Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

September 14th 2013, House Of Blues, Anaheim CA: After dealing with a lawsuit and the subsequent demolition of the Kyuss Lives name, former Kyuss members John Garcia and Brant Bjork started afresh with a new band named Vista Chino, promising to not only continue the Kyuss legacy on stage but also to release new music of their own. Besides Garcia and Bjork, the band features Bruno Fevery on guitar and Mike Dean on bass (at least for the time being, while he’s off C.O.C. duty). They released their debut album ‘Peace’ via Napalm Records in August, and are currently on a North American tour to promote the new album as well as to play some of the Kyuss songs they were playing as Kyuss Lives a couple of years ago. Last night, the tour made a stop at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney. Continue reading “Vista Chino Performs At House Of Blues Anaheim”

By Andrew Bansal

September 13th 2013, San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino CA: Following a full North American tour last year, heavy metal giants Iron Maiden returned to the States for one final leg of the ‘Maiden England’ tour, and the last gig took place in San Bernardino yesterday. Besides Iron Maiden and touring support act Megadeth, this show also had Anthrax, Testament, Sabaton, Overkill and Warbringer in its mouth-watering lineup, making it a metal mecca of sorts, and an absolute must-attend event for all Southern California metalheads. Sure enough, fans traveled from all parts of California and beyond to witness this potentially historic gig, and as soon as the parking lots opened at 10 AM, people started flocking in to prepare themselves for a long, epic day of metal. Continue reading “Iron Maiden Enthralls San Bernardino With Massive Show & Stellar Support Cast”

By Andrew Bansal

September 7th 2013, The Wiltern, Los Angeles CA: Veteran rock band The Cult have been on the Electric 13 North American tour since late July and last night they began a grand closing weekend for this tour with the first of two back-to-back shows in Los Angeles, this one at the Wiltern Theatre in downtown LA and the next show at the House of Blues Sunset Strip tonight. As the name of the tour suggests, the band has been performing their classic third studio album ‘Electric’ in its entirety every night, followed by a second set full of songs from other albums old and new. Naturally, fans walking into the venue were expecting a special treat. The Cult has been a band I’ve always wanted to see but never got a chance to do so, and last night I was finally able to change that. With the current incarnation of The Cult being a combination of the British forefront of Ian Astbury on vocals, Billy Duffy on lead guitar and James Stevenson on rhythm guitar, and an American rhythm section of Chris Wyse on bass and John Tempesta on drums, I was curious to hear and see how they pulled off this material live. Continue reading “The Cult Performs ‘Electric’ Album & More At The Wiltern”

By Andrew Bansal

September 6th 2013, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: In recent times, the Whisky has been surprisingly open to hosting all-thrash lineups at their club. Warbringer and Bonded By Blood played headline shows in the months of May and June respectively, with the Warbringer show in particular turning out to be a very enjoyable one for all involved. This time, it was the turn of Denver thrashers Havok, who were coming to the home stretch of their first ever North American headline tour. They headed a show filled to the brim with local openers, seven to be exact. The Los Angeles thrash tribe had turned up in huge numbers to support the show and have a great time. I arrived at the club at 7:30 PM, and unlike most other nights at the Whisky, or any other club for that matter, the place was vibrant and buzzing with excitement even at that early point of the evening. We were all set for a thrash-filled treat and it promised to be a great show. Continue reading “Havok Headlines Thrash-Filled Night At The Whisky”

By Jason Williams

September 6th 2013, Yost Theater, Santa Ana CA:  Polish Death Metal.  Three bands would immediately come to mind for the casual death metal fan: Behemoth, Decapitated and Vader.  Many know that Vader are one of the longest running death metal bands to ever grace the earth, but few could remember that this year is their 30th anniversary. For many years, Vader have given us catchy riffs, brutal drum passages, singable and coherent lyrics (especially for the death metal circle), chaotic, powerful leads, and tight, honest metal. Of my 15 years being a metalhead, I have always considered Vader to be my favorite band. Tonight’s event would be my 11th Vader show, and given their last U.S. tour appearance was nearly 3 years ago, fans alike would be calling for their return, to give us more Vader brutality.

Continue reading “Vader Brings The Morbid Reich To Southern California”