Category Archives: Shows

Carpathian Forest Frontman: “Fuck You All!!!”

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Formed more than twenty years ago (in Norway, despite the eastern European name) and with a plentiful number of releases under their (presumably studded leather) belts, black/blackened thrash band Carpathian Forest have remained relatively quiet over the past few years.

Naturally, as is often the case when longstanding groups lapse into a period of inactivity, whispers began to circulate through the grapevine that their dissolution was imminent, as well as a variety of reasons for this turn of events — most prominently (again, as is often the case) being attributed to a communication breakdown or a falling-out among the band’s members.

Recently, though, the band have been appearing on a gradually increasing number of festival line-ups for 2013 (including a first-ever appearance in these United States!), and so it has become clear that these rumors have been exaggerated — if not outright fabricated.

 

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Vesperia – Voyage from Vinland (FREE DOWNLOAD, LIMITED TIME ONLY!!)

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Vesperia – Voyage from Vinland (self-released, 08 January 2011)

 
Ladies and gentlemen and whoever else might be out there reading this:

This coming Saturday — the 20th of October — blackened folk/pagan metal band Vesperia are headlining a show in the band’s hometown of Oshawa, Ontario (city motto = “Prepare to be amazed.” I couldn’t make this stuff up if I tried.) Also appearing will be Battlesoul, Will of the Ancients, and Unbowed, and for more details on the event you can check out this page.

Anyway, in celebration of this occasion, Vesperia wanted to do something special for their fans. Giving away downloads of their new demo EP from earlier this year (The Swordsman) wouldn’t work though, because they’ve already done that (see here for a full write-up about that release) — so instead they’ve decided to give away their previous album for free!

Voyage from Vinland was actually the first (and only) full-length album released by Bolero (in January of last year), prior to that band changing its name to Vesperia. But the whole thing — all eleven tracks, forty-five minutes of it — has been re-released digitally under their new name on their Bandcamp page, and for this week ONLY you can download all of it absolutely FREE! This is only supposed to last until Saturday’s show, though, so ACT FAST!!

 

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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (18 October 2012)

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Drusky Entertainment Presents:

The Misfits

with special guests The Attack, Revenge Memorial, Gods & Aliens, A Lovely Crisis

 

at the Altar Bar

1620 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

 

Thursday 18 October 2012 | 7:00pm Show, 6:00 Doors | $23 ADV, $25 at door | ALL AGES

 
It’s the motherfucking Misfits, what more is there to say? The band was formed thirty-five years ago, and even though bassist (and now vocalist) Jerry Only is the only original member remaining, their popularity has never wavered. They’re currently touring the nation with Florida’s The Attack, and now visiting Pittsburgh alongside a handful of local openers.

Come on out to the Altar Bar tonight — (and see if perhaps the atmosphere of the venue inspires Jerry to dust off some of the tunes from his old Christian metal band Kryst the Conqueror!)

Get your tickets here, or find more info at the Drusky concert calendar here, or Facebook events here and here.

What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (14 October 2012)

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Drusky Entertainment Presents:

Converge All We Love We Leave Behind U.S. Tour

with Torche and Kvelertak

 

at Altar Bar

1620 Penn Ave, Pittsburgh (Strip District)

 

Sunday 14 October 2012 | 6:00 doors / 7:00 show | $15 ADV / $17 DOS | ALL AGES

 

 
Facebook event here, more information from Drusky concert calendar here, buy your tickets here.

 
Check out the full list of dates for this tour here.

What To Do In Pittsburgh Today (13 October 2012)

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Okay folks, tons to talk about and not a whole lot of time.

There is so much happening today, I’ve got to get moving very soon if I want to even hit half of these events. And I do, at least.

You will too, so you won’t want to sit here all day and read a bunch of crap. Let’s get straight to the good stuff, shall we…

 
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VOS Interview: A Drummer Double Feature! Molasses Barge vs. Vulture!

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Hello folks, and a happy Friday to you! Just when it felt like it would never happen, the weekend’s finally here. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be an especially good one, because there’s a ton of amazing shows and events happening! I’ll have more on that later, so stay tuned.

One of them in particular stands out, though — tomorrow night at the 31st Street Pub is the first date on the joint headlining tour between Relapse Records artists 16 and Tombs. That by itself is reason enough to get excited, but opening the show will be two of my absolute favorite local bands, the heavy doom armada that is Molasses Barge and Steel City sludgelords Vulture!

I’ve only seen Molasses Barge once before (and it was over a year ago! — read more about that here), and (believe it or not) although I’ve been listening to Vulture for a long time, I’ve never had the chance to see them play live yet! So needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this show. I’ve already got my tickets (they can be ordered here) but if you don’t, it’s just twelve bucks when you show up at the door. More info on the show itself can be found here.

Anyway, in anticipation of this event, I decided to get a couple of interviews lined up. If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you may have picked up on the fact that I often tend to focus on drumming while listening to music. It’s just the way I hear things, I guess — and I don’t know if it’s because I play drums (occasionally) or if I chose to play that instrument because it’s something I pay a lot of attention to.

In either case, the drumming in each of these bands’ genres is one of the main things that attracts me to those particular styles. So, it only seemed natural for me to talk to the two bands’ drummers. Here, then, are the questions and answers from Molasses Barge’s Wayne Massey and Vulture’s Kelly Gabany…

 

 

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (10 October 2012)

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of All Ages, the Valley of Steel blog is pleased to present your OFFICIAL GUIDE to what’s happening in the city of Pittsburgh tonight!

Yeah, yeah, it’s Wednesday. Well, that’s just one of the reasons the Burgh is perpetually named among America’s most livable cities: there is such a vibrant night-life that there is something going on all the time!

Okay I might be exaggerating just a little bit, but there honestly are a few interesting shows happening tonight that you may like to check out. I’ve got all the relevant information for you right here.

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh TONIGHT (7 October, 2012)

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Hey sports fans! Here’s a real quick update, while it’s halftime, to let you know what’s going on out there after the football game ends…

Celebrate a Steelers victory by heading out to Garfield Artworks to enjoy an evening of live music — since this weekend has been sort of less eventful in Pittsburgh than most.

 
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Git Ahtta Tahn! (Your VOS Travel Guide for 5 October 2012)

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For those not native to the Pittsburgh area, or in general, for anyone who doesn’t speak fluent Pittsburghese — this article’s title can be literally translated into English as “Get Out of Town,” a phrase which has two different meanings in the local dialect.

The first is an idiomatic expression, used in response to someone who has said something surprising or unbelievable, equivalent to “are you serious?” or “no way!”; the second usage would be if you were actually telling somebody to leave the city.

In this context, I’m intending the second meaning: I’ve got a couple shows to tell you about, each of which features a Pittsburgh-area band, but either one would require a little bit of driving to attend (about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours from here). 
 

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Kosher Metal is Giving Away a Copy of the Rock Science Trivia Game!

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TONIGHT (Thursday, the 4th of October), the Kosher Metal radio station is throwing a birthday party for the one-year anniversary of the Metalocity live show with Stack the Ripper and Steven Steel!

To celebrate this milestone, they are going to be giving away a copy of the Rock Science rock trivia game!

 

 

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