Zippo Sessions: OF MICE & MEN Acoustic Set @ Carolina Rebellion [Photos]

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Concert attendees are known for holding a lighter up in the air and raising the flame in honor of the bands on stage. Don’t let your fire be extinguished and use a Zippo and it may just get you backstage for more great music…It’s always great when your favorite band has an encore right? Well imagine they had an acoustic encore set and you were one of only a couple dozen people allowed to attend. It doesn’t get any better than that. Zippo Sessions has been providing just that experience to concert goers for the last few years at some of the nation’s largest music festivals. The best thing about it also is you have no idea who exactly you will be seeing until they walk onto the stage. For the price of a Zippo, which is already great enough on its own, you get a special pass to see a performance.  Continue reading →

Chicago Open Air Spotlight: VIMIC

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*Every Tuesday and Thursday from now until Chicago Open Air gets here we will be releasing an article about a band playing the festival to get you familiar with them.*

Today’s artist is Vimic.

On Friday, July 14th, alternative metal band Vimic will be bringing their heavy sound at Chicago Open Air. This will be the band’s first time playing a Danny Wimmer Presents event and it is one of the most anticipated sets of the weekend. Vimic formed just last year when Joey Jordison replaced Scar the Martyr lead singer Henry Derek (Act of Defiance, Thrown Into Exile) with Kalen Chase. Kalen Chase has actually toured with Korn (also on COA) in the past as a backup vocalist. The rest of the lineup remained the same as Scar The Martyr until guitarist Kris Norris left the band. He was then replaced by Steve Marshall. They’ve only released three songs thus far, but each song continues to show more and more potential for how great the debut record will be. Check out all three songs below. Continue reading →

Celebrate “International Day Of SLAYER” With Massive SLAYER Prize Package Contest

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LEFT TO RIGHT: Paul Bostaph, Tom Araya, Gary Holt, Kerry King

“International Day of Slayer“, the annual heavy metal holiday that celebrates the uncompromising, loud and defiant music of the iconic thrash/punk/metal band SLAYER, is celebrating its 12th year today, 6/6/17.  IDoS is the day where you stage a “Slay-out, Slay-in, Slay-on, Slay-off” – don’t go to school, don’t go to work – but spend the day listening to Slayer at nuclear blast level in your car, your home, or in the public place of your choice. True Slayer devotees do NOT use headphones but crank the sound up as loud as possible so that everyone within earshot can hear SLAYER.

To celebrate this year’s IDoS, SiriusXM‘s Liquid Metal (Ch. 40) is playing SLAYER every hour from 12 Midnight ET 6/6 through to 3AM ET 6/7, and the channel’s Jose Mangin will be airing interviews with the band members.  SiriusXM is also hosting a special contest where one winner + a guest will receive round trip air transportation to Las Vegas for SLAYER‘s August 4 show, plus two nights at a Vegas hotel, two tickets to the show, a meet’n’greet with members of SLAYER and $200 ground transportation.  But this prize package just gets better:  the winner will also score his or her very own Tom Araya Signature Bass TA-204 FRX model, PLUS the brand new Kerry King B.C. Rich signature guitar, the KKW30 model, which is not yet available in stores. Mangin will be on hand in Las Vegas as the winner’s personal host/escort. Those interested in entering the contest should stay tuned to Liquid Metal, or can log onto www.slayer.net where all details will be posted shortly. Continue reading →

PARADISE LOST Disclose New Album ‘Medusa’ Cover And Release Date

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Often cited as the pioneers of the death doom genre, English group PARADISE LOST from Halifax, West Yorkshire started out way back in 1988 and are still going strong without a hiccup in its way. 14 albums down the pipeline, with their recent one, ‘The Plague Within‘ coming out two years ago, the doom lords are back in action as they announce the release date and the beautiful album cover for their 15th full length upcoming studio album ‘Medusa‘. The new album will see the light of the day on September 1st via Nuclear Blast Records, the album being already described as “melding crushing doom metal with Nick Holmes’ harsh death growls and raw organic sounds, heralding a new era of pure Northern misery.”, arguably the heaviest record in the past 15 years.  Continue reading →

AVERSIONS CROWN Announce European Headlining Tour For Summer 2017

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Brisbane death metallers/deathcore stalwarts AVERSIONS CROWN have announced a massive month long European headlining tour this coming summer starting from the 27th day of July in Tolmin, Slovenia at one of the biggest European metal festivals, MetalDays. AVERSIONS CROWN formed back in 2010 has released three albums till date with their debut surfacing on 2011 entitled, ‘Servitude‘ which was an independent release. Their latest offering came earlier this year in the form of ‘Xenocide‘ after their second installment, ‘Tyrant‘ under the label Nuclear Blast Records. Robing in new vocalist Mark Poida, the band has remained undeterred in the line up change and are constantly trying to up their game. Playing a blend of death metal and deathcore, they have been a huge name in the circuit off late with their alien themed lyrical approach and concept. So much so that they have been labelled as Alien metallers.

Earlier a month or two back, we reviewed their new album, ‘Xenocide‘, so if you think on buying a copy of it, be sure to check the review out here. They will also be doing an Australian tour this week with Boris The Blade and Alphawolf. Continue reading →

State of the Art: BEYOND THE FADE [Videos]

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

                                                            This month’s State is North Carolina!

Beyond the Fade is a band from Charlotte, North Carolina. They formed in 2006 under founder, Brandon Strickland. Current members, (Neil Jackson – vocals, Jason Tedder – guitar, Brandon Strickland, guitar), have been rocking the area and touring the country ever since. Having a heavy touring schedule, the band has seen numerous lineup changes, but the most notable was the addition of Neil Jackson on guitar and vocals in 2012. Beyond the Fade had previously played alongside his former band, so they knew it would be a good fit. In 2014 it was mutually agreed upon that Jackson would put down the guitar to become front man for the band. They’re quoted as saying they felt it would give him a stronger connection with the audience. And, it seems that it has! They’ve played with numerous national acts, including North Carolina’s Soften the Glare – fronted by bassist Ryan Martinie, as well as Skillet, Godsmack, and Motley Crew.

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Review: EIGHTEEN VISIONS – ‘XVIII’ [Official Video]

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Photo Credit: Travis Shinn

Eighteen Visions formed in Orange County, California in 1995. Despite being half the age of the genre’s most legendary architects, Eighteen Visions is literally in the history book of heavy metal, hard rock, and post-modern heavy music. The band were declared part of “The Future of Metal” by Revolver Magazine during their meteoric rise from proto-deathcore indie band, nurtured by the DIY scene, to major label “next big thing” in active rock. Their debut album ‘Yesterday Is Time Killed’ released in 1999 via Cedargate Records. Eighteen Visions went on to record release an album every year up to 2002’s ‘Vanity’ which was their debut on ‘Trustkill’. Eighteen Visions has inspired various bands, one of which is Motionless In White who named themselves after a track with the same name from the band’s 2001 release ‘The Best Of’. The band continued pumping out amazing records. The next would come in 2002 titled ‘Vanity’ and then quickly moved on to release in my eyes one of their best albums ‘Obsession’ in 2004. The album has a lyric that has stuck with me since its release and is one of the best single verses ever. It comes from the track “Lost In A Dream” saying “Locked in a room, Where all my dreams come true, Scrape my mind off of the walls. Painted pretty blue.” The next album would become Eighteen Visions last album for the next 11 years. The self-titled album released in 2016. Many fans thought this would be the last they would hear from the band they loved so much. Bassist Mike Morris announced on Myspace in 2007, “After several years of touring and quite a few album releases we have decided that it is time to go our separate ways. We have been a band for a very long time and feel good about everything we were able to accomplish. At this point in our lives and our careers we feel its time to move on to something fresh and new. Whether it be music, touring or just being at home to live and enjoy life.” Everything came to a standstill for 18V fans for over a decade. Unbeknownst to the public, the band nearly reunited once before, quietly working on new material in 2012. The process that led to their eventual and perhaps inevitable full reunion in 2017 was as organic as it was trans-formative, as the core members reassembled to put their collective passion back on the record, literally and figuratively. Unfortunately bassist Mick Morris passed away on June 3, 2013 in his sleep due to a pre-existing heart condition. It’s sad that he isn’t a part of this new lineup but the band and its core members: James Hart – lead vocals, Keith Barney – lead guitar, backing vocals, and Trevor Friedrich – drums are currently the lineup for the reunited Eighteen Visions. The new album ‘XVIII‘ was made at home in Orange County, with U.K. transplant and multi-instrumentalist producer Mick Kenney at the helm. The album released on June 2, 2017. It is the first album since 2002’s Vanity to feature movie quotes at the beginning of some songs. It is an amazing comeback from a band that was truly missed in both the genre and music as a whole. Continue reading →

PAIN Announces North American Tour Dates w/ ORPHANED LAND

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PAIN

North American PAIN and ORPHANED LAND fans, it is time to rejoice! PAIN is a Swedish heavy/industrial metal band lead by the one and only talented Peter Tägtgren, who is a multi instrumentalist and leads Hypocrisy, a death metal band and has also joined forces with Till Lindemann from Rammstein in a side project named Lindemann. ORPHANED LAND from Israel combines heavy metal with oriental music keeping intact their indigenous middle eastern musical elements which adds an exotic twist to it. So, these two excellent bands are ready for a North American tour spanning over a fortnight as they break their virginity of touring on this side of the world for the very first time. Starting the maiden tour off in Atlanta and across 12 more cities with the tour coming to an end in the Hollywood city of Los Angeles, CA, it only is left to witness it unfold how exciting this tour turns out to be. The tour is slated to be in September.  Continue reading →

State Of The Art: KILLING THE CATALYST

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*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*

This month’s State is North Carolina!

Killing The Catalyst was formed in Raleigh, North Carolina in December of 2010. The members joined forces after their previous groups had disbanded. They moved forward to succeed, and their sound is a perfect example of their success. Their minds were set on making something different from the ordinary; something powerful, positive, and unique. The bands list some of their influences as August Burns Red, Lamb of God, Nothingface, and Mudvayne. You can certainly hear some of those influences in their music, but Killing The Catalyst has a unique sound that can’t really be compared to any other single band. Continue reading →

Review: AETHERE – ‘Adrift’ [Full Album Stream]

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Black metal band Aethere has been under the radar for quite some time but their latest album ‘Adrift’ is going to make a change to that. They formed in 2009 when drummer Josh Slater and former guitarist Garrett Wasson started playing together and recorded a demo with 3 songs on it. Aethere has not been sitting still, they have been touring a lot. If you are from Northern Carolina and you attent local shows you may have already seen this masterpiece of a band perform live. After this they began making new music such as their debut album ‘Wave Existence’. The track ”Oblivion” got released and got 20.000 views just under a month from it’s release date. This album got followed up by the EP ‘Demons’ (2012) that got produced by Bob Swanson. After creating new music the band decided to tour again and play at the local shows. Some time after they decided to release the EP ‘Past And Present’ that got released in 2014. After playing on huge death metal festivals with bands such as Cattle Decapitation, Psycroptic and Fallujah the band finally got the attention it deserved. People started to discover the band and noticed the wide varied of influences Aethere has. This year, 28th of April they came back to release yet another great album called ‘Adrift’ via Tragic Hero Records.

Continue reading →