Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

May 6th 2014, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: Based out of Greenville SC but themed on ancient Egyptian religion and mysticism, technical death metal band Nile have been in existence for more than 20 years, and on this particular leg of their North American tour, they’re presenting a career-spanning set of songs their most loyal and die-hard fans would greatly appreciate, as it comprises some deep cuts and material they’ve never performed live before. Beginning the tour in Atlanta GA on April 14, moving through the East Coast and Canada and making their way Westwards, Nile visited the House Of Blues Sunset Strip in West Hollywood last night to lay their relentlessly crushing onslaught upon their LA fans.  Continue reading “Nile Headlines House Of Blues Sunset Strip”

By Andrew Bansal

May 5th 2014, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Cinco De Mayo in Los Angeles always brings forth a variety of entertainment options, and this year the Viper Room played host to premier all-female Iron Maiden tribute band The Iron Maidens along with promising local hard rock act Black Belt Karate for a truly rocking celebration of the occasion, presented in part by Badass Bands Blog. With a perfectly affordable door cover charge and cheap drinks on offer, for fans of rock and metal in LA, this was the place to be. Continue reading “The Iron Maidens & Black Belt Karate Rock The Viper Room On Cinco De Mayo”

By Andrew Bansal

May 4th 2014, The Airliner, Los Angeles CA: Finally home from three consecutive North American tours, Los Angeles metal quartet Exmortus headlined a local gig at the Airliner in the Lincoln Heights area, christened ‘The Imperial Metal March’ and put together by local promoters The Rebel Alliance. The date being May 4th, the internet was bombarded with Star Wars-related memes and ‘May the 4th be with you’ greetings, and sure enough, this gig also had an underlying Star Wars theme to it as a few costumes dedicated to the popular franchise could be seen amongst the crowd gathered here. Besides Exmortus, the gig featured seven other promising bands, and by the time doors opened at 8:30, all was in readiness for an entertaining night of local Los Angeles metal. Continue reading “Exmortus Headlines ‘The Imperial Metal March’ At The Airliner”

Review by Jason Williams
[Photos by Kaley Nelson]

May 3rd 2014, House Of Blues, Las Vegas NV: The enticing lineup of Mastodon, Gojira and Kvelertak embarked on a North American tour last month, and due to Iced Earth playing the very same day as this tour in Los Angeles whom I absolutely could not miss, my adventure of seeing this uniquely delightful tour would take place at the House of Blues in Las Vegas, located in the Mandalay Event Center. I would really like to not count my time of seeing Mastodon last year at the Mayhem Festival. The sound and acoustics of the large stage did not mix right with the sound and the song selection wasn’t quite the best due to not being a headliner or co-headliner. This would be my first real time of seeing them in a more fitting setting, along with the band I want to see most on this tour, Gojira, and Kverlertak, who really impressed me and became the highlight of the night at the High on Fire tour in December 2013. Much would occur musically and emotionally from these three tonight, and in a completely new setting for me, I was more than excited in anticipation. Continue reading “Mastodon, Gojira & Kvelertak Electrify Las Vegas”

Review by Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Matt Nielson] 

May 3rd 2014, Fonda Theatre, Hollywood CA: On the strength of a highly successful North American tour debut last fall, Italian instrumental cinematic progressive rock luminaries Goblin returned for a tour Stateside this spring and on its penultimate date, visited Los Angeles to play at the Fonda Theatre in Hollywood. Fort Worth TX-based avant-garde outfit Pinkish Black have been opening for Goblin on this run, and with this lineup, the show possessed great potential to deliver something special to the attendees, particularly those that had missed out on the Goblin experience because of the tickets almost instantly selling out the previous time they were in town. Continue reading “Goblin & Pinkish Black Play At The Fonda”

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

May 2nd 2014, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: Longtime purveyors of American heavy metal, Tampa FL’s Iced Earth have been around for nearly 30 years. They entered a brand new chapter in their career with the recruitment of former Into Eternity singer Stu Block as the Iced Earth frontman after Matt Barlow’s departure in 2011, and as a follow-up to his stellar debut on the ‘Dystopia’ album, they released ‘Plagues Of Babylon’, their eleventh LP overall, last January via Century Media Records. To promote the release and present a selection of other material from their long, revered musical catalog, they set foot on a North American headline tour on April 4th with support acts Sabaton and ReVamp, and four weeks later on May 2nd, descended upon the House Of Blues Sunset Strip with the promise of a glorious heavy metal night for all in attendance. Continue reading “Iced Earth, Sabaton & ReVamp Perform At House Of Blues Sunset Strip”