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As The Palaces Burn ticket give away

Lamb Of God: As The Palaces Burn

As The Palaces Burn is a new documentary about Richmond metal band Lamb Of God and select cities are getting special screenings of it which, lucky for us, includes Washington DC. On Tuesday, March 4th (that’s Tuesday of next week!) the Howard Theatre will be showing the movie for DC area metal fans. This is a band documentary like no other (there’s more details on what it is about in the next paragraph) and DCHM is giving away a free pair of tickets to this screening to one of you readers of the site. To enter: just let me know what your favorite heavy metal related movie or documentary is by leaving a comment on the bottom of this post. Maybe it’s This Is Spinal Tap? Some Kind Of Monster? The Story Of Anvil? Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey? At 5pm EST this Friday, February 28th, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to this special screening! 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, I hate spam too. 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 right now for $18.30 here.

In 2012 Lamb Of God embarked on a world tour with a film crew following them along as they played in different cities around the world. As The Palaces Burn, named after the band’s 2003 album with the same name, starts as a sort of tour diary with behind the scenes interviews with band members and interactions with fans encountered on the tour. Where this documentary takes a drastic turn was when Lamb Of God arrives in the city of Prague in the Czech Republic to play a show. Their vocalist, Randy Blythe, was arrested for manslaughter upon their arrival for an incident that allegedly took place at a Lamb Of God concert in Prague years before involving the death of a fan. The documentary follows the legal and other issues they all face as the tour is halted immediately and Randy’s freedom, and the band’s very existence, are in jeopardy. The best thing about this documentary is you don’t even have to be a fan of Lamb Of God to enjoy As The Palaces Burn as it tells an intense tale that no other movie about a band does. If you’ve never been to the Howard Theatre before you’ll find that it is just off the U Street Corridor near the 9:30 Club, DC9 and Velvet Lounge. The historic building was originally built in 1910 and eventually closed only to be reopened in 2012 after $29 million in renovations. It’s a beautiful building inside and out and should be a great place to sit back with a beer and watch As The Palaces Burn. Please note that this film screening is a seated event. Now watch the trailer for As The Palaces Burn below and tell me what your favorite metal related movie or documentary is in the comment section below!

Official Trailer:

February 24, 2014
Categories: Contests, Howard Theatre . Tags: As The Palaces Burn, Contest, Contests, Documentary, Film, Howard Theatre, Lamb Of God, Movie . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 14 Comments

Review of Caesious by Torrid Husk

Band: Torrid Husk
Album: Caesious
Release Date: 4 February 2014
Record Label: Grimoire Records
Buy digital ($3), cassette ($5) or CD ($7) from Bandcamp: Here

Cover of Caesious by Torrid Husk

DCHM album reviewer Tal was particularly taken by the new Torrid Husk EP Caesious and she really wanted to review it. I’m not one much for turning down enthusiastic album review requests and this is a pretty sweet slab of black metal from West Virginia. Be sure to check out Tal’s other writings, such as local concert reviews, on her personal blog here and of course you can stream a song from this EP at the end of the post.

If you’ve read any of my other reviews (here), you probably know I adore melodies. I also like heaviness, intensity, thunder, darkness – and Torrid Husk’s Caesious delivers on all these fronts. It’s poignantly melodic and atmospheric, with all the evil-sounding raspy vocals and blast beat thunder you’d expect from a black metal band.

The first song, “Cut With Rain,” sets the melodic bar rather high – the other two songs don’t quite meet that level of melody, unfortunately. “Cut With Rain” begins softly, but soon turns into an intense melodic assault with blast beats on top of flowing tremolo guitar work. The repeated flowing melody gives the impression of sheets of heavy rain sweeping across the land, and the raspy vocals give this land a sense of darkness — and then death, as the vocals dip into guttural death metal territory. The vocals are a little lost under the onslaught of guitars and drums, and there’s no hope of understanding what Tyler Collins, the guitarist/vocalist, is saying. Halfway through the song, we’re granted a breather, as the drums slow down for an atmospheric bridge. It doesn’t last long before the assault starts again. Toward the end of the song, there’s a neat moment where the band suddenly charges into headbang-worthy classic heavy metal riffs (played with black metal techniques), but they quickly become distorted back to a black metal sound, before becoming totally chaotic. The song goes out on an extremely fast note as the drums and vocals seem to race each other to the finish. For its combination of melody and aggression, “Cut With Rain” is undoubtedly my favorite song on the EP.

The second song, “Thunder Like Scorn,” is rather chaotic and churning. Various sounds in the song give the impression of thunder – the repeated buzzsaw riffs at the beginning, the cacophony of drums and guitars later on, the booming low growls. Even as the song slows a third of the way in, the tempest seems to churn on. There is a tranquil melodic segment in the middle, like the eye of the storm, but just as it starts to get relaxing, the drums thunder in even more aggressive than before. The song slows again toward the end, as though the storm is drawing away, and the vocals become more prominent – up to that point, they’re a bit lost among the instruments.

The last song, “Paranoia,” starts off just as fast and intense as the song before it, with a frenzied sound again matching the title. Interestingly, the two songs are connected by a ringing feedback note that ends the previous song and starts this one. “Paranoia” is a bit more varied than “Thunder Like Scorn,” though, with some slower atmospheric guitar, sometimes laid over hammering drums and sometimes dominating the tempo; a bridge that, with its dissonant buzzing notes followed by gentle strumming, gives the impression of a catatonic state; and vocals ranging from drawn-out, agonized screams to furious ranting. The drums, whether battering fiercely or insistently enforcing a slower tempo, the uneasy-sounding guitar riffs and the agonized or infuriated vocals certainly create the impression of intense anxiety.

Compared to Torrid Husk’s earlier album Mingo (released in June 2013), the drums are more prominent on Caesious, and the guitars and vocals take a back seat to them. Rather than being swept over by cascades of atmospheric guitar, Caesious is dominated by blasting drums. As I greatly enjoy atmospheric guitars, I find this a little disappointing. Despite this, Caesious is still a solid release that should put a dent in anyone’s cravings for darkness, thunder and even a bit of melody.

February 21, 2014
Categories: Album Reviews, Black Metal, Melodic Black Metal . Tags: Album Review, Caesious, Tal, Torrid Husk . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Suffocation ticket give away

Suffocation at Metro Gallery

Death metal masters Suffocation are playing at the Metro Gallery in Baltimore on Saturday, February 22nd and DCHM is giving you a chance at a free pair of tickets to the show! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite death metal band is. Old or new, even broken up death metal bands count. At 5pm EST this Friday, February 21st, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to the show! 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 right now for $23.50 here.

Suffocation completely disrupted the world of death metal in 1991 when they released their classic debut album, Effigy Of The Forgotten. The album raised the bar on technicality in death metal while still being extremely brutal, and the band has never relented since then. This show is a special one off for Suffocation, not part of a tour, so they could end up playing almost anything from their intense back catalog. There’s also several locals on this show including Strong Intention, a band somewhere between thrash, grind and hardcore punk, as well as Visceral Disgorge, who always bring brutal slam-death beat downs. Other support acts include Demiz, March To Victory, Limb By Limb and Metanium, a band whose latest album was reviewed on DCHM here. Now check out these killer tunes by bands playing the show and tell me what your favorite death metal band is in the comments!

Suffocation – Infecting The Crypts

Suffocation – As Grace Descends

Strong Intention – 3rd Space Gorilla Generator

Visceral Disgorge – Skullfucking Neonatal Necrosis

February 17, 2014
Categories: Contests, Death Metal, Tech Death . Tags: Contest, Contests, Death Metal, Demiz, Limb By Limb, March To Victory, Metanium, Strong Intention, Suffocation, Visceral Disgorge . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 17 Comments

The Sword ticket give away

The Sword at the Rock & Roll Hotel

The Sword is the biggest and best doom metal band from Austin, Texas and they’re coming to DC on Friday, February 21st at the Rock & Roll Hotel on H Street. DCHM is pretty excited about the show and so we’re giving away a pair of tickets to see this very show! To enter: just leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite beer named for a band is. Maybe it’s the Iron Maiden beer, the Clutch Dark Sour Ale or even The Sword’s own Winter’s Wolves beer (more on that one below). You can enter with a beer even if you haven’t had it, maybe it’s your favorite just cause it has the best label. At 5pm EST this Friday, February 14th, a winner will be chosen at random (using Random.org) from all valid entries to receive two tickets to the show! 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 right now for $22 here, they’ll be $25 the day of the show if they aren’t sold out.

The Sword burst onto the metal scene in 2006 but they play an old school style of doom with a stoner edge full of fat riffs and catchy hooks. This show is sponsored by DC Brau as well as Baltimore’s Oliver Ales and both will have special beers at this show. DC Brau will be debuting their new double IPA Solar Abyss (which is about 10%!) and Baltimore’s Oliver Ales will have their The Sword: Winter’s Wolves dark ale on draft as well. To make things even better both beers will have big discounts on price for the show. Drinking a The Sword: Winter’s Wolves while The Sword plays their song Winter’s Wolves live in front of you can definitely happen at this show! Let’s not forget about the other bands though, Big Business is a Seattle based sludge band featuring two members of The Melvins. This isn’t just some Melvins spin off though, they’re pretty damn good (and have a great sense of humor as well). The opening act is O’Brother from Atlanta, a heavy rock band that should be a perfect start to this show. Now get to thinking of which metal beers ~~I should try~~ you choose to enter with while listening to these killer tunes below by the bands playing.

The Sword – The Veil Of Isis

The Sword – Winter’s Wolves

Big Business – Grounds For Divorce

O’Brother – Lo

February 10, 2014
Categories: Contests, Doom Metal, Rock And Roll Hotel, Stoner . Tags: Big Business, Contest, Contests, O'Brother, The Sword . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: 25 Comments

Review of Morbid Saint at American University

Last Friday, the 31st of January 2014, was a good night for the area’s metal heads. Attila sold out Empire in Springfield and Amon Amarth, Enslaved and Skeletonwitch played the Fillmore Silver Spring. However I decided to skip both of those shows for the rare chance to catch Morbid Saint play a DIY show on the campus of American University. So who the hell is Morbid Saint?

Well they were a thrash metal band from Wisconsin that in 1988 put out their only album, the underground classic Spectrum Of Death. They were a frequent opener on Death’s tours in those days but unfortunately broke up in the 90s. In 2010 they reformed and if you went to Maryland Deathfest X in 2012 then you got to see them play Spectrum Of Death from start to finish on one of the big outdoor stages there. That was a pretty great performance in the midst of many at MDF X but last Friday’s show at the Kay Spiritual Life Center at American University was something else altogether. There was no lighting rig, no barrier between the bands and fans, no big stage, hell there wasn’t even a stage. The room was small, packed, and hot and you couldn’t hope for a better DIY setting to see an old school thrash band in. Most of those old thrash bands from the 80s have either blown up like Slayer and Megadeth, disbanded after the rise of grunge, or regularly come through the area to places like Empire promoting whatever new album they may have. Those shows are all good but this show wasn’t like any of them and I knew it going in. Basically, I couldn’t let myself miss this show!

I showed up a bit late but apparently there had been an issue with the electrical box at the start of the night and everything got delayed. The show was sold out when I arrived but I had ordered tickets online ahead of time cause I knew it would. The room was basically a big oval with merch tucked into a small room on the side opposite the venue entrance. Normally it is used as an on campus religious center for any religious denomination that wants to use it but this night it would become a place to worship metal! When I got there the first band, Genocide Pact, was still playing. Genocide Pact features members of another local band, Disciples Of Christ, but isn’t quite as grindy as D.O.C. is and instead has more focus on the death metal sound. They were fun but since the room was already packed I didn’t get up front to see them. The next band up was Baltimore’s Noisem, formerly known as Necropsy. These guys are young but ever since getting signed to A389 Recordings they’ve really started to garner attention, and not just locally. They opened on a run of 22 shows for The Black Dahlia Murder and Skeletonwitch last fall and they’ll be the opening act on the entire upcoming Decibel tour with Carcass headlining. They’re definitely getting better in the live setting, that showed even when performing at a DIY show with no stage. Their high energy death/thrash really got the audience into the show and the pits got pretty intense a few times. Next up was another A389 band, the (mostly) DC based Ilsa. They play a crusty style of death/doom that is full of mosh friendly riffs and very heavy slower parts as well. It has been a little while since I’ve seen Ilsa live and in that time they’ve replaced one of their guitar players with a guy who used to play with several of them in a band called Time Of The Wolf that was a precursor to Ilsa’s formation. Their set was heavy but I do wish the band members would face the audience more. Most of the show they formed a circle facing inward at each other, aside from vocalist Orion who looked all around the room with his vice grip on the mic he was screaming into.

Finally it was time for Morbid Saint to play and after the delay and several sets you could tell the audience was getting a little restless. The audience wouldn’t settle for a bad performance from the headliner at this point and Morbid Saint delivered. The crowd erupted into a mosh pit from the first note played and frontman Pat Lind really kept the intensity up the entire show despite the heat that was becoming overwhelming. The band did not play Spectrum Of Death start to finish as they had at MDF but instead kept the set list pretty varied, they even played songs off their never officially released 1992 demo Destruction System and some other obscure material as well. They had a few extended pauses between songs because the drummer was overheating but they mostly played songs back to back to back. There were crowd surfers and people flying in and out of the mosh pit the entire set with the intensity reaching its apex when Morbid Saint played “Lock Up Your Children.” Maybe I’m just getting old but by the time it was over I was feeling pretty drained and headed straight to the water fountains. A big thanks goes out to Mariana and the AU Independent Arts Collective for making this show happen. I hope they put on more awesome metal shows in the future. Getting the chance to see one of the classic old thrash bands up close in a small, sweaty, sold out room was like stepping into a time machine back to the days of Heavy Metal Parking Lot and despite the other options that night, there’s nowhere else I’d have rather been.

Noisem:

Ilsa:

Morbid Saint:

February 6, 2014
Categories: Concert Reviews, Thrash Metal . Tags: American University, Genocide Pact, Ilsa, Kay Spiritual Life Center, Morbid Saint, Noisem, Thrash Metal . Author: Metal Chris . Comments: Leave a comment

Metal Show Of The Week: Morbid Saint

Who? Morbid Saint
When? Friday, January 31st
Where? Kay Spiritual Life Center (map)
How much? $12 cash at the door (online sales already closed)

This Friday old school thrashers Morbid Saint are coming to DC and they’re playing a really tiny venue on the campus of American University. The band is from Wisconsin and while they used to open for Death on tours in the late 80s they only ever released one proper full length album, the 1988 cult classic Spectrum Of Death. They broke up in the early 90s (like many smaller thrash bands did after the rise of grunge) but recently they’ve reunited and starting playing shows again. They made their only area appearance since reforming at the 2012 Maryland Deathfest where they played Spectrum Of Death from start to finish. This show will be a much more intimate setting than the large outdoor stage at MDF and since time won’t be as much of an issue hopefully they’ll also play some songs from their 1992 demo Destruction System.

The show is at the Kay Spiritual Life Center which is basically a small non-denominational church/mosque/whatever-religion building on American University’s campus. Online ticket sales have already ended so you’ll want to be sure to get there early if you want to get in as this show will most likely sell out. Luckily the local opening support is pretty excellent! First will be Genocide Pact, a local death metal band featuring members of D.O.C. followed by Baltimore’s Noisem, a young death/thrash band that will be opening for Carcass on their upcoming US tour. Direct support will be from Ilsa, a DC based crusty death/doom that never disappoints live. You couldn’t ask for a better line up for just $12! This Friday night this show will be a mosh friendly, sweaty and intense night for all in attendance and it’s going to be awesome! If you’re unfamiliar with any of the bands on this bill be sure to check them out by streaming the songs below.