Collaborations aren't anything new in the incestuous world of heavy metal. Demons & Wizards, Down, Ayreon, and Fantomas are all examples of the magic that can happen when talented metal musicians from established bands come together to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Rhode Island's The Body are one of the most prolific collaborators in heavy music today, having worked with Braveyoung, The Haxan Cloak, and, most notably, Thou in the past. Now the band is preparing to release their latest collaborative album, and it's definitely something to look forward to since it's with Neill Jameson, the talented and perpetually surly mastermind behind black metal band Krieg.
The as-yet-unnamed album will be released on November 13th via At A Loss Recordings. While there's no audio samples available at this time, it's not unreasonable to start getting excited for the fruits of these artists' labor now. The Body has spent the last decade releasing some of the best industrial sludge noise you're likely to hear, and Neill Jameson's black metal pedigree is unassailable. There's no reason to think this won't be one of the best extreme metal releases of the year. Below is a complete track listing for the album and a video for a song from The Body's recent collaboration with Thou.

For their new album, Concerto Köln have tracked down yet another gem of the Baroque era. Their journey takes us to England, to the composer Charles Avison and his arrangements of Domenico Scarlatti’s harpsichord sonatas, which represents a milestone in British music history – beautifully interpreted here by one of the leading ensembles in the field of historical performance practice. Charles Avison is not exactly that what one would call a “popular composer”. He hardly plays any role whatsoever in the musical scene, the Bielefelder Katalog has documented only a handful of performances of his works and he surfaces rather sporadically within the expanse of musicology. It is basically due to historical performance practice that attention is once again being drawn to his works. And indeed: it is worth it!