Oh dear God, this kind of metal scares me. Still, I can't not listen. It's intense like a horror or thriller movie. There must be something about Poland that makes Behemoth do death metal better than most. They've been around a long time despite line up changes and over wear and tear touring puts on your body after a certain age. Still, Behemoth has not lost a step or slowed down one bit. Touring to support their latest album, Evangelion, the Polish metal monsters take the stage Wednesday at Emo's for the Evangelina Amerika Tour.
You should get there early as door are at 8:oopm and the show starts at 9:00pm with local old school thrashers, Pack of Wolves. Septicflesh and Lightning Swords of Death round out the bill under Behemoth. It is going to be cold and dark Wednesday night, just like death! Muahahahaha! Okay...that was cheesy. I couldn't resist.
Oh, remember that part about this kind of metal being scary? Check out this video from Behemoth for their song "Ov Fire and the Void" off of Evangelion. Don't watch around small children or while at work, unless of course you don't care one way or the other. Don't say I didn't warn you. This video is sick.
Tuesday is the new Friday. Every Tuesday for I don't know how long now, there have been more and more choices as as far as quality live music. Most cities would kill for half of these choices on a Saturday, much less a Tuesday. God bless Austin, Texas.
On Tuesday I foresee most of the 101X radio listeners at The Austin Music hall to see 311, as they are still somehow in heavy rotation for some reason. I liked them in high school...in the '90s. The '90s had better bands than 311, but that's a rant for another day. They're still a fun live show and I loved their first two albums.
For those of us darker or heavier 101X listeners, we'll be at Emo's for the No Control presents show featuring The Faceless, Dyeing Fetus, Beneath The Massacre, Suffokate and Enfold. That's two too many bands, but headliner The Faceless is what makes this show my Tuesday show pick.
The Faceless got on my radar because they toured with one of my favorite metal bands, The Black Dahlia Murder. They are classified as Death Metal or Progressive, I guess depending on who you ask. Their style is fast, death like screams that fluctuate in pitch and machine gun like drums. If you don't have an ear for metal, and yes there is such a thing, you might have trouble getting into it. The progressive label comes from their build ups and breaks that lead to an all out rip your face off explosion of metal goodness. The death part is usually in the lyrical content.
The Faceless (photo by Erik Kirk)
I hadn't heard much from them since that first tour with Black Dahlia really, except a couple of things in the metal mags here and there.They did put out Planetary Duality in 2008. That makes me wonder if they are still touring to support that or if they are playing new material yet to be released. That's a good reason to check them out I guess, to find out. They are going on tour with Black Dahlia Murder in Europe starting in 2010, so catch them now if you're on the fence about going. Most metal bands are best heard live, so get out the house, off the computer, off the "facey spaces" and go hear something angry. It's good for you.
Here's a cool clip I found on The YouTube where this guy posted the audio file for their song "All Dark Graves" but did it karaoke style with the lyrics. From what I can understand, the dude got them dead on. Give a listen to The Faceless:
Tuesday's show at Emo's is an early one. Get there at 7:30 as there are five bands playing. Emo's is located at 603 Red River. Tickets at the door are $18, but save a few and purchase advance tickets. Visit the following link to purchase tickets:
Typically Austinites have to wait for No Control on Friday nights to get this much metal in one night. Local promoters DAG Presents is bringing a kick ass metal show featuring heavy hitters Trivium, Dirge Within, White Chapel, and Darkest Hour. Make sure to put on your best black t-shirt and call in Wednesday morning. Metal heads will not want to miss this.
Although Trivium may be the main attraction and headliner, I am more excited about checking out Darkest Hour. I missed them during SXSW this year and have been eagerly awaiting their return to Austin. I figured if they did tour Texas after SXSW, they'd hit up San Antonio at the very least. Austin, although it has been a little better this year, isn't the metal haven San Antonio or Dallas are. When it comes to metal touring acts, Austin gets skipped over a lot. Hopefully that nonsense stops sooner than later. As I see more hardcore shows pop up online, the more I see that starting to change little by little.
Darkest Hour is touring to support their current album The Eternal Return.Categorized by most as a melodic death metal band, Darkest Hour is no Johhny Come Lately. With five albums in their catalog, there seems to be no slowing down anytime soon for Darkest Hour. The Eternal Return is my favorite album of theirs as they sound more polished, faster and even darker than on previous albums. As far as good older material from Darkest Hour, check out Deliver Us as well. That album was almost what The Eternal Return is, but not quite. If you haven't checked them out yet, then you're clearly not into metal.
Something else cool about tonight' show for Trivium fans especially is with each purchased ticket, you will be able to download a full soundboard quality recording of Trivium live from the show. All one has to do is use the ticket barcode on Trivium's website to redeem it. I only wish they'd let us download a full live album. Still, not a bad give away for a show you'd be buying a ticket for anyway. Doors are at 6:30, so get there early.
I have posted some helpful links about the groups and about tonight's show specifically. Also, check out this video of Darkest Hour performing at Red 7 during SXSW this past March. They're performing "Doomsayer" off their album Deliver Us.
My man Chuck Loesch from No Control , Austin's metal authority, provided a guest review for us on Austin Vida. Chuck reviewed the new album from Pack of Wolves, Betrayer. If you dig pack of Wolves, check out the interview and live video we captured from their vinyl release show at Red 7. Many thanks to Chuck for what he does not only for metal, but for the Austin Music scene.
You can listen to No Control every Friday at 11 pm to 1 am and to Midnight Metal every night at midnight, of course on 101x.
So I was online today looking up some band info for Pack of Wolves, a band I interviewed for Austin Vida recently, because I wanted to see when their next show was. As I was scrolling through their comments and what not, some dude left a video comment on their page. The video was for an Austin metal band called "Set Aflame". Why I felt compelled to watch the video or check it out, I don't know. I'm glad I did because not only was it a cool video, but the song was bad ass. It has been a while since I last discovered a new metal band that I liked. It made me even happier to learn that they were from right here in Austin, Texas. The video s for a song called "Bloodoath". I look forward to hearing more of their music and checking them out live, maybe interviewing them in the future. Who knows? Anyway, check out the video for yourself and form your own opinion. If you aren't into metal or anything hard core, don't bother watching. Thanks for reading anyway.
Pack of Wolves is my favorite new metal band not only in Austin, but my favorite new metal band period. Being that they are from right here in Austin and Latinos only adds to my enthusiasm for them. Having been a fan of their former bands, such as At All Cost or their other side projects,it was great to see this group come together to take the metal scene to new heights in Austin. Having received some Spins already on No Control, hosted by Austin's metal guru Chuck Loesch, their success will only continue. I got to sit down with Trey Ramirez and Adrian Carillo to talk about the band coming together, the Austin metal scene, and even Hall and Oats. After all, there's nothing more metal than Hall and Oats.
Ian is a graduate of Round Rock High School and attended St Edward’s University in Austin, Texas. In 2008 he joined the team at Double Stereo (formerly CD Fuse) as their Blog editor where he reviewed concerts, albums, and did interviews for the popular music site.In January 2009, he became the Editor in Chief for Austin Vida. In 2010, with the help of some of his most talented friends, he launched Red River Noise. "Ian's Music Blog" is also one of the few blogs selected to be a Do512 All-Star.
On any given night of the week he can be found in downtown Austin on 6th Street and the Red River live music district.
Oh dear God, this kind of metal scares me. Still, I can't not listen. It's intense like a horror or thriller movie. There must be something about Poland that makes Behemoth do death metal better than most. They've been around a long time despite line up changes and over wear and tear touring puts on your body after a certain age. Still, Behemoth has not lost a step or slowed down one bit. Touring to support their latest album, Evangelion, the Polish metal monsters take the stage Wednesday at Emo's for the Evangelina Amerika Tour.
