FUCKED UP played the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis, MN on Wednesday, April 8, with local hardcore punks in BRING THAT SHIT, post-hardcore band THE NINA! THE PINTA!, and crossover punks TOTALLY HARSH supporting, and the show was nothing short of spectacular. Throughout their set, the Canadian progressive hardcore punks in FUCKED UP played with an untouchable fire, fueling the highly supportive crowd through one of most exciting and satisfying hardcore shows in my recent memory. Their set was energizing in a way that's hard to put into words; the band's charismatic frontman Pink Eyes is a larger than life personality, no doubt, and he had fans on the tip of their toes throughout their performance with his unpredictable antics, hilarious banter and infectious enthusiasm. Meanwhile, the three-guitar wall of hardcore noise provided the perfect soundtrack for the flying bodies and spontaneous mosh pits on the floor of the Triple Rock.

Hardcore shows this fun are hard to come by these days (and even though FUCKED UP plays a much more adventurous style of hardcore than I'm used to), but their performance proved that the passion for this kind of punk rock is still strong in the city of Minneapolis. Right now, I'd personally rank this as the best show I've seen this year, and I'm sure it will be a hard one to top.

FUCKED UP

FUCKED UP

Video: FUCKED UP live @ Triple Rock Social Club on 4/8/09

**apologies for the long intro (how about I just refer to the video editing as "punk rock"?), but my iBook is horrible for editing and encoding videos. Oh well; "Black Albino Bones" starts around 1:45**

And if you like FUCKED UP or just enjoy the photos, then keep reading because there's many more chaotic photos of FUCKED UP and all the opening bands after the jump.. (more…)

In most movies, Manhattan is made out to be a high-fashion metropolis with everyone in black pant suits on 5th Ave and super chic designer outfits in SoHo. But, if you live here, you know its just a giant cluster fuck of every kind of being. The metal underground is just one scene in a bottomless pool of cultures. And the metal scene is sub-genred to the point that I can barely keep up with the new sub-sub-genres. Last Sunday was my first live Pagan Metal experience and I can promise that it won't be my last. It was also a pretty good option for ruining a working person's Monday morning. Who cares, though. Sleep deprived headaches don't compare to the kilt-moshing and wench chanting that added to a night of complete drunken praise to pirate metal. Enjoy my photomentary below of Alestorm and Tyr. Sorry for missing Suidakra's set but the damned Apple Store tricked me into driving an hour out of my way. If you missed it, be sure to catch Pagan Fest this summer.

ALESTORM

A band whose fans brought on the stormy dancing and made sure their beers were always in the air

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(Destruction)

DESTRUCTION and KRISIUN played a show at Station 4 in St. Paul on Friday, March 13th, a small festival of all things metal. Unfortunately, I missed MANTIC RITUAL and a whole slew of awesome local thrash, grind and death metal due to a prior engagement, but the show that Krisiun and DESTRUCTION put on to close the night made my trip to St. Paul from Minneapolis more than worth it. The Brazilian death metal trio of brethren known as KRISIUN played their revered brutal death metal to perfection, drawing material mostly from their newest high quality albums. Songs such as “Bloodcraft” & “Combustion Inferno” threw the tight knit crowd into a frenzy that was very deserved, given the massive, spectacular sound coming from the stage. While I admit I’m not as familiar with the German thrash legends in DESTRUCTION as I am with many 80s thrash acts, their show was very, very awesome; no frills thrash metal at maximum headbanging velocity. Dates are remaining on this tour, and everyone is in top form; get out to it if you can, because these band’s deserve to be seen. Anyway, on to my brief set of photos from both the band’s performances.

(Krisiun)

The rest of the gallery and the remaining tour dates are all waiting for you after the jump! (more…)

To some, they may be known as HENNES SISTE HØST – the North Dakota based underground USBM band whose brilliant new album of frostbitten black'n'roll progressive metal, Høst, broke new ground with its fusion of the band's blackened Norwegian traditions and a variety of other abstract and punk oriented influences. Last week, they made the trip from Fargo to Minneapolis for the second time in as many months, and are now performing under the simpler moniker HØST. The turnout was meager, however the show was incredible – their dynamic songs playing with an exceptional clarity and evoking psycotic, psychedelic madness through their relentless riffage, chaos, and rhythm. Here are some photos:

HØST were preceded by a showcase of some of the most innovative and promising Minneapolis' acts: doom-gaze metal band VERNAL POOL (photos), techmetal from SAID THE SHOTGUN TO THE HEAD (photos), crusty grind'n'roll from AMBASSADOR GUN (photos), and dirty, sludgy thrash from Eau Claire, Wisconsin's DESOLATE VOID (photos).

If you have no idea what I have just been talking about, do yourself a favor and visit them online now.

Our buddy Chris from Photosynthesis Photograpjy submitted two new galleries for your viewing pleasure. Photos of UNEARTH and IN THIS MOMENT from recent NY stops. Click on either band's photo to see their respective gallery:

Click here for the UNEARTH Gallery

Click here for the IN THIS MOMENT gallery