It’s OFFICIAL! Paganfest 2012 lineup and dates confirmed!
I mentioned last week possible dates and the bands that would be on the United States return on Paganfest, and we now have the official dates. The tour will be headlined by Finnish battle-metallers Turisas, and feature Scottish pirate-metallers Alestorm, Rome’s very own Ex Deo, as well as Arkona and Huntress. Check out the dates below:
3/29 – Baltimore, MD @ Sonar
3/30 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium
3/31 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre
4/1 – Montreal, QC @ Club Soda
4/2 – Toronto, ON @ The Opera House
4/3 – Cleveland, OH @ Peabody’s
4/4 – Detroit, MI @ Blondie’s
4/5 – Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club
4/6 – Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
4/7 – Louisville, KY @ Vernon Club
4/8 – Charlotte, NC @ Tremont Music Hall
4/9 – Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
4/11 – Dallas, TX @ Trees
4/12 – Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s
4/13 – Denver, CO @ The Marquis
4/15 – Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
4/16 – Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
4/17 – San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
4/18 – West Hollywood, CA @ Key Club
4/19 – Tempe, AZ @ 910 Live
This is going to be an epic tour, with a unique, diverse lineup. It will be awesome to see Turisas play a proper headlining set, and is a good chance to see some bands that don’t come stateside too often.
-Chris
More Tours, More Tours, and MORE TOURS!
I can’t keep up!!! This is insane!!! I figure if I posted all the info for most of the tours, I better post the rest of them, plus a few more have released dates and what not today so let’s do this again.
All Shall Perish have announced a headlining tour featuring support from Carnifex, Fleshgod Apocalypse, Conducting From the Grave, and The Contortionist. Look at the dates HERE.
In addition to a tribute concert for Cory Smoot, GWAR have announced a full tour with support from Municipal Waste and Ghoul. How fun does that sound!?! Not to mention the last date of the tour is right here in Fort Collins!!!! Get info and date HERE.
Dave Mustaine’s brainchild GIGANTOUR has returned and just began this past week. The tour includes Megadeth (duh), Motorhead, Lacuna Coil, and Volbeat. You can buy tickets and check out the dates HERE. If you dish out $250 you can get a “VIP” ticket, including early entry, a photo band members, and other perks. If you have that much money, well, have fun! For us poor folk, just being able to see Megadeth and Motorhead on the same bill would be worth the price of admission!
Finally, this year the U.S. welcomes back Paganfest. The tour took a few years off from the states and will return this year with Turisas as the headliner. Support will come from Alestorm, Ex Deo, Arkona, and Huntress. I’m still kicking myself for missing out a few years ago, so this will definitely be a high priority for myself. Dan and I literally ran to The Gothic in order to watch Turisas play their final 3 or so songs from their set about a year ago, and they were awesome. Check for dates within the next day or two!
Anyone wanna help some broke ass metalheads out!?
-Chris
Chris’ Best of 2011: The Not Quite Top 10
What a year! Dan talked about trends, and the progression of the genre this year. Things in the music landscape are really changing, and metal music is more diverse and more plentiful than ever.
After many beers, many hours spent staring at iTunes and Spotify playlists, and an aural overload from revisiting albums, as well as checking out some I missed over the course of the year, I have whittled my list down to my top ten releases. Sure there are more technical albums, possibly better written albums, and more popular albums than some of my picks, but I went with MY favorites. The albums that impressed me the most and those I kept coming back to over the course of the year. I’m a sucker for melodic thrash/death metal, so surprise! There’s plenty of that on the list. Instead of simply tossing out our Ten Favorite Albums in No Particular Order, we grew some balls this year and decided to rank them. The further I went down my list the harder it became to really pick one over the other, so I want to address a couple albums that came up just short on my list. Don’t feel bad guys, I’m just a 26-year-old fan with a blog, not making my top ten will only be seen by a couple dozen of people…if we’re lucky.
So the runners up (in no particular order):
Cormorant – Dwellings: I’m almost positive this would end up on my list if it had come out a few weeks earlier. I’ve only had a chance to listen to it twice, and know it will definitely be in my rotation for weeks to come. Vocalist Arthur von Nagel sounds stronger and fiercer than ever and the group’s songwriting abilities continue to impress. This is an album with a very diverse blend of genres and tones that is already making waves in its short existence.
Havok- Time is Up: Aggressive, fast, punishing, this is an album that DOESN’T get caught in the mix among the other neothrash bands. The addition of a new guitarist and drummer has this band firing on all cylinders. Definitely a band that makes us Coloradoan’s proud.
The Black Dahlia Murder- Ritual: As melodic as it is heavy and dark, this is a band that continues to get better with each release. From the solo on “On Stirring Seas of Salted Blood” to the speedy riffing in “The Grave Robber’s Work” and my favorite track, the punishing “Malenchantments of the Necrosphere” this album is one of the more solid front-to-back releases of the year.
Turisas- Stand up and Fight: While a lot of people were a bit harsh on the bands new direction I thought the album was great. Sure it had its cheese factor on some songs “Hunting Pirates” anyone?!? – But the utilization of the orchestra and choral arrangements made for some epic sounding songs. Just listening and thinking of all the work that must have gone into the album as well as all the individual people who performed and sang on the album just made this album seem like such an undertaking I had acknowledge it somewhere!
Mastodon- The Hunter: Great production, great songs. Catchy and full of hooks, yet progressive enough to keep things interesting. A great blend of their older grit and more modern progressive tendencies. These songs came off great live and really cement Mastodon in the top tier of U.S. metal bands.
The top ten shall be unleashed before the end of the week!
-Chris
A Finnish Quickie: Turisas and Children of Bodom
It’s been a hell of a run the past couple weeks for metal releases! As hard as I’ve tried to keep up, I have fallen behind due to my (bad?) habit of obsessing over an album when it comes out. The count on my iTunes for Digital Veil is at least 25 listens per song; others are higher. Between Scale the Summit’s new one and a bunch of other bands releasing tunes for upcoming releases, I haven’t had the time to fully grasp some other releases from the past week, but wanted to post my thoughts before they become outdated!
Turisas - Stand Up and Fight
Turisas’ latest album is their most ambitious to date. With the help of over 30 credited musicians, the band have created an orchestral metal album of monumental proportions. 
With a more prominant power metal focus, Stand Up and Fight sounds MONSTROUS! Vocalist Mathias Nygard sounds clearer and more powerful than ever; and the band covers a lot of ground through the course of the album. From the thunderous opening of “The March of the Varangian Guard” Turisas show their flexibility and scope. From the textured orchestration, the lyrical story-telling, the powerful group vocal choruses, and the march of the guitars, these guys have built a truly unique sound. The second track “Take the Day!” is as triumphant as they come. The French horns sound so dominant! (Yes I just gave props to the French horns). The longest track of the album, the seven-minute epic “End of an Empire” is amazing. The song journeys through an array of emotions and the Varangian Choral Ensemble sounds absolutely chilling. Stand Up and Fight really does have something to offer for any metal listener, and maybe be accessible enough for the non-metal listener as well. The chemistry the band has created with the use of the choirs and orchestra not only create a great album, but create a FUN album. Dan and I will be drinking from our horns and blaring this in the near future!
Children of Bodom – Relentless Reckless Forever
Children of Bodom are stuck in their ways. They have found their sound and don’t seem to stray far from their comfort zone. Their last two albums weren’t bad, there just wasn’t anything that really stood out on either of them. 
Luckily a Children of Bodom stuck in their ways is still a solid band. Relentless Reckless Forever is more of the same from the band, but this album seems to pack a bit more punch. While there is still a “cheese factor” on some tracks (mostly the lyrical content) the musicianship is still phenomenal. Alexi continues to grow as a guitar player and you can hear that progression throughout the album. He can still play a mile a minute, on tracks like “Cry of the Nihilist” but many solos on this album focus more on flare than speed; fitting the nature of the songs perfectly. The exchanges between Laiho and keyboardist Janne Warman continue to become more impressive, but some of the keyboards sound so close to the guitar, it can be difficult at times discerning what you are hearing. The synthesizer parts are more prominent throughout, more along the lines of Hate Crew Death Roll or Hatebreeder. While Children of Bodom aren’t breaking new ground with this release, the playing and the punch this album packs is definetely deserving of your attention.
-Chris
Cradle of Filth, Nachtmystium, Turisas: Live in Denver
Oh yea! Daniel Lioneye played too. I’ll get to them later. A little before 5p.m. the night of the show, I saw an update on facebook from Turisas saying that their set would start at 6:30. Doors were at 6, and I figured Daniel Lioneye would open, because in my little world, Turisas is way more popular than Daniel WHO!? In a frantic drive down to Denver, it became apparent that the Friday night traffic was going to screw us up. After sitting STOPPED on I-25 blaring Amon Amarth, we finally made it near the venue. At this point Turisas had already begun playing. Having to park three blocks away, Dan and I seriously RAN to the venue. After getting in we were met with the glorious sounds of Turisas. This was their first Colorado performance and the three songs we got to see were all awesome. Fortunetely “Battle Metal” was the closer! Some people don’t give these guys (and girl) much credit, or they think the whole dressing up thing is kind of a gimmick, but they were great. The band was definetely focused on their music, not their looks. After the show, some of the guys were at the back talking with fans and they all seemed like geniune people. They said they already had plans to return very soon…Paganfest maybe!?
Up next was Daniel Lioneye AKA the band I was mad at for missing half of Turisas’ set. I had heard of them, but never HEARD them before, and knew they had members of HIM, another band I really don’t care for. They came out and were a lot heavier than I expected, but overall Dan and I agreed they sucked. That is all for Daniel Lioneye.
Next up were the mighty Nachtmystium! Having never seen them before, we were more than ready. After setting up, the band took over and played what could have been a headlining set for many bands. They tore it up! It was just one of those performances you become hypnotized by. Vocalist Blake Judd was on fire! There was little banter from the group, just short breaks to slam beers (those dudes can drink), and a few drug preference comments, and music- lots of it. They really kinda stole the show.
With Cradle of Filth headlining, not only do you get a great musical performance, but some awesome visuals as well. Between the band members themselves and the eerie imagery sprawling on the backdrop, Cradle of Filth created a dark mood over the Gothic Theater. While the groups heavier, faster tracks all sounded superb, it was the slower tracks that provided the most powerful, ominous moments of the set, especially the tracks featuring vocals from keyboardist Ashley Ellyllon- she sounded awesome. Overall it was a great show. There’s only a couple of dates left on the tour, but all of these bands (except Daniel Lioneye) are definetely worth seeing again!
-Chris
