Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for the ‘Cannibal Corpse’ Category

Slayer (BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, May 24, 2019)

Posted in Amon Amarth, BB&T Pavillion, Cannibal Corpse, Dead Cross, Exodus, Lamb of God, Metallica, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia, PA, Rush, Slayer, The Electric Factory on May 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 24, 2019] Slayer

I have been a fan of Slayer since their debut album, Show No Mercy.  I was a major metal head in high school, always searching for heavier and heavier music.  Metallica was great but then came Slayer.   I more or less stopped listening to them after college.  Although in 2001 (with the release of God Hates Us All on 9/11) I reintroduced myself to their newer stuff.  And since then I have been checking out each release.

Their final album, Repentless, came in 2015 and they have been touring it ever since.  This is–and I assume it’s true–their Farewell tour.

They’ve had a remarkably stable line-up over nearly 40 years.  Drummer Dave Lombardo left and then came back and then left again.  I would have loved to see Slayer with Lombardo, but I was able to see him (and actually see him) when he played with Dead Cross (I was five feet from the stage).  I would never have actually seen him with Slayer (so much stuff on stage.  I never saw Paul Bostaph behind the kit).

The only other line up change came when guitarist Jeff Hanneman died.  That was pretty major, since Hanneman co-wrote so many of the songs.  But Exodus guitarist Gary Holt filled in and has been in his place for six years (he recorded Repentless).  Holt has a different playing style (his solos are more structured), but he comes from the same heavy, dense guitar background and fits in just fine.

I had actually been intimated about going to a Slayer show, especially as an adult.  I have seen my fair share of metal shows, but I assumed the Slayer audience would be a step more intense.  Just waiting online was intimidating with every other person shouting “SLAYER!” at the top of his lungs.

I finally decided to see them in 2017 at The Electric Factory, but when I called on the night of the show to secure my ticket it had literally just sold out.  So I figured I’d never see them live.

Then they announced this farewell tour.  It was going to be at an arena (which would be less insane than a club, in terms of fan behavior) and I was able to get decent seats.  [This show was better than that one for setlist, and I have to assume pyro as well]. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Lamb of God (BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, May 24, 2019) [SLAYER]

Posted in Amon Amarth, BB&T Pavillion, Cannibal Corpse, Lamb of God, Philadelphia, PA, Slayer on May 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 24, 2019] Lamb of God

I had an idea of what Cannibal Corpse and Amon Amarth were all about before this show, but Lamb of God proved to be elusive to me.  Not that it was hard to figure out they played heavy music. but i didn’t know if they had an “angle.”

I had read that they were in the mold of Slayer and the song or two that I listened to before the show bore that out.

I had no idea they were going to be quite so intense of that singer Randy Blythe would have so much freaking energy.

By this time in the night, the crowd was pretty full.  The pit was writhing and the lights were in full use.  Lamb of God came out with a bang and a lot of red and blue lights (the hardest to photograph).

I was in front of lead guitarist Mark Morton, who was fun to watch.  And I really enjoyed seeing bassist John Campbell and his long grey beard (he never got close enough for a clear picture).  Rhythm guitarist Willie Adler did come over to our side once or twice, but he was hard to get a picture of.  And of course, excellent drummer Chris Adler was behind the kit most of the time and therefore invisible. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Amon Amarth (BB&T Pavillion, Camden, NJ, May 24, 2019) [SLAYER]

Posted in Amon Amarth, BB&T Pavillion, Cannibal Corpse, J.R.R. Tolkien, Philadelphia, PA, Slayer, Vikings on May 24, 2019| Leave a Comment »

[ATTENDED: May 24, 2019] Amon Amarth

I was aware of Amon Amarth but really didn’t know anything about them.  I had no idea that they were Vikings from Sweden!  Or that their name came from J.R.R. Tolkien (but I should have guessed that).

I had left the seats after Cannibal Corpse and when I came back, there was a ship on the stage!  And the backdrop had been replaced by this giant warrior dude.

I had listened to Amon Amarth a few days before the show, so I had an idea of what they were about–heavy riffs and lots of chanting.  Lead singer Johan Hegg was something of a growler, but the lyrics were pretty audible.  They were quite different from Cannibal Corpse.

First out was drummer Jocke Wallgren (they’ve had a lot of drummers since they formed in 1992).  Then the rest of the band followed.

Finally singer Johan Hegg came out with a horn on his belt and a swagger in his walk. (more…)

Read Full Post »

Chuck Palahniuk–“Guts” [from the novel ‘Haunted’] (2005)

Posted in Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, Chuck Palahniuk, Gwar, Masturbation, Short Story, The Final Destination, Yuck! on December 5, 2010| 2 Comments »

SOUNDTRACK: GWAR on The Joan Rivers Show (1991).

Because this story is pretty, nay, really gross, I wanted to find a suitably gross song to attach to it. I considered Cannibal Corpse and Carcass, but I found that most of the lyrics were too hard to understand.  And then I hit upon Gwar.

I was trying to pick my favorite Gwar song (actually I only know their first two albums), and then YouTube pointed me to this absurd interview.

I always enjoyed the premise of Gwar, and I think that Scumdogs is a wonderfully hilarious album.  This interview (around the time of the release of Scumdogs) is really funny.  They actually make Joan Rivers speechless, and they play their act wonderfully straight.  I’d never watched a second of Joan’s show, and won’t watch any more than this clip, but seeing Oderus Urungus and Beefcake the Mighty on a talk show is pretty awesome.

Check it out here.  Sadly, there is no song played live.

[READ: November 5, 2010] “Guts”

My coworker suggested I read this story.  And I know from past experience that if he suggests something it will be slightly, shall we say, askew.  When a fellow coworker who had also read it overheard the suggestion she groaned in a way that confirmed my suspicions.

I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in Haunted.  My coworker said it was a short story collection and yet the book clearly says Haunted: A Novel.  I browsed the back and I get the sense that the book is a whole bunch of people writing /telling stories, but I didn’t investigate too thoroughly (I will likely read the whole book one of these days just to find out).

So, anyway, yeah, “Guts” is pretty disturbing.  It begins with a guy telling stories about the creepy/weird things people do to get off.  More specifically it talks about the injuries people sustain while trying to get off. (more…)

Read Full Post »