I'm in Korea, concerned about the engineering students at VA Tech, even though I'm pretty sure that I don't know anyone personally who's there right now, and mostly over jet lag though I'm still tired and still trying to get my legs under me. Hooray foreign service.
I'm still trying to organize my impressions of this place, but there are no pictures as yet because I bought a bunch of lemon batteries before I left, and they are all now dead. If you buy batteries at a going-out-of-business sale, prepare to have them die on you within minutes if they have any charge in them at all. This doubly sucks because this country is ridiculously expensive, and it's only with extreme difficulty that I'll be able to withdraw enough cash, per day, to cover taxi rides to and from work, let alone buying batteries and some eats.
Of course, Korea has turned into a cashless society, though mostly by accident and it doesn't really help people like me. To give an idea, this is a country where the basic currency unit is inflated to about 100 times the Chinese yuan, but which has a cost of living most similar to Japan. This means that you can't really get anything done for less than 1000 won, but the largest denomination commonly available is 10,000 won. This is a lot like trying to pay for your life in the US using only 10-dollar bills and leads to wallets that more closely resemble pimp rolls. In China, stuff for Westerners looks really expensive, but the yuan is about where it needs to be, given the overall economic circumstances; the won is in desperate need of a restructuring. France got out of its problems with the "new franc" in the '60s, and Italy ducked out of the lira becoming a national embarrassment by joining the euro, but the South Korean economy is good enough that the won is probably not going to be revised any time soon. Maybe after reunification, but there's probably a greater chance of Kim Jong Il giving up on his own than any unprovoked currency change. Everything here, like in a lot of modern Asia, is by card and i-banking anyway.
On the upside, I'm still alive after two trips on the roads, which is noteworthy, because as of 2003, when my current edition of Dangerous Places came out, South Korea was third behind Afghanistan (I think) and Kenya for road fatality rates, and definitely the most dangerous in the First World. The roads are a little anarchic and people drive too fast, but it's not as bad as Beijing was, and Massachusetts drivers who have their head on a swivel ought not to have too many problems. The biggest issue is that the idea of "lane" is not universally accepted here, and some drivers, including both cabbies I've ridden with so far, will put the dotted line under the center of the vehicle at times rather than leaving it to one side or the other. If everyone does this, though, you can fit two or three more vehicles abreast (depending on the size of the highway) onto the road, which given the rush-hour congestion is probably the point. Of course, to make that work, people have to drive real straight and not have stuff hanging off the sides of their vehicles, which is not always the case. On the way over to the office this morning, we passed at least three accidents and saw a wrecker in the opposite lane hauling away one more. Again, it's not Beijing, probably because the average car is better built and a lot better maintained, but it's not Peoria either.
Despite taking 27 hours, the trip in wasn't all that bad; I should have talked to the attractive dental professional who sat next to me on the flight from Boston to Chicago more about my own field service instead of just reading DP all the way over, because she was certainly interested once we actually did start talking, waiting for the rest of the plane to disembark so we could get off and continue to our next connections, but the long flight around the Pacific Rim didn't include any leg injuries or middle-schoolers falling asleep and nearly going face-first into my lap, unlike last time. Also, Japan, like Germany, is a cool place to make connections from, as Kirin is free on United and the 'snack' provided on the 2-hour flight to Seoul is not just a bag of pretzels, as it would be in the US, but also included two pieces of sushi and a carefully crust-trimmed (lol Japan) ham and egg and cheese sandwich. Maybe the sushi was 'airline sushi', but being Japanese airline sushi still puts it a cut above the 'supermarket sushi' that I eat too much of at home.
So: South Korea is dangerous to drive around in, expensive, smoggy, and located right next door to the last remaining Stalinist dictatorship in the world. Despite all these things, it's pretty decent; not quite Germany, but definitely among the better of the countries I've visited. It's a little warm here, but normal people like that instead of fleeing north, and though there's a lot of construction associated with the furious economy and there are numbered company-housing high-rises absolutely everywhere once you get out of Seoul center, there's still a lot of the natural landscape left; on one side of the freeway you have a forest of concrete projects, and on the other side you have a forest of, um, well, forest. This is a nice country, though just like the last time I went to Asia, I don't know the local language for crap, but with slightly greater English penetration this is less of an issue. I'm not going to be homesick for Seoul when I leave like I was for Dresden, and it's not as visually interesting here as Hong Kong was, but this is a nice country and I'm not going to mind overly much if I get sent back... though I'll put more time into learning Korean (somewhere in between work, sleeping, shows, and doing Chinese again) before I do.
I get out of work early today, and hopefully will get a chance to get some batteries and take some pictures -- provided, of course, that I survive the road back. The really interesting part at the customer site starts tomorrow.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world
Like many financially stable people of my generation, my brother and I cook experimentally. However, while other people have marvelous revelatory experiences cooking in cooperation with their roommates or partners, we don't, mostly because we work way the hell too much and there's a lot of time when we can't be experimental due to having to eat hot pockets or ramen or cold cereal for dinner in the short interval between coming home and going to bed. When I'm doing bushels of Chinese steamed buns, he's eating uncooked oatmeal in milk, and when, like tonight, he's marinating chicken breasts in all kinds of weird sauce mixes, I'm chopping up ham that has been badly burned in a microwave to make some sandwiches on expired bread.
Of course, sometimes non-sucky food happens by accident. To explain this one, we need to turn it over to C. "Roast Beef" Kazenzakis, to run down......
the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world
man you may say what the hell business has a ham salad sandwich got bein' rude but this one sure is. it is made out of primo ingredients so you know it is necessarily rude, but it is rudely prepared to be doubly rude.
start cutting some slices off the end of a cured virginia ham that somebody left in the fridge like paul's brother which he got before he realized that he was still allergic to the preservatives and thus could not eat it, or like ray would do all buying something and then forgetting about it in the gameroom fridge or something. you need one slice for each sandwich that you plan to make but you also need to make sure that the ham is not cooked because then the rest of the cooking even such as it is would be hell of unnecessary as you could just make a normal ham salad sandwich and not burn your fingers later.
if the ham is indeed not cooked cut the slices into hell of classy julienne strips and put them on a plate and put that plate in the microwave. cook them on high for three or four minutes or some such time that when you take them out the ham is sizzling and in places burned like when you make bacon for real old school in a fry pan. now the strips can get chopped down to the small bits like in a normal ham salad sandwich. put them in a bowl with the minimum amount of mayo to suspend all the ham bits because this is the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world not the fattiest which is not rude when we are talking ham sandwiches.
the sandwich basically makes itself from here on out because seriously who doesn't know how to make a ham salad sandwich. but for extra rudeness you got to put it on art bread that is almost expired and use some gourmet lettuce and stuff. then you can eat it in front of your friends and when they are all like what the hell is that dogg you can be all it is the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world. they will not believe you but if you have more ham and mayo and bread you can make them one and they will then have to agree. it is the atomic cooking and the curing preservatives interacting which make the ham taste hell of rude so you must have good ham but otherwise the other good ingredients are kind of bonus.
I officially approve this sandwich and this pretend Achewood posting.
Of course, sometimes non-sucky food happens by accident. To explain this one, we need to turn it over to C. "Roast Beef" Kazenzakis, to run down......
the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world
man you may say what the hell business has a ham salad sandwich got bein' rude but this one sure is. it is made out of primo ingredients so you know it is necessarily rude, but it is rudely prepared to be doubly rude.
start cutting some slices off the end of a cured virginia ham that somebody left in the fridge like paul's brother which he got before he realized that he was still allergic to the preservatives and thus could not eat it, or like ray would do all buying something and then forgetting about it in the gameroom fridge or something. you need one slice for each sandwich that you plan to make but you also need to make sure that the ham is not cooked because then the rest of the cooking even such as it is would be hell of unnecessary as you could just make a normal ham salad sandwich and not burn your fingers later.
if the ham is indeed not cooked cut the slices into hell of classy julienne strips and put them on a plate and put that plate in the microwave. cook them on high for three or four minutes or some such time that when you take them out the ham is sizzling and in places burned like when you make bacon for real old school in a fry pan. now the strips can get chopped down to the small bits like in a normal ham salad sandwich. put them in a bowl with the minimum amount of mayo to suspend all the ham bits because this is the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world not the fattiest which is not rude when we are talking ham sandwiches.
the sandwich basically makes itself from here on out because seriously who doesn't know how to make a ham salad sandwich. but for extra rudeness you got to put it on art bread that is almost expired and use some gourmet lettuce and stuff. then you can eat it in front of your friends and when they are all like what the hell is that dogg you can be all it is the rudest ham salad sandwich in the world. they will not believe you but if you have more ham and mayo and bread you can make them one and they will then have to agree. it is the atomic cooking and the curing preservatives interacting which make the ham taste hell of rude so you must have good ham but otherwise the other good ingredients are kind of bonus.
I officially approve this sandwich and this pretend Achewood posting.
three shows due to laziness
There are three show reviews in this one, because I am lazy and spent the past week-and-a-half doing other stuff like sleeping, going to shows, and cleaning my house. Let's fuckin go:
This one is from the weekend after I came back from Texas; a good show at a good venue in Haverhill.
Shroud of Bereavement with Hekseri, Burn My Remains, and Wings Never Shattered
River City Billiards, Haverhill, 3/24/2007
--
So after the exhaustion of the previous night's mostly mainstream show, it was down into the underground and off into the snow and gathering darkness for this one. Given the bands involved, at least the last two, it fit perfectly, though it was a little rough to drive through on the way back.
I got up in time and got in just around when the bands were supposed to be starting, but due to the circumstances around the final lineup -- Id was supposed to be playing this, but their guitarist got clipped by a car the day before and Wings Never Shattered got added hours before they were supposed to go on -- the setup ran on for most of the next hour. This gave me some time to hang out and start drinking, and also to browse through the Oak Knoll table, which is a convenient euphemism for "lose all my money". The gig turned into a free show due to issues with door control -- the venue wanted to keep their normal bar custom as well, I guess, and had another room on the second floor that they needed to have open -- but I still feel bad about not compensating the bands, as this was a good show at a venue that has a fair degree of potential.
Wings Never Shattered [4/7]
Fittingly enough, the replacement band came in at replacement level, which shows why the term exists; if WNS was better, they'd have been on the bill initially, instead of coming off the figurative bench when Id had to scratch. They were okay, but as metalcore goes, fairly generic; there were some good parts, but more that everyone has heard already five thousand times before. The potential is definitely there for this band to diversify or otherwise distinguish themselves, but this step just hasn't been taken yet. Also, the vagaries of their genre mean that whether or not they decide to take that next step up, they could be on the main stage at Metalfest next year, or they could spend their entire career playing gigs no bigger than this one. When the rules for success are so ridiculously nondeterministic, it's very difficult to see the effort to become more than 'good enough' as worth the candle. They were entertaining and they drew well, but the sets did strictly improve as the night went on.
Burn My Remains [5/7]
I'd heard a fair bit about these guys due to interest in other North Shore/Merrimac Valley bands, and they certainly didn't disappoint, pounding out a strong set of brutal death metal, filled in with just enough neoclassical melodics to really set themselves apart. I'm hoping to see them again in the future, though it doesn't seem that they travel much outside their home range -- though this is less of an issue if there are more good shows up here in the Blight. The only real issue here was that I couldn't entirely hear the bass; the bass lines tracked mostly with the rhythm guitar, but for a 8x10 cab, there ought to have been a little more sound coming out of it. The sound guy was also a last-second fill-in, but in the main did a good job, fillips like these aside.
Hekseri [6/7]
Though there were some issues with Megan's mic initially -- like it wasn't on or someone moving equipment across the floor had kicked the other end out of the soundboard -- this was a thoroughly strong and dominating set of thrashing black metal that even drew in the bouncers who were supposed to be watching the door to the upstairs to marvel not only at girls driving a sonic tornado, but also at Seth's relentless blastbeat pace. The floor was thinner for them, at least initially, as the only non-local band, but it filled in properly in short order, though some weaklings might have been intimidated off by Larissa getting on the floor and attacking people with her bass (a good time for the rest, though). While their set was a little clipped at the end -- the bar wanted the bands over at midnightish, maybe due to noise ordinances, so the delay in startup made a definite difference -- it was still pretty fully developed, and definitely kickass.
Shroud of Bereavement [6/7]
This is where the time limitations really hurt; Shroud came right out at an amazing level, and had this set run as long as it was probably intended to, would have gotten into the top echelon. Though the stage was crowded with the six bandmembers, including three guitarists, it definitely made a difference, as this sort of doom metal really requires that kind of wall of sound to crush over the audience and get their full attention. The strongest comparison is probably to Novembers Doom, as a similar inheritance from multiple sources strongly reworked, but there were also parts where I couldn't help but notice the resemblance to Nightingale. Since he lives in Sweden and doesn't tour so much any more, local bands that can evoke a similar depth and maturity are definitely worth your attention. Though they did get cut off a little, this was still a great performance, and I'm going to make a point to see them in the future.
Unfortunately, I didn't stick around either to pick up Shroud's CDs or to go to Dan's after-party, both of which I should have; like a goober, I parked at the T station again, and like a goober, I was worried about getting towed or shit. I've got to either start parking smarter or caring less, as I still had to scoop slush off my car and drive home over windy back roads, but I did it short two discs from an awesome band and without further metal socialization. Not fun.
Now, shows from this past weekend:
1349 with Goatwhore, Nachtmystium, and Averse Sefira...and Mortis Deveia, Aura of Aquila, Zircon, and Cold Northern Vengeance
Mark's, Bedford, 3/31/2007
--
I had to bag a party for one of my high school friends in order to get up for this, but friends who've stayed around where they've been their whole life will tend to stay there; 1349 comes and goes, and the chance to see them on a small stage rather than out in front of 20,000+ ragers through crappy PA towers (like I will this summer) is something that does not occur a whole lot. However, as things panned out, I probably could have dropped in and said hi before going up, but of course there was no way to know that at the time.
Doors were reported for 6, and I got up there around 6:15, fully expecting to go in and find that I'd missed a couple local openers, because this is Mark's, and their ridiculous pay-to-play policy and its attendant circumstances have led to the running gag in the scene that doors for any Mark's show are at about 10 AM on the day before, and that by the time anyone actually gets there, they have already missed half of the 1500 local openers. Your band has just been added to this show, and you need to sell 15 tickets, even though this event is now in the past. However, wonder of wonders, the local support had been frozen at four bands, all of whom were quite good, and doors was actually delayed for soundchecking for the touring acts. So I stood around outside for a bit and talked some with Henry (Mortis Dev) and then briefly with Paul (CNV), who was then working on rounding up his band and understandably a little chafed about having to go on first. Given the circumstances under which CNV got on this show, it's perhaps not surprising that the club would do this, but looking at this bill and how the lineup fell together -- and also, to a lesser degree, what kinds of performances were delivered -- it makes a lot more sense commerically than it does artistically or socially. Somebody always has to go on first, because otherwise the show just fails to start, but on this occasion it should not have been CNV.
Eventually, they let us in, and after getting a beer I went down to the second-stage end to make sure that I didn't miss any CNV. I didn't, even including their initial start, which got cut off because they were still soundchecking up on the main stage. Though they were able to get their sound dialed in, they were notified after this that they'd start playing in 20 minutes. This is far too long to leave metalheads in the vicinity of three full merch and distro tables; I need to train my wallet better so that it doesn't immediately jump up and start vomiting money all over the dealers' hands in this situation. I'm more than satisfied with picking up everything Moonsorrow's ever done that I didn't have yet, plus some other rarities, but it was tough slapping it down enough to still be able to support the local and touring bands. Sure, it's all the same metal scene, but direct support is a lot better than having it routed through some sub-licensor label in Russia.
Eventually, CNV started around 8ish. If I'd dropped in on Jay's, I probably could have seen most of their set, but I had no way of knowing a Mark's show would start this late, and I'd feel pissed about missing any part of CNV in any case.
Cold Northern Vengeance [6/7]
CNV's Arising Dungeon Cult is one of the best black metal records from the North American continent, in its clarity and atmospheres as much as in its rawness and starkness. Live, with imperfect control over their sound (the second stage at Mark's is really good, but it's still a second stage at a bar), the stress is more on the raw aspects, presenting a different sound, but one no less cool or less black metal. Though it still hadn't really gotten dark when they started, if you closed your eyes at any point in the set, it wasn't hard to immediately infer the kind of frigid and snowing night as when they should have played supporting Enslaved. It was a great experience, probably the truest set of the night, and, of course, full of kickass music; they closed with "A Past Forgotten", and there was not a song the rest of the night more frigid or more epic.
As good as this set was, though, their support for Watain and Angelcorpse in Boston next month should be even more interesting, as there are a lot more antifas in Boston than in New Hampshire, so some might show up, even though you very seldom get antifas at a black metal show. I believe Paul in his assertions that CNV isn't a political band, and because I also believe in Amon Amarth's live-and-let-live-as-long-as-they-also-live-and-let-live approach to the right, I'm not going to stir shit with their more politicized fans, but some of the more political on the other end might. Burzum, Nokturnal Mortum, and even Graveland kit I can understand, but when you show up to a black metal show wearing Skrewdriver gear or shirts explicitly advertising racially-oriented forums, it's pretty obvious that it's being done for polemical or recruitment purposes. People have a right to believe whatever they want, as long as they aren't forcing it on others, but I'm not sure that the streets of Cambridge will take that view.
Political bullcrap aside, CNV is still awesome, and I'm still, obviously, looking forward to seeing them again, even though Boston in May is necessarily going to be much less grvm than New Hampshire, anytime.
Averse Sefira [5/7]
The venue was still filling up, so I was able to basically turn around from CNV and walk straight up to the stagefront. This was good and bad; I was, indeed, right the hell up front, but as a result I'm not sure that I got the optimum sound out of the experience. This was still a really good set, but they had the misfortune to be bracketed between two stellar locals, and while they aren't as thoroughly derivative of early Emperor now as on the earlier recorded stuff that I've heard from them, they haven't completely differentiated themselves either. If Zircon hadn't been on the bill, this would have been the most death-driven set (well, of the actual black metal bands, anyways), but unfortunately, they had to cut in between a band that evokes the spirit of old Norway better than they do, and one of the most complete crushing machines that the Northeast has to offer. After another record, they'll probably have their feet under them better, but on this night, Averse Sefira was just really good in a setting where there was a lot of greatness available.
Zircon [6/7]
I was playing around with the idea of doing split scores, and had I actually gone through with it, Averse Sefira would have come out with a 5.5 and these guys with a 6.5. As the last time, they absolutely slaughtered; just an excellent performance, little short of the transcendant. If you live in New England and like the sound of a Naglfar-Dissection-Zyklon fusion, you need to get to the show or shows that Zircon is doing within easy driving distance of you over the next two weeks (don't ask me where, just check your local bills, everyone knows Zircon is on every show); everyone else, either hit up the Oak Knoll mailorder or wait for Jeremy to upsell them to Candlelight or Relapse or something.
Nachtmystium [6/7]
I hadn't heard anything from these guys, but was looking forward to seeing them anyways; new and different music is always a good thing. of course, it's debatable how much was new and different in the set of black'n'roll that they cranked through, inheriting more from Celtic Frost than from what Goatwhore would do a little later on, but it was quite well-executed and the crowd actually in front of the stage -- I was off to the side again, ahead but out of the way of the people who wanted to be front and center -- was thoroughly into it. If the black'n'roll sound puts down permanent roots in the US, so much the better, especially as a contrast to the current dominating school in USBM, but I really need to get out my Vried disc again and be sure what and how much the differences are. Of course, Vried wasn't on this bill, and this was a really good set regardless; I'll have to see them again at Metalfest to be sure that there wasn't any acoustic-shadow bits getting in the way of my understanding of their sound.
Aura of Aquila [5/7]
These guys are actually from my area (Danvers, close enough, even in ultra-parochial New England), and Jim was allegedly in [Endless] Ruin with Ryan and Danny et al (I don't really remember him, but I only saw them once and it was like 4 years ago). Though they had an interesting sound, it wasn't always completely together in performance, and anyone who knows anything about the New England black metal scene would have to conclude that they were slotted where they were for commercial reasons, pushed this late so that people who bought tickets from them would stay at the club, buying drinks, at least through more than half the gig rather than seeing them and leaving early in order to avoid driving an hour and more home at Police Harrassment O'Clock in the morning. They were decent, and I have to pick up a CD from them at some point -- forgot this time -- but even considering their innate qualities, and that this was the bass player's last show, they should have still gone on earlier rather than later, if only in favor of the more high-profile bands on the local half of the bill.
Goatwhore [7/7]
Your eyes are not deceiving you, though I sure thought my ears were while watching the set. Despite the fact that Goatwhore at this point is, as commented (by the bassist from CNV), total Celtic Frost worship, there's nothing wrong with such when it's delivered with such absolute power and such amazing clarity of sound, especially since Celtic Frost isn't exactly doing this early-period sound themselves any more. About equal parts black'n'roll and old Frost, even down to Tom Warrior-style "ugh!" exclamations, this was by a long ways the best performance that I've seen from Goatwhore, and while they aren't particularly revolutionary in anything they do, they're definitely always entertaining, which is the goal to be aspired to for such perpetual road warriors; sometimes you just get a decent set, and sometimes you get an amazing one like this one, but you know they're always going to at least put on a good performance.
Mortis Deveia [5/7]
The Henry Khiev Show [7/7]
While the comments outside the show before doors from some of the other fans that Mortis Dev "didn't fit" on this bill were good for lulz -- because Henry and I were standing less than ten feet away from the people making them, apparently invisible or something -- they were also true to a certain degree; Mortis Deveia is not a black metal band, and they were principally on the bill for two reasons: first, they kick ass, and second, they draw a lot of people from the Valley who might not otherwise show up for a black metal show. Accordingly, they went on a lot later than I was expecting them to, to keep those extra bodies in the venue and drinking and tipping as long as possible. Their set was decent, and fairly high-energy, but there was very much the feeling of a fairly standard-form NWOSDM-driven thrash band riffing out, with occasional intermissions where Henry would do something incredible with his axe. It's not at the Joe Stump level, but it's also not nearly as balanced as some of the other local bands with sick lead guitarists that I follow. As a career pessimist, I can't see this as having good implications for future band chemistry, but there were some external factors that may have led to this being a down night for the other four members; I know I've seen better overall sets from them in the past, and hope to continue to see good sets from them in the future.
1349 [6/7]
The sound at the beginning of their set was oddly really quiet, much as with Dark Funeral the last time I was up here, and additionally I was standing over at the side of the stage, in a bit of an acoustic shadow, which pushed the sound that much lower and less clear for me. Despite this, the band soldiered on and eventually got properly dialed in all across the hall after a couple songs, unleashing their take on the oldest and coldest of Norway over all those in attendance. It may be me misremembering Dark Medieval Times, but the feel as far as I could compare was closest to a more closed-in and aggressive early Satyricon -- though Frost was not on the drums, at least at this gig, for reasons of undisclosed origin that might be personal as well as legal. (Frost allegedly beat the crap out of some guy over a girl or something back in the early '90s, and as a result has a felony assault charge on his rap sheet; perhaps not as significant as Jon Nodtveit or Bard Eithun's Murder Two convictions, but still problematic for the INS or whatever they're calling it these days.) It was still a kickass performance and a fitting capstone to the night, even if it wasn't quite as well-presented as Goatwhore's unexpectedly killer outing; black metal, even the kind that crosses the seas to play gigs, thrives on making people fight through the circumstances to the quality music beneath, and there was certainly plenty of good stuff here.
Eventually, of course, they had to close up, and since Mark's has learned their lesson about putting local bands on after the headliners (at least when the tour is as relatively inexpensive as this one), it was time to head home through the cop-ridden roads and highways down to the border and freedom from dunnage. While Louis from Goatwhore is certainly right that as soon as you stop supporting shows, you'll start bitching about how nothing good ever comes around any more, it's better for all concerned to support shows at places besides Mark's. The security is inconsistent, not patting people down but throwing people out without warnings for moshing, the local support has to pay for the privilege of playing (on an admittedly well-tuned PA setup) at the back of the hall to mostly the same people who would be there at a bar or basement show that they would be getting paid for or at least not losing money on, and on leaving, people have to deal with New Hampshire's finest, who are an obstacle not only to those who are legitimately too impaired to operate, but also to anyone else they happen to decide is a likely mark. This may strike some people as harsh on NH cops, but these people don't have anyone in their family who got a $300 ticket for reckless operation for pulling over when directed by a police officer on an empty highway. New Hampshire extracts enough revenue from Massachusetts by selling liquor on Sundays and without state taxes; it's not strictly necessary to supplement this by pulling over anyone with Mass plates that they think they can hang a violation on, but it still happens.
This last one is from Sunday at ye goode olde Somerville watering hole & Chinese dining room. Note: the Skybar does not actually serve Chinese food, but they don't mind people taking in takeout from the Chinese place next door.
Deathamphetamine with Dominatus and Volatile
Skybar, Somerville, 4/1/2007
--
In sharp contrast to the previous night's black metal festivities, this was a firmly grounded thrashout, but no less cool or possessed of less good music. There are a lot of high scores on the books for this weekend and nothing average or lower; maybe my standards are dropping, but the more likely conclusion is that the bands this weekend were just really that awesome.
Chastened by previous weeks, I made it down earlier and got there right at doors, in time to check in and go next door to pick up some Chinese, then come back and eat it before Volatile started up. It was a little close, but helped by the fact that the band delayed a little, potentially waiting for more people to show up, which I don't understand. The people, not the bands' reaction to them not showing; it's a Sunday evening, there's no football, so you come down, get some good Chinese food, drink some beers, and are done and can stand up sometime during the first band's set. It's not hard, y'all, and for the most part -- this one definitely included -- the Sunday shows at the Skybar have been really cool.
Volatile [6/7]
lol Volatile moar liek Vo-latile amirite lol
Now that the Encyclopedia Dramatica-style description is out of the way, it's time to be moderately serious, as the band is; they're not doing a 3 Inches of Blood-style piss take with their interpretations of primal thrash, but they definitely still are having fun with it, as it's fun music. If you go through your collection in alphabetical order you can find a lot of similarities: Venom, Vio-lence (viz the joke above), Volatile. While the focal point is still on their covers and the frantic passion that they execute them with, their originals are steadily improving, and there's a few that can stand in with their takes on Slayer and Kreator's early periods without losing out in quality or intensity. They're still developing as an original band, but they're already fully formed in their handling of other people's material, and the good reaction to their insanity in executing it seemed to feed forward into their confidence and project the later originals in the set stronger. Volatile may not ever stop playing a long slice of covers, but there may well come a day when people will wish they didn't, in order to give more time to their original work.
Volatile played as a four-piece, though I could almost swear that they had another guitarist when I saw them at Great Scott. The sound wasn't materially degraded for it, but if they're currently normally a five-piece, they're just the latest in a long string of bands playing the Skybar a member down.
Dominatus [5/7]
Like Deathamphetamine, Dominatus is currently in lineup flux, but unlike Deathamphetamine, they weren't able to persuade the exiting member to show up for this gig. The bassist search continues, and the consequence for this set was an occasionally confused sound; the composition was strong enough that the absence of the low end tying things together did make a difference. The impression was of a decent death metal band in the brutal style most common to this area -- Bane of Existence is probably the closest -- trying to play with one hand tied behind its back, though the sound did get better and more together as the set wore on. They also made an interesting exception to the regular practice, covering "Hermod's Ride to Hel" off Amon Amarth's most recent record, which they did a good rendition of. Metal bands, as with practically everyone else, cover mostly old standards, with contemporary material rarely getting played; it's not really possible, in the age of the internet, to do like Metallica did and clone some far-off band to wow local audiences, but nobody's really doing that, either. This will hopefully lead to more contemporary covers in the few non-original slots available; there's a lot of good deep cuts out there that the bands who wrote them don't do live, and someone might as well play the ones that strike their fancy.
This one incidental bit definitely inspired me; if I revive Coelem with actual people as opposed to a studio project, any shortfalls in the set will be filled with uncredited (except in this notice) endZone and Solar Signs material, both because it's really cool and to see if I can get away with co-opting stuff from ten years ago in Russia that never even made much of a stir there. It's not going to happen, but that doesn't make it not a cool idea.
Deathamphetamine [7/7]
Slightly less epic and slightly more crossover-driven than when I saw them last, Deathamphetamine left nothing on the table for Ben's final gig on vocals before moving out of state. Though there was a lot of commentary from the band members about how much stuff they were fucking up, it wasn't immediately noticeable, as the band for the most part stayed together and in time, and throughout laid down a battering barrage of variously-influenced thrash-death. They also got one of the longest sets I've seen from a local show; chalk that one up to three bands on a nearly-three hour timetable and quick setchanges. The result was a mad frenzy of headbanging and flailing limbs, driven up in intensity by action as well as invective from Rich (IWEIPH), who is also not long for this coast. It was a great set, one of the few at this place where the band has gone down off the stage to thrash along with the crowd, and the second-craziest in terms of forward motion to the last time I saw Goreality here, because this time I was the one getting knocked into the table, and I was able to catch it before it fell all the way over. Good times, and hopefully the band will pick up a suitable vocalist in short order so that they can continue rolling on. It'll be tough to replace Ben, but that's also what they said about Taneli Jarva, and Sentenced did okay once Ville got on the same page with the rest of the band.
Though things got over kind of early, despite the long sets, I still left shortly after nabbing Deathamphetamine's CD, overdue by about 5 months through nobody's real fault, except maybe the band's, indirectly, for not realizing how fast their awesomeness would run through their initial pressing. Can't go wrong with 18 tracks of Deathamphetamine for 3 bucks, but I also did have to go to work in the morning and finally take my car in for repairs; after it gets the new bumper, I can start subtly stickering it, which I hadn't done before due to the fact that it was popped and needed replacing.
In other show news, Revocation has been added to the NEMHF. This is the best news about the festival since I found out that there were a lot more bands that I didn't care about playing than bands that I really don't like. They're playing Friday, and they're probably going to be mired on the second stage, but they're still going to be blowing large cavities into the poser hordes and hopefully catching the ear of some of the industry types who are always about. The only downside to this is that now I need to add two offensive-lineman-style knee braces to my festival expenses. \m/.
This one is from the weekend after I came back from Texas; a good show at a good venue in Haverhill.
Shroud of Bereavement with Hekseri, Burn My Remains, and Wings Never Shattered
River City Billiards, Haverhill, 3/24/2007
--
So after the exhaustion of the previous night's mostly mainstream show, it was down into the underground and off into the snow and gathering darkness for this one. Given the bands involved, at least the last two, it fit perfectly, though it was a little rough to drive through on the way back.
I got up in time and got in just around when the bands were supposed to be starting, but due to the circumstances around the final lineup -- Id was supposed to be playing this, but their guitarist got clipped by a car the day before and Wings Never Shattered got added hours before they were supposed to go on -- the setup ran on for most of the next hour. This gave me some time to hang out and start drinking, and also to browse through the Oak Knoll table, which is a convenient euphemism for "lose all my money". The gig turned into a free show due to issues with door control -- the venue wanted to keep their normal bar custom as well, I guess, and had another room on the second floor that they needed to have open -- but I still feel bad about not compensating the bands, as this was a good show at a venue that has a fair degree of potential.
Wings Never Shattered [4/7]
Fittingly enough, the replacement band came in at replacement level, which shows why the term exists; if WNS was better, they'd have been on the bill initially, instead of coming off the figurative bench when Id had to scratch. They were okay, but as metalcore goes, fairly generic; there were some good parts, but more that everyone has heard already five thousand times before. The potential is definitely there for this band to diversify or otherwise distinguish themselves, but this step just hasn't been taken yet. Also, the vagaries of their genre mean that whether or not they decide to take that next step up, they could be on the main stage at Metalfest next year, or they could spend their entire career playing gigs no bigger than this one. When the rules for success are so ridiculously nondeterministic, it's very difficult to see the effort to become more than 'good enough' as worth the candle. They were entertaining and they drew well, but the sets did strictly improve as the night went on.
Burn My Remains [5/7]
I'd heard a fair bit about these guys due to interest in other North Shore/Merrimac Valley bands, and they certainly didn't disappoint, pounding out a strong set of brutal death metal, filled in with just enough neoclassical melodics to really set themselves apart. I'm hoping to see them again in the future, though it doesn't seem that they travel much outside their home range -- though this is less of an issue if there are more good shows up here in the Blight. The only real issue here was that I couldn't entirely hear the bass; the bass lines tracked mostly with the rhythm guitar, but for a 8x10 cab, there ought to have been a little more sound coming out of it. The sound guy was also a last-second fill-in, but in the main did a good job, fillips like these aside.
Hekseri [6/7]
Though there were some issues with Megan's mic initially -- like it wasn't on or someone moving equipment across the floor had kicked the other end out of the soundboard -- this was a thoroughly strong and dominating set of thrashing black metal that even drew in the bouncers who were supposed to be watching the door to the upstairs to marvel not only at girls driving a sonic tornado, but also at Seth's relentless blastbeat pace. The floor was thinner for them, at least initially, as the only non-local band, but it filled in properly in short order, though some weaklings might have been intimidated off by Larissa getting on the floor and attacking people with her bass (a good time for the rest, though). While their set was a little clipped at the end -- the bar wanted the bands over at midnightish, maybe due to noise ordinances, so the delay in startup made a definite difference -- it was still pretty fully developed, and definitely kickass.
Shroud of Bereavement [6/7]
This is where the time limitations really hurt; Shroud came right out at an amazing level, and had this set run as long as it was probably intended to, would have gotten into the top echelon. Though the stage was crowded with the six bandmembers, including three guitarists, it definitely made a difference, as this sort of doom metal really requires that kind of wall of sound to crush over the audience and get their full attention. The strongest comparison is probably to Novembers Doom, as a similar inheritance from multiple sources strongly reworked, but there were also parts where I couldn't help but notice the resemblance to Nightingale. Since he lives in Sweden and doesn't tour so much any more, local bands that can evoke a similar depth and maturity are definitely worth your attention. Though they did get cut off a little, this was still a great performance, and I'm going to make a point to see them in the future.
Unfortunately, I didn't stick around either to pick up Shroud's CDs or to go to Dan's after-party, both of which I should have; like a goober, I parked at the T station again, and like a goober, I was worried about getting towed or shit. I've got to either start parking smarter or caring less, as I still had to scoop slush off my car and drive home over windy back roads, but I did it short two discs from an awesome band and without further metal socialization. Not fun.
Now, shows from this past weekend:
1349 with Goatwhore, Nachtmystium, and Averse Sefira...and Mortis Deveia, Aura of Aquila, Zircon, and Cold Northern Vengeance
Mark's, Bedford, 3/31/2007
--
I had to bag a party for one of my high school friends in order to get up for this, but friends who've stayed around where they've been their whole life will tend to stay there; 1349 comes and goes, and the chance to see them on a small stage rather than out in front of 20,000+ ragers through crappy PA towers (like I will this summer) is something that does not occur a whole lot. However, as things panned out, I probably could have dropped in and said hi before going up, but of course there was no way to know that at the time.
Doors were reported for 6, and I got up there around 6:15, fully expecting to go in and find that I'd missed a couple local openers, because this is Mark's, and their ridiculous pay-to-play policy and its attendant circumstances have led to the running gag in the scene that doors for any Mark's show are at about 10 AM on the day before, and that by the time anyone actually gets there, they have already missed half of the 1500 local openers. Your band has just been added to this show, and you need to sell 15 tickets, even though this event is now in the past. However, wonder of wonders, the local support had been frozen at four bands, all of whom were quite good, and doors was actually delayed for soundchecking for the touring acts. So I stood around outside for a bit and talked some with Henry (Mortis Dev) and then briefly with Paul (CNV), who was then working on rounding up his band and understandably a little chafed about having to go on first. Given the circumstances under which CNV got on this show, it's perhaps not surprising that the club would do this, but looking at this bill and how the lineup fell together -- and also, to a lesser degree, what kinds of performances were delivered -- it makes a lot more sense commerically than it does artistically or socially. Somebody always has to go on first, because otherwise the show just fails to start, but on this occasion it should not have been CNV.
Eventually, they let us in, and after getting a beer I went down to the second-stage end to make sure that I didn't miss any CNV. I didn't, even including their initial start, which got cut off because they were still soundchecking up on the main stage. Though they were able to get their sound dialed in, they were notified after this that they'd start playing in 20 minutes. This is far too long to leave metalheads in the vicinity of three full merch and distro tables; I need to train my wallet better so that it doesn't immediately jump up and start vomiting money all over the dealers' hands in this situation. I'm more than satisfied with picking up everything Moonsorrow's ever done that I didn't have yet, plus some other rarities, but it was tough slapping it down enough to still be able to support the local and touring bands. Sure, it's all the same metal scene, but direct support is a lot better than having it routed through some sub-licensor label in Russia.
Eventually, CNV started around 8ish. If I'd dropped in on Jay's, I probably could have seen most of their set, but I had no way of knowing a Mark's show would start this late, and I'd feel pissed about missing any part of CNV in any case.
Cold Northern Vengeance [6/7]
CNV's Arising Dungeon Cult is one of the best black metal records from the North American continent, in its clarity and atmospheres as much as in its rawness and starkness. Live, with imperfect control over their sound (the second stage at Mark's is really good, but it's still a second stage at a bar), the stress is more on the raw aspects, presenting a different sound, but one no less cool or less black metal. Though it still hadn't really gotten dark when they started, if you closed your eyes at any point in the set, it wasn't hard to immediately infer the kind of frigid and snowing night as when they should have played supporting Enslaved. It was a great experience, probably the truest set of the night, and, of course, full of kickass music; they closed with "A Past Forgotten", and there was not a song the rest of the night more frigid or more epic.
As good as this set was, though, their support for Watain and Angelcorpse in Boston next month should be even more interesting, as there are a lot more antifas in Boston than in New Hampshire, so some might show up, even though you very seldom get antifas at a black metal show. I believe Paul in his assertions that CNV isn't a political band, and because I also believe in Amon Amarth's live-and-let-live-as-long-as-they-also-live-and-let-live approach to the right, I'm not going to stir shit with their more politicized fans, but some of the more political on the other end might. Burzum, Nokturnal Mortum, and even Graveland kit I can understand, but when you show up to a black metal show wearing Skrewdriver gear or shirts explicitly advertising racially-oriented forums, it's pretty obvious that it's being done for polemical or recruitment purposes. People have a right to believe whatever they want, as long as they aren't forcing it on others, but I'm not sure that the streets of Cambridge will take that view.
Political bullcrap aside, CNV is still awesome, and I'm still, obviously, looking forward to seeing them again, even though Boston in May is necessarily going to be much less grvm than New Hampshire, anytime.
Averse Sefira [5/7]
The venue was still filling up, so I was able to basically turn around from CNV and walk straight up to the stagefront. This was good and bad; I was, indeed, right the hell up front, but as a result I'm not sure that I got the optimum sound out of the experience. This was still a really good set, but they had the misfortune to be bracketed between two stellar locals, and while they aren't as thoroughly derivative of early Emperor now as on the earlier recorded stuff that I've heard from them, they haven't completely differentiated themselves either. If Zircon hadn't been on the bill, this would have been the most death-driven set (well, of the actual black metal bands, anyways), but unfortunately, they had to cut in between a band that evokes the spirit of old Norway better than they do, and one of the most complete crushing machines that the Northeast has to offer. After another record, they'll probably have their feet under them better, but on this night, Averse Sefira was just really good in a setting where there was a lot of greatness available.
Zircon [6/7]
I was playing around with the idea of doing split scores, and had I actually gone through with it, Averse Sefira would have come out with a 5.5 and these guys with a 6.5. As the last time, they absolutely slaughtered; just an excellent performance, little short of the transcendant. If you live in New England and like the sound of a Naglfar-Dissection-Zyklon fusion, you need to get to the show or shows that Zircon is doing within easy driving distance of you over the next two weeks (don't ask me where, just check your local bills, everyone knows Zircon is on every show); everyone else, either hit up the Oak Knoll mailorder or wait for Jeremy to upsell them to Candlelight or Relapse or something.
Nachtmystium [6/7]
I hadn't heard anything from these guys, but was looking forward to seeing them anyways; new and different music is always a good thing. of course, it's debatable how much was new and different in the set of black'n'roll that they cranked through, inheriting more from Celtic Frost than from what Goatwhore would do a little later on, but it was quite well-executed and the crowd actually in front of the stage -- I was off to the side again, ahead but out of the way of the people who wanted to be front and center -- was thoroughly into it. If the black'n'roll sound puts down permanent roots in the US, so much the better, especially as a contrast to the current dominating school in USBM, but I really need to get out my Vried disc again and be sure what and how much the differences are. Of course, Vried wasn't on this bill, and this was a really good set regardless; I'll have to see them again at Metalfest to be sure that there wasn't any acoustic-shadow bits getting in the way of my understanding of their sound.
Aura of Aquila [5/7]
These guys are actually from my area (Danvers, close enough, even in ultra-parochial New England), and Jim was allegedly in [Endless] Ruin with Ryan and Danny et al (I don't really remember him, but I only saw them once and it was like 4 years ago). Though they had an interesting sound, it wasn't always completely together in performance, and anyone who knows anything about the New England black metal scene would have to conclude that they were slotted where they were for commercial reasons, pushed this late so that people who bought tickets from them would stay at the club, buying drinks, at least through more than half the gig rather than seeing them and leaving early in order to avoid driving an hour and more home at Police Harrassment O'Clock in the morning. They were decent, and I have to pick up a CD from them at some point -- forgot this time -- but even considering their innate qualities, and that this was the bass player's last show, they should have still gone on earlier rather than later, if only in favor of the more high-profile bands on the local half of the bill.
Goatwhore [7/7]
Your eyes are not deceiving you, though I sure thought my ears were while watching the set. Despite the fact that Goatwhore at this point is, as commented (by the bassist from CNV), total Celtic Frost worship, there's nothing wrong with such when it's delivered with such absolute power and such amazing clarity of sound, especially since Celtic Frost isn't exactly doing this early-period sound themselves any more. About equal parts black'n'roll and old Frost, even down to Tom Warrior-style "ugh!" exclamations, this was by a long ways the best performance that I've seen from Goatwhore, and while they aren't particularly revolutionary in anything they do, they're definitely always entertaining, which is the goal to be aspired to for such perpetual road warriors; sometimes you just get a decent set, and sometimes you get an amazing one like this one, but you know they're always going to at least put on a good performance.
Mortis Deveia [5/7]
The Henry Khiev Show [7/7]
While the comments outside the show before doors from some of the other fans that Mortis Dev "didn't fit" on this bill were good for lulz -- because Henry and I were standing less than ten feet away from the people making them, apparently invisible or something -- they were also true to a certain degree; Mortis Deveia is not a black metal band, and they were principally on the bill for two reasons: first, they kick ass, and second, they draw a lot of people from the Valley who might not otherwise show up for a black metal show. Accordingly, they went on a lot later than I was expecting them to, to keep those extra bodies in the venue and drinking and tipping as long as possible. Their set was decent, and fairly high-energy, but there was very much the feeling of a fairly standard-form NWOSDM-driven thrash band riffing out, with occasional intermissions where Henry would do something incredible with his axe. It's not at the Joe Stump level, but it's also not nearly as balanced as some of the other local bands with sick lead guitarists that I follow. As a career pessimist, I can't see this as having good implications for future band chemistry, but there were some external factors that may have led to this being a down night for the other four members; I know I've seen better overall sets from them in the past, and hope to continue to see good sets from them in the future.
1349 [6/7]
The sound at the beginning of their set was oddly really quiet, much as with Dark Funeral the last time I was up here, and additionally I was standing over at the side of the stage, in a bit of an acoustic shadow, which pushed the sound that much lower and less clear for me. Despite this, the band soldiered on and eventually got properly dialed in all across the hall after a couple songs, unleashing their take on the oldest and coldest of Norway over all those in attendance. It may be me misremembering Dark Medieval Times, but the feel as far as I could compare was closest to a more closed-in and aggressive early Satyricon -- though Frost was not on the drums, at least at this gig, for reasons of undisclosed origin that might be personal as well as legal. (Frost allegedly beat the crap out of some guy over a girl or something back in the early '90s, and as a result has a felony assault charge on his rap sheet; perhaps not as significant as Jon Nodtveit or Bard Eithun's Murder Two convictions, but still problematic for the INS or whatever they're calling it these days.) It was still a kickass performance and a fitting capstone to the night, even if it wasn't quite as well-presented as Goatwhore's unexpectedly killer outing; black metal, even the kind that crosses the seas to play gigs, thrives on making people fight through the circumstances to the quality music beneath, and there was certainly plenty of good stuff here.
Eventually, of course, they had to close up, and since Mark's has learned their lesson about putting local bands on after the headliners (at least when the tour is as relatively inexpensive as this one), it was time to head home through the cop-ridden roads and highways down to the border and freedom from dunnage. While Louis from Goatwhore is certainly right that as soon as you stop supporting shows, you'll start bitching about how nothing good ever comes around any more, it's better for all concerned to support shows at places besides Mark's. The security is inconsistent, not patting people down but throwing people out without warnings for moshing, the local support has to pay for the privilege of playing (on an admittedly well-tuned PA setup) at the back of the hall to mostly the same people who would be there at a bar or basement show that they would be getting paid for or at least not losing money on, and on leaving, people have to deal with New Hampshire's finest, who are an obstacle not only to those who are legitimately too impaired to operate, but also to anyone else they happen to decide is a likely mark. This may strike some people as harsh on NH cops, but these people don't have anyone in their family who got a $300 ticket for reckless operation for pulling over when directed by a police officer on an empty highway. New Hampshire extracts enough revenue from Massachusetts by selling liquor on Sundays and without state taxes; it's not strictly necessary to supplement this by pulling over anyone with Mass plates that they think they can hang a violation on, but it still happens.
This last one is from Sunday at ye goode olde Somerville watering hole & Chinese dining room. Note: the Skybar does not actually serve Chinese food, but they don't mind people taking in takeout from the Chinese place next door.
Deathamphetamine with Dominatus and Volatile
Skybar, Somerville, 4/1/2007
--
In sharp contrast to the previous night's black metal festivities, this was a firmly grounded thrashout, but no less cool or possessed of less good music. There are a lot of high scores on the books for this weekend and nothing average or lower; maybe my standards are dropping, but the more likely conclusion is that the bands this weekend were just really that awesome.
Chastened by previous weeks, I made it down earlier and got there right at doors, in time to check in and go next door to pick up some Chinese, then come back and eat it before Volatile started up. It was a little close, but helped by the fact that the band delayed a little, potentially waiting for more people to show up, which I don't understand. The people, not the bands' reaction to them not showing; it's a Sunday evening, there's no football, so you come down, get some good Chinese food, drink some beers, and are done and can stand up sometime during the first band's set. It's not hard, y'all, and for the most part -- this one definitely included -- the Sunday shows at the Skybar have been really cool.
Volatile [6/7]
lol Volatile moar liek Vo-latile amirite lol
Now that the Encyclopedia Dramatica-style description is out of the way, it's time to be moderately serious, as the band is; they're not doing a 3 Inches of Blood-style piss take with their interpretations of primal thrash, but they definitely still are having fun with it, as it's fun music. If you go through your collection in alphabetical order you can find a lot of similarities: Venom, Vio-lence (viz the joke above), Volatile. While the focal point is still on their covers and the frantic passion that they execute them with, their originals are steadily improving, and there's a few that can stand in with their takes on Slayer and Kreator's early periods without losing out in quality or intensity. They're still developing as an original band, but they're already fully formed in their handling of other people's material, and the good reaction to their insanity in executing it seemed to feed forward into their confidence and project the later originals in the set stronger. Volatile may not ever stop playing a long slice of covers, but there may well come a day when people will wish they didn't, in order to give more time to their original work.
Volatile played as a four-piece, though I could almost swear that they had another guitarist when I saw them at Great Scott. The sound wasn't materially degraded for it, but if they're currently normally a five-piece, they're just the latest in a long string of bands playing the Skybar a member down.
Dominatus [5/7]
Like Deathamphetamine, Dominatus is currently in lineup flux, but unlike Deathamphetamine, they weren't able to persuade the exiting member to show up for this gig. The bassist search continues, and the consequence for this set was an occasionally confused sound; the composition was strong enough that the absence of the low end tying things together did make a difference. The impression was of a decent death metal band in the brutal style most common to this area -- Bane of Existence is probably the closest -- trying to play with one hand tied behind its back, though the sound did get better and more together as the set wore on. They also made an interesting exception to the regular practice, covering "Hermod's Ride to Hel" off Amon Amarth's most recent record, which they did a good rendition of. Metal bands, as with practically everyone else, cover mostly old standards, with contemporary material rarely getting played; it's not really possible, in the age of the internet, to do like Metallica did and clone some far-off band to wow local audiences, but nobody's really doing that, either. This will hopefully lead to more contemporary covers in the few non-original slots available; there's a lot of good deep cuts out there that the bands who wrote them don't do live, and someone might as well play the ones that strike their fancy.
This one incidental bit definitely inspired me; if I revive Coelem with actual people as opposed to a studio project, any shortfalls in the set will be filled with uncredited (except in this notice) endZone and Solar Signs material, both because it's really cool and to see if I can get away with co-opting stuff from ten years ago in Russia that never even made much of a stir there. It's not going to happen, but that doesn't make it not a cool idea.
Deathamphetamine [7/7]
Slightly less epic and slightly more crossover-driven than when I saw them last, Deathamphetamine left nothing on the table for Ben's final gig on vocals before moving out of state. Though there was a lot of commentary from the band members about how much stuff they were fucking up, it wasn't immediately noticeable, as the band for the most part stayed together and in time, and throughout laid down a battering barrage of variously-influenced thrash-death. They also got one of the longest sets I've seen from a local show; chalk that one up to three bands on a nearly-three hour timetable and quick setchanges. The result was a mad frenzy of headbanging and flailing limbs, driven up in intensity by action as well as invective from Rich (IWEIPH), who is also not long for this coast. It was a great set, one of the few at this place where the band has gone down off the stage to thrash along with the crowd, and the second-craziest in terms of forward motion to the last time I saw Goreality here, because this time I was the one getting knocked into the table, and I was able to catch it before it fell all the way over. Good times, and hopefully the band will pick up a suitable vocalist in short order so that they can continue rolling on. It'll be tough to replace Ben, but that's also what they said about Taneli Jarva, and Sentenced did okay once Ville got on the same page with the rest of the band.
Though things got over kind of early, despite the long sets, I still left shortly after nabbing Deathamphetamine's CD, overdue by about 5 months through nobody's real fault, except maybe the band's, indirectly, for not realizing how fast their awesomeness would run through their initial pressing. Can't go wrong with 18 tracks of Deathamphetamine for 3 bucks, but I also did have to go to work in the morning and finally take my car in for repairs; after it gets the new bumper, I can start subtly stickering it, which I hadn't done before due to the fact that it was popped and needed replacing.
In other show news, Revocation has been added to the NEMHF. This is the best news about the festival since I found out that there were a lot more bands that I didn't care about playing than bands that I really don't like. They're playing Friday, and they're probably going to be mired on the second stage, but they're still going to be blowing large cavities into the poser hordes and hopefully catching the ear of some of the industry types who are always about. The only downside to this is that now I need to add two offensive-lineman-style knee braces to my festival expenses. \m/.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
The Haunted with Dark Tranquillity, Into Eternity, and Scar Symmetry [Worcester Palladium, 3/23/2007]
Despite the Kindermenge and the stress of the accumulated travel, this was still a good show and worth the time and grind.
I came basically right off the plane and into the venue; of course, I did have to go home and drop my gear off and get the car, but it was pretty much just another step in a continuous travel sequence that began when I woke up at 5 AM (4 Central). Because of this, I was initially uncertain about going, but as it turned out, I didn't fall asleep behind the wheel or anything, and the show was certainly cool enough to justify the strain and exhaustion.
Despite the usual problems with coming out of Boston in the evening, I got to the venue right around doors and got in. One impression was overwhelming: I would not have to wait in line at the bar this night, an impression that was borne out. There was a pretty good crowd at this show, but most of them were under 21 if not under 18; not really surprising, given the bands, but it's not what you usually see at a metal show. I got some merch, but passed on a DT flask; they looked pretty cool, but I have two more shows planned for this weekend, and only so much cash.
Scar Symmetry [5/7]
I was curious to see this band, because I'd heard them on record and found them kind of decent; the live performance was also decent, but somewhat impaired by the venue. The Palladium has a reputation, especially with opening bands, for making them sound like the speakers are currently being run over with a truck, but there have been few instances where it's gotten quite as bad as the few worst places in Scar Symmetry's set. When you could hear what the band was doing, the performance was pretty good, mixing classic Soilwork with a lot of Evergrey. The potential from their albums is still there, but still isn't completely developed yet, and the lead guitarist needs to diversify his style, because when they tour Europe, there are going to be a lot more people yelling "you are not Tom Englund!" Still, Evergrey wasn't on this tour, and Scar Symmetry, despite the sound problems, put up a good set, especially for an opening band.
Into Eternity [5/7]
Though this set was still pretty good, it was the flattest that I've seen from Into Eternity, and also still affected by sound problems. It was still a good and entertaining performance, but they did better at the Middle East recently, despite fitting much better with this package. The singer's protestations to the contrary, they aren't really death metal except incidentally (and that only because of where Chuck went towards the end of his life), but their progressive attack fits in well with Scar Symmetry and DT. They came off a little better than Scar Symmetry did, and several people have reported that Into Eternity substantially stole this show, but I'm not so sure about that; they've done better in the past, and there were some good performances following it this time.
If there's one thing that this show demonstrates, it's that Evergrey needs to do a full US tour; even though they'd have to go as support (at least the first time), the scene is more than ready for them.
Dark Tranquillity [6/7]
Even though I don't have any real points of comparison (not having seen them before), this also seemed a little flat of a set. However, because this is Dark Tranquillity, a slightly flat set can still be really awesome; from the Gallery stuff to the Fiction tracks that they ran out, there was no shortfall of killer material. The new stuff is every bit as good as what they've been doing recently, and I'm really looking forward to the new disc -- they were selling preorder slips, but it's like a month that I'd have to keep track of it for. This was a really good set, and well worth the ticket, even to this point. I hope to see a better performance from them sometime, but I'll gladly take any DT set that I get in the process.
I was thinking about leaving at this point, as I'm not really a fan of The Haunted, and it had been a long, long day to this point, but I wanted to see them with Dolving, since I'd only seen them with Aro in 2003.
The Haunted [7/7]
There were a lot of people who reacted negatively to this set, but that's probably due more to the nature of the material than the nature of the performance. This was probably the least technical and most mainstream set of the night, but the execution was simply incredible. The band was dead-on and the sound was clear and clean enough to show off their full range. And whatever "it" is that great rock vocalists are supposed to have, Peter Dolving has "it" in spades. He's at least twice the frontman that Marco Aro was (even though he didn't really do justice to the few Marco tracks that made it into the set), and as almost a force of nature has really taken over this band, which has had consequences for their live show as positive as the consequences for their recorded output have been negative. With Aro, the Bjorlers were able to assert the heritage of At The Gates; now and going forward, The Haunted is the Peter Dolving (Thrash) Band. It makes for a hell of a show, and I'm glad that I stayed, but it's made me more skeptical about getting The Dead Eye or further albums. Dolving is a great vocalist and an interesting guy, but my metal interests lie mostly elsewhere.
On the drive home, I had some close calls due to low speed; whether it was the headlights or my eyes, I wasn't able to resolve far enough ahead to drive at a normal speed of traffic and had to basically do the speed limit the whole way back. That's no way for a Masshole to drive, even at 1 and 2 in the morning.
Though this was a good show, it did have the negative side effect of making me unable to go to one of the few non-Sunday metal gigs at the Skybar; I missed Downfall and Zircon, among others, and what was allegedly a really good time. At least there's tonight and Sunday for local coolness; I'll have some notes and hopefully a few pictures from Texas up later.
I came basically right off the plane and into the venue; of course, I did have to go home and drop my gear off and get the car, but it was pretty much just another step in a continuous travel sequence that began when I woke up at 5 AM (4 Central). Because of this, I was initially uncertain about going, but as it turned out, I didn't fall asleep behind the wheel or anything, and the show was certainly cool enough to justify the strain and exhaustion.
Despite the usual problems with coming out of Boston in the evening, I got to the venue right around doors and got in. One impression was overwhelming: I would not have to wait in line at the bar this night, an impression that was borne out. There was a pretty good crowd at this show, but most of them were under 21 if not under 18; not really surprising, given the bands, but it's not what you usually see at a metal show. I got some merch, but passed on a DT flask; they looked pretty cool, but I have two more shows planned for this weekend, and only so much cash.
Scar Symmetry [5/7]
I was curious to see this band, because I'd heard them on record and found them kind of decent; the live performance was also decent, but somewhat impaired by the venue. The Palladium has a reputation, especially with opening bands, for making them sound like the speakers are currently being run over with a truck, but there have been few instances where it's gotten quite as bad as the few worst places in Scar Symmetry's set. When you could hear what the band was doing, the performance was pretty good, mixing classic Soilwork with a lot of Evergrey. The potential from their albums is still there, but still isn't completely developed yet, and the lead guitarist needs to diversify his style, because when they tour Europe, there are going to be a lot more people yelling "you are not Tom Englund!" Still, Evergrey wasn't on this tour, and Scar Symmetry, despite the sound problems, put up a good set, especially for an opening band.
Into Eternity [5/7]
Though this set was still pretty good, it was the flattest that I've seen from Into Eternity, and also still affected by sound problems. It was still a good and entertaining performance, but they did better at the Middle East recently, despite fitting much better with this package. The singer's protestations to the contrary, they aren't really death metal except incidentally (and that only because of where Chuck went towards the end of his life), but their progressive attack fits in well with Scar Symmetry and DT. They came off a little better than Scar Symmetry did, and several people have reported that Into Eternity substantially stole this show, but I'm not so sure about that; they've done better in the past, and there were some good performances following it this time.
If there's one thing that this show demonstrates, it's that Evergrey needs to do a full US tour; even though they'd have to go as support (at least the first time), the scene is more than ready for them.
Dark Tranquillity [6/7]
Even though I don't have any real points of comparison (not having seen them before), this also seemed a little flat of a set. However, because this is Dark Tranquillity, a slightly flat set can still be really awesome; from the Gallery stuff to the Fiction tracks that they ran out, there was no shortfall of killer material. The new stuff is every bit as good as what they've been doing recently, and I'm really looking forward to the new disc -- they were selling preorder slips, but it's like a month that I'd have to keep track of it for. This was a really good set, and well worth the ticket, even to this point. I hope to see a better performance from them sometime, but I'll gladly take any DT set that I get in the process.
I was thinking about leaving at this point, as I'm not really a fan of The Haunted, and it had been a long, long day to this point, but I wanted to see them with Dolving, since I'd only seen them with Aro in 2003.
The Haunted [7/7]
There were a lot of people who reacted negatively to this set, but that's probably due more to the nature of the material than the nature of the performance. This was probably the least technical and most mainstream set of the night, but the execution was simply incredible. The band was dead-on and the sound was clear and clean enough to show off their full range. And whatever "it" is that great rock vocalists are supposed to have, Peter Dolving has "it" in spades. He's at least twice the frontman that Marco Aro was (even though he didn't really do justice to the few Marco tracks that made it into the set), and as almost a force of nature has really taken over this band, which has had consequences for their live show as positive as the consequences for their recorded output have been negative. With Aro, the Bjorlers were able to assert the heritage of At The Gates; now and going forward, The Haunted is the Peter Dolving (Thrash) Band. It makes for a hell of a show, and I'm glad that I stayed, but it's made me more skeptical about getting The Dead Eye or further albums. Dolving is a great vocalist and an interesting guy, but my metal interests lie mostly elsewhere.
On the drive home, I had some close calls due to low speed; whether it was the headlights or my eyes, I wasn't able to resolve far enough ahead to drive at a normal speed of traffic and had to basically do the speed limit the whole way back. That's no way for a Masshole to drive, even at 1 and 2 in the morning.
Though this was a good show, it did have the negative side effect of making me unable to go to one of the few non-Sunday metal gigs at the Skybar; I missed Downfall and Zircon, among others, and what was allegedly a really good time. At least there's tonight and Sunday for local coolness; I'll have some notes and hopefully a few pictures from Texas up later.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
goddamnit, no Cynic
Cynic has cancelled their appearance at MDF. Anyone in NE want a pair of MDF tickets? Without Cynic, this fest is no longer worth the ridiculous hotel fee, so I'm probably not going; I don't have a strong interest in enough of the other bands, and though missing Brutal Truth is a bummer, I've already seen Zyklon.
It's too bad that I've already gotten my vacation approved for MDF weekend, because otherwise I would seriously look at rejiggering my flight plans and just bumming around Germany for the downtime between Wacken and Party.San. Next year and following, I may do just that, provided that the weekends still stay consecutive. And if I can do it this year, I may as well; Kreator's headlining Party.San this year, and the ability to see them in a slightly more intimate setting than the '05 mudbowl would be killer.
It's too bad that I've already gotten my vacation approved for MDF weekend, because otherwise I would seriously look at rejiggering my flight plans and just bumming around Germany for the downtime between Wacken and Party.San. Next year and following, I may do just that, provided that the weekends still stay consecutive. And if I can do it this year, I may as well; Kreator's headlining Party.San this year, and the ability to see them in a slightly more intimate setting than the '05 mudbowl would be killer.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Hekseri with Goreality and Abnormality [Skybar, Somerville, 3/18/2007]
This is a little delayed because I had to spend all of yesterday going to Texas, but it still doesn't impede the fact that this was an awesome show. Unfortunately, I got in late due to having to prepare to travel Monday, and missed almost all of Abnormality.
Abnormality [NR]
I hate giving bands a null rating. This isn't because it gives my life some perverse obsessive-compulsive critical meaning to assign relative weights to bands' sets, but because it means that I saw the band, but not enough of them to give a fair assessment. In this case, I got in to the Skybar just at 8 PM, just in time to see Abnormality's last song, which turned out to be just enough to get me disappointed that I couldn't get there sooner. Despite the absence of a bass player (no idea whether this is their normal configuration or not), the death metal sound was nice and thick, not quite as dense or frenetic as Goreality, but still pretty crushing all the same. I've got to try and see a full set from this band sometime.
After their set, I got a beer and hit the Pathos table; as usual, Dwyer had about 87 time more interesting or cool-looking records than I actually had money for, but I was able to pick up some Horn of Valere and Cianide that I didn't have, and he recced me two more cult German albums....none of which I've listened to yet, or will listen to for another week, because I had to keep the weight of my gear for this trip to a minimum.
Hekseri [6/7]
Assuming that Abnormality usually has a bassist instead of using their guitarist's 7th string for the low end, this was the second band of the night to show up without their nominal bass player. However, unlike the last time, I saw Hekseri without Jason, Larissa switched over to bass, presenting yet another version of their sound. It looked like she was mostly just transposing her normal rhythm lines down rather than duplicating Jason's more gymnastic attack, and the result was a slightly simpler sound, but one that in its evolution of folkic melodies out of ripping noise recalled the best of true black metal. The best part, though, is that this is still a band that can evoke Dissection as easily as Darkthrone, and even though recent shows have shown that their sound is still very much under development, they're still creating quality music and putting up kickass sets.
The reason that Hekseri played second, despite setting up the show and nominally having top billing, was that Goreality's singer didn't show up until the end of their soundcheck. The Skybar is a little difficult to get to, but only the Harvard rotary and the turn at Porter Square are technically challenging, and the band has actually played here before (with Godless Rising, back in January). Be that as it may, though; the band did get in place with their full lineup, just in time to start blasting.
Goreality [7/7]
This was not as superlative a performance as the last time I saw them here. However, it was still completely awesome, both in music and in the audience reaction, and so simply well-refined that you really have to wonder how on earth this band is still toiling in such relative obscurity. Of course, ultra-brutal gore-death is never going to get you on the Billboard 200, but people on other continents into this scene should know who this band is; hopefully, their new record will get them over that mark, especially if Dwyer is able to get it out in good distro channels and reviewed by some high-profile sources. The new stuff that they played is just as awesome as the older material; all that remains is to get it out into people's ears.
The audience reaction mentioned above is no joke; the Skybar is not generally a huge moshing venue, but it's also not a no-mosh venue either, and the front got pretty turbulent for Goreality. I did my best to keep people from flying into the tables, and while this wasn't completely successful -- though I was able to catch the two guys who knocked that one table over before they fell down on it and its sharp-cornered metal foot -- it was still fun as hell and a great addition to the music. There were also a good number of people in throughout the show, and hopefully more of them will start coming regularly to Sunday gigs. The genres vary, and some shows are more awesome than others, but it's still always a cool time, and always gets out in plenty of time for people to get home and get enough sleep to face work (or a plane ride to Texas) on Monday.
Next show, presuming I don't get held up here, is on Friday at the Palladium, where I'll finally get to see DT; next underground show is on Saturday up in Haverhill, with Shroud of Bereavement, Hekseri, and probably some other Merrimac Valley bands that I ought to be keeping better tabs on. Of course, I have to complete my mission here and get back out of Texas, but it's some pretty simple stuff that I have to do...as long as things don't go sideways.
Abnormality [NR]
I hate giving bands a null rating. This isn't because it gives my life some perverse obsessive-compulsive critical meaning to assign relative weights to bands' sets, but because it means that I saw the band, but not enough of them to give a fair assessment. In this case, I got in to the Skybar just at 8 PM, just in time to see Abnormality's last song, which turned out to be just enough to get me disappointed that I couldn't get there sooner. Despite the absence of a bass player (no idea whether this is their normal configuration or not), the death metal sound was nice and thick, not quite as dense or frenetic as Goreality, but still pretty crushing all the same. I've got to try and see a full set from this band sometime.
After their set, I got a beer and hit the Pathos table; as usual, Dwyer had about 87 time more interesting or cool-looking records than I actually had money for, but I was able to pick up some Horn of Valere and Cianide that I didn't have, and he recced me two more cult German albums....none of which I've listened to yet, or will listen to for another week, because I had to keep the weight of my gear for this trip to a minimum.
Hekseri [6/7]
Assuming that Abnormality usually has a bassist instead of using their guitarist's 7th string for the low end, this was the second band of the night to show up without their nominal bass player. However, unlike the last time, I saw Hekseri without Jason, Larissa switched over to bass, presenting yet another version of their sound. It looked like she was mostly just transposing her normal rhythm lines down rather than duplicating Jason's more gymnastic attack, and the result was a slightly simpler sound, but one that in its evolution of folkic melodies out of ripping noise recalled the best of true black metal. The best part, though, is that this is still a band that can evoke Dissection as easily as Darkthrone, and even though recent shows have shown that their sound is still very much under development, they're still creating quality music and putting up kickass sets.
The reason that Hekseri played second, despite setting up the show and nominally having top billing, was that Goreality's singer didn't show up until the end of their soundcheck. The Skybar is a little difficult to get to, but only the Harvard rotary and the turn at Porter Square are technically challenging, and the band has actually played here before (with Godless Rising, back in January). Be that as it may, though; the band did get in place with their full lineup, just in time to start blasting.
Goreality [7/7]
This was not as superlative a performance as the last time I saw them here. However, it was still completely awesome, both in music and in the audience reaction, and so simply well-refined that you really have to wonder how on earth this band is still toiling in such relative obscurity. Of course, ultra-brutal gore-death is never going to get you on the Billboard 200, but people on other continents into this scene should know who this band is; hopefully, their new record will get them over that mark, especially if Dwyer is able to get it out in good distro channels and reviewed by some high-profile sources. The new stuff that they played is just as awesome as the older material; all that remains is to get it out into people's ears.
The audience reaction mentioned above is no joke; the Skybar is not generally a huge moshing venue, but it's also not a no-mosh venue either, and the front got pretty turbulent for Goreality. I did my best to keep people from flying into the tables, and while this wasn't completely successful -- though I was able to catch the two guys who knocked that one table over before they fell down on it and its sharp-cornered metal foot -- it was still fun as hell and a great addition to the music. There were also a good number of people in throughout the show, and hopefully more of them will start coming regularly to Sunday gigs. The genres vary, and some shows are more awesome than others, but it's still always a cool time, and always gets out in plenty of time for people to get home and get enough sleep to face work (or a plane ride to Texas) on Monday.
Next show, presuming I don't get held up here, is on Friday at the Palladium, where I'll finally get to see DT; next underground show is on Saturday up in Haverhill, with Shroud of Bereavement, Hekseri, and probably some other Merrimac Valley bands that I ought to be keeping better tabs on. Of course, I have to complete my mission here and get back out of Texas, but it's some pretty simple stuff that I have to do...as long as things don't go sideways.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Bane of Existence with Sin of Angels and Shit Fuck [Skybar, Somerville, 3/11/2007]
The lack of shows recently led to lack of updates, but I needed to get this out now so that it wouldn't logjam the next one and I could do that before I had to go to Texas. More about the whole 'going to Texas' thing at the bottom.
Between leaving late and traffic, I got down to the venue around 8, which was in time to see most of Shit Fuck's set, though not all of it. And unfortunately, this also meant no Chinese food. This was not my day for transportation, but it did include a pretty good show.
Shit Fuck [4/7]
Again, I didn't see all of their set, but I saw a fair bit, and enough to get a fair assessment, I think, of their Motorgrind at this point in their development. Of course, that's not a real genre, but it's a convenient enough way to explain their seriously punk-driven grindcore sound also having its occasional metal moments. It was a pretty good performance, with a relative abundance of covers, but they were all well-performed, and the originals were pretty good as well. While they came off as somewhat loose -- and a little disorganized when Rich was unexpectedly next door getting Chinese and they had to scramble up their own vocals on "Mother May I Come Out And Kill Tonight" -- this isn't really the kind of band that you want to set up and be absolutely serious about what they're doing. It was a decent set with a lot of good music and a fair share of humorous moments -- due to popular demand, they played "Premature Ejaculation" four times in a row -- and despite the lack of energy, it did set the tone well for the rest of the night.
Chris (bass) from this band is also in Volatile, and I think also IWEIPH, and I swear I've seen the guitarist with some other local band. This was a real 'core scene' night in terms of people who came out, which is both good and a shame; good that we have people who are this committed, and a shame because this was a good show that more people would have enjoyed, and it got out well in time for people who didn't get lost to get home in time to go to bed for work.
Sin of Angels [5/7]
Initially, they came off as a fairly even blend of doom and death metal, but as their set went on, it became more clear -- whether from them getting more comfortable with the setting or the sound guy getting them dialed in -- that they were much more doom metal, just played at room-graveling volumes. I've been just outside the minimal lethal distance from the Party Stage bass cabs, so the vibration of everything I had on didn't come close to those waves that come close to physically pushing you around, but this was still a loud, loud fucking set. It was also a really good set, the absolute sonic domination forcing you to really dial in on the music to the exclusion of anything else. It was definitely a cool experience, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again. Unfortunately, I don't think I can make it down to New Bedford on the 30th for their gig with Godless Rising, despite the awesomeness of that bill.
I also have to see this band again in order to get a CD; I didn't go over and pick one up after their set, and by the time Bane of Existence finished, they were packing up. It sucks, but it's also kind of to be expected, as there were very few people in the building (especially by then) who weren't connected to one of the bands or could otherwise be expected to have all the merch they'd need. I really ought to start doing my part to bring more general public to these things.
Bane of Existence [6/7]
I first heard these guys a couple years ago, while I was still in Germany, and it was cool to finally see them live, especially as they put on a fairly killer set. The most major problems weren't the band's fault, mostly just technical accidents that loosened up the atmosphere a little. Most of them were fixed quickly -- the sound guy this time was on top of everything and really competent overall, putting up some of the best overall sound that I've heard in this place -- letting the band get back to the death metal. When they weren't having issues with the bass cabling, BoE put up an excellent performance of some really well-composed and arranged material, solidly brutal and technical but also verging on the epic in places. Great stuff. If I have all my facts together, the band is currently re-emerging from the effects of some exceptionally weird drama, but they're certainly ready to explode as is, and seeing them on the bill should definitely ought to motivate people to come out to a show like this, even on a Sunday night. They didn't have any gear available after, but they've been around a while, so I should be able to get ahold of some of their recordings by some means.
I left the bar around 10:30, and if all things had gone correctly, I would have been back home shortly after 11. Things did not go according to plan; by virtue of where I parked, I wasn't able to turn around on Somerville Ave, and got lost for a bit until picking up another major road. This road turned out to be Mass Ave/2A, but I didn't find this out until I was nearly out of Arlington. At that point, I should have pressed on to 128, but instead I went back down into town to pick up 90 and go back like normal. The final cost was like half a tank of gas, plus having to pay tolls, but at least I discovered a new path home for normal use...and maybe to get down with as well, avoiding 93 and the Harvard rotary entirely. Dunno if I want to try it next week, though; the lineup for that gig is also truly killer, and I don't want to get stuck missing music like this time.
Unfortunately, I probably won't be going to either Isis gig; both sold out, which is completely not surprising. On the positive side, MPD's new record is in post-production, and according to Kenny is really killer; of course, it's his band and his record, so of course he's going to say that, but from what I've heard, I'm entirely inclined to believe him. There's not the same density of bands on the North Shore as in other parts of E-Mass, but we've still got some good ones.
Regarding Texas, I have to go train some of our field guys next week; unfortunately, due to luggage and time constraints, I probably won't have time to go check out any Dallas local shows. Fortunately, the CNV show at the Skybar Thursday got cancelled; well, it's fortunate for me not missing it, unfortunate for everyone else, as that was a really good lineup.
Between leaving late and traffic, I got down to the venue around 8, which was in time to see most of Shit Fuck's set, though not all of it. And unfortunately, this also meant no Chinese food. This was not my day for transportation, but it did include a pretty good show.
Shit Fuck [4/7]
Again, I didn't see all of their set, but I saw a fair bit, and enough to get a fair assessment, I think, of their Motorgrind at this point in their development. Of course, that's not a real genre, but it's a convenient enough way to explain their seriously punk-driven grindcore sound also having its occasional metal moments. It was a pretty good performance, with a relative abundance of covers, but they were all well-performed, and the originals were pretty good as well. While they came off as somewhat loose -- and a little disorganized when Rich was unexpectedly next door getting Chinese and they had to scramble up their own vocals on "Mother May I Come Out And Kill Tonight" -- this isn't really the kind of band that you want to set up and be absolutely serious about what they're doing. It was a decent set with a lot of good music and a fair share of humorous moments -- due to popular demand, they played "Premature Ejaculation" four times in a row -- and despite the lack of energy, it did set the tone well for the rest of the night.
Chris (bass) from this band is also in Volatile, and I think also IWEIPH, and I swear I've seen the guitarist with some other local band. This was a real 'core scene' night in terms of people who came out, which is both good and a shame; good that we have people who are this committed, and a shame because this was a good show that more people would have enjoyed, and it got out well in time for people who didn't get lost to get home in time to go to bed for work.
Sin of Angels [5/7]
Initially, they came off as a fairly even blend of doom and death metal, but as their set went on, it became more clear -- whether from them getting more comfortable with the setting or the sound guy getting them dialed in -- that they were much more doom metal, just played at room-graveling volumes. I've been just outside the minimal lethal distance from the Party Stage bass cabs, so the vibration of everything I had on didn't come close to those waves that come close to physically pushing you around, but this was still a loud, loud fucking set. It was also a really good set, the absolute sonic domination forcing you to really dial in on the music to the exclusion of anything else. It was definitely a cool experience, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing them again. Unfortunately, I don't think I can make it down to New Bedford on the 30th for their gig with Godless Rising, despite the awesomeness of that bill.
I also have to see this band again in order to get a CD; I didn't go over and pick one up after their set, and by the time Bane of Existence finished, they were packing up. It sucks, but it's also kind of to be expected, as there were very few people in the building (especially by then) who weren't connected to one of the bands or could otherwise be expected to have all the merch they'd need. I really ought to start doing my part to bring more general public to these things.
Bane of Existence [6/7]
I first heard these guys a couple years ago, while I was still in Germany, and it was cool to finally see them live, especially as they put on a fairly killer set. The most major problems weren't the band's fault, mostly just technical accidents that loosened up the atmosphere a little. Most of them were fixed quickly -- the sound guy this time was on top of everything and really competent overall, putting up some of the best overall sound that I've heard in this place -- letting the band get back to the death metal. When they weren't having issues with the bass cabling, BoE put up an excellent performance of some really well-composed and arranged material, solidly brutal and technical but also verging on the epic in places. Great stuff. If I have all my facts together, the band is currently re-emerging from the effects of some exceptionally weird drama, but they're certainly ready to explode as is, and seeing them on the bill should definitely ought to motivate people to come out to a show like this, even on a Sunday night. They didn't have any gear available after, but they've been around a while, so I should be able to get ahold of some of their recordings by some means.
I left the bar around 10:30, and if all things had gone correctly, I would have been back home shortly after 11. Things did not go according to plan; by virtue of where I parked, I wasn't able to turn around on Somerville Ave, and got lost for a bit until picking up another major road. This road turned out to be Mass Ave/2A, but I didn't find this out until I was nearly out of Arlington. At that point, I should have pressed on to 128, but instead I went back down into town to pick up 90 and go back like normal. The final cost was like half a tank of gas, plus having to pay tolls, but at least I discovered a new path home for normal use...and maybe to get down with as well, avoiding 93 and the Harvard rotary entirely. Dunno if I want to try it next week, though; the lineup for that gig is also truly killer, and I don't want to get stuck missing music like this time.
Unfortunately, I probably won't be going to either Isis gig; both sold out, which is completely not surprising. On the positive side, MPD's new record is in post-production, and according to Kenny is really killer; of course, it's his band and his record, so of course he's going to say that, but from what I've heard, I'm entirely inclined to believe him. There's not the same density of bands on the North Shore as in other parts of E-Mass, but we've still got some good ones.
Regarding Texas, I have to go train some of our field guys next week; unfortunately, due to luggage and time constraints, I probably won't have time to go check out any Dallas local shows. Fortunately, the CNV show at the Skybar Thursday got cancelled; well, it's fortunate for me not missing it, unfortunate for everyone else, as that was a really good lineup.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Dreaded Silence with The Accursed and Cythraul (but unfortunately not It Will End In Pure Horror) [Skybar, Somerville, 2/23/2007]
Before going down, I checked RTTP and found out to my disappointment that IWEIPH had cancelled. I'd been looking forward to seeing Rich et al, not least because of his legend, but it can wait. If I went to more shows that leaned more hardcore, I'd probably have seen them by now, and I'll probably see them soon enough anyway. Too bad, but there were still a bunch of good bands on this one.
I got down about on time, but due to the diminished lineup, Cythraul wasn't going on for a while. I had time to go get some Chinese from next door, eat it, and get a second beer by the time they got checked and their axes set up.
Cythraul [6/7]
I was seriously impressed by this band, despite their lineup issues at this one. This is the second time in a row that a band with female members played the Skybar without a bassist, and the second time in a row that a black metal band played a Boston bar show without their bass player, so there's obviously something going on here below the surface. This left Cythraul with zero female members present, but didn't noticeably diminish the coolness of their sound, which is the part that actually matters. They inherited most from early Emperor and mid-period Immortal without really cloning either, which is definitely a good thing. This was a great performance, which really makes me want to see them again with their full complement -- though this one, featuring Cody from Witch Tomb (not corked up just to go out to the bar) doing guest vocals on a few songs, was definitely something special.
Between sets, I talked with Larissa from Hekseri; I'm constantly humbled when people from bands thank me for coming out and supporting -- I don't thank them nearly enough for putting on good shows, playing kickass music, and being generally awesome. Unfortunately, they've sold out of FDHB, but their demos are being compiled by some microlabel in Singapore, so even if I don't make it to their gig on the 18th or if she gets caught up in other stuff and doesn't end up burning me the demos I don't have yet, I should still be able to get them eventually.
The Accursed [5.5/7]
This was another good set from this band, though somewhat marred by stuff that the band had more or less no control over. I'm referring, of course, to the casino around their sound, which nobody who was at the gig could have missed. Basically, the sound guy gave them a raw deal, then flipped out at them with little provocation. In fairness to the sound dude, it's eminently possible to see how he could have interpreted Jon dropping his (non-functioning) mic as throwing it, but he also shouldn't have flipped out at them over it, and if he'd managed the PA portion of the soundcheck better, he might have found out that the mic in question was dead before the band started and people started getting heated up that things weren't working.
That aside, The Accursed put on a solid set that improved as it went on; the problems were mostly in the first two songs, and mostly coming off the sound issues. Great bands rise up in the face of adversity, and just as an actively hostile soundboard is one of the most adverse conditions that a band can be faced with, the slaughtering performance of "Land of the Dead" that they closed with was little other than the very definition of "rising up", some of the best that I've seen from them. This set as a total experience could have been better, but you can't fault the band's performance.
Dreaded Silence [5/7]
There were a few loose moments, but most of this set was a miracle in progress, because despite the determined efforts of like half the room to get Ken completely wasted, he didn't start forgetting lyrics until the last song. Most of this set was really good, a nice blend of death metal and other elements that recalled the best of the two eras of Sentenced (who they didn't cover) as much as Edge of Sanity (who they did, not omitting the RTTP meme reference ("Dan Swano is an Opeth ripoff")). Despite the alcoholic haze, this was a cool performance in a style that I like, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime (like next month) when it isn't Ken's birthday, and he isn't as totally pissed. The drunken abuse will be missed, but the band's got a neat enough sound and good enough execution that it may not be missed much.
Storrow leading into 93 was again wall-to-wall due to tunnel closures; I'm really thinking about just always going back on 128 and the Pike from Boston shows. Next show is also in Somerville, kicking off a month of ten or so gigs, including the first big show at the Palladium in a while....well, except the one last night, but that was obviously disqualified for certain reasons.
I got down about on time, but due to the diminished lineup, Cythraul wasn't going on for a while. I had time to go get some Chinese from next door, eat it, and get a second beer by the time they got checked and their axes set up.
Cythraul [6/7]
I was seriously impressed by this band, despite their lineup issues at this one. This is the second time in a row that a band with female members played the Skybar without a bassist, and the second time in a row that a black metal band played a Boston bar show without their bass player, so there's obviously something going on here below the surface. This left Cythraul with zero female members present, but didn't noticeably diminish the coolness of their sound, which is the part that actually matters. They inherited most from early Emperor and mid-period Immortal without really cloning either, which is definitely a good thing. This was a great performance, which really makes me want to see them again with their full complement -- though this one, featuring Cody from Witch Tomb (not corked up just to go out to the bar) doing guest vocals on a few songs, was definitely something special.
Between sets, I talked with Larissa from Hekseri; I'm constantly humbled when people from bands thank me for coming out and supporting -- I don't thank them nearly enough for putting on good shows, playing kickass music, and being generally awesome. Unfortunately, they've sold out of FDHB, but their demos are being compiled by some microlabel in Singapore, so even if I don't make it to their gig on the 18th or if she gets caught up in other stuff and doesn't end up burning me the demos I don't have yet, I should still be able to get them eventually.
The Accursed [5.5/7]
This was another good set from this band, though somewhat marred by stuff that the band had more or less no control over. I'm referring, of course, to the casino around their sound, which nobody who was at the gig could have missed. Basically, the sound guy gave them a raw deal, then flipped out at them with little provocation. In fairness to the sound dude, it's eminently possible to see how he could have interpreted Jon dropping his (non-functioning) mic as throwing it, but he also shouldn't have flipped out at them over it, and if he'd managed the PA portion of the soundcheck better, he might have found out that the mic in question was dead before the band started and people started getting heated up that things weren't working.
That aside, The Accursed put on a solid set that improved as it went on; the problems were mostly in the first two songs, and mostly coming off the sound issues. Great bands rise up in the face of adversity, and just as an actively hostile soundboard is one of the most adverse conditions that a band can be faced with, the slaughtering performance of "Land of the Dead" that they closed with was little other than the very definition of "rising up", some of the best that I've seen from them. This set as a total experience could have been better, but you can't fault the band's performance.
Dreaded Silence [5/7]
There were a few loose moments, but most of this set was a miracle in progress, because despite the determined efforts of like half the room to get Ken completely wasted, he didn't start forgetting lyrics until the last song. Most of this set was really good, a nice blend of death metal and other elements that recalled the best of the two eras of Sentenced (who they didn't cover) as much as Edge of Sanity (who they did, not omitting the RTTP meme reference ("Dan Swano is an Opeth ripoff")). Despite the alcoholic haze, this was a cool performance in a style that I like, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sometime (like next month) when it isn't Ken's birthday, and he isn't as totally pissed. The drunken abuse will be missed, but the band's got a neat enough sound and good enough execution that it may not be missed much.
Storrow leading into 93 was again wall-to-wall due to tunnel closures; I'm really thinking about just always going back on 128 and the Pike from Boston shows. Next show is also in Somerville, kicking off a month of ten or so gigs, including the first big show at the Palladium in a while....well, except the one last night, but that was obviously disqualified for certain reasons.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
God Forbid with Goatwhore, Mnemic, Arsis, and Byzantine [Middle East, Cambridge, 2/20/2007]
Another Tuesday show, and another good time, but this time on the north side of the river with a few more people and the extraction process wasn't as stressful. I got started driving a little late and hit some slow spots on the way down, but still got in in time to join the lineup in front of the door. This lineup thing probably saves them a decent amount in heating, but it's still lame. I got inside just before Byzantine started up, and barely had time to order my first beer before they started playing. This turned into 1.75 beers for the price of one due to one of the kegs running out, but by the time I got said beers, I was already steamed about having to yell instructions over the band. Things fortunately got better from here, but it's a very minor inconvenience that results in you getting 1516 beer for 1933 beer prices.
Anyway:
Byzantine [5/7]
The nu-elements that I heard in Worcester now almost a year ago were not an illusion, and were still strongly present in this set, but the presentation was nonetheless different and probably better. Whether it was more time and maturity or just playing in a more normally-sized hall, they came off as a lot smoother and more fluid, more in command of their music and their identity as a band. While I'm not a huge fan of bands like Fear Factory and Mnemic, their approach of blending the nu and the true can be interesting at times, and the way Byzantine does it, with stronger death metal roots than either of the aforementioned, is fairly cool. I'd be interested in seeing them again after they put their new record out, but I'm not sure that at this stage in their development they'd get me out to a show as a primary draw -- or at least, not on a Tuesday night.
At this point I went back and picked up some merch, successfully not falling all over myself asking Doc for a "Real Black Metal" shirt and gathering a bunch of low-impact Goatwhore stuff; they're coming right back in five weeks with 1349, and I'll be able to pick up a shirt then. Unfortunately, I zweifelte my way out of Arsis gear; there were too many cool shirt designs available to choose before the band went on, and after their set, they were entirely sold out of everything XL. Of course, they're awesome and it's the end of the tour, so it's kind of expected; fortunately, they're playing in the area again sometime in March and will hopefully have refilled their merch tubs in the interim.
Arsis [6/7]
The new lineup is coming along fine, a lot smoother and tighter than when I saw them up in New Hampshire at the start of this tour. Six weeks of constant practice will do that for you. Their sound was really good, and the music of course top-notch; it's still very much the James Malone Band, but the other instrumentalists were also impressive in keeping up and executing his parts. The vocalist needs to work on his presence a little more, but he's got a tough gig trying to stand out among the composition and firepower that this band brings to the table. This incarnation of Arsis is still developing as a live act, and will probably do even better in the future.
Mnemic [6/7]
By cleverly timing my drinking, I was able to pick up my final beer, then slide right down front for these guys. Of course, I had no compelling interest in seeing Mnemic, but I did have an interest in seeing Goatwhore and God Forbid from the front, and the easiest way to do that is to move forward for bands that most people in the hall don't like. ZOMG campz0r l4m3. :roll: At any rate, this was a decent set; if I could have been persuaded to use fractional ratings, it would have gone as 5.5/7. While I'm still not crazy about their stuff, the execution was really good, and the presentation seemed more compelling, for whatever reason, than when I saw them at Mark's at the start of this run. The high point, though, came after the bassist blew out his E-string on the last song: with smarts and professionalism, he ripped the dead string out of the axe, then transposed everything he needed to play onto either the B or A strings (5-string bass, fortunately) and finished the song. This isn't as easy as it sounds, and they thus get full credit for this set.
Before Goatwhore went on, I leaned across and picked up the ripped-out part of the string in question. Even though I'm still fairly ambivalent about this band, it still makes a cool souvenir.
Goatwhore [6/7]
It's probably more that this band is growing on me than that they've made more than incremental improvements in the three and a half months since I first saw them; their blend of drone and crush inherits heavily from older Celtic Frost, and this also is a gradually acquired taste. Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that they're constantly on tour, increasing their opportunities for acculturation, but it's most likely that anyone who saw this really good set would have reacted likewise. The set was basically the same as the two prior times I'd seen them touring on their current record, but the feel was a little more black'n'roll; "...Black Sun Cult" must be doing well for them, or even as good a song it is, its influence wouldn't be spreading through the rest of the set. The band also continues to level up their gear; the bassist has a Moser custom now that he didn't have at Mark's, which has the back wet-sanded and has picked up a few signatures in silver paint marker. No idea on who's signed it so far, or who he's planning to try and pick up on it in the future before he eventually gets it clear-coated to seal them in.
God Forbid [6/7]
I got pushed back a little by the usual rush of people up front for the headliner, but it was cool; I'm almost 2 meters tall in boots and can accordingly see over most people, and also not so passionate about this band that I'd feel cheated seeing them from the second row rather than the first. It was still a cool set, though it wasn't as transcendant as the other times I've seen them, probably due to being somewhat short. Also, while the execution was great, the band's energy level did seem lower than the last time I saw them, whether from being worn out from the road or from playing to a half-full house on a Tuesday night. Though God Forbid had the most intense pits of the night, they were still somewhat underpopulated, as it seemed like many people left after Goatwhore. Given that it was a weekday show, they can't be entirely blamed, but they did miss a great performance. The set, as usual over the 3 times that I've seen them, was dominated by Constitution stuff, though they did play a bunch of older material as well, of course, but so much of the stuff on that record is so good that it wouldn't be entirely surprising to still be hearing it as a large slice of their set the next time they come around, behind the next record. Despite the occasional energy issues, this was still a rock-solid performance that says a great deal about the band's dedication to their craft, as well as to the music and its culture.
Overall, this was a really good show, especially for a weekday, and the higher temperatures kept shit from freezing up and made the travel process more or less pain-free. Not all gigs can be amazing, but solid and entertaining for fifteen bucks and a quarter tank of gas is a definite win. Good stuff, and hopefully the enthusiasm shown by the just-under full house in the times when the crowd was at its high point will convince the bands on this bill to schedule Boston on the weekend the next time they come around.
Anyway:
Byzantine [5/7]
The nu-elements that I heard in Worcester now almost a year ago were not an illusion, and were still strongly present in this set, but the presentation was nonetheless different and probably better. Whether it was more time and maturity or just playing in a more normally-sized hall, they came off as a lot smoother and more fluid, more in command of their music and their identity as a band. While I'm not a huge fan of bands like Fear Factory and Mnemic, their approach of blending the nu and the true can be interesting at times, and the way Byzantine does it, with stronger death metal roots than either of the aforementioned, is fairly cool. I'd be interested in seeing them again after they put their new record out, but I'm not sure that at this stage in their development they'd get me out to a show as a primary draw -- or at least, not on a Tuesday night.
At this point I went back and picked up some merch, successfully not falling all over myself asking Doc for a "Real Black Metal" shirt and gathering a bunch of low-impact Goatwhore stuff; they're coming right back in five weeks with 1349, and I'll be able to pick up a shirt then. Unfortunately, I zweifelte my way out of Arsis gear; there were too many cool shirt designs available to choose before the band went on, and after their set, they were entirely sold out of everything XL. Of course, they're awesome and it's the end of the tour, so it's kind of expected; fortunately, they're playing in the area again sometime in March and will hopefully have refilled their merch tubs in the interim.
Arsis [6/7]
The new lineup is coming along fine, a lot smoother and tighter than when I saw them up in New Hampshire at the start of this tour. Six weeks of constant practice will do that for you. Their sound was really good, and the music of course top-notch; it's still very much the James Malone Band, but the other instrumentalists were also impressive in keeping up and executing his parts. The vocalist needs to work on his presence a little more, but he's got a tough gig trying to stand out among the composition and firepower that this band brings to the table. This incarnation of Arsis is still developing as a live act, and will probably do even better in the future.
Mnemic [6/7]
By cleverly timing my drinking, I was able to pick up my final beer, then slide right down front for these guys. Of course, I had no compelling interest in seeing Mnemic, but I did have an interest in seeing Goatwhore and God Forbid from the front, and the easiest way to do that is to move forward for bands that most people in the hall don't like. ZOMG campz0r l4m3. :roll: At any rate, this was a decent set; if I could have been persuaded to use fractional ratings, it would have gone as 5.5/7. While I'm still not crazy about their stuff, the execution was really good, and the presentation seemed more compelling, for whatever reason, than when I saw them at Mark's at the start of this run. The high point, though, came after the bassist blew out his E-string on the last song: with smarts and professionalism, he ripped the dead string out of the axe, then transposed everything he needed to play onto either the B or A strings (5-string bass, fortunately) and finished the song. This isn't as easy as it sounds, and they thus get full credit for this set.
Before Goatwhore went on, I leaned across and picked up the ripped-out part of the string in question. Even though I'm still fairly ambivalent about this band, it still makes a cool souvenir.
Goatwhore [6/7]
It's probably more that this band is growing on me than that they've made more than incremental improvements in the three and a half months since I first saw them; their blend of drone and crush inherits heavily from older Celtic Frost, and this also is a gradually acquired taste. Of course, it certainly doesn't hurt that they're constantly on tour, increasing their opportunities for acculturation, but it's most likely that anyone who saw this really good set would have reacted likewise. The set was basically the same as the two prior times I'd seen them touring on their current record, but the feel was a little more black'n'roll; "...Black Sun Cult" must be doing well for them, or even as good a song it is, its influence wouldn't be spreading through the rest of the set. The band also continues to level up their gear; the bassist has a Moser custom now that he didn't have at Mark's, which has the back wet-sanded and has picked up a few signatures in silver paint marker. No idea on who's signed it so far, or who he's planning to try and pick up on it in the future before he eventually gets it clear-coated to seal them in.
God Forbid [6/7]
I got pushed back a little by the usual rush of people up front for the headliner, but it was cool; I'm almost 2 meters tall in boots and can accordingly see over most people, and also not so passionate about this band that I'd feel cheated seeing them from the second row rather than the first. It was still a cool set, though it wasn't as transcendant as the other times I've seen them, probably due to being somewhat short. Also, while the execution was great, the band's energy level did seem lower than the last time I saw them, whether from being worn out from the road or from playing to a half-full house on a Tuesday night. Though God Forbid had the most intense pits of the night, they were still somewhat underpopulated, as it seemed like many people left after Goatwhore. Given that it was a weekday show, they can't be entirely blamed, but they did miss a great performance. The set, as usual over the 3 times that I've seen them, was dominated by Constitution stuff, though they did play a bunch of older material as well, of course, but so much of the stuff on that record is so good that it wouldn't be entirely surprising to still be hearing it as a large slice of their set the next time they come around, behind the next record. Despite the occasional energy issues, this was still a rock-solid performance that says a great deal about the band's dedication to their craft, as well as to the music and its culture.
Overall, this was a really good show, especially for a weekday, and the higher temperatures kept shit from freezing up and made the travel process more or less pain-free. Not all gigs can be amazing, but solid and entertaining for fifteen bucks and a quarter tank of gas is a definite win. Good stuff, and hopefully the enthusiasm shown by the just-under full house in the times when the crowd was at its high point will convince the bands on this bill to schedule Boston on the weekend the next time they come around.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Hekseri with Revocation, Witch Tomb, Volatile, and Mortalis [Great Scott, Allston, 2/13/2007]
This should have been up earlier, but with the storm and all, this was kind of a tough week. Driving on ice sucks.
Despite the high marginal cost of this show in terms of driving effort and nearly brewing up my car skidding in a snowstorm, this show was worth the hassle; the bands kicked ass, and I didn't get towed, get frostbite, or actually bang into anything on the way back.
I thought I was getting in about on schedule, as it wasn't snowing yet, but I somehow got turned the wrong way round getting off Storrow Drive and had a time of it finding Comm Ave again. I still like Boston; I just get really exasperated with driving around it at times. I ended up parking about 6 blocks away from the venue in one of the few zones that didn't threaten interlopers with towing, and got down to the club probably close to the start of Mortalis' set.
Mortalis [5/7]
I think I saw most of their set -- set times were shortish and pretty uniform -- and they gave a good impression, doing some cool groove-death. This band is still developing, but they've definitely got their feet under them in terms of skills and riffage. Though they were probably the least immediately different band on this lineup, they still put up a good performance and left a positive impression. I'm bummed that I didn't catch their whole set, but hopefully I'll get a chance to see them again -- and at that time, they'll hopefully have something recorded.
Volatile [5/7]
You don't see too many bands, especially on this continent, playing primal thrash metal with high vocals. The best comparison for this band is probably "3 Inches of Blood except not a gag"; the rediscovery by modern thrashers of the first wave of power metal -- King Diamond, Grim Reaper, Helloween, Grave Digger, etc -- and the accompanying realization that done right, this stuff can be pretty cool. They opened up with Slayer's "Tormentor", setting the stylistic tone; it's always cool when people cover stuff off Show No Mercy, though I'm still waiting for someone to do "Evil Has No Boundaries". This was a fairly loose set, but still well-performed and fun to thrash along to, even if they didn't dust off their Grim Reaper to close with.
During the set break, I talked with Dave from Revocation and got the approximate location of the basement gig they're playing on Friday. It sounds like a cool show, and I'm almost not sick any more, but whether I get down is going to depend a lot on the conditions of the roads. If the various DPWs involved get their shit together, it's a definite possibility, but if the storm hangs around or the state/city halfasses things, I won't be crazy about taking on 93 and Storrow under such conditions. (I didn't end up going...more due to still being sick than road conditions.)
Witch Tomb [5/7]
Another cool set, and it was definitely interesting to see the band still set up in burnt cork and sunglasses despite the change of scenery to a much larger and better-maintained bar (the last time I saw them was about the last show that DeeDee's had). The innate black metal vibe from the surroundings was gone, but the band's own black metal spirit soldiered on and put on a cool performance. To my ears, the sound system here didn't quite treat them as well as DeeDee's' necro setup, but this might have had as much to do with where I was standing at each venue as anything else, and it was still a cool set. It felt a little short, but this was the only point that could really be picked in an overall good performance.
Revocation [6/7]
Hooray, Just Another Awesome Revocation Set. Dave didn't throw any new guitar wrinkles into this one, but the total performance was great enough that they weren't really missed, and he's also leveled up his stage banter, providing more lulz around the totally sick thrash epics. There were some calls for "Mother Man" during their set, showing that I'm not crazy, and other people also can't help thinking of Atheist when hearing these guys. The Atheist-driven elements were especially prominent in this set, so it's more understandable why people should start yelling for it now. They were discussing adding some Unquestionable Presence material to their repertoire with some of the people who had been calling for it after the set, and while I'm sure they'll do a decent version of any song or songs they end up working up, having seen Atheist, there's not a lot of stuff that you can do from Atheist without having two guitars to play the two guitar lines. The more new stuff that Revocation gets together, though, the more they construct and develop their own vision of that same idea of technical insanity, so it's a moot point: either they spend time working up some Atheist, or they put that time into originals and parallel evolution takes them on the same path, to the same levels. The awesomeness is the same regardless.
Between Revocation and Hekseri, I got my last beer of the night, a Pabst, and the regret was immediate. Contrary to my prior perceptions, I'm still not healthy enough again to get away with drinking stuff that's not nach dem Reinheitsgebot. Aus mit schwulen "Wasser mit kunstlichen Biergeschmack", wir wollen echtes reines Bier! Given my Tankard spree of late, I'm really questioning why I didn't just correct the bartender. Fucking chemicals.
Hekseri [6/7]
Megan's protestations to the contrary, this was not the worst set that Hekseri's ever done. Of course, it could have been better, but this is largely an intellectual conclusion; I've seen Jason play with them, and he wasn't there last night, so obviously it would have been better had he been on hand slaughtering his bass. However, I can't really think exactly where those lines might have gone that would have resulted in an obvious improvement. As a three-piece, Hekseri feels perfectly balanced between black and thrash metal: on this gig, as of late, they seemed to favor their thrash side more, but the treble-high focus of the sound without the bass guitar kept the black metal vibe current. It wasn't the best set I've seen from them, but it certainly wasn't the worst either, and in any case it was a cool take on their sound.
I wanted to hang around, but environmental factors pulled me away; I had to get back north before the snow turned the highways into skating rinks. I collared the ten-dollar parking fee that the BPD left on my windshield (cheaper than some garages), then made my way back. I nearly achieved my objective; just after getting into Danvers, I came out of about the last technically demanding turn on 128, then went slaloming for about 100 yards or so; fucking climate iced the road and then put snow down on top of it. Unlike last year, I didn't spin out or hit anything; this was greatly aided by the fact that the closest car was about half a mile behind me when I hit the skids, but it's all improved technique (or, more likely, improved luck) that I kept the nose facing forward and was able to recover as soon as I slowed down enough that the tires would bite again. This was not fun and put a bit of a damper on the night, but I didn't damage myself, my vehicle, or anything else, and did manage to make it back in one piece.
Much more of a buzzkill was only getting 3 hours of sleep before I had to get up, play car tetris, and go to work...hopefully, this junk will clear off and this won't be a problem for either Revocation this weekend or God Forbid onTuesday. It's a shitty time for a show, but at least the Middle East is pretty accessible, and I'll get to see them, Arsis, and Goatwhore again -- and get one of those "The Real Black Metal" shirts, both for the cool factor and potentially to wind people up with at 1349. Of course, this is is presuming that they notice it under a jacket that currently has four Immortal devices on it, plus a bunch of kit from Sigh, Mayhem, Celtic Frost, and Dissection.
I went through my parents' basement over the weekend with a fine-toothed comb and found my old demos; there's like 80 minutes of crummy music on those, so now all I need to do is get a MD player, and I can convert them into crummy digital files, potentially to be released as a long and terrible CD-comp. Of course, I haven't listened to them in forever, so I'll have to do that, along with probably some post-prod cleanup, before I make the decision on whether to inflict them on anyone else.
Despite the high marginal cost of this show in terms of driving effort and nearly brewing up my car skidding in a snowstorm, this show was worth the hassle; the bands kicked ass, and I didn't get towed, get frostbite, or actually bang into anything on the way back.
I thought I was getting in about on schedule, as it wasn't snowing yet, but I somehow got turned the wrong way round getting off Storrow Drive and had a time of it finding Comm Ave again. I still like Boston; I just get really exasperated with driving around it at times. I ended up parking about 6 blocks away from the venue in one of the few zones that didn't threaten interlopers with towing, and got down to the club probably close to the start of Mortalis' set.
Mortalis [5/7]
I think I saw most of their set -- set times were shortish and pretty uniform -- and they gave a good impression, doing some cool groove-death. This band is still developing, but they've definitely got their feet under them in terms of skills and riffage. Though they were probably the least immediately different band on this lineup, they still put up a good performance and left a positive impression. I'm bummed that I didn't catch their whole set, but hopefully I'll get a chance to see them again -- and at that time, they'll hopefully have something recorded.
Volatile [5/7]
You don't see too many bands, especially on this continent, playing primal thrash metal with high vocals. The best comparison for this band is probably "3 Inches of Blood except not a gag"; the rediscovery by modern thrashers of the first wave of power metal -- King Diamond, Grim Reaper, Helloween, Grave Digger, etc -- and the accompanying realization that done right, this stuff can be pretty cool. They opened up with Slayer's "Tormentor", setting the stylistic tone; it's always cool when people cover stuff off Show No Mercy, though I'm still waiting for someone to do "Evil Has No Boundaries". This was a fairly loose set, but still well-performed and fun to thrash along to, even if they didn't dust off their Grim Reaper to close with.
During the set break, I talked with Dave from Revocation and got the approximate location of the basement gig they're playing on Friday. It sounds like a cool show, and I'm almost not sick any more, but whether I get down is going to depend a lot on the conditions of the roads. If the various DPWs involved get their shit together, it's a definite possibility, but if the storm hangs around or the state/city halfasses things, I won't be crazy about taking on 93 and Storrow under such conditions. (I didn't end up going...more due to still being sick than road conditions.)
Witch Tomb [5/7]
Another cool set, and it was definitely interesting to see the band still set up in burnt cork and sunglasses despite the change of scenery to a much larger and better-maintained bar (the last time I saw them was about the last show that DeeDee's had). The innate black metal vibe from the surroundings was gone, but the band's own black metal spirit soldiered on and put on a cool performance. To my ears, the sound system here didn't quite treat them as well as DeeDee's' necro setup, but this might have had as much to do with where I was standing at each venue as anything else, and it was still a cool set. It felt a little short, but this was the only point that could really be picked in an overall good performance.
Revocation [6/7]
Hooray, Just Another Awesome Revocation Set. Dave didn't throw any new guitar wrinkles into this one, but the total performance was great enough that they weren't really missed, and he's also leveled up his stage banter, providing more lulz around the totally sick thrash epics. There were some calls for "Mother Man" during their set, showing that I'm not crazy, and other people also can't help thinking of Atheist when hearing these guys. The Atheist-driven elements were especially prominent in this set, so it's more understandable why people should start yelling for it now. They were discussing adding some Unquestionable Presence material to their repertoire with some of the people who had been calling for it after the set, and while I'm sure they'll do a decent version of any song or songs they end up working up, having seen Atheist, there's not a lot of stuff that you can do from Atheist without having two guitars to play the two guitar lines. The more new stuff that Revocation gets together, though, the more they construct and develop their own vision of that same idea of technical insanity, so it's a moot point: either they spend time working up some Atheist, or they put that time into originals and parallel evolution takes them on the same path, to the same levels. The awesomeness is the same regardless.
Between Revocation and Hekseri, I got my last beer of the night, a Pabst, and the regret was immediate. Contrary to my prior perceptions, I'm still not healthy enough again to get away with drinking stuff that's not nach dem Reinheitsgebot. Aus mit schwulen "Wasser mit kunstlichen Biergeschmack", wir wollen echtes reines Bier! Given my Tankard spree of late, I'm really questioning why I didn't just correct the bartender. Fucking chemicals.
Hekseri [6/7]
Megan's protestations to the contrary, this was not the worst set that Hekseri's ever done. Of course, it could have been better, but this is largely an intellectual conclusion; I've seen Jason play with them, and he wasn't there last night, so obviously it would have been better had he been on hand slaughtering his bass. However, I can't really think exactly where those lines might have gone that would have resulted in an obvious improvement. As a three-piece, Hekseri feels perfectly balanced between black and thrash metal: on this gig, as of late, they seemed to favor their thrash side more, but the treble-high focus of the sound without the bass guitar kept the black metal vibe current. It wasn't the best set I've seen from them, but it certainly wasn't the worst either, and in any case it was a cool take on their sound.
I wanted to hang around, but environmental factors pulled me away; I had to get back north before the snow turned the highways into skating rinks. I collared the ten-dollar parking fee that the BPD left on my windshield (cheaper than some garages), then made my way back. I nearly achieved my objective; just after getting into Danvers, I came out of about the last technically demanding turn on 128, then went slaloming for about 100 yards or so; fucking climate iced the road and then put snow down on top of it. Unlike last year, I didn't spin out or hit anything; this was greatly aided by the fact that the closest car was about half a mile behind me when I hit the skids, but it's all improved technique (or, more likely, improved luck) that I kept the nose facing forward and was able to recover as soon as I slowed down enough that the tires would bite again. This was not fun and put a bit of a damper on the night, but I didn't damage myself, my vehicle, or anything else, and did manage to make it back in one piece.
Much more of a buzzkill was only getting 3 hours of sleep before I had to get up, play car tetris, and go to work...hopefully, this junk will clear off and this won't be a problem for either Revocation this weekend or God Forbid onTuesday. It's a shitty time for a show, but at least the Middle East is pretty accessible, and I'll get to see them, Arsis, and Goatwhore again -- and get one of those "The Real Black Metal" shirts, both for the cool factor and potentially to wind people up with at 1349. Of course, this is is presuming that they notice it under a jacket that currently has four Immortal devices on it, plus a bunch of kit from Sigh, Mayhem, Celtic Frost, and Dissection.
I went through my parents' basement over the weekend with a fine-toothed comb and found my old demos; there's like 80 minutes of crummy music on those, so now all I need to do is get a MD player, and I can convert them into crummy digital files, potentially to be released as a long and terrible CD-comp. Of course, I haven't listened to them in forever, so I'll have to do that, along with probably some post-prod cleanup, before I make the decision on whether to inflict them on anyone else.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Metal Winter Break last crack: Despotic Robot with Revocation and Mechannibal [Castle Greyskull, Allston, 2/7/2007]
And thus this final chapter doth close, upon one of the more awesome continuous stretches of shows in recent memory: with pizza, ersatzbier, and much thrashing. Maybe I could have made it up to New Hampshire for a few minutes of Unleashed as well, but it's really not worth it given the distance...and the fact that I wouldn't be able to get a ticket off one of the locals, given that all their sets had probably wrapped. This one was more than cool enough.
Careful inspection of a map will find that this 'venue' doesn't exist. This is because it's in a private basement, which though full of low-hanging pipes was still a cool place to watch some bands. Careful inspection of the bill will reveal that there was supposed to be a touring band from Tennessee on the roster, who are nowhere mentioned above. This bears some remarking on.
After circling the block a couple times to make sure I had the right place and no other options, I parked in behind Mike from Mechannibal/Unholy Trinity and went in. Under advisement from the people putting up the show, I stopped worrying about parking, and in the end did not get a bill from the Allston PD. Cool. There were only a couple other people there this early, so me and this Russian guy scared up a small collection for an extra 30-rack to be shared out; I ended up only getting like 4 beers out of it, but other people got beer who may not have been driving or may not have had the five bucks to spare.
While we were standing around drinking, we found out from Despotic Robot that Evil Army had canceled; this sucked, of course, but it sucked more for Evil Army, because they were stuck in fucking Cleveland, rather than in Boston playing a show, drinking our doods' PBRs, and brewing up a night of some of the most hardcore accent clashes possible in the English-speaking world. Apparently their gig in Buffalo fell through, and as such they weren't able to make it further east; weird, but that doesn't really explain why they're in Cleveland. None of this really explains why they're in Cleveland at all; sure, it's got a decent scene, but it, like most of the rest of Ohio, kind of sucks. They shoulda gone through Cincinnati or Columbus, then Pittsburgh, and up to Buffalo; more driving, but no Cleveland.
The absence of the touring band, though, didn't cut much into the relaxed vibe of the show, probably because the locals are abundantly awesome, and between them very capable of putting on a kickass basement show. The lineup drew evenly across metal and hardcore, with the crowd pretty much evenly sourced as well. Not evenly divided, though; no divisions at this gig. Beer, pizza, and thrash just bring people together.
Mechannibal [5/7]
Since I saw them last, they've obviously developed, and just from existing as a band in the intervening time, they're more comfortable with each other and performing as a unit. The music, as before, was mostly hardcore with shots of punk and thrash to flavor, and it really worked well in this setting, with the band and the audience right on top of each other, everyone pushed together by stone walls and broken furnaces restricting the floorspace. In about their second song, the pizza showed up, and it was time to pizza mosh. If you haven't eaten pizza while simultaneously thrashing out, you have missed out on a very cool experience, and need to throw or attend a basement show that will enable such posthaste. Unfortunately, many of the people who were actually at this gig missed out on the pizza mosh; about a third to half of the pizza that was lugged into the crowd was accidentally destroyed because people didn't grab it out of the boxes fast enough, and it got thrashed out onto the floor. Too bad for them, but it was great fun for those of us who did manage to scarf a slice or two while moshing or serving as human gym mats to keep people from bashing into the walls. Mechannibal's set seemed about right, maybe a little short, but in keeping with the DIY nature of the show.
Revocation took a while setting up, because Dave stepped out for some reason, so I got some more beers (the last two that I'd pull, as the crate was thoroughly plundered later) and then got to talking with Anthony and some other dudes, about a variety of things, but mostly metal. If I end up going to MDF, I may be giving Anthony a lift; I ought to also offer my services generally if I do go, as I have a fair degree of OTR driving experience and at least somewhat know my way around most of the route. The only problem is that given my car, if I'm driving three or more other people, I'd have to rent or finagle a van...more complications. At this point it's looking quite likely that I'll be able to go, but I need to double-check my vacation balance against what I'm going to need both before that (if any) and after (to do Wacken and be conscious on Thursday).
Also before Revocation went on, I got asked to pose for what was probably intended as a Symbolfoto of this event; me in my ridiculous studded and patch-ridden jacket, cheek by jowl with this punk kid in a hoodie with various fabric patches coarse-sewn in, metal and punk coexisting peacefully, having a good time together at the DIY gig. Of course, the better pic would have been any random shot of the pit, for any of the bands, as people from all scenes rocked out and brewed it up with each other, all in good humor, but it's understandable that the photographer didn't want to take his camera in where it might get elbowed or bathed in tomato sauce. Still cool, and if it inspires more people to throw more cross-scene shows, so much the better.
Revocation [6/7]
The sound, of course, wasn't quite as good as the several other times I've seen this band, and there were a couple times where they seemed to be fighting it, probably due to not really having any monitors as such. However, they battled through and did a cool though unfortunately short set that still managed to be tight and technical despite the sound system not really being set up for such. What this set, in the context of Metal Winter Break, really highlighted was the band's adaptability; Revocation can go on stage on a very progressive and technical bill like they did on Thursday in Worcester and play a progressive and technical set, or they can go into a basement and play some balls-out thrash, and they're able to do this off a single catalog, even most of the same songs, just with slightly different selections and points of emphasis. Most of their stuff has a foot in each world, and it gains its power from the side that isn't dominant: the brutal riffs and pace driving on Thursday, and the technical twists giving form to the thrash avalanche tonight. Killer stuff, but they probably could have gone a little longer.
Despotic Robot [6/7]
This band sounded mostly like I remembered, though they tossed in a few grindcore songs that I hadn't heard before, in what was an intentional departure from their normal style. The sound these guys get from colliding hardcore and traditional heavy metal is really cool and interesting, but it's also exactly how you'd do it if you for some reason were trying to derive thrash from first principles. Because nobody does that nowadays (easier to follow the patterns of existing thrash movements), Despotic Robot sounds fairly unique, but even if they didn't, they'd still have a good sound and put on a good show. Even though I wasn't right on top of the band, this was a cool set, and the circle pit that developed around the basement obstacles during their final song (Grim Reaper cover) was a fittingly lunatic way to cap off the musical festivities.
Afterwards, I went to hunt up some beer in order to stick around some; unfortunately, there was none readily available and absent fluids my cold was acting up. So I pulled, sorry to go but well satisfied: I saw some kickass bands, met some kickass folks, thrashed down some pizza, and got Mechannibal's demo, which I'm sure will be good stuff once I get around to listening to it. For now, though, Metal Winter Break is done, and I can get in some sleeping to recharge my batteries before the rest of February trickles on past. Anthony mentioned another Allston show on the 13th that's shaping up to be a local thrash/death jamboree; it's midweek, but given the relative dearth of shows on the calendar between now and March, I may well get down for that one as well.
Careful inspection of a map will find that this 'venue' doesn't exist. This is because it's in a private basement, which though full of low-hanging pipes was still a cool place to watch some bands. Careful inspection of the bill will reveal that there was supposed to be a touring band from Tennessee on the roster, who are nowhere mentioned above. This bears some remarking on.
After circling the block a couple times to make sure I had the right place and no other options, I parked in behind Mike from Mechannibal/Unholy Trinity and went in. Under advisement from the people putting up the show, I stopped worrying about parking, and in the end did not get a bill from the Allston PD. Cool. There were only a couple other people there this early, so me and this Russian guy scared up a small collection for an extra 30-rack to be shared out; I ended up only getting like 4 beers out of it, but other people got beer who may not have been driving or may not have had the five bucks to spare.
While we were standing around drinking, we found out from Despotic Robot that Evil Army had canceled; this sucked, of course, but it sucked more for Evil Army, because they were stuck in fucking Cleveland, rather than in Boston playing a show, drinking our doods' PBRs, and brewing up a night of some of the most hardcore accent clashes possible in the English-speaking world. Apparently their gig in Buffalo fell through, and as such they weren't able to make it further east; weird, but that doesn't really explain why they're in Cleveland. None of this really explains why they're in Cleveland at all; sure, it's got a decent scene, but it, like most of the rest of Ohio, kind of sucks. They shoulda gone through Cincinnati or Columbus, then Pittsburgh, and up to Buffalo; more driving, but no Cleveland.
The absence of the touring band, though, didn't cut much into the relaxed vibe of the show, probably because the locals are abundantly awesome, and between them very capable of putting on a kickass basement show. The lineup drew evenly across metal and hardcore, with the crowd pretty much evenly sourced as well. Not evenly divided, though; no divisions at this gig. Beer, pizza, and thrash just bring people together.
Mechannibal [5/7]
Since I saw them last, they've obviously developed, and just from existing as a band in the intervening time, they're more comfortable with each other and performing as a unit. The music, as before, was mostly hardcore with shots of punk and thrash to flavor, and it really worked well in this setting, with the band and the audience right on top of each other, everyone pushed together by stone walls and broken furnaces restricting the floorspace. In about their second song, the pizza showed up, and it was time to pizza mosh. If you haven't eaten pizza while simultaneously thrashing out, you have missed out on a very cool experience, and need to throw or attend a basement show that will enable such posthaste. Unfortunately, many of the people who were actually at this gig missed out on the pizza mosh; about a third to half of the pizza that was lugged into the crowd was accidentally destroyed because people didn't grab it out of the boxes fast enough, and it got thrashed out onto the floor. Too bad for them, but it was great fun for those of us who did manage to scarf a slice or two while moshing or serving as human gym mats to keep people from bashing into the walls. Mechannibal's set seemed about right, maybe a little short, but in keeping with the DIY nature of the show.
Revocation took a while setting up, because Dave stepped out for some reason, so I got some more beers (the last two that I'd pull, as the crate was thoroughly plundered later) and then got to talking with Anthony and some other dudes, about a variety of things, but mostly metal. If I end up going to MDF, I may be giving Anthony a lift; I ought to also offer my services generally if I do go, as I have a fair degree of OTR driving experience and at least somewhat know my way around most of the route. The only problem is that given my car, if I'm driving three or more other people, I'd have to rent or finagle a van...more complications. At this point it's looking quite likely that I'll be able to go, but I need to double-check my vacation balance against what I'm going to need both before that (if any) and after (to do Wacken and be conscious on Thursday).
Also before Revocation went on, I got asked to pose for what was probably intended as a Symbolfoto of this event; me in my ridiculous studded and patch-ridden jacket, cheek by jowl with this punk kid in a hoodie with various fabric patches coarse-sewn in, metal and punk coexisting peacefully, having a good time together at the DIY gig. Of course, the better pic would have been any random shot of the pit, for any of the bands, as people from all scenes rocked out and brewed it up with each other, all in good humor, but it's understandable that the photographer didn't want to take his camera in where it might get elbowed or bathed in tomato sauce. Still cool, and if it inspires more people to throw more cross-scene shows, so much the better.
Revocation [6/7]
The sound, of course, wasn't quite as good as the several other times I've seen this band, and there were a couple times where they seemed to be fighting it, probably due to not really having any monitors as such. However, they battled through and did a cool though unfortunately short set that still managed to be tight and technical despite the sound system not really being set up for such. What this set, in the context of Metal Winter Break, really highlighted was the band's adaptability; Revocation can go on stage on a very progressive and technical bill like they did on Thursday in Worcester and play a progressive and technical set, or they can go into a basement and play some balls-out thrash, and they're able to do this off a single catalog, even most of the same songs, just with slightly different selections and points of emphasis. Most of their stuff has a foot in each world, and it gains its power from the side that isn't dominant: the brutal riffs and pace driving on Thursday, and the technical twists giving form to the thrash avalanche tonight. Killer stuff, but they probably could have gone a little longer.
Despotic Robot [6/7]
This band sounded mostly like I remembered, though they tossed in a few grindcore songs that I hadn't heard before, in what was an intentional departure from their normal style. The sound these guys get from colliding hardcore and traditional heavy metal is really cool and interesting, but it's also exactly how you'd do it if you for some reason were trying to derive thrash from first principles. Because nobody does that nowadays (easier to follow the patterns of existing thrash movements), Despotic Robot sounds fairly unique, but even if they didn't, they'd still have a good sound and put on a good show. Even though I wasn't right on top of the band, this was a cool set, and the circle pit that developed around the basement obstacles during their final song (Grim Reaper cover) was a fittingly lunatic way to cap off the musical festivities.
Afterwards, I went to hunt up some beer in order to stick around some; unfortunately, there was none readily available and absent fluids my cold was acting up. So I pulled, sorry to go but well satisfied: I saw some kickass bands, met some kickass folks, thrashed down some pizza, and got Mechannibal's demo, which I'm sure will be good stuff once I get around to listening to it. For now, though, Metal Winter Break is done, and I can get in some sleeping to recharge my batteries before the rest of February trickles on past. Anthony mentioned another Allston show on the 13th that's shaping up to be a local thrash/death jamboree; it's midweek, but given the relative dearth of shows on the calendar between now and March, I may well get down for that one as well.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Metal Winter Break part 3: Dark Funeral with Enslaved, Abigail Williams, Zircon, The Accursed, and Deconformity [Mark's, Bedford, 2/5/2007]
Despite some traffic -- evening rush hour and holiday weekends are the only times when people actually drive into New Hampshire in significant numbers -- I got in with time to spare, stood around for a bit, and saw the second stage set up again. Gott im Himmel. Gottes Pimmel. Despite the ridiculousness of having a second stage in a bar, the second stage at Mark's is probably the best implementation of this thoroughly bad idea yet. The sound is good, it keeps the inter-band latency to a minimum, and thus allows for longer sets for everyone, once you get over the ridiculousness of having 8 bands on the show.
The first band, though, was going on up at the main stage. New beer in hand, I went back up and hit the rail in front of the minimal crowd.
Deconformity [4/7]
This band has the dubious honor of getting the second- or third-flattest crowd response I have ever seen in my life. Nobody was actually leaving the building like people did almost every time Halo of Thorns went on at Sputnix back when they were active, but there were seriously only a handful of people applauding after every song. Here, part of the same equation applied; these guys certainly weren't anywhere near as shitty and incompetent as Halo, but they were just as poorly matched to the overall bill. Their bassless technical death attack was well-executed, but the people here were waiting to hear black metal; they'd do much better lined up with one of the scads of local brutal/technical death bands from around the area, but their music wasn't quite distinctive or appealing enough to break through to a crowd that was primarily here for something else. Towards the end of their set, they showed some promise in some stuff that inherited heavily from Nile, but this band is still under development, and part of that development is finding appropriate shows just as much as it is solidifying their musical style.
In the realm of cheesy things that can be done with the drums, playing with no shirt and fingerless gloves at the same time is definitely number one on the list. However, somewhere between stick-twirling and gongs has to be placed an entry for "ceaseless gravity blasts". Though it sounds pretty intense, if you do it too often, someone's going to be looking in behind the snare and realizing "what the hell, that's all it is?" As a flavoring, it's cool, but you've got to question someone whose first response, when challenged to do some technical drumming, is to do a gravity blast.
Cold Northern Vengeance should have played in this slot on the second stage, but there was some drama that resulted in most of the band not showing up. Nearly enough of Martyrvore was there that they could have played instead, but I didn't spot the drummer; regardless, this was a letdown, but Paul did hook me up with a free ticket for 1349 by way of compensation. Of course, I can't blame CNV without knowing what went on, and internal band business needs to stay internal; it's probably most succinct and also acceptable to just blame the club and their pay-to-play policies. If bands know they're going to be losing money on a show from the get-go, there's no incentive for them to show up and play. I was looking forward to CNV, but there was still Enslaved and some cool local support, and hopefully they'll get everything squared away for the 1349 show.
Abigail Williams [5/7]
I have very little idea how this band got onto this tour. As far as I can remember, neither Enslaved nor Dark Funeral is on Metal Blade, and stylistically, there's virtually no points of connection. Yeah, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity took inspiration from black metal back when they were starting up the NWOSDM, but that was more than a decade ago, and it's been established as an independent style for a while now. The band put up a decent performance, but it was total NWOSDM; if keyboards make a band black metal, then Still Remains are also black metal, and if shirt choices make you a part of the same continuum as the bands they're from, then Trivium is an underground metal band with integrity. It was a decent set, but unfortunately they weren't even the best NWOAHM band on this bill.
This band actually had to dig themselves out of a fairly deep hole with me: when they were setting up, because CNV wasn't playing, the sound guys offered them to start five minutes earlier; the singer declined, stating that the band didn't have another five minutes. If you can't play even one more song when you get the opportunity, what the HELL are you doing on tour? This is frankly ridiculous. I really can't believe that Abigail Williams has no old demos to pull from, no cover songs from when they were local-opening bills like this, and can't even bring out some of the fill from some of their label releases to tune up with, but the alternative is that they're fucking lazy and don't like playing. What the hell, man.
Some people were talking about the drummer setting the action on his pedals really low, producing a triggered sound and reducing the power in his playing, but the most significant bit from the drums in this set was the gay porn found on his snare. This was the first strike from Enslaved in the process of pranking the other bands in this last date of their American tour, but it would not be the last.
The Accursed [5.5/7]
I keep squawking about split scores and how much I hate doing them, but I also keep passing them out. This, band, though, earned theirs; the sound wasn't quite as good as the last time I saw them, but they definitely put out a solid set. The Accursed definitely need to record some new stuff, because their CD definitely undersells them; they have a lot more power live, and the lyrics and patterns that come off as trite or re-treaded on record sound a lot more vital in live performance. They were quite easily the most hardcore-influenced band of the night, and got probably the most turbulent crowd response of the second stage, possibly overall as well. They also didn't really match the bill, but unlike Deconformity, they put on a strong enough performance that this didn't really matter to anyone.
For those without a clue, The Accursed were the best NWOAHM band on this bill, not the one that was hitching, remora-like, along on a black metal tour. We just grow them better here in New England.
Enslaved [7/7]
Like many people, I have no idea how they weren't the headliners, and the band delivered an absolutely awesome set that left no doubt that they should have been. Enslaved is one of those rare bands that anyone into heavy music can (and ought to) get into, despite their deep genre origins, and it's because the new stuff is so incredible, varied, complex, subtle, and deep. In this set, almost all of the material was from the last three albums, but they also tossed in a bunch of really, really, old stuff as well, and it worked perfectly, sliding along in perfect consonance with the rest of the set. This is really hard to do properly with a band that's changed this much; I'm not sure how Satyricon manages to go from "K.I.N.G." to "The Dark Castle In The Deep Forest" in the same set, or if they even can, but it's because they didn't feel the need to continue the band's identity in the changing sound the way that Enslaved did. Because the new Enslaved is still fundamentally coming from the same place as the old Enslaved, the band can play stuff off Hordanes Land in a set of Ruun and Isa material, and the transition is perfect as well as seamless. They didn't do "793", probably because it runs 16 minutes, but they definitely could have. If the set wasn't so absolutely awesome, I would have been disappointed at the absence of any Mardraum material, but you can't fault Enslaved for kicking ass on what they played. Maybe at Wacken I'll get to see "Storre Enn Tid", though likely not.
Zircon [6/7]
Zircon is allegedly playing a show every night this week, which was getting some people riled up, though it really shouldn't. They're mostly playing tour manager for this band from New Jersey, but when you listen to Zircon and approach them realistically, it's difficult to begrudge them shows, as they kick ass. There's also this more prevalent and persistent strand of people who claim they're not black metal, but these people are idiots, and have never heard of Naglfar or Zyklon. With ultimate accuracy, Zircon might be described as black/death metal, in much the same way that Zyklon is, but the black metal influences are primary and paramount, with Naglfar being the strongest that I could pick out. This was a really strong set, meriting the top billing on this stage, and I can now see why Zircon is so aggressive about marketing their shows: they have something really good going on here, and ought to be on a label that will get their discs pressed, not just put out on CD-R like their current split with Nephilim.
Hopefully, they will sign to Nuclear Blast, and then NB will add thongs to their merchandise, so that "Soul Absorbing Underwear" can be a comical slogan for the band rather than the exclusive property of people goofing on them. (I dare anyone to listen to "Soul Absorbing Underworld" and not immediately think of this.)
Dark Funeral [6/7]
I had never been really into this band, but over the course of their set they put on a very good performance. Initially, the sound was really thin, like one of the guitars wasn't plugged in or something, but it steadily improved through the course of their set. Unfortunately, the same can't be precisely said about their music, which remained basically the same front to back, and is the main reason that I haven't really been into this band. There are other words that you can use in your black metal lyrics besides "Satan", though this may not be evident if all you've seen from black metal is Dark Funeral. It was still a good set, but you really have to wonder how the hell they ended up booked over Enslaved on this tour.
The highlight of their set, then, from the perspective of much of the audience, was Enslaved's appearance, wearing only Dark Funeral's corpsepaint designs and their underwear, bouncing onto the stage on those handled balls they make for kids to hop around on. In terms of absolute lunacy, it was one of the best tour-end pranks that I've ever seen, and we get a fair number of them at this end of the country. Hopefully, someone got pics to spread around; there are other metalheads who'd be cracked up by stuff like this, but never get to see it, because nobody winds up a tour in Cleveland or wherever. Good stuff, and a cool conclusion to a good show.
Only one day to go; work tomorrow, then Evil Army in Allston tomorrow night, and the last day off on Thursday. All good things must come to an end, and there's a bit of a show shortfall after this, but to a certain degree this is ok, because it's been expensive; it's not a real problem, but I've got festivals to save for.
The first band, though, was going on up at the main stage. New beer in hand, I went back up and hit the rail in front of the minimal crowd.
Deconformity [4/7]
This band has the dubious honor of getting the second- or third-flattest crowd response I have ever seen in my life. Nobody was actually leaving the building like people did almost every time Halo of Thorns went on at Sputnix back when they were active, but there were seriously only a handful of people applauding after every song. Here, part of the same equation applied; these guys certainly weren't anywhere near as shitty and incompetent as Halo, but they were just as poorly matched to the overall bill. Their bassless technical death attack was well-executed, but the people here were waiting to hear black metal; they'd do much better lined up with one of the scads of local brutal/technical death bands from around the area, but their music wasn't quite distinctive or appealing enough to break through to a crowd that was primarily here for something else. Towards the end of their set, they showed some promise in some stuff that inherited heavily from Nile, but this band is still under development, and part of that development is finding appropriate shows just as much as it is solidifying their musical style.
In the realm of cheesy things that can be done with the drums, playing with no shirt and fingerless gloves at the same time is definitely number one on the list. However, somewhere between stick-twirling and gongs has to be placed an entry for "ceaseless gravity blasts". Though it sounds pretty intense, if you do it too often, someone's going to be looking in behind the snare and realizing "what the hell, that's all it is?" As a flavoring, it's cool, but you've got to question someone whose first response, when challenged to do some technical drumming, is to do a gravity blast.
Cold Northern Vengeance should have played in this slot on the second stage, but there was some drama that resulted in most of the band not showing up. Nearly enough of Martyrvore was there that they could have played instead, but I didn't spot the drummer; regardless, this was a letdown, but Paul did hook me up with a free ticket for 1349 by way of compensation. Of course, I can't blame CNV without knowing what went on, and internal band business needs to stay internal; it's probably most succinct and also acceptable to just blame the club and their pay-to-play policies. If bands know they're going to be losing money on a show from the get-go, there's no incentive for them to show up and play. I was looking forward to CNV, but there was still Enslaved and some cool local support, and hopefully they'll get everything squared away for the 1349 show.
Abigail Williams [5/7]
I have very little idea how this band got onto this tour. As far as I can remember, neither Enslaved nor Dark Funeral is on Metal Blade, and stylistically, there's virtually no points of connection. Yeah, In Flames and Dark Tranquillity took inspiration from black metal back when they were starting up the NWOSDM, but that was more than a decade ago, and it's been established as an independent style for a while now. The band put up a decent performance, but it was total NWOSDM; if keyboards make a band black metal, then Still Remains are also black metal, and if shirt choices make you a part of the same continuum as the bands they're from, then Trivium is an underground metal band with integrity. It was a decent set, but unfortunately they weren't even the best NWOAHM band on this bill.
This band actually had to dig themselves out of a fairly deep hole with me: when they were setting up, because CNV wasn't playing, the sound guys offered them to start five minutes earlier; the singer declined, stating that the band didn't have another five minutes. If you can't play even one more song when you get the opportunity, what the HELL are you doing on tour? This is frankly ridiculous. I really can't believe that Abigail Williams has no old demos to pull from, no cover songs from when they were local-opening bills like this, and can't even bring out some of the fill from some of their label releases to tune up with, but the alternative is that they're fucking lazy and don't like playing. What the hell, man.
Some people were talking about the drummer setting the action on his pedals really low, producing a triggered sound and reducing the power in his playing, but the most significant bit from the drums in this set was the gay porn found on his snare. This was the first strike from Enslaved in the process of pranking the other bands in this last date of their American tour, but it would not be the last.
The Accursed [5.5/7]
I keep squawking about split scores and how much I hate doing them, but I also keep passing them out. This, band, though, earned theirs; the sound wasn't quite as good as the last time I saw them, but they definitely put out a solid set. The Accursed definitely need to record some new stuff, because their CD definitely undersells them; they have a lot more power live, and the lyrics and patterns that come off as trite or re-treaded on record sound a lot more vital in live performance. They were quite easily the most hardcore-influenced band of the night, and got probably the most turbulent crowd response of the second stage, possibly overall as well. They also didn't really match the bill, but unlike Deconformity, they put on a strong enough performance that this didn't really matter to anyone.
For those without a clue, The Accursed were the best NWOAHM band on this bill, not the one that was hitching, remora-like, along on a black metal tour. We just grow them better here in New England.
Enslaved [7/7]
Like many people, I have no idea how they weren't the headliners, and the band delivered an absolutely awesome set that left no doubt that they should have been. Enslaved is one of those rare bands that anyone into heavy music can (and ought to) get into, despite their deep genre origins, and it's because the new stuff is so incredible, varied, complex, subtle, and deep. In this set, almost all of the material was from the last three albums, but they also tossed in a bunch of really, really, old stuff as well, and it worked perfectly, sliding along in perfect consonance with the rest of the set. This is really hard to do properly with a band that's changed this much; I'm not sure how Satyricon manages to go from "K.I.N.G." to "The Dark Castle In The Deep Forest" in the same set, or if they even can, but it's because they didn't feel the need to continue the band's identity in the changing sound the way that Enslaved did. Because the new Enslaved is still fundamentally coming from the same place as the old Enslaved, the band can play stuff off Hordanes Land in a set of Ruun and Isa material, and the transition is perfect as well as seamless. They didn't do "793", probably because it runs 16 minutes, but they definitely could have. If the set wasn't so absolutely awesome, I would have been disappointed at the absence of any Mardraum material, but you can't fault Enslaved for kicking ass on what they played. Maybe at Wacken I'll get to see "Storre Enn Tid", though likely not.
Zircon [6/7]
Zircon is allegedly playing a show every night this week, which was getting some people riled up, though it really shouldn't. They're mostly playing tour manager for this band from New Jersey, but when you listen to Zircon and approach them realistically, it's difficult to begrudge them shows, as they kick ass. There's also this more prevalent and persistent strand of people who claim they're not black metal, but these people are idiots, and have never heard of Naglfar or Zyklon. With ultimate accuracy, Zircon might be described as black/death metal, in much the same way that Zyklon is, but the black metal influences are primary and paramount, with Naglfar being the strongest that I could pick out. This was a really strong set, meriting the top billing on this stage, and I can now see why Zircon is so aggressive about marketing their shows: they have something really good going on here, and ought to be on a label that will get their discs pressed, not just put out on CD-R like their current split with Nephilim.
Hopefully, they will sign to Nuclear Blast, and then NB will add thongs to their merchandise, so that "Soul Absorbing Underwear" can be a comical slogan for the band rather than the exclusive property of people goofing on them. (I dare anyone to listen to "Soul Absorbing Underworld" and not immediately think of this.)
Dark Funeral [6/7]
I had never been really into this band, but over the course of their set they put on a very good performance. Initially, the sound was really thin, like one of the guitars wasn't plugged in or something, but it steadily improved through the course of their set. Unfortunately, the same can't be precisely said about their music, which remained basically the same front to back, and is the main reason that I haven't really been into this band. There are other words that you can use in your black metal lyrics besides "Satan", though this may not be evident if all you've seen from black metal is Dark Funeral. It was still a good set, but you really have to wonder how the hell they ended up booked over Enslaved on this tour.
The highlight of their set, then, from the perspective of much of the audience, was Enslaved's appearance, wearing only Dark Funeral's corpsepaint designs and their underwear, bouncing onto the stage on those handled balls they make for kids to hop around on. In terms of absolute lunacy, it was one of the best tour-end pranks that I've ever seen, and we get a fair number of them at this end of the country. Hopefully, someone got pics to spread around; there are other metalheads who'd be cracked up by stuff like this, but never get to see it, because nobody winds up a tour in Cleveland or wherever. Good stuff, and a cool conclusion to a good show.
Only one day to go; work tomorrow, then Evil Army in Allston tomorrow night, and the last day off on Thursday. All good things must come to an end, and there's a bit of a show shortfall after this, but to a certain degree this is ok, because it's been expensive; it's not a real problem, but I've got festivals to save for.
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