The Sword’s 2010 release, Warp Riders, is an unironic slab of monolithic Sabbath-y riffs as interpreted by a Texas band with early ZZ Top flowing in their bloodstream. At least that’s the way I hear it. This is The Sword’s first appearance in Columbus since a sold-out January 2009 date at the Ravari Room. The Sword is on tour with Kyuss Lives (too bad we couldn’t get THAT bill here) and doing Columbus as a one-off. Not to be outdone, Black Cobra’s latest, Invernal, sounds like Ministry without the industrial noises. Pretty hardcore and in-yer-muthafuckin-face if you ask me (did you?).

Tickets for The Sword show are $15 at the door.

Back in my formative years (late ’80s/early ’90s) I knew of Death Angel as the thrash metal Filipino-American kids. I don’t think that really helped them get airplay on Headbanger’s Ball, but “Bored” was a staple and the band member’s ages (all in their late teens) was usually mentioned. After going on hiatus for 10 years, a few of the original members (singer Mark Osegueda and guitarist Rob Cavestany) got back together with a revolving door of new members. The current lineup, touring behind 2010′s Relentless Retribution, has been together since 2009.

(Old school Death Angel vs New school Death Angel)

A full night of metal takes place Wednesday at the Alrosa with a lineup of Death Angel, Dismemberment, Skullbomb, Fade to Oblivion, A.O.D., and Strikken. Doors open at 6 with music to start shortly thereafter. Tickets are $14.

This week, the ‘Witch released Forever Abomination, a punishing slab of devil’s spit that’s as heavy as metal comes. Chance Garnette’s demonic growls scare the living bejesus out of me – they’re the possessed sounds you pray you’ll forget about when waking up from the worst nightmare you’ve ever had. And while the band’s music can fairly fall into many different subgenres of metal (death, black, thrash), guitarists Nathan Garnette and Scott Hedrick and bassist Evan Linger definitely are at least partially influenced by ’80s European metal acts such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest.

Reduced To The Failure Of Prayer by Prosthetic Records

Skeletonwitch’s Forever Abomination CD release show at the Ravari Room on Friday night features guests Shrine of Suffering and The Pandemic Nemesis. Doors open at 9pm and the cover is $12.

Anthrax and Testament have just announced a co-headlining tour with Death Angel serving as the opening act. Anthrax is touring to support Worship Music which will come out later this month and may very well be the best metal album of 2011 (review forthcoming) while Testament has a new album coming out in 2012.

From the press release:

The Anthrax fan club presale begins today at www.anthraxarmy.com, and the public on-sale kicks off Friday, September 9 at 10AM local time. For more information or to purchase tickets, log onto http://anthrax.com http://www.testamentlegions.com/ or http://deathangel.us/

Dates are subject to change and more will be announced – the itinerary for the Anthrax/Testament/Death Angel Fall 2011 tour is as follows:

OCTOBER
14 Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, MI
15 Congress Theatre, Chicago, IL
16 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
18 The Cotillion, Wichita, KS
19 Summit Music Hall, Denver, CO
22 Nokia LA Live, Los Angeles, CA
23 Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA
24 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
26 Sunshine Theatre, Albuquerque, NM
28 South Side Music Hall, Dallas, TX
29 Emo’s East, Austin, TX
30 Warehouse Live, Houston, TX

NOVEMBER
1 House of Blues, Orlando, FL
2 Revolution, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
4 House of Blues, Myrtle Beach, SC
5 Fillmore Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
6 The Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
8 Northern Lights, Clifton Park, NY
10 Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA
11 Palladium, Worcester, MA
15 Town Ballroom, Buffalo, NY
17 Stage AE, Pittsburgh, PA
19 Rave, Milwaukee, WI

A bunch of Manitoba musicians decided to pay tribute to Ronnie James Dio by covering the song.

I apologize in advance.

Original version:

Suicidal Tendencies recently released No Mercy Fool!/The Suicidal Family which is a re-recording of tracks from the band’s second album, Join the Army, and songs from ST guitarist Mike Clark’s speed metal band, No Mercy.

Doors open at 6pm and tickets are $20. Also on the bill are Death Before Dishonor, Damn Near Down, and Catastrophic Manifestation.

Helloween’s new album, 7 Sinners, comes out on November 9.

ARE YOU METAL? – exclusive myspace premiere

Helloween | Myspace Music Videos

I remember the first time I heard Anthrax, Z-Rock had “Indians”, from the 1987 release Among the Living, in rotation and played it alongside other metal bands of that time period though most were of the lipstick-and-leather variety. From that point on, I was hooked on the NYC-style thrash metal. Inadvertently, Scott turned me onto a slew of other bands simply by wearing those bands t-shirts in photo shoots for magazines like RIP, Circus and Hit Parader. It was because of one of these photos that I became a huge Fishbone fan (something you’ll hear briefly mentioned in my interview).

When Scott Ian called me a few weeks ago to talk about the Jagermeister Tour (stopping in Columbus this Sunday) featuring Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer, the 18-year-old in me was in awe.

DOWNLOAD: Scott Ian interview

Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer play at Lifestyle Communities Pavilion on Sunday, October 11. Tickets are $45, day of show. Gates open at 6, Anthrax hits the stage at 6:55.

Four venues, 23 bands, zero dollars, RSVP here

More Info here

Weirdo venue map after the jump

full size here

There’s all sorts of metal in Columbus – if there’s a certain niche you’re looking for, you’ll find it whether it be at some of the clubs (The Billiard Club, Alrosa, Ravari Room) or at CD stores (Magnolia Thunderpussy has an amazing metal selection). When it comes to HEAVY metal, my tastes run in the power/thrash metal genre, created or influenced-by early-to-mid ’90s bands like Pantera, Slayer, Mastodon, Lamb of God. Locally, no band does this sound better than Fool’s Crown. The band’s Up the Antics (released 01/07) was a culmination of 4 years of writing, practing, performing, solidifying the line-up, and recording and was an ideal compliment to Pantera’s Vulgar Display of Power.

MP3: Innocent Past Time Apology

Tonight – at the Billiard Club (911 E. Dublin-Granville Rd.) – Fool’s Crown will drop their second EP, Engraving the Scars. A well-executed follow-up to Up the Antics, Engraving the Scars turns it up a notch with more fierce vocals (I can barely understand anything Keith Lucas sings screams but I don’t care, it’s damn good), Laura Miller’s always-shredding guitar playing (it wouldn’t happen in a BILLION years but if Pantera ever decided to reform, Laura would be my pick to fill Dimebag’s shoes), and a POWERFUL rhythm section consisting of old pal Jim Swanson on bass and Matt Miller on drums. In late 2007, the mysteriously named “Z” joined Fool’s Crown on lead/rhythm guitar to thicken the band’s sound.

Not sure what time things kick off tonight or how much the cover is but joining Fool’s Crown will be Kingsblood, The C.O.A.S.T., and The Council.