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.
I just thought I’d let you all know about the kid friendly, all ages, totally free rock concert that I’m putting on at DC Brau brewery on Saturday, July 15th from 2pm to 5pm. I did one of these last year and people seemed to really enjoy it so I’m doing another one this year. Since most rock concerts happen way past bed times it’s a fun chance to bring the kids out to a rock show but these aren’t silly kid bands like Rocknoceros so even if you don’t have kids you can come out to enjoy the tunes. There’s also a Facebook event page I made here that you can invite people to if you want.
Here’s the details: I’ve booked two bands, Borracho and Hot Blood, to play from the brewery’s truck loading bay to the audience which will be in the seated outdoor area of the brewery. There’s no entry fee but there will be food available to buy (including vegetarian options) provided by Fred the Taco Guy, who we all remember from the metal shows at Atlas. DC Brau will have craft beer, hard seltzers and boozy smoothies for sale as well. I highly recommend bringing hearing protection (esp for the kids) and probably sunscreen as well. If it’s too hot you can always hang out indoors as I assume you’ll be able to hear the bands there as well. There’s also a Roaming Rooster (best fried chicken in DC) in the shopping center and outside food is welcome at the brewery, so you can bring your own food in if you want.
DC Brau is located at 3178-B Bladensburg Rd NE, Washington, DC 20018
If you have never been there before please note that it is located on the back side of a strip mall. There’s plenty of parking in the lot on the back side but your GPS will probably direct you to the front of the shopping center. When you get there just drive down the paved ramp to the back side of the shopping center (look for the DC Brau beer can sign, it looks like this). DC Brau is the only business on that side of the shopping center so park anywhere in the lot.
If you’d like to check out the bands ahead of time here’s a bit of info. Borracho (playing first) is a DC based three piece and they actually approached me this spring about doing an all ages show that they could bring their kids to and that’s what got the ball rolling. Their sound is along the lines of 70s era Black Sabbath mixed with 90s desert rock bands like Fu Manchu and Kyuss. They have a new album coming out on August 18th and you can listen to one of those new tracks below.
The second band to play will be Hot Blood. They’re a new band with only a three song EP that was released last month out so far. They’ve got more of an 80s party rock vibe and you can hear their entire EP below.
Today is another Bandcamp Friday, which means today until 3am Eastern time Bandcamp waves their cut from all music and merch sales on the site. I just thought I’d mention a few new releases from local bands of the metal variety that you can support this Bandcamp Friday (or afterwards as well). Let me know if there’s more releases from the past month that I should add.
Goetia is a new death metal band that includes members of Genocide Pact, Deliriant Nerve and Perpetuated. Their debut release dropped today and is available digitally or on cassette.
Local stoner band Borracho just dropped two new instrumental songs last week which are their most spacey tracks yet! It’s just $3 too.
Life is an Option is the DSBM side project of Zak Suleri, a musician who is involved with a bunch of local doom bands like Torvus, Et Mors and Foehammer. This project’s debut just released on April 21st.
Local thrash metal band Ninth Realm just dropped a new split with the British band Inhuman Nature earlier this week that you can pick up for just $2.
Mast Year lies somewhere between post metal and noise rock. Their debut album, Knife, was released on April 7th via Baltimore label Grimoire Records and is available on CD as well as digitally.
Falls Church based sludge band dirt eater released two new songs on April 21st and you get them both for just $5.
Local progressive metal band Wings Denied released a new song on April 7th that you can get for just $1.
And if all of that isn’t enough be sure to check out Weedian‘s newest stoner and doom metal compilation. This one features 39 tracks by 39 different bands from Virginia and West Virginia including the likes of Windhand, Karma to Burn, Cough, Earthling and more! It’s name your price and all tracks are posted with the permission of the bands.
I went to a few shows last week that were all great and I shot a lot of photos and videos and thought I’d share them here with you all. Mercyful Fate, Katatonia and the Dave Sherman Benefit show were all great experiences, I’m so glad live concerts are back this year.
Mercyful Fate
First up was the return of Mercyful Fate at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Tuesday, November 8th. Teutonic thrash legends Kreator were the first band I saw as it took me 25 minutes (and cost me a bottle opener on my key ring) to get into the venue leading me to miss opener Midnight. King Diamond has toured the US several times since Mercyful Fate’s last US tour in 1999 but fans have long been whispering rumors of a proper Mercyful Fate tour. With a blood moon lunar eclipse in the sky and midterm election results coming in time was standing still as Mercyful Fate took the stage. You never really know if a band as old as Mercyful Fate is going to live up to the hype live but I think it is quite safe to say that this show did. King Diamond’s voice held up well and the band had great energy on stage along with a beautiful stage set up and lighting. They played a set list full of classics and a new song off an upcoming album that is yet to be named. I didn’t have a photo pass for this show, all my shots were from the audience on my phone, but I think I got a few decent ones, and I got video footage of the new song “The Jackal of Salzburg” as well as my personal favorite Mercyful Fate song, “A Dangerous Meeting.”
Click here to see all of my concert videos on YouTube.
Click here to see all of my photos from this concert on Flickr.
Mercyful Fate – The Jackal of Salzburg
Mercyful Fate – A Dangerous Meeting
Kreator – Flag of Hate / Pleasure to Kill
King Diamond of Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate at the Fillmore Silver Spring
Mike Wead and Hank Shermann of Mercyful Fate
Mercyful Fate at the Fillmore Silver Spring
Mercyful Fate set list 11/8/2022
Katatonia
The next night I found myself at the Black Cat to see Swedish doom band Katatonia along with the German prog band The Ocean. Again I missed the opener, Cellar Darling in this case, and I’m starting to wonder if it is just me or if shows are starting earlier now since the pandemic. This was the first night of the US tour and I wasn’t sure what kind of set list Katatonia would play, mostly newer stuff or and older “best of” style set. They played a pretty good mix with 5 songs off of The Great Cold Distance album and they even played their new song “Atrium” live for the first time ever at this show. Jonas Renkse’s voice sounded great and the band seemed fresh and really into the entire 90 minute show. The lighting has never been stellar at the Black Cat and since I just had my phone with me I didn’t get many decent shots of either band, but I did get some great video footage of Katatonia, which you can peruse below.
Katatonia – Old Heart Falls
Katatonia – Deliberation
Katatonia – Teargas
Katatonia – Leaders
Katatonia – Atrium first time ever played live
Katatonia -Evidence
Katatonia at the Black Cat
Katatonia at the Black Cat
Katatonia set list 11/9/2022
Video clip of The Ocean Collective
Dave Sherman Benefit
The following Saturday, the 12th of November, I headed up to Frederick, Maryland, for the Dave Sherman Benefit show at Cafe 611. The gig was a benefit show for the family of the late, great Dave Sherman. It was also something of a memorial show for the legend of the Maryland doom metal scene after his untimely death in September, but I’ve gotta say it was a pretty uplifting and positive experience. People were happy to see each other and most of the bands played some sort of cover or tribute to Sherm during their sets. The first band went on at 3pm, which was way too early for me to get there, but I did make sure I left in time to catch Victor Griffin and his band Place of Skulls. I guess they took too long setting up because several songs were cut out of their set and they ended abruptly after playing a cover of Pentagram’s “Relentless” (which wasn’t even on their set list). Still, it’s always cool to see Victor Griffin play live. Next up was Foghound and they put on a super high energy set and got everyone in the audience to raise their hands like how Dave Sherman would imitate riding a motorcycle. After they played it was time for another great set by Borracho. The DC based stoner band has been working on some new material and playing some of the songs live here and there and I managed to get video footage of a brand new song the first time they ever played it live that night. They closed their set with a Spirit Caravan cover, one of Dave Sherman’s bands, and I’ve got footage of that below as well. Faith in Jane closed out the show and the crowd was dwindling by the time they took the stage a little before 1am but the people that were there still had some energy! Faith in Jane had some technical difficulties but even so they still somehow seem to get better each time I see them, and this time was no exception. I wish I had been able to catch Pimmit Hills and some of the other earlier bands but I still enjoyed every minute of the sets by the four bands I did catch. I’m not one to believe in any kind of afterlife but I know that Dave Sherman would have been happy and proud to see all the joy in the room and on stage that night because of him.
Place of Skulls – Lost
Foghound – Turn Off the World
Borracho – Architects of Chaos – Part 1 first time ever played live
I just thought that I’d throw together a list of some recent local metal releases for Bandcamp Friday (or whenever you’re reading this).
Borracho – Pound Of Flesh
Release date: 6 August 2021
It’s hard to believe that it has been 5 years since DC’s best stoner metal band has released a full length but Pound of Flesh is finally here!
So Be It – Let The End Begin
Release date: 6 August 2021
So Be It is a death/thrash band based out of Silver Spring that is dropping their second full length today for Bandcamp Friday. Cathy riffs abound on these mosh pit friendly songs.
Grishka – Death Throes Radio Vol 1. – Grishka Live Set
Release date: 6 August 2021
Grishka is a new extreme metal band that actually formed during the pandemic era of no concerts. They did live perform on a Death Throes Radio livestream event back in April and the audio from their entire 17 minute set is now up on Bandcamp. Be sure to check out their debut album (here) if you haven’t yet!
Misery Index – Coffin Up the Nails
Release date: 20 July 2021
This release by death/grind band Misery Index isn’t a proper album but a collection of covers and demo versions of other songs scattered among b-sides and such of previous releases. The Bolt Thrower and Sepultura covers are worth the price of admission alone though!
Spiral Grave – Legacy of the Anointed
Release date: 16 July 2021
When Iron Man founding member Al Morris passed away in 2018 the remaining members of his band regrouped with Willy Rivera of Lord to form Spiral Grave. This is the doom band’s debut full length and while it has a freshness to it you still get that classic Maryland doom metal sound too.
Blunt Horse / Grilth – split
Release date: 16 July 2021
Blunt Horse is a proggy sludge band from DC and this split with Grilth (who are from upstate New York) includes three tracks of the band showing their wide range but always keeping it weird.
Unendlich – Paradox of a Broken World
Release date: 9 July 2021
Unendlich is a local one man black metal band that plays in a more aggressive style of the genre. This fourth full length album is the band’s first since the pandemic took hold in early 2020 and it was worth the wait!
Honey Spreader / Reeking Cross – split
Release date: 2 July 2021
Honey Spreader is a harsh noise duo consisting of Blake Harrison (Pig Destroyer, Zealot R.I.P.) and Alex Cha. This split with Reeking Cross, who is a more powerviolence/grind style band, is short but brutal and I think the Honey Spreader song titled “Cement Mixer of Emotion” sums up this release pretty well.
Bonus tracks! Here’s a couple of upcoming releases by local bands that you can preorder on Bandcamp right now.
Zealot R.I.P. – The Extinction of You
Release date: 10 September 2021
Guitarist Mick Schleibaum (Darkest Hour), Blake Harrison (Pig Destroyer) and Jason Hamacher (Frodus) make up the core of Zealot R.I.P. which has a sound somewhere between DC hardcore and Entombed. This is their debut EP and it is sure to be a rager!
Full of Hell – Garden of Burning Apparitions
Release date: 1 October 2021
Ocean City based grind band Full of Hell have been getting more and more experimental with each release while keeping the heavy on full blast. I can’t wait to hear the rest of this upcoming release this fall.
I wanted to do a light hearted episode this time and what could be better for that than talking to Jono Colliver of Dr. Colossus, a stoner/doom metal band from Australia that is dedicated to the Simpsons TV show. They just released a new album in May titled, “I’m a Stupid Moron With an Ugly Face and A Big Butt and my Butt Smells and I Like to Kiss My Own Butt” and as you’ll quickly be able to tell by listening to the track “Pickabar” at the end of the episode, unlike most funny theme bands, they’ve actually got some sick riffs!
On the third episode Metal Chris interviews Matt Hyde, vocalist of the New Zealand based band Beastwars, and talks about how his bout with cancer brought the broken up band back together resulting in Beastwars recording a new album just a few weeks after his final chemotherapy treatment. Sorry if you hear a bit of clanking during the interview, he was wearing bracelets that made noise when he moved his hands and I should have asked him to remove them but I guess I’ll know for next time.
Metal Embassy is now on Bandcamp (here) and Pandora (here) along with plenty of other podcast apps (see the full list here). You can also just click play below to listen to the episode.
DCHeavyMetal.com 