Another late post, but not so late; I'm catching up and this was a killer show to catch up with.
If you go to enough underground shows, you will eventually hit up more than a few that are totally weird for some reason or another, shows that become memorable not so much for what the bands do as for other stuff having to do with the particulars of the situation. For many of those involved this time, this show was in that number.
This was a decently late start that I was able to get back from work, play some soccer, shower, and get from Green Street up to Harvard well before the first band started. Yes, Harvard; Anthony from Revocation is a student at this fine institution as well as a badass bassist, and this show was held in a cleaned-up PE-equipment alcove -- set off from the basement hallway by chainlink fencing, hence the name -- underneath Quincy House. There are very few metal bands that can say they've played Harvard, and this, in addition to the fact that this was a free show, probably helped trump the fact that it was technically dry and got a good number of people out; metalheads of all stripes, crusties with pants sewn basically into their legs, and Harvard students who didn't know a bass from a guitar and were probably wondering where all these weirdos came from.
After managing to get past the door and its associated locks, I rode down in the elevator with most of Mechannibal, who were already a little bemused with the state of things, but had managed to pick up some foods despite aggro from the college authorities. That this was going to be an interesting cross-cultural experience was already evident, which became clearer as we got into the basement, climbed over the bands' stuff, and settled in among others simultaneously trying to hang out and prevent the building security from discovering their alcohol. At this point, it was mostly metal people still, including of course a few metal Harvard people, but the Harvard people were starting to trickle in from upstairs.
Ramming Speed [5/7]
This was a pretty good set, if a little short, but one which was negatively affected by the somewhat ad-hoc PA. With basement shows in general, it's a bit of a crapshoot as to whether you're going to have the bands sound like anything, and Ramming Speed's melodic layer on top of the thrashcore basics, which is what separates them, mainly, from other bands, is kind of dependent on the leads cutting through. This didn't happen consistently here, and the result was probably the punkiest set I've seen out of this band; it was pretty good, and the attendees definitely got into it, but Ramming Speed is more than a thrashpunk band when they're in a hall that allows their music to come through as intended.
Mechannibal [5/7]
Mechannibal, by contrast, was pretty well-served by the PA; not everything came through 100%, and a lot of the vocals were pretty buried, but their straightforward grind attack is the kind of music that lives and breeds in basements, and though there wasn't a whole lot of movement, even in the even mix of metal and crust d00ds who were at that point the majority of the crowd, this was still a pretty fun time. Not the best set I've seen out of them, but a whole lot of solid power and killer music all the same.
It's probably been widely commented on already, but Mike plays his drums like they punched out his grandma immediately before Mechannibal's set started. There aren't many drummers who hit harder around Boston, and there's none that I can recall looking like they hit this hard; his performance sees his face set in an iron grimace of rage almost throughout, and the effect of this expression, combined with his heavy-gauge sticks and the amount of force he puts into his kit, is that anyone who's watching can't stop wondering how he doesn't damage more equipment.
While Revocation was setting up, the Harvard people started to show up in numbers. They could be easily recognized by wearing shirts in actual colors, and because they didn't actually know what Revocation sounded like. This led to some lulzworthy overheard conversations, but these won't be repeated because, to their credit, most of the non-metal Harvard people actually did stay after the band got cranked up.
Revocation [6/7]
The PA was dialed in a little better, but there were still some bits that got lost, as entirely expected; fortunately, they weren't enough to obscure a really good set. Like the others, it was a little short, but brim-full of Empire of the Obscene material, as well as older stuff that's been renovated and updated. Oddly, despite the fact that the other two bands on this bill were a hell of a lot more punk and core, Revocation also saw the most and most consistent pit motion of the evening, and even a few of the non-metal (or, hopefully, not-previously-metal) Harvard types got involved as well; it's just as exotic for them to have punks, hardcore kids, and thrashers in their basement listening to progressive death-thrash as it is for us to go to a show on the Harvard campus, and in this context they could go brew stuff up without having to get outside their comfort zone at, say, O'Brien's.
Eventually, things closed up and the basement emptied out. It was an interesting experience, to be sure, and hopefully to be repeated in the future; Anthony's allegedly going to be booking this space consistently come fall term, and if that works out, it should be an interesting place to play for a wide variety of bands, and hopefully a way to bend more Harvard kids into the scene. Cross-cultural exchange is waeome, but it doesnt happen unless people actually go out there and start crossing between cultures -- if the upper strata of Cambridge won't come to heavy music, heavy music'll just have to move into their basement and start making loud noises.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
NEMHCF report - severely delayed
Being a brief overview, with a lot of side comments, from the 2008 edition of the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. This covers three days and more than 30 bands, so hang on for the ride. Nearly all the material in this is from notes taken at the time of the events, but there's a little that's woven in or touched up after the fact.
FRIDAY - GIGANTOUR
4:30 - lineup
I've been in lineups at the Palladium before, but this is fookin ridiculous; the front, two blocks down the side, and nearly another block around the corner, just wall-to-wall metalheads. Tonight sold out, and it really looks like every single goddamn head of the count is out on the tiles, as it were, right now. We had an enterprising guy take a case of Poland Spring down the line to his place -- at $2 a bottle, that's a nice profit on the relatively short walk to a long stand.
I may not see High on Fire due to this, but what the hell; at least it ain't raining.
5:15 - still in the lineup, but about a block from the door
Still in line -- it's like Itzehoe, but sober. And, fortunately, much, much shorter of a wait.
Noted by a bus: a red floormat placed by the door, that the band may not dash their foot upon a stone when alighting. Lol rockstars.
High on Fire [5/7]
I saw most of their set after all, despite the time spent at the merch and beer stands, and they were pretty decent, though nothing especially worldbreaking. A good and mostly true start to what'll hopefully be a good fest; "true" is probably a little much to ask at this point.
~~~
The security stole my fuckin' Kuli! Seriously, one of my Grade A pens got jacked on the way in, presumably as an anti-graffiti move. GARBAGE. So I went over to the ESP raffle table, pretended to fill out an entry, and stole one of theirs back, but it sucks; I've got to go procure another Grade A pen from somewhere to jam down my boot for the rest of the fest.
The heightened security was heightened just enough to be annoying; thanks to my Epic Leg Armor and the unwillingness of the security to check certain areas, I was able to bring in a pair of Powerbars for Saturday and both the stolen pen and my folding letter opener on both remaining days. I don't want to deal with metal-detector wands, but it'd be better to have a sane policy and more bathroom supervision than to make people stuff inocuous items down their grundle so that they won't get ripped off.
~~~
Job For A Cowboy [4/7]
Other people have been using "Job For A Girlboy" lately to get to a certain acronym that expresses their disapprobation for the band. In this case, though, "Job For A Goatwhore" would be more apt, and get to the acronym as a total side-effect; it should be damning enough of this band's lack of originality or interesting material that their set was such that a completely derivative band could have done what they were trying to do better, and in a more interesting fashion. It's pretty sad when you're derivative of derivative bands -- as well as Morbid Angel, into whom this band's teeth are still sunk -- but this started decent, then tailed off in an immediate and drastic fashion. After 3 or so songs, it got physically difficult to listen to, and this is coming from someone who actually likes Lugubrum, and can put up with J-pop in certain situations. No fucking idea why people like this band -- no, wait, that's right, a lot of people are fooking imbeciles.
~~~
looking at sampler CDs in the merch area:
What the hell is all this Kiuas on the Spinefarm sample CD? There's better bands on Spinefarm than fuckin' Kiuas, fer chrissake.
~~~
Children of Bodom [6/7]
Maybe a 5.5 (it wasn't, even when I opened that box with the Megadeth score), but I'm not doing split scores yet and would prefer not to. Alexi's solos were a little muted, but they were pretty cool despite the weight of new stuff in the set, and they closed with "Touch Like An Angel of Death" -- what the fuck more do you want? At least they realize that their old shit's where the power's at -- now why don't they try and evolve that instead of continually trying to be "In Flames with balls"? The world may never know.
In Flames [5/7]
There was once upon a time a little record called Colony. It marked an inflection point in In Flames' career, and proved that NWOSDM -- Edge of Sanity and Dissection made accessible, or a nice bowl of Dismember with some Iron Maiden drizzled on top -- would sell to a broad audience. In Flames did 12 songs tonight, including precisely one from this record or earlier (the namecheck on Jester Race). For this I blame not metalcore but the Euro festivals. In Flames has grown accustomed to playing at 2 in the morning, pumping tunes out over the exhausted, pitch-black infield at Wacken, at Reading, at Rock Am Ring and the like, and this was a 2AM set, a long pile of unflavored, all-things-by-implication-to-all-people radio metal with only the barest trappings of anything real, lazy metal for exhausted people...delivered south of 10PM in an indoor hall. Maybe Megadeth's audience is yawning past their bedtime, but most of us are awake, and not nearly as gassed as I normally am when one day's bleeding into another north of Hamburg, and the sky's so actively black as to block out lights. In Flames is a good band when you're in the tank and half dead on your feet from a day of better music; here, not so much.
Megadeth [6.5/7]
Though this would ahve to be really, really stretched to represent a peak Megadeth lineup. they put on a near-peak performance, with Dave his usual ripping self, James and Shawn solid on rhythm, and Chris Broderick impressive, but not surprising to anyone who was familiar with his talents from Jag Panzer and Nevermore. The set was balanced well between old and new material, down the whole gamut from "The Mechanix" to "Gears of War". We got a lot of hits and also a few deeper cuts; it's difficult to se how, now, in the age of Dave Mustaine and His Amazing Sidemen, you'd see a better Megadeth set. Maybe in a larger venue -- Gigantour was originally booked for Thursday at the hockey arena next door -- but this was a damn fine performance and anyone who's somehow disappointed is simply delusional.
--
SATURDAY - SAME AS IT EVER WAS DAY
Veil of Maya [4/7]
What a fuckin' disappointment. If you're going to name your band after a Cynic song, you ought to be at least a little original. Instead, fucking lameass metalcore. I didn't stick too long -- I had to get down front for Keep of Kalessin -- but from their first few cuts, things were not going to improve.
The End [6/7]
Fuckin' A -- now this is how new-school metal is supposed to be. They had a lot of the progression of a 3 or an Unexpect, but with a more solid thrash core, and the result is an overwhelmingly and unambiguously positive reaction from those assembled. If you slept in and missed this band, you lose.
Keep of Kalessin [6/7]
And the good shit continues; I was right up front as before, and what their solidly Norse-tradition black metal lacked in immediate originality was patched over amply by excellent execution -- and the fact that neither Emperor nor Immortal was on this fest. It's good to hear real, honest black metal at a festival like this -- even better to hear it done this well.
~~~
The perils of being up front with a notebook and an overbuilt jacket: I got mistaken for a member of Nightmare by the founders of a Myspace page for kuttes, and for an actual journalist (Metal George of The Accursed) by an established photographer (Frank White, if it matters). No portfolio, no credentials, no worries. ;)
On a related note, people who actually belong to said "heavy metal vest" community need to seriously re-evaluate why they are in metal and why they choose to build a kutte. If it's to fit in because Municipal Waste told you to sew patches on your vest, you need to burn your rig and jump off a bridge. Jacketcrafting is an ancient and noble artform practiced to announce your preferences in metal to all and sundry: you do it because you want to build a jacket, not because all your friends have one, and you build it to look violently different from anything else out there, not exactly like one you saw in some pictures from '86.
~~~
Monstrosity [7/7]
It was fucking criminal how these guys got cut off -- the drummer was rightfully ripshit, throwing pieces of the kit and backline around the stage -- especially since they were in the middle of an absolute gem of a set: tight, dialed in, and with the superb soundboard support that the Palladium only gives to death metal bands once in a blue moon. This was Florida's best, setting a high standard for Hate Eternal, and on any sane fest, they'd've had a lot more than 20 minutes, and hence, no cause for frustration and wreckage.
Skeleton Witch [6/7]
If they were other things before, this set at 20 minutes showed them stripped to the bare essence as a melodic thrash metal bad. A thoroughly good set, but as with the preceding band, cursed by inadequate time.
~~~
During this band, Aaron got back at me decisively for the "sleeping on the job" picture. What remains to be seen is if this picture will be published or privately held -- it's looking like the second for now, or if it's published, nobody cares to point out the silliness.
Since I continued to stand down the front through the last two bands as well, my jacket continued to draw interest. Well, overbuilt is overbuilt.
~~~
Through The Eyes Of The Dead [5.5/7]
Their output was better than most of the other modernistic death metal bands on this bill, but oddly, not markedly different. To a certain degree, I'm just the wrong audience, but there are other slammy and core-y bands out there that are better.
Animosity [5/7]
I've been pretty selective about what I see, but this was the first band that could even partway qualify as hardcore. I'm much more of a metal fan, but this is the NEMHCF, and the HXC portion of the bill shouldn't just get pushed into some closet upstairs. They had a few technical difficulties at the start, but presently hit their stride and gave a kickass performance. This probably wasn't an ideal venue to see them in, but I and my busted knee don't care, and the kids on the floor throwing down didn't look like they cared either.
~~~
At this point I gave Arsis -- and, as it turned out, Municipal Waste, though that's in another comment -- a pass in order to keep my seat. At intervals like this I took the brace off to keep the skin aerated and not rotting away, but every second of potential rest for the joint was precious.
~~~
Despised Icon [5/7]
Truth told, I did actually break out laughing in places. Not many, but in taking deathcore to its ne plus ultra, DI also drives up the elements of the style that are only silly: form-pattern breakdowns, vocals worthy of a trained hog, and faux-hip-hop posturing. Despite the lulzworthy parts, they still made some decent music, and if the singer hadn't killed the mood by mentioning the Bruins going down to the Habs, it might have graded out as yet better.
~~~
Scott was at stageside for these guys, in sharp visual contrast to the Scott Lee Clothing banners hanging up; it's a little early for central New England's foremost heavy-music-promotion impresario to branch out a la Russell Simmons, at least from my perch. Seriously, would you buy designer casual wear from this man? Enough people have issues buying the bills he puts together for these fests, let alone stuff with his name and face on it to stick next to their skin. The Myspace for it is pretty tongue-in-cheek, but people are apparently still buying it.
~~~
As Blood Runs Black [5/7]
I was tempted to dock them a point for turning "bring the fucking ruckus" into a chorus, but did not; when not being laughable in this regard, these Angelenos worked up a quality set of heavier metalcore that recalled old In Flames in its best places; as good as can reasonably be expected for a filler band playing before re-entry closes.
Heaven Shall Burn [6/7]
A hell of a US debut, but this fest always seems to get its share of good ones. Their Wacken set was better, but this perfect fusion of metal and hardcore will hopefully make believers out of the contingent here.
A real class touch was Marcus going along the barricade after the last song to slap hands with the faithful; it's a little thing, but such things go a long way in hardcore. Willkommen in da VSA, HSB!
~~~
Spotted in the pit: a big dude with the National Alliance logo on his shoulder, throwing down and singing along with the band. If he's still NS, I can't wait until he gets into their back catalog and the material about Primo Levi and Hans and Sophie Scholl -- to say nothing of that cover of "Destroy Fascism".
~~~
Vital Remains [5/7]
We're in Worcester, and Scott's bellowing from the stage while Crazy Dan is passing out mayhem to all and sundry below -- must be Zircon at Metal Thursday, right? Not this time, and despite the sound problems and the necessary dropoff in total execution due to Tony's change in sidemen (Scott debatably outperformed Glenn, but the other instrumentalists had some slop in the toes of the big shoes they were trying to fill), Vital still put up a thoroughly killer set. It wasn't a peak by any means, but still through-and-through quality death in the old style.
This entry was almost entitled "Vital Receipts", but while I trust Mark (Composted, TYAG) Richards to be generally accurate in his reporting of why his band gets de-listed from certain shows, I don't want to stir that pot until the local dudes who are actually in Vital have had the chance to comment on it, as it's quite possible it's an issue with the promoter rather than any of the bands involved.
~~~
This festival is missing a lot of things -- and outdoor venue, internal food vendors, and more, less vile toilet accomodations come to mind -- but the most striking is a SIMPLE FUCKING WHITEBOARD, which is easily provided so that attendees can be kept apprised of schedule changes. I missed Municipal Waste due to the second stage, as usual, getting fucked up, and didn't learn about it until I happened to run into Matt (MPD) Kenney while in line for the head. WHAT THE FUCK.
Also, re-entry closed early, so instead of going back to the hotel to drop my merch, I got stuck at the venue listening to nu-Kataklysm. Again, what the fuck.
~~~
Kataklysm [4/7]
These guys must be thanking their lucky stars that Cryptopsy have suddenly decided to become terrible, so that their own decline into mediocrity goes unnoticed. This was as boring and staid a set of mid-paced death metal as you'd like to see, and having it sold as "hyperblast" in any regard should be getting more people madder about being ripped off. Sure, Hypocrisy wasn't playing this festival, but the day that modern Kataklysm is remotely as interesting or as original as Hypocrisy is the day I stop ranting about them like this.
~~~
I've seen now 3 different people in 3 different Wacken shirts here. The word is spreading -- maybe I'll have to do a roll call come July or so and see if anyone among the RttP hordes is also going to be in attendance this time out.
~~~
Hate Eternal [5.5/7]
This band is seriously cursed or something -- 3 times I see them in this building, 3 times they get a seriously raw deal from the soundboard. As before, Erik & co. fought back through it, but it remained thin and low, a serious disservice to the band, and to those in the audience counting them as the last decent band of the day. I'm still looking forward to Shadows Fall, and to a lesser degree Dimmu and -- heresy, heresy! -- The Acacia Strain, but those whose tastes are less catholic than mine may well be heading for the doors to catch Toxic Holocaust's in-town basement gig, and this wasn't as good a valediction for them as it could have been if the tech side had their goddamn oars all in.
~~~
I don't know where exactly the "line" for Kommerz is that bands best dare not cross, but Iron Maiden Chuck Taylors are definitely across it. It is only small consolation to know that not only do Bruce, Steve, and the rest have this kid's money now, they are probably laughing at him as well.
~~~
The Acacia Strain [5/7]
Vincent's gotten fat with success -- or maybe he's just got a bad case of "studio ass", as they're in recording right now. In any case, the band has similarly become "more so"; content-free mosh-spree breakdowns-by-the-numbers that only gets interesting when the singer's talking off the cuff to fill time. This time, he ripped on trends and image...but if he looks up his band's '06 set here on RttP, he'll see his Myspace haircut and tight jeans on the eve of their debut. OH SNAP LOLZ.
~~~
Thanks to Behemoth, we now have children in clumsy corpsepaint waiting for metalcore bands to finish so that their Satanic idols can go on. Somehow, I get the feeling that this isn't what Dead cut himself up on stage for, or why Samoth and others did their two years in stir for arson. Dimmu has 8x10 rockstar glossies out now courtesy of ESP -- this from a scene where bands use warnames to defer credit and for a while didn't even put their own pics in the liner notes of their records. FUCK TRENDS -- BLACK METAL ISOLATION!!
On music and wrestling:
- Skinless issuing their demo compilation on a label that is also an indie wrestling promotion: very metal.
- Victory Records cross-promoting with Wrestlemania, as on shopping bags here: not punk rock at all.
It's not the "wrestling" per se -- sriously, put ropes around a mosh pit and you've got a bout, one bunch of dudes pretending to fight each other is much the same as the next -- or the fakery (it's all just entertainment); it's the fucking Kommerz that sticks in my craw. True, there's no money in metal, so every dollar helps, but it's a lot less lame when it coems from somewhere with some fookin integrity.
~~~
Behemoth [6/7]
Despite my skepticism going in, this was actually a really good set -- sticking to their hits and pretty deathy as well as black metal -- not perfect, but a fun time, and that, like the last band, is sufficient excuse for them to have fans. It aint enough to put me in that total, but it's enough to make the time spent bearable.
~~~
Overkill cancelled, so bands lately have been playing a little longer, which is good all around -- bands don't get shafted into an opener-length set as a headliner, and I don't have to sit through Overkill. Maybe I just got a bad set from them at Wacken in '05, but it was good on the few good songs that they did there -- which is a bad indicator that they may actually be that overrated after all.
SUNDAY - PAGANS AND PONGIDAE DAY
Blame dysentery -- the gut condition, not the band -- for me missing the last two bands Saturday. Jaeger and street food do bad things to your stomach in combination, but don't expect me to stop doing either at this fest.
Waking The Cadaver [4/7]
As silly as might have been expected, but their BREE BREE BREE SLAM BREE BREE was a decent enough backdrop to my final merch spree (modulo an Ensiferum shirt later at night).
After The Burial [4/7]
An entirely competent metalcore band, but I was really expecting to see Unexpect here. I'd've been pissed if I ended up missing them, but fortunately the schedule dislocation on Sunday was fairly straightforward.
Unexpect [7/7]
Fucking wow. You won't, I expect, see a better 20-minute set than the one this bunch put up, and even better, those people who were there seemed to realize this as well. Good stuff; hopefully their spastic evolved black metal will continue to attract people with an appreciation for it.
Emmure [4/7]
Bree bree bree snore snore snore. I came back in time to make doors and be sure to be in position for Paganfest; seeing the tail end to this block of same-ish 'core that I mostly sat out on is merely a side effect.
A Life Once Lost [4/7]
I think I saw this band here once before, and they didn't make an impression on me that time either. I thought metalcore was dying out, and the coming thing was WTC and other bands ripping off the first wave of slam-death, but I guess not.
~~~
Three bands worth the candle of being up front for, then I can go sit down in back. There isn't seatage for love or money in here, and my back is getting friggin telescoped.
~~~
Eluveitie [7/7]
Neither quite In Extremo or quite Finntroll, this Swiss combo nonetheless put up quite the dominant performance, packing in the crowd into what was originally a half-empty front, then bloody well destroying the place with a frenetic and more folkic version of the black-fusion that drives the Paganfest package. If this is the standard, the two other support acts are on notice; Ensiferum at least can kick it out at this level easily.
Tyr [6/7]
If you're following a crazy-party band and want to sell the crowd on your doomy, progressive, vikingarock, it may not be the brightest idea to open with an extended a capella section sung entirely in Danish. The true viking fans in the crowd dug it, as this was a very well-turned-out set on all counts, but I'm not sure how many converts they made. Maybe victims of the bill, but they gave a damn good effort and hopefully managed to draw on this away leg -- they'll win at home when folks download or buy their CDs.
~~~
Since there's been approximately zero immigration to the Faeroes in the last 800 years, it's easy even for people who didn't know that Tyr is a 3-piece on record to see that the guitarist of Eluveitie is giving them a hand on this tour, rather than vice versa. It's the world's easiest game of spot-the-not-a-viking.
~~~
Turisas [6/7]
In principal, we've heard this before -- at least some of us -- as Otyg with a little extra Ensiferum over the top. However, it was well-delivered, and the crowd was fucking psyched -- if they had more material on the level of "Rasputin", they'd have a strong case for headlining this roving melee. Even as is, though, a hell of a fun time.
You've got to wonder about the history of Turisas' accordionist; the band is about my age and a little younger, so there she was, growing up in Finland on the turn of the Cold War, going to accordion lessons, likely playing "Lady of Spain" over and over until she wanted to throw the damned thing down the stairs, and the teacher after it, never dreaming that she would one day be a professional in a rock band, the world's coolest live keyboard replacement, and get to stand on stage on multiple continents wearing furs and lederhosen, face painted like an Apache, as the crowd roared and screamed for more. If it doesn't make any sense on paper, imagine what it's like to live it. And you thought your life was odd....
Ensiferum [7/7]
Score does not include adjustments for injury; unlike last time, I came out of an Ensiferum pit-wall with all my joints intact. It would probably still be on this level even if I'd brewed something up; like all the Paganfest crew, the set was too goddamned short, but every last second was quality. The whole floor went into pit mode, German-style, a couple times, and dudes were getting crowdchucked like Bury Your Dead was laying it down. An ace performance, and full worth being the last band I was down front for.
~~~
If you can see this tour when they aren't on a festival bill, definitely do it. Four great bands is too much to be done service by barely 2 1/2 hours, including stage changes.
So Mike Hsiu of 'AAF got a lifetime achievement award from Full Blown Chaos (and maybe the organizers, who knows), and Divine Heresy cancelled (due to a ridiculous incident in Poughkepsie that many of the attendees here would have given given an arm and a leg to see and laugh at live)....can't say I'm sorry about the second....
~~~
Meshuggah [7/7]
I think I remember their '03 set here as being a little longer, but if this time was shorter and less well-produced -- the bass up too high for a couple songs -- the musical performance was nonetheless stellar. The hall started to empty out after they took their leave, and while the early birds'll miss Ministry, they got a pretty fuckin' cool headlining set out of Meshuggah.
Seriously, it's not even 11 and the crowd is in full flight. WTF? I know people have to work in the morning, but they stay to the end of normal shows at this place when the next day's a workday.
~~~
The sole disappointment of the day is that I end it broke, down to my last ten-spot. If I had another C-note coming in, as planned, I'd have an Eluveitie shirt on my belt, and CDs from them and Turisas in my jacket pouches. Such is life, though; never money nor time enough for everything we desire.
~~~
Ministry [6/7]
I didn't end up sticking for the whole set, but what I saw was choice. Ministry is a band that appropriates both metal and industrial on their own terms rather than the genre's, and a standing that comes not only from close on 30 years of service, but also from the top-class music that's allowed them to be a working band for longer than many members of this audience have been alive. While this wasn't a peak set, and the experience was near equal parts visual and music -- and in that caption, less of their older stuff -- it was still a good time, and I'm glad to have seen them live before Al folds the tents for good.
Final returns:
Friday - 5 bands
26.5 points
average 5.3
Saturday - 15 bands
81 points
average 5.4
Sunday - 11 bands
62 points
average 5.64
It's amazing how high average scores can get at this fest when you skip nearly all the bands that you don't like, and the soundboard doesn't fuck over the bands you do.
FRIDAY - GIGANTOUR
4:30 - lineup
I've been in lineups at the Palladium before, but this is fookin ridiculous; the front, two blocks down the side, and nearly another block around the corner, just wall-to-wall metalheads. Tonight sold out, and it really looks like every single goddamn head of the count is out on the tiles, as it were, right now. We had an enterprising guy take a case of Poland Spring down the line to his place -- at $2 a bottle, that's a nice profit on the relatively short walk to a long stand.
I may not see High on Fire due to this, but what the hell; at least it ain't raining.
5:15 - still in the lineup, but about a block from the door
Still in line -- it's like Itzehoe, but sober. And, fortunately, much, much shorter of a wait.
Noted by a bus: a red floormat placed by the door, that the band may not dash their foot upon a stone when alighting. Lol rockstars.
High on Fire [5/7]
I saw most of their set after all, despite the time spent at the merch and beer stands, and they were pretty decent, though nothing especially worldbreaking. A good and mostly true start to what'll hopefully be a good fest; "true" is probably a little much to ask at this point.
~~~
The security stole my fuckin' Kuli! Seriously, one of my Grade A pens got jacked on the way in, presumably as an anti-graffiti move. GARBAGE. So I went over to the ESP raffle table, pretended to fill out an entry, and stole one of theirs back, but it sucks; I've got to go procure another Grade A pen from somewhere to jam down my boot for the rest of the fest.
The heightened security was heightened just enough to be annoying; thanks to my Epic Leg Armor and the unwillingness of the security to check certain areas, I was able to bring in a pair of Powerbars for Saturday and both the stolen pen and my folding letter opener on both remaining days. I don't want to deal with metal-detector wands, but it'd be better to have a sane policy and more bathroom supervision than to make people stuff inocuous items down their grundle so that they won't get ripped off.
~~~
Job For A Cowboy [4/7]
Other people have been using "Job For A Girlboy" lately to get to a certain acronym that expresses their disapprobation for the band. In this case, though, "Job For A Goatwhore" would be more apt, and get to the acronym as a total side-effect; it should be damning enough of this band's lack of originality or interesting material that their set was such that a completely derivative band could have done what they were trying to do better, and in a more interesting fashion. It's pretty sad when you're derivative of derivative bands -- as well as Morbid Angel, into whom this band's teeth are still sunk -- but this started decent, then tailed off in an immediate and drastic fashion. After 3 or so songs, it got physically difficult to listen to, and this is coming from someone who actually likes Lugubrum, and can put up with J-pop in certain situations. No fucking idea why people like this band -- no, wait, that's right, a lot of people are fooking imbeciles.
~~~
looking at sampler CDs in the merch area:
What the hell is all this Kiuas on the Spinefarm sample CD? There's better bands on Spinefarm than fuckin' Kiuas, fer chrissake.
~~~
Children of Bodom [6/7]
Maybe a 5.5 (it wasn't, even when I opened that box with the Megadeth score), but I'm not doing split scores yet and would prefer not to. Alexi's solos were a little muted, but they were pretty cool despite the weight of new stuff in the set, and they closed with "Touch Like An Angel of Death" -- what the fuck more do you want? At least they realize that their old shit's where the power's at -- now why don't they try and evolve that instead of continually trying to be "In Flames with balls"? The world may never know.
In Flames [5/7]
There was once upon a time a little record called Colony. It marked an inflection point in In Flames' career, and proved that NWOSDM -- Edge of Sanity and Dissection made accessible, or a nice bowl of Dismember with some Iron Maiden drizzled on top -- would sell to a broad audience. In Flames did 12 songs tonight, including precisely one from this record or earlier (the namecheck on Jester Race). For this I blame not metalcore but the Euro festivals. In Flames has grown accustomed to playing at 2 in the morning, pumping tunes out over the exhausted, pitch-black infield at Wacken, at Reading, at Rock Am Ring and the like, and this was a 2AM set, a long pile of unflavored, all-things-by-implication-to-all-people radio metal with only the barest trappings of anything real, lazy metal for exhausted people...delivered south of 10PM in an indoor hall. Maybe Megadeth's audience is yawning past their bedtime, but most of us are awake, and not nearly as gassed as I normally am when one day's bleeding into another north of Hamburg, and the sky's so actively black as to block out lights. In Flames is a good band when you're in the tank and half dead on your feet from a day of better music; here, not so much.
Megadeth [6.5/7]
Though this would ahve to be really, really stretched to represent a peak Megadeth lineup. they put on a near-peak performance, with Dave his usual ripping self, James and Shawn solid on rhythm, and Chris Broderick impressive, but not surprising to anyone who was familiar with his talents from Jag Panzer and Nevermore. The set was balanced well between old and new material, down the whole gamut from "The Mechanix" to "Gears of War". We got a lot of hits and also a few deeper cuts; it's difficult to se how, now, in the age of Dave Mustaine and His Amazing Sidemen, you'd see a better Megadeth set. Maybe in a larger venue -- Gigantour was originally booked for Thursday at the hockey arena next door -- but this was a damn fine performance and anyone who's somehow disappointed is simply delusional.
--
SATURDAY - SAME AS IT EVER WAS DAY
Veil of Maya [4/7]
What a fuckin' disappointment. If you're going to name your band after a Cynic song, you ought to be at least a little original. Instead, fucking lameass metalcore. I didn't stick too long -- I had to get down front for Keep of Kalessin -- but from their first few cuts, things were not going to improve.
The End [6/7]
Fuckin' A -- now this is how new-school metal is supposed to be. They had a lot of the progression of a 3 or an Unexpect, but with a more solid thrash core, and the result is an overwhelmingly and unambiguously positive reaction from those assembled. If you slept in and missed this band, you lose.
Keep of Kalessin [6/7]
And the good shit continues; I was right up front as before, and what their solidly Norse-tradition black metal lacked in immediate originality was patched over amply by excellent execution -- and the fact that neither Emperor nor Immortal was on this fest. It's good to hear real, honest black metal at a festival like this -- even better to hear it done this well.
~~~
The perils of being up front with a notebook and an overbuilt jacket: I got mistaken for a member of Nightmare by the founders of a Myspace page for kuttes, and for an actual journalist (Metal George of The Accursed) by an established photographer (Frank White, if it matters). No portfolio, no credentials, no worries. ;)
On a related note, people who actually belong to said "heavy metal vest" community need to seriously re-evaluate why they are in metal and why they choose to build a kutte. If it's to fit in because Municipal Waste told you to sew patches on your vest, you need to burn your rig and jump off a bridge. Jacketcrafting is an ancient and noble artform practiced to announce your preferences in metal to all and sundry: you do it because you want to build a jacket, not because all your friends have one, and you build it to look violently different from anything else out there, not exactly like one you saw in some pictures from '86.
~~~
Monstrosity [7/7]
It was fucking criminal how these guys got cut off -- the drummer was rightfully ripshit, throwing pieces of the kit and backline around the stage -- especially since they were in the middle of an absolute gem of a set: tight, dialed in, and with the superb soundboard support that the Palladium only gives to death metal bands once in a blue moon. This was Florida's best, setting a high standard for Hate Eternal, and on any sane fest, they'd've had a lot more than 20 minutes, and hence, no cause for frustration and wreckage.
Skeleton Witch [6/7]
If they were other things before, this set at 20 minutes showed them stripped to the bare essence as a melodic thrash metal bad. A thoroughly good set, but as with the preceding band, cursed by inadequate time.
~~~
During this band, Aaron got back at me decisively for the "sleeping on the job" picture. What remains to be seen is if this picture will be published or privately held -- it's looking like the second for now, or if it's published, nobody cares to point out the silliness.
Since I continued to stand down the front through the last two bands as well, my jacket continued to draw interest. Well, overbuilt is overbuilt.
~~~
Through The Eyes Of The Dead [5.5/7]
Their output was better than most of the other modernistic death metal bands on this bill, but oddly, not markedly different. To a certain degree, I'm just the wrong audience, but there are other slammy and core-y bands out there that are better.
Animosity [5/7]
I've been pretty selective about what I see, but this was the first band that could even partway qualify as hardcore. I'm much more of a metal fan, but this is the NEMHCF, and the HXC portion of the bill shouldn't just get pushed into some closet upstairs. They had a few technical difficulties at the start, but presently hit their stride and gave a kickass performance. This probably wasn't an ideal venue to see them in, but I and my busted knee don't care, and the kids on the floor throwing down didn't look like they cared either.
~~~
At this point I gave Arsis -- and, as it turned out, Municipal Waste, though that's in another comment -- a pass in order to keep my seat. At intervals like this I took the brace off to keep the skin aerated and not rotting away, but every second of potential rest for the joint was precious.
~~~
Despised Icon [5/7]
Truth told, I did actually break out laughing in places. Not many, but in taking deathcore to its ne plus ultra, DI also drives up the elements of the style that are only silly: form-pattern breakdowns, vocals worthy of a trained hog, and faux-hip-hop posturing. Despite the lulzworthy parts, they still made some decent music, and if the singer hadn't killed the mood by mentioning the Bruins going down to the Habs, it might have graded out as yet better.
~~~
Scott was at stageside for these guys, in sharp visual contrast to the Scott Lee Clothing banners hanging up; it's a little early for central New England's foremost heavy-music-promotion impresario to branch out a la Russell Simmons, at least from my perch. Seriously, would you buy designer casual wear from this man? Enough people have issues buying the bills he puts together for these fests, let alone stuff with his name and face on it to stick next to their skin. The Myspace for it is pretty tongue-in-cheek, but people are apparently still buying it.
~~~
As Blood Runs Black [5/7]
I was tempted to dock them a point for turning "bring the fucking ruckus" into a chorus, but did not; when not being laughable in this regard, these Angelenos worked up a quality set of heavier metalcore that recalled old In Flames in its best places; as good as can reasonably be expected for a filler band playing before re-entry closes.
Heaven Shall Burn [6/7]
A hell of a US debut, but this fest always seems to get its share of good ones. Their Wacken set was better, but this perfect fusion of metal and hardcore will hopefully make believers out of the contingent here.
A real class touch was Marcus going along the barricade after the last song to slap hands with the faithful; it's a little thing, but such things go a long way in hardcore. Willkommen in da VSA, HSB!
~~~
Spotted in the pit: a big dude with the National Alliance logo on his shoulder, throwing down and singing along with the band. If he's still NS, I can't wait until he gets into their back catalog and the material about Primo Levi and Hans and Sophie Scholl -- to say nothing of that cover of "Destroy Fascism".
~~~
Vital Remains [5/7]
We're in Worcester, and Scott's bellowing from the stage while Crazy Dan is passing out mayhem to all and sundry below -- must be Zircon at Metal Thursday, right? Not this time, and despite the sound problems and the necessary dropoff in total execution due to Tony's change in sidemen (Scott debatably outperformed Glenn, but the other instrumentalists had some slop in the toes of the big shoes they were trying to fill), Vital still put up a thoroughly killer set. It wasn't a peak by any means, but still through-and-through quality death in the old style.
This entry was almost entitled "Vital Receipts", but while I trust Mark (Composted, TYAG) Richards to be generally accurate in his reporting of why his band gets de-listed from certain shows, I don't want to stir that pot until the local dudes who are actually in Vital have had the chance to comment on it, as it's quite possible it's an issue with the promoter rather than any of the bands involved.
~~~
This festival is missing a lot of things -- and outdoor venue, internal food vendors, and more, less vile toilet accomodations come to mind -- but the most striking is a SIMPLE FUCKING WHITEBOARD, which is easily provided so that attendees can be kept apprised of schedule changes. I missed Municipal Waste due to the second stage, as usual, getting fucked up, and didn't learn about it until I happened to run into Matt (MPD) Kenney while in line for the head. WHAT THE FUCK.
Also, re-entry closed early, so instead of going back to the hotel to drop my merch, I got stuck at the venue listening to nu-Kataklysm. Again, what the fuck.
~~~
Kataklysm [4/7]
These guys must be thanking their lucky stars that Cryptopsy have suddenly decided to become terrible, so that their own decline into mediocrity goes unnoticed. This was as boring and staid a set of mid-paced death metal as you'd like to see, and having it sold as "hyperblast" in any regard should be getting more people madder about being ripped off. Sure, Hypocrisy wasn't playing this festival, but the day that modern Kataklysm is remotely as interesting or as original as Hypocrisy is the day I stop ranting about them like this.
~~~
I've seen now 3 different people in 3 different Wacken shirts here. The word is spreading -- maybe I'll have to do a roll call come July or so and see if anyone among the RttP hordes is also going to be in attendance this time out.
~~~
Hate Eternal [5.5/7]
This band is seriously cursed or something -- 3 times I see them in this building, 3 times they get a seriously raw deal from the soundboard. As before, Erik & co. fought back through it, but it remained thin and low, a serious disservice to the band, and to those in the audience counting them as the last decent band of the day. I'm still looking forward to Shadows Fall, and to a lesser degree Dimmu and -- heresy, heresy! -- The Acacia Strain, but those whose tastes are less catholic than mine may well be heading for the doors to catch Toxic Holocaust's in-town basement gig, and this wasn't as good a valediction for them as it could have been if the tech side had their goddamn oars all in.
~~~
I don't know where exactly the "line" for Kommerz is that bands best dare not cross, but Iron Maiden Chuck Taylors are definitely across it. It is only small consolation to know that not only do Bruce, Steve, and the rest have this kid's money now, they are probably laughing at him as well.
~~~
The Acacia Strain [5/7]
Vincent's gotten fat with success -- or maybe he's just got a bad case of "studio ass", as they're in recording right now. In any case, the band has similarly become "more so"; content-free mosh-spree breakdowns-by-the-numbers that only gets interesting when the singer's talking off the cuff to fill time. This time, he ripped on trends and image...but if he looks up his band's '06 set here on RttP, he'll see his Myspace haircut and tight jeans on the eve of their debut. OH SNAP LOLZ.
~~~
Thanks to Behemoth, we now have children in clumsy corpsepaint waiting for metalcore bands to finish so that their Satanic idols can go on. Somehow, I get the feeling that this isn't what Dead cut himself up on stage for, or why Samoth and others did their two years in stir for arson. Dimmu has 8x10 rockstar glossies out now courtesy of ESP -- this from a scene where bands use warnames to defer credit and for a while didn't even put their own pics in the liner notes of their records. FUCK TRENDS -- BLACK METAL ISOLATION!!
On music and wrestling:
- Skinless issuing their demo compilation on a label that is also an indie wrestling promotion: very metal.
- Victory Records cross-promoting with Wrestlemania, as on shopping bags here: not punk rock at all.
It's not the "wrestling" per se -- sriously, put ropes around a mosh pit and you've got a bout, one bunch of dudes pretending to fight each other is much the same as the next -- or the fakery (it's all just entertainment); it's the fucking Kommerz that sticks in my craw. True, there's no money in metal, so every dollar helps, but it's a lot less lame when it coems from somewhere with some fookin integrity.
~~~
Behemoth [6/7]
Despite my skepticism going in, this was actually a really good set -- sticking to their hits and pretty deathy as well as black metal -- not perfect, but a fun time, and that, like the last band, is sufficient excuse for them to have fans. It aint enough to put me in that total, but it's enough to make the time spent bearable.
~~~
Overkill cancelled, so bands lately have been playing a little longer, which is good all around -- bands don't get shafted into an opener-length set as a headliner, and I don't have to sit through Overkill. Maybe I just got a bad set from them at Wacken in '05, but it was good on the few good songs that they did there -- which is a bad indicator that they may actually be that overrated after all.
SUNDAY - PAGANS AND PONGIDAE DAY
Blame dysentery -- the gut condition, not the band -- for me missing the last two bands Saturday. Jaeger and street food do bad things to your stomach in combination, but don't expect me to stop doing either at this fest.
Waking The Cadaver [4/7]
As silly as might have been expected, but their BREE BREE BREE SLAM BREE BREE was a decent enough backdrop to my final merch spree (modulo an Ensiferum shirt later at night).
After The Burial [4/7]
An entirely competent metalcore band, but I was really expecting to see Unexpect here. I'd've been pissed if I ended up missing them, but fortunately the schedule dislocation on Sunday was fairly straightforward.
Unexpect [7/7]
Fucking wow. You won't, I expect, see a better 20-minute set than the one this bunch put up, and even better, those people who were there seemed to realize this as well. Good stuff; hopefully their spastic evolved black metal will continue to attract people with an appreciation for it.
Emmure [4/7]
Bree bree bree snore snore snore. I came back in time to make doors and be sure to be in position for Paganfest; seeing the tail end to this block of same-ish 'core that I mostly sat out on is merely a side effect.
A Life Once Lost [4/7]
I think I saw this band here once before, and they didn't make an impression on me that time either. I thought metalcore was dying out, and the coming thing was WTC and other bands ripping off the first wave of slam-death, but I guess not.
~~~
Three bands worth the candle of being up front for, then I can go sit down in back. There isn't seatage for love or money in here, and my back is getting friggin telescoped.
~~~
Eluveitie [7/7]
Neither quite In Extremo or quite Finntroll, this Swiss combo nonetheless put up quite the dominant performance, packing in the crowd into what was originally a half-empty front, then bloody well destroying the place with a frenetic and more folkic version of the black-fusion that drives the Paganfest package. If this is the standard, the two other support acts are on notice; Ensiferum at least can kick it out at this level easily.
Tyr [6/7]
If you're following a crazy-party band and want to sell the crowd on your doomy, progressive, vikingarock, it may not be the brightest idea to open with an extended a capella section sung entirely in Danish. The true viking fans in the crowd dug it, as this was a very well-turned-out set on all counts, but I'm not sure how many converts they made. Maybe victims of the bill, but they gave a damn good effort and hopefully managed to draw on this away leg -- they'll win at home when folks download or buy their CDs.
~~~
Since there's been approximately zero immigration to the Faeroes in the last 800 years, it's easy even for people who didn't know that Tyr is a 3-piece on record to see that the guitarist of Eluveitie is giving them a hand on this tour, rather than vice versa. It's the world's easiest game of spot-the-not-a-viking.
~~~
Turisas [6/7]
In principal, we've heard this before -- at least some of us -- as Otyg with a little extra Ensiferum over the top. However, it was well-delivered, and the crowd was fucking psyched -- if they had more material on the level of "Rasputin", they'd have a strong case for headlining this roving melee. Even as is, though, a hell of a fun time.
You've got to wonder about the history of Turisas' accordionist; the band is about my age and a little younger, so there she was, growing up in Finland on the turn of the Cold War, going to accordion lessons, likely playing "Lady of Spain" over and over until she wanted to throw the damned thing down the stairs, and the teacher after it, never dreaming that she would one day be a professional in a rock band, the world's coolest live keyboard replacement, and get to stand on stage on multiple continents wearing furs and lederhosen, face painted like an Apache, as the crowd roared and screamed for more. If it doesn't make any sense on paper, imagine what it's like to live it. And you thought your life was odd....
Ensiferum [7/7]
Score does not include adjustments for injury; unlike last time, I came out of an Ensiferum pit-wall with all my joints intact. It would probably still be on this level even if I'd brewed something up; like all the Paganfest crew, the set was too goddamned short, but every last second was quality. The whole floor went into pit mode, German-style, a couple times, and dudes were getting crowdchucked like Bury Your Dead was laying it down. An ace performance, and full worth being the last band I was down front for.
~~~
If you can see this tour when they aren't on a festival bill, definitely do it. Four great bands is too much to be done service by barely 2 1/2 hours, including stage changes.
So Mike Hsiu of 'AAF got a lifetime achievement award from Full Blown Chaos (and maybe the organizers, who knows), and Divine Heresy cancelled (due to a ridiculous incident in Poughkepsie that many of the attendees here would have given given an arm and a leg to see and laugh at live)....can't say I'm sorry about the second....
~~~
Meshuggah [7/7]
I think I remember their '03 set here as being a little longer, but if this time was shorter and less well-produced -- the bass up too high for a couple songs -- the musical performance was nonetheless stellar. The hall started to empty out after they took their leave, and while the early birds'll miss Ministry, they got a pretty fuckin' cool headlining set out of Meshuggah.
Seriously, it's not even 11 and the crowd is in full flight. WTF? I know people have to work in the morning, but they stay to the end of normal shows at this place when the next day's a workday.
~~~
The sole disappointment of the day is that I end it broke, down to my last ten-spot. If I had another C-note coming in, as planned, I'd have an Eluveitie shirt on my belt, and CDs from them and Turisas in my jacket pouches. Such is life, though; never money nor time enough for everything we desire.
~~~
Ministry [6/7]
I didn't end up sticking for the whole set, but what I saw was choice. Ministry is a band that appropriates both metal and industrial on their own terms rather than the genre's, and a standing that comes not only from close on 30 years of service, but also from the top-class music that's allowed them to be a working band for longer than many members of this audience have been alive. While this wasn't a peak set, and the experience was near equal parts visual and music -- and in that caption, less of their older stuff -- it was still a good time, and I'm glad to have seen them live before Al folds the tents for good.
Final returns:
Friday - 5 bands
26.5 points
average 5.3
Saturday - 15 bands
81 points
average 5.4
Sunday - 11 bands
62 points
average 5.64
It's amazing how high average scores can get at this fest when you skip nearly all the bands that you don't like, and the soundboard doesn't fuck over the bands you do.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost with Composted, Dysentery, Proteus, Archaeon, and Brutal #2 [Welfare Records, Haverhill, 4/7/2008]
Early-week shows are always kind of tough; people are back at work or school after the weekend, and are just caught up in the grind rather than seeking to actively escape it. This may have been the reason that this show wasn't as well-attended as it ought to have been, but it also may well have been a strong reason why TYAG wanted to do start their tour with three fairly-local shows early in the week, both to get the bugs out in front of the home crowd, and also to hit into the first leg of their travels on a weekend. As it was, this was a good show that would have been better with more doods, but still was about as good value as you could get for eight bucks on a Monday night.
Since the show was starting kind of early, I had to go right up from work, and got up to Haverhill about a quarter past six. I figured I'd miss a band or two, which would suck, but as it turned out, the music hadn't started yet, and I was able to wolf down my overpriced ghetto pies outside and get in with time to spare. Eventually, a DIY show will start on time somewhere, but until then, people stuck in traffic can relax a little.
Brutal #2 [5/7]
I hadn't seen this band live previously, but I did remember not being terribly impressed with their demo; this, though, was recorded nearly a year ago, and they've come a long way in the intervening time. They haven't yet set themselves apart as one of the top death metal bands in this area, but as the rest of the bill will show, this is wicked hard considering the depth of the New England scene, and they put on a solid, bruising set regardless. They've got a lot of ability, and the way it's being used has definitely improved since their last recording; whether they continue to push it up, or continue to play good meat-and-potatoes death metal, they'll continue to provide good music and good entertainment regardless.
Archaeon [5/7]
From a certain perspective, Archaeon has more potential than any other band on this bill. Of course, that perspective has to also admit that they were about the rawest band of the night (this being about their third show, if I recall correctly), and to a certain degree it did show in their performance. Less slammy than the surrounding bands, they set forth a strong set of highly insular brutal death metal that unfortunately was marred by a couple hitches where everything wasn't quite together yet. I like their style a little more, in general, than the slam-death offered in the main here, but they also hopefully impressed the other attendees enough with their chops that people will look for them on bills once they've got a little more experience and a little stronger sense of themselves as a band.
It was about here that I did the merch bit; I picked up an Archaeon shirt as well as a tour shirt and a kutte part from TYAG, and talked with Mark a bit; he recognized me from RTTP and OH NOES MAI COVER IS TEH BLOED. :roll: Well enough; it's hard to be anonymous when you're regularly in attendance at gigs where there's often only a handful of people not in one of the bands on the bill. I was also cursing my mostly empty wallet; I wanted to pick up a Composted shirt, but was running out of belt space and, not having seen Proteus before, didn't know what if anything I'd need to drop on them.
Proteus [6/7]
This was a splendidly killer set, with a sound that only TYAG really approached in its absolute diversity; as though Neurosis won a battle with half a dozen slam-death bands and carried away their breakdowns as trophies. At times, when they were locked in and going on for minutes at a time, it seemed like their set consisted entirely of one huge breakdown, and while this was not really the case, even if it had been, they definitely raised the slam break to the level of a high art. They had a few issues with the bass, but they were mostly corrected before they interrupted the run of the set, and the band succeeded in imposing their will on the crowd regardless. The set felt a little short; the set lengths on this gig were fairly short generally, to pack six bands and four stage changes (Composted and TYAG, for obvious reasons, use all the same gear) into four hours, but a really good set always feels shorter than it is.
At this point I picked up Proteus' CD, and was officially out of useful cash. Another $20, and I could have swung shirts from both them and Composted. I'm not sure whether to blame the need for Epic Leg Armor, or just the fact that I need to eat food, but regardless, it's pretty bogus.
Dysentery [6/7]
Dysentery was also in top form, and more so than when I last saw them, showed off their chops in addition to slam as well as the subtle technical demands that are still present when they're just dug in and blasting. Of course, this may be due to being that much closer to the band, and actually seeing their whole set as much as anything, but their music flowed together smoothly, and as before, also hit like a house to the face. There may not have been as much movement as they might have liked, despite the contributions of the Proteus guys, but a likely explanation is that Will was kind of constrained by having to hold onto the mic and do vocals, and thus couldn't flip out as much for his own band.
Composted [5.5/7]
Those expecting to see the visual spectacle that this band's presented in the past may have been let down; this was Composted Lite, with no costumes or props, probably because 3/4 of the band was going to be spending the next 3 weeks living out of the back of a van as Terminally Your Aborted Ghost. They were also down to a four-piece, with Eliot switching to bass, and this did have a material result, as the sound wasn't as thick or dense as when I saw them at O'Brien's with two guitarists. Even without gimmicks and with a less dense sound, though, Composted did put up a strong set, and quite as funny as expected. There was a little more fan participation in this one than the last time, probably because the stakes were lower and people just had to sit down for the intro rather than risk getting baked goods all over themselves. Unfortunately, my knee didn't bend all the way and I also failed at even sitting down. Fortunately, this was the sole piece of fail manifested during this show.
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost [5.5/7]
The score stuck onto this performance illustrates the problems -- and, actually, a signal critical failing -- of trying to attach an arbitrary number to a holistic experience. I was really impressed by TYAG musically, but their skills and sound couldn't quite erase a bunch of purely incidental stuff that cut into the experience; namely, Mark breaking a string and the room energy (the band less so, even though 75% of them had just done a full set as Composted) slowly running down towards the end. Fortunately, this all is stuff that the band will work out as they get back into touring mode; they'll be more solid as they work with and get used to a regular setlist, and Mark's too much of a pro to regularly go breaking strings, and in most cases, they won't be playing on a Monday night mostly to people in other bands on the gig, and their real abilities will cut through more significantly. On hearing these guys, it's clearly apparent why they've had such a high profile despite an extended period of inactivity; their sound represents a fairly perfect fusion of hardcore, grind, and death metal actually done right, and blending in a bunch of stuff that most bands combining those genre buckets will never think to include. Despite the technical difficulties, this was a really good musical performance, and if you see them on this current run, whether at one of the remaining New England dates, somewhere else in the country, or on the last day of the tour in Yonkers with Vital Remains and Monstrosity, you're quite likely to have an even better time of it.
The music over and the venue nearly empty, I stumped my way back to the T lot to get home, and thankfully avoided further injury en route. Four hours of quality death metal - not at all bad for a Monday night.
Since the show was starting kind of early, I had to go right up from work, and got up to Haverhill about a quarter past six. I figured I'd miss a band or two, which would suck, but as it turned out, the music hadn't started yet, and I was able to wolf down my overpriced ghetto pies outside and get in with time to spare. Eventually, a DIY show will start on time somewhere, but until then, people stuck in traffic can relax a little.
Brutal #2 [5/7]
I hadn't seen this band live previously, but I did remember not being terribly impressed with their demo; this, though, was recorded nearly a year ago, and they've come a long way in the intervening time. They haven't yet set themselves apart as one of the top death metal bands in this area, but as the rest of the bill will show, this is wicked hard considering the depth of the New England scene, and they put on a solid, bruising set regardless. They've got a lot of ability, and the way it's being used has definitely improved since their last recording; whether they continue to push it up, or continue to play good meat-and-potatoes death metal, they'll continue to provide good music and good entertainment regardless.
Archaeon [5/7]
From a certain perspective, Archaeon has more potential than any other band on this bill. Of course, that perspective has to also admit that they were about the rawest band of the night (this being about their third show, if I recall correctly), and to a certain degree it did show in their performance. Less slammy than the surrounding bands, they set forth a strong set of highly insular brutal death metal that unfortunately was marred by a couple hitches where everything wasn't quite together yet. I like their style a little more, in general, than the slam-death offered in the main here, but they also hopefully impressed the other attendees enough with their chops that people will look for them on bills once they've got a little more experience and a little stronger sense of themselves as a band.
It was about here that I did the merch bit; I picked up an Archaeon shirt as well as a tour shirt and a kutte part from TYAG, and talked with Mark a bit; he recognized me from RTTP and OH NOES MAI COVER IS TEH BLOED. :roll: Well enough; it's hard to be anonymous when you're regularly in attendance at gigs where there's often only a handful of people not in one of the bands on the bill. I was also cursing my mostly empty wallet; I wanted to pick up a Composted shirt, but was running out of belt space and, not having seen Proteus before, didn't know what if anything I'd need to drop on them.
Proteus [6/7]
This was a splendidly killer set, with a sound that only TYAG really approached in its absolute diversity; as though Neurosis won a battle with half a dozen slam-death bands and carried away their breakdowns as trophies. At times, when they were locked in and going on for minutes at a time, it seemed like their set consisted entirely of one huge breakdown, and while this was not really the case, even if it had been, they definitely raised the slam break to the level of a high art. They had a few issues with the bass, but they were mostly corrected before they interrupted the run of the set, and the band succeeded in imposing their will on the crowd regardless. The set felt a little short; the set lengths on this gig were fairly short generally, to pack six bands and four stage changes (Composted and TYAG, for obvious reasons, use all the same gear) into four hours, but a really good set always feels shorter than it is.
At this point I picked up Proteus' CD, and was officially out of useful cash. Another $20, and I could have swung shirts from both them and Composted. I'm not sure whether to blame the need for Epic Leg Armor, or just the fact that I need to eat food, but regardless, it's pretty bogus.
Dysentery [6/7]
Dysentery was also in top form, and more so than when I last saw them, showed off their chops in addition to slam as well as the subtle technical demands that are still present when they're just dug in and blasting. Of course, this may be due to being that much closer to the band, and actually seeing their whole set as much as anything, but their music flowed together smoothly, and as before, also hit like a house to the face. There may not have been as much movement as they might have liked, despite the contributions of the Proteus guys, but a likely explanation is that Will was kind of constrained by having to hold onto the mic and do vocals, and thus couldn't flip out as much for his own band.
Composted [5.5/7]
Those expecting to see the visual spectacle that this band's presented in the past may have been let down; this was Composted Lite, with no costumes or props, probably because 3/4 of the band was going to be spending the next 3 weeks living out of the back of a van as Terminally Your Aborted Ghost. They were also down to a four-piece, with Eliot switching to bass, and this did have a material result, as the sound wasn't as thick or dense as when I saw them at O'Brien's with two guitarists. Even without gimmicks and with a less dense sound, though, Composted did put up a strong set, and quite as funny as expected. There was a little more fan participation in this one than the last time, probably because the stakes were lower and people just had to sit down for the intro rather than risk getting baked goods all over themselves. Unfortunately, my knee didn't bend all the way and I also failed at even sitting down. Fortunately, this was the sole piece of fail manifested during this show.
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost [5.5/7]
The score stuck onto this performance illustrates the problems -- and, actually, a signal critical failing -- of trying to attach an arbitrary number to a holistic experience. I was really impressed by TYAG musically, but their skills and sound couldn't quite erase a bunch of purely incidental stuff that cut into the experience; namely, Mark breaking a string and the room energy (the band less so, even though 75% of them had just done a full set as Composted) slowly running down towards the end. Fortunately, this all is stuff that the band will work out as they get back into touring mode; they'll be more solid as they work with and get used to a regular setlist, and Mark's too much of a pro to regularly go breaking strings, and in most cases, they won't be playing on a Monday night mostly to people in other bands on the gig, and their real abilities will cut through more significantly. On hearing these guys, it's clearly apparent why they've had such a high profile despite an extended period of inactivity; their sound represents a fairly perfect fusion of hardcore, grind, and death metal actually done right, and blending in a bunch of stuff that most bands combining those genre buckets will never think to include. Despite the technical difficulties, this was a really good musical performance, and if you see them on this current run, whether at one of the remaining New England dates, somewhere else in the country, or on the last day of the tour in Yonkers with Vital Remains and Monstrosity, you're quite likely to have an even better time of it.
The music over and the venue nearly empty, I stumped my way back to the T lot to get home, and thankfully avoided further injury en route. Four hours of quality death metal - not at all bad for a Monday night.
Friday, April 04, 2008
(Joe Stump) with Gwynbleidd, Dreaded Silence, and Revocation [Ralph's, Worcester, 4/3/2008]
After missing a total of four shows over the previous weekend thanks to a major injury about an hour before Vital Remains' first show of their current tour was due to start, I was anxious to get back into action, and it was thus that I armored up my bad knee for the drive out to Worcester; Metal Thursday is usually a good time, and this was a pretty exceptional lineup. Of course, this was all nearly knocked into a cocked hat when I ran over someone's thrown tread doing 70 while trying to pass a semi on the Mass Pike; said mat of rubber and steel was lying folded up in the middle of the center lane, and bounced like hell as I hit it -- there was no report or jerk from the wheels under me, but when you hit something big as those speeds, assuming that there's no tire damage is kind of stupid. Fortunately, there was a rest stop within a couple miles, and I didn't feel the tires deflating on the way, so I could spend five minutes punching rubber and comparing the left (hit) and right (didn't) sides in a lighted parking lot rather than on the shoulder with occasional traffic screaming past at relatavistic speeds. The verdict was no flats, and I continued on, losing only about 10 minutes and fortunately zero tires.
I didn't get to Ralph's till about 9:30, but didn't end up missing anything; one of Dreaded Silence's guys was late coming down, so the start time got pushed back and Revocation switched slots with them to open. I got a beer, got on the hook for a couple records from Oak Knoll, and picked up Gwynbleidd's CD; I declined a shirt at this point, but picked one up later. If, though, they'd have mentioned anything about sounding more than a little like Primordial up front, I'd've saved time and they'd've got their second ten faster.
Revocation [7/7]
This was debatably the best set that I've seen from these guys, which is really saying something; they were absolutely on top of their game, even when Dave accidentally rocked his cable out of his jack, and the new material -- in addition to the old stuff, even going back to their earliest days as Cryptic Warning (they opened with "Snakestrike" in a new and improved form) -- is absolutely ace. "Age of Iniquity" hit like a ton of bricks, perhaps not least because there's an extended section that really sounds like a reworked Imperium song (I think "Messiah Mask", but I'll have to go back and check), magnified, of course, and refocused into Revocation's existing and evolving style. Empire of the Obscene is really looking like it's going to be one of the better albums of the year, even with Diminishing Between Worlds already in the books. Hopefully, it'll see a decent label release as well as the band's private distribution, but with no signing announcement, either Revocation haven't inked with anyone yet or they're keeping it seriously close to the vest.
Even before Revocation went on, Dan and some of the other guys from Dreaded Silence were grousing a little about having to follow them; not seriously, but still recognizing that it's kind of difficult to get up after these guys and be confident about making an impression. The singer of Gwynbleidd made similar remarks on stage when they came up, and while both subsequent bands definitely put up really good sets, the atmosphere points out something about Revocation that is probably a strong contributing element to their success: even though they're often so good as to seriously intimidate other bands, they're by and large ego-free about where and when they play in the setlist, and have not, as far as I can recall (or can know, not being directly involved in booking anything), ever pushed to go on later when taking an earlier slot would help another band. This generosity may, of course, be made possible by being so intimidatingly good -- even if Revocation played at 4pm on the second stage at Mark's (provided, of course, that the entire band huffed a vanfull of crazy-stupid gas and somehow ended up on a Mark's bill), they'd make enough of an impression that people'd be jawing about them well into the touring portion of the bill -- but being sozial is something that other bands remember, and in some if perhaps slight degree helps them get shows.
Dreaded Silence [5.5/7]
lol Dreaded Silence moar liek Dreaded Sentenced amirite lol
Ok, now that that is out of the system, on to the more serious comments. While this was the most Sentenced-like performance I've seen out of the band (in the prior two shows, they displayed a little more range of Scandinavian influences), it was also the best, so far, and their ability to capture the Amok sound and do something that stands on its own (as their material does) as well as drawing from the past is in itself impressive. They started out a little rough, but quickly hit their stride, and delivered a really good set that would have been a standout most other nights; fortunately, the Metal Thursday crowd is pretty much uniformly able to recognize that one band being ridiculous has no effect on other bands being really good.
When DS closed up, it was pushing on towards midnight, and my ability to keep standing throughout was starting to wane. Even with the brace, that knee was still damaged, and standing even remotely near the front while Chris (Zircon and also organizer) and Crazy Dan were flying around all over the place was a little risky. Topped with exhaustion and how late things were going to have to go if I stayed to the end, it was at about this point that I started to think about pulling before the headliner.
Gwynbleidd [6.5/7]
If you missed this band's set and spent any portion of last night whining about how all American bands are the same, and how it sucks that bands like Primordial don't tour here barely ever, you need to punch yourself in the face repeatedly. First, because you're a wanker who didn't go out to support a good show, and second, because in not supporting this show, you missed a killer set from about as close a band to Primordial as we have in this country. Gwynbleidd's sound draws on other elements as well (some nice chunks of Katatonia and Daylight Dies interwoven to good effect), and the result is thoroughly their own, but the base of their sound is the same Gaelic black metal as inspires Alan and the bhoys. The doomy, folkic, aggression was much welcomed as the clock slopped around past midnight and fatigue and drunkenness started to get the upper hand over adrenaline, but the crowd -- at least those who remained up front, not intimidated by the basically uncontained pit. This was an excellent performance, with enough material not on Amaranthine to make those who have this record very enthusiastic about the prospect of another EP or album down the line -- and those who didn't turn out ought to be disappointed in themselves for missing it. I'm bummed enough that I missed them the last time around (in September), but I think I was in Texas at the time and couldn't do much about it.
When I got my shirt off them afterwards, I stopped to talk a bit, but somehow forgot to mention Rohirrim, who would complement these guys really well on a bill like this, but who due to the provenance of their origin, always seem to be stuck out of place on grind shows. It's a match that ought to happen eventually, but it's more of a promoter's lookout to get such bands together than mine or theirs.
Shirt in hand and wallet more or less empty, I checked myself over: past 00:30, knee wavering, and an hour and a half plus fill-up time remaining to get home -- and an actual commute in the morning to not kill myself driving. Regretfully, I hit the stairs; no Joe Stump tonight, but while I was impressed with his virtuosity the last time out, the degree of variety in his stuff left something to be desired, and if I had to pick out one of these bands to miss, his would probably have been the one anyways. I felt like crud bailing before the end, but it's better than ending up in bloody chunks on the road this morning, and given that my knee's nowhere near completely healed, three bands out in Worcester is a fair challenge of its own. The Symphony X show tonight is looking sold out, so it's a nice relaxing weekend of resting up and potentially camping -- and then pure chaos Monday night in Haverhill as what seems like every slam band in New England gets together to chuck Terminally Your Aborted Ghost out onto the road for their reunion tour.
I didn't get to Ralph's till about 9:30, but didn't end up missing anything; one of Dreaded Silence's guys was late coming down, so the start time got pushed back and Revocation switched slots with them to open. I got a beer, got on the hook for a couple records from Oak Knoll, and picked up Gwynbleidd's CD; I declined a shirt at this point, but picked one up later. If, though, they'd have mentioned anything about sounding more than a little like Primordial up front, I'd've saved time and they'd've got their second ten faster.
Revocation [7/7]
This was debatably the best set that I've seen from these guys, which is really saying something; they were absolutely on top of their game, even when Dave accidentally rocked his cable out of his jack, and the new material -- in addition to the old stuff, even going back to their earliest days as Cryptic Warning (they opened with "Snakestrike" in a new and improved form) -- is absolutely ace. "Age of Iniquity" hit like a ton of bricks, perhaps not least because there's an extended section that really sounds like a reworked Imperium song (I think "Messiah Mask", but I'll have to go back and check), magnified, of course, and refocused into Revocation's existing and evolving style. Empire of the Obscene is really looking like it's going to be one of the better albums of the year, even with Diminishing Between Worlds already in the books. Hopefully, it'll see a decent label release as well as the band's private distribution, but with no signing announcement, either Revocation haven't inked with anyone yet or they're keeping it seriously close to the vest.
Even before Revocation went on, Dan and some of the other guys from Dreaded Silence were grousing a little about having to follow them; not seriously, but still recognizing that it's kind of difficult to get up after these guys and be confident about making an impression. The singer of Gwynbleidd made similar remarks on stage when they came up, and while both subsequent bands definitely put up really good sets, the atmosphere points out something about Revocation that is probably a strong contributing element to their success: even though they're often so good as to seriously intimidate other bands, they're by and large ego-free about where and when they play in the setlist, and have not, as far as I can recall (or can know, not being directly involved in booking anything), ever pushed to go on later when taking an earlier slot would help another band. This generosity may, of course, be made possible by being so intimidatingly good -- even if Revocation played at 4pm on the second stage at Mark's (provided, of course, that the entire band huffed a vanfull of crazy-stupid gas and somehow ended up on a Mark's bill), they'd make enough of an impression that people'd be jawing about them well into the touring portion of the bill -- but being sozial is something that other bands remember, and in some if perhaps slight degree helps them get shows.
Dreaded Silence [5.5/7]
lol Dreaded Silence moar liek Dreaded Sentenced amirite lol
Ok, now that that is out of the system, on to the more serious comments. While this was the most Sentenced-like performance I've seen out of the band (in the prior two shows, they displayed a little more range of Scandinavian influences), it was also the best, so far, and their ability to capture the Amok sound and do something that stands on its own (as their material does) as well as drawing from the past is in itself impressive. They started out a little rough, but quickly hit their stride, and delivered a really good set that would have been a standout most other nights; fortunately, the Metal Thursday crowd is pretty much uniformly able to recognize that one band being ridiculous has no effect on other bands being really good.
When DS closed up, it was pushing on towards midnight, and my ability to keep standing throughout was starting to wane. Even with the brace, that knee was still damaged, and standing even remotely near the front while Chris (Zircon and also organizer) and Crazy Dan were flying around all over the place was a little risky. Topped with exhaustion and how late things were going to have to go if I stayed to the end, it was at about this point that I started to think about pulling before the headliner.
Gwynbleidd [6.5/7]
If you missed this band's set and spent any portion of last night whining about how all American bands are the same, and how it sucks that bands like Primordial don't tour here barely ever, you need to punch yourself in the face repeatedly. First, because you're a wanker who didn't go out to support a good show, and second, because in not supporting this show, you missed a killer set from about as close a band to Primordial as we have in this country. Gwynbleidd's sound draws on other elements as well (some nice chunks of Katatonia and Daylight Dies interwoven to good effect), and the result is thoroughly their own, but the base of their sound is the same Gaelic black metal as inspires Alan and the bhoys. The doomy, folkic, aggression was much welcomed as the clock slopped around past midnight and fatigue and drunkenness started to get the upper hand over adrenaline, but the crowd -- at least those who remained up front, not intimidated by the basically uncontained pit. This was an excellent performance, with enough material not on Amaranthine to make those who have this record very enthusiastic about the prospect of another EP or album down the line -- and those who didn't turn out ought to be disappointed in themselves for missing it. I'm bummed enough that I missed them the last time around (in September), but I think I was in Texas at the time and couldn't do much about it.
When I got my shirt off them afterwards, I stopped to talk a bit, but somehow forgot to mention Rohirrim, who would complement these guys really well on a bill like this, but who due to the provenance of their origin, always seem to be stuck out of place on grind shows. It's a match that ought to happen eventually, but it's more of a promoter's lookout to get such bands together than mine or theirs.
Shirt in hand and wallet more or less empty, I checked myself over: past 00:30, knee wavering, and an hour and a half plus fill-up time remaining to get home -- and an actual commute in the morning to not kill myself driving. Regretfully, I hit the stairs; no Joe Stump tonight, but while I was impressed with his virtuosity the last time out, the degree of variety in his stuff left something to be desired, and if I had to pick out one of these bands to miss, his would probably have been the one anyways. I felt like crud bailing before the end, but it's better than ending up in bloody chunks on the road this morning, and given that my knee's nowhere near completely healed, three bands out in Worcester is a fair challenge of its own. The Symphony X show tonight is looking sold out, so it's a nice relaxing weekend of resting up and potentially camping -- and then pure chaos Monday night in Haverhill as what seems like every slam band in New England gets together to chuck Terminally Your Aborted Ghost out onto the road for their reunion tour.
Friday, March 28, 2008
a crap cascade
In the last 15 hours, three bad things happened. In order:
1. I majorly fucked up my left knee at soccer, meaning that I basically couldn't walk and thus
2. I missed Vital Remains and Monstrosity last night, and will in all likelihood have to give Napalm Death a pass tonight. Not cool.
3. I find out that Avenged Sevenfold is playing at Wacken this year. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL.
Look at this:
As I Lay Dying
Avenged Sevenfold
Job For A Cowboy
Killswitch Engage
Soilwork
Unearth
Doesn't this look like a garbage metalcore fest? Of course, all the good bands mentioned earlier are still playing, but as a metal purist I hate to see these bands on the marquee at Wacken (even though Soilwork did some good stuff before about 5 years ago, and I can actually stand Killswitch). On the other hand, the more lame mainstream bands are added, the greater the chance that I won't miss anyone I actually want to see in order to catch the underground portion of the bill.
I have no idea what to expect this year, and no idea what the 20th iteration of the fest will present next year. It's getting freaking surreal.
1. I majorly fucked up my left knee at soccer, meaning that I basically couldn't walk and thus
2. I missed Vital Remains and Monstrosity last night, and will in all likelihood have to give Napalm Death a pass tonight. Not cool.
3. I find out that Avenged Sevenfold is playing at Wacken this year. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL.
Look at this:
As I Lay Dying
Avenged Sevenfold
Job For A Cowboy
Killswitch Engage
Soilwork
Unearth
Doesn't this look like a garbage metalcore fest? Of course, all the good bands mentioned earlier are still playing, but as a metal purist I hate to see these bands on the marquee at Wacken (even though Soilwork did some good stuff before about 5 years ago, and I can actually stand Killswitch). On the other hand, the more lame mainstream bands are added, the greater the chance that I won't miss anyone I actually want to see in order to catch the underground portion of the bill.
I have no idea what to expect this year, and no idea what the 20th iteration of the fest will present next year. It's getting freaking surreal.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
the cat escapes the bag in Allston Rock City
I'd held off on writing this particular show review for a while, because the subject matter is of debatable metal content, and I was holding back in the interest of the band's desire to sit on the fence between the metal and not-metal worlds. My brother's fiancee thinks they sound like Dashboard Confessional, but those sworn to the black would run out of fingers counting up their Opeth parts, heavy sections as well as those Akerfelt signatures to their acoustic work. They can be all things to all people, and in their ability to do so, they deserve a long degree of crossover success; bearing Katatonia and their jobbing by the music world in mind, this is less likely if people realize that they've got metal roots, and that a nontrivial chunk of their vitality is based on the fact that blood will tell.
However, all sense of subtlety and under-the-radar intrusion goes out the window when you have the band headbanging and thrashing on stage, the bassist forsaking crooning for hardcore barks, and among the past and current metalheads rocking out down front, some dude in a Manowar kutte, and not just a kutte built around a Manowar backpatch, but a kutte whose sole source of patches is the Kings of Metal. Autumn Above is not a metal band, but they are definitely not not a metal band either, and it is highly incumbent on them to get a promo disc together in time for Dream Theater's coming tour, where spamming the audience gets them into the ears of fans of Between The Buried And Me, 3, Opeth, and Porcupine Tree, which is about their natural metier....it's just unfortunate that they're about the only band of this type in eastern New England and have difficulty getting pure prog shows. If it was all on pure music, they could play with Ehnahre and Lord Bacon, but people mainly go to shows because they like the sound, not for abstract contemplation.
Autumn Above
Harper's Ferry, Allston [3/19/2008]
--
Even with many New England schools on spring break, a Wednesday show out of market is a difficult sell -- especially a solo show like this one, in a hall that was debatably a little large. Still, Autumn Above managed, by the end to get their door quota, and they also presented a pretty awesome set that had a lot of attractions for both the metal- and non-metal-listening segments of their audience.
On this go-round, it was only raining, not snowing, and I had both my brothers en suite, though James left ahead of us due to his friends not knowing how long it takes to get places in Boston. Mark and I left at a more normal time, got to the venue shortly after doors, and because this was a solo show had plenty of time to move my car somewhere it wouldn't get towed -- valuable info for future O'Brien's and Great Scott shows, so that I only have to walk two blocks, not two miles -- and drink some beers with the rest of the gang before the band went on. Harper's Ferry is a pretty big club, but through the delay before they went on, more people filtered in to at least give the impression that it was getting full. (Church would probably be a better fit at this point, between room size and promoters' pulling power, but this place has a little more name recognition.)
Autumn Above [7/7]
When the band did get going, it was definitely worth it, especially as they rolled on for a good long set and were well-served by the excellent PA. This was the second show I've seen the band standing on, and they were much improved in this outing as regards staying on pitch despite the increased energy that comes with moving around. Ryan's formative ideas about taking more vocals off Jim and giving him more of the solos and leads still make sense, but the band continues to show improvement across the board as they tweak and tune their material. They did all of the songs off of To The Inferno (as it exists now), plus the now-requisite Opeth breaks, a couple covers ("No Excuses", "1979", and "Ramble On", which should reinforce that not-metal-and-not-not-metal trope alluded to above), and two new songs, "Heaven Without", which has been recorded, and another new one that hasn't been released yet. The execution of this material, even more, though, was top-class, and even if the audience hadn't been liberally salted with people who've known the band members for extended periods of time, the applause would likely have been just as long and loud and enthusiastic. Autumn Above is a really good band; it's just problematic that they don't really fit in any existing genre, and that they showed a performance this good at a solo gig on a Wednesday night, rather than on someone else's bill on a weekend where they'd be more able to get more new ears interested.
It's at times like this that I really feel how lucky the metal underground has it; if you're willing to accept the drawbacks of heavy music (i.e., nobody listens to you and you make no money), your growth path is basically assured around here: there are regular venues for metal gigs, small labels are always looking for new talent to put out albums and van-based DIY tours around, national labels look to the smaller ones to do their A&R discovery for free, and if it wasn't economical to open for larger tours, and have this whole huge summer megatour economy, it wouldn't be happening. What the fuck do more mainstream bands do to have a similar trajectory? As far as I can remember from the radio station, they put out a bunch of 7"s that nobody buys, then do two albums on Matador, maybe a tour, and break up and go to law school. That ain't me, and hopefully it ain't Autumn Above either, and they find their way onto some decent prog package and get the fans they deserve.
In more strongly metal-related news, my brother's getting married on NEDF weekend. This is good because he's not doing it while I'm at Wacken, and also because he and his fiancee are a really good match, so the likelihood of him getting married against some other future show is pretty small. It's bad because I'm probably not going to be able to go to said fest, or if so only on Sunday, but this saves me money on gas, hotels, beer, and admission that I can roll towards more Wacken enjoyment or, more likely, a stupid number of patches and cult recordings from Hell's Headbangers. Of course, I ought to apply the patches that I have left to some kutte or other first, but there's enough Internet Not Working time in the immediate future that this shouldn't be an issue.
However, all sense of subtlety and under-the-radar intrusion goes out the window when you have the band headbanging and thrashing on stage, the bassist forsaking crooning for hardcore barks, and among the past and current metalheads rocking out down front, some dude in a Manowar kutte, and not just a kutte built around a Manowar backpatch, but a kutte whose sole source of patches is the Kings of Metal. Autumn Above is not a metal band, but they are definitely not not a metal band either, and it is highly incumbent on them to get a promo disc together in time for Dream Theater's coming tour, where spamming the audience gets them into the ears of fans of Between The Buried And Me, 3, Opeth, and Porcupine Tree, which is about their natural metier....it's just unfortunate that they're about the only band of this type in eastern New England and have difficulty getting pure prog shows. If it was all on pure music, they could play with Ehnahre and Lord Bacon, but people mainly go to shows because they like the sound, not for abstract contemplation.
Autumn Above
Harper's Ferry, Allston [3/19/2008]
--
Even with many New England schools on spring break, a Wednesday show out of market is a difficult sell -- especially a solo show like this one, in a hall that was debatably a little large. Still, Autumn Above managed, by the end to get their door quota, and they also presented a pretty awesome set that had a lot of attractions for both the metal- and non-metal-listening segments of their audience.
On this go-round, it was only raining, not snowing, and I had both my brothers en suite, though James left ahead of us due to his friends not knowing how long it takes to get places in Boston. Mark and I left at a more normal time, got to the venue shortly after doors, and because this was a solo show had plenty of time to move my car somewhere it wouldn't get towed -- valuable info for future O'Brien's and Great Scott shows, so that I only have to walk two blocks, not two miles -- and drink some beers with the rest of the gang before the band went on. Harper's Ferry is a pretty big club, but through the delay before they went on, more people filtered in to at least give the impression that it was getting full. (Church would probably be a better fit at this point, between room size and promoters' pulling power, but this place has a little more name recognition.)
Autumn Above [7/7]
When the band did get going, it was definitely worth it, especially as they rolled on for a good long set and were well-served by the excellent PA. This was the second show I've seen the band standing on, and they were much improved in this outing as regards staying on pitch despite the increased energy that comes with moving around. Ryan's formative ideas about taking more vocals off Jim and giving him more of the solos and leads still make sense, but the band continues to show improvement across the board as they tweak and tune their material. They did all of the songs off of To The Inferno (as it exists now), plus the now-requisite Opeth breaks, a couple covers ("No Excuses", "1979", and "Ramble On", which should reinforce that not-metal-and-not-not-metal trope alluded to above), and two new songs, "Heaven Without", which has been recorded, and another new one that hasn't been released yet. The execution of this material, even more, though, was top-class, and even if the audience hadn't been liberally salted with people who've known the band members for extended periods of time, the applause would likely have been just as long and loud and enthusiastic. Autumn Above is a really good band; it's just problematic that they don't really fit in any existing genre, and that they showed a performance this good at a solo gig on a Wednesday night, rather than on someone else's bill on a weekend where they'd be more able to get more new ears interested.
It's at times like this that I really feel how lucky the metal underground has it; if you're willing to accept the drawbacks of heavy music (i.e., nobody listens to you and you make no money), your growth path is basically assured around here: there are regular venues for metal gigs, small labels are always looking for new talent to put out albums and van-based DIY tours around, national labels look to the smaller ones to do their A&R discovery for free, and if it wasn't economical to open for larger tours, and have this whole huge summer megatour economy, it wouldn't be happening. What the fuck do more mainstream bands do to have a similar trajectory? As far as I can remember from the radio station, they put out a bunch of 7"s that nobody buys, then do two albums on Matador, maybe a tour, and break up and go to law school. That ain't me, and hopefully it ain't Autumn Above either, and they find their way onto some decent prog package and get the fans they deserve.
In more strongly metal-related news, my brother's getting married on NEDF weekend. This is good because he's not doing it while I'm at Wacken, and also because he and his fiancee are a really good match, so the likelihood of him getting married against some other future show is pretty small. It's bad because I'm probably not going to be able to go to said fest, or if so only on Sunday, but this saves me money on gas, hotels, beer, and admission that I can roll towards more Wacken enjoyment or, more likely, a stupid number of patches and cult recordings from Hell's Headbangers. Of course, I ought to apply the patches that I have left to some kutte or other first, but there's enough Internet Not Working time in the immediate future that this shouldn't be an issue.
Friday, March 14, 2008
a late show review and some bad news for procrasinators
Later on in this post, some content about the recent Embryonic Devourment gig at O'Brien's, but first, a brief comment: as predicted back last year, W:O:A '08 has officially sold out. This sucks for everyone who doesn't have a ticket but was thinking of going, but it's good news for me: my ticket's value will sharply appreciate, maybe even faster than it had been earning so far -- according to exchange rates, I've "made" about $15, or a little less than 10%, by buying when I did based purely on its face value in euros versus the dollar.
It remains to be seen how many Wacken tickets were bought en bloc by Americans looking to speculate in the foreign exchange market, but it will probably be a low number, because even though this was about the soundest investment you could make -- the value of the dollar was virtually guaranteed to continue to drop, and the festival, especially this year, was basically guaranteed to sell out -- it still sounds really stupid.
Sexcrement with Embryonic Devourment, Dismal Lapse, and Composted
O'Brien's, Allston, 3/12/2008
--
It had been, at this point, a long fucking time since I'd been to a show, and I was feeling somewhat down due to various personal issues, and significantly because I'd missed Goreality at Metal Thursday the week before, as well as the sole installment of the Benefit For The Advancement of Dudes that I've been in town for on the weekend. It was well and truly time for some death metal; no qualifiers, no ancilliary crap, no bullshit. Just brutal music, sick topics, and large people in black shirts hitting one another. There's a purity in it, but that's a digression for another article; writing show reviews on their own is pretentious enough in assuming I actually have something to say.
I stumped the two miles in from my regular car depot in good time, and managed to get a beer before Composted started. More than anything I was surprised by the turnout: this was a Wednesday night gig featuring some relentlessly straight-up brutal death metal, but the place was packed, maybe in the neighborhood of a hundred. It was quite certainly the largest bunch of people that I've ever seen in O'Brien's, and a definite contender for the most people I've yet seen at a DIY show. What's more, most of them stuck around all the way through, so it wasn't just Composted's non-musical elements that brought them in...or if it was, their musical elements definitely pulled them in after the hook was struck.
Composted [6/7]
Short descriptions of this band have been fairly succinct, if non-musical: "GWAR for /b/tards", "retards", etc. To a certain degree, this is fair; they wear silly costumes, engage in performance art, and their drummer has a Pedobear suit on order. However, like GWAR, they also have an immense amount of musical ability: the pedigree of this band includes (among others) Terminally Your Aborted Ghost, The Body Farm, Bane of Existence, and just about every powerviolence band that has ever formed in the Boston area. (Even if Rich is mostly there to do demonstrative eating, he still does do backing vocals, and also presumably influences their direction.) Said direction is a combination of a lot of slammy threads, and at least at this show, it produced a killer final result; if you took off the duck masks and took away the baked goods, Composted would still be a kickass band. However, they'd be less visually interesting and a lot less likely to weird out touring bands -- this was the first gig that they've done with significant out-of-New-England participation in the lineup, if I recall correctly, and the Californians were at least at first a little confused as to how and why this band was playing killer slam-death and simultaneously smashing cupcakes on their faces.
Dismal Lapse [5.5/7]
The first of these bands with the unenviable task of "follow a local supergroup that wears costumes and does antics" was this three-piece, who had a few equipment issues but still delivered a really good set of technical death metal. Dismal Lapse started out a little flat, but they improved over the course of the set despite (allegedly) the guitarist's head dying on him about midway through. They weren't quite as brutal, maybe, as some of the other bands, and they were a little frustrated with the crowd not moving for them, but they put out a quality death metal set, and I was more than a little bummed that I wasn't able to purchase any recordings off them (Deepsend Records will have an EP from them in the near future - put it on your list, definitely at least to DL if the band isn't coming to your area for you to check them out live), though their tour shirt was still pretty damn cool.
Note for those who are somehow both plugged into this scene and behind on current happenings: Dismal Lapse used to be called Bled, but had to change their name due to legal pressure from what the band referred to as "a bunch of emo queers". I'll take the band at face value, because in every other aspect of their performance and attendance they appeared to be stand-up dudes, but there are still some points of suspicion: first, Dismal Lapse is a better name than Bled, even if their Bled logo did look really cool, and more importantly, second, "Bled" is short by like eight words of typical emo band names. Maybe it's different in California, but here in New England you usually see emo/screamo douches Our Band's Name Is Actually A Complete Sentence opening up for stereotypical metalcore combo Three Word Name....and then someone swings from the drop ceiling rails and the police show up and close the venue.
Embryonic Devourment [6.5/7]
Insidious Decrepancy dropped off this tour for personal reasons, leaving this outfit as the last touring band of the night -- the "keep Allston hipsters around for the nationals" rule seems to have stayed in effect from the last time I was down at this place, though "Allston hipsters" may have a different definition when it's Sexcrement closing up -- and those who were staying around mainly to see their friends in the last band definitely got a prime earful of kickass death metal out of it. While not as slammy as the New England bands, ED definitely took the brutality up a notch, and interstingly worked in fairly seamless transitions of spoken-word verse between songs; hella different, but still a killer overall effect, especially considering how good the music was surrounding it. There wasn't a lot of crowd motion for them, either, but by this time, it looked like the nationals had the measure of the audience, and since there was a lot of cheering and other general approbation, they didn't seem to mind so much. Their merch was done up at a high level, really good production values for a tour hitting mostly or totally DIY venues, and it was also justified in that a lot of people did spring for it; mine's about the best shirt I've picked up this year, in terms of total design and execution. The conclusion is that the band knew their music would bring a lot of people over to the merch stand rather than the bar, and it made sense to do thoroughly kickass design and presentation to close the deal on that volume of sales.
Sexcrement [6/7]
As per last time I saw these guys here, the pit went apeshit for them; even though I moved back some in preparation for their set, I was still catching and tossing people most of the way through, as well as sweeeping up shards so that those who fell down wouldn't be diving onto a bunch of broken glass. Normally, the micro-shelves around the pillars in the middle of the floor at O'Brien's are perfectly functional for holding drinks, and if everyone had just been slugging back PBRs, there wouldn't've been a problem, but glass bottles, pint glasses, and vigorous moshing do not mix well. There was a fair amount of breakage, but we had it under control. The band also kept it fairly under control: the music was cool, if not quite at the same level as last time, and Adam, despite the audience plying him with at least two tequila shots and a couple beer cans -- on top of what he may have had before the band started -- managed to keep his dick in his pants. Their set was a little short, or at least, so it seemed, but didn't lack for activity, interest, or quality death metal, to say nothing of progressively more incoherent stage banter. I was planning to pick up one of their "Music You Fuck To" shirts, but was unfortunately out of money at this point: supporting the touring bands, plus picking up an obligato Broken Hope record and some other stuff, had chunked up nearly all of my wallet contents that weren't committed to paying the garage fee and purchasing food for the rest of the week. I'll see them again, though; maybe not next week, as I can't do the next-day-off thing needed for a proper show in Providence due to jury duty later in the week, but some other time, as a band this good and well-supported doesn't usually just strike the tents and give up.
The trip back wasn't that difficult, either on foot or by highway, despite exhaustion and nearly 2 liters of rotten beer, but it hit hard afterwards; hence this thing is late. Next show is probably going to be Autumn Above (likely not reviewed), then Metal Thursday with a bunch of doom bands...and then Metal Spring Break looms large in the following weekend.
It remains to be seen how many Wacken tickets were bought en bloc by Americans looking to speculate in the foreign exchange market, but it will probably be a low number, because even though this was about the soundest investment you could make -- the value of the dollar was virtually guaranteed to continue to drop, and the festival, especially this year, was basically guaranteed to sell out -- it still sounds really stupid.
Sexcrement with Embryonic Devourment, Dismal Lapse, and Composted
O'Brien's, Allston, 3/12/2008
--
It had been, at this point, a long fucking time since I'd been to a show, and I was feeling somewhat down due to various personal issues, and significantly because I'd missed Goreality at Metal Thursday the week before, as well as the sole installment of the Benefit For The Advancement of Dudes that I've been in town for on the weekend. It was well and truly time for some death metal; no qualifiers, no ancilliary crap, no bullshit. Just brutal music, sick topics, and large people in black shirts hitting one another. There's a purity in it, but that's a digression for another article; writing show reviews on their own is pretentious enough in assuming I actually have something to say.
I stumped the two miles in from my regular car depot in good time, and managed to get a beer before Composted started. More than anything I was surprised by the turnout: this was a Wednesday night gig featuring some relentlessly straight-up brutal death metal, but the place was packed, maybe in the neighborhood of a hundred. It was quite certainly the largest bunch of people that I've ever seen in O'Brien's, and a definite contender for the most people I've yet seen at a DIY show. What's more, most of them stuck around all the way through, so it wasn't just Composted's non-musical elements that brought them in...or if it was, their musical elements definitely pulled them in after the hook was struck.
Composted [6/7]
Short descriptions of this band have been fairly succinct, if non-musical: "GWAR for /b/tards", "retards", etc. To a certain degree, this is fair; they wear silly costumes, engage in performance art, and their drummer has a Pedobear suit on order. However, like GWAR, they also have an immense amount of musical ability: the pedigree of this band includes (among others) Terminally Your Aborted Ghost, The Body Farm, Bane of Existence, and just about every powerviolence band that has ever formed in the Boston area. (Even if Rich is mostly there to do demonstrative eating, he still does do backing vocals, and also presumably influences their direction.) Said direction is a combination of a lot of slammy threads, and at least at this show, it produced a killer final result; if you took off the duck masks and took away the baked goods, Composted would still be a kickass band. However, they'd be less visually interesting and a lot less likely to weird out touring bands -- this was the first gig that they've done with significant out-of-New-England participation in the lineup, if I recall correctly, and the Californians were at least at first a little confused as to how and why this band was playing killer slam-death and simultaneously smashing cupcakes on their faces.
Dismal Lapse [5.5/7]
The first of these bands with the unenviable task of "follow a local supergroup that wears costumes and does antics" was this three-piece, who had a few equipment issues but still delivered a really good set of technical death metal. Dismal Lapse started out a little flat, but they improved over the course of the set despite (allegedly) the guitarist's head dying on him about midway through. They weren't quite as brutal, maybe, as some of the other bands, and they were a little frustrated with the crowd not moving for them, but they put out a quality death metal set, and I was more than a little bummed that I wasn't able to purchase any recordings off them (Deepsend Records will have an EP from them in the near future - put it on your list, definitely at least to DL if the band isn't coming to your area for you to check them out live), though their tour shirt was still pretty damn cool.
Note for those who are somehow both plugged into this scene and behind on current happenings: Dismal Lapse used to be called Bled, but had to change their name due to legal pressure from what the band referred to as "a bunch of emo queers". I'll take the band at face value, because in every other aspect of their performance and attendance they appeared to be stand-up dudes, but there are still some points of suspicion: first, Dismal Lapse is a better name than Bled, even if their Bled logo did look really cool, and more importantly, second, "Bled" is short by like eight words of typical emo band names. Maybe it's different in California, but here in New England you usually see emo/screamo douches Our Band's Name Is Actually A Complete Sentence opening up for stereotypical metalcore combo Three Word Name....and then someone swings from the drop ceiling rails and the police show up and close the venue.
Embryonic Devourment [6.5/7]
Insidious Decrepancy dropped off this tour for personal reasons, leaving this outfit as the last touring band of the night -- the "keep Allston hipsters around for the nationals" rule seems to have stayed in effect from the last time I was down at this place, though "Allston hipsters" may have a different definition when it's Sexcrement closing up -- and those who were staying around mainly to see their friends in the last band definitely got a prime earful of kickass death metal out of it. While not as slammy as the New England bands, ED definitely took the brutality up a notch, and interstingly worked in fairly seamless transitions of spoken-word verse between songs; hella different, but still a killer overall effect, especially considering how good the music was surrounding it. There wasn't a lot of crowd motion for them, either, but by this time, it looked like the nationals had the measure of the audience, and since there was a lot of cheering and other general approbation, they didn't seem to mind so much. Their merch was done up at a high level, really good production values for a tour hitting mostly or totally DIY venues, and it was also justified in that a lot of people did spring for it; mine's about the best shirt I've picked up this year, in terms of total design and execution. The conclusion is that the band knew their music would bring a lot of people over to the merch stand rather than the bar, and it made sense to do thoroughly kickass design and presentation to close the deal on that volume of sales.
Sexcrement [6/7]
As per last time I saw these guys here, the pit went apeshit for them; even though I moved back some in preparation for their set, I was still catching and tossing people most of the way through, as well as sweeeping up shards so that those who fell down wouldn't be diving onto a bunch of broken glass. Normally, the micro-shelves around the pillars in the middle of the floor at O'Brien's are perfectly functional for holding drinks, and if everyone had just been slugging back PBRs, there wouldn't've been a problem, but glass bottles, pint glasses, and vigorous moshing do not mix well. There was a fair amount of breakage, but we had it under control. The band also kept it fairly under control: the music was cool, if not quite at the same level as last time, and Adam, despite the audience plying him with at least two tequila shots and a couple beer cans -- on top of what he may have had before the band started -- managed to keep his dick in his pants. Their set was a little short, or at least, so it seemed, but didn't lack for activity, interest, or quality death metal, to say nothing of progressively more incoherent stage banter. I was planning to pick up one of their "Music You Fuck To" shirts, but was unfortunately out of money at this point: supporting the touring bands, plus picking up an obligato Broken Hope record and some other stuff, had chunked up nearly all of my wallet contents that weren't committed to paying the garage fee and purchasing food for the rest of the week. I'll see them again, though; maybe not next week, as I can't do the next-day-off thing needed for a proper show in Providence due to jury duty later in the week, but some other time, as a band this good and well-supported doesn't usually just strike the tents and give up.
The trip back wasn't that difficult, either on foot or by highway, despite exhaustion and nearly 2 liters of rotten beer, but it hit hard afterwards; hence this thing is late. Next show is probably going to be Autumn Above (likely not reviewed), then Metal Thursday with a bunch of doom bands...and then Metal Spring Break looms large in the following weekend.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Negura Bunget (edit: and Cynic) confirmed for Wacken
Yes, you read that right. My eyes nearly jumped out of my head as a result, but this is yet another reason not to miss this year's iteration; even with Kreator, Iron Maiden, Primordial, Carcass, At The Gates, Watain, and a ton of other bands who would be headline-worthy if not for this crop, it was treading near, but this fest is now definitely into quit-your-job-if-they-won't-give-you-leave territory. I've got faith in my employer that it won't come to that, but if it does, much like '05 when I was actually in Germany already and not about to miss Dissection, Kreator, Primordial, and Sentenced, I'll be able to pull the trigger without hesitation.
The cult three (NB, Primordial, and Watain) are all likely to be on the tent stage, but if they're booked against Kreator (likely culprit) or ATG or Carcass, someone is going to get hurt. Hopefully, though, the orgas will be smart and line them up against Unearth and/or Job For A Cowboy, so that such bands can be safely avoided.
Next show is tomorrow at Dodge Street with Cocaine Tongue and MPD if the weather cooperates, and then there's a lot of shows through the rest of March, including a four-day Metal Spring Break stretch at the end of the month. 5 months till W:O:A.....
update: Cynic is now confirmed, and it's the "real" one, not the NWOBHM band that caused a bit of a kickup a few weeks back. Personally, I'd dig seeing this lineup with both Cynic and Cynic (UK) on the bill, just to confuse people. The billing is now crawl-there-if-you-have-to good, and I am damn glad that my ticket is already in my possession.
The cult three (NB, Primordial, and Watain) are all likely to be on the tent stage, but if they're booked against Kreator (likely culprit) or ATG or Carcass, someone is going to get hurt. Hopefully, though, the orgas will be smart and line them up against Unearth and/or Job For A Cowboy, so that such bands can be safely avoided.
Next show is tomorrow at Dodge Street with Cocaine Tongue and MPD if the weather cooperates, and then there's a lot of shows through the rest of March, including a four-day Metal Spring Break stretch at the end of the month. 5 months till W:O:A.....
update: Cynic is now confirmed, and it's the "real" one, not the NWOBHM band that caused a bit of a kickup a few weeks back. Personally, I'd dig seeing this lineup with both Cynic and Cynic (UK) on the bill, just to confuse people. The billing is now crawl-there-if-you-have-to good, and I am damn glad that my ticket is already in my possession.
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.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
The Black Dahlia Murder with 3 Inches of Blood, Hate Eternal, and Decrepit Birth [Worcester Palladium, 1/19/2008]
When I got in to the venue, there was something or other going on at the DCU center, and parking was hard to come by; I parked in the usual lot, but it took two passes through the lot to find somewhere that wasn't occupied. The only comfort in it was that this looked like a kid-type event, and would thus be over when the show got out.
Inside, the merch stand was six rows deep and the bar was empty. I shook my head at the Kindermenge, got a beer, and headed down for the front; my primary interest at this one was in the first two bands, and if the people who are concentrating on the headliner are standing in line waiting to buy gear, they're not camping the front row. I did get up pretty close, about where I usually end up when I decide to go down front at Palladium gigs.
Decrepit Birth [6/7]
There was a bit of a wait before the band went on, but when they finally came out, it was well worth the wait. The sound board didn't handle the new material optimally, but given how badly opening bands have been jobbed at this venue in the past, it wasn't all that bad. While their older Suffocation-styled stuff is really strong, the performance of the new stuff is what really sets them apart, and the execution here was excellent. A few places might have been a little tighter, but there's pretty much no one playing this kind of death metal right now, and as good as the fusion of late Death and traditional brutality is on the new album, there's definitely the sense from this performance that they can still develop it further and do something really groundbreaking.
What was most remakable out of this performance was the degree to which Decrepit Birth has the bass double not the rhythm guitar, but the lead. Matt, of course, did all the stringed instruments on the new disc, and he's primarily a guitarist, so it's perhaps not too surprising, but it still is interesting to watch and hear -- because it's a cool effect, and because as a bassist, I'm far too lazy and unskilled to ever pull off something like that.
Hate Eternal [6/7]
This is the second time I've seen this band, on both occasions at this venue, and also the second time that I've seen them get absolutely jobbed by the sound board. For most of the first song, the guitars were so low they might as well not have been there, and Erik's might as well have been unplugged well into the second song for all the sound he was able to get out of it. Fortunately, they overcame this and put up a really good, really intense set that pumped up the crowd and informed those down front who didn't know exactly what is involved in being on the floor at a death metal show: namely, that no one is safe anywhere, ever. A few took advantage of the breaks between songs to go back, but most, including quite a few of these guys, did stand in, and hopefully were better for the experience. Unlike the last time they were around, they did play "Behold Judas", and yes, it was wicked cool.
Following this set, I walked back up to the bar area; the part I came for was done, and now it was time for merch, etc, before the bonus started. I nabbed a bunch of Decrepit Birth stuff, drank some Jager, and ended up back down on the first level above the floor, in what appeared to be kind of the RTTP tier; I ran into three or four people that I knew a lot better by screename than by face, all back up off the floor and entertaining at least a little skepticism about the coming bands.
3 Inches of Blood [5/7]
Once upon a time, this band was a joke, doing the early-80s power-metal deal for the lulz. The last time I saw them, it was uncertain how much it was for real or still a gag; on this go-round, there was very little doubt that this is now about 100% serious, in what has become probably one of the oddest turns in recent musical history. Now, 3 Inches of Blood is a classically styled power metal band in the vein of Saxon and Grim Reaper -- if with occasional decays into hardcore in long sets -- and if they're not terribly original to the ear of an old fart who has a prominent Running Wild patch at the top of his jacket, they're definitely novel to the majority of BDM's audience. It remains to be seen just how many, if any, of the kids in attendance will actually go out and get into, say, Manowar or Grave Digger as a result of this band, but as a reminder of heavy metal history, it's pretty cool and noteworthy.
I did a second swing by the merch table later and picked up a superstrip from these guys; I don't know precisely where it's going to go (on the ultralight, obviously), but I do kind of have a trigger impulse as regards getting patches.
The Black Dahlia Murder [5.5/7]
Yes, split scores suck. However, there isn't really an easy way to address this: in a longer set, they don't have quite enough awesome material to keep up their string of really strong live sets to date, but it was still a good performance. I noticed more of the less-inspired stuff that I remember clogging up their records than I'd seen from them live in the past, but they still had more material that sounded good and original than stuff that came off as tired and recycled from the heyday of the NWOSDM. Outside of the music, there were several injury timeouts in the pit -- a good thing for all those except the people who had to get taken out for medical attention -- and they flavored "Statutory Ape" with a dude in a gorilla suit running out and jumping out into the audience. Good stuff; still not quite my style, but as a bonus to Hate Eternal and Decrepit Birth, it was all right.
What wasn't, quite, was the presence in their merch stall of a certain shirt featuring the band's name done up in the style of At The Gates' Slaughter of the Soul. Maybe the band's just poking fun at the critics -- self included -- who still call them out for biting too hard on Gothenburg's best, but I'm not a fan of the whole "write your band name in someone else's logo form" thing. This didn't influence the score above, but it may influence perceptions of anyone who happened to buy one of these shirts.
The drive back was pretty uneventful; the show got out around 11, and the roads were more or less empty -- none of the trucks all over the place that I typically get coming back from Metal Thursdays -- until I got back to 128. It was a little early a night, but still definitely a good time overall. Next gig is up in Manchester at the end of the week; I'm going to have to do that one right from work, and also find my way to a new venue, but it's worth it to try to get up and see Rohirrim again, plus all the good -- if much more grindy/slammy -- bands ahead of them on the bill.
Inside, the merch stand was six rows deep and the bar was empty. I shook my head at the Kindermenge, got a beer, and headed down for the front; my primary interest at this one was in the first two bands, and if the people who are concentrating on the headliner are standing in line waiting to buy gear, they're not camping the front row. I did get up pretty close, about where I usually end up when I decide to go down front at Palladium gigs.
Decrepit Birth [6/7]
There was a bit of a wait before the band went on, but when they finally came out, it was well worth the wait. The sound board didn't handle the new material optimally, but given how badly opening bands have been jobbed at this venue in the past, it wasn't all that bad. While their older Suffocation-styled stuff is really strong, the performance of the new stuff is what really sets them apart, and the execution here was excellent. A few places might have been a little tighter, but there's pretty much no one playing this kind of death metal right now, and as good as the fusion of late Death and traditional brutality is on the new album, there's definitely the sense from this performance that they can still develop it further and do something really groundbreaking.
What was most remakable out of this performance was the degree to which Decrepit Birth has the bass double not the rhythm guitar, but the lead. Matt, of course, did all the stringed instruments on the new disc, and he's primarily a guitarist, so it's perhaps not too surprising, but it still is interesting to watch and hear -- because it's a cool effect, and because as a bassist, I'm far too lazy and unskilled to ever pull off something like that.
Hate Eternal [6/7]
This is the second time I've seen this band, on both occasions at this venue, and also the second time that I've seen them get absolutely jobbed by the sound board. For most of the first song, the guitars were so low they might as well not have been there, and Erik's might as well have been unplugged well into the second song for all the sound he was able to get out of it. Fortunately, they overcame this and put up a really good, really intense set that pumped up the crowd and informed those down front who didn't know exactly what is involved in being on the floor at a death metal show: namely, that no one is safe anywhere, ever. A few took advantage of the breaks between songs to go back, but most, including quite a few of these guys, did stand in, and hopefully were better for the experience. Unlike the last time they were around, they did play "Behold Judas", and yes, it was wicked cool.
Following this set, I walked back up to the bar area; the part I came for was done, and now it was time for merch, etc, before the bonus started. I nabbed a bunch of Decrepit Birth stuff, drank some Jager, and ended up back down on the first level above the floor, in what appeared to be kind of the RTTP tier; I ran into three or four people that I knew a lot better by screename than by face, all back up off the floor and entertaining at least a little skepticism about the coming bands.
3 Inches of Blood [5/7]
Once upon a time, this band was a joke, doing the early-80s power-metal deal for the lulz. The last time I saw them, it was uncertain how much it was for real or still a gag; on this go-round, there was very little doubt that this is now about 100% serious, in what has become probably one of the oddest turns in recent musical history. Now, 3 Inches of Blood is a classically styled power metal band in the vein of Saxon and Grim Reaper -- if with occasional decays into hardcore in long sets -- and if they're not terribly original to the ear of an old fart who has a prominent Running Wild patch at the top of his jacket, they're definitely novel to the majority of BDM's audience. It remains to be seen just how many, if any, of the kids in attendance will actually go out and get into, say, Manowar or Grave Digger as a result of this band, but as a reminder of heavy metal history, it's pretty cool and noteworthy.
I did a second swing by the merch table later and picked up a superstrip from these guys; I don't know precisely where it's going to go (on the ultralight, obviously), but I do kind of have a trigger impulse as regards getting patches.
The Black Dahlia Murder [5.5/7]
Yes, split scores suck. However, there isn't really an easy way to address this: in a longer set, they don't have quite enough awesome material to keep up their string of really strong live sets to date, but it was still a good performance. I noticed more of the less-inspired stuff that I remember clogging up their records than I'd seen from them live in the past, but they still had more material that sounded good and original than stuff that came off as tired and recycled from the heyday of the NWOSDM. Outside of the music, there were several injury timeouts in the pit -- a good thing for all those except the people who had to get taken out for medical attention -- and they flavored "Statutory Ape" with a dude in a gorilla suit running out and jumping out into the audience. Good stuff; still not quite my style, but as a bonus to Hate Eternal and Decrepit Birth, it was all right.
What wasn't, quite, was the presence in their merch stall of a certain shirt featuring the band's name done up in the style of At The Gates' Slaughter of the Soul. Maybe the band's just poking fun at the critics -- self included -- who still call them out for biting too hard on Gothenburg's best, but I'm not a fan of the whole "write your band name in someone else's logo form" thing. This didn't influence the score above, but it may influence perceptions of anyone who happened to buy one of these shirts.
The drive back was pretty uneventful; the show got out around 11, and the roads were more or less empty -- none of the trucks all over the place that I typically get coming back from Metal Thursdays -- until I got back to 128. It was a little early a night, but still definitely a good time overall. Next gig is up in Manchester at the end of the week; I'm going to have to do that one right from work, and also find my way to a new venue, but it's worth it to try to get up and see Rohirrim again, plus all the good -- if much more grindy/slammy -- bands ahead of them on the bill.
Monday, January 14, 2008
Ehnahre with Cyaegha, Revocation, and Dysentery [O'Brien's, Allston, 1/13/2008]
I almost didn't go to this show; the weather was threatening to start getting shitty when I would be driving back, and my left front tire was so low that I thought it had gotten damaged (no, it just is the closest to where the sole weight is in the car when it's moving, and I'm in the car about another 8-10 hours a week with the new commute). I was going to just go home after getting money -- where I saw how fucked up the tire was -- but the air station was being hogged at that gas station, so I went to the one up by the highway. The tire filled right up and looked good, and at 8:30 I had a choice to make: left and go home, or right and go see metal. Damnit, I thought to myself; you're a metalhead, man up and act like it. I turned right and didn't look back.
It was about 80 minutes later when I got to the venue, which was split almost evenly between driving and walking in from Cambridge; if I didn't hate driving in Boston so much, I wouldn't park two miles away and have to go over a river and an interstate to get to this place. Unfortunately, I do hate driving in Boston, and this is the most straightforward way to go, so I can deal with the exercise.
Dysentery [5/7]
I was afraid that I'd end up missing their set due to coming down late, but fortunately this was not the case, and I got to see most of their performance, even though they had started at least by the time I got into earshot of the venue. They put up a solid performance of slamming death metal, and definitely impressed with their cohesiveness for how long they've been playing together (Dysentery in this iteration is pretty much is a new band, even though they're composed completely of long-time scene veterans), even if there was more brutality than variety in their set. Dysentery's music is reminiscent of getting a house dropped on your face; it's brutal as all fuck, but there's only so many different ways that you can manage to do it. There's definitely a place for this kind of music, and I was bummed that they closed up their merch desk before I could pick up a CD, but my preferences run a little more technical. Still a solid set, and they probably had the thickest crowd of the night.
Revocation [6.5/7]
Revocation is currently in the studio, recording their debut full-length -- and none too soon, since they are now sold out of Summon The Spawn and have only the Cryptic Warning album available -- and favored us with a couple cuts that will be on the new one. In contrast to their older, more death-influenced stuff, these new tunes show that there's been some Realm, Imperium, and/or Toxik floating around their practice space recently; since two of the songs in question weren't performed with lyrics, it'll be interesting to see what they do with them at that point, as Dave and Anthony's voices aren't really suited to the kind of singing that you got from that sort of thrash back in the day. On the music as demonstrated here alone, this is going to be one of the top releases of the year, and the fire that they showed on their older material also demonstrates that the final recorded product will continue to show an evolution of various strands in classic thrash, rather than a straight revival. It's due out sometime in the spring, and while the band isn't letting on as to whether or not they've got a label lined up, the quality of this performance would definitely make a neutral observer question if there's an extreme-music label that wouldn't want these guys on their roster.
This show also saw the IRL-sales debut of Revocation's two new shirt designs, of which I bought one. They're both high-production, vibrant designs that stand up ahead of most of the monocolor prints that you see from local bands, which seems to indicate that they may be doing some more extensive travel to get their profile up -- though that in itself is a loss leader, and a more intensive commitment than the shirts by far.
Cyaegha [6/7]
Up from Virginia, these guys continued the technical attack with some sick and complex death metal, including a cover of Decapitated's "Spheres of Madness" that they not only pulled off flawlessly, but also integrated tightly with the rest of their material. Their locked-in precision and twisted riffage weren't the only things recalling Carcass, though; their singer's "death metal voice" carried with it a West Country/Welsh accent reminiscent of Xentrix...though this is probably my take mostly because I have live performances from a really weird selection of British bands. This was a kickass set, and unfortunately for the band, they didn't have any merch available; the crowd devoured the free CDs they had (I got one, but haven't listened through it yet), and many of these people would also have grabbed the disc had it cost the usual $3-5, and possibly picked up a shirt or button or something as well. This was more of a test-the-waters outing, though, and the band will hopefully be out again soon for a full run with some stuff for people to buy to offset their expenses.
Ehnahre [6/7]
I was interested to see this band, just from their other projects; when people formerly in Biolich and Kayo Dot unite to revive a grind band as a doom project, anyone who can tell you how it's going to shake out beforehand is either in the band or lying. Playing slow on a lot of their tunes, they were a strange fit to the bill, but definitely more than heavy enough, and as a former brass player I was really pleased to see their trumpet player being used effectively and creatively. It seemed like they ended a little short, but this may have been due to the amount of time that they put into long drone sections that seemed to a certain degree not to count. If you like drone-doom, or can get through these long drone sections without falling asleep, Ehnahre is definitely a band to check out.
Despite the stated prohibition on hipsters at this show, there was still some talking amongst the crowd while this band was playing. Seriously, shut up and eyes front. They may be boring right now, but they're also extremely cool in much of the rest of the set, and there is enough time to talk when the rest of us aren't trying to concentrate on the music.
I wanted to get some stuff from Ehnahre, but looked up at they sky outside, and decided that it would have to wait till whenever I see them again; the clouds were filling in, and I had two miles to walk before I got to my car and could start trying to drive away from the snow. I made it back without issues, but am pretty much snowed in right now; let's hope the weather breaks soon, so that not only I can go to work like normal tomorrow, but also make it out to Worcester for Summoning Hate and Composted at Metal Thursday.
Just a note, but as of right now, I'm on pace: 13 bands in 13 days this year. I fell short last year by about 80 sets, but with less short-term international travel and maybe a trip to MDF if Carcass ends up playing there instead of NEMHF, I'm hoping that I can finish with 366+ in 366.
It was about 80 minutes later when I got to the venue, which was split almost evenly between driving and walking in from Cambridge; if I didn't hate driving in Boston so much, I wouldn't park two miles away and have to go over a river and an interstate to get to this place. Unfortunately, I do hate driving in Boston, and this is the most straightforward way to go, so I can deal with the exercise.
Dysentery [5/7]
I was afraid that I'd end up missing their set due to coming down late, but fortunately this was not the case, and I got to see most of their performance, even though they had started at least by the time I got into earshot of the venue. They put up a solid performance of slamming death metal, and definitely impressed with their cohesiveness for how long they've been playing together (Dysentery in this iteration is pretty much is a new band, even though they're composed completely of long-time scene veterans), even if there was more brutality than variety in their set. Dysentery's music is reminiscent of getting a house dropped on your face; it's brutal as all fuck, but there's only so many different ways that you can manage to do it. There's definitely a place for this kind of music, and I was bummed that they closed up their merch desk before I could pick up a CD, but my preferences run a little more technical. Still a solid set, and they probably had the thickest crowd of the night.
Revocation [6.5/7]
Revocation is currently in the studio, recording their debut full-length -- and none too soon, since they are now sold out of Summon The Spawn and have only the Cryptic Warning album available -- and favored us with a couple cuts that will be on the new one. In contrast to their older, more death-influenced stuff, these new tunes show that there's been some Realm, Imperium, and/or Toxik floating around their practice space recently; since two of the songs in question weren't performed with lyrics, it'll be interesting to see what they do with them at that point, as Dave and Anthony's voices aren't really suited to the kind of singing that you got from that sort of thrash back in the day. On the music as demonstrated here alone, this is going to be one of the top releases of the year, and the fire that they showed on their older material also demonstrates that the final recorded product will continue to show an evolution of various strands in classic thrash, rather than a straight revival. It's due out sometime in the spring, and while the band isn't letting on as to whether or not they've got a label lined up, the quality of this performance would definitely make a neutral observer question if there's an extreme-music label that wouldn't want these guys on their roster.
This show also saw the IRL-sales debut of Revocation's two new shirt designs, of which I bought one. They're both high-production, vibrant designs that stand up ahead of most of the monocolor prints that you see from local bands, which seems to indicate that they may be doing some more extensive travel to get their profile up -- though that in itself is a loss leader, and a more intensive commitment than the shirts by far.
Cyaegha [6/7]
Up from Virginia, these guys continued the technical attack with some sick and complex death metal, including a cover of Decapitated's "Spheres of Madness" that they not only pulled off flawlessly, but also integrated tightly with the rest of their material. Their locked-in precision and twisted riffage weren't the only things recalling Carcass, though; their singer's "death metal voice" carried with it a West Country/Welsh accent reminiscent of Xentrix...though this is probably my take mostly because I have live performances from a really weird selection of British bands. This was a kickass set, and unfortunately for the band, they didn't have any merch available; the crowd devoured the free CDs they had (I got one, but haven't listened through it yet), and many of these people would also have grabbed the disc had it cost the usual $3-5, and possibly picked up a shirt or button or something as well. This was more of a test-the-waters outing, though, and the band will hopefully be out again soon for a full run with some stuff for people to buy to offset their expenses.
Ehnahre [6/7]
I was interested to see this band, just from their other projects; when people formerly in Biolich and Kayo Dot unite to revive a grind band as a doom project, anyone who can tell you how it's going to shake out beforehand is either in the band or lying. Playing slow on a lot of their tunes, they were a strange fit to the bill, but definitely more than heavy enough, and as a former brass player I was really pleased to see their trumpet player being used effectively and creatively. It seemed like they ended a little short, but this may have been due to the amount of time that they put into long drone sections that seemed to a certain degree not to count. If you like drone-doom, or can get through these long drone sections without falling asleep, Ehnahre is definitely a band to check out.
Despite the stated prohibition on hipsters at this show, there was still some talking amongst the crowd while this band was playing. Seriously, shut up and eyes front. They may be boring right now, but they're also extremely cool in much of the rest of the set, and there is enough time to talk when the rest of us aren't trying to concentrate on the music.
I wanted to get some stuff from Ehnahre, but looked up at they sky outside, and decided that it would have to wait till whenever I see them again; the clouds were filling in, and I had two miles to walk before I got to my car and could start trying to drive away from the snow. I made it back without issues, but am pretty much snowed in right now; let's hope the weather breaks soon, so that not only I can go to work like normal tomorrow, but also make it out to Worcester for Summoning Hate and Composted at Metal Thursday.
Just a note, but as of right now, I'm on pace: 13 bands in 13 days this year. I fell short last year by about 80 sets, but with less short-term international travel and maybe a trip to MDF if Carcass ends up playing there instead of NEMHF, I'm hoping that I can finish with 366+ in 366.
I, Destroyer with Unholy Goatfucker, Suffering Bastard, Mechannibal, and Unity Resistance [Midway Cafe, Boston, 1/12/2008]
I'm a big fan of these matinee shows, because I don't have to drive: as before, I just got on the T at the stop three blocks from my place and rode in. I got in a little early, though, and took the opportunity to walk around Jamaica Plain a little before I actually went in. I ended up going a little further into the Dominican 'hood than I initially planned, but managed to get out in one piece, so it wasn't as bad as all that. Definitely an interesting experience.
So eventually I got back into the gentrified part of JP and got in the club, though most of the bands weren't there yet, and this would become a little important later: this was, as mentioned, a matinee show, so the bands would have to be all finished and packed out in time to start the second event around nine or so. Hanging out for the intervening time was decent, though; the PBR was cheap, the people as they filtered in were cool, and eventually the Packers decided to stop sucking and started pasting the Seahawks.
Unity Restistance [5/7]
I hadn't heard this band before, but hoped they'd be better than their name indicated. Despite the pull-two-words-out-of-the-Hatebreed-ballcap moniker, they fortunately provided a solid set of doctrinaire hardcore in an older style. It wasn't metal by any strict definition, but it was fun, butal music, and definitely an enjoyable time. Their set seemed a little short, probably due to the environmental factors, but with a band like this, you want them to keep their set relatively down, so that the material sounds fresh throughout. They probably could have done a couple more without people getting bored, but this was still a nice solid set.
Mechannibal [6/7]
I hadn't seen these guys in a while, and was quite pleasantly surprised at the strides they've made. This was a techncially near-perfect, textbook grindcore set that really stood out on what was overall a very solid bill. Mike drums with more raw power than about any other drummer I've seen lately, and the rest of the band is eminently able to keep up. It's always difficult to see which local bands are going to stick and hang around, but Mechannibal really sounds like they could be one of them, and go on to do some pretty impressive stuff.
Before this set, the juice was set loose as a harbinger of things to come: Mike snapped one of the anchor points of a cymbal leg clean off the shaft, and had to borrow a stand from (IIRC) the Suffering Bastard drummer. Raw MUSCLE.
Suffering Bastard [5/7]
I hadn't seen the R.I. bands on this bill previously, and thus was interested to see what this grind act would sound like, with their two bassists, zero guitars, and hipster fans. The answer tuned out to be along the lines of "what Mortician would sound like if they listened to a lot of Napalm Death". I know this doesn't explain the hipsters, but if they have sense, then yes, it is understandable that they'd like short, gravelingly brutal songs powered by a dense low end. They took a black metal turn on one song that was kind of interesting, but most of this set was solid grind, made distinctive to a certain degree by the unusual configuration. The sound was wearing a little by the end of their set; maybe due to the phenomenon, as mentioned, of grind bands as a class having a half-life for live performances. Still definitely a cool time, and I did get their current CD, where it'll be interesting to hear how they present the dual-bass sound in the studio.
Unholy Goatfucker [5/7]
Back before they pussied the show out by making it about Elmo, taking away Cookie Monster's cookie addiction (and pipe in the Monsterpiece Theater sketches wtf), and making Oscar stop being such a dick to people, there was an occasional segment on Sesame Street about "one of these things is not like the other/one of these things does not belong". You seldom think about Sesame Street bits at a DIY show, but when a corpsepainted black metal band comes out after three mostly-grindcore bands, it's to a certain degree a natural leap. When this band goes on to play in the style of early Dimmu/early Immortal and changes it up with intermittent female vocals, the questioning becomes stronger. Though they were really weirdly matched to the rest of the bill and started out kind of rough, Unholy Goatfucker got better as the set went on, and did manage to finish with a decent performance.
I, Destroyer [6/7]
I thought this style of music had gone extinct, but fortunately, here it is, alive and well. This was a really kickass performance of brutal thrash in a style most prominently seen on demo tapes from about 1987-1992, which is rare to see live these days, but always good when you can find it. I wasn't able to get a CD, but will be doing my best to see them at any further gigs in Boston or northward, and maybe they'll have some more recordings or more merch at those. Regardless, if they're on their game to this degree or better, it's going to be an awesome show, as this one was.
Conscious of the need to try and get back to at least the bar at North Station if not all the way home ASAP due to the Pats game, I split about as soon as I, Destroyer finished. It was slow going due to infrequent trains, but I was back at my place to catch the end of the game; good guys win, and hopefully they'll be able to beat the Chargers without me spending the first half of the game at some show, because the only gig next weekend is Decrepit Birth and Hate Eternal (oh yeah, and BDM) on Saturday.
So eventually I got back into the gentrified part of JP and got in the club, though most of the bands weren't there yet, and this would become a little important later: this was, as mentioned, a matinee show, so the bands would have to be all finished and packed out in time to start the second event around nine or so. Hanging out for the intervening time was decent, though; the PBR was cheap, the people as they filtered in were cool, and eventually the Packers decided to stop sucking and started pasting the Seahawks.
Unity Restistance [5/7]
I hadn't heard this band before, but hoped they'd be better than their name indicated. Despite the pull-two-words-out-of-the-Hatebreed-ballcap moniker, they fortunately provided a solid set of doctrinaire hardcore in an older style. It wasn't metal by any strict definition, but it was fun, butal music, and definitely an enjoyable time. Their set seemed a little short, probably due to the environmental factors, but with a band like this, you want them to keep their set relatively down, so that the material sounds fresh throughout. They probably could have done a couple more without people getting bored, but this was still a nice solid set.
Mechannibal [6/7]
I hadn't seen these guys in a while, and was quite pleasantly surprised at the strides they've made. This was a techncially near-perfect, textbook grindcore set that really stood out on what was overall a very solid bill. Mike drums with more raw power than about any other drummer I've seen lately, and the rest of the band is eminently able to keep up. It's always difficult to see which local bands are going to stick and hang around, but Mechannibal really sounds like they could be one of them, and go on to do some pretty impressive stuff.
Before this set, the juice was set loose as a harbinger of things to come: Mike snapped one of the anchor points of a cymbal leg clean off the shaft, and had to borrow a stand from (IIRC) the Suffering Bastard drummer. Raw MUSCLE.
Suffering Bastard [5/7]
I hadn't seen the R.I. bands on this bill previously, and thus was interested to see what this grind act would sound like, with their two bassists, zero guitars, and hipster fans. The answer tuned out to be along the lines of "what Mortician would sound like if they listened to a lot of Napalm Death". I know this doesn't explain the hipsters, but if they have sense, then yes, it is understandable that they'd like short, gravelingly brutal songs powered by a dense low end. They took a black metal turn on one song that was kind of interesting, but most of this set was solid grind, made distinctive to a certain degree by the unusual configuration. The sound was wearing a little by the end of their set; maybe due to the phenomenon, as mentioned, of grind bands as a class having a half-life for live performances. Still definitely a cool time, and I did get their current CD, where it'll be interesting to hear how they present the dual-bass sound in the studio.
Unholy Goatfucker [5/7]
Back before they pussied the show out by making it about Elmo, taking away Cookie Monster's cookie addiction (and pipe in the Monsterpiece Theater sketches wtf), and making Oscar stop being such a dick to people, there was an occasional segment on Sesame Street about "one of these things is not like the other/one of these things does not belong". You seldom think about Sesame Street bits at a DIY show, but when a corpsepainted black metal band comes out after three mostly-grindcore bands, it's to a certain degree a natural leap. When this band goes on to play in the style of early Dimmu/early Immortal and changes it up with intermittent female vocals, the questioning becomes stronger. Though they were really weirdly matched to the rest of the bill and started out kind of rough, Unholy Goatfucker got better as the set went on, and did manage to finish with a decent performance.
I, Destroyer [6/7]
I thought this style of music had gone extinct, but fortunately, here it is, alive and well. This was a really kickass performance of brutal thrash in a style most prominently seen on demo tapes from about 1987-1992, which is rare to see live these days, but always good when you can find it. I wasn't able to get a CD, but will be doing my best to see them at any further gigs in Boston or northward, and maybe they'll have some more recordings or more merch at those. Regardless, if they're on their game to this degree or better, it's going to be an awesome show, as this one was.
Conscious of the need to try and get back to at least the bar at North Station if not all the way home ASAP due to the Pats game, I split about as soon as I, Destroyer finished. It was slow going due to infrequent trains, but I was back at my place to catch the end of the game; good guys win, and hopefully they'll be able to beat the Chargers without me spending the first half of the game at some show, because the only gig next weekend is Decrepit Birth and Hate Eternal (oh yeah, and BDM) on Saturday.
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Ramming Speed with Howl, Coctopus (CD release), and Hydronaut [Church, Boston, 1/4/2008]
So after pussing out on Metal Thursday due to distance, illness, and single-degree temperatures, I went in to Boston to catch Coctopus' record release rather than up to Haverhill for the most-of-Pinkerton-Thugs reunion for the first show of the year. Either one would probably have been pretty cool, but I think I made the optimal choice.
This was the first time that I'd been in to Church (which I think used to be the Linwood Grill, but I didn't go to any gigs there either, and could be totally wrong), which despite being in Boston, wasn't too hard to get to. Parking was readily available, but this was a bit of a two-edged sword; I actually got up to the club before doors and managed to get in out of the weather more or less by luck.
It was a while before the bands started, so there was time to front-load on beer and buzz through the distro table; waiting may be expensive sometimes, but when it lands you a Hirax 12", it's usually worth it. A little after 9, though, Hydronaut went on, and the party got rolling in earnest.
Hydronaut [5/7]
If you were expecting Hydronaut to sound kind of like Clouds on the basis of common members, then you probably just don't recall that Clouds didn't really work out like that relative to Cave In. If you didn't know the six-degrees-of-kevin-bacon backstory of the personnel, though, or just didn't care, what you saw from this band was a short but entirely satisfactory set of slightly punk-inflected southern-rock metal that did set the tone for a lot of what was to come. Good music, and worth checking out, but they're still kind of setting themselves up as a band; they don't have any recorded material out yet, but when they do, fans of, say, current Corrosion of Conformity, ought to be interested.
Coctopus [7/7]
Unfortunately, the security (at about the Tabu level here, not nearly as fascist as Mark's) made them turn off the smoke machine after the first song. That being said, once their Thin-Lizzy-meets-early-Maiden sound got cranked up, there was no shortage of atmosphere, or of awesome music. Though Ocean (who had to drop) were initially down as the headliner on this bill, Coctopus put up a more than worthy headlining-class performance. Sadly, this band can't tour for a while (due to some niggling legal technicalties that I can't really comment accurately about), but this just ought to mean than those in the environs of Massachusetts get to see more of them than they otherwise would. Despite the lack of a bar, they'd definitely do well up at Welfare Records -- if the Bones Brigade name among their antecedents doesn't catch the staff's attention, the fact that they're one of the best bands playing this sort of primal metal right now ought to.
Howl [6/7]
The highest-billed on the original flyer of the bands that appeared on the program, Howl put up a kickass set, even if it was a little more back toward the conventional in its mix of death and stoner doom. One of the more aggressive acts in the lineup and debatably the heaviest, they went over well not only with the half of the crowd in the "still metal doods" bracket, but also with the "punx all growed up" segment -- the audience was pretty evenly split, but the split didn't really show itself in behavior rather than what shirts people were wearing.
If this sounds interesting and you live south of Boston, you didn't miss your chance completely; they're playing at AS220 in Providence with Saint Jude before heading out on tour for the next couple weeks. Those in other areas will want to check their local underground venues, as these guys are definitely worth checking out.
Ramming Speed [6/7]
Also going out on tour for the next couple weeks (if for no other reason than they're sick of working real jobs, which no one will blame them for) are these guys, and if people can remember that they're not Municipal Waste, they ought to do well. This may be a little difficult, as they've sharpened and honed their grind-based reinvention of crossover to the point where some may find it difficult to separate them from their more famous Virginian forerunners. Of course, even though their style is a reinvention rather than innovation, this doesn't make Ramming Speed a Waste coverband any more than it makes Municipal Waste a DRI coverband, and this set eminently showed off their abilities at delivering quality thrash. They ain't super-technical, but that's not what you want from a band like this: kickass fast thrash and a turbulent front row is, and that's what we got here, and what people in other markets will be seeing from them in the next two weeks. It's too bad that they only have their 7" available, because they've got more really good songs than are on said record, and not everyone has a turntable, so some toolbags may be able to rationalize not buying their music. However, they won't be able to avoid being mocked by their friends if they also fail to pick up an awesome and fashionable TOP OF THE DUDE CHAIN shirt. Bonus!
Next show technically is tonight at Dodge Street with Cocaine Tongue, but I'm not sure if there'll be enough non-cover bands involved for it to count. If not, it's looking like a matinee grind gig at the Midway Cafe next weekend, and then, of course, Revocation supporting Cyaegha at O'Brien's.
This was the first time that I'd been in to Church (which I think used to be the Linwood Grill, but I didn't go to any gigs there either, and could be totally wrong), which despite being in Boston, wasn't too hard to get to. Parking was readily available, but this was a bit of a two-edged sword; I actually got up to the club before doors and managed to get in out of the weather more or less by luck.
It was a while before the bands started, so there was time to front-load on beer and buzz through the distro table; waiting may be expensive sometimes, but when it lands you a Hirax 12", it's usually worth it. A little after 9, though, Hydronaut went on, and the party got rolling in earnest.
Hydronaut [5/7]
If you were expecting Hydronaut to sound kind of like Clouds on the basis of common members, then you probably just don't recall that Clouds didn't really work out like that relative to Cave In. If you didn't know the six-degrees-of-kevin-bacon backstory of the personnel, though, or just didn't care, what you saw from this band was a short but entirely satisfactory set of slightly punk-inflected southern-rock metal that did set the tone for a lot of what was to come. Good music, and worth checking out, but they're still kind of setting themselves up as a band; they don't have any recorded material out yet, but when they do, fans of, say, current Corrosion of Conformity, ought to be interested.
Coctopus [7/7]
Unfortunately, the security (at about the Tabu level here, not nearly as fascist as Mark's) made them turn off the smoke machine after the first song. That being said, once their Thin-Lizzy-meets-early-Maiden sound got cranked up, there was no shortage of atmosphere, or of awesome music. Though Ocean (who had to drop) were initially down as the headliner on this bill, Coctopus put up a more than worthy headlining-class performance. Sadly, this band can't tour for a while (due to some niggling legal technicalties that I can't really comment accurately about), but this just ought to mean than those in the environs of Massachusetts get to see more of them than they otherwise would. Despite the lack of a bar, they'd definitely do well up at Welfare Records -- if the Bones Brigade name among their antecedents doesn't catch the staff's attention, the fact that they're one of the best bands playing this sort of primal metal right now ought to.
Howl [6/7]
The highest-billed on the original flyer of the bands that appeared on the program, Howl put up a kickass set, even if it was a little more back toward the conventional in its mix of death and stoner doom. One of the more aggressive acts in the lineup and debatably the heaviest, they went over well not only with the half of the crowd in the "still metal doods" bracket, but also with the "punx all growed up" segment -- the audience was pretty evenly split, but the split didn't really show itself in behavior rather than what shirts people were wearing.
If this sounds interesting and you live south of Boston, you didn't miss your chance completely; they're playing at AS220 in Providence with Saint Jude before heading out on tour for the next couple weeks. Those in other areas will want to check their local underground venues, as these guys are definitely worth checking out.
Ramming Speed [6/7]
Also going out on tour for the next couple weeks (if for no other reason than they're sick of working real jobs, which no one will blame them for) are these guys, and if people can remember that they're not Municipal Waste, they ought to do well. This may be a little difficult, as they've sharpened and honed their grind-based reinvention of crossover to the point where some may find it difficult to separate them from their more famous Virginian forerunners. Of course, even though their style is a reinvention rather than innovation, this doesn't make Ramming Speed a Waste coverband any more than it makes Municipal Waste a DRI coverband, and this set eminently showed off their abilities at delivering quality thrash. They ain't super-technical, but that's not what you want from a band like this: kickass fast thrash and a turbulent front row is, and that's what we got here, and what people in other markets will be seeing from them in the next two weeks. It's too bad that they only have their 7" available, because they've got more really good songs than are on said record, and not everyone has a turntable, so some toolbags may be able to rationalize not buying their music. However, they won't be able to avoid being mocked by their friends if they also fail to pick up an awesome and fashionable TOP OF THE DUDE CHAIN shirt. Bonus!
Next show technically is tonight at Dodge Street with Cocaine Tongue, but I'm not sure if there'll be enough non-cover bands involved for it to count. If not, it's looking like a matinee grind gig at the Midway Cafe next weekend, and then, of course, Revocation supporting Cyaegha at O'Brien's.
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