Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

By Andrew Bansal

September 16th 2015, Mystery Box, Los Angeles CA: Los Angeles stoner/doom veterans Goatsnake embarked on a US West Coast headline tour with Southern Lord Records label mates Black Breath, Battalion Of Saints and Obliterations as support acts, the first show of the run taking place at the Mystery Box in Los Angeles last Wednesday September 16 2015. The city of Los Angeles never ceases to offer new venues, and the Mystery Box, located in the Arts District of downtown LA, happens to be yet another. Besides witnessing the on-stage exploits of these tremendous underground bands, experiencing this venue for the first time was just about as much of a reason to look forward to this show. Continue reading “Southern Lord West Coast Tour Begins In Los Angeles”

By Andrew Bansal

September 13th 2015, Complex, Glendale CA: California/Florida old-school death metal band Grusesome, fronted by Matt Harvey of Exhumed, formed in 2014 and released their debut full-length album ‘Savage Land’ via Relapse Records in April 2015. The release immediately earned plaudits in the extreme metal community, and following the album’s initial success, Gruesome announced a short run of debut shows in North America for late August/early September, including appearances at the Obscene Extreme festival in Montreal, Full Terror Assault festival in Cave-In-Rock, Illinois, and headline gigs in Florida and California. To end this run, they arrived at Complex in Glendale last Sunday September 13 2015 for a Church Of The 8th Day presented event featuring local support from Skeletal Remains, Tormenter and Ruin, and turned up the heat in an already hot and absolutely packed house. Continue reading “Gruesome Makes Los Angeles Live Debut”

By Andrew Bansal

September 12th 2015, Complex, Glendale CA: Australian grindmasters King Parrot released their second full-length album ‘Dead Set’ via Housecore Records earlier this year, and in the leadup to a North American support run with Cattle Decapitation, they announced three album release headline shows in California with local support acts, starting with Fresno and then driving down to the Los Angeles area before hitting San Diego. King Parrot arrived at Complex in Glendale on Saturday September 12 2015 for a Church Of The 8th Day presented event featuring Crowned By Fire, P.D.P. and Grand Lord High Master as openers. On an extremely busy concert night in town, locals were putting their faith in King Parrot by choosing to attend this show, and the band proved to be more than worthy of it. Continue reading “King Parrot Destroys Glendale”

By Andrew Bansal

September 10th 2015, The Whisky, West Hollywood CA: California hard rock veterans Y&T have enjoyed a career that has spanned more than four decades and has delivered twelve albums worth of studio material and countless live performances, but there is no end in sight for the quartet, as they still continue to rock stages worldwide and bring sizable crowds to their shows. They’ve had a long history with the Whisky-A-Go-Go in West Hollywood, with their earliest gig at the venue dating as far back as 1975, and they returned to one of their favorite scenes of crime on September 10th 2015 to turn the clock all the way back in front of a packed house. Continue reading “Y&T Turn Back The Clock At The Whisky”

By Andrew Bansal

September 9th 2015, The Roxy, West Hollywood CA: Swedish post/progressive rock band Cult Of Luna embarked on a short US headline tour this September, and concluded the nine-show run at the Roxy in West Hollywood last Wednesday September 9th 2015, for an event put together by Thief Presents. Support acts for the first four shows were Kylesa and InAeona, while Minsk and SubRosa opened the shows for the remainder of the tour. LA’s doom/post/stoner metal community came out in huge numbers to pack the venue and expected to be treated to a mesmerizing show from all three bands. Continue reading “Cult Of Luna, Minsk & SubRosa Perform At The Roxy”

By Andrew Bansal

September 6th 2015, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: As has become a weekly tradition for Hollywood locals over the past few months, Loaded Bar hosted a matinee rock/metal event last Sunday presented by Metal Sanaz. Regulars at this bar come out on Sundays for drinks at happy hour prices, where you buy any drink and get the second one of the same kind for $1, and deadly hot wings on the cheap. Unless the matinee show is free of a cover charge, most of them don’t bother stepping inside the live music room, but on this occasion there was an extreme metal band that not only lived up to its name by sticking out like a thorn in a diverse lineup of bands but was also singlehandedly worthy of the cover price. Continue reading “Thorns Of Sin Dominate Sunday Matinee Show At Loaded Hollywood”