Music As A Weapon Tour V

Disturbed! Back again for another round of Music As a Weapon Tour, this time bringing Mayhem Fest headliners Korn along with Sevendust and rising stars In This Moment. It appears that there will be two legs to the tour, with cities for the first being released, currently without dates. More cities and dates will be announced soon so be sure to keep a lookout. To add incentive, the first 1000 tickets to every show will be discounted five dollars, so if you plan on going, get your tix early! Check to see if there's a show near you. This is a class act. Don't miss it!

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE: LIVE

Finally, after weeks, months of waiting, Motionless in White came to OKC. It was awesome! They stole the show from Black Veil Brides and William Control, playing a thunderous thirty minute set. They made their way through some new songs and some old stuff including Billy In 4C Never Saw It Coming, Ghost in the Mirror, Immaculate Misconception, Abigail, Cobwebs, and Creatures. Their sound was pretty good for a young band, not quite as clear as the following acts, but easily distinguishable.

As for William Control, I have to say he was a little boring and gave off a strange stage persona. His songs were pretty weak, his best performance being his only hit I'm Only Human Sometimes.

Black Veil Brides was entertaining, but not quite as strong in showmanship as MIW. They gave me a KISS vibe more than a metal vibe with some screamed vocals being the only real change.

Motionless In White is on the road with A Skylit Drive right now so check them out if their going to a city near you!

MOTIONLESS IN WHITE: CREATURES

This Tuesday brought us the debut full-length album from the post-hardcore band Motionless In White, who has appeared in several articles over the past few months. This was one of my most highly anticipated albums of the year and didn't disappoint in the slightest. Creatures is exciting, heavy and a big breath of fresh air in the metal scene. Though I'm sure it will take a couple more tours and albums for most people, this band has dethroned Bring Me the Horizon and the Devil Wears Prada as the kings of post-hardcore (screamo).

This album starts out strongly with the song Immaculate Misconception, which hits you in the face right away with a chugging guitar riff and the screaming vocals of Chris Motionless. Of course, as is their custom, we're treated to the typical emo vocals mixed perfectly with the unclean. Very similar to their EP When Love Met Destruction, Creatures keeps a consistent sound without boring the listener. There's always something different and always something exciting about every song.

You can pick it up at most places for between 8 and 10 dollars. This one is worth checking out, as I definitely think Motionless In White have put themselves in the running for Album of the Year when the first annual Headbang awards are handed out in January.

Releases This Week

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of posts. School's been kicking my butt and I've been really busy. I'll try to get on it as much as possible.

This week saw new albums from Abigail Williams, Mushroomhead, and Halford, along with a new DVD by Slipknot titled, (Sic)nesses. Also releasing material this week was Avian, James LaBrie, October Tide, Powerglove, Unearthly Trance, Angra, Iron Fire, and Place of Skulls with a DVD put on the shelves by August Burns Red. Check it out!

TOUR: Motionless in White

These guys are touring maniacs! After exploring the states with In This Moment last winter, they played some spring shows, recorded an album, then got right back out there on the final legs of Warped Tour before heading off on Thrash and Burn Tour. Now, they've jumped on 2 (yes, 2) straight tours that end and begin only 3 days apart. They'll be kicking off the mayhem opening up for relatively new bands Black Veil Brides and William Control, then they're hitting the road supporting A Skylit Drive and bringing along For All Those Sleeping, Woe Is Me, and Scarlett O'Hara.

This sextet is absolutely awesome! I saw them back in December and have listened to their EP When Love Met Destruction almost every day since then and it doesn't get old. If you're into some Screamo and feel like doing some major headbanging, go check these guys out. It'll be worth it. You can pick up their debut full-length album, Creatures, on October 12th.

Release Tuesday

Today we saw the release of Stone Sour's third studio album, Audio Secrecy, their follow up to Come What(ever) May and the seventh installment in Helmet's career, Seeing Eye Dog.

Coming out this Friday will be Swashbuckle's Crime Always Pays... and Kamelot's Poetry for the Poisoned.

DISTURBED: ASYLUM

This is it! One of the most highly anticipated albums of the year is here! Disturbed has released their fifth studio album titled, Asylum. I'm sure you've all heard the song Another Way to Die, which has gotten significant radio play this summer. Now it's time for the real thing. I haven't had a chance to listen to album and actually won't be able to get a copy until Monday, so look for a review around then.

The Murderdolls also released an album yesterday, their first in eight years as they reunited for an album and a couple tours. The CD is titled Women and Children Last, and you can catch them on tour with Rob Zombie and Alice Cooper this October.

Also releasing material was 10 Years, putting out their fourth studio album, Feeding the Wolves. The Autumn Offering produced their fifth album, which is self titled. Cephalic Carnage and For Today released the albums Misled By Certainty and Breaker, respectively.

It was a busy day for heavy metal! Check it out!

Release Tuesday

This is a big week for releases as several major bands are putting new material on the shelves. Yesterday, we Apocalyptica's 7th Symphony and Ion Dissonance's Cursed, the seventh and fourth studio albums for each of the bands, respectively.

Today was an even bigger day as The Devil Wears Prada put their EP Zombie and Shadows Fall released Madness in Manila, a live DVD.

New releases from The Sword and The Showdown hit shelves today and later this week we will see new stuff from Tristania, Sonic Syndicate, and Liv Kristine. Check it out!

OT3P = AWESOME

Beautiful. Ot3p laid down another impressive performance at Ridglea Theater this Tuesday, showing us all she may be the toughest woman in metal. This time around she changed up her setlist a bit, but played all the big favorites, plus a couple of my personal faves that she missed last time around, so it was basically my dream Ot3p show as she went through Battle Ready, TRIC, Sacrilege, My Confession, Ghostflowers, Blood Pigs, Smash the Control Machine, Confrontation, Rise Rebel Resist, and Breed. As always, her band sounded flawless and the facial expressions of Evil J kept everyone entertained as is custom.

In support of Ot3p was The Agonist, a band I had never listened to prior to Tuesday night. They may have stolen the show. A good mixture of black metal and metalcore with some gothic elements, the female fronted band kicked some ass. Lead singer Alissa-White Gluz, one of Revolver's hottest chicks of rock, alternated between beautiful singing vocals and guttural death grunts. This band was impressive, so much so I bought their latest album following the show. They're definitely worth checking out if you're into bands like Kittie and In This Moment. If you're not, give them a listen anyway because they've got some good stuff!

Mayhem was Mayhem

Ok, so I've been to metal festivals before, I've been going to metal shows since I was fifteen, more than four years. My Mayhem Fest experience was awesome, but horrible. Something like this has never happened to me and really, I was shocked. Some of you may disagree, but I don't find body-surfing at all necessary, especially when it's me on top of the crowd. Just a few minutes before the close of Hatebreed's set, I found someone's head between my legs and felt myself being hoisted onto the crowd. I surfed along, praying to get back on the ground, and I did. HARD. I was dropped on people not paying attention and I landed on the concrete straight on my rear right hip bone. It hurt so bad I had to get out of the pit and sit down because everything was spinning and I felt like I was about to vomit. This effectively ruined my day. I literally sat through Five Finger Death Punch and Lamb of God, hoping to at least make it until Rob Zombie's appearance and duck out before Korn, but there was no way. I got too sick and had to back out. On the way home I threw up out the car window, my body obviously suffering from major shock and unable to recover due to the heat and surrounding cigarette smoke.

Before the incident, I was in metal heaven! The stages were set up side-by-side so that one stage would have a band playing while the other performed its set change. I was able to see a great show from Shadows Fall then an even better performance from In This Moment who really lit it up playing Just Drive, Blazin', The Promise, Beautiful Tragedy, Gunshow and Daddy's Falling Angel.

After In This Moment, I went back to the Jagermeister stage for Chimaira who put on a good show, much better than the annoying screechfest from Atreyu on the Mayhem Stage. Next up was Hatebreed who showed off why they were headlining the Jager Stage. Drawing a huge crowd, they managed to hit every album playing Last Breath, Empty Promises, Smash You Enemies, Proven, I Will Be Heard, Doomsayer, Live For This, To the Threshold, As Diehard As They Come, In Ashes They Shall Reap, and Everyone Bleeds Now. It was epic, and awesome.

I saw half the mainstage and definitely enjoyed what I saw. Being not very familiar with 5FDP I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. They were very good, solid metal, but I have to say that I don't think they were Main Stage quality. Lamb of God, on the other hand, was great! They sounded good, they performed well, and they put it all out there. I've seen them twice before this and was impressed but this show easily surpassed the others.

Though I missed Zombie, I'm sure he did well. I've seen him three times before and he never disappoints. If you have a chance to catch him on the Halloween Hootenanny Tour this fall, make sure you do.

My experience may have been shorter and more painful than expected, but it did nothing to deter me! I have every intention of attending Mayhem Fest next year, though maybe from a slightly farther distance for the hardcore bands (sorry Jasta), it was far too awesome to miss!