Concert Reviews

Ice Nine Kills: Fear The Premiere Tour- Cleveland Show Review

Published

1 year ago

August 21, 2023

Let me tell you, if there was ever a band that could say that they have their hands in every rock music subgenre right now, my thoughts would immediately go to Ice Nine Kills. Coming off of one tour and straight onto another while simultaneously releasing singles with other major names in the industry such as Hollywood Undead, Fame on Fire, Escape the Fate, and more. They have also released a new novel, The Silver Scream, based on their ever-growing saga of albums. The INK boys have certainly kept themselves busy this year and don’t intend to stop anytime soon. However, for now, let’s talk about their current endeavor, The Fear the Premiere Tour, INK’s own headlining tour, currently backed by August Burns Red and Veil (Aug 8th–11th), later being joined by Set It Off and The Plot In You (Aug 15th–Sept 1st), along with the opener Mikes Dead, who will be at all the remaining dates. So, settle in and grab your popcorn as we go over the gory and horrifically terrific details that make up The Fear The Premiere Tour.

After warming the crowd up with a few songs from metal rap artist Mike’s Dead, Veil of Maya took the stage. The Chicago-based metal band kept the crowd on their feet despite their short set, but they were so strong that they certainly made their presence known. Playing a few of their more popular songs, like “Mikasa”, “Red Fur” ,and “Tokyo Chainsaw” just to name a few. The band took their cues from frontman Lukas Magyar; the band certainly set the bar high for their predecessors to follow, who are currently celebrating a major milestone, August Burns Red.

August Burns Red is a band that has been well known in the heavy metal music scene for 20 years. Yes, this band formed all the way back in 2003 and has been rising to the occasion ever since. With their most recent album release, Death Below, back in March of this year, to recently announcing a headlining tour of their own starting in November to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of their 2013 album Rescue and Restore. August Burns Red certainly knows how to celebrate some majorly impressive milestones, however, that doesn’t mean they can’t make time out of their schedules to play alongside INK for a few dates.

The band definitely had a jam-packed playlist, including some fan favorites like “White Washed” and “Mariania’s Trench” both off of the popular album Constellations, which dropped in 2009. Also included in the set were, of course, two newer songs off the latest album, “Backfire” and “Revival”. Another point I would like to make personally would be ABR’s lighting for their set, which is always a colorful but vibrantly perfect balance and very pleasing to the eye. Certainly an amazing band to have leading up to our killer finale.

If you have never had the opportunity to witness an Ice Nine Kills show live, let me be the first to say that you are missing out not only musically but also visually and theatrically. That’s right, I said theatrically, because when you go to an INK show, you should expect a different killer scene to be painted with every song. With the help of a handful of stagehands and actors, leading frontman Spencer Charnas, along with the rest of the members of the band. They go above and beyond with things like costume changes and special effects, and let’s not forget to mention the plethora of different masks that Charnas changes into throughout the night. With this specific tour, the band has featured a different setlist than the one they had grown to know and love by bringing back some songs that hadn’t been played for quite a while and deserved to be brought back into the spotlight, like “Rocking The Boat” and Me, Myself and Hyde” to name a few, along with keeping some of the fan favorites such as “It Is The End”, “Rainy Day”, and “Wurst Vacation” just to name a few.

There is, however, one song that made its directorial debut for the first time ever at an Ice Nine Kills production, “Jason’s Mom” the band’s portrayal of “Stacy’s Mom” originally written and performed by Fountains of Wayne. However, Ice Nine Kill does it from the perspective of Jason Vorhees mom from the major film franchise, Friday the 13th. Needless to say, the show was nothing short of exciting, and most certainly kept the audience on the edge of their seats all night long. If you have to miss the Fear The Premiere Tour, fear not because you will have the chance to catch them out on a stadium tour with Metallica or their co-headlining tour with In This Moment at the end of the year. Either way, I strongly encourage you to catch INK on tour; it’s sure to be a scream!

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Shelby Tyce

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Concert Reviews

The Nothing That Is Tour

Published

3 days ago

November 18, 2024

George Archibald

Another fall evening in the Burgh, the air was crisp and cool, setting the mood for a great night for metal. The Roxian in McKees Rock, PA, hosted The Nothing That Is Tour tonight, featuring Fit For An Autopsy. Bodysnatcher, Distant, Sylosisand, and Judiciary. Fit For An Autopsy brought some of the heaviest and nastiest together to throw down for all of you. An eclectic banding of hardcore and deathcore acts that are making waves in the metal community.

Judiciary kicked things off, their music a blend of hardcore, thrash, and punk. Their songs had thrash riffs with hardcore rhythms and breakdowns, with an occasional solo thrown in. With horns raised in the air, the crowd gave these Texas natives a well-received welcome. This band was a great start to the night, bringing the energy in the room up quickly.

Sylosis came out to a fury. Their vocalist ripped at the crowd from the start, asking for a circle pit as they kicked off. This band had moshers and crowd surfers amped up as waves of bodies started coming over the front barricade. Throughout the set, the energy never let up, as this band kept pushing the crowd. This energy came to a high when their newest single, “The Path,” was performed. High-paced hardcore mayhem throughout the set, this band had a vast amount of tricks in their bag, from solos to even groove to bring to the party.

At the midpoint of the show, Distant took the stage. This band is over-the-top heavy, riding low-tuned grooves into devastating breakdowns. The vocalist has a wide range, from high-pitched screams and growls to bottom-of-the-barrel gutturals. Distant announced their newest album, Tsukuyomi: The Origin, is a week away from coming out. Which kicked off the single “Torturous Symphony.” At this point, no one was standing still on the floor as moshers were on the move. Bodies colliding into each other until the band finally stopped, at this point the crowd was completely warmed up.

Deathcore veterans Bodysnatcher took the stage next to show Pittsburgh how to throw down. This band rides a low groove while keeping the energy high, accompanied by the unrelenting low growls of vocalist Kyle Medina. The band kicked off with “King of Rats” and went right into “Dead Rabbit.” The floor was swimming with bodies as the band raged on. Other standout songs were “Take Me to Hell” and “Black of My Eyes” before closing out on “Murder8.”

Headliners Fit For An Autopsy took the stage with a fury, kicking off with “Lower Purpose” into “A Higher Level of Hate” for a nasty one-two punch out of the gate. Seasoned veterans now in their careers, the band looked very polished and primed. FFAA just released their newest album, The Nothing That Is. The band played through several hits, “Black Mammoth”, “The Sea of Tragic Beasts”, and “Hellions”, before diving back into their latest album with “Hostage”. The crowd stayed up and moving through the set as Fit For an Autopsy is a Pittsburgh favorite, having visited the city several times during their tenure.

The Nothing That Is tour showcases some of the heaviest bands touring right now. Fit For An Autopsy have updated their live show and look ready to take the world fresh off the new album. If you are looking to release some steam or to hear some new music, The Nothing That Is tour will not disappoint.

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George Archibald

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Concert Reviews

STRYPER ON A SUNDAY. YES PLEASE

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

Ron

STRYPER was just in Baltimore the other day on the 40 years of Stryper tour. Playing 2 sets spanning those 40 years. I’ve only ever seen Stryper play at M3 so it was amazing to get to see a full on set then another full on set right after.

For the 1st set we got the 1984-1990 set which included songs like “Loud N Clear”, “Soldiers under Command” and “To Hell with the Devil”.

The second set we got 1986, 2004-2024 with songs like “No More Hell to Pay”, “This i Pray” and ending the night with “Sing along Song”.

It was a great night for Music and sadly more then likely the last show at RamsHead Live I’ll be ever to attend as the are closing their doors (hopefully will be open again with a new venture) but the show was amazing to see Stryper play on the stage. Such great guys and a great band. I love that Stryper is fully engaged with the fans and the show is always amazing. I love that they put their religious beliefs 100% on display but the show never feels preachy or judgmental. If you get a chance to see Stryper play in your city I fully recommend it such a great time and a great band to see play live.

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

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Concert Reviews

King Diamond brought the Halloween party to Silver Spring MD

Published

3 weeks ago

November 2, 2024

Ron

King Diamond who’s on tour now with Overkill and Night Demon.

Overkill always puts on a great show and shows that face pace thrash metal is still kick ass. Led by NJ’s Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth Overkill has that distinctive sound with Bobby’s high pitched and raspy vocals. With songs like “Scorched”, “ Rotten to the Core” and “Hello From the Gutter”, Overkill got the crowd into a frenzy and warmed up the stage before the king.

You know it’s gonna be a good night when it’s 3 days before Halloween and you get to see a kick ass set from King Diamond. King Diamond who’s 68 right now still commands that stage and sounds amazing with his insanely falsettos. The stage show at a King Diamond show is always such a great sight to see. With a multilayer setup of stairs and little pieces of elaborate set all over it’s such a great view and perfect setting to watch a King Diamond set.

The set list was amazing too we got to hear songs from such a great career like “A Mansion in the Darkness”, “Halloween “, “Spider Lilly”, “Welcome Home”, and “Eye of the Witch” and of course ending the night with “Abagail”.

If you’re a fan of King Diamond or just a fan of great music that adds that Halloween haunted asylum themed stage performances then you need to go out and check this tour now. King Diamond never disappoints and always puts on one hell of a show.