCH ENEMY, NEVERMORE), Anders Björler (THE HAUNTED, AT THE GATES) and Corey Beaulieu (TRIVIUM).

Waters passed over mixing duties to legendary engineer Mike Fraser (AC/DC, VAN HALEN) and it was remastered by Maor Appelbaum.

When Waters was asked, “Which record would you re-do, if you could and why?,” with no hesitation it was “Metal”. So, what we have now is a 2021 record that is called “Metal II”, appropriately, featuring all the original guest tracks from 2007 with Jeff Waters at the helm.

“One of greatest engineers/mixers on the planet, Mike Fraser, was my first choice to mix this one,” Jeff said. “It was a challenge as Mike was not brought in to make a record; he was simply there to mix a big mess of tracks that were recorded in 2006 and 2021 and with over 14 players on it. After this difficult mix, I promised Mike that I would do another record with him, from the ground up.”

“Dave was in my favorite band ever (SLAYER),” Waters said, “and continues to evolve and play in many diverse bands, like MISFITS, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, DEAD CROSS, MR. BUNGLE and many other projects. It was an honor to be on the same record as Lombardo. And he uses the ‘Reign In Blood’ ride cymbal!! Yes! The ACTUAL ride cymbal we hear on that classic record.”

Waters revealed that “Stu has been the vocalist that I have (publicly) wanted to be ANNIHILATOR’s singer, ever since I heard him in the Canadian band INTO ETERNITY, but I never got the opportunity to get him! He is the next generation of amazing vocalists that is grabbing the microphone from such icons as [Bruce] Dickinson and [Rob] Halford. And our paths SHOULD have crossed a long time ago, but we are here now!

“So I got a hold of them both,” Waters continued, “and they both loved the tunes and both said ‘FUCK YES’! And I said to Stu, ‘You’ve got three takes’, so there’s blemishes and warts and fuck-ups everywhere. And I said the same to Dave, ‘get it done’. And watching pros do this is mind-blowing because you don’t have the best sounds, but you have the best players.”

Waters closes, “Although Alexi Laiho’s shredding in ‘Downright Dominate’ and the VAN HALEN song ‘Romeo Delight’ were recorded a while back, adding Stu and Dave to these songs gave us all the feeling that ‘Metal II’ is also a fitting tribute to our two fallen guitar heroes. Ed and Alexi, R.I.P.”

“Metal II” track listing:

01. Chasing The High (ft. Willie Adler)
02. Downright Dominate (ft. Alexi Laiho)
03. Army Of One (ft. Steve “Lips” Kudlow)
04. Couple Suicide (ft. Danko Jones and Angela Gossow)
05. Heavy Metal Maniac (ft. Dan Beehler and Allan Johnson)
06. Haunted (ft. Jesper Strömblad)
07. Romeo Delight
08. Detonation (ft. Jacob Lynam)
09. Clown Parade (ft. Jeff Loomis)
10. Smothered (ft. Anders Björler)
11. Kicked (ft. Corey Beaulieu)

Canada’s ANNIHILATOR is the lifework of Waters. Founded in 1984, the band took the metal scene by storm with its debut 1989 release “Alice In Hell”, upped the ante with 1990’s “Never, Neverland” and has continued a non-stop career-pattern of releasing records and touring with many of the biggest bands in the metal genre (mostly all outside North America), ever since; cementing ANNIHILATOR as the biggest-selling metal act in Canada’s history.

ANNIHILATOR has given the metal world a sound that is one of the clearest, most tasteful mixtures of huge, metal riffs with the idea of the perfect song and some legendary solo shredding as the icing on the cake. Waters and ANNIHILATOR have been a major influence on countless well-known metal acts and musicians around the world. In fact, countless, successful non-metal acts and musicians cite Waters and Co. as an influence in their careers.

Waters is the guitarist, vocalist and writer for ANNIHILATOR as well as a studio owner, producer, engineer and mix and mastering engineer. Waters formed the band with singer John Bates.