Event Reviews

Day 16,956: Ever have one of those days that just slogs on and takes forever. One of those days that is just one of the many that you’ve lived? Sorry Limp Bizkit, but this was not one of those days. 9:35 am: I started my journey out and headed to Music from the 412‘s Studio…

This past Sunday, I returned back to the Sub Alpine Society for what was to be a fully energetic evening. Even with the low crowd, the bands still gave it their all and left me very satisfied by the end of the night. Pittsburgh based CRASH ARMY opened up the evening with their energetic grunge…

When Green Jello comes to your town, you can expect it to be a crazy time. Especially as of recent since they expanded their performance to be almost like a traveling circus of different performers, and creating their own online show called WTF-TV which recently hit 1 million subscribers. Episodes stream every Saturday, as well…

Recently, I had the privilege to attend Distortion Productions 200th show, and for those who could not attend, here is what you missed. Once everyone got settled in, due to silver walks having to cancel their appearance because of Covid, we got an extended exclusive opening set from boxed warning. He described it as an…

This past Thursday May 26th, I had the distinct pleasure to attend a live performance from gothic rock band Christian Death at the Hard Rock Cafe in Pittsburgh, PA. They were touring in support of their new album Evil Become Rule which released May 6th of this year. After the warmup of the opening act…

The events of Hell in a Cell night one and two were amazing from beginning to end. From the artists, to the crowds, promoters, and to those tending the bars and other staff. Friends that were like family and bonds that last forever; that’s what the music scene here in Northeastern Ohio is made up…

“Who’s The Hu?” You may ask yourself. Well my metal loving lovelies, you are in for quite the treat. These top notch gents hailing from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia may be new to the scene since their formation in 2016, but the rate at which they have gained international stardom is simply astounding. Their name stems from…

A casual Hard Rock Café-style venue in the unassuming suburb of Baldwin was the place where crypts opened, sandstorms raged, curses were realized, and long-dead pharaohs were resurrected last week in Pittsburgh. Nile, led by founder and metal archaeologist Karl Sanders, were in town to support the release of their latest opus Vile Nilotic Rites…

One could say that nascent  promoter Steel & Bone Productions has a Marshall Plan in store for the Pittsburgh underground metal scene. To kick off their campaign, we were given a seven-act Saturday night showcase at Cattivo featuring a number of bands that played last year’s Migration 2 Festival, allowing fans to sample what they may…

In October of last year, golden-throated warrior angel Deb Levine appeared at Ventura, California’s fourth annual Frost and Fire Festival as a performer with her remarkable band Lady Beast. It gave her an idea for a throwback metal festival of her own to be held in the Pittsburgh area, one where the sounds of early…

Robert Collins is equal parts Angry Anderson, Bon Scott, and Howard Stern, and the ex-Dirty Charms crooner has a new joint you need to be schooled on. They’re called Royal Honey, and if you like your rock hard, a little red, sleazy, greasy, and vintage, I regret to inform you that you missed a right…

  The morbid Yakuza known as Church of Misery have been at large for around 24 years, with only bassist Tatsu Mikami remaining since the day they were born in blood and decided to dedicate their careers to musically documenting the lives and crimes of the very real ghouls that have walked among us. These…

On the seventh of June, the greater Pittsburgh area gained a new concert venue tailored towards locals. The inaugural show at Broken Plow combined the efforts of First Angel Media, Three Rivers Music Therapy, Creatures and Creep Rods, and Broken Plow Western Martial Arts, and acted as a benefit for Soothing Sensations Music Therapy Groups….

  When the spidery riffage and bombast of Coheed and Cambria’s “The Dark Sentencer” clashed with the spiraling mist and blustery wind of an unseasonably gloomy and crisp June evening, I was reminded of how formidable this prog-metal band is and how ferocious and proud they are as a live act as they eschewed their…

Slough Feg have no parallel in modern metal. They take the obscure gems of the NWOBHM and use them to build new suits of armor while lead by a philosopher/axe warrior/brainac cult leader. I was both mesmerized and astonished by Slough Feg at 2014’s edition of the Alehorn of Power festival in Chicago. Meeting frontman/guitarist…

One must bathe in blood every so often to find purity of purpose. Such was this encounter… Hulking vocalist/guitarist/leader Ethan Lee McCarthy sees demons. As the leader of Relapse alumni Denver sludge/doom act Primitive Man, he has seen visions of hell and is only…an early man, a Neanderthal blessed with high intelligence and immortality from…

Cattivo, an almost unnoticeable bar in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood was the site of a punk/metal uprising the other evening. Call it “crossover” or thrash or plain old punk, this Friday night gig was one of the most unhinged I’ve ever attended. Iron Reagan, a side project formed by alumni of Municipal Waste and Darkest Hour,…

  This was a night for those who miss hooks, clean vocals, and melodies in their metal, the curmudgeons who gripe about the supposed drought of “good” current bands. In 2014, some friends and I managed to catch Chicago’s High Spirits; once in Pittsburgh and again in their hometown as part of the Alehorn Of…

  When Overkill skinsman Jason Bittner played the intro to Judas Priest’s “Painkiller” as a warm-up exercise, I knew we were about to be pummeled into oblivion. Despite having seen this grizzled band of streetwise avengers numerous times over the years, a feeling of unpreparedness overcame me. It was as if I were a teenager…

It’s funny how when I meet and speak with musicians, I end up discussing bands they’re not in more than the band they’re in currently, and the bands that come up in conversation are surprising sometimes until they themselves take the stage. That’s when it all comes together and makes sense. Smoke Wizzard began things…

The metallic, burnt taste of the outer limits were in our mouths as extreme music permeated the night and pummeled our ears. For several hours, we were adrift in space, and yes, we could be heard screaming as we were hurtled towards suns and planets inhospitable.   Ulthar, an upstart Oakland, California act signed to…

Children of Bodom turned a Sunday night into a blackened power metal odyssey amidst the storms that howled outside in the sleepy, Old World borough of Millvale. A frail looking Alexi Laiho had no time for jokey pop covers, opening with the vampiric blitz of “Are You Dead Yet?” to the delight of the respectably-numbered…

It was an evening of muscle shirts, testosterone, and motivation. An MMA card of a concert, the bodies flew, and the sweat dripped. Stage AE was well-attended enough for this show but was not sold out, giving the mostly male audience plenty room to knock each other around playfully. Being that this event leaned a…

To observe the blessed birth of a self-titled debut EP, Riparian, a lacerating new Pittsburgh death metal band featuring members of Wrought Iron, took the stage at Get Hip Records on a rainy Saturday night and showed a packed audience that they have plans to turn our scene upside down. Frontman Rob Grisly growled his…

North Carolinians Corrosion of Conformity are seemingly in the midst of a revival since riff-dealing madman Pepper Keenan rejoined the band in 2014 and have arguably been making records that are even better than their 90’s classics, one of which, Deliverance, marks its 25th anniversary this year. And their set at Mr. Smalls on a…

Thin Lizzy, despite only having one album go gold in the United States through the power of two enduring radio hits, continue to be a tremendously influential act decades after they disbanded and their seminal frontman, Phil Lynott, passed away. There’s been some controversy over the band reforming under the Thin Lizzy name in recent…

Robb Flynn is a warrior born. Early in the year, the team captain of a band with a very complicated trajectory that took them from groove metal to nu-metal to thrash to a place where they embrace their entire history, stopped a show 45 minutes into what was to be a 2 1/2-hour spectacular after…

It was like a well-attended family reunion that was being held on a misty Saturday night close to Halloween in a decidedly industrial part of town. The venue, Get Hip Records, also doubles as a record label, shop, and warehouse and was highly apropos for such a historic event and a general showcase for Icarus…

Thirty years ago, my father, then a limousine driver, chauffeured Alice Cooper around Pittsburgh when he toured here. To this day, my dad can’t get over how “normal” and decent he was. Since then, I’ve had an affinity for the gruesome old devil and his violent vaudeville spectacle, which I’ve caught on numerous occasions since…

A Clutch concert is always a quasi-religious experience, and last night was ideal for such a church service. It’s become an annual tradition in Pittsburgh for Clutch to swing by for an evening of worship, a fall classic if you will. And you will. Rock that is, by the will of iconically bearded electric evangelist…

  That Deceased aren’t as renowned as other thrash and death acts, be they mid-level or major league, is an injustice. They should be headlining festivals large and small and packing the denimed, leathery, mophead mobs in. Instead, they gave their all in front of a small Pittsburgh crowd on a patchy, concrete floor at…

If Metallica hadn’t released Hardwired…To Self-Destruct, an album I feel is their best in thirty years, I may not have bothered to shell out a small ransom to catch The James and Lars Show at PPG Paints Arena. The years have made me a cynical hessian. I let my expensive (over-priced?), upper-level ticket walk. Twice….

GWAR returned to Pittsburgh to play a sold out show at Mr Smalls Theater and did not disappoint. Their headlining set was everything you’ve heard it would be and more! The return of Balsac the Jaws of Death was a moment triumph for his fans, who have followed closely as he was battling a rare condition. With the…

Despite existing as a clandestine recording project since 2014, Deathwhite’s first ever concert appearance occurred the other night at The Funhouse, Mr. Small’s of Milvale’s club-within-a-club, and what a brooding statement of intent it was. A quintet made up of ominous, hooded, mysterious, nameless figures took the stage, their brand of “dark metal” consisting of…

Last night’s four-act Cattivo gig was my first time attending anything related to Skull Fest, the annual punk-centric, weekend-long event made up of micro-concerts spread out over many small venues that is now in its tenth year. This stand leaned more towards the metal side of things, and due to the nature of the festival,…

     Hey – You! Have you heard of ExcusaPalooza? Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t… Maybe you should. Held at Excuses Bar and grill (hence the name of the event) this is a full day of Pittsburgh area music that has a heart behind it!        If you haven’t before, you’re going to now…

The air was heavy and damp when I arrived in Bloomfield. It was if it were about to storm, and as soon as I stepped out of my ride and jogged across Liberty Avenue I heard…thunder…in the form of West Virginia outlaws Horseburner. Their set in Howler’s Coyote Cafe, one of Pittsburgh’s most loved rock…

  Weary, sore, and overwhelmed by so much incredible music over the past two days, a race to the finish had begun. Would I be able to withstand one more eight-hour assault? Only the gods would be able to determine that. Brooklyn’s Pyrolatrous, a band new on the scene, quickly became the band to defeat,…

With Day 1 of Migration Fest 2 behind us, I eagerly anticipated the next wave of acts to invade Mr. Smalls in Millvale. Chicago fiends Immortal Bird busted the day open wide with their rumbling, wrathful, almost groovy Mastodon/Goatwhore/EYEHATEGOD blackened sludge stomp, marking their territory and establishing a vibe like predators at the top of…

    It was a night of  twin-harmonized leads and Sabbatherian love. I last caught Chicago’s Bible of the Devil 4 years ago at 2014’s Alehorn of Power festival. Having been a fan of their NWOBHM, Thin Lizzy-ish stylings since hearing their 2006 masterpiece The Diabolic Procession, I can’t say I was disappointed then and…

Greywalker’s latest album, Without Control, is poised to make them as identifiable with Pittsburgh’s metal scene as current shooting stars Code Orange, and did they ever turn out a swelling crowd at Southside’s Rex Theater last night. That much was encouraging, showing the nation that Steeltown does care about its bands. Greywalker, like Klaymore, have…

Lady Beast and Legendry are both becoming local mainstays, the former having had a brush with national fame for appearing briefly on a cable television program last year. They are also difficult bands for a touring act to follow. Legendry’s immensely satisfying NWOBHM revivalism eclipses better-known traditionalist darlings Night Demon through more original songwriting and…

    Last week Devil Inside Promotions put on a weekday show at The Stage at Karma, in Pittsburgh, PA, that ended up being more than anyone expected. This company has become well known in Pittsburgh in a short time for the help it gives bands with show promotions and a lot of leg work to find…

For going on forty years, Slayer have been a living tornado, an unstoppable natural godforce that eviscerates all in its path. No other band has been able to replicate their violent gestaltist energy in concert, and all one can do to experience it is to merely withstand it. On this, what is purported to be…

Brian Tatler, the lone original member of New Wave of British Metal legends Diamond Head, is a knight errant, a singular guitarist whose impact is still felt and heard through the music of platinum superstars and subterranean Merlins alike, and he’s been on a quest to prove that for many years with a band of…

One could classify The Melvins as grunge or hardcore or sludge or affix the tricky label alt. metal to their hairy hides, but as evidenced at yet another Rex Theater stand, there’s bits of prog in that soup along with blues and classic rock. With two bassists in the fold, The Melvins rumble as never…

It was a turbulent, gloomy Saturday night. Storms had hampered the Millvale Music Festival as other semi-famous groups such as Rival Sons were in town also happened to be in town, but in an old, decrepit forgotten building left untouched by Lawrenceville gentrification, one punk band and three fervent NWOBHM revivalist acts set what is…

  It is as if there is a friendly rivalry going on between Bullet For My Valentine and Trivium, two bands that parallel each other in style, influence, and charisma. Each group repurposes old thrash and NWOBHM, plating them with a chrome sheen, something that makes them controversial in certain metal circles. There are those…

     Cattivo might as well have been Megiddo as four bands channeling the Horsemen of the Apocalypse laid waste to each other and around 300 astonished devotees in the packed basement club, punishing the world with four divergent takes on death metal. On this night, all four bands eviscerated, something that’s not always the…

Soulfly can be a divisive act. There are three tribes: those who will not give Soulfly their time, those who prefer the early Soulfly, and those who prefer that latter day Soulfly. I can recall the rank smell of disappointment of the entirely overhyped nu-metal that was the debut and a few records after that…

A vocal clinic was in full effect from note #1, so much so it could be argued that a second version of the “Three Tremors” should be recognized. Noora Louhimo of Battle Beast, Charlotte Wessels of Delain, and Kamelot’s current goldenthroat Tommy Karevik each sounded effortlessly impeccable, exuding star quality yet remaining unmistakably distinguishable from…

     To preface: I want to state this show is probably the best I’d ever been to. Also to preface: I need to get out more.      With that being said, I cannot overstate how amazing this was. Massive production by D.A.M.thats Entertainment llc, who actually came in and built not one but 2…

     Tonight was a prog rock/metal feast for the brain, Leprous and The Dear Hunter tickling the ample crowd’s intellects for main-eventers Between the Buried and Me, who are an equation brought to life by technology, the theoretical made real through a combination of machine and soul. Many in attendance were obviously at Mr….

A flute from Troy Donockley wistfully opened this lengthy set commemorating two decades plus of female-led symphonic power metal’s breakthrough band, Nightwish. Amazonian singer Floor Jansen effectively exorcised the ghosts of frontwomen past with her remarkable pipes and authoritative yet cordial and almost playful stage presence, her seraphic vocals at times dueling with Marco Hietala’s…

I wasn’t always a Hatebreed  fan. That this was my fifth time seeing them is something I can’t entirely wrap my head around. I’d dismissed them for roughly a dozen years until I caught them headlining the second stage at Ozzfest 2007, the festive, upbeat vibe and unbelievable camaraderie forever made an impression on me….

    Tonight’s metal extravaganza in Youngstown was a celebration of legacies, a chance for bands to ply their craft in front of sizeable US crowds as they did in the Golden Age of arenas. First up was the problematic, complicated, and controversial Black Star Riders, a band that some may feel don’t have a right to…

    Thanks to Chimera Magazine I was able to be part of one of the growing number of events happening in Pittsburgh’s rapidly rising music scene, Brewtal Beerfest 2. This event was so big that it was held at both stages of Mr. Smalls – The Funhouse and The Theatre. Between the two stages of this…

     Never underestimate the power of women in the music scene. Don’t even dare. Last Saturday I had the honor of attending a celebration of women who rock the stage. A woman who had never put a show on herself, Julia Mulligan, saw a chance to bring something to life and took it –…