25 August 2009

New Converge!!! (oh & rubbish new AFI)


Converge have posted new track 'Dark Horse' to their MySpacepage - and, oh yes, it promises good things to come ;-)

Meanwhile, AFI appear to have forgotten all they ever new of the punk or hardcore worlds and tumbled into bad American highschool movie pop. If you want a cry go to youtube
Gutted.

24 August 2009

Pennywise crumbles

After 20 years and 9 albums, Pennywise singer Jim Lindberg has parted ways with Pennywise. Gutted as they kicked arse live and are responsible for many memories of irresponsible...hee hee.
Still, the band will be continuing without him, meanwhile he can be found working on the film to his book 'Punk Rock Dad'.

18 August 2009

Finish! Him, Agnostic Front & The Aggrolites

A random list of bands, you say. I know, but I saw quite a lot this week. And, hey, why be put off by style variety, eh? That and, to be brutally honest, the band I most looked forward to in this bunch was Agnostic Front, who were an utter disappointment. Hey ho. Yes, they have the songs we remember but the rebellious punk ethos seems to have faded and the energy is nowhere near what you'll find at a Terror or Hatebreed gig. Still, it was fun to hear Gotta Go live for the first time.

Finish! Him were more of a positive surprise...they should be back in London some time this month and are worth a glimpse if you like metalcore with a madddd in your face frontman and a loads of weird keyboard effects :-) It is quite loony and yet heavy - and I for one think there should be more up-and-comers this gutsy.

And ahhhh yes The Aggrolites. HOW COOL ARE THIS LOT?! I realise they are in no way shape or form metal, so don't really belong on this blog, but they had such a slick vibe I had to give them a mention. In the name of music, so to speak. Reggae with a smooth frontman and an absolute insistence that you dance cannot be a bad thing.

21 July 2009

Bane, Terror & PTW photos!

Truly awesome pics of Bane, Terror, Poison The Well... at 10 for Ten Dollar tour in Atlanta. SICK!!!
Check em out on Flikr
Might have to set me up with a giant ceiling poster!

New Caliban & Winds Of Plague


I've been a bit slack of late due to excess work and random nights out drinking fruit beer watching barn-dancing, but this weekend has nicely kicked me up the arse thanks to our boys Astrohenge and Meantime shows.

Soooo...felt it only right to share the news of new releases from Caliban and Winds Of Plague :-)

Winds have taken a rather radical step by adding keyboards and producing a concept album (The Great Stone War) this time around. It tells of the destruction of civilisation, concludes in a final fight with stone (Don't ask...) and is basically an aggressive death meets black metal melodrama. And, by god, it's fun. 20 days left!

Meanwhile, Caliban have done the opposite and stuck with what they do best in Say Hello To Tragedy, and simply rocked out a giant wad of vicious modern metal. If you've forgotten just how god damn good their drumwork is, grab it without hesitation. It's out mid-August, a new song is on MySpace and they tour the UK in November. Bring it!

23 June 2009

New KSE album streamed & a Devildriver track...

OK, it's happening! KSE's new album is available to stream on My Space right now now now now: ENJOY!

I also reviewed it a week or so ago for Metal Hammer so you should be able to find that in the next Hammer issue too (if you can't get to a PC for long enough to stream the whole beautiful creature yourself, that is.

Oh...and the new Devildriver track, Back With A Vengeance, is now on MySpace. The full album, Pray For Villains, will be out the 13th July :-)

21 June 2009

VOD @ ULU - hell, the man can shout!!


Oh my good god. This is live hardcore at its most epic. Playing London for the first time in like forever, Vision Of Disorder pretty much set fire to our humble ULU mini-venue this Friday.
Intimate but huge, loud but precise, they're all you require of an oldschool hardcore pack leader. And mannnn is Tim's voice awesome! He's an unbeatable frontman; gloriously rough vocally but at the same time meticulous about making sure every word he spits is perfectly pronounced. The band message comes across clean and inspiring and fans look like lottery winners all night as they sing along and slam about in the pit. Wooooo hooooooo thanks guys - pls come again!!!!!

Metal Hammer Awards


Yes, they took place at the O2 Indigo on Monday and I am stillll recovering. Proof I am old or just proof that no normal human can cope with drinking Jager shots under the same roof as Iron Maiden and half of the Roadrunner roster?

I have a hazy memory of talking about pizzas with Anthrax's Scott Ian, getting rewarded with a hug from Phil from Machine Head for ordering him a JD(on another artist's tab) and brushing past Hatebreed's Jamie Jasta no less than four times and silently drooling. The man may be cute and pretty sweet-natured but I still worship the ground his band walks on, and even after DJing with him I cannot bring myself to ever have a conversation with him. So kill me, he was my one fail of the night.

Hey ho. The live shows were good (Malefice and Devildriver did slick shows making up for Trivium's slightly muddy set) but half as amusing as the chaos back-stage as bands were shunted about to be pushed on stage to accept the awards. I remember seeing girlfriends kept apart from groupies and seeing Bam Magara's mate being carried out with his trousers around his ankles and arse on show. Oh, and believe one chaperone has bite marks to show from minding Steel Panther - hee hee.

Looking back on it now I am finally sober again, I reckon trying not to spill mojitos at Steel Panther's mini-gig at the Regent St Embassy aftershow and being asked for my address by the late Dimebag's girlfriend Rita so she could send me a selection of sequin-stamped hold ups (???) are always good things to tick off on a Monday night. Pity I felt the need to stay on until 5am to drink beer, argue about the state of black metal and hardcore today and watch the on-bar strip show...

Bring on next year, baby ;-)

10 June 2009

PTW: 26 days to The Tropic Rot



You may remember that Poison The Well gave a one song taster of new album A Tropic Rot at their Camden 36 Crazyfists gig a month or so ago...and, even despite the muddy sound, it sounded awesome. Well, now, with 26 days to go to the album release, they're streaming another new track called Cinema on their MySpace page. Have a listen, it's nicely angry and fast-paced with a slightly ambient clingy chorus. Very cool. Oh, and if you enter your details in the clever little box there you can get access to further downloads before the release too. Bring 'em on, I say.

26 May 2009

Trigger, Silent Front, Stick, BFP, Terror...



These last few days (10 to be precise) have been rather generously rammed with awesome gigs. OK, so Trigger The Bloodshed are still a little wet behind the ears but their brand of back-to-the-oldschool death and hypnotic Cannibal Corpse-inspired frontman make them well worth the hype that's followed them this year. It was an empty gig, but a good 'un and I can safely say that (as long as you don't get distracted by the seriously OTT scowling lead guitarist) their drummer is every bit as exciting live as on record.
On Friday I lucked out catching a fairly unknown Brit hardcore three-piece called Silent Front support the 'Henge at the Unicorn and - thanks to a pretty awesome vocalist/guitarist - have now vowed to chase up more of their stuff on-line. Be warned that they do try and entertain the crowd with the odd joke and (justified) anti-BNP rant if they encounter sound problems or break bass strings, though ;-) If you can cope, want to (sensibly) see them regardless and you like the raw side of punk who likes bits of Schedule and Fugazi, here's their MySpace page.

And finally, last night blessed London with Terror, Born From Pain and Stick To Your Guns all on one bill. The Underworld, as a result, was packed beyond breathing room, but you'd expect no less for our Los Angeles metal-tinged hardcore headliners. Where Born From Pain were actually good but not on fire, and STYGs wound up with their singer losing his voice and their set being a hell of a lot less catchy live than on record...TERROR played to absolute perfection.
Singer and scene leader Scott Vogel wore a well-suited Robert De Niro t-shirt, the breakdowns were all in tact and the crowd threw insane shapes both on the floor and through the air from the stage. Push It Away, Spit My Rage, You're Never Alone, you name it...they were all down.
I swear this band should be given out on prescription, they offer that intense an experience. And we're talking: Every. Single. Time.
Oh, and great merch too! If a tad expensive...I mean I know the Terror ethic is that shows are about the fans rather than the band, and that 'if you only like one genre of music you're missing out on life, so always keep an open mind, etc...' but this does not mean you can cut your hardcore roots sharply enough to sell a 40 pound hoody! Hmph. Still, when you rock that much of a solid show and a solid message everything and anything is forgiven. Trust. I, for one, am strapped into my beloved Terror belt for life ;-)

17 May 2009

Heaven-sent Slayer merch



I was doing some research on the difference between bike helmets and snowboarding helmets the other day, just to see if I could get away with using my snow gear in the summer...and came across Slayer Motorcycle helmets.
Now I knew you could now get Slayer trainers and skateboards - and even (my most amusing recent find) Iron Maiden Eddie snowboarding jackets (ha ha!) but this is a whole new world of cool. They are a signed and, thus, a small fortune but you have to dream, right?
http://slayer.shop.bravadousa.com/Dept.aspx?cp=805_14259

15 May 2009

Steel Panther: Win or fail?


OK, so I normally try and keep this blog to more respectable (and rather heavier) up-dates but Steel Panther are becoming rather unavoidable.

Formerly Danger Kitty, Metal Shop, Metal Skool...(I've run out of breath now!), they're a tongue-in-cheek Los Angeles based band who pay tribute to 80's glam metal and getting a fair amount of attention for their current video to Death To All But Metal

Now, before you decide whether you love or hate them (I'm in the slightly queasy camp) it's worth worth knowing that there is pretty much noone they haven't performed with. For example, here they are with Pink, Juliette Lewis, Godsmack and Kelly Clarkson, no less.

Also worth noting that they are on Universal...Hm...

14 May 2009

Thrash'n'Burn



Ah, yes. 6 hours of non-stop death/metalcore at my favourite London venue. It would have been awesome if I had remembered my earplugs. Oh, and if my mate hadn't dropped out last minute and left me with noone able to share trips to the bar. Hey ho.
In all seriousness, though, it actually was awesome.

I missed the first band due to a guest list muddle, but luckily made it in time for Arsonists Get All The Girls, who were hilarious. Not one for the metal puritans, but the mad pinball machine / gaming sounds that come out of that keyboard are brilliant fun and inject the whole venue with the atmosphere of a weird heavy metalcore house party.

War From A Harlot's Mouth were a lot less jazzy live than on record, but brilliantly brutal as a result, and Carnifex and Beneath The Massacre were just plain HEAVY. Like deafeningly, earth-shatteringly heavy. Beneath won over Carnifex simply due to their blindingly talented band members, though. The singer has a majorly deep growl, but is a bit pit-bull on stage and not all that engaging, but the rest of the band are so fast and powerful it's almost something you want to have recorded to watch in slow motion when you get home.

It was a toss up between Darkest Hour and Bleeding Through, who are both massively talented headliners in totally different ways. Where Darkest Hour turn suddenly more raw and credible live, not giving a hoot about image or plans, Bleeding Through are polished and melodic. Both worked for me, I gota say, and between them they had enough great songs to play for a good hour or two more.
Maybe we need two Thrahs'n'Burn tours a year from now on!

06 May 2009

Battle of the H's


Happy to share that the awesome Hatebreed are now streaming tracks from their fun-filled new covers album on myspace.com/hatebreed.
I've written a full review of the covers album and epic live DVD in this month's Metal Hammer but can assure you, in brief, that they are both well worthy of investment. 'For The Lions' is recorded which such obvious love and respect for the bands features that listening becomes a little bit like taking a trip down memory lane with the band, meanwhile the 'Live Dominance' DVD gets across every bit of the intensity of the boys' live performance. Jamie Jasta is, as always, the ultimate prowling leader and the crowd shots are terrifying. There is really no excuse not to pre-order, like, yesterday!

Meanwhile, Heaven Shall Burn are about to release their own (and very first) live DVD; a five hour 2DVD+CD package including a Vienna live show, a Summerbreeze festival show, an amusingly soothing but subtitled band documentary and...a metal cooking piece, no less :-) It's out May 25th and a glorious example of just how damn good they are live. Look out for the great renditions of Endzeit and Black Tears cover, the fierce wall of death and the fans-views courtesy of moshers with helmet-cams on!

02 May 2009

BladestorM turn MaissianN

It seems that my 2008 unsigned crush, London-based Polish death/hardcore band BladestorM, have gone through some changes in the last few months.
It's ok, though, I have faith.
I first stumbled across these guys when they supported a mate's band (Meantime) near Mornington Crescent last year and I can't deny that, as a brutal death-metal/hardcore crossover with a ferocious scream-in-your-face frontman, I fell for them hard. I've tried to keep up on news on them ever since, but trying to locate the right 'BladestorM' using gormless search engines is much like typing in 'hardcore' without expecting to find naked flesh...hopeless!
However, since the late loss and gain of a few members (including a second guitarist!) they've now re-surfaced calling themselves MaissianN, so cyber-stalking's become a little simpler. And the great news is that their truly awesome heavily-tattooed singer Kamil remains. My faith is well-founded :-)
So, take a look at their old offerings and maybe join my quest by checking their new WIP website and myspace.com/maissiann for the follow-up to 2008 debut e.p Obliteration.

01 May 2009

New music. Old tours.


Some rather cheery in-coming metal news...

1) Deftones have just announced a headline show at the Forum in London on August 27th, before they rock Reading. Tickets went on sale TODAY so click quick!

2) Fear Factory are reforming (been waiting a while to shout that!!!) to play both Sonisphere and Bloodstock this year. Here is a reminder of what we've been missing for so long...Bring on summer!

3) Similar but different: Fear Factory members Christian Olde Wolbers (guitar) and Raymond Herrera (drums) will be releasing the debut album of their new group ARKAEA (featuring young vocalist Jon Howard from Threat Signal) Autumn this year on KOCH RECORDS and will follow with a tour. Find their stunning artwork and new music at www.myspace.com/arkaeamusic

29 April 2009

Going global: Resorte


So... I have wanted to set up a community dedicated to widespread hardcore 'love and learnings' for ages now. In fact, I even got as far as setting up this rather hideous HTML cage for it: www.inhcwetrust.com
Yes, I know, it's shambolic even for work in progress!

However, my plan isn't to give birth to something devastatingly groundbreaking or pretty - simply effective. A humble place to allow all HC-lovin' folk worldwide to share news of local scenes and make it easier to appreciate talent born further afield than the US, UK or 3 feet away! Hell, I even thought of including a lyric library for those concerned with the language barrier. So, here is my written commitment to continue this quest...

...and just to seal this with a globally-inclusive kiss...please meet RESORTE. A curious blend of rap-metal and beats hailing from Mexico. Enjoy!

27 April 2009

Anti-Flag and Amnesty


Anti Flag have started posting new videos linked to their new album The People or The Gun up on You Tube. Episode one is up HERE now and the album - their seventh full-length - will be out 9th June on SideOneDummy. It's also worth mentioning that if you take advantage of the album’s pre-sale on sideonedummy.com, a portion of the spend is donated to Amnesty International. Everybody wins.
Oh, and if, like me, you couldn't catch their recent tour due to the London cancellation...then you'll have your chance this summer when they'll be one of the headliners of the Vans Warped Tour this summer too :-)

Astrohenge prove me gloriously wrong :-)

FACT: Great bands do not need a vocalist.

Yup, after many years of wrongly assuming that a certain someone screaming can always improve a band, on Friday Astrohenge effortlessly massacred this thought with their own confident brand of seriously kick ass totally vocal-free space-metal. Half-on / half-off stage, they - quite frankly - rocked the Unicorn to the moon and back. Oh, and two-piece punk band Lamos and metallers Cavity Search didn't do a band job of supporting either!

Exported Videos

23 April 2009

Hardcore Holiday


So I figure, if work is going to involve this much travel...why not make use of it? Having missed out on a good few London tours of late, when I found myself booked into Madrid this week I decided to scout hard for possible bands to see.
And lo and behold...WALLS OF JERICHO are here! Not only that, but they are playing an ickle venue below and are joined by DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR and NATIONS AFIRE. The bad news? H2O pulled out and Born From Pain opted to play with Terror next month instead (I'm on their side...) but with DBD positivity back-to-back with Walls' aggression you're on a winner regardless.

This is the point I interupt with a huge cheer of thanks to Javi from Freak Productions who kindly reserved me a ticket after I failed the on-line buy test. He also told me he has Terror and Brujeria lined up next...I'll be hunting for weekly spanish meetings at this rate ;-)

Both bands were blinding live, as always, with WOJ encouraging mass stage-diving and DBD pacing for the old-school. Nations Afire, meanwhile, were not so hot... Attracting a scarce audience (21:30 is early for Spain!) the super-group are weakened by their singer, who's tuneful tones and distinctly soft-side moves distract from the often powerful punk melodies behind. Made up of members of Rise Against, Ignite, Death By Stereo and Reach The Sky, they've chosen to fly the flag for the catchier strains of hardcore, but actually get a lost on the bill tonight. WOJ (see video!) and DBD are in no danger of leaving you without bruises, though, and storm their sets leaving a good supply of circle pits (and in Candace's case, a dead mike) in their wake. Well worth 3 days of meetings!

20 April 2009

Iron Maiden and Ben&Jerry's Free Cone Day!


But ice cream's not very metal, you shout!!! Well, that's where you are wrong.
Machine Head gigs, Terror pits and SOIA walls of death are all orgasmic experiences right?
And Cookie Dough cones, Phish Food bowls and Fossil Fuel scopes are all orgasmic experiences right?
See?!!!
PLUS...any ice cream brand that chucks helpless chocolate dinosaurs in its tubs has got to have (a) a sense of humour and (b) a small streak of sadism, I reckon...so I am figuring I have here conclusive evidence that this twisted post is totally justified. S'there!!
Right, now on to the details:
Tomorrow is not only Iron Maiden Day (see 666 premier post below) but it is also Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day. All over the UK, in fact. So, get yourself one of those vague out-of-office 'synergy' meetings scheduled anytime from 1-5pm and have a scout just HERE for flavours and generous stores in your area (avoid spots bosses can see from the window!) and get worshiping. After all, indulgence is up there with bathing in Jager, begging Satan to strike down exes and gambling away your best mate's wife as far as the seven deadlys are concerned - all to be encouraged in the name of Maiden, surely?

AC/DC photo exhibition

Coinciding with the current AC/DC tour diary as well as the anniversary of the death of the band's original frontman, Bon Scott, Camden's Proud Gallery are playing host to AC/DC: LET THERE BE ROCK, a photo exhibition which aims to track the heavy-sellers' early years.
It's open until the 31st May and shows the work of rock photographer Philip Morris and the time he spent with the original line-up before the band's swift rise to fame.
Not a bad place to amble past on the way to an Underworld gig, me thinks. I recommend taking a hip-flask (all in the name of rock-and-roll of course!).

17 April 2009

Chimaira spread The Infection


They are backkkkk! Well, almost back...

New album THE INFECTION will be out on the 21st April so only a few days to go now and, until then, the boys are kindly streaming ALL the tracks from the album on www.myspace.com/chimaira There is also a video on the 'making of' said album to be found on the site too. The new artwork (right) is blinding and Chimaira.com has a load of downloads available as well as “Limited Edition Deluxe Fan Edition” Box Set comp details if you fancy a few signed guitars or a tour trip coming your way.
And with that, I am off to poke Mr Hunter into extending the current US tour to our humble UK mosh pits. FINGERS CROSSED!

For those about to rock...

Complete with cannons, a large-breasted blow-up doll and a cat-walk that rises for Angus' guitar solo, AC/DC tick off a veritable A to Z of rock star dreams for their London show.
Opening with a deliciously seedy comic strip and a giant train crashing centre-stage (it stays there!) to lead cunningly into newest single Runway Train, there is nothing subtle about this band. And why should there be? The fact that they can storm through a two hour set at age 65 plus proves over and over again that not only do this band have a feast of awesome material, but they have songs which never grow old and an infectious fever for live performance to match.
They are as tight as blow-up Rosie's grip on the train carriage she rides, and scamper about stage tirelessly until the curfew stops them. Blessing us with impressive newer tracks and steller live renditions of Back In Black, Thunderstruck, TNT and The Jack which comes with a hysterical Angus strip-show (right down to AC/DC boxers, fear not!), they even lower the obligatory Hell's bell at the appropriate moment. There is barely a moment to grab your next beer! Oh, happy days.
Ok, so the cannons could have been more aggressive and there could have been a FEW more Razor's Edge classics...but, for Satan's sake, they had pyrotechnics and a blow-up doll so grotesque it left nothing to the imagination (yes, I'm talking from rings to rolls of flesh and dollar bills)...and, most essentially, Brian Johnson's voice is immaculate and the fret sound sheer perfection. The frenzied shimmying and squeals and the blinding over-load of guitar solos is as epic as it was in '73.
They end with 'For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)'. And, by god - armed with flashing red devil horns and screams of ANGUS - we do.

15 April 2009

The Red Chord tour UK-land

It seems that the noisy death/grind/hardcore quartet from Massachusetts are finding the time to hit UK turf for a quick tour just after hitting the studio end April / May. In a word: whoop!

They are actually hitting the road with Walls Of Jericho (Yes, you shout, EPIC BAND!!) for some US dates in April, but early July is the time you'll be needing to block out if you live anywhere near Kingston, Yeovil, Manchester, Sheffield, London, Bristol or Croft. Oh, and no worries, if they don't bring Walls with them it's because you can actually catch them in Europe this month. Thank you Satan.

I digress...more 'Chord info, studio and tour progress can be found on myspace.com/theredchord. And I specifically recommend MySpace for a change, rather than their official website because, despite cool graphics to be found, non-US tour mentions are scarce-to-zero and the one video they have up refuses to load...all of which will likely just frustrate you.

Less frustrating is the video embedded below, though, which was from their tour diary a couple of months ago and serves well as a 'taste' of things to come. That's if their livers survive the journey...

10 April 2009

Iron Maiden:Flight 666



A couple of years ago I was on a cheap'n'cheery package snowboarding holiday with some mates when we walked into the designated boarding gate to discover this (above) was the plane we were about to fly to Switzerland in.
HELL YEH.
To this day we don't know if Bruce was flying it (probably best considering the band's mad partying and touring antics) but it still made for one of the most metal holidays in history.
Now it seems the band is releasing a rock documentary inspired by their beloved plane and all it stands for. It was shot around the time of their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour in early 2008 and is said to be 'a revealing portrait of one of the world’s most successful rock bands and an inspirational and often humorous account of the chaotic world of a band on tour around the stadiums of the world'.
It's already won the “24 BEATS PER SECOND” award for best music documentary at the SXSW Film & Music Festival (Texas) and will premiering in London on the 20th April. Happy days.

Check Metal Hammers interviews on it HERE and buy tickets to see the film at www.ironmaiden.com/flight666

09 April 2009

Metallica Live w/Jason

A little bit of nostalgia is good for the soul. I'm the biggest Rob Trujillo fan out there, but it's pretty neat seeing the boys all back together again.
Performing live for the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame here's a bit of ENTER SANDMAN done as it used to be.

08 April 2009

This is Spinal Tap

The guys who insist on turning it up to 11 have announced a one-off show at Wembley Arena on June 30th. Oh, sorry, a 'one-night world tour' is what it's actually being called ;-) HELL YEH. The spontaneously-combusting drummer and co. will be rocking this no doubt hysterical show to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of their epic rockumentary ‘This Is Spinal Tap’.

Tickets go on sale at 9am tomorrow. Ready yourself.

ps. just in case you're DVD is scratched from drunken multi-viewing...you can get yourself a new double disc in time (complete with mad extras and bnd interviews - hee hee) from your friendly Amazon one-click. Just shout I want one!

New songs: KSE & Converge.


KSE Metal Hammer performance reveals a brand new song! OK, so it's pretty badly recorded and Howard's voice isn't all that hot, but it does show they are back'n'ballsy.

Meanwhile, Converge who have been slowly leaking vocal-free studio footage on-line for a few weeks now courtesy of their generous label Deathwish (see blog post below) have blessed us with some additional and sneaky (though not-so-cleanly recorded) live tunes. Have a nibble.

24 March 2009

Highbury Garage returns


Oh happy days. Finally, it's official: The Garage re-opens late June :-)

Don't believe me? SEE FOR YOURSELF

Possibly the best hardcore venue next to the Underworld, with a ceiling that used to sweat on you, nice spacey merch stand and no space between you and the bands, it's about bloody time. Sadly Terror play in London late May so will just miss this slightly more cosy option, but it still makes for a summer of other memorable moments.

CONVERGE & stuff



OH YEHHHH - IN-COMING NEW CONVERGE ALBUM! BRING IT!!!!

Check this out for a taste of things to come straight from the studio... Click here to sneak at the new album

And other stereo crushers this week's been all about...

SICK OF IT ALL: Step Down
Yes, this choice was more for the video than the music...Lesson one in 'How to dance the hardcore'
(chuckle)
ANTI-FLAG: Got The Numbers
Still gutted they couldn't play London a few weeks ago and been stuck listening to this album ever since.
ADVERSARY: Ashes of Faith
EPIC guitar solo about a minute in. EPIC.
BLOODBATH: Outnumbering The Day
Just coz it's loud and grizzly. Rarrrrrrrr!
OTEP: My Confession (Live)
A lady with attitude and neatly unique vocals.
NINE INCH NAILS: Please
I know, I know. Shhhhh! We all have our weaknesses!

22 March 2009

Rock Pub Crawl Map

So, I thought it was about time to drop the best London rock bars on a map to save folk getting lost when they've had too many ciders at a gig and can't see left turns in the dark OR, indeed, simply to send to non-metal mates when I'm trying to get them somewhere on time. Do what you do will but do it holding the horns with pride...


View Larger Map

18 March 2009

Cross Knee Release



Pls see left-hand pic (NB: not of me. Hell, I wish!) for an example of what I believe to be the pole dance move from heaven: The cross knee release.

Easily up there with the Chopper and Inverted Crucifix as one of the top 10 moves that make you want to learn this (er...) sport (?) due to the mad upside-down tipping and the nonchalant cross-knee attitude, it alarmed me yesterday to find it slip itself into the second lesson of our humble Level 3 class.

I mean, quite frankly, ow!!! Still, perseverance is king, and having got half way down now without holding on (or screaming I'll have you know!) I hereby promise that 4 weeks from now this inspiring little black n white number to our left will be replaced with a brand new (be it rather more dressed) photo of yours truly rocking this move. If. It. Kills. Me.

And it might :-) In which case I'll redirect us to You Tube for a laugh at all 'epic fails' in motion: http://www.youtube.com/user/razorbladeoflife

15 March 2009

36 Crazyfists & PTW



Friday the 13th is a pretty choice date for any metal band to rock the London live circuit but frustratingly this particular Electric Ballroom gig had to start and end early to allow for a 10pm club night, so timing were as follows:

Gwen Stacy – 6:45 to 7:15pm
Poison The Well – 7:35 to 8:15pm
36 Crazyfists – 8:35 to 9:35pm

Still, both main bands were on fire and the only downers of the night were a pretty unmemorable first support band and a sound issue during PTW which meant some of the choruses were lost. The rest of the band's acoustics were crystal clear and made for some hypnotic Floyd-inspired instrumental moments, but frontman Moreira's more emotional vocal parts were muddy, leaving only his screams audible. A shame for a band so focused on contrasts.
Alaskan melodic metallers 36 made up for it, though, and Brock was his usual powerful self, storming the stage with that signature hardcore stance as he pushed his unique gurgling vocal style to the limit. In the one early-bird hour they were on stage they even managed to pack in all their best tracks, a wall of death and invite a member of the audience on stage to front an entire song with the band. And after all Brock's shouting about shots it was only right to drink the night away in a few Camden pubs and new favourite snakebite haunt, The Big Red :-) Hell, who needs to feel good on a Saturday anyway...

07 March 2009

Gig Alert!

OK, so the bad news this week was Anti-Flag's injury, which stopped the guys supporting Raised Fist at the Camden Roundhouse last night :-( booo!
More details can be found here

But the good news is Protest The Hero rock the London Underworld tomorrow night and Poison The Well are down to support ex-Roadrunner / Ferret boys 36 Crazyfists on Friday at the Electric Ballroom :-) yeyyy!
Just be warned it starts at 6pm and has a 9:45pm curfew!

03 March 2009

Tripswitch & Heaven's Basement follow-up


It's kind of tough reviewing these after spending the day listening Anti-Flag and the new Adversary album...but here's goes:

Tripswitch Until
Seven fairly muddled tracks involving confused layers of unimpressive wailing, hysterical shrieks, random electronic samples, moments of forced calms and chugging guitars which lead nowhere. Chaotic and dull all at the same time, I'm not sure this will make it onto the pod. Still, if you ignore the vocalist and former bare knuckle boxer Jamie's arrest on suspicion of murder, they've had a good run of label interest, have previously recorded with Andy Sneap (Trivium, KSE, Machine Head) and had the odd tv feature and rock playlist to boast about...so maybe I'm just having a bad day.

Heaven's Basement Sampler
GREAT fun!!! Lower the shame guard and pretend you're at the front of a Thunder concert (yes, they've toured with them) dressed head to toe in skin-tight leather and head full-throttle down the road to self-indulgent oldschool sleaze-rock. WOOOOO!!! The vocals are shrill, gritty and uplifting, the guitars melodic to the last and the choruses will stick in your head for days. Pretty much all tracks are worth an ear, but Fear of Getting Off is a particularly awesome track with a gutsy guitar solo threaded throughout.
Grab your grin and ride!

PS. And now for something completely different: THE OBLIGATORY JUST-BACK-FROM-HOLIDAY POWDER VIDEO

24 February 2009

New week. New music.


In the mailbox to review this week:
Huron (sampler)
Tripswitch 'Until' (alb)
Papa Roach 'Hollywood Whore' (sampler)
Heaven's Basement (sampler)

HURON
A hefty dirty rock band from Plymouth whose amusingly-titled debut album Cheyne Smoking can be found out 20th April on Rising Records.
'Lust Of War' is all killer riffs and gritty vocals (that sound gloriously like old Anselmo at times) with indulgent slices of playful guitar thrown in. 'Killer In New York' fades into filler territory a bit but 'Pain Is Me' gets back in the stoner vibe with a poisonously infectious chorus. Awesome.
Catch them touring the UK wth Viking Skull and 101% Pantera!

PAPA ROACH
So, the bugs are back in town. Bizarrely, though, the sampler they've chosen to send out features a couple of cheery old tracks among the new, and single 'Hollywood Whore' sinks fast when compared to punchy favourite 'Getting Away With Murder'. It starts with some angsty singing and chuncky guitar action but the chorus drags painfully and you're left with a serious need for release. Complete with a melodic whining from frontman Shaddix and rhythmic repetition about tearing yourself open, 'Scars' isn't much better, remaining the sort of unmemorable track you'd expect to find at the emotional peak of a teenage rom-com. Ho hum.

22 February 2009

Beer'n'Blood


Born Sweden, brought up in Spain, living in London and rocking the satisfyingly slick age of 28...I am proud to announce that I am no longer a UFC virgin :-)

Yes, friends, this weekend I didn't just survive, but massively enjoyed, my very first trip to a live fight. 5hrs of live fight, in fact.

I have to admit that however much I'd been looking forward to the experience, I did have some reservations about heading down so early (5pm? On a Saturday? I'm barely out of bed!!)...to collect tickets to an event I had no idea what to expect of...only to get most probably get lost in an area I'd never been (have you any idea how big the O2 is??!!) and pay extortionate prices for beer. That, and being seen cheering on Knock Outs and blood spillage by fellow employees who also got free tickets to my seating section.

But no, it was freaking awesome: Purple cage lights, blasting music, OTT american commentators and bikini-clad gals holding 'Round 1' cards...what more does a Saturday evening need? Beer and blood, you say? All good, not to worry, there was that too. Bargain!

Seriously, though, after a few hours hearing about fighter wins, loses, specialities and profiles, and watching outcomes ranging from instant KOs and painful ankle locks to surprise high kicks and crushing cage mash-ups, I actually feel I'd be well up for following it on TV too. True, I'd miss the bizarre intro music and mad audience (shaved-headed scousers and glammed-up dolly birds being two key features) but I think I'm enough of a convert to cope until the next time I can see my newly adopted punk champ Dan Hardy knock someone flying live :-)

And to think I was considering sacking it off for a BBQ in the sun!

18 February 2009

My Learning Curve.

 


While I'm here...I've chucked some more up in order to keep me bettering them in the coming weeks.
The mission starts now.
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One of those days :-(




I drew this a little while ago, but think it pretty much summarises today's mood. Mid-week blues, maybe? ;-) Lack of hardcore? Or maybe just a niggling concern that I will need to be rather more fluent in french and spanish if I am to succeed in traveling as much as work's about to demand...?

Back to drawings, though... My work mate (and drawing master extraordinaire) keeps telling me to focus less on surface and clothing and more on body shape... As with all my current attempts, the above is still a little 'flat' I feel, but at least the vibe seems to be improving... Thoughts on a postcard?

More to follow when I get a moment to myself. Naked ones this time. I promise!

17 February 2009

Metal and all things rawwwwwwk.


Life's looking up!

Got given tickets to UFC this Saturday in London - Rrarrrr!

Been ok-ed to review 36 Crazyfists and Poison The Well early March, which will no doubt lead to a well-meaning Crobar visit with Luke, Brock and co and ensure I hurt muchly that weekend - ah, yes, inhcwetrust

Got the date confirmed for AC/DC gig in April and, oh yes, I am in the country :-p

All set to snowboard next week :*)

..and pole dancing classes FINALLY start again on the 10th March - bruises anyone...? (gulp)

BRING IT.

16 February 2009

Blood worm



A curious weekend.

It started fairly sanely: 4pm beer-o-clock at work, a few drinks in Soho, a Korean BBQ with old school mates...spiraling slowly into beer and spiced garlic shots at the infamous and always best avoided Garlic & Shots on Frith Street. Even so, a fairly average Friday.

Saturday - Valentines Day for some - was cheerily uneventful too; bad hangover tv with my best mate, a trip to Cyberdog (it's moved!) with the credit card and a banter with flatmates.

Sunday, however, was quite frankly odd...

My flatmate was severely hungover after a night out on the town with a stripper who gave him her number last week instead of dancing for him 'because he looked nice' (a box every man should tick before the age of 30, me thinks!) and decided his frogs were starting to starve and he needed more frozen blood worm.

(cough) It's about now I have to point out he once had 6 dwarf frogs up there, and now has 2...not a good pattern for a lawyer.

So...my two flatmates and I set off on an Anica-style hunt for an aquarium both open and selling frog food at 4pm on a Sunday. Clearly this was a bit of a mission and the first shop was unsurprisingly shut, so I rocked out the trusty Android and Googled local aquatic shops. It would seem that there is no shortage of them 'up North' so we rung a few and checked on frog food stock and closing times. As we were doing this (reading out search results and taking it in turns to ring and hassle) I came across the gloriously named 'Fish Guy' who came complete with a mobile number and a nearby address...but sadly didn't pick up the phone. One flatmate was just about done getting directions to a shop with supplies, though, when said Fish Guy (or Barry as he introduced himself as) rung back! It turned out he wasn't actually a shop at all, but was hell bent on giving us as much information about frog food-hunting as possible regardless.

We were in luck, he said, as it's a good area for these shops! (Who knew?!) But - ah ha! - we live in Tottenham Hale, he says, well it just keeps getting better and better! There's a shop on our way home which he's sure will still be open. Oh dear, though.. Sunday, he prattles on aimiably, is a bad a day to hunt for food as shops tend to get fresh stock in on Thursday so Friday is really the winning hunt time.
And so it went on :-)

May he above (or below) bless these Googlable fountains of knowledge willing to be rung on weekends and simply offer advice. Such a change from shop advisors who scowl at you interrupting to ask the way to the show department, don't you think?

Fish Guy: https://secure.192.com/local/WALTHAMSTOW,_LONDON/AQUARIUM/FISH_GUY/XC1BCF716521D44388E023E9FD6176075

12 February 2009

Alphabet Thursdays


Thursdays seem to come round rather faster since the guys here at work launched the weekly Alphabet pub crawl. Admittedly, I've failed a bit at regular attendance due to the snow season...but supporting the downing of whiskey and tequila shots made up for it last week, I reckon! That and I've also shown a little moral support by creating a Google ''pub-tracking'' Map (hunting around for photos to add now) and...yes...bracing myself to join in tonight despite a pretty foggy hangover.

Mental note: Don't mix Soulfly and cider.

09 February 2009

Cosy & considerate.

So I went to the gym today and honestly think that it was more work dodging umbrellas en route to the gym than it was actually doing a session.
It seems that umbrellas - a little like children - are something that everyone has but no one knows how to control.
I despair.
Use a damn hood.

(Or at least until Dragon's Den invest in a cushioned full-body umbrella which covers the user and the user alone with no fear of decapitating hapless passers-by. One can but dream...)

07 February 2009

Feb


There is a serious lack of rock around in February. This happens every year yet still surprises me. January's all about new and exciting ways of living your life...start of a new year...high on fitness, high on fun, high on diverse new addictions (how to top pole dancing and manga learning last year...? Hm, a tough one...Freestyle snowboarding me thinks!)...And then comes Feb. With the realisation you aren't going to the gym as much, have had 3 colds as a result of indulging in snow holidays and catching up with friends more in new and more expensive pubs and, yes, a serious lack of hardcore gigs. Grrrr. If it won't come to me, I shall come to it. Would it be all that tough to start the first live stream warehouse hc venue? Really? Hell, I don't have a house or a kid / dog to take care of. I could invest in the worth cause of accessible chords and aggression. 2009 may well pick up ;-)