By Jillian Locke

Hey Hey Pulse readers!! It is my extreme pleasure to present my new column in which I will entertain, enlighten, and expose… the best and baddest that the wide world of rock has to offer, that is! Check in for concerts, albums, books, videos ~ anything and everything that is music!

Finnish fantasy/gothic metal aficionados Nightwish entranced and enraptured eager fans at the Worcester Palladium on Oct. 20th. Veterans Paradise Lost opened the show, whetting the crowd’s appetite for the main entrée. A die-hard Palladium junkie, I can sincerely say I have never seen such love and admiration from the crowd, not surprising given the epic and captivating performance. Nightwish’s eagerly anticipated 2007 release, “Dark Passion Play,” features brand new vocalist Annette Olzon, who more than fills the shoes of former singer Tarja Turunen. Congrats on such a successful first album and tour with such a legendary band!!

After beating the crowd out during the tail leg of Nightwish’s last song, I jetted up to Lowell to catch stoner-rocker extraordinaire Now Denial. Belting and booming out tracks from their latest release “Face-Melter,” they destroyed Lowell’s oldest bar once again, leaving local fans full and satisfied with their hearty helping of righteous riffs and screeching vocals.

On All Hallows Eve, Radar Records DIYers Junius played for a packed room at Tufts’ Oxfam Café. The band is currently working on their latest effort, Martyrdom of a Catastrophist, with Tom Syrowski and Kevin Mills at Henson studio in L.A; it’s due out in the spring/summer of ‘08. With connections to the famed Hyrdahead Records and local prog-rock/experimental heroes ISIS, guitarist Mike Repash-Nieves had this to say about their artistic mission and the New England music/art scene: “It seemed apparent to us that banding together and creating structure around this family was really necessary for all the music and art being created to be properly shared with the world and hopefully become bigger than the sum of its parts.” I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from these guys down the road.

On the schedule for the Palladium this month is the mighty Otep (see my interview with Otep in this issue!) opening with Blood Simple for Hell Yeah on Dec. 7th and spreading the sweet sickness of their latest release, Ascension. On Dec. 22nd, local hardcore demolition crew The Acacia Strain will pack the stage upstairs with Ligeia. Beware, because they plan to tear your f*ing face off. Although now touring for their 2006 release “The Dead Walk,” watch out for the classic crowd favorite ‘Smoke Ya Later’ off their ‘04 release “3750.” Clap. Sing along. Stomp the floor. Enjoy having your ears blown out ~ you won’t regret it.

Fan of the show INKED? Check out Big B’s latest malevolent creation “More to Hate.” On his latest effort, Big B enlisted the talents of hip-hop heavyweights TECH N9NE, Sen Dog of Cypress Hill, Dirtball, and Kottonmouth Kings. With an anthem like “White Trash Life,” how can you go wrong, seriously?

Now, onto some literature. For fans of the notorious, Jack-guzzling, drug abusing band that looked just-as-hot-as-the-women-they-dated, Motley Crue, check out Nikki Sixx’s “Heroin Diaries.” Not be considered a sequel to the band’s 2001 autobiography “The Dirt ~ Confessions of the World’s Most Notorious Rock Band,” Sixx’s solo literary effort explores his life, love affair with, and ultimate resurrection from, heroin. But wait! There’s more! The book comes complete with its own soundtrack ~ 13 dark and twisted musical rhapsodies for each chapter of the book, spun together by Sixx, DJ Ashba, and James Michael, now known as Sixx:A.M.

I’ve also decided to start a “wish list” of shows I would love to see, or am super pissed I missed. Let’s start this list off the right way – how peeved am I that I missed Van Halen’s reunion tour?? And why did I miss it? Because of three little words from my Editor, who also happens to be a long-time VH fan: “Seniority rules, girl!” And alright, I guess she had a point (besides, she promised to buy me a drink to make up for it…better be one AMAZING drink!) So, although “1984” was my first official favorite song and I would have given my first born to see the band responsible for such staple 80s classics as “Panama,” ”Hot for Teacher,” “Unchained,” and “California Girls,” all I could do was glare as she told me all about how great the Nov. 6 show at the DCU was. But don’t think I’m not still pouting that she got to see these legends (and, in the case of the Van Halen brothers, G-O-D-S) and I didn’t!!!

Another show I wish I’d been able to see (but I’d double booked for that night) was The Cult out at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom ~ but I have it on good authority from Matt, drummer for my new fave local band Switchblade Suicide, that the sultry, bluesy, powerful, undeniable sexy sounds of Ian Astbury (who invited the audience to “…unplug yourselves from the TV and live in the moment,”) et al worked their magic and brought the crowd to its feet with songs like “Edie,” “Fire Woman,” “She Sells Sanctuary,” and “Rise” (all of which, BTW, fall into my “Great Songs to…ahem…By” collection!). Check out The Cult’s long-awaited musical return on their new album “Born Into This,” available since Oct. 2.

And thus concludes my first Locke on Rock – check back next month for snippets on Gojira, Byzantine, and some insights direct from the likes of Lamb of God, DevilDriver, and Killswitch Engage, as I’ve arranged to speak with some of that brutal line-up in person over the next few weeks. Until then, happy holidays, and rock ya next year!!!