There’s something about the open air at Jones Beach Theater that always make shows seem so damn huge. Pantera brought their summer tour to Long Island with support from Amon Amarth and Shock Narcotic. The night had a sense of sadness as the metal community was collectively mourning, following the death of Ozzy Osbourne, who was honored throughout the show.Continue reading
Spacehog is one of those bands that you either get or you don’t. Like Kula Shaker, the band are somehow catchy and obtuse in equal measure, sassy then serious the next minute. They might be mostly known for “In The Meantime”, one of the best rock songs of the nineties (or any decade), but they have killer tunes sprinkled through every album. Led by poetic David Bowie disciple Royston Langdon, The Resident Aliens coasted into Santa Ana with their nineties grunge-lite meets glam boots on along with some amazing support from dance indie Platinum-sellers Epsom Mad Funkers (EMF) and New York genre-defying upstarts Ecce Shnak. It was an eventful night, to say the least.Continue reading
Release (Festival) Athens opened their 2025 festival season with metal giants Avenged Sevenfold and Palaye Royale at Water Square. The pale-skinned metal heads braved the hot sun from all over Greece and nations beyond to experience Avenged Sevenfold’s first-ever performance in the country.Continue reading
Amazing to watch a band grow so exponentially over the last few years, that in a distant country like Greece, Turnstile were upgraded to a larger outdoor venue, a big deal for acts that come to Athens.Continue reading
I love that every couple of years. Baroness does a small venue tour, it feels more connected to their base, and there is nothing better than seeing one of your favorite bands in an intimate room, singing along with a packed crowd. If you were a fan of early Baroness, this was your tour to see them play both Red and Blue Album (both released on Release Records) front to back. Many songs and interludes have never been performed live before.
Thankfully, the days are starting to warm up as a queue of fans eagerly awaiting the chance to catch experimental folk superstars Heilung snakes down multiple roads and side streets outside Manchester’s O2 Apollo.Continue reading
The Metal Nordic Goddess Tour swept the East Coast with its second to last performance of the tour at the Williamsburg Music Hall in Brooklyn. The show certainly lived up to the tour’s name with stunning performances by the Norwegian solo instrumentalist Sylvaine and Faroese singer-songwriter Eivør. The evening was a vivid testament to the powerful draw of Nordic music, seamlessly blending ethereal and visceral elements to captivate an intensely diverse audience.Continue reading
After a decade, the legendary heavy metal group, God Forbid, returned to the West Coast with a few California shows slated for mid-December in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their album, Gone Forever. On Friday the 13th, a killer lineup hits The Regent Theater in Downtown LA with support from local California crushers, Thrown Into Exile, Skinlab, Exmortus, and Burton C. Bell. Continue reading
Twenty-five years! To be twenty-five years on and a debut album to have this much of an impact still is a real feat and it’s safe to say metal icons Slipknot show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. To say tonight’s show has been hotly anticipated is perhaps the understatement of the year, there is a buzz in the air as crowds shuffle into the brand-new Co-Op Live Arena. Holding claim as the UK’s largest indoor arena the swanky new venue is about to get a real test run as generations of metalheads descend for a night of raucous celebration.Continue reading
SATURDAY:
After I visit the bust of Lemmy in the RAM Gallery, Brazilian death metallers Crypta are in full flow on the main stage, tearing through the likes of “Lift the Blindfold” and “From the Ashes”, casually stripping away any vestiges of third-day fatigue. And if that wasn’t the perfect wake-up call, then there”s always Bay Area thrashers Forbidden who blast through the likes of “Forbidden Evil,” “Twisted Into Form,” and “Step By Step” aided by summer recruit Dan “Chewy” Mongrain of Voivod. A great show, although a time overrun means we are deprived of the classic “Chalice of Blood.”Continue reading