MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/28/22 - DREAMS ASIDE

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/28/22
GUESTS :: DREAMS ASIDE

HOUR 1
VIA – “the reincarnate" // the day of purification
WALLY JOSEPH – “the sun will shine" // to the dogs
ALIGN – “neo-noir” // neo-noir - single
CROSSES - "vivien" // permanent.radiant
DEFTONES - "be quiet and drive (far away)" // around the fur
SUPERLUNG - "time is of the essence" // demo
OLD TOWNE GHOSTS - "knight boat" // the old ones are and forever shall be

DREAMS ASIDE - "defending silence" // lotus
DREAMS ASIDE - "heavy" // lotus
DREAMS ASIDE - "lost paradise" // lotus

HOUR 2
DEMON HUNTER – “revolutions" // exile
AVATAR - "valley of disease" // valley of disease - single
GHOST – “if you have ghost" // if you have ghosts
DESTROPHY – “army of me” // army of me - single
NOPATHY - "forsaker" // projections
KATATONIA – “atrium" // sky void of stars
JUDAS PRIEST – “lightning strike" // firepower

ETHENOS - "absolute zero" // absolute zero - single
VEIN.FM - "the killing womb" // this world is going to ruin you
REAPING ASMODEIA – “false awakening" // darkened infinity
ORBIT CULTURE - "vultures of north" // descent
VENDED - "bloodline" // what is it/kill it
SPACE OF VARIATIONS - "DNA molecules in a million dimensions" // imago
JINJER – “sit stay roll over (live)" // alive in melbourne 2020

**SPECIAL THANKS to BRADY from DREAMS ASIDE for zooming in to the Midwest Beatdown this week before their show at the What's Up Lounge in Mankato! Check out DREAMS ASIDE's excellent new album "Lotus" out now!

Midwest Beatdown · Dreams Aside interview

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/21/22

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/21/22
KMSU FALL PLEDGE DRIVE

HOUR 1
ALIGN - "neo-noir" // neo-noir - single
THROW THE FIGHT - "snake mountain" // snake mountain - single
3 PILL MORNING - "all before" // transmissions
COMMON CHOIR - "deformed//devoid" // deformed//devoid - single
RED LIGHT DRIVE - "give it all we got" // red light drive ep
EVA UNDER FIRE - "another shot thru the heart" // love, drugs and misery
LOATHE x TEENAGE WRIST - "is it really you" // is it really you - single

BRING THE SUN - "death pigeon" // ghost
SPIRITBOX - "hysteria" // rotoscope ep
ANGRY WATERS - "dead flowers" // the tequila incidents
TYPE O NEGATIVE - "summer breeze" // bloody kisses

HOUR 2
DESTROPHY - "army of me" // army of me - single
WIDOW7 - "low life" // low life - single
CROTBOT - "electrified" // feel this
TURNSTILE - "turnstile love connection" // glow on
AS EVERYTHING UNFOLDS - "felt like home" // felt like home - single
AVADO - "the leech" // viscera
THE WARNING - "evolve" // error
RED HANDED DENIAL - "spiral" // I'd rather be asleep

ARCHITECTS - "be very afraid" // the classic symptoms of a broken spirit
MOTIONLESS IN WHITE feat CALEB SHAMO - "red, white, boom" // scoring the end of the world
ICE NINE KILLS - "rainy day" // the silver scream 2: welcome to horrorwood
THE BURN VAULT - "even rock stars die too" // demo
GOJIRA - "our time is now" // our time is now - single
JINJER - "ape" // micro

**SPECIAL THANKS to all our RADIO HEROES listening for pushing us OVER the HALF WAY MARK in the first 3 days of the fall pledge drive! There's still time to help us reach our fall pledge drive goal by donating safely and securely here at http://www.kmsu.org! We have some stretch goals we are also hoping for updating our streaming service and finishing up our forthcoming app with extra channels including an ALL MINNESOTA MUSIC CHANNEL! Thank you in advance for keeping great local independent radio alive and commercial free!

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/14/22 - LACUNA COIL

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/14/22
GUESTS :: LACUNA COIL

HOUR 1
GOJIRA - "our time is now" // our time is now - single
TURNSTILE - "blackout" // glow on
GOODNIGHT RITUAL - "across the fields" // galore
PORCUPINE - "the way down" // the way down - single
CLUTCH - "skeletons on mars" // sunrise on slaughter beach
HELMET - "milquetoast" // betty
QUICKSAND - "missile command" // distant populations

EXACTLYNO - "there's no answer" // there's no answer - single
BOUNDARIES - "realize and rebuild" // burying brightness
DREAMS ASIDE - "heavy" // lotus
LACUNA COIL - "swamped xx" // comalies xx
LACUNA COIL - "tight rope xx" // comalies xx

HOUR 2
LACUNA COIL - "self deception xx" // comalies xx
LACUNA COIL - "heaven's a lie xx" // comalies xx
PLAGUE OF STARS - "a divisive essence" // daedalus
GABRIEL AND THE APOCALYPSE - "blunt force drama" // blunt force drama - single
ALTER BRIDGE - "this is war" // pawns and kings
MAMMOTH WVH - "the big picture" // mammoth wvh
RED - "feed the machine" // until we have faces

DEMON HUNTER feat MAX CAVALERA - "defense mechanism" // exile
ROADRUNNER UNITED - "the dagger" // roadrunner united
EX-REGIME - "sink or swim" // the path I walk
DEARLY DEPARTED - "quiet echoes" // heartless ep
CAGE FIGHT feat TREVOR STRNAD - "eating me alive" // cage fight
JINJER - "pisces" (live session) // pisces - single

**SPECIAL THANKS to ANDREA from LACUNA COIL for zooming in to the Midwest Beatdown to talk about the new, reimagined version of "Comalies XX" out now on Century Media!

Midwest Beatdown · Lacuna Coil 2022 interview

MESHUGGAH lights the shortening fuse at the Myth

CONCERT REVIEW :: MESHUGGAH, CONVERGE, TORCHE
Myth in Maplewood, MN
Sept 30, 2022
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

In what felt like forever to wait for a show when in actuality it was probably less than 9 months, MESHUGGAH, CONVERGE and TORCHE finally came to the Myth in Maplewood! I had been looking forward to this lineup since it was announced. MESHUGGAH finally coming back to the area with an impressive new album in tow. CONVERGE hasn’t been here in what seems like forever and this was the final tour for TORCHE.

One thing that can always be said about MESHUGGAH is their light show is just as intense as the music itself. MESHUGGAH came out with all the members standing towards light boxes with the Immutible guy on each box. “Broken Cog” started the set with a blinding light show perfectly timed to the slow, brooding opening of not only the album but now also the tour. Displaying a different kind of intensity to start the show versus the in your face heaviness that CONVERGE and TORCHE offered to kick off the show. The band then commanded the front of the stage for the rest of the night with the beginning of “Light the Shortening Fuse” whipping the pit in to a nice frenzy which continued for the stand out “Rational Gaze” one of only two tracks from Nothing to show up in tonight’s set (and this tour’s set lists so far).

It’s hard not to stand there in awe of the intricate intensity of musical perfection that is being displayed when you watch MESHUGGAH live. It’s a master class in musicianship. I literally got lost trying to watch guitarists Fredrik Theordendal and Marten Hagstrom play their instruments. I was bummed because I couldn’t see Tomas Haake real well as I could just stand and watch him play the set but with the stage being dark and then super bright, it would’ve been hard to see Tomas either way.

Vocalist Jens Kidman still sounds as great and intense as he does on Choasphere (surprising that no track from that album made tonight’s cut) or Destroy Erase Improve. “Ligature Marks” sounded perfectly placed right in between “The Hurt That Finds You First” and “Born in Dissonance”. While there was no “Bleed”, “Stengah”, “Do Not Look Down” or even “I Am That Thirst” from Immutible, when you have a catalog as deep and celebrated as Meshuggah it’s hard to get everything everyone would want to hear in a 75 minute set … or even in a 2 hour set.

MESHUGGAH’s set closed with a demolishing “Future Breed Machine” that sent everyone in attendance off extremely happy with the set that just unfolded in front of them. Now let’s just hope it’s not another 6 years before MESHUGGAH returns to level another stage in Minnesota.

This was my first time finally seeing CONVERGE and while that’s a little embarrassing to admit, I can’t tell you the last time they actually played Minnesota. I got exactly what I hoped for with CONVERGE’s set. Feedback drenched relentlessly aggressive 50 minute set that did not slow down once started. The set was heavy on tracks from the fantastic “All We Love We Leave Behind” and “Axe to Fall” as well as dished out the best of “The Dusk In Us” but surprisingly only one song from the landmark “Jane Doe”.

Vocalist Jacob Bannon paced the stage with extreme intensity. Kurt Ballou masterfully held down stage left with his massive guitar tone. Nate Newton held his ground on stage right dominating the low end. Anytime you get to watch Ben Koller pound the drums in to oblivion is well worth the price of admission. The intensity alone of “I Can Tell You About Pain” was inspiring and led Jacob to joke that Ben doesn’t like playing “Tresspasses” because it makes his feet tired but the brutality was delivered flawlessly. That being said, I was extremely happy with what the band did play as it was a treat to hear all these songs live. CONVERGE made my wannabe hardcore kid heart happy.

TORCHE opened the show with a fast paced, sludge filled 40 minute set. While I completely understand that sentence doesn’t make sense, when you see TORCHE live you’ll get it. As this was my first time seeing TORCHE live, it would also be my last as the band announced this would be their final tour so it just made seeing this touring lineup that much more special. The 14 song set took a little from each album in the band’s catalog with “From Here” being a fantastic opener and quite possibly a perfect introduction for most of the crowd to TORCHE.

This was the first show in a wihle that you could tell the volume was cranked up just as loud for the opener as it was for the headliner. TORCHE was LOUD. That’s exactly the way they should be. Vocalist and guitarist Steve Brooks sounded fantastic behind the mic trading off riffs with guitarist Jonathan Nunez. It would be hard to find a drummer that was more in the groove than Rick Smith is, who would periodically kick his left leg out to punctuate the intensity in his drumming. Filling out the wall of sound was bassist Eric Hernandez with a dominating bass tone.

That could be said about this entire tour lineup. Every band had a dominating wall of sound each in their own way that stood out from each other. TORCHE bringing the rock, CONVERGE throwing down and MESHUGGAH bending minds. This had to have been a pretty close to sold out show that I’m glad I took the time to appreciate from start to finish. We’ll probably never see these 3 bands together on stage again and it was much more of a perfect lineup than one could imagine.

SEE MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS FROM MESHUGGAH, CONVERGE and TORCHE HERE!

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/07/22

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 10/07/22

HOUR 1
LARKIN POE - "bad spell" // blood harmony
COLD KINGDOM - "agony" // life//love
DIVIDE THE FALL - "without you" // without you - single
WEEKEND PICNIC feat ELISSA-MARIE OGGARD - "remember October" // time and tide
AMERICAN SCARECROWS - "broken bones and mountains" // drawing little pictures
THE ISSUE - "you" // you - single
MOON TOOTH - "nymphaeaceae" // phototroph
EVA UNDER FIRE feat FROM ASHES TO NEW - "coming for blood" // love, drugs and misery

HOUSTON - "buddy" // head like a road map
RAD OWL - "grape mister misty" // madison beast
THE GRANDE MACHINE - "better still" // another round
THE CHALLENGER DISASTER CONSPIRACY - "something's wrong with dougie" // the challenger disaster conspiracy ep
DREAMS ASIDE - "fracture" // lotus
ENEMY X - "endless circle" // endless circle
OLD TOWNE GHOSTS - "knight boat" // the old ones are and forever shall be
LAMB OF GOD - "vanishing" // omens

HOUR 2
LAMB OF GOD - "ill designs" // omens
BEYOND THE BLACK - "winter is coming" // beyond the black
AMARANTHE - "find life" // find life - single
AMARANTHE & BEYOND THE BLACK - "make it better" // make it better - single
TRIVIUM - "like a sword over damocles" // in the court of the dragon
KNOCKED LOOSE - "belleville" // a different shade of blue
SLIPKNOT - "hive mind" // the end, so far

JUDAS PRIEST - "firepower" // firepower
QUEENSRYCHE - "in extremis" // digital noise alliance
SABATON - "race to the sea" // the war to end all wars
P.O.D. - "southtown" // the southtown ep
VENDED - "bloodline" // what is it/kill it ep
SPACE OF VARIATIONS - "DNA molecule in a million dimensions" // imago
JINJER - "disclosure" // wallflowers

LAMB OF GOD brings "Omens" to The Armory

CONCERT REVIEW :: LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, BARONESS, SUICIDE SILENCE
Sept 28, 2022
The Armory in Minneapolis, MN
Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

LAMB OF GOD returns to THE ARMORY fresh from last year's co-headlining slot on The Metal Tour of the Year with Megadeth to headline their own Omens Tour! The show was a fantastic feast for the ears as well as the eyes. Any leg of this fall tour brought with LOG and KSE excellent openers and Minneapolis was lucky enough to get BARONESS and SUICIDE SILENCE. LAMB OF GOD using the intro to "Momento Mori" to get the crowd amp'd up before the curtain dropped and things got heavy! Bringing the fire (as seen in the picture above) to warm up The Armory for "Walk With Me in Hell" and not slowing down as they tore in to "Now You Got Something to Die For" before giving the crowd a moment to catch their breath.

The band taking full advantage of having the entire stage to themselves had ramps and places to run all over while keeping the stage set up minimial for maximum fire potential. A treat early on in the set in the form of the new track "Nevermore" lit up the room continuing the circle pit turning on the main floor. Older catalog tracks "Ruin" and "11th Hour" show up early in the set and then the crowd yelled along the intro to "Omerta" with Randy before the band tore thru the heavy track that is always a set favorite.

Then came the vicious "Omens" from the new album of the same name coming out this Friday. The crowd eating up the new track along with all the related t-shirts at the merch table that night. While I would've loved to hear the other new track "Greyscale" also in the set, there's only so much time in their set and Lamb of God has way too many songs they have to play every night. I hope to hear that in a future tour. It's weird to say that "512" is the track that gives the crowd a moment to breathe before they tear thru the last 4 absolute bangers for the night. It's probably good there was no one following Lamb of God as they closed the night with "Ghost Walking," "Vigil", "Laid to Rest" and the always neck breaking crusher "Redneck".

I have never once seen LAMB OF GOD fail to deliver and tonight was no different. The whole entire band was in fine form, cranking out the bangers in a victorious headline tour that pleased everyone from old fans to newbies.

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is another band that never disappoints and always delivers live. KSE got a full hour to do what they do best, bring the metal and ensure everyone has a good time. The crowd laughing along with their intro song that one day needs to be released as it was way too funny and I'm not going to spoil it for anyone. Tearing straight in to "Strength of the Mind" the lights alone during this 60 min set could light up the entire city of Minneapolis for at least a day. Hopefully fans in the front had sunglasses with them as it was bright!

KILLSWITCH's entire set was a crowd sing-a-long. No other way to put it. This set was a fine tuned victory lap in support of their latest record Atonement. "Rose of Sharyn", "Hate by Design", "My Curse", "A Bid Farewell", "The End of Heartache", "The Signal Fire" and of course their cover of "Holy Diver" were all present and accounted for. The only nitpicking thing I can come up with is that they didn't play "My Last Serenade" which should always be played at every KSE show until the end of time. If anyone has ever said that they haven't had fun at a KSE show needs a lie detector test done.

BARONESS gave the crowd a finely tuned 30 minute history lesson of epic Baroness jams. Starting off with "The Sweetest Curse" and running right in to "Isak", this is an incredibly tight band showing off what they do best. Get up on stage and rock with no bells and whistles, just 4 phenominal musicians making sweet, sweet noise with their instruments. This was a set directed towards their heavier material that not only pleased long time fans but gained some new fans from LOG and KSE.

I seriously can't say anything I haven't said before about this awesome band. If you need a Baroness starter kit, this set delivers extremely well. "A Horse Name Golgotha" into "March to the Sea" into "Shock Me" with just enough time to close it out with "War, Wisdom & Rhyme". I wish Baroness could've played an extra 10 mins as they didn't need the full 30 min set change time on either side of their set. If anyone in the crowd didn't know who Baroness was, they sure do now.

Overall, this is a tour that delievered the most for your dollar. Four bands that excel at their craft to make one incredible tour that left everyone smiling as they went out the door. If you missed out, you messed up.

SEE MORE OF BRETT's PHOTOS FROM LAMB OF GOD, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE and BARONESS here!

LAMB OF GOD's new album "Omens" comes out this Friday!!

IN FLAMES come back victorious at the Skyway!

CONCERT REVIEW :: IN FLAMES
SKYWAY THEATER in Minneapolis, MN
Sept 17, 2022
with FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY, ORBIT CULTURE and VENDED

Photos by Brett Zisler
Review by Nick

The Skyway Theater in Minneapolis was bustling with metal heads filing in for IN FLAMES' post covid return to Minneapolis. In Flames brought with them a stellar supoprt package of FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY and upcoming bands ORBIT CULTURE and VENDED.

100% honesty here .. this is the best I've seen IN FLAMES live in YEARS. The band has a new fire underneath them with Chris Broadrick joining the band on guitars. Opening with the fantastic new single "The Great Deciever", you could see the smiles on everyone's faces in the band to the fans who were clearly enjoying the new tune. The band continued on with "Fear is the Weakness" and a massive crowd sing-a-long for "Cloud Connected".

IN FLAMES then went thru their entire catalog playing one song from every album starting with "Stand Ablaze" from Subterraian and "Beyond Space" from The Lunar Strain. These songs sounded absolutely phenominal with Chris Broadrick joining Bjorn Gelotte on guitars, Bryce Paul on bass and Tanner Wayne on drums. This is an extremely tight and focused band that pulls off the older, perhaps more technical and faster material with absolute ease. Anders Friden still can scream just as great as he does on the old records. Anders was just as happy to see the crowd as the crowd was to see them, chatting it up with the crowd in between songs with some great banter.

Who honestly can argue with "Episode 666" or "Only for the Weak" live? Those songs sounded just as phenominal live as the new songs "Foregone pt 1" and "State of Slow Decay" did that followed. If this is any indication of what we're in store for with the new album Foregone, we may be headed for IN FLAMES' best record in years!

Ending their set with some of their strongest most recent material "Deliver Us", "The Mirror's Truth" and "I Am Above" before the song that it seemed like everyone in the crowd wanted to hear "Take This Life" got a huge pop from the audience. The band had a great stage set up with a great light show that didn't blind you. After seeing a condensed 40 minute version of this set at Louder Than Life a few days later, IN FLAMES is back and on fire. The next time they come thru town which will probably be next year after the new album comes out in Feb, don't sleep on catching IN FLAMES live.

Quick shout out to ORBIT CULTURE from Sweeden who had a monster of a 30 minute set playing tracks from all their releases. Blending the extremely heavy with the melodic got the crowd moving and definately made new fans. "Strangler", "Vultures of North" and "Saw" sounded massive live with vocalist Niklas Karlsson effortlessly going between monsterous growling and extremely melodic vocals. If you are a fan of Gojira and haven't checked out ORBIT CULTURE yet, what are you waiting for? This is going to be a band that fans in 3-5 years will be saying ... "Remember that time we saw them at the Skyway Theater on their first U.S. tour?"

As did VENDED, who's frontman Griffin Taylor celebrated his birthday in Minneapolis with family and friends in attendance. VENDED have the stage presence down and drummer Simon Crahan crushes the drums with incredible precesion. Not to mention, guitarist Cole Espeland looks like a rock star already. I'm very excited to see what the future holds for VENDED as they are putting in the work on the road going from touring with Code Orange to In Flames and this winter with Jinjer (Nov 5th at The Fillmore in Minneapolis, MN). Grinding it out on the road will only make this band stronger.

SEE MORE OF BRETT'S PHOTOS FROM IN FLAMES AT THE SKYWAY THEATER HERE!

IN FLAMES' new album "Foregone" can be pre-ordered/pre-saved here! Album out Feb 10.

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 09/30/22

MIDWEST BEATDOWN PLAYLIST :: 09/30/22

HOUR 1
EVA UNDER FIRE - "death of me" // love, drugs and misery
THE WARNING - "evolve" // error
THE FAILSAFE - "head under water" // erasing color
DIVIDE THE FALL - "without you" // without you - single
DEARLY DEPARTED - "quiet echoes" // heartless
SPIRITBOX - "rotoscope" // rotoscope ep
WALLY JOSEPH - "the little things" // quarantunes
VIA - "the reincarnate" // day of purification

WIDOW 7 - "fire" // fire - single
GOODNIGHT RITUAL - "all my arms" // galore
HOUSTON - "cover" // overhead
RAD OWL - "Aladdin's castle" // madison beast
FLOGGING MOLLY - "these times have got me drinking/tripping up the stairs" // anthem
THE DAMNED THINGS - "invincible" // high crimes
MOTOR SISTER - "lion's den" // get off
THE PRETTY RECKLESS feat TOM MORELLO - "and so it went" // death by rock and roll

HOUR 2
MOTORHEAD - "iron fist" (remastered) // iron fist 40th anniversary edition
SOUFLY - "totem" // totem
SEPULTURA - "territory" // choas a.d.
WITHIN TEMPTATION feat ANNISOKAY - "shed my skin" // shed my skin - single
PLAGUE OF STARS - "corporatocracy" // corporatocracy - single
BLOODYWOOD - "jee veerey" // rakshak

DESTRAGE feat DEVIN TOWNSEND - "private party" // so much. too much.
BOUNDARIES - "realize and rebuild" // burying brightness
CROOKED ROYALS - "glass hands" // quarter life day dream
PERIPHERY - "sentient glow" // periphery IV: hail stan
RED HANDED DENIAL - "spiral" // I'd rather be asleep
THE CALLOUS DAOBOYS - "a brief article reguarding time loops" // celebrity therapist
SLIPKNOT - "the chapeltown rag" // the end, so far
JINJER - "ape" // micro