Concert Reviews

Mac Sabbath attack Pittsburgh

Published

12 months ago

November 24, 2023

Can a band be a bit creepy, profound, and enigmatic while offering insightful commentary on our grotesque feeding habits and our society’s behaviors buried under theatrical costumes, stunts, and heavy metal riffs? Mac Sabbath, fronted by Ronald Osborne, provides a twist to a slew of classic Black Sabbath songs. Bringing these masterful metal riffs back to life are guitarist Slayer MacCheeze, bassist Grimalice, and pulling drum duty is a half Hamburgler, half Peter Criss character known as the Cat Burglar.

Mac Sabbath Live Pittsburgh PA Nov 11 2023 By Josh Drespling for Empire Extreme

Mac Sabbath has been crisscrossing the United States for the last few months on the “More Than Meats The Eye” tour with the band of Transformers known as The Cybertronic Spree, along with Playboy Manbaby, who are taking a brief break from their jobs in the fast food industry.

As the band prepared to perform, the air hung heavy with the scent of fried mystery meat and the distant echo of deranged laughter. The intro music began to play, which was coupled with the sounds of hooves of stampeding cattle pounding the ground and long, woeful mooing. The scene was set for a descent into a gastronomic hallucination. The stage was flanked by two larger-than-life plastic Ronald McDonald heads with glowing red eyes that were ripped from the top of a set of exterior trash cans at McDonald’s chain restaurants in the mid-80s.

The four horsemen of the fast food apocalypse emerged onto the stage and blasted into the haunting opening riffs of “Organic Funeral” a parody of Black Sabbath’s “Electric Funeral”. A full minute and forty-five seconds into the song, the groups of fast-food mascots were joined on stage by vocalist Ronald Osborne, clad in a straitjacket. He spent several moments gyrating in an effort to free himself from the confines of the white straitjacket that was stained with greasepaint and what one could only assume was ketchup.

The leader of the culinary renegades of rock stepped up to the mic with a manic energy that was equal parts terrifying and exhilarating. His eyes, wide and wild, scanned the crowd as if searching for souls to devour. He began bellowing the lyrics, “Asparagine in the fries warns you of synthetic food dyes. Warm numbing feeling inside from the poisons that are fried ammonium sulfate. Monosodium glutamate, Monsanto run FDA, ONLY LEGAL IN THE USA!”

As the unholy communion of music and madness continued, the band played “Sweet Beef” (Black Sabbath “Sweet Leaf”) and The Lizard (Black Sabbath “The Wizard”). In this surreal circus of sonic excess, reality and absurdity collided, creating a dimension where the boundaries between fast food and heavy metal dissolved like a cheeseburger in a vat of hot oil. Ronald proceeded to douse the audience with water from squeezable ketchup and mustard bottles.

As the kaleidoscope of characters laid down the songs “In Dreams” (Roy Orbison), “Bread” (KISS “Beth”), and “Love Buns” (KISS “Love Gun”), one began to realize that the experience was not just a concert; it was a psychedelic trip through the greasy underbelly of rock and roll, a journey into the heart of a culinary carnival where the only rule was to embrace the madness and savor the high calorie content of the chaos.

As the carnival of parody and homage wound down, the lead singer, in his carnivalesque regalia, reached out to the crowd like a mad preacher, exhorting the congregation to embrace the madness as the band marched through the tracks “Supersize” (Black Sabbath “Supernaut”), “Chicken for the Slaves” (Black Sabbath “Children of the Grave”), and “Frying Pan” (Black Sabbath “Iron Man”). Ronald shouted, “Cows, we’re going to grind. Hope your stomach is well lined. Do I have the gall? Chopping onions makes me bawl, to the tune of Iron Man.

As the final notes reverberated into the ether, the crowd knew there was more to the orchestrated psychedelic feast for the senses. Mac Sabbath returned to the stage for a two-song encore that featured a collaboration with members of The Cybertronic Spree on the track “Hallowiener Schnitzel” (Misfits “Halloween”), followed by “Pair-a-Buns” (Black Sabbath “Paranoid”), which left an indelible mark on the collective consciousness of all who bore witness to their peculiar brand of musical alchemy.

FULL SET LIST:
Organic Funeral(Black Sabbath “Electric Funeral”)
Sweet Beef (Black Sabbath“Sweet Leaf”)
The Lizard (Black Sabbath“The Wizard”)
Grilled by Death (Motörhead“Killed by Death”)
Drive Thru the Void(Black Sabbath “Into the Void”)
In Dreams (Roy Orbison)
Bread (KISS “Beth”)
Love Buns (KISS “Love Gun”)
Supersize (Black Sabbath “Supernaut”)
Chicken for the Slaves (Black Sabbath “Children of the Grave”)
Frying Pan (Black Sabbath “Iron Man”)
Hallowiener Schnitzel (Misfits “Halloween”) with members of The Cybertronic Spree
Pair-a-Buns (Black Sabbath “Paranoid”)

About Author

Josh Drespling

Josh is the Publisher and creator of Empire Extreme and it’s sister publication Kingdom Extreme Magazine. He is an accomplished writer, photographer and graphic designer. He is always conjuring up new ideas and has a amazing passion for the music industry and all the things that surround it.

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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.

About Author

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.