Concert Announcements - July 6, 2012: BANSHEE Reunion, FEAR FACTORY/VOIVOD Shockwaves Tour Cancelled

Minneapolis-based Tooth & Nail recording artist Write This Down have scheduled a show at Station 4 in St. Paul on Tuesday, July 10 with support from Red Moring Voyage, Harp & Lyre, Awaken, Imagine The Silence, and Sick Of Talking About It. Write This Down released their new album, Lost Weekend, last month.

Following the announcement a couple weeks ago of major lineup changes to the Shockwave 2012 Tour and co-headliner’s Voivod July 3 cancellation, Blabbermouth reported two days ago that the other headliner, Fear Factory, has also dropped out resulting in the whole tour having the plug pulled. The tour was supposed to start tonight, July 6 in Seattle, and pull into Station 4 in St. Paul on Thursday, July 12.

Hard rockers 12 Stones return to the area on Monday, July 23 for an all ages show at the North Star Room in Mounds View with Blameshift, Digital Summer, Throwing Gravity, and Sinful Angel.

As Blabbermouthreported earlier this week, the revamped Queensrÿche with new lead singer Todd La Torre will still be playing their scheduled show at Halfway Jam in Royalton, Minnesota on Saturday, July 28. This lineup has played two shows as Rising West, but apparently this will be their first appearance officially as Queenrÿche.

Hardcore/crossover band Media Blitz from California will storm the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis for a special half-room show on Wednesday, July 25 with In Defence, Triple Crossed, Rivit, and Total Trash.

Local metal band Tomorrow Brings New Blood are having a record release show on Friday, July 27 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Beastface, The Atlantis Theorem, Element, and Apothecary. This is an early 18+ show. Tomorrow Brings New Blood will be selling their new, self-titled album for only $5 at the show.

Support for the Taproot and Smile Empty Soul show announced last week at Station 4 in St. Paul on Monday, July 30 has been set. Opening the show will be Severah, 14 Clicks, Requiems’s End, and Terror Overising. This is a 16+ show that starts early at 6:00 pm.

Totally underrated technical power metal band Banshee has reformed with a new singer, George Call (Omen, Aska), and released a new album, Mindslave. Original guitarist Terry Dunn is taking the band out on the road, and they will be playing Station 4 in St. Paul on Wednesday, August 1. I witnessed the first Banshee reunion concert with original vocalist Tommy Lee Flood in 1999 at America’s Pub in Kansas City, and they guys blew down the house. This promises to be another killer show.

Rock band The Classic Crime is making a stop at the North Star Room in Mounds View on Saturday, August 18 for an early all ages show.

Black metal band Abigail Williams has booked a final, lengthy U.S. tour that circles the continent from July 26 in Santa Barbara, California to September 15 in Portland, Oregon. Right now they are slated to play in St. Paul on Thursday, September 6. This show is unconfirmed, but I would guess that it will happen at Station 4. Additional details will be posted when they become available.

Norwegian industrial/electronic band Icon Of Coil are touring North America this fall and hit Ground Zero in Minneapolis on Wednesday, September 12 with [:SITD:}, Gabriel And The Apocalypse, and Dissociate.

Stoner-sludge band Big Business will hit the Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis on Monday, September 17. This is an 18+ show, and tickets go on sale Monday, July 16 at 12:00 noon.

Write This Down was recently added to the list of artists performing on the Shiprocked cruise from November 27 to December 1. The cruise departs Fort Lauderdale, Florida for the Bahamas with an impressive roster of hard rock bands including Godsmack, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust, Filter, Fuel, Geoff Tate, Gilby Clarke, Lit, Black Stone Cherry, and In This Moment. You find more information at the Shiprocked website.

Three Great Shows Tonight

There's three big metal shows going on tonight, surely there's something here for most people's taste.

Death metal fans should already have their plans set for Station 4 in St. Paul tonight, with a monstrous bill of Immolation, Vader, Abigail Williams, Pathology, and Lecherous Nocturne. Nuclear Blast recording artist from St. Paul, The Crinn, will open the show, so be there when the doors open at 7 for this 16+ show.

A big hardcore show is happening at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis with Agnostic Front appearing with Mother Of Mercy and Product Of Waste. In celebration of the 25th anniversary of their Victim In Pain album, Agnostic Front will be performing this classic album and their United Blood 7" in their entirety.

Lastly, the great alternative metal band The Pimps (aka The Goodyear Pimps) from Illinois will be performing tonight at Club Underground in Minneapolis with Kentucky Belt Fight and The Grande Machine.

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St. Paul Included On Upcoming Rotting Christ Tour

The Greek black/death metal band Rotting Christ will headline a Spring 2011 North American tour that hits all regions of the US, including a show at Station 4 in St. Paul on Sunday, March 20. They will be joined by Holland's Melechesh, Poland's Hate, Abigail Williams, and Lecherous Nocturne. Rotting Christ will be supporting their recently released Aealo album. The complete tour itinerary is as follows:

March 9 - Springfield, VA, Jaxx

March 10 - Trenton, NJ, Championship Bar & Grill

March 11 - Rochester, NY, Montage Music Hall

March 12 - Manchester, NH, Rocko's

March 13 - Worcester, MA, The Palladium

March 14 - Farmingdale, NY, Crazy Donkey

March 15 - Montreal, QC, Petite Campus

March 16 - Toronto, ON, Mod Club

March 17 - Detroit, MI, Blondie's

March 18 - Cleveland, OH, Peabody's

March 19 - Chicago, IL, Reggie's Rock Club

March 20 - St. Paul, MN, Station 4

March 22 - Calgary, AB, The Republik

March 23 - Edmonton, AB, Starlite Room

March 25 - Seattle, WA, El Corazon

March 26 - Portland, OR, Hawthorne Theatre

March 27 - San Francisco, CA, DNA Lounge

March 28 - Anaheim, CA, Chain Reaction

March 29 - Hollywood, CA, Key Club

March 30 - San Diego, CA, Brick By Brick

March 31 - Mesa, AZ, UB's Bar

April 1 - Amarillo, TX, The War Legion Underground

April 2 - Tulsa, OK, The Marquee

April 3 - Ft. Worth, TX

April 4 - Austin, TX, Emo's

April 5 - Houston, TX, Walter's

April 7 - Tampa, FL, Brass Mug

April 8 - Atlanta, GA, The Masquerade

April 9 - Raleigh, NC, Volume 11

April 10 - Charlotte, NC, The Casbah

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Abigail Williams Cancels Nile Tour

Candlelight Records recording artist Abigail Williams has announced on their Myspace page that they have cancelled their support slot for Nile on their current tour. Drummer Ken Meyers was recently injured, and this is the recent for the tour cancellation.

The Nile tour will still bring support bands Immolation, Krisiun, and Dreaming Dead to Station 4 in St. Paul on Saturday, January 23.

Abigail Williams EP Review

Abigail Williams – Tour 2009 EP

Candlelight, 2009

5/10

This 5-song EP is featured as a bonus disc to the reissue of Abigail Williams’ debut album In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns, but can also be purchased separately as Tour 2009 EP from digital retailers. Seeing as the tour to promote the reissued album doesn’t begin until January 2010, it’s curious that this EP isn’t titled Tour 2010 EP. Oh well. If you’re new to Abigail Williams, they play a late-90s style Norwegian black metal in the vein of Dimmu Borgir, Covenant, and Emperor. These guys have it down pat, complete with buzzsaw guitars, parched vocals, and atmospheric keyboards and a clean, heavy production. It’s easy to view this EP as a holdover while awaiting a new full-length, since this contains four new songs (one being a short instrumental) and a demo version of the previously released song “Flood”. Opener “I Am (God)” showcases the promise of the band as its combines a symphonic black metal sound before launching into a vicious groove the second half of the song. “In Death Comes The Great Silence” is a fast wall of cacophony of noise that slows down mid-song, while “Infernal Divide” is slow, dreary-sounding track that has a fast rhythm section underneath haunting keyboards. The new songs are interesting and show a lot of potential for Abigail Williams, but it’s probably best to wait and see how the next album turns out. Right now I’m content with going back and listening to Dimmu’s Spiritual Black Dimensions.

A review and pictures from Abigail Williams' show opening for God Dethroned on October 10 can be viewed here.

Abigail Williams will be supporting Nile at Station 4 in St. Paul on Saturday, January 23. Additional support will come from Immolation, Krisiun, and Dreaming Dead.

God Dethroned Concert Review

God Dethroned, Abigail Williams, Woe Of Tyrants, Augury, Sangre Mal

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Station 4, St. Paul, MN

I’ve found it increasingly difficult to get out to venues for shows that start so early (this one started at 7:00), so I arrived at Station 4 soon after Abigail Williams had taken the stage. Not being familiar with this American symphonic black metal band, I was suitably impressed by their performance. Fans of Cradle Of Filth, Dimmu Borgir, and their ilk would take a liking to Abigail Williams. They’re still out on the road supporting late 2008’s In The Shadow Of A Thousand Suns album, so hopefully new material will be forthcoming in 2010. Abigail Williams is certainly a band to keep an eye on, and they’ll back through Station 4 on January 23 with Nile, Immolation, Krisiun, and Dreaming Dead.

God Dethroned stormed on to the stage with “Under A Darkening Sky”, and proceeded through a 60 minute set that spanned their last six albums since 1999. This Dutch death metal band has been absent from the US for a couple years and the timing of their current tour couldn’t be better, as they are out promoting the phenomenal Passiondale release. God Dethroned is sporting two new members that joined after the recording of Passiondale, Mike van der Plicht (drums) and Susan Gerl (guitar), and fit in well as the band sounded tight. By the time Passiondale’s “No Man’s Land” was played almost midway into the set, selections from The Toxic Touch (“Hating Life”), The Lair Of The White Worm (“Nihilism”), Into The Lungs Of Hell (“Soul Sweeper”), and Bloody Blasphemy (“Serpent King”) had already been covered. The highpoint of the set was “Poison Fog”, the sweeping epic from Passiondale. Founding vocalist and guitarist Henri Sattler handled the clean vocals with ease. The final selection from Passiondale included “Drowning in Mud”, and the remainder of the set was rounded out by “The Execution Protocol”, “The Warcult”, and “Boiling Blood”. The band returned to play “The Lair Of The White Worm” for the encore, and then hung out on stage to talk with fans. Overall, the set was well executed and one would never know that half the band is new. The new material from Passiondale blended into the set well alongside songs from older albums. Poor turnout was the only disappointment of the night, but the band seemed to take it in stride by playing an outstanding show.


Click on the photos to view more pictures of God Dethroned (16) and Abigail Williams (5).