Bay Area Metal Scene » Reviews
Summer Slaughter at The Fillmore 8/23/10
It’s not every day where you get to go to a death metal show for about 9 hours straight, so I was really looking forward to Summer Slaughter. I thought the lineup was so-so, and wasn’t really sure if I would go until a few days before the show. Alas, I am not one to turn down a Decapitated show, so I decided to make it. After getting off at the wrong bus stop and … Read entire article »
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Lungs of a Blast Furnace (video) playing at Craneway Pavilion 8.13.2010
Friday the 13th Metal Massacre, some metal bands playing at Craneway Pavilion: Lungs of a Blast Furnace, The Venting Machine, St Vernon, Serpent & Seraph, plus one or two more. I was only able to catch The Venting Machine and Lungs of a Blast Furnace. This place is CAVERNOUS. Ford used to make tanks here during World War 2. I guess this place has a long history of metal Here is Lungs of a Blast … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out, Live Music, Main, Sounds of the Underground, Videos
Impaled at Thee Parkside 8/6/10
It was cold, foggy and lame heading into the city on a Friday night, anxiously awaiting to see Impaled. I wasn’t that familiar with all the bands on the bill, but I was in an accepting mood. All I had heard of direct support band, Funerot, was that they were breaking up after this tour and that I thought their stuff online was somewhat interesting. I also was assured that Population Reduction were a cool band, but live they were supposed to be hilarious. My apologies to Man Among Wolves, because I hadn’t heard them before the show. Man Among Wolves: The first thing that ran through my mind when I saw these guys setting up was “grindcore 3 piece.” I was right. Immediately, I realized that live grind is not for … Read entire article »
Tidal Wave 2010 – videos of all 14 bands
Here are my videos from this year’s Tidal Wave 2010 free outdoor metal festival. I might add another one or two; but at least now i have at least one video up from each of the 14 bands that were spread across the two days. 7.31.2010 – Here are 14 videos so far, one from each of the bands: Witchaven, Vastum, Go Like This, Elk, Giant Squid, Anvil Chorus, Blind Illusion, My Victim, Amber Asylum, Abysmal Dawn, … Read entire article »
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Grimefest 2010 videos (Feral Depravity, Assailant, Fiends At Feast)
Three videos from Grimefest 2010. Oakland Grimefest, your basic metal-fest in a car wash, wtf?!? When i got there, there were still some families waiting around to have their cars detailed. Meanwhile a couple of vehicles with band equipment waited patiently near the back until everything cleared out enough to unload. Five metal bands in all: Assailant, Lobotomizer, Condemned To Live, Fiends at Feast, Feral Depravity. I caught the first 3 bands; videos below: Feral Depravity: Assailant: Fiends At Feast: … Read entire article »
Filed under: Live Music, Sounds of the Underground, Videos
New Thrash Bands Have a Role Model in Vektor
This nu-thrash trend that had taken metal by storm recently, has it’s prominent fellows that don’t really change much. Let’s face it, bands like Warbringer write some really fun thrash tunes, and (supposedly) have a great live show to boot, but they do not by any means rewrite the thrash metal book. One band that has done just that, is Phoenix’s Vektor. Their 2009 release, Black Future, is an astonishingly fresh piece of metal. It … Read entire article »
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Iron Maiden at Sleep Train Pavillion: Concord 6/20
It was pretty apparent to me leaving the venue on Sunday that I had just seen something special. In a day that had begun at 4:30 when I had gotten to the venue, I managed to see two of the best bands in modern metal, and have the best concert experience I have ever had. In the line, I overheard people talking about other shows they’d been to on the Final Frontier tour, and I thought the whole time, “Wow, these guys are taking weeks off from work and spending a lot of money to follow these guys…” I thought it was a bit weird, no matter your fanaticism, to follow a band on tour. I was lucky enough to be a First to the Barrier winner, which is a contest … Read entire article »
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Exodus at Slim’s 6/12/10
Man, we had quite the show at Slim’s yesterday. The show wasn’t sold out, which surprised me, seeing as we had 4 bands from San Francisco on the bill. Full crowd or not, the concert was top notch. A few pictures at the bottom. Passive Aggressive: I think it’s a real shame I didn’t do my homework going into this show, because these guys sounded fun. I picked up a copy of their demo for future listening. … Read entire article »
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Cynic Re-Hash and Re-Mix with Re-Traced
Well, this is probably going to ruin my chances of interviewing anyone from Cynic, but “I calls it likes I sees it” – and what I sees is not what I wants. Although, I did speak with Paul Masvidal outside of their last show – does that partially count? I happen to consider myself a Cynic fan – perhaps not as much as many of you out there – but it just so happens that I … Read entire article »
An Examination of Exodus’ Exhibit B
Jury, have you reached a verdict? Yes, your Honor. How do you find the defendant, Exodus? On the charge of “death by melting the listener’s face off”; We, the Jury, find Exodus guilty as charged! I think I’ll start this review by stating the first thing that comes to mind after hearing this album: and that is the fact that Exhibit B seems to be (one of) the most “melodic” Exodus efforts to date. Sure, there is plenty of … Read entire article »
New Material By The Antioch Synopsis Posted
Sacramento technical/hardcore/experimental metal band The Antioch Synopsis has just posted 4 new tracks to their myspace page, or if you’re one of those fancy technical types you can download the torrent of their new tracks. You may not recall, but I wrote a brief description (dare I say – “synopsis”?) of the band a few months ago, outlining some up-and-coming “tech-death” bands. TAS’s sound is kind of a combination of Job For a Cowboy meets Converge … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out, News
Video: Hypocrisy at the DNA Lounge
This show brought to you by Iron Man 2 the video game (seriously). The DNA Lounge played host last night to Hypocrisy’s “USA Tour 2.0″. They brought a pretty good line-up overall – Scar Symmetry, Hate, Blackguard and Swashbuckle – Hypocrisy were, without a doubt, the reason most people were there. I actually arrived somewhat on time and got a chance to check out all of the bands; here’s a brief take on each one of … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Live Music, Videos
Brain Drill’s New Album An Exercise in Brutal Spasticity
I picked-up a copy of Brain Drill’s new album Quantum Catastrophe this week. I guess it’s been awhile since I’ve heard their stuff, because I forgot how impressive they are with their brutally spastic arrangements. It’s like 4 dudes got together and wanted to write the most insane death metal album you could think of. It almost makes the last Cannibal Corpse album sound like Slayer. Well, maybe I wouldn’t go that far, but you … Read entire article »
Video: Skeletonwitch, Cannibal Corpse at Slim’s
Damn, I was looking forward to this show for a long time! Cannibal Corpse brought the house down at Slim’s last night. They played for about an hour and a half, included all of the favorites (more or less) and basically reaffirmed everyone’s beliefs that they’re the most legendary death metal band of all-time. As if there are any doubts amongst those out there, Corpsegrinder officially gets the trophy for “best metal head-banger”. I mean, just … Read entire article »
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Triptykon Breathe Life Back Into Celtic Frost Fans With “Eparistera Daimones”
I feel like it was just yesterday when I was legally buying Celtic Frost’s final album, Monotheist. After hearing they were breaking up, I was unable to smile for a few days. But when I found out about another Tom G. Warrior project would have an album out in 2010, I was ecstatic. Now here I am, listening to what very well could be the heaviest album I’ve heard in a long time. Eparistera Daimones, the … Read entire article »
The Tidal Wave 12 (FREE 2-day outdoor metal concert in S.F.) is BACK!! (final update 7.28.2010)
YES!!!!! CONFIRMED, The Tidal Wave (a FREE 2-day outdoor metal concert in San Francisco) is coming back! This is the big news we have been waiting for. (final update 7.28.2010 – link to videos from the show at bottom of post) The Tidal Wave 12 is Saturday & Sunday July 24 & 25, 2010 Noon-6pm @ McLaren Park Amphitheater, S.F. (a.k.a. Jerry Garcia Amphitheater). This is a daytime event, Noon-6pm both days (Saturday & Sunday). Yes, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Live Music, News, Sounds of the Underground
Hellbeard Envy.
Oakland-based sludge metal band, Hellbeard (I guess “Sweetbeard” was already taken). If you’re looking for a show to go to tonight, or looking for some new bands, then you’ll want to go checkout Hellbeard. Shoegaze / sludge rock is something I just kind of got into the past year or so, so pardon me if this post sounds semi-retarded, but I dig the way these guys really layer on the sludge. The vocals are probably the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out
LidToker Stoner metal. So very stoner. (video)
Oh my. Another day, another East Bay warehouse show! Here’s Stoner Metal band LidToker, playing at WC. The crowd starts waking up around 11 minutes, just in time for… a pillowfight? LidToker – at WC – 4.17.2010 roseman (kevin) | MySpace Video … Read entire article »
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Brutal Posehn
I just picked-up the latest album by NorCal metal-head / funny man / GQ model, Brian Posehn, today. Fart and Wiener Jokes is 26 tracks of music and comedy ranging in topics from metal, pot, music, Los Angeles, metal, marriage, masturbating, metal, technology, slayer, farting, weed and nerd stuff. Posehn came to San Francisco a few weeks ago for a few stand-ups, and supposedly hit up the Black Dahlia Murder show that night. Unfortunately I was … Read entire article »
Album Review: Woe of Tyrants – Threnody
It’s been about a week since the new Woe of Tyrants album, Threnody came out. I don’t really know too much about the Ohio death/melodic metal band, but I figured that if they were touring with Overkill, Vader and Warbringer, then they were worth looking into. I got a hold of the album yesterday and, after giving it a few listens, I can see why they were on the bill for that tour. The band’s … Read entire article »
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Son of Aurelius Live Up to the Hype, But Will it Last?
The land where the forest meets the ocean sure produces some heavy-ass death metal bands. Decrepit Birth, Band of Orcs, Son of Aurelius and a ton of other independent-labeled death metal bands now call Santa Cruz home. I guess all that forest and green herb makes for a good metal-conducing atmosphere. A few big-name metal blogs have been hyping up Aurelius’ album, The Farthest Reaches, for quite some time now. I probably first heard of the band … Read entire article »
Slaughter By The Water Thrashfest (3 videos)
“Slaughter By The Water Thrashfest”. Who could resist? As soon as i got to the Oakland Metro Operahouse (after filming another band’s first gig) I got the camera out; just in time too, the party was about to go *nuts*! They had crowd surfing. They had beach balls. They had stagediving. They had inner tubes. They had silly-string. They had piñatas. They had inflatable sheep (any show with inflatable sheep is my kind of show). Here is … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Live Music, Sounds of the Underground, Videos
Vomblast? …Sounds Swedish
Another one our favorite local east bay Swedish bands is Vomblast. They have that deep, dark east bay Swedish sound of doom many of us crave when we’re waiting for the world to end. They don’t yet have a profile page that I know of, perhaps they don’t yet have social networking in the east bay Sweden. Vomblast was playing the first time I ever went to Burnt Ramen…maybe that’s why I keep going back there. … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out, Sounds of the Underground, Videos
House Shows – Hazzard’s Cure at Womansion
One of the cool things about the house shows (especially in the east bay) is that everyone ends up naming their house. House shows are an awful lot of fun and can be very intimate. So intimate that you are in constant danger of falling over into the drumset The Hive. The Swamp. Wolves Den. Riff. Womansion. Yellow Room. Gingerbread House. Bone House. Red Hot Compound. The Soundtank. Sometimes it’s in the basement. Sometimes in … Read entire article »
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A Quick Video of Fear Factory From Last Night’s Show
Here’s Fear Factory performing Powershifter at the Grand Ballroom last night in SF. One of the opening bands canceled and I missed Amon Amarth (fail), but I did get to see FF’s entire set. The last time I saw them was a few years ago in Hollywood when they were on tour with Strapping Young Lad. That show was better. I have a few other observations: The banded sounded pretty awesome, but they didn’t play anything off of Archetype, which kind of sucks. I think a lot of people left after Amon Amarth. Fat people love Fear Factory. Also, I’m pretty sure Fear Factory love fat people. The Grand Ballroom still blows. -DS … Read entire article »
Filed under: Live Music, Videos
North Bay Metal – INTANGLED
In addition to the infamous East Bay we all know and love, there is also the North Bay’s Santa Rosa area for a nice hotbed of hardcore music. House shows up there tend to have some of the wildest pits. Crust, Punk, Metal, Thrash, Grind, they got plenty of it. If it was just a little bit closer to home, I would be at tons of shows up there on a regular basis. Intangled is one … Read entire article »
Filed under: Live Music, Sounds of the Underground, Videos
Farewell To Thee, Light This City (Video)
(Photo from their last.fm page) While all the cool people were down in L.A. attending the Golden Gods awards, the rest of us scrubs were out on the town getting our fix of underground heavy metal! In case you didn’t know, San Francisco melodic metal band Light This City are on a “farewell tour” of the west coast. They have a slightly different line-up at each show, but the show last night at Parkside included noise-punk-core … Read entire article »
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Early Album Review: Imagika’s Portrait of a Hanged Man
I got an opportunity to have an early listen (actually you can too, at this location) to Imagika’s next album, Portrait of a Hanged Man. The album comes out next month and marks what appears to be the band’s 7th album since the band’s formation in 1995 (followed by the x-rated version, Portrait of a “Hung” Man, nyuck, nyuck). You have to admire any band that makes it to 7 albums, shoot I guess most … Read entire article »
Ashkira Push Modern Metalcore Boundaries
Metalcore hasn’t really ever been my thing. I’ve found a majority of it to be stale and repetitive, but I found something different in San Rafael band Ashkira. Their catchy and melodic tunes are enough to make any Lamb of God fan faint, and their heaviness could make any Parkway Drive fan weak in the knees. Even if you don’t identify yourself as a fan of Lamb of God or Parkway Drive, Ashkira are definitely … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out, Featured, Reviews
A New Force to be Reckoned With – Vastum (Video)
I used to work as an usher at Bill Graham concerts for over two and a half decades. I worked at the Warfield, the Kabuki, The Fillmore, Wolfgang’s, the Old Waldorf, the Greek Theater and many other venues. I got to see almost every major touring band you could think of: The Stones, The Who, The Dead, Metallica, U2, Tom Petty, Santana, and countless others over the years. One of my favorite privileges was getting … Read entire article »
Filed under: Check These Guys Out, Featured, Sounds of the Underground, Videos
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