Behemoth -- Lawrence, KS -- April 16th, 2012

I've never had a show ruined for me because of sound problems, but last night came pretty close. Luckily, it ended up still being a fantastic concert.

The first band was In Solitude. Although they play pretty much straight-up heavy metal, it kind of had a tinge of black metal to the sound in some songs. The vocalist looked like he was insane, he was muttering to himself and drooling everywhere during the whole set. It was definitely awesome.

The Devil's Blood was the surprising highlight for me. Their brand of occult rock translates so well live, and the guitar players can really shred. In every song, there was at least one solo (usually more) that just made my jaw drop. The vocalist had an insane presence and had the best singing voice of the night and just hit every single note. It was really awesome, and I'm hooked on them now.

Our date was the first date that Watain played on the tour. Throughout the whole night I kept smelling a skunk but it never really hit me until right before Watain just where the smell was coming from. They brought out some giant inverted crosses and hung animal skulls and bones on some poles, then put out some skinned animal heads. Those smelled pretty bad, but it was nothing compared to when Watain themselves took the stage. They were wearing the carcasses of dead animals and the smell was almost unbearable. But it just made for that much of a better show. Watain is probably the purest black metal band I've ever seen. Although I'd consider myself more of a Marduk fan (I don't know why, but I always group the two bands together), Watain put on a pure evil show. All the songs sounded straight out of black metal's glory days in the early 90s, and Erik Danielsson is a great frontman. "Stellarvore" especially was great. Don't miss them!

The fact that Nergal is doing alive, let alone doing a Behemoth tour, after everything that's happened made me in awe to see him in the flesh. The entire crowd was so stoked just to have him there. That said, the sound was, to me, the worst of the night during Behemoth. Which is a shame, because their performance was outstanding. "Moonspell Rites" was the best song played that night - total black metal. "Alas Lord Is Upon Me" was ripping too, and 23 (The Youth Manifesto) was awesome. Just having them back is amazing enough, but they are still as vicious as ever!

Behemoth:

Ov Fire and the Void
Demigod
Moonspell Rites
Conquer All
The Thousand Plagues I Witness
Alas, Lord Is Upon Me
The Seed ov I
Decade of Therion
At the Left Hand ov God
Slaves Shall Serve
Chant for Eschaton 2000
====
23 (The Youth Manifesto)
Lucifer

Watain: (partial set. Sorry bros, I couldn't really hear Erik announce the songs that he did announce. The ones here they 100% played, though. The set was about 7-8 songs long, and they ended with a long one.)

The Serpent's Chalice
Stellarvore

The Devil's Blood (partial set, five/six songs long, some songs extended, ended with Christ Or Cocaine):

The Heavens Cry Out For The Devil's Blood
Christ Or Cocaine

In Solitude:

We Were Never Here
The World, The Flesh, The Devil
To Her Darkness
Witches Sabbath
On Burning Paths

Behemoth: 8/10
Watain: 8.5/10
The Devil's Blood: 9/10
In Solitude: 8/10

An unholy miracle - BEHEMOTH RETURNS!

This needed its own post:

Just over a year ago, the metal community was really worried that Nergal, frontman for BEHEMOTH, might succumb to leukemia and one of the biggest underground metal bands in existence today would cease to be. But he beat the odds, has made a recovery, and is on his way to slay us Midwesterners yet again! Coming with them to the Granada in Lawrence is an amazing lineup: Watain, The Devil's Blood and In Solitude! Pretty eclectic, and all awesome. They'll be here on April 16th!

CANCELED: Behemoth

Behemoth's frontman Nergal was diagnosed with something serious, so Behemoth has canceled all future dates, including the date at The Granada on November 9th, so he can get better. Hope he recovers soon!

The Apostasy Returns!

They couldn't stay away for too long.

Behemoth returns to The Granada in Lawrence on November 9th in support of their album "Evangelion" with a killer line-up including Watain, Withered and Black Anvil. Their show a few years back with Job For a Cowboy and Gojira was amazing, so this should be even better!

Skipping Kansas: Awesome Behemoth tour

Amazing Behemoth tour is coming to the states, but no dates near us yet. Behemoth always tours a ton for each new release, so hopefully they'll be back within the year.

Behemoth
Septicflesh
Shining

Jan. 07 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of the Living Arts
Jan. 08 - W. Springfield, VA - Jaxx
Jan. 09 - Raleigh, NC - Volume 11
Jan. 10 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
Jan. 11 - Tampa, FL - State Theatre
Jan. 13 - Austin, TX - Emo’s
Jan. 15 - Tucson, AZ - The Rock
Jan. 16 - Los Angeles, CA - House of Blues
Jan. 17 - San Francisco, CA - Slims
Jan. 18 - Portland, OR - Hawthorne Theater
Jan. 19 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon
Jan. 21 - Calgary, AB - Republik
Jan. 22 - Edmonton, AB - The Starlite Room
Jan. 23 - Regina, SK - The District
Jan. 24 - Winnipeg, MB - WECC
Jan. 25 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
Jan. 26 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
Jan. 27 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody's
Jan. 28 - Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls
Jan. 30 - New York, NY - Gramercy Theatre

Clash of the Titans 2009-10?

Unconfirmed, but Slayer and Megadeth might be at the Sprint Center a few days after Christmas with Behemoth opening.

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!

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.

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!

Rockstar Mayhem 2009 FULL DETAILS

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=113229

Main Stage:

SLAYER
MARILYN MANSON
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

Hot Topic Stage:

WHITECHAPEL
THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER
JOB FOR A COWBOY
BEHEMOTH
CANNIBAL CORPSE

Jägermeister Stage:

GOD FORBID
ALL THAT REMAINS
TRIVIUM

Those last two stages are obviously backwards.

July 21st - Kansas City, MO (probably at Sandstone)

SSSSSSLLLLLLLAAAAAYYYYYYYEEEEERRRRR!!!!!!!

Rockstar Mayhem 2009 Rumor?

I've heard rumors that for next years Rockstar Mayhem, the main stage will be co-headlined by Marilyn Manson/Slayer. And also Cannibal Corpse and Behemoth will each headline a side stage.

If this is true, count me in for an excellent concert experience.

I'll just have to leave before Marilyn Manson.