A few posts ago I mentioned that I wanted to try and record a few songs I wrote a long time ago, using the Audacity program on my laptop. I finally did this past week, making my first very dirty sounding recording this past Thursday, and something much cleaner just yesterday…although the guitar solo for it’s a tad sloppy. But of course you can be the judge:
Since I just recently downloaded Microsoft Movie Maker I decided to upload two of my favorite CD’s, Mercyful Fate’s Don’t Break The Oath, and Morbid Angel’s Covenant, on to my page. I tried to upload “Miracle Man” by Ozzy as a test and that shit was immediately blocked worldwide. Lame.
You can check them out here:
Powerlifting Progress!
Today starts Week 2 of my final meet prep training for my Powerlfiting debut on May 21st. Here’s my workout for today:
Deadlift:
125lbs – 1 x 5
155lbs – 1 x 5
185lbs – 1 x 5
240lbs – 1 x 3
270lbs – 1 x 3
305lbs – 1 x 3
I spent 15 minutes on a stationary bike after I was done. I’d like to think that my going back to taking pre workout is a good chunk of the reason why I was able to pull 305 with NO BELT. C4: The official Cocaine of Pre Workouts. I also like to think THIS totally helped:
So Yeah I know I posted this a blog or two ago but this shit is fucking intense that it was in my head the entire time I was deadlifting. This shit rules. If you go on the actual YouTube page you’ll see a commenter predict that guitarist/vocalist Todd Jones is slowly becoming the next Phil Anselmo. I think he might be right!
I first read up on Shadows Fall in a brief one page Guitar World article in 2000, discussing the release of their newest album, Of One Blood, which featured the debut of vocalist Brian Fair. I’m pretty sure I still have that magazine in my attic somewhere in a big ass bin of old GW back issues….along with a shit load of Muscle And Fitness mags that I stole from my ex-job…several times. Those security guards were and probably STILL are dumb as SHIT. All these years later I can’t remember why it didn’t get my attention much in a time when Pantera was just a month away from releasing Reinventing The Steel, and shit rap-metal and pussy pop punk was king; but it was most likely because I read that they mixed thrash and death metal with rhythm guitar Matt Bachand’s love of new-age music. At that time I most likely too young or ignorant to understand the idea or even give it a listen to see how the band melded such styles together.
That changed two and a half years later, by which point I was a few weeks into my college career. They once again were featured in Guitar World, this time discussing their newest album, The Art Of Balance. This time around, the article focused on the fact that lead guitar Jon Donais actually shreds his ass off on the record. Both he and Matt discuss their love of all kinds of metal, as well as the fact that at that point in time the ONLY other guitarists known for TRULY shredding it up were Dimebag Darrell and Zakk Wylde. True story. So I was interested. Then, I started seeing ads for the album in magazines featuring quotes from these rave…and I mean RAVE…reviews, calling Shadows Fall “The Next Metallica”, on the heels of the fact that this CD was supposed to have such a purist, old school thrash feel. Ok…I was sold. So I went to Sam Goody, maybe around Christmas time, bought the CD, and my ass was instantly KICKED so hard. The riffage was very thrash. Jason Bittner’s drums were so precise and so freaking fast on his debut recording with the band, Brian Fair really did sound like Ride The Lightning – era James Hetfield. Then, there was those guitar solos. Jon Donais is an AMAZING lead guitar player. There are guys who shred to blow their load by showing off their knowledge of every scale known to man and there are guys like Jon who shred with aggression, technique…and feel. GASP!!! Not too long after this I finally heard Of One Blood and realized what I was missing out on because that record is even MORE brutal than The Art Of Balance!
Sometime in the summer of 2003 I was in a Hot Topic – the second to last time I ever went into one – and I found myself talking to the guy behind the counter, whose name I no longer remember. The discussion turned to musical styles. Around this time, the nu-metal/rap metal train was close to FINALLY crashing, but so-called hardcore with breakdowns that the kiddies would breakdance too was starting to become the new trend. This guy played in a band called Resin and they liked to do those breakdowns. Too bad. But he told me that his band would be opening for Chimaira and Shadows Fall within a month and he had to sell tickets (gee, I wonder where I heard that shit before) and of course I told him I’d go. They were practically THE only modern metal band I was giving the time of day.
So a month later my mom insisted on driving me to L’Amour on 63rd St, most likely because she was a sissy who couldn’t bare the thought of my taking car service there even though I had done it just three months earlier, when I was last there to see Superjoint Ritual. No sooner did I close the door to her car did I hear a voice yell out to me “Hey! I hear you don’t like beatdowns??”. I turned around there was all of Resin. In the middle was their gruff looking singer, who yelled out to me. To the left was the guy from Hot Topic…who clearly had a great memory! So we spoke for a few minutes and they gave me my ticket.
Going into the show, which was an Ozzfest ’03 off-date, the bill was once again HEAVILY booked by the idiot guineas that ran the place. I think the first band I remember seeing was this band of kids who did a cover of Sepultura’s “Roots Bloody Roots” that was played waaaaaayyy too fast. Even when I was that age I never understood why younger bands just need to speed up even those songs that need to be played a little slower. Is it nervousness? Is it lack of understanding of dynamics? The original tempo for the song was just right because it allowed Igor to put the right kind of groove in there and, more importantly, it allowed the heavy ass riffs to breathe. Most times, fast never equates to heavy. Heavy is not about tempo, or even volume for that matter. It’s about attitude. If you’re a young musician and you’re reading this, don’t ever forget this. Dynamics, more important than ANYTHING else in terms of songwriting.
While seeing this one band one the main stage, whose guitarist was clearly trying so hard to be Dimebag Darrell, I recognized Jon Donais standing literally feet away from me. I went over to him to discuss the band on stage because the guitar player was in fact really good and he put on the biggest smile and even gave me his full attention. That solidified to me once for all the humility of the underground guys. They were playing their first huge festival tour as The Art Of Balance was selling 100,000 copies, the first album in Century Media Record’s history to do so and they were still down to earth guys. I went up to Brian Fair after seeing Jon and he too was a cool guy. I saw a few more local bands including Full Blown Chaos yet again (and they sounded like shit yet again!) and Chimaira came out. Long story short: they sucked.
Shadows Fall went on around 10pm and, long story short: they blew Chimaira out of the fucking water within the first minute of being up there. Although that part wasn’t hard. They were so good, playing songs from the two most recent CDs.
The Setlist:
Idle Hands
Crushing Belial
The Idiot Box
A Fire In Babylon
Stepping Outside The Circle
Thoughts Without Words
Of One Blood
Destroyer Of Senses
Serenity
The show was fucking incredible…and I totally forgive Brian Fair for wearing a Clash t-shirt that night! At some point in the middle of the set, he asked us if we BOUGHT the new album and I’m pretty sure most of the crowd responded pretty positively…by which I mean horns in the air and loud chanting. You could tell it meant a lot; let’s face it, bands in his position NEVER sell 100,000 copies of a record or even make that in combined album sales. And that was a minor miracle compared to the success the band would see a year later! What I did NOT know about that night was that it would be my last time going to the original L’Amour for anything. They’d close down just over five months later in early February 2004.
Final Thoughts
Here’ a brief video of me squatting 235lbs for 6 reps without a belt last Thursday night.
I managed to pull this off without a belt and it was surprisingly easy. Starting this week I began final preparations for my first meet happening on May 21st in Newark, NJ. As of this past Sunday I’m focusing only on the big three lifts and light cardio, making my training sessions considerably shorter.
Been a little bit since I last wrote in here. Haven’t had the chance due to the grind of my shit job and training for my upcoming powerlifting meet for Revolution Powerlifting Syndicate on Saturday, May 21st. I began preparing for the meet yesterday morning. For this training I completely got rid of shoulder day, focusing just on the big three moves with a bit of assistance work and some conditioning. When I get to the point that I have three weeks left I’m removing the assistance work completely to focus JUST on the big moves…maybe some conditioning. I even started ordering some equipment including Rehband Knee Sleeves, which were delivered today, liquid chalk, which I should be getting tomorrow as well as a black singlet, which I’m supposed to be getting in a few weeks. So far the knee sleeves fit perfectly and feel very comfortable.
Yesterday’s Deadlift workout:
Deadlift:
125lbs – 1 x 5
155lbs – 1 x 5
185lbs – 1 x 5
215lbs – 1 x 5
245lbs – 1 x 5
275lbs – 1 x 5
Leg Curls
50lbs – 1 x 10
75lbs 1 x 10
100lbs – 1 x 10
This was all followed by ten minutes on a stationary bike which saw my heart rate go up to 170. The average HR for this time was 143.
I’d like to thank Nails and their 2010 album Unsilent Death for totally filling me with the rage needed to hit the gym yesterday. Ever heard Nails before? Holy shit they are fucking BRUTAL!
Final Thoughts
So I saw this the other day while looking at upcoming shows since the weather’s getting better and because the school year’s almost over, enabling me to go to lots of shows. I had to laugh! Speed Metal Dating? The description should read: “Come to Saint Vitus to find that special someone with so many daddy issues that you’ll never hate yourself again!” Tell me I’m wrong!
I tried to see Black Sabbath with Ozzy Osbourne on vocals on two different occasions. Now, I intended on writing about this in other blogs as I went through all the concerts I went to, but I feel that would take forever and it would make sense to write about it now since I’m about to discuss the show I just went to. When I went to see them at Ozzfest 2004 in Camden, NJ, drummer Bill Ward came out before the band was to play and announced that Ozzy was too sick to play and Rob Halford of Judas Priest was going to sing in his place. You couldn’t be there and complain much after that! The next year, before we even got in inside the PNC Bank Arts Center, the girl checking our tickets told my ex-guitarist Chad and I “No Black Sabbath tonight”. Why this time? “Because Ozzy’s sick.” Sure, Iron Maiden played an extended set that night but I was convinced that night that I’d never see Sabbath with Ozzy…and that Ozzy’s voice is just toast.
So when I got wind, a few weeks ago, that Sabbath had to cancel gigs in Canada because Ozzy lost his voice, the only thing I could assume was that my friend Frank was going to have to get a refund. Little did I know how wrong I would be…and some more. But I’ll get to that in a bit.
I arrived last night at Madison Square Garden with high expectations for the band and incredibly low expectations for Ozzy. Fuck, I really just wanted to see Tony Iommi anyway. But I was also looking very much forward to reuniting with my buddy Frank, who got us the tickets, as well as seeing the opening bands, Rival Sons. Rival Sons got on stage and goddamn they sound even more like Led Zeppelin live than on record! The most obvious sign of it on their albums is the John Bonham-like drum sound. But live, Jay Buchanan did some loud ass wailing while barefoot – that he at least had me convinced that Robert Plant found a way to defy age and join Rival Sons. At one point Frank and I were jokingly singing Zep song titles into two of their songs because they sounds THAT MUCH like Zep songs. I think the last time I heard anyone sound like Zep to the T was Billy Squier when he recorded “Lonely Is The Night”.
To our surprise we didn’t have to wait long for Sabbath to come on. The lights in the Garden went out at 8:45pm, definitely earlier than expected. As the sold out crowd was ROARING in excitement a video came up on the screen. We saw burning buildings that represented the artwork from their most recent album, 13. Then it got really weird, like something out of a fucking Final Fantasy game. But you can see part of it here:
So, as you can see and hear, they opened up with the title track to their self-titled debut. And from their the broke into the classic “Fairies Wear Boots”. Say what you want about Ozzy’s solo drummer, Tommy Clufetos, taking Bill Ward’s place for the last few years as well as the fact that his style is not as jazzy or loose as Bill’s. But he did a really good job emulating Bill’s parts and making him his own. Do I wish Bill was there? Hell fuck yeah I do! But I have to give Tommy respect for making it clear that he was paying his respects. His DW drum kit even looks like Bill’s Tama set to the T!
Geezer Butler, as usual, was on FIRE last night! He bass tone, even from where I was sitting in the nosebleed section, was so strong and crystal clear. HIs fingers were moving so fast on those strings. His playing, both wild with abandon yet perfectly arranged. There really is no one like him. No one.
Which brings me to Lita Ford’s favorite Superhero…as well as the main reason I even wanted to go: Tony Iommi. This is it for him. He’s sick, tired, stressed. No matter what the other guys want to do after this all ends I wouldn’t expect to see him out on the road again. The lymphoma treatments are clearly taking their toll on him. But he still put on probably the most amazing show I’ve ever seen from him and this was the fourth time I’ve seen Tony live overall. His playing was so fluid, so smooth yet so BRUTAL. His riffs – so horrifying, so scary, so BRUTAL. This motherfucker CREATED the style of music I love so much as is the primary reason I play guitar. There will NEVER be anyone like Tony Iommi ever again. Ever.
Then there was that big shocker of the night that I eluded to earlier. Ozzy Osbourne, not known to have had a great singing voice since the mid 9o’s…actually sounded good! I shit you not! I’m pretty sure the key was that the band played songs that Ozzy could handle, which meant not straying far from their first three albums much if at all. If you knew anything about how the guy destroyed his voice over the years you knew there was no way he was pulling out “Sabbath Blood Sabbath” or even “Megalomania” for that matter. Although I was surprised to hear them play “Snowblind” and even more surprised to hear Ozzy hit the high notes without struggle! He was shockingly on point last night…I guess the third time was the charm after all, eh?
THE SETLIST:
Intro video/Black Sabbath
Jack The Stripper/Fairies Wear Boots
After Forever
Into The Void (\m/\m/\m/\m/!!!!!!)
Snowblind
Wars Pigs
Behind The Wall Of Sleep/Bass Solo/NIB
Hand Of Doom
Rat Salad/Drum Solo
Iron Man
Dirty Women
Children Of The Grave
Encore: Paranoid (well, duh!)
Like I said, the band pretty much hovered around the first three albums which the exceptions of “Snowblind” and especially “Dirty Women”. Not that Ozzy sang high in that song; but I doubt anyone expected them to pull out something off Technical Ecstacy, which was not their best album during the Ozzy years. Either way, it was incredibly effective. My head hurt so much from headbanging yet I refused to stop. After the show ended we witnessed some guy who was so drunk he nearly fell down the stairs and that would have been a fucking long way down. He instead fell on his ass and as he when to get his cigarette, which was already lit up, he mistakenly put the lit side in his mouth!
The show was in-fucking-credible, what a fitting way to say goodbye to the band that started it all. In fact, they are playing another show at the Garden tomorrow night and will be touring through September. Without them, and especially without Tony Iommi, there would be no heavy metal as we know it now. For that I’ll always be thankful.
This was a last minute thing for me. I totally wasn’t expecting to go to this because I had somewhere to be the next day but all I can tell you was it was so fucking worth it. I was amazed I was even able to get tickets because according to my girlfriend the show was very close to selling out, which did surprise me just a bit. I mean, Pepper Keenan hasn’t done shit with Corrosion of Conformity in a decade and the band went on without him for a few years as a three piece hardcore band for the first time since their 1985 album Animosity.
When I think of Corrosion as a band I can’t help but think of that swinger couple that lets it get out hand for far longer than usual. Mike Dean left the band after 1987’s Technocracy EP and didn’t come back until the year before the band made 1994’s Deliverance. Reed Mullin left after 2000’s America’s Volume Dealer, only to come back in 2010, just in time for him, Woody Weatherman and Mike to go back out as a three piece. And then there’s Pepper. Oh, Pepper…this guy is without a doubt THE biggest WHORE in this relationship. After the band’s last studio album with him, 2005’s In The Arms of God, he basically ditched his jilted lovers for Down along with ex-Pantera singer and childhood friend Phil Anselmo so he could jerk off to slugde metal on record. Together they made one GREAT comeback album, followed by two not so great EPs.
But in this swinging relationship, man do things swing in both directions because this year Pepper finally returned, seemingly getting it all out of his system and here we are. They recently signed a new deal with Nuclear Blast Records and they plan to make a new record next year. And judging by the assault on my ears a few nights ago I’m convinced the wait will be worth it.
After I bought my tickets I went out for a bit, but upon going back to the building I found Mike Dean outside the building having a cigarette. Drugs are bad, mmmkay? Because this motherfucker, as amazing a bassist as he is, looks like Doc Brown on meth. I went up to him to introduce myself. He shook my hand and even said hi but, with his looking around at everything but me, I figured he just wanted to be left alone so I let him be.
I sat on the ground for a few minutes when Pepper came out for a cigarette. He had cowboy boots on with his worn leather jacket. His face? Aged like a motherfucker, but then again, if I was childhood friends with someone like Phil Anselmo I’d age badly myself! I said “what’s up bro?” to him and he was about to shake my hand before we were rudely interrupted by these two tramps who bragged to Pepper that “we came ALL the way from New Jersey just to see you!”. Oooh wow, you came from across the fucking Hudson River??!!?!?! WOW!!!! Did you swim across the river? Because THAT would’ve been impressive!
While these two fuckheads where doing their thing Pepper quickly turned to shake my hand before something else happened. We shared some small talk, nothing major, nothing long. I asked him if bitches annoy you like that often, “Sometimes…”, he said in his Louisiana drawl. I then asked him if he was enjoying playing out with the guys again. “Yeah man, I’m having a blast.”, he said before being warned by this drunken Brooklyn buffoon waiting on line to hide his beer in his jacket because the NYPD are hardasses with nothing better to do. As much as I thought the buffoon was annoying with his drunken bellowing about seeing Savatage while high I couldn’t help but echo back his warning to Pepper.
After my girlfriend arrived we went on line and were able to grab a seat to the right of the mixing board. On tonight’s bill alongside Corrosion were Mothership, Saviours and Brent Bjork and The Low Desert Punk Band. I also declared this night the Orange Amplifiers Apocalypse. What’s with stoner bands and their fixation on Orange Amps? Did they not get the memo that the only reason Tony Iommi used an Orange Amp in that televised German performance on Beat-Club was because it belonged to the TV studio? Not too long after I noticed Jimmy and Peter Pallis of Anaka up front we were taken by surprise by this sudden fucking screeching amp feedback. As my ears were getting fucked up the projection screen on stage went up and there was Mothership.
Now…I’m still not sure a week later how I feel about this band. There is no doubt in mind of their musical direction: not too heavy, aggressive enough. There’s no question in my mind that Kelley Juett played his fucking ass off throughout Mothership’s entire set. Very good guitar player with a very good amp tone as well. I wasn’t too surprised to hear them play Led Zeppelin’s “heartbreaker”. I felt like something was missing though. What exactly? Not sure…maybe it’s sounded to early 70’s hard rockfish for my tastes. I don’t hate Mothership…just not sure what to think.
Next up was Saviours.
Geez…Austin Barber and Kelley Juett sure do look alike! The guy sitting next me and I were sure that it was the same guy in two bands. Aside for that this band to me are what Mothership maybe should’ve been. They were definitely edgier, heavier, more badass solos, more badass riffing, more badass everything while keeping it in a sludge/stoner context. Imagine a mix of High on Fire if Matt Pike hired a second guitarist and they played Iron Maiden style harmonies.
Brent Bjork and The Low Desert Punk Band should go into a room with the surviving members of The Grateful Dead, suck each other off and then go kill themselves in a suicide pact with all of them shooting themselves in the fucking mouth.
This is exactly why I HATE jam bands so fucking much. Stupid name: check. Unnecessarily long jams: check. Shitty songs to be jamming out to: check. But forget all that for a second. What the fuck are they doing on a bill with bands they sound nothing like??
They finally showed us mercy but getting the fuck off the stage around 10pm. The real fun began a half an hour later:
The last time I saw Corrosion of Conformity over ten years ago opening up for Motorhead they sounded damn good; but on this night they sounded absolutely fucking brutal. They all came off as completely re-energized – especially Pepper. His voice was real strong here, full of energy, as if he really was happy to be back with the guys. I was so pumped! After “Broken Man” they went right into “Paranoid Opioid” and I dare say this time around it sounded better than the album version. They broke into a lot of tracks spanning their entire Pepper-era run between 1991 and 2005, including “Vote With A Bullet”, my girlfriend’s personal favorite, as well as “Albatross”, which Pepper personally dedicated to Mothership. Why? “Because they owe me a lot of money.”, he declared on the mic.
Before the show ended for good Pepper said he was dedicating the last song to the Eagles of Death Metal as a result of the Paris attacks where a few of their own crew members were killed in the Bataclan while the band was on stage. Scary shit. The song? “Clean My Wounds”. Gee Pepper, thanks for showing me that I’ve been playing the riff wrong all these years. Fucker. After the guitar solo the band broke it down into a reggae groove that lasted nearly ten minutes and showed off how great a bassist Mike Dean really is. Reed Mullin? Absolutely underrated as a drummer, he truly has come such a long way in thirty years. After nearly ten minutes the band jumped right back into the song’s original groove before calling it a night.
This was an absolutely brutal, incredible show and I’m happy to say that it did in fact sell out half way into the night. I’ll be first in line to buy their new CD when it comes out. This is my last concert for the year until Black Sabbath in February unless I get tickets to see Lamb of God in January with support from Power Trip and Anthrax.
It was an eerie night on that 7th day of July in 1777…alright it was more like last Friday in Manhattan and I was actually going to see King Diamond. On this tour he’ll play a few classics before playing in its entirety Abigail, the album that made King a metal GOD. Thanks again Courtenay! So I went to pick her up at her job and off we went to PlayStation Theater in Times Square, where we were searched twice, including being patted down because of the ISIS attacks on Paris…as well as ISIS claiming Times Square was next. Oh, and if you live in NYC and really thought they’d do it you’re dumb. It’s too big and too obvious. I think they’d hit a much more low key area.
We got there long before the doors even opened and sat because she hurt her calf just walking to meet me and my knees were in exquisite pain from squatting 210 for 6 reps without my compression gear on. So more than an hour passed before people stared coming in and man, this show got stereotypical real quick. I saw a lot of Mexicans walking in and you just knew they were there to see Exodus, the opening band. There’s always been a connection between Mexicans and thrash or even some death metal. I can’t explain but if you’ve ever gone to a thrash show you know what I’m talking about. I saw dudes coming in with bandanas on with unbent baseball caps over them and 2nd generation Exodus and Slayer t-shirts. It never fails…ever.
Sitting a few seats next to us were the stereotypical awkward/not so good looking couples who are bonded by that one little thing…their love for metal. Awww. Then someone said something to me that had me looking. “You notice how many morbidly obese guys are here?” Oh yeah, it was real bad. I’m totally convinced that it’s the result of years of devotion to Dungeons and Dragons, staying indoors all day and playing online video games with thirteen year old boys and eating like shit their entire lives. You know these motherfuckers came out of the woodwork just for this and then ran back home to their video games. I’m not the best looking guy out there but I’m sure I was maybe one of the most in shape guys in the whole fucking building at that moment. Ladies and gents – another metal concert stereotype. Don’t ever be that guy.
So around 8pm Exodus were getting ready to hit the stage. Their entrance music? “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. Once Exodus came on they opened with a track off their new album Blood In Blood Out. My biggest problem with this band forever will always be Sousa’s vocals. I said it in my last blog but canning Rob Dukes was THE dumbest thing they could’ve done. Dukes gave Exodus much needed new life with his intense screams and barks. I even bought an Exodus album for the first time! Forget that they way the canned him was pretty scummy it was just a bad artistic call. The are so fucking heavy that Sousa’s nasal delivery just sounds so fucking dated.
Aside from that they played great. But why did Gary Holt look so different here? What a sec…..that’s not Gary! Where is he?? I texted my friend Maureen, who was waiting in line to get searched, if she knew anything. I had no idea that he was not going to be there because of Slayer commitments. It seems crazy at first, Exodus hit a goldmine, opening for King Diamond and having three additional dates added in New York City alone because the initial date sold out so fast. But then again, Gary’s now in Slayer as well as Exodus and probably making much more money in one show alone. Good for him. So who was his replacement on this tour with King? It’s Heathen guitarist Kragen Lum, who did a damn good job playing Gary’s parts.
Exodus played for not even an hour. Zetro did his expected nod to L’Amour’s to get the older fans to jizz all over themselves, and they did. The hit their signature tune, “Toxic Waltz”, right in the middle of the set. The dudes in the pit went apeshit. It was a decent show. I don’t hate Exodus and I never really did. But Zetro just annoys me to no end. He is to the west coast what Blitz from Overkill is to the east coast – really annoying!
After a little waiting period, the curtain opened. Then…this happened….
I have to admit, I was a bit worried. Over the last several years he suffered a herniated disc and most recently heart surgery. I saw a clip of him with members of Mercyful Fate playing with Metallica on their 30th anniversary show in 2011 and he wasn’t that good. But that was then, because as soon as he wailed out “GRANDMAAAAAAAA!!!!” all my fears were gone. Holy shit he was amazing. His band were spot on. Andy LaRocque’s solos? Total. Fucking. Jizzfest. He can solo all day and I’ll never get bored. The stage? Two staircases with a balcony with two inverted crucifixes and a pentagram behind it. So eighties, so amazing.
After “Welcome Home” the band kicked right into “Sleepless Nights”, my personal favorite from King. It’s so different from the rest of his material up to that particular album for me, I guess because of the chord structuring and the emotion that’s actually in that song. Yeah I know that Conspiracy is a concept album like everything else from Abigail on; but every time he shrieks out that line “Killing The PAAAAIIIINNNN!!!!!” it always hits me and now here I was hearing it live and my response was no different here. They broke into “Halloween” after that and then two Mercyful Fate tunes, “Evil” and “Melissa”.
I have to admit I’m one of the many people would’ve never known “Evil” or ANYTHING related to Mercyful Fate or King Diamond if I never bought Metallica’s Garage Inc. So when King shrieked “I was born in a cemetery….” I immediately heard Hetfield singing it in my head. At the end of “Melissa” King says in a raspy voice “I think Melissa’s still with us…”, before slowly walking up the steps, them limping. Then, as he reached the top, the pentagram, crucifixes and band logo on the side of the stage descended. Then shit went DOWN!!!!!
I had to get the first two songs recorded. “Arrival” is such a dark and ominous song, foreshadowing the rest of this creepy ass story about a pregnant woman whose baby is possessed by the spirit of Abigail, the illegitimate, stillborn child who was mummified by Count La’Fey. Hearing every single track was intense. The band were spot on. King’s voice was much better than I would’ve ever expected. I should also note that while most aging bands will tune lower so the singer can handle the songs, King played EVERYTHING in their proper tunings. Not bad for a guy who’s sixty years old. And there’s one more thing I need to point out. My girlfriend pointed out King’s makeup, which looked NOTHING like his usual look, inverted crucifixes all over his face. This time it actually looked a lot more like his classic look from the 80’s, you know, the one Gene Simmons tried to sue him over in the late nineties like an asshole. Hey Gene, fuck you!
As the show came to an end with “The Black Horsemen” King yelled out to the crowd “Thank you so, so much New York!”, and rightfully so. Only in New York City could one show turn into four and it was easy to tell he was moved by it all. He’s lucky to be alive and I’m sure he knows it. After the band finished up “Insanity” from King’s album The Eye, could be heard through the PA speakers. It served to me as one last reminder of how talented a songwriter King really is. He’s extremely underrated and deserves much more credit than he gets, even after Metallica exposed him to the world seventeen years ago. I’m pretty sure King stayed on stage for five extra minutes even after the rest of the band walked off just to high five the fans, soaking it all in. This type of thing doesn’t happen to him in the states often and I know it had to have felt amazing at that moment. He’d go on to play two more shows in the next two nights and I’m sure the results were the same.
So here’s a short list of the next few show’s I’m going to in either New Jersey or Manhattan within the next week and again in February.
King Diamond w/ Exodus live at PlayStation Theater, New York, NY – Friday, November 20, 2015
This was very last minute. I wasn’t counting on seeing this show because this date in particular is sold out but a co-worker of my girlfriend offered her his tickets. Sucker! This is going to be amazing. I love King. She can’t stand him but is willing to go see him out of respect, knowing that there’d probably never be bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax or Slayer had it not been for Mercyful Fate, King’s pre-solo band. Being that this will be my first time seeing King, it’ll also be interesting to hear how he sounds after years away, having recovered from back AND heart surgeries. I also know I’m absolutely going to jizz myself silly when I finally hear Andy LaRoque solo his brains out for the first time ever! Not looking too forward to Exodus. I’m probably one of the few would cannot stand Souza’s voice…at all. What the fuck was Gary Holt thinking when he got rid of Rob Dukes? Was he even thinking at all?!?! You dumb fuck.
Angel Vivaldi live at Dingbatz, Clifton, NJ – Sunday, November 22, 2015
Since I last wrote about Angel Vivaldi this YouTube sensation has been on the road for the last two months, promoting his most recent album, Away With Words, Pt.1. This show will be his homecoming show, bringing that tour to an end. If you haven’t heard him yet I suggest you go to Dingbatz on the 22nd to see why he gets namedropped by peers such as Alice Cooper guitarist Nita Strauss.
Black Sabbath live at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY – Thursday, February 25, 2016
Well, here it is. And more important than that, it’s for real this time. Tony Iommi himself has gone on record saying that he finally cannot handle it anymore. It’s incredible he was able to hang on for as long as he has, all things considered. But it was going to happen eventually – I’m just grateful that their last show wasn’t an Ozzfest gig in Japan! What really got me mad was finding out after I bought the tickets that they’re playing another show at the Garden two days later – on a Saturday. But I honestly don’t mind taking a day off from work the next day – especially with the jackasses I deal with on a day to day basis! They’ll also be playing throughout the summer including dates at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ.
I just hope that Ozzy doesn’t fuck this up. The two times I tried to see Sabbath he was sick, but I’ll definitely get into those times in future blogs, trust me. I know for a fucking fact that I’m not the only one who’d LOVE for Bill Ward to be a part of this last tour. But I guess it’s up to Bill in the end; but hell, he should be a part of this, if not even for us at least for himself! I’d love to see the classic line up that started it all just once. C’mon Bill! Ozzy fucked it up for me twice – don’t you be the one to fuck it up this time!
This was my second concert ever, just a few months after seeing Superjoint Ritual at L’Amour in Brooklyn just two months earlier, but this was my first ever arena concert – and goddamn what a way to start! A few months earlier my cousin Mike asked me if I wanted to see Motorhead, Dio and Iron Maiden at Madison Square Garden in July. Now…I understood Maiden and even Dio playing at the Garden. But Motorhead? Yeah they have such a loyal following but they never held the stature of Maiden in ticket or even album sales. Either way I knew it would be amazing to hear a band THAT LOUD in the Garden. So do I want to go? Um…yeah!
I don’t really remember off the top of my head what my day was like leading into heading out to my cousin’s apartment but I do remember just thinking to myself “holy shit I’m seeing Iron Fucking Maiden tonight!” I’d been a growing fan since my senior year of high school, probably being the only one in my high school that even liked Maiden, or any real metal for that matter. I had heard “The Number Of The Beast” and “Run To The Hills” but once I heard “The Trooper” on WSOU one afternoon I was sold! Then Mike called me to let me know that he’d need an extra $50 when I got to his place because he was able to upgrade our seats and we’d now be right at the second row. How the hell did do that? Well…he wouldn’t tell me. Whatever. So I got to his place in the Superjoint Ritual t-shirt I bought at their L’Amour show, green cargo shorts and my boots, gave him the $50 and to the bus we went.
We got there and the place was the best mix of scalpers and some of the sickest battle jackets I’ve ever seen. When we walked inside my old friend Joe was doing security, and he definitely came in handy later. Motorhead were already playing when Mike and I got to our seats. Come to think of it I now get mixed emotions when thinking of any Motorhead show I’ve seen, mostly because of Lemmy’s health these days. Between him and Keith Richards why the hell is it that Keith was the one that did heroin and he appears to be doing better than Lemmy? Loud? Yeah…ok. Imagine their volume…especially Lemmy’s bass…but now it’s in an arena where you’re now blasting the ears of over 20,000 people. That whole set was an explosion. And from where wee were seated we were right at Lemmy’s side to the stage – the way it should always be! And Mikey Dee’s bassdrums went right through me and my cousin like a second heartbeat. Mike was not really a Motorhead fan but at that moment he definitely got a rush from the sensation of Mikey’s bassdrums. Their set list was filled with songs ranging from their entire catalog, from their biggest songs to their least known. It was my first time hearing their Ramones tribute song, simply called “Ramones”, “Sacrifice”, “Over The Top”, which Lemmy appropriately dedicated to himself, and then I finally heard them play “Overkill”. I’d heard Metallica’s cover of it five years earlier as did everybody else in the world but to hear THEM do it was the single greatest point in the setlist. After they got off stage I almost didn’t care about Maiden!
Dio was next. They were still on tour for their most recent CD, Killing The Dragon, the title track of which they even opened up with. This was to be my first of three times seeing Ronnie James Dio in concert – all three times with my cousin Mike no less! – and my first impression of the guy made me laugh so hard. I mean I never realized how short this guy was, first off. He came out wearing this black silk outfit, I mean black pants flaring out at the bottom and this black short sleeve shirt, decorated with a glitter cross. Now don’t get me wrong, he was amazing! His voice was so powerful on this night, just a few years before being diagnosed with the stomach cancer that eventually took him from us. I still miss him so much. But I know I wasn’t the only one that night wondering if he took dance lessons from a stripper either! In fact when I began my second year in college a little over a month later THAT was what my other friends who were there and I were talking about more so than even the music! He shook his ass and swiveled his hips way too good here.
Craig Goldy was back on guitar, replacing Doug Aldrich who left after Killing The Dragon to join Whitesnake…yeah I was confused about that myself. Why would anyone leave ANY band for Whitesnake?? I sure wouldn’t! Craig was damn good on guitar as he played through this setlist, which Ronnie himself dubbed “Title Track Night”, even though they still brought out “Rainbow In The Dark”. So while we were obviously going to hear “Holy Diver” and “The Last In Line” at some point they band also broke into “Heaven and Hell” to close his set.
Maiden…oh, Maiden. When the time came for the band to come on the lights went out and you almost immediately heard those now-infamous lines from Vincent Price about the number of the beast. We were about halfway through it when nearly everyone in the band minus Bruce Dickinson ran on stage ready to go. I just knew he was behind that crazy ass elaborate stage they had going on, and I predicted he’d probably not show himself until the band kicked in. After Vincent Price finished speaking Dave Murray started chugging away at the beginning of “The Number of The Beast”. You heard Bruce hit that scream….still no sign of him..the next verse kicks in…there he is!! In pure Michael Jackson style he was catapulted from beneath a platform on the stage and right away began jumping down the step with the energy of someone half his age. The whole band are playing away like their lives depended on it and this motherfucker is doing Olympic style hurdles over the onstage monitors while singing and not even screwing up a single note. He was in his mid-forties at this point – show me a younger front man from this time period that could do that shit too!
Oh right – the music! It was a trip hearing THREE guitarists playing an assload of classics originally performed by just two. Right after the first song finished Bruce just yells out in his high pitched wail “THE TROOPEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!” and all three guitarists broke in to the song that made me a Maiden fan for good. Bruce goes away for a minute while the crowd of 20,000 hears Janick, Dave and Adrian pull off a sick three part harmony before he comes back out in an army outfit. NICE! I really wish I could find footage of this show but I can’t because they did a bunch of classics, “Die With Your Boots On”, “Revelations”, “The Clairvoyant” (not one of my favorites). Then Bruce gave a speech about how the band didn’t give a shit about record sales our how we heard their music so long as we heard it, before playing “Wildest Dreams” off of their then-forth coming CD Dance Of Death, telling everyone to take it “…and download it to all your friends!”. Oh Bruce, you funny guy, you. The show ended with the encore, “Run To The Hills”, which I really wanted to do for other reasons when the show was done. But I cane say that this was one of THE best concerts I’ve ever been to.
After the show was done Mike and I waited for my friend Joe to get out so we could go home on the ferry together. I’d love to know how the fuck we wound up walking to the train with this weird looking gay couple, one of the two guys talking to me, randomly switching subjects from why James Hetfield had to go to rehab to how his boyfriend’s family was the cause of his ulcers. Right… While on the train I saw some in shape looking guy with this nasty looking chubby chick with John Lennon’s signature tattooed on the back of her neck. Once we got off the ferry Joe drove us both home, which was a hell of a lot better than possibly taking the bus that late at night. That next morning I felt fuckin’ pumped! I woke up a lot earlier than I should’ve and hit the gym before going to work. Getting of the bus from work I recognized this chick with a John Lennon tattoo on her neck – it was the chubby chick from the train. “You were at the show last night”, I said. So we spoke for a minute until she said the words that made me think she lost her fuckin’ mind: “Motorhead SSSUCKED!” WHAT?!?! Bitch have lost your fuckin’ mind?!?!?! Oh it gets better: “Lemmy looked like he was sucking a dick the way he had his microphone positioned too!”. I have to admit, I did find that part a bit funny…but sucked?? I can happily say I haven’t seen her since!
Over two weeks ago Roadrunner Records released the new music video for the title track to Trivium’s upcoming October 2nd release Silence In The Snow. The only reason I even gave it a listen was just so I can say that it sucked balls. I was a fan of them starting in 2005 when I bought Ascendancy and thought that these kids had a shitload of potential and that as they progressed their shit would get better – and it did for a while! Their next two CDs, The Crusade and Shogun were far more metal sounding and far more mature than Ascendancy and you either supported them for growing up and doing different things or you refused to grow up, understand that no band can do the same thing forever and move on. That’s exactly what happened with Trivium.
Starting with The Crusade I was hearing a lot of bitching from people: “This sucks! Ascendancy is better because it’s more metalcore!”. “Fuck these posers, trying to sound like Metallica all the time!” And by the way, you dumb motherfuckers who made those Metallica complaints…please…just…open your ears and tell me if you really think that Kirk Hammett in his prime could play any of Matt Heafy’s or Corey Bealieu’s leads – and without raping that fucking wah pedal! Tell me that Lars in his prime could handle Travis Smith’s drum patterns. Ok, so maybe Matt sounded a tad like James in the singing department but I’d rather that than just screaming to breakdowns all the time and not developing to become a better vocalist.
Then something happened. They seemingly gave into those immature fuckheads that bitched and moaned about their music because it wasn’t Ascendancy parts 2, 3, 4 and 5, and decided to please these “fans”, or so it seems, by pretty much dumbing down everything they had done before. The result? In Waves, probably the worst regression I’ve ever seen in a band. Ever hear the title track? The opening breakdown broke my heart…so metalcore…I immediately had visions of stupid kids with their hair super glued to the side doing stupid dance moves. I heard a few other tracks to try and give it a chance but I couldn’t get into it at all. Worse? Their next album was produced by none other than David Draiman. So I totally wrote Trivium off.
Then this video was released two weeks ago:
Pretty different…pretty much avant garde…but what the fuck is with Corey circle headbanging blindfolded? Is Matt just randomly bleeding? What’s with the cute Asian not being told how to properly hold a guitar? And while bleeding too? But more than that…doesn’t Matt sound a slight bit like Myles Kennedy here while singing the verses? Oh shit his singing voice is suddenly WAY better. No screaming at all…not even a bit? Ok…so the riffs are still simple as fuck…but damn are they heavy! What’s that? This was inspired by the band’s time touring with Heaven and Hell, you say? This song was originally written during the sessions for Shogun?? Score!!!!!
Then came this other leaked song just this past week:
Uh oh…this sounds really good too. This musically speaking is a really good mix of old-school playing with modern edge guitar tones. Just listen to that slow part – goddamn! And Matt’s voice? Great work harmonizing with himself! Great singing altogether! I don’t know that ditching screaming altogether will work out in the end but we’ll all have to wait until October to find out for sure. But for now, not bad boys, you just might win me back as a fan – just don’t fuck it up again!
New Maiden…And I Like It!!
That shouldn’t be a surprise to any REAL metalhead worth a shit; but truth be told, I’ve been kind of disappointed with Iron Maiden for 12 years. When I was 16 Iron Maiden v4.0 was THE SHIT. Bruce and Adrian were back and they now were a six-piece with THREE guitar players since they chose to keep Janick Gers with them. That’s awfully nice of them but let’s face it – if Janick were gone tomorrow most people would cruelly show just how much happier they’d be just because it was Adrian and Dave again. I’m not one of them though. Why? Because I liked Brave New World. It was a fantastically written, thought out album. The title track alone is incredible as is the lead off single, “The Wickerman” – that track is just badass!
Three years passed and they released their next album, Dance of Death. Dude…what the fuck? I get that bands need to evole to survive and/or feel excited for years to come but this…this was just weak as FUCK and absolutely boring. The epics on it…I used their longest epic for a bathroom break during my days as a college DJ several times but man it was such a dramatic decline because their most memorable shit is the epics. It’s sad when Bruce’s next solo album, Tyranny of Souls, had WAY more balls to it than his own band’s material! Three years later we were given A Matter of Life and Death. I was officially scared and I blame producer Kevin Shirley because he encouraged the band to “loosen up”. I feel like in “loosening up” the band completely changed, they became too rock and roll for my taste. I could NEVER hate Iron Fucking Maiden, but I didn’t know that I’d ever buy their shit again and I haven’t since 2003.
Then I heard this!
Holy shit does this sound old school as FUCK! Am I listening to something from Piece of Mind??? All that’s missing here are the crazy ass guitar harmonies, but you can’t get everything. Right? But at least we know that they’ve still got it! Listen to Bruce hitting those notes! How many people pushing 60 do YOU know that can still sing as amazingly as Bruce Dickinson? I’ll wait.
Another Reminder of Changing Times
I took my girlfriend to Manhattan for her birthday this past weekend because she wanted to go to the Museum of Sex and see Funland, which is a boobie bounce house. I shit you not this does exist. Here’s the proof:
You – yes, you! – can bounce around in plastic titties for an extra $15! I’d still prefer the real thing though! But before we walked all the way there from Port Authority I really needed to eat something so we got Pizza across the street from 2 Brothers, which is doing really good at expanding their stores with $1 Pizza. The problem? One of the guys behind the counter was playing the most annoying Reggaeton you could find. Bad enough that shit is just horrid to begin with. I like a lot of different kinds of music…but…Reggaeton, like Dub Step, is to music what rape is dating, like Kobe Bryant was to the hotel employee in Colorado, just a nonstop fucking assault – but to your ears. And it just…won’t…stop. That same, annoying “beat” is pounding away worse than even house music ever could, and possibly with even more bass!! That shit was stuck in our heads for a while.
After going to the Museum of Sex and discovering that fake titty land was closed, probably for maintenance, we decided to go towards St. Marks Pl. It was during that long ass walk that my girlfriend let me know that Trash And Vaudeville were finally closing shop and relocating after forty years in that block. I was aware that they were being stubborn about ever doing it, being that they were the one piece of the old St. Mark’s that I remember that’s still standing, they weren’t going anywhere. But, like most historic places in Lower Manhattan, the pressure of increased rent was finally seeping in. And as we arrived at the block I can see why. The whole block has pretty much become yet another tourist trap: restaurants, a Barcade, Karaoke, Bongs and even a 7 Eleven. Yeah, that’s not a mistype. I first discovered St. Mark’s Pl. had a 7 Eleven in 2012. St. Mark’s Pl. and the Village as a whole used to have so much more character than THIS. And if you’re in you’re early 30’s like I am or even older you know how awesome the place used to be.
I remember getting a good chunk of my metal shirts from places in the Village that are no longer in business because of rent and because of the faggot ass hipsters that came in. I used to love hanging out on W. 8th St. I met some really amazing people there. Of course most of them were strange as fuck but some of them were fucking awesome. I bought my first leather jacket there, as well as my leather vest, which I still have, and even my first real biker watch at this place called Leather Master, which along with the comic store I used to go to and the places I used to by my clothes at, are all gone thanks to increased rent. The Mars Bar, an infamous punk rock dive bar I discovered through this crazy chick that frequented the place a lot…closed and is now Jupiter 21, a nice 12 story condo. Although I feel the beginning of the end came around the tail end of 2006 when Hilly Kristal, after years of dodging eviction, finally caved in and shut down CBGB. Even being landmarked by Mayor Bloomberg of all people couldn’t save the place, so what does that tell you??
I never bought anything from Trash and Vaudeville, I always found their clothes too extreme for my tastes. But I understand and respect the history it provides. It may be relocating to a cheaper and safer building (from what Bobby, a store employee told me), and that’s great. But in the end it just puts the final nail in the coffin of a place that began loosing it’s character a decade ago. Sure, Sounds is still there. But that place seems to me like just another generic music store, although it does have more Henry Rollins CDs than I’ve ever seen anywhere else. Around the time the Mars Bar went out of business someone spray painted on a wall “THE EAST VILLAGE IS DEAD”. Well, that person is absolutely right and it kills me to see what it’s become. My only hope now is that Bleeker St and the streets surrounding it remain the way they are for years to come. It’d be a shame to lose The Bitter End! I played there once in 2012, what an honor that was. Café Wha? is another place like that. It’s a landmark much like CGGB was but we saw how much that mattered, right? It’d also be huge blow to lose Generation Records, a record store I find to be the equivalent of Vintage Vinyl in New Jersey. It’s bad enough Bleeker Bob’s finally went under two years ago. I was there the day before they closed, the owner told me he was hoping to relocate but I still haven’t heard of that happening and I sadly am not holding my breath either.
It’s been a few weeks since this show happened but I took awhile to finally do this blog partially because of time constraints, partially because of the fact that a lot of things happened at this show, partially because I was sure some drunk piece of shit blatantly sabotaged one of my video of the Black Breath set but as I now know she failed. But I’ll get to her. I’m doing this post a little differently than my other posts because there was a lot to cover so I’m going to recap this as quick as I can and then list the bands and I’ll add their pictures and videos that way.
So I arrived at the bar a good half an hour before the show was supposed to start and within maybe ten minutes of my being there I recognized the woman I was standing next to during the Crowbar show just a week earlier. She had checked on me after the psycho fanboy kicked me in the back of the head and she now revealed to me that her legs at that moment we were talking were still bruised all over from that night. We both spoke for a bit about the crowd as a whole that night, how brutal that show in general was because that pit wasn’t really a mosh pit – it was one big fucking fight! See the video on my post about that night see what I’m talking about!
The first band of the night was a band called Theories, who are out promoting their latest album, Regressions. I recorded the first few songs of their set which I will post. They weren’t bad. I don’t know that I’d buy their stuff but but I’d definitely see them again. I’d say that their singer should definitely work a little more on coming out of his shell with his stage presence. I imagine it will happen over time.
Ringworm were next and all I can say is…OW!! There’s a reason James Bulloch is the “Human Furnace”. Damn. The band as a whole were absolutely brutal…so much so that that this where the circle pits and even some idiotic dancing began! I stood to the side of the room while filming to avoid getting hit but some retard who was dancing around like a spaz threw himself in to the guy next to me, who obviously bumped in me, hitting me right in the ribs and forcing my thumb to turn the camera off. Within a minute or two of starting over I knocked into again twice, tailbone first in to the wall both times so this time I just got out until the band finished. Again…OW!!! By the way as of this writing my tailbone STILL hurts.
Black Breath…where shit went down. What’s in a name? That’s what I need to remember when it comes to Metal bands because these guys shattered all my expectations and fucking killed it! I couldn’t even use the word brutal to describe their intensity on stage. They were PERFECT!! So what was the problem? I had gotten a brand new Droid Maxx just a few days earlier so I was unaware when filming that there was an automatic light that I had to remove. So while I was filming there was a light on the whole time so I was a little confused when the woman in front of me began giving my phone the finger and then gave me the finger. Of course I gave her the finger back. She then turned to me and told me that the light on my phone was really bothering her and I was “making everything suck”. I understood and kindly asked her to give me a minute so I could find a place to move and I guess that wasn’t good enough for her so she pushed me.
I didn’t do anything only because I assumed she was a bit drunk but the fucking bitch did it again! When I was done filming she and her much calmer boyfriend thanked me. I politely approached her and told her that there was no reason to push me. “Well I tried to reason with you and you wouldn’t listen so I’ll push you all I want!” was her immature reply. I called her out on it and she declared “I’m not afraid of you!”. I never threatened her. She then tried to insult me again and gave up. It’s incredible, how tough women act when their boyfriends/husbands are around, although part of me thinks that this drunk bitch wears the pants in the couple. And by the way you dumb twat, if you’re reading this I hope you get shot repeatedly in your fuckin’ head! I do have to acknowledge the guy behind me, who saw everything and offered to lend me his spot so I could continue filming, but I was already finished at that point. If you happen to be reading this, thank you bro, it obviously wasn’t forgotten.
After I took a few deep breaths in amazement that I didn’t punch the drunk bitch in her throat I got ready for Goatwhore. I slowly got more in the mood the longer I heard Venom’s song “In League With Satan” blasting through the speakers…so bad but so good! I was getting ready to film again and when I saw the guy in front of me looking up at my phone I decided to stop and look at the problem. That’s when I discovered the light and turned it off – it still doesn’t justify some dumb bitch pushing me.
Goatwhore got on and they fucking tore it up! I personally feel that leaving Crowbar was the smartest move Sammy Duet ever made; he’s a totally brutal, loud, heavy guitarist. Let’s face it – he never would’ve been able to truly express himself had he stayed. That’s no disrespect to Kirk Windstein, but when the band you’re in is the product of one guy’s sole vision you’re not going to have an easy time getting your ideas out there. The good news here was I was in a spot were I was able to avoid injuries this time and STILL see the band!
This is actually the third time I’ve seen them in the last eight years and the second time I saw them while on tour for their latest album, Constricting Rage of The Merciless, an album I recommend HIGHLY. Someone once said that Goatwhore is exactly what Venom would have sounded like if they weren’t such a joke and I couldn’t agree more. The place really came apart near the end when the began their song “FBS” (right….I don’t know why they didn’t just label it what it is.), of the new CD. At the end of the night everyone knew what is was to get Fucked By Satan…and they loved it.
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Confessions of an Angry Metalhead 