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Grizz
Grizz SuperDork
4/20/13 10:07 p.m.

So I'm not sure it's technically metal, although it's in the vein of King Diamond.

Ghosts new album is out, and it's damn good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou5T1SeGhOo

poopshovel
poopshovel UltimaDork
4/21/13 11:20 a.m.

Pig Destroyer. If you ain't know, now ya know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dycCqqZS0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

JoeyM
JoeyM MegaDork
4/21/13 1:13 p.m.
poopshovel wrote: Pig Destroyer.

That's what we call my buddy's AK.

Grizz
Grizz SuperDork
4/21/13 1:26 p.m.
poopshovel wrote: Pig Destroyer. If you ain't know, now ya know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dycCqqZS0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Speaking of....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mgNLE4GHvk

Cattle Decapitation.

poopshovel
poopshovel UltimaDork
4/21/13 8:30 p.m.
JoeyM wrote:
poopshovel wrote: Pig Destroyer.
That's what we call my buddy's AK.

It's also what I call my mother-in-law.

JamesMcD
JamesMcD HalfDork
4/21/13 10:13 p.m.

Absu - Earth Ripper

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nLbP9RO_fs

Catchy blackish-thrashish stuff

SilverFleet
SilverFleet Dork
4/24/13 1:00 p.m.

Show Review Time: New England Metal and Hardcore Fest, Day 1

MA$$hole and I attended the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest (or NEMHF, for short) on the first of 3 days of the fest last Friday. This was the 15th anniversary of the NEMHF, and they were able to get some really big names this year. Also, for Day 1, they got most of the Metal Alliance tour that was making its way through the US. It was a pretty good take.

The venue for the NEMHF is the Worcester Palladium. For those who haven't been there, it's an old 20's/30's style theater with 2 floors and 2 stages: a main lower stage in a large hall, and a smaller stage upstairs. There is also a balcony area that still has old seats you can sit in, if you can find ones that aren't broken. It's a gritty, old warhorse of a venue. It's like home base for Massachusetts metal, and I've been here countless times. It's been featured on the show Ghost Hunters, and Killswitch Engage filmed their "Set This Word Ablaze" DVD there (I was there at that show too!)

Anyway, let's get to the bands that I saw. I stuck to the main stage because I wasn't a fan of any of the Hardcore bands playing on the second stage.

Allegaeon: Pretty solid Melo Death. If you are a fan of Killswitch Engage, The Absence, Etc. you will enjoy them. They played a decent set. The singer had a funny shirt on that appeared to have tacos floating in space with cats in the tacos, so there's that.

VYGR: AWESOME atmospheric stoner doom metal. Due to the shortened sets of the earlier bands, they only played 2 songs. They are local, so I hope to see them again soon. They had a really gritty sound and epic songs. I really enjoyed them.

Holy Grail: Great thrashy traditional metal straight out of 1987. They would be at home opening for Iron Maiden. They sounded killer and they can shred. Makes me want to go cruise in my Trans Am.

Black Breath: They went on as we were going to take a break. I didn't like what I heard.

Shadows Fall: Never been a fan, so I skipped them.

Municipal Waste: Blazing fast awesome (and at times hilarious) Thrash. they never, ever disappoint. They read my mind and played all my favorite Waste songs (You're Cut Off, Sadistic Magician, the Art of Partying, Beer Pressure, Terror Shark, etc...) and they were funny as always. The pit was great too. I got so pumped that I almost went into the pit to stomp around. I haven't done that since high school. They also had random confetti cannons.

Exodus: They were kinda boring. We didn't really watch because we had seen them before and their live show didn't do it for us.

Every Time I Die: We moved up to the balcony for this one. Not a fan. They didn't change my mind either.

Hatebreed: Some people love this band. To me, they are boring, repetitive Bro-metal. Every single song sounded the same to me, like one giant hour long song with fast parts and multiple Bro-down breakdowns. I couldn't decide if I wanted to find the nearest GNC, load myself full of carbs and creatine and lift weights, or just fall asleep.

I will give props to Jamey Jasta though. He had some kind words on the craziness that went on in Boston all week, and thanked the NEMHF for putting on a great show. I may not like the music, but he seems like a solid dude.

Anthrax: I saw them last on 11/11/11, National Metal Day. That was Joey Belladonna's first tour with them since he rejoined the band. They were shaky but great. This time they were unbelievable.

For the Metal Alliance shows, they decided to play their 1987 masterpiece Among the Living in its entirety. This was the main reason I wanted to go to the NEMHF because that is my favorite Anthrax album and one of my favorite metal albums of all time.

They were at the top of their game. Joey sounded like he was 20 years younger and the rest of the band ripped all night. More amazing is that they lost guitar player Rob Caggiano a few months ago and they still sounded killer with one of Shadows Fall's guitar players filling in.

Other than the great tracks on Among the Living (Skeletons in the Closet and Indians) they played some other favorites, like I'm the Man (I used to get in trouble for singing the uncensored one when I was about 6 at my house thanks to my sister), madhouse, and Antisocial. They also dedicated I Am The Law to all the law enforcement that helped catch the Boston Marathon bombers which happened just moments before, and they had a moving dedication to Ronnie James Dio and "Dimebag" Darrell for In The End. My metal horns got a workout and my neck hurt in the morning from all the headbanging, that's for sure.

Overall, the 15th NEMHF was good. The bands I came to see killed it, and I was introduced to a new favorite in VYGR. I hope they can keep attracting good bands in the future.

poopshovel
poopshovel UltimaDork
4/24/13 1:40 p.m.

Damn. Thanks for that, dude! Love Municipal Waste. Sad to hear that Exodus was a snoozer. That's a real shame. HOW THE berkeley DO I KEEP FORGETTING THAT JOEY IS BACK WITH ANTHRAX!?!? Jesus christ. They're the ONE band of my metal-youth that I've still never seen. Glad they kept it real and played the hits. I'll have to check out VYGR.

I'll have to check out Holy Grail too. From your description of them, you might dig HUMUNGUS as well. At least live anyway. They're from VA.

MA$$hole
MA$$hole HalfDork
4/24/13 5:55 p.m.

I attended 2 days worth of the metal fest and I'm still recovering. No review from me though since it will take up too much space. I will say with such a variety of sub-genres there were many bands that before seeing them live I wouldn't give them time of day. It's truly a fan event run by a fan.

I will however 2nd the motion on Holy Grail. I actually discovered them at this festival in 2010 and have since seen them 5 times.

fritzsch
fritzsch HalfDork
5/3/13 5:26 a.m.

RIP to Jeff Hanneman of Slayer

MA$$hole
MA$$hole HalfDork
5/22/13 7:40 a.m.

Went to see Kvelertak, Cancer Bats, Black Tusk, & Gozu in Allston, MA Monday night. Wasn't all too familiar with the support acts but figured I'd give them a shot. Wasn't much a fan of Cancer Bats though.

Gozu is local to me and I've missed out on them supporting countless bands lately. Has a Clutch/Queens of the Stone Age vibe. Stoner Metal one might say, very soulful vocals.

http://youtu.be/WtmJHXbq1HA

Another surprise was Black Tusk. Think Mastodon with more of a punk edge, & they are from Georgia.

http://youtu.be/dNe8uYjZIHY

If you haven't heard of the Norwegian band Kvelertak you are missing out. I know I was. Self proclaimed black and roll. Very punk/rock and roll feel, with all lyrics in their native tongue. Sadly I could only stay for 1/2 their set but it was epic.

http://youtu.be/GELuxStCSpc

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