SHOW REPORT: THE DECIBEL MAGAZINE TOUR (CARCASS, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, GORGUTS) — THE NEWPORT MUSIC HALL, COLUMBUS, APRIL 6, 2014

 Concert Reviews  10 Responses »
May 142014
 

(In this post our man BadWolf reviews the performances of Carcass, The Black Dahlia Murder, and Gorguts at the Columbus, Ohio stop of the DECIBEL MAGAZINE TOUR, and the photos are his too!)

For the purposes of this review, let’s accept a false dichotomy: that there is a real and tangible difference between ‘mainstream’ extreme metal music, and ‘underground’ metal music. It’s a bullshit claim perpetuated by a self-important blogosphere and a sometimes-right-sometimes-wrong minority of metalheads with a serious penchant for nostalgia, but assume for a moment that it is true.

If so, then up until three years ago, the large package tour was exclusively in the domain of mainstream metal music. Mayhem, Summer Slaughter, and their progenitor, Ozzfest, are each the domain of the popular music industry. Even the Metal Alliance Tour falls into this trap to a lesser degree (mostly in its over-abundance of bands with too-short set lists).

The occultocrati’s sole entity in this realm has become the Decibel Magazine Tour, which year after year has presented solid and cohesive lineups that stand on the razor’s edge between critical acclaim and commercial viability. It was a bold move in 2012: when I caught that first Decibel tour (reviewed here), there was no guarantee it would happen again. Who could have predicted the way that the tour would break the careers of bands like In Solitude, or poise groups like Behemoth and Watain for the kind of massive album sales they’ve enjoyed since. Continue reading »

SHOW REVIEW: BEHEMOTH, GOATWHORE, 1349, INQUISITION, BLACK CROWN INITIATE, DRAWN AND QUARTERED — LIVE IN SEATTLE

 Concert Reviews  34 Responses »
May 052014
 

Behemoth, Goatwhore, 1349, Inquisition, Black Crown Initiate, and Drawn and Quartered performed at Studio Seven in Seattle on Saturday night (May 3, 2014). It was one of my most eagerly anticipated shows of the year. But I had a sinking feeling about it before the concert began.

I paid extra to get advance VIP tickets for myself and some friends (for what turned out to be a sold-out show) because they promised a meet-and-greet and early admission. An e-mail from the ticket-seller notified us that we needed to be at the venue no later than 3:45 for the meet-and-greet, and even earlier than that to pick up the tickets at will-call. This provoked groans, given that the show wasn’t scheduled to begin until 6:00. Of course, this was a metal show, and the odds were high that nothing would actually happen at 3:45, but we didn’t want to risk missing what we’d paid extra for. So we were there at 3:30. And of course nothing happened until 4:15.

In the meantime, we got soaked when the drizzling rain outside the venue became a downpour. And while shaking ourselves like wet dogs in a doorway we speculated that since this was the last stop of the tour, the promoters might have been having trouble waking up any of the musicians for the meet-and-greet. This suspicion was strengthened when we were finally ushered inside, to find obviously fatigued representatives from all the touring bands sitting along a long row of shadow-shrouded tables in the dark venue, waiting one-by-one to sign tour posters we were given at the door. Continue reading »

THE OCEAN, SCALE THE SUMMIT, THE ATLAS MOTH: LIVE AT THE PIKE ROOM, PONTIAC, MI — 3/24/14

 Concert Reviews  8 Responses »
Apr 212014
 

(BadWolf turns in this live show review and also proves he’s got some photographic skills.)

This summer, progressive rock legends Yes announced not only that they would tour, but that their show would consist of not one but two—two!—of their classic records, 1971’s Fragile and 1972’s Close to the Edge, in their entirety.

What in the fuck does this have to do with The Ocean? More than you’d think.

On their spring co-headlining tour with Scale The Summit, The Ocean elected to play their 2013 album Pelagial front-to-back. It’s a bold move. Metal fans, as a rule, demand the old stuff. Even if the new Metallica record is awesome, nobody will want to hear more than a single song from it in a live setting—everybody will want to hear Master of Puppets in its entirety. The former album, no matter how slick, will enver have the ‘classic’ status that we attribute to their older work.

Then again, sometimes a band can smell a classic the minute they shit it out. Continue reading »

SHOW REVIEW: BLOOD OF THE WOLF FEST

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Mar 172014
 

(Our long-standing supporter and guest writer Black Shuck turns in this report on the inaugural Blood of the Wolf Fest, which took place in Lexington, Kentucky, on Feb 22, 2014. All photos are by AnnSydney Taylor.)

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of experiencing the dark, mysterious ritual known as the Blood of the Wolf Fest. What’s that, you haven’t heard of it? That’s because this was the first one to ever take place. I’d be very suspicious if you had. (For any reader who had heard about it, take your scrying pool and begone, wizard. We’ll hold no truck with your starry-hatted nonsense here.)

This festival was the brainchild of those Kentuckian warriors of chaos, Tombstalker. Primarily organized by vocalist/guitarist Anton Escobar and bassist Chuck McIntyre, the lineup featured several bands from a group known as the Wolven Brotherhood. The Brotherhood was founded several years ago by Tombstalker and Dawn of Wolves (now Valdrin), when they released their split Cemetery Wolven Ritual (are you sensing a theme here?). The Brotherhood has now expanded to include many other bands from across the country. Presumably their collective subject material has also expanded to cover things that are not wolves, although I hold out hope that I will have a place there once my one-man black metal band, Death to the Three Little Pigs, gets off the ground.

Anyways, on with the fest. Note: All of the excellent photographs that appear here were taken by one AnnSydney Taylor. The festival poster and banner were designed by Lucas Ruggieri. Continue reading »

THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT / TALANAS / BEYOND GRACE — UK TOUR REPORT

 Concert Reviews, Metal News  8 Responses »
Mar 142014
 

(Andy Synn provides this report on the recently completed UK tour by The Monolith Deathcult, Talanas, and Andy’s band Beyond Grace.)

So I’ve been harangued into putting together a short (relatively) report of the happenings and happenstances of our tour last month. Frankly, I’m not entirely sure where to start as I’m writing this now, other than to say that – despite the inevitable stresses that came about – I wish I was still on tour now. Playing a show every night, to new people, in a new place… well, that 30 mins onstage you get makes all the rest of it worthwhile.

DAY 01 – BRIGHTON, STICKY MIKE’S FROG BAR

My first piece of advice for any of you going on tour – try to get a good night’s sleep the night before you leave. Definitely don’t stay up late sending out digital promos and organising the launch of your new EP so that you only have time to get in 3 hours before having to go collect the van, drive it back to load your backline, then drive down to London (and then on to Brighton). Yeah, don’t do that. Continue reading »

SHOW REPORT: KVELERTAK, SPIDERS, HÅLL DET ÄKTA — LIVE IN UMEÅ, SWEDEN (FEB 1, 2014)

 Concert Reviews  5 Responses »
Feb 072014
 

(Last December, guest writer Johan Paulin compiled for us a wonderful feature on metal bands based in the relatively small town of Umeå in northern Sweden. Today he rejoins us with a lively show report from Umeå, along with photos he took at the event.)

While the rest of Umeå celebrated its inauguration as the 2014 European capital of culture (if you don’t know what that means, don’t worry, neither do we), I headed out to the old slaughterhouse outside of town where Kvelertak, Spiders, and Håll det äkta were preparing to fuck shit up in a most royal of ways.

Truth be told, I was never really sold on Kvelertak’s eclectic mix of punk, metal, and Norwegian insanity. But their second album Meir had slowly warmed me over, and besides, given Umeå’s shitty geographical location, you’re pretty much required to attend whenever a foreign band shows up or have your metal license revoked.

Local band Håll det äkta started off the night with their nimble one-two bursts of hardcore smackdown, channeling both Refused’s first album as well as Gorilla Biscuits and Earth Crisis. With slightly silly lyrics in Swedish and a nasal singer, the band might seem like an acquired taste, but what they lack in vocal brutality they more than make up for with intense tremolo guitars, authoritative drum beats, and instantly mosh-worthy breakdowns that sent the crowd into a pit-frenzy. The band has a strong local following, and their dedication carried the band whenever they happened to lose the plot. Continue reading »

ESCHATOS, CRYPTODIRA, FALL OF THE ALBATROSS, LEFT IN DESPAIR: LIVE AT HAYMARKET WHISKEY BAR (JANUARY 14, 2012)

 Concert Reviews  4 Responses »
Jan 202014
 

(Austin Weber turns in the following show report, and we are once again grateful to Nik Vechery for the kickass photos accompanying his write-up.)

A few weeks ago I worked with a Long Island based group named Cryptodira to premiere their new EP An Unmarked Grave here at NCS. So when I found out they had tour plans that included a date in my hometown of Louisville, I knew to call photographer Nik Vechery, and the plan was set to cover the show.

Nik, as usual, spent the night drinking piss-poor PBR’s while I imbibed some higher-class microbrews that I’ve previously enjoyed called Zombie Dust and Gumballhead. Both are made by Three Floyds Brewery based in neighbouring Munster, Indiana. Each beer has a strange hop that features a unique (to my tastebuds) mango aftertaste that is mouthgasmically sublime.

I also met one-time guest NCS contributor and frequent commenter This is The News aka Tom and his wife, who apparently also reads No Clean Singing. But enough about beer and interwebz-real-life collisions, there was a show after all. What follows is a live music assessment formed by yours truly, the hermit hornswoggler. Continue reading »

SHOW REPORT: CORRECTIONS HOUSE AT HIGHLINE (JAN 2, 2014)

 Concert Reviews  7 Responses »
Jan 192014
 

(My NCS comrades DGR and BadWolf paid me a visit in Seattle over the New Year’s holiday, and herein lies the tale of one of our nights together, as told by Toledo-based BadWolf. The iPhone photos are his, too. Sample music is at the end.)

It was Thursday, January 2nd, and DemiGodRaven’s face was getting a bit red. Islander turned to me, and said “he looks sick.” I swapped out his high-gravity IPA with my mellower lager—each beer, craft-made, sported enough hoppy bitterness to cleanse the palate of formaldehyde. Such is the style in Seattle.

DGR and I, being men of modest means, had saved up some scratch to spend our New Year’s week in Seattle at the NCS home base, which meant two things: live music and booze. At that moment it looked like the libations might take their toll on my fine Corvid co-writer.

Fitting, since we were drinking at The Pine Box, a Public House situated in what was once a morgue. The speakers played The Misfits, our server had a Rancid tattoo, and we were tipsy at 7pm. Perfect. Continue reading »

NEUROSIS, BL’AST, YOB, and HELEN MONEY: LIVE AT THE OBSERVATORY, DEC 28, 2013

 Concert Reviews  8 Responses »
Jan 062014
 

(Guest writer Ben, who last appeared on our site here, now returns with a year-end concert review from Orange County, CA, plus his own photos of the show.)

As I walked into the Observatory in Santa Ana on Saturday night, December 28, I didn’t really know what to expect. What do you get when a band like Neurosis decides to play an end-of-the year gig with openers like reunited punk band Bl’ast, Oregon men of doom YOB, and Los Angeles-based cellist Helen Money? Well, one thing is for sure, you get a diverse crowd. I was almost as excited to see the audience’s response to the artists as I was to see some of the artists playing, just to find out what kind of “vibe” would be produced in the venue. Anyways, enough muttering, on to the music.

HELEN MONEY

If you haven’t heard of Helen Money, I truly recommend you take a listen. Alison Chesley, or Helen Money as she is known via her stage name, is a classically trained cellist, but don’t think she came out and played Beethoven for the crowd on Saturday evening (even though I wouldn’t have been upset if she had). Here are some press quotes found on her official website to give you an idea of the experience, since I’m still at a bit of a loss for words to describe what I encountered: Continue reading »

ANAGNORISIS, ESOTERIC BURIAL, ORDER OF LEVIATHAN, SOUNDS OF LAUGHTER: LIVE AT HAYMARKET WHISKEY BAR, JANUARY 2, 2014

 Concert Reviews  6 Responses »
Jan 062014
 


Anagnorisis – photo by Nik Vechery

(In this post we present a show review by NCS contributor Austin Weber, with typically excellent photos by Nik Vechery and embedded music streams, too.)

While most of the metal community is familiar with the Louisville, KY one-man act Panopticon, many have not heard of another highly talented black metal act from here called Anagnorisis — although Austin Lunn was a big part of Anagnorisis for years before moving on to Panopticon, and even in his absence, Anagnorisis have grown and evolved into quite a formidable act. Their latest full-length, Beyond All Light, surprisingly showed up on many a year-end list, including Stereogum’s coveted metal list. So when I heard they were having a vinyl release show for that record, and that the line-up as a whole was going to be a trifecta of quality pitch-black madness along with one newcomer, I knew I had to contact Nik Vechery and cover the show.

What better way to ring in the new year than to absorb potent heaps of aural filth. Upon getting to the show way too early, the thought occurred to me that the bitter near-freezing cold was a perfect grim fit for the long night of black metal ahead. Through talking with fellow fans, Nik and I figured out we had competition, as Rhys Williams from Invisible Oranges and his photographer were covering the show as well. This is what it’s like when metal blogs collide — cue Powerman 5000! Consider as proof that Anagnorisis are a band worth following, that others besides me and my questionable taste wanted to cover the show as well. Continue reading »

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