Author: Jay Saint G

Lacuna Coil, Kyng, Eve to Adam, and Cilver Rocked the Westcott Theater in Syracuse

Approximately 300 people swarmed to see Lacuna Coil headline the Westcott Theater in Syracuse on Tuesday night. It marked the first time in five years since Lacuna Coil was in town, and the sound and overall production was fantastic at the Westcott Theater.

The doors opened at 6PM and alternative rockers Cilver started right at 7PM. The band rocked a 30 minute set that consisted of their upcoming EP, In My Head. Frontwoman Uliana Preotu is a talented singer who could really wail on the mic. Lead guitarist Gerry Soman also stood out as he could really shred through their material, similar to Zakk Wylde. This band has a bright future and I would expect them to be touring with bigger names in the very near future.

Eve to Adam began their chaotic set at 7:40PM and really set a high tempo. They opened with “Bender” and stormed into the song “Fortune Teller” before playing the title track to their new release, Locked & Loaded. One thing I think that makes the band stand out is their high energy and use of vocal harmonies. In an attempt to really get the crowd active, they played a cover of Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” before closing their set with “Straight Jacket Supermodel.” Eve to Adam continues to tour relentlessly and is really making a name for themselves.

Kyng came into their set as the most metal band of the night, and for a three-piece band, they really make it look easy. The band had a few intimate and hilarious moments with the crowd throughout their set. It all started with a few good-natured hecklers screaming out “Slayer!” to bassist Tony Castaneda, who does, in fact, resemble Tom Araya of Slayer. On top of that, guitarist/vocalist Eddie Veliz kept picking on this one bearded gentleman (who was standing right next to me) in an Iced Earth shirt, telling him to lighten up throughout the entire set. The band’s humor was a much-needed element for the night. Two highlights from Kyng’s set was their cover of Van Halen’s “Hot for the Teacher” and their closer “Falling Down.” For anyone who missed Kyng, they will be back in Upstate New York in Rochester on May 8^th with Fozzy and Buckcherry and in Poughkeepsie on May 9^th with Fozzy and Jamie Jasta.

Lacuna Coil finally graced the stage at 9:20PM by opening with “Trip The Darkness.” The band still sounds as terrific as they always did, even with Guitarist Cris “Pizza” Migliore and drummer Christiano “Criz” Mozzati no longer in the lineup. Singers Cristina Scabbia and Andrea Ferro pack an awesome one-two punch and have such a great and unique stage presence. Lacuna Coil played classic songs like “Swamped,” “Heaven’s a Lie,” and “Fragments of Faith,” as well as new songs from their latest release, Broken Crown Halo, which they are currently promoting. The main highlight of their set would have to be “My Spirit,” which they dedicated to late and great Peter Steele of Type O Negative before diving into their trademark song “Spellbound.” For the very last song, they closed with (my personal favorite) “Our Truth,” which is a really high tempo, energetic song. Lacuna Coil was well received by their performance, and although they didn’t do an encore, they came and signed merchandise after the show.

Overall, it was a fantastic night with every band coming through in the clutch. Lacuna Coil wraps up their U.S. tour in early May before heading out to tour the rest of world. Even though there aren’t any additional Upstate NY stops, I would imagine that after a night like that, it won’t be too long before they make another run this way.

April 25, 2014
Hearing Aide: Perfect Pussy Debut ‘Say Yes to Love’

Perfect Pussy’s full length debut Say Yes to Love is the core definition of hardcore punk. An album that is very loud, fast, noisy, and with a much-needed raw attitude that most punk bands are lacking nowadays.

My initial reaction when I start playing the album was “WTF?” because I didn’t see it coming. Once the opening track “Driver” started, I knew I was in for a punch in the nose. My favorite track is easily “Work” because of the eerie opening guitar riff from Ray McAndrew mixed with the quick trippy bass line from Greg Ambler. Vocalist Meredith Graves spits out punk-like poetry throughout the entire album over muffled noise that adds a very unorthodox flavor to their sound.

Another fun track is “Advance Upon the Real,” which is very muffled and very fast. The drums from Garrett Koloski really stand out on this one. Keyboardist Shaun Sutkus’ talent is on full display with the closing track “VII” which seems to be slightly subliminal.

Overall, Say Yes to Love is a very fast-paced and trippy punk record that can be played from front to back in less than a half hour. It’s definitely a fun listen and a breath of fresh air, but, most important, the element that stands out the most is the attitude. Perfect Pussy has a bright future and Say Yes to Love is a must own for any hardcore punk fan. The album can be purchased here.

April 23, 2014
Lacuna Coil, Kyng, Eve To Adam, and Cilver to play Westcott Theater this Tuesday, April 22

Italian prog-metallers Lacuna Coil return to Syracuse for the first time in five years by playing at the Westcott Theater this coming Tuesday, April 22 at 7PM with Kyng. Lacuna Coil is touring to promote their latest album Broken Crown Halo, which came out April 1 and debuted with 13,000 copies sold its first week of release to land on No. 27 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Los Angeles based hard-rockers Kyng are co-headlining to promote their album “Burn The Serum” which came out on April 15, while New York City based alternative outfit Eve To Adam join the tour to promote their latest release Locked And Loaded which came out last November. New comers Cilver from New York City is slated to open the show.

Tickets can be purchased here.

April 18, 2014
Biohazard, Sworn Enemy Lead Hardcore Clash at The Loft in Poughkeepsie

This past Friday night, April 4th, The Loft in Poughkeepsie turned into a hardcore madhouse as NYC area headliners Biohazard and Sworn Enemy lead the night along with other hardcore and metal acts from the 845 and 518 area. About 170 people packed the place to unleash their aggression and have a good time.

The doors opened at 7 and local area metal newcomers Pug Box opened the night around 7:15 with their six song set to set the tone for what was to come. Soon after, 518 hardcore outfit Life Sentence played their six song set adding a lot of attitude to the stage. Their style and presence felt very similar to Madball.

The Standard Assault (better known as TSA) then graced their stage with their unique set. They really stood out due to their metalcore and groove metal style. Along with that, their songs were far more lengthy than the other bands on the bill. They were aggressive and thrashy. Guitarist John Reilly played blazing solo’s that were clearly influenced by Slayer and frontman Pete Stott’s vocals were unique with a Randy Blythe-like flair to it. Their songs were clearly about past girl friends and betrayal. It was a nice change of pace for the night.

Albany’s Brick By Brick then took The Loft into hostile territory as they brought a bloody knuckle atmosphere with their eight song set that caused the floor to erupt with slam dancers and borderline dangerous moshing. Despite some sound trouble, they never missed a beat and kept the energy high. Frontman Mike Valente even called out the crowd hanging at the bar to get themselves closer to the stage. They ended their set with “Bro Hymn” with lots of crowd participation that just made everyone on the floor go crazy.

Sworn Enemy stormed the stage around 10PM. They’re out promoting their upcoming album Living On Borrowed Time. Their set consisted of their classics as well as two new songs fused into their set. Opening with “One Way Trip,” the already established pit grew even bigger and caused the floor to go completely chaotic. Luckily, no one was hurt. There was one person in the crowd that stood much bigger and taller than anyone that was dancing in the pit. About mid-way through Sworn Enemy’s set, this guy in the crowd just walked over to frontman Sal LoCoco and picked him up off the stage and swung him around. Luckily the show was not stopped or interrupted and there was no ill-intent. Sworn Enemy ended their set on a high note with “We Hate” and let everyone in their crowd release their aggression.

Biohazard finally took the stage at 11:30 with a setlist that contained hits and album cuts from their first three records. Opening the set with fan favorites “Chamber Spins Three” and “What Makes Us Tick,” Biohazard proved at even their veteran status, they still bring lots of energy on stage and show absolutely no sign of slowing down. From that moment on, it almost seemed that everyone in the crowd was from Brooklyn. Midway through their set, Biohazard unleashed the iconic “Tales From The Hardside.” Things in the pit became hostile, and a huge scuffle broke out in the crowd causing the entire security team to stop it, which ultimately caused the band to stop what they were doing. Even I ran to the corner and hid when this all went down. After a few minutes Biohazard resumed and played a few tracks off their first record. Then lead guitarist Bobby Hambel addressed the crowd on the corruption of news and politics which lead to “Black And White And Red All Over.” Finally, Biohazard wrapped their eighteen song set with their breakout hit “Punishment” and their creed motto “Hold My Own.”

Everyone at The Loft had a blast, and it’s obvious Biohazard still enjoys what they do. I was lucky enough to chat with the band after the show. They all confirmed they are hard at work on a new album and will be touring through Upstate New York again. Biohazard currently finished a brief East coast run and is now doing a month-long European tour but come back to the U.S. in May for the annual “Black N Blue Bowl” at The Well in Brooklyn on May 17^th and 18^th along with Hatebreed, Agnostic Front, Sworn Enemy, Brick By Brick, and many more.

April 9, 2014
Scott Ian’s “Speaking Words” turns Family Affair

Anthrax guitarist and founder Scott Ian stopped at Syracuse’s Lost Horizon for his “Speaking Words” tour and delivered an insightful, intimate, and amusing show in front about 100 people.

Ian, who is in the tail end of the “Speaking Words” Tour, is also in the middle of working on Anthrax’s 11^th studio album (slated for a later 2014 release), and said to be wrapping up his autobiography that’s due out next year.

There was speculation whether or not Joey Belladonna was going to make an appearance, he did not.

Doors opened at 7, the show actually started about 8:10, It was a small-scale production show.   It was just Scott Ian with a projection screen that showed some amusing comic slides, that show cased his stories in amusing manner. Of course as expected, a few drunk and obnoxious people in the crowd, Ian gracefully told them to, “shut the fuck up” more than once.

Ian opens his set by throwing the crowd off by reading from Red Hot Chilli Pepper‘s frontman, Anthony Keidis’ autobiography. Then as expected he chatted about his upbringing, to starting the band, to getting signed by Def Jam Records. Then he shifted gears and spoke about how he first met Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, sharing all the goods of his relationship with Lemmy, and the times he thought he could keep up drinking with him. The crowd could not stop laughing. Ian is a great story-teller. The comic slides just made it more amusing. Then after what was about 45 minutes of sharing crazy Lemmy Stories, the crowd was blessed to hear some funny party and prank stories that Ian shared with the late and great Dimebag Darrell.

Towards the end of the show Ian did a Q & A session with the crowd. (Yes, I got my question in about Damnocracy from the VH1 show “Supergroup”) This ultimately led to what may be the craziest incident of any concert.

A man, bald and sporting a goatee, emerged from the crowd and accused Ian of being his biological father. It was apparent that Ian recognized the man, who claimed to be 30-years-old, as before the mystery man spoke Ian immediately yelled, “Dude, I am not your father.”

The man continued to tell the story shared to him by his mother that she allegedly had relations with Ian in New York City more than 30 years ago.

“Dude, your mom’s a fucking liar,” said Ian. “Sorry, man.”

The man was escorted out by security, apparently crying and Ian swiftly deflected the situation from being a further distraction to the show. It was, however, definitely the highlight of the show, or in that case the highlight of the entire “Speaking Words” Tour.   The show almost felt like a metal version of an episode of Maury.   Talk about something that people don’t normally see every day.

(I did speak to Ian after the show, and he said he had no doubt in his mind that the story behind the man’s claims was fake.)

Once the theatrics concluded, the Q & A session resumed. There were some questions apparently inspired by alcohol and foolishness, but there were some great questions from the crowd including too. One man asked Ian about the times he spent with the late, and great, Ronnie James Dio (who was also receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award at the SAMMY’s).

The show finally ended around 10:30. Ian did do a VIP meet and greet after the show, doing autographs, and sharing more stories.   I chatted with Ian about the Yankees and cool Anthrax experiences, also there is the possibility of doing another Spoken Word Tour that will include Fozzy Frontman/WWE Superstar Chris Jericho. They did a tour together in Australia last year and it was very successful.

Overall, it was great show for anyone that is into Anthrax, or Heavy Metal in general. And, of course, Scott Ian tells great stories that will guarantee you a nice chuckle and some stories to tell all your friends and family. Hopefully he brings the Speaking Words show back to Syracuse, as well as a full-blown Anthrax show as well.

For more Metal News, Concert Reviews, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial and feel free to share your thoughts with me.

March 7, 2014

Superunknown turns 20, re-release coming in June

By early 1994, the alternative music scene out of Seattle was at its peak, and Soundgarden certainly had a hand in stoking that fire with the 1991 release of Badmotorfinger. So, once they released their fourth, full-length album with Superunknown on March 8, 1994, it debuted No. 1 on the Billboard chart.

The following year, the music industry showered the band with accolades – garnering a Grammy for Best Metal Performance (“Spoonman) and Best Hard Rock Performance (“Black Hole Sun”), and earning an MTV “Spaceman” award for Best Metal/Hard Rock music video (“Black Hole Sun”). Twenty years later, the album has sold more than nine-million copies across the globe, and is still considered by many music fans as the band’s finest accomplishment.

The album was recorded at Seattle’s Bad Animals Studio and produced by Michael Beinhorn. Beinhorn had earned relative success by producing hit records for Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Mother’s Milk – 1989) and Soul Asylum (Grave Dancers Union – 1992). At the urging a friend, Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam, the band also brought on Brendan O’Brien to mix. Today, O’Brien is popularly associated with producing many of Pearl Jam’s albums. However, at this time, he had only just finished his first with Pearl Jam, with Vs.

Track Listing:

1.	“Let Me Drown”
2.	“My Wave“
3.	“Fell on Black Days“
4.	“Mailman”
5.	“Superunknown”
6.	“Head Down”
7.	“Black Hole Sun“
8.	“Spoonman“
9.	“Limo Wreck”
10.	“The Day I Tried to Live“
11.	“Kickstand”
12.	“Fresh Tendrils”
13.	“4th of July”
14.	“Half”
15.	“Like Suicide”

Every song is a masterpiece. (4^th of July is my favorite.) Shame on you if don’t have this album. Any metal fan or anyone who just appreciates music in general should own this album. However, should you be looking to buy, you will soon be presented with a few more options when “Superunknown” is re-released June 5th.

The re-release promises two different versions from which to choose.

The Deluxe Edition is a 2-CD package featuring the remastered album along with disc two consisting of demos, rehearsals, B-sides and more.

The Super Deluxe Edition is a 5-CD package featuring the remastered album, additional demos, rehearsals and B-sides and the fifth disc is the album mixed in Blu-ray Audio 5.1 Surround Sound. The Super Deluxe Edition is incredibly packaged in a hardbound book with a lenticular cover, liner notes by David Fricke and newly reimagined album artwork designed by Josh Graham. It also features never-before-seen band photography by Kevin Westerberg. A 2-LP gatefold of the original 16 vinyl tracks remastered on 200-gram vinyl in a gatefold jacket will also be made available.

For more Metal News, Concerts, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial and feel free to share your thoughts with me.

March 5, 2014

Scott Ian “Speaks” in Syracuse Thursday

After a successful tour around with world in support with tenth full length album “Worship Music,” Anthrax guitarist and founder Scott Ian is taking the road with his “Speaking Words” tour to share his crazy metal stories.

Ian will be on stage Wednesday, March 5th at the B.B. King Blues Club and Grill in New York City and follows with a show at the Lost Horizon in Syracuse Thursday, March 6th.

Expect everything from being raised Jewish in Queens, to starting a metal band; from crazy tour stories, to meeting Lemmy and partying with Dimebag. This is a spoken word show that can’t be missed.

Ian will also be taking questions, of which I have a few myself, such as, will Joey Belladonna show up?

Tickets are available for $15 on Ticket Fly or $20 at the door. VIP Pass $50 on www.scottian.com.

Show is Thursday March 6 at 8PM Doors at 7PM.

March 2, 2014
Devo’s Bob Casale Dead At 61

The metal and hard rock community received the news on Monday, February 17th, that Devo‘s Bob Casale died of heart failure at the age 61. He is survived by his wife, Lisa, and two daughters, Alex and Samantha.

Casale, who also went by the nickname “Bob 2,” was a founding member of the five-piece band, whose name was short for De-Evolution. Playing along side his brother, Gerald, the iconic group developed a following from songs like “Jocko Homo”, “Girl U Want”, and their 1980 mega-hit, “Whip It.”

Outside of Devo, Casale had many musical side projects. He’s responsible for contributing to the score to Adam Sandler’s Happy Gilmore, and provided the theme song to the 1990s cartoon, Rugrats. His field of work also included musical contributions to video games and television commercials.

The last Devo album that Casale released was 2010’s Something For Everybody.

Casale was a solid sound man, engineering the sound for each Devo album, in addition to guitar, keyboard and back-up vocals. His stage presence is often described as fun and wacky. Devo was a part of the playbill in Lollapalooza in 2010, performing on the main stage. Devo was so unique and visually entertaining and Casale played an intricate role in that.

Do yourself a favor and check out some of Devo’s discography and celebrate Casale’s work. Also some great metal Devo covers, check out Soundgarden’s cover of “Girl U Want” and Love and Death’s cover of “Whip It.”

For more Metal News, Concerts, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial and feel free to share your thoughts with me about Bob Casale.

February 21, 2014
Dio Tribute Album to Release April 1

Earlier this week, the announcement was made that This Is Your Life, a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio, is set for an April 1 release.

This Is Your Life will include heavy weights in today’s metal, lead by Metallica, Anthrax, Motorhead, Corey Taylor of Slipknot and more.

Born in Cortland, NY, Dio is famous for fronting various metal juggernauts such as Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell before making a major breakthrough with his own group Dio. Beloved and considered by many as possessing the most powerful voice in Heavy Metal, Dio left us all way too early as he sadly lost his battle with stomach cancer back in 2010.

To celebrate Dio’s achievements, This Is Your Life will raise funds for The Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund.

This Is Your Life is produced by Wendy Dio, his longtime manger and wife and will be released by Rhino Records.

The track listing and lineup:

01. “Neon Knights” – ANTHRAX
02. “The Last In Line” – TENACIOUS D
03. “The Mob Rules” – ADRENALINE MOB
04. “Rainbow In The Dark” – Corey Taylor, Roy Mayorga, Satchel, Christian Martucci, Jason Christopher *
05. “Straight Through The Heart” – HALESTORM
06. “Starstruck” – MOTÖRHEAD with Biff Byford
07. “Temple Of The King” – SCORPIONS
08. “Egypt (The Chains Are On)” – DORO
09. “Holy Diver” – KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
10. “Catch The Rainbow” – Glenn Hughes, Simon Wright, Craig Goldy, Rudy Sarzo, Scott Warren
11. “I” – Oni Logan, Jimmy Bain, Rowan Robertson, Brian Tichy
12. “Man On The Silver Mountain” – Rob Halford, Vinny Appice, Doug Aldrich, Jeff Pilson, Scott Warren
13. “Ronnie Rising Medley” (featuring “A Light In The Black”, “Tarot Woman”, “Stargazer”, “Kill The King”) – METALLICA
14. “This Is Your Life” – DIO (previously unreleased)

Next month, Dio is expected the posthumous honor of The Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s SAMMYS Award Show in Syracuse.

The SAMMYS will be held at The Palace Theater in Syracuse on Friday, March 7th and tickets can be purchased at www.syracuseareamusic.com.

For more Metal News, Concerts, and more keep visiting Upstate Metal and be sure to follow me on twitter @SaintGOfficial where you are free to share your thoughts with me.

February 7, 2014
The 16th New England Metal Festival Hits This April

One thing that makes this country so great is we get fantastic destination music festivals. Coachella, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, Rock on the Range – all great festivals, don’t get me wrong, but what about a festival that caters to pure, unadulterated, metal? That’s where the 16^th annual New England Metal and Hardcore Festival drops the mic.

Three days of nothing but metal at the great Palladium in Worcester, MA. The show starts slaying on Thursday, April 17 through Saturday, April 19. This year we’ll be served with All That Remains, Behemoth, and Iced Earth as the main headliners.

But there’s so much more for the headbanger.

The line-up for Day One is:

All That Remains-Headlining

Emmure

Bleeding Through

Broken Hope

Fallujah

Gideon

Obey The Brave

Rivers of Nihil

Kublai Khan

Years Since The Storm

Young and In The Way

Enabler

Cop Problem

Day One will serve as an unofficial homecoming for All That Remains, which on its on merit promises to be very exciting. But, there are two show stealers to catch here: Bleeding Through and Broken Hope.

It was last year that Bleeding Through announced their retirement, which makes this perhaps the sole reason to come to this festival. This will be, in fact, their very last show on the east coast. I personally haven’t seen Bleeding Through since 2006. So this will be it for sure. They recently came to Upstate Music Hall in Clifton Park, NY as part of the first leg of their retirement tour and I missed it. So those of you like me who missed that show should make plans to attend this one.

And the other show stopper of this line up is Broken Hope. This is truly an exciting time if you’re a huge death metal fan. Broken Hope (as far as I’m concerned) are one of the original top notch death metal bands along with Cannibal Corpse, Death, and Obituary. Broken Hope reunited last year after a decade-plus long hiatus and released the critically acclaimed album Omen of Disease.

Looking at Day Two we have:

Behemoth-Headlining

Whitechapel

The Acacia Strain

Slapshot

Goatwhore

1349

Cruel Hand

Carnifex

Colin of Arabia

Within The Ruins

Suburban Scum

Thy Art Is Murder

Fire and Ice

I Declare War

Naysayer

Fit For An Autopsy

Born Low

Erra

Inquistion

Black Crown Initiate

The Mongoloids

Bent Life

Warhound

Malfunction

This is a stellar line up. I would recommend bringing ear plugs because this will be loud, and relentless. I would expect to see a few casualties in the punch bowl to cause mayhem for venue security.

The show stoppers to catch on this day will be Behemoth – for sure – and White Chapel.

Behemoth, in recent years has been the poster boy for shock factor. It has been banned in certain parts of Europe for portraying a strong belief in the Anti-Christ. Also keep in mind frontman Nergal survived a cancer scare a few years ago, which postponed the band’s activities for a bit. Last year, metal fans were excited to see Behemoth’s scheduled participation in last year’s Rockstar Mayhemfest, only to have it lead to disappointment when, at the last minute, the band pulled out due to an injury to their drummer.

Behemoth has not toured North America in quite some time and now the east coast has been treated for a HEADLINGING appearance at New England Metal and Hardcore Fest.

White Chapel has been selling out clubs the past five years whenever they pass through.

They have sold out The Lost Horizon in Syracuse everytime. This is a high-in-demand band that does not come through often. They are pure evil, and simply phenomenal. Recently White Chapel succeeded in an indiegogo campaign. Fans donated more than $35,000 to aid in the funding for a new DVD release due out soon.

And finally closing the festival on Saturday is:

Iced Earth-Headlining

Nails

Nile

Sabaton

All Out War

Ramallah

Twitching Tongues

ReVamp

Scars of Tomorrow

Battlecross

Counterparts

Lionheart

Harms Way

Alpha & Omega

Those Who Fear

The Last Ten Seconds of Life

Sylar

Loyal To The Grave

Reign Supreme

King Nine

Discourse

Will To Die

Barrier

Indirections

Gift Giver

This day is definitely different than the other two days. Iced Earth is WORSHIPPED in Europe and rarely passes through upstate New York. They have rocked concert goers over three different decades and have preserved a sound that harkens back to the hay-day of heavy metal.

In stark contrast, ReVamp has only been around a couple years and they just released their new album Wild Card, but they excite me nonetheless.

Frontwoman Floor Jansen has an INTOXICATING voice, and is absolutely beautiful. It will be a real treat to see her perform. Jansen is also the singer of Nightwish, which should give you an idea how talented this woman is.

My recommendation for this three-day fest? Get your tickets now. Book your hotel now. Pack plenty of boos, food, and get a good workout in before you leave, because it’s going to be a loud and crazy ride worth remembering.

February 2, 2014