IN THIS MOMENT, NEW YEARS DAY, P.O.D., DED In Asheville [Review & Photo Gallery]

 

The Witching Hour Tour featuring In This Moment with support from P.O.D., New Years Day and Ded was the reason to be in North Carolina on this last day of January. The sold out show at The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina was my destination. Super venue, if you ever have a chance to catch a show there do not pass it up! You can always count on a crowd in Asheville to be diverse but this crowd was even more so. Each of these bands has their own fans, bring all those fans together and you’ve got a great assembly of metalheads that sang, danced, head banged their way through a tremendous night of music! Continue reading

ALL HELL Stream “Vampiric Lust” From Upcoming Album ‘The Grave Alchemist’

ALL HELL formed back in 2013 in Asheville and have quickly amassed fans from all over. The style of music they play sounds more European than from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Their dark and eerie Blackened Thrash sound quickly becomes addictive. If there is any other bands out there claiming to be blackened thrash I can inform you now that they aren’t doing it nearly as good as these guys. With each chorus screamed and riff strummed my jaw drops a little more. The three piece band released their debut “The Devil’s Work”, in 2014. They wasted no time dropping their sophomore release titled “The Red Sect” on October 16th 2015. ALL HELL have now finalized their latest work ‘The Grave Alchemist’ which will be their debut for Prosthetic Records. The album was produced by Kris Hilbert (The Body), who worked with the band on their earlier release ‘The Red Sect’, and mixed and mastered by Joel Grind (Toxic Holocaust), ‘The Grave Alchemist’ will be available worldwide on April 14th. The new album is a twelve-track, narrative-driven, horror concept album that weaves a tale of alchemy, necromancy, and vampirism over the span of three centuries, ‘The Grave Alchemist’ is a potent blend of violence, mysticism, psychology, and the occult, distilled into an aural elixir of Blood and Gold. The context is not surprising at all on this album, as I’ve once seen them perform live with only candle light illuminating the room. The band not only worries about their sounds but also the surroundings in which it’s experienced. Vocalist Jacob Curwen holds nothing back on this newly released track “Vampiric Lust.” The rhythm throughout the songs and his demonic growl are ferocious. This track is just the beginning of what to expect from these North Carolina natives. ALL HELL have a savage sound that refuses to be tamed. Continue reading

All Hell Release Video for “Graveyard Dust”!

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The blackened thrashers from Asheville, North Carolina All Hell have released a video for “Graveyard Dust” which is by far my favorite track from their 2015 release The Red Sect. Make sure to catch them on their upcoming tour. We recently was able to catch them in their hometown and experience their amazing set by candlelight. One of the most catchy blackened thrash songs I’ve ever heard. Check out the video and enjoy.  Continue reading

Tour Review: Toxic Holocaust, Lord Dying & All Hell.

All Hell (Jacob Curwen)

All Hell (Jacob Curwen)

It’s not often you get to see three amazing bands packed together in one of the smallest venues in North Carolina. The Odditorium even though small in size brings some of the biggest bands in metal to the region. It was a night I had highly been anticipating. First up on stage was the hometown band All Hell who are getting ready to release their amazing new album “The Red Sect” ( You can read that review here). The band is a perfect example of blackened thrash and will quickly become a favorite for any true metalhead. In our previous review of that album I pleaded to them to play my favorite track on the album “Graveyard Dust” and they were listening. That night at The Odditorium in Asheville they played the song on stage for the first time. That was a privilege in itself. They took stage and after a few songs singer Jacob Curwen screams in his demonic growl “We are all going to die”, and until the moment the show ended I thought he may be right. The tiny packed venue was raging with people moshing, jumping, singing and screaming. Just to further explain the violent nature of this show I was bleeding when I left. All Hell were amazing on stage and left victims to their sound all around. The stage was just the perfect size for the three piece band to dominate.

Lord Dying (L-R Nickolis Parks, Erik Olsen)

Lord Dying (L-R Nickolis Parks, Erik Olsen)

Next up to conquer the stage was Portland based band Lord Dying. The band being a quartet posed some problems for the small stage. Bass player Don Capuana actually performed in front of stage left. Since I was the closest person to him I felt it as my job to keep people from running into him or causing him bodily harm in their moshing craziness. I used my body as a blockade and it seemed to work. The voice of Lord Dying Eric Olsen has a voice that resonates with any metal fan. His vocals aren’t like any you’ve heard before and seeing him unleash them live just raises the bar even more. You can see the passion and hard work in his face with each soul crushing song. The band showcased songs from their two releases and no one wanted them to exit the stage. As they played their farewell song Don Capuana broke a string. He grabbed that son of a bitch moved it out of his way and just went about his business.

Toxic Holocaust (Joel Grind)

Toxic Holocaust (Joel Grind)

Next up was Toxic Holocaust featuring main man Joel Grind who has ties to both other bands on this bill. Joel actually helped produce the upcoming All Hell album we mentioned earlier and also Lord Dying‘s new album “Poisoned Altars”. This was the second time seeing Toxic Holocaust, the last time he was touring for the ” An Overdose of Death” album in 2008. I will tell you now that Toxic just get better with age. Once they took the stage the audience went mad. They were right up in Joel’s face singing along to songs like “Wild Dogs” and “Nuke The Cross”. Circle pits were happening and the violence unending and out of pure happiness. Speed, speed, speed is how the band plays. Thrash so fast it will steal your beer and smack you in the mouth before you realize what’s going on. They really captured everyone’s hearts when they played the all inspiring song ” 666″. If you can make it through a Toxic Holocaust show and not head bang you need your ass kicked repeatedly. So they had one final song to play and luckily it was “Bitch” and everyone was more than excited to hear it, but hated knowing it was the last song of the night.

Lord Dying and Toxic Holocaust are still on this tour and have 10 dates remaining through October 3rd. If you are within a reasonable distance from one of the remaining dates and don’t attend you are doing yourself a great injustice. Get your ass out there and experience live music, watching it on YouTube is not the same as being there in person.

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You can follow the bands on their Facebook accounts below:

Toxic Holocaust

Lord Dying

All Hell

Asheville, NC: Coal Chamber, Fear Factory, Jasta & More….

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After finally releasing their first studio album in over 13 years Coal Chamber has organized one of the best touring lineups in recent years. Of course you have Coal Chamber, and co-headlining is Fear Factory who have a new album releasing August 7th entitled “Genexus”. The Devil You Know was on select dates of the tour and it features Howard Jones formerly of Killswitch Engage. On the date we were attending at The Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina we got Jasta. The band of course features the namesake of the band Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed and Kingdom of Sorrow fame. If you thought this was enough there are still two bands left. Motor City Metal band Saint Ridley was immediate support for the bands. They were also on Coal Chamber’s previous tour with Filter and Combichrist. The opening band was Los Angeles based nu metal band Madlife, who became the pleasant surprise of the night.

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