Hail!Hornet -- Lawrence, KS -- June 13th, 2012

It seems that the best sludge metal shows are often paired with super hot/muggy weather, small venues and/or dedicated crowds. Lawrence was a combination of all three factors, and sludge supergroup Hail!Hornet took advantage of it all.

The first band to open the night was local metallers The Melting Point Of Bronze. They are all incredibly tight musicians, but it's a little hard to pinpoint exactly what they sound like. As far as genres go, I'd call them (even though I really hate the term) "post-thrash." Kind of like is Pantera, Iced Earth and Metallica had a baby that grew up on Sci-Fi cartoons. If that intrigues you, then you'd be a fan! They had some great call and return shredding guitar solos in most of their songs. Lots of headbanging during them. Looking forward to seeing them more.

When I saw The Gates of Slumber down in Austin, I enjoyed them but I thought the sound was very thin. That wasn't a problem here. They had a commanding guitar tone and guitarist/vocalist Karl was in complete command of his instrument and its pedals. Some of the effects he put on it were just classic heavy metal staples. One word to describe their performance: "Sabbathian." They are riff-lords, as evidenced by how straight-forward and pounding "Ice Worm" is. They ended with "Coven of Cain" and it was a throwback to the glory days of good ol' fashioned heavy metal. Horns up!

Hail!Hornet loves to drink. Hail!Hornet loves to get high. Hail!Hornet loves to play loud music. That's the holy trinity of heavy metal. The band sounded just as good as they did in Texas, but the venue in Kansas was more suited to them. That dirty little bar with a handful of devoted fans in the crowd. Those are always the best shows, right? Once Hail!Hornet kicked in, they really didn't let up once during their set, unless it was to take shots and drinks that were bought for them from the crowd. Troy on vocals really sets the bar for vocalists in sludge metal. They were consistently amazing throughout the entire set. And Dixie Dave Collins is just so much fun to watch, as always. He literally turns into a madman when playing. They were really, really loud. In a good way. Totally heavy, and lightning fast compared to their contemporaries. Hail!Hornet is a must-see if they come near you in a small venue. Absolute metal goodness.

Hail!Hornet: 9/10
The Gates Of Slumber: 9/10
The Melting Point Of Bronze: 7.5/10

2012 update

Hey all! Thanks for sticking with the blog. I was getting some year-end stuff taken care of, so I'll try to be updating more regularly now.

I was going to attend the Rites of Darkness fest (feat. Antaeus, Zemial, etc.) in San Antonio, but that fell through. My last concert of the year will be Sunday, December 11th at the Jackpot in Lawrence: Touche Amore! Also appearing: Pianos Become The Teeth and Seahaven!

A couple last-minute 2011 shows:

As I Lay Dying returns to Kansas City to the Beaumont Club on December 8th. Opening is a whole bunch of bands, including The Ghost Inside, Of Mice And Men, iwrestledabearonce and Sylosis.

Also on the 10th (this coming Saturday) at the Beaumont Club in Kansas City is BLACK LABEL SOCIETY! I doubt you'll get a chance to see these legends in such an intimate setting ever again. Opening is Texas Hippie Coalition and Hammerlord!

Now onto 2012 concerts so far:

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The movie Slow Southern Steel is going on tour, and with them are the bands Hail!Hornet (sludge/stoner/doom supergroup) and Zoroaster (one of the loudest bands you'll ever see) and it's stopping at the Beaumont Club on February 1st! The movie plays first, then Zoroaster slays, then Hail!Hornet kills!







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Returning to the Granada theater after years of absence will be Children of Bodom! They'll be appearing on February 6th along with Eluveitie, Revocation and Threat Signal!









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Sad that In Flames and Trivium canceled their Kansas City appearance this year? Well fear not, they'll be returning to the Beaumont Club in KC on February 11th! Along with the two bands will be Veil of Maya and Kyng!









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And now for something a little different. Scott Kelly, frontman of Neurosis and frequent Mastodon collaborator, will be bringing his acoustic tour to the recordBar in Kansas City on February 21st. Eugene S. Robinson opens.







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Get ready progressive/power fans, the tour of the year is on February 26th at the Midland by AMC in Kansas City: Iced Earth & Symphony X! It looks like it's a co-headlining show with Warbringer opening. Awesome!







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And now for the show in 2012 that's been announced that I'm super excited for:

Killfest 2012 will be coming to Kansas City on April 26th! This legendary thrash band is bringing along a ton of awesome bands to open: Belphegor, Aborted, Suidakra, System Divide, and Diamond Plate! THRASH!













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And that's it! I know of a few more shows happening, but they haven't been announced just quite yet. But safe to say, when they are, they will blow your minds.