After hours of traffic along the NJ Turnpike, we arrived at the box office booth where an ocean of arms swung back and forth in praise of Behemoth. I asked Rob, "Is that Behemoth?" By the time the words left my mouth, however, I could see the tall corpsepainted bodies. No matter how bad I had been anticipating seeing those evil motherfuckers, after holding my urine for hours while in traffic, finding a toilet become the priority at hand. And yes, the Tweeter Center actually has indoor, clean restrooms. Despite my personal matters, I still found a way to get a portrait of bassist Orion (above) for you Injection-seekers out there.

Read about the rest of the bands after the jump.
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Shadows Fall might bring the metal. They might bring some core too. But, Brian Fair says on tour he mostly brings the classics and instrumental rock to soothe his moshed out soul. After an interview with roving reporter Justina Villanueva, Brian Fair (the dreaded scream machine) discussed what he puts to his ears when he's not on stage or in a recording booth.

Metallica, Master of Puppets

Master of Puppets probably the most perfect record. That one stands the test of time. The first time I heard Metallica was Kill Em All, but Master Of Puppets–by that point I had already been a fan. That was the perfect record. It had the fast crazy song to open it, the 8-minute epic next, by the end there is the half ballad. They were the masters of the half ballad. Sanitarium and One and all those types of songs. And they also had slow dirge-y songs, like Things They Should Not Be. They had everything. They had everything that I liked about metal in one record. It's like goddammit–that's the record that you wanted to write. But, its like shit, they already did it. You can throw [Master Of Puppets] on today and it sounds just as fresh. Some metal records you can hear in history why they are awesome, but now you might be like, eh that didn't really survive. But, that record is always going to survive.
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As you may have known, we sent our own Justina Villaneuva on the road with Blackened Fest and there was a giant debacle that resulted in all the support bands dropping off the tour. Justina posted an extensive blog detailing her point of view on what happened that night, and pointed most of the blame at MAYHEM. After the dust settled, and when we had Justina on the Livecast last week, she retracted saying that it was nobody in specific who was at fault, but rather she was the victim of circumstance. Now, the fine folks at HardTimes.ca interviewed MAYHEM frontman Attila Csihar and he gave his perspective. The talk happens within the first seven minutes of the video. Attilla spends the remainder of the interview talking about art, with the most awesome Hungarian drawl ever. Check it out below…

What could make our esteemed guest blogger make this face? Read on on to find out...

Blackenedfest guest blogger Chuck spent 20 days on the Cephalic Carnage bus. Buddy here knows his bud and took the time out to share with the universe his daily smoking experiences and clues you in on what the ganj life is like on the road. I present to you the blog we have all been waiting for.

Over the course of several weeks, we made stops in several major cities. Be it that we are connoisseurs of fine herb, we decided to rate some of the nugs sampled over our journey in chronic-logical order (pun intended).

New York City: (8 out of 10)
After finally meeting us with the tour bus, we headed on out to NYC for the opening show on the Blackenedfest Tour. Len and I went back to the smoke room on the bus and vaporized some tasty Indica with Joe from F.O.B . He was a super cool dude, and I would have to rate the nugs 8 out of 10 based on the quality of taste. Later that night Sam from Brooklyn hooked us up with a “20” bag of herbage. Sweet and tasty … not too shabby! Weirdly NYC doesn’t sell by the gram unlike West Coast dispensaries, which we will get to later. But I was pleasantly surprised nonetheless. (more…)

Shadows Fall at Starland Ballroom in NJ

About a month ago, Shadows Fall played a one-off show with Korn in the armpit of NJ. I had the great opportunity of chatting with vocalist Brian Fair about Music Festivals and the new Shadows Fall album.

After playing the Philippines a year ago, Shadows Fall was invited back to the country. "To come back and headline a festival was insane," said Fair. Crazier than that, the festival included pyrotechnics, which according to Fair "were never tested before the actual set." Imagine a 30-foot skull that shot fire out of the eyes.

“I can’t believe heavy metal took me to the Philippines.” It was one of the most interesting cities the band has ever got to visit, he explained. “Just living in Boston, anywhere its warm all year long its like, ‘this is awesome.’”

Being a Boston resident does have it’s metalhead perks though, at least when it comes to the annual New England Metal Fest. "I was just [at New England Metal Fest] to see Lamb Of God. It was a great metal fest because the Dead was playing at Centrum next door.” Fair really felt at home. “[It’s like] finally good drugs at a metal show."

More after the jump (more…)

As Mayhem brought Blackened Fest to St. Paul, MN on June 9, 20009, the vibe was unexpectedly and unfortunately even more somber than one would have hoped for the return of some of Norwegian black metal's reigning elite. After already suffering the crippling blow of a late visa-related cancellation from Marduk before the tour began, the rest of the lineup except for Mayhem (Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation, and Withered) were forced to cut the trek short the night before St. Paul due to a variety of complications described by Justina V. already. Whether or not Justina's indictment of Mayhem's responsibility for the festival's implosion is accurate or not, I'm not here to argue. However, I certainly can understand her resentment as a fellow Metal Injection reporter (non-roving, based in MPLS) and someone who was on the opening band's guestlists that never arrived. To put it shortly, it was a huge bummer to be greeted with the cancellation announcement sign as I walked in, and it made me skeptical I'd even enjoy what was now becoming an expensive evening for me (although, I must admit, the ticket price was actually slashed to 1/2 the original cost for those who bought advanced tickets, and refunds and free tickets to next week's Absu show were being offered to attendees – in other words, the venue was graciously being overly apologetic for the unfortunate circumstances).

While performances from Cattle Decap, Cephalic Carnage, Withered, and Marduk would never occur, Mayhem pushed on alone, against the odds and advice of financial experts, carrying the torch of blackness alone on the remaining dates of a now-solo headlining tour. Playing to a crowd of devoted Twin Cities extreme metal faithful, Mayhem's blistering, theatrical black metal combined with a choice selection of local supports bands eventually succeeded and won over the dejected. (more…)

Note from Editor: Blackened Fest is no more. Cephalic Carnage, Cattle Decapitation and Withered have dropped off. Mayhem will now complete the rest of the dates alone. We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She was on the front-lines as the entire tour came to a halt and sent in this report describing what has gone down. See her previous updates and a ton of photos at the Blackened Fest hub

I had my only Almost Famous moment of this tour in Denver, Colorado. We were not exactly in a descending plane but it definitely felt like we were. I watched Blackened Fest collapse within a matter of several hours. It wasn't a short run of a tour but it's demise was very short notice to the people involved.

Just after Withered left the bus to start their set, Cartel (tour manager) came onto the Cephalic/Withered shared mobile home to announce, "Guys, tonight might be the last night of the tour." He started inquiring about who were the unnecessary people on the tour so he could free up bunk space. This included Sid, Leonard's (Cephalic vocalist) son, and Chuck, Nick's (Cephalic's bassist) brother. Because we were in Denver, Cephalic's home, the question at hand was easy to seal away: two free bunks. But, two free bunks doesn't solve the extra 6 people still on Marduk's money-swallowing bus. At that point in the night I knew one bus would be sent home and maybe some crew (most likely me too). But, I didn't expect the actual outcome: a Mayhem only tour. (more…)

We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She will be checking in constantly with dispatches from the tour. Catch up with all her tour diaries, as well as a ton of photos at the Blackenedfest hub.

Yesterday I spent a good chunk of my energy at Amoeba. So when I finally got back I decided it would be best to watch Family Guy on Cephalic's bus than to watch Mayhem's 1.5 hour long set. Two hours later I got a very angry call from Milkshake (support band's soundguy). Apparently, I'm a terrible photojournalist because I missed one of the great photo opportunities in all of extreme music history: Attila greeting Jello Biafra for the first time.

The way it went down, according to Billy Anderson, was that Attila went up to Jello saying how much of a fan he was. Jello responded with, "and who are you?" That is because Attila had already removed all the corpse paint (duh). So, I ended up backstage all tired and whiny, while Milkshake chatted up a storm with Jello. I finally took their picture and went back to the bus, where I thought I was going to chill out. But, as soon as I got there, Leonard was all like where's my Jello picture?! But, because its Leonard, it become a beer-hunt. I won a 22 ounce of Budweiser and a trip back to the bus. I sat down for about 4 minutes when Milkshake stormed onto the bus, "HEY, JELLO WANTS A WITHERED CD AND RECORD RIGHT NOW." And off again I went to grab the picture above.

Just when I thought the night was over, I got onto my bus and dropped off my camera into the lounge area. Milkshake and the other crew guys were pumping "Holiday In Cambodia", as if we were celebrating a real holiday. And, just when it was the perfect moment for a sing-a-long to develop, Jello Biafra walked onto the bus. We all panicked. Someone ran to my iPod to turn it down so he wouldn't realize we were totally fan-ing out. He said his goodbyes. We tried to convince him to join the tour since we have open bunk space (thanks Marduk). He declined and we let out big sighs once he left.

Other celebrity sightings of the night: Dave Edwardson from Neurosis and Nils Frykdahl from Sleepytime Gorilla Museum.

Hellhammer (center) waiting for parking lot bbq after the Alburquerque show.

The Blackened Fest tour (minus Marduk) has arrived at the House Of Blues on Sunset Blvd. I'm skipping through the last couple of days, which have been great shows and great times. Including when Beau and I got too drunk to find our way out of a parking lot less than a block away from the buses (or our mobile homes). Yesterday the bands had a day off. While Mayhem was living it up at the beach, Cephalic Carnage and Withered spent a spectacular miserable day at Ontario Mall. But, its okay. We're in Hollywood, now, where twatbags who don't do research can write for the LA Weekly… (more…)

We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She will be checking in constantly with dispatches from the tour. Catch up with all her tour diaries, as well as a ton of photos at the Blackenedfest hub.

Day 5

After a night of heavy partying in Orlando, the support bands headed to Tallahassee for a very intimate show. Tallahassee is such the typical college town. Since school is out, there was the average local turn out. Once the show was over, the 150 capacity bar turned into a nightclub with an 80's dance party. It got really wild then. Just a bunch of smelly bearded dudes dancing in a sea of young 20-somethings.

While, Cattle Decap was packing up their trailer, their fill-in bassist Rah (pictured, above right) had a dance off with a local. I will be sure to include it in the end-of-tour video diary. Ultimately, the greatest part of the night was when these really tall, barely dressed young ladies walked by and all the guys started shouting and whistling. Josh, waited for the other guys to get exhausted before sarcastically exclaiming, "well, I WAS gay!" (more…)

We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She will be checking in constantly with dispatches from the tour. Catch up with all her tour diaries, as well as a ton of photos at the Blackenedfest hub.

Photo Credit: Mike Thompson (Withered)

Day 4

The Orlando show marked the last show for Withered's Chris Freeman for this tour. He's going back home to Atlanta to get certified to be a personal trainer. And because Dan Rozenblum (tour booking agent) and Cartel Brown (tour manager) live in Orlando, the night exploded into many moments of debauchery and madness. Once I found out that the bus call wasn't until 10 am, I knew it would be a good night. Especially because the bands are just starting to warm up to each other. (more…)

We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She will be checking in constantly with dispatches from the tour. Catch up with all her tour diaries, as well as a ton of photos at the Blackenedfest hub.

Day 3

Following a riot of a great time at Maryland Death Fest, the Blackened Fest tour made its stop at one of the worst venues on the east coast: Ground Zero in South Carolina.
Highlights after the jump.

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We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She will be checking in constantly with dispatches from the tour. Catch up with all her tour diaries, as well as a ton of photos at the Blackenedfest hub.

Day 2

Maryland Death Fest
It's a time to run into friends from home and friends you forgot existed. For me, there wasn't one band that disappointed. I had already seen Pigsty and Jig-ai last weekend in Brooklyn. The second dosage was even better. My favorite band on the indoor stage was Sayyadina. They are a Swedish three piece with raw aggression.

Cattle Decap Spit
Travis from Cattle is known for spitting up into the air and catching it with his mouth. But, on May 22, a giant clammy missed his mouth and landed on the side of my shirt. It was a gnarly multi-tint, phlegm colored hunk of spit. I haven't showered in a couple days, but I did go into the bathroom and wash it off with soap. I didn't mind having a half wet shirt for the rest of MDF since it was a predicable Baltimore summer day. (more…)

We sent roving reporter Justina Villanueva on the road with this summer's darkest tour, Blackenedfest. She will be checking in constantly with dispatches from the tour. Catch up with all her tour diaries, as well as a ton of photos at the Blackenedfest hub.

Day 1

First lesson of the tour: If the tour manager gives you a photo pass, don't loose it.
I got to Irving Plaza 5 hours after I said I would have. After spending hours staring at my luggage because I could not do the whole toiletry Tetris shuffle, I spent 90 minutes in traffic. By the time I got to the venue I was on another planet. Which explains why when Cartel (tour manager) handed me my photo/crew pass I put it "somewhere" and didn't see it for the rest of the night. And, because a tour laminate is not good enough for Irving Plaza crew to recognize someone as part of the tour, I had to run around during Lair of Minotaur looking for Cartel to fix my mess. But, don't worry, Lair of Minotaur will be catching up with the tour again in a couple weeks. I'll get pictures of them then.

Marduk
Everyone on the tour (bands and crew) have heard different stories and has begun to speculate their own version of what could be the issue. Including the ol' "maybe they're not even a real band" joke. All I can tell anyone is that I really don't know when/if they will join the tour. (more…)

Dear America,

Mayhem has arrived. Today marks the first day of the Blackened Fest tour. And also the first day of an installment of (almost) day reports from the road, as I embark on a dark trip throughout the US in a bus with one of the 5 bands on this tour. For me the last two days have been a hectic stream of running errands and shooting shows. For Mayhem the last two days have only been a stepping stone for perfecting just how they will "infect" America. (more…)

If you don't know of the experimental band maudlin of the Well, they get responses like this:

eric: It's all I hoped & more. The more part being a glimpse at the inside of that window & the Clover Garland doors. Dd doors.

This band (yes, entire band) is truly one of the greatest projects ever to exist. Someone please prove me wrong.

Strapping Young Chad: YES YES YESSS! thank you guys! it's a freakin masterpiece!!!

DEIVIDDO!: The new album is a musical orgasm if I've ever had one… gives me reason to keep going… especially the grooves, the guitar solos, toby's singing… damn EVERYTHING! THANK YOU ALL SOOOOOO MUCH TO ANYONE WHO MADE IT POSSIBLE!!!!

Maxime: aaaaaaarrrgg!
"Part the Second" is… awesome!
I can't believe it!
wow! I'm really impress…

I can't review Part The Second because I'm just not that good at doing reviews, but I can promise it will rule. I also promise that if you don't like it, you will not hate someone. I can promise that because it is free and available for download in various versions here. About a year ago, Toby Driver [maudlin of the Well, Kayo Dot] wrote in a blog, "I wonder if we could somehow have a community-funded motW record – funded by donations from fans and then released for free online."

And, viola! With the aid of fans, including the "generous" Etienne Dube, a maudlin of the Well album is available to anyone for free. If you too feel generous, you can donate and maybe fans can see a pressed version of Part The Second.

-Justina

On April 8, Trap Them played a basement in New Brunswick, NJ (Rutgers area). This was just before they hit the road with Napalm Death and Kataklysm. And this was way before Sean interviewed them at New England Metal Fest (after the jump). If these videos get you nostalgic about basement shows in general, you can catch them in NYC on May 25th, when they'll be playing Lit Lounge's basement, and again in June at The Charleston. That's when they'll be touring with their label mates Victims (right after Maryland Deathfest). In other Trap Them news, Barney Greenway just confirmed how legit these guys are in his interview with MetalSucks.

More after the jump
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Moonsorrow at Paganfest 2009 in Allentown, PA

Justina Villanueva | Most awesome correspondent

The day begun with Popeyes, a 2 hour drive to Allentown, PA and some interviews. Noa interviewed her favorite band Moonsorrow. Rob caught up with Swashbuckle in their stage uniforms, Blackguard with their [enter Canadian joke here] and Korpiklanni with their Smirnoff Ices. At showtime, Swashbuckle proved to have the funniest stage banter. Blackguard provoked a thunderous circle pit. Moonsorrow brought blood and nature-inspired atmospherics. Primordial generated pure darkness. And, the folkiest band of the night, Korpiklaani, ended the night.

More pictures after the jump.
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