Melechesh, Vreid & Lightning Swords Of Death Start North American Tour In Los Angeles
By Andrew Bansal, June 16th 2013, The Joint, Los Angeles CA: It had been a while since a good full-on extreme metal tour came to town, but Melechesh's short two-week headline run with Norwegian black metal band Vreid and Los Angeles-based bands Lightning Swords Of Death and Reign Of Lies began at the Joint last night. By the looks of things, it promised to fulfill that extreme metal void for all fans of the genre in this city. Read full review

M.D.C. Headlines All-Punk Show At The Vex
By Andrew Bansal, June 15th 2013, The Vex, Los Angeles CA: After the long and tiring vigil in the hot sun for Hirax, it was time to cruise to the Vex all the way in east LA to go out all-out punk with this promisingly great lineup of bands put together by Poor Kids Radio, featuring the likes of M.D.C. and Ill Repute as the main acts along with Verbal Abuse, In Defence, Dissension, Yapo, Destroy LA and Psycotic Scum. Read full review

Hirax & Bonded By Blood Play Century Media's 'Noize In The Hood' Event
By Andrew Bansal, June 15th 2013, Century Media Records Parking Lot, Hawthorne CA: Veterans of the old-school metal guard Hirax, along with thrashers of a newer generation Bonded By Blood, took the stage in the Century Media Records parking lot yesterday for the label's 'Noize In The Hood', a free event comprising of live performances by these two bands, some of the Century Media bands doing signings, and cheap CM merchandise for sale. Read full review

Local Thrashers Perform At The Joint On 'Free Metal Friday'
By Andrew Bansal, June 14th 2013, The Joint, Los Angeles CA: Local bands Witchaven, Madrost, Internal Corrosion, Fenders Ballroom Band and Hereticide came together to play the Joint's monthly metal Friday night, a show that was free for everyone aged 21 and over. Seeing the national and international touring bands come through and play in LA is all well and good, but the local shows bring a different kind of vibe, a sense of community with the bands, friends and fans uniting, and it's always great to experience that. Read full review

Across Tundras Bring Western US Tour To Los Angeles' Five Star Bar
By Andrew Bansal, June 12th 2013, Five Star Bar, Los Angeles CA: Based out of Nashville, Tennessee, psychedelic rock trio Across Tundras have been around for almost a decade now, but for some reason they fall into that category of bands that deserve to be a lot better known than they actually are. I first discovered them when I was sent a promo download link of their 2011 'Sage' album. Read full review