Category: Gig Reviews

August 17 2019, The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA: In the world of heavy metal, it is not often that there is massive demand for a two-album side-project to release a new album and to perform live, specially when the protagonists of said side-project are primarily known as members of high-profile bands that are actively writing, recording and performing all over the world. Continue reading “To Valhalla and Back: Demons & Wizards enthrall Los Angeles Audience for Their First Ever North American Appearance”

March 23, 2019, Come and Take It Live, Austin TX: Swedish death metal legends Hypocrisy made a rare appearance in the “Live Music Capital of the World” and capital of Texas, Austin, as part of Nuclear Blast’s “Death is Just the Beginning Tour” 2019. The tour was named after the label’s annual compilation, which was filled mostly with death metal artists in the beginning. Now the comps are more diverse and feature many veteran thrash artists. Hypocrisy headlining a tour of this dubbing made perfect sense as they are one of the longest running bands on the label… and play death metal. While they started as a straight-forward DM group, the band assumed a more melodic veneer just a few years into their career. Lyrically, they began to explore alien abductions and UFO conspiracies. Although they went this route, the group still plays death metal and don’t leave out early material. Continue reading “Concert Review + Photos: Hypocrisy Emerges From Abyss in Austin”

February 17, 2019, Vibes Event Center, San Antonio, Texas: Undisputed champions of death metal, Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel hit the road together for the first time. Death metal up-and-comers Blood Incantation and Necrot played the opening slots. For the 2019 edition of the North American tour they curate annually, Decibel magazine put together a package with an undeniable old-school death metal feel. Continue reading “Concert Review + Photos: Cannibal Corpse and Morbid Angel Devour San Antonio”

September 29 2018, The Rose, Pasadena CA: It is the year 2018, and in the world of hard rock and heavy metal, being a “legacy” act is a popular trend. These are bands that have been in existence for 30+ years and are going around playing shows wherein they merely cash in on the casual fans wanting to hear a handful of “radio hits” or “classics”. In a lot of cases, most of the original lineup of the band is not even part of it, and it is nothing more than a glorified cover band. German classic metal titans Accept first started out more than 40 years ago, but are one of the very, very few bands of their lifespan to be defying the norm. Last Saturday, they played a show at the Rose in Pasadena as part of their ongoing touring run, and showed how it should be done.  Continue reading “Warming the Metal Hearts: German titans Accept deliver Legendary Performance in Pasadena”

September 13 2018, Tiki Bar, Costa Mesa CA: Two of the finest Canadian bands to have emerged in the last ten years, Unleash The Archers from Vancouver and Striker from Edmonton, joined forces for a North American tour this September-October, along with Helion Prime from Sacramento CA as the opening act. The tour arrived in Orange County for a gig at the Tiki Bar in Costa Mesa last Thursday September 13, with local openers Sorizon and Gus McArthur also on the bill. Our writer Erik E. Wrath as well as photographer Jeff Lovin were in attendance. Check out their coverage below: Continue reading “Testing Your Metal: Canadian Powerhouses Unleash The Archers & Striker shred Costa Mesa”

September 8 2018, The Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA: The world of hard rock and heavy metal has witnessed quite a number of high-profile reunions and comebacks in recent years, but none more exciting and unexpected than this one. In November 2016, German power metal legends Helloween announced that they would be joined by iconic members Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen for the “Pumpkins United” world tour, which would still feature all the existing members of the present-day lineup of the band, and would travel across the globe to perform an evening-with set that can be deemed “epic” in the true sense of the word. Starting in 2017, the tour finally arrived in the United States last week, and visited Los Angeles to be greeted by a packed house at the Hollywood Palladium. For metalheads, the magnitude of this event is so massive that it is hard to put in words, and only upon attending a Helloween show on this tour would you realize that this is the biggest, most unprecedented heavy metal show to have graced any stage in a long, long time. The excitement and anticipation among Helloween’s Los Angeles faithful was palpable, and the actual concert exceeded all expectations beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. Continue reading “Power Metal Heaven: Helloween Turns Back the Clock with Epic 3-Hour Old-School Set”

August 19 2018, The Rose, Pasadena CA: No opinion is fact, but Operation: Mindcrime is, without any doubt, one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. 30 years ago, Seattle, Washington’s progressive / traditional metal band Queensrÿche took the music world by storm with their third full-length album, a concept-based magnum opus of the class and calibre this genre has seldom produced. Guitarists Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton lent a hand in the songwriting, but Operation: Mindcrime has always been regarded as singer Geoff Tate’s brainchild, from the story behind the concept, to the lyrics, to a large portion of the music. So, when Tate parted ways with Queensrÿche in a well-documented split in 2012, the agreement was that Tate would gain exclusive rights to perform this album in its entirety, while the rest of the group got rights to the Queensÿche name, and it only made sense. Since then, Tate has released music and played shows under the moniker “Geoff Tate’s Operation: Mindcrime”, and this year, he took his band on tour to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the iconic record. In all honesty, his 25th anniversary tour of the same album five years ago did not exactly set the world alight, so it remained to be seen whether the 2018 incarnation of Tate and his band would fare any better. The tour arrived at the Rose in Pasadena last Sunday August 19, to perform in front of an unusual setup and an enthusiastic audience. Continue reading “Operation Successful: Geoff Tate celebrates 30 years of ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ with Flawless Rendition of Entire Album”