By Avinash Mittur

April 2nd 2013, House of Blues, West Hollywood CA: For the past few years, Paganfest has annually provided a full night of folk, viking and occasionally pirate-themed heavy metal to audiences all over the world. This year was no exception, with both international and domestic acts coming together to give crowds a great night of music. On this third date of the Paganfest tour, Ensiferum, Tyr, Heidevolk, Trollfest and Helsott stopped by the House of Blues in West Hollywood. Thanks to a packed and cheery crowd and strong performances from all of the acts, a grand time was had and the show was a success across the board. Continue reading →

By Avinash Mittur

March 24th 2013, DNA Lounge, San Francisco CA: Some webzines out there love to romanticize the bay area heavy metal scene. It’s not hard to see why they would do so, there are definitely some very amazing bands out here. What these journalists don’t get to see is these bands and musicians in action, both on and off-stage. They don’t see Mike Scalzi riding his bike miles and miles to teach at a community college every day of the week, and they certainly don’t see Ross Sewage trying to repair his Ampeg SVT head for the millionth time. These are working class folks, many of whom bore witness to metal’s grisly annihilation in the mid to late ’90s, who play some genre-bending music basically just for the love of the art. Shows are laidback affairs, with fans and friends often being one and the same to the musicians onstage and cheap beers occupying many a hand. As a twenty year old metalhead who loves these bands and this music to death, I’ve had to look and listen from a distance for the past few years- the vast majority of the live experience is restricted to the realm of the 21+ crowd. I was finally given a small chance to peek into this world though, with Brooklyn, NY’s Mutilation Rites and Richmond, VA’s Inter Arma stopping by San Francisco’s DNA Lounge for an all ages show with local acts Embers and Wild Hunt for support. This was an all around phenomenal show, and reinforced what an amazing place the bay area is for underground heavy metal. Continue reading →

By Avinash Mittur
(photos by April Edwards)

March 21st 2013, House of Blues, Hollywood, CA: When you were in school, there was always one kid who was the definition of perfect. They were well-liked, had flawless grades, were involved in every activity under the sun, and somehow seemed to stay on top of everything with barely a sweat broken. At the school of rock, Clutch is that kid. Even if you don’t like them, there’s a level of obligatory respect and admiration that comes just from hearing them do what they do. Every one of their albums carries a unique identity, and yet they each stand tall as mighty slabs of music.  The live shows are legendary, with a random set list making the rounds night after night, and greasy jams worming their way into the songs. A Clutch show isn’t merely any old rock concert, it’s a religious experience. For the past few weeks, Clutch have been preaching the good word to audiences across the United States with fellow stoner rock stalwarts Orange Goblin, Lionize and Scorpion Child in tow. Clutch’s stop at the House of Blues in Hollywood was an all around great night of heavy rock music and of course, contained yet another impeccable show from this great band.

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By Avinash Mittur

February 23rd 2013, Key Club, Hollywood CA: In today’s heavy metal market, many older thrash metal bands are finding a career touring their asses off and have been cranking out some damn fine records. Death Angel, Overkill, Testament and Kreator are just a few acts outside of the Big Four that have managed to thrive despite the crazy state of the music industry these days. Phoenix, AR’s Sacred Reich have proudly kept their recent activity to a minimum however. After reuniting in 2007 for the annual Wacken Open Air festival, the band has stuck to short strings of dates here and there, and have avoided recording any new material. After making a disappointingly brief appearance at the Metal Blade anniversary show last November, Sacred Reich returned for their first headlining show in Los Angeles in sixteen years. The result was a show with very strong support from its opening acts, and a decent set from its headliner. Continue reading →

By Avinash Mittur

February 22nd 2013, Key Club, Hollywood CA: After making a triumphant run through the U.S. nearly a year ago on the annual ‘PaganFest’ tour, Finland’s Turisas have returned on a headlining tour with Greek power metal warriors Firewind. The pair have been utilizing local openers on the many stops of this tour, and this date at the Key Club in Hollywood was no different. Though the venues on the Sunset Strip tend to make poor choices with the local acts more often than not, the Key Club managed to put together a great lineup for this show. This ‘Guards of Glory’ tour stop proved to be a consistently entertaining night for fans of fantasy-laced epic heavy metal, and a joyous celebration of everything over the top, silly, geeky, and plain awesome about this music and its culture. Continue reading →