Concert Review - A Sound of Thunder, MindMaze, Iris Divine, Metanium - 6/6/14 at The Pinch, Washington, DC

My readers and friends will probably know that A Sound Of Thunder is hands down my favorite local band (although I've done my share of whining about them, too). But somehow I hadn't seen them in quite a while. Especially since I missed their "throwback" set opening for Ashes Of Ares in May (I'm one of the complainers who wishes they would play their old songs more), I was determined to get out and see their headline show.

I wasn't sure of the starting time, since the FB event said 7pm but the poster said show at 8 (I guess set times were posted day of, but that day was too hectic at work for me to check). And the first band was Hispanic heavy metal band Metanium, whom I really hadn't seen in a long time (just about a year), so I wanted to get there in time to see them. T and I ended up getting there around 7:20, which turned out to be way early. I'm pretty sure most of the other people there at that point were in bands :p We sat down in the corner upstairs and got some food (bbq duck smothered waffle fries once again), chatted a bit with Bobbie and talked about nerdy things until Metanium started a little after 8.

If I remember correctly, they started off with "Veneno Mortal" ("Deadly Venom"), which is a catchy song with some thundering fast parts. They played mainly from last year's album Alma de Guerrero (Soul of a Warrior) - "La Marcha Vikinga" ("The Viking March"), which unfortunately sounds like "The Ants Go Marching" to me; the English version of their album's title track, which is a motivating song but I think the Spanish lyrics are better, and "Sangra el Corazon" ("Bleed the Heart") which has a fun polka-ish rhythm. As before, they played a cover of Helloween's "I Want Out" which sounded great to me, and T, who's more familiar with that band/song, said the singer nailed it. In general, Marvin Serrano's vocals were amazing, from aggressive heavy metal delivery to soaring power metal screams. The band also covered Manowar's "Warriors of the World" and Dio's "Holy Diver," both excellently done and pleasing to the crowd. Overall their sound was great - the vocals were clear, and the guitars and drums were loud and thundering without being too distorted or too loud. The only thing was that the keyboards were totally drowned out save for one intro - but this is the case on their album, too; I usually forget they have a keyboardist at all. I was really glad we got to see them, because they sounded great (surprisingly great for this venue) and got the night off to an energetic start.

Next up was Iris Divine. I saw them once before at Bobbie's Face-Melting Friday series, but there was some personal drama going on at that show which prevented me from really paying attention, and so my only impression of them was that they're rather proggy and have long, kind of wandering songs. That impression was borne out, although I had forgotten about the hard rock vibes in their guitars and the angsty vocals. That seemed to be the main thrust of their music although well sprinkled with atmospheric, churning or riffy guitar passages. They had more than a few cool moments but couldn't seem to hold my attention long, and I felt tired after their set. They played their upcoming album in its entirety, which was cool to hear, even if I probably won't seek it out again.

Luckily they were followed by the inspiring heavy/power metal group MindMaze (from Allentown, PA - I'm very glad they made the trip down). The crowd was probably biggest for Iris Divine and MindMaze, and definitely very energized by the latter. There was moshing for several songs, started by guys who I guessed were Metanium fans (and at least one member of Metanium, if I'm not mistaken). It's not surprising; the rampaging heavy metal energy made me want to push people around, too, and I got in the pit once. They may have played one slower song, but the rest of their set was irresistible power metal riffs underlaid with heavy metal energy, with Sarah Teets's vocals soaring over it and some nice melodic guitar solos from Jeff Teets. Toward the end of their set, they did a cover of Black Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell" with Nina Osegueda of A Sound of Thunder joining Sarah on vocals, which was awesome. MindMaze also played a joke on the audience by playing the signature riff from ASOT's "Time's Arrow" at one point XD I was a bit dazed from exhaustion and headbanging after their set, but much more awake.

MindMaze seemed a hard act for even A Sound Of Thunder to follow - but they did and delivered a fantastic set that was definitely worth staying up till 2 AM for. They started off thundering with "Queen of Hell," a charging heavy metal song that shakes the walls and shows off Nina's powerful voice, especially as she splits your eardrums screaming, "I am the queen of hell!" The band was so on top of their game that even a song I don't like as much, "Just Another Fool" (from their first album Metal Renaissance) got me amped with its charging energy. Given almost a two hour set, they played a variety of songs from all their albums, even reaching into their demo for "Walls." Unfortunately, although that song is one of my favorite songs to hear live and usually does shake the walls, it seemed a little weak this time; maybe they were getting tired, as it was near the end of their set. Another rare song was the epic-length, ominous "My Name is Doom." The sound quality was so excellent that during the tragic "I'll Walk With You," we could make out every word of the vocals. Being able to hear the words fully brought home the intensity of that song.

The crowd was a bit thin when A Sound Of Thunder started, but filled out a bit as they went on, and people seemed very into the set. There was a dedicated circle of excited fans at the front and there was quite a bit of moshing at first. I joined in for "Out of the Darkness" - I had forgotten how fast that song was! But by the time they played songs I really wanted to mosh to, like "Fight Until the End" and "Blood Vomit," most of the moshers had disappeared. Guitarist Josh Schwartz actually ran out into the audience to find me at the start of "Blood Vomit" (don't worry, I was paying attention, I just had to hang back cause I don't wear earplugs :P), and I tried to start a pit, but no one else seemed to be feeling it. But since the band put out a "Blood Vomit" T-shirt, I have hope that they're bringing this song back into regular rotation! They ended the set with their theme song "A Sound of Thunder," another wall-shaking heavy metal song that lives up to its and the band's name. Then they played an encore of sorts, featuring "Kill That Bitch," their cover of Black Sabbath's "Trashed" and maybe one other song. They sounded good, but I think the high point was the last three songs before that ("Walls," "Blood Vomit," "A Sound of Thunder"). I was also very tired, and wanted to go home and...sleep. ;)

I'll punch out all your blood! J/k, more likely I'll just give you a friendly shove.

But honestly, until the very end I hardly noticed the late hour, it was such an amazing show. I was so impressed and gratified that the sound quality was so excellent! It really made the experience not just good, but awesome. I just couldn't get into Iris Divine, but the other three bands were fantastic - so full of energy, and delivered killer performances that kept me moving all night.

Next show: Not sure :( Thinking about trying to make the SepticFlesh/Fleshgod Apocalypse show at Empire on 6/22, but I dunno :/ This month is complicated..

Face-Melting Friday Melodic Metal Edition - Cassandra Syndrome, Iris Divine, Dogs and Day Drinkers, Fair Skies - 2/28/14 at Sidebar, Baltimore, MD

I'm on a quest to make my kid into a little metalhead :) As part of that, I took her to a show organized by my friend Bobbie at the Sidebar in Baltimore: Face-Melting Friday, Melodic Metal Edition. The lineup changed a couple times before the show, but I was still excited to see the bands. I'd heard good things about Iris Divine and Cassandra Syndrome, and heard that Dogs And Day Drinkers were folk metal, so I figured they'd be fun.

We got there before they were even ready to start selling tickets, although there were already people milling about inside. Shortly we were asked to form a line, inside. We met up with S and some other friends, and staked out a spot near the front, since besides being rather short and needing to be close up to see, Iz also just plain likes to rock out at the front of the crowd :D Unfortunately, this meant I had to wear earplugs, which I felt seriously dulled the sound. (I never wear earplugs. Why bother going to live shows if you can't hear the thunder of it being played live?) Partly for this reason, I don't feel like I got a very in-depth impression of any of the bands.

Not too long after we got in, the first band, Fair Skies, took the stage. I didn't know much about them besides a friend's comment that they were "power metal but not really." They did have soaring power metal vocals; I got some serious Stratovarius vibes from the vocalist during their second to last song, "More Than a Memory." The music had a bit of an oompah beat in the beginning (something that seems to happen occasionally in power metal) but settled into more of a NWOBHM sound as the set went on.

Next up were Dogs And Day Drinkers, all the way from Chestertown, MD (home of the schooner Sultana :D ). They were supposed to be folk metal, but they didn't actually seem to have much in the way of folk melodies. They perhaps had more of a Viking metal sound, with songs about drinking and war and science fiction. The vocals were average, rather like I think I'd sound if I tried to sing. Their take on Priest's "Breaking the Law" was decent. The crowd was pretty excited for them and there was a bit of moshing.

After that was Iris Divine. They were very proggy, but not in annoying way. The guitarist seemed to have a bunch of pedals that gave his guitar a synth-like sound, and they might have had some synth piped in, too, I couldn't tell. Unfortunately some drama happened during their set so I zoned out a bit and even had to go outside to deal with things :(

Finally, Cassandra Syndrome ended the night. I don't know how I never got into these guys earlier! I think I heard a song or two several years ago but somehow didn't get interested. I definitely should have seen them earlier. They featured lovely soprano vocals - I didn't know we even had a band around here with vocals like that! Their music was pretty straightforward heavy metal, with nice solos, but it was the vocals that really made it for me. So beautiful.

I enjoyed all the bands, although I would have preferred to hear them without earplugs. But Iz had a great time up at the front, dancing for Fair Skies and Dogs And Day Drinkers (and also taking some photos with her Leapster, which I should try to retrieve before she draws all over them :) ). Even though she got pretty tired and cranky by the end, it was still a great night, and everyone was telling her what an awesome little kid she is :D I'm not sure if I'll be able to make the next Face-Melting Friday since it's the day after The Ocean, but I can definitely see these face melting shows becoming a regular social fixture for me and Iz :D

Next show: Hoping to go to a locals show on March 8. After that, Children of Bodom, Death Angel and Týr on March 21. (The Fillmore's website seems to have the wrong date for this show, saying it was Feb. 28 O.o)

Concert Review - The Agonist, Fallen Martyr, Demiz, March to Victory, Area 52, Iris Divine - 7/19/13 at Cafe 611, Frederick, MD

This show was the day after we trekked up to PA to see Amaranthe, but we decided to go anyway since it was so close by. I also felt like I was getting a cold, but thought I could power through the evening. I'm not a huge fan of The Agonist - I feel like their music lacks intensity somehow - but I was interested in seeing the long line-up of local bands opening for them.

We wanted to see Iris Divine, but left too late and missed them. We got there just before Area 52 started. They sounded like they might have some promise, but it was hard to tell. The mix was off, so they sounded like a lot of bass noise punctuated by way too loud (and slow and repetitive) drums. The guitar player did (mostly) clean vocals, and the bass player harsh vocals, but I could hardly hear them (from my seat at the bar). They had some promising moments, like when the bass and drums were obviously doing something thrashy, but I couldn't hear the guitar. They called for a mosh pit and the crowd actually obliged, which doesn't always happen with the local acts at Cafe 611.

Gettysburg, PA death metal band March to Victory was on next, and they sounded really good. They had a different vocalist than the last time we saw them - they had a male vocalist previously, but this time the vocalist was a woman (with fake(?) blood smeared on her face and neck). I liked her vocals more than the previous guy - I still couldn't make out what she was saying, but it sounded more like words than the former vocalist's unintelligible growls. Overall their sound was much clearer and groovier than last time. I headbanged a lot and would have pushed people around if I wasn't sick and wanting to save my seat for later.

Next was Demiz (pronounced like "demise"), who also sounded good. They played mainly fast, fierce black metal in the vein of Marduk, very loud and energetic. They had a song about Vikings, which sounded rather Viking-y. I think they need to work on their image though - the guy in a red Subway shirt and the singer's plug earlobe piercings really threw things off. They would look much more like a professional black metal band if they had a more unified image. The guitarist (who looked rather more black metal with his dark hair and clothing and crosses painted on his face) jumped on the speakers a couple times. I did enjoy their sound.

After that was Fallen Martyr, who also sounded better than last time we saw a whole set of theirs (opening for Blackguard). They collected a good crowd and had a very professional demeanor and sound. The guitars and drums were nice and heavy, and pretty well mixed, although I couldn't hear much of the guitar melodies. Still, they are not quite to my taste, mainly because of the vocals. The singer sang with a lot of gusto this time (lack of which was one of my gripes before) but I was not digging the anguished sound of most of his vocals. There were some moments where he sang with more aggressive punch to his voice, kind of like Halford's vocals, which I thought were good, but overall things tended a little too much toward emo for me.

By the time The Agonist came on, I was feeling rather weak. They sounded pretty good, loud and riffy (this is another venue whose sound system seems generally tuned to rumble), and I headbanged a bit when I was able to pay attention. There seemed to be something lacking, though; they didn't inspire me as much as March to Victory and Demiz. It may also have been that I was sick and tired, because I literally passed out on S's shoulder by the end of the set.

Next show - Mayhem Fest on Wednesday!