Although I miss the non-stop concert parade, that was my life in Berlin, I’ve had a chance to see a few bands since I came back to Michigan. We were supposed to go see Vader in December, but unfortunately that had to be canceled. However, I did get to see Weedeater at Mac’s in Lansing, and we drove to Cleveland to see Caspian and Red Sparowes. That was a really good show, although an unpleasantly long way to drive, roundtrip, in one night.

At the end of this month, we’re going to the Maryland Death Fest. I’m taking my boyfriend for his birthday. The line-up is pretty spectacular. I’m particularly psyched to see Melechesh, Impaled, Fuck the Facts, Entombed, Pentagram, and Eyehategod. I just saw that Circle of Dead Children has canceled, which is a major disappointment. And Tombs is now playing on Friday, so we’re going to miss them as well. Sad!

Dating a metalhead has opened up a new world of music to me. He’s into more extreme metal than me–mostly grindcore, and the growlier death metal–but he’s introduced me to Cephalic Carnage, Anaal Nathrakh, and Today Is The Day. Plus we discovered we have a shared love of old Meatmen records. There’s something that doesn’t happen every day!

Guess that’s all for now.

I just saw this video posted to Blabbermouth.  Finally, Medeia is getting some US press! My only complaint is that there seems to be a lot of dick grabbing and “I can pee standing up” going on.

Anyway, I have photos and a concert review from the Tombs/Buried Inside show in Barcelona this past Sunday, but since I’m in the middle of packing up for my transatlantic move, it’ll have to wait.

Last night I saw them sandwhiched in between some band called Kamchatka and the headliners, Clutch, at a much larger venue.  Kamchatka, although being from Sweden, are so generically “Southern rock” that my buddy said during the break: “that was like watching a 20 minute long Allman Brothers set.”  Bored to tears does not even begin to cover it.  Then, after the shortest set-change ever, Kylesa came on and shredded.

It was a much less intimate and body-seizing experience, as the temperature was about 10 degrees (C) cooler than the last time, and there was much more space in the venue.  Although there was definitely a good sized crowd.  Laura was off to one side, and so a bit harder to see, and the bass player pretty much hid in the shadows the entire time.  What really struck me was how different their sound was this time from last.  Several of the older songs I didn’t even recognize until a  minute or so in.  It’s hard to know if that’s because of the sound system in the venue, or some change in their performance style.  They still played with tons of energy, but I’m sure they must be exhausted after all the touring–although judging from the two gigantic tour buses parked out front, they are traveling in comfort this time around!

I always have mixed feelings when I see a band I like graduate from small venues to larger ones (with double-priced tickets!).  I want Kylesa to succeed, and think more people should listen to their music.  But it makes me sad that I’ll never see them in a place like Cassiopeia again.  I even wonder if they feel some sort of twinge of loss because they won’t play places like that anymore.

Anyway, they were only able to play a 35 minute set (for some reason Lido is really strict about show times/lengths).  Once again, the set change happened quickly, and Clutch started playing some DC Go-Go as a prelude to their taking the stage.  I think it was Experience Unlimited (EU).  Of course go-go is completely lost on the German crowd, who have no idea where it comes from or what it’s about.  But for me, it was the best part of Clutch’s set–it was all down hill from there.  The crowd that mobbed the stage when Clutch came on was basically a total sausage fest.  Although I find it so curious that all of these hard rock/metal looking guys, with “metal script” band t-shirts are so into Clutch.  I mean, much like Kamchatka, Clutch is little more than a Southern hard rock band.  The lead singer has an excellent voice, for sure, but their sound was so thin and geriatric compared to the two guitars/two drummers/3 growlers of Kylesa.  After about 15 minutes I gave up and left.

Anyway, I would like to propose a serious alternative to her insipid drivel about metal chicks looking hot, and having bandmates who’ll babysit her kids.  Here goes.

The Top 5 Reasons Women in Metal Rule

5) Women in metal have a different perspective to bring to the music and to the scene, and diversity is what keeps things fresh and interesting.  If every single metal band out there reflected the interests and experiences of only one kind of person, it would get stale and redundant awfully quickly.

4)Women in metal make great partners!  Whether we’re straight or gay, most of us want partners who will share our tastes and interests, who’ll come with us to shows, who’ll get excited about the same things that excite us, or who will be down with listening to Vader rather than Coldplay on long roadtrips.  Sure, we’re probably used to having friends, lovers, and partners, who don’t share our passion for metal. It’s not like it’s impossible to be with a non-metalhead.  But wouldn’t it be nicer to be able to share that in your relationship?

3)Women in metal are independent and intrepid.  I grew up as a punk rocker, and started going to punk shows at the  age of 13.  In my entire show-going life, I never once went to a punk show by myself.  Nor did I ever notice seeing chicks at shows by themselves.  In the past 2 or 3 years, as I’ve started going to more and more metal concerts (and fewer and fewer punk shows), not only have I seen lots of chicks there by themselves, but I’m sometimes even one of them!  Sure, there are women in every musical sub-culture who are just in it because of their boyfriend, or to screw the guys in the bands, but it has been my experience that women who are drawn to metal are really passionate about the music and won’t let themselves be intimidated out of going to a concert when they don’t have someone to go with.

2)Women in metal have amazing voices.  From Laura Dziadulewicz of Medeia, to Angela Gossow of Arch Enemy, to the growling German chick from Insuiciety, I have honestly never heard a bad female vocal in metal (though maybe I’ve just been lucky).  There is an enormous range of styles and approaches represented by the various women of metal, and I am psyched about pretty much all of the ones I’ve heard.  Hopefully Stay Female Fronted will start back up, so that I’ll find out about even more women in metal.

1)Women in metal are brave.  It’s really hard to be a minority, to constantly have to prove yourself, to have different needs or limits than everybody else, or to work in an environment where women are often treated as nothing more than sexy bodies (or living flesh altars for Satanic rituals, I’m just sayin’!) who peddle product.  This especially goes for the women working in metal who have had to prove that there’s more to them than good looks and a gimmick designed to grab male fans’ attention.  Even when it feels like a boy’s club, these women keep working at it, getting in the van, practicing, and putting in the effort.  They take metal seriously, make awesome music, and slowly pave the way for more women to get involved in metal.

I probably don’t fit the metalhead profile for a lot of people.  How many female, 30-something, upper middle class, jewish, PhD educated  metalheads do you know?  Just being a woman metal fan is often isolating enough!  But it’s exactly this collection of demographic characteristics, and especially my educational background as a sociologist, that has led me to a particular way of thinking about the world, and maybe the result is that I have something unusual–hopefully even interesting–to say about metal and its relationship to the non-metal world around it.

This blog isn’t really a music blog, in case you were wondering.  Sure, I’ll talk about things I’m listening to or bands that completely shred that you should check out.  But there are plenty of people out there who know way more about music, guitar technique, blast beats, and gear than I do.  Mostly I want to talk about metal and politics, metal and gender, metal bands with rad chicks in them, and the way things I’ve learned because of metal change the way I move through the world.

So yeah, that’s about all the introducing I’m gonna do.  Back soon with more tales from the metal life.