Saw Nile, Skeletonwitch, and Hour of Penance last at Slim's in San Francisco. Hour of Penance opened the show and were pretty awesome. They mostly played stuff off of Paradogma and their newest, Sedition. Then it was Skeletonwitch who fucking ruled. It was my first time seeing them, and goddamn do they put on a good live show. After them was Nile who were great as usual. I've seen them 2 or 3 times already so I knew what to expect. Solid setlist, opened with Kafir, played Sacrifice to Sebek, Ithyphallic, Black Seeds of Vengeance, and a couple others, which happens to be my only gripe with the show. Since The Black Dahlia Murder was headlining, Nile's set was pretty short, maybe 5 or 6 songs. On the upside, I got to leave early after Nile since I have no interest in BDM. I had work this morning too so it worked out well. All in all, a great show.

I went up to Allentown for a show at Jimmy's Place with Our Ashes Remain, Necromance (now known as MindMaze), Save The Zombies, Apocryfiend and Pool of Thorns.

The notable thing is all of these bands are female fronted, it's part of a regional tour put on by Born of Chaos records called "Damsels of Darkness" and involves many more than just the five bands I saw tonight.

First was Pool of Thorns, fairly run of the mill gothic alternative rock/metal of sorts. Their vocalist was good looking and the band put on a good performance, if it weren't for my disinterest in the genre they played I might have gotten more into them.

Second was Apocryfiend, an aggro metalcore band. Nikita Santiago dominated the first half of their set, possessing a very energetic harsh voice and excellent ability to switch to clean vocals on the fly. The next half of their set saw Lance Cortis switch roles with Nikita - with Nikita on bass and Lance doing lead vocals. Though it was no less heavy (quite heavy, in fact, and the breakdowns aren't too terribly cliche) I felt the performance overall was better with Nikita doing vocals. Lance sounds average. Unfortunately tonight was Nikita's last night with Apocryfiend it seems.

Third was Save The Zombies - Deathcore. Kind of average, but I remember when I first saw this band I didn't have very high expectations until their singer actually started and damn, she's actually really good. I also have a much more open mind for -core bands that are local, and STZ has several good songs and a growing fanbase in the area.

Fourth was Necromance. This is a traditional heavy/power metal band from Scranton that's been around for quite a while (since 2004, I believe) and I remember the first time I saw them was when they opened up for Doro in 2007. Tonight was their last night as Necromance and first night as MindMaze, they decided to change their name because there is another band named Necromance from Germany, and the name itself kind of seems more black/death metal than power metal. I'm not sure how I feel about the new name, since I liked the name Necromance, but that still doesn't change the fact that this band put on the absolute BEST set of the whole night. They performed five of their original songs, including a new one that is 11 minutes in length (and was fucking incredible!), then announced their new name in the middle of their set, brought on their old rhythm guitarist and played five Iron Maiden songs.

Final band was Our Ashes Remain. Kind of a death/groove/sludge sort of thing, it was aggressive and very heavy, and I knew it would be heavy by the fact that their guitarist and bassist seemed to outweigh the rest of the crowd combined. They looked like they could have been in Crowbar or Mammoth. Their vocalist, Jane Moser, was previously (maybe still?) in Hellistic Threat and has been active in the local metal scene for quite a while - she ripped it up and put on the best performance I've seen of her.

Overall the venue is okay (it's a bar) and is easy to get to. My main gripe with Jimmy's Place is that people smoke inside it. I hate smoking, and I still smell it in my hair. My eyes were irritated for the whole drive home. Fuck! So, I don't see myself jumping up to go to a show at Jimmy's Place again unless its bands I really like. For a BizREntertainment show, the pacing was a tad slow but in this case with only five bands the show was over by 12:30 - I've been to shows where the last band could only play for 20 minutes because they couldn't start until 1:30.

I am most likely going to the May 18th date at The Silo Nightclub. Some of the bands are different, I know Our Ashes Remain will be there. I only hope there isn't an event upstairs that draws lots of brown people from the shithole of Reading since last weekend three people were shot at The Silo. Also it's annoying when stupid dance music is being played upstairs (but up front at the stage this is not really an issue).

Sounds good. I'll be seeing them the 19th. I'm also not staying for TBDM. Noone I know is either

Saturday night I happened upon a show by pure chance, My first metal show in years, Crowbar, Prong & Witchburn. Had an amazing time, and Renewed my addiction for live shows, looks like This Friday I'll be seeing Gwar (again) Kylesa & Ghoul, and on 4-20 I'm gonna see Mastodon, Opeth and Ghost. I've already seen Opeth a couple times, and I definitley have a soft spot for their pre-Ghost Reveries material. Couldn't give two shits about Ghost, but I'm curious about their live show. And I am fucking stoked about finally seeing Mastodon, and in a small venue like this it's bound to be mind blowing.

For those who care, I'll give a little synopsis of last nights show:

WitchBurn put on an amazing show, good enough to persuade me to pick up their full length, Female Fronted Sabbathy grooves, Amazing vocals and incredible stage presence, very glad they made the trip down from Seattle.

Never listened to Prong before last night, I've heard their name thrown around for years as influences to a bunch of bands I couldn't give two shits about so I never bothered checking them out. Needless to say they played a tight show, very apparent they are seasoned veterans. The music was incredibly varied form vio-lence type thrash complete with wicked razor sharp riffs, to groovy as fuck Hardcorish punk sounds, to incredibly catchy up tempo fist pumpers. The frontman commanded respect and interaction from the crowd, there was a very cool crowd sung chorus that I couldn't help but take part in. Mightly impressed by their performance.

And last but fucking definitely not least, the almighty Crowbar. I'm stil at a loss for words, and praying the ringing in my ears to subside. I grabbed a spot directly in between Kirk and Pat, basically holding onto the stage so as not to be blown the fuck away by the intense heaviness, at one point Pat threw a kick right over my head and sent the dude next to me scrambling for his camera that got punted through the crowd. The dude abuses that bass like a cheap whore. They played pretty much a career spanning collection best of collection of songs, rounded out by Kirk putting down his guitar and inviting a local guitar hero onto the stage for a Motorhead cover to rightly close out the set. Unfuckwithable.

The sound in this place was PERFECT, every riff and every demonic scream from the likes of Crowbar to the shitty opening bands were crystal clear.

Needless to say I had an amazing night ( it was free!) and I walked out with a kickass Crowbar shirt to boot. And Crowbar made a convert out of my un-metal friend, who walked out stuttering words of praise. If you took the time to read this, thanks. I'm fuckin stoked. Like I said, after going about three years without seeing some decent live metal I'm reinvigorated.

DARKER HALF + METAL, SILENT KNIGHT, RAMPAGE, THUNDASTEEL @ THE WALL 13/04/2012

It always baffles me how people can look at me, straight-faced, and tell me that Australia doesn’t have a metal scene. If one just opens their eyes and steps outside, they’ll see that nights like Friday aren’t all that uncommon – with a number of strong acts – both local and interstate – proving their steel night after night.

Thundasteel remain a growing force in NSW’s metal scene, playing a set of mind-numbingly tight, face melting 80s style metal. Alex Rivera’s vocals are straight out of Halford’s book, and I swear the man must have sold his soul to the devil to be able to consistently pull off those banshee screams all night. The rhythm section of Daniel Molloy and Dean Curl were a faultless, hard-as-iron machine that made way for Brett Molloy’s uncompromising guitar solos.

As a live band, the group are definitely gaining momentum, and their five year history has paid off in how strong their musicianship is. If the band continue to push themselves as they have been doing, they will be headlining these types of events very soon. With a touch more stage presence (although I will add that this has definitely increased since last time I saw them) they will be unstoppable.


Now that much of the hype surrounding The Thrash Revival has died down, the genre is no longer the fodder of the gimmick-hungry masses, and as a result, only the truly decent bands are still playing. So it almost goes without saying that Rampage once again prove their worth as the moshing flagship, playing their familiar brand of ravaging, devastating metal.

Rob’s vocals have gotten even better, his bass has gotten louder, and after having seen the band as a four piece not too long ago, I am reminded tonight how important their duel guitar attack is to the overall sound: the guitar tones and riffs they produce tonight drip with pure, fast-as-fuck evil. What more do you say about a band like this? Rampage’s mission seems pretty straight forward: blow minds, kick arses, and Fuck Shit Up!

After a lengthy intro complete with a Pick of Destiny snippet, Perth’s Silent Knight dominated the stage. Sharing front-man duties were rhythm guitarist Stu McGill and vocalist Zoran Cunjak. Although they may have seemed at first a bit crammed in on the stage, the five piece made it work, pulling out all the stops and delivering an epic performance complete with harmonies, swooping melodies and a crisp sound.

These guys had a crowd primarily made up of people who had never heard them before singing along and headbanging away within the first couple of songs – a true testament to their ability to work an audience. It seems the quintet have only just begun to show Australia their steel, and their return to Sydney in November for Steel Assassins will no doubt be a show not to be missed.


NSW’s own Metal, are soon to begin recording of their full length, but the metal maniacs still had one more show in them before disappearing into the studios. Metal seem like one of the rare cases where a band has decided to become an icon for their scene and actually achieved it, with a sturdy battalion of headbangers showing up to their gigs, this one being no exception.

The band have become a much tighter and much more dominating force over the last year or so, and I’m sure it will come through on their album, as well. But really, what’s not to love about a band who can write a whole chorus made up simply of “Heavy metal!” And get away with it? With Metal in your ears and a schooner in hand, you really can’t go wrong.



Off the back of a new music video, Darker Half headline for the first time this year. Vo Simpson’s friendly, fun-loving self is in fine form; “We promise none of you are going to be killed!” And the fun doesn’t stop here, with bass player Simon Hamilton leaping around the stage, full of energy and vibrancy – you could feel his enthusiasm from the back of the room – whilst Brad Dickson stomped along, staring down the crowd like a killing machine, encompassing the dark edge the power-prog outfit hold.

Darker Half are a band that prove hard work pays off. The band is flawless in their performance as always, and the fan base they have garnered only continues to grow. It is funny to think that I saw them in the same venue about four years ago playing to a much smaller crowd. Whilst I wouldn’t say their sound has changed, it has certainly grown. The first time I saw them, I thought “This is Maiden meets Genesis.” Both these sides to the band have grown into a heavier, fuller beast. Are these guys perhaps worldwide metal legends in the making? There is something so perfectly unique about Darker Half: for all their progressive leanings and 80s influence, they really aren’t pinned down in any one niche. And hey, being a prog metal band who still know how to have fun sure as hell helps them stand out, too!

Like I said, it’s hard to take someone seriously when they say Australia doesn’t have any metal; any true banger would find it hard not to see it, or at the very least hear it!

I just got back from Behemoth, Watain, Devil's Blood and In Solitude. This concert had more energy than any concert I've ever been to, and that's saying a lot. The crowd was on the small side and not very familiar with most of the songs, but the bands all put a lot of effort into their shows. I'd love to see this tour in a great city for metal like Quebec. In Solitude opened, and played a very short set -- probably 6 songs. It's a shame that the crowd gave them no respect at all because they were very good even though their sound was all messed up. The second band seemed misplaced. They were a hard rock band with a female singer and evil lyrics. I didn't care for their act, but they tried really hard. They got a better reception than In Solitude. The third act was Watain. They are the first black metal band I have seen live, and the were about what I expected. I was disappointed that they didn't play a few more songs, and they didn't do an encore. It was easy to tell that they were disappointed that the crowd wasn't into their music that much. They probably do an encore in most towns. Behemoth was awesome. Their drummer, Inferno, is amazing. He plays so fast, yet his timing is better than a Swiss watch. Thanks to him, the band is unbelievably tight. Their songs are perfect for live shows. Even though they had triggers and pre-recorded music, they didn't seem like they were on autopilot. If I have any complaints, it's that the sound mix was bad at times. I hate the way they have the guitarist on the right come out of only the speakers on the right. It makes it hard to hear many of the leads. Also, they had weird feedback several times that ruined big portions of songs.

Denver? I was also at that show. I agree, the crowd was kinda small. Watain got a decent reception, but it should've been better. They killed it. Behemoth was in fine form too. Lots of energy

Hell yeah. I caught this show in NY. Although I'm not a huge Death Metal fan, I have to say Hour of Penance blew me away. Excellent performance. The sound was the best of all the bands performing that night, and honestly, one of the clearest and noise-free performances I've ever seen. I ended up buying a shirt and their new album, Sedition, which rules.

Next up, Skeletonwitch. My third time seeing these guys and I loved them as always. Only thing is, they played only 30 minutes, and that happens every time I see them live, since they're always low on the bill. Can't wait for them to do a headlining or at least a co-headlining tour.

Nile was pretty good. I enjoyed them, even though I'm not into their music, or I should say I haven't bothered to listen to them in depth yet. As Symposium mentioned, The Black Dahlia Murder headlined, which was great cause I got to leave early and not wait for a late-night NYC subway train, which can take a while. But I digress. I like one song from BDM, and thankfully it was the second song on the setlist, so I got the hell out as soon as it finished

One thing I noticed was the crowd. It looked like it rotated after every band was done. During Skeletonwitch you had your thrashers upfront, circle pit going and everything. Then Nile came out, and the pit disappeared, although everybody in the fucking place seemed to be headbanging (even in the back), which doesn't happen often in my experience. Finally, BDM came out, and the average age in the audience dropped about 10 years, and sure enough, the karate-pit blew up in the middle of the floor.

Overall I think it's safe to say Nile should have headlined. They seemed to have the most fans in there, and they enjoyed the most enthusiastic reception from the audience. Quite a few people left as soon as Nile's set was done.

Opeth played Pittsburgh recently with Mastodon and Ghost.

Ghost opened the show. Frankly, they were the primary reason I was there, and as a huge fan of Opus Eponymous, I expected them to be excellent. They exceeded those expectations. Their live show mixes performance art with traditional heavy metal in a really fun way. Such an awesome performance.

Opeth were next. To clarify, I'm also an Opeth fan. I like Heritage a lot. But watching them perform that material live is painfully boring. It's great music—it just doesn't translate live. It seemed to put even a devout Opeth crowd to sleep. They didn't wake up until their closing songs, which were older, heavier cuts.

As for Mastodon, I'm not a fan. I listened to them for about three minutes before leaving.

I went to see Sepultura and Krisiun tonight. I got to the venue and immediately learned they canceled.

IN SOLITUDE, THE DEVIL'S BLOOD, WATAIN, BEHEMOTH (May 2, 2012)

Of course, as everyone knows, In Solitude opened. After they were picking up their instruments with a recorded track in the background of some female singer playing, they suddenly blasted off with the headbanging We Were Never Here. I say it was the perfect song choice for opening and I noticed that their tone was heavier than in the album. Anyways just as the song started, the singer jumped out of nowhere with a skinned fox around his neck headbanging and walking around the stage like an aggressive drunk. The bass player also had a lot of energy pointing to the crowd and shouting along the lyrics. The drummer was accurate and lively. Too bad the crowd did nothing except for this one guy in the front as he sang along passionately during the chorus of To Her Darkness. The singer also got really close to the crowd, getting in everyone's way and grabbing people's head in the front row. Near the end of the set, he was literally rolling around on the ground. Their set was quite short. I enjoyed seeing them for they had great energy and stage presence. I would definitely like to see them again in the future.

The Devil's Blood strangely got far better reception from the crowd, but I was disappointed and didn't enjoy the act as much as them. They had three guitarists and I remember only one of them had some engagement with the crowd. When the singer wasn't singing (which was half the time), she was just kneeling on the floor like a frozen statue with her back facing the crowd.

Watain was next, and it seemed like everyone was waiting for them. They didn't have any rotten animals or throwing blood like I heard before, just two cleaned goat skulls and its jaw bones in the back for decoration and smoke from a machine. They opened with Malfeitor from Lawless Darkness, and then progressed into more faster songs from their other two albums. I like how when the singer was going "Totaaallllllll FFUuuuuneraaaaaal" he slowly was raising both of his arms as the the lights turned red and white smoke came from the back.

Finally it was Behemoth. Everyone was chanting Behemoth and cheered immensely when Nergal lastly came on to his mic. Every member from this band had a lot of energy. They liked to get near the crowd, both left side and right, raising their guitars/bass and demanding more noise from the crowd. As predicted, most of their songs were from Demigod and Evangelion. They played an encore at the end finishing off with their song Lucifer. The sound wasn't as clear as I hoped, and the leads were hard to hear. Nevertheless, the crowd went nuts with sweaty shirtless guys crowdsurfing.

Sabaton w/Skullfist, Battlesoul and Legions @ The Wreck Room, Toronto, ON: May 10th, 2012

The Wreck Room is just a great little venue. Doesn't look like much from the outside, what with being on the second floor above a Pizza Pizza, but its sound levels are just right and its merch stands are positioned in such a way that you can jump back between them and the stage easily without having to go to the back of the venue like fellow Toronto metal hotspots The Opera House and The Mod Club.

Plus, it's right near Sonic Boom, one of Toronto's best places for metal CDs. I picked up some Heavenly and Bolt Thrower there to kick off the evening before grabbing a meal and heading to the venue.

There was a surprisingly very laid-back atmosphere at the venue before the first band came on. Daniel from Sabaton was wandering around the whole show and in the pit taking pictures of the other bands, and a Maiden greatest-hits kept our ears busy in between sets. Cool with that.

The first band to come on, to a tepid "We don't know you, but we'll give you a chance" reception that got more enthusiastic as their set went on, was Legions, from Burlington, playing power metal. Despite the presence of a humourous Pokemon tee and a "Metal Just Got Gay" shirt, Legions play perfectly serious PM, and put on a commendably enthusiastic performance even though their sound levels were the least balanced of the night (But that's rarely NOT the case when it comes to the very first opener). Also, as an unmusical aside, props to the singer for being a woman who gets up there and sings despite not having a physical image that's seen as the "ideal" in metal circles. And it's a good thing she does, too: this girl's got a great voice with an impressive range. I snagged their demo after the set. They're not even on the Archives yet, considering they just recorded the demo on Saturday. Someone'll have to remedy that, because I see a future in these guys. They played every song they have and scooted.

And then it wasn't long before Battlesoul took the stage in all their bekilted and bare-manchested glory. Now, I wasn't entirely sold on the prospect of yet another band named "Battle-something", but all in, they proved a fun experience. A set of extreme-tinged PM was punctuated by the singer's somewhat off-kilter, "It's not that funny but we'll laugh anyway because we're having a good time" jokes. This was the very first show of their new guitarist Johnny Gunn (I think that's how they spell it), but despite what you'd think would be a handicap, he kept up with their material very nicely. At least, I think he did, considering it's the first time I've ever heard it. I'd draw a comparison to...Blackguard, but a more musically diverse (Quite a bit of clean vocals to be had, and live they had a pleasant croon to them, don't know yet how they stack up on record) and less tour-spamming Blackguard.

I'd never heard local "traditional metal revivalists" Skullfist either before tonight, but sir, they made a believer out of me and I left the venue with both their CDs. The audience treated them as hometown heroes, and I can see why. This band's enthusiasm is infectious; they're the kind of outfit who will have you singing along to every word the first time you hear the song. As heavy metal revivalists go, I'd call them Toronto's answer to Enforcer, but with a more tongue-in-cheek attitude. On that note, the set highlight was the closer No False Metal. I'll need to give it a spin to see if it's as fun on record, but it certainly was live, and midway, they segued into a cover of Takin' Care Of Business that jimmied right back into No False Metal on the last chorus. Fun stuff.

I consider myself a big Sabaton fan, owning all their material and even ponying up for an autographed drum-skin at the merch stand. The way I hear it, they're not so popular here on the M-A forums, but you wouldn't know it by the way the pit stood reverently as the road crew set up. And you certainly wouldn't know it by the way the audience freaking exploded when the band came on and launched into Ghost Division. No moshing, just headbanging and fist-pumping from this crowd, which as a 110 lb. runt, I am perfectly happy with.

The sound MAY have been perfectly balanced, but maybe it was actually really loud and my ears were just numbed after Skullfist. But the band were in top form, Joakim ruling the show with his spot-on vocals and enthusiastic movements. The setlist was aimed to please, with material culled from every album (Including Carolus Rex, which the audience sung along with just as loudly as with Attero Dominatus) except for Metalizer/Fist For Fight.

Joakim seemed amazed by the audience, and said something along the lines of, "This reception almost makes up for the fact that Canada always fucks up Sweden at hockey. Almost". And even though that's the kind of thing that bands are seen as supposed to say, I actually believed him: I haven't seen a response to any band this purely passionate in a long time.

Technically, there was no encore. Joakim said, "Normally, this is the part of the show where we'd go backstage, but if we did that here...you'd fucking find us." (It's true: the Wreck Room has no real "backstage", as it were, just a curtained area accessible from the main room) "So how about we just play the last two songs for you now, and then we'll party."

I wouldn't be able to tell you the entirety of the set off the top of my head, but the highlights for me were 40:1, Uprising and Primo Victoria.

The evening played out like a celebration of local metal, capped off by a blitzkrieg salvo from Sweden's own war machine. What a night; so glad I got off my arse and went!

That really sucks. That reminds me of when I went to Indianapolis to see Deceased only to find out that they cancelled at the last minute.

Anyone else post on here done a live review of Steel Panther - O2 Academy Brixton - London - Sat 31 Mar 2012

Here is mine: http://reviews.ticketmaster.co.uk/7171- ... =SLfbk-006
O2 Academy Brixton - London - Sat 31 Mar 2012

Getting off the train at Brixton you know that this isn't going to be your average show, this is Steel Panther in the flesh! Loud and crude is the order of the evening. The short walk from the train to the O2 Academy is packed with people supporting fake boobs, fake 80's looking 'hair metal' wigs and a mass of spandex showing off things you wish you had never seen.

Support band The Treatment are in fine form. This is the end of the tour and the Brixton O2 Academy is the final date. The average age of each member of The Treatment suggests that most of them where born after the inspiration for their music was dead in the ground, still, a brilliant opening, crowd participation and very well played songs make The Treatment a name to keep British fans happy for the near future.
The wait for Steel Panther and the interlude music gives you a clue. People are singing along to AC/DC, Dio and Def Leppard while they wait for tonight's main attraction at the Brixton O2 Academy. Tonight Steel Panther deliver.

Covering songs from their two albums, Steel Panther let people know what they want. Dancing girls, flashers and adoring fans. They ask for it, they got it. In return we're entertained by four grown men acting like it's still 1984. Nothing is left out. Attention to detail has been spent on Steel Panthers live show. Lots of witty banter and a good selection of songs that include; Just Like Tiger Woods, Death to All But Metal and Supersonic Sex Machine that are dated in all the glory from twenty years ago.

The return of Steel Panther to the UK shores in the next few months will be a welcome return to ensuring that good music, nudity and self indulgence is kept alive for years to come.

This is a sick idea, I just hope everyone remembers to take context (what the band's current situation is, location, environment, etc) into account.

So I went to MDF. I have a fucking cornucopia of gold to pick experiences out of, but I want to write about Disma because right now, they're relevant. And they were probably my 3rd favorite experience out of all. I'd write about number 1 or 2, but I just shoved a fuck ton of Advil PM down my throat. I want to write this, put on Ahab and kill myself. I mean, go to sleep.

First of all, Disma brought their incredibly filthy guitar tone with them. They were to play on the stage opposite of the one that they did, but as Stage 1 was setting up gear, I didn't see any members on stage. All of a sudden, I hear a single guitar string being stricken, and I recognized the sound immediately. Bill fucking Venner, getting his amp ready. I don't care if bands don't sound exactly as they do on their recordings, because if they play well together, you don't need much more. But it's definitely a HUGE plus, and I love Disma's tone. It made every note familiar in a way that only added to the purveying "Holy fuck, this is for real" mindset being shared among everyone.

The sound system fucking ruled. It's a shame that inside stage at the Sonar (where many of the more well-known and highlighting bands performed) had the worst sound of them all, so I'm very glad Disma played their set outside! I was all the way up front for most of my favorite bands, but Disma's sound bowled me over. Thanks to the astounding bass and wicked drums, I felt every organ in my body vibrating. That was the heaviest sound I heard during my three days at MDF, and something I'll never forget.

They also played every song I wanted to hear, including Chasm of Oceanus, Spectral Domination, and OF COURSE, the title track. Everyone was rabid, myself included. They played through their set with pulverizing unity, and had every song on lock. There was, however, one problem during the closer. At the end of their set, they announced Chaos Apparition.. Everything was going well, until their drummer got confused on a riff. About 20 seconds in, they had to stop. They tried again, and got through it, but the drum parts weren't exactly the same. I still loved it. It did dampen the mood for a moment, but was fantastic nontheless. They got through those first 20 seconds the second time around, although it was clear that the crowd was definitely searching for mistakes. I wasn't too happy about it, but I couldn't complain. I just saw Disma live, fuck ups or not.

I think more stage presence would have been cool, Craig and Daryl were the only ones getting really into it. Besides that, I had no qualms whatsoever.

This one gets an 7.9 on a scale of 1-10. Don't get me wrong, it was one of the best shows I've ever seen. But I think that in order to deserve a 10, a band has to go all out. Everything runs smoothly, everyone has stage presence, the crowd gets surprised by a new song or something like that, etc.. Basically, a 10 is reserved for the best a show could ever be. I know it's idealist of my to say that, but I like it that way because it gives me room to think and give the most deserving bands (like Disma) a damn high rating.

If you ever get a chance to see them live, don't prepare yourself.

It's fucking futile.

Nice review, worlddementia. Disma was incredible. I also went; it was my first time, and I loved it. It was very surreal seeing so many metalheads in one place. It also felt like they oversold tickets, as I could not even get into the main room door without running into a wall of bodies. Despite that, my 2 buddies and I had a great time. Here's my anecdotes about all the bands I saw.


Thursday:

Extermination Angel: Decent thrash/death metal. 6/10

Die Pigeon Die: Average goregrind music with guttural vocals that had shitloads of effects on them. Not interested. 4/10

Needful Things: Czech grind that worships Nasum. The guitarist had a Nasum shirt and the singer had a Nasum tattoo. Decent. 6.5/10

Rorscach:Crusty hardcore/thrash. The vocals were ridiculous, in my opinion, but people were going crazy for them. They were alright. 6/10

Dying Fetus: The DM legends were at the best this night. Every song killed it. The crowd went batshit crazy. I was second row, right side and going crazy. Me and the guys beside me had ourselves a smaller push pit, compared to the huge circle pit behind us. It was beautiful. 9/10

Absu: The black thrashers tore it up. I was 2nd row, almost in the center, and went nuts. However, some asshole redneck was behind me shittalking the band, so I just windmilled in his face. 8.5/10

Eyehategod: I needed a breather here, so I stepped out and chilled in the back. They're not my type of band, but their stage presence and performance was very good. 7/10

Agalloch: I was eagerly awaiting one of my favorite bands ever. They played only from the first 2 albums, and even a demo song. I wanted to hear some Ashes.. songs though. For some reason, macho guys wanted to mosh and push the front rows even though this is absolutely not the band for that. A couple guys were mouthing the lyrics, so I knew they were fans, but I just did not understand the need to mosh for Agalloch. Still, I loved the set. 9.5/10

Autopsy: It took nearly 45 minutes to start due to tech difficulties. These legends tore it up though. It was nice and heavy. I was not in the mood to pit, so I headbanged on the outer circle. I really enjoyed them, but the late start and lacking sound quality disappointed me a bit. There was a 2 AM curfew for the club, and the venue shut off the PA. The band kept on playing for one more song with just their amps though. Such badasses. 8.5/10.

Friday:

Castevet: The first band of the day, and I really do not remember much of their set. They were black metal/prog and were decent. 6/10

Ghoul: Caught the end of their set after getting some food to eat. It was good old gory thrashy fun. They brought out a metal monster guy and sprayed blood onto the audience. None came my way as I was in the very back. 7.5/10

Demigod: The first outdoor band. I was second row, and had goosebumps all over while salivating in anticipation. They were godly masters of Finnish death metal. They played with such technical precision and dark atmosphere. I absolutely loved their set being mostly from the classic "Slumber..." album. Windmills and front row pushes were constant. The only downside was not a long enough set. 9.5/10

Macabre: I heard and watched briefly. I have already seen them and thought they were pretty good. I checked out merch distros instead. 6.5/10

Artillery: I only saw the first song and a half because I wanted to see Negura Bunget. They sounded really good and energetic, though. 8/10

Negura Bunget: Absolutely magical. Most of the set was black metal type material. But one piece involved a member playing a wooden type instrument with magical synths. It was amazing. 9/10

Napalm Death: Great performance. The whole band was getting involved. Barney is a great frontman and one of the most intelligent people in metal. His inbetween batter about respecting each other and "peace and love" was great to hear. They played a song from every album, including my personal fave "Nazi Punks Fuck Off". 9/10

Godflesh:I had only just started listening to them a few weeks beforehand and was very excited to see them. They were extremely hypnotic. Most of the set was from their seminal Streetcleaner album. The darkness and backdrop projections was very fitting for the grinding industrial heaviness. It was almost creepy and uneasy in a sense, and I loved it. 9.5/10

Setherial: The first true black metal band of the fest. They had corpsepaint and sounded like a standard Swedish black metal band. Nothing really stood out to me, for some reason. But they had good presence and some catchy riffs. Pretty good. 7/10

Nasum: The intro was a couple in formal wear with hazmat masks on and wailing sirens in the background. It was a sign of the impending chaos that was about to be unleashed. I was in the first few rows. As soon as the first chainsaw guitar fuzz let out, the people behind instantly pushed and shoved us to the barrier. This was a constant throughout. I moved around a bit, and headbanged my neck off. They were sooo crushing. The circle pit (which was a constant for pretty much every band) was in full force. I joined in for a few moments ( I did not circle pit/mosh that much for the fest). Every single moment of Nasum was devastating, and exceeded all of my expectations. This is what grindcore is all about. Probably my favorite set of the whole fest. 10/10

Saturday

Bloody Phoenix - Kind of hardcore/thrash with two female vocalists. They both had similar vocal styles so I don't see the need for 2. They were decent. 6/10

Looking for an Answer - Australian grindcore. Very tight, very good. Only caught their first few songs so I could get some food. 7/10

Dragged Into Sunlight - Came into the room as they were playing. But they sounded amazing. Very haunting and morbid. The stage lighting was black/red the entire set and really fitted the band's sound. The members had their backs to the audience to represent their nihilistic sound and musical themes. One of the best BM bands. 9/10

Hellbastard - Really crusty punk/metal. The vocalist/guitarist's banter was really fun and humorous. Not too innovative but still decent. 6.5/10

Black Witchery - Absolute Blasphemy worship at its finest. The vocalist got pissed off at the guy in the chicken costume and kicked in while he crowd surfed. They covered Blasphemy-"Ritual" and had a Blasphemy member sing vocals. Hail! 8.5/10

Morbid Saint - One of my top bands of the whole fest! After the first song, they announced they were going to play the entire Spectrum of Death album. At the point, I totally lost my shit and got into the circle pit when the album started. I was in that for a bit, but then drifted to the right side, second row. I was in front of the fence barricade. I was thrashing/headbanging constantly. They raged so hard, and I was going nuts. The dude in front of me left his spot at the fence, and I took it over. During the last song, me and the 2 other guys on the fence were thrashing the fence with our arms so hard that we knocked it off its post. The security dude had to get in my face and wave me to stop because I didn't realize it. Fuckin' A. 10/10

The Devil's Blood - I only caught a portion of their set. They sounded good, but it just wasn't my thing. 6/10

Deviated Instinct - I honestly do not remember how they were. I just know I caught a few of their songs.

Archgoat - The inside room was sweltering and filling to the exits with hundreds of bodies at this point. The band was decent, but the sound mix was bad to my ears. I was actually pretty disappointed at the band, but that's just me. I left after a few songs to see Anvil outside instead. 6/10

Anvil - The oddball band at the fest. They were actually very fun! Lips was in a good mood and had to "recharge" himself by sticking his guitar cable onto his tongue. It was good ol' rock n roll. 7/10

Confessor - Saw their first few songs. A good mix of doom/prog/death. I couldn't really concentrate on the band due to the numerous people moving about around me. They were good though. 6.5/10

Horna - One of my most anticipated bands. Their corpsepaint and stage gear was amazing. The band members remained fixed and preceded to assault us with Finnish Black Metal. It was beautiful. The vocalist peed onstage and showered himself with his own urine haha. I only found this out afterwards as I was mesmerized in a headbanging trance throwing up invisible orange. They were very good, but not the best BM band. 8.5/10

Brujeria - After the intense Horna set, I needed a break. I caught the first few songs, and they sounded good. They got the large hispanic congregation stirred up, that's for sure. I got something to drink and sat on the curb to rest for a bit. 6.5/10

Morbid Angel - The DM legends took forever to get on stage due to technical problems. Even the sound guy got pissed. However, the band made up for it. They played many favorites from Altars! The circle pit was huuuuge. I was just outside it headbanging as I love to do. They got cut short due to curfew however. Nonetheless, it was a very impressive performance, and as good as I hoped they would be. 9/10

Tsjuder - After MA, I came into the main room and the reunited BM band was already playing. I was VERY impressed. They reminded me of early era Immortal. It was classic Norwegian black metal! They closed their set with a Bathory cover "Sacrifice". And then "Deathcrush"!!! I lost my shit at that point and rushed the front area like a madman. 2nd favorite BM band of the weekend. 9.5/10

Haemorrhage - These goregrind gods tore it up! The circle pit was in full force. The frontman was very active for the whole set. I didn't expect much from them, but I was blown away. Great band. 9/10

Winter - At this point, I was extremely tired. My mind was more concerened with how sore my feet were. I felt as if the bottom of my feet had been welded off. But I stuck around for the entire Winter set. They were extremely crushing. However, I got a bit bored and underwhelmed after a few songs. Doom metal at 1 A.M just doesn't work. But the band still did a great job and the guitar/bass tones were sooo HEAVY. 7.5/10

Sunday

Agents of Abhorrence - After a long Saturday night and late wake up, I straggled into Sonar as this band was playing. Again, I do not remember much of their set or how they sounded. But I do remember I was getting into them, and thought they were good. 6/10

Disma - These dudes from Jersey were sick! Crushing American death metal the way it's meant to be played. The guitar tones were some of the best all weekend. Great stuff. But there were some mistakes and they had to restart the last song, I think. 8.5/10

Demonical - These Swedes played relatively slow tempo Swedish death metal. The crowd did not seem into them, for the most part. I was a few rows back, in front of the circle pit, windmilling like a motherfucker. The sun was blazingly hot for their set. I felt dehydrated and sunburnt for the first time all weekend. But I stuck it out for all except their last song to get a drink/food. They were very good, but I thought I would've liked them a lot more. 7/10

Morgoth - Came back in the middle of their set. They sounded decent. I was not really impressed with them, but I had only heard a couple songs beforehand so I'm not really a fan. 7/10

Church of Misery - This highly revered Japanese doom band put on a real show, or so I heard. I only saw their first song, which was groovy as fuck. The tiny Japanese singer was all over the place and having a good time. I wish I could've saw more of them, but I did not want to miss one of the bands I came for... 8.5/10

Ulcerate - I went into the main room early in their set. The lighting and instrument tones were unearthly. The vocals were extremely intense. The most impressive thing was the drummer. He was the best drummer there, by a landslide. His fills and blasts were perfect and also very creative. Definitely one of my highlights of the fest. 9.5/10

Pentagram - The Chilean Pengtagram was pretty good I thought. Others say they had one of the best sets of the fest, but I just thought they were good, not great. 7/10

Suffocation - NYDM legends killed it! Frank the Tank was on point with his chops and hilarious stage banter about the sun, killing people, his "woodchipper service" etc. The pit was as intense as I had seen it with circle pits rotating constantly. I was headbanging and going nuts as well. They played a lot of old favorites from Pierced From Within and Effigy of the Forgotten. Truly one of the best death metal bands ever. 9.5/10

Saint Vitus - I haven't listened to much Saint Vitus, but I know that they are pioneers of heavy metal and I highly respect them. I enjoyed their classic heavy metal/doom sound thoroughly. The rain came down midway through their set and people scattered as if it was actually acid rain. The band welcomed it and got even better I'd say. 8/10

Electric Wizard - This band seemed to be the talk of every person at the fest. I had no idea they were this huge. Many people came just to see them, and only them. I was amazed at the popularity of EW and anticipated their set even more due to all of the hype. After SV finished, the calm Baltimore air was filled with light rain and a cool breeze. People lined up in droves to see EW. I looked behind and couldn't see where the sea of bodiesended. It was truly mesmerizing to see thousands of people around me. Eventually the band came on. They played stoner doom metal with a Black Sabbath sort of vibe. I thought they were decent, but the riffs were too repetitive, in my opinion. They weren't horrible by any means, but I became more and more perplexed. Many people were smoking weed and became inebriated. I just did not get it, apparently. Some guy was saying to his friend out loud, "this is boring", "yeah you're right, this IS boring". I half way agree with them. EW had some good riffs/melodies/songs, but I think they are a product of all of the hype. I skipped their last songs so I could get in to see Sargeist. 7 /10

Sargeist- Sargeist blew my mind Sunday night. I have never had that kind of experience before. It was very surreal. It was the most "black metal" moment I have ever had. The icy cold guitar riffs and blasting drums were absolutely perfect. The frontman had the most piercing gaze I have ever seen. It was as if he was reaching down into my soul every time our eyes crossed. I could not help but scream along, windmill, and throw my "invisible oranges" up in the air. Sargeist is the best black metal band I have ever seen. Bar none. So far, at least. It was a truly life changing experience. 10/10

Bethlehem - The German dark metallers played the saddest set at the fest. Every song was full of mourning and anguish. I loved it. The pit was really intense, but full of people who obviously did not know any Bethlehem songs as they were pitting during the slow/mellow parts. There was this female in a dress, who was extremely wasted; she was just moshing violently and falling into people who had to hold her up. There was another drunk female who pushed her aggressively, and the 1st female shoved her almost off her feet. I thought we'd see a catfight, but that didn't happen. Anyways, Bethlehem played songs from their first releases, thankfully. The vibe of the band was very intense, in a melancholic way. It was yet another great performance by a band I have never seen before. 9/10

Mortuary Drape - Alas, all things must come to an end. This Italian black/thrash occult outfit closed out the fest. I didn't know what to expect, but as soon as the members came out in sleek red/black occult-ish gowns and corpsepaint, I was sold. They sounded really good, and had some classic heavy metal/trash metal types riffs going on. I drifted toward the right side, and ended up next to a huge fan of the band. This guy's entire back was wet with his own sweat. He was shouting along the lyrics and everything. We locked horns for an arm over shoulder unison headbang. Also, an extremely attractive chick was behind me, and was drunk as shit. She kept on bumping into me, holding onto my shoulders, and a few times she just bent over and had her hair hanging down right behind my ass. It was kind of bizarre, but kind of cute. I should've talked to her more. Do'oh! Anyways, Mortuary Drape was very active onstage. The lead guitar cut out at times, but shit happens. It was great fun all around and a nice end to an incredible festival. Hopefully, I'll be able to return again! 8.5/10

Didn't want to quote the whole thing but holy hell, man! Nice job and I learned something about a lot of bands I've not seen.

Going to see Dying Fetus tomorrow and fully expect them to be great (again), but with a much longer set. Considering Agalloch in a couple weeks but will have to choose that over Dead Congregation...

Thanks Misfit74.

I know you're going to have a blast at Dying Fetus! The new album is great and the new songs sound great live. I'd go with Agalloch, but that's just me. Either band will be killer dude.

Same here. Just one thing: Looking for an Answer are Spanish, not Australian

Saw Halloween live back in February at The Ritz, and must say, that that was THE best show of my life so far! Got there about 15 minutes into local band Bender's set. Bender was great, they took somewhat of a Pantera-esque groove metal style of sound and gave it a little speed boost. The music was great, although the vocals did grind a tad (distantly reminiscent of Great Southern Trendkill era Pantera), but that was no big problem. During Bender's set, I got trampled by a drunk dude in the slam dance pit, so now I have seen and done it all . I was at the back with some friends for the next few sets.

A little about the venue:

The place was O.K for a show of this caliber. The Ritz is this sort run-down bar outside of Detroit (Warren). The place is relatiavely small. There were over 400 people in attendence in this small bar that looks as if it could only hold 300 people! It was cramped wall to wall with people, mostly drunk out of their minds. The bar area was behind the stage and soundboard area, so everyone flocked there when they were dry. The place is usually a resturant bar type of place in the week.

Next up was a good band, a Black Sabbath Tribute band called "Banned From Earth". They were alright, for only doing three Sabbath songs (Into The Void, Iron Man, War Pigs...yeah like we havent heard those last two done enough by every 8 year old kid with a piece of shit strat rip off guitar ) The next band, Society Hostile, had an AWESOME guitarist but suffered major sound issues and were forced to cut down their set by about 15 minutes due to PA and amp malfunctions. Up next was "Burn The Hearse" which I barely payed any attention to. The singer was up there holding his mic in one hand, and a pitcher of beer in his hand the rest of the time. When the next band "Sordid Circle" was about half way through their Metalcore infested set, I made the charge through a bunch of drunk college and High School students to see what I came for, Detroit's Heavy Metal Horror Show, HALLOWEEN! The stage was surrounded by two PA speaker towers on the left and right sides of the stage, and I was right in front of the left tower. Im deaf in my right ear, and I think I deafened my last good ear that night, having my ear a foot or less from the speaker! Halloween's set was AMAZING, as I had expected. They debuted their new guitarist, T.J that night and it was great, tight playing from the start. There was one misstep that night though. Something happened that night, about 3 or 4 songs into the set, that overloaded the power and blew the power to the front of the place entirely. Other than that, it was a great show, and Im looking forward to going back to see Halloween this weekend at NEW YORK, NEW YORK in Chesterfield Township at the GENERATIONS OF METAL festival on the 30th. K.G

Aw man, If only I could, I would've went there just to see this fucking band.. you lucky bastard

I saw alot of things because I actually went to the graspop festival. I will just review the two best performences (exept Limp Bizkit because they are Limp Bizkit. But for my big surprise, that was the best show on that weekend!)

Gojira : These guys live are just great. I saw them in Lille, France the first time and it was awesome, but here, it was just perfect. The drummer had something strange near his kit, like an big metal obelisk (that thing must be heavy!) and started doing.... something with it. Then it broke up to Oroborus, and it was seriously great. Joe laughed when he saw that we actually are waving a french flag. The atmosphere on a Gojira concert is always like full with energy and maybe electric is the right world? You can check some of their live stuff on youtube, you'll understand.

Eluveitie : I expected Gojira to be awesome but I wasn't expecting anything from Eluveitie. I came actually just to sing along the refrain of Inis Mona. Big surprise, it was one of the best shows of the weekend! The celtic atmosphere, the singer was very close with the crowd and the music! (seriously Dimmu Borgir can hide themselves, boooring)

Recently saw what I suppose was Martyrdoom Lite at the Metro Operahouse in downtown-ish Oakland. I missed Apocryphon, which was shameful, but saw everyone else. It was my first death metal show. I bought a Grave Miasma shirt.

Throughout the show, the sound was terrible. All the walls in this low-rectangle room were utterly bare, apart from the merch at the back. So there were only human bodies to soak up the abusively high volume, further detracted from by the acoustic reflections blurring everything to nigh-incoherence. At one point during Anhedonist, I realized that the sound I was hearing wasn't even what was being played. The overtones and sheer burn-out of human hearing turned the music to messy guesses. This was chronic throughout. I almost didn't even go to a show, so much as an ear-raping. Luckily I had ear plugs, and even so, it was just nonsense most of the time. I should have worn ear muffs and then I might have had a chance.

Luckily, Grave Miasma's song structure has the instruments all pretty much sticking together, so not much was lost. Their stage presence is intense, and they clearly enjoy playing, at points the guitarist looked like he was wringing the guitar's neck. The vocalist is a surprisingly small fellow and his bellows are just as rough and convincing live, his solos even more bent and wailing. Not to mention that they'd brought a smoke machine and a blue light they set on the stage so when the venue turned all the room's lights off, it was fucking awesome. And yes, as I said in the FFA, they brought it hard. Dead Congregation also did a great job, but I'm not as into their music so I ended up watching the "pit" most of the time (which probably wouldn't have happened at all except for this one quite jolly antagonist and two very large men who enjoyed her pushing them around and all of whom played well with others. It was a lot of fun to watch.)

Turn out could have been better.

7/10. (Fix the sound, and the show would have been a cave-in of awesome because I think the openers were good -couldn't really tell! - and i would have comprehended Dead Congregation, too.)

So did everybody else, don't feel too bad. The room only seemed to fill out for Vastum actually, even Dead Congregation played to half the house. And regrettably, I missed all but the last few minutes of Grave Miasma due to getting caught up watching "Drugs Bunny" beat up Mega Man at Hoodslam next door but all the other bands killed it. Looking forward to seeing Mortuous again maybe most of all

Pathology headlining on the Slaughter Survivors Tour last night. Got the setlist, and a few pics (below). They were excellent. Tight with great tone and overall sound. They ripped through a heavy set of mostly choice stuff from their three most recent albums including three tracks of their upcoming full-length 'Time Of The Great Purification'. The guitarist used (custom?) guitar I hadn't see pictured prior to last night - it was sweet. After some digging I found out it's an Acacia Custom guitar. His command of his instrument is impressive and his playing was virtually flawless from the several shredding leads to excellent riffing and precision in every song. This band can go a long way behind the talent of guitarist Kevin Schwartz. He's only 23. It was a high-energy, full-effort show and I was glad I went, though I had to wade through a slew of mostly crap deathcore bands to get to the main act in Pathology. The front-man did a great job engaging the crowd and nailed the vocals.

On a side note: Fallujah continues to be fucking terrible. Not that I expected different but their cobbled together songs have no cohesion or semblance of songwriting ability whatsoever. Just worthless live - well except for the cool green LEDs lighting their guitar bridges...yes that was the highlight from them.Enfold Darkness wasn't bad. Nothing else worth mentioning, really.

Killer show for 10.00, though a longer Pathology set would have been nice. They reportedly drove 11+ hours from Santa Cruz (the first show of the tour) the night before to play Portland (this show) last night, but they were ready. Definitely a band I'll continue to follow and expect bigger and better things from if they stick with it. One of my favorites in the BDM/Slam genre and now I know they get it done live, as well.

Pathology Setlist 7/23/2012 (I added what album each song was from. New = Time Of The Great Purification):

Imprisoned by Fear *New
Dissected by Righteousness (Awaken)
Ingestion of Cremation (Awaken)
Media Consumption (Awaken)
Tyrannical Decay *New
Hostility Towards Conformity (Awaken)
Emesis (Age)
A Bleak Future *New
Society's Desolation (Awaken)
Code Injection (Legacy)

Last night I went to the "Summer Slaughter" tour.

I missed "Cerebral Bore", "Exhumed", and "The Contortionist". I was pissed about that because I really wanted to see Exhumed .

Goatwhore: While I am not a big fan of their studio material, there's no doubt that these guys did a really good job last night. Very energetic, and their sound was crystal-clear. They didn't play for long, though, unfortunately. [8.5/10]

Job for a Cowboy: This is another band I don't like that much. In all honesty, I could barely make out any of their riffs, the vocals were quiet as hell...all I heard as alot of blast-beats and extremely generic tech-death riffs which were buried in the mix. The members had good energy, but I was personally not impressed by their performance. [4/10]

Veil of Maya: I watched this band's whole set, trying to "get into" the music, but to no avail. This was easily one of the worst bands of the night. Not only was their music uninteresting and their riffs flat out non-existent, everything else about their set was pretty dumb too. The vocalist kept on doing this idiotic "hardcore shout" in between songs, which sounded like the vocalist of Agnostic Front (ha!), and yet people still bought it. They had a very good reaction from the audience (for some reason), and a couple of my friends were surprised when I told them that "the last band really fucking sucked!". Little did I know that something much worse was coming... [3/10]

Periphery: My god. I don't think I had ever heard this band before, and after last night, I wish I could still say that! This band has to be seen to be believed...truly some of the worst music I have ever heard. I only stayed long enough to comment that one of the guitarists was wearing a Darkthrone shirt (?), before going back up-stairs to make fun of the band with some buddies of mine. Someone told me that these guys got booed off stage at two shows prior to this. I would have loved to have seen that, . [2/10]

The Faceless: These guys surprised the hell out of me. I was not a fan of the CD's I had heard by the band, but I was very impressed by their performance last night. A few of my friends were arguing about whether or not they played "technical death metal" or "deathcore", but after this show I can safely say that I don't care what genre they are. Whatever it is, the band does it well. Live, they were spot-on. I was especially impressed by the vocalist and lead guitarist. Not so much the bassist, who seemed to bullshit himself through most of the set (he never followed the riffs, always something much simpler, and preferred to knock his thumb against the bottom string during faster parts rather than follow along), but he was good too. Their sound was crystal clear, and while it's not really my kind of music, I must say that these guys do it very well. They played songs from their new album, and I was pretty impressed by the guitarist's singing voice. [9/10]

Between the Buried and Me: This was my third time seeing them. They put on a good show, but it's been years since I really gave a shit about this band. Years ago, they were my all-time favorite band, but those days are long gone. Live, I can say they were spot on, but my main problem with them live was the same problem I have with their CD's (now): they very rarely ever have truly "cool" riffs or solos, rather, lots of noodling and technical stuff which doesn't really do anything but bridge their "soft" sections. I'm just not really into these guys anymore, I guess. Like I said, they did put on a good show, just wasn't my thing, really. [5/10]

CANNIBAL CORPSE: These guys were worth every penny. This was the most insane show I have ever seen. The band were great, as usual, and Corpsegrinder's banter was at an all-time best this time, but the audience got progressively more insane as the night went on. I was up front for the whole thing, and I did not stop headbanging for their whole set. The entire building became a moshpit for songs like "I Cum Blood", "Scourge of Iron", "Hammer Smashed Face", etc. and I was in danger of losing my place, but I managed to keep it at the cost of being thrashed around for their whole set, haha. The band were simply amazing. Anyone who ever has a chance to see these guys, do it. This is only my second time seeing them, but they completely crushed every other band that played. [10/10]

Lemme plops this in here before its thread gets buried.

I went to see Dying Fetus headline at the O2 Academy in Birmingham on the 18th September, and they had Cerebral Bore, Revocation and Job for a Cowboy supporting.

Due to car trouble, I missed Cerebral Bore's set, which is a shame cos I'd wanted to check them out but shit happens.

I got in just as Revocation finished setting up. I haven't listened to much of their material, but it was interesting enough so I thought it would be worth watching them live. Musically, they brought their brand of death/thrash with hints of progression to life pretty well. The sound was mixed competently, so the solos were actually audible and enjoyable. The crowd did not mosh or move around, aside from some headbangers at the front. The band then did the whole 'Wake the fuck up and move routine,' which pisses me off, and the crowd was not amused either. They then called us pussies for not making a circle pit on request, and were told in no uncertain terms to fuck off by some guy. Overall, they played well but their stage banter was shit. 6/10

I'd already seen Job for a Cowboy when they opened for Cannibal Corpse, and since then, I still don't know their songs. The lead guitarist finished one of his solos and flipped the crowd off for whatever reason which I guess is a highlight, cos their stage presence wasn't amazing. They played generic death metal and some of their early deathcore which wasn't that great, but the bassist's bass did have green lights in the fretboard, which entertained me for a while. 6/10

Dying Fetus were amazing. They commanded the crowd with their presence and their was a pit that stretched to both sides of the stage. The new material off Reign Supreme sounded pretty good, cos I haven't picked up the album yet. It was nice to hear the few songs from Killing on Adrenaline with a decent mix, because that album does not. My neck is still sore from the near continous headbanging, which I only stopped when I was wondering how to sweep pick on a bass. I was disappointed with how little material from Destroy the Opposition was in the setlist, but the songs covered their career, with the majority from the new album. At the end, they told us to fuck the mainstream, and we cheered. 9/10

Pentagram/Gentlemans Pistols/Bacchus Baracus, Glasgow, Ivory Blacks, 4th November.

First up were local stoners Bacchus Baracus. They were really good, tight, and just a bit different from the generic stoner rock that goes about these days. A particular highlight was the use of a theremin. Their drummer should get a mention as well, as he was the main vocalist too, and he was good at both - there were some nice complex drum parts, and the vocals sounded great. Mad skills. 7/10

Then we had Gentlemans Pistols, featuring Bill fucking Steer on guitar. I think these guys might be the coolest band on the planet. Everything good about rock and roll, stolen and played again. Catchy as fuck, really tight, a flawless set from a band that should really be a lot bigger. 10/10

And finally, we came to the legendary Pentagram. I must admit, I was surprised at how good Bobby's voice was. It's still obvious that he's not exactly as good as he was back in the day, but for an aged ex-addict, he was fucking phenomenal. Still throwing shapes and pulling faces. Victor Griffin was great as well, and the bassist and drummer were able to keep up well enough. Bobby was a bit incoherent at times though, but that was mostly in between the songs, so it didn't affect anything too much. 9/10

The sound at the venue was actually alright as well (usually it's a bit shit), which I think was partly down to Pentagram having their own backline. No major complaints there.

The other gig on in Glasgow that night was Sabaton/Eluveitie. I think I made the right decision in going to Pentagram.

Napalm Death/Municipal Waste/Dayglo Abortions. November 6th.

We were told doors at 7 and first band at 8. I showed up around 7:15, a bit early so I could get tickets at the doors and because the venue was in my university so I could kill some time with studying at whatnot. As I looked at merch (so much for studying), I found out that the show was in fact starting at 8:30, not 8:00, and it was because Exhumed wasn't playing. What?! Why not? I asked the Napalm Death merch guy and he said they couldn't make it over the border. They've played in our city before so I was confused. Oh well. It really sucked, but nothing could be done.

And so the first band went up, Dayglo Abortions. After some minor delays in starting, the three of them were ready to play. Queue: a skinny white guy with an ungelled mohawk and a wifebeater; a chubby guy wearing a hat over his partially long hair; and a very bald drummer. And so they opened, but with a joke. And it goes as follows. "So this pedophile was driving around and parked outside of a school next to a little kid. The guy opens his window and says to the kid 'Hey kid, if you come inside my van, I'll give you 3 candies'. The kid says 'Sir, for the entire bag, I'll come in your fucking mouth.'" Yeah. Queue immature smiles. Anyways, they started their set. They played mostly oldies, with at least 2 new songs that I knew of, including "Your Facebook Can Kiss My Assbook" (If you want to see the incomplete setlist, check out setlist.fm). They playing was pretty tight. I thought the drummer may have struggled but the material was easy enough for him to play without fault. The guitarist, the lead vocals, tag teamed vocals with the bassist. The guitarist's playing was tight; he was nailing some pretty crazy solos I never would have thought he would have been able to (due to his age and the relatively low difficulty of the genre he plays). The bassist was pretty standard. During one song, some super punk-looking guy went on stage, complete with tats and a very short (maybe half an inch) mohawk. He sang a few lines, and nearly half of an entire song. The sound was pretty good. It wasn't too loud, which is are in my city. The only problem was when both the vocalists would sing at one time, it would be really loud, which was made all the worse because I was standing very close to the right speaker. The crowd was pretty stupid. The moshing was childish. Lots of kids running around and doing a mix of headbanging, moshing, and two stepping. I ended up getting pushed far to the side because of it.

Next was Exhumed. Oh wait, they didn't play. Crap.

Next was actually Municipal Waste. These guys were easily the highlight of my night. After a brief McDonald's break, I went back into the venue. I made sure to get right up to the front up to the gate since I wanted the full enjoyment of the band. After more setting up, they get on stage. Right off the bat they start with their signature ultra-fast punky thrash sound. They kept the speed of their recordings, and actually sped up some of the slower sections. The playing was tight from all members. I was especially surprised by the guitarist. Not a single fault I could notice, and he carried the entire guitar work all by himself (they only have one guitarist). Even the double-tracked sections in their recordings sounded fine live. The vocalist was moving around a lot, getting everyone into it. During a lot of the chants, such as "You're Cut Off" or "Beer Pressure", he would hold the mic up to fans to chant along. He would never actually give them the mic or put it up to their mouth, just close proximity so multiple people could yell into it. Which brings me to my next point. (Sidebar. I like Municipal Waste's more melodic songs, such as 'The Art of Partying", 'Terror Shark', and particularly 'Unleash the Bastards'. In 'Unleash the Bastards', there is a vocal sections that goes like this: "The time has come, for all your leaders to die. DIEEE!! Electrified hate, your blood and their circuits will fry. FRYYYY!!" I really like both of those 'yells' at the end of those lines. I was thinking before the concert how cool it would be if I got to scream part of this section of this song.) Though I don't know very much of the lyrics, I would still chant along to some songs, and the vocalist would sometimes put the mic in my general area. During 'Unleash the Bastards', during the first chorus, as the vocalist was yelling the first line, he saw me yell out "DIEEE!!" And so, as he yelled the second line, he looked right at me, pointed at me, walked over, and put the mic right up to my face. And grabbed it and screamed my highest, raspiest "FRRRYYYYYY!!!" Probably my climax of the night. Anyways, yeah. Awesome set. After "Born to Party", we, especially me, pushed for an encore (I knew that they were playing 'The Art of Partying' as an encore on this tour). Unfortunately, I guess they decided to skip it this time. Not a big deal, yelling out "Municipal Waste is gonna fuck you up!" during 'Born to Party' was a pretty cool way to end the set. Their sound was spot on. Literally every instrument could be heard clearly and audibly. The crowd was at its best during this set. There was moshing but it wasn't just nonsensical asshattery. I got pushed a little from behind but nothing too bad.

Finally, we had Napalm Death. A gruff looking drummer with a thick goatee; a scrawny looking guitarist; a big bassist with long strands of very curly hair covering his head everywhere but his big bald spot; and a vocalist, who looked younger than the rest and a lot less metal. Every single member of the band was wearing shorts. Having never seen Napalm Death before, when the vocalist came on stage, I didn't think he was the actual vocalist. Anyways, they started with 'Circumspect' and jumped right into 'Errors in the Signals'. The clear standout of this band was the vocalist. He literally wouldn't stand still for a second. When he wasn't growling into the mic, he was walking around, violently shaking his head side to side like a crackhead. He'd sometime face the drummer and start making weird arm movements/gestures. The guitarist looked pretty bored facially, but at least he was doing some headbanging and walked around so it didn't look too bad. The bassist was doing a lot of headbanging, showing his bald spot to the entire crowd. The drummer... While he had the energy, he just didn't have the consistency he must have had when he was younger. Any time in a song where there was an east drumbeat a tempo that changed to a blastbeat drumbeat at the same tempo, he would actually slow down. During some fills, he would sometimes speed up or sometimes slow down the tempo. He tried, and he's still an awesome drummer outperforming countless others, but I think his age has caught up with him. Still, I might just be being picky because I'm a drummer myself. I'm sure most wouldn't notice. The sound wasn't too great. The drums were fine and vocals were pretty good, if not just a tad bit quiet. The bass guitar was distorted up its ass combined with a loud volume. It makes sense since they only have one guitarist and the bass has to cover the rhythm, but still. The guitars were very had to hear. If I didn't already know most of the songs, I wouldn't have been able to follow along. The song 'Deceiver', which is literally just two alternating muted chords on guitar, was so hard to distinguish that I didn't even know what song it was until it was seconds from being over. A song that basic should be recognizable instantly, but the low guitars made that hard to accomplish. The crowd during their set was stupid. Particularly a couple idiots in the circle being idiots. It really marred my enjoyment of the show having to brace myself on the gate on the front because of the assholes ramming the people at the front. I got a nice scratch that drew blood on my arm, and quite a few sore muscles and bones from it.

All in all it was a great show. Dayglo Abortions kept it together despite their age, and provided some enjoyment for me despite my absence of affinity for their music. Municipal Waste was everything and more than I expected them to be. Napalm Death was good but brought down by their low guitars, slightly-sloppy playing, and the dumbass crowd behind me. I really wish Exhumed could have made it out but it was still worth it without them. I got myself a white Municipal Waste t shirt and a black Napalm Death t shirt with the Utilitarian art on it. Both have back art too.

I just got back from the Nuclear War Now! Live Ritual 2012 in Berlin. My review is exhaustive, but I hope it gives some insight into the event and/ or the bands featured:

We were looking forward to this one. Bloodstock Open Air with the bro (the one erroneously and consistently listed as an author for my blog) was wiped off the schedule due to our moving to Prague and whatnot. Nuclear War Now! 2012 however would be perfect timing, and where B-O-A was headlined by oh, Machine Head and Alice Cooper, this bad boy was only headlined by Rotting Christ's historical 1000th show on day two and by infamous Vancouver bruisers Blasphemy on day three. So with my brother and girlfriend in tow, with my father joining later with the express purpose of catching Rotting Christ, we prepared with Jaeger, pilsener and Berlin's signature food (kebabs) before heading over for what was the live music event of the year for me.

>>DAY ONE<<

The venue was pretty excellent, for us anyway having been used to either big muddy fields or Singapore's beerless bar venues. Large area inside for yer merch and of course ad-hoc band introductions, with a fairly sized beer garden out the back and a decent stage area. The only gripe would be that our extreme comfort lasted only until everyone spilled out of work on the Friday evening, as with both international and local cohorts the venue itself got cramped, exits from the stage area became nightmarish and beer queues got long. Still, with some clever timing and strategic missing of less essential sets we managed to remain nicely tanked and drool over Teitanblood and Ascension tees in peace.

Anatomia:

So this was the first thing we saw and it instantly became a huge, huge highlight. I'd actually been listening to Anatomia's contribution to a split with Coffins, one of my favourite death/ doom bands, for many a year, but hadn't spent much time with their other material. Live, they are phenomenal, cranking out absolutely enormous-sounding doom riffs, psychedelic keyboards warbling eerily atop; what with the stage shrouded in dim, red light and dry ice billowing out from behind the band I felt privy to some sort of seance. Instantly lifted Anatomia up there with my all-time favourite Japanese bands.

Pseudogod:

Now, I don't know whether it's just this thing with Japanese bands, where if you catch 'em live, you're kind of fucked for the rest of whatever festival you might be in attendance at, because the sound values and professionalism always just absolutely eclipse the efforts of everyone else. Maybe. But having listened to Deathwomb Catatafish quite a lot since its unleashing earlier this year I was slightly less taken with Pseudogod's black/ death organized chaos than I expected to be. Perhaps I need another round of them live, but they didn't quite stand up to later bands playing in the same style.

Antediluvian:

That brother of mine is quite big on these guys, enjoying their thick and gooey barbaric noise smattered as it is with some pig squeals and blasts aplenty, but they didn't keep me away from the beers and bratwursts out in the garden for very long.

Blasphemophagher:

These warlike Italian mentalists sort of function as a bolognese-eating version of Impiety for me, what with the decent production values found on their records, the general instrumental tightness and the superior ear for composition over many black/ death acts. Although Impiety is a big deal for me, one thing these guys do really, really much better, is big-arse headbanging thrash sections. The mix of blackened blasts, death and thrash has always been spot-on with these guys, and it was the most neck-agonizing, face-melting, bone-shattering set of the festival. At least in terms of sheer brute force and precision. Would watch again, several times.

Wrathprayer:

Wrathprayer I was anticipating with something approaching... well, anticipation. However, their somewhat gloomy death metal barbarism just didn't have enough of its own character to differentiate itself from, let alone surpass, other material on display. I guess there are two kinds of person when it comes to stuff like this - those that will enjoy your Wrathprayers and Antedeluvians for the unsurprising but satisfying helping of same-old that they are, and picky fucks like me who make everyone's lives difficult.

Morbosidad:

Interestingly, a chap I'd never met buzzed around the beer garden at about the time Morbo was supposed to come on and told us all that Dead Congregation was starting up. There were reports of Morbo having production issues, of them not being able to get to the festival, and so on, but the more important issue at hand was the impending set from the Greek death metal titans. Morbosidad played the next day but we missed it due to a long and very important drinking session.

Dead Congregation:

One of the bands I was most anticipating, and their set can only be described as unbridled pulverisation. At a festival where the total amount of blastbeats time would have been several hours, the blasts unleashed by the Greek monster on drums here were a total highlight. Massive force and ferocious speed. The atmosphere for this set was also huge, with a fine guitar sound.

Rotting Christ:

As mentioned, this was their 1000th show, and as a German chap we were hanging out with mentioned, Sakis Tolis was the only frontman at the whole shabang not speaking in an evil voice during song breaks. Instead he ranted charmingly about keeping the coffin spirit alive and generally seemed like a gent. For my first viewing of these now famous Greek boys this was excellent, with swathes of early material, mostly from Thy Mighty Contract, booming out in fine form. The atmosphere was massive, the guitar sound massive, and the set was dominated by shredding and power chords, making for a great, heavy finale to day one. As well as a great climax to a year which has seen the Metal Hammer/ Terrorizer darlings revisit their early material in true old school form on cassette and 7".

>>DAY TWO<<

Back for more kebabs and more blastbeats.

Bestial Raids:

Caught about the last half of the set having never really listened to these chaps before, and I must say I was pleased to find their warlike brutality deviously divided by some trampling slower sections. Time well spent and I shall try to check them out on record after this.

Adorior:

We were drinking beer.

Embrace of Thorns:

This act has been something of a treat for me since I discovered them earlier this year thanks to a tip from a mate, what with their gloomy mix of cadaverous black/death blasting and cavernous doom sections. This translated well onstage, via probably a better sound than any other band on day two was lucky enough to benefit from. Some of their nascent Runemagick influences rotted through more obviously as well, which I found mighty pleasing. Recommended live watching.
Black Woftery

Black Witchery:

I was looking forward to this. On record, I can glean some impression of the compositional excellence and atmosphere present within their anti-Christian tirades. But watching a band like this live, a band that insists on tinny and cardboard-like production values for their diehard-oriented physical releases, is always a different kettle of blasphemous fish. Sure enough, the powerful, constant blasts, the simple but so well-chosen riffs, and the barking vocals made for an almost trance-like experience. Catching these guys perform gave me a new appreciation for their arcane arts, and I'll likely listen to them a lot more from now on.

Proclamation:

More beer.

Arse Kingdom (as ingeniously dubbed by an English fellow we were hanging out with):

Went in for about two minutes and then went for more beer - nothing special here.

Sabbat:

Second time I've seen these Japanese black/ thrash legends, but I was very much looking forawrd to a full set from them since all I'd seen previously was a sort of bonus tacked onto a Metalucifer set. Third time I've seen a Sabbat since I saw the English one too but pffff fuck it right. Absolute magic as usual, truly glorious; despite the bandmembers' gleeful near-nudity. The set was dominated by the more recent material and although 'Mion's Hill' didn't get a look in, 'Black Fire' and 'Black Metal Scythe' made for wonderful moments and highlights of the festival. Gezol ended the set by triumphantly smashing his guitar in two and chucking the pieces into the crowd.

Revenge:

I've tried and tried to find something, anything, in the Canadian Revenge's unimaginative studio material, to give me a clue as to why these guys have such a ravenous cult following. I failed, but then again live shows are different eh? Not always. Drums were tight during the blasts, but fairly dull if doing anything else. Not chaotic or anything, just dull. Unlike Black Witchery there is no atmosphere and very little discernible objective or direction in their material, not helped by the seemingly uninterested attitude of the band members on stage. Redeemed slightly by some death metal toilet growls and doomed sounding riffs at one point, but ultimately the set lacked any of the panache or ability of other bands on the bill, or those generally providing similiar sounds. I remain baffled.

Blasphemy:

Blasphemy were raw power incarnate, giving the festival a brutish, battering finale. They seemed to be having some sound issues and breaks between songs almost all got upwards of three or four minutes, but despite this and the fact the guitars could honestly have sounded a bit burlier, I had no complaints with their actual performance. At this point in their career with relatively little recorded material and a vast cult following they are a tribute to themselves.

>>TO SUM UP<<

Overall, bloody well worth it, got to see a couple of bands I've been looking forward to catching and gained a new appreciation for a couple of others. This festival is essential to visit at least once for lovers of the bestial, the barbaric, the battering and the burly, and despite the fact that it seems NWN Productions repeat a lot of the line-up year on year, I'd definitely go again if the opportunity arises. Don't see the problem with catching bands like Blasphemy, Black Witchery, Blasphemophagher and so on a second time, particularly if they're all conveniently in the same place.

Saw Opeth and Anathema on 15th November 2012 in Leeds. First metal show I've ever been to and it completely blew me away. Had been looking forward to it for a few months actually but was nervous since I'd be going on my own. As soon as I got there though, I realised it didn't matter if I was on my own or not. I somehow managed to get a great spot for the whole show right at the front. There wasn't much pushing or anything - it seemed weird how some of the people around me looked almost apathetic and at the same time, myself and others were getting really into the music.

I wasn't too familiar with Anathema, but I've now decided that they're great. Could really see the vocalist putting in a ton of emotion. Even when one song messed up because the synth wasn't working, he sang, 'This computer is out of tune' and everyone laughed. Yeah, really great atmosphere to be in.

Opeth were the band I'd come to see and they were better than I'd imagined. They opened with 'The Devil's Orchard' and the rest of the set list was brilliant too - they did a lot of their heavier, older songs, despite rumours that they're turning away from that style. Mikael's jokes and comments in between songs too.. really got everyone involved and into it.

Loved it, basically. Both bands were much better than I could have expected, and I can't wait to go to more shows.

But yeah, cool review, I'd like to see Anathema and I actually seen Opeth when they were a metal band

I'll write a big review for Messe des Morts after the fest! (BTW, Bethlehem were considered to replace Darkspace)

Messe des Morts II review (got some pics on my facebook, I might link some later)

-Day 1 – Genèse @Katacombes
The crowd was quite fun, me and my comrades estimated the crowd to be 60% men/40 % women, a surprising fact for these two young fellows from Kansas (apparently, they only have sausages fest). The atmosphere was festive and occult and it was a good day to start the fest, this was before the news of Mgla's cancellation though, but oh well, the borders and maybe the lack of preparation of the band itself are the things to blame here. The Katacombes can hold like 300 people or so and it was full. Here's the reviews for the 4 bands.

Verglas : 8:30 – 9:00 - 7 Tonies out of 10
A very cool local black metal duo, only a guitarist/singer and a drummer. I knew the band before the fest, I bought a tape from one of the members on Metal Archives. It's some kind of very lo fi black metal, I wouldn't call them raw especially live, their riffs are quite groovy and you can decipher them quite easily, I'll suggest their demo Satanisme juvénile, it got a black and roll vibe with a little trash attitude. Despite the neckbeard of the guitarist, they're cool and definitely not hipster ! The vocals of this dude were quite diverse, from high pitched screams to low groans, these guys are talented and promising.

Satanisme juvénile, side A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPLsJuRJy3E

Sortilegia : 9:15 – 9:50 - 8 Tonies out of 10
The second band of the evening was a 2 piece from Toronto. The guitarist/singer is a gorgeous blond woman with a lot of skills (she's also in Sylvus, they'll play the fest too). Their brand of atmospheric/ambient black metal is really entrancing especially live. Her vocals were lacking power though, but considering they only have vox during like ¼ of their music, it's not a big deal. They had a table with random occult stuff on it (candles, wine cups, bones, sacrificial dagger). She was wearing a velvet burgundy cape with a hood that she removed after the first song. They were selling an exclusive rehearsal demo during the fest, my friend Iggnsthe bought it, it's quite good. They have an ethereal occult presence reminding me of Darkspace a bit.

Thantifaxath : 10:05 – 10:50 - 7 Tonies out of10
A very promising and well liked band in Montréal, this trio were very well received. They wear black monk robes with hoods but their sound is decidedly modern. They have some cool clean breaks and unorthodox riffs, their vocals are nothing out of the extraordinary, the emphasis of the band is on the riffs and I think we're all expecting a great first full length after the very good but too short EP released by Dark Descent Records. I personally think their set was a bit too long and samey, but it was quite good

Archgoat : 11:05 – 12:05 9 Tonies out of 10
The crowd went fucking crazy for these Finnish black/death veterans, the moshpit (I stay away from these hooligans because I have a low pain tolerance, yes I am a pussy, bla bla). They had bloody corpsepaint mixed with black and white colours, their bestial look only added a welcome satanic and violent presence. They played their riff based black/death music with passion during many violent moshpits, they were asked to do encores twice. Archgoat is pretty amazing and we were lucky to see their 2nd show ever in North America (after MDF last year). They were a very cool replacement for Darkspace !

-Day 2 - Psaume 1 @Théâtre Plaza
It's a very cool old venue, it can hold like 400-500 people and there's a balcony where you have a good view of the scene, I watched some bands from there. The merch stands were furnished even though there was no Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult merch and I wanted some, oh well, I got Isvind's latest album instead.

Haeres : 5:30 – 5:55 - 6 Tonies out of 10
A competent Québecois black metal band, they have a rich melodic sound with interesting leads/solos, 2 members of Chasse-Galerie (they were at the fest last year) were guests. I liked them, the singer had a good stage presence despite their early set time (not a lot of people were there compared to the end of the show). Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing extraordinary, it was fine, but they're not exactly my kind of black metal.

Scum Sentinel : 6:10 – 6:40 - 6,5 Tonies out of 10
Pretty good band from Montréal, their brand of black'n'roll is quite enjoyable. They have good riffs and good vocals, if they could drop the silly cartoonesque approach of their first album: http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d176/ ... rfinal.jpg, I'm sure I could appreciate them a bit more. Their logo is top notch though.

Panzerfaust : 6:55 – 7:30 -7 Tonies out of 10
A veteran act from Ontario, Panzerfaust were quite enjoyable as well. I liked the singer a lot, a tall dude named Goliath (duh, makes sense), their riffs were solid, a competent if not generic band. Not much to add there.

Isvind : 7:45 – 8:25 – 9,5 Tonies out of 10
One of my favorite black metal band right now, I was expecting good things from their set and I wasn't disappointed. Very groovy old school Norwegian black metal is always a good thing and the fact that the leader of the band is named Goblin and that he has the looks of one only helps. They played a good mix of songs from both of their excellent albums and the crowd seemed to have been pleased by Isvind. They were my favorite band of the evening alongside Seth.

In retrospect, they were my highlight of the fest ! Goblin <3

Darkened Nocturn Slaughtercult : 8:40 – 9:25 – 9 bloody Tonies out of 10
This was fucking bloody, I enjoyed DNC a lot, especially Yvonne's charistmatic playing and her long princess blond hair, she's the Rapunzel of German black metal ! I think I prefer them in studio though, in my opinion, their live show didn't have enough mid paced stuff, but yeah, it was very very enjoyable and they were by far the most spectacular band of the day with their blood spitting and their cool corpsepaint. Despite some technical issues, their set was pretty good and wicked, too bad they didn't have any merch, I like their logo a lot and I wanted a patch: (

Seth : 9:40 – 10:25 – 9,5 Antoine out of 10
Well known French black metallers Seth were the co headliners for this evening and they were really amazing. I decided to approach the stage and I took some pictures of the guys. They were really professional and their stage presence was enormous. They played 2 or 3 songs from their classic album « Les blessures de l'âme » and considering it's one of my favorite French metal albums, this was very cool. They played a new song as well, I can't say I enjoyed it that much compared to their other stuff. The songs from L'Excellence were really well done too especially Die Weihe. I personally prefer the new vocalist compared to the one on this album even though I've never seen the former live. This was a very cool first time for them in Québec and North America !


Revenge : 10:40 – 11:40 - 6 Tonies out of 10
Learn the same solo and play it 20 times. that's what Revenge is doing ! Some cool riffs, cool basslines and cool drums but meh, Revenge is quite overrated in my opinion. Fuck these lead parts are obnoxious, even Kerry king would be more inventive than their guitarist. The crowd was pleased and that's what important ! I'm not a fan and I was obviously going for the other bands !

They should get Avenger from Czech Republic next year instead ! They're the cool kind of black/death metal


-Day 3 – Psaume 2 @Théâtre Plaza

Doors/Portes : 5:00
Sarcomancy : 5:30 – 5:55 - 5,5 Tonies out of 10
Some American Immortal mid era worship. Well done, but they're still looking to master the style and actually writing good riffs., maybe that's why they don't even have a demo yet. Nothing wrong with them, but they're not standing out.

Mortuas : 6:10 – 6:35 - 8 Tonies out of 10
A pleasant surprise, this Québécois trio from Sept-Îles was pretty good. A cool brand of traditional black with nice & well done leads from the singer/guitarist and a cool present bass. They have a lot of potential, my friend bought their split, I'll listen to this with attention.

Sylvus : 6:50 – 7:20 - 8,5 Tonies out of 10
I was expecting cool things from this Toronto band and they managed to exceed expectations, they kicked ass so much. They have Anastasia from Sortilegia playing guitar alonside the very talented Darcy who's also handling the vocals. They had that modern black sound without being unorthodox and experimental, they're basically the future of non-Québec Canadian black metal. So good !

Get their stuff for free on their bandcamp: http://sylvus.bandcamp.com/

Neige Éternelle : 7:35 – 8:10 - 8,5 Tonies out of 10
Amazing band ! I was very glad when I knew they were gonna play the fest ! Their style of Québécois patriotic but misanthropic Norwegian styled black metal was very cool live. Their demo is really cool and sadly out of print (I got pins though!), you can read my review of it here  : http://metantoinemagicalrealm.blogspot. ... tiere.html
The singer has a really cool attitude, the singer was really hateful, he was pissing off everyone and was screaming « FUCK YOURSELF> in French between the songs. They were drinking beer like true Québecois lumberjacks and they even had flannel shirts to match this cruel but cult job.

Mgla : 8:25 – 9:10 CANCELLED !
Well, it's a shame they weren't able to visit our cool city and play their very awesome brand of melodic black metal, but Sepulchral Productions said that they'll try to make them come in early 2013 and that the people with Messe des Morts tickets will have a better deal on the ticket price, so hold on to them ! Maybe we'll get Darkspace too, who knows !

Black Witchery : 9:25 – 10:10 - 9 Tonies out of 10
BESTIAL AS FUCK ! Man, these guys were the shit, the bass tone was really in your face, crushing your teeth. These fast paced black/metal songs were all glorious, simple, occult and satanic. I enjoyed them a lot but yeah, 40 mins or so is enouuuuuuugh for these guys, man, they're heavy.

Ragnarok : 10:25 – 11:30
I had to miss this, I was pretty dead and my friend had an emergency, oh well. It was a perfect fest despite the 2 cancellations. If you like black metal, there was no reasons to miss this festival and hopefully the fest will be as good next year.


Merci Sepulchral, good job ! See y'all next year !

Bands: THE SWORD plus special guests Gypsy Hawk and American Sharks
Date: Last Night (would be December Sixth)
Venue: Neurolux, Boise

Openers American Sharks were fun and entertaining as heck, reminded me a lot of a punkish Motorhead. Energetic 3 piece band with raw, totally fast rocking riffs. They were surprisingly good. They had a song they claimed was about Boise that they had written “right before they got on stage” which I assume is what they say at every gig; I have a feeling tonight in Salt Lake (or wherever thenext tour stop is) they’ll be “We just wrote this great song about Salt Lake right before we got on stage.” Hey, I give em props for at least trying to engage the crowd, and I admit, they succeded; their music was very headbangable and enjoying- short (2 minute songs and under) rocking and to the point. Their riffs did tend to sound a bit a like at times but that’s not necessarily a crime; heck I’ve heard people say that about the Sword! It’s all in the delivery. I also think they could have used a lead guitarist, but again that’s not essential, basically I liked these dudes.

Gypsy Hawk did have a lead guitarist, and a good one. The bad news is, their music wasn’t as interesting. More traditional mid-80s L.A style sleaze rock n’roll, which reminded me of early Guns and Roses. Not really glam rock, and not really the dirty headbanging punkish rock I love either though. Hey if that’s your thing then more power to ya, but…well I was never a big G n’R fan, so there you have it. These guys were just sort of in one ear out the other kind of hard rock music.

It had been about 4 and a half years since The Sword had played here, and it was worth the wait. It’s funny, reactions to this band are mixed- I love em but I’ve heard some people derisively refer to them as “Bearded hipster metal” (maybe because they do ZZ top covers?) But regardless, the place was packed to the walls with both bearded hipsters and other assorted metalheads of various species. Their main set was mostly stuff from the last 3 albums, but it’s all good stuff. The sound was of course great. I thought the vocals had a little too much reverb so they sounded kinda weird in spots, (crappy PA? sound board goof? Who cares..) but really this is just me being nitpicky- everything sounded otherwise perfect. They gave us stuff like “Warp Riders” Eyes of the Storm Witch, Hammer of Heaven… all classic headbangable tunes. They followed with three encores, “Barael’s Blade”, “Winter Wolves” and…a ZZ Top cover. Hey, they are from Texas right? I mean, I can think of a lot worse Texas bands to cover in your set…

One thing about the Neurolux is that the expensive condos that went in next door a couple years ago have curtailed live shows there, unfortunately. But the management has reached a compromise with the rich fux next door so that they can still do live shows, but the deal is weeknight shows start and end earlier. Which means this one ended at around 10:30; music started at around 7 30; that seems early but it worked out perfectly for those of us working types who had to get up and go to work the next morning.

NUMEROLOGY-The last time I was in the Sceptred Isle was 1999, and so 13 years later, I decided that I was due back for a visit in 2012. I seriously needed a temporary getaway from the USA, and I decided that this should coincide with the Northern Hunt tour of one of my top 3 bands, Destroyer 666. Despite the very small turnout, the York show on 12/6 was perfect and one the best shows that I have ever seen. Now that I had finally witnessed two of my favorite anthems, "SS Metal" and "Australian & Anti-christ", live I had complete peace of mind. (The 2010 Philadelphia show that I saw was only 40 minutes.) It was also hysterical to see one of the University of York security guys frantically covering his ears as his face contorted in agony. It looked like his head would literally get blown off like in the "Another Thing Coming" video. York is also an interesting labyrinthine town.

Setlist: Predator, A Breed Apart, Raped, Damnation's Pride, Genesis to Genocide, I am not Deceived, Wargod, Savage Pitch, Sons of Perdition, Australian & Anti-christ, Black City, SS Metal

I did not attend the Newcastle show (I stayed in Edinburgh instead) but I was at the Glasgow show which had a very large turnout (the club was basically full). Again, this was another excellent show and Destroyer 666 played a longer set.

Setlist: Predator, A Breed..., Raped, Damnation's..., Genesis to Genocide, Deceived, Wargod, Savage, Sons, Trialed, Black City, Eternal Glory of War, SS Metal, Australian & Anti-christ

This trip was expensive and hectic with a lot of rushing to catch planes, trains, pack etc., but well worth it.

Checked out Evoken last night in Brooklyn. Awesome show. I missed the opening band, the second band, Penetration was enjoyable, although had a weak guitar sound. Their guitarist, Jesse, is one of the more interesting guitarists I've watched both because of his speed and because of sheer amount of fluids he loses during their sets. He looked like a giant soggy tissue after the set was over.

Teloch Vovin I skipped. They didn't really interest me and all the smoke and incense made even being in the room they were playing difficult because of my allergies. Regardless they had a poor sound imo. The drums were way to loud, guitars and bass way to soft and vocals overpowering. A better sound and fewer smoke machines would have made them far better.

Evoken was excellent. They played like, 4, songs at the most which included a couple new tracks, Caress of the Void and, if memory serves me correctly, In Solitary Ruin. Their sound was big and powerful, excellently mixed and really fucking heavy. Really glad I was finally able to catch these guys live since I had missed them the past... 4 times I've tried to see them.

Bands: HUMMINGBIRD OF DEATH, HEIBARGER, THE HAND plus guests
Date: Last Friday (would have been Feb 8th.)
Venue: 1519 Main Street.

This was a fun show, and a good opportunity to witness three of our best local bands. It was a benefit for an injured local musician named Jason Burke who has not only played in countless bands over the years, but who has spent the better part of the last 20 years trying to promote local underground music (punk and metal.) So, props to him, get better soon!

1519 Main Street is sort of an institution in this town. The place has changed names numerous times over the years; it is currently "The Red Room" but over the past 4 decades it has been Terrapin Station, JD's and Friends, the Crazy Horse, and a couple other names I can't remember that were before my time anyway. But the one constant has been, since it opened in the mid 1960s the place has always hosted local underground music and it's a pretty fun place for a show. For the most part. (Always a few malcontents of course.)

I missed the first couple bands, but caught the Hand's set. The best way I can describe these guys is sounding similar to Social Distortion- melodic punk but more traditional rock n'roll based than your typical green day/sum-41 retreads. Hard, driving guitar work with some frickin' excellent lead playing- kick ass whammy pedal lead work, fun to listen to but...not metal (for what it's worth. I liked em anyway.) Their last song was more of a total thrash workout than their other stuff, and I since learned that this tune was written by the guitarist's first band over 20 years ago when he was just a young teenage thrasher.

Heibarger was up next, and it was time for things to turn metallic. These guys have been officially broken up for a few years now but as I understand they will occasionally re-unite to play a sporadic show here and there. I keep hoping they'll stick together and record something again but who knows. Anyway, they played just three songs: "Restless Leg Syndrome," "Aftermath," and the entirety of the 23+ minute epic "Tumbleweed"- all of which took up their alloted 35 minute set. They sounded killer, awesome live band to watch and listen to. Musically they are epic power metal that veered from total rocking out to cool stoner rock riffs, all seamlessly welded together into some great material. They were probably the best local metal band in town when they were together, and I keep hoping the reunion will stick.

Hummingbird of Death came on after that: I know, this band has a stupid name, but play some great music nonetheless. Ultra-fast fricking THRASH with blast beats and intense riffs delivered at warp speed. You could compare them to early Napalm Death except without the downtuned guitars or gruff vocals, or perhaps some of the faster 80's crossover bands like Siege or Wehrmacht. They did have a lot of the late-80's speedcore thrash feel to their music, which is a good thing. Ultra blasting thrash riffs without the annoying choppy stop-and-start feel of most modern grindcore (and all it's varying subgenres.) Short songs- almost all of them averaging about one and a half minutes long, and it seems like their set ended just as abruptly after just about 20 minutes. Ah well, better to leave them wanting more than leave tired and bored I guess.

Well, I just saw Meshuggah for the first time last night in Silver Spring, MD after having listened to them for nearly 10 years to varying degrees. I recently had gotten back into them more over the past couple years though. Anyway, their set was mostly newer songs from Koloss, which was actually a bit disappointing to me. They played NO songs from Nothing, which I do believe is the album that introduced me to Meshuggah. Koloss is, I think, their weakest album since their debut. And I would love for one or two of the songs from that album be swapped out with perhaps "Rational Gaze," "Straws Pulled at Random" or "Perpetual Black Second." I think this would greatly improve their set.

There was a bit of a concern that Jens Kidman would not be performing, since he had come down with the flu just this past week, and even said that he couldn't speak/lost his voice as recently as two days prior to this show. Luckily, he only missed the last two songs, and sounded great overall.

Overall, I was very satisfied with the experience, it's a bit surreal when you listen to a band for so long and finally get to see them live. The experience is a bit overwhelming, especially since the crowd was heavily into the band. I don't get it, but Meshuggah had more excitement and energy coming from the crowd than Slayer did when I saw them a couple years ago. Although, some Meshuggah fans tend to be a bit annoying too, with the "jumpdafuckup" moments I saw.... -_- This isn't Limp Bizkit. There also seems to be an overlap of Tool fans showing up at Meshuggah shows, which I guess could explain where this larger following of Meshuggah has come from, Tool fans migrating over to Meshuggah.

Vektor, Vaporizer, and Our Own Destruction at Cherry Street Station, Wallingford, CT 2/16/2012

The first band, Priapism, had to cancel because their drummer broke his foot. They were there anyway to support. All of the bands were hanging out since the show started later and there's a good bar there. Unfortunately, they were out of Narragansett and the keg of PBR kicked towards the end of the first glass, so the $3 beers were delayed until they got another keg of PBR. That's OK because they had cans of NEBCO 668 (the neighbor of the beast) for five bucks, which is a good deal considering that costs around $16 for a 4-pack in stores. The venue is great though, and the bar is great - reasonably priced and they even have the prices displayed, unlike the Webster where your beer costs 2d4+1. Enough about the bar, it was great to chat with all the folks there, and half of them were members of Vektor or Vaporizer, all really nice guys.

Our Own Destruction were pretty bad, it's simply a type of music that I don't like. Groove metal/alternative rock type stuff, sounds kind of like Sevendust (who they are opening for in a few months). I'll give them credit that they weren't enjoyable, but they weren't offensive, even if one of their songs sounded like Limp Bizkit. The fat guy singing gets credit for mixing up singing and shouting because if he only did one of those, it would've been unpleasant.

Vaporizer were an interesting mix of stoner doom and melodeath, leaning towards the former laced with double bass and some heavier parts. I would have enjoyed them, but their vocalist was absolutely terrible - alternating between shrieking like Seth Putnam and doing low, BDM growls. The brief parts where he wasn't singing were enjoyable, but the shitty vocalist really ruined it because he cut right through the guitars.

Vektor had some technical difficulties with one of their amp heads blowing, so apparently they couldn't play the songs with clean parts, though I wish they had anyway. Their set was quite short for a headliner, I didn't count but it was around six songs and probably 40 minutes. They were amazing, playing tight and sounding good, the only thing that was off is that the singer's voice is higher live, I guess the lower end of it (which is still pretty high) is emphasized on the albums. Still, they sounded great and it was a lot of fun.

There were probably around 50 people or fewer there, the show was poorly promoted and I only heard about it from Vektor via Facebook the day before the show, but it was a great night. The sound guy was good too, I was impressed by how good it sounded considering that the place is fairly small and is more or less a bar with a small stage that isn't even raised.