Concert Review: Iron Maiden w/ Ghost (Barclays Center 7/21/17)

It has been a handful of years since i was a regular concert goer. There have been a number of factors that led to my general lack of concert going, like the fact I don’t really care to travel long distances to go to a show and the lack of quality shows coming to my neck of the woods. Well, one of the bands that could and should get you out of your concert-going funk is Iron Maiden. When I learned they would be marking a stop in Brooklyn and were bringing Ghost with them, well, I knew where i had to be. And there I was and they did not disappoint whatsoever. In fact, the show sold out so fast they added a second date.

Movie Review: Trick or Treat (1986)

As you know, it took a long time for me to get into horror movies. In my early days of movie fandom, but before I truly become a horror aficionado, I would peruse the horror racks at the video store where I worked. I would check out the mainstays like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween, but I would also check out things like The Surgeon, The Dentist, and Dr. Giggles. Then there was Trick or Treat. It was an odd little title that liked to trumpet the cameos of Gene Simmons and Ozzy Osbourne, looking for some metal street cred. It is a campy movie that is easy to dismiss, but you shouldn’t.

Music Review: Black Sabbath - 13

I don't remember just how old I was, but I know I was young. I was not much of a music fan yet, but I had inherited an old receiver and turntable from my father and was listening to some of his old records. Among the stacks I uncovered Black Sabbath's Paranoid. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before and I listened to it over and over again. I remember listening to "Electric Funeral" incessantly. I would later learn the importance of this band and these early recordings. Now, we have new music from these legendary creators of doom.

Music Review: Jag Panzer - The Scourge of the Light

There is nothing like a big slab of heavy metal. You know what I'm saying? Sure you do anyone who likes metal in any of is forms can attest to the pure joy that only pure metal can provide. Forget core and scene bands, this is all about heavy riffs, driving drums, arena filling vocals, and the urge to put your fist in the air and yell until your lungs are hoarse. That is exactly what Jag Panzer provides, one of the original American power metal acts has returned with their first offering since 2004's Casting the Stones. The Scourge of the Light is a record you will want to get your hands on.

Concert Review: Welcome to the Family w/ Avenged Sevenfold, Three Days Grace, Sevendust (4/30/11, Times Union Center Albany, NY)

It was a couple of months back when a friend asked ominously "Want to go to a concert?" Of course I was interested, then he told who was playing and I was definitely in. It sounded like a good time for live music. Avenged Sevenfold and Sevendust? You can consider that a winning combo. Toss in Three Days Grace for a little bonus material and now you have a show. It's been a few years since I have seen either A7X or Sevendust and I was definitely interested in seeing them again.

Sound Influence: Black Sabbath - Paranoid

Welcome to Sound Influence. This is a series of columns looking back on the albums that were instrumental in first making me a fan of music and second helped shape my listening tastes over the years. Many of the albums covered will be popular for one reason or another, but more than that they mean something to me. These are albums that have stories attached to them and are albums that are a big part of why I love music and will continue to love music. These are not so much reviews as they are my memories of my first exposure to them.

Music Review: Beatallica - Masterful Mystery Tour

It was three years ago that I took a listen to the Beatles/Metallica mash-up act Beatallica. I enjoyed it for the novelty but cannot say it was all that great. It was clever and the guys showed that such a beast could be done. I also suspect they are a fun live act. Now we are faced with their next release, Masterful Mystery Tour. See what they did there? Clever, no? Well, it is more of the same, take Metallica music and blend it with Beatles classics and see where it takes us.

Music Review: Halford - Made of Metal

Rob Halford is a Metal God. There is no denying this. When it comes to the godfathers of metal the names that come to mind are Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, and Judas Priest. These three distinct flavors have had some sort of influence on everything that has come since. Sure, you can argue the point, but that is how I see it. Now, recognizing Halford and Priest's contributions over the decades makes listening to this album a rather disappointing experience.

Music Review: 3 Inches of Blood - Here Waits Thy Doom

It has been nearly six years since I was first confronted by the band known as 3 Inches of Blood. It was a live show that had them opening for Metal Church. I was impressed but not necessarily crazy about them. A few months late I checked out their major label (Roadrunner)debut album, Advance and Vanquish. It turned out that I really liked the sound they delivered, modern but with old school flourishes. Somehow I managed to miss the follow up, 2007's Fire Up the Blades (something I will eventually rectify), and went right on to the 2009 release Here Waits thy Doom.

Concert Review: Iron Maiden w/ Dream Theater - July 12, 2010, Madison Square Garden, NY

Wow. What else can I say? This was an amazing concert and a fantastic experience. I came to music late, I came to many of the greats even later. This being true, I missed opportunities to see many of these bands much earlier on that I did not even know existed. So, when I my tastes and breadth of experience expanded there are some acts I never thought I would get to see live. One of those bands is Iron Maiden. I have now seen them three times. To think I never thought there would be one. This is my fifth time for Dream Theater, although it is the first in a number of years.

CD Review: Iced Earth - Overture of the Wicked The Evolution of an Epic

Iced Earth is a band that has never received the kind of attention that they deserve. I first discovered them in the world of comic books, as they has done a concept album based on Todd McFarlane's Spawn. It was a good album, one I liked better when I revisited it years later. I would revisit it when the followup album came out, the phenomenal Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is where this story begins. It was 1998 when this album was unleashed, and now, nearly ten years later, that era of Iced Earth's history is being revisited and reimagined.

CD Review: Wizard - Goochan

Wizard is a power/heavy metal band from Germany that has been patrolling the stages since 1989, however, this is my first experience with them. This is something that has been happening more and more frequently in recent weeks. Not that I am complaining, it has been great discovering some of these bands, especially when the albums are as good as Goochan. This is Wizard's seventh album and their first with the Massacre Records label (distributed in the US by Locomotive Records). It is a concept album that centers on the witch Goochan who is needed to help defend the remainder of humanity as the planet is being destroyed by an invading alien force. It is standard fantasy lore given a strong musical playground.

CD Review: WASP - Dominator

The mere mention of the name WASP to my co-workers is enough to elicit chuckles. Why is this? I don't know, perhaps it goes back to their days as 80's metallers with leatcher outfits and flaming codpieces, perhaps it has to do with the concerts where chunks of raw meat get thrown about. Maybe it's that many have written them off as relics of the past, left to be swallowed by the gaping maw of time. It is true that they do not hold quite as high a place in the land of popular music as they did during their heyday some twenty years ago. However, we should not be so quick to write them off. Blackie Lawless is still one hell of a showman, and the music is still, more often than not, compelling. Their latest album, Dominator, shows the Blackie at the top of his game, and album that proves that WASP is still here to be dealt with.

CD Review: Dreamland - Eye for an Eye

Stirring up images of progressive power metal and something a bit more aggressive, the combination of the word dreamland with the words eye for an eye conjur up a distinct image, and it is not nearly accurate when you hear what they have to offer. This heavy/power metal act offer up a rather generic album of straight up metal that is musically solid, yet does not have any truly high highs, nor does it have anything outright dismal. This is the kind of metal album that genre fans can put on as background music while taking care of other work. It strikes me as music that you can groove to but does not require the strictest of attentions.