Cave In: More Tour Dates!!!

We apologize, to a degree, if the Free Cave In sponsored by Scion train didn't stop in your town this time around, so Hydra Head, in attempts to right the wrongs here, are sponsoring some additional (not-so-free, but still affordable) east coast dates yo!.... Check em' dates below!

November 19th The Knitting Factory Brooklyn, NY w/ Narrows & Trap ThemNovember 20 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA w/ Narrows & Trap ThemNovember 21 Club Hell Providence, RI w/ Narrows & Trap ThemNovember 22 The Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA w/ Narrows & Trap Them

And... your welcome.

Big Business Karaoke Monday!: "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum

For this week's installment Jared expertly butchers "Runaway Train" by Soul Asylum, and still manages to look and sound so good.


Coincidentally, the same song was featured this week on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, as Sweet Dee drunkenly sang to the hitchhiker who was driving her new car on the Gang's road trip, just prior to her dumping her piss jar out the window, splattering Mac's face in the back seat. Did you know Dee and Mac are actually married in real life? Same with Charlie and the waitress. Crazy, right?

Justin Broadrick Interview @ Brooklyn Vegan

As a young mullet-headed headbanger growing up in the pre-internet late 80's and early 90's Cape Cod, my only resource for expanding my metal horizons was Metal Maniacs. Sure, I enjoyed the titans of that era (Metallica, Slayer, Iron Maiden, etc) but what I craved was the most vile, lightning fast death metal in the world. Thanks to Metal Maniacs, I was exposed to the likes of Deicide, Napalm Death, Carcass, Entombed,Morbid Angel, Repulsion, Gorguts, Cathedral, Morgoth, and many many more. The one album from that era that immediately blew my mind, and has stayed an important part of my life, is Godflesh's Streetcleaner. To this day the bassy-death-rattle-feedback intro for the lead-off track "Like Rats" still gets me amped.

Read More!

Big Business Karaoke Monday!

In this installment, Toshi takes on Steve Miller Band's "The Joker" (often mistakenly referred to as "Space Cowboy"). Mark Thompson occasionally blocks the camera with his tropical cap.

Oxbow: Review @ Aquarius Records

We've written a lot about this band over the years (many years - they've been around for, like, 20!). Here's a quote: "Oxbow have always languished in relative obscurity here in the US when they really deserve to be ruling the whole damn world. Essential, intense, heavy, dark, weird, artful, aggressive, fucked genius with few peers."
We said that years ago about the previous reissue of Fuckfest (as an import double cd with their 2nd album King Of The Jews) and while they've gotten a bit less obscure - their unholy alliance with the Hydra Head empire has helped a lot in recent years, way better for them than their former label, SST - and Oxbow now have fans from among the legions of metalcore/postrock kids for sure, they still aren't yet the overlords of all that they should be. Maybe in the next life (now that would be a shock!). Those that have gotten into 'em though, in this life, are indeed the chosen ones.

Read More... (your going to have to scroll down a bit)

Oxbow "Fuckfest" CD & Nihill "Krach" CD streaming and in stores now!

There's a curious romance at the heart of Oxbow. Curious, because you might not initially equate such a notion with a band who first introduced themselves to the world via an album entitled Fuckfest. - Decibel

The Oxbow discography - six albums, starting with 1989's Fuckfest and building to 2007's The Narcotic Story - is a compelling and powerful journey through one man's obsessions with sex and violence, told through throbbing, occasionally quite noisy post-blues art-rock. - The Wire

Can you believe OX BOW has been a band for 20 fucking years? Neither can we - mostly because they appear to be so young and good-looking (and because at least one of them will beat us up if we don't say that). And yet our reissue of the band's 1990 debut proves that they were once much younger and even better-looking. Originally released on CFY/Pathological, the aptly titled Fuckfest is a pornographic snapshot of a burgeoning musical force in its formative years; a raw, naked display of desperate humanity and abject terror; a decisive collision of Midwest noise, and all-American trepidation.

Stream "Fuckfest" here!

Fuckfest Tracklist:
1. Curse (5:52)
2. 30 Miles (5:48)
3. The Valley (5:50)
4. Bull's Eye (4:03)
5. Yoke (6:13)
6. Hunger (9:19)



This is the only Nihill release that we've heard, but safe to say that this is some seriously blackened music, with plenty of weird atmospherics and drone thrown in there. It also warrants some Leviathan and Deathspell Omega comparisons, and given the success of those projects that may be exactly why the almighty Hydra Head chose to try and help give this more Stateside attention. -Chronic Youth

Krach is the first part of a trilogy from a band that may be unknown to many but have been preparing themselves for a long time before they finalized their dark arts and have it exposed to the world. Nihill, inspired by medievall alchemistry and the darkest depths of the human soul. Almost impossible for any comparisons, Nihill could however be descibed as a grimm mixture of Sunn O))) and Deathspell Omega. Krach is an album that needs to be experienced to have it reach its full potential. If that potential ultimately will be that in emotions of happiness is not exactly guaranteed...

Stream "Krach" here!

Krach Tracklist
I. Empirical (1.14)
II. Mundus Subterreanus (5.19)
III. Gnosis part I (11.58)
IV. Dreams upon the Scaffold (8.23)
V. Gnosis part II (13.36)
VI. Gnosis part III (15.56)

Cave In: Free Scion Shows in Atlanta & Los Angeles!

Announce Free Scion Shows in LA and Atlanta w/ Coalesce & Cave In Announce CD-EP Release of "Planets of Old!"

This is it! This is your chance man!... Whether you reside in the Virginia-Highlands area, Little Five Points, Orange County or the greater Los Angeles area... Finally, you can, and entirely in good faith, say that you've seen these fabled outfits perform... Leading the conversation in a direction that won't expose you as someone who wasn't into the bands when they were actively touring becomes a thing of the past!... and then, maybe you can tell us how it feels to look your peers straight in the eye? I mean straight in the eye... that necker at the coffee shop... Because that's what these tour dates are all about man! turning the tables... friggin' turnin em'... But, one thing hasn't changed, money can't buy this kind of empowerment... Literally...

This priceless piece of mind is FREE for individuals who RSVP and make it to the venue before the thing fills up. Think about it for a moment, no distance traveled is too great for a hundred thousand hours of feeling like you are better than someone else, right? So don't miss this one!... and remember, Hydra Head Loves You very... very... very... very much!

If the previous bit of text threw you for a loop, don't get down. For simplicities sake I've highlighted the things you should walk away from this post knowing:

- Yes, Cave In is back together and playing live shows!
- Yes, Hydra Head recently released a limited Cave In 12" titled, "Planets of Old!"
- Yes, the 12" is the first new material that Cave In has recorded in over four years!
- Yes, "Planets of Old," due to popular demand, will be made available as a CD-EP in early 2010!!!

Planets of Old CDep-Tracklisting:
1. Cayman Tongue
2. Retina Sees Rewind
3. The Redtrail
4. Air Escapes

“Everyone in this room is very privileged,” announced Allston, Massachusetts-based sludge-metal act Phantom Glue's bassist Nick Wolf a mere hour and a half before mighty hardcore mavens-turned-prog metallers Cave In played their first show in four years. Wolf was hardly the only one feeling that way. When Cave In first announced that they'd be reuniting for a small club show at Allston, Massachusett's Great Scott, a tiny-ass, PBR-fueled venue a mere block from this writer's apartment, I knew it wasn't just a “privilege,” it was fucking fate. - Revolver

Cave In Live!

w/ Coalesce (Free w/ RSVP!)
October 7th The Masquerade Atlanta, GA
October 8th The Knitting Factory Los Angeles, CA

Nadja on Tour!

Nadja, the individuals who put the Nadja in Pyramids With Nadja, are playing some dates in North America over the course of the coming days/weeks/months, dates below:

16/09 Montreal, Quebec @ Casa Del Popolo w/ Aun & This Quiet Army

19/09 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool

26/09 Brantford, Ontario @ The Ford Plant w/ Picastro

07/10 Victoria, British Columbia @ Open Space

08/10 Seattle, WA @ The Josephine w/ Hemingway & Tecumseh

09/10 Portland, OR @ Ella St. Social Club w/ Hemingway & Tecumseh

11/10 San Francisco, CA @ The Hemlock w/ Portraits & Date Palms

13/10 Los Angeles, CA 8 PM @ Synchronicity Space

15/10 Oakland, CA @ The Terminal

22/10 Halifax, Nova Scotia @ Halifax Pop Explosion

Big Business Karaoke Monday!

In this installment Jared croons "Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh. Watch for cameos by Mark Thompson, Aaron Turner of Isis, Jay Bennett (the writer, not the dead guy from Wilco), and more.

Cave In: Review in Punknews!

The most noticeable characteristic of the EP is the settling of the group back into their indie roots. Having come full circle from an underground mainstay to a major label up-and-comer and back again, Cave In seems revitalized (rather than defeated) by their travels. Planets of Old finds the band sticking with their native label Hydra Head, which includes the perks of simple yet thematic artwork from musician/label guru Aaron Turner. In true independent fashion, the band offers the entire album available for streaming, and provides little fanfare on their MySpace to promote the release other than the music itself. Thankfully, the band puts together an EP that is not only a welcome respite after four years of silence, but an intriguing glimpse of what may come next.

read more

Big Business Karaoke Friday!

In this installment, Coady belts out Kiss' "Beth." Enjoy.



Here are the Lyrics if you want to sing along:

Beth, I hear you callin'
But I cant come home right now
Me and the boys are playin'
And we just can't find the sound
Just a few more hours
And I'll be right home to you
I think I hear them callin'
Oh, Beth what can I do
Beth what can I do

You say you feel so empty
That our house just ain't a home
And I'm always somewhere else
And you're always there alone

Just a few more hours
And I'll be right home to you
I think I hear them callin'
Oh, Beth what can I do
Beth what can I do

Beth, I know you're lonely
And I hope you'll be alright
cause me and the boys will be playin
All night

Keelhaul: Review on Punknews!

Keelhaul has determinedly resurrected the ghost of Killdozer’s and Karp’s sense of humor and attitude, but this time as a progressive thrash rock band. And while the band riffs harder than Geddy, Neal and Alex, you don’t have to worry about all those pathos getting in the way. Singing is sparse; time signatures are often turned on their head; syncopation is a requirement, but song titles like “Everything’s a Napkin” and “THC for One” put the kibosh on taking anything too seriously.

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Chel's List #9 - Featuring Harvey Milk, Staring Sugar Bear

Coming out from behind the camera and getting a piece of the action for this video clip is 'Sugar Bear' aka Honey CoXcomb, the sweetest bear in the sleuth. He doesn't seem very sweet to Chel though, but then again, who on camera ever is.

Sugar Bear gets his staring credits for this Chel's List in particular because he's able to edit together a fair decent video clip for you all to watch. If you only could have heard the way he was moaning and groaning while he watched the raw footage. Speaking of footage, the only editing error was removing the bit where Chel goes, "What do Harvey Milk and I have in common" "We both have 1/2 a 7 inch"

As with all Chel's Lists, if you see something you like, want, need or enjoy, you can contact ChelVanin@hydrahead.com If you see something that you like, want, need or enjoy, but need a lot of it, SugarBear@hydrahead.com would love to hear from you. His inbox shouldn't ever fill up and shut down like a recent issue we had with Chel's.

Tongue and cheek... You got to love it. Sugar Bear really loves it....

Kayo Dot in MTV's Gossip Column...

You may or may not know who either of the people pictured are, but the freakish pairing you'll see after the jump is truly a sight to behold. Steve Agee is a comedian/actor/writer from the Sarah Silverman-Jimmy Kimmelcircle of Hollywood. He's been a writer for Kimmel and "The Andy Milonakis Show," and he was in Silverman's movie and Comedy Central TV series. He's also enormous. Mia Matsumiya is a violinist. She's a member of the band Kayo Dot.

Read More

And since we are on the subject of Kayo Dot... We ask that you avid readers prepare yourself for the band's upcoming full-length release! The record is titled, "Coyote," and will be out on Hydra Head early 2010!!

Keelhaul: Feature On Exclaim!

Triumphant Return To Obscurity is the second bout of music from Ohio's Keelhaul this year, a full-length follow-up to the You Waited Five Years For This? seven-inch. Unsurprisingly, this album not only maintains the tongue-in-cheek path the quartet have been on since becoming active again but it also ensures that a half-decade of downtime hasn't hindered them in the slightest.

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Pyramids With Nadja: Feature On Tiny Mix Tapes!

And so, in a move that makes an incredible amount of sense, Pyramids and Nadja have collaborated on a new LP, which is coming out October 27 on Hydra Head. The collective six members of the two groups play on all four of the record’s tracks, though with help from a pretty extensive guest list. Like most things involved with this project, all these guests make a certain amount of sense: Simon Raymonde of ’80s legends Cocteau Twins and This Mortal Coil, Albin Julius of Austrian psych-rock project Der Blutharsch, Chris Simpson of ’90s emo group Mineral, Colin Marston of tech-metal giants Dysrhythmia, and James Plotkin of black metal band Khanate, who produced the record. Assuming the world continues making sense at this rate, the album will likely contain lots of pretty drones, ambient textures, and long, dirge-like songs. Then again, maybe it’ll wind up sounding like a synth-pop record.

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Pyramids With Nadja: Feature On Exclaim!

The folks at the increasingly eclectic Hydra Head Records are gearing up for yet another collaborative release, this time between Toronto’s ambient metalgazers Nadja and like-minded Texans Pyramids.

Some of us being old-school emo dudes, we’re stoked on the disc’s presence of Chris Simpson (ex-Mineral), but there are plenty of other reasons to be stoked, as the album also includes contributions from former or current members of the Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil, Der Blutharsch, Dysrhythmia, Behold the Arctopus, Khanate, O.L.D. and others.

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COALESCE + CAVE IN: FREE SHOW in ATLANTA

So, Atlanta, how about it?
RSVP NOW
Thank you Scion.

COALESCE + CAVE IN: FREE SHOW in LA

So, LA, how about it?
RSVP NOW.
Thank you Scion.

Songs From The Hype Machine...Volume 1

Its been a loooooooong time since we done up a Hydra Head exclusive sampler....in fact, we're pretty sure its been just about 9 years or so. The last one came free with our first (and only, thus far anyway..) Hydra Head zine. Although we don't have a copy in front of us, we're pretty sure Jupiter hadn't even been released at that point....now that we think about it, Aaron and Mark still ran the label out of Aaron's dirty ass apartment way the fuck up that hill in Roxbury, MA. Shit, A-Ron mighta still been a dreaded vegan straight edge hardcore kid at that point! Boy, oh boy...those were the days....we'll have to dig up some pics for our next zine (coming Fall 2015!) or maybe we'll just get Mark lit and record him telling stories for our 3rd official sampler (coming Winter 2012!)...but we digress...

What we have here is a week 'n a half hustle come to life. Exactly 6 business days ago, Jimmy, in a fit of early mornin' brainstorming, said something like "we should do a cassette comp for Fuck Yeah Fest.". (We've got a booth at FYF Fest tomorrow which were looking forward to farting around at and selling shit for way cheaper than you can find it anywhere else...and if you want to do more than buy shit you could always stay and watch some bands...we hear Torche and Converge and playing...) And so just like that we got the access code from Turner, fired up the ol' hype machine, and were delivered a 104 minute long tracklisting loaded with nothing but Hydra Head stuff....we're talking recent, rare, and totally totally unreleased shit from the likes of Oxbow, Daughters, Pyramids with Nadja, Hayaino Daisuki, Torche, Harvey Milk, Jodis, Nihill, Cave In, Kayo Dot, Keelhaul, Clouds, Xasthur, Pet Genius, GREYMACHINE, Zozobra, Big Business, Bergraven, and The Austerity Program. We gotta admit, we're pretty darn pleased with ourselves....

The rest all happened so fast...Jimmy snapped a pic of our customer care technician giving the hype machine a once over, threw together the layout, got the bands all saying 'go for it', and next thing you know its 5 days later and the lot of us are picking on the our new Japanese intern while having assembling party for the very items you see in the pic above.

We've got 300 of them for tomorrow, free with purchase. If you seem like a nice person we might even just give you one. If you seem like a nice person who also outs the names and contacts for masked online shit-talkers and/or album leakers then we'll definitely hook you up with one.

Depending on the turnout tomorrow we might have some left over for Chel's List and Vacation...but we ain't making any guarantees on that just yet.

The first 10 people to correctly name the upcoming Hydra Head album that we reference in the title of the comp, get a copy sent to 'em...send all responses to info@hydrahead.com

Catalog #: HH666-203-5
Artist: Various
Title: Songs From The Hydra Head Hype Machine Volume 1...or Did We Mean Hawaiin Souvlaki?
Format: Cassette
Release Date: September 5th 2009

Side A:

Oxbow "Curse" from upcoming Fuckfest CD/LP reissue

Daughters "The First Supper" from upcoming CD/LP

Pyramids with Nadja "Another War" from upcoming CD/LP

Hayaino Daisuki "Shibito" from upcoming CD/LP

Torche "Sugar Glider" from Healer/Across The Shields 12"/DVD

Harvey Milk "Blueberry Dookie" from upcoming s/t CD/LP

Jodis "Continents" from upcoming Secret House CD/LP

Nihill "Mundus Subterreanus" from upcoming Krach CD/LP

Cave In "Retina Sees Rewind" from upcoming Planets of Old CD/DVD

Side B:

Kayo Dot "Whisper Ineffable" from upcoming Coyote CD/LP

Keelhaul "THC for One" from Keelhaul's Triumphant Return To Obscurity CD/2xLP

Clouds "New Bombs" from upcoming B Chuggas May Be Logging 12"

Xasthur "A Lesson In Drowning" All Reflections Drained 2xCD (Japanese)

Pet Genius "Video Stills" from unreleased Club Awesome session

GREYMACHINE "Wasted" from Disconnected CD/2xLP

Zozobra "Bird of Prey" from Champions of Sound 2x7"

Big Business "The Drift (Biz Bot remix)" from Biz Bot Remixes 12"

Bergraven "Hunger" from Til Makabert Vasen CD/2xLP

The Austerity Program "Song 20 (The River)" from Song 20 (The River)/Song 1 7"

OXBOW "fuckfest" CD preorder launched

OXBOW's debut full length, Fuckfest, is receiving the Hydra Head reissue treatment come Sept 5th. In honor of the release, we just launched a killer preorder package that includes the option of a shirt or a beach towel. Said shirt is a reprint of the classic OXBOW Naked Caveman design and the beach towel features the same naked man. The shirt will be available on our webstore indefinitely, but the beach towel is hella limited.

This release is the first in a series of reissues we plan on bringing to the masses. Up next is King of the Jews.

and while you are at it, check out this awesome interview with Eugene over at Buddyhead.

Preorder here!

Surprise Farts

Chel Vanin, scholarly intellectual that he is, contemplates the idea of unexpected gas emissions.

Nihill "KRACH" preorder now up!

September 15th marks the North American release date for NIHILL's Krach, via HHR. We got the preorder all launched up over at our webstore, which includes a smooth shirt (image below). Nihill's follow-up, Grond, will follow shortly, so be on the look out.

"The first two minutes of 'Gnosis: Part 1,' would not sound out of place on an Einsturzende Neubauten album, but from the two minute mark on the track is pure doom metal. The guitars cut and slash in horrible slow motion, long sustained chords that grate against subtle, barely-there drumming, complimenting a vocalist choking on every anguished scream, akin to Abbath if he was recorded drowning in the bottom of an infinitely deep well."

- Diabolical Conquest