NYC has many venues of all sizes and with that, comes many shows and with that, comes days where you as a metal fan have to pick which show you will be attending. There have been many days in NYC where there have been many shows scattered throughout the five Burroughs. Many die-hards would plan those days out, seeing one band at one show than immediately hoping on the train or an Uber to the next show to catch another band. There is no such thing as too much metal. Here are some of the craziest days in 2019 for hard rock and metal that left NYC a pyroclastic crater at the end of the night. It is fair to assume that on one these specific nights, everyone in NYC was at a show.

April 12th

Easily one of the craziest days in NY. Both Manhattan and Brooklyn were packed to the brim with hard rock and heavy metal. Dance Gavin Dance and Periphery sold out the Playstation Theater while black metal legions Uada sold out St Vitus. You had some great instrumental bliss at Bowery Ballroom with Plini while the masters of progressive metal Dream Theater were serenading many music lovers at Beacon Theater. Deep out in Brooklyn, you had Alesana and Red Jumpsuit Apparatus delivering fun at Kingsland while Psycroptic and Cannabis Corpse were delivering brutality at Goldsounds. Last but not least, Baroness, Deafheaven and Zeal & Ardor delivered beautiful and emotional performances as Terminal 5 \m/ \m/

April 19th

On this particular day, Veil of Maya delivered their progressive dethcore brutality at Gramercy Theater while Children of Bodom, Swallow the Sun and Wolfheart delivered melodic death metal bliss at Irving Plaza. While we did not know it at this time, this would be the last NYC Children of Bodom show to feature their classic lineup. Move uptown to Playstation Theater, Hatebreed was playing an NYC venue for the first time since 2012 on their tour with Lamb of God and In Flames. While they sank a boat in the East River the year prior, Hatebreed brings out Obituary, Cro-Mags, Terror and Fit for an Autopsy making the ultimate hardcore and death metal lineup.

May 16th

Four major shows in the middle of the week in NYC sounds intense as all hell. You had to pick one of these four amazing shows and rush right after work to get there. Meshuggah was delivering the intense riffs and brutality at Hammerstein while Architects were delivering their signature sound of Metalcore at Brooklyn Steel. Killing Joke had no problem selling out St Vitus that night, while we get the first performance by The 69 Eyes in years at The Kingsland in Brooklyn.

August 1st

Summer Slaughter is practically a holiday in NYC. Many New Yorkers specifically request the day off from work for this brutal occasion. Hardcore brutality reigned hard on NYC on this particular day. Summer Slaughter with Cattle Decapitation, The Faceless and Carnifex delivered at (le) Poisson Rouge while Stick to your Guns brought absolute intensity at Brooklyn Bazaar with their signature sound of Hardcore for this venues final lease of life. 3teeth brought a classic and heavy sound of Industrial at Bowery Ballroom while Kerrang hosted the secret Vein show that decimated through the weak.

October 12th

Where to begin talking about this day? Evergreen Terrace always delivers intense hardcore action, and they definitely pulverized everything in their path at Kingsland this day. Just north in Greenpoint, you had a nice soothing and dirty sound of stoner rock with Earthless doing a sold out show at St Vitus. Revocation performing their whole new album, The Outer Ones in full with Voivod and a stacked lineup beneath, while Municipal Waste and Napalm Death and Sick of it All were decimating the Bowery Ballroom for the second night in a row. Life of Agony was also celebrating the release of their new album, The Sound of Scars in Coney Island, which definitely raised some high tides. Last but not least, at Hammerstein Ballroom, we had the ultimate Swedish invasion, Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy, At the Gates and Grand Magus delivering the pure and powerful sound of melodic death metal at a Sold out show at Hammerstein. Almost all of these shows were sold out or came pretty damn close to it. It is fair to say that NYC was in ruins after this date.

November 19th

It is fair to assume that when Tool comes to NYC, especially for the first time in way to long, the place is gonna pack out, and that it did. Barclays center was about 5 seats away from being sold out as Tool played their first NYC show in nearly a decade to celebrate the release of their first album in over a decade. In Manhattan, A Day to Remember, I Prevail and Beartooth sold out Terminal 5, while Brooklyn Steel was hit with dirty and raw sounds from Electric Wizard and Midnight. What a way to celebrate the middle of the week and create that ultimate Thanksgiving Pregame.

November 30th

We had the Thanksgiving Pregame, now we have the Thanksgiving after party. Thrash legends Death Angel plays a sold out show at St Vitus delivering pure intensity while we have Chon, Between the Buried and Me and Intervals having a great sound of prog in Brooklyn Steel. We had the great sound of Metalcore hit Webster Hall as Our Last Night, I See Stars and The Word Alive hit this place with both intensity and soul.

December 1st

Just a day after the intensity of November 30th, December begins and hits the ground running. Cattle Decapitation returns to LPR with Atheist and a killer and brutal lineup while Amigo the Devil, King Dude and Twin Temple deliver a fun and unique experience at Bowery Ballroom. Ice Nine Kills sells out Webster Hall for the ultimate metalcore lineup ending the Thanksgiving Weekend on a high ass note, essentially making you limp your way back to work the next morning.

December 14th

The final day where everything hits at once. One this particular day, we had that annoying occasion that we dread every holiday season known as Santacon. We rose up against those drunken Santas and their BS with out own tradition known as Satancon as Morbid Angel, Watain and Incantation deliver pure brutality at Warsaw in Brooklyn. MOD returns to the Kingsland in Brooklyn with their sound of hardcore thrash while NY Deathmetal legends Malignancy decimates Blackthorn 51 in Queens. Add Thank you Scientist and Bent Knee at Mercury Lounge in the heart of the Santacon madness and you instantly have the ultimate holiday send off for 2019.

What makes this even crazier is that, narrowing this list down to 10 days is just as hard has picking the top 10 albums of the year. NYC was thriving with rock in metal in both the underground and above. Venues were packed, bands destroyed and everyone was limping away with a smile on their face. What shows and tours are you looking forward to most in 2020? \m/ \m/