Category: Posts
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The First Wave of Black Metal… or was it?
Beginnings I remember the day well. An incredibly cold, steel grey day, Tuesday, 1st, December, 1981. I had struggled on to a freezing bus, faced a wind chill factor of -4C on the ferry, and then a twenty minute walk against the piercing wind. My purpose? To buy Venom’s Welcome to Hell on the day it was…
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Concert Review – Manual Manic Procedures Tour
Featuring Upon Stone, Stabbing, Balmora, 200 Stab Wounds This past Friday, I had the opportunity to see a spectacularly brutal show at White Oak Music Hall in Houston, The Manual Manic Procedures tour – featuring Upon Stone, Stabbing, Balmora, and 200 Stab Wounds. I met up with my friend Brandon from The Metal Block Podcast,…
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Opeth Announce New Album: “Last Will and Testament”
OPETH returns. With a great tune, New Album, and a hidden goodbye? They’re touring the USA.. Is this the final curtain? Spawned in the early nineties, Opeth has dabbled in so many styles, from gutterals to near folk fairytales with lyrics that will have you feeling “like the most evil band” on the planet as…
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Dark Tranquillity – Endtime Signals
Back in the early 2000s I was just getting started writing reviews for the website Metalcrypt.com. I was one of those metalheads that initially felt kind of lost in the 1990s when Heavy Metal was once again relegated to the underground (for the most part). I was in a Sam Goody store (who remembers Sam…
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Bad things come in 3’s…
Except in this case. Cheesy and misleading, but it’s true. If this was a tour, It’d be stacked. And I’d be stoked. Lamb of God, The Black Dahlia Murder, & Fleshgod Apocalypse. Lamb of God retreading old material with the help of some young guns. Featuring members of Kublai Khan TX & Malevolence – the…
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CANCER CULTURE TOUR USA – 2024
April 14th, 2024The maiden voyage on the US arm of this tour. THE OBSERVATORY – SANTA ANA, CALIFORNIA! This venue has quickly become the epicenter (even more since the tear down of the 5 Point Amphitheater) for shows of the heavier variety. Locals like Dino Cazares or Mike Muir have been known to be seen…
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In Vain – Solemn Review
2024 continues to be the year that just gives and gives, at least relating to music. In Vain’s most recent opus, Solemn is the latest (and possibly greatest) incredible gift we’ve been given this year. In Vain’s sound is extremely hard to define. They are a mix of complex progressive melodies, black metal tones, death…