Artist:  Children of Bodom
Album:  Halo of Blood
Genre:  Melodic Death/Power/Black Metal
Label:  Nuclear Blast
Release: June 11, 2013 (North America)

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There are many “what-if” questions in the timeline of heavy metal. What if Randy Rhoads never got on that plane? What if Metallica didn’t give Dave Mustaine the boot? What if Jari didn’t take 8 years to release half of Time? Probably asked frequently amongst half of the polarized CoB fanbase is what if Bodom didn’t jump on the commercial bandwagon after Hate Crew Deathroll? Well, the answer can be found on Halo of Blood, which effectively combines the heavier, power thrashing style they’ve become accustomed to, with their early black metal influence and sense of melody that made them so loved in the beginning. Die-hard fans will be teeming with excitement upon hearing the lead-off track, “Waste of Skin” (think “Hate Me!”), which kicks things off with one of their trademark catchy melodies and  is the first of many old school Bodom moments to come. Right away the listener is thrown into the comfort zone of the glory days, which is great considering the lack of those moments in the band’s recent work. “Bodom Blue Moon“, “All Twisted“, and “One Bottle” and a “Knee Deep” are all trademark Bodom tracks that will quickly become fan favorites.

Funny how they choose to release an album with a winter atmosphere in June, but it’s a presence most welcomed and gives Janne’s keys some meaning again. You can thank him for the black metal feeling, as its influence is definitely felt. Alexi’s guitar-work is ace as usual, and even makes some room for Roope, who is a brilliant guitarist himself, to throw in a solo or two. It would be a refreshing to see a little more of him though, perhaps in a more tag-team role as he and Alexi shared in Sinergy. Then again, Sinergy didn’t have Janne Warmen. It’s always great to hear him and Alexi going at it with the vigorous, yet friendly competition they have. Henkka’s bass is in the mix doing its thing, and ahhhh, blastbeats… Jaska serves them up for the first time in ages and is the typically excellent backbone of the music of Children of Bodom. The actual musicianship of these guys has never been questioned, and they continue to produce in peak form.

Halo of Blood is littered with pleasant surprises, using elements both familiar and new to the CoB style. First and foremost is the title track that is borderline black metal, and stands out as one of the heaviest Bodom tunes ever. Then there’s the dark ballad “Dead Man’s Hand on You,” the slow song that everyone has been talking about. Hearing Children of Bodom coming out with, I shit you not, a grand piano, clean guitars, and (what sound like) love lyrics should be flabbergasting. But like Chuck Schuldiner’s famous kitten shirt, it doesn’t feel one bit out of place and can even be considered a transcending point for the band. Given their typical aggressiveness, it’s great to hear them take a step outside their usual domain and take a risk.

Possibly the most diverse music in their catalogue, Halo of Blood is without a doubt, the most innovative and exciting record Children of Bodom has released in a decade. Sure, there’s still going to be those nose-picking naysayers who will bitch and moan that it isn’t Hatebreeder II. Indeed, it would be wrong to call Halo of Blood a full-on back to roots album that you would sell your soul for. What it is however, is the fine product of a band that has established growth in their sound righting the ship and resuming course. Safe sailing Alexi and Co. just stay afloat this time please…

Highlight Tracks: Waste of Skin, Halo of Blood, Dead Man’s Hand on You, All Twisted

The post Music Review | Children of Bodom’s Halo of Blood appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

The event was hosted all day, starting at 3pm. The first band to play, Velosity ripped up the outside stage and pumped up the crowd for what was to come. I’ve seen this band many times live and they never seem to disappoint. Their neoclassical solos and killer bass riffs always capture everyone’s attention. This Saturday afternoon was well over 90 degrees, and in the blistering hot sun they managed to keep a crowd going on the outside stage.

In between alternating stages, the Annialation Production stage located indoors showcased Modrost as the second band of the day. It was my first time seeing them live. They brought an 80’s feel  with the belching high pitch notes and the fast speed metal riffs. During their set, I noticed the sound wasn’t the best. They seemed to be having shortages in some of the cables. This problem continued throughout the entire event on both stages.

Many local bands hit the Poor Kids Stage with their best material and the crowd favorites. Infinite Death, Sakrificer, and Speedwolf shared the outside stage. Speedwolf’s set was one not to miss. Even though the sound issues persisted, their generosity had everyone in awe. They played half a set and allowed local band Witchaven to finish their remaining time. Everyone rushed to the stage and automatically started a massive pit. This is where the first crowd surfer emerged. It was nice to see how a band like Speedwolf cut their set short in order to allow an up-and-coming band to share the stage.

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Indoors, Xpulsion, and Mantic Ritual played, while Paralyzer was a no-show. The indoor stage was sticking to their schedule and just left a buffer period instead of having the next band play earlier. Most of those who attended where awaiting Morbid Saint and MOD, so I thought it was a great thing that they did not decide to push ahead of time because there were many who were rushing to beat the LA rush hour traffic.

After seeing Nunslaughter plenty of times, these guys never seem to disappoint. Their killer stage presence never seems to fail. Also, they always play crowd favorites which are very pleasing. Fueled by Fire, as one of the original bands playing the first Thrasho sure did face a certain challenge of expectations to be met. The guys played a killer set and played a new song for us in anticipation to their new album that will be release this year. Much greatness is expected to come from them, and they’ve yet to disappoint.

I was awaiting the mighty Ghoul all night. Once they hit the stage many crazed fans were already pushing into the flimsy built stage outdoors. I thought all of the stage divers were going to break the stage and lighting that was being used. Their set contained many fun songs such as Gutbucket, Splatterthrash, and Rise, Killbot, Rise! The sound did them no justice. They had no feedback and the sound was very terrible. This did not seem to stop the demented fans from revolting in the pit and nearly killing each other when the ghouls tossed one of their skateboard decks into the crowd.

Once they wrapped up with the outside stage, everyone squeezed back indoors. This is where the sound issues improved drastically. In my opinion, Morbid Saint had the cleanest sound and riled up the crowd the most. The biggest crowd response was from them and had The Vex spinning in a mosh. By the time MOD hit the stage, the crowd seemed pretty dead and tired. They still had a pretty good response and most people were stoked to see them live.

Overall, the show was a success.  A few things could have been tweaked but there is plenty of room for improvement. I’d like to thank Annialation Productions, Poor Kids Radio and everyone else who was a part of making this event happen. The two crews really worked their asses off for all of us and will continue working hard to bring us plenty of amazing events. Hope to see you at the next Thrasho! 

The post Live Review | THRASHO DE MAYO!!! appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

Artist:  Noisem
Album:  Agony Defined
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
Label:  A389 Recordings
Release: June 15, 2013

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The album opens with an instant kick in the teeth with the blistering “Voices in the Morgue”, and keeps going for 25:47 of pure death/thrash aggression.  The dual guitar attack of Sebastian Phillips and Travis Stone harkens back to such classic bands as Demolition Hammer and Morbid Angel, while Yago Ventura’s bass playing on tracks like “Desire and Disgust” is definitely influenced heavily by Cannibal Corpse.  In fact, the entire album gives me a very “Eaten Back to Life” feel, which is an EXTREMELY good thing.

One of the most impressive things about the album, to me, is the drumming, especially when you take into consideration that they were recorded by a sixteen year old.  As a matter of fact, the oldest member of the band is bassist Ventura, at a fresh 20 years old.

And of course, what would this album be without the vocals?  Tyler Carnes’ vocals tear through you like a perfect mix between Repulsion’s Scott Carlson, Morbid Angel’s David Vincent (Before his Genitorturers ‘Evil-D’ days), and Obituary’s John Tardy.  Tracks like “Chronic Dementia” and “Severed” showcase his vocals perfectly, with the latter having some of the coolest lyrics I find myself singing along to when I blast this album down the street (The mortician is about to begin/to lay to waste the bodies he’s defiled/Raping the dead, the most unspeakable sin/Rotten stench of the bodies left piled/YAOOOOOGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!)

The production on the album is another high point for me.  It’s clear, but it doesn’t suffer from being TOO clear, like a lot of modern thrash albums seem to.  The album tears into you with visceral aggression and doesn’t let up until it’s over.

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Overall, this is a seriously kickass album, from front to back.  Every single song is fast, aggressive, short and to the point.  Noisem doesn’t fuck around, and one look at some live footage of these kids shows that perfectly.  Catch them live this summer at Maryland Deathfest (I’ll see you fuckers there!), Scion Rock Fest, or on tour in the Midwest with Ringworm, Mutliation Rites and Encrust.

The post Music Review | Noisem’s “Agony Defined” is the Definition of Kick-Ass Death/Thrash appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

What is Djent you ask? Don’t be afraid to ask! In fact, applaud yourself and give your ears a high-five for sparing them from the aural slaughter that is djent. Congratulations, you’ve managed to create another “genre” (and that’s only in quotes because most fans of djent will argue that “DJENT ISN’T A GENRE, IT’S A TECHNIQUE!”), based solely around ONE technique.  Much like Dubstep is based only around the “SICK DROP, BRO”, and deathcore is based solely around the “SICK BREAKDOWN, BRO”, djent is based around palm muting in one specific spot between the pickups of you guitar in order to obtain the most shrill, empty  sounding, grossly percussive palm mute you can get.  And it doesn’t help that all the guitarists turn the bass down to zero on their amps, and turn the treble and mids all the way up.  After all, who needs low range frequencies WHEN YOU PLAY AN 8-STRING GUITAR?

Perhaps the thing I hate the most about the djent movement, however, is the fact that you couldn’t even come up with a clever name.  Seriously?  Djent?  At least dubstep came up with something new, and deathcore just bastardized the name of death metal by adding metalcore to it.  But djent?  You named your new genre after an onomatopoeia, coined by Fredrik Thordendal?  How about you name your genre after the thing anyone with a functioning pair of ears calls it: Shitty….

Fuck Djent.

This is in no way an attack against the unique sound created by the aforementioned guitarist of Meshuggah.  Merely the idiot “musicians” who took something unique and turned into a drag queen stripper. 

The post Zak Hates Djent appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

Lambesis was taken into custody on Tuesday, May 7  in Oceanside, California, after he solicited help from the detective, according to the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department. According to initial reports, the police were notified about this arrangement between Lambesis and a supposed “hitman.”

NOW HOLD ON EVERYBODY! This is AMERICA, you are innocent until proven guilty, so by the wings of the bald eagle, and the sweat of Abe Lincoln’s massive brow, sit tight and let this story unfold before you belligerently bastardize the story.  We all remember what happened with Randy Blythe, albeit a much different scenario…

The post Breaking News | Tim Lambesis Arrested for Alleged Murder-Plot appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

Just when you thought singing about Satan was as redundant as kicking a dead horse, Ghost comes out of nowhere and makes it sound more mysterious and fresh than ever before. Part of that, is no doubt, because of their extraordinary use of imagery. Their choice of concealing their identities is what gives magic to the music, and for this reason, I hope they never do reveal themselves. Secondly, Papa Emeritus II’ voice is absolutely mesmerizing. It fits the music with such perfection, to the point where you question if any other vocalist is more important to their band than Papa is to Ghost. It wouldn’t matter if Freddie Mercury was behind the microphone at a Ghost show; it just wouldn’t have the same effect. The vocals are entrancing and irreplaceable the way they are. Then there are the lyrics, which have a really profound impact if you know them. They’re arguably the scariest and chilling satanic lyrics written since Mercyful Fate. The best part about this is that you actually take them seriously because like Mercyful Fate, they aren’t blatant, stereotypical devil worshipping. With many death and black metal bands, you just laugh at the lyrics because they’re so outlandishly evil and ridiculous that you can’t process them as anything more than a joke. But with lyrics like “Perverted are your wishes and dreams, tanning in Lucifer’s beams,” you actually go, “woah… these guys are really singing about the devil!”

The music itself is incredibly unique. It sounds like nothing that has ever been done before, yet it’s maddeningly addicting. Before I dabbled into Ghost, most people would explain them to me as a mesh between Mercyful Fate and Blue Oyster Cult, with a trace of the doomy sound of early Black Sabbath. This is true to some extent, but the emphasis is much more on the Sabbath sound than Fate. In fact, aside from the heavily borrowed satanic influence, Ghost doesn’t really resemble Mercyful Fate music-wise. The guitars are extremely old school. They don’t have that heavily distorted crunch that developed in the 80s; rather, they closely mirror Tony Iommi’s riffing on the first Black Sabbath record. The music is incredibly well written and shows lots of experimentation. “Secular Haze” for example, incorporates an eerie circus vibe, which translates into a chilling piece of music. Then there’s the “Ghuleh/Zombie Queen” that begins as a very slow ballad for about three minutes before breaking into a surf rock metal jam. These guys know how to write songs, they’re such fantastic musicians!

The only complaint I have is a slight gripe with the production. While the album is layered well, the guitars feel a bit weak overall. I mentioned already that they aren’t too heavily distorted, which is all well and good, but it seems like they’re kind of mudded out a bit. I didn’t really notice it until I watched some live videos of them and noticed that the guitars had a much more presiding effect. This made me question why it couldn’t have been the same on the album, but it’s only a minor point and by no means takes anything away from what a spectacular album Infestissumam is.

Ghost is without a doubt the most exciting and interesting metal band on the scene right now. Instead of making carbon-copy mimicry of their influences, they instead draw from them and evolve them to another platform. The aura of mystique shrouding this band only fuels the hype, and is the closest thing many of us will ever have to compare with the old-timers who grew up in the glory days of metal. So go out to see them on their North American tour, and experience their mesmerizing musical black mass firsthand. The nameless ghouls in the cloaks will blow your minds and leave you wondering if there are actual ghouls beneath the hoods. It’s not such a crazy thought.

The post Music Review | Ghost’s Infestissumam is Upon Us! appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

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Pre-Order “Return to Helios”

From the docks, out of Sweden’s southmost harbor, IMMINENCE rises like the tide. The quintet conquers stage after stage with precision, presence and pure commotion to not leave anyone untouched in the audience. 
Their six-stringed progressive post metalcore is as heavy as admiralty-pattern anchors and the atmosphere as endless as the seven seas whilst the lyrics reflect the deepest parts of their minds.
With heavy weight references like Swedish WALKING WITH STRANGERS and American AUGUST BURNS RED, IMMINENCE keeps to unrestrainedly climb the wave of metal that will wash over the genre.

The post Exclusive Premiere | Imminence “Return to Helios” appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

Now let me break it down with what goodies they brought to the table.

1. 15th Anniversary Imperial Black IPA aged in Scotch Barrels

A hefty imperial IPA with tremendous hop characteristic and a refined imperial finish. 

2. Mixtape Volume 4

This is a behemoth. This is a blend of some of the best Stone has to offer. Within this 11.2% bombshell is a blend of some incredible beers: 2012 Stone Imperial Russian Stout aged in Bourbon Barrels, 2012 Imperial Russian Stout aged in Red Wine Barrels, 2012 SOld Guardian Barley Wine aged in Red Wine Barrels and an unreleased Belgian Brown Ale aged in Red Wine Barrels. This one is black as night and is balanced out by hints of cherries to add a sense of  finesse. 

3. Stone Imperial Russian Stout 2013

A black Russian Stout with a nice roasty finish and a strong coffee backbone that can literally break your back at a whopping 10.6%. It is remarkably smooth and for its high gravity presents a very low sense of alchohol heat ending with bitter, floral hops to give it its 60 IBU’s. Its odd-yeared brother was also here: the espresso mix which not only is smooth as butter but has the bitterness of the floral hopes juxtaposed with the strong coffee addition.

4. Sublimely Self-Righteous with Espresso Beans

Take one of the best Imperial IPA’s in existence and add in some espresso. Its a coffee-laden, hop filled, beast of a beer that is like a Starbucks coffee in an ideal world.

5. Dayman Coffee IPA

This is one of the best beers I have had, bottled or draft. Take an IPA, throw the hops in the face of the drinker and finish with that bitter kick of coffee. Its one of a kind. 

6. Double Dry-Hopped Levitation Ale

The most sessionable of Stone’s catalog gets a bit meaner with a double dry hop that gives the normally rather tame beer a voracious bite.

7. Double Dry Hopped Ruination

Ruination is notorious for being one of the hoppiest monsters on the market. Take that monster and hop it up even more and you get this twisted creation.

 Overall, a few of these beers are still on tap over at Limerick’s in Upland, California. I would love to sit back and write hundreds of words describing each beer to its most minute detail and break apart each beer, but I wanted to give you an idea of this fantastic event hosted by our friends at Limerick’s Tavern. Perhaps next time I sit down to enjoy a fine beer, I will detail each little nuance and provide an in depth tasting. 

The post Beer! Bier! | Getting Stone’d on 4.20 appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

Slayer is devastated to inform that their bandmate and brother, Jeff Hanneman, passed away at about 11AM this morning near his Southern California home. Hanneman was in an area hospital when he suffered liver failure. He is survived by his wife Kathy, his sister Kathy and his brothers Michael and Larry, and will be sorely missed. Our Brother Jeff Hanneman, May He Rest In Peace (1964 – 2013)

From Show No Mercy to World Painted Blood, his music will persist to live on in our hearts. May he shred in peace. 

The post News | Jeff Hanneman dies at 49 – THE ANGEL OF DEATH LIVES ON appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.

Upon arriving to the show, I was only really excited to see Absu perform, but as soon as Highland hit the stage they caught my attention. As a local Los Angeles band, they sure stood out as an opening act. They steer away from the same repetitive riffs and are more complex than the hundreds of local act I have seen yet. I can’t wait to see how they grow as a band.

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Photos by Lili.Scarlet Photography

The immortal sorcery of Absu was casted upon us as soon as they hit the stage. They came back with a vengeance after nearly four years of not playing a show in Los Angeles. Prior to their set, the mighty Proscriptor, Ezezu, and Vis Crom answered many questions from diehard fans and were very open to taking photos as a souvenir of such a killer night. Their set consisted of many old tracks of The Sun of Tiphareth to their most recent album Abzu. Some of my favorite songs of the night consisted of; “Swords and Leather”, “Amy” and “Never Blow Out the Eastern Candle”.

This was truly the best treat we could all ask for

The true highlight of the night hands down was the “Stone of Destiny”. I was confused at why they were changing out the snare drum during the set, when he clearly didn’t damage it in any way or didn’t need a different one for a certain song.  It turns out he didn’t need it at all! This was a surprise to all of us, Proscriptor jumps off his kit and belches out his killer vocals for the “Stone of Destiny”. You would not assume he has such a great stage presence moving from one end of the stage to the other, being that he’s always in the same spot while playing the drums. This was truly the best treat we could all ask for. After nearly an hour and a half, I could not begin to think that their set was coming to an end. I will hold them to their word and hope to see them soon again! 

The post Live Review | Absu Conquers LA! appeared first on Der Metal Krieger.