Bloody Pit of Horror Tour at The Ritz, Ybor on October 8, 2010

So after working 11-6 and flooring it straight from work to Ybor, I wind up at the GWAR show at the Ritz. I change into my now 4^th generation (show) what use-to-be white t-shirt which on the back reads “GWAR” in giant letters and on the front, appropriately reads “Take a Load” in giant bold letters (also coincidentally the only shirt in my entire wardrobe that is not black). I meet up with Mario and his posse, and we head in…and pretty much head straight for the bar. After Mario and I get our first round, we head down to the pit area to catch the first band, Mobile Death Camp. The Ritz was rather humerous in trying to keep its facilities clean, seeing as how they covered the entire area in front of the stage with carpet that looks like they pulled it out of a dumpster and duck taped it to the floor.

As the band started I noticed the lead singer looked strangely familiar, until I realized it was the old Beefcake from GWAR. Overall a very generic thrash band, but hey, at least their logo is cool (it’s a fucking tank). During their performance, a most unusual thing happened and Batman appeared. Now Batman is notorious for wandering around Ybor and hitting on chicks who are usually jailbait, but at a GWAR show? Cmon…it makes me glad that later on during GWAR some psycho flat out tackled him, just because he was wearing a cape, and then stole the cape. After Death Camp’s set was done, I decided it would be a good idea to grab a GWAR shirt now before the good bands start and I have to miss it to go get a shirt, so throughout the entire show I was wearing 3 shirts…how being a husky fellow, wearing all that, and being in a GWAR pit didn’t cause me to overheat still ceases to amaze me.

The Second band to take the stage was Infernaeon, who wasn’t half bad, though I couldn’t really get into them due to the fact that all they kept yelling was fuck god as the lead singer just kept pointing at the ceiling and then flipping it off, then preaching about how everyone should cheer about us keeping the metal scene alive in Florida. After their set I treat Mario to a second round via late birthday present, and we await for the next band to come on, The Casualties, whom both Mario and I were anticipating since he hadn’t listened to punk in forever and I had never seen a punk band live.

The band finally takes the stage, and after watching half the set, we concluded as to why punk had no longevity as an actual counter-culture. The most interesting thing by far about their show was easily their hair, which amazed me. The lead singer’s hair was spiked in every direction, while the lead guitarist had the traditional 2 foot tall Mohawk. The most ironic thing that this band did during their set was making the audience do the wall of death after finishing their cover the Ramones Blitzkrieg Bop (ironically also the only good song from their set).

Immediately after finishing their set, crowds if people wearing white shirts started surrounding the stage getting packed for the main attraction. At this time I decided to also stumble to the front with some other friends I ran into from Suggestion, only to be kicked by my other friend Kelsey for reasons still unknown to me. As we all stood around waiting for the show to start and feeling more and more like sardines as the time for the show approached, Kelsey decided she didn’t want to get wet, and left her friend Leile, who I just met and had never been to a GWAR show before, with me. Kelsey also asked if I would mind watching over her, so I said sure. Finally GWAR takes the stage, and as foreseen, violence, pits, crowd surfing, defecation, and molestation almost break out immediately.

For those of you who have no idea what a GWAR pit is like let me explain. You are packed shoulder-to-shoulder, and if your are about to fall over or pass out from heat exhaustion, you cant, because there is literally not enough room for you to fall. You will just be held up until you regain consciousness amidst the pit. People also like to do something at GWAR shows called pile-ons, where everyone pushes forward forcing everyone else on top of the people in the front, which inevitably causes a backlash, which usually knocks quite a few people on their asses when it heads backwards. These also happen side to side which, if you are the unfortunate fucker on the end of the pit, will sometimes make you go flying into a brick wall, which is really…really painful..like that expression hits you like a ton of bricks has nothing on actually running into a brick wall…that shit hurts.

GWAR as custom, sacrifices its first victim of the night, who is none other than Sarah Palin! As I attempt to take pictures of this and am holding my camera phone up, my tits are groped and my ass is smacked. When I turn around all I do is see some hot chick being dragged by a random guy through the crowd as she winks at me and licks her lips (god I should have followed, like a tool…). As the chaos ensues, a tall blonde wookie-like man who was at least 6’7” had become, like I stated earlier, incoherent. He could only headbang and fall the entire show and must have face planted at least 6 times during the course of the set. Lucky me, he was being shoved back and forth right in my area, and was a chronic problem.

As GWAR continued onto their second sacrifice, one of their very own slaves, another random douchebag takes his place next to me, and decides he wants my spot, and believes that if he holds his elbow into my ribcage, I will move. I tell him to watch it, he ignores me. I tap his shoulder and signal for him to knock it off; he looks at me, and continues to ignore me. So as GWAR starts up the next song and moshing ensues, I make sure to nudge myself in front of the guy, fly backwards on one of the backlashes of a pile-on, and watch him stumble back into the pit and get tackled by a random skinhead…sometimes I love being a douche.

As GWAR approaches the end of their set, they bring out my second favorite prop…the alien jizz bazooka! GWAR has their final onstage monologue, and begins one of their last songs, and Urundus uses my favorite prop finally, the cuttlefish (a giant alien cockpiece), and gives me a facial along with most of the front row, and I suddenly have a moment of clarity/zen, and am happy I am a metalhead. I also got some of it in my eye, and it fucked up my contact in my left eye, so I had to watch the last part of their set with only one eye (let the one-eyed willy jokes ensue…). They finally bring the bazooka to the front of the stage at that point and then start dousing the audience.

During the dousing, the slave blasting the bazooka looks around, and suddenly looks at me, reads my shirt, chuckles, and points the bazooka at me, and blasts….I officially became a cum-dumpster…sniff…After the show, half deaf and partially blind, everyone walked out, tainted red, and were proud. GWAR has yet to fail its audience in living up to their reputation of having one of the best liver performances around.

~Bane

A Sad day indeed….

The time has come for my supposed last blog for this class, so let us make a slight recap, shall we? I have given you a walkthrough of a concert done by the metal gods Motorhead. You have been told why so many people disapprove of metallica. You have been shown that there actually is a difference between moshing and hardcore dancing. You have been educated on what a breakdown is, and why it sucks. You have been shown why a metalhead has elitist tendancies when discussing music of any variety. You have been shown a personal mix CD of mine which categorizes most forms of metal and why they are so grand from my own personal opinion. You have been shown a fledgling reporter who is destined to do many great things in his future. Last but not least, you have been shown an article of what my own hard work and dedication have made and is becoming noticed by others.

I have shown you a light that most members of my club carry, one that burns bright in all of those who are passionate about not only metal, but music. You have shown me that many of you are very intrigued by this world I have allowed a peek into, and would like to know more. On that basis alone, I have decided to keep pursuing blogging for the education of the mainstream masses on what exactly this culture is all about. Whether it will be on this specific blog or not, be sure that you will definitely be hearing of me again, and thank you all for reading what I have done thus far….

Bane

\m/

Club Publicity…YAY!

So the oracle posted a story about our club:

Metal club about more than music

By Maria Douaihy, CORRESPONDENT

Published: Monday, November 2, 2009

Updated: Monday, November 2, 2009

Thursday evenings by a common interest: heavy metal. A group of students is drawn together

The Heavy Metal Enthusiasts Club (HMEC) at USF is an outlet for students who enjoy listening to heavy metal music as well as other of metal. sub-genres

Bane, president of HMEC, said he was a part of the heavy metal financial burdens forced him to transfer to USF. scene at UCF until organization at USF at the time, Since there was no heavy metal student members. he started one and used Facebook to find new

and looked for USF students who seemed like “I searched metal bands metal guys and asked them to help start the organization, and they helped me out,” said Bane, a junior majoring in mass communications.

92 members, according to its USF Blackboard Web The group has around Facebook group. Bane said about 25 to site, and nearly 150 fans on its meetings. 35 people regularly attend weekly

president of HMEC, Michael Brady, a senior business major and vice after Bane deemed him he became second-in-command said helping to initiate the club. enthusiastic volunteer in most

“We posted flyers all over campus,” Brady said. “On student organization days, we set up booths with photos of the craziness shenanigans in the club. To be fair, we only probably got about and something.” people by doing that, but it’s five

perform at USF. Meetings used to involve exchanging music or inviting a heavy metal band to

This semester, Brady said the group has been more organized. The Amphitheater at USF Marshall Center “Sorcerer” performed at the band an HMEC event in October. This week, the band “Suggestion” will be playing at the group’s regular meeting.

Meetings have placed a greater emphasis on music education than in the past, Brady said. Officers organize movie and documentary nights, which Brady said are essential for learning about the metal genre.

Selections for movie nights vary. Last semester, the group watched the movie “Orgasmo,” a parody of the pornography industry. But some are more serious, like “SLC Punk,” a movie chronicling the life of a “punk” mid ‘80s. in Salt Lake City during the

documentaries,” Brady said. “Most movies we’ve watched so far have been “It’s important to open up club members to stuff beyond our genre. Punk and metal have a lot in common, though a lot of people don’t want to admit it.”

become a close-knit group of friends, Brady said. head-bangers, HMEC has haven for University Besides serving as a

“To be honest, I don’t look forward to the club so much because of music,” he said. “Before the club was formed, I still listened to the music a lot in my spare time. It’s basically just about friendship — you love.” communicate with who love what about having people to

go with. HMEC, Brady said he would sometimes go to metal shows by himself if he couldn’t find anyone to Before joining

“The entire point of the club is to make sure that kind of thing doesn’t happen,” Brady said. “It’s making sure we have that community car pools to shows.” behind us, making sure we can organize

stereotypes. dispel a lot of the typical “metalhead” He also said the club tries to

metalheads are very intelligent people — “We want people to know that debauchery,” he said. “Some that it’s not just a den of violence and focus on the aspects of death and destruction, but there are also bands who write a lot of songs about freedom other bands self-empowerment.” and

Selena Razack, who is the “metal scribe” of HMEC, said the group surprised her, as she feels it’s a community of people who share interests. similar

“(The club) is not all about heavy metal,” said Razack, a sophomore music level, German. “We connect with people not only on a majoring in as well.” but on a social level

Before finding the club, Razack had the same problem Brady did when metal bands came to town.

“I wouldn’t go to concerts because I had no one to go with,” she said. “If someone doesn’t have a car or doesn’t want to go alone, there to go.” always someone else who wants is

enjoys exchanging CDs, listening During meetings, Razack said she gossip.” metal music and participating in the week’s “metal to

she said. “It’s a place where we can feel safe and comfortable with each other,”

HMEC meets Thursdays at 9 p.m. in the Marshall Center Room 3705.

Source: http://www.usforacle.com/metal-club-about-more-than-music-1.2047871

You gotta love free publicity. In fact when my officers told me that this had happened, I ran out and still have about 50 copies of this issue, which in the printed version, has a half-page picture of me wearing a Viking helmet and wielding a cardboard battle axe. This is definitely a very big step for my organization. This weeks meeting we gained 4 new members and more, I’m sure, are to follow. I created this group only 2 semesters ago, and now have 101 members via blackboard, contrary to when this we published on Tuesday stating only 92.

I think if this keeps up I can finally pull off the giant showcase of bands that I want to before my time is up at this University. I think the school is still considering us a joke, though, seeing as the same section that published this article in the paper a few weeks ago did a piece on the Star Wars Larpers group on campus. This will only be a slight hold-up though, for as you read, I have great officers and friends, and when something like this is put together and you’re all equally ambitious, it will inevitably happen. Now to get Henry Rollins booked for the week of speakers…

One small step for metalheads, one giant leap for METAL!!!!

Bane

\m/

The Up and Comer

I recently had the pleasure of getting to interview Wes Cambron, an up and coming writer and reviewer for the Tampa Metal Music Examiner. He is only 20 and already making a name for himself among the underground metal scene all over Tampa Bay. I sat down and chit-chatted with him for a bit about what exactly his job entails.

So why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself? How did you get into metal?

Well, I started writing short stories when I was in 4^th grade, and that is what made me want to start writing articles. I did not get into metal until I was 12, specifically death metal.

Really? Death metal at that early of an age?

Yeah, weird, isn’t it? Anyways, A friend of mine wrote comic book reviews for a living, and after I read a few, I thought “hey, this is awesome, I want to do this!” but I did not want to do it with comics, I wanted to do it with metal.

What exactly do you do in your job?

Well this job entails the three main parts of the heavy metal music scene: the bands, the fans, and the business. I listen to and review local bands records’s and typically give a brief background on the history of the genre of metal they are playing. I review concerts and attempt to get more metal fans out there and at the shows telling them which bands to see. I hang with those bands before and after shows getting to know them, interviewing them, and what their long term goals are in this business. A lot of the time I actually have to resort to using AOL instant messenger (AIM) to get the interview since a lot of these guys are so busy.

That is dedication to get an interview! Who have you interviewed? Anyone I know?

Well, my most famous interview is Sally Debauchery from psykill, who just recently opened for crossbreed.

For my Music in the United States Class (MUH 2632) our teacher wanted us to burn him a CD called a “desert Island mix” in which he wanted us to make a CD that, if stranded on a desert island, would contain 10 songs we could not live without. He intends on adding it to the lesson plan for a class next month. I, being the music junky that I am, could never narrow it down to such a small number, so I instead aimed for what I think he wanted, which was diversity in the music, specifically the metal genre. This is the breakdown I wrote him for the class, which I will now be adding a shit-ton (that’s a lot) of links to this for all reference purposes. These are my opinions and I am adding the links to certain things I am sure will make you say “huh?” to, which if there is not a link to something, you can simply leave a comment and I will get back to you.

I had intended on reviewing a CD for you guys this semester anyway, so this is kind of killing two birds with one stone. That being said, read and enjoy.

First and foremost, I found narrowing down the music I could not live without extremely difficult, seeing as how I live and die by it. I would also like to point out that I left off much of my music selection since you said you wanted “Our music” which I believe you meant more current artist as contrary to older bands that are greatly influential upon myself. I attempted to showcase as many of the main sub-genres of metal with this mix for you to get a taste of how diverse this one genre can be. That being said, here is my list:

1. Song: Immigrant Song

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Led Zeppelin

c. Genre: Classic Rock

d.Summary: A classic rock band (open to debate) that heavily influenced many metal bands of today. Robert Plant was one of the first great of what I like to call an epic vocalist, or vocalist consisting of such a powerful voice with the notes he hits that it sends a chill down your spine. Many pop divas also have this affect, difference being that divas make you feel relaxed and at ease after the chill, whereas an epic vocalist such as Plant would make you want to do something epic yourself, such as mosh, speed, fight, or head bang.

2. Song: Painkiller

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Judas Priest

c. Genre: Heavy Metal

d.Summary: In my opinion one of the greatest vocalist of our time. Rob Halford, the lead singer of Judas Priest, has a 4-octave range voice, which he portrays his ability in this song. Judas Priest is also one of the fore-fathers of the metal genre, and has influenced most of the genre (specifically the fashion and association of leather as stated by Gay for a Day) in the metal community. The reason I chose this song? Simple, I can’t help but sing the line “faster than a laser bullet” whenever it is said in the song.

3. Song: Deliverance

a. (Youtube Video) Video is cut short because youtube is stingy.

b.Artist: Opeth

c. Genre: Melodic Death Metal

d.Summary: This band has only a handful of songs that are less than six minutes long. I like this band solely because of the uniqueness of the vocalist, Mikael Åkerfeldt. Very few vocalist can actually sing and bellow, which makes him a dime a dozen. The song structure of this band is also very unique, changing tempo and beat at least three times in this song alone.

4. Song: End of All Hope

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Nightwish

c. Genre: Power Metal/Operatic metal

d.Summary: This is the sole song that got me into metal. I heard this and the beginning notes of Tarja’s (the lead singer) voice, and instantly fell in love. The melding of metal and opera is such an absurd thought that it works stupendously, as I am sure if you listen to this all the way through, you will not be disappointed.

5. Song: Wolf and Raven

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Sonata Arctica

c. Genre: Power Metal

d.Summary: What is fascinating about this band is their lead keyboardist (and the entire opening segment of this song) is played on a keytar. Yes, that’s right, the instrument they invented in the 80s in a sad attempt to make the keyboardist look cool. Fortunately for them, it took a decade for it to actually work.

6. Song: Rational Gaze

a. (Youtube Video) Awesome music video, might I add.

b.Artist: Meshuggah

c. Genre: Progressive Metal

d.Summary: at the UCF metal club we used to play songs and everyone got a turn. If you sucked at picking songs, typically you were heavily mocked. I was constantly mocked when I first attended. This was the first song I picked where the entire club was struck in awe that I had actually played this song and they all liked it.
The odd time signatures make conventional listening of this group nearly impossible. Many bands have tried to mimic this band (such as most Mathcore bands) and have failed miserably. I have found that anyone who has listened in-depth to music before generally falls in love with this band after the first few listens.

7. Song: Raining Blood (Explicit)

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Slayer

c. Genre: Thrash Metal

d.Summary: Slayer is known for causing massive controversy by bashing religion, promoting rape, and supporting Nazis. The ironic part about this? The lead singer, Tom Araya, is a devout Catholic and frequently attends mass. He has gone on record numerous times stating that it is just a job and pissing people off just helps to sell records, and anyone who takes them seriously are morons. Apparently, no one listens.
This is Thrash Metal, the same genre Metallica falls under by default. I say by default because after the first few albums they implemented slower drums and guitar to have a more mainstream sound. This is real thrash, the kind you will never hear on radio, and the kind that does as thrash was meant to do…make you violent!

8. Song: S.Y.L. (HIGHLY Explicit)

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Strapping Young Lad

c. Genre: Progressive Metal

d.Summary: This is my favorite metal band. The guy who originated the idea for the UCF metal club, Justin Gogas, showed me the “way of metal” with this band. They are extreme and the lead singer, Devin Townsend, is a musical genius. If you want to you can look up his solo stuff, it’s not near as angry and its almost as if a different person wrote it altogether (as he is heavily bi-polar).
This band falls under the progressive genre because they use so many variations on every song it is nearly impossible to throw them into any one genre. Use of choirs, orchestras, obscure time signatures, and an ice cream truck theme song (yes, an ice cream truck song) are just a few of them to name.

9. Song: Vredesbyrd (Not sure, but your safe, its in a foreign language)

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Dimmu Borgir

c. Genre: Black Metal/Symphonic Black Metal

d.Summary: This is Black Metal, one of the scariest genres of metal. Most black metal bands wear corpse paint (a mix of black and white face paint that looks demonic). It is very closely related with Death metal. One of the main differences is most black metal is very anti-Christianity in its lyrics, in fact there was a string of black metal bands in the mid-90s that burned down 200-year-old churches. One of the other key factors of black metal is the high pitched evil sounding vocals, which are followed by frequently switching with low bellowing, which adds a very nice evil sound to the music, which in itself is beautifully orchestrated.

10. Song: No Excuses

a. (Youtube Video)

b.Artist: Alice in Chains

c. Genre: Grunge Rock

d.Summary: This is the only non-metal song to make it on my list, and is one of my favorite bands. I consider Grunge Rock to more or less be the “teenage” years of metal as its going through puberty. Jerry Cantrell, the lead guitarist of Alice in Chains, is one of my favorite musicians and the brainchild of the band. Most of the music of my youth came out of the grunge genre, and it still has a special place in my heart…sniff…
The use of distortion and very drawn out, powerful notes is what I believe draws me to this. The vocals of Layne Staley (lead singer) and Cantrell are both around the same range, so when they both sing (instead of using a voice dubbing machine to just copy Staley’s vocals like most “musicians” nowadays) it adds a creepy, almost haunting chill to the music, which I love.

There you have it. I hope you enjoyed my insight to music and if you have any questions or want a copy of the CD, feel free to email me at wstone2@mail.usf.edu .

~Bane

Elitism: What Were Made of...

Unfortunately one of the biggest problems that occur within the metal community is the elitism that accompanies many metalheads. Just look at how people think the typical metal elitist really is. It doesn’t help that people also have an awful perception of the entire community and think it is nothing more then old 70 year old headbangers moshing to regain their youth as stated by porkchop1234. It was brought to my attention after reading this comment on one of my own blogs:

horioppo said...
This is the first post of your's I've read. The first thing that comes to mind is how much fun is lost by knowing something so well. I really enjoy music, but I don't know that much about it. I know what I like. Anytime I learn too much about something, I don't enjoy it as much. You obviously know a whole lot about metal and music(this is a musical strategy in this post), much more than I would want to know. If I knew as much as you, I would probably lose all passion for it.

Basically what horioppo is stating is that he thinks the music is ruined from being highly knowledgeable on the topic. Which granted to some extent it is for the more basic stuff, but it allows you to find and truly appreciate many more artists who are much more worthy of your time and admiration. Many metalheads argue all over the internet this over that exact reason.

The reason for this elitism is because metalheads have a keen ability to do what many classical composers were notorious for doing as well, picking songs apart. A metalhead can differentiate what songs are the bass, drums, guitar (lead and rhythm), and the keyboards. This explains why most death metal sounds like nothing but chaotic noise to the untrained ear, because most don’t comprehend what they are listening to.

I am not saying a non-metalhead can’t do this (hell my mother raised me in a sound booth while running a soundboard at church and that is where she taught me to do it). What I am saying is that many metalheads will snarl at you mentioning Britney Spears and how awesome, unique, and different her songwriting is (especially this guy), not only because the person saying that she is a great “artist” but also the fact that they were told that this is good music and to like it, and they listened.

Think about it,

Bane

Breakdowns: Too Much of a...Thing is a Bad Thing….

Now being the biased metalhead that I am, this topic comes up in debate rather often. The breakdown is something that is essential in many sub-genres of metal (in actuality they would not exist without them) and almost non-existent in others. The breakdown is basically where the song is slowed down so the guitarist can play more intricate notes and the drummer abuses the double-bass pedals, and maybe a repetitive one line chorus is yelled while this is happening, depending on how bad their parents beat them as children….supposedly.

The officer of Death Metal in the Heavy Metal Enthusiast Club at USF (insert shameless plug) had a good quote to explain this: “One single note for an entire riff = boring as hell. Filler content that serves only to kill any momentum the song has. In general they are clinically proven to SUCK ASS!” The whole basis of the breakdown is not for the music (obviously enough), it is for the show. It usually will whip the crowd into a giant frenzy and cause a couple of mosh pits or hardcore pits (see my last post, its scary) to break out. The breakdown is only really abused by -core bands (Metalcore, Hardcore, Mathcore, etc.), which are basically the sub-genres of metal that are formed from teens with angst of whom only their friends are fans.

Now not to be completely biased, there are a few good breakdowns, but they are few and far between, like this one (Starts at 3:15). This is the proper use of a breakdown (in my humble opinion) as its bringing the song to a close (something you would thing the name “breakdown” would generally imply) instead of doing it mid-song. A few metal artists also use it as a bridge, such as Nevermore’s “Final Product” which makes it very intriguing.

Overall its one of those things that is there for a musician to use if he gets desperate, especially when their career sucks anyway.

\m/

Bane

P.S. Thank you Joe and Clay for helping me out on this…and they make such a cute couple too….