Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene | DCHeavyMetal.com

Metal Show Of The Week: Hush

Who? Hush
When? Saturday, October 19th
Where? Velvet Lounge (map)
How much? $8 cash at the door

This week’s pick for the metal show of the week goes to Hush at the Velvet Lounge on Saturday, Oct 19th. All of the bands on this bill are worth checking out in their own right even if you can’t make this show. I’m not just saying that to be nice either, it really is a stacked line up. First up the band Hush comes from Albany, New York and brings a dark and angry form of sludgy doom metal to town. If you’ve never heard them before then be sure to download their Untitled I album here (you name the price, even free). If you like slow and heavy metal then you’ll like these guys.

Hush is a good band, no doubt about it, and it’s definitely worth checking them out in a close up live setting like this, but this show has an excellent line up of local metal bands playing as well. The Osedax is a local atmospheric doom metal band and I can tell you these guys are an excellent live band. Their songs are doomy and yet leave you energized. You can download a song of theirs for free here. Also on the bill is Fortress, a local favorite of mine (if you count Hagerstown, MD as local). Their live show is Motörhead level loud but slow and heavy like lava oozing from a volcano. You can download their demo for free here but you’ve really got to see them live to truly experience the force of their sound (tip: bring ear plugs!). And let’s not forget local black metal band Thrain. The three piece has no bass player but they make up for it by not giving a shit about bass and writing some shredding dual guitar black metal anyways. Some of you may recognize the band’s ginger front man James Healy, the guy who fixes up guitars for metal heads around the area at Old Town Lutherie. You can also grab Thrain’s demo for free here.

In addition to the four bands the Philly based indie label Dullest Records will be setting up shop for the night so you vinyl collectors might want to bring a few extra dollars cash. In all, this is a great line up with a dark touring band and three excellent local bands, and it’s just $8! The Velvet Lounge is on U Street right around the corner from the 9:30 Club and as such it’s easily reachable by Metro. Doors open at 9pm and the first band goes on at 9:30. Please note that it is ages 21+ only. I hope to see some of you there, it’s going to be a hell of a dark show! Now check out these clips of the bands from YouTube, a couple of them are live recordings so you’ll have to excuse the low sound quality on those.

October 17, 2013
Categories: Metal Show Of The Week, Velvet Lounge, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Doom Metal, Fortress, Hush, The Osedax, Thrain, Velvet Lounge . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Review of Alma de Guerrero by Metanium

Band: Metanium
Album: Alma de Guerrero
Release Date: 19 September 2013
Buy from iTunes (digital) for $9.90: Here
Buy from CD Baby (digital) for $9.99: Here

Cover of Alma de Guerrero by Metanium

Tal is back with her second album review for DCHM and it marks a first on the site. Specifically, this is the first time we’ve reviewed a non-English album on the site. Alma de Guerrero by DC locals Metanium is, except for an alternate version of one track, entirely in Spanish. As always you can stream a few songs from it at the end of this review and you can also find more of Tal’s writing on her regular blog here.

I first became acquainted with Metanium’s music when I saw them open for Spanish folk metal band Mago de Oz in May. I really enjoyed Metanium’s set – a groovy mix of heavy metal right on the edge of power metal, with a cover of Helloween’s “I Want Out” that the singer delivered effortlessly. I wasn’t able to attend their album release party on September 19th, but I was looking forward to hearing the new release, Alma de Guererro, hoping for more heavy metal and Helloween-esque goodness.

Alma de Guererro (Soul of a Warrior) is a solid, enjoyable album, and pretty ambitious, too, reaching for the heights of the vocalist’s range and striving for hard-hitting heavy metal power. It has some really cool moments. But in contrast to the singer’s breezy take on Helloween at their show in May, here he frequently sounds strained. The recording quality is also rather low, which detracts a little from the ability to enjoy the guitar goodness – but for an underground, self-produced album, it’s a pretty good effort. The album cover and booklet, by contrast, are very professional and nicely designed. The digital design of a horned skull reflects the aggressive and (mostly) straightforward heavy metal direction of their music. Inside the booklet, one finds quality photos of the band and a simple but effective layout for song lyrics and the band’s thank yous.

The first song, “Veneno Mortal” (“Deadly Venom”), is a solid heavy metal track. It starts out a bit low key, but the random shreddy guitar bits scattered throughout the first two verses keep it interesting. After ending the second verse with a wail, the pace picks up, galloping for a few moments before settling into an aggressive NWOBHM sound. Toward the end is a fun segment where the drums and guitar thrash furiously for a couple seconds. The song provides a good taste of what’s to come on the album – solid heavy metal riffs, unfortunately a little obscured by the fuzzy production, gritty vocals with some wails thrown in, and random moments of amazing inspiration.

The title track, “Alma de Guerrero” (“Soul of a Warrior”) is also very strong. Starting off with a dramatic intro, epic guitar strains and a nice clear wail, it seems destined to be a thundering heavy metal attack. The vocals are quite powerful and gritty, although the singer seems to lose control a little at the end of the verses. The song urges the listener – the metalhead – to fight on in the face of evil, to keep pressing forward confidently, never to look back or give in to weakness; and the guitars and the strong vocals pack the energy the theme needs.

The album also includes an English version of this song which I didn’t enjoy as much. Some of the lyrics sound far too simple in English; the Spanish version is a little more poetic. For instance, the second verse of the song:

En este mundo, tienes que luchar
Siempre adelante tienes caminar
Con pasos firmes, y sin mirar atrás
Mantente fuerte, y sin debilidad

Vocalist Marvin Serrano, who wrote the lyrics, has translated this almost word for word:

In this world you must learn to fight
Always look forward when you’re walking down the path
So keep your head up and remember don’t look back
Remain strong and don’t ever give up

It’s still a great message, and conveys the literal meaning of the Spanish lyrics pretty closely, but in translation, especially of evocative works such as song lyrics, capturing the feeling and rhythm of the original is just as important as the literal meaning – and this translation is a little lacking in that department. Still, including an accurately translated English version of the title track is a nice touch for any listeners who don’t understand Spanish.

The two versions do differ slightly in more than just language. The Spanish version is sung solely by the vocalist, whereas the English version includes gang vocals in the chorus which sound a little disorganized. On the other hand, the verses sound a bit better on the English version.

My favorite song on the album is undoubtedly “Perdiendo el Control” (“Losing Control”), and I think it’s their most solid piece as well. It’s fast-paced, with strong, aggressive vocals throughout, and has some unusual guitar work for this genre – a thick, very distorted tone, with segments of buzzy tremolo picking and racing drums that have quite a black metal feel. Ironically, the song is called “Losing Control,” yet the vocalist seems much more in control of his vocals in this song than in some others.

The rest of the songs aren’t as memorable, though they do have their cool moments. “Al Filo del Metal” (“At the Edge of Metal”) is an old school heavy metal song with a decent rocking energy, but didn’t really hold my attention. “La Marcha Vikinga” (“The Viking March”) is another decent, moderately-paced song with a few snatches of shreddy guitar. The ballad, “Hace Mucho Tiempo” (“It’s Been a Long Time”) starts off nicely with an acoustic intro and then some beautifully mournful electric guitar, but the singer’s gritty vocals seem a little rough for this song at first, while his clean vocals on the agonized chorus are a bit weak, wavering as he tries to sustain notes. As the song goes on, though, the forceful singing style seems more appropriate, conveying the intensity of the persona’s grief and loneliness. “Victimas de la Religión” (“Victims of Religion”) starts off rather monotonous and plodding, but soon picks up the pace with a bit of a thrash vibe. Admittedly the dangerous-sounding bridge, about halfway through, is pretty ear-grabbing, as is the ending where the singer insists, “No seas victima de esta religión” (“Don’t be a victim of this religion”) over more of those dark and intense tremolo-ish riffs. “Sangra el Corazón” (“Bleed the Heart”) is notable for its polka rhythm, which makes it a fun song, in spite of the repetitive lyrics (several songs on the album suffer from those). The beginning of “Sangra el Corazón” is also the only song where I could actually hear the keyboard – if I hadn’t seen the keyboardist’s picture in the booklet, I would probably not even have known the band has one.

Besides the English version of “Alma de Guerrero,” the album also includes another bonus track, a half-acoustic alternate version of “Veneno Mortal.” I’m not a fan of acoustic versions of metal songs in general, since they usually lack the punch of the electric versions, so I was relieved when, about a minute and a half in, the electric guitar and drums started to pick up. About two thirds through, the same thrashy heavy metal vibe as in the first track took hold – so much for an acoustic version. I prefer the sound of original song, but hey, some people may enjoy the acoustic part.

I was surprised that the high-pitched and clean vocals on the album sounded so forced, compared to my fond memories of the singer’s wails at the show in May, and a little disappointed at the low production. The latter is perhaps to be expected for an underground album, though. As for the former, it doesn’t take away too much from my enjoyment of the album, since the aggressive vocals are still very strong, and there are some solid riffs to back it up as well as some flourishes of brilliance. I’ll be following these guys with interest to see how they progress on their next album.

Perdiendo el Control:

Veneno Mortal:

October 14, 2013
Categories: Album Reviews, Local Band Info, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Album Review, Album Reviews, Alma de Guerrero, Heavy Metal, Metanium, Tal . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 1 Comment

Review of Galaxia Infinitum by Grethor

Band: Grethor
Album: Galaxia Infinitum
Release Date: 16 August 2013
Buy from Bandcamp for $4: Here

Cover of Galaxia Infinitum by Grethor

Grimy Grant is back with another album review for DCHeavyMetal.com. This time he’s reviewing the new EP by Northern Virginia death metal band Grethor. Give it a read and be sure to give a listen to one of the songs at the bottom of this post.

Back in college, I took a survey course in Science Fiction. The professor, being an admittedly avid weirdo and Sci-Fi geek, demonstrated how you can split the genre of Sci-Fi into two groups: Star Wars-esque Sci-Fi and Star Trek-esque Sci-Fi. Star Wars refers to all the campy, unbelievable stories that hold only a little grip on reality (Think Predator, Stargate, or any SyFy channel original movie). Star Trek, on the other hand, was a show dedicated to “real” science, even if it meant fringe science. In other words, everything in “hard” Sci-Fi can be defended or explained by your physicist friends. Hard Sci-Fi, then, can be understood to worship logical reasoning above everything else.

My point is, Grethor is Star Trek. Even the name “Grethor” refers to the Star Trek Universe: it’s the Klingon word for Hell (i.e. Gre’Thor). Their new five-track EP, Galaxia Infinitum, solidifies their footing in the science fiction world but also proves that hard sci-fi can be curiously eerie and terrifying at the same time. Space by itself is a frightening concept as brought to mind in the album’s intro where we hear the astrophysicist Neil Dygrasse Tyson talking about “the importance of looking up”:

“Looking up … is the most humbling thing you can do … to contemplate the cosmos”

This is soon followed by the sounds of a spaceship crashing and exploding followed by the roars of some futuristic animal ready to tear us apart. It felt as if Grethor wanted me to learn a bit about the importance of physics and then leave me in the bleak yet gorgeous void as shown on the album art.

That sense of being lost didn’t last long. The first song, “Anomoly X”, set the tone and the message for the rest of the album in my mind. After a slow intro, singer Marcus Lawrence preaches the word of astronomy: “We look to the skies; Inward we look for the vastness of connection”. Marcus begs us to give up the hope of “false exhalations” that mankind comes from godhood. We are simple creatures making vague notions of what is real until we “choose the gift of enlightenment” and become truly free in knowing our part in the universe. It’s definitely a humbling message that repeats back the quote from the intro.

Good death metal often looks under the skin directly into the vilest, goriest, most unspeakable parts of humanity. In Galaxia humans are ugliest when they reject science. “Hypatia,” the fourth track on the album, gives this idea a direct metaphor. One of the first recorded women in science, Hypatia lived during the Roman empire and established many ground-breaking facts about the universe and the way our solar system is constructed. That was up until a group of Christians raped and tore her apart in the streets for publicizing her discoveries. Grethor puts it into lyrics with:

“Men will kill to preserve conformity/ … Men see no profit in peace/For the more rational are weak/In the eyes of their priests”

The point that comes across here in the lyrics is black and white. That Grethor is talking about how “The inferiority of self” coming from learning about the cosmos – or anything bigger than us – causes some in society to take devastating action – even if it’s against the actual greater good. Or as it is poetically growled in the song: “Men arrogantly justify killing one/Who seeks truth, and they call it heresy”.

Guitarists Robert Lute, Andy McComas, and bassist Nick Rothe don’t flex a lot of guitar muscle in this album. Instead, they allow the sound to swell and compress over and over again – going from a black metal-style harmony to crushing, quickened riffs. “Anomoly X” starts with a beautiful and steady rhythm that then dissolves into a slow guitar melody. It made me think back to the cover art featuring the nebula and stars colliding together. Everything in the song “Anomoly X” crashes yet seemingly blends together, which was hard to get into at first but gets me more and more hooked after each listen. “Tenebrous” and “Hypatia” feature elements that I love about the album: symphonic harmony that starts after the end of the song and provides a kind of psychotic break. It serves as a strange pause between “Tenebrous” and the pounding rhythm of “Hypatia”.

Galaxia does suffer from it’s technical issues. It’s mentioned in the liner notes that come with the album that all parts of the album except the last song were mixed in Maryland, while the final song, “Alternate Lexicon,” was done in Virginia. However it happened, the mix on “Anomoly X” as well as “Tenebrous”, seems way too rough. At some points in “Anomoly X” the guitars almost seem to be coming from the back of the room whilst Lawrence is jamming his voice straight into the mic. I’m still able to get into the song but the levels and rough edges of the mix tend to get in the way of really enjoying it sometimes. The mix gets significantly better in “Hypatia”, where the vocals mix well with the rest of the band, coming to the fore right at the moment of the breakdown. As a finale “Alternate Lexicon” weaves together some beautiful guitar work with amazing drums from Anthony Rouse, despite the difference in moving locations for recording. Maybe this all is a result of something that happened organically in the sound mixing booth, but the final product is rough at the beginning which could turn some people off from listening to the rest.

Science fiction is about the fear not only of our future but our present. Galaxia Infinitum dazzles with moments of echoing guitars, drums, and robot voices – all things both future and present. The digital album came with a lyrics sheet of the liner notes, which is something I appreciated. Grethor’s lyrics in this album create a world beyond the expansive noise – something that is better read sometimes than heard. Despite the rough edges, and there are some rough parts, there is a lot of story and great points brought out. Interestingly, I could say the same for Star Trek: rough around the edges but chock full of deadly surprises and decent science worship. But there is no living long and prospering in Galaxia Infinitum; just sharp, precise death metal that chills the soul.

September 5, 2013
Categories: Album Reviews, Death Metal, Local Band Info, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Death Metal, Galaxia Infinitum, Grethor, Grimy Grant . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Four Year Anniversary

This September DCHeavyMetal.com turns 4 years old and I’m really trying to make it special with all kinds of great things, online and offline, to celebrate. There’s going to be more posts on the site this month, including a few album reviews which are in the works as well as a good old fashioned concert review or two, something I haven’t posted too recently. I’m also working on an app for Android users which will let people pull up the concert calendar on their phones very easily as well as some other features like an interactive map that will use your GPS location data to tell you what concert venues, record stores and other businesses in the area that are metal friendly are near you. This should make traveling to these places much easier if you’ve never been there before. I should also be selling not one but TWO new t-shirt designs this month that I hope you all like as much as I do. I can’t wait to reveal them! Now some details about some of the other things DCHM will be doing to celebrate our 4th anniversary…

To get things started, right now we’re giving away a pair of tickets (before they even go on sale) to see Slayer, Gojira and 4Arm at the Fillmore Silver Spring on 11/19. To enter you just need to send me the title of your favorite Slayer song either on Twitter (send it to @MetalChris) or you can leave a comment on the Facebook post here. The winner will be chosen at 5pm EST on Thursday, Sept 5th so don’t wait!

This Sunday, September 8th, you’ll find me at Port City Brewery in Alexandria as I co-host Metal Night IV there with their metal head brewer Will! The event is free and there won’t be any bands playing but we’ll be playing metal on the speakers all night from a playlist that you guys send in songs for. You can send song requests (limit 2 per person) to Will via Twitter (@PCBCBrewMetal) or via email at Will@PortCityBrewing.com. Since the brewery is releasing their Oktoberfest beer this metal night is having an Oktoberfest theme, meaning think of your favorite metal songs with a German theme or by bands actually from Germany (Blind Guardian, Kreator, Necrophagist, Sodom, etc…) You can send in non-German songs too, and local bands are always welcome on the list. There will be nine beers on tap for Metal Night IV including rare releases such as Deracho, Maniacal (named after the Cannibal Corpse song with that title) and my personal favorite, the smoked porter named Two. In addition to all that, we’ll have lots of prizes to give away, including tickets to upcoming area metal shows like Pelican/Coliseum at DC9, another pair of tickets to Slayer, and tix to several shows coming to Empire. More details and info can be found on the Facebook event page here.

And you may have heard by now that there will be a big DCHeavyMetal.com anniversary show at the Fillmore Silver Spring on Thursday, September 26th! I’ve got some of my favorite local bands, as well as the excellent sci-fi themed thrashers Vektor, playing this show! And these aren’t just any locals on the bill: the beer soaked heavy riffs of Borracho will be sure to please any Sabbath fans (isn’t that all of us?) and the guitar wizardy of Midnight Eye is going to sound great at the Fillmore! The opening act is Asthma Castle, a stoner metal band from Baltimore featuring Adam Jarvis (of Misery Index and Pig Destroyer) on drums. There will be more surprises to be announced about this show as well, so join the Facebook event page (here) and I’ll keep you up to date! I hope a lot of you can come out to this one, if there’s a good turn out I might be able to do more of these, plus it will be cool seeing these bands on such a big stage! You can get tickets for $12 here.

Last but not least a big thank you goes out to everyone who helps make this site, and the area’s metal scene, what it is. Checking out local bands, suggesting new tunes to people, going to concerts big and small all around the area, forming bands, setting up shows and just spreading the metal word any way you know how, it’s all of you who make this area’s metal scene awesome. I wouldn’t be doing this still after 4 years, advertisement free mind you, if this area’s metal scene sucked. I may keep this website alive but it’s all of you metal heads in this area that keep the scene alive here in the DMV and give me something to keep writing about. I hope to have many more reviews, improvements, fun events and of course ticket give aways for many more years to come. Keep it heavy everyone and remember: support the scene you’re a part of!

September 3, 2013
Categories: Fillmore Silver Spring, Shameless Promotion, Thrash Metal, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: 4Arm, Gojira, Slayer . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Listen To Nightmonger by Midnight Eye

Local metal band Midnight Eye is releasing their EP Nightmonger and they kick off their tour supporting it with a free show this Thursday, August 8th, at The Pinch in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in Washington DC (details here). Stream the EP above, pick it up on Bandcamp here and be sure to come out Thursday to watch these guitar wizards pull this stuff off live. And while you’re listening to Nightmonger, check out the review of it below by new DCHM writer Tal (you can find more of her writing on her regular blog here).

Band: Midnight Eye
Album: Nightmonger
Release Date: 8 August 2013
Buy From Bandcamp for $4: Here

Cover of Nightmonger by Midnight Eye

Midnight Eye further develops their distinctive sound with their 3-song EP Nightmonger. The new release keeps the energetic heavy metal/thrash groundwork that they laid in their first album, Sign, but also takes a few steps further in the progressive direction, with unusual vocals as well as widely varying guitar passages. But these guys have the guitar chops to tackle all the different styles they want to pursue, and piece them together fairly cohesively.

Rocking NWOBHM riffs just on the verge of thrashy form the base of their sound, occasionally taking off into a full-out frenzy-inducing thrash whirlwind. Along with shreddy guitar solos, there’s also a lot more noodling compared to the first album and even a low-tempo acoustic passage in the second song, “Chaos.” The change of pace when the acoustic segment begins is a little jarring, but it doesn’t utterly destroy the energy of the song. The bass and drums soon come back in to give the instrumental some thrash kick, and after the lead guitars meander for a bit, they finish the song with a speeded up version of the main riff, giving it a satisfying conclusion. Missing from the EP are the doomy segments that haunted a couple songs from the first album, but the third song, “Outsider,” features some buzzsaw black metal riffs instead. The end of this song, which really picks up the black metal sound with insistent drums and sweeping tremolo riffs, is one of my favorite moments on the EP.

While the guitars have immediate appeal, the vocals take some getting used to. The tone of the mid-range clean vocals, which dominate Sign, is unusual, although it sounds sort of like a mid-range take on early King Diamond. Nightmonger showcases a lot more of Simon Callahan’s ability to generate King Diamond-like shrieks and high-pitched notes, especially in the second song, “Chaos.” I’m still not quite sure if their attempt to combine the shrieks and clean vocals works in that song, but I do prefer the high-pitched vocals to the mid-range ones overall.

I enjoyed staring at the simple and yet intricate cover design for a while. It reflects the band’s carefully executed complexity, and hints at the black metal touches in their music. The depth of their lyrics also matches the complexity of the band’s sound. I enjoy lyrics that are a bit poetic, rather than obvious and straightforward. While the chorus of the first song is pretty direct – “people cling to these very truths:/they love their nation/before other nations/they love their friends/not others” – the verses are more subtle. This song is apparently based on the Chinese philosophical text Zhuangzi, which espouses harmony with the natural way of things, so the nature images in the verses are a fitting touch. The ending of the song – “sound the alarm/tell everyone/there’s no purpose/to anything at all” – at first seems like an abrupt break with the theme of waxing and waning concern for others. Chinese philosophical anecdotes often end with a lesson, though, and looking at it that way, the lesson in the last verse is that human attachments are so changeable that there’s really no purpose in pursuing them. The other two songs, while not as cryptic, are also nicely constructed, using images and metaphors to propel their message of distrust of those in power. I particularly like the phrase, “outsiders,/from shades of grey/are made in the/gears of the world,” from the third song, “Outsider.” It reflects a penetrating awareness of how otherness is constructed and used by the majority.

I’m enjoying the EP more with each listen, and looking forward to hearing the band play it live. Midnight Eye is holding a release party this Thursday, supported by Exar Kun and Thrain, so don’t miss the chance to see these stellar guitarists live. I’ll be there pushing people around when the thrashy parts take off!

August 5, 2013
Categories: Album Reviews, Local Band Info, Progressive Metal, The Pinch, Upcoming Album Releases, Washington DC / Maryland / Virginia Metal Scene . Tags: Heavy Metal, Midnight Eye, Music, Nightmonger, Tal, The Pinch . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 2 Comments

Pentagram ticket give away

Pentagram

Pentagram is one of the oldest doom metal bands not only from the DC area but in the history of metal and they’re playing at Empire (formerly Jaxx) in Springfield, Virginia on Saturday, August 3rd! DCHM is psyched to give away a pair of tickets to see these guys rock the stage the night after Black Sabbath plays to be the second half of an old school doom metal weekend. To enter just leave a comment on this post telling me what song you’d like to hear Pentagram play live the most at this show. You can see their discography here if you need some help. At 5pm EST this Friday, July 26th, a winner will be chosen 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 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 Amped & Alive for $20 here.

Along with Pentagram there will also be a performance by locals A Sound Of Thunder. I have a pretty good feeling they’ll be busting out some of their more Sabbathy stuff for this show and they’ve been known to cover some obscure Black Sabbath tunes too. Sons Of Eddie will be playing Iron Maiden cover songs at this show as well. And you’ll want to get there early to make sure you catch Virgina based Dirt Merchant‘s fuzzy guitars and Despite Charm who are coming down from Baltimore to play. Now check out some of these cool songs by Pentagram and A Sound Of Thunder below and tell me what song you want to hear Pentagram play live!