Heavy Metal!!

[MrWhippy]

Still up in the air over whether to do the Fillmore or have a romantic Valentine's Day in Philly

For selfish reasons I want you to do the Fillmore with me (and also manonthemoon, I think), but I'm sure TLA in Philly is a much cooler venue.

Have you noticed that stretch of seven shows on their schedule from Orlando to Boston without a night off?  Those dudes are not human.

[Ruckus]

Still up in the air over whether to do the Fillmore or have a romantic Valentine's Day in Philly

For selfish reasons I want you to do the Fillmore with me (and also manonthemoon, I think), but I'm sure TLA in Philly is a much cooler venue.

Have you noticed that stretch of seven shows on their schedule from Orlando to Boston without a night off?  Those dudes are not human.

That's a tough stretch for any band, let alone one that expends so much energy onstage at their age.  Though we haven't purchased tickets, I think the Fillmore may happen.  Penny loves Meshuggah.  Maybe she'll come too.

[MrWhippy]

I'm heading up to Philly on 1/19 for this bad boy.  Any other east coast Full Metal Jacketers also going?

I'm in a bit of disbelief around seeing Converge, Pig Destroyer, Tombs, and Evoken all in one night.

[Ruckus]

I'm heading up to Philly on 1/19 for this bad boy.  Any other east coast Full Metal Jacketers also going?

I'm in a bit of disbelief around seeing Converge, Pig Destroyer, Tombs, and Evoken all in one night.

You fucking rockstar!  If we didn't have dinner plans, we'd be there with ya.  I'm pretty Pig Destroyered out.  Just about a 45 minute set is all I need from them.  Grindcore just gets so repetitive quickly.

Converge on the other hand is a band that I just have to see!  I was listening to their last one last night and was blown away again.  Do they just call that mathcore?

[MrWhippy]

I don't really know what I would call Converge, but my best guess would be metalcore.

[AMERICAN DAD RULES]

I'm heading up to Philly on 1/19 for this bad boy.  Any other east coast Full Metal Jacketers also going?

I'm in a bit of disbelief around seeing Converge, Pig Destroyer, Tombs, and Evoken all in one night.

yOUR POSTER IS SOOOOOO SCARY!!!!!

[JaneCool]

Does Black Sabbath count? If so, I'm in.

[AMERICAN DAD RULES]

[MrWhippy]

The Decibel 100th issue show in Philly was fantastic.  If you had to pick the two bands in the world of extreme metal that are kicking the most ass right now, Pig Destroyer and Converge would be very logical picks, so it was great to see them on the same bill.

Tombs were also fantastic, and way better live than I was expecting.  Repulsion and Evoken were also very good.  Regarding Municipal Waste, I hope I never cross paths with that band again, but 5 out of 6 is pretty damn good.

I know alinelanes was there as well, I'd love to hear his thoughts on it.

[MrWhippy]

One other thing about the Decibel 100th issue show, since I know there are some Baroness fans.

Converge was introduced by John Baizley (singer of Baroness), who talked about how Converge's music was one of the things that helped him pull through and gave him hope as he was recovering from being badly injured in a tour bus accident last fall.  John then came out and joined Converge for "Coral Blue."  Someone posted a good video of it on Youtube:

Decibel 100 - 1/19/13 - Converge & John Dyer Baizley - Coral Blue

[alienlanes]

I had a great time at the Decibel 100th issue anniversary show on Saturday. It was a quick round trip - left home at 7 AM on Saturday, drove to Philly arriving at 4:30 PM, went for dinner and the show and headed home at 1:45 AM, arriving at my doorstep at 10:30 AM Sunday morning.

I went to Philly with my friend who is a writer for the magazine. He made a last minute decision to go and I managed to score a ticket on Wednesday too. I was most excited to see Repulsion and Pig Destroyer again, but here is my take on all the bands.

EVOKEN: I never got to see the CA doom band MORGION in their timespan, but this was pretty close to that. I love slow, heavy doom like this, although I was definitely in the minority of the people I was with. I watched two songs and was satisfied, but my traveling pal said he had enough after the first riff. (Should also note that I LOVED the introduction that MOUNTAIN GOATS frontman John Darnielle gave before they played).

TOMBS: I saw these guys the last time I was in Philly, at a small bar with DYSRHYTHMIA about four years ago. I didn't really like their last studio album, which I thought was just more of the same for them (GODFLESH worship) but they played a bunch of new songs at this show that were more of my taste.

MUNICIPAL WASTE: I am an old school metal guy. I was into thrash as a teenager back in the late 80s during the first and second wave and also loved the crossover stuff. I like the MW albums, but I have always loved them live. I can understand why people wouldn't like them, as it's juvenile, drunken simple thrash stuff, but it's done really well and they have a lot of fun doing it. I will admit a little bit of bias towards them, as their drummer is an old friend of mine that I've known for 17+ years, but I thought their set was great and they had quite the old school circle pit going. Was cool to see Tomas Lindberg (AT THE GATES,DISFEAR) come out and sing a song, which he also did when I saw them on the Barge to Hell cruise in early Dec.

REPULSION: I saw this band a few years ago at Maryland Death Fest on one of the outdoor stages, but was really looking forward to seeing them inside on a big stage. There were some definite sound problems with their set - Marissa Martinez's guitar was cutting in and out and it was very difficult to hear the snare for the first three songs (you need to be able to hear the snare in grindcore/death metal!) but it was a fun sloppy set. Their Horrified album is an absolute death metal classic and it's so nice to hear those songs live, nostalgia trip indeed.

PIG DESTROYER: The most packed set of the night. Insanely good set. Singer JR has gained about 100 lbs in the past three years, but they still owned it. So good

CONVERGE: I just saw them about two months ago in Rochester. I like this band, but don't love them. Musically they are fantastic, but their vocalist Jacob Bannon is hit or miss for me. He was more hit than miss on Saturday, thankfully, and I really enjoyed this set. It was amazing to see John Baizley get on stage with them (I'm a huge BARONESS fan) and their guitarist Kurt Ballou is an absolute monster on guitar. This is the best set I have seen them play since the 1999 New England Metal Fest.

The venue where this show was at, Union Transfer, is apparently only about a year old. Having said that, this place is gold. I would never hesitate to go see bands there. Great sightlines, nice balcony, cool bar area in the back (where they show the stage on large TVs too - smart). The front room where you come in has ample room for merch and also had a cool food vendor selling tacos and vegan food as well as water, pop and popcorn. Wish I could have stayed over and had the time to go see NEUROSIS on Sunday night too!

[MrWhippy]

Thanks so much, alienlanes, for giving your review.  Very cool to hear a take on the show from someone with way more metal history and knowledge than I have.

I didn't know that was the Mountain Goats guy who introduced Evoken.  I loved it as well, absolutely hilarious. 

Agree about the venue (Union Transfer) as well, pretty much a perfect venue in terms of sound, sight, character, and comfort/convenience.  I wish it was in my town.

[alienlanes]

I am going to review it in earnest later this week, I think. If you (or anyone else) is metal inclined I invite you to check out the website that Leanne and I own: http://www.hellbound.ca

[HansAndreas]

Thanks alienlanes for letting me know about your site. Looking forward to read about Varg Vikernes and Scott Kelly. Lots of great Swedish stuff too Watain, Katatonia and Ghost 

[MrWhippy]

Agreed, thanks alienlanes for letting us know about your website. 

I've seen a million top metal albums of 2012 list, but I thought the one on your site was really good and interesting in its picks.

I liked seeing the Dragged Into Sunlight record on there.  That is a great record and I agree with the reviewer that it's probably the most unsettling thing I heard all year. 

Also nice to see Ensalved on there.  I will definitely be checking out the 3 or so records I was not familiar with that I saw on that list.

[alienlanes]

Full disclosure, I am directly involved with this band, but I thought that some of you might be interested in checking this out. Decibel Magazine debuted a song earlier today by the Canadian metal band ANCIIENTS, who will release their debut album in April. I just thought I'd post the link in case anyone wanted to check out a brand new metal/stoner rock band

http://www.decibelmagazine.com/featured/streaming-anciients-raise-the-sun/

[manonthemoon]

BLACK METAL

I had mentioned this to MrWhippy prior, but a pretty good short film that sort of involves metal.

[MrWhippy]

This is not my photo, but it is from the Meshuggah show in Silver Spring MD last night that Ruckus, Manonthemoon, and I were at. 




Also, MOTM, thanks for posting that short film, I finally did get to check it out, very cool.

[Fully]

I'm on my phone, but is that a guy in a wheelchair crowd surfing? Oh my! I'm amazed you can function this morning after that evening. Of course, you three are at another level of show going than I am.

[MrWhippy]

Yes, guy in a wheelchair crowd surfing.  He did it probably 7 or 8 times over the course of the Meshuggah set, down from last Meshuggah show at the same venue where the he did it probably 15 times over their set.