Beneath The Massacre give us a quick recap on their European tour. They will kick off a North American Tour, and then back over the pond. Beneath The Massacre are touring in support of Dystopia.

Road warriors BENEATH THE MASSACRE, whose recently released technical death opus Dystopia debuted at #22 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart, kicks off another North American tour this week. The “Montreal Assault” tour, which will see the band play alongside Despised Icon, Carnifex, The Plasmarifle and labelmates Neuraxis, continues through March 1, after which BTM will headline two weeks of shows in Eastern Canada.

“We’re all very excited to participate in the ‘Montreal Assault’ tour, and more importantly, Despised Icon’s first headlining tour in the U.S.,” says vocalist Elliot Desgagnes. “They’ve been good friends of ours for years and always supportive of our band, and we feel privileged to go on that tour as direct support.”

After “Montreal Assault,” BTM – who kicked off their new record cycle with a Canadian tour alongside Necrophagist (Summer Slaughter Canada) and an American trek with Suicide Silence – will then return to Europe for the just-announced “Thrash and Burn” tour, co-headlined by Bleeding Through and Darkest Hour. BTM just returned from a month-long European tour alongside Cryptopsy, and the band looks forward to heading overseas once again.

“Being our biggest influence when we first started to play death metal years ago, it was amazing to share the stage and bus with the crazy guys in Cryptopsy,” Desgagnes says. “Although we both come from Montreal, it was the first time we were getting to hang out with them and it was great. We also got to play with none other than Entombed! All and all, it was a great tour and were proud to have been on it.

“The two first times we went to Europe,” he continues, “we were on straight-up death metal bills with bands like Misery Index and Cryptopsy. We feel that we’ll be playing in front of a different crowd this time around, so we’re stoked and a little anxious at the same time – but I believe BTM fans will be at the shows in big numbers, and we’ll be able to turn the crowd into our own.”

Tour report  and dates via Prosthetic Records Press release

Image: Prosthetic Records.

BENEATH THE MASSACRE on tour:

1/29 Peabody’s – Cleveland, OH*
1/30 Hayloft – Mt. Clemens, MI*
1/31 House Cafe – Dekalb, IL*
2/1 Vaudeville Mews – Des Moines, IA*
2/3 Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO*
2/5 Studio Seven – Seattle, WA*
2/6 Satyricon – Portland, OR*
2/7 Vet’s Hall – Santa Cruz, CA*
2/8 Chain Reaction – Anaheim, CA*
2/9 Whisky – Hollywood, CA*
2/10 The Rock – Tucson, AZ*
2/11 Compound – Albuquerque, NM*
2/13 White Rabbit – San Antonio, TX*
2/14 Java Jazz – Houston, TX*
2/15 Plano Center – Plano, TX*
2/17 Orpheum – Tampa, FL*
2/18 Fuel – Jacksonville, FL*
2/19 Club Hollywood – Augusta, GA*
2/20 Ground Zero – Spartanburg, SC*
2/21 Brewery – Raleigh, NC*
2/22 KC’s – Fredricksburg, VA*
2/23 Sonar – Baltimore, MD*
2/24 First Unitarian Church – Philadelphia, PA*
2/25 Blender Theater – New York, NY*
2/26 Palladium – Worcester, MA*
2/27 Xtreme Wheelz – Buffalo, NY*
2/28 Reverb – Toronto, ON*
3/1 Club Soda – Montreal, QC*
3/2 Maverick’s – Ottawa, ON
3/3 Le Tremplin – Sherbrooke, QC
3/4 Dagobert – Quebec City, QC
3/5 Cafe Rock Le Stage – Trois-Riviers, QC
3/6 La Ruche – Granby, QC
3/7 Petit Theatre – Rouyn Noranda, QC
3/8 TBA – Sudbury, ON
3/12 Chubby Pickle – Windsor, ON
4/19 Schlachtof – Wiesbaden, Germany**
4/20 LKA – Stuttgart, Germany**
4/21 Markthalle – Hamburg, Germany**
4/22 Postbahnhof – Berlin, Germany**
4/23 Melkweg – Amsterdam, Holland**
4/24 Sputnikhalle – Munster, Germany**
4/25 Conne Island – Leipzig, Germany**
4/26 Mega Club – Katowice, Poland**
4/27 Abaton – Prague, Czech Rep.**
4/28 Durer Kert – Budapest, Hungary**
4/29 Arena – Vienna, Austria**
4/30 Rockhouse – Salzburg, Austria**
5/1 Musicdrome – Milan, Italy**
5/2 Rock Planet – Pinarella de Cervia, Italy**
5/3 Backstage Werk – Munich, Germany**
5/4 Kiff – Aarau, Switzerland*
5/6 Sala Razzmtazz – Barcelona, Spain**
5/7 Sala Caracol – Madrid, Spain**
5/8 Plateruena Kafe Antzoky – Durango, Spain**
5/9 Trabendo – Paris, France**
5/10 Waterfront – Norwich, UK**
5/11 Electric Ballroom – London, UK**
5/12 Corporation – Sheffield, UK**
5/13 Westland – Yeovil, UK**
5/14 Rios – Leeds, UK**
5/15 Academy – Birmingham, UK**
5/16 Essigfabrik – Cologne, Germany**

* w/ Despised Icon, Carnifex, Neuraxis, The Plasmarifle
** Thrash and Burn Europe w/ Bleeding Through, Darkest Hour, etc.

Post from: Metal Martyr

Album: Dystopia

Release Date: October 28th, 2008

Record Label: Prosthetic Records

Mixed by Jason Suecof, mastered by Alan Douches.

Album Art by Felix Rancourt

Last week when I named my ten picks for the best death metal vocals (IGN.Com names 10 Best Death Metal Vocals) I stressed how I enjoy clarity. I like to hear what they are screaming, growling or grunting, if not maybe just a little bit. Let me start off by saying that this is the only thing I don’t like about Beneath The Massacre’s sophomore release on Prosthetic Records, titled Dystopia. It’s not like a totally inaudible sound like some other death metal bands that I’ve heard. It’s just slightly incomprehensible. Dystopia does however has a melodic brutality about it that you don’t get very often.

Hailing from Montreal, Canada, this four piece death metal band has had a lot of road time between the release of their first EP (Mechanics Of Dysfunction) with Prosthetic Records and Dystopia, which comes out tomorrow, October 28th. That’s the only way you’ll make it in the extreme (I’m so tired of that word) metal genre. You have to go out there and tour your ass off to get your name out there and more than just another band signed on an indie label. I mean, let’s be honest, it seems like it’s getting easier and easier for bands to get “Signed”. You have to be a self-sustaining band as well and have a good label supporting you.

As far as Dystopia goes, the guitar work of Christopher Bradley is complex and melodic while Justin Rousselle’s drumming is a furious onslaught of blast-beats that somehow keep a consistent rhythm with speed that’s matched by very few drummers these days. The problem I have with such complex riff work is that at times there feels like there is no solid hook to keep listeners like myself coming back for more. There are so many melodic leads that could be complimented by more low end chugging rhythms. Sometimes a little simplicity can make the biggest difference in how a song is delivered. When there are good chugging rhythm riffs is when I dig this cd the most, like on Lithium Overdose and Never More. There are some great solos that seem somewhat short natured but well placed and constructed. Dennis Bradley’s bass playing could be more evident on this record. Perhaps a little more bass guitar could improve on the lack of chugging riffs that I feel like I’m being deprived of.

Elliot Desgagnés vocals, as I said leave me wanting a little more clarity. He’s got a great deep, guttural and throaty growl that sounds good, but I desire more enunciation in the lyrics. Maybe it’s me getting older or maybe it’s my taste in metal that seems to change from month to month. Lyrically, Dystopia is great. Condemned starts out the cd with the line “Can you feel the anguish taking over? Thrown into this world with no essence. We are what we asked for; rapists and architects of decay and destruction. We claim our innocence…”, while the song Wasteland reads as: “Knee deep in the blood of our peers/ It’s already too late/ There is no turning back? Oblivious to our actions/ Conditioned lifestyle leading to our extinction”. No complex, 4 syllable words to have to look up, just straight forward lyrics that say it all. Human beings are a parasite to this world, that don’t often learn from our actions. We see the destruction left in our paths and we say we need to change, but we keep on being the greed-filled entities that we are, with little remorse and even less solutions. Maybe one day we will learn and change before we become the product of our own demise.

Overall this isn’t a bad record but leaves me feeing like I couldn’t listen to it very often, kind of like The Acacia Strain. One of those bands that sounds really good…in great moderation. This, to me, is one of those records that’s appreciated more when it’s not played on a regular basis. Perhaps with time I’ll find myself listening to it more like I did with Withered’s last release. Give Beneath The Massacre a listen on Myspace. If you like that then you will probably like the rest of Dystopia.

Beneath The Massacre: Dystopia Track List

1. Condemned
2. Reign of Terror
3. Our Common Grave
4. Harvest of Hate
5. The Wasteland
6. Bitter
7. No Future
8. Lithium Overdose
9. Never More
10. Procreating The Infection

Beneath The Massacre On Myspace

http://BeneathTheMassacre.com

Image Source: Amazon.com

Post from: Metal Martyr

Montreal’s BENEATH THE MASSACRE has confirmed additional shows alongside Emmure upon completion of the current Cleansing The Nation Tour, featuring the two bands alongside headliners Suicide Silence and After The Burial, and Architects. The current tour is in anticipation of the Oct. 28 release of the band’s second Prosthetic Records effort, ‘Dystopia,’ which will see a European release Nov. 10 to coordinate with the band’s next touring run: a month-long trek through Europe as direct support to fellow Canadians Cryptopsy.

Most recently wrapping up a Canadian run on Summer Slaughter this summer with Necrophagist and Dying Fetus, a new track from ‘Dystopia’ is available on the BENEATH THE MASSACRE MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/btm) and the band also posted video blogs from the record’s recording process, which are online here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tToXYCeGsk). Recorded again with St-Amand (Despised Icon, Ion Dissonance, Neuraxis) and featuring artwork from Felix Rancourt ‘Dystopia’ is the follow-up to 2007’s ‘Mechanics of Dysfunction,’ the band’s Prosthetic debut, which saw BENEATH THE MASSACRE hit the road with the likes of Necrophagist, Through The Eyes of the Dead, Ion Dissonance, 2007’s inaugural Summer Slaughter tour and last year’s Radio Rebellion Tour alongside Behemoth, Job For A Cowboy, and Gojira, among others.

BENEATH THE MASSACRE

(Suicide Silence, Emmure, Beneath The Massacre, After The Burial, Architects)

• 10/23 Pensacola, FL – The Red Door
• 10/24 San Antonio, TX – White Rabbit
• 10/25 Ft. Worth, TX – Ridglea Theater
• 10/26 Houston, TX – Java Jazz
• 10/27 Oklahoma City, OK – Bricktown Live
• 10/29 El Paso, TX – Club 101
• 10/30 Phoenix, AZ – Clubhouse
• 11/01 San Diego, CA – Soma
• 11/02 Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues
• (Emmure, Beneath The Massacre)
• 11/04 Salt Lake City, UT – Avalon Theatre (with After The Burial)
• 11/05 Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep (with After The Burial)
• 11/07 Toledo, OH – Club Bijou (As Blood Runs Black/Terror)
• 11/08 Dayton, OH – The Attic (As Blood Runs Black/Terror)

(Cryptopsy, Beneath The Massacre, Trigger The Bloodshed, Ignominious Incarnation)

• 11/14 Schweinfurt, Germany – Alter Stattbahnhof
• 11/15 Bischofswerda, Germany – Eastclub
• 11/16 Kassel, Germany – K19
• 11/17 Hamburg, Germany – Markthalle
• 11/18 Berlin, Germay – Magnet
• 11/19 Brno, Czech Republic – Faval
• 11/20 Ljubjana, Slovenia – Channel Zero
• 11/21 Wien, Austria – Viper Room
• 11/22 Misano Adriatica, Italy – Boulevard Music Club
• 11/23 Rome, Italy – Circolo Degli Artisti
• 11/25 Munchen, Germany – Feierwerk
• 11/26 Asrau, Germany – Kiff
• 11/27 Utrecht, Holland – Helling
• 11/28 Hasselt, Belgium – Muziek–o–droom
• 11/29 Peterborough, UK – The Park
• 11/30 Birmingham, UK – Asylum
• 12/01 Sheffield, UK – Corporation
• 12/02 London, UK – Underworld
• 12/03 Glasgow, UK – Ivory Blacks
• 12/04 Newport, UK – TJs
• 12/05 Plymouth, UK – White Rabbit
• 12/06 Paris, France – Nouveau Casino (with Entombed)
• 12/08 Barcelona, Spain – Sala Mephisto
• 12/09 Madrid, Spain – Sala Caracol
• 12/10 Durango, Spain – Plateruena Kafe Antzoki
• 12/11 Toulouse, France – Havana Café (with Entombed)
• 12/12 Stadtmitte, Germany – Stadtmitte
• 12/13 Essen, Germany – Turock

Image Sourcea: Prosthetic Records

Post from: Metal Martyr

Between trying to get my review up for the new Gojira The Way OF The Flesh CD to Beneath The Massacre’s Dystopia that I just got in the mail, I find almost little time to get in to one thing before moving on to the next. I don’t expect myself to be able to keep up with everything as well as catch up on some cool metal that I have missed out on in the past decade or so. I’m not complaining, I’m just saying. Sometimes it’s tough to pace yourself and not forget about the last thing you were listening to when something new comes along and with the way good bands have been releasing CD’s this year it doesn’t make thing any easier. I planned on getting a review for Gojira up over the weekend but I took it easy. The Way Of The Flesh review will be posted tomorrow for sure.

Post from: Metal Martyr