So there’s been a rumor going around that Lamb of God were doing a headlining tour with support coming from The Acacia Strain, and now we know that the rumor is kinda true: in January, the band will playing six club shows (read: gigs in venues smaller than the ones they usually play) on the east coast. The Acacia Strain, along with Too Late the Hero, will appear at five of those six shows. So, not a full tour, but still pretty cool.

These concerts should be a lot of fun… they’re the band’s first dates in support of their new album, Resolution, and I don’t think LoG have played in rooms this small since their As the Palaces Burn days, if not earlier. Dates are after the jump.

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Even though I had heard their recordings, I had never seen Ramming Speed live before they performed at The Metal Suckfest a couple of weeks ago; I am now twice as enamored of them as I already was. I wish there was some way I could actually share the feeling their set gave me via the internet, but for now, just settle for looking at this photo from the show. See how much fun vocalist Peter Gallagher is having? How he’s just stomping around with a big ol’ smile on his face? If you go see Ramming Speed live, that could be YOU stomping around with a big ol’ smile on YOUR face!

And now you have your chance: the band has just announced a winter tour which will kick off at the end of the month. And ten of the dates feature Saviours as co-headliners, so the show is guaranteed to be that much more awesome. (There’s part of me that wants to hop in my car and go to the Philly gig so I can see Ramming Speed and Saviours and Fight Amp, ’cause holy shit that is a sweet, sweet line-up, and it’s only coming together for that one date.) These are gonna be the kinds of shows missed only by those who hate joy. Seriously, go see this band live.

Dates are after the jump…

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So hey, remember last week when we heard that rumor that Machine Head were planning a North American tour with Suicide Silence, Darkest Hour, and Rise to Remain? Well, it wasn’t a rumor at all, and now dates for the tour have been announced. You can get ‘em after the jump.

And, like I said when word about the trek first got out, it’s a really good bill. Machine Head, Darkest Hour, and Suicide Silence are all a lotta fun live, and I’m itching to see some of MH’s new Unto the Locust material performed before my very eyes. I’m not a fan of Rise to Remain, but I haven’t seen them in concert, so for all I know, they put on a good show, too. And even if they don’t, well, they go on first so you can just get there a little later or whatever.

And now, the promised tour itinerary…

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Rammstein are bona fide superstars now, huh? Last year I saw their first U.S. show in a decade at Madison Square Garden, and the concert sold out in like an eighth of a second or something ridiculous like that; then, earlier this year, Vince and I caught them again in New Jersey, and that show was sold out, too. And now the band has announced another North American tour, although by the time it starts, it will have been a year since the last one. But even if it had only been a week, I’d bet on Rammstein continuing to sell out every stop on the tour. And good for them! They might be their generation’s Kiss (except less, y’know, slimey) — they truly put on a show like no other.

In fact, even if you’ve seen them before, you’re probably gonna wanna see them again; that would be the case if they were doing the same exact show as last time, ’cause that show was that good, but now they have a ridiculous new stage and probably all kinds of new tricks up their sleeve. And if you haven’t seen them before… wow, wow, wow, you really, really need to. SO. MUCH. FUN.

Dates are after the jump…

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I’m way pumped that Steel Panther’s Balls Out album broke the Top 40 for first-week sales. That is awesome and it brings reality one teeny notch closer to my dream of a Ozzfest-sized mega-glam festival curated by SPanther and friends. In my fantasyworld, the bill would mix glory-era acts that still rip (Cinderella, Kix, Winger), now-dormant underdogs from that time (Junkyard, Dangerous Toys, Love/Hate), super-special events (Ozzy, Zakk, Geezer, and Vinny play all of No Rest For The Wicked; the returns of Badlands, Blue Murder, and Bonham) and most vitally a bunch of great, young glam bands like Crazy Lixx, The Last Vegas, and Crashdiet. This historic fest would hail the genre’s redwoods and fertilize its saplings for tomorrow’s party metal forests. Um yeah. And absolutely, positively no Eddie Trunk LOL.

But for now, the reality is that Sweden’s brightest glam light Crashdiet is in Los Angeles to kick off a run of West Coast dates (info here). Fuckin’ A right they are. The Little Glam Metal Band That Could looks ready to party in hair metal Graceland (above, with beardo), so expect some big-boner performances this week. Let’s consider it dress rehearsal for Steel Panther and MetalSucks’ MEGA-BONER FEST L.A. 2015. See you there!

-ADF

Get awesome Crashdiet tourdates here and records here. 

In 2006, Vince and I got on a plane and went to the Download Festival in Donington, England, where we saw, amongst many other things, Metallica play Master of Puppets live in its entirety. And even though Cliff Burton was obviously not available to do the show, and Lars Ulrich’s drumming skills aren’t exactly top-notch anymore, and James Hetfield’s vocals have not leased but actually purchased a summer home on Planet Blows Donkeys, we had a great time. I mean, you kinda just had to have a couple of drinks, close your eyes, and go with it, y’know? ‘Cause why complain when they’re playing an awesome album at the end of a second day in the middle of an awesome fest where you literally have seen and will continue to see literally dozens of awesome bands? So, whatever.

To the best of my knowledge, ‘Tallica never pulled the same schtick with …And Justice for All, but apparently they are going to return to Download this summer to play the Black Album from start to finish. And that’s cool, ’cause it’s pretty much the last decent record they ever made, and it’s not like anyone is gonna pay to see them play Re-Load in its entirety.

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I love the branding of Steven Wilson as a “rock renaissance man,” as dubbed so in a recent press release announcing his first-ever North American solo tour. I mean, he is, right? Aside from being the founder, lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of Porcupine Tree — one of the biggest prog bands of the past 20 years — the man’s a talented multi-instrumentalist, member of Blackfield, No-Man, and several other bands, an accomplished producer (including, most notably, Opeth) and he’s still somehow got time to forge a solo career and tour behind it. How does he do it?

Fewer questions, more rocking: Wilson is in North America right now touring in support of his second solo album, Grace for Drowning, with a killer backing band highlighted by Marco Minnemann on drums. Those folks who live in NYC — where the tour stops tomorrow — can also catch a rare in-store acoustic performance at J&R Music World this Friday, November 11th… which happens to be Veterans Day, meaning you might not even have to play hooky to go. For the rest of you, jump on this opportunity to see a special performance while you can, because it could be a long while before he’s back playing these songs.

Tour dates after the jump.

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Children of Bodom have been making anthemic, hair-metal-influenced melodeath about getting drunk and hating and killing things for fifteen years already? My oh my, how time flies!

The band will celebrate their birthday next year with a North American headlining tour, on which support will come from Eluveitie, Revocation (or “Revocator,” as it says on CoB’s website), and Threat Signal. That’s a pretty sweet line-up, no?

And we’ve mentioned before, Vince and I have a very special place for this band in our hearts, since MetalSucks was conceived at a CoB/Amon Amarth show back in 2006. Also, because they rock. So definitely check ‘em out and them celebrate pissing off parents for a decade-and-a-half if you can.

Dates are after el jumperooski…

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Here’s some stuff that’s not-at-all-terrible. The PRP has broken news on rumors — and even initial dates — for two very big tours, both of which you’ll want to see, and both of which will kick off early next year. And so –

• Lamb of God will do a headlining run, with support coming from The Acacia Strain. Which is a CRUSHING bill; like, a “I don’t know how I’m gonna survive the evening” kinda bill. I dunno if more bads will be added to the line-up or not (Remember the old days, when there were often just two bands on the tour?), but right now the only date which has leaked is January 24 at Irving Plaza in New York.
• Machine Head, meanwhile, will hit the road with Suicide Silence, Darkest Hour, and Rise to Remain. Hey, three outta four ain’t bad! Machine Head and Darkest Hour alone would have been enough to get me through the door, and Suicide Silence are always fun, too. The dates which have leaked for that tour are after the jump.

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Ghost live is truly a thing of beauty. And so we wept openly when the band had to cancel their U.S. tour with Enslaved and Alcest earlier this year due to visa issues, and then we sacrificed a small child and prayed to the Dark Lord that they return to these shores soon.

And now our prayers have been answered! The band will do a thirteen-date U.S. trek starting in January; support will come from Blood Ceremony and Ancient VVisdom. So, yeah, that should rule pretty freakin’ hard.

Dates are after the jump, courtesy of Metal Injection:

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In 2006, Vince and I saw In Flames and Trivium absolutely destroy the Bowery Ballroom Webster Hall [Whoops! -AR] here in NYC (with some help from DevilDriver and Zao). The show was so good that Vince still has the poster hanging on his wall (I think — I haven’t been to the Neilstein Wing of the MetalSucks Mansion in awhile). It was the kind of show where you leave and you don’t know if that’s your sweat and blood you’re covered in or someone else’s but you don’t really care.

Now In Flames and Trivium have announced a co-headlining North American tour, so we can all re-live the magic. Of course, a lot has changed since that last time we saw the two bands share a stage, but I’m still optimistic about these gigs. Even if In Flames play a few tunes off of Sounds of My Interest Fading and No Sense of Purpose, it will just provide some sure-to-be-needed piss breaks. And support will come from Veil of Maya and Kyng to boot!

Dates are after the jump.

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Last month it was confirmed that Gigantour would be back for a 2012 go-round shortly after Dave Mustaine let it slip that Megadeth would be touring with Motorhead, Volbeat and Lacuna Coil. Dates for the trek were released today, which you will find after the jump. But I’m still not sold on the idea of this tour as “Gigantour,” though; what’s so “gigantic” about it?

In 2005 and 2006, Gigantour’s first two years, the fest featured a two-stage / all-day format, not dissimilar to what Rockstar Mayhem does now and Ozzfest did back then. So how is the 2012 Gigantour any different than any Megadeth + special guests tour? The lineup is sweet, sure, but there’s nothing gigantic about this tour. As Axl claimed all the way back in January of 2008 when the Megadeth / In Flames / Bodom / High on Fire / Job For A Cowboy edition of Gigantour was announced, calling this thing “Gigantour” is false advertising. One’s thing for certain: with those bands on the bill the ticket price is certainly going to be gigantic.

I guess it all comes down to marketing; perhaps Mustaine and his handlers have discovered that they can sell more tickets with the Gigantour brand than they can with the Megadeth name atop a show flyer. If that’s the case, well, I guess they deserve a pat on the back for finding a clever way to get their fans to plunk down their hard-earned Benjamins when they otherwise might not.

Those tour dates after the jump:

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[UPDATE, 4:19pm EDT]: There is a show TONIGHT at The Shredder in Boise, ID! Also, November 11th at Broadway Joe’s in Buffalo is confirmed.

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When we last updated you on The Ocean’s U.S. tour conundrum last Thursday the band had cobbled together four dates that would allow them to play metal / kill time / earn some money after their support tour with Devin Townsend instead of sitting on their hands before their flights back to Germany. What a difference a weekend makes; thanks to the incredible power of the Internet, the band’s now put together nearly two weeks’ worth of dates! Here’s the updated itinerary:

10/31/2011 Boise, ID @ The Shredder
11/01/2011 Ogden, UT @ Mojo’s (+ White Arms of Athena)
11/02/2011 Denver, CO @ Casselman’s
11/03/2011 Omaha, NE @ 5810 Grover St (house show!)
11/04/2011 Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
11/05/2011 Indianapolis, IN @ Indy’s Jukebox (note: venue upgrade!!!)
11/06/2011 Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
11/07/2011 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project
11/08/2011 Brooklyn, NYC @ Saint Vitus Bar (w/ Family)
11/09/2011 tba
11/10/2011 CAN – Toronto, ONT @ Wreckroom (w/ Cynic, 3, Scale The Summit)
11/11/2011 Buffalo, NY @ Broadway Joe’s [updated]
11/12/2011 Worcester, MA @ Club Oasis

This is not only great news for The Ocean but great news for you: we caught The Ocean headline a small show in Brooklyn this past Spring prior to their run with Between the Buried and Me and they were absolutely mesmerizing. Montrealers, do a good deed today: if you’d like to see The Ocean open for Cynic, 3 and Scale the Summit on November 9th, call or email Les Foufounes Electriques and beg them to make it happen!

Meanwhile, check out this 2-minute trailer from The Ocean’s recent tour in China, a full documentary of which is coming in 2012:

-VN

I am definitely one of those media people who Vince complains show Iced Earth no love. In all fairness to me, though, I can’t help how disinterested I am in that band; my brain literally will not allow them to make any impression on me. Case in point: I completely left their new video, “Dystopia,” out of this morning’s “Cinemetal Round-Up,” for no better reason than I just completely forgot to include them, despite having previously made a note to do so. It’s like I’m Peter Griffin and Iced Earth are Meg Griffin or something.

ANYWAY, I will now make it up to both Iced Earth and Vince by not only posting the video (and the song is actually good so sheesh I don’t know why I don’t love this band), but by posting news of an upcoming North American tour on which they’ll be co-headlining with Symphony X. I bet that bill will make a lot of people happy, even if I’ll probably completely forget about it ten seconds after completing this post.

I can’t post dates because the band has only included them on their website in a manner which makes cutting and pasting impossible, and I’m far too lazy to type them all out one-by-one. So just go here and look for yourself. Support will come from Warbringer, so, in all seriousness, this is a pretty solid line-up, no?

-AR

[via Metal Underground]

In 2006, with a little help from Sebastian Bach, Eddie Trunk actually got Axl Rose to come on his radio show for, like, hours, which is obviously a pretty major coup, given that Rose usually only grants incomprehensible e-mail interviews. And the chat was incredibly entertaining, even if Trunk didn’t ask any of the burning questions Rose refuses to answer (e.g., “So, like, what the fuck, dude?” ), ’cause he did get Rose to lighten up and tell some great stories about David Lee Roth, Jimmy Iovine, and the classic days of Guns N’ Roses. (That’s just one part of the interview above; the rest is easy to find on YouTube.)

And I guess Rose was happy with the way things went, too, ’cause over the weekend he apparently granted Trunk another really long interview, this time for Trunk’s television program, That Metal Show. And while the full episode hasn’t been released yet, Trunk did reveal over Twitter that Rose said that Duff McKagan’s Loaded featuring Duff McKagan will be opening some future GN’R shows. (Actually, Trunk just said “Loaded will open shows,” but presumably he meant GN’R shows. Either that, or he has no sense of how context works.)

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For a hot minute Overkill were supposed to be on the currently-in-progress Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel tour, which would have made it the can’t-miss thrash tour of the year, instead of just being a can’t-miss thrash tour (’cause let’s be real, that line-up is still pretty sweet). Unfortunately, they dropped off that tour, and fortunately, it was to record a new album, which, of course, meant it was only a matter of time until they toured again.

Well, hey, guess what? They’re touring again! They’ll hit the road this spring with a bunch of bands of varying degrees of coolness — namely Belphegor, Aborted, Blackguard, System Divide, and Diamond Plate – acting as support. Maybe not quite as cool as seeing them with some other classic thrash bands, but certainly not at all shabby a line-up, either. And, like many of their old school thrash peers, Overkill have been experiencing a renaissance as of late — their last two albums, Immortalis and Ironbound, were both particularly swell. Hopefully the new release will be, too, and the tour will become that much cooler.

Here are dates, courtesy of Metal Injection:

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[UPDATE, 4:30pm EDT: As some of you pointed out, Cephalic Carnage have, in fact, dropped off this tour. -Ed.]

Hell fuckin’ yeah, bitches! We are proudly co-presenting death metal masters Exhumed’s North American headlining tour, which, just to make extra-extra-sure you attend, features the unfuckwithable support line-up of Goatwhore (seriously fuck you if you don’t worship Goatwhore), Cephalic Carnage (best Entire Catalog to Get Stoned To ever?), and Havok (one of the only modern thrash band that actually matters). The tour was supposed to begin last night in Gallup, NM, but now that show has been pushed back to the end of the trek; alas, tonight’s gig in Amarillo, TX has been cancelled altogether.

But the tour will officially fo’ realz kick-off tomorrow night in Oklahoma City!!! You can get all the dates on the newly-updated itinerary, plus links to purchase tickets, right here. DO NOT MISS THESE SHOWS! They are guaranteed to be completely brutal and completely unforgettable.

Yep yep. In a most highly unusual move, the organizers of Mayhem Fest — the clear successor to Ozzfest — have announced the itinerary for the 2012 edition of the tour… despite the fact that the line-up won’t be revealed until January. I suppose they’re worried about you making plans for next July and August, although what kind of metalhead makes plans that far in advance? I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing five minutes from now, let alone next July.

ANYWAY, the dates are after the jump. We can dissect the line-up when it’s announced next year, but I will predict right now that Gloria Estefan will headline, with support coming from Josie and the Pussycats, Kraftwerk, and Coal Chamber. Sounds legit, right?

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[UPDATE, 10/28, 10:45am EDT]: Here is an updated itinerary with dates needed marked in bold:

10/31/2011 Boise, ID @ The Shredder TBC
11/01/2011 Ogden, UT @ Mojo’s (+ White Arms of Athena)
11/02/2011 Denver, CO @ Casselman’s
11/03/2011 Omaha, NE @ 5810 Grover St (house show!)
11/04/2011 Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
11/05/2011 Indianapolis, IN @ Indy’s Jukebox (note: venue upgrade!!!)
11/06/2011 OHIO DATE – FILL
11/07/2011 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr Roboto Project
11/08/2011 DC area or BUFFALO OR SYRACUSE or NYC / NJ – FILL
11/09/2011 BUFFALO OR SYRACUSE – FILL
11/10/2011 CAN – Toronto, ONT @ Wreckroom (+ Cynic, 3, Scale The Summit)
11/11/2011 NYC area / LONG ISLAND – FILL
11/12/2011 CT / RI / MA / NH – FILL

Original post:

Some of you may have recently attended the currently ongoing Devin Townsend tour with The Ocean as support. Fortunately, unlike the band’s last few tours, this time the band hasn’t had to deal with any theft or broken vans or other calamities. But they’re definitely not rolling in it yet despite the current tour’s success.

We’re encouraging any Ocean fans with connections to venues on the East Coast to try and contact those venues; The Ocean have a short window of time in early November where they’re still in the states, but not touring. And they could really use some extra money before they head back to Europe, especially considering the events that occurred earlier in the year. Here’s what they’ve got so far:

11/03/2011 Omaha, NE @ 5810 Grover St (house show!)
11/04/2011 Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
11/05/2011 Indianapolis, IN @ The Ugly Monkey
11/07/2011 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Roboto Project

Check out the Ocean’s Facebook page for more details. They’re looking to get any shows in the Northeast on November 8, 10, 11, and 12. Here’s their original post:

WE ARE LOOKING FOR SHOWS IN THE NORTHEAST, Nov 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 — NY, CT, RI, MA, Toronto, NJ, PA area… venues, houses, tree-huts, boats, churches… we do it all. email info@theoceancollective.com!

-DM

I’ve been a fan of Portland’s Danava for some time now…..the band fuses heavy rawk riffage, ripping guitar solos, tripped-out keyboard mayhem, thumping boogie-stomp grooves and more together into an amalgam of awesome.  Bringing a new sensibility to yesteryear’s sounds in spades, Danava’s new Kemado Records album Hemisphere of Shadows is a scorcher that knows when to wail and when to lay back, with guitarmonies, fuzz and moogs aplenty.  Think Hawkwind, Thin Lizzy, Zeppelin, Deep Purple……..but don’t think, just rock out.

The band has old stuff on its TheirSpace page, and a few new tracks can be found on MeTube:

The band is currently on the road; remaining tour dates (with Thrones) after the jump.

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