Full Concert Goodness: TesseracT – Odyssey/Scala

Century Media are giving us a full stream of TesseracT‘s upcoming live DVD “Scala”, filmed in November last year at The Scala in London. With the release comes a live audio CD titled “Odyssey” which was recorded during various shows on the band’s 2014 European Tour.

As a dedicated and patient (*coughs*) fan, I’m waiting for my own signed copy to arrive in the mail. Then I’ll lock the front door, turn the lights and my phone off, and place scented candles in a circle on the floor in my living room before I sit down to witness my favourite band with my favourite vocalist in all its liveliness and glory. It’s going to be the most awesome night.

Release date: May 19th. Available from Tesseract official store on both CD and vinyl, signed by the whole band.

 

 

 

 

Concert Review: Death Angel, 3 Inches of Blood, Battlecross, Revocation, Diamond Plate

It’s been a very long time since I had the opportunity to catch Death Angel in the splendor of a live setting.  If my memory serves me, it was August 19, 1990. Seven of us piled into some type of small white hatchback never meant for seven people and made our way an hour down the road to Boston, MA to this little dive called The Channel.  I am not sure if this place it still exists and there was nothing particularly exciting about the joint other than Death Angel was playing there.  They were in support of their Act III album and in tow were Forbidden along with two local bands called Cardinal Sin and Candy Striper Death Orgy…the latter was as entertaining as their name, I promise you that.  I believe this may have been the place where I got my first taste of the pit…because, well there wasn’t anywhere else to go; the entire place was a pit.  I also bought my favorite concert tee from that show and had that thing until it fell apart 10 years later.  The only things that remain from that evening are fond memories and a ticket stub which was hand-written from a local music store called Strawberries Records and Tapes.  Yeah, they are out of business now.  All in all, it was highly memorable for many reasons.  So, to see them again after more than two decades was highly anticipated to say the least.  To make the evening even better were some quality opening acts; 3 Inches of Blood, Battlecross, Revocation, Diamond Plate, and local band Artemesis.  Here is my story.

Video of the Week – Iron Maiden: Rock in Rio

Why single out one video when you can get an entire concert? This week, I was trolling around YouTube looking for new things wondering why I can’t hear anything and in the process came across Iron Maiden Rock in Rio. If you haven’t experienced the splendor of a Maiden concert you are missing out. I have only seen them once and it saddens me I have not seen them more often. So, for now enjoy this concert if you have a couple of hours to kill. Strangely enough, I cannot get any sound out of YouTube. I get sound everywhere else, but nothing out of YouTube. I sure hope this video sounds good because it does look good.  Never mind, I figured out the sound thing…silly me.  It does sound good!

Concert Review: Baroness

To be writing this concert report is slightly surreal to say the least, given the circumstances that unfolded the day after, but I feel motivated to give my thoughts on the happier side of events, the Tuesday evening filled with enjoyable music and excitable people in a small venue in Bristol. Several other gigs were on in the area at that time, but I was certainly glad to be attending this one, despite only knowing the headliner’s latest release Yellow & Green. But first, to describe the venue.

The Fleece in Bristol is a bar-cum-gig venue, relatively small in size and anti-moshpit in setup: several support poles that would be quite painful to run headlong into. That aside (and thankfully Baroness are not a moshpit band), it has a cozy atmosphere, particularly with the posters adorning the walls (Muse, The Dandy Warhols and Amy Winehouse to name a few), and a decent view of the stage from everywhere in the venue. And so, eventually the lights dimmed and the first band were up: local lads Black Elephant.

Concert Review: Gods of Metal (Day 4) (Ozzy & Freinds, Opeth, Black Label Society, Lamb of God) Milan, Italy June 24, 2012

From the second I heard that one of my all-time favorite bands and fathers of heavy metal, Black Sabbath, were going to reunite for a tour I jumped on grabbing tickets as soon as possible.  No other bands were yet announced, but man, an opportunity to see Black Sabbath in what could be their final tour, hells yeah, you can’t put a price on that.  Unfortunately due to Tony Iommi’s battle with leukemia which arose after tour dates were set in the Black Sabbath show that was scheduled was canceled.  Luckily Mr. Tony Iommi was able to muster up enough strength to pull of a single homecoming show in his hometown of Birmingham, England and got to get the satisfaction of having the band come full circle and land back at home.  To Mr. Iommi, I say get well soon and I can’t wait till you can get the Sabbath ball rolling again.

But what about all the other shows that Black Sabbath promised to play?  Well, what’s the next best thing to Black Sabbath?  How about the face of the band, Mr. John Michel Osbourne, err, Ozzy!  Well, I bought tickets to see Black Sabbath, I’ve already seen Ozzy God knows how many times now and Black Sabbath only twice.  They tossed in Slash, Zack Wylde, and Geezer Butler, so I guess I can say I was sold on not trying for a refund on my ticket.  Having Opeth on the bill too, helped a pinch 😉  But before I get too ahead of myself, how about a little info on what else went down that day, it was a festival after all.

Got an Hour to Kill?

Americana blues rockers Clutch passed around a multi-camera recording of one of their live shows from 1996 on their Facebook today.  It has great sound and video quality (a little blurry from the VHS recording, but it equals some of the better bootlegs that were being passed around at the time.  Remember that, actually passing around a VHS tape from friend to friend and all taking turns making copies by hooking up 2 VCRs together, or was it just me?).  The setlist is composed of songs from their earlier E.P.s such as Impetus up to their now classic self-titled album, which was released around the time this recording was taken.

It’s cool to see how far Clutch have come since their earlier days.  Their heavier sound, a beardless Neil Fallon, and all the members looking all young like.  It’s cool that this is the line-up the band has stuck with over their long and still going career, you can tell these guys really have chemistry together.  Watching these guys live is always awesome.  Along with playing their current album’s material they veer off onto metal/blues jams and just have fun on stage.  I like how in this video you can see/hear how some of their jams that eventually turned into full on album songs.  They also never play the same setlist at a show twice, Neil Fallon had said that before every show they “pretty much pick their setlists songs out of a hat.”  Anyways, got some time to kill, check out this awesome set and revel in the awesomeness of Clutch. Peace Love and Metal!!!

The Italian Date for Black Sabbath Just Got Sweeter

At the announcement of a new album and coinciding tour for a re-reunited Ozzy-era Black Sabbath didn’t get me worked up enough, the announcement that they would be playing a few metro stops away from my humble abode did.  The Gods of Metal festival is hitting Milan, Italy on the 24th of June and will be held at Arena Fiera Milano.  headlining is the fathers of heavy metal Black Sabbath, and now recently confirmed, are 3 killer bands, and 1 of which whom has turned this into a do-not-miss event for me.  Lamb of God and Trivium, 2 bands that I quite enjoy have been added to the roster, but it’s the band under Sabbath that has got me excited for this show.  Opeth will be playing right before Black Sabbath and I can not think of a more suited band for the fathers to follow.

As info on this festival pops up I’ll keep you all updated for all the metal fans who may want to take a trip to one of the most beautiful countries in the world for an awesome day of metal, pizza, and pasta.

More Bang For Your Buck?

When I say “bang” I am not talking about a trip to Amsterdam.  I am talking about the all-might dollar (or whatever your currency) and whether or not spending it at a metal show lately is worth it.  I noticed a trend lately and I’m sure you have too.  It’s the playing of certain albums in their entirety at a metal show.  Bands have done this kind of thing for a long time.  Queensryche did it when Operation:  Mindcrime was released.  Others in the non-metal world have done it as well.  Usually it’s to commemorate an anniversary of a release. 

In recent memory, Megadeth was the band that I think might have started this latest trend.  They played Rust In Peace on one of their recent tours.  On that same bill Slayer played Seasons In The Abyss.  Other bands are doing the same thing.  Opeth did it with Blackwater Park on their Evolution XX tour.  Amon Amarth announced their evening with Amon Amarth in America will feature a full set of their new album (yet to be released) in full with a second set of older material.  I just saw an ad at the Sonisphere website which announced that Paradise Lost is now going to play Draconian Times at a few shows in Germany…unfortunately for those of us living in England.  I am sure there are more bands doing the same I just can’t think of all of them at the moment.

My question is do you like this idea?  Do you think you are getting short-changed at a show?  Does this “Play the full album” make you want to see a show even more?  I ask because it goes without saying that if Megadeth, for example, plays Rust in Pease from beginning to end, there will be some good Megadeth songs that don’t get played at shows.  I saw Megadeth at Download last year and they played (I think) all but two songs on Rust In Peace.  What an awesome treat as far as I am concerned.  But at the same time, Endgame was still a new release and they only played one song off the album which was their opener Dialectic Chaos.

Personally, I love the concept of playing a whole album especially if it’s an  older album and a good one.  You get to hear some songs that might have rarely been played live.  This makes me want to go even more.  Hello Metallica, where is the Master of Puppets tour?  Let’s see it and hear it!  Who would you like to see play an album in full?

My picks are:

Overkill – The Years of Decay and/or Horrorscope

Dream Theater – Images and Words or just about any other DT album

Helloween – Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II

Iron Maiden – Somewhere in Time

Paradise Lost – Host

Queensryche – American Soldier

Suicidal Tendencies – How Will I Laugh Tomorrow…

This is just to name a few.