Friday, May 18th, 2012
Portland's d-beat legends, Tragedy (feat ex members of His Hero Is Gone), linked up with black metal rippers Woe and Philly's own Motör-charged crust 'n' rollers, Plague Dogs, for a bulletproof showcase last Friday at The Level Room in Center City Philly. The bill was hosted by renowned booking groups R5 Productions and up-and-coming Phonographic Arts who tag-teamed the accommodations and event hosting with seamless showcase. With only three bands on the bill there was no room for filler, as Plague Dogs stepped up to the plate with a ripping set that was pedal to floor ...
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Wilkes Barre Hardcore heroes and Deathwish Inc recording artists, Cold World, tore through The Barbary in Philadelphia's Northern Liberties neighborhood with a solid cast of supporting acts including Dead End Path, Expire, Suburban Scum, and Cross Check last Sunday. Blow The Scene photographer Anne Spina was there to capture the show in photos for your viewing pleasure.
Cold World are known for fusing pummeling riffs and meaty hardcore with elements of hip-hop without being a cheesy rap-core hybrid. This is very fine line to walk. While the band's early releases received overwhelmingly positive reviews, the Cold World's ...
Thursday, May 10th, 2012
Renowned post-metal sludge practitioners Old Man Gloom (feat members of Converge, Cave In & ex-Isis), broke off a rare live performance at Philly's First Unitarian Church last Friday with solid cast of supporting acts that included Argonauts, James Plotkin, and Rosetta. Philly fans were also treated to an early offering of Old Man Gloom's forthcoming album NO, which was recently recorded with renowned engineer Kurt Ballou at his God City Studios and is slated for a June release via Hydra Head Records.
Old Man Gloom has seen a number of ...
Monday, May 7th, 2012
Wilmington NC’s leading sons of sludge, Weedeater, cruised through Mojo Main at in Deleware last week with special guests Cough and ASG. Featuring renowned members of the now defunct Buzzov*en, Weedeater is still riding on a wave of momentum created with the band’s latest offering, Jason...The Dragon, which hit streets via Southern Lord Recordings in 2011. The band continues to deliver a pummeling combination of southern sludge and groove metal that offers a wallop of sound to compliment the quirky and charismatic cast of guilty parties.
Weedeater performances never lack ...
Tuesday, May 1st, 2012
Whitby, Ontario’s favorite sons of progressive metal, Protest the Hero, tore through Philadelphia’s Trocadero Theater with support from Periphery, Jeff Loomis Band, The Safety Fire, and Today I Caught the Plague, last week. Blow The Scene was there to capture the show in photos for your viewing pleasure.
Protest the Hero are currently supporting their third studio album, Scurrilous, which hit streets in March of 2011 on Vagrant Records in the US and Underground Operations in Canada. Despite the meaning behind ...
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Rohnert Park, CA’s indefinable practitioners of new-school hardcore punk, Ceremony, recently ripped through The Barbary in Philadelphia with guests Salvation, Watery Love, and Dead People Screaming. Ceremony is still riding high on a wave of momentum from their latest release and Matador Records debut, Zoo, which hit streets in January. With Zoo, fans again found Ceremony abandoning all rules unapologetically and taking a page from more old-school punk rock than the powerviolence tinged material that defined their definitive years. No matter which sound you prefer, it is undeniable that Ceremony’s live show has remained one of the best around within the broad spectrum of modern punk and hardcore, ...
Friday, April 27th, 2012
Phoenix, AZ's leading sons of manic-styled, acoustic punk-rock, Andrew Jackson Jihad, stopped by Philadelphia's First Unitarian Church last week as part of their first ever US tour run. Known for their tongue-in-cheek lyrical contexts combined with a developed acoustic-rock underbelly, like many of their punk-rooted peers, the group creates an aura of amusement, admiration and misunderstanding. With catch phrases like, "I hate whiny fucking songs like this, but I can't afford a therapist, sorry guys, here's a solo" in song "Distances" and "If I see a penny on the ...
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
San Francisco's post-metal, progressive rock, sludge scientists Giant Squid rolled through Philadelphia's North Star venue on Friday with special guests Stinking Lizaveta, Fight Amp, and East of the Wall for what proved to be a bulletproof live package from front to back.
East of the Wall got the evening rolling with their emotional blend of progressive rock that seemed almost uncanny for an opening act. Still riding high from the October 2011 release of the highly regarded full-length album, The Apologist on Translation Loss Records, the band has been gaining a steady ...
Thursday, April 26th, 2012
Hibernating bats in the northeastern United States are dying at an alarming pace due to the onset of White-nose Syndrome. Named for the white fungus evident on the muzzles and wings of the affected, this fungus thrives in cave temperatures. Apart from the physical ailments, afflicted bats awake early out of hibernation in an attempt to cleanse themselves of the fungus. This early awakening inadvertently leads to death from freezing temperatures as these animals attempt to find food to replenish their stored winter fats. White-nose Syndrome has already killed ...
Tuesday, April 24th, 2012
Bad Brains steamrolled through Philadelphia last Thursday with a mesmerizing performance to a sold-out crowd at the Trocadero Theatre with support from Wu Tang Clan front man, GZA and Maryland reggae rockers, Lionize.
It’s hard to believe Bad Brains have been kicking for 34 years with a growing legacy as one of the most influential American bands of all-time. Even through the band's tumultuous periods it has become impossible to overlook this group’s unique contributions to our musical corpus; the music world was simply a different landscape before and after Bad Brains.
It’s doubtful anyone could have predicted that ...
Monday, April 23rd, 2012
The Black Dahlia Murder performed a soul crushing set at Philly's TLA this past Wednesday with a more than solid set of supporting acts, including Nile, Skeletonwitch, and Hour of Penance, as they wrapped up a current US tour. The Black Dahlia Murder continue to support their latest full-length on Metal Blade Records, Ritual, which made an impressive #31 debut on the Billboard 200 last June. The standing-room-only crowd thrashed, jumped, surfed and moshed, with a huge and constant pit, as elated fans swooned over these melodic death metal mainstays. The ...
Wednesday, April 18th, 2012
Converge is a band that truly needs no introduction. Having harnessed a sound that has defined the tedious and seamless fusion of metal and punk over the last decade, these mainstays recently embarked on a East Coast tour with Loma Prieta, Birds in Row, and Git Some. Over 20 years active, Converge recently wrapped up recording a new full-length album tentatively titled As We Love We Leave Behind, scheduled for a Fall release. Also in attendance for last Friday’s performance at Philadelphia’s fantastic Union Transfer venue were Baltimore’s own rising stars, Pianos Become the Teeth.
The ...
Thursday, April 12th, 2012
Monday, Philadelphia’s Electric Factory played host to a meeting of metal goliaths that included heavy hitters Mastodon and Opeth, as part of The Heritage Hunter Tour 2012. The headliners were joined by posi-occult rockers Ghost, for an evening of hard-hitting riffs and dense visual landscapes that kept a packed house enthused throughout the evening.
Swedish rockers, Ghost, kicked off the evening in their usual attire, with five of the six members outfitted with dark masks and robes while the unnamed vocalist sports the ...
Saturday, April 7th, 2012
It makes sense that Alcest and Deafheaven would find each other to tour the US, both infusing elements of modern black metal and shoegaze into intriguing amalgamations of sound that have been exciting fans and critics for years. The finely crafted show-space of Philly's North Star venue served as a fitting backdrop for both bands who deliver a delicately balanced attack that infuses abrasiveness with beauty within dense musical frameworks that engulf would-be listeners.
France's Alcest is currently supporting the 2012 release of their third studio album Les Voyages de l'Âme (The Journeys of the Soul) on Prophecy Productions, which ...
Thursday, April 5th, 2012
Reign Supreme were joined by Harm's Way and locals No Lessons Learned and Sawed Off for a performance at the O'Reilly's venue in Philadelphia, as the band shot a new video for an unspecified track from their Mediaskare Records debut, Sky Burial. This forthcoming 7-song EP was recorded last November with producer Will Putney and will be released this summer with heavy touring to follow from Philly's hardcore mainstays. This show saw many fresh faces and lots of young hardcore energy that translated into ruckus dancing and few black eyes and bloody lips, but it's safe to say good times were had by ...
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012
South Philly's Emoda Gallery played host to a raucous metal bill featuring DC's doomy death metal quintet ILSA and Denver's thrashing metal quartet, Speedwolf, with local support provided by Backslider and Infernal Stronghold. One of the best underground shows we've hit in sometime, as all the bands put in blistering performances. Backslider and Infernal Stronghold represent some of Philly's finest metal practitioners and both will be featured on this year's Maryland Death Fest, where they will share the stage with some of the biggest names in the worldwide metal community. Backslider are just wrapping up a short West Coast Tour before heading back ...
Monday, April 2nd, 2012
Comeback Kid's Symptoms and Cures Tour plowed through Philadelphia's legendary First Unitarian Church venue last week with Foundation, Such Gold, Living with Lions, and special guest Rock Bottom. This stellar tour package kicked off on March 18th in San Antonio, TX, and will make it's way around the country with a final performance in Madison, WI, on April 21st.
It's hard to believe Comeback Kid have been pummeling audiences with their infectious blend of melodic hardcore for over a decade, as the band ...
Thursday, March 29th, 2012
Philadelphia's North Star venue played host to a star-studded bill of doom metal heavyweights as A Storm of Light, Magic Circle, Mustard Gas & Roses, and Gholas tore through last Saturday evening. The show's cast read like the Who's Who of American metal and hardcore musicians.
Headliners and Brooklyn's own, A Storm of Light, feature permanent members Josh Graham (ex-Red Sparowes, Battle Of Mice, Blood And Time, Neurosis) on guitar, vocals and synthesizers, banjo, and piano. Domenic Seita (ex Tombs) rips bass, backing ...
Portland's d-beat legends, Tragedy (feat ex members of His Hero Is Gone), linked up with black metal rippers Woe and Philly's own Motör-charged crust 'n' rollers, Plague Dogs, for a bulletproof showcase last Friday at The Level Room in Center City Philly. The bill was hosted by renowned booking groups R5 Productions and up-and-coming Phonographic Arts who tag-teamed the accommodations and event hosting with seamless showcase. With only three bands on the bill there was no room for filler, as Plague Dogs stepped up to the plate with a ripping set that was pedal to floor ...
