Authors: Megan Kennedy
Crucialfest Day Four @ Shred Shed and Wasted Space 06.29
It’s Year Three, Day Four of SLC’s amazing musical orgasm CrucialFest, and I step off the Trax stop at Courthouse to get myself some delicious pizza and beer from The Pie Hole before the festivities start. Heat’s in the triple digits, and I pity the poor fools even more who chose Warped Tour over CF. … read more
Winter Kills: The Rebirth of DevilDriver
Vocalist Dez Fafara has been a staple of the heavy music scene for going on 20 years now, and the man is a prolific music-making machine. He is the head of nu-metal giants Coal Chamber (who have just returned from a hiatus most fans thought would be permanent), as well as helming DevilDriver, the “California Groove Machine” of melodic death metal that defies boundaries and expectations, and contributing to a myriad of other projects with members of bands from all over the heavy music spectrum. SLUG sat down with Fafara as he runs his latest press gauntlet in support of DevilDriver’s upcoming release, Winter Kills, to talk about this new rebirth for his band and discover his unique inspirations and challenges as an artist. … read more
Summer Slaughter Tour @ The Complex 08.17
The long, hot day did not dampen the crowd’s appreciative roars, and just a few songs in there were already dudes finding a way to scale the stage and run around with the band or scream into the mic before security escorted them off or they took a dive into the crowd. The band didn’t seem to mind it either way, welcoming the energetic participation (which seemed to be an important theme to most of the bands’ performances), although security seemed less than pleased, but what are you gonna do? Those’re metal hooligans for you. … read more
Salt Lake Comic Con @ The Salt Palace 09.07
Unless you just flew in from the darkest reaches of Romulan space, you may have heard about a little convention our fair city had last week, a convention that shattered records and expectations and huffed new life into the suffocating lungs of local geekdom. Dan Farr Productions’ Salt Lake Comic Con was a blazing fucking success by all accounts—especially financially—and has set the stage for Salt Lake to become a new mecca for the culture. … read more
Localized – July 2011
This July 8 at the Urban Lounge, SLUG’s Localized is serving up a heaping pile of doom and sludge, courtesy of old-school heavyweights Muckraker, the newly returned Maraloka, and openers Dwellers. The show starts at 10 p.m. and is only $5, so get your metal pants on and join us! … read more
Local Reviews: Such Vengeance
Local metal outfit Such Vengeance has upped their game for their new release, Golden Leaves, Rotten Roots. Production value on this album is excellent, head and shoulders above their first; it really allows the listener a fair view at a talented collective. Their sound is cohesive, aggressive and tight. … read more
Dax Riggs, Red Telephone, Breakers @ Urban Lounge 11.06
Last Wednesday night brought one of, if not the most, anticipated shows of the year for this fearless narrator. Dax Riggs is probably in my Capitoline Triad of music gods, which brings admittedly high expectations for a show. I’ve been to a lot of shows in my life, and you’re always prepared for a disconnect between the wind-blown fantasies in your brain and the reality. However, Wednesday was quite unusual, and I wouldn’t be doing my job if I wasn’t honest about it. … read more
As The Palaces Burn: Lamb of God Documentary Reviewed
If you are a metalhead, regardless of your feelings about Lamb of God, you should stop and watch this documentary, because this story isn’t really about Lamb of God, but about our community and the unique challenges we face as both musicians and fans within it. … read more
Rising Above the Weirdo Radar with Old Wounds
“As of recently we’ve been getting support and respect in that aspect, but New Jersey is a pretty tough scene to really get it going, because everyone’s either older and kind of burnt out on hardcore or younger and have their own clique and they stick with it. They want to listen to what’s cool and not really go outside their bubble a little bit. So it’s definitely hard, but that goes for any New Jersey band.” … read more
Of Feather and Bone @ Shred Shed 04.25 with Centuries,...
When I got the call to head to a last-minute show Friday night, featuring amazing Denver grindcore band Of Feather and Bone, how could I say no? Finals week be damned! … read more