Although I like Otep pretty well (perhaps less now than two years ago), what motivated me most was that One-Eyed Doll was touring with her again. We missed One-Eyed Doll last time, and I really wanted to see them because they seemed interesting, to put it mildly - very gothic with a cheeky sense of humor. (That judgment was entirely based on this video, but luckily it wasn't mistaken.)
Unfortunately, it turned out the show would go on much earlier than we expected, so we had to hurry to get there, and we still missed Picture Me Broken.
We did get there before One-Eyed Doll's set, of which I was glad. They are a two person goth rock band, with a girl on vocals/guitar and a guy on the drums. They were very loud, but with more of a punky cabaret sound than metal or rock. Although there was no vampirism on stage, there were a lot of silly antics - the vocalist used a high-pitched, mechanical-sounding voice to introduce the songs and interact with the audience, she dug silly hats and other items ( such as a severed foot) out of trunk or box onstage, called the place various combinations of "Springfield Virginia Austin Texas," and climbed up onto the speakers for the guitar intro to one song. Although they didn't play the vampire song, all their songs were similarly humorous with morbid themes. I enjoyed their set immensely.
Otep was good as well. It's been a while since I've been able to relax and immerse myself in the music, but for Otep's set I was able to. Almost the entire set was quite heavy, and she didn't seem to spend as much time on artistic whinging and stage antics as last time - although she did don a military cap and do a salute before "Warhead," and brought out the pig's head for "Blood Pigs." I went in the pit for "Battle Ready" (my favorite song) but there really wasn't much of one - only for the first chorus - and not for other songs either. This was in stark contrast to last time we saw Otep, when there were huge pits for every song. However, the crowd was pretty large and they seemed into it, jumping and waving their fists. I just headbanged a lot. Otep did play an encore this time, perhaps partly just to give the finger to the venue, which was kicking everyone out early so that some hiphop event could happen at ten.
People seem to have strong opinions regarding Otep and her music, but I definitely think she's worth checking out if you're into heavy music. She put on a good, heavy show, and I had a good time, even not being very familiar with most of the songs. And of course, I was glad that I finally got to see One-Eyed Doll.
Next concert: We actually went to see Lich King and Possessor the same night XD
Showing posts with label goth rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goth rock. Show all posts
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Marduk, Moonspell, Inquisition, The Foreshadowing, Deathwolf, Helgardh - 2/20/13 at Empire, Springfield, VA
February has been so crazy, with a concert every week along with meetings and social and volunteer commitments, that if Moonspell hadn't been on this line-up, I probably wouldn't have gone. Marduk is great, but I've already seen them, and they aren't one of the five or so bands that I feel I MUST see every time they come around. I had never seen Moonspell before, though, and was very curious about them, so I went mostly to see them.
There was a local opener, Helgardh, but by the time I realized I should have headed to Empire early to see them, they were already playing or done. I stopped at Panera to eat, write and wait for S, and finally checked out the bands at the start of the line-up. The songs I heard by Helgardh sounded pretty good, solid quality black metal. I met two of the band members at the show and got a CD with a rough mix of three new songs, and they said the songs they have online are old, and these new ones are much better. The CD certainly sounded good - they had those nonstop black metal guitars, but sometimes more death metal like vocals and some other interesting things going on in the background.
When we got to Empire, Deathwolf was on, and we heard their last song. One of Marduk's guitarists is in this band. The one song I'd listened to (at Panera) sounded more rock-like, without the intensity of metal. They did sound heavier than I expected, but still had more of rock vibe; I wasn't really drawn to them.
I had heard of The Foreshadowing before, because they have in fact played them a couple times on XM radio, but I couldn't really recall what they sounded like. They started off with very heavy, metalcore breakdown-like guitars, but after that were mostly slow and doomy, with a few faster segments when the guitars and drums suddenly revved up. They had clean doomy vocals from a rather gothic looking guy. I wondered why two of the guys are bald, that's not metal. I liked them - I thought they had nice melodies and pretty good guitars.
I didn't know what to expect from Inquisition, besides having this vague hunch that it was a black metal band based on the logo. It was in fact a two person black metal band - a drummer and guitarist/vocalist. Their sound was fast paced and would have made me want to rush around or headbang frantically if I had had more energy. The guitar was weak at first, just a droning overwhelmed by the drums. The drums were actually interesting - they must have been using a variety of different sounds instead of just banging away like some bands do. After a few songs, the frontman called for the guitar to be made louder, and after that we could hear more of it - a dark low undertone with some pretty fast melodies over it, considering the guy was also singing at the same time. The vocals were unusual, with this croaking quality that reminded me of the lower tone of Mongolian throat singing. A great new find in my very limited knowledge of black metal.
Cutting back on the black metal intensity for a bit, the second to last band and the act that I really wanted to see was Moonspell, a gothic metal band from Portugal. At first, they were much heavier and more warlike than I expected, with fierce, battering guitars and drums. The singer wore a Roman-like helm for the first song, which made me think of Ex Deo. Despite the surprisingly intense guitars, there was a dark, gothic quality to vocals - a little harsh, but not brutal, very like the vocals of Deathstars - and often melancholy keyboard melodies were wafting over the heavier guitars. There was a lot of variation in their songs - some were slower and more gothic, others heavy and thundering, and still some full of racing black metal intensity. There was a pit for some songs, but overall the crowd was not as enthusiastic as for Inquisition.
On a side note, I spent about half of Moonspell's set staring at the bassist's hair. My daughter is mixed and will have hair just like that one day \m/
I had heard of The Foreshadowing before, because they have in fact played them a couple times on XM radio, but I couldn't really recall what they sounded like. They started off with very heavy, metalcore breakdown-like guitars, but after that were mostly slow and doomy, with a few faster segments when the guitars and drums suddenly revved up. They had clean doomy vocals from a rather gothic looking guy. I wondered why two of the guys are bald, that's not metal. I liked them - I thought they had nice melodies and pretty good guitars.
I didn't know what to expect from Inquisition, besides having this vague hunch that it was a black metal band based on the logo. It was in fact a two person black metal band - a drummer and guitarist/vocalist. Their sound was fast paced and would have made me want to rush around or headbang frantically if I had had more energy. The guitar was weak at first, just a droning overwhelmed by the drums. The drums were actually interesting - they must have been using a variety of different sounds instead of just banging away like some bands do. After a few songs, the frontman called for the guitar to be made louder, and after that we could hear more of it - a dark low undertone with some pretty fast melodies over it, considering the guy was also singing at the same time. The vocals were unusual, with this croaking quality that reminded me of the lower tone of Mongolian throat singing. A great new find in my very limited knowledge of black metal.
Cutting back on the black metal intensity for a bit, the second to last band and the act that I really wanted to see was Moonspell, a gothic metal band from Portugal. At first, they were much heavier and more warlike than I expected, with fierce, battering guitars and drums. The singer wore a Roman-like helm for the first song, which made me think of Ex Deo. Despite the surprisingly intense guitars, there was a dark, gothic quality to vocals - a little harsh, but not brutal, very like the vocals of Deathstars - and often melancholy keyboard melodies were wafting over the heavier guitars. There was a lot of variation in their songs - some were slower and more gothic, others heavy and thundering, and still some full of racing black metal intensity. There was a pit for some songs, but overall the crowd was not as enthusiastic as for Inquisition.
On a side note, I spent about half of Moonspell's set staring at the bassist's hair. My daughter is mixed and will have hair just like that one day \m/
Sadly, by the time Marduk came on, I had run out of steam. I'm not sure if it was sleep deprivation, illness or depression (all of which have been affecting me lately) but by the time they started, I could hardly sit up on a stool. They were intense and fast, and I should have enjoyed them more, but I just couldn't. We left about 2/3 of the way through their set :(
Next show: unknown. It may be Wimme at the Kennedy Center :) I was planning on going to Nile, but I'm not a fan of Cannabis Corpse. Due to stress in my personal life, I've decided to limit myself to two concerts a month, so a show where I only like the headliner is probably not worth it compared to others where I like more of the bands :/
Next show: unknown. It may be Wimme at the Kennedy Center :) I was planning on going to Nile, but I'm not a fan of Cannabis Corpse. Due to stress in my personal life, I've decided to limit myself to two concerts a month, so a show where I only like the headliner is probably not worth it compared to others where I like more of the bands :/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)