Countdown to MDF X: (27) Morbid Saint

UPDATED WITH COMMENTS FROM THE BAND

The recently reunited Morbid Saint plays Saturday night, May 26 at the 2012 Maryland Deathfest. The group is a member of the "old guard" of death metal bands that formed in the early to mid 1980s in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. They are Milwaukee Metalfest veterans.

The group broke up in the mid 1990s and went their separate ways. But in 2010, guitarist Jay Visser and a couple of the other original members got back together.  Morbid Saint has been getting back on track and has started playing shows across the US and plans an appearance at the Keep It True festival in Germany next year. The band reports, "We do not have any shows in the States confirmed after the Maryland Death Fest, but are planning to tour next fall, no other (tours) have been confirmed at this time." Along with Visser, the current lineup includes Pat Lind on vocals, Bob Zabel on bass, Kevin Koski on guitars, and Randy Walls on drums.

They may be a little older and and paunchier, but Morbid Saint sounds and relevant and powerful as they did back in the day. As one of the groups that helped define the sound of death metal and thrash, their older songs sound as fresh as any you might hear from bands like Autopsy or Cannibal Corpse. Their performances still burst with frenetic energy and Visser still hides behind curtains of long curly locks. The band says to expect "songs off of Spectrum of Death, and Destruction System."

In terms of merch, Morbid Saint say they will have "shirts, hoodies, can coolers, and a few copies of our Thrashaholic 3-disc set due to be released in May."

The members of Morbid Saint say, "We appreciate the overwhelming interest, and support we have been receiving since returning to the scene. For the fans of Spectrum of Death.......THIS SET IS FOR YOU!!!"

Enjoy three videos: one from the Milwaukee Metalfest III (1989), one from December 2011, and a studio song from their first full-length recording.

Gojira releases NEW song, earth pauses to listen

How long have we waited for French death metal monsters, Gojira, to release a new song? (And I am not counting that excellent "Of Blood and Salt" song that was part of the Sea Shepherd EP that never really got off the ground because most of the recordings were lost.) It's been four years! FOUR YEARS!!! That's like, forever and ever in music entertainment time. Today on Pitchfork they have posted a new track, "L'Enfant Sauvage," from an album set to be released on Roadrunner June 26.

My love for Gojira is deep and wide and incredibly hard to explain. Somehow Gojira engenders the kind of love and devotion and pure fucking metal mania from their fans, the likes of which you will not see for many death metal bands. One simply does not listen to Gojira  and say, "Meh."

The first exposure I had to this group was from their last album, The Way of All Flesh.  The power and anticipation that built with every track there is evident in this new song, too. This group does not rush its composing and recording schedule, they take their time and it shows.

Listen to the new track here.

Countdown to MDF X: (28) Black Witchery

Somehow in the sunny, Disney-fied, land of Florida (or perhaps because of it), one of the most wretched, satanic, and brutal black metal bands in existence has been spawned. Listen to Black Witchery and you'll be convinced that they have crept directly from the pit of hell. I think this is the effect they are going for. But of course, this is no effect. Black Witchery means business.

Originally founded in 1991 as the band Irreverent by singer and bassist Impurath, the group became Witchery for a short while. Later, due to confusion with another band, the group changed their name to Black Witchery in 1999.  Along with Impurath, the current line up includes drummer Vaz and guitarist Tregenda. The mission of Black Witchery, as stated by their founder Impurath in an interview on their website, is simple: to spread death and terror. Fair enough. I think they will succeed.

Ok. But how do they sound? What about the songs? Somehow, in the 21st century, Black Witchery has managed to capture that massive brutality and raw evilness that originated with their "trve kvlt" brethren across the pond decades earlier. Musically, this is straightforward black metal in its most stripped down form: rapid tremolo guitar picking, practically inaudible bass, blastbeat drumming, growled vocals. Lyrically, Black Witchery is all about "vicious desecration upon the feeble, broken flock of Jesus Christ" and similar.

Black Witchery plays Saturday evening, May 26, at the 2012 Maryland Deathfest.
Here's a taste from the studio and live. Not for the weak.