Showing posts with label cythraul. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cythraul. Show all posts
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Hekseri with Soul Remnants, Cythraul, and Worms In Women and Cattle [PT-109, **REDACTED**, 8/26/2011]
First off, apologies to those who had shows on 8/18; I ended up missing all of them through a combination of exhaustion from coming back and going on call a week early. Seriously, there were like seven shows in greater Boston on this date, which is a continuing argument for the scene here being as good or better than the next contender.
This one, though, I was done the on-call shift and on full power, so after loading up after work with essential supplies, it was down into the city and over the back roads to the location-blacked-out-as-per-prior-diktats. I was early and with improperly-sized bills, which caused Meg no little grief, but I was able to get in and set up, and also hand over to Larissa the Voivod live set that I'd been holding for like a month. I apparently ran into Meg indirectly at Party.San as well, likely in the fugue state of either Belphegor/1349 or Watain, darkness and disorientation being at fault for me (at least) not making a positive ID at the time. Cheers!
As per normal DIY expectations, WIWC took some time setting up, but did get going a little after the designated start.
Worms In Women and Cattle [5/7]
WIWC presented a cool take on third-wave black metal as it's come to be in the States, not burying their indie antecedents but also never allowing them to overwhelm the traditional elements. The result was something resembling a recital, through that proverbial darkened glass, of the first two Burzum records. This was cool, but maybe wore a little by the end, the band though definitely has the passion and commitment, as shown here, to take this forward, and it'll be cool to see how they resolve that great contradiction of third-wave BM, to diversify without destroying themselves.
It was probably in here that I had to go downstairs and hit the head, in the process discovering that the **REDACTED** bathrooms, male and female alike, were completely out of toilet paper of equivalent substitutes, which was a lot worse for the women waiting to potentially raid the men's room for TP than it was for us. If you go to a show here and think you may have to crap at some point, Asian rules (squat or pack your own tissues) are in effect; the alternative involves ripping flyers off the wall and having a very sure hand with a faucet.
Cythraul [5.5/7]
This was allegedly Cythraul's last show, and a hell of a way to go out. The sound was a little rough at the start, as might be expected from a five-piece with a lot of clean parts at a DIY space, but this got resolved and the band powered on. Driven principally by the Norwegian second wave with touches of Candlemass and funeral doom (at least as my poor not-listening-to-very-much-doom-at-all ears could pick out), this was a sound that we don't get a lot in this area, which makes it more of a shame if Steve's really decided to fold the tents. The lineup apart from him was completely changed up, at least as I can remember, from the last time I saw this band (admittedly aeons ago), but they did get in a partial point of continuity by bringing up a hooded, robed, and very drunk Cody for assistant vocals on some Mayhem and VON tunes towards the end of the set. Stellar outing, lots of smoke, lots of wreckage -- along every possible axis -- you could ask for little more in closing up a good band at an elite DIY space.
I spoke briefly with Cody after, inside and partially outside, and in the course of such he promised some new Bone Ritual material sometime in the short-term future. I might have gotten a deadline on that at the time, but due to front-loading my beer consumption for homebound-roadblock-related reasons, I don't remember if or when.
Soul Remnants [5.5/7]
Changing gears to death metal, Soul Remnants put up a cool, punchy, and macro-structurally melodic set about par for the course over the couple times I've seen them. Movement in the crowd accelerated a little here, though not up to the levels seen during Hekseri. For those who expected some kind of friction, or that a mostly black-metal audience wouldn't also get into it for good Carcass/ATG-influenced death metal, you need to actually go to shows once in a while, rather than getting your information from books about 20-year-old events in other countries.
As kind of expected, I got pumped for a lot of information on the Euro fests by various people over the course of the night. I answered as best I could, but somehow missed out on the critical summation of Party.San: just like this, but expanded by two orders of magnitude. Whether a DIY space with a 60:40 ratio, no pressure, and moderately-famous dudes like Dave Davidson and Colin Conway just walking in and hanging out like anyone else (ok, so Colin was also playing, but the point stands) is a smaller Party.San, or whether Party.San with every beer held in community trust, as much jury-rigging as official construction, and a community that takes absolutely everyone in is the world's biggest DIY space hangs only on what you're more familiar with.
Hekseri [6/7]
Für den Bodhrann-öffnung is gläubig Odroerir oda so schuld. Daran gewöhnt man sich nur in Deutschland. Though some people didn't get or appreciate said bit (some of the jokes cracked over it were funny, though), the band quickly got the audience back into it with a vicious performance of desperate witching black metal. Hekseri, at least on this outing, is not merely back in 2011, but somewhat better than they were the last time that they were active, before Megan hied off to Germany. The audience was super up for it as well, with room-spanning pits that had a habit of wiping out the mic stands, several of which were improvised anyway, but the band kept going at the heart of the chaos. Only for seven songs, if I read the setlist right, but it was a killer seven songs, and I'm pretty sure no one went home unsatisfied.
Eventually, though, that "went home" bit did have to happen; leaving my last vessel in community trust, I hiked back to my car and went back to my own country by a different route. There were a lot more people at this one than for Ash Borer; if PT-109 continues to gain in popularity, its days are surely numbered. Thus the paradox of DIY spaces (and, really, life): anything good will be gone sooner or later, so enjoy it while it lasts, and hasten its doom.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Watchmaker with Hirudinea, Cythraul, and Graveside Service [Skybar, Somerville, 6/29/2007]
I pushed it a little later coming in this time, and the bands also got in earlier than Thursday. The only unfortunate parts was that I was short on cash, which meant that I only picked up two records from Jeremy's table...but fortunately (?) there wasn't much of an option to directly support the bands; not because I like stiffing them, but because choosing who to support on my 20 spare bucks -- and worse, who not to -- is a choice I hate making.
Graveside Service [4/7]
I hadn't seen this band before, but there's a debate to be made that this may be a positive; with a stage cluttered with various props and stage dressing, and with their gothic/black metal sound coming out of the somewhat unusual instrumental alignment, it definitely felt like there may not be a whole lot to differentiate one Graveside Service set from the next. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that from this combo of vocalist, keyboards, and some seriously well-handled drums were able to produce a sound that hewed fairly close to black metal. My tolerance for stringless goth music -- especially with an overabundance of props -- is really low, but the legitimate black metal elements in their sound made the time worthwhile. There was some slack time, and there were a few parts in the writing that were less than inspired, but the music was overall decent, and it's an experience to be recommended at least once.
Cythraul [5/7]
With a full complement this time (staffed out by Cody from Witch Tomb on bass), they somehow didn't make as deep an impression as the last time I saw them. I have no idea as to why exactly this is, perhaps due to the sound (overall decent, but we didn't have the "usual" Sunday guy on this gig, who was also in on Thursday), but the overall impression was of a trebled-out scream-and-drone take on black metal that didn't seem to really take a bite out of the audience. They did a solid cover of Mayhem's "Freezing Moon" (with the intro taken directly from Live In Leipzig), but it was only in this and the subsequent, final song that it felt like they had stepped it up to their potential. This was some good stuff, and the main part of the set was decent; as they move forward and do some rewrites of their existing material to take better advantage of Cody's talents, there's definitely the potential to improve and put up kickass sets even despite potential sound problems.
Hirudinea [6/7]
If someone tells you that hardcore and black metal simply cannot mix, they are liars -- though you can't blame them, as the whole impulse of both scenes have been diametrically opposed since the time that both existed. However, this set showed that the two can be blended -- and when it's done right, it can be pretty damn awesome. Mixing black metal arrangements and hate with hardcore composition and intensity, this was a tremendously cool, turbulent set that was thoroughly awesome even before they closed with Carnivore's "Sex and Violence". If you like extreme metal, you need to see this band -- but this was not the best fusion of the opposed ends of the extreme on the night.
Watchmaker [7/7]
This, though, was, and damn was it ever intense. Watchmaker are among the old masters of the Boston thrash scene, and they definitely showed why in this set, mostly coming out of grind and thrash but with significant black and noise touches as well. The music was great, with a lot of subtlety as well as straight-ahead violence, but the audience reaction was something else, with most of the house down front going crazy. Those who weren't there may think this is an exaggeration, but there are few descriptions that should otherwise be used for an event where people are stagediving onto a handful of people at a bar show. There weren't any major injuries despite a lot of close encounters with tables and the floor, so despite the raw insanity incurred as they closed with "Damage, Inc." (obviously, not identical to the original, but in this setting definitely the better for the reinterpretation), there was only just the right amount of pain, strain, impact, and bruising to let all participants know the next day that they were at a kickass gig.
After checking to make sure that all my body parts were still attached, I headed back out to get going home....which took a lot longer than expected because the tunnel up to the northward routse was closed for repairs again, and the detours led around in what seemed like the longest possible route through Revere. This is the only bad part about Boston shows; the commute's easy, except when the highway chokepoints decide to be unsafe to drive through. Next gig's in Worcester, so this problem won't be an issue -- just the challenge of driving back the hell over the Mass Pike amid too many overloaded trucks going too fast on inconsistent surfaces. When gigs are this good, though, it's not worth complaining about the drive unless you actually get brewed up or killed.
Graveside Service [4/7]
I hadn't seen this band before, but there's a debate to be made that this may be a positive; with a stage cluttered with various props and stage dressing, and with their gothic/black metal sound coming out of the somewhat unusual instrumental alignment, it definitely felt like there may not be a whole lot to differentiate one Graveside Service set from the next. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that from this combo of vocalist, keyboards, and some seriously well-handled drums were able to produce a sound that hewed fairly close to black metal. My tolerance for stringless goth music -- especially with an overabundance of props -- is really low, but the legitimate black metal elements in their sound made the time worthwhile. There was some slack time, and there were a few parts in the writing that were less than inspired, but the music was overall decent, and it's an experience to be recommended at least once.
Cythraul [5/7]
With a full complement this time (staffed out by Cody from Witch Tomb on bass), they somehow didn't make as deep an impression as the last time I saw them. I have no idea as to why exactly this is, perhaps due to the sound (overall decent, but we didn't have the "usual" Sunday guy on this gig, who was also in on Thursday), but the overall impression was of a trebled-out scream-and-drone take on black metal that didn't seem to really take a bite out of the audience. They did a solid cover of Mayhem's "Freezing Moon" (with the intro taken directly from Live In Leipzig), but it was only in this and the subsequent, final song that it felt like they had stepped it up to their potential. This was some good stuff, and the main part of the set was decent; as they move forward and do some rewrites of their existing material to take better advantage of Cody's talents, there's definitely the potential to improve and put up kickass sets even despite potential sound problems.
Hirudinea [6/7]
If someone tells you that hardcore and black metal simply cannot mix, they are liars -- though you can't blame them, as the whole impulse of both scenes have been diametrically opposed since the time that both existed. However, this set showed that the two can be blended -- and when it's done right, it can be pretty damn awesome. Mixing black metal arrangements and hate with hardcore composition and intensity, this was a tremendously cool, turbulent set that was thoroughly awesome even before they closed with Carnivore's "Sex and Violence". If you like extreme metal, you need to see this band -- but this was not the best fusion of the opposed ends of the extreme on the night.
Watchmaker [7/7]
This, though, was, and damn was it ever intense. Watchmaker are among the old masters of the Boston thrash scene, and they definitely showed why in this set, mostly coming out of grind and thrash but with significant black and noise touches as well. The music was great, with a lot of subtlety as well as straight-ahead violence, but the audience reaction was something else, with most of the house down front going crazy. Those who weren't there may think this is an exaggeration, but there are few descriptions that should otherwise be used for an event where people are stagediving onto a handful of people at a bar show. There weren't any major injuries despite a lot of close encounters with tables and the floor, so despite the raw insanity incurred as they closed with "Damage, Inc." (obviously, not identical to the original, but in this setting definitely the better for the reinterpretation), there was only just the right amount of pain, strain, impact, and bruising to let all participants know the next day that they were at a kickass gig.
After checking to make sure that all my body parts were still attached, I headed back out to get going home....which took a lot longer than expected because the tunnel up to the northward routse was closed for repairs again, and the detours led around in what seemed like the longest possible route through Revere. This is the only bad part about Boston shows; the commute's easy, except when the highway chokepoints decide to be unsafe to drive through. Next gig's in Worcester, so this problem won't be an issue -- just the challenge of driving back the hell over the Mass Pike amid too many overloaded trucks going too fast on inconsistent surfaces. When gigs are this good, though, it's not worth complaining about the drive unless you actually get brewed up or killed.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Dreaded Silence with The Accursed and Cythraul (but unfortunately not It Will End In Pure Horror) [Skybar, Somerville, 2/23/2007]
Before going down, I checked RTTP and found out to my disappointment that IWEIPH had cancelled. I'd been looking forward to seeing Rich et al, not least because of his legend, but it can wait. If I went to more shows that leaned more hardcore, I'd probably have seen them by now, and I'll probably see them soon enough anyway. Too bad, but there were still a bunch of good bands on this one.
I got down about on time, but due to the diminished lineup, Cythraul wasn't going on for a while. I had time to go get some Chinese from next door, eat it, and get a second beer by the time they got checked and their axes set up.
Cythraul [6/7]
I was seriously impressed by this band, despite their lineup issues at this one. This is the second time in a row that a band with female members played the Skybar without a bassist, and the second time in a row that a black metal band played a Boston bar show without their bass player, so there's obviously something going on here below the surface. This left Cythraul with zero female members present, but didn't noticeably diminish the coolness of their sound, which is the part that actually matters. They inherited most from early Emperor and mid-period Immortal without really cloning either, which is definitely a good thing. This was a great performance, which really makes me want to see them again with their full complement -- though this one, featuring Cody from Witch Tomb (not corked up just to go out to the bar) doing guest vocals on a few songs, was definitely something special.
Between sets, I talked with Larissa from Hekseri; I'm constantly humbled when people from bands thank me for coming out and supporting -- I don't thank them nearly enough for putting on good shows, playing kickass music, and being generally awesome. Unfortunately, they've sold out of FDHB, but their demos are being compiled by some microlabel in Singapore, so even if I don't make it to their gig on the 18th or if she gets caught up in other stuff and doesn't end up burning me the demos I don't have yet, I should still be able to get them eventually.
The Accursed [5.5/7]
This was another good set from this band, though somewhat marred by stuff that the band had more or less no control over. I'm referring, of course, to the casino around their sound, which nobody who was at the gig could have missed. Basically, the sound guy gave them a raw deal, then flipped out at them with little provocation. In fairness to the sound dude, it's eminently possible to see how he could have interpreted Jon dropping his (non-functioning) mic as throwing it, but he also shouldn't have flipped out at them over it, and if he'd managed the PA portion of the soundcheck better, he might have found out that the mic in question was dead before the band started and people started getting heated up that things weren't working.
That aside, The Accursed put on a solid set that improved as it went on; the problems were mostly in the first two songs, and mostly coming off the sound issues. Great bands rise up in the face of adversity, and just as an actively hostile soundboard is one of the most adverse conditions that a band can be faced with, the slaughtering performance of "Land of the Dead" that they closed with was little other than the very definition of "rising up", some of the best that I've seen from them. This set as a total experience could have been better, but you can't fault the band's performance.
Dreaded Silence [5/7]
There were a few loose moments, but most of this set was a miracle in progress, because despite the determined efforts of like half the room to get Ken completely wasted, he didn't start forgetting lyrics until the last song. Most of this set was really good, a nice blend of death metal and other elements that recalled the best of the two eras of Sentenced (who they didn't cover) as much as Edge of Sanity (who they did, not omitting the RTTP meme reference ("Dan Swano is an Opeth ripoff")). Despite the alcoholic haze, this was a cool performance in a style that I like, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime (like next month) when it isn't Ken's birthday, and he isn't as totally pissed. The drunken abuse will be missed, but the band's got a neat enough sound and good enough execution that it may not be missed much.
Storrow leading into 93 was again wall-to-wall due to tunnel closures; I'm really thinking about just always going back on 128 and the Pike from Boston shows. Next show is also in Somerville, kicking off a month of ten or so gigs, including the first big show at the Palladium in a while....well, except the one last night, but that was obviously disqualified for certain reasons.
I got down about on time, but due to the diminished lineup, Cythraul wasn't going on for a while. I had time to go get some Chinese from next door, eat it, and get a second beer by the time they got checked and their axes set up.
Cythraul [6/7]
I was seriously impressed by this band, despite their lineup issues at this one. This is the second time in a row that a band with female members played the Skybar without a bassist, and the second time in a row that a black metal band played a Boston bar show without their bass player, so there's obviously something going on here below the surface. This left Cythraul with zero female members present, but didn't noticeably diminish the coolness of their sound, which is the part that actually matters. They inherited most from early Emperor and mid-period Immortal without really cloning either, which is definitely a good thing. This was a great performance, which really makes me want to see them again with their full complement -- though this one, featuring Cody from Witch Tomb (not corked up just to go out to the bar) doing guest vocals on a few songs, was definitely something special.
Between sets, I talked with Larissa from Hekseri; I'm constantly humbled when people from bands thank me for coming out and supporting -- I don't thank them nearly enough for putting on good shows, playing kickass music, and being generally awesome. Unfortunately, they've sold out of FDHB, but their demos are being compiled by some microlabel in Singapore, so even if I don't make it to their gig on the 18th or if she gets caught up in other stuff and doesn't end up burning me the demos I don't have yet, I should still be able to get them eventually.
The Accursed [5.5/7]
This was another good set from this band, though somewhat marred by stuff that the band had more or less no control over. I'm referring, of course, to the casino around their sound, which nobody who was at the gig could have missed. Basically, the sound guy gave them a raw deal, then flipped out at them with little provocation. In fairness to the sound dude, it's eminently possible to see how he could have interpreted Jon dropping his (non-functioning) mic as throwing it, but he also shouldn't have flipped out at them over it, and if he'd managed the PA portion of the soundcheck better, he might have found out that the mic in question was dead before the band started and people started getting heated up that things weren't working.
That aside, The Accursed put on a solid set that improved as it went on; the problems were mostly in the first two songs, and mostly coming off the sound issues. Great bands rise up in the face of adversity, and just as an actively hostile soundboard is one of the most adverse conditions that a band can be faced with, the slaughtering performance of "Land of the Dead" that they closed with was little other than the very definition of "rising up", some of the best that I've seen from them. This set as a total experience could have been better, but you can't fault the band's performance.
Dreaded Silence [5/7]
There were a few loose moments, but most of this set was a miracle in progress, because despite the determined efforts of like half the room to get Ken completely wasted, he didn't start forgetting lyrics until the last song. Most of this set was really good, a nice blend of death metal and other elements that recalled the best of the two eras of Sentenced (who they didn't cover) as much as Edge of Sanity (who they did, not omitting the RTTP meme reference ("Dan Swano is an Opeth ripoff")). Despite the alcoholic haze, this was a cool performance in a style that I like, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime (like next month) when it isn't Ken's birthday, and he isn't as totally pissed. The drunken abuse will be missed, but the band's got a neat enough sound and good enough execution that it may not be missed much.
Storrow leading into 93 was again wall-to-wall due to tunnel closures; I'm really thinking about just always going back on 128 and the Pike from Boston shows. Next show is also in Somerville, kicking off a month of ten or so gigs, including the first big show at the Palladium in a while....well, except the one last night, but that was obviously disqualified for certain reasons.
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