Baptized in Alcohol

This is just a small proportion of the total amount of alcohol that was consumed at this year’s BoltFest at HMV Forum, London. Attendees can try looking for everything that kept their hands busy before, during and after the gig. Your time starts now.

No luck? No worries. Alright, now all of y’all, raise your whiskey glasses, beer mugs and vodka shots high up in the air and get a glimpse of what is going to flow down your throat. You don’t really need a reason to drink, do you? So let’s get wasted this one time. Cheers!

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Bolt Thrower live at BoltFest, 2012

Autopsy live at BoltFest, 2012

Benediction live at BoltFest, 2012

Vallenfyre’s second ever live appearance of their career at this year’s BoltFest

Reviews of latest metal releases. Read and stay updated.

Cannibal Corspe live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012 : A review in pictures

The band everyone was really here for at London’s HMV Forum from various parts of the country was about to show all of us what it takes to be one of the greatest death metal band ever.

But before that there is a little something I’d like to write about. When I landed outside the Kentish Town tube station I saw hordes of people in black. I went up to two friends to know where exactly the venue was. They were busy discussing something. It was then when one said to the other, “Dude, you should listen to Darkthrone” and he turned towards me. There I was wearing a Darkthrone t-shirt and the three of us just stood there looking at each other. One of us had to break the ice now, as we did not realize what just happened. Well, its called coincidence. The same guy, who was in a Death hoodie by the way, started expressing as to how he was just telling his friend about Darkthrone. “Oh yes, killer band” is all I said. We talked for about a minute or two and the same guy told me how he couldn’t wait for Cannibal Corpse to play Hammer Smashed Face and that it was all he was here for. I told them I was hoping CC plays some new stuff too. A quick question about the directions to the venue and that’s how I landed up at HMV Forum. This was exactly three hours before Triptykon left the stage.

After a good twenty-minutes setup, amidst some guitar tuning and drum beats the main headliners Cannibal Corpse opened the gates to quality metal with Evisceration Plague. All hell broke loose as bodies started flying and heads started banging fiercely. The owner of the most powerful neck on this planet, which is also home to the very throat that gives birth to the majestic growls – Corpsegrinder controlled the crowd. We were all his pawns. Humorous at times and straight-to-the-point at others he even made the women wet by dedicating Fucked With A Knife to them. The almost one hour set had Alex playing his bass to the best of his abilities, while Pat and Rob were unstoppable. And behind the kit we had Paul making it clear that death metal drumming is much harder than it seems. So yea it was pretty much pure death metal and no bullshit by Cannibal Corpse. The audience was also reminded that Torture releases sometime next week. Well, we all know this band, so the subject remains the same but the arrangement and situation changes. Pick up your copy soon is all I have to say.

And hence the curtains came down on Destroyers of the Faith 2012 tour’s London gig. Brought to you by Metal Hammer this event had both variety and complexity on the line-up. The whole event was surely a success and I bet this was just the beginning. Either way we aren’t complaining, are we?

Corpse‘s set-list for the night -

1. Evisceration Plague
2. The Time to Kill is Now
3. Disfigured
4. Demented Aggression
5. Scourge of Iron
6. I Cum Blood
7. Fucked With a Knife
8. Covered With Sores
9. Born in a Casket
10. The Wretched Spawn
11. I Will Kill You
12. Priests of Sodom
13. Unleashing the Bloodthirsty
14. Make Them Suffer
15. Hammer Smashed Face
16. Stripped, Raped and Strangled

The indomitable Cannibal Corpse live in action. Click on the pictures to enlarge them :

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Click on the link to check out Triptykon at Destroyers of the Faith tour, London 2012

Go right here to watch pictures of Job For A Cowboy performing live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012

You might also want to look at the pictures taken during Enslaved’s performance at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012

Triptykon live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012 : A review in pictures

Enslaved successfully injected the progressive viking virus into the crowd before the third act for the night Triptykon took things in their own hands. A relatively newer yet bigger band, Triptykon was formed from the ashes of Celtic Frost. If you do not know Celtic Frost you should stop reading from here. Tom Fischer, in order to continue educating the metal world about the subject of doom, went on recruited a few killer musicians and hence we have Triptykon today.

It was grim from the word go, and matters became all the more so when Tom entered into the audience’s eyes with his cold stare. Coarse riffing coming out of the loudspeakers knocked everybody off. Might have bored a few who were there only  for Cannibal Corpse but otherwise everyone seemed in favor of the happenings.

One moment that filled the venue, HMV Forum London that is, with energy was when Tom invited Corpsegrinder on stage for one of the songs. It was quite a jam between musicians from two completely opposite genres, and you had to be there to witness the camaraderie. George couldn’t stop himself from doing the windmill to Triptykon’s songs too. Easily a section of the gig that will be remembered.

“We own this world.”

Well controlled, dim flickering light arrangements on stage heightened the effect of Triptykon‘s tracks which saw the band cover Celtic Frost songs as well. The death metal oriented wailing vocals by Tom did not allow anyone to take their eyes off him. Including me, but I made sure I caught a glimpse of their bassist Vanja every few minutes. Good bass playing, and good looking too. Bonus!

Triptykon captured while they did their thing. Click to enlarge :

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The indomitable Cannibal Corpse live at Destroyers of the Faith tour, London 2012. Click. Now!

Go right here to watch pictures of Job For A Cowboy performing live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012

You might also want to look at the pictures taken during Enslaved’s performance at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012

Enslaved live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012 : A review in pictures

Hailing from Norway, Enslaved were the next band for the evening after Job For A Cowboy. This was the second time I watched Enslaved live. I was never a stranger to their music and the band was sounding much more confident than they did during their India gig. They started the show with Ethica Odini from their last full-length, and the set-list also included their popular cover of Led Zeppelin‘s Immigrant Song. The dazzling combination of progressive black and viking metal was brought alive for an audience that reciprocated by banging their heads left, right and center. By the time Enslaved had finished half their set the venue was starting to get packed, and the audience gave a roaring response to Enslaved‘s tracks. The band pretty much deserves every bit of it, because they have believed in their music since 1991 and that, my fellow metalheads, is a fucking long time. As for their performance at Destroyers of the Faith, I would not have replaced them with any other. May the soaring Norwegian metal scene continue to entertain us forever.

The pictures I clicked when Enslaved was performing for us. Click to enlarge -

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Click on the link to check out Triptykon at Destroyers of the Faith tour, London 2012

The indomitable Cannibal Corpse live at Destroyers of the Faith tour, London 2012. Click. Now!

Go right here to watch pictures of Job For A Cowboy performing live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012

Job For A Cowboy live at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012 : A review in pictures

Destroyers of the Faith 2012 had four big metal names embracing the stage – Job For A Cowboy, Enslaved, Triptykon and Cannibal Corpse.

Job For A Cowboy started off their death metal playing early (at around 18:30 p.m) in comparison to the attendance during the Cannibal Corpse set, but they were on time. Only the ones who were there specially to not miss them had their heads turned towards the stage. Quite a sizable number I must say, and the rest of them pretty much realized after a while that JFAC are already shattering the glasses at the bar located behind this kickass indoor venue named HMV Forum. It’s in Kentish Town, London. The band’s from Canada. Having already made their mark in the deathcore genre, JFAC are now capturing the essence of death metal in their songs. Their set-list also included songs from their upcoming album Demonocracy which is due to release next month. They are coming to get you. Wait till you hear their new release!

Check out how much Job For A Cowboy enjoyed being on stage. To enlarge click on them -

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You might also want to look at the pictures taken during Enslaved’s performance at Destroyers of the Faith, London 2012

This is how it looked while Triptykon was nailing their songs at Destroyers of the Faith tour, London 2012

The indomitable Cannibal Corpse live at Destroyers of the Faith tour, London 2012. Click. Now!

Music Haul Series

I was ruthlessly dependent on internet for getting to know everything that I know about music today. The initial few years were all about downloading. It still is, but it’s a lot less now as many of the upcoming releases come straight into my inbox, thanks to this zine I started. Once the download hit hundred percent I used to spend hours on end listening to the downloaded music and understanding as to what is it that makes someone a die-hard fan of some form of music while the same stuff is despised by someone else. This was long ago. When all this was happening in my life, Indian metal was taking a definitive route towards getting noticed globally. If I only consider metal, then I was exposed to some of the finer albums and compilations that Indian bands have produced via Demonstealer Records. I bought them, and I bought them all. Unpacked and played the disc only to realize some enlightening differences between the two forms of the same songs I ‘owned’.

That was that. Then I fell for several sub-genres of music, and began an endless exploration towards fulfilling my quest to put my ear through everything that reeked of my kind of genres. And that’s how I could decide what form of music lies above or below another. I always believed that if bands can give us good music, we can give them money. I really believed that, which led me to start ordering compact discs, buying t-shirts, and other merchandise of my favorite bands. Every time an album left a permanent mark on my entire personality I told myself that one day I’m going to own that album. It always boiled down to having the money to buy them. Then of course like every one else I began working and the rest is history. Now was the time to keep the promises I made to myself.

Back in India I have this entire travel bag full of cds, a separate bag full of merchandise, bought over the years from various sources. Since I do not have a house of my own yet, I just cannot place them anywhere at my parents’s else my ass would be kicked and rightfully so. Right now I’m not in my country and so I do not have access to everything that I bought till date, but I promise to bring out all of that once I’m back. When I enter a music store (India or abroad) I wish to buy every-fucking-thing in there apart from the obvious but when it comes to spending the hard cash my penis slaps me hard to think before letting go of something that won’t come back once its gone. So there are many more bands and artists out there that I want to put my money into, and it couldn’t happen till now as I’m into a lot of other things (including gadgets which never come cheap). Soon baby, soon.

This series will showcase my music related hauls, and would directly imply that when I came across them I thought it was the right time to just pick them up. You might discover some artist/band that you always wanted to hear. Do not be surprised if you find something that you did not expect to be present here, because obviously if I chose to buy it, and put it up on the blog then it implies that I do not care what opinions are formed after that. All said, enjoy this yet another different section on Absurd History, and I’ll tell you some other time why I chose to call my zine by this name. Okay, my phone’s ringing right now, but I’ll kick-start the series soon!

album review : Fallen Angels (2011) – Venom

album : Fallen Angels

artist : Venom

genre : NWOBHM/Black/Speed Metal

year : 2011

Influential metal band Venom are back with their thirteenth release, and the copyrights for the term ‘black metal’ still remain with them, courtesy of their 1982 album that is still fresh in our minds. I hope so, for your sake.

We’re here in 2011, and on Fallen Angels, the band appears laid back and I think they wrote their lyrics while strolling in a park. Loud bass scold the listener to reciprocate with respect, as Venom comes out with another album that rightfully classifies to be a part of New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). It’s been a while since they kept quiet, and three years later the band sounds refreshed and is wanting to be on the crest of the wave all over again.

They’ve rolled the speed/thrash dice on the album in ways that attempts at only producing the maximum count. There are patches on songs where the speed is faster than what we would normally associate with Venom. I’d remember the album also because of the solos, as Venom has written some scintillating ones. A raw sound to take you back to where they began, and the band makes it tough for the dust to settle down. Fallen Angels has a character of it’s own.

Out here, on Fallen Angels, it’s a dark rock ‘n roll party along with some noticeable hard rock. The band is known for talking about Satan and taking the listener to hell all the time but on this particular one you will hear Venom referring to ‘Satan’ so many times that the first person you meet after hearing the album is bound to get introduced to the supreme Satan himself! Relax, relax… Fallen Angels doesn’t touch the finishing line but even today, after all these years, Venom is hard to catch up with. They had a hindsight ahead of time, and they maintain their eminence even today.

Rating : 3.5/5

Karnivool live in India – a sweet overdose of music

Come December, and these progressive musicians from Australia are going to take Bombay by storm with their uniqueness!

All you music freaks in the house, why so sewn and silent? Come on make some noise!

They say if a bird poops on you it is good luck, but this coming December the amount of progressive stuff Karnivool is going to drop on everyone in India cannot be measured. The moment I first heard Themata I wasn’t a simple boy anymore, in fact a whole new galaxy opened up. I was forced to walk through an alley of progression, that turning back from there was not an option. Boy, did I feel l1fel1ke or what!

Post-Themata came Sound Awake, in 2009. Fvck your definition of music, when I poured Karnivool‘s second full-length into my ears it sucked me in. I got trapped in a rubik’s cube and there was no way out. Music aimed at making even the extra terrestrial beings meditate, Sound Awake stalked me enough to be at one with myself.

Watching Karnivool play their tracks live, with Ian Kenny‘s vocals that give me a boner, eliminates the need to ponder over things that are insignificant. If you believe in a higher power then you definitely need to be present at Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay on the 18th of December. Karnivool are not only way above the higher powerless shit, they are visible too. Oh! Now you got it. IIT Bombay has set a benchmark in getting down bands that need to be here. Hitting the bull’s eye, yea baby. Be there!

I haven’t missed this event for the last five years (except for Porcupine Tree) but unfortunately I might be fvcking off to UK before this humongous event happens. Unlucky is a small word to explain what point my mind is trying to drive home. If not here, I will catch them somewhere, sometime but I just hope destiny sets up my appointment with Karnivool on the day in question here. After all a standard deck has fifty two cards for a reason.

The rest of you are closing in on that feeling of a spacecraft that will take y’all to a place you’ve never visited. You are not even required to eat roquefort before attending the gig, you can enter the venue anyways. Now that’s a bonus! Adventure is in store. For all I know, you might even go through a metamorphosis after the concert, a change as they call it, unless of course you don’t allow that to happen. Just let yourself go.

Never heard Karnivool? And don’t have the time to? Make sure you at least learn the lyrics for the track New Day so you can sing along with them. You’re welcome.

Witness how your soul illumines itself and interacts with music, from a band that probably no body can not like. For the record, I will forever be indebted to Karnivool‘s brand of progressive rock.

A Vooligan. That’s what I am. Always was, always will be.

Also read -

Gig review : Katatonia’s gig at Mood Indigo, IIT Bombay 2010

An Addiction called Themata

This is how I had felt when Lamb of God’s Bangalore gig was announced

Gig review : Lamb of God live in Bangalore 2010

album review : The Hunter (2011) – Mastodon

album : The Hunter

artist : Mastodon

genre : Technical/Progressive Groove Metal

year : 2011

Progressive powerhouse Mastodon are never seen overdoing anything, be it abiding by the principles of the genre they are known to excel at or the technicalities they incorporate. Scoring high and being up on the fan list all throughout the band’s lifespan till now, The Hunter is another important follow up that is going to remain on the playlist at least for the remaining part of the year.

Here, on The Hunter we see them getting comfortable with a few newer ingredients that only make their music more appealing. The groove cannot be ignored but if you are on tracks like Blasteroid, Octopus Has No Friends and Thickening then the stoner effect is visible. Making the walls around me rotate all the more. Title track The Hunter is the trippiest of them all.

In Mastodon‘s case the regularity made finding flaws difficult. Their discography, which now has five albums with The Hunter, is like one of the brightest firecracker in the progressive sky. The more you allow the albums to settle down, the more you get into them and the more you fall for Mastodon.

Another quality of Mastodon is to hug emotions tight enough so you are never short of any feeling. Considering what they do on Stargasm, Creature Lives and Bedazzled Fingernails I don’t think there is a better way to reduce the distance between the band and us than tightening the emotions on the songs.

Troy Sanders is more like the soul of Mastodon, as he even adds to the band technically. The guitar’s sweet noise is plush while the drums make the album out and out progressive, and the groove comes naturally with it. See how it goes on Curl Of The Burl, All The Heavy Lifting, Bedazzled Fingernails. Songs like Dry Bone Valley and Spectrelight spin, shake and gyrate the sound that the instruments make.

Technical grace haunts you on Black Tongue, Creature Lives and The Sparrow, and so does the album art. It’s freaky, apt and teases the eyes, might even make you start seeing things if you stare at it for too long.

Mastodon are a mammoth act focusing only on bettering themselves, making us fans happier and providing us with records that are more like statements than just albums. Playing The Hunter will rid you of all your notions about how so many different elements can be combined together to produce metal.

Rating: 4.5/5

An Addiction called Themata

There isn’t a last time when I was this excited about anything that had to do with progressive music. So that ways I did not give history a chance to repeat itself. Talking about the ongoing progressive excitement, all ears and eyes should shift to Australian metal band that goes by the name of Karnivool. Oh yes, I forgot to add how much I love my name.

Being a little too open to understanding things have cost me a fvcking lot. But every once in a while life has provided me with something to hold on to and bang comes a band that is mind-blowingly progressive, speaks the language of music my way thereby standing tall on my playlist. They even have a name like that. Should I add how mesmerized I am by those rich velvety riffs they play. Beyond awesome material!

Now time for what their music means to me. I have spent a whole week listening to their debut album Themata. Ladies and Gentlemen, as much as I can boast about my music collection I have never, I repeat never, spent a week playing any album by any band. Times have been tough. Despite of that Karnivool has given me a giant hug, made me feel like I have put on weight, knocked me out of my senses, forced me to forget all the worthless women I have dated so far, even allowed me to like my job and most importantly they make me want to live my life to the fullest. I promise that it would be a song from Themata that’ll be played first in my new car, whenever I buy one.

Their second offering Sound Awake is also on my playlist but I will be able to enjoy it only after I take a break from Themata, which is not happening anytime soon. Here’s some scoop. The band and hence their debut have been so effective that they have assured me of making even my dead body croon along with them. In memory of an entire week that I spent listening to them I’d be celebrating 8th – 13th of May every year as Karnivool week. Every drop from the lake of their debut Themata has been holy water to me. I love you, Karnivool…!