by Connor J. Frontera
We have recently lost a harmonica legend, James Cotton. In this episode, I discuss a little bit of his life and how he influenced thousands of harmonica players. Additionally, I explore the history of the harmonica according to the BBC documentary Tin Sandwich.
Donate to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
When trying to get free tickets to Monster Mania Con failed, I decided the next best thing was see this awesome New Jersey bill. I had only been to the Starland Ballroom two other times, once in 2010 (the first time I saw Overkill with Forbidden and Bonded by Blood) and again in 2013 for Goblin and Zombi. Both were some of my favorite shows out of the many I’ve been to. The day came, I got my hair cut, did some errands then went to my buddy Jay’s house where our friend Ray picked us up and we left for the venue. When we got to the venue at around 8 p.m., it was during a random intermission between the last local opener and Swallow The Sun.
Swallow The Sun
Being the only main band on the bill I had never seen, Swallow the Sun was the one I wanted to see the most. After taking what felt like forever to set up, the band only got to play three songs. While I was disappointed that the set was so short, they sounded great for the amount of time they were able to play.
Amorphis
Next up was another Finnish band, Amorphis. I had seen these guys once before at Maryland Deathfest 2015, where they played Tales from One Thousand Lakes in its entirety. This time they had a set of mostly new material, which as a fan of I was kind of excited to hear.
Our friend Steve who was also at the show went mostly for Amorphis, while Ray and Jay didn’t care for them. As with Swallow the Sun, the sound guy took forever to get their sound right, cutting the band’s set time to about five songs. The songs were mostly later era such as “House of Sleep,” but we did get two older classics “Into Hiding” and “Oh Rich and Poor.” Similar to Swallow the Sun, they sounded great but deserved a longer set – especially since it wasn’t their fault that it was cut short.
Nile
Nile was Jason’s main reason to go and I was curious to see how they would do without longtime and iconic singer Dallas Toiler Wade, who surprisingly left the band just before the tour. I had seen them two other times and his stage presence was part of what made those shows so good. Unfortunately, their sound check again took too long and they only got to play five songs, though they sounded great and still had great presence (not to mention considering their length, five Nile songs is still a decent amount of set time).
Overkill
At around 11:30 came the main event. When I first saw them in 2010, I was blown away by how insane the energy and sound was from these Jersey locals in their home state. Just like last time, acclaimed heavy metal DJ Eddie Trunk introduced the band as they are one of his favorites and close friends. Overkill’s set consisted of mostly later work, from the 2010 album Ironbound and onward as well as some old school classics such as “Feel the Fire,” “Hello from the Gutter,” and “Rotten to the Core” as well as some great covers such as Thin Lizzy’s “Emerald” and, of course, the Subhuman’s “Fuck You.” This was a pretty cool selection as it showed that Overkill is a band that continues to write great songs 30 years into their career.
by Connor J. Frontera
This episode answers a question that has been floating around on Harp-L and takes a look at some of the Winter 2017 Harmonica Happenings articles.
Donate to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
After nearly 30 years, east coast thrash titans Blood Feast have returned to drink the blood of every corpse yet again with their new album The Future State of Wicked.
Kicking things off with a Sam Kinison-esque scream from vocalist Chris Natalini, the Jersey devils rip into “INRI,” delivering aural force trauma from the get-go.
The heavy riffing of CJ Scioscia and Adam Tranquilli continue to wreak havoc on the senses with “Off With Their Heads,” “Bretheren,” and “By the Slice.” “Bretheren” is especially diabolical, from its bouncy main riff to shifting time signatures on a dime akin to Canadian thrash legends Voivod in the Killing Technology era. “By the Slice” not only keeps tradition to the band’s roots sonically, but also lyrically as they revolve around the cannibalism themes of the Herschell Gordon Lewis classic from which their name is lifted.
As the visceral revival continues, we are treated to the album’s second course. This boasts longer and sludgier tracks with a sincere amount of heaviness from all fronts. “The Underling” is a six-and-a-half-minute opus about toxic relationships and what they can do to a person. This is one of Blood Feast’s more human tracks and makes for one of the more impressive numbers in their catalog as the emotion seamlessly transfers from recording to reality.
“Last Rites” and “Who Prays for the Devil” are mosh-fiendly tunes that zig and zag with creative riffs, zany vocal patterns, and wildly over the top rhythm and percussion work by Tom Lorenzo and Joe Moore. While the latter comes off as a standard pit-starter until the coda, “Last Rites” is a flurry of death/thrash excellence that brings you back to the gory glory days of metal. That said, “Who Prays”makes haste as it doesn’t feel like a six-minute song for a second.
For the main course before the chopping block, Blood Feast deliver healthy portions of old-school thrash with “Nein” and “The Burn” with some bleeding room in the form of “Remnants II.” “Nein” is a drum driven frenzy with Natalini’s striking shrieks powering the ruthless rhythms of Tranquilli and company.
“Remnants II” serves as a warning to the album’s final one-two punch, “The Burn,” which sees Natalini channel his inner Kinison one last time for five minutes of absolute chaos.
With its 10 tracks of destruction, Future State of Wicked is proof that after more than 30 years, Blood Feast continue to kill for pleasure with their brash and intense style of thrash born and bred for the underground. Putting passion first, the New Jersey quintet have crafted a solid album that hearkens back to the good old days of thrash while maintaining their place in the genre’s history.
In this episode, harmonica phenomenon Jarred Goldweber is interviewed where he discusses what the future of harmonica is looking like.
Donate to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
While The Chance gets some pretty cool metal shows from time to time, no one saw it coming when black metal icons Mayhem was announced with support from their Colombian counterparts, Inquisition. We then found out they were playing all of their 1994 album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, making this show an immediate must. After work, I grabbed my friend Jay and we left for the venue. When we got in the parking lot we saw that many a fan had also arrived early. We ran into Branden (another friend) and all headed for some food at Nutty’s, where we again ran into other friends who are normally mentioned in my articles. Prime time came around and we entered the venue. Although no band had started playing yet, the venue was already packed. Taking advantage of the open balcony, I headed up and found a sweet view before the first band started.
Black Anvil
I had seen Black Anvil once before when they opened for Watain at The Loft. I was never a fan, and wasn’t impressed at their performance then. Here it wasn’t much better. They had a new sound that had clean vocals that didn’t seem to match the music. After their set Inquisiton got on.
Inquistion
This legendary duo has always been one of my favorite black metal bands. Every time I’ve seen them they were killer – including this one. Their sound was spot on and they had a great setlist. Nothing that night could match the power of their set as Inquistion stole the show once more.
Mayhem
Last but not least, Mayhem got onstage. I had seen the controversial band once in 2015 with Revenge and Watain. At the time, I really enjoyed Mayhem’s set (though not as much as Revenge’s) as I finally got to see them and hear classics such as “Chainsaw Gutsfuck” live. Looking back, their sound was pretty off and they spent too much of the set promoting their last album (2014’s Esoteric Warfare), which wasn’t very good. Here, they were amazing. Mayhem brought out an altar while all the members wore robes. They performed De Mysteriis from front to back while doing over-the top-theatrics. The sound was much better this time around. The only problem I had was that they only played the album, making for a short set. Overall, it was a great show and made up for the near two month streak of not seeing any touring acts.
Blood Feast guitarist CJ Scioscia drops by to chat about his band’s first album in nearly 30 years, “The Future State of Wicked.” CJ shares recording stories, tales from the road and more.
Donate to our Patreon: www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
by Connor Frontera
Theory or Feeling? These topics go under the knife in this episode.
Donate to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
Since HarpHouse has moved, this episode discusses the steps I am taking to establish myself as a player in a new location. As an added bonus, a tongue slap exercise is explained.
Donate to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
Fresh off the release of his album “Albatross,” it’s Chris Johnstone – keyboardist and bass player from dirty London blues rockers Thirsty. We talk politics, the music biz, the new record and more!
Donate to our Patreon at www.patreon.com/thebonesaw.
The Bonesaw 