So, forty days and forty nights before I'm due to see them again, hopefully from at least no further away, I caught Iron Maiden on the next-to-last North American stop of the current Somewhere Back In Time tour, and it was quite as awesome as might have been expected. Maybe I should have planned my caffeine supply a little better, and maybe I should have swung it so I didn't have to get up at 6 AM and spend a total of like 7 hours driving on the day of the show; maybe I shouldn't have drank quite as many beers, or indeed maybe should have taken at least some consideration of the fact that I was still sick, but if you get yourself hung up on 'maybe's, you are never going to get anywhere in heavy metal, certainly not as a performer and not really as a serious fan either.
The day started, as mentioned, quite early, as I had to get some stuff together and then drive halfway across the state to pick up my youngest brother, who started at his grad-school radar lab a little earlier than we had anticipated when blithely setting up this concert excursion. Still, it wasn't so bad going out and back, and it beats the hell out of actually working on a Friday morning. After dropping off his laundry and hanging about with the family for a bit, we headed down.
Despite the fact that we hail from the North Shore and the venue for this show is practically on Cape Cod, requiring that we do not only the Boston-beltway-at-rush-hour but also the Cape-on-a-Friday drives (which those from the area will easily recognize as potentially suicide-inducing), the traffic wasn't that bad, and we got down in good time, enough to get some merch (and balk at the prices -- $125 for a Maiden football strip? Someone should tell them they're not a real team, let alone in the EPL and "entitled" to charge like that) before heading into the venue. Since we had seats rather than having to fight for places on the rail either on the lawn or in the pit, we took the chance to drink some beers and run through a bag of peanuts before going in to wait for the much-dreaded opener.
Lauren Harris [3/7]
I'd apologize to Steve for hanging a low rating on his daughter's band, but if the man still has any integrity left (or any hearing, incidentally), he'd probably agree with me. If you like retreaded '80s hair-rock, this might have been enjoyable, but even in the '80s, Maiden had the middle finger up to hair rock, and this should not have changed -- it certainly hadn't for most of the fans here. Lauren certainly looks good in leather pants, but she can't sing, and her band was composed entirely of over-the-hill bottom-feeders who were having occasional trouble making it up to the standard of 'competent'. The main blessing of this set was that it was short, but four songs from, say, Machine Men would have been much better than four songs from Lauren Harris.
There was a short break here where we hit the head, ate more peanuts, drank a bunch of hefeweizen, and saw a couple people we knew, and then repaired back to the seats to wait for the lights to go down....and then up on....
IRON FUCKING MAIDEN [7/7]
They came out to the strains of "Losfer Words", then stuck to the setlist as set back in India at
the start of the run, but as you can see from there, this is also 2 hours of pure AWESOME. It was amazing to see them do "Revelations" live, let alone "Ancient Mariner", where they held the entire crowd rapt for the entire 14+ minutes, and the requisite hits that didn't entirely mesh with the stated tour subject period were as amazing as expected. The production was top-notch as well, with well-used pyro, intricate scrims and staging, an animatronic devil for "The Number of the Beast", and two versions of Eddie walking or lunging around. This was, in short, basically everything you could hope for from an Iron Maiden classics set, delivered in an excellent fashion that was probably as good back on the back wall of the lawn as it was up in the pit, as it was where we were sitting. There were a few problems with feedback and dropouts on Bruce's mic, and Steve's bass was mixed a little strangely during "Aces High", but these were minor scratches on the surface of an impeccable show. The last time I saw them here -- in 2000 on the Brave New World Tour -- may have been better, but it may well be that the first time you see Iron Maiden is always the best, because nothing prepares you for that experience of spectacle and high musical execution when it first hits. Mark dug the hell out of it; not a bad first arena show, Iron Maiden doing a classics set like they've just knocked back a case of rejuvenation potions. There's nothing like a proper DIY gig, but there's also nothing like a really good arena show with really good music, and the fact that Kommerz basically hates anything with musical integrity just makes these all the rarer.
Somehow, we also got out and back up home without me falling asleep behind the wheel and crashing into something, and though I still feel sleep-deprived, I'm also still feeling the aftereffects of this show. Have fun at Possessed tomorrow if you're going; I've to more sleeping to do and will start thinking about the next gigs next week.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Witch Tomb with Herugrim and Die On The Steps [O'Brien's, Allston, 6/13/2008]
This show took a long and torturous route to get where it is from wherever it started, and if I recall correctly, wasn't even initially on this date, but at every step of its evolution, it was a solid bill and a sure promise of a good time, and this it definitely turned out to be.
The last lineup change was Blessed Offal dropping off, and not getting replaced, and while this was kind of a downer in that I didn't get to see them, I was able to get moving a little later and still make it down to the venue in plenty of time. There were already a few people on hand, but this show was one that filled up gradually as it went on, rather than starting off packed and dropping down as in a couple other gigs I've seen here. The bands set up (two at the same time, since Die On The Steps is kind of modular gear-wise), I drank some beer and watched some baseball and wrestling, and eventually dropped a fair bit of change on obscure music, and presently the show got underway.
Die On The Steps [5/7]
This one-man project was a late add to the bill, with even the band unsure of how exactly it'd translate live. Fortunately, the answer to that was "really well"; a guy singing over a four-track playback of mostly synth instruments is not automatically the most successful opener to a black metal show, but Die On The Steps pulled it off well. There was a fair bit of post-punk/darkwave to be heard as well as the black metal and oi elements, with the ultimate product being an interesting fusion the likes of which you really have to see at a show like this to get at all. The world needs more bands like this, though maybe playing fewer Skrewdriver covers, even if "this isn't a political project, it's a personal one". Of course, who the hell am I to talk -- I not only knew all the lyrics to "Hail The New Dawn", but sang along nearly all the way through, me and the giant Metalheads Against Racism patch on the shoulder of my featherweight kutte.
Herugrim [6/7]
The good stuff continued with Herugrim's first Mass show, and about their second or third overall, which may have set a new high-water mark for the overall quality and awesomeness of a two-song set. Rising from the ashes of several prior black metal bands and drawing inspiration from the rawly epic early works of Borknagar and Enslaved, they poured about half an hour into two songs and made it abundantly clear that this particular style isn't an exclusive preserve of European bands. Though this performance was really good, it wasn't perhaps quite their optimum setting; think about it: Cold Northern Vengeance, Herugrim, and Aura of Aquila, maybe Wolven Ancestry and/or Ancient//Master in the picture as well, up in an adirondack on some mountain in New Hampshire, big pagan bonfire a ways back, a gas generator for the PA set back in the woods to keep the noise from cutting through, towards the end of October as the frost comes in. It could happen -- probably won't, but still could.
Witch Tomb [6.5/7]
This was one of the better outings I've seen from Witch Tomb, and given how good they've been in the past, this is definitely saying something. Their black/death chaos was dead-on and graveling, the samples that they had been working in previously now seamlessly integrated with the sound. Herugrim left them a high standard to match, but they did manage to overtop it, and if the set seemed a little short at the end, it was probably either just club rules or that the audience just didn't notice the time passing for the music. I still haven't run across their split with Martyrvore, but that's no excuse for those who don't have it yet not to run down Mocking Jehovah from the band or other fine distributors of underground music.
The festivities concluded, I stumped off on the two miles back to Cambridge and the car park. Maybe I should bite the bullet and learn to park closer, but the exercise is a nice bonus, and the 40 minutes or so gives me a little leeway in when I need to safely stop drinking; otherwise, I'd just have to hang around at the pub after the show to dry out before heading home, and past experience shows that I generally stop drinking at a bar only when I leave said bar, and breaking this habit when buzzed and hanging around with a bunch of metalheads who may only have to walk home doesn't look to be an especially successful endeavor.
Next show's tonight, a fundraising gig for Autumn Above before they do their first East Coast tour, and after that, probably Metal Thursday next week. If you know me IRL, catch me at one of these gigs, I'm trying to move my brother's Iron Maiden ticket since he isn't going next Friday. More WOE TO YOU O EARTH AND SEA for the rest of us!
The last lineup change was Blessed Offal dropping off, and not getting replaced, and while this was kind of a downer in that I didn't get to see them, I was able to get moving a little later and still make it down to the venue in plenty of time. There were already a few people on hand, but this show was one that filled up gradually as it went on, rather than starting off packed and dropping down as in a couple other gigs I've seen here. The bands set up (two at the same time, since Die On The Steps is kind of modular gear-wise), I drank some beer and watched some baseball and wrestling, and eventually dropped a fair bit of change on obscure music, and presently the show got underway.
Die On The Steps [5/7]
This one-man project was a late add to the bill, with even the band unsure of how exactly it'd translate live. Fortunately, the answer to that was "really well"; a guy singing over a four-track playback of mostly synth instruments is not automatically the most successful opener to a black metal show, but Die On The Steps pulled it off well. There was a fair bit of post-punk/darkwave to be heard as well as the black metal and oi elements, with the ultimate product being an interesting fusion the likes of which you really have to see at a show like this to get at all. The world needs more bands like this, though maybe playing fewer Skrewdriver covers, even if "this isn't a political project, it's a personal one". Of course, who the hell am I to talk -- I not only knew all the lyrics to "Hail The New Dawn", but sang along nearly all the way through, me and the giant Metalheads Against Racism patch on the shoulder of my featherweight kutte.
Herugrim [6/7]
The good stuff continued with Herugrim's first Mass show, and about their second or third overall, which may have set a new high-water mark for the overall quality and awesomeness of a two-song set. Rising from the ashes of several prior black metal bands and drawing inspiration from the rawly epic early works of Borknagar and Enslaved, they poured about half an hour into two songs and made it abundantly clear that this particular style isn't an exclusive preserve of European bands. Though this performance was really good, it wasn't perhaps quite their optimum setting; think about it: Cold Northern Vengeance, Herugrim, and Aura of Aquila, maybe Wolven Ancestry and/or Ancient//Master in the picture as well, up in an adirondack on some mountain in New Hampshire, big pagan bonfire a ways back, a gas generator for the PA set back in the woods to keep the noise from cutting through, towards the end of October as the frost comes in. It could happen -- probably won't, but still could.
Witch Tomb [6.5/7]
This was one of the better outings I've seen from Witch Tomb, and given how good they've been in the past, this is definitely saying something. Their black/death chaos was dead-on and graveling, the samples that they had been working in previously now seamlessly integrated with the sound. Herugrim left them a high standard to match, but they did manage to overtop it, and if the set seemed a little short at the end, it was probably either just club rules or that the audience just didn't notice the time passing for the music. I still haven't run across their split with Martyrvore, but that's no excuse for those who don't have it yet not to run down Mocking Jehovah from the band or other fine distributors of underground music.
The festivities concluded, I stumped off on the two miles back to Cambridge and the car park. Maybe I should bite the bullet and learn to park closer, but the exercise is a nice bonus, and the 40 minutes or so gives me a little leeway in when I need to safely stop drinking; otherwise, I'd just have to hang around at the pub after the show to dry out before heading home, and past experience shows that I generally stop drinking at a bar only when I leave said bar, and breaking this habit when buzzed and hanging around with a bunch of metalheads who may only have to walk home doesn't look to be an especially successful endeavor.
Next show's tonight, a fundraising gig for Autumn Above before they do their first East Coast tour, and after that, probably Metal Thursday next week. If you know me IRL, catch me at one of these gigs, I'm trying to move my brother's Iron Maiden ticket since he isn't going next Friday. More WOE TO YOU O EARTH AND SEA for the rest of us!
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Autumn Above (opening for some other bands) [Midway Cafe, Boston, 6/6/2008]
This was a congested night for shows, at least originally, but then Welfare Records closed, knocking the MPD gig off the calendar. The record store is still there, but Massachusetts lost another really good venue to the bullshit intersection of antediluvian alcohol laws and immature gimboids all too willing to flaunt them. This was a well-placed venue for access with a good management team that brought in uniformly good bills and put together a positive environment for them, but now, alas, it is no more. This leaves a critical lack of venues between Boston and Manchester, and though Bernie (of Mark's Showplace infamy) has been connected with a revival of Club 125 in Haverhill (the converted Pizza Hut that I nearly saw Kreator at in 2002), I wouldn't expect a whole shitton. Bad stuff all around.
Anyway, the lack of MPD made this a choice between Composted and Autumn Above, which was originally pretty clear; Autumn Above, while awesome, has a marked tendency to play shows with annoying or boring bands, and there was a lot of awesome death metal on the O'Brien's bill. It was still a tough choice, but made easier when I found out that Autumn Above was opening up their gig: instead of having to pick a show, I could attempt the nearly impossible and try to go to both, using the MBTA to make the transition.
This plan worked perfectly to start: parked at Green Street on time, down the Red Line to the Orange Line to JP and over to the Midway to see my boys. The gig was good (see below), but I got out a little late, which turned out to be a problem. I barely missed the train out of Green Street and ended up sitting for longer than I figured on. The delays piled up, and by the time I got to my last decision point, at Kenmore, it was already nudging past midnight. I got off the train and gave up. Maybe I could have kept on and seen some of their set, though I'd already missed Moral Decay, who I really should have bitten the bullet to see in Worcester on Thursday, as well as Psytoxia and Unholy Goatfucker. Maybe I made the wrong decision and should have just gone to Allston, period, but Autumn Above are still my guys, and they put up a good enough set that it was time well spent, even if it wasn't perfectly optimal.
Back to the gig: I got down, as described, in a timely manner, and got a beer or two while waiting for the bands to start. DIY, as it turns out, is more or less the same wherever you go: late starts, lineups in flux, and the non-affiliated fans a bare handful in number. Midway, though, is still a nice DIY venue whether it's metal or alt-rock, as here: good atmosphere, decent food next door, and fairly cheap PBR. Among the fellow denizens were an old scene vet recently back in the area, chummy with the barkeep and setting up a regular gig, calling down one of his old bandmates to hang. This was a guy to mark for me, at least, because his reaction would be a good benchmark for how people will react to Autumn Above coming from really flat zero. Their fans love them, but a lot of their fans at this point are old friends, old schoolmates, and old vets of the North Shore metal scene, with a lot of overlap between those three groups. Their current mini-tour may lead to bigger tours, and out on the road they've got to be able to convert people, and opinion leaders as well as the easily impressionable.
Autumn Above were supposed to go on second, but got 'promoted' to the opening slot (not noticeably earlier) when the opening band failed to show (DIY, how we love ye). They took a while setting up due to the sound guy bringing all their mics in correctly, but start they did, and it didn't take them long to get things cranked up.
This band, especially with a set like this where they run the CD basically straight down, is a band that kind of sneaks up on you, much like tequila or a shark pretending to deliver candygrams. At first, with the mics still not completely balanced and with a lot of straight pop riffs and construction in the early songs, they're easy to miscategorize as a Plain Old Indie Band. I think after "Skydiver", that old hipster mentioned earlier said something dismissive about power chords and turned back to the bar. This was the last I saw directly of him, because the bar was filling up, and I was getting pushed ahead -- actually, make that "pushed" ahead; sure, I could have left my back on the brass rail, but the good part was just getting started.
So you think you have them figured as a pop band, and maybe you think that they have three guitars because they're all friends all in, mostly doubling and occasionally tripling parts. Maybe you think Jim's Misfits shirt is ironic, if a little odd. Then the lyrics start to get a little more twisted, and maybe you notice a little more palm-muting slicing out of the rhythm guitars -- Tone's bass definitely seems to have a little more bite to it, but this it a pop band, right, and it's not too far out of character. Things push forward, and you don't think about frogs in boiling water -- if you did, there wouldn't be cause to -- and you continue to think you have the measure of the band, which is about the same as where they were at the beginning. And then at some point -- maybe when Chris is screaming for divine retribution, maybe when the vocal styles swap rapidly in and back from five-part crooning to HXC barks, maybe when a facemelting solo leads into a Maiden/In Flames bridge (all of this on acoustics still, mind), maybe when the phrase "double homicide to suicide" comes up, maybe when the kid in the Mortician shirt mimes cutting a throat, or maybe when "Trail of Roses" winds up on a hate-filled burst of a lyric that might, depending on everyone's vocal cords, well come out as half black metal -- you get snapped back to reality and find out that the band that concludes the set is not the band that started it, and they are a lot more talented, deep, and complex than you figured, and, oh yeah, they half ripped your face off while you weren't looking. As soon as I determined that they weren't going to go on and close with "Eulogy", I looked back to the bar for that jaded scenester mentioned earlier, finding him as he leaned back and mouthed "wow" to his old guitarist; if he wasn't impressed, which he may still have been, he was definitely taken aback, and by my assessment the band will take that reaction if they can't get instant devotion. ;)
Autumn Above is still not a metal band, but from this performance, they've decidedly come to terms with their metal roots -- and metal side, in the case of those members still gigging with metal bands -- and are using that heritage to sharpen and intensify their sound. Perhaps the pop and prog elements are equally strong, but it does seem like they've reached a point where they've balanced their influences to satisfaction, and it's going to be really cool to see where they go with these strands on their future material.
Final score? 6/7; this wasn't the best gig I've seen from them, and it ended up a little short, but they fought through a number of technical difficulties -- the power cord on Ryan's amp died, and Anthony busted his A-string midway through "Burn With Me" (if I recall the song correctly) and had to do a field repair onstage -- and definitely impressed a bunch of people. If their tour shows go this well, they won't have any problem getting invited back. It would have been a better night if I'd been able to get up to O'B's, and the other bands on this bill might have been entertaining had I stuck, but even just with this much, it was a hell of a night.
Anyway, the lack of MPD made this a choice between Composted and Autumn Above, which was originally pretty clear; Autumn Above, while awesome, has a marked tendency to play shows with annoying or boring bands, and there was a lot of awesome death metal on the O'Brien's bill. It was still a tough choice, but made easier when I found out that Autumn Above was opening up their gig: instead of having to pick a show, I could attempt the nearly impossible and try to go to both, using the MBTA to make the transition.
This plan worked perfectly to start: parked at Green Street on time, down the Red Line to the Orange Line to JP and over to the Midway to see my boys. The gig was good (see below), but I got out a little late, which turned out to be a problem. I barely missed the train out of Green Street and ended up sitting for longer than I figured on. The delays piled up, and by the time I got to my last decision point, at Kenmore, it was already nudging past midnight. I got off the train and gave up. Maybe I could have kept on and seen some of their set, though I'd already missed Moral Decay, who I really should have bitten the bullet to see in Worcester on Thursday, as well as Psytoxia and Unholy Goatfucker. Maybe I made the wrong decision and should have just gone to Allston, period, but Autumn Above are still my guys, and they put up a good enough set that it was time well spent, even if it wasn't perfectly optimal.
Back to the gig: I got down, as described, in a timely manner, and got a beer or two while waiting for the bands to start. DIY, as it turns out, is more or less the same wherever you go: late starts, lineups in flux, and the non-affiliated fans a bare handful in number. Midway, though, is still a nice DIY venue whether it's metal or alt-rock, as here: good atmosphere, decent food next door, and fairly cheap PBR. Among the fellow denizens were an old scene vet recently back in the area, chummy with the barkeep and setting up a regular gig, calling down one of his old bandmates to hang. This was a guy to mark for me, at least, because his reaction would be a good benchmark for how people will react to Autumn Above coming from really flat zero. Their fans love them, but a lot of their fans at this point are old friends, old schoolmates, and old vets of the North Shore metal scene, with a lot of overlap between those three groups. Their current mini-tour may lead to bigger tours, and out on the road they've got to be able to convert people, and opinion leaders as well as the easily impressionable.
Autumn Above were supposed to go on second, but got 'promoted' to the opening slot (not noticeably earlier) when the opening band failed to show (DIY, how we love ye). They took a while setting up due to the sound guy bringing all their mics in correctly, but start they did, and it didn't take them long to get things cranked up.
This band, especially with a set like this where they run the CD basically straight down, is a band that kind of sneaks up on you, much like tequila or a shark pretending to deliver candygrams. At first, with the mics still not completely balanced and with a lot of straight pop riffs and construction in the early songs, they're easy to miscategorize as a Plain Old Indie Band. I think after "Skydiver", that old hipster mentioned earlier said something dismissive about power chords and turned back to the bar. This was the last I saw directly of him, because the bar was filling up, and I was getting pushed ahead -- actually, make that "pushed" ahead; sure, I could have left my back on the brass rail, but the good part was just getting started.
So you think you have them figured as a pop band, and maybe you think that they have three guitars because they're all friends all in, mostly doubling and occasionally tripling parts. Maybe you think Jim's Misfits shirt is ironic, if a little odd. Then the lyrics start to get a little more twisted, and maybe you notice a little more palm-muting slicing out of the rhythm guitars -- Tone's bass definitely seems to have a little more bite to it, but this it a pop band, right, and it's not too far out of character. Things push forward, and you don't think about frogs in boiling water -- if you did, there wouldn't be cause to -- and you continue to think you have the measure of the band, which is about the same as where they were at the beginning. And then at some point -- maybe when Chris is screaming for divine retribution, maybe when the vocal styles swap rapidly in and back from five-part crooning to HXC barks, maybe when a facemelting solo leads into a Maiden/In Flames bridge (all of this on acoustics still, mind), maybe when the phrase "double homicide to suicide" comes up, maybe when the kid in the Mortician shirt mimes cutting a throat, or maybe when "Trail of Roses" winds up on a hate-filled burst of a lyric that might, depending on everyone's vocal cords, well come out as half black metal -- you get snapped back to reality and find out that the band that concludes the set is not the band that started it, and they are a lot more talented, deep, and complex than you figured, and, oh yeah, they half ripped your face off while you weren't looking. As soon as I determined that they weren't going to go on and close with "Eulogy", I looked back to the bar for that jaded scenester mentioned earlier, finding him as he leaned back and mouthed "wow" to his old guitarist; if he wasn't impressed, which he may still have been, he was definitely taken aback, and by my assessment the band will take that reaction if they can't get instant devotion. ;)
Autumn Above is still not a metal band, but from this performance, they've decidedly come to terms with their metal roots -- and metal side, in the case of those members still gigging with metal bands -- and are using that heritage to sharpen and intensify their sound. Perhaps the pop and prog elements are equally strong, but it does seem like they've reached a point where they've balanced their influences to satisfaction, and it's going to be really cool to see where they go with these strands on their future material.
Final score? 6/7; this wasn't the best gig I've seen from them, and it ended up a little short, but they fought through a number of technical difficulties -- the power cord on Ryan's amp died, and Anthony busted his A-string midway through "Burn With Me" (if I recall the song correctly) and had to do a field repair onstage -- and definitely impressed a bunch of people. If their tour shows go this well, they won't have any problem getting invited back. It would have been a better night if I'd been able to get up to O'B's, and the other bands on this bill might have been entertaining had I stuck, but even just with this much, it was a hell of a night.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Coffins with The Endless Blockade, Scapegoat, Raw Radar War, and Noosebomb [Democracy Center, Cambridge, 5/16/2008]
I left work a little later than I had anticipated; France didn't follow through on something, and I was stuck waiting around to officially conclude that it didn't happen. Nevertheless, I got moving a little after 5:15, figuring that even fi hitting doors was out of the question, I at least ought to be able to get there by the official start. Unfortunately, this also turned out to be desperately unrealistic. At 7, the scheduled start time, I had barely gotten parked, much less walked the mile up to the venue, which was located about across from the Harvard dorm that I saw my last Cambridge gig in. Fortunately and unfortunately (explained later), several of the local openers had also gotten stuck in traffic, so the show didn't get started immediately.
More to the point, the show didn't get started expediently in any kind of reasonable sense. First the organizers were waiting for Scapegoat to show, then for Noosebomb to agree to take their slot, then for said band to get set up and rolling; this took until -- if my hazy recollection is right -- about 8:30, at which point the gig was thoroughly on PRST (Punk Rock Standard Time), which would have a lot of unpleasant consequences.
Noosebomb [5/7]
Noosebomb, when they finally subbed in, though, definitely was viewed as a positive development. After in most people's cases an hour or so of standing around without music, their straightforward crunch was more than welcome, whether the listeners in question were there more for grind or for death metal. In a nutshell, those unfamiliar with the band will do fine with the description "as if Motorhead was influenced by Hellhammer, instead of the other way around"; a raw and dirty sound both black and rockish, music that picks its spot, whether to avoid getting pigeonholed as grind, punk, or black metal, or just to rock the fuck out. Good stuff, and they were one of the few bands to get a proper set time.
At this point I went back to the parlor -- this gig was in basically a house, which is apparently normally in use for leftist sociopolitical pursuits -- and hit the merch tables. I had the cash and interest to support both touring bands, and in the process provided Coffins with some free surrealism by doing my merch transaction entirely in Japanese. This was made possible not only by a lot of time watching anime set in the real world, but also by the tendency of the language to leave words out. Ordering CDs and shirts is not hard if you know "this", "that", "the one over there", and a couple colors. Regardless, it worked like intended, with about the usual transaction content that I get when buying stuff off bands in English or German, and the guys didn't really catch on until the end. Amerika ni youkosou, Coffins -- hen na yatsu ni kiyotsukerro.
Raw Radar War [5/7]
This band took the show back in a more punk direction with a solid set of Boston hardcore in the traditional style. There were a few slower, sludgy parts, but the main focus was on straightforward aggro. They also got a decent-length set, and they definitely justified the time with a good performance. As with Noosebomb, and indeed as with all the bands up through Coffins, there was not a lot of movement in the audience, whether from people saving themselves for the headliners, or just because there was a high emphasis placed on not damaging the venue unnecessarily. While hardcore and grindcore are both always better with people moving around, the band and the audience both had a good time despite the lack of turbulence.
Scapegoat [5/7]
I stepped out to get a drink from the convenience store next door -- an absolute essential at a dry show -- and came back to see Craig (Weapons Grade, the promoter) crossing off RRW as he'd previously crossed off Noosebomb; I figured that Scapegoat would get cut from the bill for not showing up, and the touring bands would be starting up next. This was not the case, as Scapegoat, having rolled up while the first two bands were going on, did get their chance to play, even if it was an extremely abbreviated set. Their straight-from-the-shoulder grindcore was served well by the time restriction, though, as they ended leaving the people who came to see them wanting more, and those of us who were down for Japanese death metal not bored or annoyed. They had a decent amount of movement, in the course of which water managed to end up on both the floor and the ceiling; how, I'm not precisely sure.
There was a considerable amount of opinion on various fora after the fact that maybe Scapegoat should have just been cut from the bill when they failed to show up ready to play by, say, 8pm, an hour after the show was supposed to start, in order to give more time to Coffins and secondarily The Endless Blockade. While they played decent music, it wasn't so good as to whelm the headliners, and as rough as it sounds, they could probably have been safely omitted without diminishing the overall fun factor of the show. Regrettable as it may be for those interested mainly in the traveling headliners, there's a clear reason that they were left on.
DIY promoters have a vested interest in making sure the bands from their own area are happy. Bands who like them will play their shows and bring out fans to make the gigs a financial success, which is not only good for the wallet, but also builds good karma to get more bigger touring acts from farther away to play on one of their promotions. While this is purely hypothetical, and not necessarily representative of his mental state, it should be noted that Craig is going to have to deal with Scapegoat and their fans and friends on a continual basis as both are based out of Boston, but Coffins won't (on average, given the past schedules of other Japanese DIY bands) be back in the US for another 5 years. Who knows if they'll still be promoting shows in 2013, or if there won't be someone else equally as capable and with just as good an in to the band? Sure, it's not an optimal situation, but these tough choices and hard realities are simply the less pleasant side of the DIY coin; larger promoters would just say "a brutal death metal band? From Japan? With no label backing to speak of and no proven draw in the package? Forget it", and then we wouldn't see Coffins at all.
The Endless Blockade [5.5/7]
Finally, we reached the touring portion; I had put down for one of this band's CDs and a cassette sight unseen eariler, and was glad to find my investment justified. They opened up with some dissonant noise stuff that was pretty cool (or at least I felt that way), then hit into more or less straight grind. It was very well-delivered, with a fresh sound separating the Canadians from the Bostonians, and while the set was cut short due to the time constraints alluded to above, it was definitely a good time. I tend not to follow grindcore because even for someone used to the bewildering maze that is current extreme metal, it is really confusing to keep straight all the time, but it's a nice change to get good grind out of a band that you have absolutely no expectations for.
Coffins [6.5/7]
And now, the band most people were waiting for, making their first appearance in North America. The set was criminally restricted in time and they took a song or two to really get cranked up properly, but in the end they delivered a thoroughly awesome performance that satisfied most of those not going to MDF, and really gave a kick to those who were already intent on doing so, in order to see them with a minimum of scheduling problems. The music was really cool, a slightly more technical take on the black-thrashing-death that you get with Abigail, or really any number of Japanese underground bands, given the extreme difficulties of setting up shows in said country. With zero opportunities for the scene to fragment, what happens is that bands get really good at fusing various threads, and Coffins certainly didn't lack in that department. The band was really hitting into their stride as they hit the 11 PM barrier, but the organizers were prevailed upon to allow one more song, a small measure of justice for the band and a relief to the crowd; those who don't see them on this tour or at MDF may never get the chance to again, and any extra minute that can be grabbed is welcome.
Following this, it was back out into the slackening rain to walk back out. Abstractly, this show sould neither have started nor finished so early, to make scheduling easier, but sometimes your weird DIY venues have weird rules, and you just have to roll with the punches. Less Coffins, more traffic, and a 11:15 curtain call is a hell of a lot better than no Coffins, or no show at all.
I came away with a large pocketful of crumpled hxc flyers, some of which look interesting, but most of which are booked against gigs with bands in my primary sphere of interest, or are taking place while I'm out in New York or something. Due to celebrating Portsmouth's FA cup win, I probably will have to give Defeated Sanity a pass (much to my chagrin), but the next show will be another MDF-warmup on Wednesday, then nothing on the weekend due to my brother's graduation.
And now, a few words about Autumn Above's non-gig last night; band practice done for friends and family at a yacht club booked because one of the members just graduated from college does not warrant a full review, but they were on point despite the circumstances ("My Name Is" Sean Cahalin playing a ride, a hi-hat, and a kids' conga instead of his full kit), and did some new material as well as stuff from various people's prior bands, and a good time was had by all, the aged relatives as well as the dudes who showed up in kuttes. No idea when they're playing a real gig next, but it'll be a good time, and you can also take your friends who aren't as into brutal music, and they'll have just as much fun.
More to the point, the show didn't get started expediently in any kind of reasonable sense. First the organizers were waiting for Scapegoat to show, then for Noosebomb to agree to take their slot, then for said band to get set up and rolling; this took until -- if my hazy recollection is right -- about 8:30, at which point the gig was thoroughly on PRST (Punk Rock Standard Time), which would have a lot of unpleasant consequences.
Noosebomb [5/7]
Noosebomb, when they finally subbed in, though, definitely was viewed as a positive development. After in most people's cases an hour or so of standing around without music, their straightforward crunch was more than welcome, whether the listeners in question were there more for grind or for death metal. In a nutshell, those unfamiliar with the band will do fine with the description "as if Motorhead was influenced by Hellhammer, instead of the other way around"; a raw and dirty sound both black and rockish, music that picks its spot, whether to avoid getting pigeonholed as grind, punk, or black metal, or just to rock the fuck out. Good stuff, and they were one of the few bands to get a proper set time.
At this point I went back to the parlor -- this gig was in basically a house, which is apparently normally in use for leftist sociopolitical pursuits -- and hit the merch tables. I had the cash and interest to support both touring bands, and in the process provided Coffins with some free surrealism by doing my merch transaction entirely in Japanese. This was made possible not only by a lot of time watching anime set in the real world, but also by the tendency of the language to leave words out. Ordering CDs and shirts is not hard if you know "this", "that", "the one over there", and a couple colors. Regardless, it worked like intended, with about the usual transaction content that I get when buying stuff off bands in English or German, and the guys didn't really catch on until the end. Amerika ni youkosou, Coffins -- hen na yatsu ni kiyotsukerro.
Raw Radar War [5/7]
This band took the show back in a more punk direction with a solid set of Boston hardcore in the traditional style. There were a few slower, sludgy parts, but the main focus was on straightforward aggro. They also got a decent-length set, and they definitely justified the time with a good performance. As with Noosebomb, and indeed as with all the bands up through Coffins, there was not a lot of movement in the audience, whether from people saving themselves for the headliners, or just because there was a high emphasis placed on not damaging the venue unnecessarily. While hardcore and grindcore are both always better with people moving around, the band and the audience both had a good time despite the lack of turbulence.
Scapegoat [5/7]
I stepped out to get a drink from the convenience store next door -- an absolute essential at a dry show -- and came back to see Craig (Weapons Grade, the promoter) crossing off RRW as he'd previously crossed off Noosebomb; I figured that Scapegoat would get cut from the bill for not showing up, and the touring bands would be starting up next. This was not the case, as Scapegoat, having rolled up while the first two bands were going on, did get their chance to play, even if it was an extremely abbreviated set. Their straight-from-the-shoulder grindcore was served well by the time restriction, though, as they ended leaving the people who came to see them wanting more, and those of us who were down for Japanese death metal not bored or annoyed. They had a decent amount of movement, in the course of which water managed to end up on both the floor and the ceiling; how, I'm not precisely sure.
There was a considerable amount of opinion on various fora after the fact that maybe Scapegoat should have just been cut from the bill when they failed to show up ready to play by, say, 8pm, an hour after the show was supposed to start, in order to give more time to Coffins and secondarily The Endless Blockade. While they played decent music, it wasn't so good as to whelm the headliners, and as rough as it sounds, they could probably have been safely omitted without diminishing the overall fun factor of the show. Regrettable as it may be for those interested mainly in the traveling headliners, there's a clear reason that they were left on.
DIY promoters have a vested interest in making sure the bands from their own area are happy. Bands who like them will play their shows and bring out fans to make the gigs a financial success, which is not only good for the wallet, but also builds good karma to get more bigger touring acts from farther away to play on one of their promotions. While this is purely hypothetical, and not necessarily representative of his mental state, it should be noted that Craig is going to have to deal with Scapegoat and their fans and friends on a continual basis as both are based out of Boston, but Coffins won't (on average, given the past schedules of other Japanese DIY bands) be back in the US for another 5 years. Who knows if they'll still be promoting shows in 2013, or if there won't be someone else equally as capable and with just as good an in to the band? Sure, it's not an optimal situation, but these tough choices and hard realities are simply the less pleasant side of the DIY coin; larger promoters would just say "a brutal death metal band? From Japan? With no label backing to speak of and no proven draw in the package? Forget it", and then we wouldn't see Coffins at all.
The Endless Blockade [5.5/7]
Finally, we reached the touring portion; I had put down for one of this band's CDs and a cassette sight unseen eariler, and was glad to find my investment justified. They opened up with some dissonant noise stuff that was pretty cool (or at least I felt that way), then hit into more or less straight grind. It was very well-delivered, with a fresh sound separating the Canadians from the Bostonians, and while the set was cut short due to the time constraints alluded to above, it was definitely a good time. I tend not to follow grindcore because even for someone used to the bewildering maze that is current extreme metal, it is really confusing to keep straight all the time, but it's a nice change to get good grind out of a band that you have absolutely no expectations for.
Coffins [6.5/7]
And now, the band most people were waiting for, making their first appearance in North America. The set was criminally restricted in time and they took a song or two to really get cranked up properly, but in the end they delivered a thoroughly awesome performance that satisfied most of those not going to MDF, and really gave a kick to those who were already intent on doing so, in order to see them with a minimum of scheduling problems. The music was really cool, a slightly more technical take on the black-thrashing-death that you get with Abigail, or really any number of Japanese underground bands, given the extreme difficulties of setting up shows in said country. With zero opportunities for the scene to fragment, what happens is that bands get really good at fusing various threads, and Coffins certainly didn't lack in that department. The band was really hitting into their stride as they hit the 11 PM barrier, but the organizers were prevailed upon to allow one more song, a small measure of justice for the band and a relief to the crowd; those who don't see them on this tour or at MDF may never get the chance to again, and any extra minute that can be grabbed is welcome.
Following this, it was back out into the slackening rain to walk back out. Abstractly, this show sould neither have started nor finished so early, to make scheduling easier, but sometimes your weird DIY venues have weird rules, and you just have to roll with the punches. Less Coffins, more traffic, and a 11:15 curtain call is a hell of a lot better than no Coffins, or no show at all.
I came away with a large pocketful of crumpled hxc flyers, some of which look interesting, but most of which are booked against gigs with bands in my primary sphere of interest, or are taking place while I'm out in New York or something. Due to celebrating Portsmouth's FA cup win, I probably will have to give Defeated Sanity a pass (much to my chagrin), but the next show will be another MDF-warmup on Wednesday, then nothing on the weekend due to my brother's graduation.
And now, a few words about Autumn Above's non-gig last night; band practice done for friends and family at a yacht club booked because one of the members just graduated from college does not warrant a full review, but they were on point despite the circumstances ("My Name Is" Sean Cahalin playing a ride, a hi-hat, and a kids' conga instead of his full kit), and did some new material as well as stuff from various people's prior bands, and a good time was had by all, the aged relatives as well as the dudes who showed up in kuttes. No idea when they're playing a real gig next, but it'll be a good time, and you can also take your friends who aren't as into brutal music, and they'll have just as much fun.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Pelican -- opening for Thrice and Circa Survive [Worcester Palladium, 5/10/2008]
I go to a lot of weird lengths to see shows. I've flown to Germany to go to festivals, driven the 93 corridor at rush hour to see local bands in a jumped-up practice space practically in Rhode Island, braved rain, snow, and cratered roadways, parked illegally, nearly got frostbite walking around in a kutte in the dead of winter, suffered joint injuries attempting to get pits going and smoke inhalation from just standing in the wrong place, dumped, in aggregate, hundreds if not thousands on merch, and more still on camping and festivalgoing equipment that was just unusable by the end. I've put up with crummy venues, incompetent soundment, larcenous beer prices, and the occasional band flakeout; many others certainly do and give and accomodate as much and a lot more, but I am not some part-time rager who sees only their favorite bands in their most choice environments -- and as such it should carry at least a little weight when I say that this was just about the most onerous experience I've had to go through for a band -- thankfully, Pelican delivered an awesome set that made it absolutely worthwhile.
The odd form of the title should indicate that this was not a normal show; instead of headlining, as they did when I saw them at the Middle East back in July, Pelican on this round was playing support to Thrice's tour, which saw them kind of oddly fit to the bill. When I expressed back then that I'd rather see them playing a bigger venue, this was not really what I had in mind: a limited set time and an indie-rock audience. Nevertheless, I bundled myself out to Worcester for this gig, because Pelican, live, is cheap at any price, and not having heard anything from the other bands, there was at least the chance that they wouldn't be terrible.
I rolled up to the venue just before doors, and was kind of dumbfounded to see a lineup stretching nearly as far down as it had at Metalfest (on Friday). Apparently the headliners were kind of big, which would be good for Pelican in that they'll get their material into more ears -- even if it's bad for me in that I won't be able to get right up to the front, because the crowd was to all appearances overwhelmingly underage, so they'd be camping the rail instead of hanging around in the bar. This did turn out to be exactly the case, but despite the lineup I was able to get rail even after picking up a shirt and some CDs (Lair of the Minotaur and Tusk, I already own Pelican's entire catalog). What followed was a stressful 45 minutes as I stood and waited and managed to avoid killing anyone in the surrounding crowd.
Hopefully, I merely had the bad fortune to be stuck in with several of the few annoying people in the audience; if this is not the case, I foresee doom for both people who actually like the headliners and for any future efforts to ameliorate my scene xenophobia. This was far from a metal crowd, and while it was interesting to observe how normal people react to a show, I'd much rather have been standing around with fewer children and gits. In this case, though, the burden was to be bourne, thanks to the payoff coming.
Pelican [7/7]
At the gong, Pelican came out swinging; the crunch of their opener immediately suggested Mastodon, and while they amply displayed their melodic chops over the course of the set, they also hit with power throughout, delivering a dominating sound despite a few hiccups from the PA. Too often metal is criticized for lacking subtlety, but what Pelican demonstrated in this set was that there is another side to the coin: that subtlety and artistry are given contrast and shading when they can be delivered alongside and blended with pure volume and visceral punch. The set was fairly short, covering two songs each from City of Echoes and ...Fire In Our Throats..., but as expected, impeccably delivered and drawing a fairly good crowd reaction. Having seen them in this building on this kind of bill, I've seen the error of my ways: next time, it's in Boston, headlining, or nothing; in several places the downstairs of the Middle East would have literally detonated, but the crowd here did nothing, starting not even the barest hint of a pit. I should have kicked things off instead of complaining, of course, but I was without my knee brace, and it's difficult to say whether I could have accomplished anything, even with all working joints, other than getting ejected.
Following their set, I went back up top and picked up the Pink Mammoth EP -- vinyl records down front are a wasted investment -- then found a wall to lean against waiting for the next band to go on. Despite my suspicions that the rest of this bill was going to be crummy -- or at least not to my taste -- I was determined to give them a shot to prove me wrong. If Circa Survive was any good, I'd stick around, then give Thrice the same shot.
Unfortunately, no, Circa Survive were not any good. They do some good works, but their music utterly failed to make any kind of positive impression; it brought me back to the basement of the radio station, exploring random indie rock at dumb o'clock in the morning while some Anthrax or Bathory side was spinning on the air, and the same wonderment that people can listen to this stuff and actually get into it. The world is full of all kinds of people, I guess, but this hall was presently full of one less metalhead, as I hit the doors to get back home at a more reasonable hour and to burden myself with less time spent listening to music I don't like. In the end, this was a good show; I got good music from Pelican, and I got home early. Sure, it could have been better, and it sucks that I had to miss Cinco de Dudo to go to it, but I'm happy with my decision.
The odd form of the title should indicate that this was not a normal show; instead of headlining, as they did when I saw them at the Middle East back in July, Pelican on this round was playing support to Thrice's tour, which saw them kind of oddly fit to the bill. When I expressed back then that I'd rather see them playing a bigger venue, this was not really what I had in mind: a limited set time and an indie-rock audience. Nevertheless, I bundled myself out to Worcester for this gig, because Pelican, live, is cheap at any price, and not having heard anything from the other bands, there was at least the chance that they wouldn't be terrible.
I rolled up to the venue just before doors, and was kind of dumbfounded to see a lineup stretching nearly as far down as it had at Metalfest (on Friday). Apparently the headliners were kind of big, which would be good for Pelican in that they'll get their material into more ears -- even if it's bad for me in that I won't be able to get right up to the front, because the crowd was to all appearances overwhelmingly underage, so they'd be camping the rail instead of hanging around in the bar. This did turn out to be exactly the case, but despite the lineup I was able to get rail even after picking up a shirt and some CDs (Lair of the Minotaur and Tusk, I already own Pelican's entire catalog). What followed was a stressful 45 minutes as I stood and waited and managed to avoid killing anyone in the surrounding crowd.
Hopefully, I merely had the bad fortune to be stuck in with several of the few annoying people in the audience; if this is not the case, I foresee doom for both people who actually like the headliners and for any future efforts to ameliorate my scene xenophobia. This was far from a metal crowd, and while it was interesting to observe how normal people react to a show, I'd much rather have been standing around with fewer children and gits. In this case, though, the burden was to be bourne, thanks to the payoff coming.
Pelican [7/7]
At the gong, Pelican came out swinging; the crunch of their opener immediately suggested Mastodon, and while they amply displayed their melodic chops over the course of the set, they also hit with power throughout, delivering a dominating sound despite a few hiccups from the PA. Too often metal is criticized for lacking subtlety, but what Pelican demonstrated in this set was that there is another side to the coin: that subtlety and artistry are given contrast and shading when they can be delivered alongside and blended with pure volume and visceral punch. The set was fairly short, covering two songs each from City of Echoes and ...Fire In Our Throats..., but as expected, impeccably delivered and drawing a fairly good crowd reaction. Having seen them in this building on this kind of bill, I've seen the error of my ways: next time, it's in Boston, headlining, or nothing; in several places the downstairs of the Middle East would have literally detonated, but the crowd here did nothing, starting not even the barest hint of a pit. I should have kicked things off instead of complaining, of course, but I was without my knee brace, and it's difficult to say whether I could have accomplished anything, even with all working joints, other than getting ejected.
Following their set, I went back up top and picked up the Pink Mammoth EP -- vinyl records down front are a wasted investment -- then found a wall to lean against waiting for the next band to go on. Despite my suspicions that the rest of this bill was going to be crummy -- or at least not to my taste -- I was determined to give them a shot to prove me wrong. If Circa Survive was any good, I'd stick around, then give Thrice the same shot.
Unfortunately, no, Circa Survive were not any good. They do some good works, but their music utterly failed to make any kind of positive impression; it brought me back to the basement of the radio station, exploring random indie rock at dumb o'clock in the morning while some Anthrax or Bathory side was spinning on the air, and the same wonderment that people can listen to this stuff and actually get into it. The world is full of all kinds of people, I guess, but this hall was presently full of one less metalhead, as I hit the doors to get back home at a more reasonable hour and to burden myself with less time spent listening to music I don't like. In the end, this was a good show; I got good music from Pelican, and I got home early. Sure, it could have been better, and it sucks that I had to miss Cinco de Dudo to go to it, but I'm happy with my decision.
Revocation with Mechannibal and Ramming Speed [Quincy Cage, Cambridge, 5/1/2008]
Another late post, but not so late; I'm catching up and this was a killer show to catch up with.
If you go to enough underground shows, you will eventually hit up more than a few that are totally weird for some reason or another, shows that become memorable not so much for what the bands do as for other stuff having to do with the particulars of the situation. For many of those involved this time, this show was in that number.
This was a decently late start that I was able to get back from work, play some soccer, shower, and get from Green Street up to Harvard well before the first band started. Yes, Harvard; Anthony from Revocation is a student at this fine institution as well as a badass bassist, and this show was held in a cleaned-up PE-equipment alcove -- set off from the basement hallway by chainlink fencing, hence the name -- underneath Quincy House. There are very few metal bands that can say they've played Harvard, and this, in addition to the fact that this was a free show, probably helped trump the fact that it was technically dry and got a good number of people out; metalheads of all stripes, crusties with pants sewn basically into their legs, and Harvard students who didn't know a bass from a guitar and were probably wondering where all these weirdos came from.
After managing to get past the door and its associated locks, I rode down in the elevator with most of Mechannibal, who were already a little bemused with the state of things, but had managed to pick up some foods despite aggro from the college authorities. That this was going to be an interesting cross-cultural experience was already evident, which became clearer as we got into the basement, climbed over the bands' stuff, and settled in among others simultaneously trying to hang out and prevent the building security from discovering their alcohol. At this point, it was mostly metal people still, including of course a few metal Harvard people, but the Harvard people were starting to trickle in from upstairs.
Ramming Speed [5/7]
This was a pretty good set, if a little short, but one which was negatively affected by the somewhat ad-hoc PA. With basement shows in general, it's a bit of a crapshoot as to whether you're going to have the bands sound like anything, and Ramming Speed's melodic layer on top of the thrashcore basics, which is what separates them, mainly, from other bands, is kind of dependent on the leads cutting through. This didn't happen consistently here, and the result was probably the punkiest set I've seen out of this band; it was pretty good, and the attendees definitely got into it, but Ramming Speed is more than a thrashpunk band when they're in a hall that allows their music to come through as intended.
Mechannibal [5/7]
Mechannibal, by contrast, was pretty well-served by the PA; not everything came through 100%, and a lot of the vocals were pretty buried, but their straightforward grind attack is the kind of music that lives and breeds in basements, and though there wasn't a whole lot of movement, even in the even mix of metal and crust d00ds who were at that point the majority of the crowd, this was still a pretty fun time. Not the best set I've seen out of them, but a whole lot of solid power and killer music all the same.
It's probably been widely commented on already, but Mike plays his drums like they punched out his grandma immediately before Mechannibal's set started. There aren't many drummers who hit harder around Boston, and there's none that I can recall looking like they hit this hard; his performance sees his face set in an iron grimace of rage almost throughout, and the effect of this expression, combined with his heavy-gauge sticks and the amount of force he puts into his kit, is that anyone who's watching can't stop wondering how he doesn't damage more equipment.
While Revocation was setting up, the Harvard people started to show up in numbers. They could be easily recognized by wearing shirts in actual colors, and because they didn't actually know what Revocation sounded like. This led to some lulzworthy overheard conversations, but these won't be repeated because, to their credit, most of the non-metal Harvard people actually did stay after the band got cranked up.
Revocation [6/7]
The PA was dialed in a little better, but there were still some bits that got lost, as entirely expected; fortunately, they weren't enough to obscure a really good set. Like the others, it was a little short, but brim-full of Empire of the Obscene material, as well as older stuff that's been renovated and updated. Oddly, despite the fact that the other two bands on this bill were a hell of a lot more punk and core, Revocation also saw the most and most consistent pit motion of the evening, and even a few of the non-metal (or, hopefully, not-previously-metal) Harvard types got involved as well; it's just as exotic for them to have punks, hardcore kids, and thrashers in their basement listening to progressive death-thrash as it is for us to go to a show on the Harvard campus, and in this context they could go brew stuff up without having to get outside their comfort zone at, say, O'Brien's.
Eventually, things closed up and the basement emptied out. It was an interesting experience, to be sure, and hopefully to be repeated in the future; Anthony's allegedly going to be booking this space consistently come fall term, and if that works out, it should be an interesting place to play for a wide variety of bands, and hopefully a way to bend more Harvard kids into the scene. Cross-cultural exchange is waeome, but it doesnt happen unless people actually go out there and start crossing between cultures -- if the upper strata of Cambridge won't come to heavy music, heavy music'll just have to move into their basement and start making loud noises.
If you go to enough underground shows, you will eventually hit up more than a few that are totally weird for some reason or another, shows that become memorable not so much for what the bands do as for other stuff having to do with the particulars of the situation. For many of those involved this time, this show was in that number.
This was a decently late start that I was able to get back from work, play some soccer, shower, and get from Green Street up to Harvard well before the first band started. Yes, Harvard; Anthony from Revocation is a student at this fine institution as well as a badass bassist, and this show was held in a cleaned-up PE-equipment alcove -- set off from the basement hallway by chainlink fencing, hence the name -- underneath Quincy House. There are very few metal bands that can say they've played Harvard, and this, in addition to the fact that this was a free show, probably helped trump the fact that it was technically dry and got a good number of people out; metalheads of all stripes, crusties with pants sewn basically into their legs, and Harvard students who didn't know a bass from a guitar and were probably wondering where all these weirdos came from.
After managing to get past the door and its associated locks, I rode down in the elevator with most of Mechannibal, who were already a little bemused with the state of things, but had managed to pick up some foods despite aggro from the college authorities. That this was going to be an interesting cross-cultural experience was already evident, which became clearer as we got into the basement, climbed over the bands' stuff, and settled in among others simultaneously trying to hang out and prevent the building security from discovering their alcohol. At this point, it was mostly metal people still, including of course a few metal Harvard people, but the Harvard people were starting to trickle in from upstairs.
Ramming Speed [5/7]
This was a pretty good set, if a little short, but one which was negatively affected by the somewhat ad-hoc PA. With basement shows in general, it's a bit of a crapshoot as to whether you're going to have the bands sound like anything, and Ramming Speed's melodic layer on top of the thrashcore basics, which is what separates them, mainly, from other bands, is kind of dependent on the leads cutting through. This didn't happen consistently here, and the result was probably the punkiest set I've seen out of this band; it was pretty good, and the attendees definitely got into it, but Ramming Speed is more than a thrashpunk band when they're in a hall that allows their music to come through as intended.
Mechannibal [5/7]
Mechannibal, by contrast, was pretty well-served by the PA; not everything came through 100%, and a lot of the vocals were pretty buried, but their straightforward grind attack is the kind of music that lives and breeds in basements, and though there wasn't a whole lot of movement, even in the even mix of metal and crust d00ds who were at that point the majority of the crowd, this was still a pretty fun time. Not the best set I've seen out of them, but a whole lot of solid power and killer music all the same.
It's probably been widely commented on already, but Mike plays his drums like they punched out his grandma immediately before Mechannibal's set started. There aren't many drummers who hit harder around Boston, and there's none that I can recall looking like they hit this hard; his performance sees his face set in an iron grimace of rage almost throughout, and the effect of this expression, combined with his heavy-gauge sticks and the amount of force he puts into his kit, is that anyone who's watching can't stop wondering how he doesn't damage more equipment.
While Revocation was setting up, the Harvard people started to show up in numbers. They could be easily recognized by wearing shirts in actual colors, and because they didn't actually know what Revocation sounded like. This led to some lulzworthy overheard conversations, but these won't be repeated because, to their credit, most of the non-metal Harvard people actually did stay after the band got cranked up.
Revocation [6/7]
The PA was dialed in a little better, but there were still some bits that got lost, as entirely expected; fortunately, they weren't enough to obscure a really good set. Like the others, it was a little short, but brim-full of Empire of the Obscene material, as well as older stuff that's been renovated and updated. Oddly, despite the fact that the other two bands on this bill were a hell of a lot more punk and core, Revocation also saw the most and most consistent pit motion of the evening, and even a few of the non-metal (or, hopefully, not-previously-metal) Harvard types got involved as well; it's just as exotic for them to have punks, hardcore kids, and thrashers in their basement listening to progressive death-thrash as it is for us to go to a show on the Harvard campus, and in this context they could go brew stuff up without having to get outside their comfort zone at, say, O'Brien's.
Eventually, things closed up and the basement emptied out. It was an interesting experience, to be sure, and hopefully to be repeated in the future; Anthony's allegedly going to be booking this space consistently come fall term, and if that works out, it should be an interesting place to play for a wide variety of bands, and hopefully a way to bend more Harvard kids into the scene. Cross-cultural exchange is waeome, but it doesnt happen unless people actually go out there and start crossing between cultures -- if the upper strata of Cambridge won't come to heavy music, heavy music'll just have to move into their basement and start making loud noises.
NEMHCF report - severely delayed
Being a brief overview, with a lot of side comments, from the 2008 edition of the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. This covers three days and more than 30 bands, so hang on for the ride. Nearly all the material in this is from notes taken at the time of the events, but there's a little that's woven in or touched up after the fact.
FRIDAY - GIGANTOUR
4:30 - lineup
I've been in lineups at the Palladium before, but this is fookin ridiculous; the front, two blocks down the side, and nearly another block around the corner, just wall-to-wall metalheads. Tonight sold out, and it really looks like every single goddamn head of the count is out on the tiles, as it were, right now. We had an enterprising guy take a case of Poland Spring down the line to his place -- at $2 a bottle, that's a nice profit on the relatively short walk to a long stand.
I may not see High on Fire due to this, but what the hell; at least it ain't raining.
5:15 - still in the lineup, but about a block from the door
Still in line -- it's like Itzehoe, but sober. And, fortunately, much, much shorter of a wait.
Noted by a bus: a red floormat placed by the door, that the band may not dash their foot upon a stone when alighting. Lol rockstars.
High on Fire [5/7]
I saw most of their set after all, despite the time spent at the merch and beer stands, and they were pretty decent, though nothing especially worldbreaking. A good and mostly true start to what'll hopefully be a good fest; "true" is probably a little much to ask at this point.
~~~
The security stole my fuckin' Kuli! Seriously, one of my Grade A pens got jacked on the way in, presumably as an anti-graffiti move. GARBAGE. So I went over to the ESP raffle table, pretended to fill out an entry, and stole one of theirs back, but it sucks; I've got to go procure another Grade A pen from somewhere to jam down my boot for the rest of the fest.
The heightened security was heightened just enough to be annoying; thanks to my Epic Leg Armor and the unwillingness of the security to check certain areas, I was able to bring in a pair of Powerbars for Saturday and both the stolen pen and my folding letter opener on both remaining days. I don't want to deal with metal-detector wands, but it'd be better to have a sane policy and more bathroom supervision than to make people stuff inocuous items down their grundle so that they won't get ripped off.
~~~
Job For A Cowboy [4/7]
Other people have been using "Job For A Girlboy" lately to get to a certain acronym that expresses their disapprobation for the band. In this case, though, "Job For A Goatwhore" would be more apt, and get to the acronym as a total side-effect; it should be damning enough of this band's lack of originality or interesting material that their set was such that a completely derivative band could have done what they were trying to do better, and in a more interesting fashion. It's pretty sad when you're derivative of derivative bands -- as well as Morbid Angel, into whom this band's teeth are still sunk -- but this started decent, then tailed off in an immediate and drastic fashion. After 3 or so songs, it got physically difficult to listen to, and this is coming from someone who actually likes Lugubrum, and can put up with J-pop in certain situations. No fucking idea why people like this band -- no, wait, that's right, a lot of people are fooking imbeciles.
~~~
looking at sampler CDs in the merch area:
What the hell is all this Kiuas on the Spinefarm sample CD? There's better bands on Spinefarm than fuckin' Kiuas, fer chrissake.
~~~
Children of Bodom [6/7]
Maybe a 5.5 (it wasn't, even when I opened that box with the Megadeth score), but I'm not doing split scores yet and would prefer not to. Alexi's solos were a little muted, but they were pretty cool despite the weight of new stuff in the set, and they closed with "Touch Like An Angel of Death" -- what the fuck more do you want? At least they realize that their old shit's where the power's at -- now why don't they try and evolve that instead of continually trying to be "In Flames with balls"? The world may never know.
In Flames [5/7]
There was once upon a time a little record called Colony. It marked an inflection point in In Flames' career, and proved that NWOSDM -- Edge of Sanity and Dissection made accessible, or a nice bowl of Dismember with some Iron Maiden drizzled on top -- would sell to a broad audience. In Flames did 12 songs tonight, including precisely one from this record or earlier (the namecheck on Jester Race). For this I blame not metalcore but the Euro festivals. In Flames has grown accustomed to playing at 2 in the morning, pumping tunes out over the exhausted, pitch-black infield at Wacken, at Reading, at Rock Am Ring and the like, and this was a 2AM set, a long pile of unflavored, all-things-by-implication-to-all-people radio metal with only the barest trappings of anything real, lazy metal for exhausted people...delivered south of 10PM in an indoor hall. Maybe Megadeth's audience is yawning past their bedtime, but most of us are awake, and not nearly as gassed as I normally am when one day's bleeding into another north of Hamburg, and the sky's so actively black as to block out lights. In Flames is a good band when you're in the tank and half dead on your feet from a day of better music; here, not so much.
Megadeth [6.5/7]
Though this would ahve to be really, really stretched to represent a peak Megadeth lineup. they put on a near-peak performance, with Dave his usual ripping self, James and Shawn solid on rhythm, and Chris Broderick impressive, but not surprising to anyone who was familiar with his talents from Jag Panzer and Nevermore. The set was balanced well between old and new material, down the whole gamut from "The Mechanix" to "Gears of War". We got a lot of hits and also a few deeper cuts; it's difficult to se how, now, in the age of Dave Mustaine and His Amazing Sidemen, you'd see a better Megadeth set. Maybe in a larger venue -- Gigantour was originally booked for Thursday at the hockey arena next door -- but this was a damn fine performance and anyone who's somehow disappointed is simply delusional.
--
SATURDAY - SAME AS IT EVER WAS DAY
Veil of Maya [4/7]
What a fuckin' disappointment. If you're going to name your band after a Cynic song, you ought to be at least a little original. Instead, fucking lameass metalcore. I didn't stick too long -- I had to get down front for Keep of Kalessin -- but from their first few cuts, things were not going to improve.
The End [6/7]
Fuckin' A -- now this is how new-school metal is supposed to be. They had a lot of the progression of a 3 or an Unexpect, but with a more solid thrash core, and the result is an overwhelmingly and unambiguously positive reaction from those assembled. If you slept in and missed this band, you lose.
Keep of Kalessin [6/7]
And the good shit continues; I was right up front as before, and what their solidly Norse-tradition black metal lacked in immediate originality was patched over amply by excellent execution -- and the fact that neither Emperor nor Immortal was on this fest. It's good to hear real, honest black metal at a festival like this -- even better to hear it done this well.
~~~
The perils of being up front with a notebook and an overbuilt jacket: I got mistaken for a member of Nightmare by the founders of a Myspace page for kuttes, and for an actual journalist (Metal George of The Accursed) by an established photographer (Frank White, if it matters). No portfolio, no credentials, no worries. ;)
On a related note, people who actually belong to said "heavy metal vest" community need to seriously re-evaluate why they are in metal and why they choose to build a kutte. If it's to fit in because Municipal Waste told you to sew patches on your vest, you need to burn your rig and jump off a bridge. Jacketcrafting is an ancient and noble artform practiced to announce your preferences in metal to all and sundry: you do it because you want to build a jacket, not because all your friends have one, and you build it to look violently different from anything else out there, not exactly like one you saw in some pictures from '86.
~~~
Monstrosity [7/7]
It was fucking criminal how these guys got cut off -- the drummer was rightfully ripshit, throwing pieces of the kit and backline around the stage -- especially since they were in the middle of an absolute gem of a set: tight, dialed in, and with the superb soundboard support that the Palladium only gives to death metal bands once in a blue moon. This was Florida's best, setting a high standard for Hate Eternal, and on any sane fest, they'd've had a lot more than 20 minutes, and hence, no cause for frustration and wreckage.
Skeleton Witch [6/7]
If they were other things before, this set at 20 minutes showed them stripped to the bare essence as a melodic thrash metal bad. A thoroughly good set, but as with the preceding band, cursed by inadequate time.
~~~
During this band, Aaron got back at me decisively for the "sleeping on the job" picture. What remains to be seen is if this picture will be published or privately held -- it's looking like the second for now, or if it's published, nobody cares to point out the silliness.
Since I continued to stand down the front through the last two bands as well, my jacket continued to draw interest. Well, overbuilt is overbuilt.
~~~
Through The Eyes Of The Dead [5.5/7]
Their output was better than most of the other modernistic death metal bands on this bill, but oddly, not markedly different. To a certain degree, I'm just the wrong audience, but there are other slammy and core-y bands out there that are better.
Animosity [5/7]
I've been pretty selective about what I see, but this was the first band that could even partway qualify as hardcore. I'm much more of a metal fan, but this is the NEMHCF, and the HXC portion of the bill shouldn't just get pushed into some closet upstairs. They had a few technical difficulties at the start, but presently hit their stride and gave a kickass performance. This probably wasn't an ideal venue to see them in, but I and my busted knee don't care, and the kids on the floor throwing down didn't look like they cared either.
~~~
At this point I gave Arsis -- and, as it turned out, Municipal Waste, though that's in another comment -- a pass in order to keep my seat. At intervals like this I took the brace off to keep the skin aerated and not rotting away, but every second of potential rest for the joint was precious.
~~~
Despised Icon [5/7]
Truth told, I did actually break out laughing in places. Not many, but in taking deathcore to its ne plus ultra, DI also drives up the elements of the style that are only silly: form-pattern breakdowns, vocals worthy of a trained hog, and faux-hip-hop posturing. Despite the lulzworthy parts, they still made some decent music, and if the singer hadn't killed the mood by mentioning the Bruins going down to the Habs, it might have graded out as yet better.
~~~
Scott was at stageside for these guys, in sharp visual contrast to the Scott Lee Clothing banners hanging up; it's a little early for central New England's foremost heavy-music-promotion impresario to branch out a la Russell Simmons, at least from my perch. Seriously, would you buy designer casual wear from this man? Enough people have issues buying the bills he puts together for these fests, let alone stuff with his name and face on it to stick next to their skin. The Myspace for it is pretty tongue-in-cheek, but people are apparently still buying it.
~~~
As Blood Runs Black [5/7]
I was tempted to dock them a point for turning "bring the fucking ruckus" into a chorus, but did not; when not being laughable in this regard, these Angelenos worked up a quality set of heavier metalcore that recalled old In Flames in its best places; as good as can reasonably be expected for a filler band playing before re-entry closes.
Heaven Shall Burn [6/7]
A hell of a US debut, but this fest always seems to get its share of good ones. Their Wacken set was better, but this perfect fusion of metal and hardcore will hopefully make believers out of the contingent here.
A real class touch was Marcus going along the barricade after the last song to slap hands with the faithful; it's a little thing, but such things go a long way in hardcore. Willkommen in da VSA, HSB!
~~~
Spotted in the pit: a big dude with the National Alliance logo on his shoulder, throwing down and singing along with the band. If he's still NS, I can't wait until he gets into their back catalog and the material about Primo Levi and Hans and Sophie Scholl -- to say nothing of that cover of "Destroy Fascism".
~~~
Vital Remains [5/7]
We're in Worcester, and Scott's bellowing from the stage while Crazy Dan is passing out mayhem to all and sundry below -- must be Zircon at Metal Thursday, right? Not this time, and despite the sound problems and the necessary dropoff in total execution due to Tony's change in sidemen (Scott debatably outperformed Glenn, but the other instrumentalists had some slop in the toes of the big shoes they were trying to fill), Vital still put up a thoroughly killer set. It wasn't a peak by any means, but still through-and-through quality death in the old style.
This entry was almost entitled "Vital Receipts", but while I trust Mark (Composted, TYAG) Richards to be generally accurate in his reporting of why his band gets de-listed from certain shows, I don't want to stir that pot until the local dudes who are actually in Vital have had the chance to comment on it, as it's quite possible it's an issue with the promoter rather than any of the bands involved.
~~~
This festival is missing a lot of things -- and outdoor venue, internal food vendors, and more, less vile toilet accomodations come to mind -- but the most striking is a SIMPLE FUCKING WHITEBOARD, which is easily provided so that attendees can be kept apprised of schedule changes. I missed Municipal Waste due to the second stage, as usual, getting fucked up, and didn't learn about it until I happened to run into Matt (MPD) Kenney while in line for the head. WHAT THE FUCK.
Also, re-entry closed early, so instead of going back to the hotel to drop my merch, I got stuck at the venue listening to nu-Kataklysm. Again, what the fuck.
~~~
Kataklysm [4/7]
These guys must be thanking their lucky stars that Cryptopsy have suddenly decided to become terrible, so that their own decline into mediocrity goes unnoticed. This was as boring and staid a set of mid-paced death metal as you'd like to see, and having it sold as "hyperblast" in any regard should be getting more people madder about being ripped off. Sure, Hypocrisy wasn't playing this festival, but the day that modern Kataklysm is remotely as interesting or as original as Hypocrisy is the day I stop ranting about them like this.
~~~
I've seen now 3 different people in 3 different Wacken shirts here. The word is spreading -- maybe I'll have to do a roll call come July or so and see if anyone among the RttP hordes is also going to be in attendance this time out.
~~~
Hate Eternal [5.5/7]
This band is seriously cursed or something -- 3 times I see them in this building, 3 times they get a seriously raw deal from the soundboard. As before, Erik & co. fought back through it, but it remained thin and low, a serious disservice to the band, and to those in the audience counting them as the last decent band of the day. I'm still looking forward to Shadows Fall, and to a lesser degree Dimmu and -- heresy, heresy! -- The Acacia Strain, but those whose tastes are less catholic than mine may well be heading for the doors to catch Toxic Holocaust's in-town basement gig, and this wasn't as good a valediction for them as it could have been if the tech side had their goddamn oars all in.
~~~
I don't know where exactly the "line" for Kommerz is that bands best dare not cross, but Iron Maiden Chuck Taylors are definitely across it. It is only small consolation to know that not only do Bruce, Steve, and the rest have this kid's money now, they are probably laughing at him as well.
~~~
The Acacia Strain [5/7]
Vincent's gotten fat with success -- or maybe he's just got a bad case of "studio ass", as they're in recording right now. In any case, the band has similarly become "more so"; content-free mosh-spree breakdowns-by-the-numbers that only gets interesting when the singer's talking off the cuff to fill time. This time, he ripped on trends and image...but if he looks up his band's '06 set here on RttP, he'll see his Myspace haircut and tight jeans on the eve of their debut. OH SNAP LOLZ.
~~~
Thanks to Behemoth, we now have children in clumsy corpsepaint waiting for metalcore bands to finish so that their Satanic idols can go on. Somehow, I get the feeling that this isn't what Dead cut himself up on stage for, or why Samoth and others did their two years in stir for arson. Dimmu has 8x10 rockstar glossies out now courtesy of ESP -- this from a scene where bands use warnames to defer credit and for a while didn't even put their own pics in the liner notes of their records. FUCK TRENDS -- BLACK METAL ISOLATION!!
On music and wrestling:
- Skinless issuing their demo compilation on a label that is also an indie wrestling promotion: very metal.
- Victory Records cross-promoting with Wrestlemania, as on shopping bags here: not punk rock at all.
It's not the "wrestling" per se -- sriously, put ropes around a mosh pit and you've got a bout, one bunch of dudes pretending to fight each other is much the same as the next -- or the fakery (it's all just entertainment); it's the fucking Kommerz that sticks in my craw. True, there's no money in metal, so every dollar helps, but it's a lot less lame when it coems from somewhere with some fookin integrity.
~~~
Behemoth [6/7]
Despite my skepticism going in, this was actually a really good set -- sticking to their hits and pretty deathy as well as black metal -- not perfect, but a fun time, and that, like the last band, is sufficient excuse for them to have fans. It aint enough to put me in that total, but it's enough to make the time spent bearable.
~~~
Overkill cancelled, so bands lately have been playing a little longer, which is good all around -- bands don't get shafted into an opener-length set as a headliner, and I don't have to sit through Overkill. Maybe I just got a bad set from them at Wacken in '05, but it was good on the few good songs that they did there -- which is a bad indicator that they may actually be that overrated after all.
SUNDAY - PAGANS AND PONGIDAE DAY
Blame dysentery -- the gut condition, not the band -- for me missing the last two bands Saturday. Jaeger and street food do bad things to your stomach in combination, but don't expect me to stop doing either at this fest.
Waking The Cadaver [4/7]
As silly as might have been expected, but their BREE BREE BREE SLAM BREE BREE was a decent enough backdrop to my final merch spree (modulo an Ensiferum shirt later at night).
After The Burial [4/7]
An entirely competent metalcore band, but I was really expecting to see Unexpect here. I'd've been pissed if I ended up missing them, but fortunately the schedule dislocation on Sunday was fairly straightforward.
Unexpect [7/7]
Fucking wow. You won't, I expect, see a better 20-minute set than the one this bunch put up, and even better, those people who were there seemed to realize this as well. Good stuff; hopefully their spastic evolved black metal will continue to attract people with an appreciation for it.
Emmure [4/7]
Bree bree bree snore snore snore. I came back in time to make doors and be sure to be in position for Paganfest; seeing the tail end to this block of same-ish 'core that I mostly sat out on is merely a side effect.
A Life Once Lost [4/7]
I think I saw this band here once before, and they didn't make an impression on me that time either. I thought metalcore was dying out, and the coming thing was WTC and other bands ripping off the first wave of slam-death, but I guess not.
~~~
Three bands worth the candle of being up front for, then I can go sit down in back. There isn't seatage for love or money in here, and my back is getting friggin telescoped.
~~~
Eluveitie [7/7]
Neither quite In Extremo or quite Finntroll, this Swiss combo nonetheless put up quite the dominant performance, packing in the crowd into what was originally a half-empty front, then bloody well destroying the place with a frenetic and more folkic version of the black-fusion that drives the Paganfest package. If this is the standard, the two other support acts are on notice; Ensiferum at least can kick it out at this level easily.
Tyr [6/7]
If you're following a crazy-party band and want to sell the crowd on your doomy, progressive, vikingarock, it may not be the brightest idea to open with an extended a capella section sung entirely in Danish. The true viking fans in the crowd dug it, as this was a very well-turned-out set on all counts, but I'm not sure how many converts they made. Maybe victims of the bill, but they gave a damn good effort and hopefully managed to draw on this away leg -- they'll win at home when folks download or buy their CDs.
~~~
Since there's been approximately zero immigration to the Faeroes in the last 800 years, it's easy even for people who didn't know that Tyr is a 3-piece on record to see that the guitarist of Eluveitie is giving them a hand on this tour, rather than vice versa. It's the world's easiest game of spot-the-not-a-viking.
~~~
Turisas [6/7]
In principal, we've heard this before -- at least some of us -- as Otyg with a little extra Ensiferum over the top. However, it was well-delivered, and the crowd was fucking psyched -- if they had more material on the level of "Rasputin", they'd have a strong case for headlining this roving melee. Even as is, though, a hell of a fun time.
You've got to wonder about the history of Turisas' accordionist; the band is about my age and a little younger, so there she was, growing up in Finland on the turn of the Cold War, going to accordion lessons, likely playing "Lady of Spain" over and over until she wanted to throw the damned thing down the stairs, and the teacher after it, never dreaming that she would one day be a professional in a rock band, the world's coolest live keyboard replacement, and get to stand on stage on multiple continents wearing furs and lederhosen, face painted like an Apache, as the crowd roared and screamed for more. If it doesn't make any sense on paper, imagine what it's like to live it. And you thought your life was odd....
Ensiferum [7/7]
Score does not include adjustments for injury; unlike last time, I came out of an Ensiferum pit-wall with all my joints intact. It would probably still be on this level even if I'd brewed something up; like all the Paganfest crew, the set was too goddamned short, but every last second was quality. The whole floor went into pit mode, German-style, a couple times, and dudes were getting crowdchucked like Bury Your Dead was laying it down. An ace performance, and full worth being the last band I was down front for.
~~~
If you can see this tour when they aren't on a festival bill, definitely do it. Four great bands is too much to be done service by barely 2 1/2 hours, including stage changes.
So Mike Hsiu of 'AAF got a lifetime achievement award from Full Blown Chaos (and maybe the organizers, who knows), and Divine Heresy cancelled (due to a ridiculous incident in Poughkepsie that many of the attendees here would have given given an arm and a leg to see and laugh at live)....can't say I'm sorry about the second....
~~~
Meshuggah [7/7]
I think I remember their '03 set here as being a little longer, but if this time was shorter and less well-produced -- the bass up too high for a couple songs -- the musical performance was nonetheless stellar. The hall started to empty out after they took their leave, and while the early birds'll miss Ministry, they got a pretty fuckin' cool headlining set out of Meshuggah.
Seriously, it's not even 11 and the crowd is in full flight. WTF? I know people have to work in the morning, but they stay to the end of normal shows at this place when the next day's a workday.
~~~
The sole disappointment of the day is that I end it broke, down to my last ten-spot. If I had another C-note coming in, as planned, I'd have an Eluveitie shirt on my belt, and CDs from them and Turisas in my jacket pouches. Such is life, though; never money nor time enough for everything we desire.
~~~
Ministry [6/7]
I didn't end up sticking for the whole set, but what I saw was choice. Ministry is a band that appropriates both metal and industrial on their own terms rather than the genre's, and a standing that comes not only from close on 30 years of service, but also from the top-class music that's allowed them to be a working band for longer than many members of this audience have been alive. While this wasn't a peak set, and the experience was near equal parts visual and music -- and in that caption, less of their older stuff -- it was still a good time, and I'm glad to have seen them live before Al folds the tents for good.
Final returns:
Friday - 5 bands
26.5 points
average 5.3
Saturday - 15 bands
81 points
average 5.4
Sunday - 11 bands
62 points
average 5.64
It's amazing how high average scores can get at this fest when you skip nearly all the bands that you don't like, and the soundboard doesn't fuck over the bands you do.
FRIDAY - GIGANTOUR
4:30 - lineup
I've been in lineups at the Palladium before, but this is fookin ridiculous; the front, two blocks down the side, and nearly another block around the corner, just wall-to-wall metalheads. Tonight sold out, and it really looks like every single goddamn head of the count is out on the tiles, as it were, right now. We had an enterprising guy take a case of Poland Spring down the line to his place -- at $2 a bottle, that's a nice profit on the relatively short walk to a long stand.
I may not see High on Fire due to this, but what the hell; at least it ain't raining.
5:15 - still in the lineup, but about a block from the door
Still in line -- it's like Itzehoe, but sober. And, fortunately, much, much shorter of a wait.
Noted by a bus: a red floormat placed by the door, that the band may not dash their foot upon a stone when alighting. Lol rockstars.
High on Fire [5/7]
I saw most of their set after all, despite the time spent at the merch and beer stands, and they were pretty decent, though nothing especially worldbreaking. A good and mostly true start to what'll hopefully be a good fest; "true" is probably a little much to ask at this point.
~~~
The security stole my fuckin' Kuli! Seriously, one of my Grade A pens got jacked on the way in, presumably as an anti-graffiti move. GARBAGE. So I went over to the ESP raffle table, pretended to fill out an entry, and stole one of theirs back, but it sucks; I've got to go procure another Grade A pen from somewhere to jam down my boot for the rest of the fest.
The heightened security was heightened just enough to be annoying; thanks to my Epic Leg Armor and the unwillingness of the security to check certain areas, I was able to bring in a pair of Powerbars for Saturday and both the stolen pen and my folding letter opener on both remaining days. I don't want to deal with metal-detector wands, but it'd be better to have a sane policy and more bathroom supervision than to make people stuff inocuous items down their grundle so that they won't get ripped off.
~~~
Job For A Cowboy [4/7]
Other people have been using "Job For A Girlboy" lately to get to a certain acronym that expresses their disapprobation for the band. In this case, though, "Job For A Goatwhore" would be more apt, and get to the acronym as a total side-effect; it should be damning enough of this band's lack of originality or interesting material that their set was such that a completely derivative band could have done what they were trying to do better, and in a more interesting fashion. It's pretty sad when you're derivative of derivative bands -- as well as Morbid Angel, into whom this band's teeth are still sunk -- but this started decent, then tailed off in an immediate and drastic fashion. After 3 or so songs, it got physically difficult to listen to, and this is coming from someone who actually likes Lugubrum, and can put up with J-pop in certain situations. No fucking idea why people like this band -- no, wait, that's right, a lot of people are fooking imbeciles.
~~~
looking at sampler CDs in the merch area:
What the hell is all this Kiuas on the Spinefarm sample CD? There's better bands on Spinefarm than fuckin' Kiuas, fer chrissake.
~~~
Children of Bodom [6/7]
Maybe a 5.5 (it wasn't, even when I opened that box with the Megadeth score), but I'm not doing split scores yet and would prefer not to. Alexi's solos were a little muted, but they were pretty cool despite the weight of new stuff in the set, and they closed with "Touch Like An Angel of Death" -- what the fuck more do you want? At least they realize that their old shit's where the power's at -- now why don't they try and evolve that instead of continually trying to be "In Flames with balls"? The world may never know.
In Flames [5/7]
There was once upon a time a little record called Colony. It marked an inflection point in In Flames' career, and proved that NWOSDM -- Edge of Sanity and Dissection made accessible, or a nice bowl of Dismember with some Iron Maiden drizzled on top -- would sell to a broad audience. In Flames did 12 songs tonight, including precisely one from this record or earlier (the namecheck on Jester Race). For this I blame not metalcore but the Euro festivals. In Flames has grown accustomed to playing at 2 in the morning, pumping tunes out over the exhausted, pitch-black infield at Wacken, at Reading, at Rock Am Ring and the like, and this was a 2AM set, a long pile of unflavored, all-things-by-implication-to-all-people radio metal with only the barest trappings of anything real, lazy metal for exhausted people...delivered south of 10PM in an indoor hall. Maybe Megadeth's audience is yawning past their bedtime, but most of us are awake, and not nearly as gassed as I normally am when one day's bleeding into another north of Hamburg, and the sky's so actively black as to block out lights. In Flames is a good band when you're in the tank and half dead on your feet from a day of better music; here, not so much.
Megadeth [6.5/7]
Though this would ahve to be really, really stretched to represent a peak Megadeth lineup. they put on a near-peak performance, with Dave his usual ripping self, James and Shawn solid on rhythm, and Chris Broderick impressive, but not surprising to anyone who was familiar with his talents from Jag Panzer and Nevermore. The set was balanced well between old and new material, down the whole gamut from "The Mechanix" to "Gears of War". We got a lot of hits and also a few deeper cuts; it's difficult to se how, now, in the age of Dave Mustaine and His Amazing Sidemen, you'd see a better Megadeth set. Maybe in a larger venue -- Gigantour was originally booked for Thursday at the hockey arena next door -- but this was a damn fine performance and anyone who's somehow disappointed is simply delusional.
--
SATURDAY - SAME AS IT EVER WAS DAY
Veil of Maya [4/7]
What a fuckin' disappointment. If you're going to name your band after a Cynic song, you ought to be at least a little original. Instead, fucking lameass metalcore. I didn't stick too long -- I had to get down front for Keep of Kalessin -- but from their first few cuts, things were not going to improve.
The End [6/7]
Fuckin' A -- now this is how new-school metal is supposed to be. They had a lot of the progression of a 3 or an Unexpect, but with a more solid thrash core, and the result is an overwhelmingly and unambiguously positive reaction from those assembled. If you slept in and missed this band, you lose.
Keep of Kalessin [6/7]
And the good shit continues; I was right up front as before, and what their solidly Norse-tradition black metal lacked in immediate originality was patched over amply by excellent execution -- and the fact that neither Emperor nor Immortal was on this fest. It's good to hear real, honest black metal at a festival like this -- even better to hear it done this well.
~~~
The perils of being up front with a notebook and an overbuilt jacket: I got mistaken for a member of Nightmare by the founders of a Myspace page for kuttes, and for an actual journalist (Metal George of The Accursed) by an established photographer (Frank White, if it matters). No portfolio, no credentials, no worries. ;)
On a related note, people who actually belong to said "heavy metal vest" community need to seriously re-evaluate why they are in metal and why they choose to build a kutte. If it's to fit in because Municipal Waste told you to sew patches on your vest, you need to burn your rig and jump off a bridge. Jacketcrafting is an ancient and noble artform practiced to announce your preferences in metal to all and sundry: you do it because you want to build a jacket, not because all your friends have one, and you build it to look violently different from anything else out there, not exactly like one you saw in some pictures from '86.
~~~
Monstrosity [7/7]
It was fucking criminal how these guys got cut off -- the drummer was rightfully ripshit, throwing pieces of the kit and backline around the stage -- especially since they were in the middle of an absolute gem of a set: tight, dialed in, and with the superb soundboard support that the Palladium only gives to death metal bands once in a blue moon. This was Florida's best, setting a high standard for Hate Eternal, and on any sane fest, they'd've had a lot more than 20 minutes, and hence, no cause for frustration and wreckage.
Skeleton Witch [6/7]
If they were other things before, this set at 20 minutes showed them stripped to the bare essence as a melodic thrash metal bad. A thoroughly good set, but as with the preceding band, cursed by inadequate time.
~~~
During this band, Aaron got back at me decisively for the "sleeping on the job" picture. What remains to be seen is if this picture will be published or privately held -- it's looking like the second for now, or if it's published, nobody cares to point out the silliness.
Since I continued to stand down the front through the last two bands as well, my jacket continued to draw interest. Well, overbuilt is overbuilt.
~~~
Through The Eyes Of The Dead [5.5/7]
Their output was better than most of the other modernistic death metal bands on this bill, but oddly, not markedly different. To a certain degree, I'm just the wrong audience, but there are other slammy and core-y bands out there that are better.
Animosity [5/7]
I've been pretty selective about what I see, but this was the first band that could even partway qualify as hardcore. I'm much more of a metal fan, but this is the NEMHCF, and the HXC portion of the bill shouldn't just get pushed into some closet upstairs. They had a few technical difficulties at the start, but presently hit their stride and gave a kickass performance. This probably wasn't an ideal venue to see them in, but I and my busted knee don't care, and the kids on the floor throwing down didn't look like they cared either.
~~~
At this point I gave Arsis -- and, as it turned out, Municipal Waste, though that's in another comment -- a pass in order to keep my seat. At intervals like this I took the brace off to keep the skin aerated and not rotting away, but every second of potential rest for the joint was precious.
~~~
Despised Icon [5/7]
Truth told, I did actually break out laughing in places. Not many, but in taking deathcore to its ne plus ultra, DI also drives up the elements of the style that are only silly: form-pattern breakdowns, vocals worthy of a trained hog, and faux-hip-hop posturing. Despite the lulzworthy parts, they still made some decent music, and if the singer hadn't killed the mood by mentioning the Bruins going down to the Habs, it might have graded out as yet better.
~~~
Scott was at stageside for these guys, in sharp visual contrast to the Scott Lee Clothing banners hanging up; it's a little early for central New England's foremost heavy-music-promotion impresario to branch out a la Russell Simmons, at least from my perch. Seriously, would you buy designer casual wear from this man? Enough people have issues buying the bills he puts together for these fests, let alone stuff with his name and face on it to stick next to their skin. The Myspace for it is pretty tongue-in-cheek, but people are apparently still buying it.
~~~
As Blood Runs Black [5/7]
I was tempted to dock them a point for turning "bring the fucking ruckus" into a chorus, but did not; when not being laughable in this regard, these Angelenos worked up a quality set of heavier metalcore that recalled old In Flames in its best places; as good as can reasonably be expected for a filler band playing before re-entry closes.
Heaven Shall Burn [6/7]
A hell of a US debut, but this fest always seems to get its share of good ones. Their Wacken set was better, but this perfect fusion of metal and hardcore will hopefully make believers out of the contingent here.
A real class touch was Marcus going along the barricade after the last song to slap hands with the faithful; it's a little thing, but such things go a long way in hardcore. Willkommen in da VSA, HSB!
~~~
Spotted in the pit: a big dude with the National Alliance logo on his shoulder, throwing down and singing along with the band. If he's still NS, I can't wait until he gets into their back catalog and the material about Primo Levi and Hans and Sophie Scholl -- to say nothing of that cover of "Destroy Fascism".
~~~
Vital Remains [5/7]
We're in Worcester, and Scott's bellowing from the stage while Crazy Dan is passing out mayhem to all and sundry below -- must be Zircon at Metal Thursday, right? Not this time, and despite the sound problems and the necessary dropoff in total execution due to Tony's change in sidemen (Scott debatably outperformed Glenn, but the other instrumentalists had some slop in the toes of the big shoes they were trying to fill), Vital still put up a thoroughly killer set. It wasn't a peak by any means, but still through-and-through quality death in the old style.
This entry was almost entitled "Vital Receipts", but while I trust Mark (Composted, TYAG) Richards to be generally accurate in his reporting of why his band gets de-listed from certain shows, I don't want to stir that pot until the local dudes who are actually in Vital have had the chance to comment on it, as it's quite possible it's an issue with the promoter rather than any of the bands involved.
~~~
This festival is missing a lot of things -- and outdoor venue, internal food vendors, and more, less vile toilet accomodations come to mind -- but the most striking is a SIMPLE FUCKING WHITEBOARD, which is easily provided so that attendees can be kept apprised of schedule changes. I missed Municipal Waste due to the second stage, as usual, getting fucked up, and didn't learn about it until I happened to run into Matt (MPD) Kenney while in line for the head. WHAT THE FUCK.
Also, re-entry closed early, so instead of going back to the hotel to drop my merch, I got stuck at the venue listening to nu-Kataklysm. Again, what the fuck.
~~~
Kataklysm [4/7]
These guys must be thanking their lucky stars that Cryptopsy have suddenly decided to become terrible, so that their own decline into mediocrity goes unnoticed. This was as boring and staid a set of mid-paced death metal as you'd like to see, and having it sold as "hyperblast" in any regard should be getting more people madder about being ripped off. Sure, Hypocrisy wasn't playing this festival, but the day that modern Kataklysm is remotely as interesting or as original as Hypocrisy is the day I stop ranting about them like this.
~~~
I've seen now 3 different people in 3 different Wacken shirts here. The word is spreading -- maybe I'll have to do a roll call come July or so and see if anyone among the RttP hordes is also going to be in attendance this time out.
~~~
Hate Eternal [5.5/7]
This band is seriously cursed or something -- 3 times I see them in this building, 3 times they get a seriously raw deal from the soundboard. As before, Erik & co. fought back through it, but it remained thin and low, a serious disservice to the band, and to those in the audience counting them as the last decent band of the day. I'm still looking forward to Shadows Fall, and to a lesser degree Dimmu and -- heresy, heresy! -- The Acacia Strain, but those whose tastes are less catholic than mine may well be heading for the doors to catch Toxic Holocaust's in-town basement gig, and this wasn't as good a valediction for them as it could have been if the tech side had their goddamn oars all in.
~~~
I don't know where exactly the "line" for Kommerz is that bands best dare not cross, but Iron Maiden Chuck Taylors are definitely across it. It is only small consolation to know that not only do Bruce, Steve, and the rest have this kid's money now, they are probably laughing at him as well.
~~~
The Acacia Strain [5/7]
Vincent's gotten fat with success -- or maybe he's just got a bad case of "studio ass", as they're in recording right now. In any case, the band has similarly become "more so"; content-free mosh-spree breakdowns-by-the-numbers that only gets interesting when the singer's talking off the cuff to fill time. This time, he ripped on trends and image...but if he looks up his band's '06 set here on RttP, he'll see his Myspace haircut and tight jeans on the eve of their debut. OH SNAP LOLZ.
~~~
Thanks to Behemoth, we now have children in clumsy corpsepaint waiting for metalcore bands to finish so that their Satanic idols can go on. Somehow, I get the feeling that this isn't what Dead cut himself up on stage for, or why Samoth and others did their two years in stir for arson. Dimmu has 8x10 rockstar glossies out now courtesy of ESP -- this from a scene where bands use warnames to defer credit and for a while didn't even put their own pics in the liner notes of their records. FUCK TRENDS -- BLACK METAL ISOLATION!!
On music and wrestling:
- Skinless issuing their demo compilation on a label that is also an indie wrestling promotion: very metal.
- Victory Records cross-promoting with Wrestlemania, as on shopping bags here: not punk rock at all.
It's not the "wrestling" per se -- sriously, put ropes around a mosh pit and you've got a bout, one bunch of dudes pretending to fight each other is much the same as the next -- or the fakery (it's all just entertainment); it's the fucking Kommerz that sticks in my craw. True, there's no money in metal, so every dollar helps, but it's a lot less lame when it coems from somewhere with some fookin integrity.
~~~
Behemoth [6/7]
Despite my skepticism going in, this was actually a really good set -- sticking to their hits and pretty deathy as well as black metal -- not perfect, but a fun time, and that, like the last band, is sufficient excuse for them to have fans. It aint enough to put me in that total, but it's enough to make the time spent bearable.
~~~
Overkill cancelled, so bands lately have been playing a little longer, which is good all around -- bands don't get shafted into an opener-length set as a headliner, and I don't have to sit through Overkill. Maybe I just got a bad set from them at Wacken in '05, but it was good on the few good songs that they did there -- which is a bad indicator that they may actually be that overrated after all.
SUNDAY - PAGANS AND PONGIDAE DAY
Blame dysentery -- the gut condition, not the band -- for me missing the last two bands Saturday. Jaeger and street food do bad things to your stomach in combination, but don't expect me to stop doing either at this fest.
Waking The Cadaver [4/7]
As silly as might have been expected, but their BREE BREE BREE SLAM BREE BREE was a decent enough backdrop to my final merch spree (modulo an Ensiferum shirt later at night).
After The Burial [4/7]
An entirely competent metalcore band, but I was really expecting to see Unexpect here. I'd've been pissed if I ended up missing them, but fortunately the schedule dislocation on Sunday was fairly straightforward.
Unexpect [7/7]
Fucking wow. You won't, I expect, see a better 20-minute set than the one this bunch put up, and even better, those people who were there seemed to realize this as well. Good stuff; hopefully their spastic evolved black metal will continue to attract people with an appreciation for it.
Emmure [4/7]
Bree bree bree snore snore snore. I came back in time to make doors and be sure to be in position for Paganfest; seeing the tail end to this block of same-ish 'core that I mostly sat out on is merely a side effect.
A Life Once Lost [4/7]
I think I saw this band here once before, and they didn't make an impression on me that time either. I thought metalcore was dying out, and the coming thing was WTC and other bands ripping off the first wave of slam-death, but I guess not.
~~~
Three bands worth the candle of being up front for, then I can go sit down in back. There isn't seatage for love or money in here, and my back is getting friggin telescoped.
~~~
Eluveitie [7/7]
Neither quite In Extremo or quite Finntroll, this Swiss combo nonetheless put up quite the dominant performance, packing in the crowd into what was originally a half-empty front, then bloody well destroying the place with a frenetic and more folkic version of the black-fusion that drives the Paganfest package. If this is the standard, the two other support acts are on notice; Ensiferum at least can kick it out at this level easily.
Tyr [6/7]
If you're following a crazy-party band and want to sell the crowd on your doomy, progressive, vikingarock, it may not be the brightest idea to open with an extended a capella section sung entirely in Danish. The true viking fans in the crowd dug it, as this was a very well-turned-out set on all counts, but I'm not sure how many converts they made. Maybe victims of the bill, but they gave a damn good effort and hopefully managed to draw on this away leg -- they'll win at home when folks download or buy their CDs.
~~~
Since there's been approximately zero immigration to the Faeroes in the last 800 years, it's easy even for people who didn't know that Tyr is a 3-piece on record to see that the guitarist of Eluveitie is giving them a hand on this tour, rather than vice versa. It's the world's easiest game of spot-the-not-a-viking.
~~~
Turisas [6/7]
In principal, we've heard this before -- at least some of us -- as Otyg with a little extra Ensiferum over the top. However, it was well-delivered, and the crowd was fucking psyched -- if they had more material on the level of "Rasputin", they'd have a strong case for headlining this roving melee. Even as is, though, a hell of a fun time.
You've got to wonder about the history of Turisas' accordionist; the band is about my age and a little younger, so there she was, growing up in Finland on the turn of the Cold War, going to accordion lessons, likely playing "Lady of Spain" over and over until she wanted to throw the damned thing down the stairs, and the teacher after it, never dreaming that she would one day be a professional in a rock band, the world's coolest live keyboard replacement, and get to stand on stage on multiple continents wearing furs and lederhosen, face painted like an Apache, as the crowd roared and screamed for more. If it doesn't make any sense on paper, imagine what it's like to live it. And you thought your life was odd....
Ensiferum [7/7]
Score does not include adjustments for injury; unlike last time, I came out of an Ensiferum pit-wall with all my joints intact. It would probably still be on this level even if I'd brewed something up; like all the Paganfest crew, the set was too goddamned short, but every last second was quality. The whole floor went into pit mode, German-style, a couple times, and dudes were getting crowdchucked like Bury Your Dead was laying it down. An ace performance, and full worth being the last band I was down front for.
~~~
If you can see this tour when they aren't on a festival bill, definitely do it. Four great bands is too much to be done service by barely 2 1/2 hours, including stage changes.
So Mike Hsiu of 'AAF got a lifetime achievement award from Full Blown Chaos (and maybe the organizers, who knows), and Divine Heresy cancelled (due to a ridiculous incident in Poughkepsie that many of the attendees here would have given given an arm and a leg to see and laugh at live)....can't say I'm sorry about the second....
~~~
Meshuggah [7/7]
I think I remember their '03 set here as being a little longer, but if this time was shorter and less well-produced -- the bass up too high for a couple songs -- the musical performance was nonetheless stellar. The hall started to empty out after they took their leave, and while the early birds'll miss Ministry, they got a pretty fuckin' cool headlining set out of Meshuggah.
Seriously, it's not even 11 and the crowd is in full flight. WTF? I know people have to work in the morning, but they stay to the end of normal shows at this place when the next day's a workday.
~~~
The sole disappointment of the day is that I end it broke, down to my last ten-spot. If I had another C-note coming in, as planned, I'd have an Eluveitie shirt on my belt, and CDs from them and Turisas in my jacket pouches. Such is life, though; never money nor time enough for everything we desire.
~~~
Ministry [6/7]
I didn't end up sticking for the whole set, but what I saw was choice. Ministry is a band that appropriates both metal and industrial on their own terms rather than the genre's, and a standing that comes not only from close on 30 years of service, but also from the top-class music that's allowed them to be a working band for longer than many members of this audience have been alive. While this wasn't a peak set, and the experience was near equal parts visual and music -- and in that caption, less of their older stuff -- it was still a good time, and I'm glad to have seen them live before Al folds the tents for good.
Final returns:
Friday - 5 bands
26.5 points
average 5.3
Saturday - 15 bands
81 points
average 5.4
Sunday - 11 bands
62 points
average 5.64
It's amazing how high average scores can get at this fest when you skip nearly all the bands that you don't like, and the soundboard doesn't fuck over the bands you do.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost with Composted, Dysentery, Proteus, Archaeon, and Brutal #2 [Welfare Records, Haverhill, 4/7/2008]
Early-week shows are always kind of tough; people are back at work or school after the weekend, and are just caught up in the grind rather than seeking to actively escape it. This may have been the reason that this show wasn't as well-attended as it ought to have been, but it also may well have been a strong reason why TYAG wanted to do start their tour with three fairly-local shows early in the week, both to get the bugs out in front of the home crowd, and also to hit into the first leg of their travels on a weekend. As it was, this was a good show that would have been better with more doods, but still was about as good value as you could get for eight bucks on a Monday night.
Since the show was starting kind of early, I had to go right up from work, and got up to Haverhill about a quarter past six. I figured I'd miss a band or two, which would suck, but as it turned out, the music hadn't started yet, and I was able to wolf down my overpriced ghetto pies outside and get in with time to spare. Eventually, a DIY show will start on time somewhere, but until then, people stuck in traffic can relax a little.
Brutal #2 [5/7]
I hadn't seen this band live previously, but I did remember not being terribly impressed with their demo; this, though, was recorded nearly a year ago, and they've come a long way in the intervening time. They haven't yet set themselves apart as one of the top death metal bands in this area, but as the rest of the bill will show, this is wicked hard considering the depth of the New England scene, and they put on a solid, bruising set regardless. They've got a lot of ability, and the way it's being used has definitely improved since their last recording; whether they continue to push it up, or continue to play good meat-and-potatoes death metal, they'll continue to provide good music and good entertainment regardless.
Archaeon [5/7]
From a certain perspective, Archaeon has more potential than any other band on this bill. Of course, that perspective has to also admit that they were about the rawest band of the night (this being about their third show, if I recall correctly), and to a certain degree it did show in their performance. Less slammy than the surrounding bands, they set forth a strong set of highly insular brutal death metal that unfortunately was marred by a couple hitches where everything wasn't quite together yet. I like their style a little more, in general, than the slam-death offered in the main here, but they also hopefully impressed the other attendees enough with their chops that people will look for them on bills once they've got a little more experience and a little stronger sense of themselves as a band.
It was about here that I did the merch bit; I picked up an Archaeon shirt as well as a tour shirt and a kutte part from TYAG, and talked with Mark a bit; he recognized me from RTTP and OH NOES MAI COVER IS TEH BLOED. :roll: Well enough; it's hard to be anonymous when you're regularly in attendance at gigs where there's often only a handful of people not in one of the bands on the bill. I was also cursing my mostly empty wallet; I wanted to pick up a Composted shirt, but was running out of belt space and, not having seen Proteus before, didn't know what if anything I'd need to drop on them.
Proteus [6/7]
This was a splendidly killer set, with a sound that only TYAG really approached in its absolute diversity; as though Neurosis won a battle with half a dozen slam-death bands and carried away their breakdowns as trophies. At times, when they were locked in and going on for minutes at a time, it seemed like their set consisted entirely of one huge breakdown, and while this was not really the case, even if it had been, they definitely raised the slam break to the level of a high art. They had a few issues with the bass, but they were mostly corrected before they interrupted the run of the set, and the band succeeded in imposing their will on the crowd regardless. The set felt a little short; the set lengths on this gig were fairly short generally, to pack six bands and four stage changes (Composted and TYAG, for obvious reasons, use all the same gear) into four hours, but a really good set always feels shorter than it is.
At this point I picked up Proteus' CD, and was officially out of useful cash. Another $20, and I could have swung shirts from both them and Composted. I'm not sure whether to blame the need for Epic Leg Armor, or just the fact that I need to eat food, but regardless, it's pretty bogus.
Dysentery [6/7]
Dysentery was also in top form, and more so than when I last saw them, showed off their chops in addition to slam as well as the subtle technical demands that are still present when they're just dug in and blasting. Of course, this may be due to being that much closer to the band, and actually seeing their whole set as much as anything, but their music flowed together smoothly, and as before, also hit like a house to the face. There may not have been as much movement as they might have liked, despite the contributions of the Proteus guys, but a likely explanation is that Will was kind of constrained by having to hold onto the mic and do vocals, and thus couldn't flip out as much for his own band.
Composted [5.5/7]
Those expecting to see the visual spectacle that this band's presented in the past may have been let down; this was Composted Lite, with no costumes or props, probably because 3/4 of the band was going to be spending the next 3 weeks living out of the back of a van as Terminally Your Aborted Ghost. They were also down to a four-piece, with Eliot switching to bass, and this did have a material result, as the sound wasn't as thick or dense as when I saw them at O'Brien's with two guitarists. Even without gimmicks and with a less dense sound, though, Composted did put up a strong set, and quite as funny as expected. There was a little more fan participation in this one than the last time, probably because the stakes were lower and people just had to sit down for the intro rather than risk getting baked goods all over themselves. Unfortunately, my knee didn't bend all the way and I also failed at even sitting down. Fortunately, this was the sole piece of fail manifested during this show.
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost [5.5/7]
The score stuck onto this performance illustrates the problems -- and, actually, a signal critical failing -- of trying to attach an arbitrary number to a holistic experience. I was really impressed by TYAG musically, but their skills and sound couldn't quite erase a bunch of purely incidental stuff that cut into the experience; namely, Mark breaking a string and the room energy (the band less so, even though 75% of them had just done a full set as Composted) slowly running down towards the end. Fortunately, this all is stuff that the band will work out as they get back into touring mode; they'll be more solid as they work with and get used to a regular setlist, and Mark's too much of a pro to regularly go breaking strings, and in most cases, they won't be playing on a Monday night mostly to people in other bands on the gig, and their real abilities will cut through more significantly. On hearing these guys, it's clearly apparent why they've had such a high profile despite an extended period of inactivity; their sound represents a fairly perfect fusion of hardcore, grind, and death metal actually done right, and blending in a bunch of stuff that most bands combining those genre buckets will never think to include. Despite the technical difficulties, this was a really good musical performance, and if you see them on this current run, whether at one of the remaining New England dates, somewhere else in the country, or on the last day of the tour in Yonkers with Vital Remains and Monstrosity, you're quite likely to have an even better time of it.
The music over and the venue nearly empty, I stumped my way back to the T lot to get home, and thankfully avoided further injury en route. Four hours of quality death metal - not at all bad for a Monday night.
Since the show was starting kind of early, I had to go right up from work, and got up to Haverhill about a quarter past six. I figured I'd miss a band or two, which would suck, but as it turned out, the music hadn't started yet, and I was able to wolf down my overpriced ghetto pies outside and get in with time to spare. Eventually, a DIY show will start on time somewhere, but until then, people stuck in traffic can relax a little.
Brutal #2 [5/7]
I hadn't seen this band live previously, but I did remember not being terribly impressed with their demo; this, though, was recorded nearly a year ago, and they've come a long way in the intervening time. They haven't yet set themselves apart as one of the top death metal bands in this area, but as the rest of the bill will show, this is wicked hard considering the depth of the New England scene, and they put on a solid, bruising set regardless. They've got a lot of ability, and the way it's being used has definitely improved since their last recording; whether they continue to push it up, or continue to play good meat-and-potatoes death metal, they'll continue to provide good music and good entertainment regardless.
Archaeon [5/7]
From a certain perspective, Archaeon has more potential than any other band on this bill. Of course, that perspective has to also admit that they were about the rawest band of the night (this being about their third show, if I recall correctly), and to a certain degree it did show in their performance. Less slammy than the surrounding bands, they set forth a strong set of highly insular brutal death metal that unfortunately was marred by a couple hitches where everything wasn't quite together yet. I like their style a little more, in general, than the slam-death offered in the main here, but they also hopefully impressed the other attendees enough with their chops that people will look for them on bills once they've got a little more experience and a little stronger sense of themselves as a band.
It was about here that I did the merch bit; I picked up an Archaeon shirt as well as a tour shirt and a kutte part from TYAG, and talked with Mark a bit; he recognized me from RTTP and OH NOES MAI COVER IS TEH BLOED. :roll: Well enough; it's hard to be anonymous when you're regularly in attendance at gigs where there's often only a handful of people not in one of the bands on the bill. I was also cursing my mostly empty wallet; I wanted to pick up a Composted shirt, but was running out of belt space and, not having seen Proteus before, didn't know what if anything I'd need to drop on them.
Proteus [6/7]
This was a splendidly killer set, with a sound that only TYAG really approached in its absolute diversity; as though Neurosis won a battle with half a dozen slam-death bands and carried away their breakdowns as trophies. At times, when they were locked in and going on for minutes at a time, it seemed like their set consisted entirely of one huge breakdown, and while this was not really the case, even if it had been, they definitely raised the slam break to the level of a high art. They had a few issues with the bass, but they were mostly corrected before they interrupted the run of the set, and the band succeeded in imposing their will on the crowd regardless. The set felt a little short; the set lengths on this gig were fairly short generally, to pack six bands and four stage changes (Composted and TYAG, for obvious reasons, use all the same gear) into four hours, but a really good set always feels shorter than it is.
At this point I picked up Proteus' CD, and was officially out of useful cash. Another $20, and I could have swung shirts from both them and Composted. I'm not sure whether to blame the need for Epic Leg Armor, or just the fact that I need to eat food, but regardless, it's pretty bogus.
Dysentery [6/7]
Dysentery was also in top form, and more so than when I last saw them, showed off their chops in addition to slam as well as the subtle technical demands that are still present when they're just dug in and blasting. Of course, this may be due to being that much closer to the band, and actually seeing their whole set as much as anything, but their music flowed together smoothly, and as before, also hit like a house to the face. There may not have been as much movement as they might have liked, despite the contributions of the Proteus guys, but a likely explanation is that Will was kind of constrained by having to hold onto the mic and do vocals, and thus couldn't flip out as much for his own band.
Composted [5.5/7]
Those expecting to see the visual spectacle that this band's presented in the past may have been let down; this was Composted Lite, with no costumes or props, probably because 3/4 of the band was going to be spending the next 3 weeks living out of the back of a van as Terminally Your Aborted Ghost. They were also down to a four-piece, with Eliot switching to bass, and this did have a material result, as the sound wasn't as thick or dense as when I saw them at O'Brien's with two guitarists. Even without gimmicks and with a less dense sound, though, Composted did put up a strong set, and quite as funny as expected. There was a little more fan participation in this one than the last time, probably because the stakes were lower and people just had to sit down for the intro rather than risk getting baked goods all over themselves. Unfortunately, my knee didn't bend all the way and I also failed at even sitting down. Fortunately, this was the sole piece of fail manifested during this show.
Terminally Your Aborted Ghost [5.5/7]
The score stuck onto this performance illustrates the problems -- and, actually, a signal critical failing -- of trying to attach an arbitrary number to a holistic experience. I was really impressed by TYAG musically, but their skills and sound couldn't quite erase a bunch of purely incidental stuff that cut into the experience; namely, Mark breaking a string and the room energy (the band less so, even though 75% of them had just done a full set as Composted) slowly running down towards the end. Fortunately, this all is stuff that the band will work out as they get back into touring mode; they'll be more solid as they work with and get used to a regular setlist, and Mark's too much of a pro to regularly go breaking strings, and in most cases, they won't be playing on a Monday night mostly to people in other bands on the gig, and their real abilities will cut through more significantly. On hearing these guys, it's clearly apparent why they've had such a high profile despite an extended period of inactivity; their sound represents a fairly perfect fusion of hardcore, grind, and death metal actually done right, and blending in a bunch of stuff that most bands combining those genre buckets will never think to include. Despite the technical difficulties, this was a really good musical performance, and if you see them on this current run, whether at one of the remaining New England dates, somewhere else in the country, or on the last day of the tour in Yonkers with Vital Remains and Monstrosity, you're quite likely to have an even better time of it.
The music over and the venue nearly empty, I stumped my way back to the T lot to get home, and thankfully avoided further injury en route. Four hours of quality death metal - not at all bad for a Monday night.
Friday, April 04, 2008
(Joe Stump) with Gwynbleidd, Dreaded Silence, and Revocation [Ralph's, Worcester, 4/3/2008]
After missing a total of four shows over the previous weekend thanks to a major injury about an hour before Vital Remains' first show of their current tour was due to start, I was anxious to get back into action, and it was thus that I armored up my bad knee for the drive out to Worcester; Metal Thursday is usually a good time, and this was a pretty exceptional lineup. Of course, this was all nearly knocked into a cocked hat when I ran over someone's thrown tread doing 70 while trying to pass a semi on the Mass Pike; said mat of rubber and steel was lying folded up in the middle of the center lane, and bounced like hell as I hit it -- there was no report or jerk from the wheels under me, but when you hit something big as those speeds, assuming that there's no tire damage is kind of stupid. Fortunately, there was a rest stop within a couple miles, and I didn't feel the tires deflating on the way, so I could spend five minutes punching rubber and comparing the left (hit) and right (didn't) sides in a lighted parking lot rather than on the shoulder with occasional traffic screaming past at relatavistic speeds. The verdict was no flats, and I continued on, losing only about 10 minutes and fortunately zero tires.
I didn't get to Ralph's till about 9:30, but didn't end up missing anything; one of Dreaded Silence's guys was late coming down, so the start time got pushed back and Revocation switched slots with them to open. I got a beer, got on the hook for a couple records from Oak Knoll, and picked up Gwynbleidd's CD; I declined a shirt at this point, but picked one up later. If, though, they'd have mentioned anything about sounding more than a little like Primordial up front, I'd've saved time and they'd've got their second ten faster.
Revocation [7/7]
This was debatably the best set that I've seen from these guys, which is really saying something; they were absolutely on top of their game, even when Dave accidentally rocked his cable out of his jack, and the new material -- in addition to the old stuff, even going back to their earliest days as Cryptic Warning (they opened with "Snakestrike" in a new and improved form) -- is absolutely ace. "Age of Iniquity" hit like a ton of bricks, perhaps not least because there's an extended section that really sounds like a reworked Imperium song (I think "Messiah Mask", but I'll have to go back and check), magnified, of course, and refocused into Revocation's existing and evolving style. Empire of the Obscene is really looking like it's going to be one of the better albums of the year, even with Diminishing Between Worlds already in the books. Hopefully, it'll see a decent label release as well as the band's private distribution, but with no signing announcement, either Revocation haven't inked with anyone yet or they're keeping it seriously close to the vest.
Even before Revocation went on, Dan and some of the other guys from Dreaded Silence were grousing a little about having to follow them; not seriously, but still recognizing that it's kind of difficult to get up after these guys and be confident about making an impression. The singer of Gwynbleidd made similar remarks on stage when they came up, and while both subsequent bands definitely put up really good sets, the atmosphere points out something about Revocation that is probably a strong contributing element to their success: even though they're often so good as to seriously intimidate other bands, they're by and large ego-free about where and when they play in the setlist, and have not, as far as I can recall (or can know, not being directly involved in booking anything), ever pushed to go on later when taking an earlier slot would help another band. This generosity may, of course, be made possible by being so intimidatingly good -- even if Revocation played at 4pm on the second stage at Mark's (provided, of course, that the entire band huffed a vanfull of crazy-stupid gas and somehow ended up on a Mark's bill), they'd make enough of an impression that people'd be jawing about them well into the touring portion of the bill -- but being sozial is something that other bands remember, and in some if perhaps slight degree helps them get shows.
Dreaded Silence [5.5/7]
lol Dreaded Silence moar liek Dreaded Sentenced amirite lol
Ok, now that that is out of the system, on to the more serious comments. While this was the most Sentenced-like performance I've seen out of the band (in the prior two shows, they displayed a little more range of Scandinavian influences), it was also the best, so far, and their ability to capture the Amok sound and do something that stands on its own (as their material does) as well as drawing from the past is in itself impressive. They started out a little rough, but quickly hit their stride, and delivered a really good set that would have been a standout most other nights; fortunately, the Metal Thursday crowd is pretty much uniformly able to recognize that one band being ridiculous has no effect on other bands being really good.
When DS closed up, it was pushing on towards midnight, and my ability to keep standing throughout was starting to wane. Even with the brace, that knee was still damaged, and standing even remotely near the front while Chris (Zircon and also organizer) and Crazy Dan were flying around all over the place was a little risky. Topped with exhaustion and how late things were going to have to go if I stayed to the end, it was at about this point that I started to think about pulling before the headliner.
Gwynbleidd [6.5/7]
If you missed this band's set and spent any portion of last night whining about how all American bands are the same, and how it sucks that bands like Primordial don't tour here barely ever, you need to punch yourself in the face repeatedly. First, because you're a wanker who didn't go out to support a good show, and second, because in not supporting this show, you missed a killer set from about as close a band to Primordial as we have in this country. Gwynbleidd's sound draws on other elements as well (some nice chunks of Katatonia and Daylight Dies interwoven to good effect), and the result is thoroughly their own, but the base of their sound is the same Gaelic black metal as inspires Alan and the bhoys. The doomy, folkic, aggression was much welcomed as the clock slopped around past midnight and fatigue and drunkenness started to get the upper hand over adrenaline, but the crowd -- at least those who remained up front, not intimidated by the basically uncontained pit. This was an excellent performance, with enough material not on Amaranthine to make those who have this record very enthusiastic about the prospect of another EP or album down the line -- and those who didn't turn out ought to be disappointed in themselves for missing it. I'm bummed enough that I missed them the last time around (in September), but I think I was in Texas at the time and couldn't do much about it.
When I got my shirt off them afterwards, I stopped to talk a bit, but somehow forgot to mention Rohirrim, who would complement these guys really well on a bill like this, but who due to the provenance of their origin, always seem to be stuck out of place on grind shows. It's a match that ought to happen eventually, but it's more of a promoter's lookout to get such bands together than mine or theirs.
Shirt in hand and wallet more or less empty, I checked myself over: past 00:30, knee wavering, and an hour and a half plus fill-up time remaining to get home -- and an actual commute in the morning to not kill myself driving. Regretfully, I hit the stairs; no Joe Stump tonight, but while I was impressed with his virtuosity the last time out, the degree of variety in his stuff left something to be desired, and if I had to pick out one of these bands to miss, his would probably have been the one anyways. I felt like crud bailing before the end, but it's better than ending up in bloody chunks on the road this morning, and given that my knee's nowhere near completely healed, three bands out in Worcester is a fair challenge of its own. The Symphony X show tonight is looking sold out, so it's a nice relaxing weekend of resting up and potentially camping -- and then pure chaos Monday night in Haverhill as what seems like every slam band in New England gets together to chuck Terminally Your Aborted Ghost out onto the road for their reunion tour.
I didn't get to Ralph's till about 9:30, but didn't end up missing anything; one of Dreaded Silence's guys was late coming down, so the start time got pushed back and Revocation switched slots with them to open. I got a beer, got on the hook for a couple records from Oak Knoll, and picked up Gwynbleidd's CD; I declined a shirt at this point, but picked one up later. If, though, they'd have mentioned anything about sounding more than a little like Primordial up front, I'd've saved time and they'd've got their second ten faster.
Revocation [7/7]
This was debatably the best set that I've seen from these guys, which is really saying something; they were absolutely on top of their game, even when Dave accidentally rocked his cable out of his jack, and the new material -- in addition to the old stuff, even going back to their earliest days as Cryptic Warning (they opened with "Snakestrike" in a new and improved form) -- is absolutely ace. "Age of Iniquity" hit like a ton of bricks, perhaps not least because there's an extended section that really sounds like a reworked Imperium song (I think "Messiah Mask", but I'll have to go back and check), magnified, of course, and refocused into Revocation's existing and evolving style. Empire of the Obscene is really looking like it's going to be one of the better albums of the year, even with Diminishing Between Worlds already in the books. Hopefully, it'll see a decent label release as well as the band's private distribution, but with no signing announcement, either Revocation haven't inked with anyone yet or they're keeping it seriously close to the vest.
Even before Revocation went on, Dan and some of the other guys from Dreaded Silence were grousing a little about having to follow them; not seriously, but still recognizing that it's kind of difficult to get up after these guys and be confident about making an impression. The singer of Gwynbleidd made similar remarks on stage when they came up, and while both subsequent bands definitely put up really good sets, the atmosphere points out something about Revocation that is probably a strong contributing element to their success: even though they're often so good as to seriously intimidate other bands, they're by and large ego-free about where and when they play in the setlist, and have not, as far as I can recall (or can know, not being directly involved in booking anything), ever pushed to go on later when taking an earlier slot would help another band. This generosity may, of course, be made possible by being so intimidatingly good -- even if Revocation played at 4pm on the second stage at Mark's (provided, of course, that the entire band huffed a vanfull of crazy-stupid gas and somehow ended up on a Mark's bill), they'd make enough of an impression that people'd be jawing about them well into the touring portion of the bill -- but being sozial is something that other bands remember, and in some if perhaps slight degree helps them get shows.
Dreaded Silence [5.5/7]
lol Dreaded Silence moar liek Dreaded Sentenced amirite lol
Ok, now that that is out of the system, on to the more serious comments. While this was the most Sentenced-like performance I've seen out of the band (in the prior two shows, they displayed a little more range of Scandinavian influences), it was also the best, so far, and their ability to capture the Amok sound and do something that stands on its own (as their material does) as well as drawing from the past is in itself impressive. They started out a little rough, but quickly hit their stride, and delivered a really good set that would have been a standout most other nights; fortunately, the Metal Thursday crowd is pretty much uniformly able to recognize that one band being ridiculous has no effect on other bands being really good.
When DS closed up, it was pushing on towards midnight, and my ability to keep standing throughout was starting to wane. Even with the brace, that knee was still damaged, and standing even remotely near the front while Chris (Zircon and also organizer) and Crazy Dan were flying around all over the place was a little risky. Topped with exhaustion and how late things were going to have to go if I stayed to the end, it was at about this point that I started to think about pulling before the headliner.
Gwynbleidd [6.5/7]
If you missed this band's set and spent any portion of last night whining about how all American bands are the same, and how it sucks that bands like Primordial don't tour here barely ever, you need to punch yourself in the face repeatedly. First, because you're a wanker who didn't go out to support a good show, and second, because in not supporting this show, you missed a killer set from about as close a band to Primordial as we have in this country. Gwynbleidd's sound draws on other elements as well (some nice chunks of Katatonia and Daylight Dies interwoven to good effect), and the result is thoroughly their own, but the base of their sound is the same Gaelic black metal as inspires Alan and the bhoys. The doomy, folkic, aggression was much welcomed as the clock slopped around past midnight and fatigue and drunkenness started to get the upper hand over adrenaline, but the crowd -- at least those who remained up front, not intimidated by the basically uncontained pit. This was an excellent performance, with enough material not on Amaranthine to make those who have this record very enthusiastic about the prospect of another EP or album down the line -- and those who didn't turn out ought to be disappointed in themselves for missing it. I'm bummed enough that I missed them the last time around (in September), but I think I was in Texas at the time and couldn't do much about it.
When I got my shirt off them afterwards, I stopped to talk a bit, but somehow forgot to mention Rohirrim, who would complement these guys really well on a bill like this, but who due to the provenance of their origin, always seem to be stuck out of place on grind shows. It's a match that ought to happen eventually, but it's more of a promoter's lookout to get such bands together than mine or theirs.
Shirt in hand and wallet more or less empty, I checked myself over: past 00:30, knee wavering, and an hour and a half plus fill-up time remaining to get home -- and an actual commute in the morning to not kill myself driving. Regretfully, I hit the stairs; no Joe Stump tonight, but while I was impressed with his virtuosity the last time out, the degree of variety in his stuff left something to be desired, and if I had to pick out one of these bands to miss, his would probably have been the one anyways. I felt like crud bailing before the end, but it's better than ending up in bloody chunks on the road this morning, and given that my knee's nowhere near completely healed, three bands out in Worcester is a fair challenge of its own. The Symphony X show tonight is looking sold out, so it's a nice relaxing weekend of resting up and potentially camping -- and then pure chaos Monday night in Haverhill as what seems like every slam band in New England gets together to chuck Terminally Your Aborted Ghost out onto the road for their reunion tour.
Friday, March 28, 2008
a crap cascade
In the last 15 hours, three bad things happened. In order:
1. I majorly fucked up my left knee at soccer, meaning that I basically couldn't walk and thus
2. I missed Vital Remains and Monstrosity last night, and will in all likelihood have to give Napalm Death a pass tonight. Not cool.
3. I find out that Avenged Sevenfold is playing at Wacken this year. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL.
Look at this:
As I Lay Dying
Avenged Sevenfold
Job For A Cowboy
Killswitch Engage
Soilwork
Unearth
Doesn't this look like a garbage metalcore fest? Of course, all the good bands mentioned earlier are still playing, but as a metal purist I hate to see these bands on the marquee at Wacken (even though Soilwork did some good stuff before about 5 years ago, and I can actually stand Killswitch). On the other hand, the more lame mainstream bands are added, the greater the chance that I won't miss anyone I actually want to see in order to catch the underground portion of the bill.
I have no idea what to expect this year, and no idea what the 20th iteration of the fest will present next year. It's getting freaking surreal.
1. I majorly fucked up my left knee at soccer, meaning that I basically couldn't walk and thus
2. I missed Vital Remains and Monstrosity last night, and will in all likelihood have to give Napalm Death a pass tonight. Not cool.
3. I find out that Avenged Sevenfold is playing at Wacken this year. SERIOUSLY WHAT THE HELL.
Look at this:
As I Lay Dying
Avenged Sevenfold
Job For A Cowboy
Killswitch Engage
Soilwork
Unearth
Doesn't this look like a garbage metalcore fest? Of course, all the good bands mentioned earlier are still playing, but as a metal purist I hate to see these bands on the marquee at Wacken (even though Soilwork did some good stuff before about 5 years ago, and I can actually stand Killswitch). On the other hand, the more lame mainstream bands are added, the greater the chance that I won't miss anyone I actually want to see in order to catch the underground portion of the bill.
I have no idea what to expect this year, and no idea what the 20th iteration of the fest will present next year. It's getting freaking surreal.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
the cat escapes the bag in Allston Rock City
I'd held off on writing this particular show review for a while, because the subject matter is of debatable metal content, and I was holding back in the interest of the band's desire to sit on the fence between the metal and not-metal worlds. My brother's fiancee thinks they sound like Dashboard Confessional, but those sworn to the black would run out of fingers counting up their Opeth parts, heavy sections as well as those Akerfelt signatures to their acoustic work. They can be all things to all people, and in their ability to do so, they deserve a long degree of crossover success; bearing Katatonia and their jobbing by the music world in mind, this is less likely if people realize that they've got metal roots, and that a nontrivial chunk of their vitality is based on the fact that blood will tell.
However, all sense of subtlety and under-the-radar intrusion goes out the window when you have the band headbanging and thrashing on stage, the bassist forsaking crooning for hardcore barks, and among the past and current metalheads rocking out down front, some dude in a Manowar kutte, and not just a kutte built around a Manowar backpatch, but a kutte whose sole source of patches is the Kings of Metal. Autumn Above is not a metal band, but they are definitely not not a metal band either, and it is highly incumbent on them to get a promo disc together in time for Dream Theater's coming tour, where spamming the audience gets them into the ears of fans of Between The Buried And Me, 3, Opeth, and Porcupine Tree, which is about their natural metier....it's just unfortunate that they're about the only band of this type in eastern New England and have difficulty getting pure prog shows. If it was all on pure music, they could play with Ehnahre and Lord Bacon, but people mainly go to shows because they like the sound, not for abstract contemplation.
Autumn Above
Harper's Ferry, Allston [3/19/2008]
--
Even with many New England schools on spring break, a Wednesday show out of market is a difficult sell -- especially a solo show like this one, in a hall that was debatably a little large. Still, Autumn Above managed, by the end to get their door quota, and they also presented a pretty awesome set that had a lot of attractions for both the metal- and non-metal-listening segments of their audience.
On this go-round, it was only raining, not snowing, and I had both my brothers en suite, though James left ahead of us due to his friends not knowing how long it takes to get places in Boston. Mark and I left at a more normal time, got to the venue shortly after doors, and because this was a solo show had plenty of time to move my car somewhere it wouldn't get towed -- valuable info for future O'Brien's and Great Scott shows, so that I only have to walk two blocks, not two miles -- and drink some beers with the rest of the gang before the band went on. Harper's Ferry is a pretty big club, but through the delay before they went on, more people filtered in to at least give the impression that it was getting full. (Church would probably be a better fit at this point, between room size and promoters' pulling power, but this place has a little more name recognition.)
Autumn Above [7/7]
When the band did get going, it was definitely worth it, especially as they rolled on for a good long set and were well-served by the excellent PA. This was the second show I've seen the band standing on, and they were much improved in this outing as regards staying on pitch despite the increased energy that comes with moving around. Ryan's formative ideas about taking more vocals off Jim and giving him more of the solos and leads still make sense, but the band continues to show improvement across the board as they tweak and tune their material. They did all of the songs off of To The Inferno (as it exists now), plus the now-requisite Opeth breaks, a couple covers ("No Excuses", "1979", and "Ramble On", which should reinforce that not-metal-and-not-not-metal trope alluded to above), and two new songs, "Heaven Without", which has been recorded, and another new one that hasn't been released yet. The execution of this material, even more, though, was top-class, and even if the audience hadn't been liberally salted with people who've known the band members for extended periods of time, the applause would likely have been just as long and loud and enthusiastic. Autumn Above is a really good band; it's just problematic that they don't really fit in any existing genre, and that they showed a performance this good at a solo gig on a Wednesday night, rather than on someone else's bill on a weekend where they'd be more able to get more new ears interested.
It's at times like this that I really feel how lucky the metal underground has it; if you're willing to accept the drawbacks of heavy music (i.e., nobody listens to you and you make no money), your growth path is basically assured around here: there are regular venues for metal gigs, small labels are always looking for new talent to put out albums and van-based DIY tours around, national labels look to the smaller ones to do their A&R discovery for free, and if it wasn't economical to open for larger tours, and have this whole huge summer megatour economy, it wouldn't be happening. What the fuck do more mainstream bands do to have a similar trajectory? As far as I can remember from the radio station, they put out a bunch of 7"s that nobody buys, then do two albums on Matador, maybe a tour, and break up and go to law school. That ain't me, and hopefully it ain't Autumn Above either, and they find their way onto some decent prog package and get the fans they deserve.
In more strongly metal-related news, my brother's getting married on NEDF weekend. This is good because he's not doing it while I'm at Wacken, and also because he and his fiancee are a really good match, so the likelihood of him getting married against some other future show is pretty small. It's bad because I'm probably not going to be able to go to said fest, or if so only on Sunday, but this saves me money on gas, hotels, beer, and admission that I can roll towards more Wacken enjoyment or, more likely, a stupid number of patches and cult recordings from Hell's Headbangers. Of course, I ought to apply the patches that I have left to some kutte or other first, but there's enough Internet Not Working time in the immediate future that this shouldn't be an issue.
However, all sense of subtlety and under-the-radar intrusion goes out the window when you have the band headbanging and thrashing on stage, the bassist forsaking crooning for hardcore barks, and among the past and current metalheads rocking out down front, some dude in a Manowar kutte, and not just a kutte built around a Manowar backpatch, but a kutte whose sole source of patches is the Kings of Metal. Autumn Above is not a metal band, but they are definitely not not a metal band either, and it is highly incumbent on them to get a promo disc together in time for Dream Theater's coming tour, where spamming the audience gets them into the ears of fans of Between The Buried And Me, 3, Opeth, and Porcupine Tree, which is about their natural metier....it's just unfortunate that they're about the only band of this type in eastern New England and have difficulty getting pure prog shows. If it was all on pure music, they could play with Ehnahre and Lord Bacon, but people mainly go to shows because they like the sound, not for abstract contemplation.
Autumn Above
Harper's Ferry, Allston [3/19/2008]
--
Even with many New England schools on spring break, a Wednesday show out of market is a difficult sell -- especially a solo show like this one, in a hall that was debatably a little large. Still, Autumn Above managed, by the end to get their door quota, and they also presented a pretty awesome set that had a lot of attractions for both the metal- and non-metal-listening segments of their audience.
On this go-round, it was only raining, not snowing, and I had both my brothers en suite, though James left ahead of us due to his friends not knowing how long it takes to get places in Boston. Mark and I left at a more normal time, got to the venue shortly after doors, and because this was a solo show had plenty of time to move my car somewhere it wouldn't get towed -- valuable info for future O'Brien's and Great Scott shows, so that I only have to walk two blocks, not two miles -- and drink some beers with the rest of the gang before the band went on. Harper's Ferry is a pretty big club, but through the delay before they went on, more people filtered in to at least give the impression that it was getting full. (Church would probably be a better fit at this point, between room size and promoters' pulling power, but this place has a little more name recognition.)
Autumn Above [7/7]
When the band did get going, it was definitely worth it, especially as they rolled on for a good long set and were well-served by the excellent PA. This was the second show I've seen the band standing on, and they were much improved in this outing as regards staying on pitch despite the increased energy that comes with moving around. Ryan's formative ideas about taking more vocals off Jim and giving him more of the solos and leads still make sense, but the band continues to show improvement across the board as they tweak and tune their material. They did all of the songs off of To The Inferno (as it exists now), plus the now-requisite Opeth breaks, a couple covers ("No Excuses", "1979", and "Ramble On", which should reinforce that not-metal-and-not-not-metal trope alluded to above), and two new songs, "Heaven Without", which has been recorded, and another new one that hasn't been released yet. The execution of this material, even more, though, was top-class, and even if the audience hadn't been liberally salted with people who've known the band members for extended periods of time, the applause would likely have been just as long and loud and enthusiastic. Autumn Above is a really good band; it's just problematic that they don't really fit in any existing genre, and that they showed a performance this good at a solo gig on a Wednesday night, rather than on someone else's bill on a weekend where they'd be more able to get more new ears interested.
It's at times like this that I really feel how lucky the metal underground has it; if you're willing to accept the drawbacks of heavy music (i.e., nobody listens to you and you make no money), your growth path is basically assured around here: there are regular venues for metal gigs, small labels are always looking for new talent to put out albums and van-based DIY tours around, national labels look to the smaller ones to do their A&R discovery for free, and if it wasn't economical to open for larger tours, and have this whole huge summer megatour economy, it wouldn't be happening. What the fuck do more mainstream bands do to have a similar trajectory? As far as I can remember from the radio station, they put out a bunch of 7"s that nobody buys, then do two albums on Matador, maybe a tour, and break up and go to law school. That ain't me, and hopefully it ain't Autumn Above either, and they find their way onto some decent prog package and get the fans they deserve.
In more strongly metal-related news, my brother's getting married on NEDF weekend. This is good because he's not doing it while I'm at Wacken, and also because he and his fiancee are a really good match, so the likelihood of him getting married against some other future show is pretty small. It's bad because I'm probably not going to be able to go to said fest, or if so only on Sunday, but this saves me money on gas, hotels, beer, and admission that I can roll towards more Wacken enjoyment or, more likely, a stupid number of patches and cult recordings from Hell's Headbangers. Of course, I ought to apply the patches that I have left to some kutte or other first, but there's enough Internet Not Working time in the immediate future that this shouldn't be an issue.
Friday, March 14, 2008
a late show review and some bad news for procrasinators
Later on in this post, some content about the recent Embryonic Devourment gig at O'Brien's, but first, a brief comment: as predicted back last year, W:O:A '08 has officially sold out. This sucks for everyone who doesn't have a ticket but was thinking of going, but it's good news for me: my ticket's value will sharply appreciate, maybe even faster than it had been earning so far -- according to exchange rates, I've "made" about $15, or a little less than 10%, by buying when I did based purely on its face value in euros versus the dollar.
It remains to be seen how many Wacken tickets were bought en bloc by Americans looking to speculate in the foreign exchange market, but it will probably be a low number, because even though this was about the soundest investment you could make -- the value of the dollar was virtually guaranteed to continue to drop, and the festival, especially this year, was basically guaranteed to sell out -- it still sounds really stupid.
Sexcrement with Embryonic Devourment, Dismal Lapse, and Composted
O'Brien's, Allston, 3/12/2008
--
It had been, at this point, a long fucking time since I'd been to a show, and I was feeling somewhat down due to various personal issues, and significantly because I'd missed Goreality at Metal Thursday the week before, as well as the sole installment of the Benefit For The Advancement of Dudes that I've been in town for on the weekend. It was well and truly time for some death metal; no qualifiers, no ancilliary crap, no bullshit. Just brutal music, sick topics, and large people in black shirts hitting one another. There's a purity in it, but that's a digression for another article; writing show reviews on their own is pretentious enough in assuming I actually have something to say.
I stumped the two miles in from my regular car depot in good time, and managed to get a beer before Composted started. More than anything I was surprised by the turnout: this was a Wednesday night gig featuring some relentlessly straight-up brutal death metal, but the place was packed, maybe in the neighborhood of a hundred. It was quite certainly the largest bunch of people that I've ever seen in O'Brien's, and a definite contender for the most people I've yet seen at a DIY show. What's more, most of them stuck around all the way through, so it wasn't just Composted's non-musical elements that brought them in...or if it was, their musical elements definitely pulled them in after the hook was struck.
Composted [6/7]
Short descriptions of this band have been fairly succinct, if non-musical: "GWAR for /b/tards", "retards", etc. To a certain degree, this is fair; they wear silly costumes, engage in performance art, and their drummer has a Pedobear suit on order. However, like GWAR, they also have an immense amount of musical ability: the pedigree of this band includes (among others) Terminally Your Aborted Ghost, The Body Farm, Bane of Existence, and just about every powerviolence band that has ever formed in the Boston area. (Even if Rich is mostly there to do demonstrative eating, he still does do backing vocals, and also presumably influences their direction.) Said direction is a combination of a lot of slammy threads, and at least at this show, it produced a killer final result; if you took off the duck masks and took away the baked goods, Composted would still be a kickass band. However, they'd be less visually interesting and a lot less likely to weird out touring bands -- this was the first gig that they've done with significant out-of-New-England participation in the lineup, if I recall correctly, and the Californians were at least at first a little confused as to how and why this band was playing killer slam-death and simultaneously smashing cupcakes on their faces.
Dismal Lapse [5.5/7]
The first of these bands with the unenviable task of "follow a local supergroup that wears costumes and does antics" was this three-piece, who had a few equipment issues but still delivered a really good set of technical death metal. Dismal Lapse started out a little flat, but they improved over the course of the set despite (allegedly) the guitarist's head dying on him about midway through. They weren't quite as brutal, maybe, as some of the other bands, and they were a little frustrated with the crowd not moving for them, but they put out a quality death metal set, and I was more than a little bummed that I wasn't able to purchase any recordings off them (Deepsend Records will have an EP from them in the near future - put it on your list, definitely at least to DL if the band isn't coming to your area for you to check them out live), though their tour shirt was still pretty damn cool.
Note for those who are somehow both plugged into this scene and behind on current happenings: Dismal Lapse used to be called Bled, but had to change their name due to legal pressure from what the band referred to as "a bunch of emo queers". I'll take the band at face value, because in every other aspect of their performance and attendance they appeared to be stand-up dudes, but there are still some points of suspicion: first, Dismal Lapse is a better name than Bled, even if their Bled logo did look really cool, and more importantly, second, "Bled" is short by like eight words of typical emo band names. Maybe it's different in California, but here in New England you usually see emo/screamo douches Our Band's Name Is Actually A Complete Sentence opening up for stereotypical metalcore combo Three Word Name....and then someone swings from the drop ceiling rails and the police show up and close the venue.
Embryonic Devourment [6.5/7]
Insidious Decrepancy dropped off this tour for personal reasons, leaving this outfit as the last touring band of the night -- the "keep Allston hipsters around for the nationals" rule seems to have stayed in effect from the last time I was down at this place, though "Allston hipsters" may have a different definition when it's Sexcrement closing up -- and those who were staying around mainly to see their friends in the last band definitely got a prime earful of kickass death metal out of it. While not as slammy as the New England bands, ED definitely took the brutality up a notch, and interstingly worked in fairly seamless transitions of spoken-word verse between songs; hella different, but still a killer overall effect, especially considering how good the music was surrounding it. There wasn't a lot of crowd motion for them, either, but by this time, it looked like the nationals had the measure of the audience, and since there was a lot of cheering and other general approbation, they didn't seem to mind so much. Their merch was done up at a high level, really good production values for a tour hitting mostly or totally DIY venues, and it was also justified in that a lot of people did spring for it; mine's about the best shirt I've picked up this year, in terms of total design and execution. The conclusion is that the band knew their music would bring a lot of people over to the merch stand rather than the bar, and it made sense to do thoroughly kickass design and presentation to close the deal on that volume of sales.
Sexcrement [6/7]
As per last time I saw these guys here, the pit went apeshit for them; even though I moved back some in preparation for their set, I was still catching and tossing people most of the way through, as well as sweeeping up shards so that those who fell down wouldn't be diving onto a bunch of broken glass. Normally, the micro-shelves around the pillars in the middle of the floor at O'Brien's are perfectly functional for holding drinks, and if everyone had just been slugging back PBRs, there wouldn't've been a problem, but glass bottles, pint glasses, and vigorous moshing do not mix well. There was a fair amount of breakage, but we had it under control. The band also kept it fairly under control: the music was cool, if not quite at the same level as last time, and Adam, despite the audience plying him with at least two tequila shots and a couple beer cans -- on top of what he may have had before the band started -- managed to keep his dick in his pants. Their set was a little short, or at least, so it seemed, but didn't lack for activity, interest, or quality death metal, to say nothing of progressively more incoherent stage banter. I was planning to pick up one of their "Music You Fuck To" shirts, but was unfortunately out of money at this point: supporting the touring bands, plus picking up an obligato Broken Hope record and some other stuff, had chunked up nearly all of my wallet contents that weren't committed to paying the garage fee and purchasing food for the rest of the week. I'll see them again, though; maybe not next week, as I can't do the next-day-off thing needed for a proper show in Providence due to jury duty later in the week, but some other time, as a band this good and well-supported doesn't usually just strike the tents and give up.
The trip back wasn't that difficult, either on foot or by highway, despite exhaustion and nearly 2 liters of rotten beer, but it hit hard afterwards; hence this thing is late. Next show is probably going to be Autumn Above (likely not reviewed), then Metal Thursday with a bunch of doom bands...and then Metal Spring Break looms large in the following weekend.
It remains to be seen how many Wacken tickets were bought en bloc by Americans looking to speculate in the foreign exchange market, but it will probably be a low number, because even though this was about the soundest investment you could make -- the value of the dollar was virtually guaranteed to continue to drop, and the festival, especially this year, was basically guaranteed to sell out -- it still sounds really stupid.
Sexcrement with Embryonic Devourment, Dismal Lapse, and Composted
O'Brien's, Allston, 3/12/2008
--
It had been, at this point, a long fucking time since I'd been to a show, and I was feeling somewhat down due to various personal issues, and significantly because I'd missed Goreality at Metal Thursday the week before, as well as the sole installment of the Benefit For The Advancement of Dudes that I've been in town for on the weekend. It was well and truly time for some death metal; no qualifiers, no ancilliary crap, no bullshit. Just brutal music, sick topics, and large people in black shirts hitting one another. There's a purity in it, but that's a digression for another article; writing show reviews on their own is pretentious enough in assuming I actually have something to say.
I stumped the two miles in from my regular car depot in good time, and managed to get a beer before Composted started. More than anything I was surprised by the turnout: this was a Wednesday night gig featuring some relentlessly straight-up brutal death metal, but the place was packed, maybe in the neighborhood of a hundred. It was quite certainly the largest bunch of people that I've ever seen in O'Brien's, and a definite contender for the most people I've yet seen at a DIY show. What's more, most of them stuck around all the way through, so it wasn't just Composted's non-musical elements that brought them in...or if it was, their musical elements definitely pulled them in after the hook was struck.
Composted [6/7]
Short descriptions of this band have been fairly succinct, if non-musical: "GWAR for /b/tards", "retards", etc. To a certain degree, this is fair; they wear silly costumes, engage in performance art, and their drummer has a Pedobear suit on order. However, like GWAR, they also have an immense amount of musical ability: the pedigree of this band includes (among others) Terminally Your Aborted Ghost, The Body Farm, Bane of Existence, and just about every powerviolence band that has ever formed in the Boston area. (Even if Rich is mostly there to do demonstrative eating, he still does do backing vocals, and also presumably influences their direction.) Said direction is a combination of a lot of slammy threads, and at least at this show, it produced a killer final result; if you took off the duck masks and took away the baked goods, Composted would still be a kickass band. However, they'd be less visually interesting and a lot less likely to weird out touring bands -- this was the first gig that they've done with significant out-of-New-England participation in the lineup, if I recall correctly, and the Californians were at least at first a little confused as to how and why this band was playing killer slam-death and simultaneously smashing cupcakes on their faces.
Dismal Lapse [5.5/7]
The first of these bands with the unenviable task of "follow a local supergroup that wears costumes and does antics" was this three-piece, who had a few equipment issues but still delivered a really good set of technical death metal. Dismal Lapse started out a little flat, but they improved over the course of the set despite (allegedly) the guitarist's head dying on him about midway through. They weren't quite as brutal, maybe, as some of the other bands, and they were a little frustrated with the crowd not moving for them, but they put out a quality death metal set, and I was more than a little bummed that I wasn't able to purchase any recordings off them (Deepsend Records will have an EP from them in the near future - put it on your list, definitely at least to DL if the band isn't coming to your area for you to check them out live), though their tour shirt was still pretty damn cool.
Note for those who are somehow both plugged into this scene and behind on current happenings: Dismal Lapse used to be called Bled, but had to change their name due to legal pressure from what the band referred to as "a bunch of emo queers". I'll take the band at face value, because in every other aspect of their performance and attendance they appeared to be stand-up dudes, but there are still some points of suspicion: first, Dismal Lapse is a better name than Bled, even if their Bled logo did look really cool, and more importantly, second, "Bled" is short by like eight words of typical emo band names. Maybe it's different in California, but here in New England you usually see emo/screamo douches Our Band's Name Is Actually A Complete Sentence opening up for stereotypical metalcore combo Three Word Name....and then someone swings from the drop ceiling rails and the police show up and close the venue.
Embryonic Devourment [6.5/7]
Insidious Decrepancy dropped off this tour for personal reasons, leaving this outfit as the last touring band of the night -- the "keep Allston hipsters around for the nationals" rule seems to have stayed in effect from the last time I was down at this place, though "Allston hipsters" may have a different definition when it's Sexcrement closing up -- and those who were staying around mainly to see their friends in the last band definitely got a prime earful of kickass death metal out of it. While not as slammy as the New England bands, ED definitely took the brutality up a notch, and interstingly worked in fairly seamless transitions of spoken-word verse between songs; hella different, but still a killer overall effect, especially considering how good the music was surrounding it. There wasn't a lot of crowd motion for them, either, but by this time, it looked like the nationals had the measure of the audience, and since there was a lot of cheering and other general approbation, they didn't seem to mind so much. Their merch was done up at a high level, really good production values for a tour hitting mostly or totally DIY venues, and it was also justified in that a lot of people did spring for it; mine's about the best shirt I've picked up this year, in terms of total design and execution. The conclusion is that the band knew their music would bring a lot of people over to the merch stand rather than the bar, and it made sense to do thoroughly kickass design and presentation to close the deal on that volume of sales.
Sexcrement [6/7]
As per last time I saw these guys here, the pit went apeshit for them; even though I moved back some in preparation for their set, I was still catching and tossing people most of the way through, as well as sweeeping up shards so that those who fell down wouldn't be diving onto a bunch of broken glass. Normally, the micro-shelves around the pillars in the middle of the floor at O'Brien's are perfectly functional for holding drinks, and if everyone had just been slugging back PBRs, there wouldn't've been a problem, but glass bottles, pint glasses, and vigorous moshing do not mix well. There was a fair amount of breakage, but we had it under control. The band also kept it fairly under control: the music was cool, if not quite at the same level as last time, and Adam, despite the audience plying him with at least two tequila shots and a couple beer cans -- on top of what he may have had before the band started -- managed to keep his dick in his pants. Their set was a little short, or at least, so it seemed, but didn't lack for activity, interest, or quality death metal, to say nothing of progressively more incoherent stage banter. I was planning to pick up one of their "Music You Fuck To" shirts, but was unfortunately out of money at this point: supporting the touring bands, plus picking up an obligato Broken Hope record and some other stuff, had chunked up nearly all of my wallet contents that weren't committed to paying the garage fee and purchasing food for the rest of the week. I'll see them again, though; maybe not next week, as I can't do the next-day-off thing needed for a proper show in Providence due to jury duty later in the week, but some other time, as a band this good and well-supported doesn't usually just strike the tents and give up.
The trip back wasn't that difficult, either on foot or by highway, despite exhaustion and nearly 2 liters of rotten beer, but it hit hard afterwards; hence this thing is late. Next show is probably going to be Autumn Above (likely not reviewed), then Metal Thursday with a bunch of doom bands...and then Metal Spring Break looms large in the following weekend.
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