Generating pools of video blood, sweat and tears it’s Shawn Knight of Child Bite. Knight sits down to talk music, business and more as he opens our eyes and ears to the wild life of Child Bite.
Tag Archives: Hardcore
The Vault: Superjoint at The Chance (7/15/2015)
Editor’s Note: In the wacky world of publishing, some stories don’t see the light of day. Whether they sit on the backburner until they become irrelevant, positions change hands or they just plain get cut, it’s just one of those things. Today, one of those unpublished articles will finally get its due as we traverse the archives of “The Vault.”
When Superjoint (formerly known as Superjoint Ritual) got booked only 40 minutes from me I was pretty curious. I’ve been a fan of Phil Anselmo’s work for many years and while I don’t like Superjoint as much as Down, Pantera, Viking Crown or Necrophagia; I do find Superjoint to be a fun project and way better then The Illegals. When I got to the venue I bought a ticket off of Kurt from Blast Furnace (the show’s local opener). After talking to a bunch of fellow metalheads at the door, they finally opened up and the show began.
Blast Furnace
First band on was Middletowns own Blast Furnace, who play really heavy old school death metal. Being from the area, I’d seen them play several times before and they are always a fun watch. Blast Furnace is definitely a band from middle to upper New York worth checking out.
Fulgora
Next up was one of several Housecore Records artists (including the headliner) Fulgoria. As mentioned in my Maryland Deathfest 2015 article, this band plays some sort of sludgy death metal. Album-wise I’m not a huge fan of the band but just like MDF they performed well.
Child Bite
Around this time the show started getting crowded. Because of this,the venue opened up the balcony. Child Bite plays some kind of weird post-hardcore. The set was mostly boring except when they covered “My War,” my favorite Black Flag song.
King Parrot
I have always heard hype about this band. Even at the show my friends Cheyenne, Mercedes and Ray all talked about how excited they were to see them and how over-the-top they are. Throughout the whole set vocalist Matt “Youngy” Young was wearing nothing but pants that were too big for him and shoes. This caused his ass to be seen during the whole set (not making this up). He would also spray the audience with water over and over. King Parrot played a mix of thrash, sludge and grindcore with vocals that were just high pitched squawks. These guys were the second best band of the night (the first seems obvious).
Superjoint
It was finally time to see the main act of the night. Superjoint’s sound is a little hard to describe. They play very short thrashy songs with sludgy riffs. This is mainly because Anselmo hates the use of subgenres – something he mentioned at the show. I was stoaked when he praised Blast Furnace and laughed when he bashed MetalSucks.
Superjoints energy was intense. They had a great set playing classics like “Fuck Your Enemy,””Dress like a Target” and “Ozena.” They also randomly covered “My Sharona” by The Knack. Sadly no Pantera songs were played but seeing Superjoint was good enough on its own… so good it made a random guy shit his pants (seriously).
My Experience At MDF 2016 – Part 2: Saturday
After a most excellent Friday night we woke to another crazy day with an even better lineup to boot. After some Chipotle Jason and I headed to the venue while Herb and Matt went back to the hotel. The two of us got to the fest just in time for a band we both really wanted to see.
Demonical
A Centinex offshoot, Demonical which were similar to their step-band and also like Centinex, they were killer live.
Gruesome… again
Since Gruesome was playing the same exact set again (this time on the day they were actually scheduled), I just used this time to look at merch. Seeing as nothing changed, it’s safe to say they played and sounded well.
Deranged
Swedish brutal death metal legionaries Deranged were another band I was curious about. BDM is hit or miss to me and this band was a surefire hit. Around this time Herb and Matt finally came to the lot.
Tulus
Another band I was curious about. Tulus are a 90’s black metal band from Norway that just never got as big as acts like Mayhem and Darkthrone. Tulus was good but nothing mind-blowing. They also did a very random cover of “Slowly We Rot” by Obituary.
Hirax
California thrash legends Hirax were one of the Saturday bands I wanted to see the most. As soon as their set started they easily became one of the fest’s best. They sounded spot on and vocalist Katon W. De Pena showed the crowd how it’s done. Pena was running around shaking everyone’s hands and giving crazy facial expressions that reminded me of a friend back home.
Atrophy
In the ashes of Hirax’s wake were another 80’s thrash band called Atrophy. To me they were not offensively bad but were very forgettable and boring. Long story short, Hirax is a tough act to follow.
Hail of Bullets
While I am a big fan of Martin Van Druuen’s work in both Asphyx in Pestilence, I find Hail of Bullets boring and this set (which didn’t even have him in the lineup) didn’t improve my view of them at all.
Impaled Nazarene
After two boring bands, the fest got good again with Finland’s Impaled Nazarene. I had seen them at my very first MDF back in 2011 and found their set to be powerful and lots of fun. During most of the set I hung with Coco who I met at last year’s MDF.
Exciter
These speed/thrash titans were the band I wanted to see the most of Saturday’s Edison Lot lineup. Exciter had the entire original members playing this show as well (always a plus). Their set was intense with more moshing then you’d expect from a band this old-school. After they wrapped up their set I ran down to Soundstage.
Haemorrhage
Being one of my favorite goregrind bands, I was pretty excited to see Haemorrhage. Since I’ve already seen Nuclear Assualt twice and Testament once before I figured I was done with Edison lot for the day. Between Haemorrhage’s awesome songs, energy and the theatrics of the lead vocalist Lugubrious (yes, his stage name is Lugubrious), this was one of the best sets of the year.
Infest
Powerviolence pioneers Infest followed, continued and indulged in the lugubriousness. I only watched a little of their set (though I’d later find out they actually didn’t play that long), what I saw was intense (like all hardcore shows should be).
Grave Miasma
After Infest I headed to Rams Head and caught up with Herb. Grave Miasma put on a crushing, heavy performance that impressed just about everyone in the crowd but Herb (how they didn’t I’ll never know) and prepared us for what was next.
Dragged Into Sunlight
Dragged Into Sunlight were another one of the bands I wanted to see most (esepcially since they dropped last year). They did not disappoint at all. Dragged Into Sunlight’s multi-subgenre sound translated very well at Rams Head and their performance was top notch. On stage were flicking strobe lights while the singer T (what’s up with these stage names?) had his back turned to the audience. This didn’t stop the band from having a really intense pit. After their set we stayed for one more Rams Head band.
Craft
Originally I was going to see Discharge at this time but unfortunately they dropped due to issues with their Visas (why don’t they just get MasterCards and be done with it?). Because of that we decided to see Craft instead while Jason went to see Drugs of Faith at the Sidebar Tavern.While a downgrade from the amazing set Dragged had, Craft still delivered and it was cool to catch this classic band.
After Craft’s set we said goodbye to a bunch of our concert friends and went back to the hotel where Matt and Herb were.
Check out the final part here.
Bonesaw Podcast: Episode 33 – Kieran Smith of Disparo!
We’re coming at you from a land down under with Kieran Smith of Australian fastcore band Disparo! Smith talks about being an independent artist, booking his own tours – which includes Disparo’s current three month world tour and his humble beginnings as a drummer.
Disparo will be playing at Don Pedro in Brooklyn, NY on June 18, 2016.
Life of Agony to Release First Album in Over a Decade
After 11 long years of sporadic live appearances, Brooklyn’s Life of Agony is back with a vengeance and plans on releasing a new album this year on a new label.
The former Roadrunner hardcore/alternative metal group’s new album will be titled “A Place Where There’s No More Pain” and will be available on Napalm Records.
“I think our fans know that our music comes from a very real place of suffering, from all of us in the band,” bassist and comic book writer Alan Robert said in a press release. “Many of our fans have told us over the years that sharing our personal struggles has been cathartic for them in healing the pain in their own lives. That uplifting energy we share at the shows, gives us hope that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. And for us and hopefully our fans, that short time when we’re all together is a place where there’s no more pain.”
Shortly after the band announced the good news on their official website last month, they proceeded to go on a short string of German tour dates.
Life of Agony also has three England shows scheduled in March for the “Agony in the U.K” dubbed mini tour.
“Life Of Agony is without a doubt one of the most exciting and energetic Rock bands of our times. It is an honor to work with such talent, we are excited to announce their signing to Napalm Records and release the band’s first album after over a decade,” said Thomas Caser, CEO of Napalm Records.
Shortly after their formation in 1989, Life of Agony landed a deal with Roadrunner Records and released four albums. Their highly acclaimed 1993 debut, “River Runs Red” (which they performed in its entirety in 2010) is their best-selling album and has been reissued several times through several different labels. Also released under Roadrunner were 1995’s “Ugly” and 1997’s “Soul Searching Sun.” Life of Agony’s last album, “Broken Valley” was released by Epic Records in 2005.
Bonesaw Podcast – Episode 22: Superjoint’s Jimmy Bower
We got the chance to sit down with Jimmy Bower from Superjoint, Down and Eyehategod during the New York City date of Danzig’s “Blackest of the Black” tour and had a ball!
Bower talks about Superjoint’s reformation and plans, the joys of fatherhood, which guitar company he’d like to be endorsed by and a whole lot more in this awesome podcast.
Nuclear Assault at the Gramercy Theater – 9/12/15
Thrash legends Nuclear Assault have embarked on their final tour (dubbed as the “Final Assault” tour) which will commence with a one-off appearance at next year’s Maryland Death Fest where they will finally hang it up for good.
Last Saturday, the band played an awesome show to a packed hometown crowd with friends Murphy’s Law and Whiplash at New York City’s Gramercy Theater; which I was fortunate enough to have attended.
I had taken the day off from work for a local show in my area when the date of that show got moved. I figured I’d tag along with my friend Jay to go to this awesome looking show instead. We took the train to New York City, got slices of dollar pizza, then took the subway and walked to the Gramercy Theater. Once inside, I ran into some buddies of mine and we caught up until the show started.
Whiplash
Up first were thrash legends Whiplash. I was not too familiar with them outside of their 1986 debut “Power and Pain,” but my friends were excited to see them. The band was fucking killer. They had incredible incredible energy and sounded great.
Murphy’s Law
Next up was the hardcore punk band Murphy’s Law. While I am a big fan of 80’s hardcore, this band was never one I could get into. The band played a very long set and had a lot of energy. After watching them for a few minutes, I went down to the lower part of the venue to look at merch. Jay and I would then meet Tony Potaro, the vocalist and guitarist for Whiplash and get a picture.
Nuclear Assault
After Murphy’s Law finished it was time for Nuclear Assault.
I had seen them once four years ago at MDF 2011. While this fest had other greats like Voivod, Ghost, Acid Witch, Nunslaughter,and Exhumed; Nuclear Assault owned – and here they were no different. The band delivered classics such as “Brainwashed,” ”Hang the Pope” and “Critical Mass.”
Bassist Danny Liker is a legend. I’m also a fan of his other bands Brutal Truth, S.O.D and his time in Anthrax. S.O.D is scheduled to play the Black and Blue Bowl in Brooklyn next year and I will make sure I go.
The Bonesaw 