Bay Area Metal Scene » Archive for February 2010
Upcoming Tour: High on Fire / Priestess / Black Cobra / Bison BC
Rad line-up! There are no shows currently scheduled for the Bay Area, but they’re “adding shows” along the way and I’m pretty sure that since there are two Bay Area bands, there will be a Bay Area show. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tours
Super Sludge
The newly-formed Super Group of Sludge, Shrinebuilder, kick off their two month tour next month with supporting acts Harvestman, Laudanum and A Storm of Light. Their self-titled LP came out last month and features 5 tracks, each of them exploring the heavy, the soft and the ambient sides of the genre. Shrinebuilder definitely give fans of each member’s band a taste of what they love. Hear their track Pyramid of the Moon on their myspace page … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tours
Toxic Bootlegs: Exodus, Arch Enemy and Arsis.
METAL FUCKING MONDAY! Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis and Mutiny Within steam-rolled through San Francisco last night at the Grand Ballroom. I have mixed feelings about this place, but most of them lean towards that one feeling, what’s it called? Oh yeah – MURDER. As in, “I want to murder everyone that works here.” So many rules! “Don’t stand here.” “No video allowed.” “4 dollars for water.” on and on and on. It’s like, with all these rules in place you’d think there would at least be awesome sound, but of course, it’s the complete fucking opposite. For such a grand ballroom their sound blows grand ball sacks. I missed Mutiny Within because the Bay Bridge had traffic and because I’m always late. Arsis had a pretty good set list, but the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Live Music
New Suffokate Album on the Way
Oakland’s newest Death Metal/Death Core band, Suffokate, have released a new video for their song, Not the Fallen. Their new album, No Mercy No Forgiveness comes out February 23rd on Mediaskare records. Last year, they opened for Dying Fetus and The Faceless on the Planetary Depravity tour and are currently on the road as part of the Small Town Shakedown tour. … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
Musical Chairs
What do Job for a Cowboy, Animals as Leaders and the band in this video have in common? More than you think… … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
Hatchet Thrash
The final band in this week’s Thrash dedication toured the U.S. last year in support of their album, Awaiting Evil. Signed to Metal Blade records, Hatchet is the only band in this week’s list of Thrashers signed to a major record label. I caught their show at the end of the ‘09 tour, when they toured with Havok and opened for Warbringer (check out the show review). The bands, the venue and the people all … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
Zombie Holocaust Thrash!
Today’s Thrash band in this week’s Thrash dedication week is Zombie Holocaust. Signed to indie label EBM records (same label as Hirax and other thrash bands), the Zombies have managed to thrash the Bay Area with their punked-laced metal for a a few years now, finally releasing their debut CD, Strike Force in 2009. These guys definitely have a party vibe going on at their shows, so anyone not paying attention better watch out! Any album … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
Ridiculous Band Name of the Day: Destroy Destroy Destroy
Destroy Destroy Destroy. It just rolls right off your tongue. It’s not as bad as say, Anal Cunt, but it’s way too close to Attack Attack for comfort. I’ll just call them Triple-D, which I’m sure is a term that most folks would agree conjures up fond memories. Unlike most of the bands I’ve mentioned with ridiculous names, Triple-D actually sound good. They’re like a melodic Thrash Power Metal band from Tennessee. Still, what’s with the unicorn skeleton … Read entire article »
Filed under: Ridiculous Band Names
I’m going to give you the keys to the Lamborghini
Why Michael Angelo is better than you: Can make a career with non-stop guitar shredding. Not afraid to sport a Gold’s Gym tank-top, despite lack of working out. Has a tattoo on right arm of custom signature guitar. People expect him to have a ridiculous hair cut. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Videos
Getting Low: An Interview With Renowned Bassist Steve DiGiorgio
Ask any metal-head to name the first bass player that comes to mind and 99% of the time you’ll get one of two Steves: Harris or DiGiorgio. Both are great, but only one of them is considered the de-facto go-to person for bands in need of someone that can dominate the low-end of the audio spectrum. DiGiorgio has worked with countless legendary metal bands like Death, Testament and Sadus, and continues today with his new bands … Read entire article »
Filed under: Interviews
Fog of War Thrash
Day 3 of Thrash week! Today’s Thrash band is Fog of War from Benicia. Fans of old Flotsam and Jetsam or King Diamond will appreciate Fog’s thrashing vocals and bass-forward sound in the mix. This is perhaps the only band so far this week with a vocalist that could pull-off the high-pitch screams and falsetto. There are also plenty of shredding guitar solos and harmonies to accompany said thrashing. Fog of War are not currently … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
Spitting Venom: An Update From Black Cobra’s Rafa Martinez
It’s been 8 years since Jason Landrian (guitars, vocals) and Rafa Martinez (drums) started making noise together as Black Cobra. The two-piece sludge metal band, having just released their 4th CD Chronomega last year (check out our review), are getting ready to unleash their fangs on tour in 2010. Before they hit the road, I was able to exchange a few quick emails with Rafa to get the scoop on what he thought about their … Read entire article »
Filed under: Interviews
Laceration Thrash
The second band in this week’s Thrash dedication is the Bay Area-based band Laceration. Formed in 2006, Laceration have been playing shows throughout the Bay Area and released an E.P. in 2008 titled Consuming Reality. The band lists Death Metal as an influence, and you can hear the darkness come through in their songwriting. The production on the E.P. is pretty “vintage”, but what do you expect when you’re on a metal budget!? Although the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
Light This City Playing Farewell Shows This April
San Francisco’s Light This City is playing what appears to be their “final tour.” If you recall from two years ago, the band, at what seemed to be their peak metal moment, “disbanded” and left fans saying, “Whaaaa?” From their myspace bulletin: It has been just about 2 years since Light This City came home from the Death Angel tour and decided to call it quits. Needless to say, it has been an exciting and interesting two years since … Read entire article »
Filed under: Tours
Invection Thrash
The first band in honor of this week’s Thrash dedication is Oakland-based Invection. Formed in 2007, Invection have played various shows throughout California and released an E.P. last November titled Demented Perception. The E.P. features lots of double-bass and epic Thrash riffing, and the production quality is pretty good, which gives it a modern Thrash sound. As a relatively young unsigned band, they have managed to work hard and make a name for themselves, opening … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
Poll: Do you care about the Grammys?
For those of you that watched Rob Halford receive the Grammy for Best Metal Performance, it felt like it was long overdue. For others, it was a disappointment that their band didn’t win. And for another group of people, it felt like an exercise in tedium watching all four-thousand categories of music before finally getting to the metal category. Personally, I think there are too many fucking categories. Best Tropical Latin Album? Best Album Notes? … Read entire article »
Filed under: Polls
Thrash Week!
One of the best parts about living in the Bay Area is the primo selection of old-school and new-school Thrash bands. You obviously have the big guns like Exodus, Testament and Metallica, but there are also a bunch of young-guns that travel each week from dive to dive, Thrashing like it was 1985. So, we’re kicking-off February by taking a look at a few Thrash bands that the Bay Area has to offer. A dedication … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
American Carnage Tour – Take 2!
The rescheduled dates for the American Carnage Tour have been posted! Jul. 23 – Pavillon de la Jeunesse, Quebec City, QC CANADA Jul. 24 – Heavy MTL, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Montreal, QC CANADA Jul. 26 – Metro Centre, Halifax, NS CANADA Jul. 27 – Moncton Coliseum, Moncton, NB CANADA Jul. 29 – Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, ONT CANADA Jul. 30 – John Labatt Centre Center, London, ONT CANADA Aug. 11 – Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls, … Read entire article »
Filed under: News
Photos: Saviours / St. Vitus
Image links to gallery and show review. … Read entire article »
Filed under: From the Rail

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