Baz Underground Updates – III
Once again our writers Julia Katrin and Tom Boatman are here to share with you some metal delights lurking in the darkened corners of the interweb, to offer some relief during these trying times. This week we’re highlighting some YouTube channels and Podcasts (as well as bands and labels) that we think may feed your metal hungry ears.
The Nomad Fundraiser is still going strong, and you can read about it here in our first update. Also click the link above to get the full info on the great Transcending Obscurity offers still running. The label has just announced pre-orders for what looks to be a killer new release by German atmospheric sludge/ doom metalers EREMIT, so don’t sleep on that.
Now let’s see what’s out there…
Label: Run Out Groove
(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
Dedicated to releasing limited edition vinyl pressings, Run Out Groove is a nifty label owned by Warner Music. Taking input from music fans, the label regularly offers a choice of out of print or new to vinyl releases. Visitors to their website can vote on the next release and then pre-order. Though many of their pressings are not Metal, past pressings include several Type O Negative releases and the latest release is an expanded double gold vinyl pressing of the Machine Head classic “Burn My Eyes”. I’d love to be able to give a personal account of the packaging and sound quality of the recent Type O Negative “World Coming Down” release, but my copy is self-isolating in the UK and I’m in The Czech Republic, but the online consensus seems to be that the pressings are high quality. Pre-order “Burn My Eyes” and vote on the next pressing here.
Band: Obituary
(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
With cancellations upon cancellations, Obituary is one of many bands who have been forced to stay at home and try and entertain the public in different ways. With a new and improved YouTube channel, the group has been active in posting various videos and encourage people to subscribe in order to stay up to date with future playthroughs, band rehearsals and performances.
Band: Metal De Facto
(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
Formed in 2017, Metal De Facto includes Esa Orjatsalo and Sami Hinkka; sounds familiar? Because the two are known for previous work with Dreamtale and Ensiferum. Promising to make power metal great again, the two were joined by Atte Marttinen, Mikko Salovaara, Benji Connelly and Mikael Salo and tomorrow, Sunday the 26th, Sami and Mikael are throwing us a treat in a form of a quarantine livestream on YouTube.
Make sure you tune in at 4pm GMT (12pm EST) for the perfect Sunday activity!
Band: Insomnium
Catastrophe hit Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum when their double trouble North American Tour was cancelled after only one show. Since then, their Scandinavian tour has also been cancelled, and it appears as if almost everything has been going downhill for them. Nevertheless, none of them seem to be quitters and although struggling with raising funds due to legal issues, and issues with streamer hosts for an online show they still march on with their heads held high. Yesterday, Friday the 24th, Insomnium held a live fan-talk on Facebook and according to their Facebook page, we all need to keep an eye out for another attempt at a live stream in the future. Who knows? Perhaps they have more plans in their bag of tricks for successful shows, and above all hopefully their luck is turning around.
Band: Triptykon
(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
It’s been a bit of a long wait for Triptykon to release a new studio album, but there’s never a bad day to remind yourself what a frighteningly awesome band they’ve proven to be. And now the band has just announced a new release TRIPTYKON with the Metropole Orkest “Requiem: (Live At Roadburn 2019)” available for pre-order from Nuclear Blast in several mouth watering editions. You can also get your hands on the recent Hellhammer deluxe reissue as well as the Triptykon back catalogue, for all you Tom Gabriel Warrior fanatics out there.
Podcast: The Vinyl Guide
(Twitter, Facebook, Instagram)
Now if you’re after some great interviews with musicians, managers, producers and all sorts of other interesting characters, with great stories about their lives and the bands they’ve worked with or been a part of, The Vinyl Guide is a fantastic podcast that I discovered a couple of years ago. Interviewer Nate Goyer is passionate and well informed. For sure you can also expect some nerding out about vinyl pressings and what the interviewees have in their collections. You’ll also get to hear some cool stories you might not have heard from other interviews. It’s certainly not all Metal, but you can listen to episodes with Chuck Billy (Testament), Jaz Coleman (Killing Joke), Derrick Green (Sepultura), Trey Spruance (Mr. Bungle), Scott Ian (Anthrax) and frankly, too many more to mention. Go to the website to see the full list (they’re up to E218 now), and you can listen on Spotify, Apple and Android.
YouTube: Jazz Drummer Reacts
As an extra treat, we would like to point out Garrett Miller, a YouTuber and a drummer. Although not a true metal head, and in fact being a jazz drummer, he does a very cool series of reaction videos to metal drummers (the latest being Joey Baca of The Contortionist). Previous videos include Meshuggah (Tomas Haake), Car Bomb (Elliot Hoffman), Dillinger Escape Plan (Billy Rymer), and Necrophagist(Romain Goulon). You can enjoy watching some of your favourite extreme drummers having their styles broken down, and perhaps find out about some cool bands you weren’t aware of (I discovered Car Bomb from the channel). And for any drummers out there, he occasionally does live streams from his own kit.
That’s all for this week. We hope you’ll find something here to keep you entertained during this dress rehearsal for the apocalypse. Look after yourselves and keep that Metal flag flying.
By Julia Katrin & Tom Boatman
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