GRETA VAN FLEET Announces Initial North American Tour Dates For 2018!

GRETA VAN FLEET, who are being dubbed as the second Led Zeppelin, took the 2017 music scene by storm with its dynamic rock ‘n’ roll debut single “Highway Tune” claiming the #1 spot at Rock Radio for five consecutive weeks, amassing 10-million-plus Spotify plays and 6.8-million YouTube views in 2017 alone, selling out every single one of its headline dates in advance, and ending up on many year album top album list, will kick off its 2018 tour schedule at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on Friday, April 13.  The band’s itinerary will include a slew of other major outdoor music festivals as well as headline dates that will see them playing to larger-capacity venues and multiple nights in some cities.  Five of the dates – Houston, Dallas, Nashville and two nights in Detroit – went on sale last week and all sold out in under 15-minutes. Tickets for GRETA VAN FLEET‘s headline dates for this leg go on sale to the public this Friday, January 26.

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Review: The Rise of L.A. Thrash Metal (DVD)

 

Throughout history, the San Francisco Bay Area has long been deemed as the epicenter for thrash metal, whereas Los Angeles has invariably been considered the stomping ground for glam and hair metal. True, San Francisco has birthed many exceptional thrash bands since the early ‘80s, but the fact remains – Los Angeles is the rightful birthplace of three of the “Big 4” thrash bands and is the breeding grounds for unconventional thrash/punk-metal bands. From legendary thrash icons Metallica, Slayer, and Megadeth, to punk/metal renegades Suicidal Tendencies and combative thrash stalwarts Dark Angel and Hirax, they all generated from this pretentious, megalopolis hellhole we call Los Angeles. Continue reading

SODOM Announce New Line-Up; Now A Quartet

While rumors are still flying thick and fast in the media, Tom Angelripper has already announced the new line-up of his band SODOMHusky (ASPHYX, DESASTER) is set to man the drum kit, Frank Blackfire (ex-SODOM, ex-Kreator, FRANK BLACKFIRE, ASSASSIN) and Yorck Segatz (BEYONDITION) have been enlisted on guitars. Sodom have already released seminal albums such as ‘Persecution Mania‘, the live cut ‘Mortal Way Of Live‘ and the highly successful ‘Agent Orange‘ with Frank Blackfire. As he had hinted at the beginning of the year, Tom has opted for a line-up featuring two guitarists, an absolute novelty for Sodom. “Two guitarists allow us much more possibilities live, so we will be able to play tracks in future that we weren’t able to perform as a trio,” the SODOM vocalist/bassist explains his motives. In line with these new possibilities, the thrash act has already started to put together a set list for the upcoming shows with all important classics as well as rare numbers that had never or only rarely been heard at their gigs. Says Tom“I can promise that we will really let it rip in future.” 

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Album Review: SPIDER ROCKETS – ‘Along Came a Spider’ [Song Stream]

If you’ve been on the prowl for innovative rock artists during the last couple of decades or so, one group that may have crossed your path is New Jersey-based Spider Rockets. Celebrating the twentieth anniversary since their initial formation, the group are set to release their fifth studio album, ‘Along Comes a Spider’ which marks yet another evolution for the group as a songwriting unit. With new producer Dan Malsch (Framing Hanley, Tantric, Doro) involved in the thick of it, the group are keen yet again to introduce a different sound to their repertoire. The group’s first three studio recordings during the early 2000s were produced by Martin Bisi (Sonic Youth, Swans, The Dresden Dolls, John Zorn, Herbie Hancock, Helmet, Unsane, White Zombie) and later Eric Rachel (Atreyu, Black Dahlia Murder, Hatebreed, Patti Smith Group, Misfits etc) Continue reading

SATYRICON To Embark On Final US Headlining Tour This Spring!

When it comes to something dark, sinister and macabre settings Norwegian dual powerhouse SATYRICON are at the helm for driving things forward. Wading through the misty, grim and cold winters SATYRICON have paved a long way of terrifying black metal ever since it was formed in 1991 in Oslo. They are till this date one of the prime and most important black metal bands in the world to have come out of the unholy grounds from up north. As they inch closer to three decades of hard hitting black metal, the duo are ready shroud the entire United States with black clouds on their final US run this spring in support of their latest studio album, ‘Deep Calleth Upon Deep‘.

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State Of The Art: UNIVERSE CONTEST


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

This month’s state is Nebraska!


It is with absolute pleasure that I get to be the one to tell you about this group of oddballs. UNIVERSE CONTEST are currently a five-piece group out of Lincoln, Nebraska. Everything about them is a little bit different from the stories we usually get from our State of the Art entries.

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Interview: Ritchie Randall of GRAVEHUFFER

Photo Credit: Chet Smith

If you’ve been keeping a watchful eye upon the current state of affairs within extreme metal’s underground vaults, the likelihood is that you may have came across a band named Gravehuffer. Their second LP, titled ‘Your Fault’ is a mature follow-up to their debut which was released five years earlier. The album’s tonality highlights one’s most earnest thoughts about modern society with a vague sense of jocularity and cynicism. The album’s line-up is comprised of Mike Jilge on bass, Larry Deardorff on drums, James Hiser on vocals and Ritchie Randall on guitars. The album also features ex-Carcass / current Monstrance guitarist Carlo Regadas as a session musician. It was released via Reality Impaired Recordings in March 2017.

Almost a year later, we here at Metal Nexus thought it would be a good idea to check up on the Gravehuffer camp and see how they’re doing. With rehearsals now underway and new material being written, it’s fair to say that Gravehuffer is anything but inactive at the moment.

Interviewer Jaime Regadas had the immense opportunity of chatting with guitarist Ritchie Randall about their origins as a band, their plans for 2018 and more!

 

Review: ATALA – ‘Labyrinth of Ashmedai’ [Official Videos]

Photo by Matt Hall

After honing their chops in other touring bands, the members of ATALA came together in 2013 when frontman Kyle Stratton, who owns two tattoo shops in their hometown, met up with drummer Jeff Tedtaotao, the brother of one of his shop’s tattoo artists. After joining up with their first bassist, the band quickly linked up with producer Scott Reeder (Kyuss, The Obsessed), and released their self-titled first full-length in 2014. In 2016, the band followed up with the release of their well-received sophomore album, ‘Shaman’s Path of the Serpent’, this time with current producer Billy Anderson (Sleep, Melvins, Mastodon) at the helm. After the departure of their previous bassist, current bassist and fellow tattoo artist Dave Horn joined the ranks. Now signed to Salt of the Earth Records, ATALA seeks to reach new heights and expand their horizons with the 2018 release of ‘Labyrinth of Ashmedai’, their most charging and conceptualized offering yet. ATALA have truly found their path, and their groove, with ‘Labyrinth of Ashmedai’. We recently conducted an interview with the band as well which you can read here. Continue reading

State Of The Art: Nebraska’s BONGHAMMER [Live Video Footage]

*This is part of our State Of The Art series, showcasing bands every Monday from the featured State*
This month’s State is Nebraska!

 

Coming straight out of Omaha, Nebraska we have doomsters BongHammer. Unfortunately they do not appear to have any music available for streaming or download, however there is an abundance of killer live performances available via YouTube and Facebook. The band is a three piece made up of Ryne Sutej on guitar and vocals,  Amanda DeFord who is also a member of the band Trxlleydxdgers slaying the drums and vocals and the newest member of the band is Clayton Pace on bass who replaced former bassist Will who left the band because he relocated to Colorado. In addition to BongHammer Ryne and Clayton are also in the riff worshipping band Super Moon Continue reading