Anthrax at Irving Plaza, 4/21/2013 (more by Fred Pessaro // BBG)

Big Four thrashers Anthrax performed all of the LP favorite Among the Living at Irving Plaza in NYC over two nights this weekend (April 20 & 21), both featuring support from Bay-Area's Exodus, party-friendly Municipal Waste, Shadows Fall (replacing High on Fire, who opted for Roadburn 2013 instead) and Holy Grail. The dates brought the Metalliance tour, now in its third year in existence, to a close.

Check out pictures from the thrash-tacular Irving Plaza show last night (4/21) over at InvisibleOranges.

Anthrax at Wellmont, Oct 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

People officially love Among the Living. As discussed, Anthrax will perform all of that classic LP as part of the Metalliance tour that lands at Irving Plaza on April 20. Now, due to overwhelming demand, look for the crew to play a second date at Irving Plaza on 4/21 as well. Tickets are still available for both dates.

While Exodus, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail are on board as support, High on Fire are NOT for either NYC date.

Updated tour dates and a stream of that LP is below.

Continue reading "Metalliance adds second show at Irving Plaza, on sale now (updated dates)"

Anthrax at Wellmont Theatre, October 2012 (more by Greg Cristman)

The Metal Alliance tour returns for its third year, this time roping in thrash legends Anthrax to play all of their 1987 favorite, Among the Living, alongside sets from High on Fire (who recently played Bowery and MHoW), Exodus, Municipal Waste and Holy Grail. The North American trek kicks off in Las Vegas in March, heading West and eventually to the East Coast to conclude with a date at Irving Plaza on April 20. VIP tickets for all dates, which include a multitude of goodies, are already on sale. Regular tickets go on sale January 11.

UPDATE: High on Fire is confirmed to play Roadburn 2013, which directly conflict with 4/18 and 4/20... yes, NYC. According to a statement from the festival, the Roadburn appearances will NOT be cancelled, which means that NYC and the tail-end of this tour is more than likely not part of High on Fire's routing. Developing.

UPDATED AGAIN: High on Fire will not play April 15th through the end of the tour. That includes NYC.

Head below for the full slate of dates, as well as a stream of Among the Living in full (via Spotify).

Continue reading "Metal Alliance returns w/ Anthrax (playing 'Among the Living'), Exodus, Municipal Waste & more (dates) UPDATE"

photos by Taylor Keahey

Autopsy at Slaughter by the Water, 8/25/2012

Slaughter by The Water went down over the weekend in San Francisco, packing a festival lineup aboard the USS Hornet in the Bay on Saturday (8/25). The show featured appearances from Exodus, Autopsy, Impaled, Absu, Scott Kelly, Witchaven, Philm (featuring Dave Lombardo of Slayer) and many more during the day long event.

Check out more pictures from that sunny day in the Bay Area below.

Continue reading "Slaughter by The Water in pics (Autopsy, Exodus, Impaled, Scott Kelly, Absu, more)"

Three of the leading gear/technology companies for both musicians and consumers alike are returning with their successful "Metal Masters" clinic series... "Metal Masters 4" is bringing back some of the classic "Metal Masters" while adding a few new members to the list. As always, fans can expect some surprise appearances and unforgettable performances. "Metal Masters 4" will be comprised of Philip Anselmo (DOWN, ex-PANTERA), Kerry King (SLAYER), Dave Lombardo (SLAYER), Scott Ian (ANTHRAX), Charlie Benante (ANTHRAX), Frank Bello (ANTHRAX) and newly added masters Billy Sheehan (MR. BIG, DAVID LEE ROTH) and Gary Holt (EXODUS, SLAYER).

Metal Masters IV goes down at Gramercy Theatre on September 7, featuring some of the genre's most influential musicians. In addition to a music clinic, last year's event in LA at the Key Club featured the performers launching into covers of classics like Slayer's "Angel Of Death" and "Raining Blood," and a good portion of Pantera's Vulgar Display Of Power before heading into the set closer, the Black Sabbath favorite "Hole In The Sky." Tickets are on sale.

Reminder, Slayer is on the road with the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem tour this summer.

Also, look for Down on the road this fall, including a stop in NYC for a show at Best Buy Theater and another at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville.

by BBG

Church of Misery at Inferno Festival (more by BBG)

Scion Rock Fest have announced their first round of 2012 bands, including some very interesting and out-of-the-box choices. Among the announced so far include the impressive Repulsion, All Pigs Must Die, Merzbow, Sleep (who just played Roadburn), Church of Misery (them too, and they play NYC soon), and Oxbow, but the lineup also includes names like Terror, Psychic TV, and Cerebral Ballzy and more... bands that seem a bit out of the ordinary for a traditionally all-metal festival entering its fourth year. The show goes down on June 2nd across four venues in Tampa FL. As always, the show is free (with RSVP that opens on 4/20 at noon).

UPDATE: Full lineup has been released, check out the flyer and lineup below.

Continue reading "Scion Rock Fest moves to Florida; UPDATE full lineup announced"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

The concert, or the tour, or the notion, is called the Big Four, and it needs an asterisk. Long ago one of the four became much bigger than the rest.

In alphabetical order, Anthrax, Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer -- who all played at Yankee Stadium in a thorough and memorable seven-hour concert on Wednesday night -- were the most popular bands of mid-1980s thrash-metal. (Some would prefer a Big Five, and include Testament or Exodus.) Thrash was a powerful mutt: it ran at hardcore-punk speeds and wedged hyper-articulate firebomb guitar solos into small spaces...

[Metallica's] set list was almost identical to what the band played in Indio. It started with the old ("Creeping Death"), moving to the new ("All Nightmare Long") and a we've-earned-it instrumental section ("Orion"), then the hits and landmarks ("One," "Master of Puppets") and back to the old again ("Seek and Destroy"). And it was a proper retrospective, with songs fast and slow and medium, compassionate and merciless.

The last set also included a song involving members of all four bands. Cleverly it was a version of Motorhead's "Overkill," a song that keeps stopping and starting up again. Each time it reanimated, a different drummer took over: Lars Ulrich of Metallica, Dave Lombardo of Slayer, Charlie Benante of Anthrax; the guitarists traded off too.
[New York Times]

We previously posted video of Metallica's epic rendition of Motorhead's "Overkill" with members of Anthrax, Megadeth, Exodus and Slayer, and pics of the Rocks Off Cruise to the stadium, and of all the openers. Here are pictures of Metallica including some shots of the collaboration at the end the set. They continue below...

Continue reading "pics of Metallica @ Yankee Stadium (The biggest of the Four)"

by BBG

Watain (photo by Steven Brown)

The Lawless States of Heretika Tour will envelope the nation in darkness, featuring Watain and headliner Behemoth along with Withered and Black Anvil. The tour will include a NYC stop at Irving Plaza on Dec 2nd. Tickets for that show go on AMEX presale at 10AM on Thursday (8/5), with general sale kicking off at 10AM the next day. All tour dates for the trek are below.

Before that campaign of destruction kicks off in November, Black Anvil will play Hostile City Deathfest in Philadelphia on August 27th - 29th. Featuring headlining sets from Incantation, Hate Eternal, and Exodus, the fest will also feature appearances from Origin, Enthroned, Destroyer 666, Pathology, and many others. Full details, including set times are below.

Speaking of Enthroned, Destroyer 666 and Black Anvil, their show with Pathology that was scheduled to take place at Europa in Brooklyn tonight, August 4th, has been postponed to August 31st. Estuary was also on the bill, but has to drop off the new date. Advanced tickets will be honored at what will be Enthroned's first NYC show in nine years.

We interviewed Erik from Watain earlier this year, shortly before the release of their new LP Lawless Darkness. Black Anvil have a record of their own on the way in Triumvirate, due via Relapse on 9/28. BV SXSW alums Withered are currently working on their new LP, the follow-up to the massive Folie Circulaire.

Full tour dates, Hostile City Deathfest details and some video below...

Continue reading "Watain & Behemoth touring w/ Withered & Black Anvil, Hostile City Deathfest coming to Philly, Enthroned postponed"

by BBG

Nominon

Nominon will bring a dose of icy Swedish death metal to a sizzling Bowery Electric on July 6th as part of a tour with Infinitum Obscure and Quinta Essentia. The bill will be rounded out by the dark blackened doom forces of Evoken (who cancelled their Roadburn appearance due to volcanic ash) and thrashers Mutant Supremacy. Tickets are on sale. The show marks Nominon's first foray into the US since the release of their new album Monumentomb, out now on Ibex Moon.

It's not the only show that Mutant Supremacy has laid out, as the band is also scheduled to play Europa twice in the coming months. First, look for the Brooklyn team on June 20th with At War, Midnight, Crucifist, and others as part of a post-Punk Island show (tickets). After that, make sure and catch them when the band opens for Floridian dark lords Malevolent Creation and Gigan on July 29th as part of a larger tour for the duo. Tickets are on sale.

Mutilation Rites are also scheduled to play that June 20th show before hitting the road through early July, eventually playing Union Pool on July 17th with The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves. In addition, the band will play Lit Lounge with Valdur on July 19th and Europa TWO more times: with Belgian black metallers Enthroned (their first show since 2001) and Destroyer 666 (!) on August 4th (tickets) and then with Hellbastard and Atakke on Oct 8th (tickets). The Enthroned date at Europa is part of a larger US tour with D666, and a world tour for Enthroned.

Malevolent Creation is also scheduled to play NYC again, this time supporting Exodus alongside Holy Grail and Bonded By Blood at Gramercy Theater on August 28th. Tickets are on sale.

Full tour dates for all bands and some videos, including the new video from Hellbastard are below...

Continue reading "Nominion, Mutant Supremacy, Mutilation Rites, Hellbastard, Enthroned, Gigan & Exodus - playing shows & touring (dates)"

by BBG

It had some hiccups, but now the Slayer, Megadeth, Testament tour is back on:

The American Carnage Tour, originally scheduled to take place in January and February, had to be put on hold due to Slayer's vocalist/bassist, Tom Araya's ongoing, minimally-invasive treatments for what was diagnosed as a Cervical Radiculopathy, an occupational hazard for the rocker who is known for aggressively swinging his long mane of hair while performing. Right after the first of the year, Araya made the difficult decision to undergo a surgical procedure, called an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion, a relatively routine practice with an excellent recovery rate. That surgery took place early last week.

"The doctors said that Tom's surgery went very smoothly and was a resounding success," said Rick Sales, long-time Slayer manager. "He's home now, doing really well, and he said the numbness in his fingers had already diminished considerably."

Shortly after the surgery, Slayer's Kerry King received a text from Tom: "Awake and feeling good, actually whatever he did, it feels better."

My mom used to see Slayer thrashing around on TV and would always say, "Those guys are going to hurt themselves!". The new dates happen in August, and are below.

The original set of March Slay/Mega/Testa dates have been replaced by Megadeth/Testament/Exodus dates, which unfortunately bypass NYC in favor of the home of Dunder-Mifflin (Scranton,PA). Normally I would find that new tour lineup only a smidge more than intriguing, but the bands have upped the ante by announcing that in honor of the 20th anniversary of Megadeth's classic Rust In Peace LP, the band will perform that LP in its entirety. What's more, Testament will join the fun by performing all of their classic The Legacy! No word so far as to whether Exodus will play Bonded By Blood (which they recently re-recorded) (and have performed in full in the recent past), but here's to hoping.

Some videos, Mega/Testa/Exo tour dates, and the new Slay/Mega/Testa tour dates which include the Izod Center on August 12th (no ticket info yet), are below...

Continue reading "Tom Araya's surgery went well, Slayer reschedules tour dates, Megadeth & Testament meanwhile playing full albums"