ROCK CONCERT!

Whoooooooooooooo! Ok sorry for sounding like Rick Flair, but my first real rock concert this past Sunday was fan-freaking-tastic. Local bands Guns Out at Sundown & Defending Cain opened for Nonpoint in Winchester, VA in a tiny-ass bar & grill. This was an "intimate" venue to say the least, and those three bands rocked it out hardcore. Guns out at Sundown was first, and they are a metal band from western Maryland featuring a sound similar to Killswitch Engage. Hard metal with some screaming vocals = getting the crowd fired up.

Defending Cain was out next. They are from Martinsburg, WV and these guys are gonna go somewhere, you can bet on it. I even went home and bought their CD off their online store after the concert. They have a clean, crisp, heavy guitar sound and the lead vocalist can go from the high octaves down to a low growl with ease. Musical goodness all the way around.

Nonpoint freaking rocked. They played a little of their old-school stuff which the crowd ate up and even started a mosh pit in the middle of the floor. I was about 20 feet away from the stage and could look the lead singer in the eye, and was more than happy to throw up my horns and headbang away to the songs all night long.

Definitely won't be my last rock concert...and I would like to thank Guns out at Sundown, Defending Cain, and Nonpoint for putting on one hell of a show.

Summer 2013

Alrighty, as I stated in my last post I was going to come at you with more reviews, but as everyone knows life sometimes has other plans in store. So after starting a new job, and going through a crapload of training that has taken up the time of most of the past three months, I am here to write an update.

Shinedown's Amaryllis album is amazing, with the main hits being "Adrenaline" and "Bully." Shinedown didn't really change their sound from the previous albums, they just continue to bring us high-powered anthems with a catchy sound and provoking lyrics.

Three Days Grace's last album to feature Adam Gontier on vocals, named "The Transit of Venus" is a worthy contender. Tracks like "Chalkline" and "Give Me A Reason" are the standouts on the album. This album sees a slight change of pace, as TDG incorporates a lot more of an electronic sound into the tracks. Personally I don't think this is a good thing for rock music as a whole...it takes a lot less talent to let a computer fill up the sound of your songs rather than actual shredding on a guitar, but I digress.

Several killer albums have been released recently as well. Sevendust has returned with their album "Black Out The Sun" which sees a return to greatness as Sevendust digs in on this album and grounds out riff after riff of head-pounding hard rock. Fans of old-school Sevendust should check this album out. It's refreshing to see a band return to their roots.

Stone Sour just released "House of Gold & Bones, Pt. 2", the follow-up to Part One. This album is darker than the first, and Stone Sour hits a home run with this one. Again, they return to the formula off their self-titled debut album of oddly-named songs, crazy guitar hooks and pounding riffs. Good stuff right here.

Drowning Pool also released their album "Resilience" after changing their lead singer for the fourth time. This didn't bode well. This album is pure mediocrity. Generic hard rock sound with a singer who sounds like he belongs in a boy band. Pass.

The breakout band of the summer without a doubt is DEVICE.  Disturbed's David Draiman is the frontman, and he brought along Dope's guitarist for the ride. Device has a sound somewhere between Disturbed and Powerman 5000, and it sounds really good. Featuring guest appearances by Lzzy Hale of Halestorm and M.Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold, this is a solid debut album. I still prefer Disturbed, but Device can hold it's own.