Monday Metal Update 4/14

As we recently alluded to, Judas Priest, Motörhead, Heaven and Hell (Dio-fronted Black Sabbath), and Testament are rumored to be embarking on a massive tour de force in the US later this summer. Nothing 'official' has been announced yet, but the tour's been confirmed by several sources including Testament's Chuck Billy at their recent NYC gig.



Obviously, these shows will be at those massive arenas and amphitheaters with names like Such-and-Such Bank Center and So-and-So Automotive Company Pavilion, so let us give you that lineup once more to revive your enthusiasm:

• Testament
• Heaven and Hell (that's Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, and Vinny Appice for those keeping score at home)
• Motörhead
• Judas Priest

Dates (rumored, so far) are as follows:

Aug. 06 - Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
Aug. 07 - Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion At Stone Ridge
Aug. 09 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug. 10 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
Aug. 13 - Toronto, ON @ The Molson Amphitheatre
Aug. 15 - Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun
Aug. 16 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post-Gazette Pavilion
Aug. 18 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
Aug. 19 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Aug. 22 - Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center

In almost-equally-but-not-quite-because-it's-really-apples-and-oranges awesome news, animated death metallers Dethklok (yes!) will be touring this summer with Soilent Green (meh) and Chimaira (Zzzz...). This will be the general public's first chance to catch a glimpse of William Murderface and the entire cartoon crew live and in the 'flesh,' as the bogus band's debut trek last year was only a brief college tour.

Dethklok, Soilent Green, Chimaira - 2008 Tour:

6/2 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theatre
6/3 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SODO
6/5 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
6/6 Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
6/7 Las Vegas, NV @ House of Blues
6/8 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
6/10 Tempe, AZ @ Marquee Theatre
6/11 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
6/12 Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre
6/14 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
6/15 Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall
6/16 Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
6/17 Pontiac, MI @ Clutch Cargos
6/19 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
6/20 Toronto, ONT @ Kool Haus
6/22 Buffalo, NY @ Town Ballroom
6/24 Worcester, MA @ The Palladium
6/25 New York, NY @ Nokia Theater Times Square
6/26 Baltimore, MD @ Ram’s Head Live
6/27 Philadelphia, PA @ Theater of Living Arts
6/29 Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
6/30 Orlando, FL @ Hard Rock Live
7/1 St. Petersburg, FL @ Jannus Landing
7/2 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
7/4 Houston, TX @ Meridian
7/5 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
7/6 Austin, TX @ La Zona Rosa

Tour blasts; one, two, three GO!

The Black Dahlia Murder:

5/2 Huntington, WV @ Paradox Rift #
5/3 Augusta, GA @ Sector 7G #
5/4 Birmingham, AL @ Cave 9 *
5/5 Metairie, LA @ The High Ground *
5/7 Columbia, MO @ Blue Note *
5/8 Oklahoma City, OK @ Bricktown Ballroom *
5/9 Wichita, KS @ Eagles Lodge *
5/10 Des Moines, IA @ House Of Bricks *
5/15 Anchorage, AK @ Chilkoot Charlie's
5/16 Anchorage, AK @ Club Millennium

* w/ A Life Once Lost, Arsis
# w/ Arsis

Intronaut, Behold... The Arctopus, Mouth Of The Architect:

8/1 Columbus, OH @ Ravari Room
8/2 Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn
8/3 Pittsburgh, PA @ Howler's Coyote Cafe
8/4 Buffalo, NY @ Xtreme Wheels
8/5 Endicott, NY @ Downtown Quarterback
8/6 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East
8/7 Providence, RI @ Living Room
8/8 New York, NY @ Knitting Factory
8/9 Doylestown, PA @ Siren Records w/ Fight Amp
8/10 Washington, DC @ DC-9
8/11 Richmond, VA @ Nara Sushi
8/12 Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone
8/13 Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn
8/14 Orlando, FL @ The Haven
8/15 Tampa, FL @ Brass Mug
8/16 Gainesville, FL @ The Atlantic
8/17 Metarie, LA @ High Ground
8/18 Memphis, TN @ Hi Tone Cafe
8/19 Fayetteville, AR @ OPO Downstairs
8/20 Little Rock, AR @ Downtown Music
8/21 Dallas, TX @ Red Blood Club
8/22 Austin, TX @ Red 7
8/23 Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory
8/25 Farmington, NM @ Gator's
8/26 Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
8/27 Hollywood, CA @ Knitting Factory
8/28 San Diego, CA @ Chaser's
8/29 San Francisco, CA @ Annie's Social Club
8/30 Portland, OR @ Rotture
8/31 Roseburg, OR @ Riversdale Grange
9/1 Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
9/3 Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
9/4 Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge
9/5 St Louis, MO @ 2 Cents Plain
9/6 Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
9/7 Chicago, IL @ Reggie's Rock Club

Despised Icon, Ion Dissonance, Beneath The Massacre, The Plasmarifle - Spring Canada Tour 2008:

5/30 Toronto, ON @ Opera House
5/31 Hamilton, ON @ Casbah
6/01 Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
6/02 Sherbrooke, QC @ Bar Le Magog
6/03 Chicoutimi, QC @ Bunker
6/04 Trois-Rivieres, QC @ Rock Cafe Le Stag
6/05 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
6/06 Quebec, QC @ L'Anti
6/07 Victoriaville, QC @ Bar L'Evasion

That's it for us today, happy Monday!

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Beatmasterspeech's Best of 2007

First let me start off by saying there was a ton of quality shit this year. Second, I feel as if 2007 has come and gone too quickly for music and me. I’m pretty geeky and obsessive when it comes to collecting catalog albums, and so I feel as if I still haven’t gotten to a few great records out there in ’07 land. However, the albums below definitely defined this year for me. Read on and feel free to yell at me!


10~

Anaal Nathrakh
Hell is Empty, and all the Devils are Here [Amazon] [iTunes]


Pure and disgusting power, this album is unrelenting. The vocals will make you shit yourself!

Crucial Cut: "Shatter the Empyrean" [MP3]


9~

Sweet Cobra
Forever [Amazon]



Rock n' roll spirit is still alive. 333 parts skate punk + 333 parts sludge = Forever.

Crucial Cut: "Jackals and Arabs" [MP3]


8~

Despised Icon
The Ills of Modern Man [Amazon] [iTunes]


A successful marriage of hardcore and death metal. Thick, brutal, and punishing.

Crucial Cut: "Sheltered Reminiscence" [MP3]


7~

Rwake
Voices of Omens [Amazon]



If you’ve ever wondered what the bastard child of Pink Floyd and YOB would sound like, this is the album for you.

Crucial Cut: "Inverted Overtures" [MP3]


6~

Jesu
Conqueror [Amazon]



Broadrick displays his genius once again. Beautifully uplifting and apocalyptic at the same time.

Crucial Cut: "Conqueror" [MP3]


5~

Neurosis
Given to the Rising [Amazon] [iTunes]


The masters that defined an entire movement have made another impressive statement with Given to the Rising. It’s a definite audio experience.

Crucial Cut: "Water Is Not Enough" [MP3]


4~

Earth
Hibernaculum [Amazon]



I ended many a night lying in bed listening to this record. Each song is a movement within a perfect dark spaghetti western soundtrack.

Crucial Cut: "Ouroboros Is Broken" [MP3]


3~

Baroness
Red Album [Amazon]



A perfect evolutionary step for an already amazing band. This record really brought them into the ‘indieground’ spotlight.

Crucial Cut: "The Birthing" [MP3]


2~

High on Fire
Death is this Communion [Amazon]


Fist pumpin’, iron horse ridin', whiskey chuggin’, head banging heavy fucking metal!

Crucial Cut: "Rumours of War" [MP3]


1~

Big Business
Here Come The Waterworks [Amazon]


Let’s just say this was my cup of coffee of sorts on the way into work each day since its release early this year. I guarantee you’ll catch yourself humming these tunes by the water cooler on bagel day.

Crucial Cut: "Hands Up" [MP3]

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Crustcake Picks - LA Shows 12/6 - 12/12

Typically this time a year it seems most bands head towards home for the holidays. Luckily, it looks like we have some dedicated road dogs stickin’ to it for ole St. Nick!

Thursday 12/6 - Cut Chemist @ Silent Movie Theatre, Hollywood

Saturday 12/8 - Between the Buried & Me, Behold... the Arctopus @ The Knitting Factory, Hollywood

Sunday 12/9 - KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas feat. Muse, Feist, Silversun Pickups, Spoon, The Shins, Modest Mouse @ The Gibson Amphitheatre

Sunday 12/9 - Prefuse 73 @ The Troubadour

Monday 12/10 - Tool @ The Nokia Theater

Wednesday 12/12 - Despised Icon, The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza @ The Knitting Factory, Hollywood

[MP3] Cut Chemist - "Spat"
[MP3] Behold... the Arctopus - "Canada"
[MP3] Muse - "Supermassive Black Hole"
[MP3] Feist - "I Feel It All"
[MP3] Silversun Pickups - "Well Thought Out Twinkles"
[MP3] Spoon - "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"
[MP3] The Shins - "Turn On Me"
[MP3] Modest Mouse - "Florida"
[MP3] Prefuse 73 - "Girlfriend Boyfriend"
[MP3] Despised Icon - "The Ills of Modern Man"
[MP3] Tool - Live In Denver 7/21/2002

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Crustcake Picks - CMJ 2007: Friday

Tough choices on Friday. Canadian swine-core six-piece Despised Icon are at Bowery Poetry Club, though by the time you get through the unoriginal tech-metal of The Network, the merely decent death metal of Sons of Azrael, and the intolerable dudebro-core of Death Before Dishonor, you may be more interested in a beer and an old Slayer DVD than any more breakdowns.

Fortunately, if you do make it that long, Despised Icon are slotted before Christian Metalcore bigtimers The Chariot-- whose steampunk-inspired imagery is fantastic but regurgitated metalcore riffs are not-- so you'll at least be able to cut out early and make it across the bridge to catch the end of the Tee Pee Records Showcase at Luna Lounge.

The Tee Pee Showcase features one of the most solid lineups of the week and you can bet your bottom dollar that that's where we'll be spending the evening, spliff or no spliff.

Ancestors kick off the party with their Electric-Wizard-esque down-tempo doom-riffs. Next we'll be treated to the psychedelic rock of the bombastically-named Assemble Head in the Sunburst Sound and Stockholm's Blackstrap and then, finally, The Warlocks and Earthless, both of whom we are especially interested in checking out.

The Warlocks explore a mellower side of the psyche-rock aesthetic, while Earthless are prone to 20-minute-plus-but-never-masturbatory hard rock jam sessions (alright, so they may sound a wee bit like you and your buddies jamming in your basement but we like them anyway). The only thing that could make the Tee Pee Showcase better would be if Luna allows re-entry-- Spuyten Duyvil is right next door and Fette Sau across the street. What better way to spend a Friday night than five solid sets of old fashioned rock and roll shuffled in with New York's finest beer, whiskey, and barbecue?

Crustcake CMJ Spectacular! Friday:

    10/19 - The Chariot, Despised Icon, Death Before Dishonor, Sons
    of Azrael, The Network @ Bowery Poetry Club

    10/19 - Earthless, The Warlocks, Blackstrap, Assmble Head In
    the Sunburst Sound, Ancestors @ Luna Lounge

    10/19 - Beer, Whiskey, Barbecue @ Spuyten Duyvil, Fette Sau

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