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Thursday, July 30, 2009

Skipping Kansas: Satyricon (again!)

Satyricon has one party on a tour that is 3/4 amazing and 1/4 lame. I like those odds, but the closest date so far is Colorado. Full dates are here.

Satyricon
Bleeding Through
Toxic Holocaust
ChthoniC

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

New Concerts on the horizon!

Sad about Metallica not coming back to Kansas City on their next leg of their World Magnetic tour? On August 7th at the Granada in Lawrence, will be a Metallica tribute band by the name of Battery. They're a nationally touring band, so they must be good!

After some absence, The Mars Volta will return to KC at the Midland by AMC on September 14th. Tickets go on sale soon!

Possibly the heaviest show of the year, Kylesa will be at the Granada on October 10th along with Doomriders, Bison B.C., and Red Fang. It's gonna be loud.

Monday, July 27, 2009

An odd tour.

During/before/after (not really sure) some stints with Metallica, Lamb of God will be in Wichita with GWAR and Job for a Cowboy. Huh.

It'll be at the Cotillion Ballroom on October 8.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Origin -- Lawrence, KS -- July 25th, 2009

Great way to end my metal journey.

I got there too late and missed Marasmus, so there was one opening band for me. Lucky for me, it was Troglodyte! One of my favorite local bands around. This was pretty much their first time in Lawrence, and it was by far the best I've seen them! They had lots of energy and the Jackpot's sound system sounded extremely good for them. No full setlist, but included: Skunk Ape Rape, Don't Go Into The Woods, We Eat Our Own, Crypto-stew-ologist, and Die When You Die. Bigfoot death metal at its finest. 9/10

It was a homecoming show for Origin, welcoming them back from slaughtering the summer on the Summer Slaughter tour all over the US. The band knew pretty much everyone at the Jackpot, and it was all fun and games all night long. Their performance was brutal as always, the guitarist and the bassist were still unbelievably mind-blowing, and the drumming insane as everything. Always a good time when Origin is in town. 9/10

1. Staring From The Abyss
2. Implosion Of Eternity
3. The Aftermath
4. ?
5. Wrath Of Vishnu
6. Disease Called Man
7. Reciprocal
8. The Burner
9. Finite
10. Antithesis
11. Portal

Thus concludes my metal journey. I think I won't be attending another concert until blink-182 on Sept. 4 and no metal concerts until about Sept. 28th for Motorhead and Sept. 29th for Dragonforce. Thanks for reading.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Skeletonwitch -- Kansas City, MO -- July 23rd, 2009

I actually had to watch the first band from outside. It was local band War Bear. They play a pretty nice stoner/sludge metal and aren't too shabby at all. Some of their songs kinda sound the same, but it's good. 7/10

I had heard good things about Trap Them. Didn't Barney of Napalm Death say something akin to Trap Them restored his faith in grindcore/metal? And lemme tell ya, Barney was right. Their first and last songs were sludgey as all get-out, but everything in between was old-school punk/grind and it ruled. The vocalist is a madman and you can't help but headbang to the tunes. This band is made for small bar shows: the intimacy only fueled them to be more and more aggressive. Totally awesome. 8.5/10

If you have even a passing interest in heavy metal, Saviours is the band for you. They are, through and through, the definition of heavy metal. Their plastered with tattoos, they got long hair, and they know how to rock. They are ultimately heavy and most of their songs are pants-wettingly good. Some of them even had an old-school back-and-forth guitar solos between the two guitarists. I got chills more than once while they were playing. Infinitely awesome. 9/10

After being in the studio in Seattle for a month straight, Skeletonwitch is back and better than ever. Fourth time seeing them, and I'm still eagerly awaiting them to come back. Complete with smoke machines and strobe lights, the Witch played a perfect set. The solos were spot on, the drums were clear and fast and the crowd screamed along on every song with the band. It was, by far, the best time I've seen them. It depresses me to know that some people haven't seen Skeletonwitch live. Go as soon as you get the chance. You won't be sorry. 10/10

1. Upon Wings Of Black
2. Beyond The Permafrost
3. Blinding Black Rage
4. Sacrifice For The Slaughtergod
5. Fire From The Sky
6. Limb From Limb
7. Crushed Beyond Dust
8. Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
9. Where The Light Has Failed
10. Remains Of The Defeated
11. Within My Blood

Thus concludes my third installment of my metal journey. Join me again after Saturday the 27th when my last show, Origin, will be complete. Oh, and pick up Skeletonwitch's new album, Breathing The Fire, on October 13th.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Rockstar Mayhem Festival -- Kansas City, KS -- July 21st, 2009

Running very low on sleep, so I'll try and be as thorough as I can. I'm worn out.

There was a really, really long line when I got to Sandstone Amphitheater, but it actually moved very, very fast. I got in and browsed the kiosks until the first band started.

Whitechapel started the day off, but they were bad. No, they were pretty terrible. Actually, they were one of the worst metal bands I've seen live. Every Whitechapel song has 148 breakdowns in it. And they have THREE GUITARISTS. What? Are they the Iron Maiden of wigger-slam? A few songs had some good moments, but ultimately, they were terrible. 3/10

1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. Possession
5. Vicer Exciser
6. Prostatic Fluid Asphyxiation
7. ?
8. This Is Exile

After them was the Jaeger band, and for us it was Continent of Ash. I went and bought the Cannibal Corpse comic book and got in line to meet them, so I could just hear the band, but they sounded terrible as well. If I see them again, I'll review them for real.

Luckily, the Hot Topic booth was right in front of its' stage, so I got to see Behemoth. Unlike the night before where their sound was messing up, they absolutely slayed today. They know how to work a crowd and all their songs sounded spot-on perfect. Same set as the night before, however. 9/10

1. Slaves Shall Serve
2. At The Left Hand Ov God
3. Conquer All
4. Demigod
5. Ov Fire And The Void
6. Chant For Eschaton 2000

After meeting all the guys from Cannibal Corpse and getting their autographs, I saw God Forbid again. They changed up their set some from the night before. And they sounded better this time. The crowd seemed pretty into them. Still not great, but better than the night before. 6/10

1. Star Wars Intro/?
2. ?
3. Walk Alone
4. Broken Promise
5. To The Fallen Hero
6. The End Of The World

I hate myself for it, but I actually enjoy The Black Dahlia Murder live. They were better the night before in front of a smaller crowd because of all the stage divers, but their energy was still there. Everything up to the new song was good, but everything after it was really, really good. They do start to sound the same after a while, but they had a perfect set length so that it was awesome. 8/10

1. Tim And Eric Intro/?
2. Everything Went Black
3. Necropolis
4. A Vulgar Picture
5. Miasma
6. What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
7. Funeral Thirst

I have a lot of friends who are big fans of All That Remains, so I was eager to hear them for myself. While I really dig the song Six (because of Guitar Hero!) the rest of their stuff is just okay. The clean vocals sound like Linkin Park, to me, but the vocalist does really nice harsh vocals as well. They probably had the biggest crowd reaction of the 2nd stage all day. 7/10

1. ?
2. Chiron
3. Forever In Your Hands
4. Six
5. ?
6. Two Weeks

Job for a Cowboy was the 2nd to last band on the Hot Topic stage. I had higher than average hopes for them because I thought they'd change from a crappy deathcore band to a pseudo-respectable death metal band. Was I right? Eh, no. Not really. Their bass player isn't too much of a tool anymore and some of their songs sound better, but that's about it. The new stuff sounds very bad live, and they're still just a deathcore band. 4/10

1. Knee Deep
2. ?
3. Unfurling A Darkened Gospel
4. Constitutional Masturbation
5. Entombment of a Machine
6. Embedded

Never listened to Trivium before today. I heard that their newest album was good, that they're a metalcore band, and that they're a Metallica knock-off band. I just heard the metalcore side, today. It wasn't terrible: there were no breakdowns and some actually pretty good solos. But nothing special. They said they'd be back with a really good tour in the fall, so we'll have to see. 7/10

1. ?
2. ? (something from the first album)
3. Down From The Sky
4. Throes of Perdition (part of this was real good)
5. Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr

Cannibal Corpse. Still just as awesome as they were the night before. All newer stuff except for the excellent closer of Hammer Smashed Face and Stripped, Raped & Strangled. Awesome. 9/10

1. Evisceration Plague
2. The Time To Kill Is Now
3. I Cum Blood
4. Sentenced To Burn
5. Make Them Suffer
6. Priests Of Sodom
7. Hammer Smashed Face
8. Stripped, Raped, & Strangled

Now time for the mainstage. Well, that is after some nachos and a hot dog. I got to the lawn when Bullet For My Valentine were 2 songs into their set. They seemed alright, a lot better live than on album. The vocalist's accent is amusing to me, too. But overall, alright band. 7/10

1. ?
2. ?
3. Tears Don't Fall
4. Waking The Demon (I think)
5. Take It Out On Me
6. Scream, Aim, Fire

I don't really want to get into it here; I might write an "essay" or so later, but I can say this: Killswitch Engage is the worst band I have ever seen live, metal or not. The whole band is full of douchebags, what they play is killing "heavy music" and I feel sad to know that some people actually like them and will grow up thinking they are metal. They are worse than Annotations of an Autopsy, Panther and Cobra Starship. One point for one good solo during their horrendous Holy Diver cover. It's true: metalcore is the glam metal of the 2000's. It's all about trendy shit to get money. 1/10

1. My Last Serenade
2. ?
3. Rose of Sharyn
4. ?
5. ?
6. My Curse
7.?
8. Holy Diver

Is there something wrong with metal band's sound equipment these days or what? Behemoth the night before was bad, but what happened to the first half of Slayer's set was embarassing. Sometimes the guitars would be really loud, and then fade almost completely out. Sometimes the drums would be silent. Sometimes all the sound would cut out except for Tom's mic. It was extremely unprofessional and a lot of people were pissed off. It ruined many songs which should have been awesome (Chemical Warfare, Born Of Fire, etc.) Luckily, they fixed it halfway through, during Ghosts Of War, and Slayer kicked ass for the rest of the set. Nothing was their fault, they were awesome. 8.5/10

1. Darkness Of Christ/Disciple
2. War Ensemble
3. Jihad
4. Psychopathy Red
5. Born Of Fire
6. Mandatory Suicide
7. Chemical Warfare
8. Ghosts Of War
9. Dead Skin Mask
10. Hell Awaits
11. Angel Of Death
12. South Of Heaven
13. Raining Blood

I really hope Slayer comes back here and has a more competent person working the soundboard than whatever joker was tonight. All in all, though, the day was awesome. I can't wait to see who's on Mayhem Fest 3.

Thus concludes day 2 of 5 of my metal journey. Tomorrow is a day of rest, then it's off to Skeletonwitch! Stay tuned!

Monday, July 20, 2009

Cannibal Corpse -- Omaha, NE -- July 20th, 2009

I got lost on the way here. Not terribly lost, but Mapquest really needs to update their directions. I got to my hotel after sitting in traffic, in the rain, between 2 Semi's. Meh. The drive to Omaha actually isn't all that bad. It's a lot better than the drive out to Manhattan, KS. And the hotel I stayed at is literally 1 minute via car from the venue. Awesome.

I literally stepped in the door right as the Star Wars intro played. I got to my spot at the awesome Slowdown venue (for the Kansas fans: It's like the Granada, but 2x the size) and God Forbid took the stage. I think their set was very similar to the last time I saw them on the No Fear tour, but tihs time I thought they sounded better. Their sound was crisp and clean and there weren't really too many breakdowns. I wouldn't pay to see them headline, but I wouldn't mind having them open shows from now on. 6/10

Setlist:

0. Star Wars Intro
1. ???
2. War Of Attrition
3. Empire Of The Gun
4. Antihero
5. Broken Promise
6. The End Of The World

The place was most packed for Behemoth. Yep, they went on before Black Dahlia. Inferno checked the drums forever, and you could tell they were having problems. And it showed. The sound for Behemoth had a really annoying reverb through every song except Demigod and Nergal sometimes just called for his guitar to be cut completely until they fixed it. It even interfered with Chant for Eschaton (BLASPHEMY!!!). Piss-poor job on the venue's side, but Behemoth were still awesome. They put on a great show and the crowd chanted for more. 8/10

1. Slaves Shall Serve
2. At The Left Hand Ov God
3. Conquer All
4. Demigod (awesome)
5. Ov Fire And The Void
6. Chant For Eschaton 2000

A lot of people left the floor before The Black Dahlia Murder came on, but a lot of people also went to the floor. It's my third time seeing TBDM and I still think they're very enjoyable. This time, more than the others. Trevor, their vocalist, is still a goof and you can tell they absolutely love what they do. Lots and lots of crowd surfing and stage diving. 8.5/10

1. ?
2. I Worship Only What You Bleed
3. Everything Went Black
4. Necropolis (new)
5. Elder Misanthropy (really, really good)
6. A Vulgar Picture
7. Miasma
8. What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse
9. Deathmask Divine
10. Funeral Thirst (I think)

Really, though. There's a reason why Cannibal Corpse is still around today, why they fill out shows wherever they go, and why they still rule. Because they do what they do and they do it good. Everyone who saw them tonight were in for a treat: Cannibal Corpse played 20 songs. 20 SONGS. Does Rush even play 20 songs anymore?! I heard stuff that I never thought I'd hear live, and I'm convinced that Hammer Smashed Face really is the greatest death metal song ever. At least live. I can't wait until they do a real headlining tour for Evisceration Plague. 9.5/10

1. Evisceration Plague
2. The Time To Kill Is Now
3. Disfigured
4. Death Walking Terror (Heaviest live song ever)
5. I Cum Blood
6. Fucked With A Knife
7. Sentenced To Burn
8. Evidence In The Furnace
9. The Wretched Spawn
10. Perverse Suffering
11. Scalding Hail
12. Make Them Suffer
13. Pit Of Zombies
14. Shatter Their Bones
15. Vomit The Soul
16. Priests Of Sodom
17. Unleashing The Bloodthirsty
18. A Skull Full of Maggots
19. Hammer Smashed Face
20. Stripped, Raped, and Strangled

Thus concludes show 1 of my 4 show metal journey. Gonna wake up in 7 hours, drive 3 hours back to KS and do it all again at Rockstar Mayhem tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The first show on 2010!

It's gonna be a doozy.

Nile
Immolation
Krisiun
Abigail Williams
Dreaming Dead

At the Beaumont Club on January 24th.

...wow...

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Not going to Mayhem Fest? (part 2)

Then book it up to Omaha, NE the day before! 07/20

At The Slowdown will be

Cannibal Corpse
Behemoth
The Black Dahlia Murder
God Forbid

Or, if you're extra brutal, go to this AND Mayhem Fest!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Oh, um. Some people might like this.

DevilDriver is coming to the Granada right after their Trash and Burn tour. The line-up looks like this:

DevilDriver
Emmure
MyChildrenMyBride
Veil Of Maya
Dirtfedd
HAMMERLORD!

Get in for free, watch Hammerlord, leave.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

MDF VIII: May 28 - 30

MDF VIII
May 28-30, 2010

ENTOMBED (Sweden)
OBITUARY
PENTAGRAM
EYEHATEGOD
SINISTER (Netherlands)
INCANTATION
PORTAL (Аustralia)
HAEMORRHAGE (Spain)
IMPALED
GRIDLINK
INGROWING (Czech Republic)
GRIDE (Czech Republic)
MASSGRAVE (Canada)
16
BIRDS OF PREY
FUCK THE FACTS
TOMBS
HOWL

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Skipping Kansas: In Flames

In Flames just announced a US Tour, and it's skipping Kansas City. There is no Chicago date, and In Flames likes to tour, so I think there'll be more dates announced, possibly for early 2009. Closest date at the time is Texas. Full dates here. Support comes from Between The Buried and Me, 3 Inches of Blood, and The Faceless.