Reviews

Overkill/Prong Show review

Published

3 years ago

March 14, 2022

On Saturday March 5th I was fortunate enough to catch the mighty thrash legends, Overkill come through on tour with Prong and their own brand of thrash & groove metal. Early in the first tour since the pandemic, the crowd had a heightened sense of excitement it seemed. Jergels, just outside of Pittsburgh, PA was packed wall to wall.

Opening the night was Cultus Black. With a blend of death and nu metal that harkens back to the early days of Slipknot. They took the stage wearing masks and face/body paint that seemed to represent aspects of their namesake. High energy, heavy riffs which gave way to surprising melodies interplayed with harsh screams and vocals. They played a tight set doing their best to warm the crowd up.

After which New York Citys Prong took the stage. With their unique blend of thrash, groove and industrial metal front man and guitarist Tommy Victor steamrolled through their set which consisted of sporadic songs from their 12 album career. Groove based riffs and thrashy drums drums kept the crowd singing along with old favorites like “Beg to Differ” and “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” along with a personal favorite of mine. This was my first time catching them, and I definitely plan on catching them again soon. A solid set from a band with an obvious sense of experience.

Closing out the night was our headliners, The mighty Overkill from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey. Overkills prowess as a live band is something few can match. Vocalist Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth, and bassist D.D. Verni have spent the better part of 42 years honing their craft. Taking their “Wrecking Crew” and working it into a well oiled machine. Rounding out their lineup is Derek Tailer on rhythm guitar, Jason Bittner formerly of Shadows Fall on drums, and Phil Demmel formerly of Machine Head on lead guitar.

Opening things up with what many consider to be their theme song, “Wrecking Crew” from their 1987 album Taking Over, they set the pace with an incredibly high level of energy. A pace that they kept up through the entirety of their set. As they made their way through classics like “Hello from the Gutter”, “Rotten to the Core”, “Horrorscope”, “Elimination” and “Necroshine” alongside newer songs like “Electric Rattlesnake”, “The Armorist” and “Ironbound”. They managed to keep up a level of energy that bands half their age couldnt hope to match. Fun interplay with the crowd kept things fun in between songs, Blitz seems to have a knack for crowd work that seems like he could be everyones friend. After a short break they came back for a punk themed encore. Punk classics like their own “Old School” and a medley of their cover of the Subhumans “Fuck You” and a cover of Motorheads “Overkill” rounded out the evening. I do believe most of us left that night with our necks totally “wrecked”!

Keep any eye out for either band to hit a town near you, they are currently on the back end of the current tour which wraps up in Stroudsburg, PA on March 19th. They are not a band known for sitting still long, I wouldnt be surprised to see more dates announced sooner rather than later.

About Author

JJ Ulizio

JJ has been a contributing writer and huge asset to Empire and Empire Extreme since the very begining. He is always digging for new bands and has a true heart and desire to see the bands grow and succeed.

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Announcement/News

W.A.S.P. Album One Alive 2024 US Tour

Published

3 months ago

August 21, 2024

Josh Drespling

Hollywood, CA (August 20, 2024) — It is 2024, and W.A.S.P. is celebrating 1984! 40 years ago, the landmark debut album from W.A.S.P. was released on August 17, 1984, and the metal world was knocked on their ass!

The W.A.S.P. “Album ONE Alive” Tour celebrates the debut album by playing the album in its entirety, from start to finish.

To give the fans something every week to celebrate W.A.S.P. is giving away…

• 10 pairs of tickets a week for the length of the US tour.

• Silver Award – Blackie is also giving away each week of the tour two personal meet and greets in his dressing room. In HIS dressing room!

• Gold Award – One lucky fan will win Blackie’s personal certified RIAA award for the debut album.

• Platinum Award – And the Grand Prize, one fan and a guest will be provided airfare and a luxury Hollywood hotel to the final show in Los Angeles, meet the band and stay for the after show, end of tour party.

W.A.S.P. can only celebrate 1984 once and they want to do it big!

To enter all you have to do is visit and enter your email address:
https://forms.gle/WU5wE3K4BbmaBSQv9

It was recently announced that Armored Saint will be replacing Death Angel on the tour. W.A.S.P. issued the following statement: “W.A.S.P. is pleased to announce that Armored Saint will now be joining the “Album One Alive” Fall 2024 U.S. Tour. Due to unforeseen circumstances, Death Angel will no longer be able to be a part of this tour. We all wish them the best going forward.”

Tickets and VIP packages available at WASPnati on.com/tour

THE ALBUM ONE ALIVE WORLD TOUR 2024 DATES:

10/26/24 San Luis Obispo, CA @ Fremont Theater*

10/28/24 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater

10/29/24 Seattle, WA @ Moore Theatre

10/30/24 Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre

11/01/24 Calgary, AB The Palace Theatre

11/02/24 Spokane, WA @ Knitting Factory

11/03/24 Boise, ID @ Knitting Factory

11/04/24 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot

11/05/24 Denver, CO @ Paramount Theatre

11/07/24 Minneapolis, MN @ The Fillmore

11/08/24 St Charles, IL @ The Arcada Theatre

11/09/24 St Charles, IL @ The Arcada Theatre

11/10/24 Detroit, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre

11/11/24 Toronto, ON @ History

11/13/24 Montreal, QC @ MTELUS

11/14/24 Quebec City, QC @ Theatre Capitole

11/15/24 Boston, MA @ Orpheum Theatre

11/16/24 New York, NY @ Hammerstein Ballroom At Manhattan Center

11/17/24 Philadelphia, PA @ Franklin Music Hall

11/19/24 Cleveland, OH @ The Agora Theater

11/20/24 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE

11/21/24 Stroudsburg, PA @ The Sherman Theater

11/22/24 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore

11/23/24 Charlotte, NC @ The Fillmore

11/24/24 Orlando, FL @ The Plaza Live

11/26/24 Nashville, TN @ Ryman Auditorium

11/27/24 Atlanta, GA @ The Eastern

11/29/24 Houston, TX @ House Of Blues

11/30/24 San Antonio, TX @ Aztec Theatre

12/01/24 Dallas, TX @ The Factory in Deep Ellum

12/03/24 Little Rock, AR @ The Hall

12/04/24 Wichita, KS @ The Cotillion

12/06/24 Albuquerque, NM @ REVEL

12/07/24 Tempe, AZ @ The Marquee Theatre

12/09/24 Tucson, AZ @ The Rialto Theatre

12/10/24 San Diego, CA @ House Of Blues

12/11/24 Reno, NV @ Grand Sierra Resort and Casino

12/12/24 Las Vegas, NV @ Brooklyn Bowl

12/13/24 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield

12/14/24 Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Palladium

* No support acts.

About W.A.S.P.

Few bands in the history of rock n roll have ever incited the love, the hate, and the raw emotional effect this band has had on the world. From the very beginning, in the small venues of Los Angeles, California, and later to the numerous countries worldwide that banned these Winged Assassins from performing live, the band’s unique style of shock and rock caused religious organizations, local city councils, parliaments, and the Washington D.C. Senate to hold hearings in an effort to bar this group from selling records and trashing stages everywhere they played.

The band’s founding member, frontman Blackie Lawless, has led the group as its lead vocalist and primary songwriter since its beginning. His unique brand of visual, social, and political comment took the group to worldwide heights and sold millions of records alongside a legacy of sold-out shows across the globe for 4 decades.

https://www.waspnation.co m

https://www.facebook.com/W.A.S.P.Nati on

https://www.facebook.com/groups/waspnationofficialgroup/
https://twitter.com/waspofficial
https://instagram.com/waspnationofficial

https://youtube.com/@WASPNationOfficial

@waspnationofficial

https://www.threads.net/@waspnationofficial
https://www.bandsintown.com/a/7553

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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CD Reviews

Them Damn Kings “Shown With A Fist”

Published

6 months ago

May 20, 2024

Ron

Them Damn Kings from NJ just released a new single “Shown With a Fist”.
If you like your music in your face with a touch of old school rock and roll this is the band for you. It’s got gritty vocals and pounding drums adding in some killer guitar shreds.
It’s a song that you listen to when you want to get into a bar fight or want to drive your car really fast down the highway.
It’s worth a listen, check out the lyric video below with a little bonus guitar mortal kombat shred off.

THIS IS A SPONSORED REVIEW BROUGHT TO YOU BY TAG PUBLICITY

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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CD Reviews

Ashes to Omens “Feed Me More”

Published

7 months ago

May 8, 2024

Ron

Ashes To Omens are a band from Georgia who’s latest single “Feed Me More” has a great sound to it. It reminds me of bands around the mid to late 2000s. They have a good mixture of sound. The song is a perfect blend of hard rock and metal with the vocals very crisp and delivered with passion.

The song “Feed Me More” has a great melody and works well with the bands style and genre of music. It also is a great title to a song because after listening to it I wanted more of the band.

Some will say that it’s very radio rock/metal and sometimes I do have issues with that but I felt that this song even though it does have that feel to it, isn’t just a radio rock song for the sake of being a radio rock song. I think this single is worth a listen to and could possibly be a track that might make your playlist.

THIS IS A SPONSORED REVIEW BROUGHT TO YOU BY TAG PUBLICITY