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Sammi Chichester

I’m a music journalist and print journalism major at Hofstra University. Raised on classical and country, I wound up a metalhead that loves the banjos as much as death metal growls. At MindEqualsBlown I serve as a staff writer focusing on editorials and album reviews. I’m also a nationally published author both in print and online for Revolver Magazine. Radio is another passion of mine and I produce, engineer and deejay a metal show in the New York metro area. Recently I moved to the executive position as Program Director of Music there as well. Some anecdotes: when I drink coffee I can tell you where in the world the beans came from, I love Ayn Rand novels and I once lived in Russia for two months. My famous last words will be: “Let’s see what happens.”

Browsing All Posts By Sammi Chichester

  • News 0

    Slayer Guitarist Jeff Hanneman Dead at 49

    The Scoop: Slayer guitarist Jeff Hanneman died Thursday, May 2 of liver failure at a hospital in Southern California. He was 49. Hanneman hasn’t toured with Slayer since ...

    On May 3, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Frank Turner: Tape Deck Heart

    “So on the first night we met you said well darling let’s make a deal/ If anybody ever asks us well let’s say that we met in jail/ ...

    On May 3, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Ghost B.C.: Infestissumam

    While there are some bands busy claiming they are saving rock and roll in an ironic fashion, there is truth to the point that rock’s lost its magic ...

    On April 19, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Kvelertak: Meir

    You’re going to love this record and not understand a word of it. Er, probably not anyway. Meir, the sophomore release from Norwegian hardcore band Kvelertak, is something ...

    On March 21, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    This Is Hell: The Enforcer EP

    Kids, get your vest and stitch those patches because This Is Hell has a new EP. The Enforcer EP is the Long Island, NY hardcore thrash band’s latest ...

    On February 26, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Hatebreed: The Divinity of Purpose

    Apparently CNN found it pertinent to research hateful racist hardcore bands last year after the Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting. Despite being a national news organization and if they ...

    On January 29, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • EOTY Lists 0

    Sammi’s Top in 2012

    10. Birds In Row – You Me & The Violence 9. Gojira – L’Enfant Sauvage 8. God Seed – I Begin 7. Aborted – Global Flatline 6. The ...

    On January 1, 2013 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 2

    Deftones: Koi No Yokan

    If sound was space, you could fall through it and never hit the bottom with Koi No Yokan. It is no longer sounds on tape or variations of ...

    On November 13, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    All That Remains: A War You Cannot Win

    You have to admire A War You Cannot Win’s ability than to do at the very least maybe piss off whoever is listening to it. That’s a feat ...

    On November 12, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Pig Destroyer: Book Burner

    Vocalist J.R. Hayes is holding a cigarette right in the press pictures. That’s burning, but so are these books. It’s been five years since the grindcore legends released ...

    On October 22, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 2

    Dethklok: Dethalbum III

    At least you don’t have to endanger your life by listening to this Dethklok. It seems insane that this cartoon death metal band from Metalocalypse is talked about ...

    On October 18, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 2

    Converge: All We Love We Leave Behind

    Upon opening the Axe to Fall record it says, “We may get better/ We won’t get well.” Are you sure? It’s been over three years since Axe to ...

    On October 5, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 0

    How a Metalhead Understands NBC’s The Voice

    I’ll be the first to admit I know nothing about pop culture. Last week’s Twitter rant for me was about certain metal bands’ insistence on taking Satanism seriously. ...

    On October 1, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Single Reviews 0

    Thoughts on the new Converge song: “Aimless Arrow”

    It is nice to have a plan. So I figured being prepared for guerrilla warfare on ears was the best approach. Actually, “Aimless Arrow” was a little more ...

    On August 29, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Birds In Row: You, Me & The Violence

    At the beginning of this year on MEB I boldly wrote, “There is literally nothing to dislike about Birds In Row.” And I will not be corrected. There ...

    On August 23, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 1

    Sikh temple shooting is about the deceased, not metal

    Earlier this week, tragedy struck a Wisconsin Sikh temple when a shooter opened fire on people at the service. The alleged shooter, Wade Michael Page, age 40, killed ...

    On August 8, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • 3 Of The Week 0

    3 Of The Week: (6/26/12)

    “So, like, why Russia?” That’s my cynically least favorite question I get about studying abroad in St. Petersburg for the next few weeks. Look, I get it. This ...

    On June 15, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Show Reviews 0

    Show Review: Against Me! in Albany, NY

    “Laura! Laura! Laura!” The usual restless Against Me! crowd has waited long enough. They are ready to jump around. They are ready to shout the words to well-memorized ...

    On June 14, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Xavier Rudd: Spirit Bird

    I must admit that the real reason Xavier Rudd piqued my interest for his seventh album, Spirit Bird, is that it was released on SideOneDummy Records. I thought, ...

    On June 6, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 4

    Was Ulrich right? Does the metal community have its head up its ass?

    The rant starts out like this: Lars Ulrich, drummer of Metallica, basically says the metal community is up its own ass. This little tidbit obviously became the news ...

    On June 1, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Rise and Fall: Faith

    This Belgian hardcore isn’t going to give you a headache but it might rattle your brains enough to displace them. If you’re okay with that, Rise and Fall’s ...

    On May 16, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    3 Inches of Blood: Long Live Heavy Metal

    Oh man, the ripping falsetto days. There once was a time when people were breaking the law with Halford and running to the hills with Dickinson. That time ...

    On May 4, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Municipal Waste: The Fatal Feast

    From party thrash to space thrash, we present Municipal Waste! The Richmond, Virginia crossover thrash band is back after quite the absence since 2009’s Massive Aggressive. The theme ...

    On April 25, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Tim Barry: 40 Miler

    Tim Barry…it’s like even his songs are sepia toned. The Carhartt-wearing Virginia artist’s next installment of train hopping songs is 40 Miler. That title is “ironic” as it’s ...

    On April 17, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Lucero: Women & Work

    There is something about Lucero that just makes you feel… real. Okay, maybe the posters of a blue collar lady lighting her cigarette with a blowtorch aren’t realistic, ...

    On March 25, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 3

    Narrows: Painted

    I love technology. Otherwise this record, Painted, wouldn’t exist. Narrows’ hometown is Seattle and San Diego and London. Making an album in the same place sounds like a ...

    On March 18, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Caliban: I Am Nemesis

    German metal means one thing to me: power metaaal. Except Caliban isn’t at all and that’s not the association worth worrying about. One minute into “We Are the ...

    On March 2, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Napalm Death: Utilitarian

    They teach you in J school (which is bad slang for one who studies journalism) not to talk about older folks as if they are “as lively as ...

    On February 29, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Hopes Die Last: Trust No One

    I should probably just turn in my metalhead card for this. Yeah, I listened to Hopes Die Last’s Trust No One and enjoyed myself. My defense is as ...

    On February 22, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Black Taxi: We Don’t Know Any Better

    It’s a pronoun problem. Black Taxi is busy blowin’ up Brooklyn’s venues and creeping into other areas of life. Some songs have been featured on television shows on ...

    On February 15, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Anthony Raneri: New Cathedrals EP

    It’s fairly obvious that Anthony Raneri doesn’t need advice or an introduction when it comes to his music. Therefore, Raneri’s collection of songs on New Catherdals is vast ...

    On January 17, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 2

    A Dead Format?

    For what many may think is a dead format, the fact is that sales of vinyl records are increasing year after year. Nielsen SoundScan projects vinyl in 2011 ...

    On January 17, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Single Reviews 1

    Thoughts on the new Anthony Raneri song: “Sandra Partial”

    What kind of music do you like? “Oh, everything but country.” If that’s you described above, please move on because you’re missing out. If you’re still with me, ...

    On January 10, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Birds In Row: Collected

    There is literally nothing to dislike about Birds In Row. For a relatively unknown aggressive hardcore band from Laval, France, they have an amazing amount of power to ...

    On January 8, 2012 / By Sammi Chichester
  • EOTY Lists 1

    Sammi’s Top In 2011

    10. Polar Bear Club – Clash Battle Guilt Pride 9. Bayside – Killing Time 8. Deafheaven – Roads to Judah 7. Glassjaw – Coloring Book EP 6. Thrice – Major/Minor 5. The Horrible ...

    On December 25, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 2

    This Side of Brightness: Farewell Thursday

    Click, click. Chaos. That was the sound I would search for in the parking lot when I was nine years old and my sister would pick me up ...

    On November 25, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 20

    A Brave New World: What is PIPA/SOPA and How to Stop It

    “These are unpleasant facts; I know it. But then most historical facts are unpleasant.” Remember reading the sci-fi novel by Aldous Huxley, Brave New World? It was a ...

    On November 22, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 0

    (We Are) The Road Crew: The Metal Suckfest Review

    Luckily while looking at the bill, none of the band names mentioned are completely incomprehensible. There was a legitimate fear that they may be. This is Metal Suckfest. ...

    On November 19, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 0

    Show Review: Tim Timebomb’s RockNRoll Theater

    It’s obvious this generation and the previous one need to stop ripping off Rocky Horror Picture Show and get our own cult-classic to copy. And like Rocky Horror, ...

    On November 15, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Leviathan: True Traitor True Whore

    It’s nothing but mystery concerning everything that surrounds Leviathan. Whether that is splendid or defective, that’s left up to the judge to decide (no pun intended- wait for ...

    On November 8, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Editorials 1

    Movie Review: The Other F Word

    The aggressive guitar chords heard in the opening of Pennywise’s “F— Authority” are some of the most recognizable in punk rock. They’re also used in the beginning of ...

    On November 5, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Sick Of It All: Nonstop

    25 years. When we think of an event being 25 years, it’s usually a huge life event like a wedding or a birthday. It’s a quarter of a ...

    On October 31, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 1

    Dead to Me: Moscow Penny Ante

    Rally up the punks because misery has never sounded this fun before. San Francisco’s Dead to Me has released Moscow Penny Ante like all select-honored rebels and it’s ...

    On October 29, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Russian Circles: Empros

    Most of us are used to words. Then you get about a 40-minute instrumental record and we’re not classical folk, nor are we always that classy. So we ...

    On October 26, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Interviews 0

    Interview: Kevin Devine

    Being from Brooklyn, reading novels, and playing music for 18 years is just who Kevin Devine is. He loves every part of the job that that he can ...

    On October 26, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 3

    Counterparts: The Current Will Carry Us

    There has been a lot of chatter and hype about melodic hardcore band Counterparts, but is it justified? I’m not one to add unnecessary hype to musicians that ...

    On October 25, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Star Fucking Hipsters: From the Dumpster to the Grave

    They’ve done it again, and yet it’s completely different. The Star Fucking Hipsters’ third release From the Dumpster to the Grave is so schizophrenic that it’s hard to ...

    On October 24, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 4

    Aiden: Some Kind of Hate

    There is this preconceived notion that all Victory Records bands are crummy. But what if a band included all the aspects of a popular band within the genre? ...

    On October 23, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    This is Hell: Black Mass

    Lace up your combat boots. Just five seconds into This is Hell’s Black Mass, you cannot sit still as vocalist Travis Reilly screams, “It burns like acid rain”(go ...

    On October 11, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
  • Album Reviews 0

    Pathology: Awaken to the Suffering

    For those of you who don’t frequent death metal, think Cookie Monster ate a frog, only on a whole new level. That’s a basic summary of Pathology’s new ...

    On October 6, 2011 / By Sammi Chichester
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