Baz Underground Updates XII

Welcome to BAZ Underground Updates XII as the time comes again for our weekly offering of underground metal info to share with you. As always our writers Julia Katrin and Tom Boatman have their ears to the ground so as not to miss any fresh new delights.

Let’s see what’s out there…

Should you find yourself with no plans for this coming Saturday, Evergrey has set up a live stream for the 27th of June from their hometown Gothenburg. Now, this show has been set up due to the fact that the band needs our support, all of their shows for this year have been cancelled, like for so many others, and the Gefle Metal Festival presents this stream as the band was supposed to perform there this year (and Julia was suppose to attend, but that’s another story). The show is free to watch, due to the goodness of the group´s heart, but everyone is of course more than welcome to donate through PayPal, and through Swish for those who live in Sweden.
If you do live in Sweden and are close to Gothenburg, you might want to keep in mind that extremely limited VIP physical tickets (with a bit more of a hefty price, as these tickets are the biggest support to the band) that will get you in at the show are also available. You will get to meet, greet and hang with the band, get your things signed and buy merch, just like the old days! Keep in mind however how very limited those tickets are due to social distancing and mass gathering bans, so act quickly if you are nearby!
If you are not in the area however but would like to be a part of an exclusive pre-show that will allow you to hang online with the band backstage before the show as well as join them on stage to prepare, see their equipment and such, then that is also available and you can get tickets for that here. Support tickets are also available here for different amounts if you only wish to support this great band and help make it possible for them to continue to make music for us to enjoy.
For further information of time schedule and links, all you have to do is head over to Everygrey´s facebook page and check out the events they have set up.

Band: Inhalement

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions (HPGD) are a very reliable source of disgusting slabs of pounding metal and “Eternally Stoned” by Inhalement looks set to be another worthy addition to the label’s roster, delivering some suitably nasty, death metal. Fans of Cannibal Corpse, Immolation and Dying Fetus should find this preview track pretty tasty. There’s limited CDs of the album (only 100 copies) on bandcamp as well as some gnarly t-shirts too.

Band: En Minor

This is one that I’m personally very excited about. Phil Anselmo’s latest project is surely the furthest thing he’s ever done from metal, but I couldn’t let the announcement of the forthcoming debut album of En Minor “When The Cold Truth Has Worn Its Miserable Welcome Out” go by without a mention. We’ll still have to wait till the 4th of September for the release, but there are several limited vinyl editions, CDs, t-shirts and special packs that you might want to get in on early. Have time in your life for some Tom Waits, Nick Cave and the like? Probably not what most would expect from Anselmo, but my hopes are very high for this one. Check out what’s available to pre-order on bandcamp or direct as housecore.

Band: Primitive Man

Why do we do it to ourselves? Primitive Man are like “Cop” era Swans if you caught them and sealed them airtight in a metal canister and buried them underground for 10 years. Their music is so horrifically slow and claustrophobic and grim and punishing. What is the appeal? I really don’t know, but I’m definitely not the only one who likes this. If you feel a hunger for the bleakest, harshest dirges that can be constructed in the realms of metal, well, Primitive Man have been working on that for you. Their follow up to 2017’s “Caustic” will be out on Relapse Records on the 14th of August. The limited edition vinyl will sell out pretty soon I’m sure. You can check that out and the CDs, cassettes and related merch on bandcamp or direct from relapse records

Band: Sentient Horror

In the mood for some early 90s Swedish style death metal? Well in case you missed it the first time around (or you just like vinyl) Testimony Records (another excellent underground metal label) have reissued “Ungodly Forms”, the 2016 debut album by New Jersey’s Sentient Horror in a couple of very cool vinyl editions. Check them out here (alongside the CD and digital versions)

Band: Jupiterian

As soon as you see Transcending Obscurity Records you know you’re in for something huge and beastly. This time around the band is Brazil’s menacing sludge/death/doom metallers Jupiterian and their latest album “Protosapien” which sounds like it’s going to be a corker. As is the way with Transcending Obscurity there is a smorgasbord or mouthwatering editions to choose from in very limited quantities. Check them out on bandcamp and listen to this preview track below.

Band: Friisk / Loth

And finally (and fittingly) we come to a release that imagines the demise of humankind and how the earth will recover once we’re gone. Coming on the 21st of June on Berlin’s Vendetta Records, this split album melds together one track each from Loth and Friisk (don’t worry, we’re entering atmospheric black/doom metal waters, so the total running time is over 30min). Available in black or white vinyl, you might also just manage to snap up a test pressing before they sell out. There’s something very compelling about this music. You can listen to the Friisk track below. I highly recommend you check out the Loth track too on bandcamp, they are both compelling.

With July lurking just around the corner, it will be interesting to find out what the year 2020 is planning to throw at us next. But as we sit and wait for our inevitable fate, who is to say we can’t use the time to indulge in some good streams and great offers that are out there? I know I would much prefer to face the apocalypse in an appropriate death metal band shirt and with a fitting vinyl playing in the background. What about you?

By Julia Katrin and Tom Boatman

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