Hellawaits77's Half-Assed End o' The Year Thread #2

[hellawaits77ny]

#1

Biohazard Road Trip : Albany, NY 1/15 ; Reading, PA 1/16 ; NYC 1/17

A unique choice here, as I'm picking a road trip of 3 Biohazard shows as my top concert of the year. My took my dad with me. Was pretty cool, cause as I've gotten older, I don't get to spend a lot of time with him. He's not a huge metalhead like I am, but he's now seen a lot of bands with me. He's one of the most well versed music fans I've ever met, so he knows his shit. So anyway, the first night in Albany was FUCKING cold. -3 when we arrived. Got loaded before the show (Pops was DD), and showed up in time for a decent local opening band, I think they were called Dolabra. Decent hardcore/metal band, sorta like Merauder or Ringworm. Next was Ematoma, the toxically bad "band" that made my Worst Shows list earlier in the thread. Ugh, beyong awful. Biohazard came in the public entrance and mingled with everyone at this point, which I thought was pretty sweet. Got a pic w/ Billy. Next was Sworn Enemy, who was very good. Saw some messed up stuff happen during: I see 2 bouncers drag a dude out, no biggie, that happens all the time. Then about 4-5 guys come out of nowhere and start attacking the guy they were dragging out. I mean legitamtely. The guy was being dragged on the ground, and they started fucking booting him in the head/face. Poor bouncers were frantically trying to stop it, was really fucked up. Biohazard was up afterwards and they killed it as always. A very solid setlist w/ a couple of live premiers. I filmed from right up close and the footage came out dark, put still good. Bogie's was as packed as I've ever seen it, close it's 450 capacity. This show actually drew in more people than Terror/Trapped Under Ice.

Come Alive - Live Premier
Punishment

The next night was in Reading, PA, the poorest town in America. Truth be told, it didn't seem to be that bad. I've seen many other cities with much more urban blight and just "nastier" looking. The Reverb is a newish venue, and we were pleasantly suprised. Very large inside, with several big ass TV's on the walls and a good sized bar. The stage isn't "optimal" height, but it's higher than most venues of similar size/status. Great PA too, an overall solid venue. There were some different openers for this one, I can't remember all of em, but one was Lifeless, a hardcore band from NJ. They were solid. Sworn Enemy was good again, Biohazard was good again. Some changes in the setlist from the night before, and some massive pits. Met Bobby Hambel (lead guitar) afterwards and got a pic, he was a real nice dude.

Black and White and Red All Over
Reborn

Next up was the 2.5 hour drive to the Big Apple. Stayed at one of the just 3 hotels in Manhattan that offer free parking. Always nice to save cash in the city, as most shit is so expensive. The Gramercy Theatre is a nice little venue in Midtown. Should've just drank there, as I went to a dive bar about a block away, where Wild Turkey shots were $7. I release it's Manhattan but fuck, I don't wanna pay that for shots. It was Biohazard's Reborn In Defiance CD release party, so there were a bunch of radio stations there, and a decent crowd. I met Stigma from Agnostic Front, and there were a couple MMA fighters (I don't follow that, so I didn't know who they were) there too. Show was great, sound quality was very good inside the smallish venue. Some different openers again, such as This Is Hell, and Wisdom In Chains. Pops love WIC and actually bought a shirt. You should see some of the looks he gets when he wears it. LOL, 51 year old dude wearing a Wisdom In Chains shirt. Overall just a very fun experience, 3 straight nights of hardcore + metal, lot's of booze and food, and got to spend some real time w/ my dad for the first time in ~5 years.

Urban Discipline
Chamber Spins Three
Retribution

[hellawaits77ny]

Next up...............

5 Most Disappointing Albums

#5

Alcest
Les Voyages de L'âme

I know I'll be castrated for this, and before anyone gets butthurt, let me explain. I do not think this is a BAD album. In fact, there were many parts of the album I enjoyed. There are some extremely beautiful pieces of music in this record, and I have huge respect for this band. However, it's just not my style. I had read so many reviews here (and a few other places) about how this album was destined to be a classic, and any music fan would love this, even dudes who listen to mostly death metal (a la moi). I respect most people's musical tastes that hang out here, so I was very excited to check this album out, and I quickly did. I found myself very disappointed, as I didn't experience anything that made me want to listen to it again. As I said earlier, there are some beatuiful pieces of music here, but I really expected, and more importantly WANTED to like this, but I didn't. I have nothing against all you that loved this album, but it just wasn't my thing.

[hellawaits77ny]

#4

Job For A Cowboy
Demonocracy

Another album that I don't think is bad persay, I was just disappointed by it. I prefer the Ruination-era JFAC, I thought that was a great album. I was nervous about the various lineup changes they had in 2010-11, but thought the Gloom EP was solid. Not outstanding, but solid. When I saw them play 2 new songs from the album early this year, I was indifferent. I liked Black Discharge, but wasn't thrilled with Imperium Wolves. When they streamed the first soong, Children of Deceit, I was excited. I fuckin loved that song. It was fast, heavy and brutal. So when I picked up the album, it was obvious I was extremely disappointed to hear no songs came within the quality of Children of Deceit and Black Discharge. There are a few songs that are decent, but when I listen to this album on my iPod it's those 2 songs, then on to a different one. The last song, Tarnished Gluttony is a decent song too, I suppose. But 3 good songs out of 9, not exactly what I expected. Another thing that has started to irritate me about JFAC, is their gay-ass arrogant political lyrics. If you idiots hate this country so much, either leave, or kill yourselves.

[Wizard in Black 666]

Originally Posted by hellawaits77ny

#4

Metallica, Sepultura, Ghost : Orion Music + More Night 2 - June 24

Had a great time at the Orion Fest. I didn't really like Ghost at the time, I viewed them as posers, but my friend really wanted to check them out, so we did. I wanted to show up later, as I was fuckin slammed hungover from the night before. Ugh man, I feel like shit the next day as I get older. Ghost put on a very solid performance. Had also never seen Sepultura, and was looking forward to that. They didn't disappoint. I know the current version of Sepultura is viewed by many as a "cover band", but I really like Derrick's voice. They had one of the most rowdy crowds of any of the bands had. And finally, Metallica. Was very cool to see The Black Album in full, especially since Europe had been getting the treat for a while. TBA is my least favorite Metallica album, but it still has some great tunes, and I will thrilled to finally see Through The Never and The Struggle Within Live. And as I've said before, I'll say it again; Metallica has the most passionate fans in the world. Met friends I've traded w/ from all over the world at this show. Checking out the stuff at the fest was cool too, like Kirk's Crypt. Man, he has a ton of rare horror movie memorabilila. Incredible the stuff he has. Broke even at the casino's that night, too.

Ghost
Prime Mover

Metallica
The Struggle Within
Through the Never + Don't Tread on Me

sepultura and metallica is always a good combo.

[hellawaits77ny]

#3

Obey The Brave
Young Blood

Being a big Despised Icon fan, I was excited to hear about Alex's new band. I dug the firts song they streamed "Live and Learn". Definately a different style than DI, but it wasn't bad. I saw them open for Terror shortly after putting the song out, and it was a decent show. They sounded pretty good, so I was excited to check out their full length once released. Yeah........the melodic parts sounded OK live, but they sounded so ghey on the album. Way too ghey. There are some cool parts and some ok songs, but the amount of gheyness kills those cool parts, and makes this a very 'meh' album.

[hellawaits77ny]

#2

Soundgarden
King Animal

Was psyched to hear about Soundgarden's reunion, and loved the setlists they've been playing. However, I was still apprehensive about the new album, based on the "music" that was on Chris Cornell's newest solo album. Still has an amazing voice, but what the hell was that crap? Dance beats? Pop? Just bad. I really liked the first 2 songs of the album, but it went downhill rather quickly from there. Other than 'Bones of Birds', which is a great song IMO, the rest of the album is way too soft for me. I really don't think it's a BAD rock album, but there's very little of the edgy hard rock that Soundgarden is known for. I still listen to the album occasionally as I do like some of the songs, but it's still a very disappointing album.

[hellawaits77ny]

Any guesses for most disappointing?

[XDoomsayerX]

Baroness? Converge? Cannibal Corpse? Dying Fetus? Same ol same old from the latter 2? cattle decap? didnt dig those "cleans"

[hellawaits77ny]

#1 most disappointing album of 2012...............


Whitechapel
Whitechapel

Ok idiots, start to defend them. Sure, they've "matured". Sure, they're "not deathcore anymore". I don't give a shit, I found no redeeming qualities about this album. I was not suprised that the band took their direction even further away from the brutal deathcore that put them on the map, based on their last record. I can't stand most deathcore, but I did really like their first 2 albums, expecially The Somatic Defilement. The biggest problem with this album IMO is the lack of brutality. As I said earlier, it's a more technical, "mature" album, but it's just blah. I don't give a shit that they're no longer deathcore. This is straight up run-of-the-mill bland ass generic death metal, with some nu-metal 2.0 thrown in. What's with the Faggy Palmeri-esque spoken vocals? Gimme a break........

[W0unds]

Originally Posted by hellawaits77ny

#1 most disappointing album of 2012...............


Whitechapel
Whitechapel

Ok idiots, start to defend them. Sure, they've "matured". Sure, they're "not deathcore anymore". I don't give a shit, I found no redeeming qualities about this album. I was not suprised that the band took their direction even further away from the brutal deathcore that put them on the map, based on their last record. I can't stand most deathcore, but I did really like their first 2 albums, expecially The Somatic Defilement. The biggest problem with this album IMO is the lack of brutality. As I said earlier, it's a more technical, "mature" album, but it's just blah. I don't give a shit that they're no longer deathcore. This is straight up run-of-the-mill bland ass generic death metal, with some nu-metal 2.0 thrown in. What's with the Faggy Palmeri-esque spoken vocals? Gimme a break........

I think you are spot on here, I thought the album was pretty good on first listen but it falters on repeat listens. The only tracks I don't skip these days are "I, Dementia" and "Section 8".

Experimentation can be a dangerous thing if you stray too far from your original sound. Their attempts to release a more mature and technical album may have succeeded in bringing in some new fans but probably alienated a lot of existing fans due to the changes in sound. It will be interesting to see if they continue on the evolution of their sound for a future release or attempt to return to a rawer sound.