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.
Who? Agrimonia When? Tuesday, November 26th Where?Black Cat (map) How much? $12 cash at the door or on Ticket Fly
Two DCHM posts on the same day? Well there’s a really cool show coming up on Tuesday and I just couldn’t let it go overlooked. That’s why this week’s Metal Show Of The Week is Agrimonia at the Black Cat on Tuesday, November 26th! Agrimonia is an excellent band from Gothenburg, Sweden that just put out their third full length, the excellent Rites Of Separation, last spring on Southern Lord Records. Although Gothenburg is associated with melodic death metal acts like At The Gates, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity the band Agrimonia doesn’t fit in that category at all. They play a really dark version of sludge metal that has some energetic highs and heavy lows. Also on the tour is Take Over And Destroy (TOAD for short), a blackened sludge band from Phoenix, Arizona. They’ve got an old school sound with some catchy riffs and you’re going to want to be sure you get there early enough to see them too. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear that there are any locals on this date of the tour. So head on over to the Black Cat and check out Agrimonia before you travel the next day (or await visitors) for Thanksgiving. Please note that this all ages show is in the downstairs back stage of the Black Cat and NOT the upstairs main stage. I’m keeping this post short today but be sure to check out the songs below, they’ll surely do more convincing that I can with words!
On Tuesday, November 19th of 2013 I went to the Fillmore Silver Spring to see Slayer and Gojira. Although I arrived over 15 minutes before Gojira started, the will call line was so slow I didn’t get into the venue in time to photograph them from the photo pit (at most big shows photographers only get to shoot during the first three songs each band plays). I finally made it in and the venue was already uncomfortably packed. I’m not sure if the show was sold out but I’ve never seen the venue this packed before. There wasn’t really anywhere to stand without being shoulder to shoulder with people on the main floor so I headed upstairs to try my luck. Unfortunately if you’re not on the rail on the Fillmore’s second floor the sight lines are, well, pretty much nonexistent. The French band played a pretty similar set to the one they played at Rams Head Live in Baltimore back in February so I didn’t feel like I missed too much. Backbone is always heavy as hell but as much as I enjoy Gojira’s music, I was really here for Slayer.
The curtain came down in front of the main stage while Slayer set up and this is when things started getting better. I worked my way to the front of the stage. I noticed there were some very large boxes for shipping gear in the photo pit area which made it so the guard railing was pushed farther away from the stage than usual. This certainly made things on the ground level more crowded but at least for three songs I got to have some space up front and shoot the band. They actually ended up giving us an extra song to shoot (I think the stage hands just miscounted) and I’ve gotta say being between the wild crowd and intense band performing at a show like this is a bit surreal, like being in the eye of a hurricane. After my songs were up I assimilated back into the audience and got to enjoy the show as a regular fan.
Exodus guitarist Gary Holt has been playing with Slayer since the late Jeff Hanneman left the band in early 2011 due to an infection from a spider bite. Original drummer Dave Lombardo was recently booted from the band as well, to be replaced by Paul Bostaph who had previously replaced Lombardo in Slayer from 1992 to 2001. Of course I was worried going in how these line up changes would affect Slayer’s live sound. Luckily I needn’t worry at all, the band was as tight as ever! In fact, the last time I saw all four original members of Slayer play together, in 2010 at 1st Mariner Arena, Jeff Hanneman was obviously drunk and his playing was pretty sloppy. The version of Slayer we got at the Fillmore was really tight once again. Everyone in the band was in sync, there was very little stage banter between songs as they only paused between songs four times. That all combined with the intensity of their “old school” set list (see it here), which featured no songs written after 1990, showed everyone that Slayer wasn’t slowing down at all. The set list was pretty similar to the one on the excellent live double album Decade Of Aggression though it did feature some different songs, such as an old favorite of mine, “At Dawn They Sleep.” As a nod to Gary Holt being in the band they played a Slayer-ized version of the Exodus classic “Strike Of The Beast” too! Any problems I had with the venue prior to their set were far from my mind as I thrashed in the pit during Raining Blood. This show was overcrowded, sweaty, intense and had almost non-stop shredding from these gods of heavy metal, just how a Slayer show is supposed to be. I really can’t wait until they come around again. If there was any doubt in anyone’s mind before, this night proved to all in attendance that in a live setting Slayer still fucking rules!
I only shot photos of Slayer at the show but I think some of them turned out pretty good. See the full set, including some images that I didn’t post below, by clicking here.
I got to speak with Kerry King of Slayer this week and it marks another first on DCHeavyMetal.com. Previously I’ve only interviewed people from the area that this blog covers however when you’re offered an interview with a member of Slayer you accept it! I did try to ask several questions with a local focus though. There was some crackling on the phone and I did my best to reduce that in editing without making the recording sound too choppy. Our entire 10 minute conversation is transcribed below (with links, photos and videos) and you can stream it by clicking the orange play button below or if you want to download the 9.78mb mp3 file you can do that here. As usual my words are in bold.
This is Metal Chris from DCHeavyMetal.com and I’ve got Kerry King, guitar player for the legendary thrash metal band Slayer on the phone with me. Slayer will be playing at the Fillmore Silver Spring this Tuesday, November 19th with opening acts Gojira and 4Arm. Now I’ve heard there’s going to be some sort of old school set list on this tour. What exactly can fans expect from Slayer this Tuesday?
It’s going to be Seasons In The Abyss and prior. It’s pretty fun, [the] set goes by in no time.
So we get to hear some old stuff like “Black Magic” and “Hell Awaits” on there?
Uhhh… yeah. I had to think about that, I’m like ah man. We just played a show in Austin, we played Fun Fun Fun Fest and we had to make our set shorter so I was just trying to remember what’s on the set list. Yeah, it’s really cool. We came up with this idea ’cause we played two nights in LA and they wanted something special for the second night. I came up with this idea and then I realized right away everybody was going to want us to do the old school set. And it’s cool timing. This is the last tour before new music and we’ve never done anything like that before so the timing’s cool, it’s fun to do and people dig it.
Now this will be the first time that Slayer has played in the DC area with the new line up, which includes Gary Holt of Exodus and Paul Bostaph. What have these guys brought to Slayer’s live show?
Well Paul, this is what the third time he’s been in the band. Hopefully he sticks around this time. And Gary, he’s just an old school thrasher like I am so it’s really as close as Slayer can come to not missing a beat, I think, as it could possibly be. It’s just as good as everybody ever wants it to be, you know?
Now you’ve said [in previous interviews] you were talking about going back to the studio I guess with this line up. When exactly are you planning on starting the recording process?
Well you know if you ever read my interviews I’m always the optimist, haha. It just never always pans out but my plan is to be in [the studio] in January. That’s what I want to do. Me and Paul have, I think we’ve demoed like eleven songs and I think there’s parts of fourteen, fifteen that are just mine. We just gotta get a plan set and follow it. But we’ve got way ahead of the game. I’ve got seven songs done lyrically and I’ve never had that many before we hit the studio so it should be, whenever we get in it should be a quick process.
Now Paul Bostaph, since he’s back behind the drum kit here for Slayer and you know on one of the Slayer albums that he was on, Undisputed Attitude, there were a few covers of a famous DC harDCore band, Minor Threat. Is there any chance we’ll hear Slayer play a Minor Threat song for us on Tuesday?
I couldn’t play one if I had to hahahaha. It’s probably been since then that I’ve played those. We might have played some of that stuff on that tour in like ’96 but I would definitely have to go and do some homework.
Do you have any favorite bands from DC?
I don’t really pay attention to where bands come from. I mean it sounds kind of silly when you think about it but I don’t even know who’s from DC. Help me out here.
Yeah Pentagram is one of those painfully obvious names. Cool as shit hahaha.
Unfortunately Jeff Hanneman who was the other original guitar player for Slayer, he passed away in May of this year. This was a big blow to the metal community as a whole but I’d actually like to know how this affected you personally.
Ummm… Well you know it just… Untimely death just sucks and it’s the guy that I made music up with for thirty years. That super sucks. He went early. It sucks. Heh, that’s all I can say, it sucks. My guitar tech died the year prior so death has become no stranger to me and you just gotta deal with it. You know I’m not set up to where I can just go away and live in my house and not work ever again. You just pretty much gotta tighten your belt a little bit and get on with life. It’s a horrible thing but we gotta trudge forward.
Now Slayer’s last appearance in the DC area was July of 2012 when Mayhem Fest came to Jiffy Lube Live. I heard a lot of older metal fans complaining that legendary bands like Slayer, Anthrax and Motörhead, that they shouldn’t be opening for a band like Slipknot. What’s your take on that?
You know I understand that perspective and everyone knows I believe that sometimes but whether you’re playing in front of us or behind us– sometimes I even think it’s even harder to play after us so I just go up there, I do my show. I don’t put a lot of thought into the politics of it and say all right we’re done. Now your turn. Have fun buddy.
Now in 2002 Paul Bostaph had just left Slayer and you guys were holding drumming auditions and one of the guys you did an audition with was Kevin Talley who DC area metal heads will know for having played with Dying Fetus and Misery Index for years. There’s video of this that’s gone around on YouTube and other places on the internet for a while. And I was kind of curious what were your thoughts on his performance and is there any reason he didn’t get the job?
He was definitely in the final one or two and I think that was the first time Paul left that we did that. The second time Paul left Dave [Lombardo] came back so we weren’t doing the auditions then. It had to be the first time, probably like ’97 but yeah I remember him playing with us. He was definitely one of my top choices but the guy that we picked just seemed like the better fit.
Washington DC is something of a craft beer town these days and several of our local breweries have metal heads working there and running the places and brewing beer. And with bands like Iron Maiden, Sepultura, Amon Amarth and even locals Pig Destroyer, they’ve all got their own official beers. Have you ever thought about making an official Slayer beer?
I know it’s been brought up and I know we have Slayer wine over in Scandinavia and I don’t really understand exactly what it all takes to get the permit to sell that stuff here. You know that’s not something I worry myself about all day but I’m sure it’s going to be getting world spread. And then there’s been talk of beer, there’s been talk of spirits. You know it’s just gotta get it all thought out and then be presented to us in a way that it’s ready to go. I’m totally into it.
You know I could probably get one of these guys to bring some great local beer backstage if you want on Tuesday.
Oh Gary would be into it. I’m not a beer drinker.
Alright man, what would you rather have some Jäger I guess?
Nah we got plenty of that, hahaha.
There was a recent commercial on ESPN with sports analyst John Clayton wearing a Slayer shirt and I saw you guys recently posted a photo with him backstage I think in Seattle. And apparently he’s actually a really big Slayer fan in real life, it wasn’t just on the commercial.
I know that’s when I found out too. I was like, ah he’s really into us, haha.
That’s pretty cool. So I was wondering do you know any other public figures or celebrities that are Slayer fans that people might not expect?
Oh I’m sure I do. Um… But I mean it’s more like people you’d expect like Josh Barnett the MMA fighter he’s big time into metal. I always see him in the pits actually at my show or anybody else’s show you can always pick Josh Barnett out cause he’s the biggest guy out there.
I don’t think I’d want to be in a mosh pit with him at a Slayer show, hahaha.
He doesn’t have to worry about getting his ass kicked, that’s for sure. So you know that, you know ball players, but that’s kind of obvious you know. Anybody that gets pumped up before they do anything Slayer pumps you up as well as anything you know, gets you fired up.
Yeah it definitely does that.
John Clayton one was definitely crazy. We didn’t know he was coming to the show. We’re warming up and our tour manager says “hey, John from ESPN” and Gary says “John Clayton?” hahaha and he comes in and we’re like “ah man that’s cool” and he had the shirt on that he wore in the commercial. It was rad.
Alright so what’s your favorite Slayer song to play live? You know it really does get people pumped up but what’s your favorite?
Probably “Raining Blood.” There’s so many musical changes in that song and when you hit the opening riff the place just becomes electrified. It’s awesome.
That’s an awesome song. You know I’ve always loved that song too because it sounds like a thunder storm ripping through the area. So here’s another question about music: What’s your favorite new band putting out music right now?
I don’t have one. That’s a question I really struggle with. You know and I’m not really checking out new music right now because when I’m working on new material of our own I don’t listen to things I don’t know so it doesn’t outside influence me. And I know that sounds crazy for a guy that’s been doing this thirty years but I mean your subconscious is a strange thing. You might hear this riff and it ends up in your song kinda. You know even now it’s five, the last ten years I don’t have anybody. I wish I did. Most [of] the stuff I listen to is old.
Alright. You know DC is the seat of political power in the western world. Is there any kind of statement or anything you’d like to say to any of our politicians or about policy here?
Not really. I’m not a big political evangelist type person. I make music, they play with the law.
Alright. The last time you guys came really anywhere near here with the original line up was when you played 1st Mariner Arena [in Baltimore] in 2010 and that’s when you guys were doing [the] complete album Seasons In The Abyss and I think Megadeth was on that and they were doing Rust In Peace as well.
Yeah.
You did Reign In Blood years before that as well and I was wondering are you ever going to do South Of Heaven straight through?
I don’t think so. South Of Heaven‘s got great songs on it but it’s also got a cover on it and even though we sometimes do covers… doing a whole tour… I just don’t think that’s as strong a record as Reign In Blood and Seasons. I think we picked the right two to play. I don’t like “Cleanse The Soul.” I think that’s one of the worst songs we ever made up.
Oh really?
Yeah.
Another thing I was wondering is, I know last year Slayer put out those Christmas sweaters that were so popular. Do you have any other ideas for off the wall Slayer merch coming up?
It always comes up man and I know they’ve got new ones this year because they just made a limited amount last year and they were gone before you could blink an eye which I thought was ironic because I vetoed that to start with. But yeah they’re going to have more this year. They planned on making more so people would be able to get them I know that. They’re always coming out with different shit that we’ve gotta approve. I just approved a coffee mug. I don’t even know where they sell those things but you know the ones you put in your little cup [holder] in the car so they don’t tip over.
Oh yeah like the traveler mug.
Yeah, yeah. If it’s cool I approve it. [If it] sucks I don’t hahaha.
Alright well that’s about all of my questions here. Is there anything else you’d like to say to the fans of DC?
I’m stoked to come to DC man. Always a good show there.
All right man. Well thanks for taking the time to do this with me. This has been a cool experience for me so thanks a lot man.
Cool brother. Come say hello in DC.
I shall. I’ll be up in the photo pit too so I’ll be taking pictures.
It’s that time of year again, the weather is getting colder and you’re starting to hear holiday music when you venture out in public. This can only mean one thing: Gwar will be playing at the 9:30 Club soon! Sunday, November 17th to be precise (that’s this Sunday!). I’ve been commanded by my slave master Oderus Urungus to bring more lambs to the slaughter and so one of you (un)lucky DCHM readers will win a pair of tickets to attend this very massacre concert. To enter just leave a comment on this post letting me know which celebrity you’d like to see get the brutal Gwar treatment on stage at the show. At 5pm EST this Friday, November 15th, 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 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 $25 here.
If you’ve never seen Gwar live before then get ready for a truly religious experience! Our alien masters are known for putting on the goriest live show in the universe and you’ll be covered in blood, bile and worse by the time it’s over, a truly epic baptism by mosh pit. But before Gwar even dominates the 9:30 Club stage there will be sets by other bands as well. Iron Reagan is a crossover/punk band with Tony Foresta (Municipal Waste vocalist), Landphil Hall (Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse) and Ryan Parrish (ex-Darkest Hour drummer) and they’re going to shred your faces off! Starting off the festivities is the aptly named A Band Of Orcs. If you’ve ever wondered what it would sound like if monstrous orcs from Lord Of The Rings formed a metal band then get there early to find out. These guys are more Tolkien than Gorgoroth! Still not sure if you should go? Then check out these awesome music videos by the bands playing the show as you think up your entry!
Band: Primitivity Album: Evolution Release Date: 16 October 2013 Buy from CD Baby (digital) for $9.99: Here
Did you know the DC area has its own heavy metal cello based group? You may not be familiar with Primitivity since they, at least so far, haven’t played many of the venues we tend to find metal bands at. They just released an album of originals that is, well, I’ll let DCHM writer Tal’s review speak for us on this. You can also check out her personal blog here, which includes a review of a recent Primitivity concert she attended. And as always there’s a couple songs you can stream at the bottom of this post so give the band a listen as you read the following review.
Primitivity, a quartet of three cellists and a percussionist led by Loren Westbrook-Fritts, debuted three years ago with Plays Megadeth for Cello – an obvious nod to Apocalyptica’s Plays Metallica by Four Cellos. Primitivity’s new album, Evolution, which is made up entirely of original compositions, demonstrates that this group of University of Maryland grads is far from a copy of that pioneering cello rock band. On Evolution, Primitivity blends the flavors of heavy metal and classical cello music in a way that is all their own, and will appeal to metal heads and classical music fans alike.
When I first heard Primitivity’s music, I was immediately struck by how guitar-like the sound was. The first thing I heard, through a sample track on their website, were the opening “riffs” of “Sacrifice” and then “Primitivity,” and that was just what they sounded like – guitar riffs. “Sacrifice” starts off with some energetic, slightly thrashy riffs, that you can just figure out are cellos if you really think about it. “Primitivity” begins with hammering NWOBHM-ish riffs – and then about half a minute in a clean cello melody comes in, giving the music the feel of symphonic metal.
I was hooked right away by the cello “guitar riffs”, but as I listened to the rest of the album, I realized that Primitivity uses their cellos to imitate all sorts of guitar sounds. Not just riffs – there are also shreddy solos, complete with distortion and “guitar squeals,” eked out by driving the cello to the very top of its range and pizzicato segments that sound very like acoustic guitar (pizzicato notes are plucked with the fingers). I had the opportunity to see the band live at their CD release show on October 16 at the Mansion at Strathmore, and in a live environment they sounded more like cellos – but even live, the lowest parts still sounded surprisingly like bass guitar riffs.
Not only that, but the trio of cellos backed up by drums manages to recreate pretty much the whole sound of metal music, up to and including “vocals.” Primitivity is purely instrumental, with no vocals, yet in many songs the cello parts (that is, the parts that actually sound like cello) play the role of vocals. This is quite appropriate, considering that the cello is considered the instrument that most closely mimics the human voice. I first noticed it in the song “Forgiven” – when the drums, the melody and the background parts all came together at the climax of the song, it suddenly sounded like a rock ballad with the lead cello delivering the anguished vocals. There are a few other songs where I had this impression, too, most notably “Transcendence,” where the leading cello seems to sing over a chugging “bass.”
And of course, I can’t leave out the drumming. The band wouldn’t sound metal without it, after all. The percussion is nothing super fancy, leaving the spotlight of complexity on the cellos, but it does give the music the familiar rhythm and kick of metal, and is delivered crisply and energetically. I’ve heard it said that percussion is the backbone of a metal band, and that’s what the drummer creates here – a solid backbone for the cellos to build on.
Without a doubt, my favorite song on Evolution is “Convergence.” It begins with a heavy intro of moderately paced riffs, which quiet momentarily as a lovely melody begins. Soon the riffs start up again, and the fusion of riffs and melody will touch the heart of anyone who enjoys sorrowful melodic metal. Aggressive riffs occasionally come to the fore only to yield the stage to the melody again, and then about midway through they come together in a perfect fusion of heaviness and beauty that gives me chills. After that guitar sounds take over for a bit, with what sounds like twin lead “guitars” and then a short shreddy “solo” before the melody soars over the riffs again. I catch myself playing air guitar, laugh and start playing air cello instead.
As a fan of guitar (and cello) riffs, I most enjoyed the energetic, riffy parts of the other songs as well. The rocking, guitar-like intro to “Primitivity” was one of the things that first drew me to the band. Then a sweeping cello melody soars over the riffs, the smoothness and vivacity of the melody contrasting with the moderate staccato marching of the lower riffs. (Staccato notes are short, fast, percussive notes made with the bow.) The first song on the album, “Sacrifice,” also has a strong guitar-riff sound, which is almost thrashy; the melody actually falls in the background to the riffs for most of the song. The way the cellos mimic the sound of electric guitars in these first two songs is pretty amazing; there are parts where if you didn’t know better, you might actually think there was a bass guitar riffing away with a cello playing the melody. “Psycho Logic” and the short, intro-like “Overdrive” right before it are probably the most energetic and metallic songs on the album, with some more rocking riffs in “Overdrive” and very heavy, almost thrashy riffs opening “Psycho Logic.” “Psycho Logic” is carried by a jaunty cello melody, but features a lot of, shall we say, weirdness, in keeping with its name – frantic high-pitched “shredding,” very dark and harsh grinding moments that sound impossible for an acoustic instrument to produce – along with ever faster takes on the melody and some furious “bass” riffing. It’s undoubtedly the most powerful metallic song on the album. “Revival” also gets furious near the end, although the beginning is very classical-sounding, with pizzicato that sounds almost like acoustic guitar, a flowing melody and a background of short but obviously cello-sounding notes backing it up. The drums and the “riffs” don’t come in until nearly two minutes in, when the background starts to pick up a bit of distorted, heavy sound. Three quarters through the song, it suddenly changes character entirely, with racing riffs and a feverish melody that dissolves into scratchy high-pitched sounds, to end on a fast note. “Emergence” also features some solid riffing, although the cello sound shines through even in the lower notes for most of the song. It also has a very sweet melody that soars over the infectious momentum of the riffs, and sometimes takes a backseat to more complex guitar-like work, including some shreddy moments.
These songs alternate with slower songs, which I did not dig as much at first, but they started to grow on me as I listened to them more closely. Even these slower songs have energy – they feature riffy backgrounds and shreddy solos, intense climaxes and lovely melodies. “Ascend,” a song which Loren described at the show as an attempt at “simple” songwriting, is dominated by long sweeping cello notes. It keeps my attention more with the catchy riffs in the background and some thin, high sounds that eventually resolve into a short “solo,” however. “Forgiven” starts out very slow, with an almost synthy sound that is encouraged by the distant, minimal drums. Long, sad notes eventually give way to an achingly beautiful melody, and finally about two minutes in the “guitar riffs” and drums pick up. Finally things come together in the climax where I noticed the leading cello delivering the “vocal line.” Unfortunately, this energy is quickly dropped for a quiet, slow take on the melody over distant drums; fortunately, the quiet interlude is quickly ended by a “solo” and then the song intensifies again. “Transcendence,” as the slowest song on the album, is sort of a shock after the fast and energetic “Psycho Logic.” But it’s not all long flowing notes – there’s some pizzicato and “bass guitar” notes as well, which add texture and intensity. Like in “Forgiven,” things eventually come together and the cello delivers emotional “vocals” while the “bass” chugs away in the background and the drums keep slow but insistent time. This time the intensity is not dropped but keeps going until a crescendo near the end. The album also closes on a slow note with “Prayer,” which the band played “acoustic” when I saw them live. I didn’t understand what they meant by that at first – weren’t all the instruments acoustic anyway? But I think what they did was to turn off their speakers and distortion, and let the cellos speak for themselves, à la chamber music. Unlike the other slow songs, this one is devoid of any riffing in the background, and the percussion is restrained to some barely audible thumps, metallic clicks and some sort of shaker. It’s a beautiful and relaxing end to the album, and although I found my attention wandering a bit, the frequent changes in tempo and intensity drew me back.
I was very impressed by the album. It’s remarkably heavy and metal, while at the same time not losing sight of the essence of the cello. This band is not as aggressive as Apocalyptica – when I saw Primitivity live, I didn’t experience that terror of them destroying their instruments that Apocalyptica’s take on Metallica inspires in me – but Loren Westbrook-Fritts and Primitivity capture the sound and the spirit of heavy metal in a way that’s more in tune with the classical background of the cello. They don’t just use the cello to mimic the sounds of electric-guitar-based heavy metal, but create a mix of classical and heavy metal, using the natural sound of the cello, the ability of the cello to mimic the guitar as well as the voice, and the unique sounds somewhere in between to express themselves in an unusual way that is both headbang-worthy heavy and classically beautiful.
High On Fire headlines a killer line up at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Tuesday, November 12th and because DCHeavyMetal.com loves getting people out to great shows like this one we’re giving away a pair of tickets to the show! To enter just tell me which band playing the show you want to see most, and why, by leaving a comment on this very post. At 5pm EST this Friday, November 8th, 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 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 $20 here. Now a bit more info on the bands.
Oakland’s High On Fire was started by guitarist Matt Pike shortly after the break up of his previous band, the legendary doom band Sleep. Don’t think High On Fire is all doom and gloom though, their sound is more high energy with catchy sludge riffs. Also on tour is Kvelertak, a favorite band of mine that blurs the lines between punk, black metal and rock and roll. Plus they put on one of the wildest shows you’ll ever see. Kvelertak is from Norway and their song lyrics are all in their native tongue but it doesn’t matter if you know what they’re saying or not because they bring killer riff after killer riff! Music is the universal language after all. Opening up this leg of the tour will be the Doomriders. This Boston based band is led by Nate Newton (also of Converge and Old Man Gloom) and they really shred. You may be noticing something tying all these bands together: they all play some sweet riffage! This show is going to be crazy and there is literally nowhere else better to be on a cold Tuesday in November. Now check out these awesome tunes by the bands below and let me know which one you’re most excited to see at this show.
DCHeavyMetal.com 