Dave Mustaine and the Megadeth crew have announced the return of the Gigantour, and yes, it’s coming to Kent, Washington (of all places). Having grown up on the east of Kent and Convington, Kevin and I are left wondering, “WHERE WAS THIS WHEN WE WERE KIDS?!”

That said, Megadeth will be returning to the Northwest at the Showare Center in Kent with Motorhead, Volbeat, and Lacuna Coil on FEBRUARY 21st.

Mark the date, and check out these two new tracks from Megadeth’s latest record, 13.

Last weekend, we had the chance to interview Opeth frontman Mikael Akerfeldt before their stellar show at Showbox SODO with Katatonia. Earlier this week, we posted part 1. Here, without any further delay, is part 2 of our in-depth interview with this super-Swede musician.

But first, catch up with us…
Part 1

Part 2

And I gotta say, “I feel like I want to rage…right now” – Brian Wilson.

Got some Cannibal Corpse, Obituary and Slayer CDs staring at me, it’s time to get to work. What songs are you trying to hear tonight on Metal Shop?

This past Saturday, we had the opportunity to sit down and chat with one of the most well-spoken dudes in metal, Mr. Mikael Akerfeldt of the almighty Opeth. Here is PART 1 of our interview, where we discuss the new album,
“Heritage,” and it’s prog-rock leanings. Check back tomorrow for PART 2.

I know I’ve said it before, but the Northwest truly does have one of the most unique music scenes in the world. Maybe it’s the isolation of this area that keeps it so fresh and interesting, untamed and unaffected by the trends elsewhere in the U.S.

Where else do you get to see a jaw-droppingly epic local black metal band like Wolves In The Throne Room play inside of a run-down attic on top of a dive bar. Only in Tacoma! So that’s how I started off last week, and a triumphant way to start it was. Here’s a few words I used to describe said awesomeness for The Stranger.

Large ornate paintings depicting wolves, trees and webs (along with indiscernible black metal script) hung above the heads of the crowd as smoke from bundles of burning sage billowed into the attic, signaling the beginning. The overhead lights were lowered as candles were lit.

For 45 minutes, this Cascadian crew captured the full attention of the couple hundred lucky enough to be packed into this dingy attic. As they soared through 7-to-12 minute songs from their newest album, “Celestial Lineage,” I couldn’t help but notice how perfect, yet immense the sound was inside this otherwise echo-y room, a true achievement for a D.I.Y show inside a space that has never and will never be booked again.

I left completely satisfied. The mood Wolves In The Throne room captured before they even started playing was gorgeous, but the music raised the event from average concert level to sheer performance art level, as they shredded, sulked, and truly captivated the minds and ears of all in attendance.

Here’s a semi-decent cell phone pic I took of the epic-ness…

As if that wasn’t enough, the frosty black metal adventues continued on through the weekend, as I got to see the first 15 minutes of Portland folk/black metallers Agalloch’s set at El Corazon last Saturday, before heading up to go rock the airwaves on the show. If it wasn’t such a pleasure to help y’all enjoy your Saturday nights with 3 hours of metal, it might be a huge bummer to leave all these shows, but in the end, it’s the best gig you could leave for. So if you ever see Ian and I bouncing out the venue midway through the headliner on a Saturday, just know that we have a duty to attend to, to blast brutal jams for all those who couldn’t be there that night.

Then, to top everything off with a little Nortwegian flare, Enslaved played a killer headlining gig on Tuesday at El Corazon, spicing up their playlist with old gems from the “Frost Era” alongside some mind-bending songs off their 2010 release, “Aioma Ethica Odini.” They even got their Led out, jamming on an “Immigrant Song” cover that had evil written all over it. Jimmy Page should be proud.

The pain train keeps-a-rollin’ as we have some brutal death metal to wrap our minds around this Friday night at Studio Seven. Decrepit Birth rules. Decapitated rules. Fleshgod Apocalypse rules. Oh, and they’re all playing a show together? And local face-crushers Funeral Age is opening? You’d be an idiot for missing this one. So don’t do that. Headbang with us Friday night to the most brutal show of the fall!

Then, to calm everyone down off the energy-drink-like sugar high that was passed to us by way of double kick pedal destruction, Opeth and Katatonia will be playing Saturday night at Showbox SoDo. Dammmmmn, son. GET YOUR PULL!

Well we’re back here with some more treats for you!

Earlier this week while cleaning out the Metal Shop video camera, I came across some forgotten video of some awesome bands that have played here in the North West in the last year. I have decided that we shall proceed backwards in time, starting with the most recent.

POWERGLOVE – a band you either love or hate.. or love to hate. They jammed out their video game tunes alongside Evergrey, Sabaton and Black Guard at El Corazon on October 2nd.

Here’s So Sexy Robotnic:

Up next are Periphery, who played with Textures and The Contortionist at Studio Seven on September 22nd.

Last but obviously NOT least, are SLAYER. They played with Exodus and Rob Zombie on January 23rd. Here’s Dead Skin Mask:

Other than those video morsels, we also wanted to update you on our new intern! Following in the footsteps of Chip and Jabroni John, this guy has really really tiny shoes to fill so I’m sure it won’t be too difficult to make himself look alright.

Call us tonight from 11pm to 2am at 206-421-ROCK or 1-800-738-ROCK and harrass him, make requests and win tickets!

Tonight we have tickets to:
*Decapitated/Decrepit Birth
*Enslaved/Alcest
*Opeth
*Veil of Maya
*Chimaira

PLUS we’ll be airing an interview with Wino and the crew from Premonition 13, playing new music from As I Lay Dying, Immolation, Brutal Truth, Insomnium and many more! We’ll see you there tonight, and if you miss it, you can always tune in to our podcasts – posted every single week immediately after the show has come to a conclusion.

Hot damn! It’s been a solid past few weeks for metal. There are a slew of righteous releases and a few clutch shows you seriously need to know about.

First, allow me to put a little something on your radar of heaviness. This past Sunday, I was wondering around my neighborhood, looking for some booze and burgers to shove down my throat, when I ran across an extremely loud noise by way of guitar amplification – a truly beautiful tone that can only be described as testicle-crushing. Sonic fury in its purest form. I soon found out that this ear-torturing audio onslaught was brought forth by a band that wasn’t even on my radar.

Rhode Island sludge duo The Body completely wrecked the ears of anyone lucky enough to be on or around the dance floor at the Comet that night. When all I saw was a guitar player and a drummer, I was a little skeptical, but when that dude started riffing, all doubts were dismissed. The addition of occasional electronic audio samples might be a bit strange at first, but even the most truly traditional minded metal head would be impressed by the howl that the vocalist possesses, as he barks his lyrics without the help of a microphone, belting, at times, even louder than the ear piercing distortion of his guitar.

Got 14 minutes to spare? Jam it, brah.

If you’re trying to experience something equally as mind-blowing, or y’know, “testicle-crushing”, there are a slew of opportunities to do so for free. This weekend on the show, we have a ton of tickets to throw your way. We’re kicking down the promotions closet door and ransacking the office, grabbing all the golden tickets to brutality that we can find. (Not actually true, but it’s fun to imagine things, right?)

Here’s what we’re tossing out this week:
Agalloch w/ Atriarch, Sedan
Saturday October 8th at El Corazon
om

Death Angel w/ Chokeout, Ground Level, Vetigo, Watchers Eye, Royalty In Ruins
Saturday October 8th at Studio Seven

Enslaved w/ Alcest, Junius, Christian Mistress
Tuesday October 11th at El Corazon

Decapitated w/ Fleshgod Apocalypse, Decrepit Birth, Funeral Age, Blood & Thunder, Triosis
Friday October 14th at Studio Seven

Opeth w/ Katatonia
Saturday October 15th at Showbox SoDo

Out of all the bands I just listed, I think I’m the most stoked to see Alcest, Agalloch and Opeth. Being that they’re a pretty underground French melodic-black metal band, Alcest never tours the U.S., and well, Agalloch and Opeth are just downright amazing. While certainly not as metal as many of their past releases, the new Opeth album, “Heritage” contains just as much music wizardry. At this point, we should expect nothing less of Mr. Akerfeldt.

As I type this blog of miscellaneous awesomeness, I’m giving my first real, true, listen to the new Mastodon album, “The Hunter.” My first thoughts: they’ve come a long way from the band my friend described as “Rush meets Metallica” back when their first full length, Remission, was blasting on my CD walkman (Pre-IPod, yo). Sure, they might not be as heavy or as hard, but anyone with an ear for melody and a taste for mind-bending art can find something meaty within “The Hunter” to chew on.

I had listened to a select few tracks from the album a ton, most notably “Curl Of The Burl” – the Queens Of The Stone Age-ish single you’ve probably heard a couple times during the daytime on the Rock. But this is an album, a start to finish ALBUM, not a smattering of singles thrown together in the studio, no, this, my friends is a beast of a thing to try and describe, so why even try? Other than the fact that it’s my job, I just want you to know how rad this new record is. It rules. Got it?

A handful of solid metal releases hit record store shelves and online digital sales ports. This weekend, expect to hear brand new stuff by the aforementioned Southern beasts, Mastodon, along with tracks off the newest albums by Machine Head, Anathema, Brutal Truth, Warbringer and Landmine Marathon. Additionally, we will be debuting a new track from Little Rock sludge-lords Rwake. You might be wondering how the hell you would say a word like that? Them there letters don’t usually go together, amirite? Turns out the R is silent…so it’s just Wake. Rad. My name is now RKevin. Pronounced Kevin. Join the (R)evolution. Here’s a taste of what you’ll hear on the show, the 11-minute epic “It Was Beautiful, But Now It’s Sour” from their third LP, “Rest.” I think it’s about milk.

Hey guys, Ian here. Just kickin’ back with a beverage and enjoying the “calm before the storm” so to speak, and just wanted to drop a line to say hey and give you a heads up on what’s been going on with the Metal Shop camp.

First things first, I wanted to take the time to say thanks to local band Funeral Age for coming in to the KISW studios last week to hang out with us and play music from their record Thy Martyrdom Come. These guys play a cool style of blackened death/thrash metal, and have been playing shows here in the Northwest for years. Go check them out if you get a chance – they are playing the Decapitated/Decrepit Birth show at Studio Seven on October 14th. Find them on Facebook HERE.

Next up, we say goodbye to our intern Jabroni John. He’s been an integral part of the show since June when he jumped abord the Metal Shop train. Following Chip, John was the 2nd intern here on the “new regime” of Metal Shop, and despite all of our ripping on him, he helped us learn alot and really pulled the show together. Besides, when a straight edge kid buys you beer, you know he’s committed! We wish John the best of luck, and we’ll keep you posted on the awesomely brutal band he’s got in the works. We have a potential NEW intern coming up tonight so prepare a new barage of insults and berating comments, ‘kay?

Hey guys, remember clip art? Well if you’re not still using MS Paint and actually know how to navigate the internetz, we need your help. Or rather, help us help you! Unfortunately we outgrew our old Facebook page and Metal Shop has found a new home on the king of social networking. GO HERE now and like our new Facebook page. We’ve laid off of the updates during the week a bit, but if you go click “like”, you will be able to follow us live in real time as the show goes on every Saturday night. You’ll have an insider heads up on ticket times for giveaways amongst other surprises. DO IT!

This last week has been FULL of awesome bands putting out really creative and innovative music videos, and I’d like to share a few of my favorites from the last few days.

First up is Kvelertak – a band from Norway whose name is constantly up to pronuncial interpretation. But one thing is for sure – we can all speak the international language of banging your god damn head. Turn this one way up and bum out all your neighbors!

Up next we have the seminal modern entertainer, Devin Townsend, returning with the Devin Townsend Project’s new video for their song Juular. My warning would be to put the bong down before pressing play on this one. Devin himself is a quirky individual, but this video contains Devin riding some type of steam-punk train through Hell/Mordor and a crazy grandpa on meth being restrained by a leash. Plus there are some muppets. Yeah. All in all, two thumbs up for Devin on this one!

Aaaaaalright, now you can pick that bong back up because Opeth is going to take you on a 6 and a half minute long psychedelic journey with their newest video for “The Devil’s Orchard.” It’s obviously not incredibly BROOTAL, but we all need a break from the blast beats once in a while, corrrect?

Now that you’re warmed up, here’s a quick preview of what we’re going to be doing tonight on Metal Shop. Obviously I mentioned earlier that our former and most recent intern Jabroni John has moved on to “greener” pastures, so we are having our friend and metal compatriot Travis The Virus come up to the show to help us answer phones and provide general metal knowledge for your every-day needs. We are also giving away tickets to FIVE different shows this week. They are as follows:

*Dream Theater/Trivium
*Evergrey
*Premonition 13
*Agalloch
*Death Angel

Go hit up our new Facebook page or tune in tonight at 11pm for more details on exact ticket times and show info. We’ll be hitting all of these before the night is over!

Alright, that does it for me, at least for this time around. Kevin and I are in the process of developing a new system for getting these blogs out, so you’ll soon be hearing from us a lot more frequently here on the KISW website. Thanks again for checking this out, and we’ll see you every Saturday night at 11pm!

Before we move forward, I’d like to take a little look back at this past weekends debauchery. As most of you know by now, this past Saturday was KISW’s huge yearly blowout, Pain In The Grass, featuring none other than Korn, Five Finger Death Punch,Queensryche, Chevelle, Metal Shop favorites All That Remains, and more!

We got the day started off right with a little BBQ action. Here’s Miles from the Men’s Room manning the battle station.

After that, we got ready to do the stage announcement for All That Remains! Even after a years worth of stage announcements, I still get nervous when I look out into a crowd this size.

All That Remains kicked ass! If anyone says otherwise, punch em in their jabroni-ass jaws.

Later on in the afternoon, we were able to unwind a bit with Queensryche, as we tasted some of Geoff Tate’s signature wine.

Though we had to leave a little early to get back to the KISW studios in time for Metal Shop, the party wagon came to us! Much to our surprise, Thee Ted Smith, Ryan Castle, Ben The Psycho Muppet, Vicky Barcelona and Jolene came strolling in to crash Metal Shop just like the good ol’ days. So there it is. A wicked weekend fueled by metal. Until next time, horns up!

If you’re from the Pacific Northwest, chances are you’ve heard of Bumbershoot. The first time I went to Bumbershoot, way back when I was a youngin in Jr. High, I was fortunate enough to see Reverand Horton Heat and David Lee Roth all in one day. This year, Bumbershoot has upped their metal output, and will be providing you with a doomy night of awesomeness – The Bumbershoot Metal Stage will feature Witchburn, Red Fang, Valient Thorr and the almighty Pentagram!

The Metal showcase will on Saturday September, 3rd. Single day and three-day-passes are available for sale at bumbershoot.org, but if you want to save yourself some bones, make sure to listen up to Metal Shop this week and next! We have free tickets! What more could you ask for? Sorry, you’re gonna have to buy your own beer, bro.

Listen up tonight at 11pm for your chance to win!