Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Andrew Bansal
[Live photos by Kaley Nelson] 

October 6th 2013, El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles CA: Swedish metal band Katatonia have made somewhat of a habit of touring North America, as they’re just about finishing up their third tour here within a year. On this occasion, they’re on a short 12-show co-headline run with fellow Swedes Cult Of Luna along with support acts Intronaut and Tesseract, and the touring party visited the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles yesterday for what promised to be an intriguing night of diverse music. It being a Sunday, they did the right thing by starting the show as early as 6:45, and even though it took a little while for the atmosphere inside the venue to truly build up to its full potential, for a Sunday the turnout was good and things were all set to begin as the curtains drew apart for the first band to take the stage. Continue reading “Katatonia & Cult Of Luna Co-Headline The El Rey”

By Andrew Bansal

October 5th 2013, The Satellite, Los Angeles CA: In the 18 years of their existence, British stoner rock band Orange Goblin have never toured as actively as they’re doing in 2013. They’ve made it into what’s perhaps their busiest year ever, specially in North America where they opened for Clutch on a full tour earlier this year and are now back Stateside for an extensive 38-show headline run with support from fast-rising Los Angeles metal quintet Holy Grail and Atlanta, Georgia’s 3-piece experimental act Lazer/Wulf. Building on the success of their fantastic latest studio album ‘A Eulogy For The Damned’, Orange Goblin are firing on all cylinders. This tour hit Los Angeles and visited the Satellite last night, and the folks gathered here for the show were in high anticipation of the event. Continue reading “Orange Goblin, Holy Grail & Lazer/Wulf Perform At The Satellite”

By Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Chad Alexander] 

October 4th 2013, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: Following a short run of dates in 2011, British heavy metal veterans Saxon are back in the States on a full headline tour, this time with support bands Fozzy and Halcyon Way, and are not only bringing their legendary classic material onto the stage but are also presenting songs from their latest album ‘Sacrifice’, which is a strong release by all means and like all of their recent releases, it yet again proves the relevance and timelessness of this band. Now approaching the home stretch of the tour, Saxon visited the House Of Blues on the Sunset Strip last night to play for an audience that was more than eager to see them. Continue reading “Saxon Brings Denim, Leather & Old-School Metal To House Of Blues”

By Andrew Bansal
[Photos by Brad Worsham & Kaley Nelson] 

October 3rd 2013, El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles CA: Despite having been around for more than two decades, English rock band Anathema never toured North America. But finally in 2013, they’ve been able to rectify that and are currently towards the end of their first ever North American tour, a co-headline run with French atmospheric metal band Alcest and Seattle-based experimental act Mamiffer. Both Anathema and Alcest have varied the course of their musical journey over the years and sound a lot different from what they used to in their early days, but this show promised to be an accurate representation of where they stand musically as of now, and fans of both bands seemed more than excited at the prospect. For the kind of music they’re pursuing at the moment, I had no doubt in my mind that they picked the perfect Los Angeles venue for the gig. Continue reading “Anathema, Alcest & Mamiffer Perform At El Rey Theatre”

By Andrew Bansal

October 1st 2013, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: Drummer extraordinaire Gene Hoglan has done a million gigs over the past three decades for a multitude of well-respected heavy metal bands. Having recorded drums for Testament’s latest album ‘The Dark Roots Of Earth’, he is currently occupying the kit for that band, but despite their heavily active touring schedule, Gene is able to find time to pursue other things, like ‘The Gene Hoglan Experience’, which is something quite different and unique as compared to whatever he has done in the past. He is taking this ‘experience’ out on a short run of dates while Testament is off tour, and visited the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood last night, along with opening acts Sirion and Last Great Nation, and post-headliner act P.D.P. I knew it wasn’t really going to be your typical ‘drum clinic’, and was very much looking forward to seeing what this evening brings forth in terms of live music and entertainment value. Continue reading “Hollywood Gets Treated To The Gene Hoglan Experience”

By Andrew Bansal

September 29th 2013, The Troubadour, West Hollywood CA: In celebration of the release of their sixth studio album ‘Surgical Steel’, their first album after a long 17-year gap, extreme metal legends Carcass took over the Troubadour for two nights to play back-to-back intimate shows, not only to promote this new album but also to recapture an intimate vibe similar to the gigs they played at the Underground in London earlier this year. They hadn’t played at the Troubadour since 1994, and for them to hand-pick this venue for this momentous occasion got the LA Carcass fans hugely excited and the tickets for these shows sold out well in advance, within minutes of going on sale. I got to attend night 2 of this Carcass takeover. Metalheads gathered and lined up outside the venue, patiently waiting and anticipating a special treat. Continue reading “Carcass & Exhumed Decimate The Troubadour”