SLEEP: 'Holy Mountain' To Be Reissued

Acclaimed San Jose, California stoner doom metal band SLEEP will have its classic Earache debut album, "Holy Mountain", reissued on June 16. The special edition will feature the BLACK SABBATH cover "Snowblind" as a bonus track along with a video for the song "Dragonaut" video. Rare photos will also be included in the package.

SLEEP will reunite for two U.K. shows this weekend as part of All Tomorrow's Parties' (ATP) The Fans Strike Back festival. The band will perform the album "Holy Mountain" in its entirety as well as selections from "Dopesmoker" and more.

In an interview with BrooklynVegan, SLEEP bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros stated about the group's decision to reunite, "Promoters have constantly tried to get that band back together, so that was never an impetus. It was really more about when we were ready as people. The main reason, the only reason really... The three of us as friends had gone through an indescribable disappointment with SLEEP... it never blossomed in the way that we focused our youthful energies, and then it broke... When it ended at the last practice, we were all devastated... heartbroken and really just shattered. It was debilitating, in this catatonic state for all of us. Anyway, we've always reserved an option as to how it would be really healing to play those songs again on our terms, and not Earache's or London's or certain I-don't-even-want-to-mention terms... but for us, the friends that met in school. Since SLEEP ended, those songs have remained as trapped energy in all of us for essentially 12 years. These shows offer a way to heal, and to close it with peace and a smile inside. It's an opportunity to have catharsis and put those songs in the sky where they belong... to move forward and let it purge."

IRON MONKEY: Early Albums To Be Re-Released With Bonus Tracks

Two long-out-of-print releases from cult U.K. aggro-doomsters IRON MONKEY will be reissued on May 25 via Earache Records, housed in one value-packed set, retailing for the price of a normal full-price CD.

The band's 1997 self-titled debut effort, "Iron Monkey", introduced the world to how warped and twisted the blueprint that BLACK SABBATH put down almost 30 years before could become. It was followed by the perverse "Our Problem" in 1998,

Produced by Andy Sneap (MACHINE HEAD, CRADLE OF FILTH, EXODUS, NEVERMORE), these excellent albums are complemented by four bonus tracks — three songs from the sought-after "We've Learned Nothing" split with CHURCH OF MISERY, and a raw BLACK SABBATH cover version making a total of 18 tracks housed in a smart slipcase sleeve. Topped off with liner notes written by original guitarist Steve Watson, including unpublished photos from his personal archive, this is a must for all fans of EYEHATEGOD, GRIEF, BONGZILLA, ELECTRIC WIZARD, early CATHEDRAL and the heavier end of the Rise Above roster.

CD 1:

"Our Problem":

01. Bad Year
02. Supagorgonizer
03. Boss Keloid
04. IRMS
05. House Anxiety
06. 2 Golden Rules
07. 9 Joint Spiritual Whip
08. Omi Bozu (Wisdom of Choking)
09. Sleep to Win *
10. Arsonaut *
11. Kiss of Death *

* Bonus tracks taken from the deleted "We've Learned Nothing" split with CHURCH OF MISERY

CD 2:

"Iron Monkey":

01. Fink Dial
02. Web of Piss
03. Big Loader
04. 666 Pack
05. Black Aspirin
06. Shrimp Fist
07. Cornucopia *

* Bonus BLACK SABBATH cover

Ogre`s Latest to be Reissued

Plague of the Planet, the 37-minute single track epic from Portland, Maine`s Ogre, will be re-issued on CD this Spring on Shadow Kingdom Records. Plague of the Planet was initially released on Leaf Hound Records last year.

According to a source within the band`s organization, they hope to also release a vinyl version of Plague some time in the near future.

Heaven and Hell Records announce Twisted Tower Dire Re-issues

In the beginning of 2009, Heaven and Hell Records will be releasing re-issues of the first two Twisted Tower Dire albums, The Curse of Twisted Tower and Isle of Hydra. Both will be a limited 1,000 press two-disc set. Each will include a ton of bonus material from the beginning of the band’s career up through the time of each album’s original release date. Including material never before released on CD. More details to follow soon.
We are proud to be working with one of the best underground true heavy metal bands around today. Over their career TTD have built a strong cult following among the legions of heavy metal fans around the world that has truly been earned. The power, the glory, and the honor of these real metal warriors is more than deserving of these upcoming releases. Please watch for more details on these releases, they are sure to satisfy all fans both new and diehards.

BLACK SABBATH: DIO-Era Albums To Be Issued Separately On CD, Vinyl

According to a posting on the unofficial BLACK SABBATH web site Black-Sabbath.com, the four Ronnie James Dio-era BLACK SABBATH albums that made up the recently released "The Rules of Hell" box set are being re-released individually. "Heaven and Hell", "Mob Rules", "Live Evil" and "Dehumanizer" will be made available separately on October 17 via Rhino. These albums are also being re-released on vinyl.

CATHEDRAL: 'Earache Classic Series' Edition Of 'The Carnival Bizarre' To Include Bonus DVD

The newest entry into the Earache Classic Series is CATHEDRAL's breakthrough classic "The Carnival Bizarre". This is the album that made CATHEDRAL into the legends they are today. By combining their doom metal sound with stoner rock and further experimental elements, the band hit upon a formula that would elevate them up above every doom/stoner band of their day.

On this special Earache Classic Series edition of "The Carnival Bizarre", which is due on August 19, you get the tried and true original album containing favorites like "Vampire Sun", "Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)" and "Utopian Blaster" (featuring a guest appearance by BLACK SABBATH and HEAVEN AND HELL riffmaster Tony Iommi). In addition, you will also get a bonus DVD, "Our God Has Landed", featuring one of CATHEDRAL's earliest recorded shows from the 1992 "Gods Of Grind" tour and eight music videos spanning the band's nearly decade-long Earache career.

For more information, go to this location.

BLACK SABBATH's 'Paranoid' Getting Deluxe Treatment

The Pulse of Radio reports that BLACK SABBATH's 1970 second album, "Paranoid", will be reissued on September 29 as both a double-vinyl set and a deluxe three-CD package, according to a press release. The record, which was recorded in eight days, is SABBATH's best-selling effort and was their commercial breakthrough in the U.S. Containing some of the band's biggest songs, such as "Iron Man", "War Pigs" and the title track, "Paranoid"is considered one of heavy metal's most influential and all-time masterpieces. The CD set will contain the original album on one disc and a 1974 quadraphonic mix on the second, while a third CD will feature never-before-released early instrumental versions of six of the album's eight songs and two with alternate lyrics.

"Paranoid" has sold four million copies in the U.S. and was SABBATH's only album to ever reach No. 1 in their native country, the U.K.

"Paranoid" was followed by 1971's "Master of Reality", also considered by many fans to be one of the group's finest efforts.

At their long-overdue induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, guitarist Tony Iommi and singer Ozzy Osbourne talked about the respect that BLACK SABBATH has earned in the music industry.

Iommi: "I think it's great. I think it's taken a few years, mind (you), because I think for a while, nobody took us seriously. But, you know, our friends in the music business and that obviously did. As we went on, the more we carried on, the more we proved, the more we stayed there, you know? And I think we got the respect from that."

Osbourne: "I never thought anybody liked us, and people on the Ozzfest would come to me and go, 'You were really one of our inspirations.'And I didn't really, I didn't believe it, you know?"

The original lineup of BLACK SABBATH has reunited several times in the last decade to either headline its own tour or Ozzfest, but there are no plans at the moment for the band to either record or tour.

Album Of The Day-Warpig-"Self-Titled" (1970)

The Album Of The Day is "Warpig" by Canada's Warpig.



Review:

One of those bands that miss the boat to stardom during their active lifetime, Canadian hard rockers Warpig would experience a zombie-like afterlife following their demise, when they joined other cult acts like Sir Lord Baltimore, Leaf Hound, and Captain Beyond in haunting the minds of hard rock and heavy metal collectors. Vocalist/guitarist Rick Donmoyer, keyboard player/vocalist Dana Snitch, bassist Terry Brett, and drummer Terry Hook had all accumulated ample wood-shedding experience with an assortment of amateur bands (including the Kingbees, the Wot, and Mass Destruction) before coming together as Warpig in 1968. Smitten with recent, revolutionary albums by the likes of Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience -- seedling examples of what would come to be described as "hard rock" and, later, heavy metal -- the members of Warpig began defining their own style around these new, more powerful sonic parameters from their base of Woodstock, Ontario (just an hour outside Toronto). They weren't alone, of course, as 1968 was the year that spawned debut albums from seminal proto-metal acts like Blue Cheer, Iron Butterfly, and Canadian compatriots Steppenwolf, among others, and the last two, in particular, bore numerous similarities to Warpig's organ-heavy hard rock sound. By the following year, the quartet was building quite a fan following throughout the Ontario club circuit and had signed a contract with local independent Fonthill Records, completing work on their eponymous debut album in late 1970 and proceeding to perform with several visiting luminaries, such as Mahogany Rush, Wishbone Ash, Manfred Mann, and Savoy Brown. But poor distribution and promotion on the part of their indie label meant that Warpig remained largely unknown outside of Canada, and there was little progress made until 1973, when London Records offered to re-release the album with different cover art and two completely re-recorded tracks cut with future Rush producer Terry Brown. Unfortunately, time and changing trends had conspired to seriously date Warpig's once cutting-edge sound, and even though the Deep Purple-esque single "Rock Star" actually scraped into the Canadian charts and convinced London to commission a second album, the band would fall apart following the mid-session departure of Terry Hook and, soon after, Dana Snitch. Rick Donmoyer went on to play with Ash Mountain, but both Warpig and their lone, overlooked album quickly faded into forgetfulness -- until the new millennium, that is, when rare original copies started fetching outrageous prices on eBay. This may have been one of the factors behind Donmoyer and Snitch's reconciliation after 30 years of silence, leading to discussions of a full-blown Warpig reunion, and the re-release of their debut album on CD for the first time, via Relapse Records. (Eduardo Rivadavia, All Music Guide)

Track Listing:

01. Flaggit
02. Tough Nuts
03. Melody With Balls
04. Advance in A Minor
05. Rock Star
06. Sunflight
07. U.X.I.B.
08. The Moth

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Album Of The Day-Electric Wizard-"Let Us Prey" (2002, Re-Issue 2008)

The Album Of The Day is the newly re-issued "Let Us Prey" by Electric Wizard.



Review:

A band whose creative process has often been as lethargic as their drawn-out doom dirges, Electric Wizard surprised many fans when they announced the imminent release of their fourth album, Let Us Prey a mere year and a half after 2000s monolithic Dopethrone — itself preceded by nearly four years of silence. Probably for this very reason, Let Us Prey weighs in at a comparatively trim 45 minutes or so and makes for a significantly easier meal to digest than its epic predecessor; but it also falls short of Dopethrone in delivering what many consider to be the final word in doom metal. In fact, it appears that, having stuffed those four years of frustration into Dopethrone's perfectly colossal mass, the world's most doleful trio used Let Us Prey to take a concerted step back from the edge, and allow themselves the privilege to explore a few new directions. A good case in point, first track "A Chosen Few" immediately finds them scaling back their extreme volume and feedback in order to make room for added guitar textures; and second offering "We, the Undead" sees them stepping on the gas and embarking upon a manic thrash-out the likes of which they've rarely attempted (topped by ultra-distorted screaming from singer Jus Osborn). Both are also uncharacteristically short and to the point, but the two-part instrumental "Master of Alchemy: I. House of Whipchord/II. The Black Drug" is more familiar. At nearly ten minutes, it resurrects the vintage, head nodding Wizard of old, and may just qualify as the greatest incidental horror movie soundtrack ever committed to tape. Sadly, its also the album's last unquestionable winner, as subsequent stoner epics "The Outsider" and "Priestess of Mars," while still offering plenty of doom for your buck, start to sound somewhat automatic and recycled. Also, separating the two is an eyebrow-raising anomaly called "Night of the Shape" consisting of piano and saxophone mood music (shock!) splayed out over a nearly electronic drumbeat. Ultimately, Let Us Prey's riskier experiments and occasional inconsistencies, however small, are bound to disappoint Electric Wizard fanatics accustomed to magnum opus after magnum opus; but the fact of the matter is that it still leaves most competitors coughing in the band's pot smoke. (Ed Rivadavia, AMG)

Track Listing:

01. ... U Chosen Few
02. We, The Undead
03. Master of Alchemy: House of Whipcord/The Blact Drug
04. Outsider
05. Night of the Shape
06. Priestess of Mars
07. Mother of Serpents [Bonus Track]

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