Shows of 2014

Sorry for the lack of writing, I had a momentary lapse of reason and decided to spend the last few weeks blasting Fleshgod Apocalypse and reading Nietzsche. I haven't been quite the same ever since. I'm not sure I'll ever recover. Anyway, here are some cool shows to get the year off to a good start.

 

Wow, this year is already way better than 2013, and we're not even two weeks in! This tour hits my neck of the woods on the 11th, then heads Westwards. (Note: The flyer says the show is happening at Amped, but the updated event page says it's actually at The Gasworks. )

 

Here's another Albuqurque show on the same night. this line up is more Industrial/Heavy Electronic. The Jam Spot is a relatively new venue that only recently opened, so check it out! 

 

  

Yowza! Chelsea Grin and Eat A Helicopter will be sharing the stage at Launchpad! In an early review, I even compared EAH with CG, they must be a match made in Deathcore-Heaven. The third band is Siddhartha, an up-and-coming local band who call Albuquerque home. 

Stay tuned for more updates, meanwhile, enjoy your local scene and don't get too drunk.

Band Review: Eat A Helicopter

Do you like stuff like Whitechapel and Chelsea Grin, but your concert budget consists of of $20 and a bottle of cheap vodka? Worry no longer, comrades. Eat A Helicopter is just as awesome at a fraction of the cost. If you don't believe me, here's a music video. If you like what you hear, buy the album Descend Into Darkness,  available on Itunes.

The drumming is the typical Metal style, a relentless machine-gun fussilade. The aggressive guitar riffs are reminiscent of the better Miss May I songs. The vocals sound like a pissed off demon. Unlike many Metal acts, the lyrics follow a traditional poetry structure of rhyming couplets and a solid meter. The result is not necessarily melodic, but extremely rhythmic. The music has an underlying groove to it, albeit agitated and heavy.

I rather enjoy the moments when the band vocalizes in unison. It sounds like an angry mob of protesters who are about to erupt into a headline-making riot. There's something tribal, almost cult-ish about the "Us vs. Them" vibe I get from such moments. It's morbidly intriguing. The lyrics are usually poignant without being preachy, but sometimes they are just plain boss. ("All you zombies bounce!" comes to mind here. )

The album art is brilliant in its simplicity: The band logo above, the unassuming CD title below, and a disintegrating hottie in between. The image on the back appears to be a sillhouette of a gravestone wrapped in barbed wire. Seriously, after the aforementioned cheap vodka and this bottle of pills I found, I couldn't look away.

The CD's lifespan is cut tragically short at about 16 minutes worth of music. I could listen to this stuff for hours on end. Thank God for the repeat button, His gift to humanity. The concerts are even better than the recordings. I love a good mosh pit, but I also know how to choose my battles. Stray away from EAH shows if you are faint of heart, lest you have a faint heart attack.

Seriously, these guys will put you in the hospital.

Five stars outta five.

Brothers In Arms

As I've mentioned before, Animals As Leaders were recently robbed. They have been deprived of several custom guitars, some gear, and even their freaking vehicle. (However, I was just informed that they retrieved the car and one of the guitars, so mad props to the LAPD). If you have any info on the rest of their stuff, you can contact them at animalsgear@gmail.com

Unfortunately, Animals As Leaders were not the only band who got screwed over recently. Eat A Helicopter, a local favorite in the Metal scene, were also jacked. The lost hundreds of dollars worth of merch, so show a little love. Usually, when a band needs financial help, I tell fans to buy some swag, but... Yeah, their swag was stolen. It's a really fucked up catch 22.

Last but certainly not least, there are matters even more pressing than material posessions. For all of my beloved readers, all four of you, I'm pretty sure at least one of you reads Illogical Contraption. In case you don't, there was recently a tragic motorcycle accident that resulted in a fatality. The passenger, Nikki, is still in the process of recovery. Since the dearly departed was not only her husband but her only source of income, donations would be appreciated for the ever-mounting hospital bills, via help_jeff_n_nikki_d@yahoo.com
 If you can't spare any funds, at least keep her in your thoughts and send some positive vibrations her way. I never met the girl, but I can already tell she's worth it.

You know, I rarely get a chance to get on a soap box, so I'm totally jumping on this opportunity. Sure, I get a little preachy about the importance about supporting local music, but this is different. It's times like this when we need to show support in a more tangible, real way. My comrades are going through a hard time. Many of them I never met, and probably nevr will. It may seem we have nothing in common besides our impeccable taste in music. But even if a non-Metalhead was in need, I'd spread the word. Say what you will, but I am totally my brother's keeper. That's part of being a Metalhead. Music can and will always be there for you, but it's ultimately just sounds in the air. It's the people behind it that really matter.

Ick, no wonder I stray away from soapbox lectures. Seriously though, I know that adversity is all around. Stay strong, comrades. :)

Concert Review: Slaughter Survivor Battle Of The Bands

I feel like I was just hit by a semi-truck. I have a ringing in my ears, some new battle-scars, and incredible whiplash. At the risk of of sounding like a hyper teenager, this show was EPIC. Behold:

Defleshment, hailing from Laguna, NM, are a force to be reckoned with. They kickstarted the entire concert with intensely brutal riffs and machine-gun drumming. It was fucking awesome. Thier performance was a taste of New Mexico Death Metal, and pretty much set the tone for the badassery of the whole show.

Next up was Eulogies Of The Forgotten. They have neither CD's (that I know of) nor online music, save for some youtube videos which don't quite do them justice. Hell, that's just more reason to to see them live. These guys are truly badass, coming all the way from Taos to perform, and supporting al the other bands as well. The fact that they could play such an energetic set and then mosh the rest of the night is freaking impressive. They're pretty cool guys, too. Meeting them offstage,you would never guess that they were the crazy bastards who just fucked your shit up in the limelight.

Eat A Helicopter is straight up scary. The name is deceptively goofy, but the music basically delivers a pre-emptive strike on all five (six?) of your senses. It was during their setlist that the mosh pit grew massive. Rowdy doesn't even begin to describe it. If you want a taste of their awesome insanity, check out this video. If you like what you see, CD's and other merch is available. Contact the band on their facebook, I already gave you the link. Fuck yeah.

Futilitarian, in their own words, incorporate "an offensive amount of guitar." Yeah, that sounds about right. The music is painfully loud, so awesomely unholy that it's almost ambient. Their style is so melodic that it borders on symphonic. Their sound is atmospheric and poignant. The murcery icing on the Metal cake is that they gave out free CD's. (EP To Earth  is available on Bandcamp, by the way.) I'm going to be honest: One of my favorite things about Metal is the unique vocal styles, which obviously differentiate it from other genres. As such, I'm usually pretty sketched out by Instru-Metal. However, Futilitarian holds thier own, and they are one of my favorite bands despite (or even due to) the lack of vocals.

Weslandia were the winners of the Battle Of The Bands, and I hope they realize that they competed with worthy opponents. Apparently they are also a Christian Metal band, which is great. Christian Metal has a reputation for being kind of lame, but musicians like this prove these negative opinions wrong. They're almost as brutal as The Old Testament itself.

Of All Forms was a band I had anticipated all night, for they were the only musicians representing my hometown: Santa Fe. And holy faith, can those guys represent. They seem to be the quintessential modern Metal band, almost Dethklokian in their style. Think caustic drumming, with melodic strings juxtaposed against relatively monotone growls. I don't mean to be insulting when I say the vocals are monotonous... as this Interview with Brendon Small demonstrates, the deeper growls are too brutal to be melodic. I'm psyched that I had such a beastly band to show Albuqurque what Santa Fe is made of. I also appreciate their lack of gimmicks. In a local scene that prides itself on novelty, it's refreshing to see a New Mexico band that can just play Metal, heavy as fuck.

A Malicious Plague is amazing. Everything about them is apocalyptic. Their sound, their stage presence, all of it rocks. It's the next best thing to actually festering in your own squalid pestilence. I swear, I'm sure that if The Black Death makes an unexpected comeback, humanity's dying words will sound something like this. They came all the way from Gallup to perform, which increases my already immense respect for them.

Atypical Night is aptly named, because every concert with them is guaranteed to be extraordinary. They certainly ended the night with a bang. Their musical style is a seamless blend of melody and ruthlessness. The resulting chaos is something like Death Metal with amped-up virtuosity. They describe themselves as Melodic Deathcore, which seems pretty accurate, so let's just go with that. They were a sublime conclusion to a concert such as this. As most Joe Angel Productions go, this one also gets five stars outta five.

2 Days 2 Cities Levelled

So last time, I informed all you uncultured swine of the impending Metal shows coming to the Albuqurque/ Santa Fe area. Since I am too lazy and stupid to write anything creative today, I'm just going to keep ranting and raving about these concerts. If I can make just one Metalhead as stoked as I am, then my efforts shall not be in vain. So, let's see, who is on the bill?

Whoah. That's alot of bands. I would burn candles to every god I know just to see Fields Of Elysium, but that's only one of the 12 bands. Immortal Prophecy is pretty damn good, I know I've seen them live at least once before. Portrait Of A Mastermind not only features a female vocalist who can hold her own against the boys, but she's a hottie as well.  The Eden Betrayal is Christian Metalcore, and worth seeing in concert. I've never seen Through Gore Comes Glory, but I've heard enough rumors to keep my expectations high. Eat A Helicopter is one of the bigger bands from Albuqurque, so they too have a reputation that I hope they fulfill. I don't know much more about any of the other bands, but like I said, Ten Bucks is worth it just to see Fields, so I'll see what they got. This is a Joe Angel Production, and he is a man of most refined taste, so I assume this concert will be epic as fuck. See you at W21 on the 17th. Bring ten bucks and arm yourself to the teeth.

Upcoming Shows

Of all the seasons, Spring is the least Metal. That's probably why my writing has sucked lately... There's no brooding cold and darkness for me to bitch about. There's just a bunch of ugly pastel colors and dorky "SPRING into savings!" advertisements for department stores. Then again, that is a far more cruel fate to endure than Winter is, so I guess Spring is actually pretty messed up. Either way, I need some action in my life, so I'll be checking this shit out now that the weather is nice enough to break out the skateboard again.

First off, we'll be getting the first annual Blu Phoenix Rising fest, AKA 2 Days 2 Cities Levelled. The first city on the hit-list is Albuqurque, with an epic Metal-fest consisting of The Devastated, Immortal Prophecy, Fields of Elysium, Portrait of a Mastermind, The Eden Betrayal, Through Gore Comes Glory, and some other bands whose logos are illegible. However, if my memory serves correctly, bands who have crazy logos are usually badass, so here's hoping. After hitting 'Burque on March 16th, the fest moves on to Santa Fe for Saturday the 17th with virtually the same lineup. On both dates, the show starts at 5:30, and it's $10 at the door. Oh yeah, and there will be free BBQ and give-aways all day! See ya there. 

Next on the to-do list: Metal Alliance Tour, 2012. Man, Fields of Elysium are gonna be wiped out by the end of the season! Not only are they playing both dates of 2 Days 2 Cites, but they'll also be sharing the stage with Devildriver on April 8th. Unlike most Metal shows, this one is happening on a Sunday. Also playing will be Job For A Cowboy, The Faceless, Dying Fetus, 3 Inches of Blood, Impending Doom, Wretched, and... uh, another illegible band. This shit is gonna rock! Tickets are $23, they can be purchased from the bands or, if you're in Santa Fe, from the Concrete Jungle smokeshop.

And finally... Occupation Domination. Son of a bitch, this is a lineup and a half! This tour comes around my neck of the woods on May 2nd, at the Historic El Rey Theater of Albuqurque. I would sell my soul just to see Rings Of Saturn, but check out everyone else on the bill. That's not even counting the local bands who will  open, which in all likelihood will probably include Fields Of Elysium again. If I ever get to see Rings Of Saturn and Fields Of Elysium play the same gig, I can finally die happy. This show is in the relatively distant future, so details such as ticket prices and the time the doors open are yet to come. Stay tuned, and rock on.