CONCERT REVIEW/INTERVIEW: EPICUREAN

Opening for Rotting Christ Jan 21st at the Starlite Room were Minnesota metalheads, Epicurean. Their performance like most opening bands was expected to be sub-par compared to the headliners, a consequence of seeing that exact formula time and time again.

Much to my surprise these five guys from Minneapolis did an excellent job at getting a crowd whipped up and ready for a night of destruction!

Front man John Laramy, can provide power in his vocals that propels Epicurean's energy all the way to the back of the room and back again. His transition from dirty to clean vocals is almost seamless and even though he is not the most animated on stage his stage presence is strong enough that he can command an audience.

Laramy's band mates cannot be undersold at all either. For young talent, guitarist Jarod Mills has all the makings of a great entertainer as well, his charismatic mannerisms, whilst still executing riffs with lightning precision makes him a well rounded performer and clearly a crowd favourite. Bassist Eli Pete and substitute guitarist on this tour, Brian Koenig (Luna Mortis) rounded off the string section well. Epicurean, like most melodic metal would be nothing if the percussion and keyboarding fell short. This group did nothing of the sort, with machine-gun drummer John Gensmer let loose on tracks like "Behind the Chapel Walls" and the backing tracks of temporarily absent keyboardist Jared Shneider setting the ominous tones over the entire set, Epicurean proves that not all melodic metal has to be Opeth-esque in nature.

This stellar performance from relative unknowns propelled this band from my periphery to dead center in my sights and in my mind as some of the new American metal talent to watch for.

I believe that with Chicago dark metal staple and metal veterans, Novembers Doom dropping off the Lucifer over America tour at the beginning of January for medical reasons left a void that allowed Epicurean some breathing room. If lead singer John Laramy's vocals are any indicator, they are taking some big breaths and making the best of their time in the spotlight.

Such a terrific set could not go unanswered for, so Epicurean agreed to sit down with The Forge and chat about all things music and many other things that had nothing to do with music whatsoever.

Joining me, were founding members, John Laramy, John Gensmer, Jarod Mills, and Eli Pete

After some deliberation about whose mall was bigger West Ed or their hometown's Mall of America, playful banter about Dave Mustaine's diva-like antics locally here at Gigantour, and some excellent song recommendations from (Jarod) Mills. We started to finally get down to our Q&A session, only occasionally being distracted by attractive female tennis players with long Russian names on the TV's behind us.

Forge-It may seem somewhat cliché to ask, but what were your first influences in metal that made you decide to get into metal yourselves?

Mills, Gensmer (almost in unison) - Megadeth! and also Dimmu Borgir's album Puritanical (Euphoric Misanthropia)

Laramy- Definitely the song "Epic" by Faith No More

Pete- Uh, I don't know, my first taste of extreme music was like Alice in Chains, Soundgarden, that kind of stuff.

Forge-So, you basically made the transition from grunge into metal?

Pete-Yeah, that's it.

Forge- What do you guys like to do when you are on the road other than anything music related?

Mills-(laughs) smoke a lot of weed!

Pete- Sleep mostly

Laramy-We do a lot of stuff, I don't know we're all just a bunch of "goofy douche bags" you know?

Forge- How do you like this tour, being just signed on with Metal Blade in 2007?

Gensmer- It's way better than our old D.I.Y. tours, never being sure of whether or not you're getting paid, being stranded in places, it's way better on this tour.

Forge- Speaking of being on tour, or in this case, not. Where is your man (Jared) Schneider?

Now, at this point, the guys preferred that I not share the intimate details of it, suffice it to say, he had prior commitments that wouldn't allow him to attend the touring portion of the trip.

Mills- He's still a huge part of the creative process, he does a lot of our writing like 51% and we just put his keyboards on the back track to make up for his absence.

Forge- So, who does the other 49% of the writing then?

Mills- I think we all do, we each contribute a little bit, collectively.

Forge- Like taking each of your individual experiences and bringing it to the table?

Mills- Yeah pretty much.

Forge- Being on tour, are you guys leaving any significant others behind? girlfriends, that sort of thing?

Mills, Gensmer, Laramy, Pete- Oh yeah. Sorta

Forge- Then what's with all the talk about girls and the like from earlier?

Laramy- Hey, it's all good to preheat the oven as long as you do your cooking at home!

Forge- If you guys weren't in this band, doing metal music what would you more than likely be doing?

Gensmer, Mills and Pete- Probably working in a warehouse somewhere, thats kind of how we all know each other from working in warehouses.

Laramy- School.

Forge- What for?

Laramy- English or Physics

Forge- Oh alright guys, final question, hypothetically speaking if your careers were going to end forever with no way back but, you had the opportunity to go and play one last show in any country you wanted where would that be?

Gensmer- Romania or Greece

Laramy- Japan definitely

Mills- Japan

Pete- Japan or to play Wacken (German Open Air Festival)

The boys are in no danger at this point of having their careers ended prematurely, if nothing else the future holds big changes for the guys. Bizarrely, the band now has a Canadian connection, coming on in February, is a new lead guitarist to fill the gap that Brian Koenig is sitting in on for this tour. Originally a native of Newfoundland, this artist has resided in Windsor, Ontario for a few years and despite the guys from Epicurean completing over 150 pieces of documentation just to bring him over they still say he is not one hundred percent legal yet. From what they say he is supposed to be an incredibly talented individual and I, personally cannot wait to see what developments take place after their new addition comes onboard.

Hear the three debut EP songs released by Epicurean and much more, simply click here for their site.

CONCERT REVIEW: ROTTING CHRIST ft. EPICUREAN AND MANTIC RITUAL

As darkness fell in our beloved city Wednesday night, the cold winter air returned, biting the flesh of a very dedicated albeit relatively smaller than normal following of metal fans outside the Starlite Room.

What in all of Rotten-Christendom could bring these people out of the safety and comfort of their warm homes? The answer is quite simple, melodic black metal pioneers, Rotting Christ, have arrived.

It's been twenty years since Rotting Christ became an entity in their native Greece and even with all the notoriety they have gained in the underground annals of Heavy Metal; nothing much has changed them as people. They are still the same down to earth, salt of the earth guys who would gladly give you the shirt off their back to help rather than turn their nose up at you. You see this reflected in their offstage behaviour and their sincere appreciation of their fans. All the stigma and stereotype that has surrounded them over the years could not be further from the true heart of this group.

Supporting their ninth full length release, "Theogonia" on this, the second leg of the "Lucifer over America Tour", Rotting Christ displays that consistently, they can still produce an album that can please their fans, allow them to make something different from previous releases, and stay true to their original vision all at the same time.

Opening their set to the theme from the Frank Miller film "300" came as no big surprise given the grand presence it creates, the overall sound of Theogonia as an album, and the background of the band. A few technical issues arose during the show that interrupted the intensity of the "Herculean" performance but in live shows this is something of a common expectation.

Despite the technical pitfalls, a great set list including "The Sign of Prime Creation", "In Domine Sathana", and "Threnody" made any previous inconveniences and interruptions fade away into distant memory. Their effective blend of Greek mythological imagery, Latin verses (which didn't stop fans from singing along surprisingly) and ominous chants in the back tracks set the tone nicely, turning the intimate venue of the Starlite Room into a sort of twisted perversion of a place of worship.

In this synagogue of doom worthy of Phobos himself, front man Sakis Tolis relentlessly envelops the room in his vocalizations, stirring fervor in the crowd that is compounded by the drums of his brother Themis. Amplifying the duo on either side of the stage like great pillars are bassist Andreas Lagios and relative new addition, lead guitarist Giorgos 'George' Bokos (joined in 2005). The animation of Bokos and Lagios amplify what has already become an exceptional show with ferocity of presence and fine display of technical skill.

They finish the night the same way they began it and an air of satisfaction hangs in the room long after the last amp gets switched off.

Those that came, saw something that has a legacy going back two decades, those that couldn't make it, I hope to see you out the next time, with your horns up, in support of one of the few purist underground metal bands still around today.

More than likely it will be much warmer then; I know this because when asked about their experience touring in Canada, vocalist Sakis Tolis expressed the group’s exact feelings as best he could.

"We're freezing our asses off!"

ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A DEATH METALLER?

Chances are, you probably aren't.

For years, even as early as 1986 when Heavy Metal was the most popular music in the world, it has been undersold by it's opponents as music for a lesser breed of humanity. This sort of elitist, self righteous, my excrement don't stink mentality is exactly why I wanted to start this Webpage/Blog in the first place, to provide a voice of reason to meet the mainstream and the underground in the middle.

Do not misunderstand, I do not believe that ALL metal fans are brilliant T.S. Elliot spouting intellectuals. There will always be a few less than bright 'mammals' that coincidentally happen to listen to my favourite musical genre. If you don't believe me, the next time you are at an event that features heavy metal music, watch for the guys who talk exactly like Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and hang out in a pack, the "Surfers without an Ocean" as I call them. Put it this way, if these guys wrote CD reviews, it would have two categories, "THAT SUCKS!" and "THAT RULES!" I'll stop picking on these guys, because if they're going to see Heavy Metal, they must be smarter than they look and behave.

Honestly though, the stereotype over the years has always been one of inferior intelligence, violent aggression against others (outside of a moshpit), and/or suicide. For example, in the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, Marilyn Manson and other forms of metal music were made scapegoats for their actions, when in reality, it was done on that day to supposedly commemorate Hitler's 110th. Perhaps we should condemn marijuana because they chose to do it on April 20th (4/20, trust me, the potheads get it.)

I have said for years that this music DOES NOT inspire violence, depression, and satanism, and I am not the first, but, try as I might there was nothing but my opinion to back it up.

Until last year when numerous studies were documented that had actually looked into the psychology of heavy metal music and its people. Just as I thought, it chimed in just about everywhere with my own personal beliefs.

Unlike former president (thank god!) George W. Bush, I do not make a habit of spewing from my mouth something that someone else has written without giving credit where credit's due. (CLICK HERE FOR THE SYNOPSIS ARTICLE COMPILED FROM THESE STUDIES!)

Even with this information, there will always be opponents to metal music, as there always has been. Even one of metal's root melodies the tri-tone, was banned by the church at one point in history, because it would invoke "Satan" c'mon, if ABBA, Duran Duran, and anything done by Vanilla Ice haven't inspired the rise of the Dark One, metal doesn't stand a chance of doing so.

So, in summary, do yourself a favour, take a minute and listen to some metal and truly listen, not just hear and see it for what it is. Another form of music, that all walks of life can find cathartic, and bearing some correlation to their lives. Especially those whom are gifted intellectually. (see study above)

Not ready to delve into hardcore death metal just yet? That's okay, metal has much to offer, for "the softer side of heavy metal" click this previous posting.

Alright class! Pencils down! Horn's up!

FUNNY HA HA? OR FUNNY HELL YEAH!: PART DVA (that's Russian for two for those playing the home game).

ENTER SANDMAN: THE KAZOO EDITION

THE HEAVY METAL MONK: THIS IS ACTUALLY FUNNY BECAUSE IT'S REAL!


GREEN JELLY: THREE LITTLE PIGS (FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T EXPERIENCED THIS METAL COMEDY CLASSIC)

RICK N' ROLL (RICK ASTLEY METAL COVER)



DAVE MUSTAINE ON ROCK N ROLL JEOPARDY (He's not so much what's funny, it's Moon Unit Zappa)
PART 1


PART 2


ALL GOOD METAL IS FROM SWEDEN AND THIS GUY IS NO EXCEPTION, I THINK HE USED TO BE A CHEF ORIGINALLY

Public Service Announcement from The Forge

A new documentary on Black Metal, that surprisingly does not focus on church burnings, is available on the FORGE-TUBE. Enjoy at your own risk of self discovery.

"EDUCATION IS THE PROGRESSIVE DISCOVERY OF OUR OWN IGNORANCE"

-WILL DURANT (1885-1981)

QUEER EYE FOR THE BLACK METAL GUY?

GAAHL(in makeup above and right, below sans makeup) WITH FORMER BF, AND MODELING AGENT,

DAN DE VERO

Back in August, 2008, the news that Gorgoroth frontman Gaahl ( real name Kristian Eivind Espedal) was working in collaboration with a fashion label to start up his own line of women's clothing, was not shocking, Gaahl has always been an eccentric. Around the time of that news, rumours began to start that stated that he was in fact gay. Nothing more was really said on the matter, a lot of speculation for the most part, a background incident at Wacken, and even outright defiance to the fact by some black metal fans.

However, on January 6, 2009 in a talk with Hollands FaceCulture, Gaahl was very open and honest about his sexuality and said that he is gay. An English translation of an article regarding his sexual orientation from Germany's Hard Rock magazine became available on metal news site Blabbermouth.Net (click here for that) and since then, both himself and former boyfriend Dan De Vero have received threats, De Vero says they have come by telephone, mail and email.

Gaahl though, has never considered this whole debacle to be a "coming out" he says "It doesn't feel to me as if I've outed myself because up until now the whole thing was a non-issue for me. All this evolved very naturally. I feel how I feel and I've never made any secret about it."

In the interview, FaceCulture asked him whether or not people would react differently to him and/or his music in light of this news. His answer was this, "Mankind is known to be narrow-minded, so… maybe some [will have a negative reaction]," he replied. "But I guess it will even out the score in a way. I think it will be positive for some and negative for some. It's always good to have some negative as well. Otherwise you would end up with equality and equality is the worst thing in the world. . . Equality is stagnation. It doesn't let anything grow. It holds back."

Well said, from what I can only describe as one of the scariest gay men since Jeffrey Dahmer (a little extreme but not far off). Despite this ballsy move, and the fact that its such a non-issue for the Gorgoroth front man, one who has followed his career cannot shake the memory of his assault against a young man some time ago. In the documentary True Norwegian Black Metal, you get a look at a completely different Gaahl than the one you see depicted here.The documentary is available on the Forge-Tube (click here) for your entertainment and information needs.

Despite his strange albeit checkered past, it is the main message of black metal itself to be true to yourself without caring what others think. An excellent lesson in self-esteem, tragically skewed by satanic imagery and messages.

Gaahl is not the first metal frontman to reveal his sexual orientation publically, Rob Halford of Judas Priest (a major influence of Gaahls) came out years ago, much to the surprise of 'Priest fans. Although in hindsight, the signature leatherbar attire he wore on stage would be a dead give away in modern times. Its not just a game for boys either, L.A. screamer, Otep is a proud lesbian. I am sure there are others that remain uncounted because for them, its not what defines them and it's more about their music.

It's sad in this modern time, when one's sexual orientation can inspire such hatred and prejudice even among a band's most dedicated of fans. However, how much of a fan are you when you put the music and the message second behind the artists sexual preference? Gay, Straight, and anything in between, metal's message has always been acceptance and the breaking of barriers that separate us. Better to be a proud metalhead accepting of all that come into our fold than an ignorant breeder, probably unsure of their own sexuality (you know who you are.)

Until next time, keep those horns....and rainbow flags, high!

A VERY SPECIAL HEALTH MESSAGE FROM THE FORGE OF HEAVY METAL

Nothing, with the exception of the metal "horns" is more dogmatic to Heavy Metal music than a good old fashioned headbang.

For those not familiar with the term headbang, it is the physical action at most Metal shows where either the crowd, the band, or both, with sway their head rapidly in succession up and down, in a circular motion, or from side to side.

However, if you want to continue this practice, do so at your own risk. According to a study conducted in the UK and published in the British Medical Journal (click here for the study) headbanging can create problems such as whiplash. They found using a theoretical model that certain songs and even style of headbanging, could be responsible for serious injury.

To summarize, the study suggests the following to prevent injury.

1) Decrease the range of head and neck motion

2) Head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing Heavy Metal with adult oriented rock (Good luck on that one lads)

3) Only headbang to every second beat. (because metalheads were so in sync before, with the exception of Amon Amarth)

4) Use protective equipment

One problem with that last one, you show up looking like this:

Some metalheads may just laugh at you, others though, who didn't get enough hugs as children, may make you leave looking like this:

In all reality, headbanging is like any other physical activity, if it starts to hurt or you feel a little disoriented, um... what's the word I am looking for here, ah yes...STOP! Any athlete knows when to stop and take a second before risking injury the same needs to be done here. I have headbanged excessively throughout my deep, committed, relationship to Heavy Metal and I haven't gotten hurt, a little dizzy yes, but not hurt. It is important that we use the very brain we rattle around at these shows and take care of ourselves, its the same reason we pick a guy up that falls in the moshpit or keep a person moving along during a crowd surfing moment, because in the end we all just want to go out, have fun and not get hurt for our trouble.

Being a solid headbanger isn't all bad, check this guy out from a European Gameshow.

GUERILLA METALLICA CONCERT VIDEOS-REXALL PLACE DECEMBER 7th

METALLICA

OPENER-ECSTASY OF GOLD

THAT WAS JUST YOUR LIFE

ONE

BROKEN BEAT AND SCARRED

ALL NIGHTMARE LONG

MASTER OF PUPPETS (SOLO)


THE SWORD VIDEOS (A LITTLE BONUS FOR YOU GOOD PEOPLE)

BARAEL'S BLADE

FIRE LANCES OF THE ANCIENT HYPERZEPHYRIANS

FREYA

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: METALLICA PLAYS REXALL PLACE DECEMBER 7th

My sincerest apologies for taking ever so long to have the review for this concert to fire through The Forge. Thankfully unlike most metal shows in Edmonton, there was some excellent coverage done on the event by our cities mainstream publications.
For those, choose your Poison below:

EDMONTON SUN

EDMONTON JOURNAL

Well, the "Death Magnet" had its attraction on overdrive on sunday the 7th, as fans of every conceivable shape and size came together and packed Rexall to the roof.

Fans only began to trickle into the main venue by the time the first of two openers, The Sword, took the stage with such song essentials of theirs as "Barael's Blade" and the Guitar Hero fave "Freya". Although they had a great set, for most of the mainstream Metallica fans there, it seemed like an odd fit to them. These are also the same people who deny the existence of previous Metallica albums "Load" "Re-Load" and musical group hug "St. Anger".

If The Sword threw them off their game, they hadn't seen anything yet...

Next to take the center stage of Rexall, were Richmond Virginia's Lamb of God, the five member metal machine with the misleading name. They've been called leaders of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, and with their performance that night, its clear to see why, with gut wrenching songs like "Laid to Rest" "Redneck" and the always popular "Walk with me in Hell". In addition to their usual faire, the savage throated, head slammin', five piece gave us a taste of their upcoming album Wrath with their song "Dead Seeds" as well as sending a shout out to our military as a lead into "Now You've Got Something to Die For". With all this intensity on stage, I was incredibly surprised to see the relatively inactive crowd on the floor save two very unimpressive moshpits. Perhaps the crowd was preparing for the onslaught to come.

Anticipation and energy grew as the lights went down and the Rexall crowd became a sea of glittering lights, like stars constructed of cellphone displays and lighters. After what seemed like an eternity bathed in darkness, the long awaited kraken that is Metallica came from the darkness below to take the stage, dwarfed by the four monolithic casket shaped lighting rigs that dangle above their stage. (photo shown at the top)

Opening their set with "That Was Just Your Life" amidst a dazzling laser light display from the complex lighting apparatus that flowed throughout their almost now signature central stage setup. The band it seemed, had finally tapped into that youthful energy they seemed to lose long ago as their set continued, executing such staples as "Creeping Death", "Battery", and "Of Wolf and Man" with expert precision.

As excellent as the older songs were, for me, I wanted to hear the songs from their latest work and the force behind their tour, Death Magnetic. Sometimes a song performed live can be like the pretty girl at the end of the bar late into the night, great at first, but upon closer observation, not nearly what you were expecting. Three seconds into "Broken, Beat, and Scarred" I knew for sure that this "girl" was hot. The new stuff blended well with the old, keeping the universal theme for the night, laughing in the face of death and personal struggle. With alchohol, career wide lineup changes and the loss of Cliff Burton years ago, this band knows all too well what price can be paid in life and in death.

An element of theatre was prevalent as the band continued, songs like "One" among others had plumes of fire erupt from the stage, the heat so intense that I could feel it in the front row beyond the floor. One could only imagine how hot it got for James Hetfield and his merry men, with these eruptions going off mere feet from them. Beyond the great spires of fire, rows of coloured flame shot up from raised platforms at appropriately choreographed times. Besides the fire and lasers, the caskets that seemed to hang precariously above them, could actually move and change position almost walling up the band at certain points, bathing them with light effects.

The band ended their evening with the deployment of what can only be described as black, logo emblazened, beach balls of varying size. Adding an element of impish fun, to an otherwise traditional heavy metal experience.

All in all, eventhough, the tone of the evening and of Death Magnetic, was the macabre and the dead. One could not help but be brought back to life, empowered by a thrash metal band that had fairly humble beginnings in their native California, just a bunch of kids, trading cassettes (you remember those, right?) of heavy metal from across the world (a pre-Napster music sharing network, irony anyone?). Young kids who now, have kids of their own, but no matter the age, no matter the strife and trouble that life throws at them, Metallica will continue to inspire generations to come, ensuring that metal, particularily the subgenre they co-founded, thrash will live on.

Missed the concert and want to know what songs played that night?
Here's the SET LIST from our show here in Edmonton.
(TRY ONE, THEY'RE INTERACTIVE!)

That Was Just Your Life
The End Of The Line
Creeping Death
Of Wolf And Man
One
Broken, Beat And Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
The Unforgiven
All Nightmare Long
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Battery
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
~ENCORE~
Last Caress(Misfits Cover)
Die, Die My Darling(Misfits Cover)
Seek and Destroy

Related Reading from The Forge
DEATH MAGNETIC CD REVIEW