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ShaolinLambKiller
King Asshole

Joined: Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:10 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 4:59 pm 
 

DrummingEdge133 wrote:
There also seems to be an overlap of Tool fans showing up at Meshuggah shows, which I guess could explain where this larger following of Meshuggah has come from, Tool fans migrating over to Meshuggah.



Makes sense since what... like 8 years ago or so they were touring together all across the states. that's how I saw Meshuggah down here on the coast. they opened for Tool and I never had a problem with Tool so I stayed and watched them too.
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Metantoine
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Location: Montréal
PostPosted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 9:33 pm 
 

Nice review, Zodi! I'm jealous, man, Vektor for 7 bucks!

Here's the review of my evening at the Katacombes!
The great poster:
Spoiler: show
Image

Bonus pic!
Image

Barrow Wight
This band is a newcomer from the Canadian capital, Ottawa. A city not especially known for its metal scene but these guys
were cool. They're a mix of Venom, Darkthrone and NWOBHM mixed with Lord of the Rings. They're amateurish as fuck but that's literally what they want, the leader and founder of the band (bass/vox) is charistmatic and lead the 2 other younger than him high schoolers with an iron hand. The guitarist who were trying to be "theatrical" with his Hobbit cape was funny, he can't be more than 17 and it really is obvious than he's a new member, still, the set was very fun and I appreciate their sound and attitude. Songs like "Anvil of Mordor" and "Nine Horsemen" and a tongue in cheek stage presence made this a succesful first presence for the band in Montréal.

PS: Fuck the drummer who had to fuck his girlfriend before the show and this was apparently the reason their set was 30 minutes late and yep, I missed the metro because of this delay :/ No biggie, I went to watch a movie at HB's place, good way to end a very cool evening. but dude, you're not a rockstar!

PS 2: Thanks to Andrew for the beer and the demo, my first reward as a MA moderator! My awesomeness is finally recognized! :oh shit:

Metalian
Local heavy/speed metal hereos, Metalian is simply fucking awesome and a lot of people were present for them. They completely destroyed with their awesome Maidenesque leads and their soaring high vocals, their energy is really contagious and the crowd response was awesome as always (it was my 2nd time seeing them too). They finished their set with an awesome cover of Phantom of the Opera, damn this was great!


Voor
Trash metal. God, I know these guys are kvlt and all, but I really thought their set was freaking awful. It's basically 2nd rate Possessed with lame old guy punky vocals. They had some good riffs here and there mostly from their 1985 demo Evil Metal but their new songs are very poor (with lame titles like "Don't bring a knife to a gun fight"). The crowd seemed to have been pleased though, I wasn't, I was bored out of my mind for their 45 minutes set. I would like to be a chauvinist and praise Voor simply because they're local, but I can't. There's some bands that are best kept forgotten. A Nuclear War Now! re-edition doesn't make them good.

Natur
Man, I probably heard their first album Head of Death 4 times this week before the show, it's a very good trad/heavy with NWOBHM influences from New York. The lineup of the show was different from the album though (the bassist and the rhythm guitarist/lead singer were absent and they 2 other guys (albeit talented players) replacing them. The drummer Tooth Log and the lead guitarist (I wonder if it's their real names?) were great too, Tooth was the singer for this evening and there was no backing vocals, something that would had been nice. His vocals were cool but were suffering at the end, man drumming and singing heavy metal must be very hard!

Their set were cool, perhaps a bit too short though (40-45 mins). They played Head of Death, Decion, Goblin Shark, Mutations in Maine and 2 new songs. These new tracks were also fantastic and more doomy than their first album. Natur certainly has a lot of potential!

Great evening all around!
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corpsewithoutsoul
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:07 pm
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:34 pm 
 

Barrow Wight! Fucking awesome band. Not just saying that because the frontman is a mate o' mine. I swear.
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corpsewithoutsoul
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:07 pm
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 8:35 pm 
 

I am on the fence about Inquisition tonight. Would like to go but tickets are thirty-five goddamned dollars. A steep price to pay for one band.
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Metantoine
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Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:00 pm
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:32 pm 
 

corpsewithoutsoul wrote:
Barrow Wight! Fucking awesome band. Not just saying that because the frontman is a mate o' mine. I swear.

Andrew is indeed pretty cool! The band has potential.
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~Guest 226319
President Satan

Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 4:41 am
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PostPosted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 1:40 am 
 

Attended a metal show at the Riot Room today. This is how it breaks down:

Abbot - Noisy sludgey doom stuff. All feedback and no riffs. Fine for the vibes. C

Keith Mountain - Not sure on the name. Fast stonery doom. Fine performance, singer had a nice haircut. B

Boreas - Plagued with technical difficulties the whole way. Lost a third of their set to feedback. When they did play it was excellent; they have a cool trick of starting their songs as ambient doom tracks then changing a third way through into ambient norsecore! A neat idea that I've never heard done before. The drummer also had a trick of signaling each change with a slowly quickening march beat. Technically wonk but when they played, they slayed. A

Howl - By far the most professional. Only ones who actually had correct mix despite the sound person being very methodical with every band. So they knew what they were doing. Also the best performers and had the best stage presence by far. Very correct, but not really my style. Doomy, sludgey hardcorey stuff. Seems to be the theme of the evening! On tour promoting an album that isn't their first so they're way ahead of the others in the music biz. Entertaining all around. A

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Goatfangs
58.2% Metal

Joined: Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:02 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 2:03 am 
 

I just went to a show in Northampton. Everyone fucking sucked!

Hahaha, just kidding. It was awesome overall!

Four bands played, the first was ReKindle from NJ. They played what sounded like heavy alternative rock, somewhat similar to Evanescence - meh on guitar, bass and drums. Passable vocals. The best part was the singer... how she looked. Pretty little critter :3

Speaking of pretty little critters, I showed friends and strangers videos of my bugs.

The second band was weird. They were a three piece all female band called Indefinite Dyad. I actually liked it, though it wasn't stuff to headbang to. Progressive rock is probably the best label I can come up with in my weary state. I heard them being called Estrogen Tribal Metal. lol

In between sets I showed people videos of my bugs.

The third band was Sorrowseeds - excellent performance, again the best part were the vocals of Lilith, the guitarists shredded their weight while Subrick was in the back whipping his hair in the back like some crazy guy. I was whipping my hair in front of the stage like some crazy guy. Could've used more volume on the lead guitar, though I think I was so far up front that the house speakers weren't reaching my ears. Overall, my neck was sore at this point.

After this band I showed more people videos of my bugs. I really like my bugs. They are so cute ^_^ Orchid mantises, Texas Unicorn mantises, Ghost mantises, Paraguayan Green mantises, Chinese mantises, Cryptic mantises, Indian Flower mantises.

*ahem*

Finally we had MindMaze, a band formerly known as Necromance. I had high hopes for this performance and not only were those hopes met, they were exceeded with glorious metal! MindMaze recently evolved into a full-grown progressive metal band (as Necromance they were more or less traditional metal) - they do it exceptionally well and that was by far the best performance I've seen by them to date. My neck was getting worse, but then they had one last surprise for the thirty or so eager metal fans - the song I quoted in my signature, Heaven And Hell by Black Sabbath. That just gave me whiplash. My neck is still sore but the drugs are kicking in which might explain my weirdness right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRkOgI2eyrA
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sushiman
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Nov 26, 2008 10:41 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 23, 2013 4:47 am 
 

.


Last edited by sushiman on Mon Oct 19, 2015 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Misfit74
Metalhead

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PostPosted: Sun Mar 24, 2013 11:27 pm 
 

Nile kicked major ass last night. Two 45-minute sets and nearly flawless throughout. Great sound with the guitars and bass. Vocals were clear. My first experience seeing Nile and it was fantastic. They take you on this ride of mystical evil, insane guitar leads, pummeling drums and vicious vocals. The cleaner guitar leads from Karl were pumped up with some heavy, quality effects but shined brightly as a major showcase within the bands music. Often the two guitarists would have that old-school Metallica/Maiden/Megadeth/Slayer days harmonic duality to them which was very cool to see and masterfully executed. Introductions to many songs were effected with a dark, evil twist which added to the already intense atmosphere the band, stage setup, and background noises helped to create.

Another interesting note is that all the opening acts were local bands. I'm not sure if it was Nile; the fact local bands were opening; or the combo of all of them, but the place was absolutely packed wall to wall. The crowd was very into it with circle pits, crowd-surfing, and plenty of fist pumping metal action among a large majority of the spectators. Smart management and planning it seemed to me.

One thing that really stuck with me about Nile is they genuinely looked to be really enjoying themselves. Playing music is clearly a love and passion of theirs. I never got the impression that I detect with some bands that playing shows is a burden or viewed as a job. Nile were smiling and having a great time throughout the duration. They were precise, well-practiced (obviously), and very cohesive throughout all the twisting, winding turns of the many songs they played. Someone stated before the show that they were due to play 24 (or 26?) songs in total. It's rare to get that kind of time with a headlining band these days in smaller venues. I have nothing but good things to say and will certainly be following this band and when they come to town more closely now. It was a great experience. Portland tore it up and Nile destroyed Portland for over an hour and a half.
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Zodijackyl
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Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:39 pm
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 12:46 am 
 

Review of this show: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=96262
Also published here: http://contaminatedtones.blogspot.com/2 ... herry.html

Cherry Street Station hosted a group of black metal bands on a Saturday night, with a unifying theme of the occult, headed by One Master. As I walked in, I was greeted by the smell of incense and a small group of people that included quite a few band members, as it was early. The venue is intimate with a bit of space due to the merch/setup area being tucked away and the bar being separated, and it brought in a solid crowd for this type of show, with some people in and out throughout the night.

Grue consisted of two men wearing robes, a guitarist/vocalist and a drummer. Their style was reminiscent of more recent Finnish black metallers who emulate/worship the second wave. Melodies playing in a typical black metal riffing fashion, impressive drumming, and a nice feel that's not very dissonant but has a distinct black metal feel. It takes a bit of a stretch to make a comparison, but they reminded me a bit of Perisynti. Quite entertaining and enjoyable

Bog of the Infidel is a five-piece band that mixed black metal with melodic death metal and a bit of power metal flair in the solos - their lead guitarist had more Manowar patches than I could count, though he really needed some better clothing as his ass was hanging out for most of their set. There were clearly quite a few influences coming out at various times here - both black and death metal ranging to thrashy and melodic varieties, even some American heavy/power metal in the solos. The mix was a bit too busy and noisy to get a clear picture of what the band was capable of, but it was interesting nonetheless.

Haxen played fast black metal at a relatively constant pace. I'm a bit foggy on remembering exactly what they sound like since both them and Morgirion were very fast and vicious. I recall Beherit worship, a few classic black/heavy styled parts, and some more fast, relentless black metal. Good stage presence too, considering how little of a stage there was.

Morgirion were very fast and sharp, playing a style with lots of blast beats and a fair amount of dissonance. They were very fast pretty much all the way through, with a very full sound as a three-piece, led by a very good bassist who was an energetic and enthusiastic frontman. A bit more tasteful and less mechanical than blast-happy bands like 1349, they were relentless, but not to a fault. Great show, I'd love to see them again.

One Master were the headliners for a reason - they're really good at what they do. If you're unfamiliar with them, think of the riffing of Under a Funeral Moon mixed with the hypnotic sense of Burzum and the ritual feeling of Unanimated's most recent album. The band was very focused, appearing very serious and having fun as well. Their first two songs were extremely loud, something I noticed despite earplugs, and admittedly they couldn't hear much of anything, which made their sharp performance even more impressive as the few slips were quickly corrected for. The loudness was up there along with the impact of the band's performance, which had a certain feeling of determination and direction propelled by their style and concept around the occult. The band's four-piece lineup had two new members and one filling in (though he fit into the band and matched up right along their frontman), and they were tight, rough but not sloppy, very befitting of the music. An excellent band that I'm looking forward to seeing in Connecticut again.

This show was a great concept to gather bands around, all five bands were excellent choices, and it turned out to be a very nice evening.

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Kveldulfr
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 8:07 am 
 

Back from the first day of The Metal Fest: Lock Up + Arcturus + Corrosion of Conformity + Sodom + Morbid Angel + Twisted Sister + Down.

Now going for the 2nd leg: Brutal Truth + Nile + Brujeria + Symphony X + My Dying Bride + Carcass + Devin Townsend Project. Tomorrow will be posted a mini review, but from the first day Morbid Angel easily raped everyone.
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IanThrash
Metalhead

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PostPosted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 12:00 pm 
 

I saw Carcass yesterday, awesome sound, Walker/Steer still got it. The set went from the early grindcore days to their late death and roll melodic approach, nicely executed, with the energy and the precission needed, nothing fancy. Cool!
Dia de los Muertos was opening for Carcass, nice band, and what an ass the singer has!
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Kveldulfr
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 15, 2013 10:43 am 
 

THE METAL FEST 2013 - CHILE

Day 1

Lock up: Missed.

Arcturus 9/10: The performance was solid in general terms - even Vortex sounded in tune - Sverd, Skoll, Knut and HH were tight as fuck. The sound had a couple of problems that were quickly fixed. The setlist had a bit of every album but I missed the first 2 songs, because the van was a piece of junk and we had to fix it in the middle of nowhere. What I saw was:

Painting My Horror
Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer
The Chaos Path
Raudt Og Svart
Alone
Master of Disguise

Missed:
Nightmare Heaven
Hibernation Sickness Complete

Corrosion of Conformity: I went to the 'chilean' stage to see a local band instead, so my wife and I went to eat some stuff and talk with some friends, since the international stage would take a bit of a break for a while.

Sodom 8/10: The performance was good, not mindblowing. Tom's vocals were decent so far, but the bass was way too loud and you couldn't hear the riffs properly. It was way more energetic than the previous gig they played here but still it lacked some bite especially the second half. The guys look old as fuck but still they can play. The setlist was no short of classics, although I missed a couple of 90's tracks (like Tapping the Vein stuff) instead the newer material that don't do much for me.

Morbid Angel 10/10: I'm not exaggerating. They opened with Immortal Rites with no presentation and the sound was overwhelmingly heavy. Dave said they won't be talking much cause the time was too short so they could play more songs for us. He sounded simply incredible, as well as the rest of the band. Tim Yeung once again proved to the a more than worthy replacement for Pete, nailing every bit with excellence. The setlist was heavily focused on Altars, which was like this:

Immortal Rites
Fall From Grace
Rapture
Maze of Torment
Existo Vulgoré
Nevermore
Lord of All Fevers and Plague
Chapel of Ghouls
Where the Slime Live
God of Emptiness
World of Shit (The Promised Land)

The Illud tracks were played faster than the studio versions and with the huge sound of the gig they sounded truly excellent. Dave's cleans were deep as fuck (both in tone and depth) and he added some of them on the Altars tracks where you could sing along, adding atmosphere in replacement of the missing keys. Did I say the sound was crushingly heavy? A lot of people were talking before about how gay was Dave and how shitty the gig would be since they play 'disco music' now. Morbid Angel just shut they mouths and everyone was shocked about how great they sounded and played. The best band from the day 1 by a mile.

Twisted Sister 9,5/10: I wasn't overly excited for seeing them but hell, the show was inmensely fun! Dee is a great frontman, he put the crowd to his kneels with ease, sung with the confidence earned by decades of rocking and his voice was spectacular! everyone was singing along every song. The band was also tight was fuck and thanx to a proper sound, the whole set sounded quite heavy but clear enough to understand everything. This should have been the perfect closure to the first day, but 1 band left.

Down: 5/10. I'm not a huge fan of them but I don't hate them either. Twisted Sister proved that you couldn't be much into them but still they assure a hell of a time, so I waited for Down with an open and optimistic mind. The show started like 30 minutes after the programmed time (which every single band before respected as never happens here). That and being the last band settled a bad feeling about it: people was a bit of tired for being all day long into the venue. This is not the reason of my 5/10; it was Anselmo. The guy can 'sing/shout' still and the band can play but it wasn't very tight, the sound wasn't the best at all and Phil dedicated his words to trash over the crowd: the show itself wasn't very engaging IMO and after the 2nd or 3rd song he said: 'this is the last time you'll see Down here'. Some people was pretty upset about the bad reaction of Anselmo for his band not being able to earn the crowd and make them bang their songs. Anselmo insisted on crying like a baby and was a total ass.

A bit of a bad taste to finish the day but Arcturus, Morbid Angel and Twisted Sister were pure gold.

DAY 2:

This time I arrived in time!! the heat was high but it didn't stop us to band our heads against the walls.

Brutal Truth 8,5/10: Again, I wasn't there for them but they ripped. I felt unfair to have them opening for so 'few' people (like half of the arena instead fully packed) but the sound, performance and charisma of the guys were enough to provide a truly brutal and classy show. The guys were very thanful for people moshing and screaming their songs; even Kevin jumped to the crowd which was a bit funny to see, given his height. My only gripe is that the snare a bit of low in the mix so sometimes they went full on speed but I couldn't understand well some sections.

Nile 9,5/10: Nile was about to NOT play, since American Airlines missed the whole Kollias's instruments and accesories, but Tim Yeung saved the day lending him his whole kit to play. Not surprisingly, George sounded brutal and crystal clear thru all the gig. The performance was epic, majestic and utterly brutal, everyone excepting Kollias provided vocals to enchance some sections, which reminded me a bit to newer Behemoth in terms of atmosphere and brutality. The sound was mostly great, excepting Karl's leads sometimes that overpowered everything for the abuse of delay and gain, which is my only gripe. The performance was tight as a 1-month age girl pussy and to see Kollias playing was a show by itself. Karl also had some nice words for the public (in spanish sometimes) and he looked truly impressed by the ferocity of the crowd, something he praised more than once, swearing they'll return asap.

Brujeria: Skipped, went to the Chilean stage to see a couple of local bands, eat something and join some friends.

*While this happened, my wife and I were walking around and came across Dave Vincent who was just walking around. Both of us took a pic with him, which was very humble and nice to everyone - I asked about to take a picture with my wife and he said: sure, bring it on! - although not much people noticed him. After a while he went to the interviewer's set to share a couple of words and left the arena. My wife who's a huge Morbid Angel fan was frozen and the pic added to the exceptional performance of the band made her proclaim them the best of the bill so far.

Symphony X: we weren't interested on them and saw some songs but again we went to the Chilean stage. The sound wasn't the best btw but Allen's vocals were epic.

My wife to this point was very tired and she asked me if she could sleep a bit while My Dying Bride was playing. I said: sure, try it. Then they came in

My Dying Bride 10/10: I like MDB and I was waiting for this, cautiously. The last albums, while good, have lacked bite and Aaron's vocals in studio aren't the best anymore IMO, but I wasn't prepared for a such flawless, passionate and utterly crushing performance, which eclipsed even to Nile.

Kneel Til Doomsday opens and the sound greatly benefits the song, giving it a much necessary heaviness on the guitar dept. Aaron's cleans comes emotional but not cheesy at all, his mannerisms were very theatrical without looking gay or weird. He's bald now and use some creepy makeup, oddly reminding me to Nemtheanga from Primordial. When the heavy part of the song started, Aaron's growls filled the whole arena. Seriously, his growls were inmense, deep and full of anger, just like in the mid 90's. The whole band played the songs flawlessly with great conviction, both guitars were weeping while the new Violinist/Keyboardist was also incredibly good. Like Gods of the Sun came then and, as an oldie, it was sung and banged properly, especially that it was played way faster and the chorus sounded heavy as fuck.

Aaron then gave thanx and praises, announcing the title track from TLTS. Needless to say, it was overwhelmingly crushing. Aaron's growls must have come from somewhere else, the guy was possessed. I would say his growl was even better than the Darkest Eyes DVD. The whole band, again was very tight. From Darkest Skies was a beautiful addition to the setlist, it was very emotional and well played.

Aaron again gave thanx to the crowd, saying they'll return asap to play here since everything since the fans, the organization, the reception were beyond their expectatives and felt truly well. Then he announced The Raven and the Rose, which was played again a bit faster than the studio version, with Aaron's growls and almost black metal grim vocals dominating the arena, while the blastbeats of the middle section were hitting us with tons of power.

Then came the mandatory Classic 'She is the Dark'. Again, devoided of any flaws, the guitars were shedding tears harmonizing beautifully, until the heavy part was again dominated by the 'brutal' delivery of Aaron.

People were asking for Cry Of Mankind loudly, then Glencross started to play the endless tapping intro. Again, Aaron's performance was very theatrical and for a while you could really think the guy was suffering singing that song. His voice felt touched, a bit broken if I may add, which if it was true or just his ability as a singer, it was very heartfelt andwell done.

Aaron announced they had time for only 1 more song, so the drummer started 'The Forever People'. This one was delivered with full force, both Glencross and Andrew headbanging wildly, while Aaron unleashed some of the most powerful growls of the day.

The show was beyond mere words and easily the best from the Day 2. It was simply in another level. Even my wife who doesn't like MDB much said it was above everyone else's, even his favorite Nile.

Then we took a bit of a break to buy some albums and eat some stuff.

Carcass 6,5/10: Both of us were waiting for this one and after the incredible performance of MDB, Carcass should finish us off... but the show was disappointing.

First, the sound wasn't good. The drums were a bit buried in the mix and the guitars were kinda muddy. The vocals were a bit drowned, thing fixed a couple of songs after the beginning.

Second: The setlist. I don't like Heartwork and Swansong, but sadly they played more of those albums than the old ones. Even if the setlist could be considered 'balanced', it sucks when they focus on one of their worst albums. Since the setlist lacked several more worthy tracks and added those shitty groovy melodic farts from HW and SS, I was bored to tears for most of the show.

Third: The performance. Walker's vocals weren't strong enough and he lost quite of time talking in 'mexican'. Only with the oldies where Bill provided vocals I felt some real threat from the stage. The new guy (Ben Ash) was quite energetic playing tho. Steer's vocals were very good, he should have sung the entire show instead Jeff.

Setlist:

Intro/Buried Dreams
Incarnated Solvent Abuse
No Love Lost
This Mortal Coil
Reek of Putrefaction
Keep on Rotting in the Free World
Pyosisified (Rotten to the Gore)
Death Certificate
Exhume to Consume
Corporal Jigsore Quandary
Heartwork

Less HW, more Reek and Symphony could have been way, way better IMO.

DTP: Skipped, we needed to leave to return home at a decent time, since the travel was 2 hours and then I needed to wake up at 5 am to work.
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Grave_Wyrm
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 29, 2013 4:03 pm 
 

:evil: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :metal: :evil:
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:evil: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :evil:


ABSU @ the DNA Lounge, SF.

A conquering show. If anyone has yet to see them on this tour, yell hello to them from San Francisco because they leveled us.

Unfortunately, I was returning from a trip, missing Cyanic entirely, and only catching the last three songs from Pale Chalice while poring over shirts and getting my drink. Then some men in corpse paint shuttled gear, the banner was unfolded (a black and green print of the sigil above), and it was four songs later that the band introduced themselves. By then it was clear there was no escape from the wicked pestilence. Rest is for the weak. The only question was when/how to go back to the bar, and would anyone take your spot? Nope, apparently not. Man, SF metalheads are a polite crowd. Considerate, accommodating, friendly. Good company.

Absu's 92 minute mephitic marathon was remarkable. Apart from the the guitar being low in the mix, (which was unfortunate, but the sound desk was to the side of the stage, so he can't be blamed entirely) this was a perfect show. Everyone was in chief condition with practiced team work. The endurance of the band is dumbfounding! They were playing at a consistently ass kicking standard throughout the entire 92 minute show with only brief water/beer and interlude breaks, no intermission. Imagine my surprise when the guy from the merch table filled in for Proscriptor two thirds of the way through while the man of the mythic head band donned a heavy wool and leather jacket and took the front of the stage for a couple songs. Then he took the set again and the infliction continued to pervade. They did a two song encore with savage potency, but for a proper set list, you'll have to ask someone else. I'm still astounded, even though my hangover is the worst in recent memory.

Absu is fucking official. They will contaminate your village. Worth every dime and second.

10/10 - outstanding performance
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Via_Nocturna
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Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 11:30 am
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PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2013 2:31 pm 
 

Fueled By Fire, Nile, Morbid Angel, Kreator
2013-12-10
Fryshuset (Stockholm, Sweden)

I arrived late to the show and missed all but the last three minutes of FbF. Did catch a glimpse of them on stage, saying their thanks - they seemed like alright guys. A friend of mine that went to this same show - arriving on time - said that they rocked.

NILE

But the main reason I came was to see NILE. Have been obsessed over this band since 2007 - both worshipping their early discography and following their latest releases (Those Whom The Gods Detest, At The Gate of Sethu) with delight. After years of watching old and new live footage on YouTube, I finally stood physically in the same room as them.

Their set was not opened by 'Kafir', to my surprise (many shows have been), but instead with 'Sacrifice Unto Sebek'. Think it might have to do with their set being so short (~45 minutes, I expected them to play for an hour at least) but I didn't mind - the song always gets me going. Speaking of which, Nile had a real small audience: there was a chunk of people at the very front, a few on the sides (older men, but they wore nile shirts) and then me + a few others in the back.

Best parts of the set were Defiling The Gates of Ishtar (Karl/Dallas/Todd re-created the chanting part live; epic as fuck and one of the highlights of the evening since this song means a lot to me as a Nile fan) and Sarcophagus. A pleasant suprise was to hear 'Enduring the Eternal Molestation of Flame' LIVE, with the kind of guitar tone I imagined for the song in the first place [...Sethu as a whole suffers from thin tone] - this made me actually enjoy the song for real.

Moment of the night that I won't forget: Prior to going on stage (with sound guys/crew testing the gear) Karl could be seen in the back. I flashed the horns for the hell of it - and he made eye contact with me, flashing them back at me. This meant the world to me since I'm such a huge Nile fan (and did not stand at the very front during their set). I have experienced some sort of contact with Karl FUCKING Sanders. :D

Which brings to mind how fucking happy the guys in Nile are when playing. Karl couldn'ẗ stop smiling!

In conclusion, I was fucking happy finally having seen them - even if they didn't play a single Ithyphallic song (Ithy happens to be my favorite album of theirs) they made up for it by including 'Defiling...'. So I'm more than pleased.
Misfit74 wrote:
[size=150]

One thing that really stuck with me about Nile is they genuinely looked to be really enjoying themselves. Playing music is clearly a love and passion of theirs. I never got the impression that I detect with some bands that playing shows is a burden or viewed as a job. Nile were smiling and having a great time throughout the duration. They were precise, well-practiced (obviously), and very cohesive throughout all the twisting, winding turns of the many songs they played.

I certainly agree on that!

[b]Morbid Angel

Did I tell you how Nile had a small crowd? Well, when Morbid came on all the people from the back (and the smokers from outside the venue) flooded the place. ~15 minutes prior to the band appearing on stage and it was packed.

I don't listen much to MA, but do know Immortal Rites, Chapel of Ghouls and Maze of Torment. Those songs fucking slayed, with Immortal Rites being the opener. As for the rest of their set, I'm not familiar with which songs come from which album.

Now, I've read a lot online about how Morbid Angel (or at least David Vincent) are posers and Illud Divinum Insanus a shit album... But they did play Existo Vulgore which was alright. Poser or not, Vincent has a great voice these days, at least to me (fits with the heaviness of the music), with a great stage presence to boot.

It felt nice being in the presence of pioneers of Death Metal. Definitely paying more attention to Morbid Angel from now on.

Also worth mentioning: Somewhere in the middle of the set, one of the guitarists did a nice and noisy solo while the rest of the band went backstage for a break. Sounded real cool.

Kreator

I'm new to Kreator. Prior to attending this gig I had only heard Phantom Antichrist the album, and the singles Hordes of Chaos + Enemy of God.

Well, after it was over I left the place a new excited-as-fuck fan. Spent a week and a half listening to the band's entire discography (and now put them above Slayer). I headbanged like fucking crazy (sore neck that-was-not-able-to-bend-comfortably-in-all-directions for nearly a week. Worth it.). The songs off of Phantom Antichrist worked surprisingly well, the audience singing along just as if they were playing the older, more well-known songs. Highlights of the entire set were (without a doubt) Hordes of Chaos, Phantom Antichrist, PtK and Coma of Souls/Endless Pain.

Mille is the fucking man, my favorite frontman in all of Thrash Metal.


FbF - N/A
Nile - 4.8/5 (deserved a bigger/better crowd + one Ithy song (preferrably The Essential Salts, but they only played that one back in 2007)
Morbid Angel - 3/5 (not my taste, save for a few songs. But insanely heavy wall-of-sound)
Kreator - 5/5 (Thrash perfection)


edit: LG Petrov (Entombed) came out on stage during 'Black Seeds of Vengeance', singing along in the ending chants of the song. Metal as fuck.

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enigmatech
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2011 9:57 pm
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PostPosted: Tue May 28, 2013 2:20 pm 
 

KRISIUN (10/10)


Went out to see Krisiun at the Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, NC last night. They were the only band at the show (save for two god-awful opening bands), and the crowd was relatively small, but I had a great fucking time! Every member of the band was in top-form, Moyses Kolesne was spot-on with every single solo, and Max Kolesne's drumming was like a machine gun. Towards the end of the set he played a killer drum solo that reminded me of the drumming at the beginning of "Evil Mastermind" from the "Black Force Domain" album, though no songs from that album were actually played at the show (nor were there any songs from "Ageless Venemous" or "Works of Carnage"). Instead, the band played a couple from each album, which (sadly) did not include my favorite Krisiun song, "Conquerors of Armageddon" (though Alex Camargo did give me the horns when I growled the infamous "KILL-KILL-KILL-LORD JESUS CHRIST" section between songs, :lol:), or my other favorite Krisiun song, "Sons of Pest". But nonetheless, it was a good set filled with songs that spanned most of the band's discography, with some more underrated numbers from the early days thrown in, in addition to a number of songs from the new album "The Great Execution", which sound even better live than on the actual CD. They closed the set with a cover of "No Class" by Motorhead.

Kings of Killing
Combustion Inferno
The Will to Potency
Vicious Wrath
Vengeance's Revelation
Descending Abomination
Ravager
Drum Solo
Slain Fate
Blood of Lions
Hatred Inherit

Encore:
Ominous
No Class

After that show, we discovered another show in the local area, where Cruciamentum were playing. I remember listening to one of their demos back in high school, so we stopped by that one too, towards the end:

ANHEDONIST (2/10)

The first band we watched was Anhedonist, who were a fucking awful Bethlehem rip-off band. The music itself was very slow and melodic, and the band attempted (in vain!) to capture some kind of unsettling, depressing atmosphere, but ended up coming across as extremely boring and somewhat pathetic because the band themselves could not be bothered to show even the slightest amount of interest in the audience or even their extremely dreary, boring excuse for music (the guitarist/vocalist looked extremely sad, for whatever reason). This utter lack of energy on the part of the musicians made their attempt at atmosphere fall flat on it's face. On top of that, the band did not have stage banter at all, which they replaced by merely striking an annoying "atmospheric" chord. The audience didn't seem engaged or interested in these jokers at all, and I can definitely see why!

CRUCIAMENTUM (7/10)

After that god-awful band was finished polluting the stage, Cruciamentum came up. This band plays dark, raw death metal in the same vein as Incantation. I hadn't listened to the band in a couple years, but they definitely delivered some interesting death metal last night. Like Anhedonist, the band did not have much in the way of stage banter (other than merely growling the song's title), but unlike that band, actually had some energy on stage!!! I didn't recognize most of their set, but I remember "Deathless Ascension" and "Rotten Flesh Crucifix" from the demo I had, were particularly strong numbers. Their were some minor technical difficulties on the part of the lead guitarist, but he still had lots of energy and the band sounded relatively decent (the guitar tone was a bit muddy). The biggest problem, however, was the shitty vocalist. It was pretty clear that the guy was sick, as he was drinking cough medicine onstage...which might explain why the guy's growls were so hoarse and almost painful to listen to! Although my friend was making fun of them after the show, I thought they were pretty good.

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orionmetalhead
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PostPosted: Fri May 31, 2013 8:03 pm 
 

Whiplash, Shat, Sardonica, The Unkown, Fever Vein @ Dingbatz, 05.30.2013

Pictures and original posted on Contaminated Tones

In most ways, Thursday was going to be a totally average day. I got up at 5:30am and went to work. Had a rather average day there, trying to get your local retail store looking spiffy for the weekend rush, writing work lists for the underlings... etc. When I left at four o'clock, I ran to Bagel Boy and grabbed an awesome sandwich (bologna, turkey, mayo, mustard, honey mustard, pepper, lettuce, tomato on a round roll) and an everything bagel with chicken salad for the girlfriend before she left for work. Ate, took a slight snooze and picked up a couple friends to run off to see Whiplash which, I expected, would be you're all too common Whiplash show at their favorite spot, Dingbatz, in Clifton, New Jersey. The bill seemed unremarkable but acceptable. Opener Fever Vein began in average local metal quality. Their set was a mix of Pantera simplicity, and a decent vocalist with a hardcore vocal style. Their bassist was the highlight for me.

We left after a couple songs to catch some food - again - at Dingbatz accompanying bar across the street. Dingo's Den is a place everyone should stop in should you find yourself at Dingbatz. The place is full of eye candy decor and really fills up when shows are going on. Often you'll find a row of motorcycles out front. Their bar-pies are quite delicious though I would stay away from the hotdogs. My chilli cheese dog was not the finest I've had. The Acheron in brooklyn still claims the blue ribbon for "Best Hot Dog at a venue" with their wiener over rajas covered in all sorts of flavorings and goodies. Either way though, there are few locales in the Garden State where a you can go to a rock bar and not get looked at sideways with glaring eyes for putting on metal on a jukebox. Then again, the only place local I go never experienced anything but an unending playlist of Judas Priest, early Fates Warning, Queensryche and Napalm Death while everyone other than my immediate company was trying to hit on chicks and slam back bro-drinks while fist pumping to Kyesha.

We missed The Unknown while scarfing down food but Sardonica was, at least for me, an enjoyable band to watch. Their overt 70's British Punk influence is about as obvious as the need for their bassist, Ron - who you all met briefly in my Whiplash interview a few months back - to get preventative shots for sweating. In the fight for perspiration dominance there is are those that sweat and there are those that simply have no equals. I think there is a three-way tie between Ron, Jesse Bartlett of Penetration and my father doing yard work. Either way Sardonica's set was fun to watch. "Bombscare" was notable for it's blatant The Clash influences and "Fuck Me" was a good crowd participation track. They probably had no real place being on the bill of course being a punk band but I don't think anyone really cared about that. Jose Mangin from Sirius XM was DJ and giving out free shit, beers were cheap, and everyone seemed to be related to Tony Portaro. It felt like a locals only show. I wouldn't be surprised if this was literally nothing but a family function and there didn't seem to be any regulars of metal shows there.

So up until this moment, the night had been everything I expected it to be and my Thursday was still feeling pretty non-exciting. Then Shat:

I had no idea what the band was, who they were, why their disc had fifty tracks about pussy, tits and fucking all aspects of someone's family. My questions were answered immediately as three mostly naked fat dudes and a fourth skinny member all climbed onto stage. You really can't help but laugh, smile and cry when the front man of the band you're watching has sixteen dildos attached to all parts of his bare body and the strap-on he's wearing only covers his penis and leaves his testicles freely visible to everyone. There are no words. Their songs were short, stupid parodies of known melodies such as "Old McDonald Had a Farm" with songs with conspicuous titles like "Blue Balls" and "Show Me Your Tits," which somehow elicited a pair of decent knockers from someone who's probably shown her breasts in public before. Their set was topped off when vocalist and ball-tickler - at least he was during "Crabs," a song about getting, obviously, the little pincers from a hooker or your grandma or something - Jeff Wood stood in the middle of a circular ring of air hoses connected to an air compressor operated by their 'security' man behind stage that blew a large amount of smoky compressed air in a mock-tornado around the blubbery shameless man. Good fun. Go see them if you're over 18 years old. They do the whole Gwar thing way better than Gwar. Best band of the night for some reason.

Whiplash were great after they figured their sound out which, sadly was halfway through their set. The first song which had distinguishable parts was Insult to Injury. Opener "Last Man Alive" as well as "Spit On Your Grave", "Killing On Monroe Street", "Stagedive" and "Red Bomb" all sounded awful. Also hampered was their newly debuted track called "Sword Meets Skull, Skull Meets Sword," which is off their forthcoming album "Old school American Way." The track was actually really good though and I can say that I'm looking forward to the album. Luckily, "Burning Of Atlanta", "Walk The Plank", "Power Thrashing Death" and "Nailed To The Cross" all sound really good.

Also of interest was a bit of spoken banter before "Red Bomb" which Tony Portaro (52) said he wrote when he was seventeen years old. Math proves* that he would have written "Red Bomb" in 1978 if this were the case. This would be the first Thrash song of all time if he can prove it with some recorded demos from that period or some proof otherwise of it's existence. There's also the case that he was just shooting the piss and he wrote it when he was twenty four in 1984 when Whiplash was actually formed. There's a good chance the song was written a bit before but 1978 would be an incredible span of time between writing a song and using it in a band. It's not unheard of however. When I joined Arctic Flame, guitarist Don Dioro told me and showed me video of him playing Steel Angel with his band in 1991, a full fifteen years before the song found it's way to a release. If true about the existence of "Red Bomb" in 1978 / 1979, then Tony Portaro is the most unacknowledged metal musician in the world and New Jersey should be hailed as the cradle of thrash with Whiplash and early birds Overkill also hailing from the 47th smallest state in the country.
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Zodijackyl
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Joined: Wed Apr 30, 2008 5:39 pm
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PostPosted: Fri May 31, 2013 10:37 pm 
 

orionmetalhead wrote:
When I left at four o'clock, I ran to Bagel Boy and grabbed an awesome sandwich (bologna, turkey, mayo, mustard, honey mustard, pepper, lettuce, tomato on a round roll) and an everything bagel with chicken salad for the girlfriend before she left for work.


If a live review praises Bagel Boy, then everything in it must be true. That place makes a really good sandwich!

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Subrick
Metal Strongman

Joined: Sun Sep 12, 2010 7:27 pm
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 2:34 am 
 

Cut out the regular mustard and that sandwich sounds like the greatest sandwich of all time.
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HydroDrone
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 3:31 am
Posts: 138
Location: New Zealand
PostPosted: Sun Jun 09, 2013 6:22 pm 
 

On Thursday i saw midnight play here in New Zealand, HOLY SHIT.

Me and two mates went , me and one of my friends came from out of town and stayed with our buddy, went to the show, probably the drunkest i'd been at any gig, midnight played a short set, someone put a bottle on the stage, Athennar grabbed it and cracked it against the mike stand causing glass to rain on everyone, people were grabbing at their instruments, and i'm sure other violence between the band and the crowd was occuring. reckless.

On a side note, i vomited at the bar, we got turfed out and after the gig my friend who came with me from out of town got seperated , didnt have his phone and we lost him in New Zealands biggest city and he didnt know where we were staying, whilst looking for him my other bud took a big fall off a concrete bank, we got accosted by a shiv weilding hobo and we finally found our friend one day later walking the street on crutches.

HARDROCKERRRRS !

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Thumbman
Big Cube

Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2009 6:47 pm
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:50 pm 
 

For the Kylesa/Blood Ceremony gig:
Sierra
Cool start to the evening. Big stoner dude, huge shifting bass lines. Really tight and heavy. Kind of reminded me of Black Hell's sophomore. They threw in the occasional atmospheric/psychedelic section as well. I wanted to buy a shirt or a Kylesa album on vinyl, but I spent most of my money on beer so I ended up buying Sierra's EP for 5 bucks. Not quite as good as their live show, but still well worth the money.

Lazer/Wulf
Not really my cup of tea. They did put on a hell of a live show and watching them spazz out was fun, but their music just isn't really something I'm into. Very technical, ever changing math-whatever you call it. They were obviously really talented dudes, but I'm not into the whole jolty constantly changing in a way that doesn't flow nicely stuff.

White Hills
Awesome psych stuff. I had heard Glitter Glamour Atrocity before going to the gig and was expecting something a lot more abstract. But this was solid doomy drug-laden psych rock. The dual female-male vocal dynamic was pretty sick and they made sure that lots of fog was always there.

Blood Ceremony
Really great stuff. Great female fronted doom and the flute turned out great in a live setting. They made sure to play enough from their debut, them playing "Return of Forever" was the fucking tits!

Kylesa
Totally awesome. The two drummers were awesome together, it was super heavy. Laura looked kind of pissed off the whole time and even threatened to slap a guy who yelled "play Dopethrone" because she had an Electric Wizard shirt on. Phil also had some weird lap steel(ish) thing made out of a skateboard.
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Metantoine
Slave to Santa

Joined: Sat Jun 21, 2008 5:00 pm
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 14, 2013 10:55 pm 
 

Good review, dude. I agree with everything you said. Lazer/Wulf were pretty damn lame, they were like a metal Animal As Leaders, their set, albeit short felt like an eternity! White Hills were very awesome, their guitarist/singer has a lot of charisma and looks like Alice Cooper. Both their heavier and softer sides were interesting. It's rare that an evening had 4 good opening bands but it was the case here, I had a blast. Laura smiled to me when I was buying merch, I got a semi. I bought Ultraviolet + a patch, pin, stickers combo and a Blood Ceremony patch!
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somefella
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Joined: Sat Dec 20, 2008 11:57 pm
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Location: Singapore
PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2013 2:49 pm 
 

Just saw Archgoat and Sadistic Intent. Some other bands opened but I didn't care for them at all(with good reason) and was drinking outside the venue til Archgoat started.

Archgoat: Like them on record very much. Live....not so much. It's hard to comment on the quality of the performance because it was just so cacophonous. They could have been playing entirely out of time with each other and it would have been difficult to tell. I dislike it very much when bands decide to just blast the volume of EVERYTHING and ruin any chance of enjoyment. I was mostly hearing the songs in my head from memory, and could only do that when they announced the songs titles before beginning. That said, they did put on a pretty good show and when the grooving parts locked together it was very satisfying.

Sadistic Intent: An electrical fire at the venue stopped me from catching them back when I was in L.A so I was very excited to see them here, I had promised Rick I would catch the LA show when I was at Dark Realm Records so I wouldn't have missed this for the world. Their songs are chaotic as hell and it must have been hard for them to hear each other while playing, but their live chemistry was unflappable. Whenever anyone made a mistake they recovered almost instantly. That kind of telepathic sync that comes from decades of playing together(or hours upon hours of dedicated practice) and that level of tightness brings a full-on intensity that can't be matched by any amount of jumping around on stage or slopping copious amounts of fake blood and corpsepaint on one's visage. Blown away as a fan, and extremely impressed as a fellow musician. Mad band for anyone to see live, highly recommended.
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talvikki77
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Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:20 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:22 am 
 

So, I know only one band on this line-up is solidly in the metal camp, but I thought it was a killer show nonetheless, and I was glad I got to see Decapitated live. So here's my review of Lamb of God, Decapitated and The Acacia Strain last week at Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, MD. Also posted at http://winter-castle.blogspot.com/2013/06/concert-review-lamb-of-god-decapitated-the-acacia-strain.html

Although none of these are among my favorite bands, I knew Lamb of God would put on an intense show, and both the openers had things going for them that made me curious to see them, so this promised to be a solid night.

I thought the Ram's Head website said Decapitated was going on first, so we were surprised to see The Acacia Strain come out out just a few minutes after we got to the venue (they started 15 minutes late, though). I had been hoping to see them live for some time, cause they are quite heavy and brutal (and that's pretty much all they are.) Their sound was very low and heavy, a churning maelstrom. The first song was basically like one long breakdown, slow, crushingly heavy, the vocals kind of in the background. The vocals were utterly incomprehensible anyway (which I don't mind; I read some of their song lyrics a year or two ago and then decided I didn't want to know what their songs are about). Every couple of songs, the singer would go on a half-intelligible rant, telling us things like, "Don't hate yourself; hate everyone else," and "There's too much positivity going on in music today." I thought they were good as an opener - a nice heavy start to the evening - but I don't think they would have held my interest for a headline-length set. I started to get bored of the plodding heavy parts where they weren't doing anything besides being really heavy. They had a very few different moments like a few seconds of melodic guitar (omg, a solo?!) or increased tempo, but mostly it was just constant breakdown (ironically, a guy near us in a shirt that said "No breakdowns...no karate..." etc was bobbing his head during the breakdowniness).

So Polish technical death metal band Decapitated had the second slot, of which I was glad - I would much rather hear more of them than TAS. My first introduction to Decapitated was hearing "404" on the radio about a year ago, and I did not dig it at all. But I mean, they're from Poland, the land of Behemoth and Unsun, so I figured I must be missing something, and got intrigued at the prospect of seeing them live. Turned out they were great. Their guitar work and drumming was very complex, but still groovy enough for headbanging. I am pretty picky about drumming, but I enjoyed the unpredictable drum rhythms in their songs (the thing I hate most in metal is nonstop banging on the same drum over and over). Even "404" sounded good (I didn't realize what song it was at first because the singer called it "Four hundred and four" and I didn't hear the last word clearly; I've always thought of it as "four-oh-four"). The strange rhythms and guitar squeals that I found so grating when I first heard it were not as prominent. Overall, their sound was a thick, nonstop barrage peppered with fast rhythms, so it was a good thing they paused every few songs and we got a breather. I didn't really notice any solos, except for one short one that was rather slow and atmospheric. The singer was stalking about the stage, throwing about his Chris Barnes-esque dreads, and sometimes doing a repeated cobra-like motion that made me think he was spitting on the crowd. Obviously, I never saw the original Decapitated live, so I can't say how they compare to that, but they certainly sounded heavy and technically capable. And since I've seen Lamb of God before, Decapitated was the gem of the night - the performance that really made it worth it.

After an "intermission" where decades-old movie theater commercials for popcorn and corn dogs were shown on screens on the stage, Lamb of God came out thundering. They also delivered a solid set - I realized that I actually know a lot of their songs, at least the popular ones. Their guitar riffs are aggressive yet accessible, like a cleaned up version of thrash riffs, and Randy's low vocals and the thundering bass bring a bit of death metal brutality. We got much closer this time than last time at the Fillmore - we were about five rows back, but off to the left, off the actual floor and nearer the bar. Which was fine - we could still see great, and didn't get caught in the meatgrinder that was the jam-packed floor (if the show wasn't sold out, it was pretty damn close - B market be damned). Randy called for moshing a couple times and seemed impressed by the crowd-surfing wheelchair guy, which cued us in that he wasn't the one behind the "No moshing" and "No crowdsurfing" signs at the venue. The venue didn't seem to intend on enforcing this policy either, because wheelchair guy crowdsurfed to the front no less than three times.

They put on an intense show, delivering a fine-tuned aggressive sound, with great energy - Randy was running around the stage - and with strong, roving lights and videos on the aforementioned screens adding to the effect. Some of the videos seemed familiar from last time, such as the animated one for "Ghost Walking," but some seemed new, such as the one for "Now You've got Something to Die For," which showed photos of their fans in the armed forces (of course they dedicated that song to servicemembers like usual). During the encore, the drummer from Decapitated (they called him "Polish Pauly" and kept flashing the image of his face on the screens in front of a Polish flag) played a song with them.

I think I enjoyed seeing them even more this time than last. The sound was better - we could hear the vocals more clearly - and being closer to the stage, we could see the band a lot better. S discovered later that they actually played the same setlist as in the fall, and we found out later that their tour last year hit the "A" markets, since they were not sure how long they would have Randy, and now that he's back they did a tour of the "B" markets. Nice to know that bands consider Washington, DC an important market - now if only tours like Helloween and Godflesh would hit it up!
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IdiotFlesh
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Joined: Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:05 am
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Location: New Hampshire
PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2013 11:43 pm 
 

I saw Deafheaven last night at T.T. the Bear's Place in Cambridge, MA and was totally blown away. I was already tired by the time we got to the venue from work earlier that morning (on top of the stress of not having a smartphone or GPS and getting hopelessly lost in the Boston area (and blowing a tire an hour before the show began)), and I managed to get through the first 2 bands with no trouble. I liked Marriages quite a bit, but I felt like falling asleep from the massive amounts of sound pumping through their amplifiers and into me. I thought I wasn't gonna make it through Deafheaven and be tired, but as soon as they came on and I realized that they had started playing "Dream House", I felt an overwhelming surge of excitement like nothing I've ever felt before (this also being my first ever metal show). Once the drums and everything else started, I couldn't help myself from swinging my body back and forth to the beat. I watched people grooving to the first couple of bands, and I simply didn't feel it. In all my years of listening to metal, I just thought headbanging was something I'd never understand or feel the urge to do, but at this moment in the show, it was like I didn't have a choice.

It all got even better once Clarke started on the mic. His stage presence is absolutely amazing. He had black gloves on, and in his down time between lyrics, he often makes signals with his hands, or he sways around to the music on stage. It wasn't quite like that live video on YouTube of the song "Violet", because the stage at this venue was smaller, so he couldn't move around much, but you could tell he wanted to. What he can do as a performer with just his eyes is awe-inspiring. He looks around at the audience, and it looks like he's focusing hard on the environment of his performance, and he stares right into peoples' eyes. Caught mine a few times, which inspired something in me, made me breathe more heavily, and even more excited to be standing where I was. When Clarke grabs the mic stand and starts screaming though, that's when the fun starts. There is a look of pure passion and fury in his eyes that I've never seen before in any performer. I don't know if this is something that happens a lot at shows because of the size of the venue, or if there is something so truly enthralling about this guy, but people in the front were reaching out and grabbing him. My friend who came with me said that he got to hold his fist or something at some point. I was jealous, honestly. He did a stage dive later in the show and people kept pushing him back on stage, but he insisted to be inside the crowd and kept falling back on the audience. He closed his eyes while he did that. Clarke just looks like he's in another universe when he performs, like he enters an elevated state of consciousness where he holds nothing back and immerses himself in the show in every way possible.

During "Dream House" in particular, because I've listened to the recording so many times, I found myself trying to sync my movements up with important passages of the piece. Any time the drums would stop for a few bars (usually 8) and come back in, I would stop all my movement, listen for the drummer to click the band back in, and start thrashing around again exactly when they resumed. I also had my fist in the air pumping in time to a few of the more motific riffs later in the song. I felt like I was truly living the music that I've had in my head for the past month or so since the album dropped. My excitement died down a bit after "Dream House" just because I didn't know the subsequent pieces as well (except for the title track of Sunbather which was a close second to "Dream House" for me). At the end they came back on stage and played "Violet", when someone started a mosh. This was my least favorite part of the concert. I'm not a particular fan of moshing, especially for this type of band and at this small a venue. It distracted me a lot from what the band was playing, and it almost seems disrespectful to me for people to do that. I can see it being more acceptable at larger shows where someone is playing a style of music that has more to do with that culture, but I thought Deafheaven was the wrong place.

Amazing concert all things considered, and I'm so glad it was my first. Looking forward to seeing more shows down the road now that I finally have the means to do so and I know some people who would be interested in coming. I highly recommend seeing this band, even if you don't like the idea of the whole post-black metal / shoegaze scene, maybe seeing them and the passion that the vocalist especially puts into the music will help you "get" it.

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analog_winter
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 11, 2013 9:09 pm 
 

On Tuesday night I saw the Anahuac Tour (Volahn, Arizmenda, Bilirubin, and Blue Hummingbird on the Left) at Strange Matter in Richmond, VA.

I was not super familiar with many of the Black Twilight Circle bands before this show, and was not totally blown away by their studio work, but I don't get that many interesting bm shows in the area so I figured I'd go check out this show, and that turned out to be a damn good choice.

Blue Hummingbird on the Left
Great set to start out the night. They played with intensity and passion, and it definitely showed through. The vocalist was easily the highlight of their set, using a variety of techniques ranging from low death growls, to semi-clean vocals that sounded almost like a dog's barking, to using a small flute that produced a very high-pitched whistle. One thing that I liked about the sound during all the sets was the echo put on the vocals, it was just enough to enhance the atmosphere without being overpowering. Musically they weren't the most interesting, but they played with a lot of energy and had great stage presence.

Bilirubin
I had a copy of Bilirubin's demo tape, and I ended up selling it after writing it off as too raw, however, they were a lot more interesting live. The melodic lead guitar came through a lot better in the live sound than on the tape which really made their set. The melodies were interesting and varied, and although the music was fairly simplistic, it came together a lot better than I was expecting and led to an enjoyable set. Wanted to get a t-shirt of theirs but couldn't find the guy to buy them from.

Arizmenda
Total destruction. Highlight of the night for sheer intensity alone. Arizmenda's set was one of the most intense performances I have ever witnessed, as well as one of the loudest. Their brand of chaotic black metal with some downtempo/melodic parts was immense. The vocalist delivered an incredible passionate performance, spending the majority of the set on his knees or lying down, sometimes crawling over to the edge of the stage and leaning over into the small crowd (it would have been even better if they had been playing on the floor instead of the stage). Between two of the songs later in the set he did put on some kinda weird antics where he wrapped his head in masking tape, covering his mouth and eyes for the final song, which added to the insane and chaotic vibe the performance had.

Volahn
It would have been hard for anyone to follow the Arizmenda set, but Volahn did so fairly well. Again, I was not too into his recorded output, but the music was great live. Probably the most melodic act of the night (except for maybe Bilirubin), the riffs had an epic feeling that the other bands didn’t have. Overall a very solid set, definitely on par with the rest of the bands of the night, despite following Arizmenda.


Overall this show was pretty awesome, and I’m very glad I went. Their performances changed my mind about their music and will likely drive me to check out more of their studio material. I’m really glad I went, and would recommend it to others if the tour is stopping in their city.
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talvikki77
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 3:43 pm 
 

So busy with work, and Mayhem Fest tomorrow! Well here's a review I posted this weekend, of highly danceable power metal etc band Amaranthe (also posted here). I won't bother posting my review of The Agonist, since I was sick and fell asleep during their set >.< but if you want to read about some DC/Baltimore area local bands, I did manage to pay some attention to them and wrote about 'em here.

Amaranthe, Kobra and the Lotus, Shattered Sanctity - 7/18/13 at The Note, West Chester, PA

When we saw that the power metal/metalcore/synthpop fusion act Amaranthe were embarking on a headline US tour, and the closest date, while out of state, was right during our summer vacation, we knew we had to go see them. So, after a short vacation on the beach, we trekked up (through four states) to West Chester, PA to see their show, not sure whether we should be more prepared to mosh or to dance.

The Note turned out to be a tiny venue, with a stage at the far end of a long rectangular room, and a bar on the right near the door. There were a good number of a people on the floor when we got there, and the whole place filled up by the time Amaranthe came on.

We were curious to see the local opener, Shattered Sanctity, after reading that they might appeal to fans of Sonata Arctica and Stratovarius. But the show started early, so even though we got there right on the advertised show time (8pm), we only caught the last song or so. We were stuck at the bar socializing and drinking, so I only caught snatches of some shredding and a couple wails, but not enough for a distinct impression. From the bar, they did not sound as fabulous as we hoped.

Touring with Amaranthe was Canadian band Kobra and the Lotus. I hadn't really heard of them before; a friend said they are pretty much straight ahead heavy metal, with a deep-voiced female singer. I was in the bathroom when they started, and if I hadn't known singer was a woman, I would have sworn it was a man, she had such a deep voice. Even then I doubted it for a moment. They were very good - solid NWOBHM metal riffs, verging on thrashy in one song, and the singer's rich, powerful vocals were a feast to the ears. They were quite thunderous for such a small place - it seemed the sound system was tuned to rumble.

After a rather longer wait than the first set change, Amaranthe emerged. You may know them for their single "Hunger" or the fact that their female singer has done backing vocals for Kamelot - up till a month ago that was pretty much what I knew of them. Once we decided we were going to this show, I listened to them more, and got pumped to see them. Their sound defies genres - clean power metal vocals from the female and male singers, Gothenburg-esque death growls from a third singer, riffs that range from pounding metalcore to In Flames like melodeath, and danceable synth melodies. It seemed like it should be one of the funnest shows I've been to. Unfortunately, they started out weak - the vocals were all right, but the instruments were off, even out of tune, and the synth inaudible for the first couple of songs. Guess they should have sound checked! (I didn't notice them doing so during that long break between sets.) Then they got it together, and sounded pretty good for the rest of the show. The synth was still a little low, but the vocals were very clear, and the guitar sounded good. The venue was full, and full of super-fans to boot. People I would never have pegged for knowing the lyrics to Amaranthe's "Amaranthine" were singing along to every word (here's a video). There was even a small pit for a few songs. Throughout the show, Elize, the female vocalist, profusely expressed the band's gratitude for everyone coming out to support them. So far, their first US tour seems to be a success, and I look forward to seeing them again sometime!
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Inspector_Satan
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 23, 2013 5:32 pm 
 

analog_winter wrote:
Black Twilight review


I was looking forward to this show for weeks and they ended up no showing us on the first day of tour. Whack Twilight indeed.

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analog_winter
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 12:11 am 
 

Inspector_Satan wrote:
analog_winter wrote:
Black Twilight review


I was looking forward to this show for weeks and they ended up no showing us on the first day of tour. Whack Twilight indeed.


I had a friend of mine who was at that first (no-)show of the tour, as well as some people I knew who were going to BG Fest, where they were supposed to play and again didn't show, it really seemed like a bummer. They were pretty late getting to the show in Richmond as well, and when my friends and I arrived we were scared that they hadn't shown again.
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talvikki77
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 29, 2013 11:41 pm 
 

Finally have some time to post this and hang out on the boards a bit.. Here are my reviews of the actual metal bands that performed at Mayhem Fest (which I went to last Wednesday in Bristow, VA). You can read about the non-metal bands, and my quest to get things signed by both Amon Amarth and Children of Bodom, here. Most interesting non-metal bands were Motionless in White (metalcore/industrial) and Rob Zombie (industrial rock).


While the first band was finishing up, we crept up to the third row for Huntress. I'm not a huge fan of them, partly because they have a little of that slow 70's occult metal vibe, partly because I don't enjoy Jill Janus's high pitched shrieks. I thought it might be fun to see her up close, though, so I went along. I don't wear earplugs, because I find they dull the sound too much, so I don't usually go up to the front even for bands I do like (unless I get pushed there from the pit, or get overexcited and run to the front heedless of what might happen to my ears - has happened at Sabaton shows..). It was the worst sonic experience of my life. The air was throbbing with the bass, distorting all the other sounds. I could barely hear Jill's screams or lows. Her high clean vocals were the only thing that cut through the distortion (and the dang earplugs) clearly. The only thing that made it worth it was the entertainment of watching her creepy expressions and poses up close.

After taking a bathroom and water break during a subpar metalcore performance, we returned to the side stage area to stand in line for Amon Amarth's signing and listen to Battlecross. They possess the kind of energetic and aggressively melodic guitar style that usually appeals to me, but for whatever reason their riffs don't quite pull me in. I suppose it didn't help that they were on the stage further from us. So they were kind of bland background music until they played "Force Fed Lies". They finally hit on some epic grooves and melodies in that song.

We listened to a couple metalcore bands while getting things signed, and then tromped over to the Jager stage to see Job For a Cowboy. I'm not familiar enough with their discography to comment on what they actually played (except that the last song was "Constitutional Masturbation," because afterward JS remarked that damn, that would be a painful song to masturbate to). But I'm a fan of their fast and brutal sound, and they sounded good.

We took a dinner break during a metalcore band. Then we got distracted socializing, and so I was still eating during the first two songs of Machine Head's set (while sitting by some sort of decorated car near the band merch tents). We headed toward the stage at the start of "Locust," which is probably my favorite Machine Head song. I got into them when Unto the Locust came out, because the songs on that album seem to have a lot more complexity and also some great vocal hooks compared to their earlier songs. I think "Locust" was the only song they played from that album, though. During their set, S kept wanting to go save a spot in front of the other stage for COB, but I wanted to see Machine Head so I made him wait.

We still got a place in the middle left of the crowd for Children of Bodom, but I was perfectly placed behind several tall people so I couldn't see Alexi most of the time (karma, perhaps?). But at least I could clearly hear his fast and furious guitar riffs. They played a wide range of songs, from "Bodom After Midnight" to "Halo of Blood." I thought "Blooddrunk" was the least interesting song they played - the riffs are not as catchy as the others - but even that sounded decent. They were not as crushing as when we saw them in an indoor venue, but still fast and fun. A second pit appeared right near us (the main one was somewhere in the middle of the crowd). There was also almost a fight, one guy actually bringing over a metal trash drum which he tried to ram into another guy before security dragged him away.

As soon as COB stopped playing, we started booking it toward the amphitheater, because for some reason there was only a five minute break between their set and Amon Amarth on the main stage. We actually ran straight up the hill which forms the back of the amphitheater, and claimed a spot about halfway down the lawn just before AA came out. They started off awesome with "Destroyer of the Universe" (which is my favorite song from Surtur Rising). They had the front half of a Viking ship on stage, with the drum kit on the ship and a ramp on either side that Johan Hegg and the guitarists occasionally went up. Every now and then smoke would come out of the dragonhead's nostrils. It looked pretty cool. Amon Amarth is the only band of the main stage line-up I would have wanted to be in the pit to see, but we didn't think it was worth it for six songs. It was a still a good show - the sound was plenty loud and heavy even out on the lawn. They played a good mix of songs - I was worried their new album would dominate the setlist, but they only played "Deceiver of the Gods" from that album. Surtur Rising actually dominated with two songs (the second was "War of the Gods," which sounded great this time, compared to last time I saw them live). For an oldie, they played "Death by Fire," and ended with "Twilight of the Thunder God," which unfortunately sounded weak compared to the rest of their set - dunno what happened there. After they finished, I had no voice for a few minutes due to growling along with too many choruses.

I suppose I could comment on Mastodon as well, but I didn't really like them, so I'd rather end it there on a high note, cause Amon Amarth killed! If only they had been able to play a longer set.
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Paka01
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Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 12:34 pm
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Location: Croatia
PostPosted: Fri Aug 02, 2013 7:12 am 
 

Anyone saw Flotsam & Jetsam live?
There is a chance I'll see them in October, so I'd like to know how they sound today.
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Metantoine
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Location: Montréal
PostPosted: Sat Aug 03, 2013 2:24 am 
 

Ensorcelor, Show of Bedlam, Xothogua, August 1st @Death Church
Image
The show acted as a tour kickoff for Show of Bedlam and Xothogua. Ensorcelor were special guests. Look at Show of Bedlam's Facebook for the dates. There's dates in Pittsburgh, New York...

I went to the Death Church in Verdun, Montréal to see this show. The venue is a private location, it's quite trashy but everyone were friendly and the atmosphere was very fun and laid back. I went with my friend Chandy and 3 of his newbie friends who didn't quite like the obscure metal experience but I'm sure the evening opened their minds a little ! After some time in the backyard drinking some beer, we moved to the “church” for the show and I was impressed by the venue, there's a huge painting on the wall with brains and the name “death church” is painted ahead of an inverted cross behind the stage. The sound was good, better than I expected to be honest! I took no pictures because I was too busy not caring about those, oh well.

-Ensorcelor were the first to start after some delay. The show was supposed to start at 20:00 but it started near 21:30. Anyway, they delivered. I was there mainly for them because I've seen the two other bands before and they're even better than on record. Their torturous approach was very enjoyable, we were served by a huge amount of drone feedback at first until their blend of black metal vocals, slow sludge/doom riffs and icy atmosphere mesmerized the crowd. I believe they played their new split with Moloch but I'm not quite sure. The set was entrancing and I have no idea how long it was, perhaps 30 minutes or so. Great band. I'll see them as an headliner in late September with Verglas! Jonah Campbell's vocals are out of this world, he's such a powerful vocalist, emotional and talented. He's also excellent in the melodic death/black metal band To the Cliffs (Free download of their demo here!)

The new Ensorcelor track here, 20 minutes of goodness: http://ensorcelor.bandcamp.com/track/fl ... ited-space

-Xothogua were next, I knew somewhat what to expect as I've seen them before (opener for The Gates of Slumber and Hammers of Misfortune, great show). They played their newly released tape (that I got with a nice patch) and it was really enjoyable. Subtle and heavy riffs , a thunderous bass and a nice tight and hard drummer make the band a cohesive unit. From atmospheric doom/sludge to faster groove stoner metal almost recalling mid era Cathedral (the last 4 or5 minutes from their set was like that and it was my favorite moment). The vocals of Devo were screamed while Ari (the bassist) mixed cleans (not quite audible) with some harsh vox. I wish they were more in your face but the sound got better near the end of the set. The experience is a bit more complete on their recording

You can see that there's a wide range of influences in the band just by the looks of its members, it goes from crusty hardcore to death metal shirts. Very promising band indeed!

Get a digital download of “you wont reach shore” for free here: http://xothoguadoom.bandcamp.com/

-Show of Bedlam were last, the crowd was a bit sparser than for the first two time since it was getting late (or perhaps some other reasons, don't know). I like their music but I much prefer the 2 other bands. While they're pretty interesting, they mix doom metal with sludge, post hardcore and some experimental noise, their sound gets a bit samey after a while. I had enough of their 35 to 40 minutes set. They have an interesting jazzy drummer and Xothogua's bassist is also in the lineup. Their main weapon is Paulina Richards' (I don't think you can find a more beautiful and charistmatic singer in the scene) vocals. She's tortured and romantic at the same time and it's always surprising to hear her delivery since it doesn't fit her cute look. Her stage antics are nice and it's always fun to see a band who's totally into their music. Their music has a nice dark overtone inspired by post/punk and gothic rock, it created an enjoyable spooky atmosphere and the Death Church is the perfect place for such a sound.

Check 'em out: http://showofbedlam.bandcamp.com/

Originally posted on my blog: http://metantoinemagicalrealm.blogspot. ... celor.html
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Evil_Johnny_666
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Joined: Wed Jun 06, 2007 8:54 pm
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Sun Aug 04, 2013 2:40 pm 
 

Seen Xothogua and Show of Bedlam last night in some bar's basement and it was pretty great! I particularly liked Xothogua, long evolving songs with a very nice... otherworldly atmosphere. They played in circle facing each other, great performance and music.

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Metantoine
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Location: Montréal
PostPosted: Mon Aug 05, 2013 9:44 pm 
 

Sombres Forêts, Chasse-Galerie, Thantifaxath and Crépuscule @ Théatre Plaza, August 3rd 2013

Spoiler: show
Image

After a succesful show in Québec City last week, Sombres Forêts played their first show in Montréal in 5 years. The only difference between the two shows were Csejthe being replaced by Thantifixath. Unfortunately for me because I've seen the latter and I really wanted to see Csejthe, I consider their debut to be one of the best recent black metal releases but since they opened for Nargaroth/Mgla in March and Absu in April, they weren't booked for this show and it's understandable, I should only go to more shows! Anyway, the weather was grey, perfect for a night of dark emotions. The Théatre Plaza wasn't as packed as the last Messe des Morts (the same promoter, Sepulchral) but around 300 persons were present for the show.

Schedule:
- Doors : 19:30
- Crépuscule : 19:55 - 20:30
- Thantifaxath : 20:45 - 21:25
- Chasse-Galerie : 21:40 - 22:25
- Sombres Forêts : 22:40 - 0:00

Crépuscule opened the show with their blend of almost instrumental black metal with post black and even shoegaze elements. It's a project of Bardunor of the aforementioned Csejthe and it's quite different from his main band and also not as good as many parts are disjointed. The transitions between the songs weren't as good as on their very good debut album "Néant" released in 2011. I enjoyed their set as I knew what to expect, the musicians were pretty good and the bassist was nice, very audible with her clean picking. It was their second show ever and it showed but they were still pretty interesting. Promising band, although the songwriting needs some work and the vocal department needs some improvement. Compared to the 2 other openers, they were a good fit for the headliner.
7.5/10

Thantifaxath from Toronto were next. I've seen them at the latest Messe des Morts and the set wasn't quite different. I thought their set was too long the last time and it was unfortunately once again the case here. I do like their sound but after 20 or 25 minutes, I'm starting to get a bit bored and they played for 40 minutes or so. Their sound can be described as orthodox black metal, it's fairly fast, cold and lifeless, hard hittin' and kind of simple. I think it's too redundant and samey though and better on record. Talking of studio recordings, the band will release their first full length this year on Dark Descent and I'm pretty sure it will be pretty good. They have a good atmosphere for a trio and their artistic approach is undeniably good (with their black hoods similar to Black Witchery) but their black metal doesn't work that much for me live.
7/10

Chasse-Galerie were the last opener of the night and frankly, they were not quite needed. While they don't do anything wrong, I can't really get behind their sound at all. I think they're pretty generic patriotic Québécois black metal without the atmospheric feel of Forteresse or Brume d'Automne or the primal rage of Neige Éternelle's first demo. Their riffs are ok and their vocals are decent but it gets pretty monotonous after a while, their music isn't varied enough. I'm not talking about adding keyboards or anything like that, but more about tempo changes. Still, nothing offensive but it's a bit mundane compared to what was next.
6/10

Sombres Forêts were of course the band everyone wanted to see. Their 80 minutes set was truly out of this world. They had this nautical & romantic look with their small masks, pirate bandanas and Annatar had this awesome trench coat. The leader and the sole "real" member of the band was really charismatic. He was alternating guitars, keyboards and electric cello and obviously, the vocals. The band had 3 guitars and it really helped to recreate the very rich atmosphere of the new record "La mort du soleil" in a live environment. Helped by both Gris members live, it was magical as they truly know how to compose and play a very opulent sort of atmospheric black metal with ambient soundscapes. The peak of their set was when Annatar reached his keyboard and played "La Disparition" and 2 other tracks if I'm not mistaking. I believe their last album truly established Sombres Forêts as the leading force of QCBM alongside Gris and Forteresse and it's as good or even better live. A complete success.

I need to rant a little though, people need to fucking shut up during the calm and soothing moments of a a band. I don't mean like exciting screams (ok, it's unnecessary but it can be tolerated) but more about loud people who are talking about their week ends and not paying attention to the band. Go outside or wait 5 fucking minutes until the beautiful calm moments (Satan knows Sombres Forêts has many of them) are over. Pay some respect to the crowd and to the band, please. Thank you!

True emotions, truly great music, an awesome way to conclude a great night of black metal. It was an experience not to be missed by the local fans.
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talvikki77
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Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:20 pm
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 10:19 am 
 

Sombres Forêts has been on my list to check out for a while, and your review just made me bump them up to the top! They sound pretty amazing. Electric cello played live? That is pretty cool that he did it live rather than piping it in.
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Alsandair
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 08, 2013 2:36 am 
 

Went to see Exhumed the other night in Raleigh, NC. It was my third time seeing them I believe, the first with them as headliners. I got there in time to catch Ramming Speed perform some punky speed party metal concoction. Not something I would listen to in my free time, but it was enjoyable enough. They played with gusto even though it was modest turnout (being Monday night). My friend and I drank a beer or two during the set and were well prepped for Exhumed. Despite a big lineup shift since the last tour, they again played a very well executed, tight, brutal, rocking set.

I'm not sure if it's because of the sound at the venue or the nature of this music live, but the faster more complex riffs are a bit hard to hear/distinguish, they become muddied up/drowned out by their own volume. It wasn't that bad, though, the sound was pretty good over all. They played a good selection of songs from their entire career, including some tracks from the demos that I wasn't familiar with. I actually enjoyed the cover of 'Drop Dead' by Siege. The lead guitarist he hired this time around was quite impressive, I enjoyed his solo/passing out and being revived with beer routine. They also had a crazy man run around with a chainsaw for some added theatrics, as they have done in the past. Overall it was a good time, Exhumed have impressed me lately both on record and live.

Edit: This was at the Maywood in Raleigh (formerly the Volume 11 Tavern), so here's to hoping they can survive and bring some decent metal to this wasteland. If you're in the triangle area here in NC, come out to the shows here and show some support! Absu coming up in a week or two.

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sparklewhooves1
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Joined: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:44 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 12:31 pm 
 

went to see Brutal Truth at the last OEF....went alright i guess but the biggest problem was the terrible crowd. No fault of the band of course but of course the idiots at OEF tend to forget the difference between a mosh pit and a riot. don't get me wrong i love moshing as much as the next guy but i mean come on it was terrible.

Other than that, last days of humanity played as well as nasum and they all did well.


Brutal Truth

10\10

Nasum
9\10

LDOH
8\10
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true_death
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Joined: Thu Sep 26, 2013 6:47 pm
Posts: 2390
PostPosted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:17 pm 
 

I saw Morbid Angel a few nights ago at the Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, NC here were the opening bands:

A Vision Grotesque - 2/10 - A very boring melodic death/groove metal kind of band, with some metalcore here and there. Drummer sucked, singer was generic as hell, and the emo lead guitarist (while good) had ridiculous stage presence. Halfway through the set, the fatass bassist took off his shirt and the singer started bitching about how nobody liked them. I think they are the house band at this place, which explains how they got on such a killer show.

VadimVon - 8/10 - A black/death metal trio from South Carolina. They were a very impressive band, great sound, great stage presence, and an overall very powerful performance (the added keyboard effects were awesome!). The crowd really dug them, for an opening band they were great! I bought their CD and a shirt, and later found out that they are actually the opening band on this tour, which makes me think Trey Azagthoth might be a fan of them (he is thanked on the back insert of their CD, so who knows)

Morbid Angel - 100/10 - The greatest concert I have ever been to. The band opened the show with "Rapture", and at that very second the entire area erupted into a massive moshpit. The energy was astounding and breathtaking. Each and every song the band played was done with just as much energy and power as the last. After finishing the "Covenant" album, they played "one song from every album", and thus burst right into "Immortal Rites", and my buddies and I linked arms and headbanged for practically the whole song! Next was "Where the Slime Live", and seeing this song live was a true experience indeed. Following this, the band dipped into "Existo Vulgore". I enjoyed the performance, but this was clearly the weakest song, not due to it's quality, but due to the fact that most of the audience stopped headbanging and rather "bobbed their heads",as if being caught listening to this song is a cardinal sin, or something! Fuck that, I chanted along, and it fucking ruled. After that, the band jumped into "Bil-Ur-Sag", which sounded great, but I was completely floored when the band followed it up with "Ageless, Still I Am". Hearing that song performed by David Vincent was a dream come true. Next up was "Curse the Flesh". This song sounded absolutely amazing live, due to the fact that it's my favorite song from Heretic. I could kind of tell that most of the audience didn't get it (some people were even angry that they were acknowledging the Steve Tucker-era at all), but seeing it live really changed my perspective on the song. Finally, the band closed with my favorite Morbid Angel song, "FALL FROM (fucking) GRACE!!!!". The very fact that I saw the main riff to this song played live and headbanged to it is memorable enough, but this was genuinely the strongest song of the whole set. What a way to close!! As far as individual musicians are concerned: Trey was spot-on, seeing him nail these solos I had spent so much time blasting on my CD player was amazing. David's voice was great, but he did screw up a few lines very slightly. His bass playing was very good, but he did not do as good a job on the Tucker songs (had to mold some of the patterns so he could more easily growl them). Thor was relatively forgettable, it annoyed me that he did not pull his hair down for the set, and rather let (what remains of) his hair hang down beside him while he bobs his head along. Quite frankly, his soloing was decent, but he ruined Rutan's solo in "Ageless, Still I Am". I hated Tim's drumming on "Illud", and always compared his drumming to an iPod hooked up to speakers while scrolling, but he actually did a great job, definitely one of the biggest surprises. He was kind of a dick, though. Some guy tried to get him to sign his copy of Heretic and he responded by saying "Oh, you know I didn't play on that album, right?" As if to say, "Oh, that's before I joined, so it was not the real Morbid Angel" :lol:.

I met Trey after the show, and he is altogether one of the nicest musicians I have ever met. I had a long conversation with him about occultism, the Necronomicon (which he signed for me!), philosophy, "Ageless, Still I Am", and Nocturnus. To bear witness to one of his famous "philosophical ramblings" was amazing enough, but to have one directed at me still seems unreal. Also, some asshole was talking about guitars to Trey, and Trey said "Yeah, I played that guitar back when we had Steve Tucker!" and the asshole was like "No, that's not the real Morbid Angel!", and Trey got really pissed and just said "Don't say that, man". Immediately after that, he got very excited when I thanked him for bringing back the old Steve Tucker songs, :lol:.

1. Rapture
2. Pain Divine
3. World of Shit
4. Vengeance is Mine
5. The Lions Den
6. Blood on my Hands
7. Angel of Disease
8. Sworn to the Black
9. Nar Mattaru (interlude)
10. God of Emptiness

Set 2:
1. Immortal Rites
2. Where the Slime Live
3. Existo-Vulgore
4. Bil-Ur-Sag
5. Ageless, Still I Am (!!!)
6. Curse the Flesh (!!!!!!!!)
7. Fall From Grace

I made away with a signed Necronomicon, a Morbid Angel shirt, a VadimVon shirt and CD, the new Covenant vinyl, and the memory that I actually met the Jimmy Hendrix of death metal. Altogether, the absolute greatest show I have ever been to, and I have seen Rush!
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Jimmy Calhoun
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Dec 04, 2013 10:29 pm
Posts: 620
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Dec 17, 2013 11:38 pm 
 

Church of Misery @ The Metro Opera House, Oakland, CA, 11/27/13:

I missed the first of the two openers - can't even remember the name right now - but the second was local dudes Saviours, whom I knew from their rather excellent 2008 release 'Into Abaddon' (probably one of my best "blind buys" ever) and who plain and simply fucking rocked. Nothing but solid, meat-and-potatoes heavy metal, no special genre tags needed. They won't blow you away with technicality, but their cohesiveness as a live unit is impressive in itself.

And then the headliners, Church of Misery, all the way from Nippon. When I say they're the third heaviest band I've seen this year, that's only thanks to Noothgrush and Acid King - NG was like drowning in a tar pit, AK nearly drove me out of the small S.F. club they were playing because it was so fucking loud. I admit to not being very familiar with CoM's catalog post-'Master of Brutality,' so I can't give you a setlist, but I can tell you I had a huge grin on my face for nearly the entire 55-minute set - to say nothing of how much headbanging and horns-throwing I did. What's kind of amazing is that they only played (by my count) 7 songs, with only a few riffs each, and yet I was never bored for an instant. These guys can fucking GROOVE like few other metal bands on Earth, Acid King perhaps being one, and of course the original Sabbath line-up.

No complaints whatsoever. Go see CoM if you can, seriously!

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HeWhoIsInTheWater
Metal newbie

Joined: Sun Oct 03, 2010 9:47 pm
Posts: 251
PostPosted: Sun Jan 12, 2014 10:49 pm 
 

1/10/2014 @ Trick Shots Billiards Club in Clifton Park, NY, USA.
https://www.facebook.com/events/267222720101633/
It was a local metal show with small bands, but it was overall a good time. Pretty laid back crowd with good conversation and no troublemakers. The bands were very personable and friendly which is always fun at a local show.

Straight Through Sanity
Absolutely tore it up. Played great old school speed/thrash metal, with little specks of power and progressive metal. Not much in the way of stage presence, but they were all skilled musicians so it was fun to watch. The setlist was varied and contained plenty of shredding, which never gets old. Their song Skeletal Remains was the highlight of the night though, with chilling wailing clean vocals on the chorus. I highly recommend checking them out.

Autumn's Shroud
It was their singer's last show, and he certainly went out with a bang. He is quite acrobatic and changed vocal styles very quickly between cleans, growls, and shrieks. The band had a great energy, with the guitarists, bassist, and drummer having a grand time on stage. The keyboards were a nice change of pace, but those and the female vocals were buried in the mix, which was disappointing. There were plenty of heavy riffs but also one or two sing along moments that were good to involve the crowd but avoid too much cheesiness. I'm going to enjoy listening to their music with a close ear, as they were clearly intricate and had some great guitar harmonies and leads. I would go see them again.

Sworn to Vengeance
The played pretty straightforward deathcore, with simple chugs and uninspired vocals. Some of the breakdowns were good and got me boring, but it was mostly forgettable with little to no stage presence from most bands members. The bassist was so crazy and excited to be there that it was quite infectious, and his energy really fueled the whole operation. I was pumped to hear each new riff and beat due to his energy, but he could not save the blandness.

Breathe the Skyline
It's good to see kids making music, even if it's crabcore. Crabcore with some boring breakdowns. And no choreographed stage moves. Points to the one vocalist for admitting that one of their songs was the 'Fuck You Daddy' lyrics song. The other vocalist brought a lot of energy, even inviting all of us in the front row to take a seat on the bar floor and gather around him for story time(like in preschool), during which he sang the band's one love song. That was a good moment that definitely stuck out about the band. I think they have a lot of potential, and they seem to have a devout following.

I enjoyed most of the bands, and everybody had some good songs that the crowd was able to get into. It was a pretty diverse bill, which did not quite work out to its full potential for each band or the others, as the crowd was vastly different during each set. I still enjoy going to Trick Shots, and Joel Miller of Joelgernaut puts together some sick shows.
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