Metal Flows In My Veins

Absu

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 18 May 2013 14:18:00 +0000

Here's a really brief look at a show that occurred a few weeks ago. Absu put in an appearance at The Vex, a new, underground venue (basically, an old warehouse with a stage) in eastern Los Angeles. You can read my official report here.

Absu

Review round up! First up is a review (published at Last Rites) of Epitome Of Torture, the new album from Sodom.

Also at Last Rites, Godslayer from Lair Of The Minotaur.

Over at Heavy Metal at About.com, here's a review of what is probably the death metal album of the year, Kingdom Of Conspiracy from Immolation.

Here's a small pile of short reviews.

Arckanum Fenris Kindir

Tribulation The Formulas Of Death

Sacrilegious Impalement III: Lux Infera

Across Tundras/ Lark's Tongue Split

Dave Mustaine Invades Room F206

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Mon, 13 May 2013 01:36:00 +0000

Those of you that may have stopped by here over the years have probably figured out that my alter ego is that of a high school physics teacher, a profession to which I am passionately devoted to. The high school that I teach at is located in semi-suburban Los Angeles, and lies in a picturesque location; hence, the school is periodically used for location shooting for various television and movie projects, some quite well known. For example, the original Brian De Palma film Carrie, the Michael Keaton comedy vehicle Multiplicity, and the Disney remake of Freaky Friday have been filmed on campus, just to name a few. We actually have to turn away a number of requests from production companies and studios as their work would intrude upon the students and the school day, in general. However, we do take on some projects, charging a fee as you might imagine. These funds are sorely needed to enhance our various academic and extracurricular programs.

At any rate, one of our front office people, Rocky, acts as our media liaison and knows that I’m a big time metalhead (that information is common knowledge on campus). Lo and behold, he gets a call a few weeks ago from none other than the management of Megadeth, requesting that the school be used for location shooting for the music video to accompany the new single from Megadeth, “Super Collider.” Normally, we’d probably turn away such a request, as the management asked to shoot on a school day near the end of the semester (most of the requests that we okay take place on weekends and during school vacations).

However, Rocky knows that I’d get involved in some manner, and approves the request, mostly as a personal favor to me. Naturally, the administration has to approve, and they were fine with it, as the shoot would be done on a very small scale. Dave Mustaine and Megadeth would be coming to our school.

Surprisingly enough, word of Megadeth’s appearance at school did not get out. I certainly kept my mouth shut, not wanting to jinx the opportunity. Megadeth were scheduled to be on campus on a Friday, arriving at noon and then filming various scenes until the evening hours. At about noon during a break in classes, Rocky calls me up in my classroom to give me some details. Dave Mustaine is going to be conducting an interview for Fuse TV during a break in the music video shooting, and Rocky and I volunteered my classroom to be used for that interview. Dave was informed that I was a fan, and said he’d be happy to meet me.

The school day ends about 2pm, and the production crew arrived in my classroom to start setting up for the interview around 2:45pm. At about 3:15pm, Mustaine walks in with a few people from his management team, and comes over, says hello and shakes my hand. He’s very friendly and gracious, and we chitchat about the school for a few minutes as the crew gets ready. I helped the crew prepare my classroom for the shoot a bit, and made sure to position a few physics items and texts on my desk, which will be in the background during the interview. Dave sits on one of the student desks and the interview begins. The first few questions posed by Fuse TV mostly have to do with the video and the reason for the name of the song, “Super Collider.” Dave talks about how he’s using high energy physics as a metaphor for forbidden love, as the song talks about a love affair between young kids, and not everyone approves. Given that Mustaine has a daughter in high school, it’s not hard to see where this is coming from.

After only about five minutes, however, the management team interrupts, telling Dave that he needs to get back to the set to do some more shooting. Not wasting what might be a very small window of opportunity, I ask Dave for a quick autograph and photo, to which he graciously accommodates me. Unfortunately, given that my Megadeth collection is now wholly digital, the only item that I had available for him to sign was a copy of Decibel Magazine from last year when he appeared on the cover. He chuckled when he saw the magazine cover, grinning sheepishly and saying to me, “Great photograph, huh?” I laughed and said, “I didn’t know that you had that many fingers.” He laughed at that, signed the magazine, posed for a photo, patted me on the back and shook my hand again, and walked out.

By this time, word had started to get out. Two students were hovering outside my door, trying to get a glimpse of Mustaine, one of whom is one of my top students in algebra-based Physics AB, a very bright student named Stevie. Stevie plays guitar and has a future of enormous potential ahead of him as he plans to attend the University of California at Santa Cruz in the fall. I motioned him and a friend of his, Kevin, inside, telling them that Mustaine would be back. Stevie is clutching a worn, tattered vinyl copy of Peace Sells… But, Who’s Buying, a second or third edition pressing with both Combat Records and Capitol Records logos on the back.

Mustaine comes back in the room about 20 minutes later, and conducts the rest of the interview, which mostly has to do with upcoming plans for Gigantour and his use of Twitter to connect to fans. Of note to many readers, he responds to some of the criticism that says that “Super Collider” is not heavy enough. He laughs, and basically says that fans expecting rehashes of “Black Friday” on every single song on every single album from here on out are not being realistic. He is comfortable with the music that he is writing, and he’s pleased with the results that he and his band mates have obtained on the new album.

The interview is over, and Mustaine prepares to leave. Stevie and Kevin have been patiently sitting in my room with me watching the interview, and I nudge Stevie that this is now his chance. Stevie approaches Mustaine and politely tells him that he is a great admirer of his work in Megadeth and would he sign his album. Mustaine graciously shakes Stevie’s hand, and asks him how he is doing in school and is he working hard. Stevie says that he is, and I make a point to tell Mustaine that Stevie is one of the top students in my class. Mustaine is obviously pleased to hear this, signs Stevie’s album, says goodbye to me, and then walks out

After a few minutes of discussing the experience with Stevie and Kevin, they depart to see if they can get the rest of the band to sign the album (they do, although they could not actually meet the other members). I had to go home, anyway, at this point, and did not attempt to track down anyone else from the band. Apparently, they were all in their production trailers at this point, anyway.

Here’s what I take away from the experience. Say what you will about Mustaine’s current religious views and his politics, views with which I definitely do NOT agree. However, what came across to me is that he is comfortable in his life as a family man, and he has wholly left his wild past behind. He seems to be writing music, in part, from the standpoint of a father, and it was obvious to me that he genuinely cared to hear whether or not Stevie was doing well in school. He enriched the experience of this young man in my classroom, and that’s all that mattered to me.

Post-script: I do have a couple of missed opportunities to report. First, it would have been kind of neat for Mustaine and I to talk physics, given the metaphor used in “Super Collider,” but there just wasn’t any time to do so. Second, I also meant to offer my condolences to him on the recent passing of Jeff Hanneman, but simply forgot in the excitement of the moment, and, third, I could have asked him about that whispered rumor that James Hetfield is one of the guitarists in Ghost…

Absu

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:13:00 +0000

Absu at The Vex

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 09 May 2013 03:01:00 +0000

Absu at The Vex, a set on Flickr.

Last Rites

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 02:19:00 +0000

I am pleased to announce that I've joined the staff at Last Rites (formerly Metal Review). I've always been keen on joining a well organized site that has an active readership that participates in serious discussions about metal without resorting to insults and name calling. This is a big deal for me, as I've always been disgusted by trolls, whether they harangue writers, or other readers/ participants on metal-related sites. Matters are even worse on news and political sites. Invisible Oranges, for example, greatly suffered from a proliferation of trolls at one time, and that's the main reason why I've never written more than a few snippets for that site, despite repeated invitations.

I will remain with Heavy Metal at About.com, however, as I remain loyal to editor Chad Bowar, who has treated me very well. As for Last Rites. I plan to contribute a couple of reviews per month or so for the near future.

My first review at Last Rites was just published, so please take a look at my review of Withdrawal, the new album from Woe.

I've also had some stuff recently published at About.com, including looks at three albums from Hells Headbangers Records in the latest batch of "shorties." You can read my reviews of albums from Cerekloth, Cultes Des Ghoules, and Impious Baptism here.

The T-Shirt Haul....

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 14:46:00 +0000

I just forgot to include this with the last post.

Lightning Swords Of Death at the Black Castle

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 02:02:00 +0000

Bands: Lightning Swords Of Death, Ritual Combat, Sein Und Zeit, Valdur, and Maledict

Venue: The Black Castle, Los Angeles

Date: April 6th, 2013

As the refrain goes, another week, another Hatewar show. OK, that's not always the case and, truth be told, I've not been to a Hatewar show in awhile, but you can bet that the lineup is going to have some quality, never mind the headliners. Speaking of the headliners, one of Los Angeles' best kept secrets, Lightning Swords Of Death, are on the cusp of hitting it "big" (at least, as far as black metal goes), if independent local press coverage is any indication. Baphometic Chaosium, the new album from Lightning Swords Of Death, is a huge stride in slickly done, top quality black metal, and should easily end up in "Best of the Year" lists (including my own).

Lightning Swords Of Death are about to embark on a national tour in support of Melechesh and Vreid, a tour that will give them a much wider exposure than they've been able to previously attain. Naturally, a warmup is in order, so Lightning Swords Of Death recently headlined a Hatewar show at none other than the Black Castle. Six other bands made up the under card, more than a few of them being noteworthy.

Maledict

The smartest thing you can do when attending a show at the Black Castle is to eat a protein rich meal ahead of time, as you'll be standing afterwards for five hours or more (or, sitting on the grimy floor, and don't even ask about the bathrooms). So, with that in mind, we arrived just in time to catch Maledict after missing the first two bands. A decent black metal trio with thrash metal influences, Maledict have improved since I've seen them last.

Valdur

Valdur are now a completely different band, and are coming into their own. Vocalist/ guitarist Thor is now long gone, and Sam has taken his place. With the new lineup, the trio have altered their sound, becoming a much more ornery beast. I must admit that I was initially disappointed when Thor left Valdur, as the band had embodied a certain majestic, primeval element, an element not easily attained. I feared that element would be lost, and very rough early material from the new Valdur did not change my mind.

However, Valdur have now tightened up considerably and have written a new round of taut, cohesive songs. Valdur blisters with fury, firmly straddling the line between black and death metal. A new sense of majesty is creeping in to the music, one that will hopefully come across with a new album, one that is now being recorded.

Sein Und Zeit

The surprise of the evening were Sein Und Zeit. Previously a one man band consisting of a screeching guitarist and a drum machine, my previous exposure to Sein Und Zeit a couple of years ago was not particularly memorable. Sein Und Zeit is now a full quartet. A full, fat guitar sound, roaring drums, and a galloping gait now give the music a tremendous weight, allowing Sein Und Zeit to be a fully fledged band that just blew me away. Creepy nihilism enters the picture with a hooded vocalist in S&M garb brandishing a knife. Definitely weird, as it is obvious that Sein Und Ziet are going for that aesthetic. Black metal? Performance art? Both.

Ritual Combat

The scraggly haired guy that always salutes me with a beer at every black metal show in Los Angeles is the bassist/ vocalist of Ritual Combat, and is a former member of Nokturne (who appear to be on hiatus). Ritual Combat are a full throated roar, an all out assault of very fast, war themed black metal. Blistering guitars, a loud bass, rasps, and punctuated drumming characterize the aural attack, and Ritual Combat's scant recorded output demands my attention.

Lightning Swords Of Death

Lightning Swords Of Death demonstrated this evening that they are ready to take the next step into the national spotlight with an electrifying show charged with atmosphere. Autarch is the perfect frontman with an eerie, dominating presence. The musicians in Lightning Swords Of Death are all excellent, with bassist Menno being a standout. Catch this band on the upcoming Melechesh/ Vreid tour. I certainly will be doing so.

The Black Castle

Some improvements have appeared! The bathroom is still a mess, but the air conditioning is fixed, and the bar is inside. I guess the place has a liquor license? This was in question previously as beer used to be sold out of the back of a U-Haul truck parked in the alley behind the venue.

Spiritual Beggars Earth Blues

Aosoth IV - An Arrow In Heart

Short review of Deathchain Ritual Death Metal

Skull Reviews the Evil Dead Remake

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 03:05:00 +0000

It will come as a surprise to no one that Skull is an Evil Dead fan. So, naturally, he traipsed out to the theater the day of the release of the new remake of the original Sam Raimi classic. Here's his take....

Evil Dead (2013)

Directed by Fede Alvarez

Review by Skull

"Being a huge fan of Sam Raimi's Evil Dead franchise, I had been waiting in high anticipation of the recently released remake of (The) Evil Dead. However, my excitement was somewhat held in check considering the plethora of remakes being purged from Hollywood's bowels over the last few years. But, as was with 2011's prequel to The Thing, I had to make sure I attended a screening of Evil Dead on opening weekend. Being as skeptical as I was, and as ready as I was to be disappointed by this film, I was quite surprised by the finished product.

Seeing that Evil Dead is so fresh, I don't wish to spoil anything for anyone, but I will give the buildup and I will omit the opening scene from the accounting. Five young adults (Mia, David, Eric, Olivia, and Natalie) head up to an isolated cabin to help Mia go through withdrawals while trying to kick a drug habit. Upon inspection of the cabin's cellar, they smell rot and decay, and find the source in a room with carcasses of dead animals hanging from the ceiling. And, can you guess what else they found in this room of death? Yep! Our old pal, "Naturom Demonto," wrapped in barbed wire, just happens to by lying around! Eric, a studious fellow, is immediately drawn to it and clips away the wire to do a flip through. The handwritten warnings to not mess with the book are not enough to deter THIS young fellow from doing what we know he MUST do, and incantations are read. Mia, weakened from her dope sickness is the first to be suffer the effects of Eric's carelessness but Olivia, an RN in place to clinically oversee Mia's condition, explains it all away to withdrawals. And they all learn quickly enough that Olivia is way wrong.

Chaos ensues. I will give no more details from here on out. But know this: There is no campiness in what transpires. There is absolutely NO comic relief. Much of it is quite brutal, in fact. I caught myself wincing and cringing over and over from the creative pain inflicted on these kids. And I enjoyed every second of it.

I'm not a big fan of CGI, and it was definitely put into play in Evil Dead, but not to a nauseating degree. The film captures the desperate, hopeless atmosphere of the original (The) Evil Dead exponentially, and great care is taken to be true to the 1981 film. Many nods are made in its direction for us to enjoy. There's even a shot of Ash's 1973 Oldsmobile Delta 88 rusted out and useless. And, in case you were worried, yes there is a female/ living forest "love scene."

It's not perfect. I found many, silly flaws and could have done without some of the corniness of the climax. But all in all, Evil Dead, in my opinion, is well worth the price of admission and a romping good time. Raimi, Campbell, and Tapert did a mighty fine job putting this together. I look forward to the sequel for sure.

Stick around for the credit cookie."

Short reviews of Abyssal Novit Enim Dominus Qui Sunt Eius and Chasma Codex Constellatia

Lightning Swords Of Death et al

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 07 Apr 2013 19:39:00 +0000

Lightning Swords Of Death et al, a set on Flickr.

The Black Castle, Los Angeles, April 6th, 2013.

Chris Davison looks at some recent releases from Svart Records

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:15:00 +0000

Svart Records Round Up – March / April 2013

By: Chris Davison

Courtesy of your ever-loving editor in chief, The Dragon Of M87, I was sent three releases from those frightfully nice chaps down at Svart Records to review. Looking at their roster, it's quite an eclectic, yet strong, selection of noise-mongerers that the good folk there have assembled from their base of war deep within Finland.

First up is a mini-album from Jess And The Ancient Ones entitled Astral Sabbat. In fact, while reading along to my thoughts, why not fire up their latest video, to be found here. It's fair to say that Jess And The Ancient Ones may not be properly regarded as heavy metal, coming off as more of a retro-inspired, ‘60's style dark occult rock band with some vaguely metal leanings. It's no worse for it, being an enjoyable, shlocky take on the genre, complete with some very Munsters-esque organ flourishes on the likes of their title track. The principal attractions here, I think, are the organ flourishes, which are rather more enjoyable than other bands of their ilk, and of course the rich, textured voice of Jess herself. The band themselves are also Finnish, though their sound is very, very American. Classic hard rock and metal fans are going to be in their element here, with a fine selection of songs that wouldn't be out of place being sung by Ghost. File under “excellent.”

Next on the agenda is In-Graved, a traditional doom band. “OK, so what?” I can almost hear you ask. Actually, this is Victor Griffin's In-Graved. Yes, THAT Victor Griffin. He of Deathrow, Pentagram, Place Of Skulls, and Cathedral (briefly, live – trivia fans). That ought to be enough to make even you completely stoned doomers at the back perk up a bit and keen your ears. A succinct, surprisingly aggressive and upbeat collection of traditional doom tracks here – numbering a mere eight, thus never outstaying its welcome. While retaining the classic Victor Griffin guitar tone – warm, pleasingly analogue, soulful, and yet groovy and swinging – this is an album that simply oozes class. Truth be told, I haven't really enjoyed anything from Pentagram since Review Your Choices from 1994, and this is a collection of tracks that's much stronger than that album. Numbers such as “Thorns In The Flesh,” with its swinging, swaggering main riff and tasteful organ sound, has one foot in the machismo and bombast of modern metal as it does in classic riff-ology. Griffin's voice is also spot on here – much like a smoother, more tuneful Wino, the voice perfectly meshing with the music. Excellent doom metal, delivered with a flourish from one of the true masters of the genre. Another winner.

Last, but not least, comes the thundering, leaden doom of Norway's High Priest Of Saturn with their self-titled four track EP. I say EP, but the shortest of these four tracks weighs in at a healthy nine minutes. I can't recall many Norwegian stoner / doom bands – the last that I reviewed was Sahg, and this is really a different kettle of fish altogether. Meshing together a number of influences, from Deep Purple-esque organ touches, the leaden pace and drugged-up bass fuzz of Electric Wizard with the saturnine (sic) riffing to match, and truly epic Wardian drumming, High Priest Of Saturn have produced a slow burning mammoth of a release. The echo-ey, almost wailing vocals of Merethe Heggset are a distant, almost coincidental affair. Meanwhile, while she sings, the music continues to lurch ever onwards into the psychedelic haze of the organ, slowly shaking its head as it goes. A fine, mellow release that's best enjoyed with red meat, red wine, and red lighting.

Toxic Holocaust From The Ashes Of Nuclear Destruction

A quick look at Ash Borer Bloodlands

Metal Alliance Tour.... Well, most of it, anyway....

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 18:48:00 +0000

This is a late post, but I was out of town for the last few days. I managed to attend the opening date of the Metal Alliance Tour at the House of Blues in Anaheim, California, on March 22nd (I had to skip the Sunset Strip show). I covered the concert in an official manner for Heavy Metal at About.com. You can read my official writeup here.

However, Exodus were not allowed to play as they've been banned from that venue. Unfortunately, even here in largely secular Southern California, you can't quite escape the fascism of "fundamentalist christians".

Holy Grail

Municipal Waste

High On Fire

Anthrax

The t-shirt haul!

Short review of Behold Mighty Doctrine by Lecherous Nocturne...

Full review of VON Dark Gods: Seven Billion Slaves

Full review of Six Feet Under Unborn

Anthrax

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:54:00 +0000

High On Fire

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 30 Mar 2013 15:51:00 +0000

Metal Alliance: Holy Grail

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:35:00 +0000

Metal Alliance: Holy Grail, a set on Flickr.

Holy Grail at the HOB Anaheim. March 22, 2013.

Metal Alliance: Municipal Waste

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:33:00 +0000

Metal Alliance: Municipal Waste, a set on Flickr.

Municipal Waste at the HOB Anaheim. March 22, 2013.

Metal Alliance: High On Fire

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:30:00 +0000

Metal Alliance: High On Fire, a set on Flickr.

High On Fire at the HOB Anaheim. March 22, 2013.

Metal Alliance: Anthrax

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 18:24:00 +0000

Metal Alliance: Anthrax, a set on Flickr.

Anthrax at the HOB Anaheim. March 22, 2013.

Oceans Of Slumber Aetherial

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 01:21:00 +0000

Oceans Of Slumber Aetherial

(Self Released)

By: Death Metal Pauly

Oceans Of Slumber are rooted in progressive metal, but also incorporate a myriad of influences from many other genres. Aetherial, the debut full-length from Oceans Of Slumber, is a challenging listen, to say the least, and covers a lot of ground with twists and turns designed to keep the listener guessing as to what’s coming next. This is a risky venture, as it can be sometimes difficult for fans to connect to a band where there’s just so much going on, especially when that amount of coverage almost confuses a band’s identity. This is not quite the case for Oceans of Slumber, but it is damn close.

The body of Aetherial is pure Dream Theater worship. Layered on top, however, are some elements of brutal death metal blasting and riffing, Fear Factory-esque clean vocals, Cradle of Filth-like screams, doom-laden headbanging passages, jazzy interludes, etc. The foundation of ‘prog’ keeps things flowing along as the band here and there throws all of these elements at the listener like it’s a game of dodge ball for Ritalin users. Aetherial really is a smorgasbord of all your favorite genres.

But does it all work? In fact, it does. Oceans Of Slumber go for the gold, and they reach it. Aetherial is perfect for those times when you just want a little bit of everything in an unpredictable package. There’s quite a lot going on, but it’s structured in a way that all makes sense and the transitions for the most part are seamless. This is no surprise, as the band is comprised of some talented musicians from established acts such as Insect Warfare, Ingurgitate, and Demoniacal Genuflection. Standout tracks include the album opener, “God In Skin,” the moody and melancholic “Only A Corpse,” and the title track.

I highly recommend this album to all fans of death, black, and doom metal, but who also happen to have an appreciation of metal’s more progressive side.

Oceans Of Slumber Official Facebook

Short reviews of albums from Enforcer….

Lifeless….

…and Necrocurse

Formal review of Unborn, the new album from Six Feet Under…

Master at The Joint

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 02:51:00 +0000

Sometime around early 1984 or so, I happened to catch Chicago's very own traditional metal band War Cry at a bar in Skokie that was doing a "teen night" sort of thing. Heading up the festivities were War Cry, a traditional/ pop metal band that was flirting with glam and was, therefore, quite boring as I had left Shout At The Devil and Out Of The Cellar in the dust for Show No Mercy and Kill 'Em All a year or so prior. However, the bassist for War Cry obviously did not fit, as he was wearing a Slayer t-shirt. The bassist turned out to be Paul Speckmann.

Maybe a year or so later, some friends of mine and I attended some party being put on by RPM, a metal-oriented radio show run by a couple of Northwestern University students (Skull was with me on both of these occasions). Most of the stuff they rotated through their setlist was crap, but every now and then, they'd play a track from Metallica or so. During the party, some guy kept yelling, "Why don't you fuckers play some Slayer?!" I remember catching his eye and nodding in agreement. That guy was Paul Speckmann.

I soon moved away from the Chicago area to go to college, and only sporadically returned. I missed the beginnings of Death Strike and, a little bit later, Master. If I only knew to look, I probably could've caught either in some garage somewhere; but, alas, I never did get the chance to see Speckmann in Master.

I finally had my chance last Friday night as Master put in a very rare appearance in Los Angeles. I was thoroughly wiped out from a killer week at work; but, even going on just four hours of sleep or so for each of the previous three nights, I was determined to hit this show (I also said that about a rare appearance from Krieg scheduled for the following night, but, unfortunately, I didn't make it off my couch after 5pm the next day). The opening headliner of a semi-formal, more or less low level, couple of weeks long "festival" of underground acts scattered all over Los Angeles, Master played over a bunch of no-names at The Joint, a venue in West L.A. Included, however, were semi-locals Sacrificial Slaughter and Fisthammer, both being decent death metal acts with Sacrificial Slaughter definitely being the better of the two.

Most of the openers that I happened to catch were pretty lousy, but Pro-Fe-Cia were worth a laugh. Before their appearance, their "roadies" walked amongst the very sparse crowd, handing out flyers of the band printed on glossy paper with multiple colors. Who knows how many ink cartridges were burned setting all of this up? Then, as Pro-Fe-Cia made their grand appearance on stage, they were preceded by professional photographers with high end cameras who were assigned with capturing it all for posterity. Say, what?!

Pro-Fe-Cia are pedestrian, crunchy death metal with barked vocals in Spanish; but, they are obviously going for the laughs by being a semi-parody of Brujeria. Rather than cloaking themselves in drug cartel mystique, though, the celebration is for all things Lucha Libre with the vocalist donning a wrestling mask. During their set, he would periodically disappear backstage, only to emerge with cheap band t-shirts that he would subsequently make a big deal of displaying to the crowd; then, he would toss the shirts out to the various punters in the crowd, who, by now, were setting about consuming mass quantities of Dos Equis in salutation. Bizarre.

As I expected, Fisthammer were decent with a short set that showed some promise. A tightening up of the musicianship and getting rid of the high-pitched shrieks would probably be a good idea, but Fisthammer were worth a look. Sacrificial Slaughter were much better with their all-out assault of grindcore-tinged gore/ death metal. Fast as Hell with a very loud delivery and powerful vocals, I enjoyed Sacrificial Slaughter's also relatively short set. A split with Enfuneration on Horror Pain Gore Death Productions from a few months back is my only prior exposure to Sacrificial Slaughter , but they've just released a new album on Ossuary Industries entitled The Great Oppression that I intend to track down in some manner.

After Sacrificial Slaughter finished, I noticed Paul Speckmann manning the merchandise table for a few minutes before he was set to get ready to perform. I made a point of going over to say hello and to buy a classic Death Strike shirt from him. He turned out to be quite nice and graciously chatted with me for a few minutes.

Finally, after a very long night, Master took the stage to a crowd of about 40 people or so crowding into The Joint. Master is basically Speckmann and, although he records with a regular cadre of musicians, this tour featured a live session guitarist and drummer. No matter; Speckmann and company raced through a slew of Master and Death Strike classics, including "Funeral Bitch," "Pledge Of Allegiance," "The Truth," "Slaves To Society," and "The New Elite."

Classic death metal.

Master Official Facebook

I had some camera problems (bad battery). So, here are a few iPhone shots.

Pro-Fe-Cia

Fisthammer

Sacrificial Slaughter

Master

An interesting sculpture at The Joint...

The t-shirt haul (front and back)....

Master et al

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 02:16:00 +0000

Master et al, a set on Flickr.

Master and a bunch of openers at The Joint. Los Angeles, March 2, 2013.

Backlit/ 1

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 18:08:00 +0000

Another poison arrow in the heart of print is now unleashed! The "first" official issue of Backlit has just been published! Although I did not have a chance to contribute to this particular issue, I will be contributing at least two articles to the next issue, Backlit/ 2.

Backlit / 1

March, 2013

Now available!

Cover Art by Christian Edler

Articles, Columns & Interviews:

Frayed Threads of Vanity / Kyle Harcott
Worship Black Twilight / Jordan Campbell
Interview With Wreck & Reference / Josh Haun
Interview With Voivoid / Josh Haun
Midnight Ride of the Graveyard Mule / Jordan Campbell
Doomsday Device #2 / Josh Haun
Raping Angels in America #2 / Josh Haun
Libations in the Labyrinth Vol. 2 / Danhammer Obstkrieg
Beneath The Grime #1 / Jon Rosenthal
Progressive Regression / Jordan Campbell

Art & Fiction:
Perfume Virus / Jordan Krall
Interview with Christian Edler / Brandon Duncan & Philip Tyson

Overlords:
Joshua Haun
Brandon Duncan

Contributing Writers:
Joshua Haun
Jordan Campbell
Dan Obstkrieg
Kyle Harcott
Jon Rosenthal

Copy Editor:
Dan Obstkrieg

Design:
Brandon Duncan
Philip Tyson
Spencer Walker

Orange Goblin A Eulogy For The Fans Live 2013

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 01:20:00 +0000

Orange Goblin A Eulogy for the Fans Live 2013

(Candlelight Records)

By: Chris Davison

Orange Goblin: true gems in the British metal fraternity. They've been plugging their wares ceaselessly since 1995; or, 1994, if you count their demo as Our Haunted Kingdom. While they've tinkered around the edges of their sound – moving away slightly from the psychedelic overtones of their debut Frequencies From Planet Ten to a slight flirtation with scuzzy desert rock on Coup De Grace, and finally to the thunderous Black Sabbath and Saxon having a bar fight with Motörhead of A Eulogy For The Damned - they're broadly the same smiling, happy-to-play denim-and-leather diehards that they've always been. They're also pound for pound one of the best live outfits out there. I've seen them four times, and on each occasion they've left me with a huge grin on my massive, swollen head.

A Eulogy for the Fans Live 2013 – barring the live DVD that was packaged with the first pressing of Healing Through Fire - is the first live release from the band. Orange Goblin have a complete host of riches to pick through when it comes to choosing what material to record, playing with their general swagger and stoner take on classic metal themes. This album will be released with a DVD – which sadly wasn't included on the review copy, but will prove to be an amazing sight. I know, because I was at this very live show – recorded at the Bloodstock Open Air festival, Derby, in August, 2011. There were huge amounts of great bands there this year, but Orange Goblin really took the prize as best of the weekend.

This live album really does showcase not only the power of the band, their amazing back catalog and self-assured stage presence, but it also provides evidence of the amazingly under rated skills of guitarist Joe Hoare. He cuts a relatively unassuming figure on the live stage, particularly when stood next to the leviathan stage presence of vocalist Ben Ward, but he somehow makes his guitar sound like two. He's also been responsible for some of the tastiest, catchiest riffs this side of classic AC/DC. I could quibble about the set list – for while I love “Acid Trial,” for instance, I would have preferred to have heard “Born With Big Hands” given another airing. This is a churlish complaint, however. What you have here is the sound of a band that loves its fans, giving them an amazing show at “the best heavy metal party in the world.” It's an amazing sound.

Orange Goblin Official Facebook

Vex Memorious

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

Vex Memorious

(Horror Pain Gore Death Productions)

By: Chris Davison

There was a time when reviewing bands was easy. You could almost do it by geography, without listening to the album itself. From Sweden, you say? Ah, that'll be melodeath, then. From Norway? Black Metal. From the U.S.? Ah, it'll probably sound like Pantera, but with even more boneheaded riffing. Those days are long gone, and it isn't any longer the sole preserve of England and Ireland to produce vast, epic heavy metal that doesn't really care for genre conventions. Vex are from Austin, Texas. They don't do Pantera riffs. They do intelligent, intriguing, epic heavy metal.

At this point in the review, I should probably be telling you what genre box this neatly folds into, follow it up with some more biographical detail, and then wrap it up with a bow made entirely of cliches. I shall not be doing that. This is frankly an album that deserves more respect than that. Over the last decade or so, I have become a firm fan of a loose style of metal that you'd probably just lump together by calling “epic.” While the term itself has become largely debased by the Internet Special Needs Brigade, it still holds firm for any kind of metal that paints huge, sprawling mental landscapes through subtle, lengthy songs. I'd lump together otherwise disparate bands such as Primordial, Winterfylleth and Solstice under this banner. I insist that Vex also assemble under this banner. What kind of metal is this, musically? It takes some of the fury of death metal, some of the more appealing thrash riffing from time to time, and the hoarse, rasping vocals of a black metal band. The rhythm occasionally dips into doom territory. You see how pointless this genre grasping is? All that matters is that these are complex, catchy and engaging tracks. The seven and a half minutes of “Wasteland,” for instance, are a journey into dynamics, fury and quiet.

Memorious is an excellent album, which although a long, sprawling affair, seems to be over far too soon. It's a piece of work that can properly be called a piece of art. The production is clear and punchy, though the bass is a little flat to my ears – but to focus in on that criticism would be curmudgeonly of me. I've listened to this album over a dozen times in its entirety over the last few weeks, and that's really the true measure of a good album. I love it. You should, too.

Vex Official Facebook

Editor: I liked this album a lot, as well, and you can revisit my short write up of the album here.

Imminent...

Terminate Ascending To Red Heavens

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 23:39:00 +0000

Terminate Ascending To Red Heavens

(Selfmadegod Records)

By: Death Metal Pauly

Hailing from Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Terminate play Death Metal that sounds like it was recorded in Sweden circa 1992 or so, canned for a couple decades, and now unleashed upon the world. This is not the case, however, as Terminate are a relatively new band, having formed in 2010. Terminate received favorable reviews for both their self-released demo in 2011 and their first official release in 2012, an EP entitled Thirst For The Obscene. This year, Terminate have signed to Poland’s Selfmadegod Records, and the label has just released the band’s debut full-length album Ascending To Red Heavens.

With no intro or warning to cushion the blow, the listener is assaulted immediately upon pressing ‘Play’. The guitars sound filthy and cruel with that chainsaw guitar tone that Dismember and Entombed made famous. This is appropriate since the riffing is similar to both bands and also reminiscent of one of my favorites, the criminally underrated Desultory. The vocals are pure Martin van Drünen worship and are done exceedingly well. This is actually one of my favorite aspects of the album, since this is a style that is not easy to replicate. Vocalist/ guitarist John Porada perfectly nails it. The bass lines are cool, although the production on the bass is a little thin. The drumming is solid and competent; nothing very flashy, but it gets the job done.

Fans of Terminate who have been following the band will recognize the demo and EP songs re-recorded here. Sounding cleaner but somehow still just as dirty, these recordings make the songs sound monstrous and they hold their own alongside the previously unreleased songs. My favorite of the bunch is definitely the title track. At over five minutes, this is the longest track and also the one that goes for the glory. The vocals are just plain nasty on this one.

Although Terminate are a vicious band, there are some good dynamics mixed in the songs to make things interesting. Nothing innovative and not exactly breaking new ground, but awesome just the same. Although I enjoyed most of the album, I was already familiar with the previously released songs and this just makes me hungry for more. I look forward to the next album, which should be a collection of nothing but brand new material.

Terminate Official Facebook

Editor: I liked this one, as well. Thanks, Death Metal Pauly!

Here are some recently published reviews at Heavy Metal at About.com. First up is a long review of the monstrous new album from Suffocation, Pinnacle Of Bedlam.

Next up, in short review format, are reviews of new albums from The Beyond, Enshadowed, and Kongh.

"Honey! Valentine's Day is coming up! Where are you taking me this year?"

noreply@blogger.com (The Dragon of M87) — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 04:06:00 +0000

Skull returns! Who knows from what Lovecraftian depths he has crawled out from, but Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and we all know what that means, right? Yep, Skull and the Lady Skull Kelly are gonna traipse out to see a slew of gore metal bands for none other than Miguel “Goregrinder” Medina’s 29^th birthday!

Who needs flowers and chocolate when Kelly is perfectly happy to go see bands called Mass Murder Messiah, Asphyxiator, Waking Chaos, and Sexual Atrocities?!

Take it away, Skull!

Miguel’s 29^th B-Day Brutality Bash

Venue: Stage Bar on Cicero Avenue in Chicago

Bands: See above!

By: Skull

So, once again, I’ve found myself to be in somewhat of a Metal drought lately. I’ll spare you my litany of pitiful excuses. We’ll just chalk it up to old age (editor: and pizza) for now. However, after receiving a late night text on Friday from Chicago Metal staple, Miguel “Goregrinder” Medina, inviting Kelly and myself to be his guests the following evening at his birthday bash, I simply couldn’t resist. After all, I’ve attended his birthday soirees for the last couple of years and have enjoyed them immensely.

Kelly and I arrived at Stage Bar, in far northern Chicago right at 9:30pm when the four band BDM/ Gore Metal bill was set to kick off. Naturally, we arrived only to find out that in typical Metal fashion, the opening act would begin a tad later to give some of the procrastinating punters a chance to trickle in. We took advantage of the time to catch up with Paul “Death Metal Pauly” Garcia and our gracious host, Miguel.

Approximately an hour later, Mass Murder Messiah broke our cherries and fired up. Fresh off an extensive tour of Mexico (of all places), Mass Murder Messiah were vocally pleased to be back in the States, and more specifically, back in Chicago in time for Miguel’s bash. Hailing from the land of cheese (editor: also known as “Wisconsin”), Mass Murder Messiah’s lineup had changed a bit since the last time that I saw them, as they have a flesh and blood drummer. Unfortunately, they had to play their set without their bassist who had taken ill. Montezuma’s Revenge, perhaps?

Mass Murder Messiah got the crowd’s blood pumping with a slew of blasts ranging from a few seconds to several minutes. The crowd, which numbered about thirty by this point, quickly fell under their spell and reacted favorably to the offerings. We were even the first lucky audience in the USA to hear their newest ditty, “2,000 Pesos,” live. What I specifically noticed was how Mass Murder Messiah have grown over the last year as they played with a polish and a professionalism that was not as apparent in my last experience with them. A well played set it was!

After a quick changeover, Miguel’s project Asphyxiator took the stage, a stage that was almost obscured from the output of a fog machine that smelled suspiciously of, ahem, dope smoke. A labor of love for Miguel, Asphyxiator have also grown somewhat over the last year. Taking risks with more aggressive and complex song structures, a strong effort was made to pummel the room. A three piece ensemble this evening with a guitarist, Paul Garcia standing in at bass, Miguel with his brutal vocals, and programmed drums, Asphyxiator cranked out new material and even covered Mortician’s “Slaughtered” to the delight of the crowd. By the end of the set, Miguel was dripping in his trademark fake blood and the growing mob was churning in front of the stage.

In between sets, we had a chance to chew the fat and catch up with Rick Hernandez of Reign Inferno. It’s always good to see him.

Next up were Waking Chaos, a homegrown product of Chicago. Somewhat of a step back in brutality from the first two bands, Waking Chaos launched into a set of tight, clean, and very competent Death and Thrash Metal that impressed the Hell out of me. Another trio with the drummer taking most of the vocal duties amidst some very flashy guitar work, Waking Chaos bounced back and forth between heavy, chugging riffs and gallops with ease. These guys could be Slayer and Bolt Thrower’s hate child. The fifty or so metalheads that now filled the room roared their approval as this was, hands down, the best set of the night!

The next break was more extended as Sexual Atrocities set up to play. They kicked into gear and unleashed a full out onslaught upon the crowd. Hailing from Packerland (editor: also known as “Wisconsin”), Sexual Atrocities leaned heavily on their 2012 release Planet Of The Rapes. My favorite piece of their set was definitely “Drug Crazed Retard,” a minor classic.

Sexual Atrocities were fast, tight, brutal, and really freaking loud. As usual, they peppered the audience with lots of comedic banter in between numbers and, along with Mass Murder Messiah and Waking Chaos earlier, gave Miguel lots of good-natured ribbing for being the birthday boy. Sexual Atrocities even had Miguel doing beer bongs on stage with a receiving end that was shaped as a female mammary gland. At this point, the crowd went nuts with adoration as head banging and moshing abounded.

Unfortunately, partway through their performance, I looked out the window to see the city’s Skull-Symbol cast upon the clouds. Police Commissioner Dagon obviously had a job for me to do, so Kelly and I had to split a bit early. Upon leaving, though, I couldn’t help but feel cheap, beaten, dirty and disgustingly violated. Curiously enough, I haven’t blown an audible fart since (editor: you have no idea how unusual this is).

Special thanks to Miguel for the invite and hookup. Happy birthday, bro!

Mass Murder Messiah

Asphyxiator

Waking Chaos

Sexual Atrocities