We are back with another Indian metalband and this time we present to you the mighty Dark Helm. After releasing their first album back in 2011 they are at it again with their second release called ‘Hymnus De Antitheist’. So grab some popcorn and let’s enjoy some quality metal from our Indian brothers! Continue reading
Frankie Palmeri, vocalist for Emmure, is our guest on this episode of the BREWtally Speaking Podcast! Continue reading
Invisions may only have 2 albums on their name but they already are beginning to climb their way to the metalcore top. ‘Between You And Me’ has been out since the 8th of January but it has already made it in my top 10 records of this year! Can’t wait to witness this live!
Danny Wimmer Presents (DWP) has become a household name in the music industry, especially for festival-goers. The DWP team has brought us Rock On The Range, Welcome To Rockville, Carolina Rebellion, Louder Than Life, Chicago Open Air, Aftershock, Rock Allegiance, Bourbon & Beyond, Northern Invasion, Fort Rock, and the new festivals premiering this year: Epicenter, Sonic Temple, and Hometown Rising. Their festivals exceeded 700,000 in attendance in 2017 and have had 100’s of millions of dollars in economic impact in the cities in which they have held events; and they were ranked the 26th best promoter in the world according to Pollstar in 2017. The reason they are so successful is because their passion lies in the music and not in the profit margins. Year in and year out they bring international artists, both large and small, to music-hungry cities around the United States. The stages they built have helped smaller bands build their fan base, and in return, those bands are becoming our future headliners. Continue reading
Weedeater was formed by front-man/bassist “Dixie” Dave Collins also formerly of Buzzoven. Following the release of their 2001 debut ‘…And Justice For Y’All’, Weedeater immediately established themselves as a force in the U.S. tour circuit and quickly gained notoriety in the American metal scene. In the time since, the band have released three critically-acclaimed albums: ‘Sixteen Tons’ (2002), ‘God Luck And Good Speed’ (2007), and ‘Jason… The Dragon’ (2011), and toured around the world with the likes of Down, Saint Vitus, High On Fire, The Melvins, Hank III, and more. The band has played prestigious festivals such as Maryland Deathfest, Hopscotch Festival, Stoned From The Underground, Asymmetry Festival, Roadburn Festival, Hellfest, and many more. Weedeater has sludged their way up the ranks from a underground band with a cult following to one of metal’s most sought after bands to see live. Frontman “Dixie” Dave is an all around entertainer when on stage with his puzzling looks and gravely pitch, combine that with the guitar shredding genius of Dave “Shep” Shepherd and your night is bound to be a memory you won’t soon forget. Continue reading
ROTTING CHRIST was one of the very first Greek metal band to break out of the Greek underground, and taste worldwide appreciation. With a staggering number of albums under their belt already, the band doesn’t seem to halt any soon, as they prepare to release their 13th studio album. ‘The Heretics‘ is just around the corner, releasing this coming week on February 15th via Season Of Mist.
The band has already released a couple of tracks from the forthcoming album, such as ‘Heaven and Hell and Fire‘ and ‘The Raven‘. Now adding on to the excitement, the Greeks have put out yet another track titled, ‘Ветры злые (Vetry Zlye)‘. It features Irina Zybina (GRAI) and is themed in Russian.
*This is part of the Epicenter Festival Spotlight segment where we help you get to know some of the non-headlining bands performing at the festival. This week we introduce you to Black Coffee!*
Black Coffee formed in early 2017 after drummer Tommy McCullough introduced singer/bassist, Ehab Omran, to guitarist Justin Young. Within the first few days, these artists began songwriting and the chemistry was overwhelmingly apparent. With the release of Black Coffee’s debut album, ‘Take One’, on April 21st, the Columbus, Ohio rockers definitely possess the sound, style, confidence and work ethic that created legends in music in the previous few decades. The bands style is slightly retro rock and with the recent success of bands like Greta Van Fleet, The Struts and Rival Sons they have timed the formation of the band perfectly. Black Coffee are a band that certainly appreciates a good riff and you will easily notice how they flaunt their guitarists talents within their music. Ehab Omran’s vocals pack immense power into such a small frame. He sings in a melodic manner but also at times can wail with an aggressive grit to his voice as well. The band unveiled a music video for “I Barely Know Her”. The song and accompanying video was the first taste of Black Coffee that we would receive and it sent music fans into a whirlwind. The video was filmed at the Johnstown Opera House in Johnstown, Ohio. “I Barely Know Her” was filmed, directed and produced by the extremely talented John Payne of Payne Productions, who is one of the most talented photographers in and around Columbus, Ohio. With the attitude of the years gone by and the sound of a new resurgence of the classic rock, Black Coffee parts the proverbial sea for the next generation of artists. Continue reading
Parkway Drive may have only scheduled 4 dates for their UK tour but with the jaw dropping lineup of support acts they have bestowed upon us pure metal happiness. Kicking things off is Parkway Drive’s fellow Australian’s Thy Art Is Murder using their deathcore sound to get the crowd pumped right from the start, they are followed by metalcore royalty with Killswitch Engage who have been on a roll since original singer Jesse Leach re-joined the band. Then the proverbial cherry on top of course is Parkway Drive touring in support of their tremendous new record ‘Reverence.’ This tour February 1st stop in Cardiff at Motorpoint Arena was bound to be explosive.
Thy Art Is Murder
From the get go the lads in Thy Art Is Murder were not messing around whilst smashing straight in with “Dear Desolution” with its ultra fast double bass drum and fast runs and riffs on the guitars. Then CJ kicks in with his unique powerful screams, growls and shouts, the crowd went nuts. This is the first time I’ve witnessed them live and to see them grace a stage like this arena was amazing, they looked right at home. I can only imagine what a smaller show would be like (carnage) but then they played the fourth song on the setlist “Reign Of Darkness” and CJ asked the crowd to split for a wall of death. It was at least a 20 foot gap from the front of the arena to the back. Then bang the charge from the crowd and for the next two songs the crowd was going insane. Ending on “Puppet Master” was a great choice with that pounding snare hitting intro got the crowd banging their heads. As the momentum picked up they knew it was their last chance to dance so they went crazy for CJ and crew. I can’t wait to witness this again soon.
Killswitch Engage
Not gonna lie I’m a huge Killswitch Engage fan and have been since day one. Recently I witnessed them supporting Iron Maiden last year at the London o2 which was a phenomenal performance and to be fair it always is. Tonight people who had a ticket were in for a treat. They played 11 songs in total and a great mixture of old and new. You could tell they had a lot of fans in the audience due to the amount of singing going on and especially to “My Curse” and “My Last Serenade” the crowd were nearly drowning out the band they singing along so loud. I was hoping Guitarist Adam D was going to pop to the bar and order a couple shots mid song like he did at a recent show whilst still playing his guitar (We’ve all seen that video right?). I was waiting but sadly this didn’t happen (search for the video its awesome). Watching Adam’s quirky personality on stage is always amazing, the faces he pulls are great along with his jogging around the stage, he is in my eyes one of the best guitarists out there. Jesse Leach is just one of those flawless live vocalists, he sounded perfect in every way. I normally don’t say this but it was great vocal deliveries all night long. He delivers just as good as the album version live. He deserves a lot of respect, hats off to you sir! The pit was crazy from start to finish. I stood just out of the area and saw a random shoe on the ground and then another shoe made it to the stage. As Jesse asked who’s it was, well there was either one person with no shoes or two people with one shoe…ha ha ha. One more thing to look out for is a new album from Killswitch Engage this year and 2019 marks the 20 year anniversary of the band so I’m sure its going to be a banger of an album.
Parkway Drive
So the time has come for the Australian lads in Parkway Drive to hit the stage. The lights dimmed and the band appeared at the back of the venue with four of their crew surrounding them with flame torches. They walked through the crowd to the stage with the intro to “Wishing Wells” before gracing the stage and continuing to deliver the rest of this tune from ‘Reverence’. Lights dimmed to an almighty roar, Parkway Drive officially warmed the crowd up together with the amount of pyros, explosions and flame throwers from all sides of stage.
The stand out tunes for me were “Carrion,” “Vice Grip” and “Wild Eyes.” To hear everyone in the crowd chanting to the riff like on the album version was incredible and vocalist Winston McCall looked like that gets him amped every night. Drummer Ben Gordon is a beast on the kit, he’s a drummer I’ve liked for a while now. If you wanna be a hard hitting drummer just watch this guy. He didn’t let up all night and had 17 tunes to play, just wish he had his drum cradle tonight but unfortunately some venues can’t accommodate everything in a bands production. To be fair, it did not matter as Parkway Drive let the music and performance do the talking. Winston McCall did say it felt like last week they were playing Merthyr Tydfil to 10 people and he couldn’t sing ha ha.
Well I was there in the early days and not so long ago when people used to turn up with inflatable boats and crowd surf in them, amazing times. However, to see this band progress into what they are now and to be doing arena tours is well deserved. I hope the momentum for them keeps growing. If you manage to get to a show you can expect explosions, flames, fire balls from all directions, a string section joining them and Winston McCall going to a little stage at the sound desk to join a cello player to perform with elevating platforms which Luke Kilpatrick and Jeff Ling were lifted high up above the stage. I read an article saying there are no bands coming up to replace the legendary bands we are losing, well think again, they are here and they are called Parkway Drive. They have always been here and right now they are getting the recognition for their hard work over the last 16 years. So stadiums might be next on the agenda? I certainly hope so. I would like to wish every member of the band all the best for the future. We can only hope they help influence a new generation of bands that are even half as talented as they are.
The Swedish metal outfit, Avatar, have announced a return to North America for the “Avatar Country World Tour 2019”. The tour will begin in Buffalo, NY on May 16 and conclude in Las Vegas, NV on June 15.
Avatar released the concept album, ‘Avatar Country,’ in 2018 and has toured relentlessly to support it. Vocalist Johannes Eckerstrom stated that ‘Avatar Country’ is nearing the end of the road and this tour will be the last chance to see them in their Royal Glory in tribute to the king. Continue reading
Periphery is known for holding a couple of insane metal artists and ”Blood Eagle” proves exactly that. So prepare yourself for a brand new Periphery song!
