MetalVice

It seems like most shows are going to the four act structure. The days of the three band bill seem to be not the norm. We are not sure why. But when it comes to a tour with three older bands like Meshuggah, Cannibal Corpse, and Carcass what more could you want. Well, unfortunately for us, we only got to see 2 out of three. Which we hear is not bad. Carcass would let us get a Headbangers vest show checked off, which Brian WANTED to get done. Then there's three killer bands on one stage, on one night, at the start of the week. Who doesn't NEED that.  But then again, the show was at the LiveNation Venue of Aragon Ballroom, which we do not LOVE. Join us as we relive this night and find out what 33.3% we missed out on. 

EvilNation: https://www.evilnation.net/

House of Blues Chicago was one of our favorite venues in the city for many years. Over time though we have come to lowth the place. For many reasons. For instance if you are not on the main floor it's easy to find yourself behind a pole without a view of the stage and piss poor sound. Let's also not forget it's a LiveNation venue. For Karen, it’s often a hard pass if a band announces a show at HOB Chicago. We will often skip the show or look to see if the tour is making a stop somewhere else close, like MKE. Then Whitechapel announced a show at HOB, with Brand of Sacrifice, 200 Stab Wounds, and Alluvial. This was a show Karen was not going to miss. So HOB here we come.

Our friends in Trash Of The Titans have started a new band, MegaBallad. Instead of a tribute to the Big 4, it's a night celebrating the Hard Rock Power Ballads of the 80’s. Playing decade defining songs from Def Leppard, GNR, Skid Row Bon Jovi and so many more. When we heard they were playing Sherwood Forest Event Center in their home town of Des Moines for their first show we knew we had to be there. Not just to enjoy amazing music by killer musicians, but to lend a helping hand wherever we could. While Brian was expecting to just help load in and out, he may have bit off more then he could chew when he agreed to be Jerry’s guitar tech for the night. Well, not a true guitar tech, but helping to change out guitars in between songs. Still, a small fuck up could spell disaster for the first MegaBallads show. Join us to find out.

When a show is announced and tickets go on sale we will jump on them as soon as we can. Mostly to ensure we get tickets before scalpers grab them all up and resell them for a huge markup. Fuck scalpers. This means that we will have to skip any show that is announced after the first. That's exactly what happened with Dream Theater’s 40th Anniversary tour and Disturbed The Sickness 25th Anniversary tour. We already had tickets to Dream Theater when Disturbed announced. It was going to be a homecoming for Disturbed, playing The United Center, one of the largest venues in the city. So what should we do? Well Brian went to Dream Theater with a friend while Karen went to Disturbed. Join us as we share our experiences seeing two shows in one night.

Out of all the subgenres of Metal, Folk Metal is one of our favorites. Each band in this subgenre brings their own take and sound, based on who they are, where they are from, and what their unique experience/culture is. While this is true for all Metal, Folk Metal will also bring unique instruments you don’t hear anywhere else in Metal. So when we saw the Finnish bands Korpiklaani and Ensiferum bring Folkfest of The North to the states we knew we had to be there. But it wouldn't be a Folkfest without at least one other band right? Well they brought two, Trollfest (from Norway) and Nini (from Taiwan with US musicians). Join us as we look back at these four unique bands with their four unique sounds.

25 years ago Disturbed released their debut album, The Sickness. This album, and band, has had a huge impact on both Karen and Brian's lives and musical journey. To celebrate, Disturbed, went on the road to play the album in full for all the fans who are like us and love this album. Not only was the entire Sickness album going to be played in full, Disturbed played a second set for their greatest hits. The tour was a choose your own adventure type tour, where the opening act will change depending on the dates you see the show. For us, we got Sevendust and Three Days Grace (with Adam Gontier returning). With many of the key albums that shaped our musical tastes approaching their 20 and 25 year anniversaries this show was definitely going to be one we did not want to miss.

Taking two, and sometimes even more, genres of music and melding them together will often result in something very good. That was the case with the Rock Orchestra presented by Candle Light. A melding of some of Rock and Metals biggest hits with a Classical twist, and even a hint of Jazz. Even with the unique sound and venue, the energy in the air was definitely a familiar one.

Welcome to our first Book Club episode. Join us as we look at Randy Blythe’s first book, Dark Days. A memoir surrounding the events that lead to his incarceration and subsequent trial.

What do you get when you ask classically trained cello players to cover one of the greatest Metal bands of all time? An insanely good time that’s what! To support their newest album, Apocalyptica returns to Chicago to play some of the best Metallica songs out there. Along for the ride Nita Strauss and company helped prep the crowd for the night ahead. While Apocalyptica only played Metallica covers, they definitely left us hungry for another set. 

We first saw Mother Of Graves at their first show outside of Indianapolis opening for Khemmis, and we were hooked from the start. A little while later they announced they were working on their second album, The Periapt Of Absence. Around the same time, the Chicago band Immortal Bird, also released their new album, Sin Querencia. Both bands teamed up to celebrate with two album release shows. The first in Mother Of Graves' hometown, with the second in Immortal Bird’s hometown. While we were unable to make the first, we were not going to miss the show at Reggies where our obsession with Mother Of Graves began. Tagging along to help celebrate these two amazing bands, the bill included Payasa and Apophy as support. Unfortunately, Payasa was unable to play, but it would still be an amazing night of music.