Cirith Ungol Finishing Up Last European Tour

American heavy metal legends Cirith Ungol, who released their latest album "Dark Parade" in October of last year, has been touring Europe for the final time. The band's next performances will take place in Italy, before they head to London for the last time with Night Demon and Heavy Sentence on Monday September 16th at The Underworld in Camden. Their last jaunt will conclude at the Keep It True Rising IV festival in Wuerzberg, Germany, where they will headline along with Crimson Glory, who in contrast are performing their first comeback show. Tickets are said to be moving fast so European fans are advised to buy in while there's still time.

0 Comments - Discuss

Report

Rain Was No Match For Brutal Assault's Second Day

The schedule for the second day of Brutal Assault was going to be more relaxed than the previous day’s. I had only penciled in seven bands to see, so there would be plenty more time to enjoy the other festivities the festival has to offer other than just stage hopping all day/night long. The weather was still unsettled by the time we arrived at the grounds during the early afternoon, but according to the forecast, the only chance of rain for the duration of the festival would be for today.

Cool stuff lurking about the festival grounds

Year after year, there are always newer bands that go viral as popularity. One of those bands, Escuela Grind, has been on my radar but I haven’t got to check them out until this year’s Brutal Assault. Before leaving for the Czech Republic, I did a little homework and listened to them during the flight. I do like Grindcore, thus I was interested in seeing how Escuela Grind would translate onto a Brutal Assault main stage.

When Escuela Grind took to the stage, I can only liken it to a simultaneous and timed grenade detonations. There were explosions of energy in every direction with the majority coming from their lead vocalist, Katerina Economou. I can only compare her to Barney Greenway of Napalm Death fame when it comes to stage presence. During one of the breaks between songs, she stated that Brutal Assault was the largest stage that Escuela Grind had ever played on. With the excitement I saw, without any doubt, I believed her. They were so pumped to be on a main festival stage and took full advantage of it.

Katerina Economou of Escuela Grind

After Escuela Grind, the soggy weather had returned and I had a difficult decision to make. Do I run the risk of checking out thrashers Havok knowing that it was definitely going to rain during their set? After the last night’s catastrophe during Abbath, it was a pretty easy decision. I'm sorry but I’ll have to catch you another time Havok.

The rain arrived as predicted but it weened to a drizzle by the time I had to leave to see the next band, Dopethrone. I threw on my flimsy emergency rain poncho and covered my camera with a sort of “camera condom” that’s “supposed to” keep moisture away from the camera body and lens. However, I didn’t trust the condom for use during a constant downpour like what happened during Abbath and Havok.

During the moments leading up to start of Dopethrone, there was still a bit of sound checking going on. The slender, dreadlock draped vocalist, Vincent Houde, was conversing with the soundboard engineer in a voice mimicking Butthead of Beavis and Butthead fame. Everyone that was waiting for the band to start really didn’t mind that the unplanned comedy skit was spilling onto Dopethrone’s allotted playing time.

If you haven’t figured it out already by just band’s name alone, Dopethrone is a stoner/doom metal band. If marijuana were legal in the Czech Republic, I am absolutely certain I would have gotten a contact high during their show. Dopethrone’s set consisted of plenty fuzzed out, doomelicious riffs, however Vincent Houde has another career outside of stoner/doom waiting for him in standup comedy if he ever so desires.

Vincent Houde of Dopethrone

I have been waiting 34 years to see the next band on my list. That band was Bay Area Thrash Metal titans, Forbidden. The first time I saw them, they played on a stage that could accommodate a three-piece local band. Was today’s set worth the thirty-four-year interlude? It was a resounding YES, a thousand times over. Only two of the original members were on stage today, but it sounded just like the band I remembered from so many years ago. Even Chuck Billy from Testament was spotted headbanging from the side of the stage during their set.

The new vocalist, Norman Skinner, effortlessly nailed every one of Russ Anderson’s vocal lines. I could barely tell the difference between the two at times. Daniel Mongrain, the guitarist on loan from Voivod, was an excellent fill in choice for the second guitarist role. I heard a rumor that he might join Forbidden on a permanent basis. What does that mean for Voivod if that happens? Enough of the rumor mill. Overall, this was one of my favorite sets from this year’s Brutal Assault.

Matt Camacho and Craig Locicero of Forbidden More...

Read more...  |  0 Comments - Discuss