Tag: thrash

L.A. Thrashes Harder Than Ever Before: Sacred Reich and Vio-Lence at the Regent

Rob Shepyer June 8, 2019

Too quickly, this show sold out and had every metalhead that was too late for the party wishing they didn’t drink the night before so they could wake up in time to spend their hard earned money on a ticket to see two thrash legends on one stage. It was a stacked bill. Sacred Reich doesn’t come around too often and Excel puts on a great enough show that they should always be selling out any venue. Sworn Enemy isn’t a band we get to see often in Los Angeles and Yidhra, though hometown underground doom heroes are staples at Church of the 8th Day shows they’re a pleasure for any riff-lover to see. All these great bands weren’t the real reasons this mother sold out though. Bay area thrash legends, Vio-Lence had just reunited and this was their first and only Los Angeles show in over a decade. related content: The 1720th Circle Of Hell: Deicide At 1720 This was basically a touring festival the likes of Show Your Scars or Strike Fest and like everyone else in attendance, I expected more stage dives and mosh madness than your average metal gig. This was going to be one for

Photo Recap: Toxic Holocaust at Resident

Janky Smooth Central Command December 9, 2018

Toxic Holocaust is a band that shines most as a headlining act. It’s still a treat catching them on tour with bigger bands or at fest, but the mixed crowd they bring on their own makes for a wild (and occasionally dangerous) time. Their recent performance at Resident is a perfect example of metalheads and punks losing their minds alongside each other to some of the most memorable thrash tracks released over the past decade. The night opened with SoCal crossover act Take Offense and LA heroes Scrapmetal and Parasite. Resident has earned it’s title as the (unofficial) home of metal and punk this year and I’m excited to see what acts they host in 2019. Photos by: Dillon Vaughn Toxic Holocaust Take Offense

Los Angeles Strikefest at the Regent: By Die-hards, For Die-hards

Dillon Vaughn July 6, 2018

Festival season is here and California has no shortage of options for niche entertainment seekers; from Arroyo Seco Weekend and Smokin’ Grooves to Burger Boogaloo and Summertime in LB, whatever musical religion you subscribe to has it’s fair share of representation. Delving into the true deep-cut side of things, there’s one fest that stands out as the real assembly for die-hards: Los Angeles Strikefest. Created and lovingly curated by the heavy hitting Church of the 8th Day and Nightforce Productions (a new face in the LA metal scene) version 1.0 of Strike Fest didn’t pull any punches and delivered three nights of bucket-list worthy acts. related content: The De-Evolution of Burger Boogaloo The first evening was the shortest of the three but remained far from being a pre-show. Fans were treated to sets from Los Angeles’ own media darlings Dread and Blade Killer, Matt Harvey (of Exhumed) performing in both Pounder and the reunion of Dekapitator, and a very hyped and rare performance by Detroit’s Demon Bitch. Closing out the night was Nasty Savage, the band serving one of the most direct examples of bleeding for the art. Warned by security to watch for “flying glass and metal and shit”

Slayer’s Final So-Cal Show at Five Point Amphitheater: The Most Insane Review I’ll Ever Write

Rob Shepyer May 15, 2018

Seeing Slayer from the front of the crowd is the most violent live music experience you can gamble your life on. And I’m not exaggerating, the risk is real, tangible. Most music bloggers covering this show didn’t choose to stand where I stood, inching forward with the crowd with some kind of unconscious death wish; probably because most music bloggers have more to lose. To sum up what a Slayer show that close to the band is like, I’ll make a World War II reference like the band does on the song “Angel of Death”, their closer of the night. The front row of a Slayer concert feels like being crammed into a train on its way to a death camp, only a band is playing. Everyone is squeezed so tightly into each other that they can’t move. There’s no step you can take back, forward, to the right or left, that could give your body any relief. You’re lucky if you can move your arms. Then suddenly, you’re violently pushed in every direction, colliding with the bodies beside you and falling into them but not falling over, if you’re lucky and God forbid you do, because those that fell

From The Bay To L.A. Classic Metal Burns Bright: Hell Fire At Echoplex

Rob Shepyer April 20, 2018

With my recent concert-going escapades seemingly devoted to punk, in all its forms, it felt like I had forgotten my first love: heavy fucking metal. And, in attending the Echoplex’s Metal Monday showcase, it was as if the prodigal son had returned to church. In a sense, I mean this literally because the show was booked by Church of the 8th Day, Los Angeles’ most prolific metal promoter. On this, the day after the Christian sabbath, once the religious had gotten their fill of rest and ritual, it was time for the devils to come out and play; and those devils were Hell Fire. The opening band originated and hit close to home, Blade Killer, is a gem in the Los Angeles metal scene. Immediately, the frantic guitar-work of Jay Vazquez and Jonathan Rubio kicked in, backed by a pummeling flying V bass of Kelsey Wilson and the lighting fast, swagger-filled drumming of Peter Lemieux. The singer of the band, Carlos Gutierrez, harkens the greatest metal singers you can think of, both Iron Maiden singers Bruce Dickinson and Paul Dianno, at times. Seeing as the lead guitarist, Jonathan Rubio, was celebrating his birthday on this night, he didn’t hold back

The Battle of The Bays: Obituary & Exodus Clash At Teragram Ballroom

Rob Shepyer October 12, 2017

Thrash is the father of every form of extreme metal on the heavy metal family tree. If it wasn’t for Slayer there would be no death metal or black metal. There have always been bands that have teetered on the border of death and thrash metal, german thrash bands like Kreator and Sodom brought death metal vocals and heaviness into thrash, while bands like Obituary brought thrash metal accessibility and groove into death metal. Perhaps that was always the secret to Obituary’s longevity, of all the original Florida death metal bands, beginning with Chuck Shuldiner’s Death then continued with Morbid Angel and Deicide, Obituary is the only band of the bunch still reigning. What separated Obituary’s music from these other bands is that they took a more accessible, groove and rhythm approach to death metal, it wasn’t a total noise fest of blast beats and guttural vocals. The band was always more seeped in their southern rock roots than the rest. Almost like how Weedeater is to stoner metal. related content: Weedeater And The Obsessed At The Regent: Blaze It Up, Fool The Florida death metal sound was born out of Tampa Bay in the Morrisound Recording studio but then