Archive for the ‘ Music ’ Category

Finnish Trolls Make Great Pets


(photo by http://www.nordische-musik.de)

Thursday, September 20th was a cool, crisp night and yet another I would be spending at B.B. King’s Blues Bar and Grill. It has become my second home lately. The goal was to see Finntroll live in concert and it was certainly achieved. I had been wondering if there would be any opening bands, since Finntroll had only been billed by itself, and much to my dismay there was but one opening band. Needless to say, this was one of those times I wish I had arrived late. This band (which I will not name to make sure they get as little press as possible to contain the tragedy that is their band) was horrible, to say the least. Of the 5 or so songs they played the last song was the only tolerable one. On the bright side, it made me hunger for Finntroll all the more. Once that ordeal was over with the wait for Finntroll had begun. The set list was in sight and was about as long as my forearm. I could tell then that the audience was in for a nice long night of pure Folk Metal.

A little background on the band first. Finntroll are actually from Finland, despite claims that they are from Sweden. This innacuracy stems from their song lyrics being sung in Swedish (the second native language of Finland, along with Finnish). The original vocalist Katla chose to sing in Swedish because “Swedish just sounds damn trollish” (also it is his first language). Their brand of Folk Metal is generally light hearted and includes elements from traditional Finnish folk music. Continue reading →

2007
09/27
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CATEGORY
Music
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Doris Thunder Tears on Her Experience Touring the U.S.

Doris with guitar
(photo by Dazvsemir)

After finishing their set, the members of the Taiwanese melodic black metal band Chthonic changed into civilian garb and dispersed through the crowd to enjoy the show during their September 12th appearance with Obituary at B.B. King’s. Doris Thunder Tears, guitarist and backing vocalist, was rocking out to Alabama Thunderpussy when we caught up with her.

Chthonic had played a show at B.B. King’s just recently, August 21st, and on that night they occupied a good slot. Today they were squeezed in as openers for three other bands. Doris complained that they didn’t even get a chance to play their favorite song, “Quasi Putrefaction” from the album Seediq Bale, their fourth, but the first to be released outside of Asia. Continue reading →

2007
09/18
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CATEGORY
Interview
Music
6 comments

The Xecutioner Has Come


John Tardy of Obituary. The least Cousin-It-like we could catch him.(photo by ETL)

Wednesday, September 12th, d42 and I sauntered into B.B. King’s at 8pm, yet unaware that we just missed Hemlock and Chthonic who apparently opened for Full Blown Chaos, Alabama Thunderpussy and Obituary.

We drank an overpriced beer each and hung around by the bar while Full Blown Chaos, a thrash metal band from Queens, roared on stage unspectacularly. They weren’t terrible, and I should give them their due—for hefty guys they sure were energetic. There was an issue with their drums in the midst of it all and Ray Mazzola (vocals) covered up by demanding to hear everyone’s death metal growl, which was fun. Their new album, Heavy Lies the Crown , is in stores now. Continue reading →

2007
09/16
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CATEGORY
Music
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Losing My Wacken Virginity (part 2 of 2)

Lots of pictures and lots of words. Part 1 is equally dangerous, so consider your browser warned. And now back to your regularly scheduled Wacken.



03.08.07 Friday At 6am I was awakened by loud death metal someone was blasting nearby. I pissed and went back to sleeping bag until 9am. Thankfully found pain pills. Unfortunately, there were only two left.

On this third morning at Wacken people seemed less interested in each other. There is really no sleeping late, although naps through the day are very doable. We were all up at about 9:30am, but we were all sullen, and I personally shook a bit with hangover. The .7 liter bottle of whiskey was grievously short of being even a 10th full.

I officially evicted Brett later in the day after he confessed to having have pissed in the tent. He used a cup, and promised that he didn’t miss at all while doing this in total darkness next to my sleeping form, but I still felt that he would be better off with his British friends. Continue reading →

2007
09/07
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CATEGORY
Music
Travel
6 comments

Losing My Wacken Virginity (Part 1 of 2)

Aerial of Wacken back in 2004, when it was still more manageable. Click here for previous aerials.

Few things hold more promise than huge festivals full of strangers and booze. Wacken Open Air brings all these possibilities to life. It is, unquestionably, the Metal Mecca of the world, but the music itself is only the starting point of a romantic lifestyle requiring metal encrusted leather, lots of beer and burping and pissing, and of course, rolling around in filth, falling into mud pits and freezing at night. It’s about being heroes, like in the bygone times, when men were quaffing Vikings and women were scantily dressed maidens. Like in those long ago times, it is also a time of pain.

Lets begin with the saga of Brett. He is a slight man of 22 who has been holding down a clerical position by day and rocking out to the likes of Nile and Samael at all other available hours. His decision to go to W:O:A 2007 was a little belated and just as he made up his mind, http://www.wacken.com pronounced the festival sold out. In lieu of letting the dream die he turned to E-Bay.

E-bay supplied him with a ticket, for an exorbitant sum of over six hundred American dollars, which he paid up. The ticket could only be shipped to England, but Brett thankfully had some friends who were also going to Wacken situated in the U.K. With the precious ticket safely in the hands of one of these friends, Brett, armed with a phone number, got on the plane. Continue reading →

2007
08/28
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CATEGORY
Music
Travel
8 comments

An Evening of Metal with Skinless, Chthonic and Nile

 

Dallas Toler-Wade of Nile

Dallas Toler-Wade looking like a demon

Yet again, I am at B.B. King’s. It is August 21th and what the bands have in common tonight is their subject matter: mythology. OK, so the Halloween props scattered on the stage for Skinless and their mostly humorous lyrics maybe have nothing to do with it, but Chthonic and Nile are all about mythology, Taiwanese and Egyptian, respectively. They were also all part of the line up for Ozzfest 2007.

Skinless

Skinless is a local band and a B.B. King’s regular from Albany, NY. Their sound is predominantly generic death metal; fast riffs, guttural growls and high-pitched shrieks making lyrics indiscernible. The music drives up the ante and Jason Keyser (vocals) leaps off the stage. Swallowed up by the fans, he resurfaced, and after reaching the crowd barricade used it to leap into the crowd again. For Keyser they moshed like mad, even attempting a front-to-back wall-of-death. Continue reading →

2007
08/24
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CATEGORY
Music
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Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club are Friends of P

Friday, August 10, 2007. It was a cold and overcast night, but an entertaining one, because it included Ra Ra Riot and Tokyo Police Club plus openers Ford and Fitzroy at the Bowery Ballroom. I call it the night of the EP’s (None of these artists have released a full length album). Doors opened at 8 PM so I decided to not show up ’till 9 hoping to see the openers finishing up their set. However, I arrived to an empty ballroom with members of Ra Ra Riot just hanging out. I stood around for a few minutes but felt awkward ’cause I was there all alone. At that point I decided a nice drink may help. Ordered a vodka with cranberry (not that this is important but just felt like mentioning it) and as I waited for the bartender to prepare my drink, I was informed the opening act had not even performed yet.

I’m actually glad I made in time to see Ford and Fitzroy. With interesting melodic beats and catchy lyrics, it was hard not to enjoy them. The singer looked and sang like he was the love child of Jack White of The White Stripes and Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance. The rest of the band looked indie and someone felt it was important to shout out loud “You guys are really thin.” It was quite amusing. Overall, I enjoyed Ford and Fitzroy’s set and would recommend fellow Tokyo Police Club and Ra Ra Riot fans to check them out.

Continue reading →

2007
08/12
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Music
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