Two things:
1) My next concert is in three days, which you'll find out what it is when I post the review. It's a two day festival, so you might not get both parts until Monday.
2) I just got tickets to seeing Kreator, Accept, and Swallow the Sun on September 7th in New York! Are any of you going to that show, or any date of the the tour? Let me know!
For New Yorkers, if you want your Kreator tickets, just go here.
With that, i'll see you either Sunday or Monday!
-ACM
EDIT: Link doesnt work anymore. Sorry! :(
Link is right here.
Fucking hell yes! One of my favorite musicians! I can live with the commentary.
The stream is going down tomorrow, so make sure you watch it.
I just decided to make this quick announcement.
My next concert review is in two weeks from yesterday. I know it's a long time until then, but fear not! I am going to be reviewing one of them on Saturday, and another on Sunday! Stay tuned...
-ACM
Summer Slaughter @ Irving Plaza: 8-8-12; The Aftermath
Hey everyone! Yesterday in New York City was the 2012 version of Summer Slaughter. This was as well my first Summer Slaughter. Unlike my other reviews, I am not only going to talk about each band's performance one by one, but I am going to give my background of how I found out about them, and at the end, I will also be giving my own personal experience! We'll start off with the bands though, so that starts us off with...
As many of the people I know, I found out about this band thanks to the help of Ed Veter aka: InfidelAmsterdam. I listened to their debut album and thought "Ah, this is pretty sick death metal. I enjoy it!" Then I saw the vocalist... obviously, this is not the first time we are seeing a girl in a death metal band As Arch Enemy and Landmine Marathon were here before, HOWEVER, this was even less noticeable of a girl than those bands. Som definitely has a much stronger growling voice than I will ever have. Even though I was going to come from the start in the first place, I made sure I got even earlier on line to see them up front, and boy I was really flattered! Som has an even stronger growl live than in the studio. The instrumental work was just about as good as it is in the studio. Really good performance from this band, and I can't wait to see what the future may hold for them.
The Contortionist:
My story with this band is that I found out about them literally a week before Summer Slaughter! I listened to their album Exoplanet and loved the hell out of it, giving it a 4.5 out of 5 on my Rate Your Music account. A few days later I listened to their 2012 release Intrinsic, which I really was disappointed with and did not like that much at first listen, giving it a 2 out of 5. So for me, seeing them do a good job live was a hit or miss. It ended up being a fucking bullseye hit. Absolutely stunning performance. Jonathan did the vocals perfectly and played the keys so well, Robby and Cameron hit each note on the guitar correctly, Joey banged that drum intensely, and Christopher slapped that bass down! I was so stunned, that I decided I was going to give Intrinsic another chance! I am being serious, do not, and I repeat, DO NOT miss these guys if they come to your area. I sure as hell did not regret seeing them!
Exhumed:
Aaah, Exhumed. A name I have heard for so long but didn't check them out until fairly recently! I first listened to All Guts No Glory not too long ago and liked it a lot. I listened to Slaughtercult not long after, which I liked even more. I really liked their mix of death metal and thrash metal. I was extremely excited to see them, but...if I had to choose the least best performance there, it would unfortunately be these guys. While they preformed their songs fairly damn good, their stage presence wasn't exactly the most interesting I have seen. Hell, it didn't really get interesting until they unleashed a surgeon like guy with a chainsaw and then eventually spraying blood out of a decapitated head. Not counting how the performance could've been better, they sounded really damn good live. I would still definitely pay to see these guys perform live again! Really fucking cool band.
Goatwhore:
Oh my god, motherfucking Goatwhore!!! I've known these guys since my earlier stages of getting into metal, but didn't really check deep into them until January 2010 when I saw them open for Suffocation and Behemoth, and holy shit did they blow me away at that show! The next day after that concert I bought Carving Our the Eyes of God. Two years and a few months later, I see them again at this show, after they released another new album entitled Blood for the Master, and did they blow me away yet again! Holy shit, I forgot how fucking great they were live! Louis gives so much energy that just kills the show. The instrumental sounded as dark as ever. Especially with the songs from Blood for the Master in their set, their performance was great! This was definitely the stand out of the first five bands on the tour. I cannot WAIT until they tour again.
Job for a Cowboy:
Job for a Cowboy, a band I actually have been listening to since the beginning of my metal days. Throughout the time I knew Job for a Cowboy, I always changed my opinion from liking them to not liking them and so on so forth. I came up with a conclusion last week that the only release I really do not like by them that much is Ruination, and I especially love the Doom EP and Demonacracy. I really couldn't wait to hear them preform live, and after hearing them, I can almost guarantee I am never going to think I dislike them ever again. While they did not have the best stage presence, they definitely did have a great one, and Jonny sounded like a beast live. Instrumentals were pretty damn good also. The intro of "Entombment of a Machine" drove me INSANE. I was going completely insane for that. I was sad they only did the intro, but it was fucking great how they blended it together with "Embedded". Overall, really good job from these guys!
The Faceless:
One of my most anticipated bands of the day! Identical to the story of Goatwhore, but in different time periods, I've known the Faceless since February 2010. I was never able to get my copy of Planetary Duality until about March 2012. I listened to that album once, and I fell in love with it. Insane guitar skills indeed. I could not wait to see them either, and they did not disappoint! While the crowd did not show energy which I was okay with...I wouldn't want another Veil of Maya incident to happen to me again o.o, the band preformed at their very best! I look up to Michael Keene as a guitar god, and he really fucking proves it live! The only flaw in their set was that they didn't have enough time to play their final song, which I believe was suppose to be "An Autopsy". It sucked that they didn't play it, but they did play two new songs which I was extremely excited about Even though "The Eidolon Reality" isn't exactly new...:P. Overall, they did a great job! They're third album titled Autotheism is in stores August 14th, so make sure you get it!
That leaves us with the two headliners...
Between the Buried and Me:
Alright, where do I start? Between the Buried and Me was a band I found out about on Liquid Metal back in 2009. I forget which song they were playing, but I believe it was on The Great Misdirect, so I would not be surprised at all if it was "Obfuscation". Really fucking good song. In early 2010, I listened to The Great Misdirect via Youtube and loved it. A few months later, I buy Colors. My first attempt listen, I was digging it so much, but my head started hurting for some reason. In the next few months, I decided to re-listen to Colors and it became one of my favorite albums of all time. Soon after, I would buy and really dig The Parallax EP. When I found out they were on Summer Slaughter, I knew I had to fucking go. I've seen footage of them live, and they sounded pretty damn perfect. I actually see them live, and all I can say is that they fucking blew up the bulleyes of at least twenty dart boards. Fucking. PERFECT. I can't say much more. I was even drained out of energy and I still partied fucking hard to them. Fucking amazing band. I can't really say much more than I definitely have to see them again when they come back to New York. They are one of the fucking best.
and for the final act...
Cannibal Corpse:
I've been a fan of Cannibal Corpse within my first year of being a metalhead. They were definitely the first death metal band I ever got into. The second I heard the bass in "Hammer Smashed Face", I was in love. I was in fucking love. I bought Evisceration Plague in the Summer of 2009 and while I did not quite enjoy that album too much, I fucking loved the title track and "Scalding Hail". A few months later, I saw them open for Hatebreed, and they blew me away. less than three years later, they release Torture, and I am in love with that album. Now, we are here. My second time seeing them, and fuck, I am still in love with their performance! I was in the back for this one, but I was still able to have a good time hardcore head banging with my friends. They did an awesome job live, and Corpsegrinder has an awesome stage presence and is pretty fucking funny live! Overall, I loved their set. Definitely would and shall see them again!
So, that was my thoughts on each band! Now for...
The Experience:
So, we waited on line for a few hours, and then we got in and bought our merch. We were on the part of the venue where all the band members would come walk up and down to either get out or to get to the stage. Therefore, I was able to meet some people! During the Contortionist, I met Brandon Butler from Veil of Maya, and soon after I met Misha Mansoor from Periphery. After their set, I met both John Carpenter and Cameron Maynard. Soon after, Michael Keene from the Faceless came down and I met him. Right as Exhumed was walking on stage, I high fived Marc Okubo from Veil of Maya. As Exhumed got off, I met Matt Harvey and Leon del Muerte. Right before Goatwhore, I high fived Louis Falgoust. During either Veil of Maya or Periphery, I high fived Jonny Davy from Job for a Cowboy. After the Faceless, I met Geoffrey Ficco. After BTBAM, I took a picture of my friend with Som Pluijimers from Cerebral Bore. So in a sense, I had some sort of contact with twelve musicians. Where I was from CB until BTBAM was very close, and for CC, while I was in the back, I could still see pretty damn clear. With that being said...
The Conclusion:
BEST FUCKING DAY OF MY LIFE! Nothing but good music and hanging with my friends. I couldn't have asked for a better day. I wish it didn't end so soon. I don't think Summer Slaughter will have a lineup I found this perfect ever again, but I'll definitely go next year if there is enough good bands. I would do anything to bring this day back, seriously.
My neck is still in pain, but hell it was worth it. Until next time, stay fucking metal \m/
-Alex
AFTER SIX YEARS OF WAITING, SIX YEARS, SYSTEM OF A DOWN FINALLY COMES BACK!!! I could've never have been so excited to see the great SOAD come back as soon as the lights dimmed for them! "Prison Song" was the perfect intro song for them! Some of the songs they played, including "B.Y.O.B", sounded twice as good live over the studio! The band seemed that they were into the show, and to my surprise, they were fairly energetic! I am sure they always are, but from the videos I have seen, they didn't seem very moving. It was extremely fun also. I never screamed louder in my life at the end of "Sugar". From what I saw, I really would not have changed anything. The show was pretty damn perfect for them. I hope to see them come back extremely soon!
Well, that's all for today! Both bands did a fabulous job. My next concert coming up is Wednesday, so stay tuned...
After a fairly long hiatus, I am back to posting...AGAIN!
My next post will be up either extremely late today or whenever I wake up tomorrow, so stay tuned...
Im getting bored of the pictures, so I am going to only be doing Concert Reviews from now on until further notice
So the next post will be Saturday/Sunday!
Mewithoutyou, the indie influenced post hardcore act.
I listened to their album, Ten Stories, and while I did find much better albums out of the newer post hardcore scene from bands such as La Dispute, this album is still pretty decent. I'd give it a try if I were you.
Passion Pit, the synth group.
They released their new album, Gossamer, which I got to say was pretty damn good and has some really good catchy moments! Check it out!
I'm going to stop the "For Fans Of" thingy, so yeah...
Pierce the Veil...
holy fuck, was I drunk?
Why did I try out a Pierce the Veil album?
I knew I was gong to hate it so....I don't know...
Well, I listened to their new album, Collide With the Sky. It has some catchy moments, but catchy does not mean it's even decent. It's a Pierce the Veil album. If you like them, you'll like it.
TNGHT, a new electronic duo.
Check out their self titled EP now if you are in the mood for some new electronic music. It's pretty damn good!!!
For Fans Of: Justice, Daft Punk, and Skream
New Between the Buried and Me Song "Telos": Studio Version Released!
Link is right here.
Well, if the rest of the album is as good as this track, I can't imagine it not making my Top 5 Albums...nor can I imagine it not toping the list.
The song is absolutely beautiful. Even crushes down some tracks off of Colors, which if you know me, is my favorite metalcore AND progressive album of all time. These guys never failed to make good music in my eyes. I hope that the album continues to be as good as this one track.
The preorder for the album can be found at this link.
Coffinworm, the ultra kickass sludge black metal band.
Check out their new album Great Bringer of Night! It fuses the two genres amazingly!
For Fans Of: Burzum and Mastodon
If you live in the Brooklyn Area, make sure you see Coffinworm with bands such as Sunn O))) and Winter on the second day of the first annual Power of the Riff East!
Nas, an extremely legendary rapper.
I listened to his most recent work, Life is Good, and....I was disappointed. I didn't like it. Especially compared to Illmatic. He fell down on this one I thought, but...if you like his music, then check it out. It wasn't the worst album ever, just not a good one.
For Fans Of: Biggie, Tupac, and Eazy E
I decided I am going to take a break this week. Mainly because I am leaving Wednesday and won't be coming home until Sunday. Plus, I don't have many 2012 releases to listen to. This is where I need YOUR help! In my "Suggestions" box, I need you guys to give me releases to listen to if you think I have not checked them out yet! Try choosing underground ones! I love new experiences!
I'll restart my posting next week. So until then...keep it real. Lolhowcorny