Toxic Holocaust -- Kansas City, MO -- November 23rd, 2010

Great show from Joel and the boys, though it was really, really short. I think they barely just played for a half hour, but they did manage to squeeze a lot of songs in. It took a couple of songs to get the crowd kicked in, but I was headbanging and singing along to a lot of songs. I think I was the only person who knew all the lyrics to War Is Hell! Would love to see them again on a headlining tour, not just an off-date.

Setlist included:

Metal Attack
Summon The Beast
Reaper's Grave
Death Brings Death
War Is Hell
Bitch (New Song)
666
Lord Of The Wasteland
Nuke The Cross
Wild Dogs

Vanlade opened and slayed. Sounded even better than before. Koktopus played afterwards, but I was illegally parked so I didn't get to see 'em. Fun, but cold, night!

Toxic Holocaust: 8.5/10
Vanlade: 8/10

Here come the Hurdy-Gurdy's!

That's right, Swiss folk metallers Eluveitie will be coming to The Granada in Lawrence on February 10th! Coming along with them are heavy metal bosses 3 Inches Of Blood, Holy Grail and System Divide. This is going to be a fun show!

Havok -- Merriam, KS -- November 16th, 2010

Although they're from Denver, I really feel like Havok is a local band and hometown heroes. They always begin or end tours here and, like tonight, on a Tuesday night a ton of people show up who are big fans and sing the words and go crazy. It was my first time seeing a show at the Aftershock in Merriam, KS and the sound system wasn't too fantastic, but the stage was really big and it's an overall nice bar/grill! It was also my first time seeing Havok with two guitarists. They came earlier this year but had just lost their lead guitarist, so this was definitely better, and the second guitarist REALLY helped their sound. All the songs sounded great, but I was really impressed by the new song D.O.A. It just might be the best straight-up thrash song written in a long time! Afterburner was a highlight, but the ending Slayer covers were insane and the most fun I've had at a show in a while! One of the best performances this year by far!

Good ol' Vanlade opened right before Havok and they sounded great as always, although they only played with one guitarist this time. While every member of the band is fantastic on their own (especially the drums!) it sounds better with another guitar to even it out. No Judas Priest cover this time, but these dudes get better and better!

Meatshank sounded fantastic considering the spotty sound system at the Aftershock. The guitarist absolutely shred his face off and the bassist is still one of the most fun to watch. They played a good mix of old and new and were very well received by everyone.

Out of the two bands I hadn't heard before, Nefirum was far and away the most impressive. Looking at the band members, you'd think they had just come in from a day at school, but they played some vicious black metal with a tinges of thrash and a hint of death. Really, really impressive.

The first band of the night was Hellevate. They don't play the kind of metal I'm a huge fan of, but they did it really well and ended with a pretty sweet cover of Black Sabbath's namesake song. Evil, but nice!

Havok set:

Ivory Tower
Morbid Symmetry
Identity Theft
D.O.A.
Time Is Up
Fatal Intervention
To Hell
Melting The Mountain
Afterburner
Postmortem (Slayer cover)
Raining Blood (Slayer cover)

Havok: 10/10
Vanlade: 9/10
Meatshank: 8.5/10
Nefirum: 8/10
Hellevate: 7.5/10

Gwar -- Lawrence, KS -- November 8th, 2010

After about thirty minutes of scrubbing all this stuff off in the shower, I'm finally ready to write this review!

I missed Mobile Deathcamp because I was outside talking to my friends. Shout out to Andy from Elctrikchair. (WHO IS ON THE CD IN THE LATEST ISSUE OF TERRORIZER OMG!) As soon as I made my way in, it was apparent that the show would be packed, but I wasn't prepared. It might just be the most packed show I've been to at The Granada.

Infernaeon kept repeating that they were from the "Hollywood of death metal", Tampa, FL. And that's pretty much what they sounded like. I actually thought they sounded really good. Although the mix wasn't the best, it had a lot of energy and some great sounding solo's. They even had a killer cover of Metallica's "Creeping Death" that sounded amazing, but I was embarassed that the crowd didn't go more nutso for it. Fun stuff.

I don't think I've ever come across a more polarizing band than The Casualties. I don't know if they are true punk or just posers, but I do know this: they put on a really fun show. They're probably the closest I'm going to get to seeing a legendary punk band, and the crowd certainly acted like they were legends. Huge mosh pits and lots of singing along. All their songs were fast and good to headbang to, including the "Blitzkrieg Bop" cover they did! Good stuff.

Last time I saw Gwar, I stood far enough back not to get hit with anything. Not this time! I was absolutely soaked in every imaginable liquid and it was amazing. Gwar killed Sarah Palin and Lady Gaga, a dog, a couple of zombies, and then shot out even more blood on the crowd from a cannon. The entire venue was absolutely slick with "blood" by the time the concert ended. The setlist we got was just a little bit different than the one's that have been posted, because their new album, "Bloody Pit of Horror" comes out tomorrow. "Salamanizer" and "Bring Back The Bomb" were fun of course, but "Pure As The Arctic Snow" and the "Bloody Pit Of Horror" medley sounded fantastic as well. A chaotic crowd all around; I don't think anyone left the Granada without having their skin stained red. It was an absolute spectacle. The band sounded fantastic, the theatrics were spot on, and I can't wait to see Gwar again.

Infernaeon included:

Creeping Death (Metallica cover)
Immaculate Deception

The Casualties:

We Are All We Have
Tomorrow Belongs to Us
Criminal Class
Without Warning
System Failed Us
Heart Bleeds Black
Social Outcast
Looking Thru Bloodshot Eyes
Media Control
Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones cover)
Kill Everyone
Riot!
Unknown Soldier

GWAR:

1. Horror Of Yig
2. Damnation Under God
3. Hail to Genocide
4. Let Us Slay
5. Vlad The Impaler
6. Decay Of Grandeur
7. The Private Pain of Techno Destructo
8. Crack In The Egg
9. Maggots
10. Bring Back The Bomb
11. Metal Metal Land
12. Pure As The Arctic Snow
13. Beat You To Death
14. Salamanizer
--------------
15. Zombie March/Come The Carnivor/A Gathering of Ghouls/Storm is Coming medley
16. Sick Of You

Infernaeon: 8/10
The Casualties: 8.5/10
Gwar: 9/10

Whoops!

About that Toxic Holocaust show on the 23rd: It's at the Czar Bar in KC, not the Riot Room. Sorry for the mix-up!

Rescheduled: The Sword

The Sword, who was originally going to be at the Record Bar in October, will be coming back to the Record Bar on a rescheduled date for December 15th. Hooray!