Photo Gallery: Shredders, Part 1

March 18, 2023March 10, 2023 Wayne EdwardsAndrew J. Brady Music Center, Death Metal, Exodus, Gatecreeper, Goatwhore, Heavy Metal, Higher Ground, Kreator, Live Music, Michael Schenker Group, Municipal Waste, Old National Centre, Overkill, Piere's Entertainment Center, Pure Filth Festival, The Convalescence, Thrash Metal

**Gatecreeper at the Old National Centre, Indianapolis**

**Goatwhore, Higher Ground, Burlington**

**Kreator, Andrew J. Brady Music Center, Cincinnati**

**Michael Schenker Group, Piere’s Fort Wayne, Indiana**

**Municipal Waste, Pure Filth Festival**

**Overkill, Piere’s, Fort Wayne, Indiana**

**The Convalescence, Michigan Metal Fest**

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

© Wayne Edwards

Sepulcrum, Lamentation of Immolated Souls (Chaos 2023)

March 14, 2023March 6, 2023 Wayne EdwardsChaos Records, Chile, Death Metal, Heavy Metal, Sepulcrum, Thrash Metal

Death metal band Sepulcrum break new ground on their debut full-length album, Lamentation of Immolated Souls.

Sepulcrum hails from Chile, and formed in 2019. In 2020, they released their inaugural record, the well-regarded EP Corpse Dividing Holes. Notable for the speed and energy they bring to their compositions and performances, fans of the band have been anxiously awaiting new music. Their conjuring spells have been answered by Lamentation of Immolated Souls. The band is Nicolás Miranda (vocals, guitar), Sebastián Zúñiga (drums), Oscar Gibert (guitar), and Nicolás Espinoza (bass).

There are ten tracks on the new record, including an interstitial. The first crack is “Orbital Teratoma.” The title invokes horrifying images, and the music that goes along with it is suitably visceral, especially the growling vocals. The lead guitar break is a spreading riot. An excellent opener. “Schizophrenic Amputation” has a lot of hardcore and punk appeal in its velocity and also in the singing. The speed is infectious. The title track follows, a short horrifying blister-raiser that leaves not only an impression but also a scar. The pace resets on the ninety second instrumental, “The Decay,” which is dramatic and whimsical. Taken together, these four songs are a compelling opening arc.

The music is high-energy death metal, often testing the border between death and thrash. You can hear this clearly on songs like “Arousing The Putrid Flesh,” but really, almost all of the tracks. There is a lot of speed here. And then there will suddenly be a song like “Caustic Inhalation” which begins with a slow, sweet refrain. True, the peace does not last long and a heavy stomping takes the stage before a minute has passed, but the quiet moment might foreshadow the transitory elements of doom that live in the song as well. The final breath is “Traumatized by Insanity,” a track loaded with velocity, homage, doom, death, and callbacks. It is a killer, and so is the entire set. Recommended.

Lamentation of Immolated Souls is available on Friday, March 17^th through Chaos Records. Peruse the links below for more details.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://chaos-records.bandcamp.com/album/lamentation-of-immolated-souls

Chaos Records, https://www.chaos-records.com/

Photo Gallery: Singers, Part 1

March 11, 2023March 5, 2023 Wayne EdwardsAtilla, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, Cannibal Corpse, Death Metal, Down, Dying Wish, Exodus, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Live Music, Michael Schenker Group, Newport Music Hall, Piere's Entertainment Center, Pure Filth Festival, Shadows Fall, The Vogue Theatre, The Webster Theater, Thrash Metal, Warbringer

**Dying Wish, The Webster Theater, Hartford**

**Michael Schenker Group, Piere’s, Fort Wayne**

**Warbringer, Newport Music Hall, Columbus**

**Cannibal Corpse, The Vogue Theatre, Indianapolis**

**Shadows Fall, Blue Ridge Rock Festival**

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Nuclear Holocaust, Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste (Selfmadegod 2023)

February 27, 2023February 21, 2023 Wayne EdwardsDeath Metal, Grindcore, Heavy Metal, Nuclear Holocaust, Poland, Selfmadegod Records, Thrash Metal

Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste is a fitting return to full-length form for Poland’s Nuclear Holocaust.

It all started 2015 when the grindcore first started to percolate in Poland as Nuclear Holocaust. To me, it is the thrash punk elements that stand out brightest on their newest work, but in it and in their music from the past you will find a variety of styles and essences. They have so far released two long-players and splits with Leb Prosiaka, Expurgo, and Straight Hate (among others) to go along with their live record and a compilation in 2020. The band is Bloodseeker (vocals), XXX-Bomber (guitar), Overkiller (drums), and Doomtrigger (bass).

There are sixteen tracks on the new album ranging in length from fifty one seconds to one hundred twenty eight seconds. So, in every case, we could say these are sharp punches to the throat, a loud battering to your ears. For example, the first track, “The Last Day of Serenity,” is those things in spades. It is a menacing blender, with gruesome, croaking vocals and belligerent rhythm. The very next song has those underlying qualities in general, too, but it is lighter in aural spirit, despite its title: “Mutant Blitzkrieg.” It is almost pop punk in its clippiness. “The Finishing Blow” has the harder edge of the first song and takes that idea even farther and darker. So, no, the music does not all sound the same even when fundamental similarities are present – each son has its own festering essence.

If you are listening to this album, you are looking for thrashy punk metal, and you’ve found the motherlode. “Undead Hordes Special Forces” is a beautiful spout of horrendous menace with killer riffage, and “Suicidal Paranoia” has a fine crackle to, like a good draw on a water pipe and what comes after that. I also appreciate the aggressive determination of “Like Lambs to the Slaughter,” and the unlikely pace of “Synthetic Sea.” In all, this hard-edged set is ultimately endearing in a black hearted kind of way. Recommended.

Sailing The Seas Of Nuclear Waste is out on Friday, March 3rd through Selfmadegod Records. Peruse the links below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://selfmadegod.bandcamp.com/album/sailing-the-seas-of-nuclear-waste

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/Nuclearmetalpunks

Selfmadegod Records, https://selfmadegod.com/

Photo Gallery: Bassists, Part 3

February 26, 2023February 22, 2023 Wayne EdwardsBlue Ridge Rock Festival, Buckcherry, Death Angel, Death Metal, Doyle, Gatecreeper, Heavy Metal, Higher Ground, Live Music, Michael Schenker Group, Muddy Roots Festival, Newport Music Hall, Piere's Entertainment Center, Prong, Pure Filth Festival, Tennessee Metal Devastation, The Native Howl, The Webster Theater, Thrash Metal, Tommy Stewart's Duerwulf, Year of the Cobra

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Kings of Thrash and Hatriot at The Vogue, Indianapolis, February 20, 2023

February 25, 2023February 25, 2023 Wayne EdwardsDavid Ellefson, Hatriot, Heavy Metal, Indianapolis, Jeff Young, Kings Of Thrash, Live Metal, Live Music, The Vogue Theatre, Thrash Metal

The Mega Years Tour of the Kings Of Thrash raised Indy’s blood pressure at The Vogue Theatre in Broad Ripple.

Kings of Thrash is a band formed by bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Jeff Young to celebrate the early, classic creations of thrash juggernaut Megadeth. Specifically, on this tour they are playing Killing is My Business…and Business is Good and So Far, So Good…So What in their entirety. Don’t ask any questions about Peace Sells … Actually, the reason they are playing the first and third Megadeth albums is because the second one is so well known that it sometimes overshadows the great music on the other two. It is a clever idea, and a boon for fans to be able to hear this rarely-played music.

The opening act was Hatriot, pronounce to rhyme with “patriot” – an important point, especially since I was pronouncing it more like Hat Riot until I heard better. Imagine my surprise when no one in the band was wearing headgear of any sort. Created in 2011 by Exodus vocalist Steve “Zetro” Souza and guitar maestro Kosta Varvatakis, the band is now peopled by Cody Souza, Kosta Varvatakis, Nick Souza and Kevin Paterson. They have a solid discography behind them, including last year’s record The Veil Of Shadows, and they carry the Bay Area banner with pride. Hatriot played several songs from the new album, naturally, and spread music from their other albums liberally across the rest of the set. They were great, and my only complaint is I wished they had played longer because I was ready to hear more.

Kings Of Thrash did what they said they were going to do. They played those early Megadeth albums in their entirety, with a slightly altered song order, if I heard it right. Principals Ellefson and Young performed exceptionally well, and they deserve enormous credit for bringing this music back to the forefront. After all, many of these songs haven’t been performed live regularly for decades. The performed a few shows last October, finishing off at the Whisky A Go Go. Things went so well they decided to mount a bigger tour in 2023.

Lead guitar and singing duties were handled by Chaz Leon, and the drummer for the tour is Fred Aching. The band played flawlessly, whipping up the modest Broad Ripple crowd and keeping the thrash rolling song after song. The encore held a few surprises, with “Peace Sells” showing up and other bands getting the cover spotlight as well. It was a great show, and even better than I expected it would be.

Kings of Thrash and Hatriot are on tour for the next several weeks. Check out the tour poster to see where they will be playing near you. Catch them if you can.

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Kings of Thrash website, https://www.kingsofthrash.com/

Hatriot website, https://hatriot.bigcartel.com/

The Vogue Theatre, https://thevogue.com/

Photo Galleries.

Kings of Thrash, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/02/25/photo-gallery-kings-of-thrash-at-the-vogue-theatre-indianapolis-2023/

Hatriot, https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/02/25/photo-gallery-hatriot-at-the-vogue-theatre-indianapolis-2023/

Photo Gallery: Kings of Thrash at The Vogue Theatre, Indianapolis (2023)

February 25, 2023February 24, 2023 Wayne EdwardsHeavy Metal, Indianapolis, Kings Of Thrash, Live Music, The Vogue Theatre, Thrash Metal

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Link to main article on the show: https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/02/25/kings-of-thrash-and-hatriot-at-the-vogue-indianapolis-february-20-2023/

Photo Gallery: Hatriot at The Vogue Theatre, Indianapolis (2023)

February 25, 2023February 24, 2023 Wayne EdwardsHatriot, Heavy Metal, Live Music, The Vogue Theatre, Thrash Metal

Photos by Wayne Edwards.

Link to main article on the show: https://flyingfiddlesticks.com/2023/02/25/kings-of-thrash-and-hatriot-at-the-vogue-indianapolis-february-20-2023/

Gravehuffer, Depart From So Much Evil (Black Doomba 2023)

February 20, 2023February 17, 2023 Wayne EdwardsBlack Doomba Records, Crust Metal, Depart From So Much Evil, Gravehuffer, Grindcore, Hardcore, Heavy Metal, Joplin, Thrash Metal

Crust thrashers Gravehuffer pull out all the stops on their fourth long-player, …Depart From So Much Evil.

Joplin, Missouri’s own Gravehuffer has been haunting stages and studios since 2010, and even before that under the name Krom. With three previous full-length records in their wake, not to mention the EP and a generous ration of splits, these musicians have been around the block a few times. The new record expands on their previous work and moves into spaces they have not occupied before. Gravehuffer is Travis McKenzie (vocals), Mike Jilge (bass), Ritchie Randall (guitar), and Todd Morrison (drums).

“Blueprint For An Early Grave” opens with a fog horn sounding an alarm and an evacuation notice. Some shit is about to go down. A clobbering riff follows, and a pumping rhythm that leads to the first growling stanza. It is a quick punch to the head, and it gets things rolling nicely. “Slayberry” is another short one, and it is more actively savage than the opener from every angle, but especially in the vocals that hiss into black metal territory now and then. Grisly. The back half is a hop-along reconnoitering, surveying the damage. “The Cryptid And The Iron Bird” expands the metal palette and spreads its wings into a longer form where a wandering can take place. This song in a way presages the anchor piece.

“Brainstorm” takes a different approach, opening on acoustic notes, then proceeding to a creepy whisper. The acoustic guitar returns and you start to wonder where you are. Dual vocals and electric menace kick your cage, making the acoustic returns all the more unsettling. “Go Murder Pray And Die” is a screaming hardcore punk pummeling that has a tasty lead guitar break. Love this song. The big news, though, is the twenty-two-minute epic title track that waits for you at the end of the road. Solemn cello and emotional accompaniment lead off in a direction we haven’t heard before on the album. That is only the beginning, and, given the length of the song, you can imagine the ground that the composition covers. It is a journey of highs and lows, fasts and slows – growling and punishing and melancholy. It is an excellent suite in construction and execution. If you have never heard Gravehuffer before, this album is the place to start. Recommended.