BMA News Update: Summer releases and regurgitation

There hasn't been a BMA News Update in a good minute, though a lot of news blurbs were posted in the past several weeks. Here's the lowdown of what's been posted, and hasn't, to keep you up-to-date on what's happenin' right now with the BMA family.

Despite the fact the_Network's April tour dates are already up in an earlier post, here's a listing of the confirmed dates and venues for the tour. the_Network will be joined by Aussie natives Robotosaurus.

The_Network (U.S) and Robotosaurus (A.U) Australian 2009 Tour
4/23 Adelaide, South Australia @ Adelaide Uni
4/24 Melbourne, Victoria @ Arthouse w/ The Abandonment
4/25 Melbourne, Victoria @ Pony
4/26 Melbourne, Victoria @ Catfood Press
4/28 Sydney, New South Wales @ Dirty Shirlows
4/29 Sydney, New South Wales @ Hermanns
5/1 Brisbane, Queensland @ Rosie’s live w/ a secret death
5/2 Brisbane, Queensland @ Ahimsa House w/ a secret death

Expect to see new releases from both the_Network and Utah's best oppressed secret, GAZA, out this summer.

The lone member of the BMA family playing New England Metal and Hardcore Festival is Syracuse, NY's Architect. The band will play Friday, April 17. Check the band's MySpace for more info - set time, stage, etc.

Scheduled to play the second day of LA Murderfest is Nor Cal natives The Abominable Iron Sloth. LA Murderfest is May 9 and 10 at the Knitting Factory.

The rumors are true. GAZA will be playing this year's Dudefest in Indianapolis. No specific dates have been announced, nor has the final lineup been released for the fest.

Artist Entry: Gaza guitarist Mike Mason ain't no Ricky Bobby

Im going to change the substance of these blogs and write about something better known to me.

For my entire life thus far, I have been involved with drag racing. It has been from the later years in the '90s since my father and grandpa moved into the "Nostalgia" top fuel dragster class. Yes, to my knowledge, this could be the most appreciated hereditary fortune that has been passed down - next to our patrimonial chance of heart disease.

With this blog, I'm going to relate the "Nostalgia" top fuel dragster, to the contemporary top fuel dragsters. For those who read this and have no idea what I am talking about, top fuel is the quickest and fastest class of the "sport."

These dragsters run on a fuel called Nitromethane, which is a cousin to the more familiar Nitroglycerin. The stoichiometric (chemically exact) air/fuel ratio of nitromethane is 1.7/1, which means with certain atmospheric conditions, Nitro needs 1.7 cubic inches of air to burn 1 cubic inch of fuel. Most unleaded gases are close to 14.6/1. Since Nitromethane already has an oxygen content in it, it can make a lot more power, due to the small portion of air that can be contained with each fire of a cylinder.

From what I have seen, the average person does not have an idea of how much money these cars require to run. To give you somewhat of an idea - to average out things - you're looking in the promised land of $1,000/second to run one.

The only reason they call them "Nostalgia" top fuel dragsters, is that the driver sits behind the engine. This is how they came to be in the late '50s and early '60s. Of course, there is nothing on these cars that are "nostalgic" in any sense of the word today.

There is still a huge difference between the two classes. I'll list a few: Lets start with the rear tires. On the "Nostalgia" top fuel cars, they are limited to a 12-inch rear tire. The contemporary top fuel cars have an 18-inch tire. The rear-end gear ratio is, at its lowest ratio of 3.90/1. Modern day is at 3.20/1. As far as the engines: The modern day are all in some way, a 500" c.i.d.

The NTF class has a variety of ways and set ups you can have. Whether its a donavan, a hemi, a small or a big block chevy. Now I believe the max C.I.D. you can have in the NTF is 450", but the weight of your car is determined by the cubic inch of your engine. Fuel pumps have become an issue in the NTF class the last couple years, but I'll perhaps talk about that another time.

They can now have a fuel pump that flows 22 gpm (gallons per minute) at 4500 rmp, (9,000 engine rpm). The modern day can have whatever will work. The fundamental idea is that the more fuel you can make the engine burn, the quicker and faster you will go.

Most of the modern day top fuel cars have double inlet pumps that can pump up to 106 g.p.m. To get and idea of how much fuel they are burning, think of two 55 gallon barrel's being burnt in one minute. Nitro is on average around $25/gallon right now. 11-14 gallons a run can already start to add up the costs.

The Clutch on the NTF is a centrifigal three-disc clutch. How aggressive you want the clutch to be is related to how much weight you put on it. The more weight, the faster/harder the clutch arms will open up (in theory). The modern day clutch set ups are usually a five/six disc clutch. everything is run on an air timed system, so you can specifically operate when and where you want the clutch to lock up. This is controlled by your right foot. Once you step on the throttle, it is activated. On modern day top fuel cars, this also controls the fuel, and the magnetos (spark).

Nothing on NTF's can be controlled by air except for the parachutes. Superchargers are also a difference. The NTF's are limited to a 6-71 blower. Where as the modern day are a 14-71, a decent amount bigger. Over the years they have gone from a cast casing/rotors ($1,900/6-71) to a cast casing/billet rotor ($2,800/6-71), to an even better cast casing/billet rotor ($5,000/6-71) To now a billet casing and a billet rotored blower (some PSI models are $20,000).

These are just some of the differences, and perhaps I'll continue with another writing about some of the issues these classes are having. But for a "Nostalgia" top fuel car to go in the 5.60's in a 1/4 mile well into the 250 mph range is at the least ubsurd. For the modern day dragsters to go 4.40's and over 330 mph is beyond me.

You need to see one of these in real life. T.V. does no justice. In Baskerfield, Calif, March 6-8, the March Meet is going on. So go to it if you're near that area. It will not disappoint you.

Mike/Gaza

Exclusive Paria track from March 17 release, 'The Barnacle Cordious,' on the BMA MySpace

It's safe to say we're fucking excited about the new Paria album.

"The Barnacle Cordious" will be released on March 17, but until then, we've posted an exclusive track from the album, titled "Be," for your listening pleasure.

Cancer Bats to appear on 'The Daily Habit' on Fuel TV on March 4!

The Cancer Bats to appear on The Daily Habit on Fuel TV on Wednesday, March 4th!

The Cancer Bats were recently filmed performing "Deathsmarch" & "Hail Destroyer" from their latest album, "Hail Destroyer," on FUEL TV’s The Daily Habit. You can catch this performance on the show on Wednesday, March 4th at 9pm ET/6pm PT.

"The Daily Habit" is FUEL TV’s first original daily series, telecast weeknights at 9:00 p.m. ET (6:00 p.m. PT) while re-airing later in the evening at 12:00 a.m. ET (9:00 p.m. PT), and the following weekday at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT) and 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT). “The Daily Habit” encompasses the world of the action sports enthusiast, mixing the best in pop culture with today’s top action sports personalities, cutting-edge music, product reviews, and comedy.

About FUEL TV
FUEL TV is an action sports lifestyle network for skateboarding, snowboarding, surfing, BMX, freestyle-motocross, and wakeboarding. A unit of Fox Cable Networks, FUEL TV was launched July 1, 2003 and is seen in over 26-million U.S. homes. To subscribe to FUEL TV, call 877-4-FUEL-TV. For program times and other information, visit http://www.fuel.tv/.

Don’t miss your chance to see the Cancer Bats play both of those songs live on the "Rockstar Taste of Chaos Tour" w/ Thursday.

CANCER BATS
"Rockstar Energy Drink Taste Of Chaos Tour"
w/ Thursday, Bring Me The Horizon, Four Year Strong, Pierce The Veil
02/19 Tucson, AZ Rialto Theatre
02/20 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
02/21 Salt Lake City, UT In the Venue
02/22 Denver, CO Fillmore
02/23 Omaha, NE Sokol Underground not part of tour w/ Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil, Four Year Strong
02/24 Milwaukee, WI Eagles Ballroom
02/25 Cincinnati, OH Bogart's
02/26 Rochester, NY Armory
02/27 Worcester, MA Palladium
02/28 Hartford, CT Webster Theatre
03/01 Portland, ME The Station not part of tour w/ Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil
03/02 Providence, RI Lupo's
03/03 Albany, NY Northern Lights
03/04 New York City, NY Nokia
03/05 Sayreville, NJ Starland
03/06 Philadelphia, PA Electric Factory
03/07 Baltimore, MD Rams Head Live
03/08 Columbus, OH Newport
03/09 Cleveland, OH Agora Theatre
03/10 Detroit, MI Fillmore
03/11 St. Louis, MO Pageant
03/12 Chicago, IL Aragon
03/13 Minneapolis, MN Myth
03/14 Kansas City, MO Beaumont Club
03/15 Louisville, KY Expo 5
03/17 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution
03/18 Orlando, FL Hard Rock
03/19 Atlanta, GA Tabernacle
03/21 Houston, TX Verizon
03/22 San Antonio, TX Sunset Station
03/23 Dallas, TX Palladium Ballroom
03/24 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom not part of tour w/ Bring Me The Horizon, Pierce The Veil, Four Year Strong
03/26 Boise, ID Knitting Factory
03/27 Portland, OR Roseland
03/28 Seattle, WA Showbox
03/29 Spokane, WA Knitting Factory
03/30 Vancouver, BC Commodore
04/01 Calgary, AB MacEwan Hall
04/03 Edmonton, AB Event Centre
04/04 Saskatoon, SK Odeon
04/05 Winnipeg, MB Burton Cummings
04/08 Toronto, ON Kool Haus
04/09 Montreal, QC Metropolis

http://www.myspace.com/cancerbats
http://www.fuel.tv/TheDailyHabit

Video of the Week: Paria's Dustin Treinen gives the bass a little tappity tap

Check out an exclusive track from Paria's March 17 release, "The Barnacle Cordious," on the band's MySpace page.

Dance Club Massacre to tour with The Agonist in March

Dance Club Massacre (Black Market Activities)
The Agonist (Century Media Records)
March 13 - Aurora, IL @ Doug's Rockhouse w/ Through The Fire
March 14 - Romeo, MI @ Static Age w/ Through The Fire
March 15 - Flint, MI @ Gamers Paradise
March 16 - Rochester, NY @ The Jukebox
March 17 - Buffalo, NY @ Venue TBA
March 18 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Octane w/ Through The Fire
March 19 - Clark, NJ @ Clark KOC w/ Through The Fire
March 20 - Beckley, WV @ Soldiers Memorial Theatre w/ Through The Fire
March 21 - Owensboro, KY @ The Armory

News Update: Cancer Bats nominated for a Juno Award; the_Network Australian dates confirmed and more

January came and gone as fast as a Las Vegas hooker with a gynecological appointment.

But now that spring is on the horizon, there's only exciting things to come.

-BMA staff.


Cancer Bats is nominated for "New Group of the Year" for the 2009 Juno Awards, held by The Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS). The Juno Awards are basically Canada's form of the Grammys.

the_Network guitarist Pete Marr did an interview with the tattooed pinup Web site God's Girls. The band has also confirmed the dates for its Australian tour with Robotosaurus:

4/23 - Adelaide UniBar - Adelaide, SA
4/24 - Arthouse - Melbourne, VIC
4/25 - Pony - Melbourne, VIC
4/26 - Catfood Press - Melbourne, VIC
4/29 - Hermann's Bar - Sydney, NSW
5/01 - Rosies Live - Brisbane, QLD