HellYeah, Otep & Bloodsimple @ The Palladium - Worcester MA
BALLS VOLUME AND STRENGTH TOUR
Featuring HELLYEAH, OTEP and BLOODSIMPLE.
Bloodsimple exploded as they kicked off the night with a 35 minute set that set the crowd in chaotic disarray. They played mainly the songs off their latest album, 
“Red Harvest� which was released on October 2007 on Bullygoat/Reprise Records.
The band will kick off 2008 with a tour in Europe with Avenged Sevenfold, kicking off 1/17/08 in the UK. There are talks
of another North America tour to follow after Europe. Stay tune to their website for more info.
Next up was Otep. They held their ground as vocalist, Otep Shamaya spewed forth her political antics. I’m not a huge fan of their music but their set was respectable for their style of music. Towards the end of their set, the crowd seemed a little antsy to get to the headliners.
HellYeah - for those of you who have been living under a rock - features Vinnie Paul (Pantera/DamagePlan), Chad Gray and
Greg Tribbett (Mudvayne), Tom Maxwell (Nothingface) and Bob Zilla (Damage Plan). HY took the stage, to perform what was
the best set we have seen them play as they played songs off the entire CD, plus a cover of Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy.�
Most memorable song of the night was “Thank you� which was dedicated to all friends and family who touch our lives,
including Vinnie talking about his brother, Dimebag Darrell, which the show was the day before the anniversary of his
death. All in all the crowd response from start to finish was excellent
While rumors are surfacing that HellYeah and Machine Head will be teaming up to tour after the new year, fans can get
their HellYeah fix, by picking up the band’s live DVD “Below the Belt� which was released on Nov 13th.
In related news (Gray’s and Tribbett’s other band), Mudvayne released a fan-generated album, “By The People For The People� which was the second highest debut on the Billboard Top 200 Chart, entering at #51. Mudvayne is looking to return to the studio, to re-work their fourth album, which is now due for a Mid-2008 release.
Be sure to check out our PHOTO GALLERIES from the show:
For more information, visit:
HELLYEAH: www.hellyeahrocks.com or www.myspace.com/hellyeah
BLOODSIMPLE: www.bloodsimpleband.com/ or www.myspace.com/bloodsimple
Posted by Nadine Swiger ::
Still in support of their latest release "The Apostasy"; Behemoth took the stage and put on one of their most brutal and powerful show! Having seen them all 10 times they have toured the US and even on their one night with Dimmu Borgir at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, PA; this had to be the best show ever!! Their set was tight really, extremely tight! Playing tracks from Thelema .6, Satanica, Zos Kia Cultus, Demigod and The Apostasy; Plus going back to the old days and playing Summoning of the Ancient ones!! Freaking amazing! With each new release Behemoth push their creative energy to new levels of aggression and brutality while keeping a focused agenda "To Conquer All"!
Behemoth is a full package, awesome stage presence backed by excellent songs and intelligent lyric writing. If you haven't picked up "The Apostasy" why are you waiting!? It has to be one of the best extreme metal releases of 2007.
which hit the stores in early July 2007, Droid are the first band signed to Korn's guitartist, James "Munky" Shaffer's label, Emotional Syphon Records.
'double-bass mayhem') and Matt Snell (Anubis Rising and Deadsett), FFDP took command of the stage with a solid "in your face" sound, with thick chunky riffs and a hard hitting rhythm section. FFDP are out 
in support of their debut album "THE WAY OF THE FIST."
rock that made these "outlaw" cowboys a crowd pleaser. The
current album is self-titled, HellYeah. After this tour, HellYeah will head out on their headlining tour: "BALLS VOLUME AND STRENGTH TOUR" with OTEP and Bloodsimple kicking off Oct 30th in Detroit, MI and will continue through December. HellYeah has teamed up with Eventful (Demand It!) and My Yearbook to run a contest for a local band to open up each night of the tour. More details are on their website. Once the tour wraps up, it is slated that Gray and Tribbett will return to the studio to finalize the fourth Mudvayne album which plans to come out in 2008.
Last up was headliners Korn. With the band's eighth studio album, Untitled, released on July 31, 2007 through EMI/Virgin, Korn performed hit after hit with songs from the past decade and a half. The new album sold 123,000 copies in the first week, and it debuted at #2 on The Billboard Charts. The tour will wind up at the end of October. KORN's frontman Jonathan Davis will embark on a solo acoustic tour, kicking off Nov 9 in Hartford CT (hitting the Turning Stone Casino in Vernon NY on Nov 10th). He states that he will not be doing a solo album, but wanted to do the tour for fun. Check out Korn's website for more details.
featuring Velvet Revolver and Alice In Chains at Saratoga Performing Art Center on August 23, 2007 in Saratoga Springs, NY.
certain notes, which ads to and makes the songs that much stronger. Layne would have been definitely proud. Duff joined
AIC on stage during "Rooster." While looking back onto Alice in Chains albums, it's hard to believe that they only had two EPs and
three full-length releases, yet they made such a huge impact on the 90's musicial landscape. Listening to their set proved that their songs are timeless. Alice in Chains has been reported to be
working on new material. Meanwhile, check out DuVall in Come With The Fall, who will be releasing a new album, 'Beyond The Last Light" on September 4, 2007. (more info at 
our first time at a Velvet Revolver show as well, these 90's Rock legends
proved true to their reputations. From the get go, they commanded the stage, with a fun loving, energetic show. Live, Velvet Revolver sound is very close to
what you 
We had the honor of catching Behemoth on an off date from Ozzfest when they preformed at the Magic City music hall in Johnson City, NY.
focused agenda "To Conquer All"! One of the most unique things about this band is their depth. Their songs
are not just songs they are intelligent and though provoking metaphors. Behemoth's musick has the savvy listeners diving into and researching the topics and ideas discussed in the lyrics and liner notes.
headlining US Tour! Behemoth will co-headline with Gojira on the "Radio Rebellion tour" that kicks off October 18th in Baltimore MA. Others on the bill are Job For A Cowboy and Beneath The Massacre.
The Family Values Tour invaded Saratoga Performing Art Center in Saratoga Springs, NY on August 7, 2007. It was a day packed full with 2 stages of good old American Rock and Metal Music which was co-headlined by KORN and EVANESCENCE.
Last Starfighter, Invitro, Bloodsimple, Through You, Twin Method
and Five Finger Death Punch on the second stage.
It was a night where demons and angles were summoned to the Time Union Center in Albany NY where the HEAVEN AND HELL tour stepped in and possessed the stage. Machine Head, Megadeth and Heaven and Hell Live (Dio-era Black Sabbath), put forth a night of respectable metal which covered three generations. Fist in the air and devil horns were just about everywhere you looked.
They are currently out touring in support of their latest album, "The Blackening," which tends to draw in the younger crowds. With 8 albums and over 12years under their belt, they do have the experience and sound to hold their ground in this tour line-up. This tour gave them the opportunity to play in front of the older die-hard Dio/Sabbath fans who may not have heard of them; by the end of their set, Machine Head had gained the respect of the crowd and turned them into new fans. Machine Head will be heading over to Europe this summer, doing several shows with Iron Maiden and festivals.
MEGADETH was up next; Dave Mustaine with the latest combination of Megadeth ripped up the stage,
proving that they are still on the top of their game. A day before their newest release, "United Abominations" Megadeth gave a sneek preview of the album with new songs "Wake Up Dead" and "Tornado Of Souls". Their set also consisted of several classic Megadeth songs like "Peace Sells" and "Symphony of Destruction." Duo guitars of Mustaine and Glen Drover (King Diamond), bass lines of James LoMenzo (Black Label Society, David Lee Roth, Slash's Snakepit, Pride & Glory, Ozzy Osbourne, Ace Frehley) and drum work of Shawn Drover, Megadeth's thrash style metal is as strong as ever, loud and feirce! Megadeth will also be touring in Europe around June/July and hitting the metal festivals.
Finally, the night was winding up to the reason that brought most fans there;
Ronnie James Dio, Tommy Ionni, Gezer Butler and Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath- the Dio Years) aka HEAVEN AN HELL to take the stage. Their 110 min set consisted mainly of songs from "Heaven and Hell," (1980), "The Mob Rules" (1981) and "Dehumanizer" (1992). Dio's vocals were solid as one would only expect and were strong as ever. It was as if they jumped through a worm hole and landed 20yrs later on the stage. If you get the opportunity to catch Heaven and Hell out on tour, don't think twice!! It's a metal history lesson for those too young to know this incantation of Black Sabbath, and a flash back to those who lived in "The Dio Years" that will not disappoint.
of "In Sorte Diaboli". After a four year break Dimmu are back and "In Sorte Diaboli" has to be their greatest invocation of musick to date. Blasting out a concept album which is a first for Dimmu; taking place in the middle ages its the tale of Christian who after seeing the hypocrisy and dogma of the faith rejects his path for a more fitting choice "In Sorte Diaboli" (In Faith with Satan:English). 
and past releases. Kataklysm has been around since 1992 and has a great catalog of releases. Their mixture of blackened death thrash has been destroying stages and melting cds players for years. Their latest release "IN THE ARMS OF DEVASTATION " is once again on Nuclear Blast as their four previous. If you haven't heard of them yet then wake up; Kataklysm is a force of powerful metal energy that can't be ignored.
Next to hit the stage was Behemoth with their unique fast brutal style of death metal
mixed with a hint of old style black metal. Behemoth has carved out their sound starting back with the "Satanica" release. I have had the pleasure of seeing them live six times and each time they get better and better! Behemoths musical assault included a range of songs from each album and included a new track "Christgrinding Avenue" from their yet to be releases cd "The Apostasy". The new track was once again pushing the envelope of extreme metal and put another notch in the Behemoth belt for skill, quality and creativeness. If this in any indication of what's in store on the new cd I cant wait!. Behemoth's new cd The Apostasy will be out this July and they will be touring on this summers Ozzfest.
The first song explodes off the stage "Progenies Of The Great Apocalypse" and sends the crowd into a crazed head banging arm throwing seizure. Sagrath screaming the lyric "Share my Sacrifice" from "The Serpentine Offering" on their newest cd "In Sorte Diaboli" together with the pounding force of Hellhammer on the drums, the crazy fast skills on strings from Galdar, Selinoz and I.C.S. Votex and the keyboard styling of Mutis; Dimmu just destroys. Their musick sounds good on cd but live it's a million times more powerful. Dimmu are tighter, faster and far more brutal than previously, seems the break gave them time to recharge their dark energy and they have deliver onto us one superb musical creation.
They played a full set with one encore enveloping us with favorites as "The Insight and the Catharsis, Kings of The Carnival Creation and
they also hit us with the track Sorgens Kammer Del II which is from the new re-recorded and re-released (Phew say that five times fast) Stormblast cd. I'm not sure if you remember but the original Sorgens Kammer was an instrumental piece. A nice surprise to the set was when they played "Succubus In Rapture" talk about going back, that was a great addition. For the encore they hit us with none other than "Spellbound (By The Devil)" and "The Mourning Palace" one great set list for Dimmu. Make sure you catch this show when it comes to a city near you. For more information on Dimmu, Behemoth, Kataklysm and Devil Driver please follow the links below; and don't forget to support your artists "Buy the Album"!
of music as well as a bruising night in the crowd. With a line-up this strong, it is absolutely not a surprise that this tour holds one of the hottest tickets to North America's tours.
Next up was California natives, Machine Head. They are another band that has been plugging the scene well over 10 years. They newest album, "The Blackening" comes out this Tuesday (March 27, 2007) on Roadrunner Records. There is quite a buzz going around that this is their best album yet to date. Look for Machine Head to take the stage with Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Vinny Appice as they tour with Heaven and Hell and Megadeth from April 22 to May 19, 2007.
Then Trivium took the stage with their relentless display of speedy riffs that they have a strong reputation for. With high energy, they are always a pleasure to see and never disappoint; they are on tour in promotion of their latest album, "The Crusade" on Roadrunner Records. Trivium will be heading back over to Europe in April 8, once this tour wraps up.
Finally to take the stage was Lamb of God. They were insanely brutal; as it was "Pure American Metal" at it's finest. It's easy to see why this tour has sold out night after night. While still in support of their late 2006 release, "Sacrament," Lamb of God will continue to headlining this tour until it winds up April 5th in Ohio. If you were unable to score tickets for the remaining dates, never fear, they will be on the main stage at this summer's Ozzfest. They are also slated to do several festivals in Europe for those fans overseas.
It was a show of "house party" style as the bands were not on a stage, but rather set up in the middle of the floor in a roller skating rink, with the crowd surrounding the band. I don't think a show can get more personable than that. I just hope none of the band members had Claustrophobia because they would have been in for a really rough night
Headlining the show was Victory recording artist, Emmure.Even though their debut album was just release roughly 2 weeks ago (March 6, 2007), a strong buzz has surrounded this band for some time, giving their live show notoriety. We finally got a chance to see first hand what their craze was all about: entertaining and energetic with two-step parts that are in the vein of Unearth or Hatebreed, packed with emotional depth.
mechanical problems with their bus.) 
intense---singing and screaming their lungs out with new vocalist, Jason Wood. Their set was solid and satisfying.
Opening the night of metal was Unearth, with their mix of American hardcore metal and euro metal they give an aggressive interesting twist to their music. Their current release III: IN THE EYES OF FIRE has been getting excellent reviews and has put them in a perfect position to unleash their style of metal onto an even bigger audience. They ripped up the stage with tracks off their current and past releases which had the crowd spinning and throwing a sea of arms. Live, they have a strong sound and perform with a fun atmosphere; guitars flying in almost an 80-early 90's guitar stage tactics. Check out Unearth's new video, "Sanctity Of Brothers" at 
One thing that stands out from seeing Slayer over the years is their tour's set list is different each time. You can count on them performing those core songs like "Reign in Blood," "Angel of Death," and "Dead Skin Mask" but everything else on the set list is for the true fans. For an example, on the Unholy Alliance tour, they only played one song (the first single) off the new album which at the time had not been released. This time around, they played 4 new songs off the latest album, plus for those die hard fans who have been with them since the beginning, "Die By The Sword" and "Show No Mercy."
As always, if you get a chance to check out Slayer when they comes to your town, its well worth it. Slayers current release Christ Illusion debut at position No. 5 on The Billboard 200 chart; which was released in August 2006 and sold more than 62,000 copies in its first week of release. Recently, Slayer was honored with a Grammy in the "Best Metal Performance"