This blog specializes in heavy metal music and how it relates to Washington DC and the surrounding area. Featuring info on upcoming metal concerts in Washington DC, Baltimore and Virginia, as well as info on local bands, area concert venues, reviews of live gigs, and lots of give aways.
Generation Axe is a truly unique band with a total of five of the world’s best guitarists and they’re playing at the Warner Theatre in Washington DC this Sunday, April 24th! Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abasi will perform in different combinations culminating with them all on stage playing together! There has never been a concert like this before and one of you lucky DCHM readers is going to get to go to this very concert for free! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me your favorite guitarist of all time! At 5pm EST on Friday, April 22nd, 2016, the contest will end I’ll pick a winner at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to win the tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you know you can’t go please don’t enter as there isn’t a lot of time between the end of the contest and the show and contacting another winner in time will be difficult. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Live Nation for $43 – $83 (depending on section) here.
Instead of each of these incredible guitarists performing solo sets Generation Axe will perform together in different combinations letting us witness some very interesting stylistic combinations. They’ll play some songs from each member’s back catalog as well as some covers and even some new material that was written just for this tour. I’m not sure these guys will all have the time in their schedule to do a tour like this together again so you really don’t want to miss this show. It will also be something of a homecoming for Tosin Abasi, the Animals As Leaders guitarist that grew up in the Maryland suburbs of DC. Now tell me who your favorite guitarist is (and it better not be Nick Jonas!) and check out these videos of Generation Axe in action below.
Amon Amarth is bringing their warship to the Fillmore Silver Spring on Thursday, April 21st of 2016! Since we want to get as many of you viking metal fans out to this one as possible we’ll be giving away a free pair of tickets to this very show! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite Swedish metal band is. At 5pm EST on Friday, April 15th, 2016, the contest will end I’ll pick a winner at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to win the tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Live Nation for just $27.50 here.
Amon Amarth are a Swedish band know for their brutal yet catchy death metal songs about viking history and lore. They always put on a highly entertaining show and with their latest album, Jomsviking, just released last month we’ll be getting to hear some new songs too! Also on board are fellow Swedes Entombed A.D. who are basically the remnants of Entombed but had to add the A.D. since there’s a legal dispute over the name. Regardless they’re still going to bring that death n’ roll they’re so famous for. The opener is Exmortus, a melodic death/thrash band from California that’s up and coming right now. Be sure to check out these videos of all three bands below and then leave a comment telling me who your favorite band from Sweden is!
We promised two great contests this week and now here’s the second one! The masters of stoner metal riffage, Sleep, are going to be making a rare appearance in Washington DC on Sunday, June 26th at the 9:30 Club and you don’t want to miss it! We’re going to give one of you lucky DCHM readers the chance to win a free pair of tickets to this sure to sell out show. To enter just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite stoner band of all time is. At 5pm EST on Monday, April 4th, 2016, the contest will end I’ll pick a winner at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to win the tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Fly for just $30 here.
Sleep is known for their incredible ability to summon a very Black Sabbath vibe through some of the fuzziest stoner riffs out there! Guitarist Matt Pike spends most of his time in High On Fire these days and this Sleep “tour” only includes 7 North American dates, so getting to see Sleep in DC is a rare thing indeed, something that hasn’t happened in a decade. The the opener for this show is a perfect choice! Richmond based Windhand play some of the catchiest slow riffs in the modern doom metal world which blend perfectly with vocalist Dorthia Cottrell’s haunting voice. Now check out these videos of the bands below while you tell me in the comments what your favorite stoner band is!
Since we had so many entries in our DC Brau 5th Anniversary concert contest last week, and we really wanted everyone to win, this week we’re doubling down on ticket give aways. First up we’ve got tickets to see Napalm Death and the Melvins at the 9:30 Club on Tuesday, April 12th, 2016! If you want tickets to this epic show (and I know you do) then you need to enter by leaving a comment on this post telling me which band on the bill you’re the most excited to see (and don’t forget Melt-Banana is playing too!). At 5pm EST on Monday, April 4th, 2016, the contest will end I’ll pick a winner at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to win the tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Fly for just $30 here.
Napalm Death is one of the fathers of grind but what is most amazing about their career is that they keep putting out incredible records after 30+ years! Seriously, try to think of another band that has putting out that high quality of material after that much time, it’s not easy! Oh wait, I just thought of one, the Melvins! The genre defying masters of the bizarre and experimental seem to be able to change their style at will while still keeping that “Melvins” sound. Melt-Banana is an experimental Japanese band that rides the line somewhere between grind, noise, rock, electronica and pop. Every band on this bill is truly unique and it should make for a night to remember! Plus, when the hell else are you going to see Napalm Death play on a stage that is as big (and sounds as good) as at the 9:30 Club? Now check out these videos by all three bands on the bill and tell me in the comments which one you want to see the most!
If you’ve ever been to one of our heavy metal nights at a brewery then you definitely know that we here at DC Heavy Metal love craft beer almost as much as we love metal! When DC Brau announced that their 5 year anniversary celebration was going to be an outdoor metal show we started counting down the days! On Saturday, April 16th the parking lot area at the brewery is going to be fenced off and a stage is going to be set up with a killer line up including The Sword, Kvelertak, Torche, Serpent Throne and locals Loud Boyz. In addition, the brewmasters at DC Brau have teamed up with the brewers at 5 different breweries to make 5 special collaboration beers just for this anniversary show! We hope you are as excited about this line up of excellent bands and beers as we are and so we’re doing a special give away for this one. One of you lucky DCHM readers will get a pair of general admission tickets to this very event and another one of you with even better luck is going to be getting a pair of VIP tickets to the event (you must be 21 or older to win the VIP tickets)! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me which band you’re most excited to see at this show (if you don’t know any of them check out the videos at the bottom of this post). On Friday, March 25th at 5pm EST the contest will close and I’ll pick two winners at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries. The first winner will get the pair of general admission tickets and the second winner will get the pair of VIP tickets. If you are under 21 please specify so because I will not be giving the VIP tickets to a minor but you can still win the general admission tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from a selected winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random.
And what exactly do the tickets get you? The general admission tickets will get you into the event where you can watch all of the the bands perform, buy beer and food and generally have a great time. The VIP tickets include all of that as well as access inside the brewery for a VIP-only bar, catered barbecue, complimentary unlimited beer, and guaranteed access to all the collaboration brews. If you don’t want to wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this then you can purchase tickets either at the 9:30 Club box office (to avoid fees) or online from Ticket Fly for $45 (GA) or $200 (VIP) here.
Now, here’s a little bit more about the bands and those special collaboration beers. The Sword is a groovin’ doom metal band from Austin, Texas, and they’ll be headlining this show. Kvelertak is a high energy rock/metal band from Norway that incorporates elements of punk and black metal into a unique sound that is all their own and they’re known for their wild live shows. Torche is a band from Miami, Florida, and they call their heavy yet catchy music thunder pop which actually makes perfect sense when you hear them. Serpent Throne is an instrumental stoner band from Philadelphia and they’ve got a ton of sick riffs. Loud Boyz are a local party rock band that formed from the ashes of the party thrash band Warchild. That’s a pretty sweet line up, but lets not forget those 5 exclusive collaboration beers. Cigar City in Tampa, Florida is known for making one of the best stouts in the world, Hunahpu Imperial Stout, so I’m pretty excited to see what kind of big stout they’ve cooked up with the DC Brau guys, a beer they’ve named The Wise And The Lovely. Alexandria brewery Port City‘s collaboration with DC Brau produced a dunkel, which is a German style dark lager (dunkel is the German word for dark) and while it won’t be a heavy as the aforementioned stout this beer, Zehn von Zehn, will surely be quite refreshing. They aren’t all dark beers though, for example the collaboration with Sun King in Indianapolis, Indiana is a double IPA brewed with rye and named Ripa the Dipa. The collaboration with Austin Beerworks in Austin, Texas is an India style lager (so expect it to be more hoppy than most lagers) named Celestial Garden. Last but not least the collaboration with St. Louis based Perennial Artisan Ales is a Belgian style saison with rose hips and hibiscus added to give Pink Pallet Jack a pink hue.
OK I know I’ve been more wordy on this post than my contests usually are but there’s a lot of info for this event! If you’d like even more info you can check out the official Facebook event page for it here or go read DC Brau’s announcement post here. Now check out these videos below and tell me which band you’re most excited to see on April 16th at DC Brau’s 5th Anniversary Celebration!
This Saturday, February 13th, thrash fans are in for something special when Voivod and Vektor take over the main stage of the Black Cat. After that awesome Exodus show at the Black Cat in November you know this one is gonna be a rager too! In fact, we’re so excited about this show that we’re giving away a free pair of tickets to one of you lucky DCHM readers. To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite sci-fi themed band or album is. It doesn’t have to be metal, anything from Ziggy Stardust to Fear Factory to John Williams’ scores for Star Wars are fair game. At 5pm EST on Thursday, February 11th, 2016, the contest will end I’ll pick a winner at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to win the tickets. Be sure to use a valid email you check regularly so I can contact you if you win. Don’t worry, I won’t add you to any spam lists or sell your info or anything sleazy like that. If I haven’t heard back from the winner in 24 hours another winner will be chosen at random. If you can’t wait to see if you win or the contest is already over when you read this, then you can get tickets from Ticket Fly for just $20 here.
Voivod is thrash band that formed in 1981 in Quebec, Canada. They made a name for themselves by combining a more technical style of playing with thrash metal and have continued to innovate throughout their career. Vektor is a modern trash band from Philly that also dabbles with science fiction themes and some pretty technical guitar playing. You may remember that they headlined the DCHM 4th Anniversary Show at the Fillmore a few years back. Anyways, they always put on a great show and they should be a perfect support band for Voivod. Opening act Eight Bells is an experimental metal band from Portland. The band features three women and combines many different metal elements to create a unique atmosphere with their music. Now check out these songs below by each of the bands playing and let me know what your favorite sci-fi themed music is!
DCHeavyMetal.com 