Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Avinash Mittur

November 14th 2012, House Of Blues, Hollywood CA: For the past month, Napalm Death, Municipal Waste and Exhumed have been touring across North America, celebrating their history as well as the present. With the help of special guests at each tour stop both young and old, every show has been a unique occasion. Last Wednesday night, the House of Blues was treated to a stunning show from the three touring acts, along with an additional dose of carnage supplied by bay area veterans Attitude Adjustment and San Francisco punk legends, The Dwarves.

Though the house music being played over the PA was firmly entrenched in ‘80s hair metal, the theme of the night was old-school punk and crossover. The bay area’s Attitude Adjustment was the first band to kick off the festivities with their pioneering brand of crossover thrash. The crowd was sadly very inactive for the band, with the exception of a handful of kids running about, and the occasional heckler. This didn’t stop Attitude Adjustment from giving an energetic performance though- singer Kevin Reed shouted his lungs out as he ran about the stage and drummer Chris Kontos gave his usual powerhouse show. Napalm Death’s Barney Greenway even joined the band to perform the Attitude classic that his band covered, “Dope Fiend.” This special appearance along with Attitude’s Poison Idea cover, “Lifestyles,” drew the biggest cheers of the set. Attitude Adjustment was a solid choice to open the proceedings, and a great warmup for the havoc that would ensue. Continue reading “Napalm Death & Municipal Waste Bring Killer Lineup To Hollywood”

By Avinash Mittur, November 8th 2012, Whisky A Go Go, Hollywood CA: For decades the bay area has been world-renowned for its contributions to music. From the psychedelic rock of the ‘60s to the ‘80s thrash movement to the amazing traditional and black metal being put out now, the bay area has consistently offered quality rock and roll music to the world. After attending the Whisky-a-Go-Go show last Thursday night, now I can add heavy rock to the list of great styles of music that the bay area has cranked out. Though it was much too brief, I was able to witness an hour of solid hard rock courtesy of the Revivalution Tour. Continue reading “Revivalution Tour Barrels Through Hollywood”

By Elena Whidden, October 31st 2012, The Palladium, Hollywood CA: Halloween night is always a night for celebrating, but this year was special: Wednesday night marked the second show of Lamb of God’s first United States tour in two years, and all present at the Hollywood Palladium exalted at the return of vocalist Randy Blythe from his incarceration in the Czech Republic. They, along with supporting acts Sylosis, Hatebreed and In Flames, made for a show that had to be the best Halloween party in Hollywood. Definitely the most metal.

Continue reading “Lamb of God Makes Long-Awaited Return To Hollywood”

By Avinash Mittur

October 19th 2012, Whisky A-Go-Go, Hollywood CA: A Death Angel concert is an experience like no other. As embarrassing as it is to say this, I had nearly forgotten what an astonishing show this band gives every night. One of my favorite shows that I’ve ever attended was a headlining date from Death Angel at Slim’s in San Francisco in February 2011. At that show I saw nothing but pure joy emanating from a group of road warriors who had finally come home to an audience that loved and missed them. It was also at that show that I had the pleasure of meeting the heart and soul of Metal Assault, Mr. Aniruddh “Andrew” Bansal. On this Friday night at the Whisky in Hollywood, Death Angel once again delivered a sensational and transcendent performance that somehow managed to match the magic of that San Francisco show. This was thrash metal in its purest and rawest form, played by one of the best live acts in the genre.

Continue reading “Death Angel Pummel Hollywood With Marathon Performance”

By Elena Whidden

October 12th 2012, The Key Club, Hollywood CA: The Key Club was decked out in Halloween decorations the night Ghoul stormed through on a headlining date, an appropriate backdrop for a night of that band’s gleefully brutal blend of thrash, death metal, and grindcore—the title of their song “Splatterthrash” describes it pretty well.  An excellent and varied group of openers came through with Ghoul, bringing out their own crowds and making for a really great show on Sunset.

The first of these openers was local blackened thrash band Witchaven.  Although I have lived in L.A. for three years now, I had never seen this band live before, and what I saw of their excellent performance made me feel like I’ve really been missing out.  They flew through a couple songs off Terrorstorm, their self-released album from 2010, and also hit audiences with “Faces of Death” and “Blasphemous Cunt” from an earlier EP.  They played tight and kept the energy level high, with tireless frontman Henry Montoya using the occasional pause in the music to growl something at the audience.  It was clear that being the first band up didn’t bother Witchaven one bit, and they really got the crowd going early.  Also part of Witchaven’s set was a dance, as the band played, by tattooed and mohawked go-go dancer Malice 666.  She was pretty entertaining, scantily clad as she was in black lingerie like some kind of vampire punk out of The Lost Boys.  Her enthusiastic shaking seemed a little out of place during a thrash set though.  Unfortunately, I only caught the second half of Witchaven’s set—the Key Club managed to “misplace” Ghoul’s guest list, and so I was late getting into the venue. I look forward to seeing this band again though, and to hearing their upcoming album. Continue reading “Ghoul Brings Bloody Halloween Celebration To Hollywood”

By Avinash Mittur

September 27th 2012, The Key Club, Hollywood CA: In so many ways, the “Carnival of Death” tour has been a special occasion for every city it has visited. This is Obituary’s largest national headlining tour in three years and the band has been armed with a special setlist exclusively made up of material from their first three records. Not to mention, this tour marks the return of Broken Hope, one of the forgotten heroes of the original death metal movement. With Jungle Rot and Encrust in tow, the tour stopped by Hollywood’s Key Club and gave fans a long evening of quality old-school death metal.

In order to sell some advance tickets, the Key Club booked many local bands to open the show. Unlike what happens at the Whisky down the street, the additional bands did not cut into the touring acts’ sets. Sadly due to a small issue out of Metal Assault’s control, I wasn’t able to enter the Key Club until all the local openers had finished playing on the main stage. I would like to think that these bands were well chosen for the event, but my skepticism when it comes to the venues on the Sunset Strip forces me to feel otherwise. Continue reading “Obituary Turns Hollywood Inside Out”