New Albums Of 2013

Hey dear readers, I bet all four of you love "Blackened Thrash Hardcore Punk with a touch of Death." That is how Torture Victim describes themselves, and it pretty much hits the nail on the head. Their music boasts lightning fast riffs with a combination of clean and dirty vocals. I could only find the lyrics for two songs, which appear to be the usual Death Metal canon of genocide, mortality, gore, and legions of the undead. However, most of their songs feature vocals clean enough to discern, and the subject matter remains the same morbid stuff that nightmares are made of.

So basically, it's a nice flashback to old-school Crossover Thrash. If you enjoy Municipal Waste or Suicidal Tendencies, you'll get a kick out of Torture Victim. They are releasing a new LP, aptly titled Of Darkness And Power. The tracklisting is as follows:


1.Draugar
2.The Deciever
3.Weapon Zero
 4.Zombie
5.Suffer Agony
6.Human Debris
7.Embraced by Baphomet
8.Dormant Evil
 9.Black Portals Of Madness
10.Fatal Wonds

Check out some of the new songs, as well as some old tracks from their first LP, available on Reverbnation and Facebook. Or even better, come to the Release Show on May 11th at Launchpad. Admission is only $8, and the CD is only $10! Sweet deal.

In other news, local Heavy Metal rockers Savage Wizdom are also releasing a new CD in the near future. The production is still in the works, but from the sneak peek I got, I can tell you to set your expectations sky high. This is gonna be tight. Savage Wizdom is one of the few modern bands who play traditional Heavy Metal, the genre that started it all. If you bang your head to 80's NWOBHM such as Iron Maiden, Angel Dust, and Diamondhead, put Savage Wizdom on your list.

Speaking of NWOBHM legends, I hear they have a certain somebody on guest vocals... I'm sworn to secrecy for the time being, so I guess I'll just light this cigarrette aBLAZE and drink some BAILEY'S...

Haha, I'm such a bitch.

Recent Concerts: Reliving The Memories

Have I mentioned that it's a pain in the ass to type up reviews on a smart phone? It warrants repeating, regardless. This sucks. But on the bright side, I've been so swamped with awesome metal shows that my ears are still ringing. Anyway, here's what went down recently:

 

Much like Dante was unable to express the beauty of heaven in his Paradiso, despite the fact that he's a fuckin' famous poet, I can not articulate how sick this show was. Exhumed and Jungle Rot autographed my back-issue of Decibel magazine, and they put on one hell of a show too. Other than Fields Of Elysium, I have not seen any of these bands live before. The only way I can describe it is like getting hit by a Semi-truck and experiencing a spontaneous orgasm upon impact.

So basically, check the tour dates for Despise The World 2013 and book tickets in advance. It will hit your neck of the woods before you know it. Hey, if you're lucky, maybe you'll even get an after-party like we did in Albuqurque.

The very next day was the 9th Annual Music Night at the Museum of International Folk Art. It doesn't have a flyer, because I guess gallery artists find them too uncouth. Well, I did start a museum-mosh-pit for the 2nd year in a row, and that is VERY couth. I also drank tons of their fancy-pants sparkling cranberry juice and made some obscene crayon drawings. Did I mention the whole thing was to raise awareness of AIDS/HIV? It was a good night. 

I digress... There were only 2 bands that rocked hard enough for my memory to even retain their existence. They are Sun Plexus and On Believer. Sun Plexus is a female fronted alternative rock band. Basically, think Sublime meets The Pixies. And god-damn, can that guitarist make his instrument wail. Although I did love their music, we all know my heart lies elsewhere, in heavier territory...

On Believer is a Metalcore group comprised entirely of high-schoolers. It's not what you think. They are a lot better than some whiney Bullet For My Valentine cover band. In fact, I'm impressed that such young kids have so much talent. Don't get me wrong, there is definitely room for improvement. But if they sound this decent so early on in the game, I can't wait to see them realize their full potential in the near future.

 

The very next day was Dungeonfest, which I  was unable to attend. Chances are, if you're reading my blog, you didn't see it either, and that makes me feel better for some reason. 

Actually, no it doesn't. We both missed a pretty sick line-up. Regicide is old-school grind metal, Carrion Kind is thrashy death metal, Savage Wizdom is traditional heavy metal in the vein of NWOBHM, and Blinddryve is like Nu-Metal. 

In my defense, who the hell wakes up on 4/20 before 2 PM? No-one I know, that's for sure. 

Now to reduce my thoughts to a simple numeric value for each respective event: 

Despise The World Tour obviously gets five stars:

 

 The 9th Annual Music Showcase gets 3:

 And I get a frowny face for being a slacker and not even getting off my ass to see Dungeonfest.

Even More Last-Minute Updates

 

Danzig is coming! How did this manage to slip my mind?! 

 Just in case you can't make it to Albuqurque for that show, fear not, Santa Fe has it' s own shindig going on the same day. This flyer is a hot mess, so allow me to translate for you:  It's taking place at the Locker Room sports bar, located at 2841 Cerrillos Road. The Metal bands include Blinddryve, Savage Wizdom, Carrion Kind, and Regicide. The other musicians performing are Midlife Crisis, Sublmnl Rnsns, Jovan Dante Griego, and Jah Branch. This event is sponsored by all the little logos along the borders. 

 

There have been changes to the line-up of this show. Monostereo opens things up with electro-indie instrumental. Then Distances will perform their signature style of heavy-hitting Instru-Metal. Next up is Feud Of Temptation, who I have yet to photo-shop onto the flyer.  (Smart-phone, remember?)  Headlining is the obscenely talented Michael Lee Ostrander, who shall shred your ears out. Other than that, same place, same time. 

See you there!

Last Minute Update

Holy shit! You know what sucks? When you love a certain band to death, and they would be the perfect puzzle piece to complete an amazing line-up, and then they instantaneously break the hell up. Rest in pieces, Obelisk. I miss you already. However, being a trooper, I decided that the proverbial and literal show must go on. Behold my mediocre photoshop skills:

 

You know the drill. Tell your friends, arrange an afterparty, support your local scene and bring your damn skateboard. Now about the line-up:

Michael Lee Ostrander is what Joe Satriani would sound like if he had a dark acid trip. This is not your typical shredder: His musical style is simultaneously morbid and psychedelic. With an axe, amp, and FX in his arsenal, he's gonna make a pre-emptive strike on your eardrums. 

Monostereo is another solo force to be reckoned with. His Indie/Electronic compositions have very strong influences of David Gilmore, so expect some Pink Floyd-esque moments of musical genius. Heavy Metal this is not, but the music is well written and professionally executed. 

Some other third band will be there too, but my standards are high, so expect absolutely no shmucks at this show. 

...See you there, mere mortals. 

Upcoming Shows

First and foremost, I must unveil the glory that is the Despise The World 2013 lineup. This is so good it has to be fattening.  The astronomically talented Fields Of Elysium from Santa Fe, New Mexico bring on the Jazzcore/Tech-Death with a vengeance. Admiron is some kind of unholy beast wrought from the forges of Thrash, Industrial, and Metalcore. Rings Of Saturn are painstakingly intricate, alarmingly fast Tech-Death group, also known as the innovaters of "Aliencore." They recently came out on top of the Summer Slaughter tour vote, but more on that later. Meanwhile, Jungle Rot is releasing a new album, Terror Regime, available the day of this show! Speaking of new albums, the recently re-animated Exhumed   has been relatively dormant until the 2011 release of All Guts No Glory, which you may recognize as a fuckin amazing EP.  Headling is another heavy-weight beast of the Death-Metal industry, Suffocation. This legendary group has been playing kickass death metal since '88, a year when Glam rock was prevalent and good tunes were scarce. 

This is an all-ages show, but since the venue is Hooligans Nightclub, we big-kids get to drink ourselves silly. (I assume the "No Alcohol" means don't show up already drunk.) Tickets are a mere $22 and can be purchased at  Music-go-round, The Zone smokeshop in Albuqurque, or The Concrete Jungle smokeshop in Santa Fe. This is a monstrously big show, so doors open at the ungodly hour of 4 PM. And if you manage to emerge from the wreckage of the concert in one piece, there's a 21+ afterparty featuring Incide, Unleash The Baboon, Carrion Kind, and End to End. Fuck yeah!

So let's say that the day after that show, you survived your mosh-induced injuries, you survived your whiplash, you survived the raging afterparty, and the subsequent hangover just makes you want to go to another show. Well, you lucky dog, Ghost comes to town immediately after the Despise The World tour! Doesn't that just make you jolly as a roger?

Tickets must be purchased in advance, and you can do that here.  Doors open at 8 PM. All ages. No drugs, no alcohol.

Mayhem is coming, oh yes it is. I'm pretty stoked for approximately half of the line-up, and the other half simply isn't my cup of tea. Let's play a fun game and see if you can guess which is which.   

               Edgefest  gets an honorable mention. This music event is sponsored by 104.1 The Edge, the Alternative/Grunge radio station of Albuqurque. The line up isn't really "Metal." I even hesitate to call any of those bands "Hard Rock".  But they're all decent groups, and if you needed something to do in Albuqurque on May 5th, well, here ya go.

Th-th-that's all, folks.

Rise From The Ashes Of Disbelief

I'm not a slacker. To the contrary, I got two jobs, and therefore have very little time to write on my precious, precious blog. Also, I don't even own my own computer. And typing entire articles on a smart-phone is a pain in the ass. Enough of my excuses, let's talk abut Metal.



First of all, I'm going to throw a tantrum because I should be at this show as we speak. But my job  kept me overtime, I missed the train to Albuqurque, and I'm fucked out of seeing the sickest line-up I've ever known to play a Monday night. Hardcore punk, black metal, and thrash all in the same night? All ages? But since it's at a bar, old guys like me get to drink anyway? All that and more, but I'm missing it. I hate working retail. I would burn candles to every god I know just to attend this concert. Alas, the stars are not in my favor.

But let's look on the bright side...



 

Awww yeah. I only paid $12 to see Municipal Waste, one of the most prolilfic badass legends of old-school Speed Metal. They sound good on record, but DAMN. They put on one hell of a live performance. If you're into Thrash, Punk, or anything in between, Municipal Waste will in fact fuck you up.  Not to mention the local bands, each of which is amazing in their own right. Torn Between Worlds is notorious for their lethal mosh-pits and insidious musical style. They have remained active since the early 90's, when they were known as Insight, and they've been laying waste to New Mexican eardrums ever since. Carrion Kind is aptly named, since they are basically a superband,  Comprised of former members of local favorites such as Grinkai, Cassovita, and The Seventh Circle. So the name evokes images of vultures thriving off the remains of what once was. Oh yeah, and I think they're also paying homage to the only album released by Disincarnate.

 

 

Those circle pits were off da hook. And I was drunk too!

 

And last night wasn't too bad either...

 

 

 

I may be missing out on The Casualties, Goatwhore, and Havoc today, and that's totally lame. But yesterday marked the second year in a row that I went to a Metal show on Easter Sunday, so I think that's going to be my new annual tradition. Unleash The Baboon is Bass-Heavy, uber-rhythmic Groove Metal in the vein of Skinless or Athiest. Rumors abound about an upcoming album, which I can't wait to get my grubby little hands on. Iconocaust is Denver-based Thrash band with a relentless brutality belied within melodic compositions and occasional clean vocals. They have gained a cult-following in their ever-expanding fanbase, and their new EP, Excidium De Gratia, is available for purchase here.   And headlining was the phenomenal band known as Futilitarian, who transitioned seamlessly from their Thrash/Death beginnings into a more ambient instrumental style. Usually, I prefer Metal with the vocals intact, but Futilitarian has achieved a level of heaviness that most bands can only aspire toward. This is not "Post-Metal" or some shit. This is straight up, in your face, offensively loud and stupidly brutal, true Metal. In a lineup comprised entirely of badasses, Futilitarian deserved their spot as the headliners.

 

 

Much like taking the walk of shame after having a one-night-stand at a Co-ed college, I'm having a hard time bringing this to a graceful conclusion. C'est la vie, mon amie... Au revoir.