Posts Tagged ‘ Dazvsemir ’
Event Date: March 8, 2010
Venue: B. B. Kings Blues Club
Bands: Orphaned Land, Suidakra, Gwynbleidd
I’ve seen a lot of bands over the course of my metal reporting years (as brief a time as it has been), and very few of them I would classify as “must-see”. I must say that Orphaned Land has turned out to be one of those must-see bands.
Fans of Andrew W.K. rejoice, for in just a few weeks time the singer-songwriter and all around party animal bursts back onto the music charts with a new double album release. “Close Calls with Brick Walls” and “Mother of Mankind” together combine for 39 tracks and approximately 2 hours of music. Is this too much Andrew W.K. for one person to handle? Let’s find out. Continue reading
Show date: April 3, 2009
Venue: B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill, NY
Bands: Brendon Small and the School of Rock All Stars, Tragedy, Misstallica
Tragedy. Entertainment Factor -- Check!
Another Friday night spent at good old B.B. King’s, yet again hosting a night of peculiar musical stylings of combination comedy and metal.
The evening opened with a Q&A with Brendon Small. A small crowd of fervent admirers pelted him with questions which he answered informing and abusing simultaneously. Continue reading
Show date: March 29, 2009
Venue: Highline Ballroom, NY
Bands: Tyr, Alestorm, Suidakra
Odin must have been smiling as three of the best Folk Metal bands around took the stage. Suidakra, Alestorm, and Tyr once again pillaged NYC.
The first of the night was a lesser-known (at least to me) band by the name of Suidakra. Hailing from Western Germany, Suidakra kicked things off with “War Tunes”, from their album The Arcanum, and didn’t let off of the throttle for the rest of the set. Unfortunately, the crowd didn’t seem as enthused as I, or my partner for the evening was. They opened to a small crowd; which did grow as the set went on, but seemed mostly uninterested in what they were hearing. Arcaduis (lead vocals) did manage to get a “wall of death” going, though it was rather lack-luster.
Continue reading
Show date: October 31, 2008
Venue: B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grill
Bands: The Misfits, Until Destiny, Johnny B. Morbid, Martyrd
Halloween is one of the few holidays when you can wake up and automatically know it’s Halloween. It’s spooky out there. Many spend their night at haunted houses or costume parties, but I chose to spend my Halloween with the original Horror Punk band.
The Misfits were celebrating their 31st Halloween at B.B. King’s Blues Club and Grill on a night that promises tricks and treats. Adorned with bats, ghosts, devils, and demons (not to mention the Misfits fans themselves) B.B. Kings provided a fitting décor for the evening’s festivities. Continue reading
Show date: August 24th, 2008
Venue: B.B. King’s Blues Club & Grill
Band: Finntroll
Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns vocaling it up
So the trouble with not waiting a good year or so before returning for a show is that fewer people will make it a prerogative to purchase tickets. The crowd was pretty non-existent for the opener, Lethal Strike and grew only a smidgen for Warbringer. In fact, I had a lingering suspicion that Lethal Strike brought all their friends down. This was only confirmed when three guys started freaking out all over the floor trying to start a mosh pit, and even a circle pit—though that mostly meant that they just chased each other until they got tired.
John Kevill - Warbringer Vocals. I did say ecstatic.
Both Lethal Strike and Warbringer looked ecstatic to be onstage. Although the former is only now recording a demo while the latter put out an album in 2007, both bands were mugging for the crowd and drinking in the energy while being amazing clichés. Things like “We will tear you all down with a… LETHAL STRIKE” were uttered onstage. It was also explained to us that humanity sucks and we will all eventually feed upon ourselves. I assume Warbringer expects a Zombie Holocaust, although none of their lyrics confirmed this. The bands didn’t sound particularly novel, but weren’t bad either.
At 9 both openers were finished and we prepared ourselves for a two-hour set of Finntroll, since that’s what they delivered last time. They finally came out at about 9:45, not really strutting, just sort of wandering out on stage and launched into Kitteldags off of the Jacktens Tid album. The crowd was already kind of worked up due to the three guys mentioned previously who felt that people weren’t giving their all to the pit. My thoughts on this are, you can’t tell me to move, I will move when the music makes me. This time though no amount of music was going to make me do a thing because I recently sprained my ankle and gored my hand and so stayed away from belligerence. Continue reading
This review is presented to you through the joint efforts of ETL and Dazvsemir, the keepers of B.B. King’s lore. Photo’s credit to Dazvsemir, excluding Death Angel pics which were shot by ETL at great peril to her life.
Mark Osegueda of Death Angel
Dazvsemir: In Thrash We Trust, June 11th, 2008 opened with Martyrd once again attempting to increase their local fan base. From what I heard, they performed just as well as I had heard them in the past. Despite this, Martyrd’s guitarist Dan Agapitos informed that they sounded “like crap” due to technical problems. The sparse crowd, on the other hand, seemed to be as entertained when Martyrd last performed at B.B. King’s.
ETL: I got Martyrd hugs and commended them on their performance without admitting that I was in no way a reliable witness since we showed up just late enough to miss them. Still, the guys seemed hyped and I saw them flying through the crowd for the rest of the show. Continue reading
TURISAS!!!!
The sounds of Norse Gods echoed throughout B.B. Kings Blues club and Grill as Paganfest 2008 invaded 42nd street. Paganfest is a tour made up of some of the finest Folk Metal bands to grace this earth. Tonight’s lineup featured Tyr, Eluveitie, Turisas, and Ensiferum, but due to poor planning on my part and personal duties the next morning I was only able to experience the first three acts this evening. Nevertheless, the night was still in my favor for the fact that Tyr, Eluveitie and Turisas were all bands I had heard very little (if anything) from before.
Tyr was the first band of the night and the most conventional of the three. They brought some serious metal to the floor and, despite the ‘No Moshing’ signs posted, brought the crowd up to a nice slow boil. With a heavy and occasionally slow sound and clean lyrics they stepped away from the sometimes-grandiose sound that folk metal bands tend to have. Tyr doesn’t employ the more unique instruments (i.e. bagpipes, flutes, and the like) found in many folk metal bands, but this doesn’t stop them from bringing to life the Scandinavian lore contained in their lyrics. Continue reading
Testament greets their legions
After many months fate brought me, once again, to B.B. King’s for another evening of excitement and metal. It seems like it’s been forever since I was last at a metal show, but the night of April 6, 2008 was not to be missed for any reason. The legendary thrash metal band Testament has returned to New York City and has brought with them all the power and…oh, wait…let’s start from the beginning.
The first band of the night was a local band from Queens with a penchant for old school thrash. Martyrd blends an old school thrash sound with new school vocals and with classic extended guitar solos. Lead by the impressive guitar work of Queens native, Mike Stylianou, Martyrd has been on the scene since 2003 normally playing small venues such as The Crazy Donkey in Farmingdale or The Lion’s Den in Manhattan. This was their biggest show to date, drawing an impressive audience, even by opening band standards. The overall crowd response was positive as Martyrd supplied the thrash appetizer to what would be Testament’s entrée. “The general consensus from our guys was that it was one of our best shows…”, says Stylianou, “we were all really amped to play with Testament…We worked really hard selling our tickets, and [we] practiced a lot…In the end it paid off.” Martyrd will be playing again at B.B. King’s on June 11th with God Forbid and Death Angel on the last stop of the IN THRASH WE TRUST TOUR, and also the TMT Metal Fest in upstate New York, so head out and catch this budding group of Metallers. Continue reading
Imagine you and your friends are at the local pub having a good old time. Then the police show up due to noise complains and ruin your whole evening. Now, replace the “police” with the Grendel and “ruining your whole evening” with tearing your friends limb from limb, and you’ve got the beginning to the epic tale of Beowulf.
It has taken many years of planning and writing, but the brilliant minds of Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary were able to bring life to the ancient Norse warrior Beowulf. In this modern epic Beowulf is the greatest hero the world has ever known. His exploits are told all across the northlands and his reputation precedes him wherever he travels. Beowulf (Ray Winstone) and his crew of brave warriors arrive in Denmark after pleas from the great King Hrothgar (Anthony Hopkins) whose kingdom is being threatened by the monster Grendel (Crispin Glover). Grendel dispatched, Beowulf is faced with the Grendel’s Mother (Angelina Jolie) who lurks deep in her watery cavern. Continue reading
Meandering Entertainer 