Photos: Dillinger Escape Plan | Irving Plaza, NYC | 3/11/10

The Dillinger Escape plan laid waste to Irving Plaza last night with an 90 minute set featuring old favorites as well as cuts from their highly anticipated new album Option Paralysis which drops on March 23rd. We were able to grab some photos amidst the strobe light madness on stage. Read on for the photo gallery.

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PHOTOS: Naam | Generation Records, NYC | 1.16.2010

Naam rattled the floorboards of Generation Records upstairs neighbors this past weekend with their sludgy reverb-drenched metal. Check out some photos from the in-store performance after the jump.
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Them Crooked Vultures | Roseland Ballroom – New York, NY | 10.15.09

Josh Homme. Dave Grohl. John Paul Jones. Those three names alone were enough to fill New York’s Roseland Ballroom on a rainy Thursday night. With the exception of several clips of the band playing in the studio and some amateur YouTube footage, nobody had heard a note of music. But those three names, spanning several generations of rock icons, were  promise of a memorable evening. The band delivered on that promise.

Playing for about 80 minutes, the band played all-new original music. Even the band’s labels (Interscope in America, RCA everywhere else) were hearing the music for the first time. Musically, the band had a lot in common with Queens of the Stone Age, not surprising condsidering that Homme was the only lead vocalist and Grohl played drums on their breakthrough album, Songs for the Deaf. For anyone unfamiliar with seeing the Foo Fighters frontman behind a kit, it was a pure joy to watch his unrestrained enthusiasm. That enthusiasm was also apparent in John Paul Jones, who was playing bass in Led Zeppelin since well before the rest of the band (which also included Eleven/QOTSA member Alain Johannes) had ever picked up an instrument.

It’s hard to go into detail about the songs. Most were muscular riffs, held down admirably by their all-star rhythm section and Homme’s melodies. Songs like “Reptile,” “Nobody Loves Me and Neither Do I,” and “Daffodils” could best be described as stoner rock with a touch of psychedelia. Some of the older attendees that likely caught JPJ onstage with Zeppelin were no doubt reminded of Cream, due to Homme’s falsetto. Jones also played some piano, and in one of the more unlikely events of the evening, even rocked a keytar! While it might have been nice to see Grohl take the mic for a song or two, or have the band play a song the crowd recognized, even if it wasn’t by any of their “other” bands, that was beside the point, and not necessary at all.

In this day and age of instant gratification and bit-torrents of albums being leaked before they’re even finished, the Them Crooked Vultures show stood out. It was refreshing to see an audience put their trust in a band who they’d barely heard a note of. It was a leap of faith for a band to road-test unheard music on an audience without throwing in a familiar song or two. And as the capacity crowd spilled out onto 52nd street satiated from the 80 minutes of music they heard, it was apparent that leap of faith worked.

 

Behemoth | Mayhem Festival | Camden, NJ

Behemoth was easily one of the standout acts of Mayhem Festival this year despite having to play in an unusual setting for a band wearing corpse paint…sunlight! The band’s latest, Evangelion, has been getting rave reviews and it seems as though the band’s profile will only continue to rise this year.

Check after the jump for more photos.

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Photos: Thrash and Burn Tour | The Fillmore at Irving Plaza – New York, NY | 8.11.09

The Thrash and Burn tour laid waste to The Fillmore at Irving Plaza this past week with a huge lineup featuring performances from Devildriver, Despised Icon, MyChildren MyBride, Thy Will Be Done, Emmure and more. Click more for some photos from the event.

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EXCLUSIVE Photos: Testament | SiriusXM Studios | 8.10.09

Yesterday, Testament took over SiriusXM’s New York lobby for an installment of the company’s “Artist Confidential” series. While artists ranging from Coldplay to Santana have participated in the series, this was the first pure metal band to do one. Playing to an intimate crowd of journalists and fans, Testament ripped into “Over the Wall,” “The New Order,” “Practice What You Preach,” More Than Meets the Eye,” and “Into the Pit” in between fielding questions from SiriusXM host Lou Brutus. Here are some exclusive photos from last night’s event.

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Photos: Slayer | Mayhem Festival – Camden, NJ | 8.07.09

“FUCKIN’ SLAYER!” was something we heard approximately 16,349 times throughout the ten-hour day at Mayhem Festival this past Friday. The band killed it (obviously!), opening with “God Hates Us All” followed by “War Ensemble” followed by…our fuckin’ faces were melted off. They also featured “Psychopathy Red” from their upcoming World Painted Blood, which we promise is a true return to form. We’re talkin’ Reign In Blood redux 2009 type shit. Hit the jump for photos from the set, and keep coming back throughout the week as we post more from the event.

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Photos: Tool | All Points West – Jersey City, NJ | 8.1.09

PHOTOS: MATT KLEINSCHMIDT

This past weekend we trekked through the muddy terrain of Liberty State Park to see Tool, and they killed (obvs.), playing a wide array of songs from their catalog including ‘”tinkfist,” “Schism,” “Forty-six & 2,” and “Lateralus.”  Unfortunately, you couldn’t buy any of Maynard’s Caduceus Wine at the merch booth. Check out some photos from the show below.  

(Photographers note: Tool only allowed photography of the first song, which was performed in pretty much complete darkness. Oh, those rascals.)

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Photos: Pig Destroyer, Brutal Truth | Blackened Music Series – Brooklyn, NY | 7.31.09

The Blackened Music Series had its inaugural event at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple this past weekend with Repulsion, Pig Destroyer and Brutal Truth. The event also served as a release party for Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces. A who’s who of metal press and a relatively full house were there to see godfathers of grindcore Repulsion play their only release, Horrified, in its entirety.  Pig Destroyer played next, garnering the biggest crowd reaction of the night, while Brutal Truth played for a smaller, yet no less enthusiastic crowd. The next Blackened Music Series event at the Masonic Temple will feature Sunn O))), Earth and Pelican on September 22. Check out photos from the event after the jump.

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Photos: Summer Slaughter | Irving Plaza, NYC | 7/20/09

Kids were going crazy at Summer Slaughter, including the guy above with his homemade “Death To Deathcore” shirt. Hopefully this was not directed towards Winds of Plague who’s vocalist looked like he jumped out of the cover of a weightlifting magazine. Check out our photo gallery after the jump with photos of Darkest Hour, Winds of Plague and Ensiferum.

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