The Huge List of 2012 Year-End Lists!

Well, friends, here we find ourselves in the waning moments of 2012. It’s been an interesting, eventful year that’s had lots of high and low points — a ton of excellent new music has been released and quite a few brand-new bands have emerged that I’d fully expect to be making some serious waves in the near future.

One of the best things about 2012, for me personally, was that I found myself (and my wife) going to lots more shows than in recent years, and as a result I’ve been fortunate to meet a lot of new people — as well as starting to take a way more active role in the local music scene.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a suggestion from one of those people I’ve gotten to know in the past year (I won’t say who — he said he preferred not to be given credit for the idea, although I will say that it’s somebody who contributed to this). The idea was to collect top-ten lists from various folks in the Pittsburgh metal community.

So I put out an open invitation for any musicians or other people who are involved in the scene in some way — I was looking for anything, whether it was the traditional “Top Ten Albums” or something totally off-the-wall like someone’s ten favorite sandwiches they ate during the year. Really, the only rules were that it had to be a list, and involve something from 2012.

 
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Upcoming Shows: What To Do In Pittsburgh This Weekend (12-15 April 2012)

Hello, readers! How are you? I think I’ve officially recovered from the holiday weekend and am ready to get back into the swing of posting updates. Did you have a nice Easter? I’ve been spending a lot of time listening to Ghost, since I finally got around to picking up Opus Eponymous on CD almost two weeks ago. I like it a lot, but I’ve kind of got a funny feeling about it. I haven’t tried slowing it down or playing it backwards or anything, but I get the impression that there might be some kind of hidden evil messages or something. Oh well. Hey, speaking of which, they’ll be coming to town in just a few more days! In fact, they’re just one of a whole slew of awesome bands playing in Pittsburgh over the coming weekend. Just keep on reading for all the details on this show and tons more.

 
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Upcoming Shows: GHOST, Mastodon, Opeth

This news update is brought to you today by the department of IT’S ABOUT DAMN TIME!

So you might remember a while back when I was whining about the fact that Ghost, having recently cancelled a U.S. tour, announced that they’d be returning to this country, and hitting several major cities but none that are near me.

Then I proceeded to whine some more, at every opportunity I could.  Mostly on Facebook.  Especially when some jerk a highly-esteemed fellow blogger bragged about seeing the show up in his corner of the country.  Well, obviously the band have been paying attention and they got sick and tired of my nonstop whining.  Because lo and behold, yesterday they put out an official announcement:

Children of America,

As whispered about these last weeks, we are in fact returning to haunt your vast lands again in April and May, together with Mastodon and Opeth.
Go to http://ghost-official.com/ to see the dates

Malicious wishes

/Papa Emeritus 1 and his Nameless Ghouls

The news gets better, because this tour is making a stop in Pittsburgh — on 15 April at Stage AE.  It appears that Mastodon and Opeth are alternating dates for headlining, and on this particular date it seems that Mastodon will be the one on top.  Not that it matters, because I wouldn’t mind seeing either one of them.  Hit the link above to see the full list, or just check it out right here, beyond the jump.

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More Swedish Heavy Rockers Decending on America’s Shores; Skipping the Burgh (So Far)

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Continuing a trend started in Monday’s post about Ghost, here is some info that was announced a few days ago by heavy blues/classic rock band Graveyard.  Like that earlier post, this is happy/sad news.  I’m excited as hell that these Swedes also are gracing this country with their presence.  But again, the list of confirmed dates doesn’t include any stops in Western Pennsylvania or the surrounding areas.

But lest we despair prematurely, there is one big distinction between these two announcements.  Unlike Ghost’s statement, which emphasized a total of thirteen “rituals” – even going so far as to incorporate the number thirteen in the name of the tour – which leaves pretty much zero hope for the possibility of additional dates, Graveyard have left theirs very open-ended – and clearly stated that more information is yet to come.  So at least there’s that.  I’ll be crossing my fingers and holding my breath when I pass a cemetery or whatever else is supposed to ward off bad luck.

Meanwhile, once again if you live elsewhere, feel free to peruse the tour info, and maybe you’ll be blessed with a visit from this amazing band.

Graveyard official website
Facebook page

You might also be interested in:
GraveyardHisingen Blues (CD | download)
GraveyardGraveyard (CD | download)

Happy/Sad News: Ghost are Coming! But They Aren’t Coming Here!

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So I was totally excited all summer long, anticipating the fall Enslaved tour, because I’d heard Ghost was opening.  Although their debut album Opus Eponymous was released in 2010, I only became aware of the Swedish Satanic hard rock band earlier this year.  But anyway, I grew to like them so much that I didn’t much care WHO else was on the bill; once I found out they were coming to Pittsburgh in September, I was going for sure.

Well, unfortunately, a few weeks before the show was to take place, the band posted an apology on their Facebook page, saying that due to some sort of visa snafu, they wouldn’t be able to make the trip overseas.  So needless to say, I was pretty disappointed.

Then, this afternoon a headline caught my eye, and I was surprised to see that there was a new announcement in the Facebook news feed: the band of nameless ghouls are planning to finally come to North America in the beginning of 2012.  So then I was all excited once more, for approximately 2.2 seconds, or about the time it took to scan through the list of dates and see they’re not coming anywhere near me.  The closest stop on this 13-date tour is just a few hours away, but it’s across the Canadian border, and not having a passport, I’m afraid in this case I would end up with a visa issue of my own.

Anyway, take a peek at the image above and see if perhaps you’re luckier than I, in your proximity to one of the cities listed there.

For more information, check out the official website.

Ghost on Facebook

You might also be interested in:
GhostOpus Eponymous (CD | download)