Metal and Hardcore

Danzig at Ogden Theatre, 4/19/12

DANZIG @ OGDEN THEATER | 4/19/12 Before Danzig came on stage, a voice that sounded like Glenn Danzig got the crowd going by informing us that Snoop Dogg was playing down the street and so was Tesla, you know, just in case seeing Danzig wasn't the most alluring option of the evening. A few minutes la ... More >>

Fear Factory's Dino Cazares on living in the technocratic world the act's been singing about

Fear Factory were pioneers of the so-called nü metal genre, before that designation became a bit of an insult. Early proponents of a fusion of industrial and death metal, Fear Factory brought the first full realization of that sonic alchemy with its influential 1995 album Demanufacture. Since then, ... More >>

The five best metal shows in Denver this month

January's a monster month for metal in the Mile High City, from Impending Doom tonight at the Marquis Theater to Down at the Summit Music Hall at the end of the month to a couple of killer local bills. If you're a completist, we've got all of this month's shows listed in our concert calendar or if y ... More >>

J.D. Cronise of the Sword on being a regular dude that listens to R. Kelly and Michael Jackson

Formed nearly a decade ago in Austin, Texas, the Sword, with its sludgy guitar work and the fantastical themes of its lyrics, is often assigned the stoner rock designation, and understandably so. But while the band certainly bears the clear influence of bands like Black Sabbath, Sleep and Led Zeppel ... More >>

Deftones at the Fillmore Auditorium, 10/19/12

DEFTONES @ FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 10/19/12 Deftones frontman Chino Moreno has an unmatched intensity on stage. With his trademarked disposition, Moreno hovered commandingly over the crowd, hunched over and screaming until the veins on his head popped out, belting songs like "Tempest," one of many of ... More >>

The five best concerts in Colorado this week

There's some stellar music on tap this week to look forward to no matter your flavor. The week kicks off with an absolute bang this afternoon at the Summit Music Hall with Cannibal Corpse, which headlines the Summer Slaughter tour with Between the Buried & Me, Job for a Cowboy, Exhumed, Goatwhore an ... More >>

Metallica at Outside Lands: The five best parts of the band's hometown show in San Francisco

METALLICA @ OUTSIDE LANDS FESTIVAL | 8/11/12 The following is a dispatch from Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, from our sister paper, SF Weekly. Metallica, headlining Saturday night of the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, proved just about as huge and satisfying ... More >>

Guns N' Roses Appetite for Destruction turns 25

See Also: - Remembering Randy Rhodes thirty years after his tragic death -The Beatles' Sgt Pepper turns 45 -The Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street turns 40 -Jimi Hendrix's Are You Experienced turns 45 In the early 1980s, a red-haired, Midwestern boy named William Bailey stepped off a bus in New Y ... More >>

Korn

Monday, February 27, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-830-8497.

Roskopp/No Thought

Split cassette
Scab on My Brain/Grind Core/Give Praise Records

Dave Chandler of St. Vitus on the band's early days at SST and what inspired the reunion

Tina-Korhonen​St. Vitus (due tonight at Summit Music Hall) were one of the pioneers of a style of music that took its direct inspiration from the first four, maybe even the first six, Black Sabbath albums. The band's aggressive guitar work flirted with psychedelia but was too heavy to ever be ... More >>

Win tickets to see Sonic Youth on October 4 at the Ogden Theatre

Update: The answers are as follows. If you think you won, check your email right now. Thanks for playing, let's do it again sometime.

Mega Metal

Meet nine-year-old Ezra Lux, your new favorite metal blogger/critic

​Behold nine-year-old Ezra Lux, possibly the world's first (and greatest) pre-teen metal blogger. Over at his barely a month old metal blog Crud Wizard (which is also the best name for a metal blog we've heard in a long, long time), Ezra is dropping some serious wisdom, such as this gem of an ... More >>

Members of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax remember Dio

It was almost six weeks ago that metal legend Ronnie James Dio died and the tributes keep rolling in. Yesterday, a video appeared online that featured members of thrash mainstays Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax sharing their memories of the man. The video was originally recorded and broadc ... More >>

Iron Maiden

Monday, June 14, Comfort Dental Amphitheatre, 303-830-8497.

Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire's Ethan McCarthy on grindcore, running Kingdom of Doom and expressing his angriest, darkest feelings

Since 2005, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire has been fusing the spiky and hyperkinetic dynamism of grindcore with death metal's unremitting darkness and sonic heaviness. Never content to settle on a mere sound, this Denver band challenges itself to create new depths in the expression of the ... More >>

Grindcore doomsayers Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire skip the fluffy nonsense and tell it like it is

Identity Pusher conveys its sarcastic outlook though melodic, progressive death metal

Speedwolf

Denver 666/Hell and Back 7-inch
Splattered! Records

Freaky Friday: Kids' dinosaur metal

​In the U.S., we've got Barney, a big, purple weenie of a dinosaur who sings saccharine platitudes about loving everybody. In Finland, they get Hevisaurus, a band of dinosaurs that perform heavy metal for kids. Finland 1, USA 0.

Think you kick ass at Rock Band? Bet this Cephalic Carnage song would kick YOUR ass.

"crazy fast difficult hardest custom song ever on drums cephalic carnage death metal guitar hero rock band fun double bass." Those are the tags listed on YouTube in association with the custom drum chart for this Cephalic Carnage song, "Divination & Volition." But those same words ... More >>

This just in: Slayer drops off KBPI's Midwinter Melee

Update: Just received word from Live Nation that the entire show/tour has been postponed. No word on when it will be rescheduled, but tickets will be honored. ​Bad news if you had your heart set on being deafened by this wall of amps in a few weeks. The American Carnage tour, due at Magness A ... More >>

Q&A with Joe Johnson of Moore and Wild Game

​Although Moore has been together for over a decade, it has garnered very little press, mainstream or otherwise, despite being something of an institution in the local metal scene and having put out a handful of albums during its time together. In the last year and a half or so, Moore has been evo ... More >>

Metal Monday: Converge in Springs and Cannibal Corpse at the Ogden tonight

​Metal fans rejoice, for you have much to be thankful for this week, especially tonight! In case you happened to miss it last week, we published two in-depth Q&As with two of metal's most revered acts, both of which just happen to be playing our great state tonight. Down south, Converge is du ... More >>

Q&A with Alex Webster of Cannibal Corpse

Alex Solca​Cannibal Corpse didn't invent death metal, but it has become one of the genre's definitive bands. Forming in Buffalo, New York in 1988, Cannibal Corpse quickly came to prominence due to its decidedly brutal music and horrifically detailed lyrics to match. From the beginning, Cannibal's ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of October 26, 2009

​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Over the weekend: Dethklok at the Fillmore

Dethklok (Aaron Thackeray)​Dethklok, Mastodon, Converge and High on Fire Saturday, October 10, 2009 Fillmore Auditorium Better than: Seeing the Archies, Alvin and the Chipmunks or any other cartoon rock band "There sure are a lot of nerds here for a heavy metal show," said a friend while overlook ... More >>

Last night: Sunn O))) at the Bluebird

Sunn O))) rise (Tom Murphy)​SunnO))), Eagle Twin and The AccüsedBluebird TheaterThursday, August 13th, 2009Better Than: Some commentators on SunnO))) would have you believe. The two-piece Eagle Twin kicked off the show in high spirits. Although mining similar artistic territory as Isis, Twin b ... More >>

Ronnie James Dio made a fine replacement for Ozzy in Sabbath. Who are some other notable surrogates?

Sunn O)))

Thursday, August 13, Bluebird Theater, 303-830-8497.

The band retains the name

​In the world of heavy metal, lead singers are as indispensible as riffs and distortion--that is, except for when they get used up and thrown away like yesterday's drumsticks. While frontmen are the face and voice of many bands, they seem particularly prone to quitting, dying or getting fired, lea ... More >>

Ascaris considers itself a punk band that plays metal

Suffocation is still deadly after all these years

Q&A with Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation

The Suffocation piece running in this week's paper was culled from Phil Freeman's recent conversation with Terrance Hobbs of Suffocation. As with many of our other Rough Mixes features, there's far more to the story of this stalwart New York-based death metal band than there was space. As such, afte ... More >>

Westword Music Showcase reviewed: Broadways

Aaron ThackerayHavok led things off at Broadways. See more photos from Broadways at westword.com/slideshow. Havok, 12 p.m. This four-piece band sounded like classic Bay Area thrash, stuff reminiscent of Testament and Exodus with a splash of Anthrax. The guitar work owed a clear debt to a death met ... More >>

Rocky Mountain Low top seller at Wax Trax again

Rocky Mountain Low, a compilation of Colorado underground bands from the late-'70s, grabbed the top spot at Wax Trax for the week ending June 7. The album, which was the top seller a few weeks ago, beat last week's top seller, Sunn O)))'s Monoliths & Dimensions and Rancid's new album, Let the Do ... More >>

The young men of Havok prove their metal

Last night: Gojira at the Marquis

Krallice as seen through the lens of Tom MurphyGojira, Krallice and Wolves in the Throne Room Wednesday, May 13, 2009 Marquis Theater, Denver Better Than: A nationalist rather than socially conscious black metal show. Krallice opened the show. A four-piece whose membership includes Mick Barr, one o ... More >>

Irepress

Saturday, April 4, 3 Kings Tavern, 303-777-7352.

Car Bomb

Friday, August 29, Oriental Theater, 1-866-455-2263.

Mastodon

Harping on It

Harptallica enters like a sandman.

In Flames

Saturday, April 12, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-837-0360.

Vader

Wednesday, November 28, Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom, 1-866-455-2263.

Best Tribute Band

Rocket Queen

Shadows Fall

Wednesday, August 11, Bluebird Theater, 303-322-2308.

The Beatdown

Corruption's new CD displays metal moxie of the best kind.

Best Web Site With Bite

www.maristhegreat.com

Backwash

Mötley Crüe...WOO...still rules, dammit!