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Yeeeh… I’m gonna get more info on this methinks.

Check it out right here. It’s quality. Reminds me a bit of a cross between In Flames and Machine Head..slightly. Haunting guitar work. Gonna try to get an interview, to see what the hell they are talking about – these lyrics could mean anything.

Click on the picture.

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Taken from a Myspace post by CBGB worker Brendan Rafferty… Hilly was my boss for close to 18 years, my friend for more than 20, and in some ways, he was a second father to me.

He was a friend to and strong supporter of musicians and artists. His continuing love and support of struggling artists helped change the face of music. He was a kind big hearted man who genuinely cared. All of us who worked for him genuinely loved the man. Whatever decisions he made, right or wrong, his heart was always in the right place. I will truly miss him.

Rest in Peace my old friend
-Brendan Rafferty

Below is the official statement form the Kristal family. They asked me not to post this until today to give time to notify his family before making any public announcement.

It is with deep sadness and regret that we inform you of the death of Hilly Kristal, who died on Tuesday, August 28, 2007, from complications from Lung Cancer. Kristal, 75, founded the legendary rock club CBGB and ran the club for 33 years. A singer and songwriter himself, Kristal opened the club to showcase “Country Bluegrass and Blues”; instead the club became a breeding ground for Punk rock. Among the many acts that called CBGB home were Blondie, the Talking Heads, Television, Living Color, Patti Smith and the Ramones. The club closed in October 2006, but CBGB continues, with a retail store in New York City and worldwide merchandise sales; in addition, there currently are plans to open new CBGB clubs in several locations.

Contributions in Hilly’s honor may be made in his name to the American Cancer Society or to the Hilly Kristal Foundation for Musicians and Artists (168 Second Avenue, PMB 207, New York, NY 10003).

תנחמנו מין השמים

Prong
Power of the Damager
13th Planet/Megaforce Records

Prong is still in effect, which is nice to see. Even though the only real, um, overground hit they ever had was “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck,” they’ve been around since 1986 with a tight trademark sound, a clean blend of straight punk, NYHC and metal. If you listen to this disc, you can see like, where a lot of bands took this sound and ran with it (some of them straight into walls if you knowhutImean).

Tommy Victor did a stint playing guitar for Danzig up until 2005, and that influence sneaks into this disc sometimes. His voice sounds cooler when he doesn’t try to scream loud and deep from his throat though, because he usually has this subtle intent kind of vocal thing going for him.

Think like, NYHC fury and groove with old school Metallica technical fortitude and Monster Magnet vibe. And then go listen to it and you’ll see what I mean.

If you don’t understand Hebrew you won’t understand this, but basically, this comedienne Adi Ashkenazi is searching for a way to deal with death and death metal finds its way into the whole mess, and who better to make the mess but The Fading… Orphaned Land cameos on the potty line…

Pro-Pain
Age of Tyranny
Candlelight Records

Listen, I’m not going to wax frikkin’ poetic here. Pro-Pain has been putting out the same quality catchy hardcore since the dawn of time (or at least since I’ve been hearing them): simple, precise and raw with occasional melodic flair. This one’s a little more polished than the usual, but it’s still the same old ballgame. That “Beyond the Pale” song is freaking awesome though and uses some serious Oriental riffage. And finally, a band uses a female vocalist that doesn’t sound like she fell off the Love Boat. They are the Budweiser in a fridge full of green tea wine coolers. However, I could give two shits about their politics and their George Bush bashing but hey, you have the right to hate who you want, yeh?

I personally like President G. Dubya Bush for the simple fact that this video exists.

Now how could you not like a President like that?

Alright. Gevolt is a Yiddish word that means like, for lack of apt translation skills on my part, “Aw, crap!” or “bloody hell” or something. I won’t be as corny to say this makes me wanna kick my heels up and scream “L’chaim,” but it’s definitely the opposite of something I would scream Gevolt about.

They named their album “Sidur” which means “prayerbook” in Hebrew. However, I don’t understand Russian, even if it is written in English characters in the CD jacket. So all I can tell you (and that’s before I interview them, cause b’ezrat Hashem there WILL be an interview) is this. Even if this band were from Thailand or something I would still push it with glee. Yeh, Gevolt reminds me of Rammstein. But they definitely can’t be written off like that. They intertwine said band’s kind of electropummeling with lighter and more intricate melodies. The vocals are a bit happier although vocalist Anatholy Bonder also does get down there in vocal chord frequency. And of course, they’re basing a lot of their tunage on Yiddish and Russian folk music, with violins and everything. It’s just a heavy, yet atmospheric, sometimes upbeat (but not in a faggy pop way) simply quality disc. Nab it.

And their Yiddish promo rocked, too! My mom heard the Yiddish classics made metal and muttered that they’d been wrecked, which means Gevolt did a fine job! Check out their main site: http://www.gevolt.net as well as their Myspace site.

Hatesphere
Serpent Smiles and Killer Eyes
SPV Records

This latest effort is mindnumbing darkness music – it doesn’t keep your brain too busy, rather, it’s got that hypnotizing kind of push to it. While trying to absorb it for the first time, the first word that came to my mind was “professional.” The recording is really clean, at times slick. But that doesn’t preclude it from exuding proper rage, mixing it up between straight-up hardcore and regular metal. Sometimes there’s a vibe tinging on classic Biohazard grind and sometimes there’s Slayer thrashability. Vocalist Jacob Bredahl (who incidentally just mixed Whorecore‘s latest effort) usually stays on one tone of throaty screaming but does well when he occasionally ventures into actual singing. His transitions work nicely, especially noted on “The Slain.” “Drinking With the Dead” busts out some of that down-home sludgy feel as an intro (Brand New Sin comes to mind) but generally you know what you’re in for from the first few songs, and it’s good.