As we near the end of 2016, we also near our number one spot of our top five countdown of metal shows for that year. While there was an arsenal of spells, speed and sonic bliss, these are the ones that were our second favorite. For our number one’s, check back tomorrow.
Chris’s #2: Spellcaster, Exmortis and Holy Grail at St. Vitus
Chris: I ended up interviewing all three, meeting the guy behind Heavy Artillery Records and some hot chick who I went on a disater date with a few weeks later. They (the bands) are all extremely talented. It was really nice to catch up with Alex Lee as I hadn’t seen him since he was in Bonded By Blood when I was interning at Earache. He still does the crazy yo-yo tricks. And Spellcaster has been one of my favorite modern bands since their first album.
Birdman’s #2: Fear Factory and Soilwork at The Chance
Birdman: Plus a lot of unmentioned openers
Lyon: That’s likely the show I most regret not going to this year.
Birdman: The Chance failed to mention Spades and Blades and Without A Martyr who were touring mates. I didn’t care for either of those bands, though Crazy Dan liked Without A Martyr.
Lyon: Diverse representation of sound has its advantages at a show sometimes, which I’m positive we will both mention again later.
Birdman: And it was great chance to see Dirk drum for Soilwork before he found his life’s calling.
Anthony: Dude’s in Megadeth now. Great job on his part.
Lyon: Fear Factory is, at this point, I would argue iconic in metal.
Birdman: Yeah, seeing them live put me on a Fear Factory kick.
Lyon: They were one of the first really heavy bands I got into.
Birdman: Also made Demanufacture a must for my vinyl collection. Their drummer was kind of boring though. Wish they had Hoglan for this tour.
Anthony: Every band should have Hoglan for every tour.
Birdman: Bring out the cloning device.
Lyon: Yeah, if they made that stupid fucking sheep they can make Hoglan.
Lyon’s #2: Aether Realm, Nekrogoblikon, and Alestorm in NYC
Lyon: I’m a big fan of all three bands. The opener has an exciting new album on the release and the previewed tracks were great. Hilariously, Evan and I hung with Nekro during the show and did shots with them. Scorpion, their singer, actually took and listened to our demo, sending us constructive and positive criticism. It was a real fuckin’ nice and cool thing. Also, their set was amazing and I slayed bodies in the pit
(“murder” always makes pits better). Lastly, Alestorm definitely still has it. It was my first time seeing them since their second album. The new songs are a lot better live than on record. There were a lot of magical moments, and it definitely made up for the last time they came around and were down a guitarist and at a much shittier venue.
The Bonesaw 