Saturday April 5th at the Nokia Theatre in New York City's Times Square on paper looked to be a great triple bill of progressive metal. On one hand, seeing as Symphony X were slated to headline at the largest venue yet in the New York area was probably reason enough to head into the Big Apple, but add in the fact that symphonic metal veterans Epica as well as Canadian technical extreme metallers Into Eternity were along for the ride just added the icing on the cake. SoT's Pete Pardo and Ken Pierce were in attendance for this great night of metal.

If you thought that Queensryche would sit back and rest on their laurels after their blockbuster tour for the "Operation: Mindcrime" saga, the release of the double DVD and CD set "Mindcrime At The Moore" that captured it all on film and appearances on tour supporting Heaven And Hell then you would surely be mistaken. One could easily view the band Queensryche as one of the true energizer bunnies of Progressive Hard Rock and Metal with their whole "keeps on going" attitude and that's fine by me since like many others out there I have been a fan for a very long time. The consistent touring appearances would lead one to wonder just what would lie ahead on this tour as "Mindcrime" had been done, and the tour with HAH found them on the release of their compilation "Greatest Hits". When they announced their new covers release "Take Cover" it became clear that the Ryche would return to present us with a number of standards and a healthy compliment of the renditions delivered on this new album. The appearance tonight would be at Nokia Theater in Times Square and this is a perfect place to catch the band and joining them would be Don Dokken of the great eighties Metal band that bears the same name. Here is a little about how the evening progressed.

Historically speaking, Exodus is one of the founding fathers that's often respectfully referred to when one opens the chronicles and looks back at the dawning of the Thrash Metal movement. The band was originally formed by guitarist Gary Holt, drummer Tom Hunting and guitarist Kirk Hammett in 1980, and while Hammett would go on to join Metallica, both Holt and Hunting and what seemed to be a rotation of players would continue on for the forces of Metal world wide . For those who are old enough to have experienced it firsthand the band holds a very special place in their hearts to this very day no matter how much of lifes daily trials and tribulations are put upon us. The Metal scene was quite profound during this genres formative years and its power has not ebbed at all it would seem. The younger fans only remember the bands formation from reading about it or watching videos on YouTube.com but have made sure to keep up by following their later years through purchasing albums and hitting the shows. Tonight at B.B. King Blues Club in New York we would find an incredible mix of a wide variety of musical talent and there wasn't anyone in the room who would argue with you. The show found Exodus bringing along Goatwhore as direct support and also the super technical talents of Arsis and youthful exuberance of Warbringer. The Metal youth of Warbringer would come up first and here is how the night went down.

Grave Digger is one of those Metal bands who've been at the game for almost thirty years now and yet despite this there are regions of the globe that they just don't get to as often as they would like for performances and to meet with their fans. Musically, they have a very pure Old School Power Metal feel to them and their style would appeal the demographic that leans primarily in that direction. For instance if you like old Accept and vintage Judas Priest, you would definitely be someone who got into the sounds and tunes of the guys in Grave Digger. When the band announced their first-ever New York show I went in expecting quite a bit of a crowd based on this being a rather historic appearance. To my knowledge they had never even been to the States in a true touring fashion and had only appeared at an event that was held by the folks over at BWBK magazine several years ago. The guys would present their wares at B.B. King Blues Club and Grill, a venue that some Metal fans know very well based on the amount of such shows they present, and they would bring with them some of the local boys in the as yet unsigned Arctic Flame. I would miss the opener tonight but I had seen them perform on a number of other opening slots and for tonight I was primarily interested in checking out Grave Digger for the very first time. I had to admit that while owning a few releases from their catalog, they remain a bit of a mystery to me in terms of total absorption of their stuff.

Presenting the "Lucifer Over America" tour and what a befitting title it would be for an event that brought together two different continents worth of some of the heaviest and most interesting bands that currently are trampling over the fans of the Black Metal scene. The show was to be headlined by Athens's Greece underground Metal icons Rotting Christ with direct support from New York's own Immolation and kicking the whole affair off would be Belphegor and Averse Sefira. The amount of talent on this one made the room attendance be at a considerably high amount very early on so no one would miss the crushing levels of darkness that would be hitting them. I went into this one with very limited background on Rotting Christ outside of knowing they are somewhat legendary in the underground scene and are perhaps the first such a band to come out of their region of the world. It was only through samples that I had heard their songs and while listed as a Black Metal act felt they were something far different. Averse Sefira would be the first band up and here is what happened in case you missed it.

In my opinion nothing proves the staying power of a Rock & Roll band more than a sold out show on a Friday night at one of the hottest venues in New York City. Such would be the case when the one and only Zebra returned to the Big Apple for another appearance. We caught them back in June of 2007 at this very same spot and I am happy to report that it was also a sold out affair. It's been about twenty five years since Zebra released their self-titled debut on Atlantic Records and many of those who caught on to what the band was all about in the beginning have remained loyal fans throughout the years. Back in the day, the band was transplanted Louisiana natives who set up shop on Long Island at the suggestion of Pepe Marchello from the Good Rats and as a result became one of the area's most cherished attractions. The Island residents welcomed this band and essentially made them their own with little hesitation and the move found the band performing to packed houses in the biggest rock clubs that the time had available. To many music fans those were the days and they are fond memories in today's time. Tonight's show would be to my knowledge the bands second appearance at the venerated B.B. King Clues Club and with their Long Island network of followers in attendance would sell out well in advance and leave hundreds of disappointed fans unable to come in for the show. That was a shame because tonight would not be only the wonderful Zebra set of originals, but also a completely loaded set of Led Zeppelin material that harkened back to the time when the group played mostly covers. Zebra is one of the few acts that could and did do Led Zeppelin material justice as a cover band and every so often they would pull out a classic Zep number during their regular set. As you can imagine, finding the night set to present a complete set of such material made this all the more reason for snaring a ticket early. Here is some of how the night went down.

In the heyday of the big eighties Kip Winger always managed to have some catchy material and the singing bassist was a staple on the MTV network with songs like "Headed For A Heartbreak", "Miles Away", Madalaine" and of course his blockbuster number "17". I liked the music he did back then but was never more than the casual fan so when a show was announced at B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, I was determined to get myself down there to bring the Hard Rock community the inside scoop.

1. The Second Movement
2. Center Of The Cyclone
3. One Believes
4. Sharpened Safety Pins
5. Shudder
6. Jade Cycle

Not content to rest on his laurels as the 'former' lead singer of Dream Theater, Charlie Dominici put together a killer band a few years back, titled it Dominici, and cranked out two sizzling prog-metal concept pieces titled O3-A Trilogy Parts 2 & 3, which were a continuation of a storyline begun in Part 1 that was actually an all acoustic release. If you haven't checked out these two monstrous epics, you are missing out on some serious progressive metal that is bound to be talked about for many years to come. Recently, Sea of Tranquility Publisher Pete Pardo got in touch with Charlie Dominici to talk about the history of the band, the new CD, touring, and his relationship with his former band.

With a new album out on Moribund Records called Omega, Finnish black metal veterans Azaghal are set to really make a serious impact on the ever growing extreme metal scene. Longtime guitarist Narqath recently had a chance to chat with Sea of Tranquility Publisher Pete Pardo about the new CD, the history of the band, and the state of black metal in Finland.

With many forms of heavy metal seeing lots of acceptance here in the US, quite a few International acts who inhabit the realms of technical, power, progressive, and extreme have had much success in recent times as far as CD sales and touring goes. With that being said, it's about time that some homegrown bands step into the limelight and show the rest of the world how things are done. West Coast technical progressive metallers Zero Hour have a released a string of very strong albums over the last decade, and are back with perhaps their most powerful platter of them all, the monumental Dark Deceiver. Sea of Tranquility Publisher Pete Pardo caught up with guitarist Jasun Tipton, who shared some insight into the making of the new CD, a little band history, and exactly what makes Zero Hour so damn good.

It may have only been a few months ago that we last caught them performing at this very same venue, but there is just something incredible about Type-O-Negative doing a gig on home ground. Whenever these Brooklyn natives announce that they are stopping by for a couple of shows, the tickets sell faster than the fans can get their hands on them and often many are left saddened at the entry gate to the club. Given they have been one of my favorite groups for some time I like to catch them when they perform in the area and since they were absent from the touring and recording scene for a couple of years, attending this show would be a no-brainer for me. I did wonder if they would do the exact same set as that previous show as the band was rather notorious for that, but we shall see I mused to myself as I made my way inside the Fillmore NY. As I had expected in advance, the event was sold out. For this leg of their tour supporting the album "Dead Again", the guys would bring with them that monster of a band Lordi. This band is a whole lot of fun in the visual sense if you have yet to see them and a continuation of bringing great acts on the road with them. Those who attended the early shows back in May will recall how Heavy Metal legends Celtic Frost opened up for them and while some of the Old School purists balked at the idea of such a group having to come up first, at the end of the day it did them good as it introduced them to fans who may have been too young to appreciate them during their own heyday. Twin Method was also on the bill as the startup band but I didn't get to see them at all. Now as the venue grew dark it was time for Lordi's arrival and their chance to make these fans their own.

As the summer moved steadily towards a close and the cooler North winds prepared us for their yearly visit it would prove to be the perfect time for a Finnish Troll invasion once again. The band had been here once before as direct support for Germany's Sodom, and to be brutally honest the Trolls would blow them off the stage with the combination of Humppa melodies blended skillfully into Dark Pagan Metal. The show that night was an alcohol-fueled display of Metal might that not only proved that this was a band of headlining capacity, but also one that would be the cause of hundreds of head banger hangovers the following day. To quote a friend of mine after this show, it felt like someone had opened my brain with a can opener and I was hard pressed to disagree. It's safe to say that once you have heard or seen them live that you will not soon forget them.

In what looked on paper as an evening that was sure to represent musical chaos, the end result turned out to chaos of a different beast altogether. Canada's Beneath the Massacre, along with The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Born of Osiris, and See You Next Tuesday, drew a crowd of about 150 fans into New York's The Knitting Factory on Wednesday March the 5th. If you are familiar at all with this venue, you'll recall that the club has a few different rooms, each one a different size and shape. This particular show was held in one of the smaller rooms, basically not much bigger than a large living room with a tiny stage and bar along the side. Add in four energetic metal/hardcore styled bands along with the small club size and the 'ready to party' crowd, and you have the makings for a very interesting evening.