From Friday, out of order due to internet problems (and laziness).
One day after pulling both sides of my groin playing soccer (and thus missing Shroud at Metal Thursday, damnit), the time spent sitting on my ass was enough to allow me to drive up to Helltown and get turbulent at this benefit, the first gig in unfortunately too long. I also lugged up my youngest brother, whose arm I've been trying to twist into shows for a while; he digs metal, but unfortunately hates people even more than I do -- and worse, he's got red hair and a red beard, so the sullen-corpsepainted-31337 thing absolutely isn't happening. This gig was well worth it, and hopefully will get him out more in the future.
We got up a little early, but used the time to wait out the torrential-downpour part of the rain. When we actually got up to the door, Rohirrim was just starting. This is a really good venue: easy access from major roads (take 97 north and turn right when the road turns left on the hill -- doesn't get much easier than that), all-ages with a full bar, decent sound, and a huge parking lot across the street that's usually empty because the Haverhill library isn't open when a show's going down. Good stuff; hopefully, the good relation between the Haverhill Elks and the Valley scene will continue and we will continue to get good shows here.
Rohirrim [4/7]
I hadn't seen this band before, but I did recognize a bunch of the members; I think the vocalist was in (Endless) Ruin (the death-thrash band that half the North Shore scene was in at some point, not the tech-death band from Maine) when I saw them a few years back, and I'm pretty sure that I've seen the guitarist around somewhere before, either with some other local band or just at shows. They did a decent set, but one that wasn't without a few typical problems of newer bands: the music was decent, but fairly undifferentiated, its power metal and black metal elements setting off but not materially changing the base brutal death sound. The centerpiece of their set was a longer song that contained in it about 80% of each of two good songs, and another 60% of a mediocre song; the riffs in themselves were good, but the composition came off as unfinished and disconnected. More experience as a band will of course fix both of these problems, and the technical ability here is good enough that even with the composition lagging, the band puts on a cool and fun show.
Rohirrim also got a good response for the first Manowar cover of the night. Yes, the implication of this statement is correct: there was more Manowar to come, for reasons to be discussed later. They did "Warriors of the World", which a surprising number of people knew more than the chorus to.
Reign In Ruin [4/7]
I also recognized several people in this band; the guitarist guested with The Four Horsemen when I saw them last August with the top three bands on this bill, and I think the vocalist was in Four Horsemen as well. It's possible that this is a new alignment of that band with a new name, but I hadn't been paying a lot of attention to them and thus don't know for sure. The music might have given more credence to this line of thought if there weren't a lot of other bands doing heavily Pantera-influenced modern thrash; some basic research established that yes, it's the same band. As noted, the music owed a lot to Pantera as presented, but according to Pat (MPD) they were down a guitarist for this set, and may sound less derivative with their full complement. Still, they put on a good show, and the vocalist has definitely gained in presence over the past year. It's good stuff, and if they can step a little further out of Pantera's shadow, both stylistically and with less emphasis on covering them, they'll get even better.
Between sets was not only time, as usual, to get beers, but also to listen to Emily Russo, a friend of the bands, provide light entertainment with keyboard covers of various classics. She has a good voice and a solid command of her instrument, but for whatever reason I didn't end up picking up a CD. More importantly, probably, her intermezzos provided some less challenging (or at least less loud and abrasive) music for those patrons who weren't in for the show, of which there were a few. Before MPD's set, Matt accompanied her on the drums; maybe the seeds of the North Shore's own Mambo Kurt experience, but even if not, still a cool time.
Ravage [6/7]
The sound wasn't as clear as when I saw them in Worcester, but Al seemed a lot more on (maybe due to a lack of mic issues), and with a band like this, the vocalist's state is a major factor. The set was a little shorter, also, and as a consequence consisted largely of new material (DamnNation is allegedly going to drop before the end of the year). This is by no means a bad thing; the new material is awesome, and as last time, they stuck "Nightcrawler" into the middle of "Nightmares". The result takes up a significant chunk of any set, but they really nail it, and given the riff similarities between the two songs, it'd be difficult for them not to acknowledge this somewhat underrated Priest classic.
My no-account brother was one of the few people in the venue who did not recognize "Nightcrawler". Seriously, I don't even know this kid anymore; doesn't recognize "Nightcrawler", doesn't like Jaeger -- what the hell is wrong with him?
My Pet Demon [6/7]
After a long layoff, the Demons returned, and it was well worth it, not only for the kickass new material, which is a lot more tuned and focused for the recent recording process, but also for the reworkings of older tunes. I'm not sure that turning "Between The Pages" into a hardcore song is 100% the way to go, even though it suits the lyrical direction, but there's really nothing else to complain about; "Jaws of Life" sounds immense, and if they were based out of anywhere in Europe, they'd be blasting the close-harmonic chorus of "Raise The Flag" every time the local 3rd-division soccer club netted a goal. Terrace anthems are kind of a lost art here, but this one should catch on with metal fans as well as theoretical football supporters. It's not the best set I've seen from them, but it came close, and if the new CD is on this level, they ought to attract some interest from at least someone.
In addition to talking with Ken about the ins and outs of European distro -- like a lot of traditionally-minded metal bands, they're looking east for their first contract -- I also found out from Pat that they'll hopefully have the new CD out by the benefit-carwash festival they'll be playing up here next month.
Indignation [6/7]
This set from this band really epitomizes what "hometown heroes" is all about. The response was intense and amazing, but this is far from surprising when you step back and look at the band; you've got a tight, practiced combo pushing a sound most reminiscent of early (Spreading...-era) Anthrax, a singer seemingly incapable of doing his set from anywhere but right in the middle of the madly thrashing crowd, and also a bunch of originals that are just as good and well-executed as their arsenal of covers. "Kickass" doesn't even begin to cover it; this was definitely the best set I've seen from them so far, the improved execution and overall energy only slightly tempered by the fact that a lot of their set is still by other people. Nobody really minds the cover volume as long as they're so well-executed, but this band could majorly go places if they could put together a full-length of original material at this execution level. As they are, they'll be awesome at the local level forever, but with more originals to match those they've got, they could take on the world.
The transformation of Indignation from a hardcore band to a power-thrash outfit may seem a little odd, but with their power metal side drawing from Manowar, this is a little easier understood. The existence of the internet allows people to get into all kinds of bands that they might not have otherwise, and if you can get past the fuzzy loincloths, Manowar is a straight-ahead, riff-driven, crowd-driving synthesis of the aggressive and melodic; that such a band should appeal to people coming from a punk background and connected to metal bands that don't take everything super-serious ought to surprise no one. And once one band picks it up, others will follow; thus we have this pocket in northeast MA where you have bands not only covering Manowar (Indignation did "Hail And Kill" for the second and last cover), but also writing Manowar songs for their own bands (Indignation again with "Warriors", which killed as expected). Odd, sure, but it's cool music, and nobody's going to seriously break out the furry underwear.
As mentioned, this was a benefit for Delusions of Grandeur, who lost all their gear in a practice-space fire, and with somewhere around 120 or so attending, they made enough money to allegedly get all new gear. I know next to nothing about them, but a band getting burned out is always worth helping, and they're on the bill for the fest on the 22nd.
Showing posts with label reign in ruin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reign in ruin. Show all posts
Monday, June 25, 2007
Monday, August 28, 2006
My Pet Demon with Ravage, Indignation, Pyad, and The Four Horsemen [Sputnix, 8/25/2006]
This show was about everything a local show ought to be, and a frickin' incredible time for seven bucks. It may well be the best show in Sputnix' history, but this is quite likely because the top three bands on the bill are more than ready to go on to much bigger and better things. At this level, they're mostly doing this sort of thing to keep in shape -- or should be.
Doors was not stupid early, so I had time to drive home and get changed before heading in to Salem, then hang around on the sidewalk for a bit chatting with various people before going in. Because of this stupid review compulsion, I feel guilty if I miss a major part of any band's set.
The Four Horsemen [4/7]
These guys have definitely taken a step up from the last time I saw them, though they're definitely the 'openers' on this bill in terms of overall effect -- and a lot of the focus this time was on their guest guitarist. However, this made a cool and interesting snapshot of the way in which bands rise out of the morass of a local scene, by either breaking up or slowly aggregating the best players of bands that do. The Pantera-worship is still extremely obvious, and the singer still oddly lacks presence, but these are redressable issues. This band is good and getting better, and becoming more original will necessarily come with writing more original material.
Pyad [4/7]
Another good band being held back by various factors, I had not heard these death-doomsters before, but was glad to see them put on a cool show. The guitarist has a few more good ideas per song than can always be structured in, and won't exactly be auditioning for Atheist real soon, the bass sound was often buried, and the vocalist had a tendency to sound like Rapid Charlie when doing his clean parts, but it was still a good set of some interesting music, probably the most in my normal underground line of the night.
Indignation [6/7]
Kenny was referring to these guys as the Priest/Manowar of the night before they went on, though I have little idea of where he got this from: their sound is a lot more in the line of early Pantera (the 'early' part of their career that the band ever actually acknowledged) or a more brutal Megadeth. They put on a killer set, but it was a little cover-heavy, especially given the talent that they obviously have, but they picked a nice diverse selection of material (seriously, who does "Tornado of Souls" when they play Megadeth?), and kicked ass on that as well.
This really points up one of the biggest advantages of going to local shows; by necessity, you're going to get at least two or three bands that really should be headlining gigs like this or doing local support for national tours -- if you're in a serious local band, you prefer bigger gigs, but will do just about any show to stay in shape. We got a total of three headliner-level performances out of this show, again for basically pocket change.
Ravage [6/7]
Some people in the crowd were feeling sorry for Ravage, having to follow Indignation, but this reckoned without the band, and without the fact that these guys were the only outfit on the bill with a record contract at the time. They started off a little slow as Al's vocals got properly dialed in (Pyad had had some problems with the board as well), but eventually wound up and blasted out a strong set of their characteristic power/thrash that got everyone up and moving. The Spectral Rider material sounded great, and the Damnation stuff at least as good, though they're still working up that record. They're not quite ready for the True Metal stage yet, but if they can get some decent label support in Europe and keep making good music, I would not be surprised at all to see them up there early in the day in '09 or '10.
My Pet Demon [7/7]
DAMN. There were a few rough parts, mostly in "Raise The Flag", which as a new song is necessarily somewhat under-rehearsed, though still overall killer; for the most part, though, they were dead on, and when MPD is dead on, they are dead fucking on. The set built in intensity straight through, even past the closer and into the first encore that I can remember them playing since they were headlining my basement. For this they even kicked out "Self Destruct", sandwiched in between "The Trooper" and "Demons Are Forever", even though that song isn't supposed to exist any more. The last two tracks also saw probably the first two crowdsurfers in Sputnix history, which given that the place can hold maybe 100 people, absolute tops, is kind of amazing. A lot of this rating may be the fact that I was basically on top of the stage, flailing and thrashing around into members of the other bands on the bill, also going nuts, burning out energy I didn't know I had left, but this is what local shows do, and it's what makes them special; even in a tiny hall that used to be a Russian bingo room, when nobody on the bill is basically getting paid at all for their music and bands will give away shirts for no reason, just to build scene, we both audience and musicians can synthesize that unbeatable high that you can't get from anything but music. We all know each other, either personally or within three degrees of separation, and thus we can all completely sell out, no need to impress anyone and nobody is going to be fooled.
The next step, of course, for MPD is a real record deal, and it's clear that they're aiming in that direction, especially given the amount of professionalism that is going into the writing process for the new demo (still not recorded, but they played like half of it). Depending on perspective, they're either a companion piece or perfect antidote to the current metalcore trend, and that can't help but be a positive; they've got enough crossover points to appeal to the trend crowd, but their metal roots go deep and they will be around long after this, and the next, trend wave rolls back out. I have to dupe Metal Inquisitor and Spellbound's debuts for Kenny, and probably pack along Hellion and Armageddon's contact info as well. It's too bad that I don't actually know anyone in the business in Germany, but the least I can do is share my knowledge of how the scene is, and where in the business they should look first.
I also found out from Kenny that Maiden will be playing in Boston after all, so I need to get moving on tickets, and from Garret (Bat Cuntry) that Anal Cunt is actually doing a show at the Middle East next Sunday. Gotta see if I can get down for that, for the experience if nothing else. My jacket got a fair share of comments again, but probably more than it deserved; Pat had his kutte on as well, and that has the potential to be substantially cooler if he does a little work on it. From the first three bands on the bill I picked up three new demos (unfortunately, I couldn't wrangle a copy of Spectral Rider); reviews will be forthcoming in with everything else acquired on the weekend.
Doors was not stupid early, so I had time to drive home and get changed before heading in to Salem, then hang around on the sidewalk for a bit chatting with various people before going in. Because of this stupid review compulsion, I feel guilty if I miss a major part of any band's set.
The Four Horsemen [4/7]
These guys have definitely taken a step up from the last time I saw them, though they're definitely the 'openers' on this bill in terms of overall effect -- and a lot of the focus this time was on their guest guitarist. However, this made a cool and interesting snapshot of the way in which bands rise out of the morass of a local scene, by either breaking up or slowly aggregating the best players of bands that do. The Pantera-worship is still extremely obvious, and the singer still oddly lacks presence, but these are redressable issues. This band is good and getting better, and becoming more original will necessarily come with writing more original material.
Pyad [4/7]
Another good band being held back by various factors, I had not heard these death-doomsters before, but was glad to see them put on a cool show. The guitarist has a few more good ideas per song than can always be structured in, and won't exactly be auditioning for Atheist real soon, the bass sound was often buried, and the vocalist had a tendency to sound like Rapid Charlie when doing his clean parts, but it was still a good set of some interesting music, probably the most in my normal underground line of the night.
Indignation [6/7]
Kenny was referring to these guys as the Priest/Manowar of the night before they went on, though I have little idea of where he got this from: their sound is a lot more in the line of early Pantera (the 'early' part of their career that the band ever actually acknowledged) or a more brutal Megadeth. They put on a killer set, but it was a little cover-heavy, especially given the talent that they obviously have, but they picked a nice diverse selection of material (seriously, who does "Tornado of Souls" when they play Megadeth?), and kicked ass on that as well.
This really points up one of the biggest advantages of going to local shows; by necessity, you're going to get at least two or three bands that really should be headlining gigs like this or doing local support for national tours -- if you're in a serious local band, you prefer bigger gigs, but will do just about any show to stay in shape. We got a total of three headliner-level performances out of this show, again for basically pocket change.
Ravage [6/7]
Some people in the crowd were feeling sorry for Ravage, having to follow Indignation, but this reckoned without the band, and without the fact that these guys were the only outfit on the bill with a record contract at the time. They started off a little slow as Al's vocals got properly dialed in (Pyad had had some problems with the board as well), but eventually wound up and blasted out a strong set of their characteristic power/thrash that got everyone up and moving. The Spectral Rider material sounded great, and the Damnation stuff at least as good, though they're still working up that record. They're not quite ready for the True Metal stage yet, but if they can get some decent label support in Europe and keep making good music, I would not be surprised at all to see them up there early in the day in '09 or '10.
My Pet Demon [7/7]
DAMN. There were a few rough parts, mostly in "Raise The Flag", which as a new song is necessarily somewhat under-rehearsed, though still overall killer; for the most part, though, they were dead on, and when MPD is dead on, they are dead fucking on. The set built in intensity straight through, even past the closer and into the first encore that I can remember them playing since they were headlining my basement. For this they even kicked out "Self Destruct", sandwiched in between "The Trooper" and "Demons Are Forever", even though that song isn't supposed to exist any more. The last two tracks also saw probably the first two crowdsurfers in Sputnix history, which given that the place can hold maybe 100 people, absolute tops, is kind of amazing. A lot of this rating may be the fact that I was basically on top of the stage, flailing and thrashing around into members of the other bands on the bill, also going nuts, burning out energy I didn't know I had left, but this is what local shows do, and it's what makes them special; even in a tiny hall that used to be a Russian bingo room, when nobody on the bill is basically getting paid at all for their music and bands will give away shirts for no reason, just to build scene, we both audience and musicians can synthesize that unbeatable high that you can't get from anything but music. We all know each other, either personally or within three degrees of separation, and thus we can all completely sell out, no need to impress anyone and nobody is going to be fooled.
The next step, of course, for MPD is a real record deal, and it's clear that they're aiming in that direction, especially given the amount of professionalism that is going into the writing process for the new demo (still not recorded, but they played like half of it). Depending on perspective, they're either a companion piece or perfect antidote to the current metalcore trend, and that can't help but be a positive; they've got enough crossover points to appeal to the trend crowd, but their metal roots go deep and they will be around long after this, and the next, trend wave rolls back out. I have to dupe Metal Inquisitor and Spellbound's debuts for Kenny, and probably pack along Hellion and Armageddon's contact info as well. It's too bad that I don't actually know anyone in the business in Germany, but the least I can do is share my knowledge of how the scene is, and where in the business they should look first.
I also found out from Kenny that Maiden will be playing in Boston after all, so I need to get moving on tickets, and from Garret (Bat Cuntry) that Anal Cunt is actually doing a show at the Middle East next Sunday. Gotta see if I can get down for that, for the experience if nothing else. My jacket got a fair share of comments again, but probably more than it deserved; Pat had his kutte on as well, and that has the potential to be substantially cooler if he does a little work on it. From the first three bands on the bill I picked up three new demos (unfortunately, I couldn't wrangle a copy of Spectral Rider); reviews will be forthcoming in with everything else acquired on the weekend.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Shelfcore Quest 2006: Step 3 [35] (repost)
Repost of album review snippets, plus a show review down at the bottom.
-----------------------------
Tankard - B-Day [4/7]
"Maybe Tankard doesn't know how to do anything but pitch it directly down the center. Maybe they just don't choose to."
Yattering - Human's Pain [4/7]
"If you want early Vader, this band isn't a bad place to look, but there's nothing here to particularly recommend them over Vader's own early material either."
Sentenced - Amok [6/7]
"...more than a transition record between the death-metal and post-death periods of this band."
Sentenced - Love & Death [5/7]
"...one of the strongest arguments out there that the change in singers did not in itself change the band. Sentenced was changing before Jarva left, and as this EP shows, the trajectory of that change was still producing good music."
Death - Individual Thought Patterns [7/7]
"The former assessment stands: some of the most perfect 40 sequential minutes ever recorded. Anyone who can handle the music should own this."
Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth [7/7]
"Among the actual songs, there's not one that's noticeably weak, and the guitar sound that comes off as tired and overdone on A Night At The Opera is still fresh and fairly ripping here."
Burzum - Det som engang var [7/7]
"Here, as practically everywhere, Varg is doing something absolutely unique, and fortunately, unlike his post-incarceration material, it's also stuff that people will want to listen to."
Elvenking - Heathenreel [5/7]
"The standard rap on Italian power metal bands is that they suck. This is usually true, but not for Elvenking. Their style here is a lot more muscular than customary..."
Hypocrisy - Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken [7/7]
"Metal is live music, meant to be played live, but it's very seldom that any live record actually pushes through the full punch of the band's abilities and captures a truly awesome set. Here, Pete et al come out roaring and absolutely don't let up, blasting through the full range of their material to this point, working death metal of varying vintages and conceptual viewpoints into a unified and irresistible whole."
In Extremo - Suender Ohne Zuegel [6/7]
"...a great, solid record, but also strongly metal, even in the way the archaic touches are used, presenting a height that they only barely got back to with the recent Mein Rasend Herz. It's a shame that this was the last of their albums to see wide American release...."
Carnal Forge - The More You Suffer [5/7]
"....sounds a lot less revolutionary and a lot more like the way that everyone else is mixing death, thrash, and hardcore. It's still good music, and if you want a crash course in NSWOTM, it's not a bad place to start, but it's not as earth-shaking as it may have appeared at first glance."
Dissection - Live Legacy [5/7]
"The quality isn't always the best, and the set is quite short, omitting a bunch of favorites in favor of a couple weaker tracks, but after a seven-year drought it came as a welcome sign that Dissection wasn't completely gone."
Nokturnal Mortum - To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire [5/7]
"...one that's lost some of its luster in the light of Goat Horns and NeChrist.... This is still an excellent album, and probably essential for black metallers, but it's not quite the be-all, end-all that I may have initially considered it."
Bathory - Twilight of the Gods [6/7]
"....this still sounds vital and inspiring, and fifteen years ago it was absolutely like nothing else. I don't concentrate on the past in these, but in the case of something truly epochal it's not valid to just simply ignore it either..."
Heaven Shall Burn - Whatever It May Take [6/7]
"....the conviction that this band is pushing some of the strongest material metalcore has to offer remains."
Agalloch - The Mantle [7/7]
"It's not possible to tire of a true classic, or outgrow something with this much depth, this many twists and turns. I'm confident that not only do I feel this way at four years' distance, but that I will still react to this disc in much the same manner if I make it out another forty."
Enslaved - Eld [5/7]
"Apart from "793 (Slaget om Lindisfarne)", this record is more solid than superlative, still tightly bound to black metal tropes and ideas."
Dismember - Hate Campaign [5/7]
"[Dismember's] not going to change the face of music, or probably ever make an album that surprises anyone, but even if all they ever do is release iteration after iteration of ripping death metal with just that right amount of melody, that's still plenty reason for anyone who loves metal as metal to get into them."
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son [5/7]
"....there's a lot of good material on here, and nearly everything is single-worthy, but I prefer my Iron Maiden a little more chewy and complex than what's presented here."
At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul [7/7]
"It ... kicks an absolutely inordinate amount of ass, and the new-wave-of-whatever-metal contingent is still trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to recapture the bounce, groove, hookiness, and pure punch of this one."
Nevermore - Enemies of Reality [5/7]
"I'm still on the original production, which despite being pushed to the center, still sounds pretty decent. Nevermore does better with a fuller dynamic and positional range, but in the context of this record, the claustrophobic, boxed-in feel actually works."
In Extremo - Verehrt und Angespien [5/7]
"This is the disc that a lot of In Extremo's classics come from, but their own style, oddly enough, isn't very developed here yet.... Live, this rocks; on record, it's still good, but the punch of the later material and the flash of the visual (and tactile, given the amount of pyro they pump around) elements of the performance are both missing, and the effect is correspondingly less."
Borknagar - The Archaic Course [5/7]
"....the least black metal of Borknagar's works, but also not quite the most progressive, and the result is an in-between mix that fans (like me) will dig, but everyone else can safely skip."
Testament - The New Order [5/7]
"....a good Bay Area thrash record, though not as good as its predecessor, but one track on it is quite debatably the best thing the band ever recorded. .... If you're more easily swayed by emotion and like screaming along on "DON'T FOLLOW THE PREACHER!!", feel free to add another point or two."
Incantation - Diabolical Conquest [6/7]
"Lots of other bands try, but so far only Incantation has been able to summon the sounds of H.P. Lovecraft's Outside; here, without explicitly trying. And when brutality and chaos are the aims, it's difficult to think of a higher mark."
Bal-Sagoth - A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria [4/7]
"For fans of first-generation evolved black metal, though, this disc is a decent outing, and depending on how you feel about the band's later direction, might be proof that even Bal-Sagoth didn't always suck. "
Morbid Angel - Gateways to Annihilation [5/7]
....full of thick, dense, brutal death metal, with quite a few of the twists and technical tricks that the band is rightly famous for, but there's little that stands out from the pack. It's still a good record, but it's probably not essential for anyone but fans; they've done work that everyone, let alone all death metallers, should own, but here the feel is more average..."
Metal Church - Metal Church [6/7]
"....3 of the first 4 songs on this album are power/thrash classics, and the impulse for any metalhead exposed to them is to shout their praises from the rooftops. The recorded-in-analog-for-analog-playback production may make the total sound a little thin, but the power of "Beyond The Black", "Metal Church", and "Gods of Wrath" is undeniable...."
Testament - The Legacy [7/7]
"....more melodic than usual for Bay Area thrash, but that doesn't stop the progress of the music: there's not really a bad song on here, and a handful of true classics. Even all these years later, and with such significant changes to their sound, Testament hasn't really gotten back to the heights of this record...."
Emperor - Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire & Demise [6/7]
"....an uncompromising fireball of both trueness and progress, and notice served that the two need not be always separate. I favor Anthems… over this one as Emperor's best, but the argument really could go either way for a lot of people."
Emperor - Emperor/Wrath Of The Tyrant [6/7]
"....this is the true raw unapologetic black metal that touched off the Norwegian explosion and changed extreme music. Not everyone is even going to be able to listen to this, let alone appreciate it, but those who can won't have it any other way."
Emperor - Scattered Ashes - A Decade of Emperial Wrath [--]/[6/7]
"If you've obsessively collected everything Emperor's ever done, you don't need this. I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who actually does, but like all collections it makes a convenient package for those too lazy to rip and burn their own favorites, and comes backed with a bunch of stuff that'll be cool for fans."
Borknagar - The Olden Domain [7/7]
"....nine years and four records after it was laid down, it's a legitimate pick as Borknagar's best work. It's neither afraid to blast, scream, chug, or lilt, and the mixture thereof is probably the reason why it's still so huge to me now as when I discovered it."
Anthrax - State of Euphoria [6/7]
"....there's a lot of really good music on here, even if you have to dig down through the for-analog mastering to get at it. Anthrax has done better performances, and more consistent ones, but I'm not sure they've got a record with more total quality of material than this."
Zyklon - World Ov Worms [5/7]
"While they've become more death metal and more original/separable lately, at this stage Zyklon:Emperor::The Haunted:At The Gates is still true."
Show review: My Pet Demon with Ravage and The Four Horsemen, Peabody Jam Rooms, 3/24/2006
This was a good show, and a fair time out for seven bucks, even though the puritanical attitudes of this country meant no beer was available. (All-ages show, and liquor licensing boards have giant logs up their rears...) That's all right, though; public transit also sucks here, so I had to drive and couldn't drink anyways.
The venue in question is pretty damn classic, built into an old factory building which now serves as rehearsal space. The outside's all tar paper and weathered plywood, and short of having to swing down into a venue through a hole in the floor, there's little better place for an underground club. Size-wise, it's roughly comparable with Sputnix, and for the current scene, that's about the size of club that can be supported. Headcount was about 30, maybe as high as 50.
As before, scores:
The Four Horsemen [3/7]: They went on first, and had the worst sound of the night, probably due to not doing a sound check -- they got better by their second song. They put on a decent performance, but on this bill they were simply overmatched; they've got some talent, but it's unevenly distributed and their original songs weren't particularly memorable. They covered "Walk" and "Five Minutes Alone" well, but they're going to need more time and development before they can move up in the world.
Ravage [4/7]: Ravage is ready for Europe, and Europe (if I read it right, they're playing their first German festival show in the fall) will be ready for them. The Spectral Rider material is stronger and deeper than Curse of Heaven, and the new song they debuted here, "Freedom Fighter" is better still. Their overall sound was better than The Four Horsemen, but with the complexity of what they do with two lead guitars, some stuff was still lost; if they get a dedicated sound dude who knows their material as well as they do, and when and how much to bring up which guitar in the PA mix, they should be golden. With Matt Barlow gone from the stage, Al is as good a replacement as the Continent is likely to desire, and the band has the punch to back up the soundalike nostalgia with the *current* conviction that this bunch is pretty kickass overall.
My Pet Demon [5/7]: The headliners, and the best sound of the night, which is normal, but was definitely aided by the fact that their style of thrash is pretty much purpose-bred for the sound systems of small clubs. A couple of Alex's solos were a little diminished, but the overall effect was pretty good. What really strikes me, at this point, is how much good material this band has, so that over a 45-minute set, they don't have to play nearly all of it. I can ofcourse remember back when all they had was the stuff from A New Found Evil, a couple covers, and the instrumental to "Revolution's Breath", and had to play every note to fill the time. Now, the only thing left in the setlist from that period is "Demons Are Forever" (which they're back to opening with), and the gigantic, largely gratuitous (but still awesome) breakdown in "What Would Jason Do" has taken the place of the lock-in bridge in "Self Destruct" (a song that they're glad to finally put to rest) for getting people to go fucking bananas. Their cover of "The Trooper", which they closed with, was about as good as I've heard from anyone not Iron Maiden -- or at least, what I could hear of it over 40 other psycho metalheads also rushing the stage and yelling along with every word.
On the whole, this was a pretty good gig; the scene is still strong around here, and The Four Horsemen prove that there's still new blood coming up, which is necessary to keep the scene from becoming overpopulated with old farts like me who can't mosh because we've got no ligaments left in out knees. The future is also looking promising for the bands in this bunch that are looking at larger stages; Spectral Rider got decent reviews in German metal mags, and when Ravage is able to take their thrashing power metal live, they'll probably drive enough sales to pick up a couple more festival slots next year, and such incremental steps are how you build your career as an underground band. MPD's new material ("Expiration Date") was pretty good as well, but they have enough strong songs that if they just re-recorded the best of their current two-and-a-half demos with improved production, they'd have a fair shot at a contract with someone, somewhere. Turning that deal into success is still the hard part, but right now they definitely sound committed enough to make it happen.
I got a shirt, though more to support the band than because the design was especially boss. MPD's logo looks better in that context, but still looks kind of like it was typeset using the Big Internet Box of Scary Fonts, and might potentially hold them back in the future. First impressions count a lot, sadly, even in the underground where we have maxims to support music over image. Kenny was talking about redesigning the logo based on a cow skull somewhere between the one on the Crime Pays cover and the Wacken symbol; if I get the time I might to try and scratch something up; criticizing stuff that you're able to do something about and not even trying to do something about it is never cool.
In about a month I'll be scratching up something similar for Metalfest...maybe sooner if I can get out for the Morbid Angel/Krisiun date next weekend. With reliable transport and disposable income, not getting out to show just isn't really an option any more.
-----------------------------
Tankard - B-Day [4/7]
"Maybe Tankard doesn't know how to do anything but pitch it directly down the center. Maybe they just don't choose to."
Yattering - Human's Pain [4/7]
"If you want early Vader, this band isn't a bad place to look, but there's nothing here to particularly recommend them over Vader's own early material either."
Sentenced - Amok [6/7]
"...more than a transition record between the death-metal and post-death periods of this band."
Sentenced - Love & Death [5/7]
"...one of the strongest arguments out there that the change in singers did not in itself change the band. Sentenced was changing before Jarva left, and as this EP shows, the trajectory of that change was still producing good music."
Death - Individual Thought Patterns [7/7]
"The former assessment stands: some of the most perfect 40 sequential minutes ever recorded. Anyone who can handle the music should own this."
Blind Guardian - Nightfall In Middle-Earth [7/7]
"Among the actual songs, there's not one that's noticeably weak, and the guitar sound that comes off as tired and overdone on A Night At The Opera is still fresh and fairly ripping here."
Burzum - Det som engang var [7/7]
"Here, as practically everywhere, Varg is doing something absolutely unique, and fortunately, unlike his post-incarceration material, it's also stuff that people will want to listen to."
Elvenking - Heathenreel [5/7]
"The standard rap on Italian power metal bands is that they suck. This is usually true, but not for Elvenking. Their style here is a lot more muscular than customary..."
Hypocrisy - Hypocrisy Destroys Wacken [7/7]
"Metal is live music, meant to be played live, but it's very seldom that any live record actually pushes through the full punch of the band's abilities and captures a truly awesome set. Here, Pete et al come out roaring and absolutely don't let up, blasting through the full range of their material to this point, working death metal of varying vintages and conceptual viewpoints into a unified and irresistible whole."
In Extremo - Suender Ohne Zuegel [6/7]
"...a great, solid record, but also strongly metal, even in the way the archaic touches are used, presenting a height that they only barely got back to with the recent Mein Rasend Herz. It's a shame that this was the last of their albums to see wide American release...."
Carnal Forge - The More You Suffer [5/7]
"....sounds a lot less revolutionary and a lot more like the way that everyone else is mixing death, thrash, and hardcore. It's still good music, and if you want a crash course in NSWOTM, it's not a bad place to start, but it's not as earth-shaking as it may have appeared at first glance."
Dissection - Live Legacy [5/7]
"The quality isn't always the best, and the set is quite short, omitting a bunch of favorites in favor of a couple weaker tracks, but after a seven-year drought it came as a welcome sign that Dissection wasn't completely gone."
Nokturnal Mortum - To The Gates Of Blasphemous Fire [5/7]
"...one that's lost some of its luster in the light of Goat Horns and NeChrist.... This is still an excellent album, and probably essential for black metallers, but it's not quite the be-all, end-all that I may have initially considered it."
Bathory - Twilight of the Gods [6/7]
"....this still sounds vital and inspiring, and fifteen years ago it was absolutely like nothing else. I don't concentrate on the past in these, but in the case of something truly epochal it's not valid to just simply ignore it either..."
Heaven Shall Burn - Whatever It May Take [6/7]
"....the conviction that this band is pushing some of the strongest material metalcore has to offer remains."
Agalloch - The Mantle [7/7]
"It's not possible to tire of a true classic, or outgrow something with this much depth, this many twists and turns. I'm confident that not only do I feel this way at four years' distance, but that I will still react to this disc in much the same manner if I make it out another forty."
Enslaved - Eld [5/7]
"Apart from "793 (Slaget om Lindisfarne)", this record is more solid than superlative, still tightly bound to black metal tropes and ideas."
Dismember - Hate Campaign [5/7]
"[Dismember's] not going to change the face of music, or probably ever make an album that surprises anyone, but even if all they ever do is release iteration after iteration of ripping death metal with just that right amount of melody, that's still plenty reason for anyone who loves metal as metal to get into them."
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son [5/7]
"....there's a lot of good material on here, and nearly everything is single-worthy, but I prefer my Iron Maiden a little more chewy and complex than what's presented here."
At The Gates - Slaughter of the Soul [7/7]
"It ... kicks an absolutely inordinate amount of ass, and the new-wave-of-whatever-metal contingent is still trying, mostly unsuccessfully, to recapture the bounce, groove, hookiness, and pure punch of this one."
Nevermore - Enemies of Reality [5/7]
"I'm still on the original production, which despite being pushed to the center, still sounds pretty decent. Nevermore does better with a fuller dynamic and positional range, but in the context of this record, the claustrophobic, boxed-in feel actually works."
In Extremo - Verehrt und Angespien [5/7]
"This is the disc that a lot of In Extremo's classics come from, but their own style, oddly enough, isn't very developed here yet.... Live, this rocks; on record, it's still good, but the punch of the later material and the flash of the visual (and tactile, given the amount of pyro they pump around) elements of the performance are both missing, and the effect is correspondingly less."
Borknagar - The Archaic Course [5/7]
"....the least black metal of Borknagar's works, but also not quite the most progressive, and the result is an in-between mix that fans (like me) will dig, but everyone else can safely skip."
Testament - The New Order [5/7]
"....a good Bay Area thrash record, though not as good as its predecessor, but one track on it is quite debatably the best thing the band ever recorded. .... If you're more easily swayed by emotion and like screaming along on "DON'T FOLLOW THE PREACHER!!", feel free to add another point or two."
Incantation - Diabolical Conquest [6/7]
"Lots of other bands try, but so far only Incantation has been able to summon the sounds of H.P. Lovecraft's Outside; here, without explicitly trying. And when brutality and chaos are the aims, it's difficult to think of a higher mark."
Bal-Sagoth - A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria [4/7]
"For fans of first-generation evolved black metal, though, this disc is a decent outing, and depending on how you feel about the band's later direction, might be proof that even Bal-Sagoth didn't always suck. "
Morbid Angel - Gateways to Annihilation [5/7]
....full of thick, dense, brutal death metal, with quite a few of the twists and technical tricks that the band is rightly famous for, but there's little that stands out from the pack. It's still a good record, but it's probably not essential for anyone but fans; they've done work that everyone, let alone all death metallers, should own, but here the feel is more average..."
Metal Church - Metal Church [6/7]
"....3 of the first 4 songs on this album are power/thrash classics, and the impulse for any metalhead exposed to them is to shout their praises from the rooftops. The recorded-in-analog-for-analog-playback production may make the total sound a little thin, but the power of "Beyond The Black", "Metal Church", and "Gods of Wrath" is undeniable...."
Testament - The Legacy [7/7]
"....more melodic than usual for Bay Area thrash, but that doesn't stop the progress of the music: there's not really a bad song on here, and a handful of true classics. Even all these years later, and with such significant changes to their sound, Testament hasn't really gotten back to the heights of this record...."
Emperor - Prometheus - The Discipline of Fire & Demise [6/7]
"....an uncompromising fireball of both trueness and progress, and notice served that the two need not be always separate. I favor Anthems… over this one as Emperor's best, but the argument really could go either way for a lot of people."
Emperor - Emperor/Wrath Of The Tyrant [6/7]
"....this is the true raw unapologetic black metal that touched off the Norwegian explosion and changed extreme music. Not everyone is even going to be able to listen to this, let alone appreciate it, but those who can won't have it any other way."
Emperor - Scattered Ashes - A Decade of Emperial Wrath [--]/[6/7]
"If you've obsessively collected everything Emperor's ever done, you don't need this. I'm hard-pressed to think of anyone who actually does, but like all collections it makes a convenient package for those too lazy to rip and burn their own favorites, and comes backed with a bunch of stuff that'll be cool for fans."
Borknagar - The Olden Domain [7/7]
"....nine years and four records after it was laid down, it's a legitimate pick as Borknagar's best work. It's neither afraid to blast, scream, chug, or lilt, and the mixture thereof is probably the reason why it's still so huge to me now as when I discovered it."
Anthrax - State of Euphoria [6/7]
"....there's a lot of really good music on here, even if you have to dig down through the for-analog mastering to get at it. Anthrax has done better performances, and more consistent ones, but I'm not sure they've got a record with more total quality of material than this."
Zyklon - World Ov Worms [5/7]
"While they've become more death metal and more original/separable lately, at this stage Zyklon:Emperor::The Haunted:At The Gates is still true."
Show review: My Pet Demon with Ravage and The Four Horsemen, Peabody Jam Rooms, 3/24/2006
This was a good show, and a fair time out for seven bucks, even though the puritanical attitudes of this country meant no beer was available. (All-ages show, and liquor licensing boards have giant logs up their rears...) That's all right, though; public transit also sucks here, so I had to drive and couldn't drink anyways.
The venue in question is pretty damn classic, built into an old factory building which now serves as rehearsal space. The outside's all tar paper and weathered plywood, and short of having to swing down into a venue through a hole in the floor, there's little better place for an underground club. Size-wise, it's roughly comparable with Sputnix, and for the current scene, that's about the size of club that can be supported. Headcount was about 30, maybe as high as 50.
As before, scores:
The Four Horsemen [3/7]: They went on first, and had the worst sound of the night, probably due to not doing a sound check -- they got better by their second song. They put on a decent performance, but on this bill they were simply overmatched; they've got some talent, but it's unevenly distributed and their original songs weren't particularly memorable. They covered "Walk" and "Five Minutes Alone" well, but they're going to need more time and development before they can move up in the world.
Ravage [4/7]: Ravage is ready for Europe, and Europe (if I read it right, they're playing their first German festival show in the fall) will be ready for them. The Spectral Rider material is stronger and deeper than Curse of Heaven, and the new song they debuted here, "Freedom Fighter" is better still. Their overall sound was better than The Four Horsemen, but with the complexity of what they do with two lead guitars, some stuff was still lost; if they get a dedicated sound dude who knows their material as well as they do, and when and how much to bring up which guitar in the PA mix, they should be golden. With Matt Barlow gone from the stage, Al is as good a replacement as the Continent is likely to desire, and the band has the punch to back up the soundalike nostalgia with the *current* conviction that this bunch is pretty kickass overall.
My Pet Demon [5/7]: The headliners, and the best sound of the night, which is normal, but was definitely aided by the fact that their style of thrash is pretty much purpose-bred for the sound systems of small clubs. A couple of Alex's solos were a little diminished, but the overall effect was pretty good. What really strikes me, at this point, is how much good material this band has, so that over a 45-minute set, they don't have to play nearly all of it. I can ofcourse remember back when all they had was the stuff from A New Found Evil, a couple covers, and the instrumental to "Revolution's Breath", and had to play every note to fill the time. Now, the only thing left in the setlist from that period is "Demons Are Forever" (which they're back to opening with), and the gigantic, largely gratuitous (but still awesome) breakdown in "What Would Jason Do" has taken the place of the lock-in bridge in "Self Destruct" (a song that they're glad to finally put to rest) for getting people to go fucking bananas. Their cover of "The Trooper", which they closed with, was about as good as I've heard from anyone not Iron Maiden -- or at least, what I could hear of it over 40 other psycho metalheads also rushing the stage and yelling along with every word.
On the whole, this was a pretty good gig; the scene is still strong around here, and The Four Horsemen prove that there's still new blood coming up, which is necessary to keep the scene from becoming overpopulated with old farts like me who can't mosh because we've got no ligaments left in out knees. The future is also looking promising for the bands in this bunch that are looking at larger stages; Spectral Rider got decent reviews in German metal mags, and when Ravage is able to take their thrashing power metal live, they'll probably drive enough sales to pick up a couple more festival slots next year, and such incremental steps are how you build your career as an underground band. MPD's new material ("Expiration Date") was pretty good as well, but they have enough strong songs that if they just re-recorded the best of their current two-and-a-half demos with improved production, they'd have a fair shot at a contract with someone, somewhere. Turning that deal into success is still the hard part, but right now they definitely sound committed enough to make it happen.
I got a shirt, though more to support the band than because the design was especially boss. MPD's logo looks better in that context, but still looks kind of like it was typeset using the Big Internet Box of Scary Fonts, and might potentially hold them back in the future. First impressions count a lot, sadly, even in the underground where we have maxims to support music over image. Kenny was talking about redesigning the logo based on a cow skull somewhere between the one on the Crime Pays cover and the Wacken symbol; if I get the time I might to try and scratch something up; criticizing stuff that you're able to do something about and not even trying to do something about it is never cool.
In about a month I'll be scratching up something similar for Metalfest...maybe sooner if I can get out for the Morbid Angel/Krisiun date next weekend. With reliable transport and disposable income, not getting out to show just isn't really an option any more.
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