Concert Review: Carcass, Deafheaven, and Inter Arma.

Saturday November 26th at 3:02pm, Danny arrived at my house.

By 3:04pm, we were two minutes into a road trip into the middle of our home state in order to see a metal bill of epic proportions. Carcass, Deaf Heaven and Inter Arma were playing at the Blue Note in Columbia, MO, the home of Mizzou.

For the drive, we just spoke and argued about metal mostly. Like how Danny doesn't understand how amazing Lulu is and how he thinks I'm nuts for my espousing of Underdog Albums, like Lulu and Kiss's Music From The Elder.

There was an interesting discussion about how we both used to traverse this drive in our childhoods and that we both made a pit stop in the same place in High Hill, MO. The most interesting thing about our drive though, was the pot bellied stove.

Interview: Six-Score Talks Grindcore

Six-Score

There's that oft ignored little chunk of extreme metal, Grindcore or Grind.

Perhaps it's just me that ignores it. In the over 700 reviews, interviews, etc on Glacially Musical, Grindcore makes up less than five total posts.

Well, let's make up for that by hearing what Six Score out of Austria has to say.

Glacially Musical: Guten tag, herren. I hope today finds you well.

Six Score: Hi, thanks a lot for being interested in us! It's a pleasure for us to answer your questions!

GM: Grind is something I'm not personally too familiar with. Tell me what grind is.

SIX-SCORE: Grind is the hard version of Punkmusic. The content of real Grindcore is political and critical and should lead us to think about all different processes which are embedded in this cruel world. 

Top Ten of 2016: CSIGO

This was a great year for music as there was a ton of awesome stuff released. It was tough but I finally whittled my choices down to the following albums.

Mitski – Puberty 2

Mitski’s genre is indie rock, according to Wikipedia. I think she is the new princess of Grounge!

Album Review: The Workhorse III: Closer to Relevance

Sometimes, instead of falling neatly into a predetermined genre, a band decides to focus their energy on just creating great songs, regardless of how they are classified.  This describes Workhorse III, a trio from Philadelphia, who have set about to make an album of infectious tunes, and leave it to listeners and reviewers to figure out how to explain it.  Their self description as "too rock for metal and too metal for rock" suits them well.  

At times I heard punk rock, at other times they were clearly crushing it in the proud lineage of Sabbath.  There were moments when a Motorhead influence seemed clear.  Which is suitable, since Motorhead themselves have often defied categorization.

The dominate theme is songs which, although often containing dark lyrical content, are high energy, catchy, and most of all fun. I listened to it once on my way to work, and already several of the songs were stuck in my head, demanding a second listen on the way home.  In all cases, the riff is king.  It is the prominence of the distorted riff which could earn them a place within metal's hallowed halls.  At the same time there is no denying the strong vocal melodies will also appeal to fans of classic rock.

LP Review: "More Badass Than Half Ass" by Korean Fire Drill

More Badass Than Half Ass

Now more than ever, we need laughter in our lives.

There has been a great deal of ugliness across the United States already and sometimes we just need to be able to just take a moment, breathe, and get back to fighting back.

Anyone out there who needs to hear it...there are lots of us out there who're fighting and willing to listen.

But in the meantime, we all need to be able to keep our chins up and move forward. Because if we stand and watch, we'll all be trampled.

As for Korean Fire Drill's name...interestingly enough, they aren't the first band with an Asian country in their name that we've reviewed. Remember Half Japanese? As I don't precisely agree with John Cleese and political correctness, I can plainly say there is no othering in this record.

Vinyl Review: "Hardwired...to Self-Destruct" by Metallica

Hardwired...to Self-Destruct

There are a great many bands in the world that are referred to as mighty, well in the metal community anyway.

Metallica is one of those bands whose superlatives are many and possibly too few at the same time.

Let's look back to the 90's when grunge and alternative were king of the roost. What a strange time that was.

A large refrain heard over and over again by the likes of Soundgarden et al. was that they couldn't listen to songs about Dungeons & Dragons.

This was something that I really didn't understand in 1992 because the metal in my ears for years had been about serious issues: corruption in the legal system, televangelists stealing from the masses, the death penalty, etc.

Song Premiere: "Strip Sin City" by Turbo Shokk

If you enjoyed their top ten, their interview, and the review of their soon to be classic record, check out the single below!

Because we all know that you're hungry for more Turbo Shokk!

Buy their debut record, Get Radical here.

Interview: Tyrants Blood's Marco Banco

Tyrants Blood

Tyrant's Blood is a busy group of guys. For the past decade plus they've been out making music, playing shows, and recording albums.

Tridroid Records will be re-issuing their debut record on my birthday next month. Thank you for the awesome present!

Today guitarist, Marco Banco, talks the re-issue, Tyrants Blood, and the music industry in 2016.

Check it out.

Glacially Musical: First off, let's talk about your name. What does it mean?

Tyrants Blood: Tyrants Blood means a few different things to people. 

The tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants for instance. But to us the name described how we treated the band when we started in (20)05.

We were quite rigid in our ideals that we would not be  another hackish photo copy desperately attempting to appeal to any limp scene. 

Tour Diary #2: Jagged Mouth

11/01 Seattle, WA

The show was at a small bar called The Kraken in the "U district". We played with only 3/5 of a band called Morrow because the rest of the guys were underaged. A God Or Another played some good local short haired black metal next. Good stuff. Having friends in attendance who had transplanted to the area was a nice highlight. We played next and Ol'Dagger headlined.

So far the formula of having several genres of metal represented each night has really worked out well.

11/02 Portland OR

After all of us spending the night scattered in three different locations, we departed the Seattle area in the early afternoon, stopped at Trader Joe's in Olympia for lunch and supplies, and it was nice to have time to just enjoy the area and travel at an easy pace.

Top Ten of 2016 #4: Turbo Shokk

So you want to know Turbo Shokk's top 10 picks of 2016. 

We can't say that we're surprised. After all, if you want to know what's best, you ask the best - and when it comes to hard rocking heavy metal, Turbo Shokk is it. 

Michael Arcane (Drums), Razor O'Shea (Guitars, Bass) and Stack Manley (Vocals) present their best of 2016. 

You're welcome.

Album Review: "Anathema" by Endemise

Anathema

There is a tendency for black metal bands to fall into one of three categories, either ambient black metal such as Wolves in the Throne Room, symphonic black metal such as Dimmu Borgir or a modern version of second wave Norwegian black metal such as Mayhem.  

Some bands, such as Ottawa's Endemise, manage to cross reference all three of these.

At first glance, it is clearly symphonic black metal, as an underlying orchestration exists throughout the album, which provides the gravitus and emphasis unique to the genre.  

This is a personal favorite subgenre of black metal, but I was equally excited to find there were so many other elements to enjoy on the album.

Endemise had escaped my notice prior to this review, but I knew instantly I had chosen wisely within the first minute of the first song "Nocturne".  The track opens with sounds of  a forest campfire accompanied by haunting and atmospheric orchestration.  

Split EP Review: "Split" by Shroud Eater and Dead Hand

Split

The split EP.

Today we're taking a look at the first of a few of these that are coming down the pipe that, well, even with my personal aversion to them, cannot be passed over.

Doom/Stoner/Sludge/Horror/Whatever Metal is something that's really turning my wheels in this day and age.

Black Sabbath is what started my journey in to metal, well started the serious journey anyway. At the ripe old age of 9, The Road Warriors were using Iron Man as their entrance tune.

Little did I know, my best friend Tom, had Black Sabbath's Greatest Hits on cassette tape. Well, needless to say, hearing that tape really started me down the right path. Though, I'd been a fan of music for a few years prior to that, this awakening is what took me.

Vinyl Review: "MC Chris Is Dreaming" by MC Chris

MC Chris Is Dreaming

Let's get a few things nice and sparkling clear before we move forward.

There are two things I need to explain before we continue with this particular review. MC Chris is one of my absolute favorite artists.

Aside from the previous revelation, I am a giant nerd. Those of you who follow my twitter account have actually seen that. After all, part of my bio is the "guy wearing a Voltron shirt at a Slayer concert."

So, naturally being a big nerd, I've been familiar with nerd music for quite some time.

As can be seen in the unboxing video below, I received a copy of the standard LP and not the limited edition vinyl. As is common for artists not on a major label, it took some extra time to get a copy of the vinyl after the digital/CD release.

Interview: Turbo Shokk and Hair Replacement Metal

Over the years, many movements have come and gone.

Turbo Shokk has arrived and they're bringing their perfected version of hair metal to the masses.

Normally this intro would be a bit bigger, but our new friends are rather long winded, so let's just let them go at it.

Glacially Musical: Thank you for taking some time for me today. The word on the street is that Turbo Shokk is the real hair metal and everything else is just false metal. How did you become the first hair metal band?

Michael Arcane (drums): Whoa whoa whoa, you got it all wrong. We didn’t invent hair metal, we just perfected it, and are bringing it back. Like, I didn’t invent the grilled cheese sandwich either, but I did perfect it. The secret ingredient? Lots and lots of butter. Same as Turbo Shokk.

Razor O'Shea (guitar): You're close--we're the first Hair REPLACEMENT metal band. We make hard rockin' music for balding people. Every riff I write is like support group catharsis in audio form. 

LP Review: "The Brimstone Aggrandizement" by Echelon

The Brimstone Aggrandizement

Here's a quick preface.

Due to the recent events in America, I have grown angrier. Please expect to see lots of extreme metal.

There was a time, in the not too distant past, when Death Metal wasn't a thing.

Hell, back then we didn't even differentiate between different kinds of metal. Metallica was in the same group as Iron Maiden who was in the same group as Black Sabbath and sometimes Jefferson Airplane.

Yes, I'm old.

How so much has changed since those carefree days of youth, back when C# was as heavy and as low as we could go. Later on, Steve Vai would give the tools to Korn who made it easier to take metal into strange new places.

Album Review: On Days Soon To Pass by Tyler Daniel Bean

On Days Soon To Pass

Finding the right music to fit your mood can be a tricky thing. There's SO much variety out there it can be overwhelming and when it seems like the mountain is falling down around you that's not a welcome feeling.

One particularly fascinating aspect of being human is our ability to create, especially out of periods of darkness and suffering.

Music from this kind of place can often be heavy and brooding, but in the case of Tyler Daniel Bean's On Days Soon To Pass we get just the opposite, something instead uplifting and promising.

His second release hits the shelves tomorrow and it's an intimate journey through a period in Bean's life where he was experiencing many types of emotion that can put you down, permanently.

Deeply intellectual, this songs found in On Days Soon To Pass are partly the culmination of the writing he did while battling a major bout of depression.

Tour Diary #1: Jagged Mouth Is On The Road

10/27 Albuquerque, NM

This night was the Jagged Mouth tape release / tour kickoff show. In the morning we leave with Ol' Dagger from Santa Fe, NM. The turnout was ok, but I got more messages from friends saying that they WEREN'T able to come than friends that actually showed up. I think we all felt the same way. Regardless, a good night was had by all. Local bands Iceolous, Ronoso and Desmadre from Espanola opened the precedings with verve and aplomb. If Iceolous can get a recording done, you will be hearing more about them.

Ol' Dagger got down in a big way, blending their d- beat style with hardcore, sludge and black metal. They actually are quite adept at blending all of those styles, sometimes within the same song. They played an equal amount of songs from both of their releases, "Bobcat Dynamite" and "Hell Forever". As an aside, I've missed them every time that they've played in Albuquerque and so tonight was my first time actually seeing them. Met them personally, never seen them play. They are KILLER. This I gonna be a rad tour.

Top Ten of 2016 #3: David from Season of Arrows

David from Season of Arrows had a hard time lining up his favorite ten records from 2016, so he pulled a Danny and did 25...

1) Monolord - Lord of Suffering/Die in Haze

Feel the slow sludgy doom fill your soul! Then add crystal clear haunting vocals over it.

Concert Review and Photos: Stryper at the Ready Room in St. Louis November 8, 2016 - Photos and words by Danny Nichols

Guitarist and vocalist Michael Sweet

Thirty years ago Stryper were three albums into a career of producing glam metal with a considerably different ideological slant than their Sunset Strip peers. Their first two albums The Yellow and Black Attack and Soldiers Under Command had sold extremely well.  Clearly there was a market of metal fans who loved the power chords, searing guitar solos and the thundering crack of a snare drum, but weren’t interested in hearing songs about the devil or hedonism.  There was a place for Christianity in the hallowed halls of metal. Still, they had not really achieved mainstream success until their legions of devoted fans latched onto their third album To Hell With The Devil and flooded MTV with demands it be put into heavy rotation.   

Guitarist Oz Fox

This was a band made for MTV with their vibrant yellow and black stripped costumes, choreographed stage antics and a bombastic drummer who plays with his elevated kit sideways, so the audience can appreciate his every move.  The third album went double platinum.  The 2016 tour is a 30th anniversary celebration of Stryper at their loftiest heights.  The album was played in its entirety in order.  The old 1986 stage costumes were dusted off and trotted out.  Robert Sweet pointed his drums stage right and gave us 110% again.

Throwback Review: "Afterglow" by Funeral Mantra

Afterglow

Tonight, the family and I will be watching the returns. (This should let you know what day this is being written.)

Well, while we do that our kind of comfort food will be served. St. Louis Style Pizza, Cheese Garlic Bread, and Toasted Ravioli.

Comfort food is a wonderful thing because it's something that truly makes us feel better. If we're feeling uneasy about something, there it is.

Think about all of the times you've been around around the table with your family eating comfort food. It's a delightful feeling isn't it?

Food isn't the only thing that offers us comfort though. Think about three chord rock'n'roll, 12 bar blues (also three chords), and just straight up heavy metal. These sorts of music have all been around for a very long time.

Video Premier: Eternal Halloween's "Bulletproofed"

Check it out!

Fans of GWAR, Kiss, and Slipknot might just have a good old time with this one.

But we'll just let the video speak for itself.

Vinyl Review: "Where The Merfalo Roam" by Into The Storm

Where The Merfalo Roam

Something that annoys me....

Seattle, WA is not known for its heavy metal and by Seattle, WA, really we're talking about the entire Pacific Northwest, save Vancouver, BC proper.

Now, as I've never visited there, it's totally acceptable for me to now make wild accusations about this area of the world. Clearly it's raining there right now.

Beyond just the rain and the damp, it must be assumed that they have a large mold problem up there too right?

There's also a lot of coffee.

I can't help but think....wouldn't all the rain, mist, and caffeine create something more than just grunge?  It really seems like there should be a huge speed metal scene up there, just because...how do you play slowly when you're drinking coffee all day and night?

I mean, do they even have tea?

Interview: Christine Kelly, Owner of Tridroid Records

Growing up, my favorite record label was Elektra Records.

Why? Because my two favorite bands, at the time, Metallica and The Doors were both on Elektra. Back in those days, there weren't a whole lot of indie labels that would be much to talk about.

But nowadays, any record label has the same reach as Elektra Records, worldwide, thanks to the internet. Christine Kelly recently acquired a label that I apparently dig quite a bit (based on my reviews anyway) and she took some time to talk to us today.

Glacially Musical: Thank you for taking some time for me today. It's a first interviewing a label owner here.

LP Review: "Enemy of Duality" by Rudra

Enemy of Duality

In many of my interviews with the metal set, it's always fun to ask them about about which of the many metal sub-genres they would put themselves.

It seems like over and over again, albums show up to me with genre tags that are completely alien to me.

Today, we're enjoying some Vedic Metal.

The Vedic Period.... was apparently a very big deal in Hinduism.

The Vedic Era began over 3500 years ago in 1500 BCE when cultural mores, traditions, customs, etc all began to take shape in Northern India.

For more, and hopefully better information, click on the link I stuck in there. As for what is Vedic Metal well that's a slightly more difficult question isn't it?

The easiest way to consider it would be an Indian version of Pagan Metal.

Album Review: Kill The Ill by Brine

Kill The Ill

Something major happened here recently, something that chills me to my core, something that leaves me huddling under the blankets not wanting to get up in the morning. I'm talking, of course, about the first frost of the season

I know what you thought I meant, but this is a place of creativity and entertainment. Somewhere you can come to get away from all that other ugliness.

Grab some headphones and cue up the next track, sit back and sip on your favorite beverage of choice.

I'd recommend a hot drink now that Fall is truly here though it's been leaf-falling weather for a few weeks already, especially here in this *specific* spot. The new music I've been listening to lately all has a common feel to it, a decidedly autumnal bent.

Concert Photos: Corrosion of Conformity at Pop's in Sauget IL, October 16, 2015 -photos by Danny Nichols

Woody Weatherman and Pepper Keenan of Corrosion of Conformity rock Pop's in Sauget, IL

LP Review: "Mors Secunda" by Terra

Mors Secunda

The United States, the country of my birth and residence, is at the same time full of wide open spaces and populations stacks where people are literally on top of each other.

In my state, Missouri, there are just over six million of us, but in the St. Louis Metro area alone, there are nearly three million of us.

That leaves some pretty large swaths of land where there is no one. Recently, we went to a wedding in out state Missouri and on our way there, we stared at a goodly amount of nothing.

Essentially, there are two wholly opposite things existing in the same space. In parts of Missouri, like the rest of the United States, we have people on top of people on top of people and in others, there is nothing. So vast, so empty, and so normal.

Top Ten of 2016 #2: Shawn Pelata of Final Sign

I must confess, I didn't buy a lot of 2016 albums this year. I heard some great music. There are so many great heavy metal bands out there that it gets harder and harder every year to keep up!

Not that I'm complaining, mind you. It's amazing that Heavy Metal's so alive and vibrant these days. 

But I'm an old guy and I tend to gravitate to old bands. Haha! As you will see, there are a lot of familiar names on my list.

These are the 2016 albums that really stood out to me among the ones I did buy.

Album Review: "Cauchemar" by Inire

It is a testament to the complexity of their sound a band named Inire, which is the Latin word for "peace" would deliver a bellicose album titled Cauchemar, the French word for "nightmare". 

Truly the five men of Inire have descended from the Quebec region of the Great White North with the intent of conquering the metal landscape.

Inire has a sound which crosses the boundaries between groove metal, metalcore and nu metal with a distinct traditional heavy metal vibe.  Strong musical similarities can be drawn between Inire and genre giants such as Devil You Know and Killswitch Engage.

LP Review: "Get Radical" by Turbo Shokk

Get Radical

When my great awakening happened, Led Zeppelin had only been broken up for a year, Black Sabbath was still touring with Ronnie James Dio, and Kiss was still wearing their trademark(ed) face paint.

Five years later, when my music library started, the idea of classic rock began to surface. The canonization of bands was moving forward and growing rapidly.

Jimi Hendrix was no longer just an amazing guitarist and artist, but he was golden god who was taken from us too soon.

During the 80's, there were all sorts of throwbacks to these eras. Poison built an entire career off of ripping off Kiss licks.

Now, as the millennials come of age in the world, who are their elder statesmen? Surely they're familiar with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, but the music of the 80's, that's what the youngers are going to remember.

Vinyl Review: "The Face of Collapse" by Dazzling Killmen

Face of Collapse

Welcome to the vinyl review column. As described here, these reviews are special because the music is heard as the way Jimi, Bonzo, and Jack Bruce intended.

Straight from the glorious grooves on wax platters as pierced by a needle.

It's only fitting that the first Vinyl Review start off with a band and a label from St. Louis, Missouri, or thereabouts.

About 24 years ago, I went to my first two concerts in the span of three days. The first was Iron Maiden, Testament, and Corrosion of Conformity and the second was Agnostic Front being supported by local act, Crucible.

For a scant $14, I walked out of Metal's Edge with both a cassette tape and a t-shirt from Crucible. It was my introduction to a wider world of music. That was the day I learned that independent music could exist, along with the idea that people from St. Louis could also make music.

LP Review: "Księżyc milczy luty" by Furia

Księżyc milczy luty

Your friend and humble narrator, has been married for nearly seven years at the time of this writing. (Just slightly over a month later, on Repeal Day, it'll have been seven years.)

But in the before time, I found myself single, my era of online dating began.

What else is there to do after having been ensconced in a 12 year plus relationship. It's not like I could begin dating friends, a new circle had to be drawn.

If anyone is curious, yes, we are presently living in domestic bliss in the now time and the rest of this is about the before time.

Online dating is essentially setting yourself up on as many blind dates as is humanly possible. There is very little to go on aside from a photo and a few words of whatever.

Well, what's never visible or enumerated in the profile is the author's crazy, though I did try to get a goodly chunk of mine in there. It's only after digging a little deeper do we see what lurks.

Throwback Review: "Until Hell Freezes Over" by Eterno

Until Hell Freezes Over

Well, the fight between the mailman and myself has ended.

Upon arriving home the other day, there was a note that a package being delivered to my house required a signature. So, being the adventurous sort, I signed it and taped it to my mail slot.

This is kind of my signature move when it comes to packages and it's always yielded positive results, meaning, the package was on my doorstep the next day.

This time though there was nothing there the next day. After several phone calls to the local USPS office, it came to light the package was in the back and it wasn't the record I'd been awaiting.

So, two days later, it was finally in my hands! These CDs came to me all the way from Latvia. That's a first. As our physical policy is to at least listen to every one, I'm adding a new column for physical promos that aren't quite current, throwback reviews.

EP Review: "EP 2" by Del Caesar

EP 2

My house is a bastion of nerdy oddities of all stripes. From our classic bookwormishness to my personal vinyl and retro video game collections.

Frankly my daughter has absolutely zero chance of growing up outside of all the nerd cultures.

Lately, my family has been taking in the Harry Potter Universe. My little lovely has finally taken to young Mr. Potter as she has with Star Wars.

After reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, it's easy to be reminded of Delores Umbridge's speech. She explains that progress for the sake of progress should be discouraged.

That speech was meant to turn the reader against her, but have we gotten to the point where we progress solely for the sake of progression? Years ago, the singer in my band wouldn't purchase CDs, because it was too easy to skip bad songs. So, he only purchased cassettes.

Top Ten of 2016 #1: Rob Rom of Static Tension

Rob Rom of Static Tension gives us the following:

2016 was a tough year for this topic. This year saw 3 releases that had me begging for more, a few that were good but released so recently that I've had little time to get familiar, and then a handful that were decent but didn't stand up to the band's previous releases.  

This year had me digging and comparing to come up with my results, and this is a list of my results. 

10) Gojira Magma

These guys blow my mind, the older I get. The more I sway towards traditional metal, I make an exception for these guys. Very technical and over-the-top at times, but the vocals are always excellently done and the songs are catchy as hell, although this album cannot replace From Mars to Sirius.

It is still a phenomenal album.

Album Review: "Built To Last" by Hammerfall

On November 27, 2002, I had tickets to see Dio perform at Pop's in Sauget, Illinois.  The opening band was a leatherclad powermetal outfit from Sweden called HammerFall, which was heretofore unknown to me, or most of America at the time.  

I had already staked out a spot in the front row in anticipation of Dio when HammerFall hit the stage with such a ferocity, energy and quality of musicianship, they became my favorite band by their third song. 

I have been greatly impressed by an unknown band on several occasions since, but never to this level.  I remember singer Joacim Cans, noting my enthusiasm, and saluting the diehard fans up front.  Joacim was right, I was a diehard, but what he did not know was I had only been one for 15 minutes.