MetalVice

After going two weeks without seeing a live show, we were definitely itching for the next gig. And we dove head first into it with four shows over six days. The first; Slaughter to Provel played a headline tour with Whitechapel and Attila in support at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago. A few days later we made our way to the burbs of Milwaukee for our first show at XRay Arcade. A small converted hou...

Live music is hands down our favorite way to consume music. It doesn't matter what the genre of music is, the energy and emotions of the fans is the same. That's why when you hear about fans at a show getting hurt or losing their lives at a show, your heart sinks. In this episode we talk about the Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy documentary. Trainwreck is a documentary series on Netflix. Coveri...

We are back for the third book club episode. This time we take a look at Mark Mortons first book, Desolautions: A Heavy Metal Memoir. The Lamb Of God guitarist shares some of his highest highs and lowest lows as he tells the story of his life so far. From learning to play music as a child to his high school bands and the formation of Lamb Of God. Tag along while Mark shares the inspirations for so...

It's no secret, ticket prices are expensive. Why is that though? Has it always been this way? Business Insider has a video out where they look at just this. They spend time talking to people from Live Nation, StubHub, the DOJ and others. Join us as we watch this video and provide our thoughts throughout.   Business Insider Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN1AVSZyFbY   Copyright Disclaimer U...

We spend too much time this week at the Cemetery Gates when we say goodbye to three people; Matt Krupanski (Boysetsfire), James Lollar (Gost), and Bo Lueders (Harms Way). Thank you all for the amazing art you created and shared with the world. It’s also a double concert report week. The first, the Gwar: Gor-Gor Strikes Back tour with Soulfly and King Parrot in support. Followed by Emperor and Bloo...

In this week's headlines we take a moment to talk about AI bots listening to AI “music” and getting paid for it. Apparently that's fraud. We also unfortunately make a stop by the Cemetery gates to say goodbye to Ross “The Boss” Friedman. Then we get to this week's concert report of boat alums Lacuna Coil. With Escape the Fate and VOWWS in support.

Right now, Ov Sulfur is one of Karen’s favorite bands. So of course when they, along with Atlas, were announced as direct support of another killer band, Orbit Culture, we knew this was a show we could not miss. There was one small problem. The show in Chicago was at The House of Blues. With us having an active goal to not see a show at this venue we were left with a few options; 1. See the show i...

Fire up those Twin Ion Engines and head to Chicago because the empire is coming to town. Well, maybe not to Chicago, but to West Chicago. Which - believe it or not Brian, West Chicago is not part of Chicago. The band Galactic Empire, consumed by the dark side, and just being general nerds, come to the West Chicago Social Club. A venue we have wanted to check out for some time but the journey seeme...

This year we returned to 102.9 The Hog (Everything That Rocks!) yearly show, HOG Fest, after missing the last two years. The show this year had Three Days Grace at the top of the bill. With support from top to bottom of the bill by I Prevail, Sleep Theory, and The Funeral Portrait. Not only have we seen all of these bands before, but all of them have also played past HOG Fests. It was truly a nigh...

For the main topic this week you can hear Brian/Karen’s constant chatter about the Nothing More show at the Riviera Theater in Chicago. Both were excited to see different bands from the top of the bill to the bottom, which included Catch Your Breath, Archers, and Dobbie in support. Also this week you can catch up on past news featuring the new Iron Maiden doc and new music from Wage War and Lamb O...

What is Tractor Jazz you may be asking? Well it’s a double concert report episode. The first report is all about our time at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, where we saw K.I.M. (Keeping It Moving). This was our first time seeing a Jazz show, and it was different yet very familiar to other shows we have seen. That same night a friend let us know his cousin was playing a show the next night in a band...

A few years back we went to a show that should have had a killer line up, one we would love to see again. Opening was Khemis (our first time seeing them), followed by Mastodon (also our first time seeing them), and to close it out was Opeth (again, our “first” time seeing them). However, we kind of over indulge and left the show mid way into Opeth’s first song. Well- maybe it was the second song,...

With so much sickness in this week's news segment we are more than ready to chat about the Left To Suffer show. What would be a night of great deathcore with a pinch of hardcore we got to see The Last Ten Seconds Of Life, LarcEnia RoE, Fr3ak, and the local band Beheading The Icon all in support.

On a cold winter’s night, a perfect way to warm up is with some live music. With some fun creepy goth/rock/metal songs. That's just what we have for our main topic this week, with our concert report from the Lord Of The Lost show. Joining them in support we got to see Wednesday 13 again and The Birthday Massacre for the first time. Also we cover this week's news (stories include the new band doPE)...

This week's concert report takes us back to the end of 2025 for our final show of the year. The headliner, American Hustle, played the classic Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf, followed by The Stem Lords playing the classic Billy Squier album Don't Say No. We also take a look at the merch table this week for a very unique EP from Party Cannon along with the week's headlines, new music, and of course t...

This is the first week of 2026 where we had more than one show to go to. The first was a bar show at Reggies with some avant-garde metal/rock bands. Headlined by Kayo Dot with support from Straya and William Covert Trio. For the second show, we head out to the burbs, Woodstock to be precise. This event was not only a concert but a market full of everything from music to oddities. This event was pu...

For our main topic in this episode we talk about Corey Taylor’s first book, Seven Deadly Sins. While it's not necessarily about music it has a few elements that tie back. Mostly that it was written by the lead singer of Slipknot and Stone Sour. In addition to the main topic we go over the past week's headlines and a stacked concert calendar with new show announcements.

With the start of the new year we decided to change up the format of our main podcast. In this episode we try a few new segments; news/headlines, new music, new concert announcements, new merch announcements, and our concert report for Candlelight’s tribute to Metallica.

With the start of a new year we are going to be playing with the format of our main podcast. Join us as we talk about the upcoming changes we have been thinking about. These changes are not set in stone, just us trying some new things for the show.

In what felt like a blink of an eye, 2025 has come and gone. A year that will be one of our personal biggest years ever. From not only the shows we saw or the places we visited, but for the music and people we met along the way. Join us as we take a look back at 2025 and share our top items in 13 different categories.

In this very special Christmas episode we look back at our last show of 2025, Avatar’s In The Airwaves tour. Well, it’s not necessarily a special Christmas episode, but we do have a new Christmas intro/outro and Christmas tree behind us. We do, though, talk about this Avatar show, where Alien Weaponry and SpirtWorld were the openers. This was also our first time seeing Avatar at a venue in Chicago...

For a period of time in the mid 2010s, Brian found himself not listening to as much metal. Instead he was exploring indie and folk rock. One artist that he took a liking to was Griffin House. The song Better Than Love became an instant favorite between us and has a very special place in our hearts. So when we saw that he was coming to the Chicago burbs we knew we had to make a night of it.

We go to our second Trivium show in under a year. This time for The Struck Dead Tour, formally the Ascend Above The Ashes tour, at the Rave in Miliwakue. While the first time we got the Ascendancy album in full, this time we got a more traditional set. With one small difference, Brian finally got to hear Strife live! In support of this tour we got to see Heriot for the first time and Jinjer for th...

Over the years we have seen many new bands and our taste in music have evolved. In one of our very first episodes we saw a show where Omnium Gatherum was an opener. Now, they come to Chicago as a headliner. Before we recorded this episode Karen went back and listened to that episode, so you don't have to suffer through it. Join us as we talk about how our thoughts have changed between that first s...

We set sail yet again onboard another Headbangers Boat. What has become our annual tradition is starting to turn into a reunion. Meeting so many amazing people all with the same goal. Experience great live music with incredible people. This year, like the last two, was an amazing experience. Join us as we look back and share our experience on the third Headbangers Boat.