Archive for January, 2010

Tuesday night saw Polish death metal legends, Behemoth, come through town on their own headlining tour. A blizzard in North Dakota threatened to keep them from making it to our city, but the band persevered and found a way to make it here proving that the power of metal is greater than the power of Mother Nature.

Lightning Swords of Death

Lightning Swords of Death

Lightning Swords of Death

Before they took the stage however, Lightning Swords of Death first took the stage (preceded by a couple of local bands that I unfortunately missed due to getting there late, thanks Chicago traffic). Their singer had a shaved head and some scary looking eye makeup on and he looked pretty serious and pissed off. The band blasted through their set that consisted of one speed, fast! There was blast beats and speedy riffs all around as the band attempted to pummel the audience with the sheer force of their sound. The singer screamed his guttural vocals as his body convulsed and the whole thing was welcomed warmly by most of the audience.

Behemoth

Behemoth

After a lengthy setup and soundcheck, and the crowd impatiently chanting their name, the curtains finally opened and Behemoth were standing front and center on the stage as it filled up with smoke. The crowd roared louder than I’d heard in a very long time in the House of Blues as these guys decked out in chains, leather, and painted up faces and arms stood there looking completely menacing and ready to attack.

Behemoth

These guys were nearly as big as pro wrestlers and they wielded their guitars like battle axes as they belted out some ultra heavy riffs that started their first song. The crowd instantly started yelling, pumping their fists, moshing, and crowd surfing which gave the large security force a lot to contend with.

Behemoth

The band played an hour’s worth of brutal, powerful death metal complete with various tempo changes and even keyboards and samples amidst a sea of smoke and flashing lights. In between songs the singer would talk to the crowd or announce what song was next and try and keep the energy in the crowd alive. It didn’t take much to accomplish that as the mostly full venue was full of eager hardcore fans who barely stopped moving to catch their breaths and it seemed to make the band play that much harder. The thick and powerful sound emitting from the stage as these costumed characters flailed about was quite an impressive site to behold and one that needs to be experienced first hand.

Behemoth

The band came out for a one song encore that was a longer and slower number compared to most of their set, but no less heavy. When the curtains closed and the lights turned on, the crowd seemed a little sad that there wasn’t time for more, but they still witnessed one hell of an amazing performance that isn’t likely to be topped anytime soon.

Some additional photos can be seen here.

Arch Enemy is gearing up for their first North American tour in over a year, with a headlining run on the “Tyrants of Evil” tour, kicking off Wednesday, January 20. Exodus, Arsis, and Mutiny Within will play in support.

“We’ve spent the last week rehearsing for the upcoming ‘Tyrants of Evil’ North American tour, and the band is sounding nice and tight,” comments Amott. “These will be our first U.S./Canada shows in almost two years and I’m thinking it’ll be a while before we come back – as we’re slowly getting into ‘writing new album mode’. So if you are in the neighborhood, come on down!”

Arch Enemy has been relentlessly touring in support of their latest release, The Root of All Evil, which hit stores in October on Century Media Records.

Tyrants of Evil Tour
Featuring Arch Enemy, Exodus, Arsis, and Mutiny Within

Wed/Jan-20 — Towson MD — Recher Theater — Purchase Tickets

Thu/Jan-21 — Philadelphia PA — The TLA — Purchase Tickets

Fri/Jan-22 — New York NY — Nokia Theater — Purchase Tickets

Sat/Jan-23 — Worcester MA — The Palladium — Purchase Tickets

Mon/Jan-25 — Montreal QC – Club Soda — Purchase Tickets

Tue/Jan-26 — Quebec City QC — Imperial — Purchase Tickets

Wed/Jan-27 — Toronto ON — Phoenix — Purchase Tickets

Fri/Jan-29 — Chicago IL — House of Blues — Purchase Tickets

Sat/Jan-30 — Maplewood MN — The Rock — Purchase Tickets

Sun/Jan-31 — Winnipeg MB — The Garrick Centre — Purchase Tickets

Tue/Feb-02 — Calgary AB — MacEwan Hall — Purchase Tickets

Wed/Feb-03 — Edmonton AB — Edmonton Events Centre — Purchase Tickets

Fri/Feb-05 — Vancouver BC — Commodore Ballroom — Purchase Tickets

Sat/Feb-06 — Seattle WA — Showbox — Purchase Tickets

Mon/Feb-08 — San Francisco CA — Regency Center @ The Grand Ballroom — Purchase Tickets

Tue/Feb-09 — West Hollywood CA — House of Blues — Purchase Tickets

For more information on Arch Enemy and the “Tyrants of Evil” tour…
www.archenemy.net
www.myspace.com/archenemy
www.centurymedia.com

The Reactors – 7″ EP
Artifix Records

The Reactors were a relatively obscure punk rock back from the late 1970s  that resided in San Bernadino, CA. In their very short career they released this 7″ EP along with an LP on their own Nuclear Waste Records. They made very few of either and as a result only those with trust funds, well paying jobs, or people who were lucky enough to be around at the time likely have heard of them, let alone own either one of their records. They flew under my radar aside from seeing their records on various want lists of being hawked on ebay for enough money to pay a car payment with, hence my not owning a copy of either record.

Artifix Records, who have become some of the finest archeologists of punk rock, have once again done the world of punk rock a huge service by reissuing this 7″ so people on a budget and those who just want to hear some great punk rock they  missed the first time out can do so for the price of a fast food lunch!

What we have here is the original five song EP pressed from the original master tapes inside of a faithfully reproduced sleeve and labels. Not only did they do that, but they reproduced both variations of the picture sleeve and you can choose which one you want! The only difference in the packaging is the addition/replacement of the record label information. The labels and sleeve look nearly identical to the originals based on the photos I’ve seen of them. Ites packaging is perfect for being an old punk 7″.

The music is garagey late 1970s punk. It’s raw, mid to fast tempo with female vocals. The songs are only a couple minutes in length each as it should be and the guitar at times has a little bit of a surf twang to it. This is exactly the kind of punk rock I grew up on and had they stuck around or made more copies of their record, I truly believe that this band would have been more of a staple of punk early punk rock and in more peoples’ collections.

Artifix really struck gold on the mining expedition that they dug this up on, anyone with a turntable who is a fan of early punk rock needs to own this record, not just for the great music but to also encourage the label to keep scouring the globe and bringing the world such great punk relics for cheap prices!

Related links:

Artifix Records website

Unlike the rumored death of Chuck Biscuits which thankfully turned out to be a hoax, sadly this one appears real. Jay Reatard passed away at the age of 29 last night. He appeared to have died in his sleep and the cause is yet unknown or not yet released.

I saw Jay play at Riot Fest 2008 (where I shot the photo to the left) and his set was one of the best of the show. You can read more about Jay and his untimely passing here.

The new decade in the windy city started off with the return of a band that is into their third decade together as a band, three decades where they really didn’t get a whole lot of recognition in the big scheme of things until someone made a movie about them which finally got people to notice them. I’m talking about Anvil who thanks to the movie and VH1 classic taking notice, is touring again and playing to some decent sized crowds.

Rev Luv

Rev Luv

Rev Luv

Rev Luv got things started early. They were a rock/metal band with a bit of a Southern influence to them in a few of their songs. The singer paced back and forth constantly on stage fending off people yelling out “Slayer” probably alluding to the fact he looked a little like Tom Araya. Unlike Slayer however, Rev Luv weren’t as evil or nearly as entertaining. Their somewhat garage and amateurish performance was made worse by constant technical problems and the crowd were mostly silent throughout their entire set.

Earthen Grave

Earthen Grave

Earthen Grave

Earthen Grave quickly followed. They were a six piece band including a female violin player who it turns out is the sister of the lead singer. They played a mid-tempo melodic kind of metal with a bit of doom and almost fantasy elements. With the way some of the band members looked and the way the band sounded it is probably a surefire bet that at least half the band spends a lot of time up at the Renaissance Faire and using the term Renaissance Faire Metal would be a very accurate description of this band. They were quite entertaining and put together a very enjoyable set.

Anvil

Anvil

When the opening bands’ equipment was removed from the stage, a fellow by the name of Byrd from WLUP (The Loop) came out to introduce Anvil. After a few minutes of him talking up the band, Anvil came out and started playing “March of the Crabs”, which is an instrumental number. Anvil has been trimmed down to a three-piece band now with founding members Steve “Lips” Kudlow on guitar/vocals and Robb “Geza” Reiner on drums along with new bass player (and by new it means he has only been in the band the last 15 years!) Glenn Gyorffy. While they played this song, Lips came down and stood on a box in the barricade to be near the crowd who were throwing up the devil horns in approval and chanting the name of the band. It was probably one of the warmest receptions they’ve had in their 33 year history!

Anvil

Anvil

The band then played, “666″ and the crowd, which consisted of lots of aging metal fans, a few younger folks and even families with their kids, pumped their fists, banged their heads, and threw up devil horns to show their signs of approval. There was no mosh pit as most folks were too old to partake of such activities so the security guards had an easy night.

Anvil

Anvil

Between such songs as “White Rhino,” “School Love,” and others, Lips would tell stories and talk to the crowd and he never stopped smiling the entire time. Before one song he told the story about how they played at Tuts in the early 1980s and the power went out in the middle of one of their songs. A few people in the audience claimed to be there for the event too!

Anvil

During “Mothra” Lips pulled out a vibrator and played his guitar with it to the amusement of the crowd during an extended middle section that included some fancy guitar work from him as well as a drum solo from Geza. It was a good old fashioned heavy metal show and a fun time overall.

Anvil

The band finished their set, predictably, with “Metal on Metal” and then came out for a one song encore of “Jackhammer” which was a fine way to end a lengthy set that consisted mainly of older material with a couple of songs from their latest album, This is Thirteen”. The crowd gave a big applause at the end as the band came out and took a bow before the curtain closed on a very fun filled evening.

Anvil

Anvil

Some additional photos from the show can be seen over at my Chicago Examiner review.

Unfortunately for metal fans everywhere, Slayer has had to cancel their planned tours this winter. Lead singer/bass player Tom Araya has to undergo back surgery. As someone who just went through this myself right before Xmas, I can certainly sympathize, though what Tom is about to go through is a lot more serious than the one I just had. The full press release is as follows.

Los Angeles, CA – Thursday, January 7, 2010 — “Tom gave various medical treatments more than a fair shot,” said Slayer’s manager Rick Sales, “but they just haven’t handled the problem, so he’s biting the bullet and is scheduled for back surgery at the end of this month.”

This difficult decision made by the band’s bassist/vocalist Tom Araya means the cancellation of Slayer’s immediate tour plans that include the American and Canadian Carnage Tour dates that were set to kick off on January 18, as well as the band’s UK/European headline tour scheduled for March and April. Booking agents for both Slayer and Megadeth are already hard at work rescheduling the tour dates; tickets already purchased for these shows will be honored at the rescheduled dates.

The headbanging Araya, known for aggressively swinging his long mane of hair while performing, began experiencing back problems while on the band’s Australian/New Zealand/Japanese tour last October. In spite of his rapidly increasing pain and discomfort, he carried on with the tour, but immediately upon returning home saw an orthopedic specialist who diagnosed a Cervical Radiculopathy. The rocker initially did not want to take the major surgery route, so the specialist recommended a series of minimally-invasive procedures. While those procedures have resulted in some improvement, Araya continues to deal with intermittent bouts of severe pain, numbness and muscle spasms. The surgical procedure that Araya will undergo, called an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion, is a relatively routine practice and the recovery rate is excellent.

Sales added, “As unfortunate as this is for so many people – the Megadeth and Testament camps, the concerts’ promoters, and, of course, the fans – Tom’s health is the number one priority, and this has to happen.”

Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery, good luck Tom!