Amon Amarth -- Lawrence, KS -- February 9th, 2014

"Oden! Guide our ships
Our axes, spears and swords
Guide us through storms that whip
And in brutal war"

These lines from Amon Amarth's "The Pursuit Of Vikings" were chanted so loudly by a packed house at the Granada on Sunday night that people passing by the venue outside might have mistaken it for a Viking rally from Valhalla itself.

The Swedish melodic death metal band may just be the most popular and recognizable foreign death metal band right now, and the passionate crowd attests to that. From the second they took the stage to the last note of the final song, Amon Amarth had everyone at the Granada in the palm of their hand. Whether it was their punishing opening song "Father Of The Wolf," the subdued "Cry Of The Blackbirds," or the absolutely punishing "Destroyer Of The Universe," the five Norsemen on stage were greeted with plenty of headbanging, crowdsurfing and singalongs to whichever song they performed. It's a rare thing for a metal band to get such a raucous reception to both old songs and new. One of the biggest crowd reactions was from the title track of the band's 2008 album "Twilight Of The Thunder God" - the crowd just about sang half the song on their own.

Frontman Johan Hegg had a giant smile on his face every time a crowd surfer went over the barrier. At one point, a little kid came over the barrier and Johan just grinned and gave him a thumbs up. The guys in Amon Amarth might look like terrifying Vikings, but they just wanted everyone to have a good time. The band performed for over an hour and a half and hit songs from six of their eight albums and sounded perfect the entire time. One of the best pure death metal performances the Granada has seen in a long time.

For most people when this tour was announced, the support band Enslaved was the main reason to get excited. Norway's Enslaved doesn't tour the United States nearly as much as Amon Amarth, but it's a mystery why not. Starting off as one of the main bands of the second wave of black metal out of Norway (along the likes of Mayhem, Darkthrone, Satyricon, etc.), Enslaved now injects a healthy dose of progressive and psychedelic music into their music. It was evident on songs like "Death In The Eyes Of Dawn" and "Ruun" that the band has evolved so far from their beginning black metal stage. However, when the band played "Allfaðr Oðinn" off their 1992 demo Yggdrasil - older than many of the fans in attendance that night, they showed that they can still belt out fast, evil black metal with the best of them. Enslaved's performance was just magic. Maybe it was the inclusion of some clean vocals and keyboards or maybe it was frontman Grutle Kjellson's drawing of runes in the air during songs that just made them so fascinating to watch, but they were the best band of the night. Truly a sight to behold!

The lone American band on the tour was none other than Ohio's Skeletonwitch. Their brand of blackened thrash metal (with just about every other type of metal mixed in) served as the perfect combination to get the show kicked off at maximum speed. Their first album is a landmark of recent American thrash metal, but more recent songs like "Beneath Dead Leaves" and "Crushed Beyond Dust" show that Skeletonwitch only gets faster and heavier with time. Their set closer "Within My Blood" is also quite possibly the greatest closing song in live music history. A swirling torrent of riffs and headbanging - the type of metal to throw some beer to!

The sound was nearly perfect the entire night - everything was mixed great and was loud, as metal should be! All three bands put on amazing performances and left the crazy crowd satisfied. The town of Jayhawks left that night as true viking warriors!

 Amon Amarth (9:30 - 11:00):

Father Of The Wolf
Deceiver Of The Gods
Death In Fire
For Victory Or Death
As Loke Falls
We Shall Destroy
Runes To My Memory
Varyags of Miklagaard
Last Stand of Frej
Guardians Of Asgaard
Shape Shifter
Warriors Of The North
Destroyer Of The Universe
Cry Of The Blackbirds
War of the Gods
====
Twilight Of The Thunder God
The Pursuit Of Vikings

Enslaved (8:15 - 9:00):

Death In The Eyes Of Dawn
Ruun
Ethica Odini
RIITIIR
Allfaðr Oðinn
Isa

Skeletonwitch (7:30 - 7:58):

The Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)
I Am Of Death (Hell Has Arrived)
Burned From Bone
Sacrifice For The Slaughtergod
Beyond the Permafrost
From A Cloudless Sky
Crushed Beyond Dust
Beneath Dead Leaves
Within My Blood

Amon Amarth: 8/10
Enslaved: 9.5/10
Skeletonwitch: 9/10

Skeletonwitch -- Lawrence, KS -- October 8th, 2011

Why is Skeletonwitch one of the best live bands ever? Is it because they have unmatched stage presence? Is it because Chance is otherworldy when he's doing his vocals? Is it the spot-on solo performances? Is it their perfect sound mix? It's every one of these, and stuff that I just can't put my thumb on.

This was my sixth time seeing Skeletonwitch, third time seeing them headline. It was the longest set I've ever seen them play, and it seemed evenly divided by their three albums. While the Beyond The Permafrost tracks were insane (including one of my personal favorite songs of all time, Within My Blood, ending the set with hellish ferocity), the songs from their new album sounded amazing. The new record is definitely a lot more melodic, but still vicious as ever. And I think my new favorite live Skeletonwitch song is Crushed Beyond Dust. The entire band was firing on all cylinders tonight. The sound was impeccable, and each member gave 110%. Absolutely the best time I've seen them, absolutely one of the best sets I've seen this year or ever. 10/10

Before the main act, Wrath and Ruin played. This show also served as their record release show. They play a brand of atmospheric/industrial/doom metal that is completely suffocating and brutal. One of the songs they played (I'll have to listen to their album, which they gave away!) was one of the most violent live songs I've heard. Not in a douchey, "let's see some blood, bro!" way, but in a serial-killing stranger-murdering way. And their drummer is still really, really good! 8.5/10

Opening the show was The Cast Pattern. It's been a while since I've seen them, but it looks like they got a new vocalist and were pretty decent! I'm not a huge fan of the type of metalcore/deathcore that they play, but they do it extremely well. No sustained/annoying breakdowns at all. 7/10

Picked up Wrath and Ruin's new album, "Mouth of Oblivion". If this combination of bands entices you: Khanate, Godflesh, Xasthur, Jesu, then I highly recommend you check them out. I also got the new Skeletonwitch album, "Infernal Damnation", on green splatter vinyl. Limited to 500 copies, you bet your sweet ass I'll be posting pics of it. Came with a free poster and digital download too!

Skeletonwitch:

The Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)
Reduced to the Failure of Prayer
Upon Wings Of Black
Submit to the Suffering
Crushed Beyond Dust
Beyond the Permafrost
Sacrifice for the Slaughtergod
Strangled by Unseen Hands
Infernal Damnation
Longing for Domination
Fire from the Sky
Vengeance Will be Mine
Choke Upon Betrayal
Within My Blood

Wrath and Ruin (partial/out of order):

The Bug
The Edgeless Beyond

The Cast Pattern (partial/out of order):

Set Like, Three Things On Fire
My Grandpa's A Faggot

October preview: Skeletonwitch

Skeletonwitch returns to the KC area and will be slaying the Jackpot Saloon in Lawrence on October 8th! Their new album, Forever Abomination, should be out by then, so go buy it! Opening the show will be Wrath and Ruin, who is using the concert as the release show for their new album, and The Cast Pattern.

Cannibal Corpse -- Lawrence, KS -- May 2nd, 2010

What a perfect day for a concert. It was just starting to get cloudy and sprinkle before the doors opened to let in the crowd, so inside it wasn't very hot at all. Made for a great show with some amazing performances by all the bands.

First up was Lecherous Nocturne from South Carolina. They had great energy, but the sound was hit or miss for them for most of the set. Despite that, they were a technical death metal band in the vein of Portal, who I thought they sounded like at times. The vocalist did a good job at interacting with the crowd and had the ingenious idea to give away a copy of their new album to the person who kept the mosh pit going the longest during one of their songs. I bet they sound awesome on album, but I'd like to see them again and hear them better live.

It was my fifth time seeing Skeletonwitch live and although I wish they would've played for longer and added a few more songs, they absolutely killed me. Cannibal Corpse made a dire mistake taking them on this tour, because I was absolutely drained by the end of their performance. The sound was pretty great, and their playing was spot on. I always wreck my neck to Skeletonwitch and last night was no exception. Sacrifice to the Slaughtergod, Crushed Beyond Dust and, of course, Within My Blood were the perfect trifecta of headbanging of the night. Amazing.

A really awesome thing about this show was that it was exactly on time. None of the bands forced the crowd to wait longer than they had to, which was good because I figured 1349 would do that because Norwegian black metal bands tend to have a complex like that. Nope. They came out and despite a few sound problems during the first half of their set, they destroyed. Only one guitarist on this tour, but it really didn't matter. They just cranked up the bass and when it sounded good, it sounded REALLY good. I couldn't hear Frost's drums too much during the set which is a shame; I know what kind of talent he has. The rest of the band did a great job at invoking some sort of unholy spirit to guide us through a blistering set of pure black metal including one absolutely crushing rendition of Sculptor Of Flesh. The new stuff sounded great as well. They probably won't be back around these parts for a while, so I'm really glad I got to witness this spectacle.

Also my 5th time seeing Cannibal Corpse and all I can say is WOW. They really hit their back catalogue for this one. They started off the set with Scalding Hail from their newest album (and I think that's the first time I've heard that live) but most of the songs that followed were probably older than most of the crowd there in attendance. I Will Kill You, The Cryptic Stench, Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains and Devoured By Vermin were some of the best times I've ever had at a concert and Death Walking Terror, Disfigured, A Skull Full Of Maggots and, of course, Hammer Smashed Face still are absolutely crazy awesome. Lots of great Corpsegrinder moments, lots of crowd surfing, lots of pits, and lots of headbanging. What more can you ask for? Cannibal Corpse is on top of their game and on top of the current death metal world and with sets like these, they're going to stay there for a long time.

Lecherous Nocturne:

partial/out of order:

The Divine Wind
Just War Theory
Edict Of Worms
Death Hurts Only The Living
The Preponderance of Fire

Skeletonwitch:

Submit To The Suffering
Upon Wings Of Black
The Despoiler Of Human Life
Repulsive Salvation
Sacrifice To The Slaughtergod
Stand, Fight, Die
Crushed Beyond Dust
Beyond The Permafrost
Blinding Black Rage
Within My Blood

1349:

Riders Of The Apocalypse
I Am Abomination
When I Was Flesh
Maggot Fetus...Teeth Like Horns
Chasing Dragons
Sculptor Of Flesh
Atomic Chapel

Cannibal Corpse:

Scalding Hail
Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
Murder Worship
Sentenced To Burn
Savage Butchery
The Cryptic Stench
Pounded Into Dust
The Wretched Spawn
Gutted
Evisceration Plague
Disfigured
Scattered Remains, Splattered Brains
Make Them Suffer
Priests of Sodom
Staring Through the Eyes of the Dead
Devoured by Vermin
A Skull Full of Maggots (feat. vocalist of Lecherous Nocturne)
Hammer Smashed Face
Stripped Raped and Strangled

Those are all 100% except for Lecherous Nocturne.

Lecherous Nocturne: 8/10
Skeletonwitch: 9.5/10
1349: 8.5/10
Cannibal Corpse: 9.5/10

News of OZZFEST to come next week.

Annual (or so) heavy metal/hard rock festival Ozzfest will release news after months of speculation beginning next week.

It has a chance to be amazing, especially considering the weak Mayhem Fest lineup.

Ozzfest has been to Sandstone every year (except 2004/5 with Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath playing) so it's sure to hit here.

Rumored bands:











And lots more.

THE GREATEST TOUR OF ALL TIME

Oh man. This May is going to be insane in Lawrence.

Just announced: May 2nd at the Granada

CANNIBAL CORPSE
1349
SKELETONWITCH
LECHEROUS NOCTURNE

A tour where I'm absolutely excited for every single band.

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.

Skipping Kansas: DOUBLE SHOT: Vader + Children of Bodom

Vader is headlining this year's iteration of MONSTERS OF DEATH. The full line-up is:

Vader
Decrepit Birth
Warbringer
Dementa
The Augury
Success Will Write Apocalypse Across The Sky

Closest date is in Tulsa, OK on Dec. 5. Full dates here.

Children of Bodom are returning for their third and final US run in support of Blooddrunk. These might not be all the dates, but it looks pretty grim for KC.

Sep. 18 - Providence, RI - Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel #
Sep. 19 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom *
Sep. 20 - Clifton Park, NY - Northern Lights *
Sep. 22 - Quebec City, QC - Capitole Theatre *
Sep. 23 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis *
Sep. 25 - Kitchner, ON - Elements *
Sep. 26 - Toronto, ON - Sound Academy *
Sep. 27 - Chicago, IL - House Of Blues #
Sep. 28 - Minneapolis, MN - Epic *
Sep. 30 - Winnipeg, MB - The Garrick *
Oct. 01 - Saskatoon, SK - The Odeon *
Oct. 02 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Hall *
Oct. 03 - Edmonton, AB - EEC *
Oct. 05 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore *
Oct. 06 - Seattle, WA - Showbox Market #
Oct. 07 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theatre #
Oct. 09 - San Francisco, CA - Regency Ballroom # + %
Oct. 10 - Pomona, CA - The Glasshouse #
Oct. 11 - Pomona, CA - The Glasshouse (w/ HOLY GRAIL)
Oct. 12 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre # + %
Oct. 14 - Honolulu, HI - Pipeline Cafe (CHILDREN OF BODOM only)

* THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and SKELETONWITCH support
# SKELETONWITCH and another act (to be announced) support
% Includes special guest AUSTRIAN DEATH MACHINE

American Waste Festival -- Kansas City, MO -- June 6th, 2009

This was, by far, one of the best things to happen to the metal community in and around Kansas City. I only hope that this fest comes back again and again and again, forever. Such a good time.

I got into the Beaumont's backyard just as Muzzle Loader was starting their set. This band reminded me of when I was in junior high, going to local band house shows. The only thing is that all those bands were generic metalcore/screamo. Same for Muzzle Loader. They should spend less time on thinking how they could jump and do stuff with their guitars to look cool and more time on writing some good music. They have potential, but they're gonna have to dig for it. 5/10

After them on the outside stage as well was Iseah. Again, another generic deathcore band. Nothing special at all. 5/10

The first band worth seeing today was Sicadis on the outside stage. The vocalist was funny, they had good stage presence, and even invited some guests on stage, most notably the vocalist for At the Left Hand of God. They are melodic death metal which at times was worse, but at other times was better. It all evened out and they were very enjoyable. If they took out every instance of clean vocals and kept the same death metal vocals, it'd be great. 7.5/10

One of the main reasons for me attending this wonderful fest was up next on the outside stage and the un-unholy time of 3:15 PM. It was my third time seeing Skeletonwitch and they continue to get better and better each time I see them. They played 3 songs off their new album, due out on October 14th called "Breathing The Fire", so sayeth Chance Garnett. The rest of their set was a brilliant look back through Beyond The Permafrost. On the title song of that album, me and everyone else up close to the stage got to shout the chorus along with Chance into his microphone. They were on fire throughout their entirely to short 30-minute set. But it was 30 minutes of unholy bliss. 10/10

Sacrifice For The Slaughtergod
Fire From The Sky
Limb From Limb
Remains Of The Defeated
Crushed Beyond Dust (new)
Upon Wings Of Black
Beyond The Permafrots
Blinding Black Rage (new)
Where The Light Has Failed (new)
Within My Blood

The first band I saw inside the Beaumont club today was another band who I was really psyched to see: Hammerlord. I've said it before, I'm saying it now, and I'll say it forever more: They are the best band in and around the Kansas City area. And, as evidenced today, they have one of the most talented guitar players ever. The solos were mind-blowing. Every single part of the band clicked and they sounded outstanding. I will continue to support Hammerlord until they're as big as Testament themselves! 9/10

? (new)
Shut Your Eyes
Dead City Radio
Lordess
Thunderers

After Hammerlord, I went outside to see Troglodyte, but the schedule got mixed up. The Killer went on instead. This was, unfortunately, the worst band of the day. They sounded like generic "brocore" hardcore, and the mix was terrible. All I could hear were drums. No one in the band looked into it at all until about the last song. They just didn't sound good at all. 4/10

I decided to skip Snake Eater and watch The Esoteric reunion inside the club. I'm not really sure what kind of genre to put The Esoteric in, but they were heavy, and that's all that really matters. I think maybe they'd be called metalcore, back when it wasn't such a dirty word but actually, you know, good. Also elements of heavy metal thrown in. A good show all around. 8/10

Partial/Out of order setlist:

Until The Grave Gives Up The Ghost
Destroy, She Said

To close out the outside stage, Troglodyte battered everyone who was out there to witness their awesome brand of death metal/grindcore. They seemed really into it, especially the vocalist, and it came through. The mix was a bit iffy at time, but it hardly mattered to Trog. I wish they could've played for longer; it's always a pleasure to see them. 8/10

Partial/Out of order setlist:

Troglodyte Rises
Don't Go Into The Woods...
Skunk Ape Rape
We Eat Our Own
Die When You Die (GG Allin Cover)
Beaten And Eaten
They Walk Among Us

I walked back into the club to catch the last song from LaZarus A.D. Not enough to really give them a fair review, but I liked what I heard. I hope they come back soon.

I saw Unearth open for Slayer back in 2007. While they were slightly better this time around, they were still very, very bad. Every song was pretty much 50% generic breakdowns. It didn't really help that their guitarist is a huge tool as well. Some parts sounded halfway decent, but it just went back down the toilet with breakdown after breakdown. Not good at all. 5/10

Testament. Need I say more? They were near perfect. They are pretty much the epitome of a classic thrash band. I've seen Exodus, Metallica and Slayer and Testament blew them all out of the water. What kept this from being the perfect set is that I wished they would've played for longer. But what we got was fantastic. Alex Skolnick is a beast on the guitar and Chuck Billy is a fantastic frontman. They were loud, fast, and awesome. And they played Disciples of the Watch!

OBEY!
9.5/10

Not 100% on the setlist, if anyone wants to correct it, go ahead:

The Preacher
The New Order
Over The Wall
More Than Meets The Eye
The Persecuted Won't Forget
Burnt Offerings
True Believer (?)
Into The Pit
Disciples Of The Watch
encore:
D.N.R.
3 Days In Darkness
The Formation Of Damnation

Overall, this was an outstanding day of metal. Tomorrow, Coalesce is headlining, but I'm dead. Everyone else go. Let's hope this becomes a yearly thing in Kansas City.

The Skeletonwitch concert just got 1000 times better.

Skeletonwitch
Trap Them
Saviours

Be still my heart.

At the Riot Room on July 23rd.

SKELETONWIIIITCH!

http://www.last.fm/event/1065997
1
Coming to the Riot Room July 23rd! That's twice this year already. Let's hope for more!

American Waste update: SKELETONWITCH!

Hundred Years War has dropped off the festival, but replacing them is none other than the mighty SKELETONWITCH! June 6th! Beaumont Club! Testament, too! BE THERE!

Ah yeah muthasucka: Skeletonwitch Video!

Sacrifice for the Slaughtergod

Scion Rock Fest

This might be the best non-underground metal festival in the US.

It's sponsored by Scion.
It's called a "rock fest".
It's in Atlanta.

It can't be that good, can it?

Mastodon
Neurosis
High on Fire
Boris
1349
Cryptopsy
Torche
Nachtmystium
Wolves in the Throne Room
Baroness
Harvey Milk
Kylesa
Zoroaster
Withered
Krallice
Toxic Holocaust
Skeletonwitch
Rwake
A Storm of Light
Warbringer
Salome
Suidakra
Tyr
Alestorm

Wow.

http://www.scion.com/rock/

edit:

And it's free.

2008: The Year In Review

Top Ten 2008 Albums
note: these are only for albums i've purchased

1.


Ben Folds
Way To Normal
"His best musical offering since leaving Ben Folds Five"
Standout Tracks: Bitch Went Nuts, Brainwascht, Kylie From Connecticut


2.


Metallica
Death Magnetic
"The best thing for Metallica: Their best album since Cliff died"
Standout Tracks: The End Of The Line, All Nightmare Long, The Judas Kiss


3.


Hail Of Bullets
...Of Frost And War
"Solid Old-School Death Metal from a supergroup of some of the genre's finest"
Standout Tracks: Ordered Eastward, Red Wolves Of Stalin, Nachthexen


4.


Unleashed
Hammer Battalion
"Merciless offering of pagan death metal that stays true to its roots"
Standout Tracks: Hammer Battallion, Carved In Stone, The Greatest Of All Lies


5.


Deicide
Till Death Do Us Part
"It really is Deicide's most brutal album - EVER!"
Standout Tracks: Hate Of All Hatreds, Not As Long As We Both Shall Live, Angel Of Agony


6.


Arsis
We Are The Nightmare
"Equal parts of all their previous releases, this album shreds"
Standout Tracks: Shattering The Spell, Falling Winds Of Hopeless Greed, My Oath To Madness


7.


Hellhammer
Demon Entrails (Compilation)
"Absolutely essential to anyone who considers themselves a fan of extreme metal"
Standout Tracks: Euronymous, Crucifixion, Messiah


8.


Toxic Holocaust
An Overdose Of Death
"Bringing back the punk to thrash, a very enjoyable album"
Standout Tracks: Nuke The Cross, Future Shock, Feedback, Blood and Distortion


9.


Hate Eternal
Fury And Flames
"Shoddy production can't keep you from banging your head to this disc"
Standout Tracks: Whom Gods May Destroy, Bringer Of Storms, Fury Within


10.


Judas Priest
Nostradamus
"Classic Priest hidden within their most progressive offering yet"
Standout Tracks: Pestilence and Plague, Conquest, Nostradamus

----------------

Top Albums I Purchased This Year (Any Year)

1. Ben Folds - Way To Normal
2. Skeletonwitch - Beyond The Permafrost
3. Judas Priest - Metal Works '73 - '93
4. Morbid Angel - Altars Of Madness
5. Suicidal Tendencies - Prime Cuts
6. Impaled - Death After Life
7. Origin - Echoes Of Decimation
8. Metallica - Death Magnetic
9. Sodom - Sodom
10. Obituary - Cause Of Death

Honorable Mention: Death - Leprosy

Top DVD's I Purchased (Any Year)

1. Iron Maiden - Live After Death
2. Dark Funeral - Attera Orbis Terrarum - Part 1
3. Metallica - Live Shit: Binge & Purge
4. Slayer - The Unholy Alliance

Dishonorable Mention: Necrophagist - Summer Slaughter 2007

Top 5 New Bands To Me (Any Year)

1. Skeletonwitch
2. Judas Priest
3. Suicidal Tendencies
4. Impaled
5. Obituary

---------------------

Top 15 Performances Attended

1. Skeletonwitch (1st time)
2. Ben Folds (1st time)
3. Ben Folds (2nd time)
4. Obituary
5. Judas Priest
6. Skeletonwitch (2nd time)
7. Suicidal Tendencies
8. Unleashed
9. The Flaming Lips
10. Boris
11. Origin
12. Misery Index
13. Napalm Death
14. Iced Earth
15. Phobia

Honorable Mentions: High On Fire, mc chris, Hate Eternal (both times), Troglodyte (2nd time)

Top 10 Concerts

1.
Obituary w/ Unleashed
October 1
Kansas City, MO

2.
Skeletonwitch
February 11
Manhattan, KS

3.
Ben Folds
April 5
Kansas City, MO

4.
Ben Folds
October 22
Kansas City, MO

5.
Origin w/ Misery Index, Abysmal Dawn
August 9
Lawrence, KS

6.
Suicidal Tendencies w/ Terror, Whole Wheat Bread
November 29
Kansas City, MO

7.
Blackest Of The Black 2008 w/ Danzig, Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell, Skeletonwitch
October 31
Kansas City, MO

8.
Wakarusa 2008 w/ The Flaming Lips, Blackalicious, many many more
June 6th
Lawrence, KS

9.
Boris w/ Torche, Lair Of The Minotaur
July 23
Lawrence, KS

10.
Alice Cooper
September 12
Hutchinson, KS

Honorable Mention:

Iced Earth
November 12
Kansas City, MO

Worst Performances

1. Cobra Starship
2. 36 Crazyfists
3. Carnifex
4. Drowning Pool
5. Annotations Of An Autopsy

Top 5 Newsmakers

1. Metallica releasing Death Magnetic
2. Cryptopsy turning to Deathcore
3. Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back In Time Tour
4. Judas Priest/Heaven And Hell Metal Masters Tour
5. Chinese Democracy

Blackest Of The Black -- Kansas City, MO -- October 31st, 2008

Skeletonwitch:

1) Upon Wings of Black
2) East Into The Open Sea
3) Sacrifice for the Slaughtergod
4) Beyond the Permafrost
5) Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery
6) Within My Blood

9.5/10

Winds Of Plague:

1) A Cold Day In Hell
2) Anthems of the Apocalypse
3) Angels of Debauchery
4) Origins and Endings
5) Decimate the Weak
6) The Impaler

3/10

Moonspell:

I know they played Night Eternal and ended with Full Moon Madness. Probably the same as other dates.

9/10

Dimmu Borgir:

Songs I remember:

The Serpentine Offering
Spellbound (By The Devil)
Mourning Palace (ended with this)
Kings Of The Carnival Creation
Puritania
Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse
The Sacreligious Scorn
and then that one song where Shaggrath sings in a robot voice and counts down in the beginning

7.5/10

Danzig:

I'm almost positive it's the same as the other lists:


1. Wotan’s Procession/Skin Carver
2. Twist of Cain
3. Am I Demon
4. Tired of Being Alive
5. Her Black Wings
6. Devil’s Plaything
7. Left Hand Black
8. How The God’s Kill
9. Brand New God
10. Satan’s Crucifiction
11. Black Mass
12. Lilin
13. Black Angel, White Angel
14. Mother
------
15. ???
16. She Rides
17. Dirty Black Summer

8/10

Notes:

1. Skeletonwitch was fantastic and Moonspell was the second best band of the day.
2. Winds of Plague was terrible.
3. Dimmu Borgir got kind of boring. I'll take my black metal Dark Funeral style.
4. Danzig is a helluva performer. I really enjoyed him

HALLOWEEN HIJINKS:

The whole crew behind the scenes had on corpsepaint. When Winds Of Plague played, they dressed up. The vocalist and one of the guitar players had on corpsepaint, and then it hit me. They were dressed up as black metal people! The vocalist had corpsepaint exactly like Gaahl's and the guitar player was Abbath. I wanna say that the bass player was Maniac, but i'm not sure. The keyboard chick was in a nun costume.

On the other hand, Dimmu did NOT play with corpsepaint!

And, is it just me, or do black metal guys have REALLY huge foreheads when not wearing their paint?

Merch purchased:

Skeletonwitch shirt
Skeletonwitch patch
Skeletonwitch sticker
Skeletonwitch button

good concert.

Note about Blackest Of The Black

The Blackest Of The Black tour, featuring Danzig, Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell, Winds of Plague, and Skeletonwitch, will be at the Uptown Theater on Halloween. There have been numerous reports that there is a STRICT NO CAMERA POLICY and they WILL kick you out if you take a picture. Even with camera phones.

Leave the cameras at home and the phone in the pocket!

Another new one from Metallica

Another new one: My Apocalypse, the last song on the album. thanks, blabbermouth!

[URL="mms://wm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2008/de/My_Apocalypse.wma"]Windows Media[/URL]

[URL="rtsp://rm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2008/de/My_Apocalypse.rm"]Real Media[/URL]

[URL="rtsp://rm.elektra.com/metallica/metallica_com/2008/de/My_Apocalypse.mov"]Quicktime[/URL]

also: Skeletonwitch got canceled this upcoming Thursday at the Riot Room. :( Sucks. You'll have to catch them at Uptown Theater on Halloween opening Danzig's Blackest of the Black tour.

Best Class Ever

Today is my first day of class and in my Music Listening class, we're required to go to 4 concerts and one more for extra credit. Credit is given based on a report of them.

Expect more in-depth than usual reports for:

Alice Cooper (Sept. 12)
Impaled (Sept. 15)
Obituary (Oct. 1)
Ben Folds (Oct. 22)
Danzig (Oct. 31) (although this one will probably be more about Skeletonwitch)

I may switch out Danzig for Metallica.

Upcoming concerts in or around Kansas City!

I hope to see lots of people at these!

Contamination Tour with Origin, Misery Index and Abysmal Dawn
08/09/08
$10 - $12
Jackpot
Lawrence, KS
18+

Skeletonwitch
08/28/08
$8
The Riot Room
Kansas City, MO
21+

Motorhead with Misfits, Airbourne, Valient Thor and Year Long Disaster
09/07/08
$30 - $50
Voodoo Lounge at Harrah's
Kansas City, MO
21+

Alice Cooper at The Kansas State Fair
09/12/08
$25
Kansas State Fair
Hutchinson, KS
All Ages

War On Everything Tour feat. Impaled, Phobia, Kill The Client, Illogicist and Maruta (tix on sale at the door)
$12 - $15
Jackpot
Lawrence, KS
18+

Children of Bodom with The Black Dahlia Murder and Between The Buried And Me
09/27/08
$20
Beaumont Club
Kansas City, MO
All Ages

Obituary with Unleashed and Carnifex
10/01/08
$20
Beaumont Club
Kansas City, MO
All Ages

Opeth with High On Fire and Baroness
10/14/08
$20
Beaumont Club
Kansas City, MO
All Ages

Blackest Of The Black Tour feat. Danzig with Dimmu Borgir, Moonspell, Winds of Plague and Skeletonwitch
10/31/08
$27.50
Uptown Theater
Kansas City, MO
All Ages