Come late April of 2015, the NYDM Spring Bash will be celebrating its 5th anniversary, once again situated in Cudahy, Wisconsin and featuring names like; Whiplash, Deceased, Novembers Doom, Bongzilla, Hellwitch and Medieval Steel.
Originally set-up by Wisconsin NYDM chapter president, Randy Kastner, Spring Bash is an annual 2-3 day heavy metal fest, which has always been in Cudahy, Wisconsin (except Spring Bash II) at The Metal Grill (formerly The Blue Pig & Vnucks). NYDM itself stands for New York Death Militia and was founded years ago by Mortician bassist/growler, Will Rahmer. I don't know all the details about the club, but I do know that it has stretched far out of New York to various other states and has members all over the United States now.
Members generally wear vests with patches related to the club, although there's certain tasks that must be completed before acceptance into the club, and its not just a matter of paying some fee either. I believe setting up gigs and attending gigs out of the persons state is a key part of it before one receives their patches, but anyone can feel free to correct me on this. At any rate, its a club for metal fanatics, complete with exclusive club meetings, gigs, parties, etc, etc. However, enough about that.
Naturally the fest does feature some local Wisconsinite bands, such as; Sexual Atrocities, Burning Sons, Memories Wither and Strix Nebulosa, but the main focus is on out of state bands, but unfortunately no international bands are making their way over here (yet).
The fest itself began as a single day event, but has more recently stretched to a three day affair, and in the past years some notable names like, Morbid Saint, Dr Shrinker, Ares Kingdom, Internal Bleeding, Master, Cianide and Possessed have graced the stage. This year Thursday has Anger as Art headlining, followed by Whiplash on Friday and Deceased on Saturday. A few other notables are, Embalmer, Hellwitch, Novembers Doom and Manticore.
Anger as Art is a new name to me, but it looks they've been at it since 2004 and have since released four albums during that time frame. They play a familiar style of old school sounding thrash metal boasting a line-up of players that have a history within the speed/thrash genre, but most notable three of the four members come from the band, Abattoir.
Whiplash has been together in various forms since '84 and from what I can tell they've had three periods of creation - mid to late 80's, late 90's and 2009 on wards. Nowadays the only classic member is, Tony Portaro, whom handles guitar and vocals, but I suppose regardless of their line-up many songs from their 80's material - Power and Pain & Ticket to Mayhem will be featured. Even though I've literally known the bands name for years I'm sitting here for the first time ever listening to them and enjoying this old school thrash metal.
Finally, Deceased from Arlington, Virginia close out Saturday night. I haven't seen Deceased in years and honestly I didn't even realize they were still around, but a quick visit to metal archives revealed that they've not only been around, but have had quite a few releases in the past ten years. Personally I remember seeing them at Milwaukee Metalfest a few times back in the day and of course always enjoying their album, Fearless Undead Machines. These horror/gore thrashers seem relentless though, even after being around for just about thirty years now.
Pricing for the fest is reasonable and flexible, too. A Thursday pass is $20, while a Friday or Saturday pass is $25. Alternatively 2 day passes are $50 and a 3 day pass is $70. However, for more details on that plus to buy your tickets follow this link right HERE
The action starts on Thursday at April 23rd at 5PM and picks up the action on Friday and Saturday for a full weekend of heavy metal, boozing and almost certainly a sore next from all the thrashing. Sunday will surely be a day of rest. The Metal Grill is located in Cudahy, Wisconsin at 5036 S Packard Avenue.
Follow the event on FACEBOOK for up to date news as the event draws near.
Since I drank too much and effectively ruined most of the memories I could have taken away from this local gig I figure I'll keep this one short and to the point just to give the fine bands that played a little extra push.
The Cold Beyond:
TCB are no strangers around this 'zine o' mine, but if the name doesn't immediately stand out than just wade through some of my older reports on their albums and gigs as well as an interview. The band debuted two newly wrote songs during this short opening set and although I'd already watched the guys play them at their rehearsal place the previous weekend it seemed best to catch them onstage where it really counts. With both stretching over the ten minute marker these new cuts are among the longest in their arsenal. A late start and some technical issues did plague the band, but I was none the less impressed with their three songs. Take a listen to the song below, because its by far the bands most bleak and experimental song to date while still staying true to their core sound.
Festerfuck:
These lads have been playing out for a few years now and have built up a reputation as being one of or maybe the best grindcore band from these parts. Personally, I'm not into the grind thing at all, (well... really old shit from the 80's is alright) but after already putting back a few beers I found myself enjoying some Festerfuck. Its certainly nothing I'd listen to on CD, even though there's probably some humor and what not involved there, but at least live they were fun.
Nuclear Hellfrost:
After more drinks and various short conversations with peoples, it was time for Nuclear Hellfrost. Featuring some of the guys from Nak'ay, NH plays a type of grindy blackthrash that was nothing short of being entirely too rad. The bands set was short, but I seem to remember being pushed around a bit, which probably means others were enjoying what they do too. You should too.
In Defence:
From Minnesota, In Defence played Milwaukee a few months ago and were met with a favorable response (or so I'm told). In any case, these guys bashed out a energetic and quite fun set of crossover style thrash, which resulted in quite a bit of headbanging and pushing around the small venue. The singer was also rather amusing in-between songs. I think their set ended slightly early because the guitarist got caught up in the moshing and got hurt or because we were getting too violent, beyond that much, I can't tell you because alcohol had already taken control. Good bands and good people made for good times and a good night.
Last night I headed down to the Borg Ward to catch, 'The Ceremony of Black Illumination,' which made for a night of (mostly) black metal, and fantastic black metal at that! Most of the bands featured last night have been discussed recently around here and I realize some of the foreign readers might not care much about a local gig in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but since it turned out to be quite an enthralling and utterly enjoyable night I simply had to do my usual post-gig report. However, I'll keep it brief.
[Note: A band by the name of Burning Bethlehem from Minnesota was scheduled to play, but could not attend. Regrettable too, since from what I heard they definitely sounded good.]
Satan's Dealer:
Two-piece, Satan's Dealer was up first. My friends and I arrived for the bands last two songs, opting to spend our earlier time doing our usual pre-gig drinking.
At any rate, Satan's Dealer was the oddball of this evening playing some sort of sludgy doom metal. The drummer I've recently seen play in two other bands, Asatta, and a punk-ish band last month who opened for an Iron Maiden tribute band. Even the guitarist/vocalist seemed familiar to me, but I'm getting off task. From the two songs I witnessed these guys sounded fairly decent, in fact if I'd known their songs better I'd probably started to headbang, and the same could be said for one of my friends who would have likely started a mosh pit. For just two musicians they sounded tight and well rehearsed and I'd definitely hope to see them again or hear some studio songs. I wish I could say more or show a video, but when I arrived I was socializing with friends.
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The Cold Beyond:
Yes, its true that I've talked a lot about this band recently through an interview and both a gig and EP review, but that's just more of a reason for you to take notice of this admirable two-piece black metal band. This being the second time I've seen them I've really come to the understanding that they are even more powerful live, which to me seems like an odd and rare thing for black metal music, but that's what I've felt on these past two occasions. Largely the band sounds more turbulent, yet still visceral in their actions, plus seeing them stalk around in the gloomy blue shadows slathered in corpsepaint adds a strong visual presence that many bands lack.
The band played the same four songs from their recent EP, 'Forever Burning,' and just like last time everything felt a 100% sincere and dedicated while actually lifting the songs to greater heights through their ardent and often times wild playing. I mean, honestly, how often is that you hear a two piece band inciting audience members to shout phrases like, "Holy fuckkkkkkkkk," in an almost non-believing awed manner after they've just plowed through a tremendous song? Not often, I'd guess. It was also more enjoyable for me on a personal level since I've gotten to know the songs well enough to the point where I could shout out lyrics and headbang to the speedier parts of their music. In any case, another great performance!
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FIN:
Although I've only recently heard it, the debut demo from this Chicago, Illinois band made quite an impression on me. Since 'Fated by Will & Iron's' late '11 release, this two-piece has expanded to four with one member focusing entirely on vocals while another takes up bass duties. FIN is interesting visually since they have a militaristic image to go with their war themed music and even have some stage props to further the thematic.
Musically the band has a violently combative black metal sound that's raw and cold in its execution with mostly speedier parts, though some slower sections, melodic characteristics and totally catchy headbangable parts can be heard. The band members brought a lot of energy as they battled through a number of songs, the vocalist unleashed hell through his voice and although I didn't see it coming some audience members got passionately crazy too.
I was quite pleased with the song selection, playing my two favorites from the demo, 'Guilty of War Crimes' & 'Upon Our Enemies' Ruin,' as well as at least one new song, which sounded quite exciting.
I spoke with FIN's guitarist and drummer, and was told a new demo is about to be recorded, which definitely has me curious and eager to hear their next creation. You should be too!
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Sacrificial Massacre:
Although both members are in their early twenties, I think Sacrificial Massacre could be seen as a band that sort of brought black metal back to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Formed two years ago, although originally in '08 under the name, Mermeroth, Sac Mass (as they go by) often play live, perhaps getting under peoples skin enough to the point where they inspired others to pick up their instruments and write and even push already existing bands further. Point being, there's a black metal scene and just a metal scene in general in Wisconsin again, and believe me that's a feeling of awesomeness I can't even begin to describe.
Since '10, Sac Mass has released two demos with their full-length album looming on the horizon, but before that is released I can once again confirm that these two black possessed metalers delivered another great performance. These two play utterly raw, chaotic and orthodox black metal and generally you don't expect a two-piece to sound so tight and cohesive, but that is exactly the case with these guys. Much like the previous bands they raged amongst the shadowy blueness of The Borg Ward, slathered in corpsepaint and blood, they summoned ancient highly atmospheric black metal evilness like few can or dare to do so.
As no fault of the band, the only problem during their set was that some people started unnecessarily pushing and even blindsiding me with their shoulder while I crouched down to get a photo. That aside, it was a triumphant night of black metal here at The Borg Ward - I look forward to the next assault!
My chosen line of work dictates me to not have much of a social life and as such when a good gig comes around I try my best to attend. I don't get to see them all, but that's the life of a nocturnal shifter, I suppose. This however happened to be a gig I was not just interested in from the start, but by purely miraculous circumstances I had the night off, which meant I was not just able to attend, but to make the best of it. With ancient cult 80's thrashers, Morbid Saint, making their comeback in recent years I was hoping I'd be able to see them eventually and this happened to be their first performance in Milwaukee in about eighteen years. Of course, it must be understood that the band broke up nearly two decades ago, but the power of metal compelled them and the wheels of revival were put in motion in '10 and in the past few months the band continued their live activities.
Joining Morbid Saint for this gig was Cannabinol Synapse, Subjugation, Atrum Inritus and Architects of the Aftermath. My friends and I arrived just in time to miss Cannabinol Synapse though, which is regrettable, because I'm told its 70's style soundtrack music and if its anything like Goblin or Fabio Frizzi I probably would have had a moment, but that will have to wait for another time.
Subjugation:
Therefore, the first band I witnessed was local Milwaukee black metal act, Subjugation. This four piece band has been around a few years now and are fronted by, Jason, a well known fella from these parts whose known for his work in a few bands as well as being a promoter of many cool gigs. The band also features one half of Sacrificial Massacre, namely their drummer, Joe, though here he handles all guitar duties. I'm not sure about the bassist and drummer, though its entirely possible that they are involved in other bands too.
Since this was both my first time seeing and hearing Subjugation (they have no demos or alums yet) I didn't really know what to expect, but I was pleasantly blown away by their set. The band played a sort of black metal that's raw, chaotic and speedy in nature with some minor punkier chords and harshly screamed vocals. The band is by no means the most showy black metal act I've seen live, opting to not wear any paint or spikes, but they brought a good measure of rage and anger to the stage that pretty much instantly connected with me. As I said earlier the band doesn't have any material out just yet, but I hope that changes soon as I'd like to see what they sound like in the studio.
The band only played about six songs, but it seemed like plenty of time to get their message across - whatever that may be. Satan? No, probably not, but that would change by the time next band was up.
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Atrum Inritus:
Hailing from Minneapolis, Minnesota, this five piece band formed back in 2010 and just a little over a year ago released their debut, 'Prognatus In Vorago.' I often am instantly a harsh critic of all things Latin, because it just seems cliché through lyrics, album titles, band names and imagery, but fortunately this was a case of it feeling quite appropriate, both through their occult imagery and twisted dark sound (go read my Funeral Mist review for my thoughts on Latin). And not to forget simply because after finishing I pretty much just stared almost speechless in owe of what I'd just witnessed. Google translate tells me that Atrum Inritus means, 'dark void,' and if that isn't the perfect way to describe their music than I don't know what is.
Clad in ceremonial robes, the stage lights were quenched and candles were set ablaze as incense filled the room and the ritual began with a cold wave of frigid darkness emitting and cloaking Frank's Power Plant. Atrum Inritus play a sort of boreal dissonant black ambiental metal somewhat comparable to the likes of Paysage d'Hiver, Blut Aus Nord and Xasthur (I guess, comparisons are hard to make), though (I suspect) with lyrics centered around Satanism and occult practices. Through the faint candlelight, frontwoman, Vindicaré (also keyboardist) appeared as a specter within the darkness, croaking and howling in a fiendish and serpentine manner I can't say I've ever heard a female perform previously. Alongside her terrifying shrieks and haunting synth chords, two guitarists played slow bleak hypnotic riffs, occasionally augmented with a little speed, while the bassist and drummer steadily followed. Quite a stunning and gripping performance. Other black metal bands should be jealous. Hope they took notes.
I don't suppose a lot of the crowd 'got it,' but then you'll have to consider that fact that a good portion of the crowd were thrashers. I turned to my friends to hear one of them say, "That was the worst thing I've ever heard in my entire life," but then again they don't listen to black metal either. Nevertheless, Atrum Inritus made quite an impression on me and I was quite happy to find that they had their debut album for sale, which I picked up and can also report is excellent, though I'll get to reviewing that later. The dark void is open.
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Architects of the Aftermath:
Local thrashers, Architects of the Aftermath were up next and with the lights back on and spirits and alcohol levels higher for most folks, these guys were in fine shape and delivered another great performance. AotA play fairly standard hard hitting energetic old school thrash, and although its hardly anything new, the members happen to be quite gifted musicians, often slamming out many catchy and killer riffs as well as a good face melting solo per song. The band (I believe) played all of their one and only self-titled album from a few years ago, as well as a Hammered cover song, which is a band rhythm guitarist Mike played in before the AotA days. This being the third time I've seen them it was more of the usual, but enjoyable all the same. My alcoholic levels were not as high as usual, but it was still fun being one of about five people moshing and causing trouble while they thrashed around onstage. But, come on guys, we need a new album!
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Morbid Saint:
Not a lot of younger fans will understand their importance, but Morbid Saint is one Wisconsin's oldest and appreciated bands, having formed as early as 1986, they helped shaped the Milwaukee metal scene in those days, which lead to the first and legendary Milwaukee Metalfest (many more would follow too). In 1988 the band released their one and only album, 'Spectrum of Death,' which was a high octane thrash classic comparable to Possessed in style, though it was released on the tiny Mexican label, Avanzada Metalica, and as such was overlooked and forgotten by most. Morbid Saint would go on to release the 'Destruction System' demo in '92, but would crumble by '94.
I personally first became aware of the band a few years ago when the reunion began to take shape and was quite moved by the album, especially since it was created in my home state. Unfortunately, the album was very much out of print and I've had to rely on mp3's or youtube videos to please my hunger, though just recently the band self-released a three disc set called, 'Thrashaholic,' though I still haven't yet got my hands on a copy...
So, this was Morbid Saint's first gig in Milwaukee in quite a long time, unfortunately problems seemed to exist from the get go. For one thing they were down a guitarist, which instantly altered the sound of the songs since they were all wrote with two guitars in mind, though I'm sure Jay Visser did the best he could to recreate the songs with just one ax. That aside, problems continued through the bass guitar either being overly loud (at least from where I was stationed) and drowning out the guitar or it was cutting in and out during their set. Nevertheless, the band forged onward.
What can I say though, for a bunch of guys in their early to mid-40's they really knew how to deliver. I didn't get as crazy as my buddy or some surrounding people were getting, but it was entertaining watching them and the passion that ripped out of them as Morbid Saint thrashed 'til death. The band played a number of songs from their two notable releases, including, 'Lock Up Your Children,' 'Beyond the Gates of Hell,' 'Sign of the Times' and newer songs, 'Death Before Dawn' and 'Thrashaholic.' Despite the audio problems it was quite enjoyable and at least by the last couple of songs I finally got into it a bit more and joined the enraged fans upfront.
A lot of people may see the bands reunion as nothing more than a mid-life dazzle for the members, citing them as nothing more than hasbeens, but since they played honestly and tore it up you wont see any complaints from me. Also, simply because it helps reunite the scene around here that seemed to totally crumble when Metalfest fell nearly a decade ago. Likewise, I foresee our little scene around here growing and its nice to be a part of something special like that.
Its my hope that I can catch the band again, though hopefully with two guitarists and minus any audio issues. Keep on going guys!
This is going to be a bit of a shorter live review since I have a slight hang over and will eventually have to go by the parents for turkey feasting this afternoon, thus going back to bed seems favorable at the moment. However, since all three bands that played were quite good it seemed best to give them a little shout out, even though they are just unsigned bands from my neck o' the woods here in Wisconsin.
Firstly, the gig was held at Frank's Power Plant, which is a long running and rather cool bar in Bay View, Wisconsin that has a lot of themed nights, most notably a Monday metal night where some rad dudes bring their records and spin them for us boozers. Unfortunately, I very uncooly almost always work Monday nights and miss out on all the fun, but hopefully I can remedy that situation soon. Anyway, Frank's isn't the biggest bar in the area, nor is the stage or the sound, but it certainly works and its generally a pleasure attending gigs here. In fact, I'll be back there on Saturday for another massive gig.
Gravedirt:
Up first was three piece band, Gravedirt, which at least for this show featured Mike from Architects of the Aftermath as guitarist. These guys play absolutely soul crushingly heavy doom with both slow dirge parts that have tons of feedback and droning qualities as well occasionally the music shifts to more groovy and catchy territories. A superb set! I'm not sure if Gravedirt has any recordings available just yet as I believe they are a relatively new band, but they are certainly on their way to something great. As a side note, I was told the band is seeking a full-time guitarist so if anyone from around here is interested definitely get in contact.
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Asatta: Five piece band, Asatta, brought more heavy doom with a bit of sludginess to the crowd. The singer, had a lot of effects placed on his voice during the cleaner sung parts, which was a bit weird, though he also did some occasional screams to toss it up a bit. The band also had a synth player, though her input seemed to be minimal and only audible at certain points, but I have a feeling it would sound interesting on a studio recording amongst such rumbling sloth-ish heaviness. Generally enjoyable, though sometimes bands that play so slow can lull you a bit, especially during longer sets. To my knowledge, Asatta, only has a four track self-titled album available, which I'll have to listen to later on.
Mooncurse: My friend had warned me of Moon Curse's awesomeness before this show, and man was he ever spot on. This three piece band played mostly straight forward traditional doom metal that was both heavy and crushing, but also rifftastic and headbangable in its delivery. Moon Curse recalled the best parts of Saint Vitus, Pentagram and Black Sabbath in one glorious and highly entertaining package, though their album also features a Hammond organ, which gives it a bit of a psychedelic vibe, though that wasn't heard during this set. Generally though if you like heavy doom with superb musicianship, great vocals and tons of fun than you'll want to listen to these two guys and one gal. Check 'em OUT!
Saturday the 27th of 2012 was officially chalked down as the return of Milwaukee, Wisconsin's first and finest black metal band, namely, The Cold Beyond. This gathering was held at The Borg Ward, which is a small DIY venue/rehearsal spot with an absolute underground spirit forged behind it, which is obviously ideal for black metal music. This event would also mark the bands first material in nine years through the 'Forever Burning' EP release, which I'll surely be reviewing in the coming weeks.
The band also had t-shirts available, though I ended up spending all of my extra loot at Dread Records, who had set up shop within the Borg for the evening. Personally I picked up Emetic Records re-release of Beherit's, 'The Oath of Black Blood' on Picture LP format (ltd 500 copies) and totally out of print, as well as Exordium's, 'In Wrath Principle,' and all for just $30 as well. So, if you're looking for some great releases for a fair price than definitely stop over at their site.
Anyway, getting back to the main point of this review. The event featured M. Jurek, Kathogah, The Cold Beyond, Sacrificial Massacre and Festerfuck VS Milorganaut. I arrived at the venue slightly late, because eating dinner and finishing my viewing of the movie, 'The People Under the Stairs' seemed more important, and as such I missed M.Jurek, which is one of the members of black metal band, Owlscry, doing ambient noise music. I should also point out that I missed the grind-off between grindcore bands, Festerfuck & Milorganaut, mainly because I generally loathe grind and also because by the time Sacrificial Massacre finished (a little after 11 PM) I was sort of burned out from only sleeping a few hours after work Friday night/morning (I do the grave shift thing, folks).
Kathogah:
As a result of my lateness the first band I caught was Kathogah, which is Jon Engman's solo sludge metal project. Jon's known for his work in Foetopsy, Liturgy, Brodequin, Screaming Afterbirth and his industrial/noise project, Custodian, and he was even a member of The Cold Beyond back in the late 90's as well. You might ask yourself how does one perform as a one-man sludge band? Well, that answer is sort of hard to explain, but all I know is that Jon was sitting down playing a live drum machine with his hands and had his feet on pedals of some sort for the guitar and he was also singing too. Talk about multitasking. Curiously it all sounded quite good and had I been somewhat intoxicated I probably would have started head banging to his five untitled songs. It was definitely weird crowding around someone and watching them play sludge without any real instruments, but without a doubt interesting and enjoyable too. I'm not sure if Jon plans to keep performing this way or to eventually form a normal line-up, but at least this performance was fascinating.
The Cold Beyond:
Although I had assumed they were going to play last as the headlining act of the night, The Cold Beyond ended up playing third for reasons beyond my knowing. The band played a somewhat short set at just about forty minutes and four songs in total, which were also all taken from the new EP. The band opened with, '...And Then The Darkness Came,' which instantly seemed to spread a sense of frigidness and looming gloom throughout the venue, until the song gathered in its pace and Sithicus Ravenlord (guitarist/vocalist) began to violently scream into the microphone for the next several minutes. During the speedier moments of this song and the ones to follow it was absolutely impressive watching the bands onstage passion, especially Sithicus who delivered the vocals in such a malign and bloodthirsty manner as well during some moments his hands were quivering in a murderous sort of motion, which you'd just have to have seen to believe. Also drummer JM Sundown was certainly impressive behind the drum kit, never missing a beat and in some cases just absolutely pummeling the drums. Needless to say, the mans a beast. I also enjoyed the fact that his drums seemed to be quite loud and it just made their style of black metal all the more abrasive and destructive.
Despite the shortness of their set I was overly impressed with their performance and the new songs, as well I hope to be able to catch at least one of the upcoming gigs in November.
Sacrificial Massacre:
Sacrificial Massacre has been active since 2010 and this two piece band of Joseph Aborter of the Divine Bastard Son (drums) and Alejandro Consumer of Divine Flesh (vocals/guitars) have released two demos since and are often known to play gigs, although this was my first time catching them live due to the fact that I almost always work Friday's and weekends. The band plays a sort of minimalist raw orthodoxy black metal with mid-paced short songs that are generally no more than 2-3 minutes each. Just like The Cold Beyond, Sac Mass played under the ominous blue lights, nearly cloaked in darkness as they raged through several of their songs. The band brought a foreboding sentiment to the venue through Alejandro's grim riffs and malevolent snarls, as well Joseph would occasional scream out in-between songs, and although I'm not exactly sure what he was saying it felt like some sort of incantation being cast upon us. Likewise the band displayed a similar sense of passion and proficiency through their performance that you just don't always see from underground unsigned bands. To put it lightly though, I was impressed.
As I mentioned earlier I didn't stay for the final act due to a lack of interest and tiredness, but I still had an overly enjoyable evening and I truly can't wait to catch these bands again!
When I saw this show, this was the third leg of the tour featuring the same three bands. The formula, and success of the tour, was working so well that it was understandable they wanted to keep it going. It is a good thing they did, because based on previous reviews I was reading, everyone was enjoying the package. So, it was quite a shock to see this tour hitting Maine's largest city, Portland. What was unknown was how many people were actually going to show up. But to a pleasent surprise, the show was packed to the max, which was incredible, especially for a Wednesday night.
First band out of the gates was Death Angel, who stormed the stage and opened with "I Chose The Sky", which is off of their most recent album Relentless Retribution. Death Angel had the crowd in the palm of their hands instantly. The band then really whipped the crowd into a frenzy with the classic "Mistress Of Pain", which sent the place into either headbanging mode or slam dancing mode. It is just amazing that after 25 years The Ultra-Violence still has the same impact as it did then. The band did more songs from Relentless Retribution, which included the songs "Truce", "Claws In So Deep" and "Relentless Revolution". The songs were played very well and got the crowd going. The band did a short version of the classic title track, "The Ultra-Violence" before closing it out with "Thrown To The Wolves" from the less than stellar album The Art Of Dying, but actually sounded good live. The only complaint that people had was that the crowd favorites "Road Mutants", "Bored" and "Seemingly Endless Time" were excluded from their set, but understood that they were the opening band and didn't let them down.
Up next was Testament. The band came out and opened up their set with the beefy thrashy affair with "Rise Up", which so happens to be the opening track off their newly released album Dark Roots Of Earth. Everyone went nuts and was shouting along to the chorus, which was incredible I have to say. Testament then played two songs from the classic album The New Order with the title track and "The Preacher", which sounded so great and considering The New Order is one of my top favorite Testament albums, hearing these two songs back to back sent me into an ultimate headbanging fury as I like these two songs very much. Things were really off to a good start and much more came as the band returned to their latest album by playing "Native Blood" and "True American Hate", the latter of which had the crowd grooving in many ways and this song has become a crowd favorite since they started playing it live in addition to "Rise Up" that was played earlier. Testament then launched into "More Than Meets The Eye", which really came off as a more thrashier song than on the album, which of course is always great. When they played "Into The Pit", everyone went berzerk and we were all headbanging to the point where our heads might fall off and some circle pits were going crazy as well. The one lone song from Practice What You Preach was of course the title track as it is one of their most popular songs and that album more or less thrusted them into a bigger limelight, but it is a song that gets you grooving and that is a great thing. I think what came off as a big surprise was that "Over The Wall" was the one and only representitive of their classic debut album The Legacy. Usually at least three songs are always included, but given the time restraints, and the fact they had to play a few from the latest album, it is understandable. We were then treated to two songs from the album The Gathering. Yes, two songs back to back. "D.N.R. (Do Not Resuscitate)" and "3 Days In Darkness", which to me are the two best songs off the album and were very much enjoyed and Testament played them very well on this night. Testament closed out with "The Formation Of Damnation", which was a nice way to close out their set. Testament really fed off the energy of the crowd. I did notice that Eric was not his usual self at first but as it progressed he was more like himself. Maybe he was a little ill and had to pace himself, or just tired. But he still played very well.
Anthrax, who were the headliners of this tour, took the stage. After the instrumental "Worship" played, they tore into "Fight 'Em Til You Can't", which not only is a good song, but a really good way to open up their set with full force. Next up was the classic "Caught In A Mosh", which pleased everyone in the crowd to no end as the place erupted in headbanging and moshing frenzies, which this song is supposed to do and it is done well on this night. Ever since 1988, what Anthrax show would be complete if they didn't play the Trust cover "Antisocial"? None, right? Well, that was on display and naturally everyone went crazy for it like you would expect. It is still amazing after all these years that song feels more like an Anthrax song than a cover song. "Indians", and while it was played in fantastic fashion, also produced a very funny moment during the part where Scott yells the word wardance. After Scott yells the word, the music stops and Scott starts goofing on the crowd in front of him for standing around and then said everyone to headbang, mosh, or do what you have to do. It was pretty funny and got a good laugh. After another instrument from Worship Music ("Hymn 1"), we got treated to a double shot of full songs from that album. The first being "In The End", which is not a favorite track of mine from it, and most of the crowd didn't react strongly to it either. It was played fine, but kind of killed the momentum a little bit. But thankfully they picked it back up with "The Devil You Know", which got the crowd pumped back up again. Anthrax wen't way back in their catalog for the classic song, "Deathrider", which of course made us old schoolers from the 80s smile with such pleasure as we did back in the day. I was really glad to see "In My World" make the setlist as it is one of my big favorites from Persistence Of Time and a song I always have popped for live ever since the album was released. "Be All, End All", which to me is the ultimate song from State Of Euphoria, was met with a rabid response from the crowd. Anthrax delivered a high octane performance of "Efilnikufesin (N.F.L.)" and followed that up with the cover "Got The Time". The band closed it out with the classic song "I Am The Law", which was a great way to close out the show.
This was a hot show from start to finish. All three bands delivered great performances and the crowd really showed it back to them. The energy between the bands and the audience were just so perfectly in-sync. Everyone had such a great time. As I said at the beginning, it was such a surprise to see the place packed, especially for a Wednesday night and even the bands were loving the turn out for a week night. You don't get tour packages like this all that much anymore, and when you are an old school 80s thrash fan like I am, it just takes you back to that time, which makes you recall great memories, but at the sametime, it shows the younger fans what a great metal show is supposed to be like. And to me, that is a good thing.
Its been a while since I've been out to The Blue Pig in Cudahy, Wisconsin, not so much due to any ill feelings towards the place, but simply because every time a decent gig was afoot there I was always working. Honestly, this was my first time there since it changed names from Vnuk's to The Blue Pig and I went to a ton of shows when it was under the old banner and it was good to see that this decently sized bar/venue has really only changed in name since my last visit. But, never mind all that rot, let's get to the review.
Devolving Messiah / A Night At The Chalet / Micawber:
The three bands above opened the night up around 7 PM, although I missed the first two due to spending some time drinking at my place and blasting Abhorrence at unnaturally high volumes. In any case, Devolving Messiah is a relatively new tech death band from Milwaukee, Wi made up of four young dudes in their late teens. I've never seen them before, but what I heard on their facebook page sounded up to par and if you dig that sort of sound then give 'em a go. A Night At The Chalet on the other hand is some sort of deathcore/whatever with skinny jeans and bad hair cuts galore. Not my thing. Micawber from Two Rivers, Wi was the first band I actually saw tonight and they brought modern day brutal death metal with perhaps some technicality and grindiness to the stage. While not really something I'd purchase and spend time at home listening to it was however obvious just a few songs in that these guys knew what they were doing with decent stage presence, hard growling vocals, pummeling drums and hard hitting guitar work.
Burial Ritual:
Burial Ritual from Milwaukee, Wi has been at it since 2005 and with an EP and two albums behind them I seem to only remember seeing them once years ago when they first started playing, though about two years ago down in Chicago I photographed singer Chris Brooks when he hoped on stage and growled with old Vital Remains singer Scott Wily, but that doesn't quite count as having seen Burial Ritual now does it. Anyway, the five members of BR bring somewhat old school death metal to the stage with them and if I had to make a comparison at least onstage it sounded like Suffocation was a notable influence, though I might think differently if I hear one of their albums. The band had a lot of energy onstage and although they kept their set to just 5-6 songs they really got the crowd going. Between the devastating blasting coming from Pete's massive drum set to the flattening guitars and Chris' brutal growls it made for a quick but enjoyable set. Hopefully the next time I see them I'll be a bit more familiar with their songs.
Vital Remains:
I'm not by any means the biggest Vital Remains fan out there, but I have one of their early albums and I've heard and enjoyed some of the newer records and of course the aforementioned gig in Chicago two years ago was quite good too. Also nowadays VR has a fella named Brian Werner (ex-Inferneaon, ex-Monstrosity) growling for them and since I somewhat knew the guy when he lived in Milwaukee a decade or so ago it seemed best to finally see what he's capable of onstage. As far as I could tell the band mostly stuck to playing songs off of their last two records, 'Dechristianize' from '03 and 'Icons of Evil' from '07, though my friend yelled out for a song from, 'Into Cold Darkness,' which Brian seemed eager to do, but I guess the band wasn't rehearsing those songs.
At any rate, the set opened in the darkness with a long sample before the band exploded onstage with 'Icons Of Evil,' and for the next several minutes things got completely chaotic, both onstage and within the small moshing area. The band also ripped through songs like, 'Dechristianize,' 'Infidel,' 'Devoured Elysium' and 'Hammer Down The Nails,' which started with the wall of death within the mosh pit. Brian's onstage presence was immense, a truly great growler with enough commanding viciousness while performing and even entertaining to watch and listen to during the between song banter, especially the whole part about the Green Bay Packers was amusing. Besides that guitarists Tony Lazaro and Wisconsin native Brian Weber did a fantastic job pounding out the riffs and nailing the solos and crafty guitar work rather flawlessly, while bassist Gator Collier did his part well, including some hellish backing vocals and drummer Jack Blackburn pretty much destroyed the kit. Maybe the only set back was that the gig was on a Monday and not a whole lot of people came out and as such there wasn't as much constant chaos that I'm sure the band usually draws, but I guess that's fine since I took my chances in the pit when things did get wild. All in all a really great set and an enjoyable way to spend my Monday off from work. Definitely give these guys a chance if they come to your town!
There's few things that top a night with one of your favorite bands and in the case of Agalloch you're talking about a band I've been following since the early days of, 'Pale Folklore.' This was my second time seeing the band as well the second time they've played at The Miramar Theatre here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and much to my delight there wasn't a boring moment the entire night.
This was somewhat of a strange night though as no local openers were hitting the stage first, which in all seriousness is a great thing, but still a strange occurrence. Therefore, up first was Taurus, who just like Agalloch happen to come from Portland, Oregon as well. This two-piece band, which consisted of drummer Ashley Spungin and guitarist/vocalist Stevie Floyd (also member of Dark Castle) played a sort of drone/doom metal similar to Sunn O))), though with perhaps more experimentation and vivid psychedlia to go with it. Taurus' music was exceedingly loud and nearly earth shaking with heaviness, while Stevie screamed and howled over these rapturous vibrations of doom. While the two gals jammed a large projection screen played out various odd scenes, which may or may not have been from a movie (I forget what Stevie told me when I talked to her later on), but apparently the duo plans to make their own movies for future use too. In any case, this was music to totally lose your mind to, perhaps several beers would have done the trick (I was only on #3 at the time), but psychedelic drugs of some sort sure would have been great too. Definitely not a band for everyone, but definitely a worthy and interesting band to open the night.
Taurus has recently released their debut, 'Life,' which can be purchased at http://taurusisdust.bandcamp.com/ in either mp3, CD, LP format or as a luxurious box set, which I plan to buy soon enough. And enjoy this short but interesting video I shot near the end of the bands set.
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With only one opening band Agalloch began to set up their gear and after maybe just thirty minutes they were ready to play. I should point out first though that while the Miramar is a decent venue, soundwise, appearance and all that, it is however ungodly warm during summer shows. So much so that its basically like being in a sauna (or on a Finnish bus ride). I think this sweltering feeling added to Taurus' earlier mentioned psychedelic vibes since we were all sweating, fatiguing and instead of drinking water were just buying more beer (come on, this is Milwaukee after all). So, buy the time Agalloch hit the stage I'd already put back a few and was feeling quite good already.
If I remember correctly (too much beer, man!) Agalloch opened with, 'Falling Snow' from, 'Ashes Against the Grain,' which sounded great right about then, but there wasn't anything chilly going on during this opening song. Nevertheless, this opening song was played with much conviction and although it seemed like not many were getting wild just yet, they would soon enough. 'The Watcher's Monolith' from, 'Marrow of the Spirit' would follow, much to my delight too since its one of my favs from their latest album.
'Faustian Echoes' the massive twenty minute epic from the brand new single of the same name came next. I first heard this song a few weeks ago when I was still in Finland on vacation and was quite pleased and surprised to hear such a song from Agalloch. Interestingly this is Agalloch at their blackest I'd say, but of course its not without the bands well known charm. At any rate they played the whole entire song, all of it, man, but I had to duck out for a few minutes to piss, take a breather outside and of course get more drinks for my comrades.
Tons of other great songs would succeed this monster, such as, 'I Am the Wooden Doors,' 'You Were but a Ghost in My Arms,' 'Hallways of Enchanted Ebony,' 'Our Fortress Is Burning... I & II,' 'In the Shadow of Our Pale Companion,' 'Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires' and they'd close the set perfectly with, 'Dead Winter Days' and 'Kneel to the Cross.' I'd hope to hear, 'Into the Painted Grey' since its one of their faster numbers, as well my personal Agalloch anthem, 'As Embers Dress the Sky' wasn't present, but they played it last time, anyway. There may have been one or two other songs that have skipped my memory, but all in all the band must have played nearly two hours, which is mightily impressive.
Earlier in the evening I purchased the, 'Faustian Echoes' LP, which looks and sounds amazing, as well I picked up the, 'Whitedivisiongrey' comp. for the exclusive songs, but oddly no shirts this time around. I guess sometimes even when you are nearly broke you just can't go all out.
After the show my friends and I would hang with drummer Aesop and found that he was an insanely awesome metal dude, likewise the Taurus gals were out there and it was fun talking to them about their performance as well as taking a silly photo together. Eventually Don would come outside and I got to chat with him and take a photo together. It was cool meeting him since we'd talked a bit in the past and he even helped Lunar Hypnosis out for a short period in 2005. A damn fine evening if I ever had one.
If there was anything to complain about I could have done without the moshers bashing into me (and now giving me a sore back/neck), but I guess that's even going to happen at shows where you don't expect it. Besides that not a whole lot more can be said other than the night was pretty much perfect and as far as the bands were concerned I feel charmed after seeing Agalloch again and feel that I appreciate their music even more so. Likewise I look forward to hearing and following Taurus in the years to come.
I'd originally considered going to the show tonight in Chicago, but between the ticket price, alcohol, gas for the car and the time on the road (over four there and back) I had to think differently. Plus I'm broke as hell and have to work tonight, anyway. However if you're in Chicago do the right thing and go check these two incredible bands out, as well enjoy them if they are coming to your city in the next couple days/weeks. A tip of the mug and thumbs up to Taurus and Agalloch.
On Wednesday afternoon two friends and I made the journey down to Joliet, Illinois (about a 100 miles for us), through odd back roads and unfortunately severe delays of bumper to bumper traffic to see Watain at a place called Mojoe's. This was my first time at this venue and although I liked the place I thought the sound could have been better and it was in a downtown, yuppie-ish area, which just seemed odd for metal heads to be gathering too.
The first band to play was, Seal of Saturn, which I believe was a local Chicago band. Although fairly decent musicians, it seemed like the band had numerous technical issues as well the lights were not dimmed and as such no atmosphere was achieved. In any case, these guys played a style of death metal very, very similar to Polish legends, Behemoth. I mean spot on, really, well they were not as good as Behemoth, but it was clear who their influences were. Besides that there's not a whole lot much more I can tell you about this band.
Up next was Chicago black metalers, Ezurate who apparently have been around since 1994. About a decade or so ago I owned the bands debut album, 'Infernal Dominatio,' which only happened because back then I thought it was neat to a corpsepainted black metal band near to home, even though much better bands were from around the same area or even my own neck of the woods, but I was young so what can I say. I don't recall diggin' that album too much, uninspired norsecore stuff basically that was a rip-off of either Transylvanian Hunger or Panzer Division Marduk styles. So, year later Ezurate is playing before me and the same lack of interest suddenly enters my system again. From the bands lousy corpsepaint to the singers ridiculous stage behavior (just watch the video) and their total lack of anything interesting I'm completely baffled as to why this band continues onward. I mean, their newer albums might be something, I really don't know, but what I do know is the band just embarrassed themselves and they probably had to pay a lot of money to open for Watain too. Its expected though these days, slather on some paint, write a generic riff, repeat it, add blast beats and screams and you've got a black metal band. Sorry, no, but oh well. Hopefully they paid attention to Watain's performance.
Following Ezurate was New York based, Black Anvil, which played some sort of... ugh... I guess blackened thrash with hardcore tendencies? I don't know what to make of it, but some people around me seemed to be really enjoying it, a few kids who appeared to be on ecstasy were having a near religious experience too. The band seemed to bring a lot of energy and even a bit of skill to the stage, but nothing I heard was doing much of anything for me. It was also at this time that I took notice of Blake Judd of Nachtmystium fame (also former member of Ezurate!) stopping on through, not to actually watch any music, but to sit in the balcony overlooking the stage with girls hanging off his arms. I guess you know when you've made it in the business, eh?
After all bullshit was said and thankfully done it was finally time for Watain. Before even hitting the stage Watain had me impressed with their massive stage set up, which included tons of candles, incense burning, upside down crosses as well as various occult shit all over the stage. The band of course took the stage in their own custom elaborate corpsepaint and mangled filthy clothing, which has apparently never been washed before and as a whole each member look liked an exhumed animated corpse. The band kicked things off with, 'Death's Cold Dark' from their recent, 'Lawless Darkness' full-length before diving right into, 'Malfeitor,' which might I add I had a bit of moment of head banging and screaming pouring forth from me as the band worked their way through this one. From their they turned the clocks back to, 'The Devil's Blood' and played this masterful black metal song perfectly and then followed it with, 'Satan's Hunger.' If memory serves me correctly, 'Sworn to the Dark' and 'Rabid Death's Curse' came next with 'Casus Luciferi' being their final song before leaving the stage briefly.
As the band re-emerged they splattered the crowd with their blood bath, which was very real and very stinky smelling and fortunately I was a bit further back of the stage and only received a few drops, but my friends got a healthy face full. As the band ripped through, 'On Horns Impaled' a few of the audience members seemed to really embrace the blood by, get this, rolling around in it and smearing it on their arms/face... yeah. Glad I never got into the whole cocaine thing like some people out there. Anyway, the band closed their set with a cover of Bathory's mighty, 'The Return of Darkness and Evil' and left the stage without a word or even a glance back at us.
All in all, I was quite impressed with the choice of songs and just the whole atmosphere, appearance and performance of the band. Between each song some eerie ambient music would play as well, which just built up the suspense for the next song. The whole stage set up is really something to behold too and in a lot of ways it reminded me of those old Mayhem interviews that Dead and Euronymous had envisioned for black metal years and years ago. The bands onstage clothes are really something too and the whole blood bath thing, although quite cool, made for a not so pleasant ride back home.
I can honestly say if all black metal bands strived to the level of excellence that Watain displays on every album and most likely every gig too, then perhaps black metal wouldn't be the awful genre its largely become nowadays. As a final word I can say the journey was definitely worth it and I look forward to seeing these guys once again.
Its been ages since I wrote up any live review and since this was an exclusive and ultimately very crazy show it seemed appropriate to share a few paragraphs of thoughts.
As a starting point I have to admit my participation in this show was completely random and all in all quite lucky too. The idea of going had actually only been discussed a few days prior and at the time knowing that I would be working it seemed unlikely that I'd be able to attend. However a call to my manager and a surprising thumbs up the following evening when checking my schedule meant I'd be able to see death metal legends, Autopsy. Unfortunately this was the onset of both unluckiness and luckiness as I was able to secure one of the last few tickets available Friday morning, while do to a mishap my friend wasn't able to go, which sucked since the plan was to go together, me and her, but things happen sometimes...
In any case I ended up driving down to Chicago by myself, which isn't really my cup of tea, but fortunately I had a group of friends waiting down there for me and it was cool talking about random stupid stuff together before the show.
So, flash forward a few hours and Reign Inferno has just hit the stage. I'm not sure what the story around this band is, but I'm guessing they are relatively new and unsigned. Things didn't seem very promising from the get go since the singer was a typical shaved bald tough looking dude with a goatee style facial hair, which usually means really awful things. Well, I wont say that Reign Inferno was awful completely, I mean it seemed like they new what they were doing, but the bands grindy death metal just didn't do it for me and from what I could tell not many members of the audience either. Meh, I'll pass on these guys.
About thirty minutes later local Chicago metalers (well all bands were from Chicago, except Autopsy) Cardiac Arrest hit the stage with massive power. Going into this one I didn't really know what to expect, but before the gig started I had three people saying, "What? You don't know Cardiac Arrest?! ...get ready for a real treat!" And so CA delivered fairly straight forward no bullshit death metal. Nothing flashy or overly technical just plain old enjoyable death metal somewhat in a Cannibal Corpse-ish vein, I guess, if that helps to paint a picture of their typical sound. Nevertheless, CA do death metal quite decently and the fact that the crowd was embracing their local metal brethren made it a bit more enjoyable too. At this point the crowd was still fairly small and it wasn't a sight of insanity that I'd soon become within Reggie's.
After Cardiac had cleared the stage a friend of mine and I had found nice cozy spots up front or so we thought as Bones set up their gear for their set. Bones is Joe, Jon and Chris who are all former members of the now defunct Usurper. Bones style to my ears is something like proto 80's death metal with some minor thrash metal and crust characteristics, which resulted in much head banging and generally just awesome times for everyone in the audience and especially my pals and I. It was about mid-way through their set that suddenly the most pits became increasingly violent and although several people were being overly violent one person in particular was throwing punches, kicking, elbowing and some how fucking bit my friend on his bicep! As you can imagine this person, this fucking animal, a fucking girl no less, was dealt with accordingly at that moment, but she'd make her return soon enough.
In any case, despite this incident Bones absolutely killed and I simply had to get my hands on their debut self titled album, which I've enjoyed a lot already.
After Bones was done killing it was time for ultra heavy death/doomsters, Cianide. Another band that was completely unknown to me, which is weird since they've been making music since the last 80's. Cianide's were generally quite slow and ominous with much heaviness and the low guttural roars of bassist, Mike, leading the way. I guess it was about 3 or 4 songs into Cianide's set when the psychopathic bitch began her assault on the audience members again. I have to point out that this chick was clearly fucked beyond rational thinking, but this was far beyond simple drunkary, this was like, smoking crack and losing your mind and going insane behavior. So, standing up front trying to enjoy Cianide I suddenly received a punch to the back of my head. Pissed and fully realizing who it was when turning around I shoved the girl back. Little did I know that with my back then turned to her, she'd retaliate by clasping her hands around my neck and fiercely pulling my hair. I guess meth or crack is a powerful drug, because this chick crossed the line and she was dealt with in the only way I could think of and that happened to be by delivering 4 to 5 powerful elbow thrusts into her stomach/chest region before she finally let me go and security detained her and tossed her out of the show.
After going to the bathroom and splashing my face with some water I went outside for some fresh air and to put some purchased CDs in my car. Well, what ya know, but soon as I turned the corner by the venue psycho chick was waiting for me. Immediately she began complaining about her head hurting and how I was a bad person for hitting a "lady." A few quick remarks back and fourth and having said what needed to be said I made for my car. In the end though you pull the bulls tail, you get the fucking horns. I couldn't care less if you're a "lady" or a man, you attack me, I fucking attack back!
Regrettably this incident meant that I'd missed most of Cianide's set as well, which sucks since I was really diggin' what they were doing onstage.
Well, I'm the sort of person where a single incident be it big or small one can really just ruin my whole day/evening and in the case of what happened earlier I can say that my evening was rightly fucking ruined. Nevertheless, it was time for what everyone came for, AUTOPSY! The band played a good selection of material, mostly from their early catalog, but played a few from their recent comeback album, 'Macabre Eternal' and even, 'All Tomorrow's Funerals,' which is a compilation of EP's, rare stuff and a few new songs. The classic '89 debut, 'Severed Survival' was probably represented the most and with much love from the crowd too, but '91's, 'Mental Funeral' had many cuts played on this night too. From what I recall just one song from, 'Acts of the Unspeakable' was played and probably only one or two from, 'Shitfun' too.
Its a shame that psychopaths are allowed into gigs and just the simple fact that some metalheads live up to the stereotypes society has placed on us entirely too well. Oh well, stuff happens, chalk it down as bad luck I guess. So, needless to say I just wasn't feeling it and that sucks because I'm sure under different conditions I would have been having a blast watching Autopsy play. On the other hand, my pal who had been bitten early did still catch the vibe and get into it, which is good since nothing seems to ever really dampen that lads metal spirit.
I just realized I never did a write up of the two shows I hit in March. I guess my brain was still processing how amazing they were.
It's very likely that if you are reading this, you don't personally know me. Therefore, you probably don't understand how much Godspeed You! Black Emperor mean, musically, to me. F#A#∞ changed my view on what was possible in music; Lift Yr. Skinny Fists... furthered my love of incredible experimental music and if I had to pick one album to live on a deserted island with, it more than likely would be it. I firmly believe everything they've released is absolutely stellar. So, last year when I heard that, after a seven year hiatus, they would be reuniting for a tour, I literally shit my pants.
OK, maybe not literally, but you get the picture. After the presale sold out before anyone even knew about it, I found out when tickets were officially going on sale (Feb. 3 at 10am, I memorized it), and I left class early to camp and desperately F5 until I managed to get my tickets (they sold out in about 15 minutes).
The 9:30 Club is a pretty large venue, for those who have never been there. I would estimate between 5 and 600 people were there, crammed on the floor or in the balcony. The opening act was Eric Chenaux. Even he understood the task he has handed, and opened his introduction by saying exactly how many songs he would play, "in case anyone is keeping count." His single acoustic guitar created a weird singer-songwriter vibe. He would wah out his voice and instrument into a strange psych-folk sound that, while interesting, would have been better suited opening for maybe Grails. I think he may have been picked to open because of the ease of his setup, allowing GY!BE to have all their equipment already out and ready for their start time.
One by one, the came on stage, not saying a word, and so began what I honestly consider to be the closest thing to a religious experience as I've ever had. The next two hours spanned the group's discography, including two live-only tracks. Opening with the live-only 'Hope Drone', they transitioned right into 'Moya'. Each instrument's sound and each note were perfect, and the tone was set (and sometimes augmented) by the projectionists' work behind them. GY!BE actually have people manipulating film strips on old projectors, instead of just digitally doing it; scrawled words, plants, landfills, birds, buildings, and even a cat made an appearance. Some strips were even burned intentionally as the show progressed. Having looked at the set lists for past shows, no two were the same, and while I was hoping for a good selection, I never thought they would play basically the best set I could have hoped for. The rest of the night heard/saw 'Albanian', 'Lift Yr. Skinny Fists/Gathering Storm', '9-15-00 (Part Two)', 'Chart #3/World Police and Friendly Fire' (I would have paid the ticket price just to hear that), 'Rockets Fall on Rocket Falls', and, of course, the night closed with 'Sad Mafioso', arguably the most famous Godspeed song ever. A simple wave a few of the members as they exited, one by one, leaving behind the final droning notes, and the night had ended. I wish I could tell you more about what the band was doing and what exactly was on the projections, but to tell you the truth I was in basically a trance.
And that was it. I had spent so much time building up how amazing this show was going to be, and it exceeded everything I could have hoped for. I can only hope that one day I'll be lucky enough to catch them again.
The entire show is available in mp3 here (as one mp3), or on the archive (split up).
And if you'd like to witness a little bit of what happened, here's a damn good quality video on YouTube.
You know those nights: the ones where you are fresh off work, tired, bored to death, needing a beer, and wishing something was going on. You get home and decide to do a random sweep of the local venues to see if any shows are coming up worth checking out. You then notice that a great band is playing THAT NIGHT, door have already opened; you say 'hell yes', and head downtown. This was me last night, and as it turns out, I was able to catch an amazing show thanks to my random internet sweep.
DEADHORSE are an Erie, PA-based post rock band utilizing heavy piano riffs layered on the standard guitar-heavy post rock sound. While this by itself makes for a great concert, they are touring with William James, a Pittsburgh-based slam poet. James delivered a ten minute long slam poem opening, as Deadhorse layered sounds underneath. James's words ranged from vaguely religious to suicidal to hopeful to depressed and back to hopeful again. He told stories of broken homes, broken dreams, and fighting back. He was an imposing figure; his voice hit like a sledgehammer. I have never seen slam poetry in such a setting, and it's incorporation was amazing.
When James finished, Deadhorse went immediately into 'No Particular Night or Morning', the opener from their 2010 full-length "We Can Create Our Own World." Live post-rock is an amazing experience because, unlike many other genres, the emotions drawn out by the music vary greatly from moment to moment in the songs. Deadhorse weaved their sound around the minds of the audience, lulling them into trances one moment with calming ambiance and then bringing the waves crashing back with tremendous crescendos that shook the floor. Their cohesion was amazing. After Deadhorse trekked through several of the tracks off their album, James came back on stage, again delivering a poem over walls of atmosphere (I believe it was the track 'The Long Rain'), before they all ended the night with thanks and cheers.
This was an incredible, unique concert experience, and if this tour is swinging near you, be sure to check it out.
I was slightly put off when I first got to Théâtre Plaza on St-Hubert Street in Montreal simply because I was counting only a mere dozen attendees waiting in line for Miserere Luminis' last show, minutes before the doors got to open at 7:30 PM. I was also questioning the choice of the venue but once inside Théâtre Plaza, it all sort of made sense as to why the concert was happening there simply due to the architecture and decor which I guessed were, in my opinion, very fitting for Miserere Luminis' music. Still, it took nearly an hour before the attendance got to exceed 50 or so, which is more or less when Wendess took the stage to open this special concert night.
I must admit that I was not very familiar with Quebec City's Wendess, who play a “Skagos/Falls of Rauros” type black metal, as I only heard their demo for the first time a few days prior to the concert. Their live performance was ordinary, nothing over the top here. It seems like it took some time to build momentum and take off. And as soon as they managed that, they then left the stage after a short 30-minute set. One has to bear in mind that these three young guys don't have much experience playing live (their first show was in Quebec City on September 18), so let's give them the credit for doing what they did. I personally enjoyed what seemed to be an almost integral live performance of their 2010 demo and I'm definitely looking foreword to see/hear more from this young band.
thisquietarmy got to play next, and in front of an increasing number of people. Quite frankly, I didn’t know what to expect from this Montreal guitarist and his project as I was totally ignorant of what it was all about. And this ambient/shoegaze/experimental drone-like music proved to be an interesting experience for me. thisquietarmy's performance on the first segment of his set featured Eric Quach, his guitar, a multitude of pedal effects, and all were in sync with a video projected on a large screen in the background which added much to the music and vice versa. During the black and white video of this first segment, the set consisted of live versions of "Battlefield Arkestrah" and " Warchitects" from the album "Unconquered". An improv/medley of tracks from his latest album "Aftermath" were performed during the middle part, when the colors on the film backdrop appeared. Riveting. The second segment featured an unreleased track taken from his "Vessels" upcoming album. No video in the background for this one. Nevertheless, just looking at Eric control and shape the sound of his guitar as he did was impressive enough and the whole set proved to be quite the surprise for me. So much that I went on meeting with Eric at the end of the show to buy a few albums from him. I then found out that he is involved in several other projects including Destroyalldreamers and Parallel Lines, and he also recorded an EP with Aidan Baker (of Nadja), among other things. Highly recommended for fans of the genre. Between, thank you Eric for revealing the content of your set.
Falls of Rauros took the stage next. I was really looking forward to see them live, especially because I enjoy their music and also because this was their first gig in Montreal and in Canada. They opened up performing “In Waves of Golden Light” and “And Never Shall There Be”. And then things did not run so smoothly for them and their set was abruptly stopped when their guitarist/frontman broke a string right in the middle of “Of Stone and Stars in the Sky”. Professionally enough, their lead guitarist apologized for the short delay in a very well spoken French much to the surprise of everyone. That aside, they gave a very solid performance and they closed their set by playing “To Witness Existence” which was one of the songs I really wanted to hear. I don’t think that the majority of people knew who they were which is a bit of a downer to me. But I strongly believe that some of them discovered their music and hopefully we will get to see them again and soon in Montreal. This band is criminally underrated and truly deserves more recognition and exposure.
We were all warmed up now. And the stage was set for Miserere Luminis. The very reason why after all so many people crowded Théâtre Plaza. The band had promised something special on their last concert and they delivered. Miserere Luminis are known for wearing masks, costumes, and grayish body paint on their skin and in addition to their mysterious and mystical stage presence, props were scattered across the stage. The lighting was in sync with the emotions evoked by each song, the sound was great, and all these elements contributed in making this concert an intense experience for the senses. They opened their gig with “Cineris” and their setlist included in no particular order “Miserere Luminis”, “Le Mal des Siècles”, “The Mist”, the amazing and hard hitting instrumental “IV”, “Birth of New Ages”, “Senectus”, “Ciel Tragique” and “Exulcerare”. And we even got to hear their version of Dissection’s “Where Dead Angels Lie”. Overall, this was an amazing last performance which also coincided with the end of an amazing collaboration between Icare and Neptune from Gris, and Annatar from Sombres Forêts under Miserere Luminis. The band immediately walked off stage. No encore. There was no need for one. The guys from Miserere Luminis are now turning the page on this chapter to fully focus on writing a third album for their respective projects. And that alone, is something to look forward to.
On both Thursday the 16th and Friday the 17th my friend and I attended shows on Katatonia's, 'New Night Over North America' tour, which on the 16th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin had the line-up of Urn, Orphaned Land, Swallow the Sun and Katatonia, while the following day in Chicago, Illinois the line-up included, Clad in Darkness, Novembers Doom, Swallow the Sun, Orphaned Land and Katatonia. For me, both shows were incredible and I'm quite happy we decided to attend both shows, but the performance in Chicago was slightly more memorable for us since the line-up was better with Novembers Doom on board, the venue was bigger, a lot more people attended and of course fans in Chicago are simply more dedicated and hungry for metal down there. That's not to say that I didn't have a blast in my hometown of Milwaukee, because I absolutely did, but what I quickly observed was the aforementioned increase of people (at least double in Chicago) and it just seemed like the bands had more fun and really wanted to put on absolutely one of the best shows of their life's on Friday evening. Rather than actually reviewing both shows I'll just simply give my thoughts on each band that I saw on these two evenings.
Urn/Clad in Darkness: In Milwaukee it was Urn who served as openers while in Chicago it was Clad in Darkness who got things rolling. Both bands are actually from Chicago, but I guess both couldn't open up in Chicago so somehow Urn found there way up to Milwaukee. As for Urn, my two friends and I only caught the last song or two of their set and much like when we saw them back in April when they opened for the Finnish metal tour they played some sort of progressive viking indescribable metal, which much like back then failed to make much of an impression on me. However, it seems this band plays out quite often and I'm sure they've got their fans and all, but in the live setting they just really are not that convincing.
As for, Clad in Darkness, well when we walked in we once again caught just there last song and they were in the middle of some lengthy progressive instrumental number, which must have gone on for a solid ten minutes or so. As it reached it's climax the singer, whom had been laying somewhere on the stage, emerged and then began screaming in a black metal-ish voice and the band was then finished. Curiously it made me wonder if all the bands music is in this progressive vein or just that particular song. I wasn't to fond of the singers vocals, but musically it wasn't too bad at all. Hopefully I'll catch them some time in the future and be able to sample more of their songs and get a better understanding of their music.
Novembers Doom: I've known about these guys for probably a solid ten years now and although I never really considered myself a fan I've always found a little something special in all of the albums I've heard from them. The band played a few songs from their latest releases as well as some older material from way back in day when I remember hearing them for the first time. All in all, they put on a great performance and were quite embraced in their home town of Chicago. I'll have to consider picking up their new album soon since I really enjoyed what I saw on this evening.
Orphaned Land: In Milwaukee these guys played before Swallow the Sun and in Chicago they played after them, which would lead me to believe that they were switching spots every other show. Orphaned Land who hail from Israel have been playing together since the early 90's, though they really didn't catch much attention until a few years ago when Century Media picked them up and released their third album, 'Mabool.' The band could probably best be described as something like Middle Eastern folk metal and basically they combine metal with what sounded to my ears like traditional Middle Eastern music. I can honestly say during the first day in Milwaukee the band wasn't that convincing, but when we saw them the following day it was much more interesting, because once again more people were into what they were doing onstage. As far as the actual metal portion of their music is concerned I didn't notice a large abundance of colorful and tuneful metal melodies, but rather things were a bit more tuneless in that department while it seems like the bands main strength is combining the folk music with heavier music. Unfortunately, all of the folk music had to be sampled, but it still managed to catch my attention and made me a bit curious to hear their albums. The singer, who proclaimed himself not to be Jesus Christ(although looking similar enough), was quite a good front man and at least in Chicago he had no problem getting the crowd involved. Regrettably, I didn't buy their album(s), but I'll have to keep them in mind and pick them up later and see what Mid East metal is all about.
Swallow the Sun: Well, what can I say other than that I really enjoy these guys and have done so for a few years now. Both of their performances were utterly outstanding and on each day they played a great selection of their finest songs. However, once again they excelled the most in Chicago and that's quite simply because they had Jonas from Katatonia come onstage and sing, 'The Justice of Suffering' with them, which is something I've been longing to see them do, but wasn't sure if they ever had done previously. It made the night to say the least. Some of the other songs they played throughout the two days were; Swallow, These Hours of Despair, Hope, Plague of Butterflies, New Moon and The Ship. I truly enjoyed watching these guys on both nights and I do hope they come back soon since they've have plenty of fans waiting for them here.
Katatonia: I've been listening to Katatonia for something like nine years now. I remember back in 2001 after reading an interesting review and interview in Metal Maniacs I bought, 'Last Fair Deal Gone Done,' and at first was a bit confused by what I was hearing since I was at the time more accustomed to just hearing black and death metal from Sweden. However, it quickly became a favorite of mine, I bought all of their back catalog and have followed them closely ever since and nowadays can easily consider them as an absolutely favorite band of mine.
The last time Katatonia toured the states was in 2007 and I most regretably missed them back then and this is largely why I wanted to see them on both days. As I had greatly hoped Katatonia was breathtaking both home in Milwaukee and down in Chicago, although on both nights they played the exact same set list, but I still enjoyed every last minute of it. Curiously the band didn't play any songs from, 'Tonight's Decision,' which really baffled me, but I can only assume with the sudden departure of the Norrman brothers the band didn't have time to rehearse with their new touring members, Per "Sodomizer" Eriksson & Niklas "Nille" Sandin, but if anyone has any further insight on that I'd really like to hear it.
Anyway, to say I had a 'moment' during these performances would be an understatement indeed as I was quite simply in the bliss of life, but I guess all of you music fanatics know what it's like to finally see your favorite bands live and you know what I'm talking about.
As expected Katatonia mostly played new songs from the past three albums, but snuck a few in from Last Fair Deal and Discouraged Ones too. They played songs like, Forsaker, The Longest Year, Idle Blood, Onward into Battle, Day and then the Shade, Leaders, Soil's Song, July, Ghost of the Sun, Criminals, Evidence, Complicity, Omerta, Teargas and Saw you Drown. Unfortunately, they did not play my absolute favorite song, Cold Ways, but who knows maybe it will be there in a future tour.
All in all, it's hard for me to truly express my emotions since I had such a good time on both nights and I can honestly say if you have any love for Katatonia or any of the supporting bands definitely get off from work and check this tour out. You won't regret it.
If you need further proof then just stop over at my youtube channel and check out some of the videos I made on Friday night.
