A Very Megadeth Christmas

Leave it to Jimmy Kimmel to get Megadeth to be funny. For real. Watch the amusing holiday skit they did for last night's show, replete with a scared-off Jenny Lewis. As one YouTube commenter noted, it's "still better than Super Collider." Watch!

Red Fang's Boozing Dead Video

A few weeks back, I was lucky enough to cap off my New Orleans trip by seeing old favorites Red Fang perform at the local dive, Siberia. It's really exciting to see them do so well after championing them for so long.

How well? The hilarious video (below) for "Blood Like Cream"—featuring Portlandia star Fred Armisen and plenty of product placement—premiered on Rolling Stone's site yesterday. And I'll bet it's the track they'll perform when they're the musical guest on Late Night with David Letterman! That's right, the bros will be on the January 10th show. (And I *know* they'll totally hook me up with passes.)

Who Gives a S#!t? My 2013 Music Picks

Blah, blah, blah... another list. 

Favorite Albums of the Year (most favorite on top):

Modern Life Is War - Fever Hunting 
Carcass - Surgical Steel
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
Nails - Abandon All Life
Pusha T - My Name Is My Name
Clutch - Earth Rocker

Damn Good Records (in no particular order):

Death Angel - The Dream Calls For Blood

Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks 

Elvis Presley – Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition (3x CD)

Youth Code - s/t

Power Trip - Manifest Decimation 

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Mosquito

Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Mind Control
Whores. - Clean 

Misery Signals - Absent Light
 

Aight Aight:

Vista Chino - Peace 

Monster Magnet - Last Patrol 

Red Fang - Whales and Leeches  

Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork 

Chelsea Wolfe - Pain is Beauty
Shai Hulud - Reach Beyond the Sun
Inter Arma - Sky Burial

Fine Return to Form:

HIM - Tears on Tape

Just Say No:

Integrity – Suicide Black Snake

Depeche Mode - Delta Machine

AFI - Burials 

Certified Bangers:

Lady Gaga - "Applause"

Robin Thicke - "Blurred Lines"

Does Not Compute:
Katy Perry. I find her beautiful, rather genuine and recognize she has an ear for melody. I've even seen her perform (once with Juicy J, no less) - but her music does jack shit for me. Sorry, lady.

Vintage metal band Thorns and I agree to disagree on: Flotsam & Jetsam. (I'm pro.)

Haven't Listened To Yet:

Watain - The Wild Hunt

R. Kelly - Black Panties

Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe 

Kanye West - Yeezus

CocoRosie - Tales of a Grasswidow

Best Shows I Caught This Year:

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Beacon Theatre, March 29
Into Another - Saint Vitus, April 26
Judge - Black N Blue Bowl/Webster Hall, May 18 (Saturday's set was better)

Elton John - iHeartRadio Music Festival/MGM Grand Arena, September 20

Motley Crue - The Joint at Hard Rock Casino, September 21 
Carcass - Gramercy Theatre, September 26
Modern Life Is War - The Studio at Webster Hall, October 12

Worst. Night. Ever:
Katatonia at Irving Plaza, September 24
The mopey Swedes decided to go all deep-cuts for a closing set and didn't play ANTHING off Last Fair Deal Gone Down. Should have gotten there earlier to see all of Cult of Luna's set.

New Entombed Song

Went on BrooklynVegan to look up the horrible story about Yellow Dogs to send to a friend, and I saw THIS! Entombed's first new song in six years, "Vulture and the Traitor." Not quite Death N Roll, not quite Left Hand Path, but SOLID.

Take a listen before it gets removed.

Savings In the Abyss*

I love Slayer, so it geniunely pains me to see them slowly turning into KISS.

Have a band member complaining about not getting paid fairly? Replace him! The tour must go on. Same goes when your founding member passes suddenly, I suppose. Just announce another milestone anniversary instead of anything reflective!

But the above LivingSocial listing is just hilarious. Apparently for $40, you can get a ticket, parking passes, pizza AND a soda pop. Hopefully it's not anything like the shitty death metal pizza people consume so readily (and drunkenly) in Austin.

Guess that's cheaper than selling your soul.


*headline stolen from the mind of Bram T.

When Reeg Met the Wu

I really don't care for sports. Any related conversation that goes beyond WWE plot lines make my eyes glaze over automatically. Yet sometimes sports makes for great and unlikely bedfellows, like Regis Philbin and my first and fourth favorite members of Wu-Tang Clan (Ghostface Killah and Raekwon, respectively).

Here's what happened when Regis had them on his new sports show, The Crowd Goes Wild.

New York Comic Con 2013

Last weekend, I attended the 8th annual New York Comic Con and had a grand ol' time shopping at The Block, trolling pics of cosplayers for my day job, lurking at toys and visiting with friends in Artist Alley. As usual, there was an abundance of overstimulating imagery - and some oddly out of place celebs, Darlene Love's booth, anyone? - at the show. And though several articles have been published about the continued harassment of female cosplayers, which truly is a shame in this day and age, I felt that this was probably the most girl-friendly con I've been to yet.

First off, there were cosplayers of all shapes and sizes doing their thing, which I imagine has to be liberating for those participating - not letting body image issues (possibly triggered by looking at women illustrated in comic books) distort one's desire to rock heels, fishnets with no pants and a top hat despite not being a size 6. Curvy Zatanna, I got you, girl!

What's up, sexy Psylocke?

Sure, the Arizona Iced Tea "We Heart Big Cans" setup in the main lobby was tacky as hell. But there were at least three booths offering manicures - not bad for the nerdy girl on the go. And there were tons of booths selling all sorts of niche apparel - Star Trek, steampunk, anime, mega-booths pushing Batman lingerie and pajamas, even Ricky's Halloween shop - with impulse items galore for everyone.

Also more prevalent this year: sexy, shirtless MALE cosplayers. See below (yum, Latino Spartans!).

Some pretty incredible celeb sightings occurred; Whoopi Goldberg even showed up to pitch her comic to DC's Dan DiDio! (Sidebar: "Whoopi Goldberg was at Comic Con!" is also the leading boner-killing sentence one can convey to my boyfriend.)

Stolen from DiDio's Facebook page.

Speaking of (fem)boner killing, here's "Uncle" Jerry Only of the Misfits copping a feel on me during a photo op. I guess that can count as harassment. 

Another advent at this year's NYCC was the "tapping" in and out of badges. Rather than just having security eyeball peoples' passes as they came through, we were required to be electronically tagged in and out of the hall. The result? A massive decrease in bootlegged badges, and dare I say, slightly more elbow room when walking through the main room.

Of course, there were also tons of panels and breaking news of comic happenings, but I can't be bothered waiting in line for that when there's Alex Pardee art to be purchased. The only one I wished I'd made it to was the Chucky 25th Anniversary panel, but was too busy in Times Square on Friday making little girls cry.

For me, the coolest thing was the incorporation of street and "pop" art. Both Roebling Wall (located around the corner from Williamsburg's Cotton Candy Machine gallery) and KidRobot sponsored live painting events on-site, and such prominent names as Ron English, Skinner, Wayshak and Tara McPherson were there autographing and selling pieces.

Overall, a good time. Even as NYCC continues to struggle with some growing pains. To check out all my photos head HERE.

Countdown to New York Comic Con

Doesn't this NYCC App logo look like some shitty hardcore band's T-shirt?

It's almost that time of year again... New York Comic Con. And while I may not be the stereotypical con-goer (who IS a "typical" con attendee these days?), I am WAY excited about this weekend's festivities. Scanning through their app last night, I found some highlights I thought I'd share.

I. Celebs Galore
Since Joe Harris' X Files Season 10 comic series had inspired me to revisit the TV show on Netflix, it's actually quite exciting that both Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny will be appearing together at NYCC. Other A-listers include Patrick Stewart, Sigourney Weaver, Aisha Tyler, a ton of Walking Dead cast members (including Norman Reedus, meow!), The Office's BJ Novak, Chloe Grace Moretz, Felicia Day, George Romero, Kathy Najimy and William Shatner. And apparently Sylvester Stallone is charging $300 per pic. Go, Sly!

II. Wrestlemania
Your favorite '80s wrestlers are also coming through, specifically: Hulk Hogan, Sgt. Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

III. Metal People, What's Up?
The fine gentlemen of Metal Sucks (and Metal Injection) are teaming up with Vertebrae33 and are hosting signings with Monster Magnet's Dave Wyndorf and Anthrax's Frank Bello over the weekend.

IV: "Alt" Art or Attack the Block
In addition to hosting comics, manga, celebs and other vendors, NYCC has an area called "The Block" devoted to surrealist and pop art, collectible vinyls and toys, apparel and tons more. This is where I tend to spend WAY too much money at the Zero Friends and Kid Robot booths.

V: EXCLUSIVES
Besides "limited edition" is there another term that can get collectors' hearts to beat faster? Check out NYCC's listing right here.

If you see me at NYCC, say hi and hopefully I'll remember the last time we interacted. I'll be the shorter-in-person brunette with the fancy camera and the Press pass.

'Dispassionate' is the Word of the Day

The Dream Calls For Blood

What an insane whirlwind this month has been! Working on a recap of all the marquee artists I caught in September. I also filed my High Times profile of Death Angel, more than a year after I first spoke with founding guitarist Rob Cavestany, who was a blast to chat with. Look for the outtakes Q&A here as well.

Until then, check out the trailer for their new album, The Dream Calls For Blood. Having listened to it on repeat, I absolutely co-sign for it.

Tour Widow Blues

Ready to set in...

Finally, Something to Get Excited About

NEW CARCASS! Check out their officially-released comeback single, "Captive Bolt Pistol," from their forthcoming album, Surgical Steel (that's the cover below). US tour soon, please, yes?

Remember When Metal Was Dangerous?

When I was a kid, telling someone I was into metal usually meant receiving a reply asking if I worshiped Satan or wanted to kill myself (seriously, the idea of subliminal messages is still SO dumb - why would you want the people who buy your records to die?).

Over the last decade, as the buying power of older males dovetailed with metal fans' aging population, we began seeing Judas Priest and even Death Angel being used to hawk everything from burgers to sensible Japanese cars. And that's cool, I guess, if it means another revenue stream for the bands. 

But then I saw this... Granted, the news was released almost a month ago, but when you run six sites, sometimes reading informative e-blasts is a secondary joy. Either way, this shit won't happen until May 15, so you have plenty of time to set those DVRs.

Black Sabbath - Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler - will make a rare television appearance on the season finale of CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation on Wednesday, May 15 at 10p. As the CSI team investigates a trail of murders with similarities to the sins in Dante's Inferno, the band will share a scene with D.B. Russell (Ted Danson), when he and Conrad (Marc Vann) attend a Black Sabbath show. The appearance will mark the band's world premiere of the song End of the Beginning from their new album 13, due out June 11 on Vertigo/Republic. "Because the album is titled 13 and this is the finale of CSI's Season 13, it seemed like the perfect match," said Executive Producer Don McGill. - c/o & Copyright Cynopsis 2013

Seriously, though, remember when metal was taboo? 

R.I.P. Jeff Hanneman

An end of an era. Rest in power. Slayer forever.

Photo lifted from hornsuprocks.comhornsuprocks.com

HIM's "Tears on Tape"

HIM have always been a very guilty pleasure of mine, though I really thought they fell off on their last album, Screamworks. So far, the two tracks I've heard off of their forthcoming record - "All Lips Go Blue" and the title track, "Tears on Tape," - have fared better.

And today, HIM dropped the official video for the latter. Ville Valo is finally showing his age, but is still more rock star than anyone born in the past 30 years.

8-Bit Ratt

Still better than dubstep... Lay It Down, indeed.

Some Days, It Doesn't Pay to Check Your Email...

Quoth Andrew W.K.: "Whether you just finished rocking a packed club or have an intimate encounter after a busy day, this product will make couples feel brand new. Fresh + Sexy Wipes were specially designed to help couples feel confidently clean, before and after they engage in sexual activity!"

So when should I expect my care package?

Simon Bisley and the Art of Subversion

Since today is artist Simon Bisley's birthday (at least according to his seemingly-official Facebook fan page), I thought would be cool to give him a shout-out and reflect on what his most popular title did for me as a kid.

When I was 14, I wasn't reading comics. But my then-boyfriend was, and he'd take me to the comic shop with him on his weekly runs. During one visit, the guy working at the shop - having seen my black-clad frame enough times - handed me a promo pin that dictated, "Bite Me, Fanboy."

What was this? Was this a vampire thing? I didn't know what any of it was about, but I did know I wanted to wear that pin on my MC jacket without seeming like a "poseur," so I bought Lobo's Back #1, the comic it was promoting. That began not only my love affair with comics outside the realm of friendly superheroes, but in poring over the art of Simon Bisley, I discovered that he too was a metalhead. How? The band names he drew (Ramones, Slayer) as graffiti on various walls throughout the mini series among the other gems hidden in plain sight within the pages.

That was when I first began to understand subversion. From then on, any piece of sequential art I came across became subject to such scrutiny, and the habit stayed with me for life - when appreciating with any art form. My permanent takeaway: look past the obvious; seek out hidden meanings; and do something similar when you can. For sparking that inquisitive spirit, I'll forever be in Biz's debt.

More on Lobo - my favorite comic character to this day - can be uncovered by reading THIS. Now frag off!

My Boyfriend, The Video Star

Perhaps star is a little much, but the "stoner dude" walking out of the bathroom in Suffocation's "As Grace Descends" video at the :47 second mark is the much heralded Thorns Capricorn. Not a bad little video; what's not to enjoy about whiskey, dancing girls and moshing? Then again, I watched it on mute. NOT a fan of the band.

Whether you choose to have the volume on or not, enjoy it below.

Ratt & Roll

Knowing the volatile relationship Ratt has as a band, this is rather exciting news. And though he may have to tone down his style, I hear Dave Lombardo just found himself with some free time.
 

Warren and I start writing again 4 the new RATT record, lots of songs, riffs for dayz. We are ready 2 roll, RU kidz? twitter.com/StephenEPearcy…
— STEPHEN PEARCY (@StephenEPearcy) February 21, 2013

There Will Be Quiet After the Storm

Yeah, I just had to use that as my headline. As some of you may have already heard, Judge is headlining this year's BNB Bowl, along with Strife, Breakdown, Bane and Black Train Jack, among others. Tickets for the show, which will once again be held at Webster Hall on May 18, will go on sale through WH's site this Friday, and will be available for purchase at NYHC Tattoo, Generation Records and Lotus Tattoo next Wednesday.

I sure do hope Judge do this awesome cover. (And Breakdown had better play "Street Fight"... TWICE!)



PS: Any chance we can get Shelter on this show as a surprise guest?

Honoring Pat Egan

This week, we lost a good man. Pat Egan was a metal insider and a huge fan of the music; but more than that, he was a loving husband and father. Bram wrote a really nice article about him. Though most people knew him from the industry, I'd like to think I somehow saw an even more selfless side to him.

His daughter, Katie, a smart and lovely teen, is a huge fan of the artists we tend to promote at my day job. Knowing this, Pat had no shame in asking how he could possibly bribe me to get into things like Z100's Jingle Ball. Little did he know, I'd already earmarked the tickets for her, so none of it was even necessary.

So it's fitting that one of his family's wishes is to eschew flowers for his funeral, instead helping the next generation of music-fanatic Egan with her future. In lieu of bouquets, please send monetary donations to Pat's widow, Melinda.

Melinda Egan
577 Outlook Ave
West Babylon, New York 11704

And if you're looking to attend his funeral, it's this Friday, February 22 on Long Island. Info below:

The wake will be from 2-4 p.m and 7-10 p.m.
424 South Wellwood Avenue
Lindenhurst, NY 11757
(631-957-0300)

One last note about Pat: he loved chiming in on social media, especially when I complained about my parents' conservative nature. Knowing his own dad's health was failing, Pat would often remind me, "love them while you can." I urge you all to take his advice and do the same.

Sunday Styles

Perfect for the girl looking to complete her crunktastical crust punk look, replete with leopard backpatch, spikes and safety pins. Just add your own Subhumans and Amebix pins. Thanks, Forever 21!

Last Night...

One of the things that makes me happiest is pillow talk about music with Thorns. Last night, after some YouTube searches, we had a whole discussion about how though Ignite/Pennywise frontman Zoli Teglas is technically a better singer than Glenn Danzig, his brief live run with the Misfits wasn't satisfying. Not the same Evil Elvis steez. (This led to a further debate applying the same merits to the D'ianno vs. Dickinson Maiden eras of songwriting.)

I also reminded T that Acid Sweat Lodge is fucking awesome and everyone should check it out. So when I saw the below pic on there today, I knew I had to repost. Happy Friday, y'all.

Today's Random iPod Shuffle Selection

"Wild men love me, I must confess." PS: Is it a holiday or something?

Trial By Fire

Too soon? I still assert that The Walking Dead's interestingly-named IronE Singleton should play Christopher Dorner in the inevitable Hollywood film chronicling what's played out in Los Angeles over the last few weeks.

Stolen from Alex Skolnick's Instagram account

Hunting Osama: The Soundtrack

While reading an Esquire feature on the SEAL team member who was part of the hunt of Osama bin Laden, a couple of interesting music-related tidbits were revealed.

1. Metallica are back-peddling wusses. Not particularly revelatory.
It is important to him to stress that no women or children were killed in that raid. He also insists that when it came to interrogation, repetitive questioning and leveraging fear was as aggressive as he'd go. "When we first started the war in Iraq, we were using Metallica music to soften people up before we interrogated them," the Shooter says. "Metallica got wind of this and they said, 'Hey, please don't use our music because we don't want to promote violence.' I thought, Dude, you have an album called Kill 'Em All.

2. "God" - or Demon Hunter, at least - was on the Shooter's side.
A band called Demon Hunter got in touch and said, 'We're all about promoting what you do.' They sent us CDs and patches. I wore my Demon Hunter patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted bin Laden."

Read the whole thing HERE.

File Under: Things That Make Me Happy

    Vans + Skateboarders + Municipal Waste. Nice ad, bros!

Royal Thunder's New Video

 Atlanta's Royal Thunder have a way of growing on you. Check out their new video for "Blue."