Metal Injection

Sun 10:48 am:

It's Rob, it's almost 11AM and we are getting ready to hit the airport for a night of pre-boarding raging in Miami. Ship leaves tomorrow afternoon. I'm pumped!

Sun 1:50 pm:

Alright! We are on our flight about to get the hell out of New York, Miami brace yourself. The American Airlines crew member hailed us and told us he is a junkie! So cool…
There's a dumb baby sitting behind us crying. What the hell is your problem dude? There are famous people like Rob and Frank around you. Have some respect!… Ok time to put the headphones on… -Noa

Sun 2:02 pm:

The flight captain just told us to relax. Settle down Rob that's not what he meant!

Sun 4:43 pm:

Hey gang! Frank here checking in from a very sunny Miami,FL. We left NYC with a few inches of snow on the ground so this is starting to feel like a vacation.  Speaking of vacation, it's been 3 minutes, why aren't we wasted yet!?

Sun 4:56 pm:

(Photo) Just landed in Miami, bitches!

Sun 6:35 pm:

Well, we just checked in to the blackest of black metal hotel rooms. Beware. Here's a pic of the guys. NSFW. -Noa http://instagr.am/p/juPT6/

Mon 12:01 pm:

We're up and ready to check out of our hotel. Miami was fun to explore for a night, but if I was here any longer, I might have to kill somebody. While walking around last night, Noa spotted DMX just hanging out on a curb. I was too scared to approach him, didn't want to get shot or stabbed or you know, barked at. Anyway, we're about to hop in a cab and head over to the port of Miami to check in for the cruise. This is when the REAL party begins. -Rob

Mon 2:05 pm:

We've arrived at the port. About to check in and then the 4-day party on the seas can finally commence! ~Rob

Mon 3:30 pm:

We've made in onto the boat and the party has officially begun. While we're awaiting the completion of the main pool deck stage, we have begun to party. Here are some photos:

Noa is getting the party started

Stage construction

Crates of metal!

Mon 3:36 pm:

We did it you guys!  http://instagr.am/p/j_xET/ We are on board. I am in sausage heaven. So many hot guys! We spotted Hammerfall while checking in. That's when I remembered how close this cruise brings you to the bands. It's like a non-stop backstage party. Right now we are watching the pool deck stage getting built…well actually I'm staring at this guy's ass …  http://instagr.am/p/j_uyn/ Mmm Mmm! – Noa

Mon 4:10 pm:

Good news guys. We've been on the ship for one hour now and I already spot 50% more of 95% attractive people on board. That's like a 7000% increase from last year? I'm too drunk to do math. – Frank

Mon 4:31 pm:

Can't leave the port until we have a safety drill. What happens when a bunch of drunk metalheads are forced to do this? THIS! (video). Shortly after one brave metalhead started crowd surfing. Amazing. The safety drill is being recited now but I can't hear it because everybody is chanting. So, we might die. METTTALLLLLLL!!!! -Rob

Mon 5:02 pm:

As we walked passed a foreign metalhead he greets us with a "Good Morning". Its 5pm brah! Guess he's staying up late. -Rob

Mon 5:15 pm:

The ship has left the port of Miami. We are officially on the high seas. We passed another departing ship and I think all the metalheads shouting at them might've freaked then out. WHERE IS THE PIRATE FLAG?! -Rob

Mon 5:45 pm:

The sun is setting as we escape Miami. (Photo) Alestorm set to kick off the party in about an hour! What an appropriate band to kick off the most metal party in the Carribean.

Tue 2:05 am:

Seeing as though our cellphone reception died, our updates would become less frequent, but longer. Today was a good kickoff to the week, at least food wise. Noa and I pigged out like crazy, even had some classy prime rib for dinner. As for the bands, there were some technical difficulties with the pool deck stage which forced the first band of the night on there, Overkill, to be bumped. For shame! We missed Alestorm because we were drunk, but Noa dragged us to the lounge stage to see Moonsorrow. It was a fantastic band to kick off the festivities for us. They were really fun and the crowd ate it up. We returned to the main stage to try to see if they had finished setting up, BUT NOTHING. So, we decided to check out Samael. I'll let Frank give you the descriptive version, but to me it just sounded like the new Morbid Angel record. Too dancy and sterile. Next, please! Finally, Cannibal Corpse went on and received a Slayer-like reception. People were hungry for the Corpse. The outdoor stage definitely got upgraded big time, with banners all over the place and a really awesome light setup. Cannibal were great as usual. No matter how many times I hear the intro to "Fucked With A Knife," you know, where Corpsegrinder goes "This one is for all the ladies out there…" I can't stop laughing. Corpsegrinder's neck is looking thinking than ever. Now, we're back in my room, and I'm having a hard time deciding between passing out and going to see Candlemass. Sometimes, life is hard.

Strangest sighting of the day: Crowbar's Kirk Weinstein and his wife showing some cuddly public displays of affection. I guess it is his day off.

Tue 2:09 pm:

I woke up and went to bake in the sun this morning. Drank a Corona and watched God Dethroned rock the boat at 11:00AM. After that Rob and I migrated to the hot tub and watched Exciter. I can't believe I'm drinking a pineapple daiqueri in a bikini watching Exciter! Holy shit. My Israeli brothers Orphaned Land are taking the pool deck stage next! -Noa

Tue 4:34 pm:

Rob here, checking in. We watched Orphaned Land, and they were a great way to spend the middle of the day. After experiencing some Israeli metal, we headed to the first official press conference, where we learned that each continent is represented on this cruise. Where can I meet an Antarctic? The two countries tied for most passengers are the US and Germany, with 51% of the attendees on their second voyage on the metal cruise. After the conference, I ran over to the second stage to watch Suffocation crush it. No, like destroy the fucking place. They sounded ridiculously tight. Cannibal and Suffo on one cruise? Pretty nuts. Here are some photos we snapped today on the deck:

Who Said There Werent Hot Chicks On This Cruise?

The Fans Are Into It

Best Tattoo Yet

This Guy!

Wed 2:32 am:

It's now past 2AM and even with a few hours left of performances and partying, I can already tell you today made yesterday look like an appetizer. We started the day off with an incredible performance by Orphaned Land, then ran from stage to stage over the next several hours to see Atheist, Kamelot, Stratovarius, and finally the highlight of my entire experience thus far, Amorphis on the small club stage. It's been a few years since I've last seen Amorphis, who are one of my all time favorite bands growing up, and personal favorites of 2011. Needless to say, I was stoked going in. The impeccable sound, tight musicianship, engaging stage presence, all wrapped into a small club atmosphere that is as personal and private as it comes, had won me over in a way I can barely express in words. After Amorphis we finally stopped for some food, and continued our marathon of bands including Children of Bodom, and a ridiculous set by Venom that I think about 90% of the ship was in attendance for. We did a bunch of filming today, so we'll hopefully have some sweet looking live footage of some of these bands up next week for you guys. – Frank

Wed 4:38 am:

Rob with a 4:30 am dispatch. This will probably be posted later than 4:30 but this was written at exactly 4:30. Ok, if we're talking exacts, it's actually 4:28… 4:29. Ok, anyway! Just ended the night with a little Crowbar, or as the drunks who are still up at this hour call 'em CROOOOOOAAAARRR. They were the perfect night cap to a day filled with a variety of metal. Prior to CROOOOAAARR, we checked out Dark Funeral. They were quite black metal. My favorite part of seeing them was watching all the foreign staff members watch along in confusion as to what exactly they were seeing. Who got the best reaction from the non-metal listening staff? Children of Bodom, no question. Tomorrow, we're docking at the Cayman Islands, which means bikini pics…but, of whom?!

Wed 3:46 pm:

Currently live blogging from the beach at the Cayman Islands. It is a beautiful day to be hanging out with a bunch of metalheads on the beach. This is my view! Overkill kicks things off on the boat again later tonight! -Rob

Wed 11:36 pm:

Today we got a wake up call from the ship's captain alerting us that we have arrived at Cayman Islands. I guess no one sent him the memo that we were watching Crowbar until 4:30 in the morning and we didn’t care to be up at the ungodly hour of 9AM.

We slowly started rising and finally were ready to leave the half empty ship to tropical paradise. While waiting for Rob to update the Metal Injection news section, I was waiting out on the deck when I heard the singer of Dark Funeral say "I’m done with this sun bullshit" as he walked by. I guess he couldn’t take the heat.

So we finally got on the charter boat to the island and went to the beach. The metal heads on the beach were so white they blended in with the sand, like apparitions in band shirts floating around. After frolicking in the sea water we went back to the port to find the longest line of metal heads. Everyone came back at the same time and much to the other pedestrian’s horror different parts of the line started to chat. When we finally got on the return charter, there was another one beside us filling up with “normal” people from another cruise. They started taking pictures of us and were mesmerized. We were facing the boat and the guys around me started a “Your boat sucks chat”. Once it was take off, another group of guys waved good bye to the unsuspecting folk from the other cruise and then turned around and mooned them! HAHAHHAH!
Now we are laying around after having eaten dinner. It’s really cool to be in a restaurant setting and have Death come on as I’m pushing mahi mahi into my head!… Just a few more minutes until we go over to check out Nightwish. -Noa

Wed 11:42 pm:

This is not a photo of Noa This is Alexi, guitarist of Children of Bodom

Hammerfall Setting Hearts on Fire

It seems the bassist of Dark Funeral was really happy to be here

Noa made some new friends on the way to the Cayman Islands

Rob tries to take a peek

Noa returns the favor... and immediately regrets it

Frank looking angelic as we board

Thu 12:49 pm:

It's the final full day on the cruise ship and everybody is moving noticably slower. Last night was an absolute rager for the MI crew, most notably with Noa succeeding in her mission to get belligerently drunk. It's pretty hard to remember just what went down, but I do remember seeing Moonsorrow, while incredibly intoxicated. We spent part of the night at the bar chatting with fellow metalheads from around the world, including some really awesome people from Calgary, Alberta and from Brazil. It's crazy how this ship brings people who have virtually nothing in common, but their love for heavy metal together. While I didn't witness this personally, Frank made it out to kareoke where he saw Suffocation frontman Frank 'The Tank' Mullen do the most brutal cover of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" ever heard by human ears. Yes, there is video of this, and we will post it all as soon as we get to a location that doesn't overcharge for (basically) 56k internet connection. More updates soon! -Rob

Fri 1:52 am:

This morning I woke up and puked. It was the best way to start the day! After breakfast I recovered from my hangover by watching Alestorm. It was just about 1PM and they were already so trashed. They may not be the most technical band but they sure know how to entertain. Next was the belly flop contest. This year, everyone was out on the deck to watch the 70000 tons of bellies hit the water! Spoiler alert: There is a new reigning champion! I actually got to see a lot of bands today. For someone who woke up from a previous night of extensive drinking, I was pretty productive. I caught Grave Digger (for the first time ever live!), Eluveitie, Orphaned Land, Amorphis, Overkill and Venom. I also checked out Jeff Water's guitar clinic. He not only played Annihilator songs he also did great stand up comedy. I didn't learn much from the clinic but it was nice to hear him tell stories about each track and mess around with people. I have had an amazing time. The people on this cruise are all so nice and genuinely are here as a community. I also love that everyone is "backstage". We went to a bar an sat by Corpsegrinder and met Pestilence. During Amorphis, I glance over and see Ville from Moonsorrow! So great! Anyway, Rob and I have some exploring to do…. -Noa

Fri 1:53 am:

Today was a long day for me, much like Noa. With not-as-terrible a hangover, I woke up and tried to get the day going with enough time to catch some of Alestorm's set. A cruise is a perfect setting for that band! Frank and I then went on the hunt for bands to include in our video special about the cruise. It was like metal scavenger hunt and there were prizes at each bar. The first highlight was running into an incredibly (and I mean INCREDIBLY) inebriated Kirk from Crowbar. He speech was so slurred, it felt as though each sentence was just one long word. It was awesome. We then saw Corpsegrinder of Cannibal Corpse, a true presence in the metal scene. Corpsegrinder definitely wins for cruise MVP, as I would see him all over the place throughout the cruise, always with a drink in hand. We had some time to speak, and he was incredibly candid, probably because he was up for 36 hours, as he mentioned to us. One thing that sort of surprised me was that Corpsy (I feel like we're friends now and I can give him cute nicknames like this)…so yeah, Corpsy was telling us that he actually listens to a lot of country but "not that pop bullshit", the real deal like Johnny Cash, Hank III, and David Allen Coe. He was the nicest guy, and so cool with fans, stopping to take photos with every single person who asked him to. During our scavenger hunt, we managed to catch some of Riot and Orphaned Land's sets. Riot's Bobby Jarzombek is a sight to be seen. What an intense drummer! After a long day of hunting down a bunch of bands, we ate some dinner and then watched Amorphis, who definitely won me over on this night, fucking Venom, who were raw, stripped down, swinging metal, and then of course, some Overkill. Other frontmen need to take note of Bobby fuckin' Blitz, one of the top frontmen in all of metal. He totally owned the show when he was there. Anyway, the night (and the cruise) are coming to an end. -Rob

Fri 5:27 pm:

We're all back safe and sound and incredibly hung over. We have a ton of videos, live footage, photos and more all coming up next week from the cruise. Thanks for sticking around! -Rob