The Metal Alliance Tour 2014 descended upon Philly’s TLA venue showcasing international juggernauts Behemoth and 1349 with support by Goatwhore and Inquisition as BlowTheScene was on hand to capture the events in photos for your viewing pleasure, featured below the fold.
Polish metal legends in Behemoth are riding steady as momentum from band’s current full-length, The Satanist, continues to draw acclaim from metal heads around the globe. Spin magazine recently named The Satanist as one of the top albums to hit streets in 2014 across all genres. Spin‘s Kim Kelly commenting, “The Satanist is the band’s first new studio album since charismatic frontman Nergal was diagnosed with leukemia in August 2010. Thanks to a successful bone-marrow transplant, he’s in full recovery, but his brush with death makes this album feels like a rebirth..From classic heavy-metal riffage and horn sections to acoustic spoken-word passages and doomy, down-tempo detours, The Satanist flaunts the band’s newfound interest in dynamics and presents nine very different — and very sinister — compositions.” Needless to say, the compositions were a smash hit at Philly’s TLA as fans went beserk for the Polish metal titans.
Norway’s 1349 proved a force to be reckoned with as they decimated ear drums with their patented black metal fury. 1349 recently announced signing to Season Of Mist with a new release slated for the Fall of this year. Definitely a band to keep an eye on, Lambgoat recently described the unit saying, “Named after the year the black plague hit Norway, 1349 is truly an aural assault on the listener…1349 absolutely have what it takes to be remembered as something great and not just a passing fad. Their sound, while being influenced by everything from Slayer to Darkthrone, is still uniquely 1349, and should be remembered as such. If you are a fan of any type of metal, not just black metal, you will without doubt find something in 1349 that brings you back for more.”
Supporting the tour package, long-running New Orleans metal legion, Goatwhore, just unleashed the first taste of their forthcoming new full-length, Constricting Rage Of The Merciless, with seventh track, “FBS.” (featured below)
Captured at Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida with audio magus, Erik Rutan at the helm, the deafening serenades of Constricting Rage Of The Merciless serves as the band’s first studio effort to be tracked to two-inch tape. A more challenging approach that demands performance over pro-tooled perfection and leaving little room for error, the ten-track, 37-minute offering marks Goatwhore‘s most well-executed, sonically devastating manifestation to date, its warm, organic production harnessing the thick, monolithic, recklessly war-ready tone and energy of their live performance in a way previous recordings have not.
Constricting Rage Of The Merciless is slated for release in North America on July 8th, 2014 via Metal Blade Records. The record comes in conjunction with the band’s Summer-long live takeover which includes a short run of headlining infiltrations set to commence on July 5th before jumping on this year’s crushing edition of The Summer Slaughter tour alongside Morbid Angel, Dying Fetus, The Faceless and more. Additionally, the band will play a special performance at this year’s Gwar B-Q on August 16th.
Seattle black metal duo rounded out the billing as they continue to support 2013’s Obscure Verses for the Multiverse on Season Of Mist. Critics and fans have hailed the effort as an instant classic with Pitchfork stating, “Obscure Verses for the Multiverse picks up where its predecessor left off. As usual, Dagon’s guitar work blends seamlessly with Incubus’ drums, and they remain merrily bass-free. Like some bizarro-world version of (until recently) bassless grind savants Pig Destroyer, they’ve hit upon and perfected a formula that would leave a lesser band sounding flat and soulless. Inquisition built their reputation upon a small selection of ironclad riffs and dynamic devices—every note follows a predetermined script, one that they’ve had memorized for decades, and it works.”
Without further ado, enjoy an exclusive batch of photos by BTS’s Senior Photographer Dante Torrieri (Useless Rebel Imaging)
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