Invisible Oranges Talks To Visual Artist Nader Sadek * New Album "In The Flesh" Out Now on Season of Mist

Interview: Nader Sadek



In the Flesh is incredibly ambitious, but according to Sadek in the following interview, the album is just the beginning.

(((Read more here!)))

Helms Alee Announce New Album "Weatherhead" Out June 21st on Hydra Head Records!

"Whether they are unleashing torrents of churning riffs, hypnotic waves of distortion or gruff or lilting calls into vast spaces, Helms Alee do so in limpid, atmospheric and unique fashion. No doubt, the crisp and cavernous production from Matt Bayles serves them well as tremolo-picked guitars gush like waterfalls, drums rattle timbers and the Pixies-esque male-female vocals sound like they’ve traversed continents." - PopMatters

"Helms Alee featuring Ben Verellen of ex-(current?) Harkonen seemed to be the clear winner of the "OMG-I-didn't-know-they-ruled-so-hard" award." - BrooklynVegan

"...part metal, part post-punk, part melody-driven rock, and all abandon... Think of Neurosis joining up with The Breeders for a quick outing into the wilderness." - Alarm Press

"The overall hype and general praise of Night Terror has sparked the curiosity of many fans who’ve wondered when a follow up might see the light of day." - The Synthesis

"Helms Alee are known for one thing: stoned freak-outs of the heavy, slow variety." - The Stranger

"...a noisy, nasty yang to Seattle's beardy, folky yin. Pastoral metal is a necessary thing." - Seattle Times

Helms Alee’s sophomore album, Weatherhead, could turn any cultural critic into a histori-cal revisionist. Let’s pull the buckshot back through the maw of a 20th century icon. Let’s reassemble the bloody mess and set a disenfranchised young man on a different trajec-tory, one devoid of celebrity and tragedy. Let’s re-envision the last twenty years. The other crucial variables can remain in place - hair metal still choked on its own excess, the beguiling mixed-gender vocal harmonies and alternating jangle and clang of The Pixies still seduced college radio, the antagonistic sludge of The Melvins continued to rumble across the globe, and the orchestrated discord of Sonic Youth still proved noise could hold artistic merit. But punk never broke, never became a cliche. Do you buy into Tolstoy’s belief that the individual is a mere pawn in history’s master plan? Would the lineage of rock music have found another reluctant voice of a generation?

Much as Tolstoy suspected that a stillborn Napoleon would not have prevented another
hegemonic ruler from sweeping across Europe, the tastes and tides of public demand
would’ve most likely elevated another unglamorous tortured artist into the limelight. But it’s still tempting to think of a parallel universe where the idiosyncratic marriage of wounded pop music and wrathful dissonant rock never found a footing in the mainstream world. It’s a dream not born out of a disdain for the pairing of the opposing musical tactics of brawn and sophistication, but the disappointment that the balancing act is so commonly butchered by popular artists. These men, lacking vision, have turned it into a cheap formula. In the alternate reality, a band like Helms Alee reigns above all. Here, no one seeks to tame guitar squall to fit in a radio format or, inversely, needlessly dirty up a good hook to provide an air of authenticity. Here, Helms Alee’s balance is the archetype - masterful and enthralling.

Given the history of the last two decades and the deepening sense that melody and
muscle compromise one another, Weatherhead becomes heroic. It’s not just gallant in intent, but in sound. Granted, heroism is subjective; listeners are bound to have their own preferred reverberations to conjure an inspired rallying cry. But Helms Alee’s gamut of timbres--from the most guttural blown-out roar to the most graceful lilting melody-summon a sense of triumph, empowerment, and conquest. The relentless chugging fuzz and vocal harmonies of “Elbow Grease”, the concrete thrust of the central riff of “8/16”, the thunderstruck arpeggio of “Pretty As Pie”, the siren song of “Pig Pile”, the unbridled scuzz of “Ripper No Lube”, and the alternating agit-punk and anthemic approach of the title track all reinforces Helms Alee’s position as masters of diametrically opposed tactics. They are the true heroes and heroines of the loud-quiet-loud.

Weatherhead was recorded by Matt Bayles at Studio Litho and Red Room Studios in the Winter of 2010-2011. It’s set for release via Hydra Head Records on June 21st, 2011. Helms Alee are currently scheduled to hit the road with label mates Torche and Big Business in June 2011. Bear witnesses to the path that never saw fame and fortune taint the beguiling rumble and bow to the throne of Helms Alee. -- Brian Cook



"Weatherhead" Track List
1. *
2. Elbow Grease
3. 8/16
4. Music Box
5. Pretty as Pie
6. Anemone of the Wound
7. Mad Mouth
8. Epic Adventure Through the Wood
9. Speed Sk8r
10. Pig Pile
11. Revel!
12. Ripper No Lube
13. Born in Fiberglass
14. Weatherhead



Helms Alee Live
6/07 Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern w/ Young Widows
6/29 Seattle, WA @ Neumos w/ Akimbo, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, Norska
7/6 Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Migas

w/ Torche and Big Business
7/07 Houston, TX @ Walter’s on Washington
7/08 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
7/09 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
7/11 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
7/12 Miami, FL @ Churchill's
7/13 Orlando, FL @ The Social
7/14 Atlanta, GA @ EARL
7/15 Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street Club
7/16 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
7/17 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
7/19 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
7/20 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
7/21 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
7/22 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
7/23 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
7/24 Newport, KY @ The Historic Southgate House
7/25 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
7/26 Detriot, MI @ Magic Stick
7/27 Indianapolis, IN @ The Hoosier Dome
7/28 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
7/29 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
7/30 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
7/31 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
8/02 Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Vegas
8/03 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
8/04 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s



For more information, visit:
Helms Alee on Facebook
www.myspace.com/helmsaleemusic
www.hydrahead.com

The Boston Globe Talks to Eksi Ekso * New Album "Brown Shark, Red Lion" Out Now on The Mylene Sheath

Prog lite
Eksi Ekso scales down the band and ramps up the rock



How many bands can cut their number in half — and then manage to sound twice as sonically expansive, richly layered, and epically ambitious? Boston’s Eksi Ekso is that rare example of a unit that seems to have grown bigger by reducing in size...

(((Read more here!)))

Big Business Announces New "Quadruple Single" EP Out July 26th * Adds Second Guitarist Scott Martin (400 Blows / Crom)!

Big Business – “Always Never Know When To Quit” (Stereogum Premiere)



Cheeky Melvins/Karp/Murder City Devils/White Shit/etc-associated sludge-rock heroes Big Business are celebrating the late 2010 addition of fourth member, guitarist Scott Martin of Crom/400 Blows, and upcoming tour with aesthetic allies Torche by following 2009′s Mind The Drift with the Quadruple Single 12″ EP on their very own, recently launched new label Gold Metal. As the EP’s title suggests, it’s four songs, each strong enough to be its own single. Get a taste via mighty opener “Always Never Know When To Quit.”



(((Read more and listen to "Always Never Know When To Quit" here!)))

The Village Voice Interviews Conceptual Artist and Metal Composer Nader Sadek

Q&A: Nader Sadek On Wearing Deicide T-Shirts In Cairo And Humanity's Oil-Fueled Pursuit Of Its Own Destruction



Egypt-born visual artist Nader Sadek has been bringing the worlds of avant-garde art and extreme metal together for several years. His 2007 installation Faceless arose out of his experiences living as a metalhead in Cairo, and combined oddly Edward Gorey-ish drawings of a niqab-clad woman standing in landscapes not unlike the ones you might see on metal album covers or fantasy novels. The soundtrack to the piece had members of Morbid Angel, Emperor, Obituary and Testament performing an experimental piece that mixed death metal and Middle Eastern music alongside Middle Eastern musicians like Omar Faruk Tekbilek and Raquy Danziger. Sadek has also designed costumes and sets for the likes of Mayhem and Attila Csihar.

This week Sadek releases his first full-length album, In the Flesh (Season of Mist).

(((Read the full interview here!)))

Quintron and Miss Pussycat Premiere Video for "Face Down In The Gutter" at Impose.tv

Impose.tv »
Premiere: Quintron + Miss Pussycat, "Face Down in the Gutter"
(Video by Panacea Theriac)

Face Down in the Gutter from Panacea Theriac on Vimeo.

* Here's a brand spanking new Quintron video for the track "Face Down in the Gutter", which gives Miss Pussycat's puppets a whole creepy world of their own (a world that is apparently called Busters), with Quintron hanging out behind the bar in a tux and a handlebar mustache like it ain't no thing. Things get hairy as the puppet folk down more of the legal poison, but Q holds his own and Miss P. drops by for a cameo. The track comes off their new album Sucre Du Sauvage, which came out April 12 on Goner Records. Brooklynites rejoice: Quintron and Miss Pussycat will be playing 285 Kent on May 28. - Impose

Balance and Composure Release Debut Album "Separation" on No Sleep Records To Massive Fanfare!

Balance and Composure have just released their debut full length album "Separation" on No Sleep Records and the response has been deafening. You can read just some of what critics are saying below:



"The quintet knock it out of the park on their debut full-length, Separation. With accomplished producer Brian McTernan at the helm, the group's brand of well-rounded post-hardcore has never sounded more engrossing." - Alternative Press Magazine 4/5

"...probably the best record released in 2011 so far. Separation doesn't just live up to the self-earned standards that Balance & Composure have given themselves by releasing good music in the past, it takes those standards, writes them all on a piece of paper, burns it to ashes and writes a book on how this genre should be done." - Absolutepunk

"Separation is an exhausting practice, riddled in catharsis and grinding tension. Balance and Composure always conveyed a certain level of tribal melancholy with their past material, but they've rarely employed it with this much thought and deliberation, nor as much originality. Brilliant." - Punknews

"‘Separation’ possesses tracks that are as mournful and introspective as Cobain’s funeral, others are as upbeat and energetic as Jimmy Eat World’s ‘Bleed American’" - Rock Sound

"Balance and Composure show surprising depth in their new album and the outcome of this is an extremely cleverly crafted album that makes us wonder just what exactly they are capable of doing in the future." - Sputnikmusic.com

"With Separation, Pennsylvania-based Balance and Composure have really made a statement. The talent that they hinted at in their previous two EP’s is fully expanded and fleshed out on this record. Their live show was already a sight to behold, a captivatingly intense and mesmerizing spectacle that can only be aided by adding some of these songs to the set.. Separation will undoubtedly end up on my Best of 2011 list come December, as it blew away my already high expectations." - Behind The Hype

"Separation isn’t just good, it’s surprisingly good. From first listen, you’ll be hooking into it’s calming, yet cathartic nature, and surely be bobbing your head and singing along after multiple listens. If you haven’t given this band a due chance, there is no better time than now." - Review Rinse Repeat

"...daring and breathtaking study in tone and atmosphere, it’s brilliantly realized and a stunning ensemble piece. Score: 9/10" - Under The Gun

"...one of the most notable releases so far this year. - 4.5/5" - Alter The Press

"The youth of 2011 want nothing to do with cherry-flavoured choruses about first kisses and instead, wrap distress and relatable emotions into a neat little package and hurl it straight towards your face. Separation does just this; it complexes, awes and entraps, letting fixed chords reverberate into an outbreak of grim vocals and drum abusing rhythms..." - Blare Magazine

"Balance and Composure is still miles ahead of most other bands operating in their genre. The reason? Authenticity." - Muzik Dizcovery

"Highly recommended!" - Elementary Revolt