Metal Assault: Gig Reviews

Review & photos by Andrew Bansal

December 5th 2014, The Roxy Theatre, West Hollywood CA: Based on the strength of their tremendously successful sophomore effort ‘Foundations Of Burden’ which was released by Profound Lore Records earlier this year, Little Rock, Arkansas quartet Pallbearer have been perhaps the strongest rising force in the world of doom metal of late. As expected, they embarked on a non-stop run of tours straight after the August release of the album, and are currently in the first week of a headline North America tour with support acts Solstafir and Mortals. The three-pronged package visited Los Angeles for a gig at a nearly sold-out Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood, and having never seen any of these bands live prior to this event, I was more than psyched to be in attendance, to discover whether Pallbearer’s music has the same impact in a live environment and what Solstafir and Mortals brought to the table as openers. Continue reading “Pallbearer Headlines The Roxy”

Review by Avinash Mittur
[Photos by Brad Worsham]

November 14th 2014, The Forum, Los Angeles CA: The modern day renaissance of thrash metal continues to amaze me. Somehow, nearly every one of the genre’s best bands are not only kicking around today, but are on the top of their game when it comes to the all-important live show. Three titans of thrash made their way to a sold-out LA Forum last Friday evening – the originators Exodus, Venice’s favorite skate-rats Suicidal Tendencies and the institution simply known as Slayer. Continue reading “Slayer Plays Sold-Out Show At The Forum In Los Angeles”

By Jason Williams

November 14th 2014, Club Nokia, Los Angeles CA: Chuck Schuldiner. The name resonates a vast variety of emotions in metal fans. Professional, soulful, brutal, memorable, inspiring, and legendary. These are only some of the descriptions that hailed Chuck throughout his career, and especially afterwards. Two years ago, Chuck’s best friend and then manager formed the Death To All group, a tribute of Death’s music featuring former members of the band, as well as a charity to musicians with disability and financial problems. This Club Nokia gig were to be the third time this group has performed in Los Angeles, and with an old-school death metal support lineup consisting of Obituary and Massacre, fans came out to this event for another special tribute to celebrate Schuldiner’s incredible and monumental legacy. Continue reading “‘Death To All’ Puts On Heavy Tribute In Los Angeles”

By Jason Williams

November 12th 2014, House Of Blues, Anaheim CA: For nearly 20 years, melodic death metal veterans Arch Enemy have blasted listeners with their consistent twin guitar attack and brutally charming catchiness. Originally formed by then Carcass guitarist Michael Amott as a side project, with his brother (and now former member) Christopher, Arch Enemy eventually became a full time gig and broke the barriers of the underground metal scene to come out on top as one of the leading bands of the genre. Longtime singer and eventual face of the band Angela Gossow left Arch Enemy earlier this year and brought in multi-talented former The Agonist vocalist Alissa White-Gluz to take over, starting with recording vocals for the new album ‘War Eternal’. Set to melt the faces of many metalheads, they’ve returned to the States, bringing along Teutonic thrash legends Kreator for what was expected to be an evening of quality live metal along with Huntress and Starkill as opening acts. This being the first time ever seeing Arch Enemy without Angela Gossow, it was sure to be a different and unique experience. Continue reading “Arch Enemy & Kreator Raise Hell In Downtown Disney”

By Jason Williams

November 10th 2014, Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Widely considered as one of the most hard-working live metal bands today, Sweden’s power metal wrecking ball Sabaton, have been performing all over the states as of late. From their solid performance at ‘Maidenfest’ last September, and the amazing reaction they received playing with Iced Earth this May, it’s no surprise that their recent touring here has been nothing short of remarkable. Fresh off their a North American tour with Amon Amarth and Skeletonwitch, Sabaton had some headlining dates scattered throughout, including their very last date of the tour at the Whisky in West Hollywood. Despite Judas Priest playing literally 10 miles from the Whisky, I knew plenty would still be attending and, were in store for a joyful evening. Continue reading “Sabaton Headlines Whisky-A-Go-Go With Solid Local Support”

Review by Jason Williams
[Live photos by Brad Worsham]

October 25th 2014, San Manuel Amphitheater, San Bernardino CA: As it seems to be the tradition each and every year, huge metal shows and festivals bring themselves to the San Manual Amplitheater in San Bernadino, CA. Knotfest, created and headlined by Slipknot, would be the venue’s guest this year, broken up into two days, featuring lots of mainstream metal bands including Anthrax and Hatebreed, as well as the more extreme side with Immolation, Carcass and The Faceless. Although there were only a select few bands I wanted to see, I’m open minded enough to give a chance to the bands that I may not have wanted to listen to at home. I wasn’t able to catch every band due to time constraints and several bands going on all at once, so I’ll be able to tell all of the positive and plenty of negative that I was able to witness. Continue reading “Knotfest Puts The Hammer Down In San Bernardino”