Fresh off a headlining gig at SF Gay Pride Festival last weekend, Chico’s own Armed For Apocalypse have officially inked a deal with Ironclad / Metal Blade records. Their debut album, DEFEAT, which coincidentally happens to be the heaviest album in the history of mankind, drops September 15th. Check out the Press Release below:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE….

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Ironclad Recordings Signs ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE: Set To Release Debut Album ‘Defeat’ in the US & Canada!….

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Los Angeles, CA – July 1, 2009 – Ironclad Recordings, founded by Unearth vocalist Trevor Phipps, is pleased to announce the signing of Chico California’s ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE; a band featuring the talents of former members of Will Haven, The Abominable Iron Sloth, and Ghostride. Ironclad Recordings is set to release ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE’s debut full-length studio album Defeat in the US and Canada on September 15^th, 2009 with SOAR releasing this behemoth of an album in Europe.  Defeat was recorded during two different sessions in late 2008 at the Pus Cavern in Sacramento, CA and Heirloom Studios in Chico, CA, with Matt Pedri engineering. Mixing and mastering for Defeat was handled by Eric Stenman (Saves The Day, Will Haven, Senses Fail, Far, Forever The Sickest Kids, Dashboard Confessional, Thrice) with cover art being tackled by renowned artist Matt Loomis, who has done cover art for Abominable Iron Sloth and the Makai in addition to merch designs for Mastodon and The Red Chord…..

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Trevor Phipps of Ironclad Recordings comments; “these guys are just ridiculously heavy with one of the darkest and meanest sounds in metal today. Get ready to be crushed.”….

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“We couldn’t be more excited as a band to sign with Ironclad Recording.  They have been loyal and honest with us from the very beginning, which is all too rare in this business. They are the only label that told us to keep getting heavier! What more can you ask for as a metal band?!” comments ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE….

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Derek Kerswill, drummer of Unearth, who recently played dates with ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE after his band finished their US tour with Testament, had this to say about the band;“ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE gave me this dirty, unsettling feeling… that was so emotionally dark that my insides were crawling out of me. I guess they stirred some genuine emotion in me because I FELT IT.”….

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The musical talents of ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE, featuring former members of Will Haven, The Abominable Iron Sloth, and Ghostride, can best be described as a racket akin to the gates of hell opening; mixing the sludgy, down-tuned heavy riffs of Crowbar and Eyehategod with the white noise assault of Cursed, and the death metal groove of Entombed. Guitarist/vocalist Cayle Hunter explains; “we don’t want to be faster or tougher than anybody else. We just want to make heavy music that is UNDENIABLE when you hear it.” ….

ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE’s, or A4A, monstrous new album Defeat will be released September 15^th, 2009 followed by a full touring schedule so be sure to keep up with the band on MySpace and Twitter for dates and other announcements…..

To get a taste of what A4A’s album Defeat will sound like, check out the new song ‘We Fell from the Bottom,’ which is currently up on the band’s MySpace page HERE….

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Current tour dates:….

7/01       Seattle, WA        The Rendezvous/Jewelbox Theater w/ Heiress….

7/02       Portland, OR      Tony V’s Garage….

7/03       Eugene, OR        Epic Space w/ Necryptic Jean Grey….

7/25       Chico, CA             The Senator 10 for $10 Tour w/ Poison the Well, Terror, Bane, and more….

8/07       Chico, CA             La Salles….

8/22       Eugene, OR        Epic Space w/ The Funeral Pyre….

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And so ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE could stay in constant communication with their fans, the band started up a Twitter account so make sure to follow the guys at www.twitter.com/AforA….

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ARMED FOR APOCALYPSE is:….

Kirk Williams - vocals/guitar….

Cayle Hunter - guitar/vocals….

Corey Vaspra - bass/vocals….

Nick Harris - drums

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Since I’m sick of looking it up every time a band asks me, here is a fairly complete list of Chico’s press and radio contacts as of 4/15/09.

www.Chicolist.com
Chico Independent & Underground Music Scene

Jason Cassidy, Arts Editor
Chico News & Review, 353 E. 2nd St., Chico, CA 95928
Phone: (530) 894-2300 ext. 2242; Fax: (530) 894-0143
E-mail: jasonc@newsreview.com
Web: www.newsreview.com/chico

Christy Pryde, Calendar Editor
Chico News & Review, 353 E. 2nd St., Chico, CA 95928
Phone: (530) 894-2300 ext. 2243; Fax: (530) 894-0143
E-mail:christyp@newsreview.com, chicocalendar@newsreview.com
www.newsreview.com/chico

Jake Sprecher, Managing Editor
Synthesis Weekly, 210 W 6th Street
Chico, CA 995928
530-899-7708
jakes@synthesis.net
www.synthesis.net
blog.synthesis.net

Serena Jennings, Calendar Editor
Synthesis Weekly, 210 W 6th Street
Chico, CA 995928
530-899-7708
calendar@synthesis.net
www.synthesis.net
blog.synthesis.net

The Orion (Chico State Student Newspaper)
Editorial: (530) 898-4033
Business: (530) 898-4237
Fax: (530) 898-4799
Mailing address:
The Orion
Department of Journalism
CSU, Chico
Chico CA 95929-0600
Managing Editor
Nicole Williams managingeditor@theorion.com
Entertainment Editor
Eric Wendt entertainmenteditor@theorion.com
Features Editor
Sonja Kydd featureseditor@theorion.com

107.5 The Point
Jeremy V
1459 Humboldt Rd, Suite D
Chico, California 95928
Business Office 530-899-3600
Request Line 530-342-5775 & 342-5778
Jeremy@107thepoint.com

106.7 Z-Rock KRQR
856 Manzanita Court, Chico, CA 95926
Office Phone: 530-342-2200
Office Fax: 530-342-2260
Request Line: 530-342-SLAM
Randall - PD randall@zrockfm.com
Matthew Reisz -WebMaster mreisz@resultsradiomail.com
Bueller bueller@zrockfm.com
meatwad meatwad@zrockfm.com

KCSC Student Radio
kcscradio.com/
CSU, Chico Chico, CA 95929-0950
Spencer Beavers – Programming Director - pd@kcscradio.com
Robin Bacior – Music Director - md@kcscradio.com
Juan Gomez Jr. – Local Music Director - local@kcscradio.com

KZFR Community Radio
www.kzfr.org
341 Broadway Street, Suite 411, Chico, CA 95928
Office: (530) 895-0706
Fax: (530) 895-0775
Studio: (530) 895-0131
OnAir Line: 530/895-0167
janb@kzfr.org - Jan Bielfelt Oceans of Rock & Roll
bill@kzfr.org - Bill Deblonk Playing Dead and Creole Stomp (jam / groove)
radioinfernofm@gmail.com - Marshall Elliott – Radio Inferno (Metal/Underground/DarkWave)
jeffreyh@kzfr.org - Jeff House – Random Pick (odds & sods, underground rock)
barbara@barbaramanning.net - Barbara Manning – Radio Detour (indie & odds & sods)
djspenny@kzfr.org - DJ Spenny - Wax On and Kid Universe
aarony@kzfr.org - Tazou Yamaguchi (aka DJ X) - Chico Butter (local music)

Tuesday, April 7th
Words and photo by Devin Rinker

I’ve never held much stock in astrology, but the punk rock planets must be aligned. Lately there’s been a slew of amazing shows from people who were actually around when punk was punk. Bands I never thought I’d have the chance to see, much less in Chico, have been popping up left and right and leading me out of my hermit’s cave like the Pied Piper. Last Tuesday was no exception as The Freeze was back on tour and coming to Monstro’s behind excellent local support. (more…)

Photos by Brittini Zacher, 4/1/09

Photos by Aaron Seals

You never know how much you will miss something until you can’t have it anymore. Even the mundane vestiges of fast food eating, when stolen from your proximity, can leave a gaping hole in your life.

Despite a bevy of world-class taco trucks and restaurants in a five-mile circumference around us, I really, really, really, really miss the Taco Bell that was a mere block away from our office. Right now there’s an absence in my stomach the size of two cheesy bean & rice burritos (4 packets of fire sauce apiece). This has me reminiscing about the final days of our Taco  Bell, and meeting up with local graphic artist Aye Jay just hours before its doors closed. Read the full interview with Aye Jay after the jump.

Speakign of Taco Trucks and Aye Jay, his new “Taco Truck” print is available at his Janky Web site.

(more…)