BraveWords

5 days ago | bravewords.com | Mark Gromen

Like metal, pizza comes in many flavors and if you’re a fan, you’ll probably sample any/all styles, while always returning to your favorites. Legions Of Metal festival provides a sampler, a smorgasbord of metallic sub-genres of inquisitive fans to mull over, digest and hopefully go home with a doggie-bag” morsels to enjoy at a later date.

1 week ago | bravewords.com | Nick Balazs

(Norma Evangelium Diaboli)Welcome to the sounds of hell. Teitanblood emerge from their crypts in Madrid with an unrelenting, punishing force of death/black metal. From The Visceral Abyss is their fourth full-length and offers a spectral, mystifying, and cavernous of unimaginable horror. Imagine taking Slayer’s Hell Awaits taken it’s to its most extreme musically. Teitanblood conjures a sound that really does seem to emanate from a Visceral Abyss.

1 week ago | bravewords.com | Mark Gromen

Of the two days, this had more “must see” performances, on paper, including the headlining Crimson Glory. With a baker’s dozen acts set to play (as opposed to 10, yesterday), the show kicked off two hours earlier, at 3:30, with the operatic/symphonic power metal of After Time. First two bands were on the main stage, before alternating between there and the adjoining Joint set-up, inside Reggies bar/dining area.

1 week ago | bravewords.com | Mark Gromen

Calendar says the first weekend in May, but as Great Lakes denizens know (Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, Toronto), spring is often late. While out-of-towners long ago packed away jackets, jeans and long sleeves (in favor of shorts & tank tops), Chicago greeted them with (hopefully) the last blast of artic air: just “high” temps in the 50s and overnight lows precariously close to freezing. Thankfully, the festivities were all inside Reggies, although the weather did curtail roof-top patio pre-gaming.

1 week ago | bravewords.com | Nick Balazs

(Loma Vista)Satanized? More like Sanitized. Ghost lives up to their name on album #6 as they celebrate the ghosts of the past. Papa V Perpetua seems to have a hankering for ‘80s radio rock as Skeletá is basically Survivor for Satanists. By the time the last note plays, you’ll think this was a Frontiers Records release. The production is impeccable; Ghost gets the most out of their sound with lush guitars, a deep bottom-end, bright synth work, and harmonized vocals.