Concert Review - Combichrist, William Control, New Year's Day - 4/4/14 at Empire, Springfield, VA

Combichrist first introduced me to industrial music almost ten years ago - my first time at (DC goth club) Midnight in my senior year of college, the DJ played "This Shit Will Fuck You Up," and my friend J and I turned to each other like, "That was amazing! What was that?!" Back then youtube wasn't what it is now, and the only version I found of that track was a video someone had made of their friends running around in the woods (possibly with swords) to part of that song. But I was hooked - Combichrist instantly became my favorite band to dance to at goth/industrial clubs.

Somehow, though, my bumpy journey through metal and industrial since then never managed to put me at a Combichrist live show. So you could say I'd been waiting ten years for this show.

I was less than excited about the opening bands, having seen William Control opening for The Birthday Massacre and not being impressed, and never having heard of the other one. So I wasn't terribly concerned when I wasn't able to leave until after my daughter's bedtime and arrived at Empire around 10pm. Besides, I walked into the venue about five steps behind Combichrist, so it was worth it, even if being in line prevented me from actually interacting with them. (And also met up with my pal L in line, what a surprise!)

When I got inside, it was the middle of William Control's set. They sounded much better this time than last time, and the singer seemed like less of a jerk as well (he actually thanked the audience at the end of the set!). There were more heavy driving beats and danceable synthpop melodies, most noticeably in the songs from their new album (which came out that day). I felt their sound, especially in the new songs, was rather similar to Terminal Choice, although the vocals were a little less gritty and in English, of course. I actually enjoyed the set this time and moved a little bit.

Between sets I found out a bit about New Year's Day from S. He compared them to Stitched Up Heart but said they were not as good - they were energetic, but the songs were missing something. (Read his review for more on them.)

Finally, after teasing us with a seemingly interminable and unusally movie-soundtrack-epic-sounding intro, Combichrist at last came out to the title track of their new album, "We Were Made to Love You." This track, while nice and heavy, and rather discordant, in the ear-drowningly harsh vein of Psyclon Nine (my fave industrial act), was also hard to dance to in limited space, due to its unusual, drawn out rhythm. So I didn't move much for that first song, but as they moved on into other songs with those signature danceable Combichrist riffs, I danced to pretty much every song, and finally rushed into the moshpit, I think for "What the Fuck is Wrong With You," as well as "Get Your Body Beat." I tried to start the pit during "Sent to Destroy," but the guys just looked at me like I was crazy. That was the last song; I (and others) expected "This Shit Will Fuck You Up" as the closer, but we were disappointed :( I had an excellent time, dancing and moshing for most of the show, or headbanging for the songs that had more of a groovy or racing metal vibe (such as "Maggots at the Party" and "Love is a Razorblade," respectively). They did play a slow song ("The Evil in Me"?) which was not really danceable, but maybe it was good to have a break. Certainly, I'm used to having to put up with a lot of slow songs whenever I go out for goth/industrial music and dancing ;) The vocals sounded a little different - perhaps a little more natural and less like some evil electronic overlord, but that didn't affect my enjoyment much - I was mostly there for the rad harsh-industrial dance beats anyway.

Andy LaPlegua (vocalist, band mainman) made some interesting comments about the band "not belonging to a scene anymore" and fans being afraid to like the new album because it's not in their usual scene, but he was met with cheers when he proclaimed the crowd to be the band's scene. Although the new album strays quite a bit from the charging, harsh energy of Combichrist's dancefloor standards, with some VNV Nation-like flowing waves of synth in one track, Daft Punk-like electronic noise in another, and some songs with more a metal than dance vibe to them, it's good music, and there are floorkillers like "Every Day is War" (which sounds quite similar to "This Shit Will Fuck You Up," down to the electronic squeals). I'm definitely not disappointed; I mean, a song of dancefloor hits in the all the same style would be boring, honestly. The album makes an interesting, varied listen; I only need one or two songs from it to request on the dance floor.

So anyway, after my ten years' wait, I was very satisfied with live Combichrist. (Only dancing to "This Shit Will Fuck You Up" could have made it better, but at least they played my other favorite songs!) Considering I couldn't get there till late, and one hour of nonstop industrial dance party was probably the most my body could handle anyway, I wasn't bothered by the less than stellar support. Really I just wanted to see (and dance to) Combichrist, and they delivered.

Concert Review - Rob Zombie, Scar the Martyr - 11/27/13 at 930 Club, Washington, DC

We were lucky enough to get a one-off show of just Rob Zombie and Scar the Martyr at 930 Club, right after they ended their tour with Korn. I mainly wanted to go to this show to see Scar the Martyr. They're surprisingly metal, considering they consist of the drummer from Slipknot, guitarists from Darkest Hour and (formerly) Strapping Young Lads, a guy from Nine Inch Nails on keyboards and an unknown singer. Now I don't hate Slipknot like some metalheads, but they're not metal, so I was pretty shocked to find that the drummer's side project is so guitar-heavy and headbangable. Add to that the fact that most new bands coming into the mainstream "metal" scene aren't nearly this metal, and so I was quite impressed with this band's sound. And then of course, I figured this was probably my one chance to see this group live, since most of the members are in other bands and so they might not tour again.

Since I'm a superstar at the library who always gets her work done quickly, I got to take the day off, which allowed me (and S) to get to the venue well in time to see Scar the Martyr's set. I was not a superstar at keeping up with my National Novel Writing Month word count goals, though (hey, 4,000 words a day when you have two jobs and a kid is hard!) so I had to spend the metro ride and all the down time between sets writing on my phone. Thank goodness I have a phone with email now!

Not too long after we got there, Scar the Martyr came out to a surprising amount of applause from the crowd (and it was already quite crowded, too). I guess they had more fans than one would expect for a new band, maybe because of their famous members. I would have been more excited if I hadn't been so worried about my word count, and if I had actually been able to hear them. All we could hear was bass, and it was way too loud, causing feedback. The resulting effect was something like the heavily distorted bass thunder of harsh industrial music - I don't know if that was intentional, to make them fit more with Zombie's industrial sound. It was rather disappointing, though - not to mention a little bland - not to be able to hear the guitars except for a short solo. The vocals were pretty clear, and reminded me at times of Marilyn Manson, HIM and Mr. Lordi, further emphasizing the goth/industrial vibe. Their single, "Blood Host," sounded decent, but the guitars were still too low. They played it faster than on the album, and the guitarists seemed to have trouble doing the back-up vocals at that pace. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed that during what may have been my only chance to see this group, I didn't really get to hear about half of the band.

Between sets, S may have had an exchange with Zombie's bassist Piggy D - a guy with uneven shoulder-length hair and a punkish outfit walked by, and S remarked that he looked like Nikki Sixx. The guy heard him and said no way, he was better looking. S agreed and they exchanged a few more words and took a photo. The guy had a badge, but at the time we couldn't figure out who he was - only later by looking at photos did S figure out he might have been Piggy D.

After a few hundred more words, Rob Zombie (and his band) emerged. I was not too excited about seeing them, and had even considered leaving early to write, since we just saw them at Mayhem Fest and I'm not really a huge Zombie fan. (They're good, but for whatever reason don't get me as pumped as KMFDM or VNV Nation, among other goth/industrial acts.) But just like at Mayhem Fest, the energetic music, costume changes and stage props kept me amused. In contrast to Scar the Martyr, their sound was perfect. There weren't as many (or as enormous) props as at Mayhem Fest (Rob Zombie remarked that they didn't even know how to play club shows anymore and would probably hurt themselves if they tried to do the things they usually do) but Zombie did have a couple different microphones and threw giant balloons into the crowd for one song. A pit broke out right in front of us for the first song (which was surprising since we were on the side and a little toward the back) then moved to the center of the floor. There was a little more moshing after that, and the crowd also jumped energetically on a few songs. Without his giant props to ride around on, Rob Zombie pulled out his dance moves instead; they weren't really impressive. Also, during the guitar solo, he came out into the crowd and stood on the bar shining a flashlight over the crowd, drawing the crowd's attention to him, which I thought was a kind of jerkish move, when the guitarist was supposed to be enjoying the crowd's attention during his solo. Overall, though, I enjoyed the set much more than I expected, and did not mind staying till the end.

Surprisingly, I felt pretty good about the night, in spite of the fact that Scar the Martyr, the band I had really wanted to see, was less than great, and my word count was also hopelessly lacking (I ended the night about 800 words short). What can I say, I guess Rob Zombie really does put on a stupendous show!

Next concert: Alestorm on Weds for my brother's birthday!

Concert Review - My Enemy Complete, Rites of Ash, Technophobia, Stars and the Sea - 9/27/13 at Ottobar, Baltimore, MD

So this is the second show in a row where I just made it for the headliner. I had hoped to make it for Technophobia, since they are supposed to be some sort of industrial (I think), but I couldn't get out of the house on time. As it was, we got to Ottobar about ten minutes before My Enemy Complete went on.

My Enemy Complete plays a blend of industrial and metal (my favorite parts) with anguished clean vocals and more recently, lots of synth. Ever since finding out about them when I met the vocalist, Bilaal, at an industrial club a couple years ago, I've been bugging  him to make the music heavier and harder hitting. Their songs have always had great industrial/metal intros, but quieted down significantly once the vocals kicked in.

Still, the band seems to keep getting better each time I see them. Last time I saw them, at the goth/industrial club Zero, I thought they sounded significantly louder and heavier before, and I thought so this time as well. This time even the quieter segments and songs held my interest (mostly - I was pretty tired, too). Not only that, but for a streak of two or three songs in the beginning, the instrumentals were especially heavy. It quickly became clear to me that songs were Bilaal plays guitar along with Carlo tended to be heavier. The song "Memory Cell" stood out as the end of this streak, but even though it was not very heavy, it had a catchy synthpop vibe that kept things interesting. There were more heavy songs as the set went on, including one with an especially groovy and headbangeable intro. (I wish I was better at identifying their songs - now that I finally have an MEC cd, I might improve.)

As far as I can tell, they played all or most of their new album - they certainly played "Defragment," "Silent Compromise," "Fifteenth Night," "Memory Cell," and "Where Are You Now." Just before their set I managed to catch Bilaal and exchange a few words; he said something like, "We're playing a long set - twelve songs." He seemed a little worried about the band's stamina for such a marathon, but they seemed to do fine, sounding just as strong on the last song as the first.

They had a deal where if you bought two tickets ahead of time, you got their new album for free, so I did that - got a ticket for my friend K and got the cd. It's good - I might write more about it later.

Next show: Probably Coheed and Cambria on S's birthday :)