First Blood

This Wednesday Agnostic Front either chose (or lucked out on) what have to be some of the best HC supports to have played the Camden Underworld in AGES.

Well worth fighting through the soggy summer rain for, UK-based Pay No Respect (who also supported Terror a few weeks ago) have a pretty classic hardcore approach but a fairly metal-at-heart guitarist with a seriously catchy groove to his fretwork which makes their tracks both comfortingly credible but also quietly catchy. Well worth checking them out live or online if you get the chance, especially if you're a fan of straight-forward hardcore with a distinctive modern twist.

San Franscico's First Blood, meanwhile, have a distinctly hardcore drummer but are otherwise up to their ears in metal influences. Thier frontman, Carl, proves he was almost wasted as Terror's bassist, as he's a frankly incredible vocalist with an almighty stage presence. You can practically feel the 200% force behind the raw throaty shouts and his striding and constant snapping arm movements make you feel as though you're being put through your paces at a military bootcamp more than just watching a show! And all this after subjecting us to an almost complete recording of We Are The World before they walked on stage. Ha!

A little sample of what they can be like live can be found here... Feel the power.

Sonisphere stage times.

It's happening people! Sonisphere's nearing now and the stage times are out!

Find them on Metal Hammer's website for a nicely printable format. Stuff packing the suncream, hell, you'd rather be burnt than miss a band due to unpredicted clashes ;-)

Now...who to see...

Converge FOREVER

Converge have to be one of the greatest bands live - ever. And what's sickening is how they just seem to get better every year you see them. This week's show at the O2 Islington in London was so good it's almost cruel. I could only find a couple of videos of Converge's tracks on YouTube (health warning: do not watch THIS if you're scared of heights) so please ping me if you find or have any more so I can worship them, relive the memories again - and also add them to the Blog / favourite them on my Channel. Thanks muchly!

It's always curious to see who dare support this lot, so I'm not sure what they were thinking adding 33 to the bill...(think a shockingly dated dual vocal act with a bored-looking guitarist and seriously below-average drummer...kill us now) but I owe them a huge thanks for introducing me to Pettybone! If you, like me, haven't heard this fabulously furious all-girl band before, do see if you can hunt them down with me at either the Relentless Garage on the 6th July or The Unicorn in Camden on the 3rd. You might recognise their rather impressive drumming talent from performances in Camden with Invasion .

BATMAN LIVE - World Arena Tour

BATMAN LIVE - World Arena Tour | Gallery

I've abandoned this Blog for way too long as it is, so how could I possibly resist the urge to share this little discovery with the world?

Based on an original story, apparently, DC Comics promise a night of stunts, acrobatic acts and illusions and all the expected super-villains. Think The Joker, The Riddler, Catwoman, The Penguin, Two-Face and Harley Quinn all in one arena!!

Hits London this September - gotta be done.

Romeo Must Die

To gig or not to gig, that is the question.
Tonight the awesome Romeo Must Die lads will be rocking the Purple Turtle and it'd be a crime not to go. Way better than Stampin Ground ever were, I've seen these guys play London twice in the last year or so and on both occasions they've put the headliners to shame. Totally ferocious and with the experience and talent to back up the attitude, they will destroy the Turtle tonight, leaving only a HC club night in their wake. Oh, and all for just 6 pounds!

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 ;-)

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!

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!

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

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!

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!

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...