Tour Diary

Quick thoughts on UFC Live 3 Sanchez vs. Kampmann Martin Kampmann got ripped off. He should have won that fight, and not just because Diego Sanchez’s face looked like he had been run over by 14-wheeler, but because Kampmann landed more accurate strikes all evening and defended all of Diego’s relentless take-down attempts save for…

What: UFC 127When: February 26th, 2011 Where: Acer Arena, Sydney, Australia Te Huna vs. Gustafsson Sweden’s own Alexander Gustafsson made it onto the Ion broadcast of the prelims, and did not squander the opportunity as he put on quite the performance and defeated James Te Huna by rear naked choke towards the end of the…

BJ Penn, a prodigy at UFC 127 Coming up from Australia on Saturday is UFC 127, featuring one of my all-time fave fighters who has had some very entertaining bouts over the years, against someone who has gotten a lot of criticism for his perceived “boring” style: BJ Penn vs. Jon Fitch. Apparently, UFC President…

By Oscar Dronjak (HammerFall), Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament Being raised on the early UFC, I am a sucker for tournaments. While I completely understand why it was eventually abandoned, I do miss the real sport-feel coming with an elimination event. Just look at TUF (The Ultimate Fighter); I’m sure the format of winning to stay in…

By Oscar Dronjak (HammerFall), A look at UFC 126 The UFC usually stacks their Super Bowl weekend card to the max, and this year was no exception. On paper, UFC 126 was an unbelievable card that had almost otherworldly expectations. And for once, there was no question it absolutely lived up to the hype! Miguel…

By Dan Caycedo (Sons of Tonatiuh) The police were in full force. Four days before we left I decided it would be a grand idea to crack my heal bone. So me and the boys went out for a hockey game one night, and jumped off a 5 foot ledge for fun. I went to…

By Ashmedi (Melechesh) The first column for 2011. And it’s number 16. For a person who used to hate writing I find this quite the accomplishment.  2010 was very productive year. It is the year The Epigenesis was recorded and not long ago released, so I felt a sense of accomplishment and relief. We are…

Selected missives from Decibel writers on December 8th, 2010 discussing an upcoming column where we defend our shitty taste in music. J. Bennett – I’d be happy to handle “Body Language” myself when the opportunity arises. Adam Tepedelen- Is that Kylie’s “roundly maligned” album in her “otherwise decent catalog”? Which ones are the decent ones? …

When they’re not getting down with the Cinnabon sickness at the Mall of America, Minneapolis BM punks Wolvhammer enjoy decimating faces on tour. Drummer/resident smartass Heath Rave will give us the gory, hopefully idiotic details. Nov 7, NOLA Slept all day in preparation for what will prove to be the most brutal drives of our…

When they’re not getting down with the Cinnabon sickness at the Mall of America, Minneapolis BM punks Wolvhammer enjoy decimating faces on tour. Drummer/resident smartass Heath Rave will give us the gory, hopefully idiotic details. Wednesday, Nov. 3, Austin, TX After a brutal overnight drive, including a stop at a clinic (sore throat, not sore…

By Nate Hall (U.S. Christmas) #5 John Ehle: The Land Breakers, The Winter People, Trail of Tears. (Describing the Cherokee) Male and female, they were hospitable but uneffusive. The men appeared to be respectful but remained aloof, were secure within themselves. They would shake a stranger’s hand silently while looking off toward the horizon, securing…

By Tim Goergen (Within The Ruins) It is always good to come back to the East Coast. Today was in Greenville, NC. After a 10-hour drive through the night from Columbus, GA we finally arrived in Greenville around 2:00 p.m. and immediately hit up the first Wal-Mart we could find. I grabbed some chicken strips…

When they’re not getting down with the Cinnabon sickness at the Mall of America, Minneapolis BM punks Wolvhammer enjoy decimating faces on tour. Drummer/resident smartass Heath Rave will give us the gory, hopefully idiotic details. Saturday, Oct. 30, day off Drove all day to Denver. Took a different way than what I’m used to coming…

Hot on the heels of this summer’s Profound Lore debut, Of Seismic Consequence, Chicago prog-monsters Yakuza scored perhaps the baddest-ass black metal tour of 2010, scorching the States with Triptykon and 1349. Frontman/White Sox fan-for-life Bruce Lamont will periodically fill us in on the gory details. Day 12—Detroit Detroit Majestic Theater. This is a gig…

When they’re not getting down with the Cinnabon sickness at the Mall of America, Minneapolis BM punks Wolvhammer enjoy decimating faces on tour. Drummer/resident smartass Heath Rave will give us the gory, hopefully idiotic details. Thursday, Oct 28, Fargo, ND Um, what can I say about Fargo? We’ve played here many times now. It’s an…

When they’re not getting down with the Cinnabon sickness at the Mall of America, Minneapolis BM punks Wolvhammer enjoy decimating faces on tour. Drummer/resident smartass Heath Rave will give us the gory, hopefully idiotic details. Thursday, Oct 28 Good morning/afternoon/evening to all of my fellow fans of heavy music (i.e. snobby, opinionated, nerdy shitheads). I’ve…

By Valient Himself (Valient Thorr) Alahoyus. This will be the final transmission of the VALIENT THORR FALL- INTO MADNESS TOURR. Or the VALIENT THORR AUTUMN OF 1000 CHARACTERS TOURR. Or whatever. I like to change the name nightly. We have definitely met some interesting cats out there this go round. When we last left off,…

By R. Loren (Sailors With Wax Wings) Wake up. Email. Feed, dress, entertain daughter. Take daughter to daycare. Go to work. Scramble to prepare lesson plan on Mary Shelley and the Gothic Novel while listening to Xasthur’s Portal Of Sorrow. Respond to emails on my phone from Derek at Solid PR regarding press for Sailors…

Hot on the heels of this summer’s Profound Lore debut, Of Seismic Consequence, Chicago prog-monsters Yakuza scored perhaps the baddest-ass black metal tour of 2010, scorching the States with Triptykon and 1349. Frontman/White Sox fan-for-life Bruce Lamont will periodically fill us in on the gory details. Day 4—Baltimore Showed up around doors. A good friend…

By Valient Himself (Valient Thorr) Alahoyus Broskeetos, and Broskeetas. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you from out here in the concrete jungle.  This tour should have been called something with the words awesome, endurance, wisdom, speed, courage, and hecticness in there.  Come see Valient Thorr in the SUPER AWESOME SPEED…

Hot on the heels of this summer’s Profound Lore debut, Of Seismic Consequence, Chicago prog-monsters Yakuza scored perhaps the baddest-ass black metal tour of 2010, scorching the States with Triptykon and 1349. Frontman/White Sox fan-for-life Bruce Lamont will periodically fill us in on the gory details. Day 1—drive day Got Pat Clancy from Nachtmystium (sitting…

By Chris Grigg (Woe) Hello once more, Deciblog! Been a while. Not long enough, some would say… but their opinions don’t matter. In case you missed the earlier installments of this series, my name is Chris Grigg and I am in a band called Woe. On October 12, Candlelight Records is releasing our new album,…

This was a hectic summer. The album recording took all my time and attention. I lost track of night and day, was locked up in the studio for around over a 100 days. Give or take a few days. So, am I excused for the delay in delivering this edition? I would like to thank…

Today, I learned about “feather footing.” Y’see, I’ve never driven a 15-passenger van before, let alone one with a trailer the size of my dining room towed behind it. During my quick tutorial, I learned that in order to prevent the engine from overheating, you’re supposed to not depress too hard on the gas and…

Day 0 – BUFFALO, NY – SAN DIEGO, CA This year marks the 28th anniversary of the first and last time I ever visited my mother’s country of birth, the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica. There are a lot of things about that journey that are surprisingly fresh in my memory: the hurricane-beaten exteriors of…