R.I.P. RONALD JAMES PADAVONA “DIO”

On May 16th 2010, the great Ronnie James Dio lost his battle with cancer. The metal community is mourning – he was one of metal’s best vocalists. Fronting legendary bands like Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Dio, he made some of the best metal records. “Heaven and Hell”  and “Mob Rules”  with Black Sabbath, and his best work was with his own band “Holy Diver”  and “The Last in Line.” See you in hell Dio!

NEW MUSIC

HAWKWIND TRIAD – “HARVESTMAN, MINSK, U.S. CHRISTMAS.”  Neurot Recordings compilation tribute to psychedelic/experimental rock band Hawkwind. Featuring three of the best experimental stoner/doom metal bands.

KARMA TO BURN – “Appalachian Incantation.” Instrumental stoner/desert rock from West Virginia.

BRAIN DRILL – “Quantum Catastrophe.” Grindcore/death metal from Santa Cruz, CA. Great album cover!

HOWL – “Full of Hell.” Sludge/metal from Providence, RI.

MAD SIN – “Burn & Rise.” Psychobilly from Germany.

MISERY INDEX – “Heirs to Thievery.” Grindcore/death metal from Baltimore/DC.

LACRIMAS PROFUNDERE – “The Grandiose Nowhere.” German gothic metal.

COMBICHRIST – “Scarred EP.” Industrial/aggrotech from Norway/Atlanta.

NIGHTBRINGER – “Apocalypse Sun.” Raw black metal from Colorado.

KEVIN SECONDS – “Good Luck Buttons.” Folk/punk from legendary singer of  7 seconds.

16 VOLT – “American Porn Songs Remixed.” Industrial metal from Portland.

HARVESTMAN – “Trinity.” Steve Von Till from Neurosis experimental/psychedelic folk band.

MOUTH SEWN SHUT – “2009.” Hardcore/punk/ska from Boston.

THE BREAK – “Church of the Open Sky.” Instrumental surf from Australia.

DECODED FEEDBACK – “Aftermath.” Industrial/aggrotech from Toronto.

MIKE PATTON – “Mondo Cane.” Legendary vocalist (the best in my opinion) doing cover versions of 50’s and 60’s Italian pop music with an orchestra.

ORDER OF ENNEAD – “Examination of Being.” Black/death metal from Tampa, Florida.

THE INSURGENCE – “The Insurgence.” Real punk from Seattle.

RECOIL – “Selected.” Remixed compilation album from Alan Wilder’s experimental/electronic/avant-garde project. Featuring Diamanda Galas, Douglas McCarthy (Nitzer Ebb) and Toni Hlliday (Curve).

VISION BLEAK – “Set Sail To Mystery.” German horror gothic metal.

EXODUS – “Exibit B: The Human Condition.” Legendary Bay Area thrash metal band.

CYNIC – “Re-Traced.” Progressive metal from Miami, FL.

SILENT CIVILIAN – “Ghost Stories.” Thrash metal from L.A.

JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION – “Controversial Negro.” One of the best rock/punk/soul bands live in Tucson.

IMMOLATION – “Majesty and Decay.” Death metal from Yonkers, NY.

MONO @ THE BLUEBIRD THEATER 5/15/10 DENVER-CO

Mono from Tokyo, Japan are one of the best instrumental rock bands. They mix experimental noise with instrumental soundscapes, post-rock, shoegaze and classical instrumentation to create a beautiful sound. The guitar work of Takaakira Goto and Yoda is hypnotic and trance like, along with Tamaki Kunishi on bass and Yasunori Takada on drums. They just release a live album “Holy Ground: NYC Live with the Wordless Music Orchestra” a masterpiece of noise rock and classical music.

Also playing: The Twilight Sad – Indie rock/shoegaze band from Scotland.

BLACK SLEEP OF KALI @ 3 KINGS TAVERN 5/13/10 DENVER-CO

Black Sleep of Kali is Denver’s own version of Goatsnake. They play a style of doom/stoner metal that is from the school of Sabbath. They are signed to Small Stone Records and will release “Our Slow Decay” later in 2010. Good local band if you like Melvins, High On Fire and of course Goatsnake.

HAVOK @ THE MARQUIS THEATER 5/13/10 DENVER-CO

Havok is Colorado thrash metal at is finest. Led by David Sanchez on guitar and vocals, Shawn Chavez on lead guitar, Jesse De Los Santos on bass and Pete Webber on drums. They play a style of thrash similar to Slayer, Testament and Exodus. They will be kicking off their tour at the Marquis in support of their debut lp “Burn.” Colorado Thrash!!!

Also playing: Valiomierda – Latin punk infected metal from Denver. Great band that sings in english, spanish and portuguese. Iconocaust – Thrash/death metal from Colorado.

ROBERT “BOB” NESTA MARLEY 2/06/1945 – 5/11/1981

“Money can’t buy life”  the last words of Bob Marley before his death 29 years ago May 11th 1981. His music was about political repression, metaphysical and artistic insights, gangland warfare, love and ganja. Not evil in any way,  just a big influence on all music.

ASSEMBLAGE 23 @ CERVANTES MASTERPIECE BALLROOM 5/11/10 DENVER-CO

Industrial band from Seattle,WA. Assemblage 23 will be in Denver bringing their style of dark EBM/synthpop. Tom Shear is the mastermind behind it all, on albums only. Live it is composed of Kevin Choby (drums) and Paul Seegers (keys). Influenced by such bands as Depeche Mode, VNV Nation and Front 242.

Also playing: Angel Theory – industrial/EBM one-man show from Melbourne, Australia led by Charles Fenech.

BLACK BREATH @ THE MARQUIS THEATER 5/11/10 DENVER-CO

Brutal death n’ roll is what Black Breath are described as. Coming out of Seattle, WA. this punk/metal band deliver us some evil with their latest lp “Heavy Breathing.” Signed to Southern Lord Records they should not dissapoint just like all the other bands in the roster.

Also playing: Coalesce – hardcore punk out of Kansas City, MO. and Touche Amore – hardcore punk out of L.A.

EARTH CRISIS @ THE MARQUIS THEATRE 5/07/10 DENVER-CO

Hardcore punks, EARTH CRISIS, from Syracuse, NY, will be at the Marquis bringing their veganism/straight-edge/animal right activism dogma to the masses. They are the creators of two of the best hardcore albums “All Out War” and “Gomorrah’s Season Ends.”

Also playing: FIRST BLOOD – hardcore from San Francisco, California  and THICK AS BLOOD – hardcore from Viper City, Florida. Oh, and the headliners WHITECHAPEL – “deathcore?” from Knoxville, TN.

CANNIBAL CORPSE @ THE GOTHIC THEATRE 5/03/10 ENGLEWOOD-CO

Controversial death metal band, Cannibal Corpse, will be at the Gothic to film their show for a live DVD. They are the creators of such horror based masterpieces, “Butchered at Birth,” Tomb of the Mutilated” and “Kill.”

Also playing: 1349 – Norwegian black metal; Skeletonwitch– thrash/black metal from Athens, Ohio; and Lecherous Nocturne – death/black metal from South Carolina.