Random Ear Bleeds

Band: Amorphis (Finland, lyrics in English) Venue: Club Red in Mesa, AZ Date: April 9th, 2017 *** I only started going back to concerts on the regular in 2012 when I was 30 years old. Since then, I've tried to go four or five times a year to see groups I really want to see so I can mark them off my bucket list. The only band that held the top spot on my bucket list since I started being a concert regular was Finland's Amorphis. Besides the fact the group hardly ever visits the US, making an appearance rare and special, they are in my top 5 bands of all time, if not #1 (that is toooouuuuugh, to say the least, to rank). Something about their sound has always entranced me. The majority of it, if not all (even their first album The Karelian Isthmus , a more typical death metal record, has some exotic moments to it), is layered with other-worldly effects (thanks to synthesizers, keyboards and very unique guitar riffs), symbology, magic and the sense of...

Band: Crossfaith (Japan, vocals in English) Genre: metalcore (electronic influenced), nu-metal Sounds A Lot Like: Slipknot (like, one song IS a Slipknot song I think), Ill Nino but with keyboards, probably some core bands I don't know about ... uh, The Devil Wears Prada? I dunno. Relisten?: Gotta Be in the Mood You'll Like If ... you're into simplistic but effective crunch You'll Hate If ... you abhor emoey shit, video game sprites and/or Slipknot songs being kidnapped and reverse engineered. Can You Have Sex To It? : Aggressive missionary quickie? *** I grew up in the nu-metal era. With the exception of Metallica being a constant presence, I pretty much got into metal because of bands like Korn, Limp Bizkit, Disturbed, Deftones, Sevendust, POD, etc. Yeah, I know. What a way to start! And while most of those bands have NOT aged well, you gotta respect where you come from, ya know? But I was recently thinking about WHY nu-me...

Band:  Gojira (France, vocals in English) Genre:  Prog, bordering on Sludge Sounds A Lot Like:  Gojira, really ... vocals can sound like Korn, oddly enough Relisten?:  Oh hell yeah You'll Like If ...  You wanted Gojira to be heavier, slower and ethereal (?) You'll Hate If ...  You miss psychotic time signatures Can You Have Sex To It? : That weird, sexy Starbucks barista will totally fuck you to this *** I went to my daughter's 'curriculum night' at her school the other night. She goes to a private Catholic school, just like I did (#1 resource for metalheads?) despite the fact that a) I can't afford it (thanks scholarships and mom/dad) and b) it involves religion. Look, you do you man. I'm not going to tell you who/what to worship. But the Contrarian in me couldn't help but think, sitting in church, watching a priest make jokes about collection baskets and talking about pursuing a strong education, how the school can teac...