Here’s the list!

• 09/28 Columbus, OH Skully’s
• 09/29 Buffalo, NY Mohawk Place
• 09/30 Brooklyn, NY Europa
• 10/01 Hartford, CT Webster Underground
• 10/02 Bucksport, ME The Kave
• 10/03 Quebec, QC Imperial de Quebec
• 10/04 Montreal, QC Petit Café
• 10/05 Ottawa, ON Ritual
• 10/06 Toronto, ON The Wreck Room
• 10/07 Lemoyne, PA Championship
• 10/08 Richmond, VA Canal Club
• 10/09 Wilmington, NC The Soapbox Laundrolounge
• 10/10 Charlotte, NC The Casbah
• 10/12 East St. Louis, MO Pop’s
• 10/13 Des Moines, IA The Vaudeville Mews
• 10/14 DeKalb, IL House Café
• 10/15 Grand Rapids, MI Mixtape Café
• 10/16 Toledo, OH Headliners

9. Destroyer 666 – Defiance

This is about as close to black metal as I can get without feeling uncomfortable. You know, that same feeling you get around somebody who’s holding scissors that shouldn’t be allowed to hold scissors. I can’t remember exactly why I decided to give it a listen in the first place, but it had something to do with a description I read somewhere that it was “Blackened Thrash Metal”…and some doobed out reasoning along the lines of “I like chicken, and I really like blackened chicken, so let’s see how it goes.” My favorite track is definitely “Weapons of Conquest”.

8. Goatwhore – Carving Out the Eyes of God

I had never listened to Goatwhore before listening to this album, but I’m sure glad as hell I decided to check them out…this is fucking demolition derby metal, my friends. The opening track is enough to make me want to strap knives onto my Mazda and enter the ring. “Who needs a god, when you’ve got SATAN!” Fucking aye!

7. Lay Down Rotten – Gospel of the Wretched

If you haven’t heard this album (and you probably haven’t), you’re missing out, plain and simple. If you like Amon Amarth, but you’re looking for something with a little more depth and complexity, look no further. These tracks are juicy, the rhythms will pound you, and you will feel the glory of battle.

6. Jungle Rot – What Horrors Await

There’s something just unbelievably fun about this album. It’s muddy. It’s ballsy. It’s simple. It hits hard. Love it. Who can say no to a track entitled “Exit Wounds”? Yeah, nobody.

5. Revocation – Existence is Futile

Thrashy, beautiful, original. Retro, experimental, solo-tastic. Why haven’t I heard of these guys before? There’s something nostalgic, something familiar about the guitar work here that just feels right, and their performance is tight as hell. Forests and Fjords forever.

4. The Black Dahlia Murder – Deflorate

Yeah, I pretty much love these guys. You can’t watch Majesty and not, really. They love what they do, they’re serious about it, and it fucking shows. I am looking forward to hearing more, especially with a well-acclimated Ryan Knight on the roster.

3. Slayer – World Painted Blood

Now this is an evolution I can get behind. I love the album enough by itself, but, in addition to it being awesome, it gave me a new appreciation for like…every Slayer album ever. When I heard World Painted Blood in its entirety for the first time, it rekindled something inside me that…fucking loves Slayer.

2. Job for a Cowboy – Ruination

Funny how a release I initially cringed at gradually made it damn near to the fucking top-of-my-top-of-the-year, right? Yeah, you heard me: I didn’t even like it when it came out. I soon discovered that my problem was a combination of me being so in love with the quirky, sporadic sound of Doom and the fact that Ruination… sounds nothing like Doom. I just didn’t see eye to eye with the people who praised the departure as an evolution to “real death metal” or whatever the fuck; I like my metal WEIRD, and I think their first two albums are nothing short of genius. I took a step back, looked at all of their releases, and saw the beautiful evolution that has taken place. If you give this album a serious listen, you’re sure to see they haven’t lost those bizarre twisting, jutting foundations that lie at the heart of every track.

1. Gorod – Process of a New Decline

What can I say about this album I haven’t already? Technically impressive, groovin’, quirky, ethereal, brutal…they manage to be tight as fuck and all over the goddamn place all at once. Death metal with a swing beat? Jesus. With my attention span what it is, it takes mad skills to put together an entire collection of tracks I don’t skip to the ends of “after the cool part’s over”. This album gets 8 gold stars and a banana sticker.

Listen to the magic that begins at 2:50 !!!!!

Honorable Mentions (whatever the fuck that means):

Lamb of God – Wrath

Behemoth – Evangelion

Darkest Hour – The Eternal Return

Daath – The Concealers

I really, really like some of the songs on these CDs, I just didn’t like enough of them enough to feel comfortable saying they were among my favorites of the year. They’re definitely good albums, though. After about an hour of trying to decide between the three of them which one got the #10 spot, I says, “Buh, honorable mentions.” I’d venture to guess Wrath is closest to making #10. The album was great, but in its entirety just wasn’t interesting enough for me.

Other than these, of course we got Crack the Skye…I wudn’t really feelin’ that one. Skeletonwitch is awesome, but for some reason I can’t bring myself to enjoy their CDs nearly as much as their live shows. Baroness is good, but I can’t help but feel like they’re overrated. “A Horse Called Golgotha” from Blue Record is definitely awesome, but I didn’t enjoy the rest of the tracks as much. Who knows, as with any metal albums, any one of these CDs could end up being my favorite in a month or two, heh.

Happy New Year – Spread the Love.

I was super glad that I showed up early because not only did I get to catch the last couple songs from SWWAATS, (buy their merch) but I got a seat at the bar. Ahhhhhhh

For you Abysmal Dawn fans out there, GO to this show. I don’t think the kids in the room knew who they were, which has to suck when you’re a decent band with a good set. Things got a little blurry in there (probably the crown and diet at which point I switched to Stella) and got into side conversations with the other fun people at the bar, including a little time with Ben and some catch-up with Jason Netherton from Misery Index, fresh off their overseas tour. Their next show is a house party in Baltimore that I just may be attending…

During all of this, Daath took the stage and I didn’t even recognize that it was them until they started playing “Ovum.” I’m honestly not sure if that’s their fault or if it’s mine… I hadn’t known that Kevin Talley had quit Daath (oh yeah – Kevin Talley has quit Daath!) and couldn’t figure out why Zach Simmons from Goatwhore was playing with some random band. Gonna have to pay better attention the next time I see them and see what the real deal is.

Sammy Duet has hair now. I’ve NEVER seen him with hair. Threw me off. In a good way. I even went up to him after his set and told him he looked good which is kind of hilarious… But the Goatwhore set was phenomenal, they played 6 new ones and a smattering of old ones, ending their set with Alchemy of the Black Sun Cult, a definite fan-favourite. Apparently they are co-headlining this tour with Abigail Williams so it will be back and forth all summer between the two bands closing the show.

I finally met Ken Sorceron (I don’t know what to tell you. I’m shy. Sometimes it takes me awhile to get up the nerve, in this case…it took three shows. Gonna have to work on that…) Anyhow, the Abigail Williams set was highly satisfying, the mix was good (it’s always annoying to go see black metal when the keyboards blast out all the rest of the instruments – not the case with them.) I set up an interview with Ken for the next time they’re around in DC which will be July 24th at Jaxx, so feel free to send me questions to ask them…

Definitely a show to hit this summer – do it and tell ‘em I sentcha.

_. 7/07 – Edmonton, AL – Starlite Room
_. 7/08 – Calgary, AL – The Underground
_. 7/10 – Victoria, BC – Sugar
_. 7/11 – Vancouver, BC – The Biltmore
_. 7/12 – Seattle, WA – El Corazon
_. 7/13 – Portland, OR – Satyricon
_. 7/14 – San Francisco, CA – Thee Parkside
_. 7/15 – Los Angeles, CA – Whiskey a Go Go
_. 7/16 – San Marcos , CA – Jumping Turtle
_. 7/17 – Las Vegas , NV – Cheyenne Saloon
_. 7/18 – Farmington, NM – Gators
_. 7/19 – Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
_. 7/20 – Kansas City, MO – Riot Room
_. 7/21 – Nashville, TN – The Muse
_. 7/22 – Danville, VA – Plan B
_. 7/23 – New York, NY – The Blender Theatre at Gramercy
_. 7/24 – Springfield, VA – Jaxx
_. 7/25 – Hartford, CT – Webster Underground
_. 7/26 – Montreal, QC – FouFounes Electriques
_. 7/27 – Toronto, ON – Wreck Room
_. 7/28 – Rochester , NY – Penny Arcade
_. 7/29 – Cleveland, OH – Peabodys
_. 7/30 – Mokena , IL – Pearl Room
_. 7/31 – Urbana, IL – Canopy Club
_. 8/01 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave