Chris sits down with the mighty Bruce Corbitt, who may or may not be Batman as they talk Rigor Mortis, Mike Scaccia, Corbitt’s uphill battles and much more – including the April 21 “Freaks” demo release that has Corbitt’s long-lost vocals from yesteryear!
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When the Iron Maiden tickets at the Prudential Center went on sale, I was given a pre-sale code from a friend. I instantly bought one as ‘Maiden is one of my all-time favorite bands.
The day came and I went with Birdman of Roargh to Newark, NJ to see these amazing Brits play with none other than Ghost opening (this would be my third time seeing Ghost and my second time seeing ‘Maiden, Birdman’s first time for each band). We got inside then met up with two of Birdman’s Jersey area friends. At around 7:45 the show started.
Ghost
Ghost seems to get mixed reactions in the metal world and I’m one who has been a decent-sized fan since I first heard their demo. I had caught them once at MDF 2011 and then again three years later at The Chance. Both times they put on a great show and this time wasn’t any different. They played a set of great tracks including “Year Zero,” “Cirice,” “Ritual,” and “Monstrance Clock.”
Iron Maiden
I had not seen Iron Maiden since 2012 at Jones Beach with Alice Cooper and I was overdue for another.
The band played a set that was mostly for their latest album,The Book of Souls – which is great. In addition to the new tunes, they also played many classics such as “The Trooper(which sounded beyond amazing),” “Wrathchild, “Iron Maiden,” and “Children of the Damned.”
They encored with “The Number of the Beast,” “Blood Brothers,” and “Wasted Years.” Their sound was phenomenal, proving that they’ll never lose their touch. After the show, Birdman and I got the hell out of Newark and were glad we got to go to this amazing show.
For this podcast we see the “classic” lineup of Dallas, Tx thrashers Insinnerator in a returning Christopher Atomic Thrasher along with newcomers Juan Speed and Benjamin Shanks. We talk metal, politics, the Legend of Zelda, and more.
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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.
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.
Chris: Night Demon was ok. Too much of Anvil meets Motorhead. They were cool but sounded too much like their influences. I’m not sure why everyone loves Deafheaven so much. They’re just ok.
Birdman and Lyon’s #1: Sonata Arctica, Dark Tranquility, Swallow The Sun, Leaves Eyes, Omnium Gatherum, Enforcer and Starkill at The Upstate Concert Hall
Tony’s #4: Belephegor, Shining and Origin at the Gramercy Theater
We chat with Armored Saint’s Joey Vera to talk his heavy metal legacy, Saint’s new album “Win Hands Down,” Armored Saint’s infamous appearance in Hellraiser III and more.
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We’re all for the Horde as Exmortus mans the helm of this shredder of a podcast. We talk metal, living life on the road and reminisce about the Heavy Artillery Records days.
The Bonesaw 