That view was shattered when I finally saw Heavy Metal in Baghdad.  Apparently, you don't know war until your practice space is blown up.  The movie is the story of a group of kids that just wanted to play in a metal band.  Under Saddam, the relative calm allowed them to pursue that dream (albeit with some artistic compromise to please the dictator).  Post-invasion, they were able to play just 6 shows in over 5 years, culminating with a daytime performance in a Green Zone hotel with flames, mortars and Blackhawks as the backdrop.  The type of show only their heroes METALLICA could afford to put on.  But for ACRASSICAUDA, it was all part of the rider when the U.S. military books you to play in the middle of hostile territory.  When conditions worsened so that practice became impossible, the band made the fateful decision that nobody should live with death everyday, and the members scattered across the border.  Yes, they were ready to die, but why wait for it?             

It turns out that Syria is not a much better place for metal than Iraq.  It's so bad that the U.S. gov't was willing to grant them refugee status because the release of the movie had revealed to their neighbors that there were not in league with Islamic fundamentalism.  Today they reside in Jersey and release an EP on Vice entitled Only the Dead See the End of War.  Produced by TESTAMENT's Alex Skolnick, the record showcases the incredible progress the band has made over the last year.  Sure, the influences are there - MEGADETH, SEPULTURA and SLAYER all unsurprisingly come to mind.  But there's nothing generic about this music.  It's not possible when the creators have lived the songs.  And with Skolnick's production, he helps them sound like the professionals they have risked their lives to become.  The lead guitar work and the variety of vocal stylings have me believing this is no novelty act.       

So what does this have to do with Los Angeles?  Nothing.  What does it have to do with metal?  Everything.    

Doors Open @ 630PM
Internal Corrosion @ 7pm
House OF Broken Promises @ 745pm
Of The Horizon @ 830pm
It's Casual @ 915pm
PHILM (DAVE LOMBARDO) @ 10pm

• The CHELSEA GIRLS' lead vocalist Tuesdae tells AOL about  how she formed HUNTRESS with the boys from PROFESSOR and that she can't live without KING DIAMOND's Them.  After saying that, we might not be able to live without her.  Catch the first HUNTRESS show April 5th at Les Deux.

• Guitarist Emily Burton & lead vocalist/guitarist Rev. Jim Rota of FIREBALL MINISTRY will guest on the syndicated metal radio show “Full Metal Jackie” all weekend and on KNAC.COM's “Crazy Craig’s Super Rock Sunday" from 3-5 pm PST.

• It turns out tonight's headliner at the Mountain Bar, ANCESTORS, isn't the only band brave enough to challenge the ADD-riddled masses of our fair city with 15+ minute songs.  THE FREQUENCY has one that has caught the ears of the UK's New Music Express, and you can go to their site to download that tune and two others.  Check out these "relatively unknown LA psychedelic beatniks" (NME's words, not ours) live when they headline a free show at The Echo on March 22nd.

• If the idea of buying a demo strikes you as wrong, maybe winning one through a contest will let you sleep at night.  And there's no better creator of lullabye music than XASTHUR.  Share your misery with Chronic Youth by next Friday to be eligible to win the 2005 Demo.   

• Things must be going well over at Hydra Head because they're also sharing a new track on Music Sucks called "The Theatre Goer" from DAUGHTERS' new album that will be released Tuesday.  We hear the band is in a state of disarray which makes sense if you have ever seen them live. 

• Southern Lord introduced the newest member of its family, THE SECRET.  Greg Anderson had this to say about the Italians:  "These days it's extremely rare that we receive a demo submission that blows us away. This was the case with the demo THE SECRET had sent us. Their sound is relentless, uncompromising and extremely lethal. Anti-melody, pro-cacophony!"  The band will soon enter Godcity Studio in Salem, MA in April with producer Kurt Ballou to record their label debut Solve et Coagula.  And if you're a CD buyer, SOUTHERN LORD is running a sale that reduces prices for that format to $10 or less for almost all their offerings, duration unknown.  

• And finally, further solidfying their status as the technological pioneers of the local underground metal scene, here's an interview with RUSTY EYE by occasional City of Devils contributor Charlie Steffens.  RUSTY EYE plays the Whisky with WARBRINGER on March 18th. 

You have anything special planned for us on Saturday night?

T-shirts with artwork by Tom Denney. We plan to debut a new song at the end of the set, but there's some other newbies too that we've only played once before.

Does the band have any recording plans for 2010?

We're in the process of recording a home spun record...it will be our debut. It's about 3/4s done. Whether it gets released as is or it's used as a blueprint for a studio record remains to be seen...we're into it as it is though...hopefully we can get a label to jump onboard.

When we saw you last, you were playing at Les Deux with PROFESSOR while a bunch of porn stars milled about - what did you think of that scene? 

It was cool. Different scene for us to play at...we're used to playing for metal heads.

You say your influences are "old metal" - how old are we talking?

Pretty standard stuff - Sabbath/Pentagram/Budgie/Zeppelin. I think of Zeppelin as a metal band. I was heavily into the thrash scene as a kid too, the big 4 etc...The other guys might have a more hip answer but that's all I got right now.

Are you looking forward to the PENTAGRAM show at Ultra Violet in a few weeks (note:  we will have free tickets to giveaway soon)?

Didn't even know about it, now I do. We have a recorded cover of "Forever my Queen". Maybe someday it will see the light of day.

We noticed you guys are fans of Minnesota's ZEBULON PIKE.  Their latest record has a permanent home in our car's CD player and is the answer for those that have questioned PELICAN's recent direction.  How did you find them? 

Our drummer is a music freak, he knows about every new thing that comes out. For a while he was my only source of new music. I haven't heard their latest record, I'll have to check it out.

Thur. March 25th, Record Release/Film Premier Party at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

THE SHOW IS FREE with an open bar but there is a 300 capacity on the space. To ensure you get in despite a sell-out you can pre-order the album and get placed on the RSVP list.

The CD/DVD is $20 and the LP/DVD is $30. You can paypal to this email address (deadmeadowltd@yahoo.com) and pick up your copy at the show. We will keep a list of your name and email at the show. There will also be some giveaways stuff at the event too..and a raffle for a mini practice amp by Orange! Your pre-order enters your name automatically into the raffle.

Doors are at 8pm, band tentatively plays at 9:30pm. RSVP list closes 9pm (30 mins. before set set-time)

Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Masonic Hall
6000 Santa Monica Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90038-1899
(323) 469-1181

The film consists of footage from Dead Meadow's last LA hometown show after completing a five-month tour, intermingled with vignettes of corruption, destruction and rebirth.  Should be a typical Thursday night. 

Dead Meadow "Three Kings" Teaser Trailer from Artificial Army on Vimeo.

You can also download all four non-album live tracks here from DEAD MEADOW's Facebook page.

Local psych doom outfit GREEN & WOOD is playing tomorrow night with a bunch of outstanding bands at the Two Headed Horse in Echo Park.  They just recently put out their debut LP on Cyclopean Records and it is available here for purchase.  I got mine a couple of weeks ago and it quickly found its way into the heavy rotation category.  I'm guessing they'll have some at the show tomorrow night too.  We sent the band a few questions to find out a little about their history and catch a glimpse of their future.  Guitarists Ethan and Magda kindly responded.

How did you guys find each other?

Magdalena and I (Ethan) met in Long Beach CA one stormy night in June at a fellow friend’s house. He was hosting a party in honor of the honor-less. The musical union thus followed in the basement of my Portland home and acquired members ubiquitous throughout the three years of our engagement.

Ethan plays drums and guitars on your just released self-titled debut - what's the plan for live shows?  Going Bob Log III style?

I  grew up on the drums. I've started to play guitar to give myself something to play along with so it follows that when I write for the guitar I write for the drums. Being unable to find a steady drummer at the time I decided to have a go at the record myself. For better or worse, there it is. We've since managed to find ourselves a drummer. So no, no Bob Logs, but maybe a few burning embers. 

How did you get hooked up with the relatively small metal label Cyclopean from Austin, TX?

We were on tour with the amazing Roller from Austin. We played a show at Red 7 and Jason from Iron Age came to the show. He liked the tunes so he hit us up and next thing we knew we had orange vinyl on the way!

We see you're going to Austin to play SXSW.  You looking forward to the madness?

Uhhhhhhhh FuckYeah!? 

Any other touring plans this year?

Always, maybe east coast, maybe no coast, we'll play where the gigs are.

We couldn't help but notice there are breasts on all sides of the gatefold LP but three different artists are responsible.  Was that a planned theme?

Who don't love titties? Anyway, yes, our buddies Freedom and Farron are amazing artists each to there own and we wanted a piece from each of them. And Magda just so happens to be a great photographer who happens to have friends kind enough to bear themselves for our musical (pl)measures. And lo the album is born.

Everyone likes breasts. I (Magda) shot the photo on the back cover of some friends in the yard and did a photo of the front cover, then Farron used that to draw out the final cover. its a banquet, after the song "Banquet of Jupiter at the Judgement of the Sun" and our other friend John Paul did the gatefold and drew out those nudes.

Cannabis Corpse, from Richmond Virginia , is the bong-term vision of Municipal Waste bassist Phil Hall, his (drummer) brother Josh, and two other cohorts. They play straight ahead fast ‘n heavy Death ‘n Grind that satisfies the pumped up crowd… yeah - the ‘Corpse easily delivers. Given the bands name, you don’t need to be Einstein to work out that these boys dig their weed as much as their Grind, and arrive on stage informing us they are already under a heavy toxic fug. And the songs, yeah – they all seem to be related to their favourite pastime too… as I recall there was one about having a weed addicted pregnant girlfriend called Smoking for Two and another about sharing buds in a graveyard, and on and on it went…

 And a video to whet your appetite:

We have a special giveaway for these shows, in part because the folks that run the Echo have designated the City of Devils as an honorary presenter.  And it is an honor.  We have a total of three pairs of tickets for each night, and as the grand prize, one winner on both the 3rd and the 4th will receive the poster shown below on the night of the show.  Here are the rules.  There are two ways to be eligible to win the poster.  First, identify the "heavy metal" song that Mike Tyson enters the ring to before he demolishes Michael Spinks.  You can hear it here.  I can tell you the two most common guesses are wrong.  It is not off Time Machines by COIL (which I just tracked down on eBay and has become my latenight soundtrack of choice), or "Theme From a Clockwork Orange". 

If you don't want to take on that challenge, then the second way you to qualify for the poster contest is by sending us proof that you've promoted these shows in some fashion in three different ways, via social networking sites or otherwise.  Creativity is encouraged.  Those that want to just be considered for the tickets only need to send us their names.

To enter, contact us here or by email to thecityofdevils@gmail.com and specify the night you want to attend.  It is OK to say either.  The contest closes on Friday, February 26th at noon Monday, March 1st at 5 pm.  Otherwise, click on the links to buy tickets for March 3rd or March 4th.  What I learned at the Viper Room is the experience of hearing the rhythm section of Crover and Cisneros is worth the price of admission alone.