MetalVice

Summer festivals are a key part of many people's concert schedule. We plan our years and summers around them. For a long time a Danny Wimmer festival has been at the top of our list, and this year we went to our first one, Inkcarceration. We have heard nothing but great things. Join us and see if the hype we have heard was worth it.

Metal is truly a world wide community. What started in Birmingham has spread to every corner of the globe. BABYMETAL proudly showed us just how far Metal has come with their 2025 North America tour. Three bands (BABYMETAL, Jinjer, and Bloodywood), from three different countries (Japan, Ukraine, and India), with three distinct sounds and takes on Metal music. Join us as we look back at this show an...

A few years back, Slayer said they were done. At the time we had only seen them at Riot Fest, and we left early to beat the crowd. We never thought we would be able to see a full set again. Then, like most every band, they came back. Not touring, but playing a few shows here and there (but mostly there than here). So when they announced they would be in London at Finsbury Park the day after Back t...

We were lucky enough to get tickets and travel to Birmingham England, the birth place of Heavy Metal, to see Black Sabbath and Ozzy’s final show, Back to the Beginning. The line up was stacked with amazing artists from start to finish. Each of the artists covering a Black Sabbath or Ozzy song, and insane super groups doing the same. This truly was the best Metal concert of all time. The energy of...

Brian has a deep love for movies, maybe even more than music. So it was only a matter of time before we found the perfect movie to review for our podcast. The only hard part was picking the movie. With so many to choose from we landed on Metal Lords. A coming-of-age tale following two best friends in high school as they set forth to take over the world (or at least their high school) with Metal. G...

We return to Cobra Lounge in the heat of summer for back to back shows. For the first night we got some heavy chill grooves from Aurorawave, Donefor, and Droogs. The second, had a much different feel to it with Thrash, Grass, Folk, and a splash of Punk from The Native Howl, Tejon Street Corner Thieves, and the local Chicago artist of Cricket!.

When it was announced, Fyre Fest was poised to be one of the big hitters in the music festival space, on the same level as Coachella. For us, we were completely unaware of this festival. Partly because we were just getting back into live music after a seven year drought, but mostly because it was just not our scene. Then our friend group started talking about the two documentaries that were made a...

Not long ago we saw our first show at Thalia Hall in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. It instantly became one of our favorite venues in the city, if not our absolute favorite. We thought it would be a very long time before we would be able to return to see some killer Metal music. We were wrong, it only took a month or so before we were back to see Khanate. A band we knew nothing about, other t...

We would have told you there's not a snowball's chance in hell, if you said we would be seeing one of the all time greatest Hard Rock bands, AC/DC, just a year ago. Hell, if you told us that two or three years ago we would have said the same thing. But, as luck would have it, we did just that when they stopped in Chicago. Not only was it the first time for Brian seeing AC/DC (or even The Pretty Re...

Chaos & Carnage, a sort of small touring festival, hits the road again in 2025 stopping at the Radius in Chicago. The lineup for 2025 saw Dying Fetus & Cradle of Filth co-headlining. With support from Fleshgod Apocalypse, Ne Obliviscaris, Undeath, Vomit Forth, and Corpse Pile. While we thought we knew what to expect going into this show, we were stunned by a few of the bands who left a las...

As spring winds down we return to Milwaukee, as we have done that past two years, for Milwaukee Metal Fest! It’s become an annual must see festival for us. Not only because it's held at one of our favorite venues of all time, The Rave, but because we know that Jamey will pack the line up with must see bands from the bottom of the bill to the top. This year was no different. Headlining this year we...

Arch Enemy returns to one of our top venues in the city, The Vic. With support from Fit For An Autopsy (our first time seeing them since the inaugural Headbangers Boat), Baest, and Thrown Into Exile. All things considered for Brian, it was a great night of heavy riffs and good vibes.

Most of the time, the shows we go to, we know at least one of the bands. On a rare occasion we will go to a show where we know none of the music.  However, when we do this its because we know the music is metal, and of course we will have a good time. Well not on this night. Sort of. Brian knows only two Nick Cave songs; Red Right Hand (because of Scream and the intro track to Ice Nine Kills, also...

We have already seen some amazing shows where bands are celebrating their 20th or 25th anniversary of key albums. From brands like Slipknot, Lamb of god, Mastodon, and Disturbed. This tour, The Poisoned Ascendancy Tour, is no different. With both Trivium playing Ascendancy and Bullet For My Valentine playing The Poisoned in full. With these two bands playing these two albums it would have been a k...

It was almost a year ago, at Milwaukee Metal Fest 2024, when we saw Paleface Swiss live for the first time. It was one of the best performances of the fest, leaving wanting more. So when they announced their headlining tour ending in Chicago we were excited. Then we saw the venue, Thalia Hall. This is a venue we have known about for some time. Mostly because every person who found out we have neve...

Most of the time, it's the top of the bill that draws you to the show. On this night it was the bottom, the first opener that brought us out. While we have seen Vended more times than we can remember, and each show is almost exactly the same, it’s a killer show every time. Regardless of the size of the crowd. This show was no exception. An added bonus, we would get to experience two bands for the...

It seems like most shows are going to the four act structure. The days of the three band bill seem to be not the norm. We are not sure why. But when it comes to a tour with three older bands like Meshuggah, Cannibal Corpse, and Carcass what more could you want. Well, unfortunately for us, we only got to see 2 out of three. Which we hear is not bad. Carcass would let us get a Headbangers vest show...

House of Blues Chicago was one of our favorite venues in the city for many years. Over time though we have come to lowth the place. For many reasons. For instance if you are not on the main floor it's easy to find yourself behind a pole without a view of the stage and piss poor sound. Let's also not forget it's a LiveNation venue. For Karen, it’s often a hard pass if a band announces a show at HOB...

Our friends in Trash Of The Titans have started a new band, MegaBallad. Instead of a tribute to the Big 4, it's a night celebrating the Hard Rock Power Ballads of the 80’s. Playing decade defining songs from Def Leppard, GNR, Skid Row Bon Jovi and so many more. When we heard they were playing Sherwood Forest Event Center in their home town of Des Moines for their first show we knew we had to be th...

When a show is announced and tickets go on sale we will jump on them as soon as we can. Mostly to ensure we get tickets before scalpers grab them all up and resell them for a huge markup. Fuck scalpers. This means that we will have to skip any show that is announced after the first. That's exactly what happened with Dream Theater’s 40th Anniversary tour and Disturbed The Sickness 25th Anniversary...

Out of all the subgenres of Metal, Folk Metal is one of our favorites. Each band in this subgenre brings their own take and sound, based on who they are, where they are from, and what their unique experience/culture is. While this is true for all Metal, Folk Metal will also bring unique instruments you don’t hear anywhere else in Metal. So when we saw the Finnish bands Korpiklaani and Ensiferum br...

25 years ago Disturbed released their debut album, The Sickness. This album, and band, has had a huge impact on both Karen and Brian's lives and musical journey. To celebrate, Disturbed, went on the road to play the album in full for all the fans who are like us and love this album. Not only was the entire Sickness album going to be played in full, Disturbed played a second set for their greatest...

Taking two, and sometimes even more, genres of music and melding them together will often result in something very good. That was the case with the Rock Orchestra presented by Candle Light. A melding of some of Rock and Metals biggest hits with a Classical twist, and even a hint of Jazz. Even with the unique sound and venue, the energy in the air was definitely a familiar one.

Welcome to our first Book Club episode. Join us as we look at Randy Blythe’s first book, Dark Days. A memoir surrounding the events that lead to his incarceration and subsequent trial.

What do you get when you ask classically trained cello players to cover one of the greatest Metal bands of all time? An insanely good time that’s what! To support their newest album, Apocalyptica returns to Chicago to play some of the best Metallica songs out there. Along for the ride Nita Strauss and company helped prep the crowd for the night ahead. While Apocalyptica only played Metallica cover...