MetalVice

Fire up those Twin Ion Engines and head to Chicago because the empire is coming to town. Well, maybe not to Chicago, but to West Chicago. Which - believe it or not Brian, West Chicago is not part of Chicago. The band Galactic Empire, consumed by the dark side, and just being general nerds, come to the West Chicago Social Club. A venue we have wanted to check out for some time but the journey seemed far far away. Almost as far as a galaxy. But in the end it was only 12 parsecs. Join the fight while we look at this week's news topped off with the impressive showing of the Empire supported by the one and only Game Genie. 

This year we returned to 102.9 The Hog (Everything That Rocks!) yearly show, HOG Fest, after missing the last two years. The show this year had Three Days Grace at the top of the bill. With support from top to bottom of the bill by I Prevail, Sleep Theory, and The Funeral Portrait. Not only have we seen all of these bands before, but all of them have also played past HOG Fests. It was truly a night full of fun radio metal.

For the main topic this week you can hear Brian/Karen’s constant chatter about the Nothing More show at the Riviera Theater in Chicago. Both were excited to see different bands from the top of the bill to the bottom, which included Catch Your Breath, Archers, and Dobbie in support. Also this week you can catch up on past news featuring the new Iron Maiden doc and new music from Wage War and Lamb Of god. And of course there's the concert calendar with one of the most anticipated show announcements, Metallica at Sphere!

What is Tractor Jazz you may be asking? Well it’s a double concert report episode. The first report is all about our time at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, where we saw K.I.M. (Keeping It Moving). This was our first time seeing a Jazz show, and it was different yet very familiar to other shows we have seen. That same night a friend let us know his cousin was playing a show the next night in a band called Tractor Kings. They were the first opener for Pinebender with Allen Epley as the second support band. Join us while we share our experiences with these two shows along with the news and new music.

A few years back we went to a show that should have had a killer line up, one we would love to see again. Opening was Khemis (our first time seeing them), followed by Mastodon (also our first time seeing them), and to close it out was Opeth (again, our “first” time seeing them). However, we kind of over indulge and left the show mid way into Opeth’s first song. Well- maybe it was the second song, who knows. Their songs can be quite long. In anycase, Opeth went on tour in 2025 to support their album; The Last Will And Testament. Karen had to miss this but Brian was able to go. So when they announced the second part of this tour in early 2026 Karen was excited to finally get to see them.

With so much sickness in this week's news segment we are more than ready to chat about the Left To Suffer show. What would be a night of great deathcore with a pinch of hardcore we got to see The Last Ten Seconds Of Life, LarcEnia RoE, Fr3ak, and the local band Beheading The Icon all in support.

On a cold winter’s night, a perfect way to warm up is with some live music. With some fun creepy goth/rock/metal songs. That's just what we have for our main topic this week, with our concert report from the Lord Of The Lost show. Joining them in support we got to see Wednesday 13 again and The Birthday Massacre for the first time. Also we cover this week's news (stories include the new band doPE), new music (with a killer cover by Uada), and we wrap up with the new concert announcements (including a tour from Dope - the original one you are thinking of).

This week's concert report takes us back to the end of 2025 for our final show of the year. The headliner, American Hustle, played the classic Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf, followed by The Stem Lords playing the classic Billy Squier album Don't Say No. We also take a look at the merch table this week for a very unique EP from Party Cannon along with the week's headlines, new music, and of course the concert announcements.

This is the first week of 2026 where we had more than one show to go to. The first was a bar show at Reggies with some avant-garde metal/rock bands. Headlined by Kayo Dot with support from Straya and William Covert Trio. For the second show, we head out to the burbs, Woodstock to be precise. This event was not only a concert but a market full of everything from music to oddities. This event was put on by Warp Corps, a local non-profit organization with the mission of combatting suicide, overdose and homelessness through music, art, and action sports. This amazing event featured performances by SVNTN, Wings Of Severance, Rotten Mouth, and Strident Escape. Join us as we recap these events and cover all this week's news, new music, and concert announcements.

For our main topic in this episode we talk about Corey Taylor’s first book, Seven Deadly Sins. While it's not necessarily about music it has a few elements that tie back. Mostly that it was written by the lead singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour. In addition to the main topic we go over the past week's headlines and a stacked concert calendar with new show announcements.