Wow, was 2009 a great year for metal or what? Just look at all these great bands that put out new shit: Mastodon, Lamb of God, Napalm Death, Saviours, Skeletonwitch, Immortal, Wolves in the Throne Room, Marduk, Obituary, Coalesce, Them Crooked Vultures, Isis, Chickenfoot, Nile, Pelican, Tombs, Converge, Heaven and Hell, Behemoth, Municipal Waste, Kylesa, GWAR, Fu Manchu, Shrinebuilder, Devildriver, The Black Dahlia Murder, Kreator, Job for a Cowboy, Slayer, and Megadeth. What a feast! But, hey, wanna know what I listened to all year?
- Goatwhore - Carving Out the Eyes of God
- Morrissey - Years of Refusal
- The Sound - Live '84 bootleg thingy I found on RapidShare
10. Early Man - El Corazon - January 8 Ah, January. Back when the Early Men were our pretend best friends and the still-unreleased Death Potion was promised by spring.
9. Last American Badass - Galway Arms - August 28 When close personal friend Jager manTooth is on the bass we're there to show our support. Solid set, solid bill, and a wicked crazy schizophrenic chick who told me how she got run over by a car and how ham is evil. What more could you want?
8. Gojira - El Corazon - May 18 The finest band of '06-'07 played a headlinin' set to a crowd who really really liked 'em. Such nice boys, those Gojiras.
7. Goatwhore - El Corazon - July 12 Even though they were sandwiched between bands of nineteen year-old weenie tots, Goatwhore's 35 minutes were better than everyone else's put together. It's rock and roll that only looks like black metal. We like.
6. Pig Destroyer - El Corazon - March 28 A couple of guys flew in from Alaska for this. After the show we saw them hanging out by the dumpster with JR Hayes.
5. Shellac - The Vera Project - June 11 Steve Albini plays an aluminum guitar!
4. Mayhem/Cattle Decapitation - Studio Seven - June 5 Mayhem scared the bejabbers outta us with their stage rap-less set and Cattle Decapitation became our new favorite opening act. We also got drunk offa cheap beer and spilled Jagermeister, ate chicken fingers at the bus depot, talked to a homeless dude at the train tracks, and tried to sleaze on some broad before our ride was about to leave. Talk about \m/etal.
3. Kreator/Exodus/Belphegor - El Corazon - April 26 Kreator handed out 85 minutes of terror and violence and Exodus wore Iron Maiden shoes. Everyone in attendance was (a) fifteen years old in 1985 or (b) a fifteen year-old dressed like 1985.
2. Akimbo, Tad Doyle, and a shirtless guy from Black Elk play Black Flag songs - Comet Tavern - September 11 I screamed along to all my favorite Black Flag songs before I sweated off my hand stamp and got tossed out onto the sidewalk. WTF? Didn't the bouncer see my non-threatening eyeglasses and earplugs?
1. ArnoCorps - El Corazon - August 21 Was there ever any doubt? Show of the year, show of the decade, show of all time.
