Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham]

February 15th 2014, The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA: After pillaging North America for the past four weeks, the ‘Deceiver Of The Gods’ North American tour featuring Swedish viking heroes Amon Amarth, Norwegian progressive extreme metal masters Enslaved and Ohio blackened thrashers Skeletonwitch made its way to Southern California and set foot in downtown Los Angeles to play at the magnificent Wiltern Theatre. This was a highly anticipated event for LA’s extreme metal faithful, as was evident from the long line of people wrapping around the block waiting to enter the venue. Metal Assault was in attendance for the first show of this tour in Las Vegas, but this particular show in LA was different in quite a few aspects and hence warrants its own separate review, and here it is, along with some epic live photos. Continue reading “Amon Amarth, Enslaved & Skeletonwitch Perform At Sold-Out Wiltern”

By Jason Thomas
[Live videos by Arturo Gallegos] 

February 14th 2014, The Complex, Glendale CA: Valentine’s Day. A day that’s more known for cheesy couples expressing their unending, vomiting love for each other rather than morose, doom-death shows. But February 14, 2014 ushered in the gloom thanks to Church of the 8th Day and the lovely folks down at The Complex in Glendale, CA. This was my first time at The Complex and I have to say that I liked the setup and the variety of craft beers available was fantastic. I started off the night right with a standard Stone IPA but decided to be a bit more adventurous with White Rascal and a few others I can’t remember off the top of my head. I could probably write the rest of this review on the beer but I’ll save that for a later time. Continue reading “Lord Dying, Yidhra & Deathkings Perform At The Complex”

By Andrew Bansal & Jarvis Leatherby
[Live photos by Carsten Steinhausen]

February 12th 2014, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: Following the release of his new album ‘Bridge The Gap’, German rock guitar legend Michael Schenker embarked upon a North American tour to not only promote this new album but also to encapsulate his much celebrated career by performing tunes from his solo catalog as well as tenures in Scorpions and UFO. The tour made a stop at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip last night. There was plenty of excitement amongst Schenker fans in the lead-up to this show. The doors opened at 7 PM, and the atmosphere was steadily building up inside the venue. All was in readiness for a great evening of rock. Continue reading “Michael Schenker Turns House Of Blues Into Temple Of Rock”

By Andrew Bansal
[Live photos by Karina Diane] 

February 7th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: One of the hardest working bands in the Los Angeles metal scene, Sirion have steadily built up their local fan-following through a constant stream of well-selected gigs in and around the LA area during the three years of their existence, specially the year of 2013. They played as opening act to several bigger bands at venues on the Sunset Strip including the Whisky-A-Go-Go, and have made a progression successful enough to reward them with a headline show of their own at the Whisky. Judging by their extensive pre-show promotion, it was clear that Sirion put their entire efforts into this gig, deeming it as their EP release concert and besides themselves, they put together a great lineup of local bands that altogether promised to entertain everyone in attendance.  Continue reading “Sirion Play EP Release Show At The Whisky”

By Andrew Bansal

February 1st 2014, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: Continuing their tradition of Saturday rock shows, Loaded Hollywood served host to another all-local lineup last night featuring Rivet, Trip DeVille and Our Curse. With well-chosen bands, reasonably priced alcoholic beverages and its prime location in the heart of Hollywood, Loaded has contributed positively towards building a local rock culture in recent months, having spotlighted great local bands like Mötochrist, Caveman Voicebox, A Pretty Mess and Night Demon in the past few weeks. Last night’s show was no different in that regard, and gave an opportunity to these three bands to show their wares, and a habitable environment for rock lovers in Hollywood who visited the club in anticipation of an enjoyable night of live music and booze. Continue reading “Rivet, Trip DeVille & Our Curse Play Saturday Night Gig At Loaded Hollywood”

By Andrew Bansal

January 29th 2014, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: The previous edition of the Scion Rock Show featured Wilmington, North Carolina’s ASG as the headline act, and for the January 2014 edition of this event, it was the turn of ASG’s fellow NC brothers-in-arms Weedeater to crush the stage at the Satellite in the Silver Lake area of Los Angeles. They embarked on a short US West Coast run a couple of weeks ago, culminating with this showcase event with support act Pins Of Light from San Francisco, with whom they’re slated to release a split EP via the Scion label itself. After underwhelming turnouts for the last few Scion Rock Shows, upon arriving at the Satellite it was great to see a long line of people waiting outside before the doors opened, and the pre-show atmosphere for this gig was more akin to to the old Scion shows at the Roxy in Hollywood. Starting at 9 PM, entry was being granted to these people, and one had a feeling it was going to be an excellent evening of heavy music. Continue reading “Weedeater & Pins Of Light Play Scion Rock Show At The Satellite”