The Whisky and The Rainbow - Two Venues in One Night on 1/24!

Apparently Thursday is the new Friday because there is way too much good shit happening on Thursdays lately!
I started off my Thursday evening metal adventure at The Whisky (yes, I'm there pretty often) to see Ascendancy play. If you haven't seen them before, I highly suggest you check them out. They're a local five piece that lays down some seriously heavy groove metal. It was a high energy show and I was stoked to see that there was a decent crowd there to support the band on a weeknight. Of course Ascendancy played a consistently bitchin' set but something hard to describe happened towards the end of the show that unleashed a mysterious untapped reservoir of thunderous energy on stage, giving the band a freakishly powerful finish! All of my hair stood on end! That was some good (but weird) shit, man!

Gus Trujillo on vocals.

Epic shred time.

Next, I wandered over to The Rainbow to check out Rattlehead and Desecrate for their pre-NAMM show.  Both bands are well known on the Sunset Strip for being excellent shredders and great performers.  This night was no different, even though everyone was crammed into the claustrophobically tiny upstairs space that The Rainbow has converted into a concert venue.  I imagine that's what it must feel like to be stuck in a tugboat's boiler room. Desecrate hammed it up by running circles around the smushed audience with their wireless rigs and Rattlehead had to do battle with a drunk girl who kept insisting on providing backup vocals.  Somehow, it all worked out!

The stage is actually below the audience space!

Rattlehead!

Be sure to look for Ascendancy, Desecrate and Rattlehead on Facebook or at their next concerts! The next event on my concert calendar is Ascendancy and Nekrogoblikon at Mirror Image Studios on 2/15.

Ex Mortus, Winterthrall at The Airliner on 1/5

The Airliner is a such a cool venue! Ex Mortus, Winterthrall, Letum Ascensus and several other bands put on a killer show at this place last Saturday and there wasn't a single boring moment the whole night! The Airliner has a really cool set up inside with two separate stages upstairs and downstairs so that one band can play while the next band tears down or sets up. They also serve food and have a really spacious smoking patio outside where drinks are allowed. So far, it's also been a 100% douche bag free environment. Seriously, it's awesome!

The first band I saw was Ex Mortus, who blew away any expectations I had for the night and set the bar way too high for the bands playing after them. These dudes probably aren't major headliners yet because not enough people know about them but, damn, I would hate to follow these guys. It's like a neoclassical thrash metal explosion full of technical playing AND catchy riffs! Both guitar players have an extremely intimidating skill level but no one in the band is douchy or arrogant. (I'm sure I'd probably be a douche bag if I did anything half as well as these guys can play guitar.) Another note about this band: the sound was perfect at this show, and it was perfect the last time I saw them, too, which I think says a lot because some of my very favorite bands consistently have a really hard time getting their levels right. So major props to them for getting the sound perfect. I bought a T-shirt and a CD.

    Yet again, I forgot to bring my camera and had to rely on an iphone for photos.

I wandered around for a bit in between sets and came back upstairs to see Winterthrall put on a great performance. They're a blackened death metal band with a doom feel, except that their music isn't slow and boring like a lot of doom metal. It's the perfect music to listen to on a really rainy day when you suspect that the sun has finally been swallowed up by portentous black clouds and the sheer hopelessness of humanity is finally being washed out to sea. (I wish!)

And then Letum Ascensus finished off the night by playing some very loud and heavy death metal. It was fun!

Be sure to find Ex Mortus, Winterthrall, and Letum Ascensus on Facebook, Reverb Nation or whatever your favorite music site is.

The next event on my concert calendar is Lightning Swords of Death at Footsie's on Tuesday, January 22nd (or possibly Nekrogoblicon on Friday, January 18th, at The Whiskey).

3 Inches of Blood, Legal Tender, and The Hookers at The Whiskey on 2/11

Mad props to everyone who came out last Tuesday and supported one of my very favorite bands ever - 3 Inches of Blood. Those burly Canadians made my night! It was an incredible evening full of incredible music!

I arrived right before Legal Tender started their set. This band gets better and better every time I see them - which is quite often. I think it's really rad that these guys play as many shows as they do. Everyone in the band was working hard to sell it and it really paid off because their performance was full of great energy and super entertaining. I can't wait til these guys get an album out!

                          Legal Tender got the mosh pit going early in the night.

Boy, was I surprised when The Hookers took the stage. Perhaps their name is referencing all of the catchy hooks their songs had, rather than ladies of ill repute. It was a band of rugged roadhouse dudes who looked nothing like hookers. The music was an extremely fast, extremely loud, in your face blend of metal, punk and hard rock. I'll definitely see these guys the next time they come to LA.

I'm sure it seems that I say this about every band I see but 3 Inches of Blood is really one of my favorite bands, up there with Megadeth and Iron Maiden. I'm so happy to see them finally headlining their own tour! I only wish more people had shown up. It's so disappointing to post about how awesome a show was on facebook only to have several people comment, "Oh,  wish I could have made it. I love that band." Get it together, people! Well anyway, this was the best show I've seen them play in a few years. It was really incredible! Cam Pipes sounded so intense and I could actually hear each instrument perfectly. They genuinely sounded better live than on the recordings and that rarely happens (and I love all of their albums). Those guys totally owned that shit!! I cannot WAIT for them to come back to LA as headliners again.  I took lots of photos at the very front. It was worth getting squished against that horrible shelf that the Whiskey has in front of the stage. We even got a surprise special guest for Deadly Sinners! James Luna of Holy Grail jumped on stage and did some guest vocals.

                           I stayed glued to the spot in front of Shane Clark all night.

    Justin Hagberg and Cam Pipes were rocking out together in the middle of the stage.

                                            Byron Stroud is the beast on bass.

I'll have to try harder to get a picture of drummer Ash Pearson next time. The combination of his excellent hiding skills and my lack of photography skills resulted in zero photos of him.  He's one of the best drummers I've ever seen, though, and he was on fire last Tuesday! Can't wait for the next 3IOB tour!

Check them out on facebook where they're streaming some free music!

The next event on my concert calendar is Holy Grail at The Slide Bar in Fullerton tonight. There are lots of great shows this week, including Arsis on 12/20 at The Whiskey, High on Fire and Corrosion of Conformity on 12/20 at The Mayan, Goatwhore on the 21st at The Observatory, and Hirax, Agent Steel and Bonded by Blood on 12/22 at The Key Club. Better check moshking to make sure you're not missing anything!

Tis the Season to Support Your Favorite Musicians by Purchasing Their Merch!

Alright, I'm busted. This is not a concert recap - it's a metal/hard rock shopping guide. This list is, however, based off of my concert experiences over the last year. If you're planning on buying Christmas gifts, support your favorite musicians in the process. They probably need to buy presents, too. These are my top 10 gift suggestions for hard rock or metal fans.

1. Gypsyhawk - Revelry and Resilience
This is a solid rock album, suitable for heavy metalers and non-heavy metalers alike. I vote it best album of 2012.

2. Gypsyhawk - Patience and Perseverance
Yes, Gypsyhawk gets to be on the list twice. This is their first album. Same band, different feel. I LOVE this album. You could probably give this to anyone and they'd thank you for changing their lives for the better.

3. Scorpion Child - Self Titled
This is a hard rock album with just a touch of psychedelia. Suitable for fans of Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and Rainbow. Also, it's got AMAZING production quality. This album is a real gem.

4. Dreaming Dead - Midnightmares
This technical death metal album will render your puny human existence to a pile of cold ash. Buy it for someone you love - or hate.

5. Wanna buy something different than CD's or music downloads? Give the gift of Enslaved concert tickets for their February 8th show at The Troubador.

6. Havok - Time is Up
This thrash metal album will knock the wind out you! Seriously, it's so awesomely violent you might need to include a first aid kit with it!

7. Isolation in Infamy - Self Titled EP

Another brutal technical death metal album that will melt your face and ears off. Give it to your best friend or your grandma. Not sure if it's available on itunes so hit up the band on facebook or at their next show.


8.  Kreator - Phantom Antichist 
Wow, you mean a thrash metal band that's been around since the 80's recently put out a GOOD album?? Yes, I do. Not all bands act like Metallica. Some continue to make good music. Go buy this album.

9.  Accept - Stalingrad
The perfect gift for any Accept fans who've been hiding under a rock for the last year! It's a heavy album with a classic 80's Accept feel - even though it came out in 2012. Also suitable for AC/DC, Judas Priest, and German metal fans.


10. Vegan Black Metal Chef DVD 
You get 10 episodes of instructional cooking videos with original black metal soundtracks. Why the hell not? (Gauntlets not included.)

Ascendancy, Legal Tender, Desecrate at The Whiskey on 11/17

Local metal bands took over The Whiskey last Friday, November 17th, for Desecrate's "At The Edge of Sanity" album release show. It's always great to see a bunch of local bands pack a venue with their fans. I think I even saw some parents in the audience!

Ascendancy started playing right as I walked through the doors. They had kind of a groove-thrash thing going on, in contrast to the typical thrash sound that has been revamped by a lot of bands lately. (When I describe something as groove metal, I'm saying it has a similar vibe to Carcass, not rap-rock or groovy 60's music.) The killer vocals were actually what stood out as best to me and that's not a compliment I give out very often. I grabbed a demo from Gus, their vocalist, after the set and told him I'll definitely be attending another Ascendancy show.

The next band I was there to see was Legal Tender. I saw them play recently at the Skeletonwitch/Havok show and this show was even better than the last one! These guys are great entertainers and I think they're gonna be the next big thing in the LA metal scene. Fingers crossed for them! I really liked their song "Street Walker". 

Desecrate was the last band to play and they took the stage with a tremendous amount of energy and stage presence.  For their last song they invited everyone on stage to celebrate with them. How rad is that!? I can never seem to remember my camera when I go out but I did manage to get a grainy shot on my phone. 

After their set was over, we all met up at the record store across the street for the Desecrate album release party. I got a chance to chat a bit with Vinny of Legal Tender and Gus of Ascendancy. They were both very cool guys.

Be sure to check everyone out on facebook:

Ascendancy
Legal Tender
Desecrate

The next events on my concert calendar are Eluveitie on 11/29 at The House of Blues, followed by Gypsyhawk and The Sword on 11/30 at The House of Blues.

Skeletonwitch and Havok at The Whiskey on 10/30

Much head banging was had last Tuesday at The Whiskey for the Skeletonwitch and Havok show! Since it was the night before Halloween there was a smattering of costumes and skull face-paint. Major props to the giant banana circling in the pit!

The first band I caught was a local band named Legal Tender. Seemed like kind of an odd name for a thrash metal band but maybe there's a story behind that. Anyway, they were pretty choice. The bassist and the guitar player shared an incredible dynamic and played really well off of each other. I'll definitely be catching another Legal Tender show!

The big surprise of the night for me was seeing Havok. I've heard a little bit of their music before and I seem to recall thinking it was pretty rad but not ever following up with a second listen. Needless to say, I was not prepared for the face crushing, adrenaline surging show that they brought to The Whiskey. As soon as these guys hit the stage, the crowd erupted into a voracious, frenzied circle pit! Both guitarists stormed up a whirlwind of rapid rhythms, furious melodies and immaculate solos, although it was the drummer who really drove the train with his pounding, relentless drum fills and double bass. This band was seriously tight. I will definitely be picking up a CD soon, and a "No Karate in the Pit" T-shirt.

Few bands could have followed a set like that without falling short but Skeletonwitch didn't miss a beat. They tore right into the audience with a song off of their newest album and kept hammering away with all of their old fan favorites like Beyond the Permafrost, Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery, Submit to the Suffering, and Upon Wings of Black. The nightmarish song lyrics combined with Chase Garnette's despair inducing scream really make Skeletonwitch seem like a band that teleported here straight from the bowels of hell. There's a visceral quality to their music. It has the heaviness and complexity of death metal with the speed and dexterity of thrash. 

My throat was mostly hoarse by the end of the night from screaming along to Skeletonwitch. It was the perfect end to a crazy run of six concerts in seven days. Check out Legal Tender, Havok and Skeletonwitch on facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/skeletonwitchmetal

https://www.facebook.com/HavokOfficial

https://www.facebook.com/legaltenderband

The next event on my concert calendar is (hopefully) Scattered Hamlet on Wednesday, November 7^th, at The Viper Room. I'll also be seeing Enslaved on Saturday, November 10^th at The Roxy.

Accept, Kreator at The Avalon on 9/26

German metal invaded Hollywood and blew the top off of The Avalon last Wednesday!

I had never seen Accept before and I'm not very familiar with the material they've put out in the post-Udo years so I wasn't sure what to expect. Oh man, it was so awesome! These guys had such camaraderie on stage - you could tell they really love performing and they've been doing it for a long time. The crowd was stoked and gave back tons of good energy to the band. I was thrilled when they played Losers and Winners and Fast as a Shark, and I really enjoyed the songs they played off of their new album, Stalingrad. I was standing right behind the sound booth so I could hear them really well. The sound was killer - that's a concert experience I rarely have. After their set the band was walking around and talking to fans, even hanging out at the merch booth for a bit. What an awesome bunch of dudes!

The night got even better when Kreator took to the stage and began to lay waste to everyone's ear drums with some blood thirsty, relentless thrash metal! Same as the Accept set, I really enjoyed the songs they played off of their newest album, Phantom Anti-Christ, and I totally rocked out to Pleasure to Kill and Raise the Flag of Hate.  The only thing I did not enjoy was the lack-luster crowd enthusiasm. Seriously, these guys came all the way from Germany, played an awesome show, and then no one was able to muster more than a golf-clap? Lame. Anyway, if you've never heard Kreator before, you should check them out. You'll definitely like them if you're a Slayer fan. They have a similar angry guitar tone and they're super fast shredders. A lot of their brutal sound also comes from their amazing drummer, Jurgen "Ventor" Reil, who knows exactly how to compose and execute a pounding thrash metal drum fill.

https://www.facebook.com/KreatorOfficial?fref=ts

The next event on my concert calendar is Gypsyhawk at The Viper Room on Oct. 5th.