The festival season, at least for me, comes to a successful conclusion again this year with this festival. With a strong step up in quality and a smaller but significant step up in attendance -- and quite a few absolutely epic sets that will increase that going forward as people see the pics and read the writeups and bang their heads against walls and desks and tables for not going this time around -- it's hard to see how this festival won't keep going and continue from strength to strength.
day 1 - 8/29
With some cancellations pushing back the start time (Retch, Atrocious Abnormality, Covenance, and Behead the Lamb -- who are kind of becoming the Bennie Joppru of this festival, hope they can make it next year -- had to cancel from the original billing), I had the luxury of waiting a little to see if the rain would let up; it didn't, and I made my way down to the PVD through the rain and the traffic rubbernecking at the people waiting for the Kennedy motorcade to come by in the other lane. I cairned my crap at the hotel, stretched out a bit, and somehow managed to make my way through Providence's awkward mess of partially-one-way-streets over to the venue without wrecking my vehicle, and in time to see most of Pathogenic's set after getting banded.
Pathogenic [5/7]
Looking at my running order/notes sheet, these guys were the sole deathcore band on the bill, but were worth the while regardless. They were kind of limited, but the argument can be made that the style itself is kind of limited, a thread that will show up again looking at some of the slam bands later on. They played a decent, solid, opening set, and if the crowd wasn't as super into them as the bands that would come on later, they did at least have a full house, which would be consistent for the midday bands throughout the festival. People were intent on getting the most out of their $25/$30 per day, and Blue et al did an excellent job of getting bands that were worth it.
Here I attempted to go up to Jerky's (first set, and all other 'odd' sets until Quo Vadis at the end, were downstairs in Club Hell) using the street entrance, but the door was locked. Two of the guys in ExCx (see below) were also trying to go up to, like, get ready for their set, and also hadn't been informed that we had to go up the back alley staircase. This was a good decision from an organizational perspective -- saves the need for checking this door until Hell closes (see further down) -- but they could have done with a "NEDF - No Entry This Door Till 10:30" sign at the bottom of the stairs, rather than the door into Jerky's itself.
On getting upstairs, I got a beer, ran into the usual and expected coterie of scene stalwarts, and thoroughly assed up my acquisition of one of the few festival shirts. If Drew never stops giving me shit about this, it will be too soon. Said festival shirts are wicked cool, and if they didn't sell out, there is something wrong with the attendees -- a run of 50 should have been gone by the end of the first day, and hopefully this will lead on to a bigger run next year.
EDIT: Said shirts did sell out, and Blue actually did a second run by special order; looks like there will probably be more next year.
Embryonic Cryptopathia [6/7]
I'm not completely sure that they used all of their allotted time, but anyone who was unsatisfied with this set, whether for not running long enough or for some other reason, was probably not even in the building at the time. About the purest grind of the bands that I saw, ExCx absolutely crushed the Jerky's crowd, despite it being this early in the day, in the process of providing one of the better sets of the day. Fucking intense is about the word for it.
Abnormality [5.5/7]
For the first time, I saw Abnormality with a bass player -- Josh (Deconformity, ex-Sexcrement, ex-Neuraxis) Staples, also one of the organizers here -- though the sound downstairs may have held them back a bit. The band's full sound did come off as more complete than when I'd seen them in the past, but maybe not as biting as some previous gigs. The venue sound was, for the most part, really good, but there were a few sags, including this one, that didn't keep the band affected from playing, as in this case, a pretty damn good set of death metal.
Abdicate [5/7]
I hadn't heard these guys before, but was not disappointed; while they didn't stand heads above the rest of the field -- though their gigantic singer did -- they did smash out a bunch of solid music. Just plain old quality death metal and a good time, though there wasn't quite as much motion as they might have wanted. Put that down to being early in the day, or to lack of slam; you can say what you want about the style, but there is a pretty direct relationship between (at least of the bands I observed) slam content and degree of moshing at NEDF.
Polterchrist [6.5/7]
This band, though, thoroughly exceeded expectations; in the middle of the day, from a band you haven't heard of previously (alright, I spend too much time at work and following Celtic among other activities, and put pretty much no effort into following the death metal scene in detail), you're expecting just a solid effort at this festival, but this was a rock-solid killer, intense brutal death flavored with some classic leads, which was a welcome difference from the run of bands leading up to them. Some of this is personal preference, but it's hard to deny that they kicked ass, and the variation in death of all kinds, as Shawn (Insidious Decrepancy/Viral Load) would mention on Sunday, is what makes this fest stronger. Good stuff all the way.
In between here, I spotted someone in a Party.San shirt, and checked a little closer -- this year's! I tapped him on the shoulder about it, and we got to talking about the festival, and the bands, and German festivals and Germany generally. I've got the sneaking suspicion that I saw him around over there -- 10,000 is a pretty small number for three days -- but regardless it was a good time talking with someone else who's been over. Here's hoping that travel prices shake out and more get the opportunity -- and that our increased support of good US festivals will see our experience here growing towards that.
Bloodsoaked [5/7]
While this was going on, Bloodsoaked started up, and though the initial impression was of a stalwart exercise in keeping in time with one's playback, it built up to a decent death metal performance that yes, was still held back by the limitations of being a one-mand-band, but proved to be a good time overall. If you have to sort out the one-man sets of the weekend, yes, this one is on the bottom, but someone has to be, and the two other guys who showed up backed by a drum machine for their sets are really the state of the art in one-man death metal. I don't think anyone was expecting Peter to play them off the stage, but provide a solid set of playback-backed death metal, yes, and he did do that.
Sexcrement [7/7]
The pictures on RTTP, really, say it all when it comes to this set; an avalanche of perfectly balanced gutterslam, transvestites, and Adam in a Queen of Hearts wig. The pit action was enormous, and the tranny go-go dancer a laugh riot, but what really made this was that the music was killer and the sound downstairs absolutely magnificent. After this point, I don't think I saw a single band downstairs that didn't have an exceedingly good treatment from the sound board, though previously things had been inconsistent. Yes, this is in both cases the last three of the night downstairs, and I missed all the 'day' bands on Sunday, but the fact remains. Probably as good a Sexcrement set as I've seen, and while this is not a huge sample, this was also wicked killer enough that it's unlikely to be displaced for quite a while.
Nur in PVD: I go out front after Sexcrement to get some pizza from the shop next door before the last bunch of bands, and the operator of the "spa" next door is haranguing the security about the death metal fest next door, probably concerned that the noise and hordes of black-clad hessians on the sidewalk in the area were discouraging potential customers, and wanted to go in to take a look, no doubt to try and come up with some bullshit reason to call the cops. That got shut down right quick -- no $30 ticket, no admittance; "YOU'd charge US to just come up and take a look!"
On the one hand, this is ridiculous, as the operation is legal in Providence; if someone wants to come and make use of the "spa"'s "resources", they shouldn't be ashamed of being seen by a bunch of death metal heads who don't know them. On the other hand, if she'd seen the billing in advance and looked up some of the bands' lyrics/song titles, she might have a reasonable cause for concern about the safety of her employees; there's an awful lot of material on this fest about killing and dismembering prostitutes.
Malignancy [5/7]
Back upstairs, and back to a good but not exceptional set from Malignancy. While this was still a good, solid, set, it was a bit of a letdown after Sexcrement, and probably, from unreasonable expectations on my part. I hadn't heard anything from them since the Intrauterine Cannibalism disc, but that was ten years and almost total band turnover ago; it makes sense that their sound's changed, and there are a lot of bands that come off flat playing between Sexcrement and Revocation. Good death metal all the same, still.
Revocation [7/7]
Though their sound wasn't quite as huge or the audience quite as nuts as Sexcrement, Revocation still blasted out a characteristically dominating set heavily skewed towards their new material. Well it should be with their debut coming out, and a national (hopefully) tour to promote it; this wasn't the best Revocation set ever, but it was top class and a good sign for what the rest of the country can expect from them opening for Quo Vadis.
I was a little bummed after this set that I'd jumped the gun and gotten my Revocation gear off the Relapse table, as I also wanted to support the band directly. I'll get the new disc off them, though, probably, at their CD release at Church, and for a newly signed band, it also helps to convince the label that they made a good choice in picking them up, and hopefully to give them a hand with tour support. Hopefully, also, the ultimate fate of some of that kit will help with the reaction....
Insidious Decrepancy [6/7]
At this point, despite the good buzz that I'd heard before the Embryonic Devourment tour that Shawn ended up dropping off of, I was not completely sold on the idea of one-man death metal as a live rather than studio endeavor. This set, though, went a substantial way towards turning that around, even if the sound wasn't as good as the downstairs sound for the next two one-man acts. The music was certainly quality, though, and never came off as simple metronome marking; solid brutal death and a fitting East Coast debut.
Putrid Pile [6.5/7]
Downstairs for another one-man band, and wow. Shaun killed it on this set, aided by a hammering sound, and also by a greater slice of slam than the other one-man acts; maybe the PA setup was optimized for it, and maybe people were just taking their last real chance to scrum around. Musically, this was better than I was anticipating, and aided by the huge sound; some people were whining before the fest about how a lot of the out-of-region quality was being made up by one-man bands (being cheaper to fly in); these people obviously missed the two five-member Canadian acts that closed out this night and the Coloradan and Californian ensembles airlifted to headline Sunday, but even if this had actually been the case, Blue sure did a good job of getting good one-man acts that may have been cheaper to book than full bands.
At this point Club Hell closed, at least for us, and transformed itself into a hip-hop/Top 40 dance club. After coming out of the pizza joint, there was already a significant lineup going back almost to the Jerky's door, which inevitably summoned up certain Dropkicks lyrics. BETTER TAKE COVER THERE'S A **** **** ON RICHMOND
Neuraxis [6.5/7]
The band was disappointed with a lack of movement, but this late, at a festival this slammy, you've got to expect as a tech-death band to get this sort of reaction. The music was great, the appreciation also, and with this set in the books, it was rational to ask how the day was going to get still better. Even this class outing, though, would get topped.
Quo Vadis [7/7]
Though they took a while getting set up -- especially in taping up a large banner that did not make it all the way through the set -- this band matched the high expectations I had based on their reputation, and thoroughly crushed the remnants of the crowd; at this point a lot of people were outside for some or most of the set. Those who were missed an epic performance of technical thrash-death; Revocation got a good match for their inaugural major-label tour, but also a bit of a tough draw in that Quo Vadis are one of the very few bands out there that they will not be able to either play off the stage technically or blast flat with heaviness. If this tour comes to your area, do not miss it. Both these bands did stunning sets here, and looked to be a lot more on pace than peaking, so it's likely to be what you'll see as well. Amazing.
After this, I dragged myself out to the car, gunned down some caffeine, and made it back to the hotel with less difficulty than getting over to the venue back in the afternoon. Providence is still laid out weird.
total points, day 1: 78
total bands, day 1: 13
average, day 1: 6
Well, that worked out conveniently; also goes to show that this was a damn good festival.
day 2 - 8/30
Unfortunately for me, I had some stuff to handle back home in the morning, so I drove back, got through it, saw Celtic hold on for the win despite being down a player and the ref trying his mightiest to toss the game the other way, took a nap, and woke up in time to drive back down in significantly better weather and still pretty much no traffic, ending up at the venue just in time to miss the end of Fit For An Autopsy. FUCK.
All told, I missed Living Void, Boarcorpse, Hivesmasher, Goreality, Parasitic Extirpation, Composted, Gutted Out, Dysentery, Short Bus Pileup, and Fit For An Autopsy. That's about two very good gigs' worth of bands that I either slept through or was in transit for -- and among them some pretty epic sets as the rumor goes. This makes the pizza joint around the corner and the sausage wagon out front all the more valuable; you really cannot comfortably take time off from this fest without missing good bands.
So, coming in just as the downstairs band was packing up, I went upstairs, got myself a beer, got ripped on by Mark and Anthony for missing Composted, bought a bunch of merch, eventually found the Onyx patch I'd gotten for Composted and gave that over to Mark, and got several random CDs pushed on me for free by the Sevared guy. Solid.
Digested Flesh [5/7]
A pretty basic but still very solid set, these Jersey guys smashed out a good performance of slammy death metal that was probably right in line with general expectations. Not quite as remarkable as Abacinate last year, but good music regardless, and from a personal standpoint it was a good warmup set to get back into festival mode with...though regardless I managed to pull a neck muscle or something headbanging, and kept having it tweak the rest of the night.
Mucopus [6/7]
The impulse is to start this entry yelling "KENNEDY!!!!", but that has zero resonance for anyone who wasn't actually there; Jason put up as good a set with Mucopus as can be generally expected from him with Skinless, if a little weirder banter-wise and a little more slammy on the musical end. A good time was had by all, though there was less motion, relatively speaking, than for the next largely slammish outing, probably because the stage here wasn't tall enough for Jason to realistically throw himself off of, despite the walking and bantering room that it afforded.
Inherit Disease [6/7]
Midway through the bands that I was going to be able to see, Inherit Disease stepped up and pumped out a flattening set of brutal death metal that thoroughly fulfilled expectations. They filled out their time well and hopefully drove others besides me to go support afterwards, even if some band members did "California" things like playing in flip-flops. (I'm sure I've see some hardcore bands have people playing barefoot at some point in time, but I'm not sure that'd fly generally here up in the Far Far North.) That's kind of the point, though; that while this is the New England Death Fest, it would make no sense to just have bands from New England and immediately surrounding territories play. And as long as the bands that come in "from away" are of the standard we got this time from Cali (and Texas, Wisconsin, Colorado, and by-all-reports-even-though-I-didn't-see-them Michigan and Virginia), we'll be glad to have them.
Viral Load [6/7]
Downstairs, Shawn Whitaker set up as Viral Load with himself, his amp, and a drum machine, and explained that he'd intended to bring his whole live band along, but when they cancelled, he decided to plug on and do a solo Viral Load set, seeing as he was going to be around for Insidious Decrepancy anyways. The result was a truncated (due to preparation constraints) but still precisely finished Viral Load set that thoroughly overcame my initial skepticism that one guy could sound materially different on two successive nights as he and a drum machine attempt to be two separate bands. The separation was definitely there, Viral Load a little simpler and a lot slammier than ID, and the sound was nail-your-feet-through-the-floor massive, which definitely helped the total experience. The result was a unique Viral Load experience; hopefully Shawn'll come back with the full band in a year or three, but this was a hell of a set as it was.
Goratory [7/7]
Speaking of hellish sets....
Southeastern New England. Goratory reunites to headline the slammier day of a slammy festival. The upstairs was flat packed, and as soon as the band started up, the floor exploded with a violence seldom seen even here (yes, I missed the bands earlier in the day where Will (Dysentery) allegedly pushed half a dozen people out the door again and flat destroyed some guy who thought he could mosh hard). They thoroughly justified their legendary status to noobs like me who had never gotten the chance to see them the first time around, and rekindled old fires in the old fans who had been waiting years for this. In the extended time that they had, they crushed through a wide range of slammy and plain-brutal material across the band's entire history, invited Jason (Mucopus) up to do second vocals on "Hang 'em and Bang 'em" (even if his mic was mostly dropped-out for the whole of the song, he was still up there being crazy and diving on top of the pit, inspiring others to do the same), and closed thunderously with "Rice on Suede". Flat amazing. Others have carried on their traditions, and New England is still pretty packed for death metal (seriously, look at the lineups here, about 45% local), but there's still only one Goratory.
Cephalic Carnage [7/7]
Some people might have split; it's late, not everyone could get the day off on Monday (or get into a hotel like I did and have all my work gear in), and there was a reasonable if incredibly naive assumption to be made that Cephalic Carnage might have a hard time topping Goratory. This reckoned without the band, or the fact that, um, they're Cephalic fucking Carnage and have been cleaning up at stellar gigs for a long while. They did, as might be expected, a strong, long, set of highly technical, highly brutal, expertly composed material with strong political and philosophical points between songs, and closed with "Black Metal Sabbath", finishing with humor, strength, and a surprisingly accurate (musically) piss-take on Immortal. Cool stuff, from a band that has been experts at it for quite a while. Few better ways to end this fest, with pure violence upstairs and violently diverse violent diversity down.
Following CC closing up, and after being sure they weren't going to play anything else, I hit the road, sacked out, and managed to get back into work the following morning just after eight. I have no idea how I cycle that fast either.
total points, day 2: 37
total bands, day 2: 6
average, day 2: 6.17
Better on average than day 2 of this year's Party.San, which was the previous high for a festival -- and remember, I missed Goreality, Boarcorpse, Parasitic, and what from all reports was an all-time epic Composted outing. Had I made it for all of day 2, it's conceivable that this could have gone even higher.
What more could you want from this festival? Um, moar? This year took a significant step up in facilities and organization: more vendors in, more bands if I remember right, festival shirts, the signs of a beer partnership (in an indoor setting, you obviously can't get an exclusive beer vendor, but cheap Narragansett was the order of the day), neighboring food shops being open, a sausage truck out front; some of this may have been serendipity, but a lot of it was planned, and a lot of credit has to go to the organizing team, who made a great festival, brought in a ton of killer bands from all across the country, presented a great experience, and probably ended up in the black or at least out of the red. All anyone can rationally want is for the fest to continue; for next year to have more and different non-locals, 'gansett unified on the $2/tallboy price point, and at least as many heads in the building.
Irrationally? Um, move outside 5-10 years ahead of where the fest might do so naturally, and get Katalepsy, Intestine Baalism, and Crackdust? There's a lot of room to be irrational when you've got an organizing team and a festival that is going to deliver the quality at such a high known level. Till next year -- or maybe till the start of next festival season, if the currently half-formed plans to do a black/heathen festival outdoors up in northern New Hampshire floating around in the scene come to anything.
Showing posts with label nedf. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nedf. Show all posts
Friday, September 04, 2009
Monday, August 11, 2008
2 shows 1 day
Sunday was a rather epic day for music, in which I first finally got my butt in gear and got down to the NEDF, and then closed out the day with a friend's band in my home stomping grounds. It was a fair bit of driving, but definitely worthwhile in terms of the music.
New England Deathfest (day 2)
Jerky's and Club Hell, Providence, 8/10/2008
--
After missing the first day while recuperating from Wacken and planning to go to a show that I actually ended up missing, I finally got my shit in gear and headed down 95 to Providence for the first half of the second day of the NEDF. Under ideal circumstances, I'd've stuck for the second half as well, but I had to work in the morning, and driving the 80 miles back while exhausted was tough enough when I ended up doing it. Finding the venue was easy enough; the place is pretty much right off 195 just as this road splits off 95, and there were parking lots everywhere, which being Sunday were completely free; dunno how good the parking situation here is mid-week.
Though I got in right about the time Strappado was supposed to start, I ended up hanging on the sidewalk for a while; Hivesmasher cancelled shortly before the fest, which meant that everything got shifted back about half an hour. So I stood around, got pumped for Wacken info, and generally shot the shit until the club people had their stuff ready to start letting us one-dayers in.
Since Strappado wasn't starting until like 2:25, I had a bit of time to browse the merch stands and begin my day-long descent into an empty wallet and full vest pockets. Highlights include Toxik, Master, Witch Trap, Vomit Remnants, Crucified Mortals, and a bunch of other stuff that I still have to listen through; no Intestine Baalism, but you can't have everything.
Strappado [5/7]
This group, featuring members of Sexcrement and Revocation, has been a 'band in being' for a long time, though mostly in theory and in name as opposed to one that plays music. This was, according to Anthony before the event, their first show ever, and it showed; not a lack of practice, cohesion, or technique, but only that they had a total of five songs prepared, and thus didn't run for their full allotted time. This might see some raised eyebrows, but only if you're mental and don't take into consideration the fact that most of the lineup is also in some of New England's most active and well-liked extreme metal bands. Strappado may be an incidental side project, but the material that they had ready here was good stuff, old-school brutal death that made a nice start to the day, and if it was short, definitely left the audience wanting more.
Composted [6/7]
Slam-diculous as usual, New England's masters of absurdist extremes took the stage unfortunately without Rich, but dressed to the nines for the occasion: Mark and Dave taking a swipe at the "wiggerslam" criticisms levied at this festival by those who somehow missed Skinless, Dying Fetus, and Mortal Decay at the top of the bills, and Eliot, to remind any out-of-the-loop old bangers that this was in jest, wearing fairy wings, scuba flippers, and a pink pool noodle out the front of his crotch. The set was as bizarre, hilarious, and brutally tight as might be expected; killer stuff, including some newer material that they haven't done live as much, but unfortunately marred as an experience by something out of the band's control.
About halfway through the set, this big dude starts spinning and thrashing around, and he ended up spin-kicking a guy in the face, who was standing on the edge of the floor and didn't see him coming. The combination of 'huge guy', 'foot to the jaw', and 'completely unprepared' resulted in an immediate knockout; the band kept going, but the club guys with first aid training and a couple metalheads (including me) moved him out of the line of fire and tried to get him stabilized, once we established that he was still alive and there wasn't much chance of spinal damage, while his kid called in the paramedics. The incident ended up looking a lot worse than it actually was; within 10 minutes, he'd come around and was talking, moving his appendages, and trying to sit up by the time the ambulance arrived. They still collared and backboarded him, though, and took him out for evaluation; even if he got away with only a concussion and a bitten lip, it's still worth the medical attention rather than just leaving him at a metal show.
There was some scuttlebutt at the fest that this might have been an intentional attack, but this is bullshit circulated by people who didn't see it go down; unfortunately, circumstances combined that gave such scurrilious rumors credence. First, the guy who got knocked out was standing in the back, on the side, away from the part of the floor where you're likely to eat a flying fist or foot; he was being a smart non-mosher and standing somewhere where there was as reasonable an expectation of not getting hurt as you're likely to have at an underground show. Second, the dude who hit him was not in among those of us holding his hands and keeping his head still until the rescue team arrived; while if you don't know the guy, and maybe are coming from a scene where the expectation is that the friends of a guy who gets hurt are on a hair trigger, this is slightly understandable, there were still a lot of people here who believe that if a guy goes down near you, whether you were the one who put him on the floor or not, he becomes your responsibility, and not picking that responsibility up looks suspicious. There was no malice here, just maybe not as much forethought as might have been desired.
Fortunately, word came in later that Allen was doing all right, and his kid eventually did come back to the festival, though not before I left. Horns up, Mr. Chen; finish getting well soon.
After recovering my jacket from under Allen's head when the paramedics picked him up, I went back upstairs to try and watch some more death metal.
Without Remorse [4.5/7]
With your eyes closed, this Long Island combo sounded much like a decent ripoff of Long Island's most famous death metal export (and if you don't know who the band in question is, why are you reading this far about NEDF?); unfortunately, I'm too much of an old stick-in-the-mud to not get cognitive dissonance seeing such performed by guys in flat-billed hats and basketball shorts, talking like rappers between songs. It was decent music, but they'd've done better if there was more hardcore or deathcore on the bill -- and if most of the audience hadn't just been down at Composted and seen one of their own get knocked out, which probably suppressed the mosh impetus a little, and which the band probably wasn't themselves aware of. Some people did get violent, and I ended up accidentally getting punched in the head by Paul from Proteus, but overall this was the down set of what I saw, though likely more due to complete exhaustion than to just non-inspiring music.
Somewhere around here I significantly injured my left wrist; not sure if it was during Composted and I was concentrating on someone with a much more major injury and didn't notice, or if I got socked during Without Remorse. Whatever; it now hurts like hell whenever I try to bend it in certain directions, but I'll live.
As they finished, Blue, the headman of the fest, announced that Behead The Lamb wasn't going to be able to make it; this freed up some time to walk around, get some eats, and generally decompress from the events of the morning. I ended up going up the street a ways to get some pizza; this part of Providence is flat dead on a Sunday afternoon, the streets silent and empty of traffic, only a few people walking around here and there. Despite the sour taste of some of the morning, there were little bits of larger metalfests present as well; normal establishments invaded by black-shirted longhairs, people grilling at their 'campsite' (on the sidewalk by their car, but what the hell), hot girls in Endstille shirts -- wait, what again? Her boyfriend was in an Obscene Extreme lineup shirt, so it's pretty clear that other people from around here also go bang their heads in central Europe; the more we can bring that spirit back here, the more future iterations of this fest will go from strength to strength.
Abacinate [5/7]
Now this was a pleasant surprise; a band from New Jersey that didn't sound like Waking The Cadaver. They brought one of the WTC guys up for guest vocals on one song, but mostly stuck to kickass old-school brutality in the vein of a less-evolved Decrepit Birth. It made for a good restart after the downtime, and some fun headbanging, along with a few breakdowns for the ninjas. Good stuff from a traveling band; I picked up one of their shirts later, a merch Spende that I didn't make for the New England acts on the bill...mainly because I have shirts from most to all of them already, and Dwyer didn't seem to have his table out so that I could drop the last of my change on a Goreality hat.
Revocation [6.5/7]
Another fucking amazing set from Revocation, but unfortunately the sound wasn't super-kind to them. The upstairs sound was clean and sharp, while downstairs in Club Hell often came off fuzzy with overdriven bass. Most of their sound got through, though, and the Empire material is so completely dominating you could play it to your friend over the telephone and it'd still rule. They covered "Symbolic" (Dave: "It's the Deathfest, so let's play some Death!"), and interestingly Dave did his own solos rather than following Chuck's as he's done in the past; it takes a lot of confidence in your abilities as a guitarist to play your own notes over Chuck Schuldiner's changes, but if you can pull it off, as Revocation did here, it's massive win in getting to the real heart of the material. Great stuff, great time.
I finally bought Empire of the Obscene, and it is currently on repeat in my car. What an absolutely incredible album. No words, just get it; no idea how they haven't been picked up yet, though with the standard "dry buttrape" contracts available to bands putting out their first full-length, they may have decided to just DIY it for a while until a major (CM, Relapse, etc) makes them an offer with some actual meat in it.
Proteus [5.5/7]
I went upstairs, then, and saw Proteus with my back against the bar. This is the outcome of one of those tough decisions that you have to make every once in a while; I love how Proteus mixes up post-rock and extreme death metal, but hate getting spin-kicked, and it's pretty much a given that at any Proteus show in New England, at some point Will from Dysentery is going to flip out and completely destroy someone. Thus the bar thing, and the set went pretty much as expected; Proteus was great, though not quite as overwhelming as when I saw them in Haverhill (Drew's bass still sounded a little low in the mix), people went crazy in the pit, Will shoved half a dozen people nearly out the door, and I didn't get kicked by anyone. If I still had a functioning knee, maybe I'd've been in closer, but that's not something I can count on at this point.
During Proteus' set, I finally finished the Narraganset that I picked up in the downstairs bar before Revocation went on. That stuff is absolute swill, worse than PBR; I swear it smells like vomit even coming out of the can, but that may just be me stinking from sweating all day, and the corollary stench of hanging with 30-70 other metalheads who've been doing the same.
Goreality [6/7]
Back downstairs for Goreality; I'm not sure I'd seen them with the new singer previously, but the performance was still everything you could have wanted from them. The sound hit like a ton of bricks, and though it was still a little fuzzed, the sound board did better for them than for the other bands I saw down here. This was some good shit, front to back, and while immensely brutal, not a whole lot of mosh going on; everyone was too dialed in on the band, which, at least for us old people, is the way it oughta be. Killer set; shame that I wasn't able to stay longer.
Every single comment I've seen on this festival has been immensely lauditory, and it should be; even for the brief time that I was able to participate, it was almost without exception an awesome experience, full of quality death metal of all kinds, in a good environment with ready cameraderie and inexpensive beer. Blue and those who assisted him did a great job on the organization, keeping everything rolling despite the really large bill for a first-year fest and the vagaries of DIY bands who may just not be able to make the show for reasons totally outside their control. This wasn't a perfect fest, but it was damn good, about as good as we're going to get on this continent, and the organizers are definitely smart enough to look at what worked and what didn't, then make the necessary changes to make next year's even better. This gig won't be moving outside anytime soon -- blame the alcohol laws for this, and those in change of enforcing them for their zeal and enthusiasm -- but for a club fest, this one is as close as we're likely to get.
As I drove north, I closed in on a huge electrical storm that was moving west to east, and barely managed to get across the front of it before the rain arrived in force. The views of the storm were just unbelievable; someday when I get a car I care enough to customize, I'm going to get a camera built in coaxial with my line of vision, focused lens-to-infinity, and not miss out on this cool stuff just because I have to keep my vehicle from crashing into others or driving off the road or such.
In the end, I got back home in good time to fit out again, and head down to.....
Slow Fuse Burning with Autumn Above, The Real Smokin' Power, and Cape Terra
Dodge Street, Salem, 8/10/2008
--
This was not a metal show, and will not be rated as such, but I still showed up to this bar, recently highlighted as one of the best live music venues north of Boston, stinking of NEDF and wearing my Sodom-enabled flak vest. Part of it was the timing dimension -- I barely had the chance to take the CDs out of my vest before heading over -- and part of it was deliberate, but there was no fear and revulsion, so I guess things were ok.
Cape Terra [NR]
I got in about midway through their set, and drank part of a Guinness listening; decent but nothing to write home about as long as you had rock radio on at some point between about 1996 and 1998. Post-grunge, vaguely indie, peripherally interesting and mildly entertaining, they never really stepped out and established themselves, but in this genre I'm not exactly sure that bands are supposed to. I don't have much of any point of evaluation, but they weren't terrible, so if you like alt-rock from that period, you may want to check them out.
The Real Smokin' Power [5/7]
An instrumental collaboration between Sean (drums) and Tone (bass) of Autumn Above, this band showed some interesting promise and some cool lines, but wasn't quite as developed as perhaps they'll be if it turns into a real project instead of just a guaranteed undercard for the members' main band. The bass was too low at the start, a right problem when there's no other non-percussion instruments, but this was rapidly settled, and the short but definitely thoroughly cool set rolled on.
Autumn Above [6/7]
They changed up the order for this set, doing their heavier songs earlier instead of later, but aside from some clammed notes early where Ryan's voice wasn't completely warmed up, this was another great performance from a band that continues to be solid in everything they do. This wasn't as apex a performance as they've done in the past, but for a non-headlining slot, it was rock-solid.
They finally had shirts available, and also mentioned a couple times the anti-drunk-driving fest they're playing at the ADC in Southbridge this week; hopefully people hit them up for merch and tickets, because between them and Slow Fuse Burning, the nominal headliners, the venue kind of emptied out. It was a Sunday night, but seriously, sticking around another half hour isn't going to kill you. The sensible thing might have been to rearrange the lineup as has been done at a couple O'Brien's shows I can recall where the headliner was going to be outdrawn by the top local support, but unfortunately the fact that RSP was playing -- and, of course, using Autumn Above's gear -- kind of complicated this. More people might stick later, but some might just leave with the extra time needed to tear down and build up Sean's kit twice.
Slow Fuse Burning [5/7]
Again, not especially germane for rating, but they were a good time; punk bands who like late Bad Religion (and probably some other canonical influences, but I'm not a punk guy) a lot are seldom unwelcome, and even though they were playing to a handful of people, most of whom were in Autumn Above, they didn't let it affect their professionalism or their performance. Pretty decent; I sprang for a CD as they were going for a largely optional $3, then split; Slow Fuse Burning may not have been quite like the band who, also, had only five songs prepared with whom I started the day, but they provided a good enough finish to it.
Now that's a day worth recording; eleven bands in three venues with some impressive separation between two of them. The road continues later this week; after Autumn Above Wednesday, I'll be out in Worcester for Testament and Motorhead (with a bunch of crummy undercard bands and Arsis) on Thursday and Friday respectively. After that, I can sleep, and feel a little less down about not doing more German fests this year.
New England Deathfest (day 2)
Jerky's and Club Hell, Providence, 8/10/2008
--
After missing the first day while recuperating from Wacken and planning to go to a show that I actually ended up missing, I finally got my shit in gear and headed down 95 to Providence for the first half of the second day of the NEDF. Under ideal circumstances, I'd've stuck for the second half as well, but I had to work in the morning, and driving the 80 miles back while exhausted was tough enough when I ended up doing it. Finding the venue was easy enough; the place is pretty much right off 195 just as this road splits off 95, and there were parking lots everywhere, which being Sunday were completely free; dunno how good the parking situation here is mid-week.
Though I got in right about the time Strappado was supposed to start, I ended up hanging on the sidewalk for a while; Hivesmasher cancelled shortly before the fest, which meant that everything got shifted back about half an hour. So I stood around, got pumped for Wacken info, and generally shot the shit until the club people had their stuff ready to start letting us one-dayers in.
Since Strappado wasn't starting until like 2:25, I had a bit of time to browse the merch stands and begin my day-long descent into an empty wallet and full vest pockets. Highlights include Toxik, Master, Witch Trap, Vomit Remnants, Crucified Mortals, and a bunch of other stuff that I still have to listen through; no Intestine Baalism, but you can't have everything.
Strappado [5/7]
This group, featuring members of Sexcrement and Revocation, has been a 'band in being' for a long time, though mostly in theory and in name as opposed to one that plays music. This was, according to Anthony before the event, their first show ever, and it showed; not a lack of practice, cohesion, or technique, but only that they had a total of five songs prepared, and thus didn't run for their full allotted time. This might see some raised eyebrows, but only if you're mental and don't take into consideration the fact that most of the lineup is also in some of New England's most active and well-liked extreme metal bands. Strappado may be an incidental side project, but the material that they had ready here was good stuff, old-school brutal death that made a nice start to the day, and if it was short, definitely left the audience wanting more.
Composted [6/7]
Slam-diculous as usual, New England's masters of absurdist extremes took the stage unfortunately without Rich, but dressed to the nines for the occasion: Mark and Dave taking a swipe at the "wiggerslam" criticisms levied at this festival by those who somehow missed Skinless, Dying Fetus, and Mortal Decay at the top of the bills, and Eliot, to remind any out-of-the-loop old bangers that this was in jest, wearing fairy wings, scuba flippers, and a pink pool noodle out the front of his crotch. The set was as bizarre, hilarious, and brutally tight as might be expected; killer stuff, including some newer material that they haven't done live as much, but unfortunately marred as an experience by something out of the band's control.
About halfway through the set, this big dude starts spinning and thrashing around, and he ended up spin-kicking a guy in the face, who was standing on the edge of the floor and didn't see him coming. The combination of 'huge guy', 'foot to the jaw', and 'completely unprepared' resulted in an immediate knockout; the band kept going, but the club guys with first aid training and a couple metalheads (including me) moved him out of the line of fire and tried to get him stabilized, once we established that he was still alive and there wasn't much chance of spinal damage, while his kid called in the paramedics. The incident ended up looking a lot worse than it actually was; within 10 minutes, he'd come around and was talking, moving his appendages, and trying to sit up by the time the ambulance arrived. They still collared and backboarded him, though, and took him out for evaluation; even if he got away with only a concussion and a bitten lip, it's still worth the medical attention rather than just leaving him at a metal show.
There was some scuttlebutt at the fest that this might have been an intentional attack, but this is bullshit circulated by people who didn't see it go down; unfortunately, circumstances combined that gave such scurrilious rumors credence. First, the guy who got knocked out was standing in the back, on the side, away from the part of the floor where you're likely to eat a flying fist or foot; he was being a smart non-mosher and standing somewhere where there was as reasonable an expectation of not getting hurt as you're likely to have at an underground show. Second, the dude who hit him was not in among those of us holding his hands and keeping his head still until the rescue team arrived; while if you don't know the guy, and maybe are coming from a scene where the expectation is that the friends of a guy who gets hurt are on a hair trigger, this is slightly understandable, there were still a lot of people here who believe that if a guy goes down near you, whether you were the one who put him on the floor or not, he becomes your responsibility, and not picking that responsibility up looks suspicious. There was no malice here, just maybe not as much forethought as might have been desired.
Fortunately, word came in later that Allen was doing all right, and his kid eventually did come back to the festival, though not before I left. Horns up, Mr. Chen; finish getting well soon.
After recovering my jacket from under Allen's head when the paramedics picked him up, I went back upstairs to try and watch some more death metal.
Without Remorse [4.5/7]
With your eyes closed, this Long Island combo sounded much like a decent ripoff of Long Island's most famous death metal export (and if you don't know who the band in question is, why are you reading this far about NEDF?); unfortunately, I'm too much of an old stick-in-the-mud to not get cognitive dissonance seeing such performed by guys in flat-billed hats and basketball shorts, talking like rappers between songs. It was decent music, but they'd've done better if there was more hardcore or deathcore on the bill -- and if most of the audience hadn't just been down at Composted and seen one of their own get knocked out, which probably suppressed the mosh impetus a little, and which the band probably wasn't themselves aware of. Some people did get violent, and I ended up accidentally getting punched in the head by Paul from Proteus, but overall this was the down set of what I saw, though likely more due to complete exhaustion than to just non-inspiring music.
Somewhere around here I significantly injured my left wrist; not sure if it was during Composted and I was concentrating on someone with a much more major injury and didn't notice, or if I got socked during Without Remorse. Whatever; it now hurts like hell whenever I try to bend it in certain directions, but I'll live.
As they finished, Blue, the headman of the fest, announced that Behead The Lamb wasn't going to be able to make it; this freed up some time to walk around, get some eats, and generally decompress from the events of the morning. I ended up going up the street a ways to get some pizza; this part of Providence is flat dead on a Sunday afternoon, the streets silent and empty of traffic, only a few people walking around here and there. Despite the sour taste of some of the morning, there were little bits of larger metalfests present as well; normal establishments invaded by black-shirted longhairs, people grilling at their 'campsite' (on the sidewalk by their car, but what the hell), hot girls in Endstille shirts -- wait, what again? Her boyfriend was in an Obscene Extreme lineup shirt, so it's pretty clear that other people from around here also go bang their heads in central Europe; the more we can bring that spirit back here, the more future iterations of this fest will go from strength to strength.
Abacinate [5/7]
Now this was a pleasant surprise; a band from New Jersey that didn't sound like Waking The Cadaver. They brought one of the WTC guys up for guest vocals on one song, but mostly stuck to kickass old-school brutality in the vein of a less-evolved Decrepit Birth. It made for a good restart after the downtime, and some fun headbanging, along with a few breakdowns for the ninjas. Good stuff from a traveling band; I picked up one of their shirts later, a merch Spende that I didn't make for the New England acts on the bill...mainly because I have shirts from most to all of them already, and Dwyer didn't seem to have his table out so that I could drop the last of my change on a Goreality hat.
Revocation [6.5/7]
Another fucking amazing set from Revocation, but unfortunately the sound wasn't super-kind to them. The upstairs sound was clean and sharp, while downstairs in Club Hell often came off fuzzy with overdriven bass. Most of their sound got through, though, and the Empire material is so completely dominating you could play it to your friend over the telephone and it'd still rule. They covered "Symbolic" (Dave: "It's the Deathfest, so let's play some Death!"), and interestingly Dave did his own solos rather than following Chuck's as he's done in the past; it takes a lot of confidence in your abilities as a guitarist to play your own notes over Chuck Schuldiner's changes, but if you can pull it off, as Revocation did here, it's massive win in getting to the real heart of the material. Great stuff, great time.
I finally bought Empire of the Obscene, and it is currently on repeat in my car. What an absolutely incredible album. No words, just get it; no idea how they haven't been picked up yet, though with the standard "dry buttrape" contracts available to bands putting out their first full-length, they may have decided to just DIY it for a while until a major (CM, Relapse, etc) makes them an offer with some actual meat in it.
Proteus [5.5/7]
I went upstairs, then, and saw Proteus with my back against the bar. This is the outcome of one of those tough decisions that you have to make every once in a while; I love how Proteus mixes up post-rock and extreme death metal, but hate getting spin-kicked, and it's pretty much a given that at any Proteus show in New England, at some point Will from Dysentery is going to flip out and completely destroy someone. Thus the bar thing, and the set went pretty much as expected; Proteus was great, though not quite as overwhelming as when I saw them in Haverhill (Drew's bass still sounded a little low in the mix), people went crazy in the pit, Will shoved half a dozen people nearly out the door, and I didn't get kicked by anyone. If I still had a functioning knee, maybe I'd've been in closer, but that's not something I can count on at this point.
During Proteus' set, I finally finished the Narraganset that I picked up in the downstairs bar before Revocation went on. That stuff is absolute swill, worse than PBR; I swear it smells like vomit even coming out of the can, but that may just be me stinking from sweating all day, and the corollary stench of hanging with 30-70 other metalheads who've been doing the same.
Goreality [6/7]
Back downstairs for Goreality; I'm not sure I'd seen them with the new singer previously, but the performance was still everything you could have wanted from them. The sound hit like a ton of bricks, and though it was still a little fuzzed, the sound board did better for them than for the other bands I saw down here. This was some good shit, front to back, and while immensely brutal, not a whole lot of mosh going on; everyone was too dialed in on the band, which, at least for us old people, is the way it oughta be. Killer set; shame that I wasn't able to stay longer.
Every single comment I've seen on this festival has been immensely lauditory, and it should be; even for the brief time that I was able to participate, it was almost without exception an awesome experience, full of quality death metal of all kinds, in a good environment with ready cameraderie and inexpensive beer. Blue and those who assisted him did a great job on the organization, keeping everything rolling despite the really large bill for a first-year fest and the vagaries of DIY bands who may just not be able to make the show for reasons totally outside their control. This wasn't a perfect fest, but it was damn good, about as good as we're going to get on this continent, and the organizers are definitely smart enough to look at what worked and what didn't, then make the necessary changes to make next year's even better. This gig won't be moving outside anytime soon -- blame the alcohol laws for this, and those in change of enforcing them for their zeal and enthusiasm -- but for a club fest, this one is as close as we're likely to get.
As I drove north, I closed in on a huge electrical storm that was moving west to east, and barely managed to get across the front of it before the rain arrived in force. The views of the storm were just unbelievable; someday when I get a car I care enough to customize, I'm going to get a camera built in coaxial with my line of vision, focused lens-to-infinity, and not miss out on this cool stuff just because I have to keep my vehicle from crashing into others or driving off the road or such.
In the end, I got back home in good time to fit out again, and head down to.....
Slow Fuse Burning with Autumn Above, The Real Smokin' Power, and Cape Terra
Dodge Street, Salem, 8/10/2008
--
This was not a metal show, and will not be rated as such, but I still showed up to this bar, recently highlighted as one of the best live music venues north of Boston, stinking of NEDF and wearing my Sodom-enabled flak vest. Part of it was the timing dimension -- I barely had the chance to take the CDs out of my vest before heading over -- and part of it was deliberate, but there was no fear and revulsion, so I guess things were ok.
Cape Terra [NR]
I got in about midway through their set, and drank part of a Guinness listening; decent but nothing to write home about as long as you had rock radio on at some point between about 1996 and 1998. Post-grunge, vaguely indie, peripherally interesting and mildly entertaining, they never really stepped out and established themselves, but in this genre I'm not exactly sure that bands are supposed to. I don't have much of any point of evaluation, but they weren't terrible, so if you like alt-rock from that period, you may want to check them out.
The Real Smokin' Power [5/7]
An instrumental collaboration between Sean (drums) and Tone (bass) of Autumn Above, this band showed some interesting promise and some cool lines, but wasn't quite as developed as perhaps they'll be if it turns into a real project instead of just a guaranteed undercard for the members' main band. The bass was too low at the start, a right problem when there's no other non-percussion instruments, but this was rapidly settled, and the short but definitely thoroughly cool set rolled on.
Autumn Above [6/7]
They changed up the order for this set, doing their heavier songs earlier instead of later, but aside from some clammed notes early where Ryan's voice wasn't completely warmed up, this was another great performance from a band that continues to be solid in everything they do. This wasn't as apex a performance as they've done in the past, but for a non-headlining slot, it was rock-solid.
They finally had shirts available, and also mentioned a couple times the anti-drunk-driving fest they're playing at the ADC in Southbridge this week; hopefully people hit them up for merch and tickets, because between them and Slow Fuse Burning, the nominal headliners, the venue kind of emptied out. It was a Sunday night, but seriously, sticking around another half hour isn't going to kill you. The sensible thing might have been to rearrange the lineup as has been done at a couple O'Brien's shows I can recall where the headliner was going to be outdrawn by the top local support, but unfortunately the fact that RSP was playing -- and, of course, using Autumn Above's gear -- kind of complicated this. More people might stick later, but some might just leave with the extra time needed to tear down and build up Sean's kit twice.
Slow Fuse Burning [5/7]
Again, not especially germane for rating, but they were a good time; punk bands who like late Bad Religion (and probably some other canonical influences, but I'm not a punk guy) a lot are seldom unwelcome, and even though they were playing to a handful of people, most of whom were in Autumn Above, they didn't let it affect their professionalism or their performance. Pretty decent; I sprang for a CD as they were going for a largely optional $3, then split; Slow Fuse Burning may not have been quite like the band who, also, had only five songs prepared with whom I started the day, but they provided a good enough finish to it.
Now that's a day worth recording; eleven bands in three venues with some impressive separation between two of them. The road continues later this week; after Autumn Above Wednesday, I'll be out in Worcester for Testament and Motorhead (with a bunch of crummy undercard bands and Arsis) on Thursday and Friday respectively. After that, I can sleep, and feel a little less down about not doing more German fests this year.
Monday, February 11, 2008
NEDF prepares for version 1.0
While I was hacking my lungs out over the weekend, various people in the death metal scene finished up the groundwork and have now started to put the word out about NEDF, which will be premiering in August. Currently on the bill are:
Mortal Decay (NJ)
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost
Sexcrement
Sikfuk (MN)
Mucopus (NY)
Dysentery
Goreality
Leukorrhea
Proteus
Abnormality
Parasitic Extirpation
Composted
Strappado
with more bands to be confirmed later, both as bands finalize their touring and/or recording plans and as time goes by so that the organizers can keep the fest in people's minds by regularly announcing updates. I'm definitely looking forward to this one; sure, it's a first-year fest and it will be in R.I., but if I can come home from Wacken and then see this many good bands -- to say nothing of the other bands that'll be announced -- the immediately following weekend, I'm certainly not going to be complaining.
For those who don't follow the death metal scene in eastern New England that obsessively, the locals listed above represent a significant fraction of who's active and awesome in the area. TYAG, often reputed one of the founders of the modern slam-death sound, are back after an extended hiatus, and Sexcrement have often been called the best slam band currently operating; Dysentery is close on their heels and Composted, featuring members of many of the last 3 bands mentioned, are a fully fledged "GWAR for /b/tards", with riffs that would jump out into the audience and beat up cakes even if they didn't have a sideline member dedicated to that purpose. Parasitic Extripation follows on from Porphyria and continues to play awesome music; Goreality follows on from Anoxia, and has an extensive history of playing awesome music. There is not a bad band announced so far, and the scene is so deep in this part of the country that they could bring in a long part of that planned 20+ bands without tapping anyone there'd even be an argument about in that regard, and there's no shortage of NYDM-affiliated nationals to top the bill without having to reroute a tour.
Definitely something to look forward to (especially if you aren't in Germany the previous weekend); there's also some chatter about doing a black metal festival in this area, which may go down earlier in the summer -- and is more likely to be outdoors, as there's quite a few BM fans/musicians in this area in the "live out in the woods" population. Eventually, this part of the country will unfreeze, and with the leaves will come back the healthy eastward-looking urge to hold an underground gig/party outdoors; maybe it'll work out better this year than last, and even if it doesn't go down, the kickass indoor fest already announced will be cool enough.
Mortal Decay (NJ)
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost
Sexcrement
Sikfuk (MN)
Mucopus (NY)
Dysentery
Goreality
Leukorrhea
Proteus
Abnormality
Parasitic Extirpation
Composted
Strappado
with more bands to be confirmed later, both as bands finalize their touring and/or recording plans and as time goes by so that the organizers can keep the fest in people's minds by regularly announcing updates. I'm definitely looking forward to this one; sure, it's a first-year fest and it will be in R.I., but if I can come home from Wacken and then see this many good bands -- to say nothing of the other bands that'll be announced -- the immediately following weekend, I'm certainly not going to be complaining.
For those who don't follow the death metal scene in eastern New England that obsessively, the locals listed above represent a significant fraction of who's active and awesome in the area. TYAG, often reputed one of the founders of the modern slam-death sound, are back after an extended hiatus, and Sexcrement have often been called the best slam band currently operating; Dysentery is close on their heels and Composted, featuring members of many of the last 3 bands mentioned, are a fully fledged "GWAR for /b/tards", with riffs that would jump out into the audience and beat up cakes even if they didn't have a sideline member dedicated to that purpose. Parasitic Extripation follows on from Porphyria and continues to play awesome music; Goreality follows on from Anoxia, and has an extensive history of playing awesome music. There is not a bad band announced so far, and the scene is so deep in this part of the country that they could bring in a long part of that planned 20+ bands without tapping anyone there'd even be an argument about in that regard, and there's no shortage of NYDM-affiliated nationals to top the bill without having to reroute a tour.
Definitely something to look forward to (especially if you aren't in Germany the previous weekend); there's also some chatter about doing a black metal festival in this area, which may go down earlier in the summer -- and is more likely to be outdoors, as there's quite a few BM fans/musicians in this area in the "live out in the woods" population. Eventually, this part of the country will unfreeze, and with the leaves will come back the healthy eastward-looking urge to hold an underground gig/party outdoors; maybe it'll work out better this year than last, and even if it doesn't go down, the kickass indoor fest already announced will be cool enough.
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