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!

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!

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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!

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!).

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.

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...

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

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.

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.

3 words...

VISION
OF
DISORDER

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