It was hard to say which band I was looking forward to more. I'd never seen Within Temptation before, but had liked them almost as long as Nightwish and Sonata Arctica - and they had special meaning to me, to boot, because a funny Dutch friend in Hong Kong introduced me to them. Yeah, I wasn't as huge a fan of their 2011 album, The Unforgiving, because I felt like it was too hard rock. And I hadn't followed the band for a number of years so I completely missed their transformation from gothic metal to symphonic metal. But I enjoyed this year's Hydra - very symphonic, with some gothic touches to boot. Not only that, but that album turned out to make a great soundtrack for the transition that's happening in my personal life, especially the songs "Dangerous" and "The Whole World is Watching," and even "And We Run," in spite of - actually especially because of - the rap part.
As for Amaranthe, they're pretty unique in the metal scene with their music that combines electronic dance beats with death growls and metal riffs, and they were stellar when I saw them in Philly last year. It promised to be a night of dancing and emotional release.
Unfortunately, a poor route choice left me on the road for about two hours (blagh!) and so I (and my pal J, sorry man :( ) missed most of Amaranthe's set. They were just ending "Amaranthine" as we got into the venue. We spent the next couple songs ("Call Out My Name," "Drop Dead Cynical") trying to get drinks, looking at merch and looking for people. Well, that was what J was doing; I just followed him around. My friend D found me by Amaranthe's merch table right before the band launched into "The Nexus," and we stood between the bar and the crowd where we could just barely see the band, and headbanged a bit. That was their last song, sadly. At least S informed me later that they didn't play "Electroheart"; I'd have hated myself for missing that song, unabashed electro-metal dance song that it is.
Then D dragged me into the crowd, so I ended up in the middle of the floor and quite close up for Within Temptation. How am I going to headbang and dance? I wondered. But I managed. They started off with their radio hit (I mean, it gets played on XM radio) from their latest album, "Paradise (What About Us?)," which was recorded as a duet with Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish), but Sharon pulled it off all on her own, and sounded damn good. They played mainly from Hydra (yay!) and The Unforgiving (all right..) with just a few older songs thrown in here and there. While I barely expected that I might hear my favorite song, "The Dance" (too old and obscure :( ), I did hope they'd play "The Howling," but no luck. However, "Ice Queen" and "Mother Earth" were plenty amazing, full of gothic goodness that got me dancing. I also was really looking forward to hearing "The Whole World is Watching" from Hydra and was sad when the end of the set arrived without it. I found a lot of songs from Hydra personally meaningful, but that was the one that would probably have reduced me to tears. But they played all the other songs I hoped to hear from Hydra, most especially "Dangerous," which is like the theme song for my life at the moment. Unfortunately, the rap part that was piped in during "And We Run" was almost inaudible; too bad, because those words had a lot of meaning for me, too. But the most amazing moment was probably Sharon's little speech before "Stand My Ground," where she talked about how things are changing in the world and people should be whoever they wanna be, "gay or straight or whatever you are, whatever religion..." Wow, from a band of their standing, that meant a lot, and made the song even more powerful. I might have screamed "Stand your ground!" totally off key the first time the chorus came around XD I may have tuned out a little for some of the slower songs from The Unforgiving, but overall it was a good set, and they sounded great. Mostly. Sharon flubbed the vocals at the start of "Angels," but the crowd was not unforgiving (heh, heh). Actually, her vocals seemed a little bit weak throughout - but it is nearing the end of the tour, so she might be getting tired. If I'm not mistaken though, she pulled off Tarja's parts of "Paradise (What About Us?)" pretty well, which is a feat.
While I was pretty disappointed that I missed most of Amaranthe (and so much dancing that could have gone with them!), Within Temptation did not disappoint. Yeah, maybe I caught them ten years too late to hear most of their gothic songs, but the songs from Hydra completely made up for it.
Next show: Going to see Cab Ride Home tonight :D
Showing posts with label Ram's Head. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ram's Head. Show all posts
Friday, October 10, 2014
Monday, June 24, 2013
Concert Review - Lamb of God, Decapitated, The Acacia Strain - 6/19/13 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
So, to make up for the kind of lame night of metalcore the week before last, here's a review of a solid night of killer metal (and metalcore). Although none of these are among my favorite bands, I knew that Lamb of God would put on an intense show, and both the openers had things going for them that made me curious to see them, so this promised to be a solid night.
I thought the Ram's Head website said Decapitated was going on first, so we were surprised to see The Acacia Strain come out out just a few minutes after we got to the venue (they started 15 minutes late, though). I had been hoping to see them live for some time, cause they are quite heavy and brutal (and that's pretty much all they are.) Their sound was very low and heavy, a churning maelstrom. The first song was basically like one long breakdown, slow, crushingly heavy, the vocals kind of in the background. The vocals were utterly incomprehensible anyway (which I don't mind; I read some of their song lyrics a year or two ago and then decided I didn't want to know what their songs are about). Every couple of songs, the singer would go on a half-intelligible rant, telling us things like, "Don't hate yourself; hate everyone else," and "There's too much positivity going on in music today." I thought they were good as an opener - a nice heavy start to the evening - but I don't think they would have held my interest for a headline-length set. I started to get bored of the plodding heavy parts where they weren't doing anything besides being really heavy. They had a very few different moments like a few seconds of melodic guitar (omg, a solo?!) or increased tempo, but mostly it was just constant breakdown (ironically, a guy near us in a shirt that said "No breakdowns...no karate..." etc was bobbing his head during the breakdowniness).
So Polish technical death metal band Decapitated had the second slot, of which I was glad - I would much rather hear more of them than TAS. My first introduction to Decapitated was hearing "404" on the radio about a year ago, and I did not dig it at all. But I mean, they're from Poland, the land of Behemoth and Unsun, so I figured I must be missing something, and got intrigued at the prospect of seeing them live. Turned out they were great. Their guitar work and drumming was very complex, but still groovy enough for headbanging. I am pretty picky about drumming, but I enjoyed the unpredictable drum rhythms in their songs (the thing I hate most in metal is nonstop banging on the same drum over and over). Even "404" sounded good (I didn't realize what song it was at first because the singer called it "Four hundred and four" and I didn't hear the last word clearly; I've always thought of it as "four-oh-four"). The strange rhythms and guitar squeals that I found so grating when I first heard it were not as prominent. Overall, their sound was a thick, nonstop barrage peppered with fast rhythms, so it was a good thing they paused every few songs and we got a breather. I didn't really notice any solos, except for one short one that was rather slow and atmospheric. The singer was stalking about the stage, throwing about his Chris Barnes-esque dreads, and sometimes doing a repeated cobra-like motion that made me think he was spitting on the crowd. Obviously, I never saw the original Decapitated live, so I can't say how they compare to that, but they certainly sounded heavy and technically capable. And since I've seen Lamb of God before, Decapitated was the gem of the night - the performance that really made it worth it.
After an "intermission" where decades-old movie theater commercials for popcorn and corn dogs were shown on screens on the stage, Lamb of God came out thundering. They also delivered a solid set - I realized that I actually know a lot of their songs, at least the popular ones. Their guitar riffs are aggressive yet accessible, like a cleaned up version of thrash riffs, and Randy's low vocals and the thundering bass bring a bit of death metal brutality. We got much closer this time than last time at the Fillmore - we were about five rows back, but off to the left, off the actual floor and nearer the bar. Which was fine - we could still see great, and didn't get caught in the meatgrinder that was the jam-packed floor (if the show wasn't sold out, it was pretty damn close - B market be damned). Randy called for moshing a couple times and seemed impressed by the crowd-surfing wheelchair guy, which cued us in that he wasn't the one behind the "No moshing" and "No crowdsurfing" signs at the venue. The venue didn't seem to intend on enforcing this policy either, because wheelchair guy crowdsurfed to the front no less than three times.
They put on an intense show, delivering a fine-tuned aggressive sound, with great energy - Randy was running around the stage - and with strong, roving lights and videos on the aforementioned screens adding to the effect. Some of the videos seemed familiar from last time, such as the animated one for "Ghost Walking," but some seemed new, such as the one for "Now You've got Something to Die For," which showed photos of their fans in the armed forces (of course they dedicated that song to servicemembers like usual). During the encore, the drummer from Decapitated (they called him "Polish Pauly" and kept flashing the image of his face on the screens in front of a Polish flag) played a song with them.
I think I enjoyed seeing them even more this time than last. The sound was better - we could hear the vocals more clearly - and being closer to the stage, we could see the band a lot better. S discovered later that they actually played the same setlist as in the fall, and we found out later that their tour last year hit the "A" markets, since they were not sure how long they would have Randy, and now that he's back they did a tour of the "B" markets. Nice to know that bands consider Washington, DC an important market - now if only tours like Helloween and Godflesh would hit it up!
Next show: Maybe Holy Grail on 7/1 or maybe Amaranthe on 7/18. We shall see.
I thought the Ram's Head website said Decapitated was going on first, so we were surprised to see The Acacia Strain come out out just a few minutes after we got to the venue (they started 15 minutes late, though). I had been hoping to see them live for some time, cause they are quite heavy and brutal (and that's pretty much all they are.) Their sound was very low and heavy, a churning maelstrom. The first song was basically like one long breakdown, slow, crushingly heavy, the vocals kind of in the background. The vocals were utterly incomprehensible anyway (which I don't mind; I read some of their song lyrics a year or two ago and then decided I didn't want to know what their songs are about). Every couple of songs, the singer would go on a half-intelligible rant, telling us things like, "Don't hate yourself; hate everyone else," and "There's too much positivity going on in music today." I thought they were good as an opener - a nice heavy start to the evening - but I don't think they would have held my interest for a headline-length set. I started to get bored of the plodding heavy parts where they weren't doing anything besides being really heavy. They had a very few different moments like a few seconds of melodic guitar (omg, a solo?!) or increased tempo, but mostly it was just constant breakdown (ironically, a guy near us in a shirt that said "No breakdowns...no karate..." etc was bobbing his head during the breakdowniness).
So Polish technical death metal band Decapitated had the second slot, of which I was glad - I would much rather hear more of them than TAS. My first introduction to Decapitated was hearing "404" on the radio about a year ago, and I did not dig it at all. But I mean, they're from Poland, the land of Behemoth and Unsun, so I figured I must be missing something, and got intrigued at the prospect of seeing them live. Turned out they were great. Their guitar work and drumming was very complex, but still groovy enough for headbanging. I am pretty picky about drumming, but I enjoyed the unpredictable drum rhythms in their songs (the thing I hate most in metal is nonstop banging on the same drum over and over). Even "404" sounded good (I didn't realize what song it was at first because the singer called it "Four hundred and four" and I didn't hear the last word clearly; I've always thought of it as "four-oh-four"). The strange rhythms and guitar squeals that I found so grating when I first heard it were not as prominent. Overall, their sound was a thick, nonstop barrage peppered with fast rhythms, so it was a good thing they paused every few songs and we got a breather. I didn't really notice any solos, except for one short one that was rather slow and atmospheric. The singer was stalking about the stage, throwing about his Chris Barnes-esque dreads, and sometimes doing a repeated cobra-like motion that made me think he was spitting on the crowd. Obviously, I never saw the original Decapitated live, so I can't say how they compare to that, but they certainly sounded heavy and technically capable. And since I've seen Lamb of God before, Decapitated was the gem of the night - the performance that really made it worth it.
After an "intermission" where decades-old movie theater commercials for popcorn and corn dogs were shown on screens on the stage, Lamb of God came out thundering. They also delivered a solid set - I realized that I actually know a lot of their songs, at least the popular ones. Their guitar riffs are aggressive yet accessible, like a cleaned up version of thrash riffs, and Randy's low vocals and the thundering bass bring a bit of death metal brutality. We got much closer this time than last time at the Fillmore - we were about five rows back, but off to the left, off the actual floor and nearer the bar. Which was fine - we could still see great, and didn't get caught in the meatgrinder that was the jam-packed floor (if the show wasn't sold out, it was pretty damn close - B market be damned). Randy called for moshing a couple times and seemed impressed by the crowd-surfing wheelchair guy, which cued us in that he wasn't the one behind the "No moshing" and "No crowdsurfing" signs at the venue. The venue didn't seem to intend on enforcing this policy either, because wheelchair guy crowdsurfed to the front no less than three times.
They put on an intense show, delivering a fine-tuned aggressive sound, with great energy - Randy was running around the stage - and with strong, roving lights and videos on the aforementioned screens adding to the effect. Some of the videos seemed familiar from last time, such as the animated one for "Ghost Walking," but some seemed new, such as the one for "Now You've got Something to Die For," which showed photos of their fans in the armed forces (of course they dedicated that song to servicemembers like usual). During the encore, the drummer from Decapitated (they called him "Polish Pauly" and kept flashing the image of his face on the screens in front of a Polish flag) played a song with them.
I think I enjoyed seeing them even more this time than last. The sound was better - we could hear the vocals more clearly - and being closer to the stage, we could see the band a lot better. S discovered later that they actually played the same setlist as in the fall, and we found out later that their tour last year hit the "A" markets, since they were not sure how long they would have Randy, and now that he's back they did a tour of the "B" markets. Nice to know that bands consider Washington, DC an important market - now if only tours like Helloween and Godflesh would hit it up!
Next show: Maybe Holy Grail on 7/1 or maybe Amaranthe on 7/18. We shall see.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Behemoth, Watain, The Devil's Blood, In Solitude, Evoken - 5/5/12 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
Actually, we missed Evoken, In Solitude, and The Devil's Blood entirely, due to travel time, slow service at a restaurant and the need for corpse paint.
Our excuse for arriving late. From left, K., S. and I in corpse paint.
As the next band set up, we guessed from the array of candles that it was Watain, setting up for their Satanic ritual. (As far as I know, they could have sold all our souls to Satan and we have no idea..) Their set had a great atmosphere - the candles and minimal lighting creating a spooky feeling that enhanced the music. They were not very heavy, but had a bewitching sound - sad melodies or melancholy riffs over pummeling bass and drums, alternating with slow and dark segments, the vocalist conducting it all with his growled incantations. I was not sure if there would be moshing, since it was black metal, but there was. "Total Funeral" was a crowd favorite - it starts with rocking riffs that got everyone jumping, and then a huge pit appeared. They ended with "Waters of Ain," a masterpiece of black metal - you could just about feel the cold dripping of evil.
Behemoth also evoked the ultimate evil but in a different way - whereas Watain was dark and gloomy, Behemoth was powerful and dominating. They lived up to my expectations - that they would be amazing. As with Watain, lighting and staging added to the effect. They began with lights directly behind them, which was painful if you were at an angle but pretty dramatic. They didn't move much - only switching between center, left and right positions a few times - but seemed to tower over audience like some sort of evil statues. Nergal looked even more sinister with short hair, and the other guys looked a bit like Klingons. Their sound was my favorite kind - the thunderous kind that shakes the building. It was like some sort dark god rising roaring out of hell..except that for Behemoth that god is probably humanity itself.
The crowd was energetic, and the pit was pretty crazy. At some point (perhaps during "Conquer All"?) a huge wave of moshers knocked down the people in front of us and pushed us back to the back corner of the floor. A guy in a wheel chair was spotted in the pit and crowdsurfing. I suspect it was the same guy we saw at Arch Enemy (I talked to him afterward but didn't get a chance to ask about that show).
Nergal, recovered from the brink of death, seemed to be doing fine. Some vocals appeared to be recorded but that may have been for effects - the lower, more ominous vocals. S thought the set was a litte short though. Neither band talked very much, they just played their songs with a few dramatic proclamations here and there.
Overall it was a great show, recommended for anyone who's into the darker side of metal, or into heavy music.
Next concert: Sabaton, 5/20 or 5/21
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Black Dahlia Murder, Nile, Skeletonwitch, Hour of Penance - 4/17/12 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
A night of heavy-hitting metal with three different flavors of death
metal (broadly speaking). It was an enjoyable show, although not as
mind-blowingly heavy as I had hoped. Like with the Amon Amarth show, I
had the feeling that I was really at a metal show - a very "metal"
crowd (long hair, death metal shirts), lots of headbanging. Besides my
friend K. and I, there were only maybe 3 or 4 other girls there.
We missed Hour of Penance altogether. In fact we were late for
Skeletonwitch - we got there during their first song. S. calls them
blackened thrash, but to me they sound more like thrashy melodic death
metal. The sound quality was excellent - I heard some melodic bits in
their songs that I never noticed before, which along with their fast
and furious tempo, made for a fun experience. In recordings, the
singer's barking singing style turns me off, but during the live show
it was all right; it fit with the ferocity of their music. They
seemed to play a very short set - only 25 minutes or so.
Nile was next, and of this lineup I was looking forward to them the most. They play slow-ish, dark and heavy technical death metal based on ancient
Egyptian history and religion. I expected earth-shaking heaviness from
them, and they were pretty heavy, but I feel like I've heard heavier.
There were a few boring spots where they decided to show off their
technical prowess, without necessarily doing anything melodic or epic.
Mostly though they dominated with heavy riffs and demonically low
vocals. The crowd was kind of weak though - their "death metal voice"
was pretty thin and the pit was empty much of the time. I think I
should have gone in the pit for Nile rather than Black Dahlia Murder -
that would have been a better contribution to the atmosphere.
I was not sure what to expect from the headliner, Black Dahlia Murder since I had only listened closely to a few of their songs. I thought they'd be
fast and crazy and I wasn't wrong. They play extreme metal -
fast-paced, with harsh and/or screamed vocals, and some grindcore
moments. In truth, they were the best performance of the night
actually, with fast and catchy riffs, furious vocals and a lively
crowd. At least, the fast and crazy parts were great, but I felt that
the slow heavy parts were not quite heavy enough (compared say to when
I saw Suicide Silence). "Stirring the Seas of Salted Blood," which
they introduced as a "slow and low" song for "head-banging from the
waist," was great though. The pit was wild, with a couple of vendettas
going on. I went in once or twice near the beginning and got dragged
into one of circle pits, but toward the end I stayed out because it
started to get too brutal and seemed like some fights were about to
break out.
Overall this was a good show. These are three great bands and they put
on a good performance, although it wasn't as overpoweringly awesome as
I'd expected. Still recommended though just for the death metal experience.
Next concert: Rammstein, 4/25/12
metal (broadly speaking). It was an enjoyable show, although not as
mind-blowingly heavy as I had hoped. Like with the Amon Amarth show, I
had the feeling that I was really at a metal show - a very "metal"
crowd (long hair, death metal shirts), lots of headbanging. Besides my
friend K. and I, there were only maybe 3 or 4 other girls there.
We missed Hour of Penance altogether. In fact we were late for
Skeletonwitch - we got there during their first song. S. calls them
blackened thrash, but to me they sound more like thrashy melodic death
metal. The sound quality was excellent - I heard some melodic bits in
their songs that I never noticed before, which along with their fast
and furious tempo, made for a fun experience. In recordings, the
singer's barking singing style turns me off, but during the live show
it was all right; it fit with the ferocity of their music. They
seemed to play a very short set - only 25 minutes or so.
Nile was next, and of this lineup I was looking forward to them the most. They play slow-ish, dark and heavy technical death metal based on ancient
Egyptian history and religion. I expected earth-shaking heaviness from
them, and they were pretty heavy, but I feel like I've heard heavier.
There were a few boring spots where they decided to show off their
technical prowess, without necessarily doing anything melodic or epic.
Mostly though they dominated with heavy riffs and demonically low
vocals. The crowd was kind of weak though - their "death metal voice"
was pretty thin and the pit was empty much of the time. I think I
should have gone in the pit for Nile rather than Black Dahlia Murder -
that would have been a better contribution to the atmosphere.
I was not sure what to expect from the headliner, Black Dahlia Murder since I had only listened closely to a few of their songs. I thought they'd be
fast and crazy and I wasn't wrong. They play extreme metal -
fast-paced, with harsh and/or screamed vocals, and some grindcore
moments. In truth, they were the best performance of the night
actually, with fast and catchy riffs, furious vocals and a lively
crowd. At least, the fast and crazy parts were great, but I felt that
the slow heavy parts were not quite heavy enough (compared say to when
I saw Suicide Silence). "Stirring the Seas of Salted Blood," which
they introduced as a "slow and low" song for "head-banging from the
waist," was great though. The pit was wild, with a couple of vendettas
going on. I went in once or twice near the beginning and got dragged
into one of circle pits, but toward the end I stayed out because it
started to get too brutal and seemed like some fights were about to
break out.
Overall this was a good show. These are three great bands and they put
on a good performance, although it wasn't as overpoweringly awesome as
I'd expected. Still recommended though just for the death metal experience.
Next concert: Rammstein, 4/25/12
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Children of Bodom, Eluveitie, Revocation, Threat Signal - 3/4/12 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
We completely missed Threat Signal. I had worked for 38 of the 48 hours before the concert, so I did not feel like rushing back to Baltimore.
Revocation was in the middle of their set when we got there. I thought they sounded better - heavier, more interesting - than on their Youtube videos (my primary way of researching bands I don't know), but S. thought the opposite. They were loud and heavy with some cool riffs, but fell short of awesome. The singer said something silly about Skyrim which I had already read on Youtube. We wondered if he said the song was about Vikings just to play to the folk metal crowd.
I may be biased, but Eluveitie was awesome. They were much heavier than I expected for a folk metal band that actually uses a lot of folk instruments. I started to wonder whether they made their sound heavier and/or picked their heavier songs for the set just because they were touring with three death metal bands.
S. said that Eluveitie's drums were too loud, but I did not really notice during the show. In the first song ("Everything Remains..") the drums sounded like an army marching and banging their swords, which I thought was pretty cool. From the front, I could hear the acoustic instruments like the tinwhistle, but I guess they were a little overpowered by guitars and drums.
At first people did not seem to know it was ok to mosh for folk metal (most of crowd seemed to be death metal fans although there were a few definite folk metal fans). I tried to start pit during the second song ("Nil") but did not quite dare run into the really big guys. But when the singer called for a circle pit for the 3rd song ("Kingdom come undone") they sure got into it. (I was standing right near "Primordial shirt guy" when the singer picked him but I think you can only see the top of my head in the video. The circle pit was pretty big though you can't really see it since it's dark.) There was not much of a folk pit at any point, though there were a few moments of jigging (I owned the pit with a jig at one point). There was also a girl pit at one point; sadly I can't find any youtube videos of it. If anyone has one, please post and tell me!
I don't really do the setlist thing - that's usually S's forte - but Eluveitie did play one new song which they said they hadn't played before on the tour: "The Siege." Otherwise they seemed to play the same setlist as their other shows on this tour.
Other fun videos:
Intro and first 2 songs
"Inis Mona" (last song they played)
None of the videos are mine. Much gratitude to the metal people who take vids and post on youtube, so that those of us who are too busy moshing and headbanging can enjoy later XD
Children of Bodom were amazing, of course. I couldn't hear as much of their awesome melodies as I would have liked (too loud and heavy, the melodies were drowned out), but the heaviness made up for it. Now I can really see them as a death metal band (and understand why there were so many death metal fans there. Nothing against death metal or its fans, but I was hoping for a good folk crowd for Eluveitie). I wondered what the death metal fans thought of the more (very much more) melodic segments in COB's music, like the parts that sound somewhat like Nightwish.
You all know my highest compliment to a band is that they sound like thunder (ex Medeia and A Sound of Thunder) but COB did one better. Not just thunder, they sounded like a thundering war machine, like some alien battleship pounding the earth, it was so intense. The pits were massive and crazy. We were all the way in the back (I was wiped out after Eluveitie and didn't think I could handle the giant pits anyway) and we still got jostled around.
I would have gone to see either Eluveitie or COB on their own, so it was great to see them together kind of like a "package deal." Next time though, I hope Eluveitie tours with folk metal bands for more folk metal fun in the pit!
Next concert: Iced Earth, Warbringer - 3/13/12. I kind of forgot about this one, augh!
The photos are by Steve Wass. More photos
Revocation was in the middle of their set when we got there. I thought they sounded better - heavier, more interesting - than on their Youtube videos (my primary way of researching bands I don't know), but S. thought the opposite. They were loud and heavy with some cool riffs, but fell short of awesome. The singer said something silly about Skyrim which I had already read on Youtube. We wondered if he said the song was about Vikings just to play to the folk metal crowd.
I may be biased, but Eluveitie was awesome. They were much heavier than I expected for a folk metal band that actually uses a lot of folk instruments. I started to wonder whether they made their sound heavier and/or picked their heavier songs for the set just because they were touring with three death metal bands.
ELUVEITIE!
S. said that Eluveitie's drums were too loud, but I did not really notice during the show. In the first song ("Everything Remains..") the drums sounded like an army marching and banging their swords, which I thought was pretty cool. From the front, I could hear the acoustic instruments like the tinwhistle, but I guess they were a little overpowered by guitars and drums.
At first people did not seem to know it was ok to mosh for folk metal (most of crowd seemed to be death metal fans although there were a few definite folk metal fans). I tried to start pit during the second song ("Nil") but did not quite dare run into the really big guys. But when the singer called for a circle pit for the 3rd song ("Kingdom come undone") they sure got into it. (I was standing right near "Primordial shirt guy" when the singer picked him but I think you can only see the top of my head in the video. The circle pit was pretty big though you can't really see it since it's dark.) There was not much of a folk pit at any point, though there were a few moments of jigging (I owned the pit with a jig at one point). There was also a girl pit at one point; sadly I can't find any youtube videos of it. If anyone has one, please post and tell me!
I don't really do the setlist thing - that's usually S's forte - but Eluveitie did play one new song which they said they hadn't played before on the tour: "The Siege." Otherwise they seemed to play the same setlist as their other shows on this tour.
Other fun videos:
Intro and first 2 songs
"Inis Mona" (last song they played)
None of the videos are mine. Much gratitude to the metal people who take vids and post on youtube, so that those of us who are too busy moshing and headbanging can enjoy later XD
Children of Bodom were amazing, of course. I couldn't hear as much of their awesome melodies as I would have liked (too loud and heavy, the melodies were drowned out), but the heaviness made up for it. Now I can really see them as a death metal band (and understand why there were so many death metal fans there. Nothing against death metal or its fans, but I was hoping for a good folk crowd for Eluveitie). I wondered what the death metal fans thought of the more (very much more) melodic segments in COB's music, like the parts that sound somewhat like Nightwish.
Children of Bodom, RAR
You all know my highest compliment to a band is that they sound like thunder (ex Medeia and A Sound of Thunder) but COB did one better. Not just thunder, they sounded like a thundering war machine, like some alien battleship pounding the earth, it was so intense. The pits were massive and crazy. We were all the way in the back (I was wiped out after Eluveitie and didn't think I could handle the giant pits anyway) and we still got jostled around.
I would have gone to see either Eluveitie or COB on their own, so it was great to see them together kind of like a "package deal." Next time though, I hope Eluveitie tours with folk metal bands for more folk metal fun in the pit!
Next concert: Iced Earth, Warbringer - 3/13/12. I kind of forgot about this one, augh!
The photos are by Steve Wass. More photos
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Machine Head, Suicide Silence, Darkest Hour - 2/1/12 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
This was the first concert in a good six months that I was actually
excited to attend. Maybe it was just that I was less tired and
stressed out than usual, maybe that there was no hassle involved in
getting there (Ram's Head is a couple blocks from my place of
employment..). It was also the first in a while where I wasn't bored
and tired and feeling like
can't-wait-till-this-is-over-so-I-can-go-home in a good while. Again
maybe because I actually wasn't tired for once. But anyway..it was
nice to actually enjoy a concert again.
So now for the actual reviewing..
Darkest Hour was good, although not as excellent as I thought it would be
from my very quick pre-listening the day before. They had some melodic
bits and heavy bits and some bits that were both melodic and
heavy, but I kept wishing they would make the guitars a little heavier
and give the vocals more punch to make it into true melodic death
metal (but this may just be because I wish everything was death
metal..). Also, metalcore kids don't know how to mosh. During one
insanely heavy song, there was NO ONE in the pit. At one point the
singer called for a circle pit, and one guy pushed another around the
floor, and that was it. I had come straight from work and had a bunch
of "luggage" with me, otherwise I would definitely have had to teach
those kids a lesson.
Suicide Silence was great. Ultra heavy, just an all out assault
on the senses (being a bit ADHD, I like music that overwhelms all
distractions in my brain). But it wasn't just the usual grinding-bass
grindcore band; the vocals were more of a black metal shriek, and they
mixed in some other unusual sounds as well.
They varied the tempo, too, with some fast riffs and some slow,
soul-shakingly heavy segments. Overall it was just all-consuming
nonstop heaviness (the singer didn't waste a lot of time talking
either) and it never got boring either. There was better moshing for
these guys but some grindcore silliness too - a few guys doing moves
that reminded me of kung fu drills in the pit.
I thought that with their nonstop delivery of heaviness, Suicide
Silence would blow Machine Head out of the water, but I was
wrong. They weren't as heavy as Suicide Silence, but definitely heavy
enough. Also, they had great riffs and guitar solos, as well as
powerful lyrics and melodies that took the place of overwhelming
heaviness in holding my interest and making me headbang. I didn't
really like their old stuff much before this concert - although I
thought their new album was amazing and that was why I went to the
concert at all - but after seeing them live I have new enjoyment of
their music. The singer delivered a short speech before the first
encore, and usually I'm the jerk that shouts "Play some damn music"
when the band gets speechy, but it seemed like he was really speaking
from his heart, thanking the band's fans and talking about how music
got him through tough spots, as well as high points, in his life, so I
actually listened and was touched by what he said, even though I'm a
relatively new fan of the band. Then the first encore, "Darkness
Within," which starts with a long acoustic segment, convinced me for
certain of the guy's amazing songwriting abilities. That's right, I
said first encore. I think they played three encores. They played for
about 2 hours overall. I was so exhausted by the end, I was leaning on
the barrier in front of the sound tech area thing, but still the music
moved me to headbang till the end.
Overall it was an excellent experience, well worth the exhaustion. It
was also neat to see three bands of such different styles on one
night. You could definitely see the change in the crowd as the bands
changed - but I for one enjoyed all three.
Concert Recap
I'm going to post a review of Machine Head et al pretty soon (I know, my first review in what, five months? So exciting!). First though I thought I should recap what I've been doing since September. It's not that I took time off concerts, just that I was too tired/stressed/busy/lacking-in-internets, etc. to post reviews. Since my next concert is early March, we'll see if the renewed vigor lasts.
So here's what I've been doing since September:
Sabaton, A Sound of Thunder, Oct. 2011, Jaxx: Sabaton = awesome, so Sabaton live = overpowering amounts of awesome. Jumping, headbanging, shouting and singing along. Sabaton is a power metal band that focuses on historical and heroic themes, so they manage to create some seriously inspiring songs. "Uprising" was definitely the highlight of the night. Even more excellently, the amazing local band Sound of Thunder opened for them and got to play an extra long set (for a local band) so we got to hear a lot of their new music.
Anthrax, Testament, Death Angel, Nov. 2011, Ram's Head Live (Baltimore): It was great to see a legendary act like Anthrax in such a small venue. We were behind the pit but it still felt like up close and personal with metal history. Great show and massive pit. Was not a big fan of Testament before but I appreciate them more after seeing them live. We missed most of Death Angel but the song and a half that we did hear sounded good as well. (Thank goodness we didn't hear "Truce," it's an ok song but horribly overplayed on a certain xm radio station.)
Korpiklaani, Arkona, Polkadot Cadaver, Dec. 15, 2011, Jaxx: I couldn't remember who the third band on this line-up was and when I googled it I realized why. I don't really care for Polkadot Cadaver at all, I think their music just sounds bad. No epic riffs, powerful vocals, or stellar guitars. We sat out their set. Arkona and Korpiklaani were great, though, of course. I spent most of Arkona's set in the pit, and most of Korpiklaani watching two bigheaded guys ruining the pit for everyone else (by the time it occurred to me to just get in their way and mess up their turning the pit into their personal duel, the set was winding down). And I got S injured in the pit when I dragged him in - oops :( Anyway, it was fun times but not quite as good as Alestorm or Blackguard, I think.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Arch Enemy, DevilDriver, Skeletonwitch, ChthoniC - 9/8/11 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD
aka. Arch Enemy, Devil Drivers, Skeltonswitch, cthohic according to the sign on Ram's Head's door. Way to go Ram's Head! You kept us well amused in the entrance line by inspiring people to do imitations of Toki and Murderface. Good times.
I hope this review will be decent because I wasn't feeling too well by the end of this show, and kind of lost the ability to concentrate.
This was my first time at Ram's Head in Baltimore. It's kind of in the middle of everything by the waterfront, which was annoying to me since it meant a lot of people around, but there was also a 24 hour Subway around the corner which is the best post concert food. Parking at Ram's Head is convenient - the garage is on top of the venue - but it's expensive ($10), and the garage seems sort of dangerous to drive in because of its narrow ramps. Inside is more open than Jaxx (yes, Jaxx is my standard for everything) but not just a huge warehouse like certain other venues. I didn't like the layout at first, with a bar in the middle of an open-ish area with the stage and floor off to the side, but I got used to it, and it was nice being able to see the stage from the bar. I thought the bar area needed more seating, though - tables or something. On the floor, I liked how the stage area feels large because of the high ceiling. There are three floors but only the bottom was open for this show because the crowd wasn't large - people said that for bigger shows, the two tiers of balconies are open too.
We got there early on purpose because I was not about to miss the first band - ChthoniC, a melodic black metal band from Taiwan that combines Chinese melodies and traditional instruments with overwhelming metal heaviness. They blasted off with a loud, heavy sound right from the start. Like with most melodic bands, the melodies got a little lost in the noise, but the erhu (Chinese two stringed fiddle) segments came out nice and clear, probably since the vocalist, Freddy, was the one playing them. One of the erhu solos got cut short since his bow got stuck somehow, which made me sad. I was also sad that the guzheng that's seen in the video for "Takao" was nowhere in evidence, but I maybe they just couldn't bring everything across the ocean. They played a lot of songs from their new album. And there was almost a fight in the pit.
ChthoniC rarrrrr
S. with ChthoniC, it's pretty dark (fittingly so?) but from right to left (this is black metal after all) S., Doris, Freddy, Jesse. And C's merch guy behind S.
The next band was Skeletonwitch, a band that S. rather likes. He says they are blackened thrash, but they sound more like death metal to me, even sounding like Amon Amarth in one song. They had fast, interesting riffs and melodies, and they sounded more interesting live than on their recordings. I confess to not having familiarized myself with them as much as usual before the concert because the week before, I was listening almost exclusively, obsessively to ChthoniC (so flipping good).
I thought DevilDriver did not sound as good as Skeletonwitch, but they were still fast and heavy. They are hard to place genre wise, but I would peg them as some kind of death metal or deathcore. (Wikipedia calls them "heavy metal" which I think is basically a copout from trying to name their genre.) I like the songs from the newest album, "Beast," better than their older ones - the sound is very unique, with this kind of harsh whining sound to the guitars, the intense drumming and the combined growl/scream of the singer's voice. Basically, the "rar" factor of the new album is much higher :P Their sound in concert was a little, uh, blurred, though. (They didn't play "Blur," though; the only song from "Beast" that they played was "Dead to Rights," sadly, but at least they played that song.) Huge crazy pits appeared during their set.
The star of the evening was Arch Enemy, a death metal outfit with a revolutionary agenda. They were pretty good, but unfortunately I was too irritated by some people near me to really enjoy. Angela's voice was strong and vicious for the whole set, which was great. I thought their uniform-like outfits were odd, though - what were they supposed to be, Angela's Anarchist Army? There were several awesome melodic guitar solos, and I liked that they ended their encore with guitar solos, because of course most people are into Arch Enemy because of Angela, so it was nice that the guitarists got to send off the audience. Also, there was a crazy wheelchair guy in the pit - he had people, sometimes big knots of four or five people, pushing his chair around the pit, and he even crowd surfed up to the stage, chair and all. And then came back around to the pit again. Now that's hardcore.
This video shows some of the awesome guitarring. (Be warned though, the camera person must have been jostled by moshers because the camera shakes and jerks around a lot. Do not watch if you are sensitive to that type of thing.) I couldn't find video of the wheelchair moshing sadly :(
Next concert: Not sure. S. is going to see Within Temptation tomorrow and I'm pretty jealous. Enslaved is at Jaxx next week but practical matters may get in the way.
Book review(s) soon because I also finished China Miéville's Kraken.
I hope this review will be decent because I wasn't feeling too well by the end of this show, and kind of lost the ability to concentrate.
This was my first time at Ram's Head in Baltimore. It's kind of in the middle of everything by the waterfront, which was annoying to me since it meant a lot of people around, but there was also a 24 hour Subway around the corner which is the best post concert food. Parking at Ram's Head is convenient - the garage is on top of the venue - but it's expensive ($10), and the garage seems sort of dangerous to drive in because of its narrow ramps. Inside is more open than Jaxx (yes, Jaxx is my standard for everything) but not just a huge warehouse like certain other venues. I didn't like the layout at first, with a bar in the middle of an open-ish area with the stage and floor off to the side, but I got used to it, and it was nice being able to see the stage from the bar. I thought the bar area needed more seating, though - tables or something. On the floor, I liked how the stage area feels large because of the high ceiling. There are three floors but only the bottom was open for this show because the crowd wasn't large - people said that for bigger shows, the two tiers of balconies are open too.
We got there early on purpose because I was not about to miss the first band - ChthoniC, a melodic black metal band from Taiwan that combines Chinese melodies and traditional instruments with overwhelming metal heaviness. They blasted off with a loud, heavy sound right from the start. Like with most melodic bands, the melodies got a little lost in the noise, but the erhu (Chinese two stringed fiddle) segments came out nice and clear, probably since the vocalist, Freddy, was the one playing them. One of the erhu solos got cut short since his bow got stuck somehow, which made me sad. I was also sad that the guzheng that's seen in the video for "Takao" was nowhere in evidence, but I maybe they just couldn't bring everything across the ocean. They played a lot of songs from their new album. And there was almost a fight in the pit.
The next band was Skeletonwitch, a band that S. rather likes. He says they are blackened thrash, but they sound more like death metal to me, even sounding like Amon Amarth in one song. They had fast, interesting riffs and melodies, and they sounded more interesting live than on their recordings. I confess to not having familiarized myself with them as much as usual before the concert because the week before, I was listening almost exclusively, obsessively to ChthoniC (so flipping good).
I thought DevilDriver did not sound as good as Skeletonwitch, but they were still fast and heavy. They are hard to place genre wise, but I would peg them as some kind of death metal or deathcore. (Wikipedia calls them "heavy metal" which I think is basically a copout from trying to name their genre.) I like the songs from the newest album, "Beast," better than their older ones - the sound is very unique, with this kind of harsh whining sound to the guitars, the intense drumming and the combined growl/scream of the singer's voice. Basically, the "rar" factor of the new album is much higher :P Their sound in concert was a little, uh, blurred, though. (They didn't play "Blur," though; the only song from "Beast" that they played was "Dead to Rights," sadly, but at least they played that song.) Huge crazy pits appeared during their set.
The star of the evening was Arch Enemy, a death metal outfit with a revolutionary agenda. They were pretty good, but unfortunately I was too irritated by some people near me to really enjoy. Angela's voice was strong and vicious for the whole set, which was great. I thought their uniform-like outfits were odd, though - what were they supposed to be, Angela's Anarchist Army? There were several awesome melodic guitar solos, and I liked that they ended their encore with guitar solos, because of course most people are into Arch Enemy because of Angela, so it was nice that the guitarists got to send off the audience. Also, there was a crazy wheelchair guy in the pit - he had people, sometimes big knots of four or five people, pushing his chair around the pit, and he even crowd surfed up to the stage, chair and all. And then came back around to the pit again. Now that's hardcore.
This video shows some of the awesome guitarring. (Be warned though, the camera person must have been jostled by moshers because the camera shakes and jerks around a lot. Do not watch if you are sensitive to that type of thing.) I couldn't find video of the wheelchair moshing sadly :(
Next concert: Not sure. S. is going to see Within Temptation tomorrow and I'm pretty jealous. Enslaved is at Jaxx next week but practical matters may get in the way.
Book review(s) soon because I also finished China Miéville's Kraken.
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