Ensiferum

Tuesday, Apr 2
Ensiferum, Tyr
House of Blues Sunset Strip
The annual Paganfest tour has become one of our favorite regular metal tours. Finland's Ensiferum is grounded heavily in orchestral folk metal, but maintains a galloping pace that keeps headbangers moving in the pit. Denmark's Tyr has more in common with Viking metal bands like Amon Amarth and has no orchestration or folk instruments to be found, but tales of journeys and battles from many years ago are common inspirations for both bands. There are no references to modern life to be found here, and we're okay with that.

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Anthrax's Scott Ian (second from left)

Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian is playing songs from the band's 1987 thrash metal masterpiece Among The Living and their new covers record Anthems on tour right now. He's also taken on a second gig hosting Fangoria's Blood and Guts, a YouTube series on The Nerdist Channel in which he meets with masters of horror movies. Ahead of Anthrax's show at House of Blues tonight, we talked with him about films that get his skin crawling.

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Black Sabbath

Ok, we get it. You like Sabbath. Everyone does. But there's a whole big world out there of '70s metal bands that goes beyond Sabbath -- even beyond Sir Lord Baltimore, if you can believe that. The '70s offered so much in the way of doom-and-gloom heaviness that it's criminal so many stop with Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and that other guy. If you're out of high school and still think Vol. 4 is the pinnacle of human heavy metal achievement, it's time to get with the program.

See also: The 20 Greatest Metal Albums in History

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Do you want a list of every outrageous thing Dave Mustaine has ever said? It exists.

The bar has closed. You are standing outside with friends. You have failed at attempts to hook up for the evening. But just as you have given up hope for the night, you encounter a hot metal chick or dude that has just left the metal show at the venue next door. Drunken conversation has started, but, alas, you know nothing about the band they have just seen. Fail! Use the following websites to brush up on your metal knowledge so that next time you'll have something to say other than just, "How drunk are you?"

Metal Sucks
This site is the TMZ of the heavy metal world, combining both breaking news and gossip-mongering. If someone in the metal community does or says something stupid, this site will be on top of it...and won't let it go. The site's never-ending chronicle of every outrageous thing Dave Mustaine says is a great example.

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Saturday, Mar 2
Meshuggah
The Wiltern
"I Am Colossus" is both the title track of Meshuggah's 2012 album Koloss, and the mission statement of the Swedish metal group -- after all, their off-kilter polyrhythmic riffs and drums have influenced dozens of bands. Their sound is anchored by the fantastically harsh screams of vocalist Jens Kidman, who pulverizes all into dust with his throat-shredding approach. With Weekly favorites Animals As Leaders and Intronaut.

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When music from Los Angeles metal group The Faceless' newest album, Autotheism, began to leak out into the blogosphere last summer, fans were divided, and so were critics. "A botched experiment of sorts," opined SputnikMusic.com; "razor sharp," countered ThePRP.com.

The 20 Greatest Metal Albums in History

The group's previous work, 2008's Planetary Duality, had gained near-universal accolades for its impressive display of death-metal brutality, anchored by the dizzying guitar work of Eagle Rock native and band co-founder Michael Keene. Their fan base grew through their venerated live show, as well as high-profile tours with acts like Lamb of God and Meshuggah.

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Tomahawk (L-R): Trevor Dunn, Duane Denison, John Stanier, Mike Patton

Tomahawk guitarist/founder Duane Denison is bored with questions about the six-year break between the band's new album Oddfellows and their last album, Anonymous.

"I was in prison for manslaughter. I was in a laundromat. This woman was looking at my wife's underwear, and I shot her."

See also: What's the Difference Between Tomahawk and Taylor Swift? Our Chat With Legendary Guitarist Duane Denison

None of this is true, as far as we know. "It takes time for good songs to accumulate," he adds, surely with greater truth. "You have to grab them as they go by." He also cites reunion tours of his seminal punk trio The Jesus Lizard and Tomahawk vocalist Mike Patton's group Faith No More as reasons for the delay.

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Metallica today

No band has ever failed to live up to its own potential quite like Metallica. While the other three quarters of thrash metal's "big four" (Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer) still cut records and tour for receptive audiences, Metallica moved on to Kid Rock and Nickelback territory. We're used to it now, but it's easy to forget that this was the band that made Kill 'Em All.

The general consensus on Metallica is this: They peaked with Master of Puppets. ...And Justice For All was a bit of a departure, but still a solid record. Then came the self-titled album, followed by the haircuts (Load and ReLoad), hooking up with that guy from Suicidal Tendencies to make a bad Kyuss record (St. Anger), failed attempts at reclaiming past glories (Death Magnetic) and then, well, Loutallica. I have a more heretical view of Metallica's catalog; I think they peaked at Kill 'Em All and I'm not quite sure what happened afterward.

See also: Lulu Is the Best Album of 2011

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David Allen Coe

By Lauren Wise

I was always one of those metal heads who claimed to listen to all musical genres -- except for country. But in the past year, I've realized that classic country songs, with their imagery and energy, are pretty hard to dislike. Take David Allan Coe's "If That Ain't Country," for example. Listening to this the other night, my first thought was, "Why the hell hasn't a metal band covered this song?"

"The old man was covered in tattoos and scars/ Some he got in prison and others in bars... Sometimes he'd get drunk and mean as a rattlesnake...And if that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass." Yes. (Watch out for the n-bomb, however.)

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Nicholas Pell

Enslaved

Ancient VVisdom, Royal Thunder, Pallbearer, Enslaved
The Troubadour
2-8-13

Better Than: Watching your medicinal marijuana garden grow.

The crowd piled in slowly but steadily, the Troubadour alight in blue. This was an older crowd for a metal show, full of parents out for the night, child-free married couples and monk diming scene vets to spare. Black clothing didn't just predominate; It overwhelmed, wrapping nearly every limb in the house. Classic rock was poised to meet heavy metal this evening.

The 20 Greatest Metal Albums in History

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