The Grammy award-winning band, Halestorm, came to Watertown, N.Y. this past Saturday (November 30th) and rocked the thousands in attendance at Jefferson Community College.
Opening for Halestorm was local legends, Lake Effect Mud, promoting their album, Eyes Open Wide. They wasted no time in showing us why this small town band belongs on stage with big names like Halestorm.
Lead vocalist, Jason Johnson, commanded attention from his audience with a powerful voice. He kept the energy alive and engaged the whole room. The fans loved him. Johnson’s vocals, combined with the incredible talent of Bryant Pignone, Kyle Pignone, and Jessie Hall, made Lake Effect Mud an unstoppable force. Personally, I can not wait to see what is next for them.
Halestorm followed in the wake of Lake Effect Mud’s energy. I had previously heard nothing but wonderful things about Halestorm in concert, but even then I had no idea for what I was in store.
The rockers from Pennsylvania opened the show with a few high energy songs like “Mz Hyde.” Immediately we can see what a powerhouse Lzzy Hale is. Between her vocals and incredible energy she is captivating. Joe Hottinger and Josh Smith compliment Lzzy very well with amazing talent and energy. Then we have Arejay Hale on the drums. I have found in many bands the drummer just fades into the background, not really seen, but not Hale. He is as much a part of the show as Lzzy is up front and center. You can see he really enjoys what he is doing, and we enjoy watching him do it. They continue the show with hits like “Dirty Work” and “Familiar Taste of Poison.” Then the guys exit the stage leaving Lzzy alone on the keyboards. She begins to play “Break In”, her voice is beautiful and haunting. Lzzy ends the song and we move onto Arejay’s drum solo.
For five minutes you can’t look away as he plays his drums with a variety of tools – sticks, large sticks, and then just his hands; he doesn’t just play the drums, he puts on a show! If you don’t enjoy watching this man perform you are not paying attention. The band returned to the stage and closed the show with their hit “I Get Off.”
Watertown experienced a night of music we wont soon forget. If you are a metal fan, or even just love live music, these are the bands to see. What an incredible night.
Listening to Lucky33 is like a day at the California beach. Sun shining, the salty sea breeze hitting you in the face, bombing down the concrete half-pipe and your hair whipping behind you. Lucky33 is a four-piece punk band that hails from central New York, calling both Syracuse and Oswego home. They advertise a blend of old-school punk with an indie feel to create “our distinct sound.” Upstate Metal’s own Steve Strader recently had the honor of chatting with the band’s bassist, Jared “Red”.
So how long have you cats been around?
“After a few line up changes, L33 as it is today has been together since April of 2011.”
Any side projects or past projects?
“Duff (lead guitarist) does all kinds of acoustic covers and posts them on YouTube and Facebook. One of his most popular ones is a Drake song. (Laughs). I’ve played in a bunch of bands. I’m much older than the other guys in the band. I started out in the ska/punk band Ill Nature, then the funkcore band Lost Soul Division in the ’90s and early 2000s. After that, I played in the metal band Adiel and most recently – before L33 – Damaged In Transit. While I was in DIT, I met Dustin while playing a show together at the Lost Horizon. He was in The Black Lockets. I eventually joined TBL while still in DIT, while they looked for a full time bass player. Shortly after that, Dustin left the Lockets and I left DIT. Dustin, Duff and Kyle all went to school together. They had started Lucky33 and I joined shortly after that.
So what band is your favorite?
“By far mine is L33, and I know the other guys agree! I’ve never been in a band with guys like this! We have great chemistry and energy. We get along great and we’re best buds outside of the band. The song writing is very easy and comes quick. Usually Duff writes something on the acoustic and brings it to us and we go from there. That kid can write a catchy song! After playing for over 15 years, I’m enjoying playing more than I ever have.”
How’s the pro-bono new logo coming along?
“(Laughs.) We got a few people making some. I was only half serious, [I did it} more to get people conversing with us.”
How’s the Guitar Center “Get Out of the Garage” contest coming along?
“It ended a while back, did it to get more exposure basically.”
If L33 were to be sponsored by a guitar company who would it be?
“Gibson, hands down.”
Anything coming out of the L33 compound we should be looking forward to?
“We’re going to start recording a full length [album] this winter, so keep a look out for that! Hopefully some merch, once the logo is done. We’re gonna hit up the guys in SRT to do the shirts. Tons of shows for the New Year, I’d like to do a split EP with our bro’s in High Dive Horse.”
Any last words?
“You rock Stevo! Thanks for the interview and the support. See you in January for the Entropy show.”
For more information on the band, go visit their Facebook account.
Syracuse was the last stop on Pop Evil’s most recent tour, which ended on Sunday, November 24.
95X turned the band’s final show into an all-day event that began with a private acoustic performance and finished with Pop Evil’s grand finale after a four-band rock show.
Pop Evil’s lead, Leigh Kakaty, and guitarist, Nick Fuelling, arrived at Revolutions (Destiny USA) to meet, greet, and perform for a small group of lucky contest winners. 95X awarded 10 winners (plus their guests) the opportunity to watch Kakaty and Fuelling perform a couple acoustic songs. The quiet performance of “Torn to Pieces” and “Monster You Made” were enhanced by some light commentary. Leigh explained that he wrote “Torn to Pieces” after the death of his father. It was not intended to become a Pop Evil song, but according to Kakaty, the band was so supportive of it that they included it on their newest album, Onyx, and are now regularly performing it. Kakaty encouraged the small group to sing along to “Monster You Made”, from the 2010 album, War of Angels, sharing that it’s “amazing to see fans singing your songs back to you.”
Kakaty and Fuelling accepted some questions from the group before food was served — and, given that it was football Sunday — most of the talk turned to sports. Kakaty referred to Sundays at home as “Michigan blue-collar brutality” because Detroit Lions fans have had to repeatedly endure constant losses.
After Kakaty and Fuelling left the stage they socialized and had photos taken with the guests. The private affair culminated with a bowling match between the band members and the ultimate contest winner.
After bowling, we sat down with Joshua “Chachi Riot” Marunde, Pop Evil’s energetic drummer, he is reminiscent of the famous Muppet drummer, Animal. Marunde has contributed a lot to the band’s stage presence and attraction. It was Chachi’s “insane” drumming that kept my focus on the band at Rock on the Range back in May (2013). Unlike many other drummers, Chachi is not content sitting in the background. He is actively involved in the entire performance. He prefers to stand while drumming and only sits when he has to use his feet to work. He hammers his head as forcefully as he beats the drums, makes gestures, and (even though he doesn’t have a mic) sings along to every song. His madness is intoxicating and while all the members of Pop Evil are energetic performers, Chachi is a RIOT to watch. Needless to say, I was eager to meet him. In addition to being very down to earth, he is also very articulate and super motivated. He shared with us that the band is a very tight unit, working really hard to “make it” in the rock ‘n roll scene. Their hard work is paying off though; when “Trenches” hit #1 on the Rock Charts in June (2013) while they were touring in Nebraska, the band tour manager, Chris Iteen, suggested the band take an uncharacteristic break and celebrate with a night of karaoke. Upstate Metal asked about Pop Evil’s future and Chachi was about bursting at the seams because of their 2014 plans, but couldn’t share (yet). Instead, he encouraged us to keep a close eye out for an upcoming announcement.
<Since the interview last week we found out the big news is an upcoming tour with Stone Sour.>
After leaving Chachi and the rest of Pop Evil to get ready for their show, we went to The Westcott Theater near Syracuse University. Built in 1919 as a cinema, The Westcott was retrofitted into a live music venue in 2008. The small venue hosted four bands, starting with local band, Pacinello , followed by The Letter Black, then Eve To Adam and finally Black Oxygen before Pop Evil took the stage around 10:30.
Despite the “late” hour on a snowy Sunday, the crowd was pumped up and ready to take in the Pop Evil experience. The fans who had been spread throughout the venue crunched in to the stage to get a closer look when PopEvil opened with “Deal with the Devil”, currently playing on Sirius’s Octane and local rock stations like 95X. I loved their clean and simple stage set, which allowed us to focus on the performers (I especially loved that that drum kit was elevated to get a better view of Chachi Riot’s raving performance). Next up on the set list was the song that sold me in Ohio, “Hero”, then 12 more songs before they rejuvenated the group with a partial cover of Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger”.
You might have expected after a long tour for the band to drag a little. Not Pop Evil. They gave the same energy and quality to the couple hundred at the Westcott in late November as they did to tens of thousands at Rock on the Range in May. The band has often said that their songs are meant to send a message to their fans; one of inspiration. Many of their songs deal with loss, failure and (here’s the message) working hard to overcome adversity. Their final song, “Trenches”, speaks to just that, and Pop Evil gave it everything they had. The band left the stage expressing gratitude to 95X for supporting them, and to the fans for being a part of the tour’s last show.
After their short 10 day break, Pop Evil will pick up the pace once again with at least 11 shows scheduled in the Midwest in December.
Set List: Deal with the Devil, Hero, Flawed, Somebody Like You, 100 in a 55, Torn to Pieces, Goodbye My Friend, Sick Sense, Boss’s Daughter, Divide, Behind Closed Doors, Monster You Made, Last Man Standing, partial cover of Eye of the Tiger, and Trenches
What do you get when you mix glam, sex, blonde bombshell Maria Brink, and perfect choreography with a drum beat that alters your heartbeat, screaming guitars, and voices full of power? You get heavy metal that’s not only awesome to listen to but one hell of a performance.
On November 10th, the Best Buy Theater near Times Square welcomed a couple thousand metal-heads for The Hellpop Tour. The venue, originally the Astor Plaza movie theater, was designed to easily move people. The only lines that existed were those that were formed by the fans waiting for the doors to open – once inside, getting drinks, visiting the restroom, and even checking out merch were super easy. Oh, and it had some pretty classy features, like the glass chandeliers – check them out if you go.
All Hail the Yeti stepped on stage first, offering intense and loud vocals, synchronized head banging, and drums that seemed to take control of my heartbeat. Up next was Kyng — although the vocals were harsh in the beginning, they sounded great in the end and the crowd was really impressed when they sincerely thanked their family for their support. Motionless in White was up next; this group, as always, drew tons of fans with their Gothic image and great sound. In addition to all three bands fitting perfectly into the typical heavy metal persona, they all noted, with surprise, how QUIET the NYC crowd was.
That all changed once In This Moment appeared on stage – as it should have. The music was awesome; on top of the totally synced metal, the vocals were powerful, and the lyrics were pretty commanding too. Unlike the three bands before them, In This Moment, is NOT your typical metal band. Their show is all about their lead, Maria Brink, and her very theatrical production. It is REALLY hard see/hear past the performance though. When you have two sexy dancers writhing next to the super hot Brink for 75 minutes, you do not want to focus on anything else.
The crowd loved the set list; most songs came from the last two albums, A Star Crossed Wasteland and Blood. But they were just as excited when the band performed their “old school” stuff from 2006. The Nine Inch Nails cover of “Closer” was pretty perfect. Seems appropriate to pair this song, which is all about raw animal sex, with the heavy metal band that is totally playing on the female sexy. I only wonder why Brink kept the “Closer” lyrics PG-13? Why say “I wanna LOVE you like an animal” when “fuck” is used pretty loosely the rest of the night? That aside, it was a great cover.
In This Moment finished their captivating performance with “Whore”, then “Blood” for their encore. After that, the 2,000 metal heads “quietly” (and without waiting in line) made their way above ground to the Times Square lights.
Century Media Records announced today that they have signed Kostas Karamitroudis, most commonly known as guitar virtuoso Gus G., to a worldwide solo deal.
Well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne’s guitarist and as leader of his own band Firewind, Gus G. will make his solo debut with the release of ‘I Am The Fire’ in Spring 2014.
“Loyalty is a very important thing in the music business, and for me it just felt natural to trust my first solo effort to the hands of the record company that has been loyal, supportive, and has helped build my career for more than 11 years now,” said Gus G. “[Century Media Records is] a label that I truly feel as a family. Thank you Robert Kampf, Leif Jensen, Antje Lange, Don Robertson, Steve Joh, Jens Prueter, Nasrin Vahdani, Paul Gargano and the rest of the Century family! I truly feel blessed to be a part of CM history and look forward to exploring new territories with this new album!”
Century Media founder and owner Robert Kampf adds: “‘I Am The Fire’ is going to be another display of the amazing talent Gus G. possesses. We at Century Media are proud to work with a player and songwriter of his class and status, as well as the fantastic new album that Gus has crafted. Horns up!”
“I Am The Fire” was mixed by Jay Ruston [Anthrax, Stone Sour, Steel Panther] and was recorded between Los Angeles and Gus’ home country of Greece through the latter half of 2013. A few of the album’s tracks include “Eyes Wide Open,” “Redemption,” “End Of The Line” and “Blame It On Me.” The album showcases a well-balanced mix of active rock, classic hard rock, traditional metal and guitar-driven instrumentals, taking listeners on a diverse journey and opening doors to GUS G.’s soulful playing. Guest musicians and vocalists will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Gus G.. has had an amazing rise within the worldwide rock and metal scenes and has amassed an impressive body of work, both in studio and touring. He emerged as an up-and-coming talent with the groups Dream Evil[Sweden], Mystic Prophecy[German] and Nightrage[Greece], but it is his work with his own band Firewind(who have released seven studio albums and two live releases) and as a member of Ozzy Osbourne’s band that have helped him emerge as one of the world’s top metal and rock guitarists. His work on Osborne’s ‘Scream’ album led to a Grammy nomination in 2010, and his list of accolades includes Guitar Player Magazine’s Best Metal Guitarist, the Dimebag Darrell Shredder award at the Metal Hammer UK Golden Gods Awards, and Metal Hammer Greece Best Guitarist on three separate occasions.
A Day To Remember’s new album Common Courtesy is available everywhere as of this morning.
Lead singer Jeremy McKinnon commented on finally being able to release the album: “It still doesn’t feel real to me. I can’t wait to just be able to go into a store and actually pick it up myself! It’ll be the first time I’ll have actually held the album.”
The physical release of Common Courtesy will feature three additional tracks bringing the total number of songs to 16. The CD version also includes the hilarious four episodes (originally premiered at adtr.com) of A Day To Remember’s creative process in creating Common Courtesy.
The band’s last album What Separates Me From You was a major breakthrough for A Day To Remember. Upon its release the album debuted at #11 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart and has now sold over 300,000 units. A Day To Remember’s entire catalog is now well over a million units combined.
Anyone who bought the digital 13 track original early release album from the band directly at adtr.com will get the three songs for free.
Since their formation in 2003, Ocala, Florida’s A Day To Remember have grown from a small band with a dedicated local fan-base into a worldwide phenomenon, gaining the respect and adoration from their peers as much as their fans. This hasn’t been an overnight success story – A Day To Remember have worked hard to win over every fan they’ve made. Over the course of the bands career, the band has sold out entire continental tours, landed two Top 25 Billboard debuts and topped the Billboard Indie Albums Chart.
For More Information:
www.adtr.com
twitter.com/whereisadtr
All That Remainsis set to bring their heavy melodic metal-core sound back to the Capital Region on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2013 at the Westcott Theater in Syracuse, N.Y., and Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013 at Upstate Concert Hall in Clifton Park, N.Y.
Opening for the show at both venues will be hard alternative post grunge rockers Soil.
All That Remains:
From Springfield, Massachusetts, Philip Labonte (vocals), Mike Martin (guitar), Oli Herbert (Guitar), Jeanne Sagen (bass), Jason Costa (drums). Formed in 1998, ATR has recorded 6 studio albums and 1 live album, in their 15 year history including Behind Silence and Solitude (2002), This Darkened Heart (2004), The Fall of Ideals ( 2006), Overcome (2008), For We Are Many (2010) and current album A War YouCannotWin (2012).
Soil:
From Chicago, Illinois, Ryan McCombs (vocals), Tim King (bass), Adam Zadel (guitar). Formed in 1997, Soil has recorded 6 studio albums in their 16 year history including Throttle Junkies (1999), Scars (2001), Redefine (2004), True Self (2006), Picture Perfect ( 2009) and current album Whole (2013).
Original vocalist Ryan McCombs is back with Soil to make the original line-up complete. McCombs left the band in 2004 to be with his family and resurfaced in 2005 as lead vocalist for Drowning Pool.
Canada’s own, The Veer Union, recently announced to fans over Facebook they will be releasing the first single off their upcoming EP Life Support on December 3rd.
Life Support will be a double-EP, which appears to have two separate release dates; of which, Part One will launch on Dec 10th, and Part Two will hit shelves on an undisclosed date in 2014. The release of Part Two is to be followed by a North American tour.
This will be the first release since Divide the Blackened Sky in March 2012. And with that comes an apparent effort to experiment with their sound. According to the band’s announcement Part One will carry a “brighter” and more “rock” characteristic in comparison to Part Two’s “darker” and “metal” sound.
TVU made a lasting impression on metal heads here in the Capital Region when they played to an Upstate Concert Hall audience in 2009. Despite sharing the bill with Hinder and Theory of a Dead Man, TVU rocked the set and stood out on their own. What was certainly a help was having “Seasons” in their playlist. Their Top Ten track had already been exposed to WWE wrestling fans and later served as a theme song for hockey’s Pittsburgh Penguins.
Their choice in name for their latest EP is aptly so, because despite their initial success, the band has fallen on tougher times. Universal Motown dropped them from their label immediately after their 2009 tour, ironically after charting two, Top 25 hits in “Seasons” and “Youth of Yesterday.” Though they were subsequently picked up by Rocket Science, they failed to chart with one LP and another EP, both released in 2012. Further adding to the band’s woes was the departure of bassist Marc Roots and guitarist James Fiddler. For the moment only Crispin Earl, the band’s lead singer, is listed among active members on the band’s Wikipedia page. Nevertheless, Earl and crew are pressing forward thanks to a Kickstarter venture to raise enough funding for Life Support.
Gothic-doom metallers Paradise Lost released their 25th anniversary compilation, Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities), this Tuesday in North America.
The anniversary edition is available for purchase on iTunes. A special, mint green 10″ vinyl (USA exclusive color; limited to 300 copies) with a CD insert is available through CM Distro.
In addition to a collection of previously released rarities, Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) also features the new track “Loneliness Remains” and newly recorded “Gothic 2013” and of course “Our Saviour 2013”, which can be heard below:
Tragic Illusion 25 (The Rarities) track-listing:
1. Loneliness Remains*
2. Never Take Me Alive (SPEAR OF DESTINY cover version)
3. Ending Through Changes
4. The Last Fallen Saviour
5. Last Regret (Lost in Prague Orchestra Mix)
6. Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us (Lost in Prague Orchestra Mix)
7. Cardinal Zero
8. Back On Disaster
9. Sons Of Perdition
10. Godless
11. Missing (EVERYTHING BUT THE GIRL cover version)
12. Silent Heart
13. Gothic 2013*
14. Our Saviour 2013*
*=tracks that appear on the limited 10”
Paradise Lost is currently toeing Europe with Lacuna Coil and Katatonia.
Maria Brink fronts In This Moment, and she’s a howler.
That’s okay, man, ’cause what she and the boys are doing, they’re doing well. And, they’re taking it home here in the next few days; home, being, Brink’s home. Yes, she’s a native of the Capital Region. But, she high-tailed it out of “Smallbany” to go after her dreams in Los Angeles. (And, you so had a picture of Axl Rose walking off the bus ala Welcome to the Jungle.) But, that’s so nine years ago.
This Saturday, November 9th, In This Moment will be rocking the set at Clifton Park’s Upstate Concert Hall, as they continue on their leg of the Hell Pop Tour. They’ll only wake up to do it all again down in New York City’s Best Buy Theater on Sunday, November 10th.
The band is still riding the high from the 2012 release of their fourth studio album, Blood, which reached No 1 on the Billboard Hard Rock Albums chart, and No. 15 on the overall Top 200, back in February. It’s the band’s biggest success, which came shortly after the band nearly fell apart, which Upstatemetal’s Kate Drexel asked Brink in her June interview.
“We (Brink and Chris Howorth) really just rallied together,” she said. “We cannot let other people’s disbeliefs in our band and everything we’ve created, everything we’ve worked for, we’ve strived for, we’ve sacrificed for, hinder us from moving forward.”
It was after the release of their third album in 2012 that founding members Jeff Fabb and Blake Bunzel quit the band. The nation was just taking notice. Just the previous summer they had played alongside Korn, Rob Zombie, Five Finder Death Punch, and Hatebreed at the annual Mayhem Festival. This was followed up by the Hell Hath No Fury Tour. Brink had also received personal recognition as she was named the Hottest Chick in metal by Revolver magazine.
“This is our moment. (Pause). No pun intended. And we’re going to take everything and we’re going to take it into the next level, we’re going to take our live show, our songs, every single thing that has to do with us, we’re bringing it to the next level and we’re going to do this hard.”
Despite their confidence, they ran into tough times. With Fabb and Buzel gone, few managers wanted to give them the time of day, said Brink. But, their producer, Kevin Churko, kept his patience and Brink said his commitment helped the band survive.
“We went into the studio and we wrote the song Blood,” she said. “And right when we heard it back, we knew that everything was going to change right when we heard that song. We felt it, we knew it and we started setting it up with managers and we started having managers fly out from everywhere and everything shifted from then.” The band now consists of Tom Hane on drums, Travis Johnson on bass and Randy Weitzel on rhythm guitar, in addition to Brink’s vocals and Howorth’s lead guitar.
The hardship inspired their song material, Brink said. And, In This Moment has been a soaring Phoenix ever since.
“So kind of everything falling apart and then building it brand new, and all of these beautiful new things, is where all the inspirations from the album came from.”
