It’s that time of year once again when music fans of all types head out to the area record shops in search of trinkets and limited time only special editions from their favorite bands. Even though I’ve long ago become a CD only type of music fan, I still have a healthy number of my old records and fondly remember the pleasure that they gave to me while playing them. Of course a lot of my friends and site readers are still avid fans and go exploring on a day like today so I’ve made sure to set this little reminder up for their edification.

The site below brings you to the official page for Record Store Day and its here that you can no only search for items that are interesting to you and this year you can even download an App for your iPhone or Droid device. The links for that is right on the main page so be sure to do it. One of the things that sometimes takes place on Record Store Day are special live musical performances or just appearances so you might want to keep an eye out for those as well. Depending on what I find happening in my Metropolis and how it relates to a heavier side of music I might just end up with more writing to do. That is never a bad thing at the end of the day. So I wish all of you LP explorers a good find today and hope you have a blast.

Official Website: http://www.recordstoreday.com/Home

Now officially in the books but first a little recap on what was brewing this time around.

Some of my blog readers might remember that back in October of this year I jumped into the fray and began offering up my position and viewpoints about The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and their seemingly endless supply of idiocy when it came to the Heavy Rock and Metal providers of the world. My feeling is that if public figures like Eddie Trunk can do it, then why not follow suit for those people interested in what I have to say about it after being a music scribe for almost ten years. It would be my second year in a row as soap boxer so I was getting a little better at it I knew that by doing this that I would need to stand strong behind my views and that this stuff would get a lot of peoples goat if I lambasted a particular band or had no real clue myself about why they would be included in this Hall (and this I learned very well from some of the comments that people left me on that particular blog post LOL). Honestly, I loved the discourse and felt more connected with some of my readers at the end of the day and you’ve probably already guessed that a posting like this is also a way great way to get some new readers over to the website. I always like that. Anyway, so I posted the nominees in a blog and discussed what merits or lack thereof I felt each of them brought to the table. I was honest and objective and not sitting here stewing with “What the Hell man, they didn’t choose Iron Maiden or Slayer again man!!! That’s bull!!!”. I’m pretty sure that my eventual kids will have kids before we find many of the Heavy Metal bands that we love in this place. Check out that posting to catch up HERE and feel free to comment on those views if you like. It’s always great to know what people think.

So this years nomination process is over and the names for the 2013 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees have been announced and here is the run down of them: Lou Adler, Quincy Jones, Heart, Albert King, Public Enemy, Randy Newman, Rush, and Donna Summer. Congratulations to the winners. Now let’s reflect on this a little bit.

Right off the bat I am going to say how happy I am to see Rush included in this years selections because I think that they were very important to Progressive Metal and Rock and proved that you could be technical and heavy and still put out great songs. Yes and ELP were also incredible technicians as bands but they were not nominated and who knows when or if they ever will be. I will take it just the same. I think Heart has always worked hard at the craft and merit inclusion but I am very disappointed to see Joan Jett and The Blackhearts left off the list since they really offered up some quality Rock that was played on the radio more times than I can count but now let’s address the most grievous of this years omissions – Deep Purple. DEEP PURPLE HAS BEEN LOOKED OVER FOR INCLUSION IN THE ROCK HALL!!!!! Are you effing me? Wow talk about legendary and influential contributions to Rock music that still resonate today. You know if you ask some of the Scandinavian folks out there, it seems as though Deep Purple is more important to them than Sabbath and Zeppelin are and that is amazing. True story so it makes sense that the Rock Hall would bypass them. It also makes sense that the “Rock Hall” would put Public Enemy in the place before them and even Donna Summer who is being honored posthumously. Don’t get me wrong as I love me some classic Donna tracks having heard them all my life, but she was the Disco Queen and Disco is NOT ROCK AND ROLL……I stand by this. Feel free to throw tomatoes at me (I need them for salad). It will likely be an amusing induction with the constant repetition of “FLAVA FLAV” and “Yeah Boyeeeee” during the show. I am once again shocked that a Rap group is making it in before KISS but we all know that KISS is not even recognized as important to Rock by these voting parties. Just goes to show you the level of douche canoes that these folks are. That’s just my two cents.

As before I will say again that I really don’t know how this place works and I don’t think many out there do. I do look forward to next year’s public statement against the place that is for sure because a little complaining on these pages lets everyone pitch in. I welcome your comments as long as they are on topic and of course stay tuned for more.

THIS JUST IN!!!!

I observed this on someone’s Facebook page earlier today and am sharing the information with The Metal Republic because a number of the bands that I know around the scene have booked shows there and were looking forward to doing more. This apparently took place the other day so please read on.

“Attention all our ARENA QUEENS fans & friends: Due to circumstances beyond our control, the City Marshall has padlocked and shut down Arena. We have worked diligently with the Marshall & Landlord and tried everything in our power to keep the club open during this unfortunate process, but to no avail. This is not to say that we will not get the club back open at a future date at this location, or possibly another location, but for right now the doors are shut.

We thank all our fans and friends who have supported us over the last 7 months, our wonderful staff, all the bands, promoters, DJs etc that helped make this a great place to perform and hang out at! We will keep you posted, so watch this page for any future announcements regarding ARENA QUEENS!!!”

Official Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ArenaQueens

Sadly I had not yet been out there for a show as the schedule did not allow it but it’s always terrible to see a promising space go away but such is the way we find the scene today. I imagine that any inquiries about this matter can be directed to the venue via their Facebook Page which I have linked above for your use.

Interestingly enough, the last time that I saw designer Sharon Toxic showcasing her fantastic fashions was at one of the other “Big City Rebels” events that was put together by Samuel Valentine. As memory serves me this was also the event that I first caught the band Naked from Finland at along with the Vains Of Jenna (who are sadly no longer a group). I took the fashion show out of the concert review coverage and delivered it in a blog posting of its own since I felt it allowed for a little more special focus and you can revisit that posting HERE if you like.

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If there is one things that I love most about being a music scribe and photographer, it’s that you get the chance to meet a host of wonderful and talented people during your adventures and that is what brings me to this next particular event. Let me scroll back and reflect how during the 2011 Book Expo America we happened upon the Hermes Press booth and met their then publicist Chris Irving. As media outlets both Skeleton Pete and I kept in touch with Chris but as we often find happening in this business, Chris would move on to other pursuits and I would lose track of his adventuring for the time being. Then as luck would have it, while planning out some new events with Pete, he mentioned reading about this happening in Time Out magazine. Apparently Chris and a colleague had put out a book and would be having a discussion about the material at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in New York City.

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Officially in the books but first a little recap.

Some blog readers might remember that back in September of this year I jumped into the fray and began offering up my position and viewpoints about The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame and their seemingly endless supply of idiocy when it came to the Heavy Rock and Metal providers of the world. I felt that if public figures like Eddie Trunk could do it, then why not follow suit for the interested parties and brave whatever the outcome of such words would be. As a music journalist one must stand strong behind their views and this stuff would get a lot of peoples goat. It would also be great if it sent some new readers over to the website. I always like that. Anyway, I posted the nominees in a blog and discussed what merits or lack thereof I felt each of them brought to the table. I was honest and objective and not sitting here stewing with “What the Hell man, they didn’t choose Judas Priest again man!!! That’s bull!!!”. Check out that posting HERE and feel free to comment on those views if you like. It’s always great to know what people think.

Now that the nomination process is over, the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees have been announced and here is the run down of them: Guns N Roses, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Donovan, Laura Nyro, The Small Faces/The Faces, The Beastie Boys, Freddie King, Don Kirshner, Cosimo Matassa, Tom Dowd, and Glyn Johns.

Congratulations to the “winners”. I used quotes because some of you don’t need to be here yet and some actually not at all since this is supposed to be a Rock and Roll Institution. Very happy for Don Kirshner, may he Rest In Peace, as his Rock Concerts always gave me some wonderful late night enjoyment and something to tape. The Rock picks left me uninspired though against the other nominees and I admit it was interesting to see inductees whose names were not on the nomination poll. I also think that stuff like production, engineering and song-writing needs to be expanded upon and fall into a criteria that let’s more performers get the attention. That’s just my two cents.

I really don’t know how this place works and I don’t think many out there do. I am looking forward to next year’s public statement against the place that is for sure. Feel free to comment and of course stay tuned for more.

Even though I lean towards a more traditional style of Metal when it comes to how I feel about Grindcore stuff, there is no question about its overall intensity and the impact that it has had on that scenes fan base. Simply put, those who love it love it with the same force that it delivers to their senses. The band Wormrot hails from Singapore and they have been together since 2007. They were apparently discovered two years later by the founder of Earache Records (Digby Pearson) and signed immediately to his label. This was a perfect match for the band since so many Grindcore greats have been featured on this label such as the mighty Carcass and Napalm Death over the years. Recently the folks over at Scion A/V have provided fans the chance to download a free EP of Wormrot and this is a great way to give the band a sampling whether you are thrilled with the Grindcore sound or not. Who knows, perhaps you will find it making absolute sense to your musical palette. If you don’t enjoy it you can always delete the tunes or copy them to your friends computer or smart phone. Scion A/V has done this before with the mighty Immolation and also Enslaved. Just click their names to find links to those free EP’s. It’s time well spent.

Once again we have to thank the folks over at Scion A/V for giving it to the people and for free. There are other downloads to enjoy and as we have stressed in the brief postings about the others, share at will. Let’s get these bands the support that they are playing their asses out for. Until next time.

Official Websites:
http://www.myspace.com/wormrotgrind
http://www.earache.com/
http://scionav.com/

The command center for PiercingMetal’s journalistic happenings is stationed in the Big Apple NYC but when it all comes down to it, we maintain a large sense of pride when it relates to any Metal band that manages to do some proper good for the genre from the state on the whole. Such is the case with the devastating might of the Yonkers based Immolation who have been crushing skulls with their powerful brand of Death Metal for the past 25 years. The band’s latest full album is entitled Majesty & Decay and comes care of their label Nuclear Blast Records. If you’ve followed the band at all in the recent times I don’t have to tell you that this is some monstrous stuff and should be played at maximum volume for best effect. If you can count on Immolation for anything after this quarter century, it is the fact that they still choose to deliver some intensely powerful Metal for the loyal followers and have never taken the easy path to cut corners. Kudos to Ross, Bob, Steve and Bill for truly keeping it real.

Recently the fine folks at Scion A/V have offered fans the chance to download five more songs from the band on an EP entitled “Providence”. The whopping price of this group of recordings is absolutely free. In this current economy this is something awesome to find happening as it does not do any harm to the band and instead puts their music into more Metal fans hands via a legal means and sends more bodies to the shows to purchase merchandise. The band will have this free EP available at their merchandise tables at the shows but you don’t have to wait for them to rumble through town to own this music. Just click the album cover below and you can download it straight away.

Thanks to Scion A/V for doing this for the band and further thanks to Nuclear Blast Records for being the proper home for a force of Metal nature like the mighty Immolation. I was compelled to do a quick blog posting for this and use the Musings as more of an editorial soapbox for our Metal good. It’s here to serve a myriad of purposes after all and I shall totally do this again sometime.

Relevant Links:
Official Immolation: http://www.myspace.com/immolation
Scion A/V: http://www.scionav.com/
Nuclear Blast Records: http://www.nuclearblastusa.com/

With so many radio & television personalities in the music industry tossing out their public discontent about the shenanigans that the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame gives us each and every year; I felt that it was high time for the PiercingMetal Blog to offer a take on this as well.

The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame

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Yesterday I lamented the loss of one of my favorite dining haunts in NYC and since there was a kick ass music venue downstairs I felt that it would be wise to make sure our readers knew it was gone as well. The restaurant was called Acme Restaurant and below it was the Ace Of Clubs. The venue used to be called Under Acme and I admit that I didn’t know when they changed the name. Whatever the case may be, it is closed and if I read correctly it will not be coming back whenever what becomes of the restaurant space above reconfigures itself under the new ownership. That sucks. I always hate when a cool place that I like to eat at closes up shop but when there is a valuable music space along with this happening it just makes it all the more worse.
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