A couple weeks ago, I got to know Danica, the vocalist of Cab Ride Home, through a mutual friend. When she told me that the show at First Break Cafe would be her first show presenting as trans, I was determined to do everything in my power to get out and support her. Never mind that I somehow hadn't listened to Cab Ride Home before (despite having known about them for years) and didn't know any of the other bands on the line-up. The music, while sure to be entertaining, was secondary to supporting a friend and fellow LGBTQ person. Ok, and I was curious to finally find out how Cab Ride Home sounded. (With everything else going on, I didn't have a chance to check them out online before the show.)
Having spent all my babysitting cred on the Within Temptation show earlier in the week, I had to wait till after my kid went to bed to head out to the show, so I missed the first band in the lineup. Luckily, it was kind of a late show, so I did get to see two bands before Cab Ride Home, and actually enjoyed both of them.
Croatoan was playing when I got there. They were dully audible outside the building, and the growing noise reassured me I was on the right track as I headed up some well-lit stairs and down a rather normal-looking carpeted hallway, seeking the elusive First Break Cafe. Once inside I still had to follow the noise past pool tables and the bar until I finally found them playing in the corner of a small carpeted floor, with about ten people standing around in front of them (though a bunch more were listening, I guess, while sitting at the bar or playing pool). They were loud and their sound was surprisingly clear for the sort of venue where the band just sets up in a corner. Pretty soon their fast, thundering sound made me want to push people around, but I felt self-conscious with the small number of people on the floor. No one else was moving much. There was a groovy guitar
solo at some point that was cool.
After they finished, I decided to try to get rid of a persistent stomachache by ordering some food, and ended up with a huge plate of chicken nachos. They were tasty and kind of helped, but I think I was more being gnawed to death by social anxiety than hunger.
I was still sitting at the bar finishing my nachos when Trihexyn started. I was surprised to hear clean vocals wafting up from the floor over a barrage of guitars. The clean vocals had notes of Russell Allen (Symphony X), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) and maybe even a bit of Falconer's singer. Power metal vocals and guitars alternated with growls and jackhammer death metal guitars, even some breakdowns. Early in the set (while I was still at the bar, sadly) they covered Metallica's "Battery." If you ever wondered what "Battery" would sound like with power metal vocals, well, that's what it was. That finally got the crowd moving, though from where I was sitting I wasn't sure if they were just throwing their hair around, or actually pushing each other around. Damn my need for food :( But I did have a chance to see a few songs from the floor. The band had a pretty cool set-up, with a mini light show going on by means of boxes that the guitarists were standing on. If I remember correctly, the vocalist introduced their last song, "All For You" as "a slow one" - it turned out to be the most predominantly rumbling death metal song that they played. There's video of it here if you want to see (well, mainly hear, and get a glimpse of their light show) for yourself.
And then, well after midnight, Cab Ride Home started. I should have been in the front row but I was trying not to completely destroy my ears, so I hung back. (And I didn't want to ruin the sound with earplugs, obviously!) The crowd seemed a bit small, but then again this show was competing with Suffocation/ Kataklysm/ Jungle Rot at Empire the same night. The only thing I knew about Cab Ride Home was "thrash" so I was pleasantly surprised to find their music featured plenty of At The Gates-esque melodic groove as well as
thrash thunder, and sometimes both at once. (I've got to say I headbanged most to the melodic parts.) The song "21 Drops of Rain" had a cool guitar part that was atmospheric but speeded up to death metal pace. The song right before that was extra melodic.
Unfortunately the vocals were a bit buried in the guitars so it was impossible to make out most of the words - but then again harsh vocals are pretty hard to understand live anyway. Danica's stage presence, though, seized my attention. She delivered growls and screams uncompromisingly, all the while bringing audience participation to the max, taking advantage of the fact that the stage was just a corner of the room to run into the audience and throw her arm around people, and even trying to start a pit at one point. (I should have moshed for her, but I was still feeling stupidly self-conscious.)
Danica made a few references to the fact that she's now female - saying something about not being that cisgendered person early in the set, and later saying, "You've probably noticed something different - it's sort of sticking out..." following that up with a comment that someone was missing (I think they were short a guitarist that night). But for the most part it seemed to be a non-issue - both the band and the crowd were more focused on having a good, brutal time. I'm guessing most of the crowd knew already anyway if they knew the band personally. Her presentation wasn't over the top obvious - pants, a girlie shirt - but with a tight, feminine shirt there was no hiding it either. She did say after the show that she had kind of wanted to go "all the way" and wear a skirt, but she didn't have the boots to go with it. Her demeanor on stage meanwhile was commanding, dynamic, bad-ass - she's a girl you wouldn't want to mess with. It took guts to come out like that, in front of everyone at a metal show, but if anyone can handle it, she can.
The best moment of the set was probably the song "Crash the Gate." I couldn't really make out the lyrics, but I got the point from Danica's intro. I wish I would remember some actual words she said, but it was basically a big middle finger to all the people who would tell you what to do or how to live your life. It was something I needed to hear. And since Danica kept pointing at me during the song, I knew she was singing it as much for me as for herself.
There were just a few more songs after that, and for the last song, Danica invited everyone to share the "stage" with the band. So we all kind of stood around awkwardly and tried not to get in the way of the musicians. Danica got two people to lift her up, and later jumped on someone's back, while singing. She was going wild for all of us. I guess we were a bit of a mild crowd for a thrash show. All the crazies must have been at Empire pushing each other around to Suffocation.
It was a fun time though. The three bands I saw were excellent; I'm now a converted fan, especially of Trihexyn and Cab Ride Home (what can I say, I'm just more drawn to metal with melodic elements). And things seemed to go well as far as Danica's coming out - at least, I didn't notice anything overwhelmingly negative. It seemed like the band and the audience were having the same good time they'd always had. Which is what it's all about really - no matter who you are, you should be able to come to a metal show and have a great time.
Showing posts with label thrash metal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thrash metal. Show all posts
Monday, October 13, 2014
Friday, February 7, 2014
Amon Amarth, Enslaved, Skeletonwitch - 1/31/14 at Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
First show of the year, and I don't even get to it until a week later. That's just my life.
Well, so we went to see Amon Amarth. They were one of the first metal bands I got into, so I think they'll always be one of my top bands :) Besides, Johan Hegg is one of my idols as far as vocals go. I wish I could growl like him. (But since I'm a girl, I don't think my voice will ever be able to go that low.) I was actually looking forward to Enslaved more, though, because they were amazing last time we saw them. I didn't care much about Skeletonwitch; they're better than decent, but I wondered why they couldn't find another Viking-themed band for this tour.
When we got to the venue, they were screening the video for "Father of the Wolf." We were with S's brother and niece, and I tried to convince them to go in and watch the video, but they were hesitant for a while, so the video was almost over by the time we actually went into the stage area.
Not soon after, Ohio's blackened thrash outfit Skeletonwitch took the stage. The Fillmore's stellar sound system did them justice - they sounded better and clearer than I've ever heard them. I got a sort of death metal vibe from them this time, although that may have just been the thundering sound. They definitely did have an Amon Amarthy vibe to some of the leads though, with an epic or rolling sound. I noticed some thrashy and black metal moments, too, but my overall impression was much more groovy and melodic than I remembered them being. So it was a pretty entertaining set.
The experience of seeing Norway's progressive black band Enslaved was also different from the last time we saw them. Then, we saw them at the rather small Ottobar in Baltimore. We were probably less than twenty feet away from them, and they clearly towered over everyone in the venue (they're all incredibly tall, either that or they wear tall shoes). This time they were just distant figures, dwarfed by a large stage. They got off to a slow start with newer songs from Riitiir, but things intensified with "Ethica Odini." And two songs after that, I was very glad to find that they're still playing one of their oldest songs, "Allfáðr Oðinn," which is one of their best - it's my favorite, anyway. "Riitiir" also sounded surprisingly good. With the bigger venue and shorter set, their performance was not as intense as when we saw them at Ottobar, but I still enjoyed it.
We wondered what props Amon Amarth, Sweden's death metal Vikings, would have, considering that last time we saw them, they brought along a whole Viking ship. They turned out not to have much, just some banners of Viking warriors in front of their huge banner of the cover of Deceiver of the Gods. They also started out a little weak with two new songs. But as they thundered into the third song, "Death by Fire," I felt like the show really got started, and the intensity didn't let up till the end. Johan Hegg complained of a cold, but it didn't seem to affect his vocals, just making his speaking voice rough like his vocals. I felt like "Destroyer of the Universe" and a couple songs right after it were a little off, as though they were trying to play faster and not everyone could keep up. They finished up with "War of the Gods," which sounded much more epic than when they played it at Jaxx a couple years ago. But they weren't done - soon, thunder rumbled through the hall, introducing "Twilight of the Thunder God." The crowd was invited to sing along for the chorus. Then the band launched into "Pursuit of Vikings" and everyone went crazy - the whole floor seemed to be jumping, and I hear the middle of the floor was wild (we were at the very back).
Before leaving the stage, Johan Hegg invited everyone to stay and watch the video for "Father of the Wolf" (perhaps not knowing it had already been shown) but it didn't actually play and pretty soon the staff began encouraging us to leave.
Considering I was rather, um, unamped for this show, I had a great time. We got solid performances from all three bands, but Amon Amarth obviously ruled the night.
Well, so we went to see Amon Amarth. They were one of the first metal bands I got into, so I think they'll always be one of my top bands :) Besides, Johan Hegg is one of my idols as far as vocals go. I wish I could growl like him. (But since I'm a girl, I don't think my voice will ever be able to go that low.) I was actually looking forward to Enslaved more, though, because they were amazing last time we saw them. I didn't care much about Skeletonwitch; they're better than decent, but I wondered why they couldn't find another Viking-themed band for this tour.
When we got to the venue, they were screening the video for "Father of the Wolf." We were with S's brother and niece, and I tried to convince them to go in and watch the video, but they were hesitant for a while, so the video was almost over by the time we actually went into the stage area.
Not soon after, Ohio's blackened thrash outfit Skeletonwitch took the stage. The Fillmore's stellar sound system did them justice - they sounded better and clearer than I've ever heard them. I got a sort of death metal vibe from them this time, although that may have just been the thundering sound. They definitely did have an Amon Amarthy vibe to some of the leads though, with an epic or rolling sound. I noticed some thrashy and black metal moments, too, but my overall impression was much more groovy and melodic than I remembered them being. So it was a pretty entertaining set.
The experience of seeing Norway's progressive black band Enslaved was also different from the last time we saw them. Then, we saw them at the rather small Ottobar in Baltimore. We were probably less than twenty feet away from them, and they clearly towered over everyone in the venue (they're all incredibly tall, either that or they wear tall shoes). This time they were just distant figures, dwarfed by a large stage. They got off to a slow start with newer songs from Riitiir, but things intensified with "Ethica Odini." And two songs after that, I was very glad to find that they're still playing one of their oldest songs, "Allfáðr Oðinn," which is one of their best - it's my favorite, anyway. "Riitiir" also sounded surprisingly good. With the bigger venue and shorter set, their performance was not as intense as when we saw them at Ottobar, but I still enjoyed it.
We wondered what props Amon Amarth, Sweden's death metal Vikings, would have, considering that last time we saw them, they brought along a whole Viking ship. They turned out not to have much, just some banners of Viking warriors in front of their huge banner of the cover of Deceiver of the Gods. They also started out a little weak with two new songs. But as they thundered into the third song, "Death by Fire," I felt like the show really got started, and the intensity didn't let up till the end. Johan Hegg complained of a cold, but it didn't seem to affect his vocals, just making his speaking voice rough like his vocals. I felt like "Destroyer of the Universe" and a couple songs right after it were a little off, as though they were trying to play faster and not everyone could keep up. They finished up with "War of the Gods," which sounded much more epic than when they played it at Jaxx a couple years ago. But they weren't done - soon, thunder rumbled through the hall, introducing "Twilight of the Thunder God." The crowd was invited to sing along for the chorus. Then the band launched into "Pursuit of Vikings" and everyone went crazy - the whole floor seemed to be jumping, and I hear the middle of the floor was wild (we were at the very back).
Before leaving the stage, Johan Hegg invited everyone to stay and watch the video for "Father of the Wolf" (perhaps not knowing it had already been shown) but it didn't actually play and pretty soon the staff began encouraging us to leave.
Considering I was rather, um, unamped for this show, I had a great time. We got solid performances from all three bands, but Amon Amarth obviously ruled the night.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Concert Review - Slayer, Gojira, 4Arm - 11/19/13 at the Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
So, everyone I knew was really excited about this concert. I was not, because going to this meant missing the Overkill/ Kreator/ A Sound of Thunder show on Friday, which had been on my calendar for months, and for which I had already promised to start a pit for ASOT's "Blood Vomit." So ever since realizing this conflict, I had been cursing "F**king Slayer" all over the place. Because I had never seen Slayer, and figured I needed to before my chance is gone.
Add to that the scheduling nightmare that is my three-job-single-parent life, and I was not a happy camper long before the day of the show.
Day of I actually started to feel better - the sheer excitement of just getting to leave normal life behind for a few hours and go to a show got me feeling a bit amped as I was driving from my second work shift of the day to the venue. But I had hardly gotten inside before my mood turned down again. The place was already packed and it was only the middle of 4Arm's set. With all my energy having been channeled into the two demanding intellectual projects that loom over the rest of my workload, I had nothing to offer anyone around me - I didn't want to see, hear or talk to anyone, not even people I knew. I just wanted to get my food from the bar, see Gojira's set and go take a nap.
I glanced at 4Arm as I waited to place an order for chicken in waffles (yes, that's what it was actually called, and yes, the chicken was literally in the waffle dough itself). 4Arm was fast, thundering thrash that made the bar shake, a pretty good distraction from hunger and from the annoyance of being surrounded by people.
After they stopped shaking the walls, I was able to place my order and then some obligatory hellos were said. S talked to people and I watched the sign that displays the numbers for food orders. I finally got my food...right as Gojira took the stage, of course. They were louder and heavier than I expected - perhaps a side effect of the place being tuned for thundering thrash metal that night - and also had a much stronger groove than you get from listening to their recordings. Their performance of "Flying Whales" turned out to be possibly the heaviest thing I've ever heard (and I'm comparing this to bands like Suicide Silence). To my disappointment, the weird guitaring at the beginning that sounds like whalesong wasn't audible, but in the bridge near the end, I could just pick them out, like a whale struggling in a net of riffs, and then something that I can only refer to as a bass drop flattened the place. It was the heaviest matter in the universe, for sure. Next or shortly thereafter they played "L'Enfant Sauvage," a song from their new album that gets a lot of radio play, but that I never really got into. Live it sounded pretty cool, though - the whimsical little melodies and the tribal rhythm of the drums definitely gave it the feeling of a "wild child" running free. Later on I heard someone talking about them and saying they had sounded better somewhere else, and that's probably true - at this venue, the subtleties of their music were drowned out in the loudness and heaviness. Still, having never seen them before, I enjoyed this taste of their live sound.
After their set, people started surging off the floor toward the bars and bathrooms, and my frayed nerves found the constant contact incredibly irritating, so I tried to stake out a spot by a pillar at the back where no would need to brush past me, but as the floor filled up again it started to be so crowded that even there people were pushing past me. By the time Slayer started, I was so fed up with I thought I might punch anyone (besides S) who spoke to or touched me. Perhaps I should have gone in the pit to vent my frustration - but I probably wouldn't have emerged in one piece, considering the number of football-player types at the show and the intensity of the music. Besides, as I've said before, it's not right to be angry in the pit.
Slayer finally started, and they were, from an objective standpoint, amazing. I don't listen to Slayer enough to really judge, but as far as I could tell they were spot on musically; they were loud and intense, and augmented the effect with blistering strobe light effects that might as well have been machine gun fire. I swear they played even faster than their recordings - amazing that after over 30 years they can still produce that kind of ferocity. The effect of the upside down crosses hanging at angle, which made it look as though they were diving toward the ground, was pretty cool, too. In a better mood, I might have had a great time. As it was, I bobbed my head to some particularly catchy moments, but mostly stood there waiting for it to be over. With the crowd and the lights and the moshing, it was like standing in a sauna. Finally I excused myself to the bathroom, and sat downstairs for most of the second half of the set. Then, I heard the opening chords of "Raining Blood," and S texted me about the same, and I knew I couldn't miss this - so I went upstairs and stood just back from the door - away from the crowd - and caught the last part of the song. I joined S on the floor for the encore - "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death." I don't get "South of Heaven"; it sounds like the wimpy cousin of "Raining Blood." But "Angel of Death" was intense.
Even though I hated being there, I'm glad I went, and not just because now I can check seeing Slayer off my bucket list. They were phenomenal; of the three of the Big Four that I've seen (Megadeth and Anthrax being the others) they by far put on the most vicious and merciless show. I'm a little disappointed actually that my bad mood prevented me from enjoying them. But at least I enjoyed Gojira, so the evening wasn't a total downer.
Next show: Rob Zombie and Scar the Martyr on 11/27, I hope!
Add to that the scheduling nightmare that is my three-job-single-parent life, and I was not a happy camper long before the day of the show.
Day of I actually started to feel better - the sheer excitement of just getting to leave normal life behind for a few hours and go to a show got me feeling a bit amped as I was driving from my second work shift of the day to the venue. But I had hardly gotten inside before my mood turned down again. The place was already packed and it was only the middle of 4Arm's set. With all my energy having been channeled into the two demanding intellectual projects that loom over the rest of my workload, I had nothing to offer anyone around me - I didn't want to see, hear or talk to anyone, not even people I knew. I just wanted to get my food from the bar, see Gojira's set and go take a nap.
I glanced at 4Arm as I waited to place an order for chicken in waffles (yes, that's what it was actually called, and yes, the chicken was literally in the waffle dough itself). 4Arm was fast, thundering thrash that made the bar shake, a pretty good distraction from hunger and from the annoyance of being surrounded by people.
After they stopped shaking the walls, I was able to place my order and then some obligatory hellos were said. S talked to people and I watched the sign that displays the numbers for food orders. I finally got my food...right as Gojira took the stage, of course. They were louder and heavier than I expected - perhaps a side effect of the place being tuned for thundering thrash metal that night - and also had a much stronger groove than you get from listening to their recordings. Their performance of "Flying Whales" turned out to be possibly the heaviest thing I've ever heard (and I'm comparing this to bands like Suicide Silence). To my disappointment, the weird guitaring at the beginning that sounds like whalesong wasn't audible, but in the bridge near the end, I could just pick them out, like a whale struggling in a net of riffs, and then something that I can only refer to as a bass drop flattened the place. It was the heaviest matter in the universe, for sure. Next or shortly thereafter they played "L'Enfant Sauvage," a song from their new album that gets a lot of radio play, but that I never really got into. Live it sounded pretty cool, though - the whimsical little melodies and the tribal rhythm of the drums definitely gave it the feeling of a "wild child" running free. Later on I heard someone talking about them and saying they had sounded better somewhere else, and that's probably true - at this venue, the subtleties of their music were drowned out in the loudness and heaviness. Still, having never seen them before, I enjoyed this taste of their live sound.
After their set, people started surging off the floor toward the bars and bathrooms, and my frayed nerves found the constant contact incredibly irritating, so I tried to stake out a spot by a pillar at the back where no would need to brush past me, but as the floor filled up again it started to be so crowded that even there people were pushing past me. By the time Slayer started, I was so fed up with I thought I might punch anyone (besides S) who spoke to or touched me. Perhaps I should have gone in the pit to vent my frustration - but I probably wouldn't have emerged in one piece, considering the number of football-player types at the show and the intensity of the music. Besides, as I've said before, it's not right to be angry in the pit.
Slayer finally started, and they were, from an objective standpoint, amazing. I don't listen to Slayer enough to really judge, but as far as I could tell they were spot on musically; they were loud and intense, and augmented the effect with blistering strobe light effects that might as well have been machine gun fire. I swear they played even faster than their recordings - amazing that after over 30 years they can still produce that kind of ferocity. The effect of the upside down crosses hanging at angle, which made it look as though they were diving toward the ground, was pretty cool, too. In a better mood, I might have had a great time. As it was, I bobbed my head to some particularly catchy moments, but mostly stood there waiting for it to be over. With the crowd and the lights and the moshing, it was like standing in a sauna. Finally I excused myself to the bathroom, and sat downstairs for most of the second half of the set. Then, I heard the opening chords of "Raining Blood," and S texted me about the same, and I knew I couldn't miss this - so I went upstairs and stood just back from the door - away from the crowd - and caught the last part of the song. I joined S on the floor for the encore - "South of Heaven" and "Angel of Death." I don't get "South of Heaven"; it sounds like the wimpy cousin of "Raining Blood." But "Angel of Death" was intense.
Even though I hated being there, I'm glad I went, and not just because now I can check seeing Slayer off my bucket list. They were phenomenal; of the three of the Big Four that I've seen (Megadeth and Anthrax being the others) they by far put on the most vicious and merciless show. I'm a little disappointed actually that my bad mood prevented me from enjoying them. But at least I enjoyed Gojira, so the evening wasn't a total downer.
Next show: Rob Zombie and Scar the Martyr on 11/27, I hope!
Monday, September 30, 2013
Concert Review - Vektor, Earthling, Borracho, Midnight Eye, Asthma Castle - 9/26/13 at Fillmore, Silver Spring, MD
I headed over to DC Heavy Metal's 4th Anniversary Party after a meeting in Edgewater, and got there just in time to see the headliner, science fiction themed thrash band Vektor. (But I like to tag everyone for future reference - "I coulda seen those guys, but...") And I'm sure glad I made the effort - it was worth the long night and the frantic change of clothes at a friend's house, and a great start to a three night streak of concerts.
I wouldn't call myself a giant thrash fan, but I definitely appreciate a good thrash show for the intense aggressive energy that the band and the audience put out - and Vektor was one of the best thrash shows I've seen. They started off with a pensive quiet melody that reminded me of old Metallica, then launched into thundering thrash riffs that sounded great on Fillmore's superb sound system. Immediately a good sized pit broke out, and even with fries in hand it was impossible not to headbang to the earthshaking riffs. The wall of sounded subsided a bit for a great solo. Vektor's thrash has a fair bit of melody, and the science fiction themes and spacey moments also give it a unique flavor. The lighting - battle stations red, deep space blue, mystical white - also helped create the sf mood. And the singer brought the 80's into the house with his cloud of curly hair, cut into bangs in the front, and his tank top and tight jeans. (I can't see skinny jeans on guys and not think of 80's thrash metal.) My favorite song was probably the third or fourth song, "Hunger for Violence." It started off sounding like battleships pulverizing each other, or giant war machines marching over the earth - and then it got really crazy, like the mecha pilots had been knocked off their proverbial horses and were locked in melee combat.
Metal Chris uploaded a video of "Hunger for Violence." If you crank the volume to 11 you can get some idea of how it sounded!
Toward the end of the set, they had a slow, spacey segment that evoked the reaches of the deep ocean - or deep space - with its extended, wavering notes. The lighting, with its myriad beams of light, and even the sound as they picked up the pace again reminded me of Alcest! Too weird! They ended with a final thundering segment that set the crowd churning one last time. Especially since I just found out that they're not from around here, but from Tempe Arizona, I'm so glad I made it out to see these guys - a new addition to my list of top "local" bands!
I wouldn't call myself a giant thrash fan, but I definitely appreciate a good thrash show for the intense aggressive energy that the band and the audience put out - and Vektor was one of the best thrash shows I've seen. They started off with a pensive quiet melody that reminded me of old Metallica, then launched into thundering thrash riffs that sounded great on Fillmore's superb sound system. Immediately a good sized pit broke out, and even with fries in hand it was impossible not to headbang to the earthshaking riffs. The wall of sounded subsided a bit for a great solo. Vektor's thrash has a fair bit of melody, and the science fiction themes and spacey moments also give it a unique flavor. The lighting - battle stations red, deep space blue, mystical white - also helped create the sf mood. And the singer brought the 80's into the house with his cloud of curly hair, cut into bangs in the front, and his tank top and tight jeans. (I can't see skinny jeans on guys and not think of 80's thrash metal.) My favorite song was probably the third or fourth song, "Hunger for Violence." It started off sounding like battleships pulverizing each other, or giant war machines marching over the earth - and then it got really crazy, like the mecha pilots had been knocked off their proverbial horses and were locked in melee combat.
Metal Chris uploaded a video of "Hunger for Violence." If you crank the volume to 11 you can get some idea of how it sounded!
Toward the end of the set, they had a slow, spacey segment that evoked the reaches of the deep ocean - or deep space - with its extended, wavering notes. The lighting, with its myriad beams of light, and even the sound as they picked up the pace again reminded me of Alcest! Too weird! They ended with a final thundering segment that set the crowd churning one last time. Especially since I just found out that they're not from around here, but from Tempe Arizona, I'm so glad I made it out to see these guys - a new addition to my list of top "local" bands!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Concert Review - Midnight Eye, Exar Kun, Thrain - 8/8/13 at The Pinch, Washington, DC
Although I'd already been to two concerts in the past seven days (and I was only supposed to go to two per month), I wanted to get out to support Midnight Eye, so I waited till my kid was in bed and headed out. By that time, I thought I'd be lucky to get to The Pinch before Midnight Eye started - certainly not in time to have some of the restaurant's insane duck bacon BBQ cheese loaded waffle fries. Well, the intent was to go for the music anyway, right?
After the quest for parking (we passed several good spots, but got greedy and went on thinking we could get closer to the venue, but no such luck, we had to turn around and go back up 14th Street almost to where we were before) we got to the venue right around 10pm. It turned out that only the first band, experimental/black metal band Thrain, had played so far. I was thrilled, cause that meant we could get the awesome fries; I didn't really think about the implications for timing. I do want to see Thrain sometime - their demo is quite heavy and technically proficient for a local band, and combines some plodding doomy segments, cleaner vocals and melancholy melodic moments with the base black metal sound.
A few minutes after we got to the venue Exar Kun started up in the basement, so we headed down. They are, as a friend put it, two bassists and a computer. They provided some heavy background music, but did not really catch my interest. The two high points were when they did start to play something almost riffy; and when they sampled Lordi's "Would You Love a Monsterman."
After they finished, I went to look at Midnight Eye's merch and acquired a turquoise shirt (first ever turquoise metal shirt?), and then our amazing fries arrived.
It was after 11pm when Midnight Eye finally came on, and they were immediately plagued by sound problems, for at least the first two songs of their set. They played (not necessarily in this order) the three songs from their new EP, Nightmonger (which you can still stream here); a cover of something I didn't recognize, but which they said was by a DC band; "Virtuous" and maybe one other song from their first album, Sign; and a new song with the working title "Weed Helmet." Their guitars were excellent as I expected. The thrashy and black metal parts sounded best on the spartan sound system, but the heavy metal riffs and solos sounded good, too. The vocals were very rough, though; scratchy and little off compared to the albums. I tried to start a pit for the frenzied thrash part near the end of the first song, "Alarm," but no one seemed interested in moshing except for Grimy Grant. The black metal segments of "Outsider" were amazing, so thick and heavy, although the melody was a little lost in the low noise. The new song also sounded very promising, starting off with energetic heavy metal riffs, just thrashy enough to mosh to - I pushed Grant and this time three or four other people joined in, yes! - with another thick, atmospheric black metal segment in the middle of the song, followed by some very heavy noodling that slowed down into a droning segment at the end. It was cool, but would have been more impressive on a better sound system where the low distorted notes would have made the building and everyone in it tremble. Needless to say, hoping to see these guys again soon and looking forward to more releases from them.
Next show: Not sure. There a couple local metal shows in Baltimore on Saturday, but I don't think I will be able to go so far from home. So the next thing might be Face Melting Friday at the end of August. In the meantime, there will be some book reviews!
After the quest for parking (we passed several good spots, but got greedy and went on thinking we could get closer to the venue, but no such luck, we had to turn around and go back up 14th Street almost to where we were before) we got to the venue right around 10pm. It turned out that only the first band, experimental/black metal band Thrain, had played so far. I was thrilled, cause that meant we could get the awesome fries; I didn't really think about the implications for timing. I do want to see Thrain sometime - their demo is quite heavy and technically proficient for a local band, and combines some plodding doomy segments, cleaner vocals and melancholy melodic moments with the base black metal sound.
A few minutes after we got to the venue Exar Kun started up in the basement, so we headed down. They are, as a friend put it, two bassists and a computer. They provided some heavy background music, but did not really catch my interest. The two high points were when they did start to play something almost riffy; and when they sampled Lordi's "Would You Love a Monsterman."
After they finished, I went to look at Midnight Eye's merch and acquired a turquoise shirt (first ever turquoise metal shirt?), and then our amazing fries arrived.
Yes, we ate all that between the two of us. Someone was hungry.
It was after 11pm when Midnight Eye finally came on, and they were immediately plagued by sound problems, for at least the first two songs of their set. They played (not necessarily in this order) the three songs from their new EP, Nightmonger (which you can still stream here); a cover of something I didn't recognize, but which they said was by a DC band; "Virtuous" and maybe one other song from their first album, Sign; and a new song with the working title "Weed Helmet." Their guitars were excellent as I expected. The thrashy and black metal parts sounded best on the spartan sound system, but the heavy metal riffs and solos sounded good, too. The vocals were very rough, though; scratchy and little off compared to the albums. I tried to start a pit for the frenzied thrash part near the end of the first song, "Alarm," but no one seemed interested in moshing except for Grimy Grant. The black metal segments of "Outsider" were amazing, so thick and heavy, although the melody was a little lost in the low noise. The new song also sounded very promising, starting off with energetic heavy metal riffs, just thrashy enough to mosh to - I pushed Grant and this time three or four other people joined in, yes! - with another thick, atmospheric black metal segment in the middle of the song, followed by some very heavy noodling that slowed down into a droning segment at the end. It was cool, but would have been more impressive on a better sound system where the low distorted notes would have made the building and everyone in it tremble. Needless to say, hoping to see these guys again soon and looking forward to more releases from them.
Next show: Not sure. There a couple local metal shows in Baltimore on Saturday, but I don't think I will be able to go so far from home. So the next thing might be Face Melting Friday at the end of August. In the meantime, there will be some book reviews!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Concert Review - PAGANFEST IV - Ensiferum, Tyr, Heidevolk, Trollfest, Helsott, Yesterday's Saints, Fallen Martyr, Demiz - 4/15/13 at Soundstage, Baltimore, MD
I'm pretty sure Paganfest (America) will be my favorite show of the year - and it's only April! I have a real soft spot for folk/pagan metal, mainly because it is so fun to mosh to, and this show delivered a nonstop blast of rampaging folk metal with a great reaction from the crowd. This will also be a really long concert review, cause it was an immense show with eight bands. That's a mini festival right there.
Needless to say, what with the massive line-up causing things to start super early, we missed the first two bands, and only caught the last song of Yesterday's Saints. Although they've been on the line-up of several shows we've been to (including one where one of their guitars got stolen) this was the first time I actually got to see them. They were good, with kind of melodic riffs.
Next concert: Death To All (Death tribute/charity benefit tour), tomorrow!
Needless to say, what with the massive line-up causing things to start super early, we missed the first two bands, and only caught the last song of Yesterday's Saints. Although they've been on the line-up of several shows we've been to (including one where one of their guitars got stolen) this was the first time I actually got to see them. They were good, with kind of melodic riffs.
I was really looking forward to seeing Helsott, a folk metal band from California (yes, I was spreading lies when I mistakenly said they were from Texas). Their music has a heavy (ha,ha) thrash and death metal influence, and the songs I listened to ahead of time sounded full of intense, heavy energy. I thought it would be great to mosh to them, but I can't remember if I actually did (some social things were stressing me out and made it hard to pay attention at times during the show). I really enjoyed their set, though; their guitars were great. The vocals were too low,
so I couldn't make them out most of the time (except the female vocals, provided by the keyboardist, which were a nice touch), but the guitars were amazing. I think at some point they even sounded a bit like hurdy gurdies, although that could just have been my imagination/being too obsessed with Eluveitie.
The next band was Trollfest, from Norway, who I was not looking forward to seeing at all. (It is almost impossible for me to dislike a European metal band, but this is one out of two that I outright dislike, the other being Vildhjarta.) I forced myself to listen to them ahead of time, and they sounded messy and discordant, something that does not appeal to me, being a fan of melodies and riffs. But they were better than I expected - they sounded much better live. Their sound was still
very chaotic, and I was not a fan of the blaring saxophone, but the
polka beat and melodies were difficult to resist. I would definitely have been in the pit
if I had not been drinking. Actually, I did start a mini drunken jig with my friend K and crashed into some people. They came out all wearing bee antenna, and the singer was actually in an entire bee costume. As if their music wasn't silly enough.
I was also really looking forward to seeing Heidevolk, a Dutch folk metal band that I had fallen in love with while doing my pre-concert homework (that is, making a giant youtube playlist of all the bands that I then foist on my friends). Heidevolk sounded excellent. They started with "Nehalennia" and
"Ostara," two songs I really wanted to hear. I fell in love with this band because of the rich, deep clean vocals, and Mark Bockting's voice sounded just as
amazing live (though friends reported difficulty hearing it further
back). At one point I was up in the second row, right in front of Mark Bockting - ahhh, it was amazing. Besides the vocals, the songs are kind of moderately paced with riffs that are all right, but not spectacular - just sort of generic metal riffs - but there was still a pretty good pit. I think I went in it a bit - definitely for "Vulgaris Magistralis."
Heidevolk with their two vocalists. Photo by Steve Wass
I was not really looking forward to Tyr, in spite of their awesome reputation, because they were kind of lackluster the last time we saw them. But they were so much better this time - much more energetic, and with much better sound. They mainly played the faster paced fan favorites. I do enjoy their older, slightly doomy songs with chant-like vocals like "Ormurin Langi," but the newer slow song they played last time, "Evening Star," totally sucked the energy out the set. This time they kept the energy going. I was not feeling great during their
set, but ran into the pit for the second song, "Tróndur í Gøtu," since it's my
favorite Tyr song. They finished with "Hold the Heathen Hammer High," and I really regret that I was sort of having an anxiety attack and
couldn't go in the pit.
Finally, Ensiferum topped off the night with a great performance. The riffs were epic and the harsh vocals commanding. They started with "In My Sword I Trust"
from Unsung Heroes, which is a pretty catchy song. I was rather angry at the
beginning of the set and as a consequence kind of aggressive in the pit at first (not cool, really :( ). There
was lots of jigging, even to the more death metal like parts of their
songs, and some really furious pits for the faster, more intense songs like
"Ahti." They sounded very good. While doing my homework, I had watched a live
Wacken video where the singer's voice started to give out, but there no such
issues that night. I did wonder why the spoken parts, such as in "From Afar," were piped in
- no one in the band could do those parts? And I guess the Finnish vocals on "Lai Lai
Hei" were not as nice as on the album, but acceptable. I was terribly
disappointed that they didn't play "Into Battle" - I was really looking
forward to the pit for that song. They did play a good mix of old and
new, though, including songs like "Retribution Shall be Mine" that I don't think get much live play. Even if they are not innovative as they used to be, I'm glad to see they can still put on a great live show and play the old songs flawlessly.
Out of two Paganfests I've been to, this one was far the
better. Every band sounded great and the crowd was energetic and folky
for each band. A really solid evening.
S also wrote a review (although he falsely alleges that Ensiferum played "Treacherous Gods," which they most definitely did not - I would have had to be carried out of the venue after tearing up the pit if they had played that song!). He also posted a ton of photos.
S also wrote a review (although he falsely alleges that Ensiferum played "Treacherous Gods," which they most definitely did not - I would have had to be carried out of the venue after tearing up the pit if they had played that song!). He also posted a ton of photos.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Lich King, Possessor, etc - 3/30/13 at Sergio's Place, Silver Spring, MD
The Otep show ended so early (9:30!) that we decided to head to this thrash show in S's hometown. It was in a little hole-in-the-wall El Salvadorean restaurant; the chairs and tables had been moved to the side and some speakers set up in the corner. There were about 50 people there when we got there, most of them looking very metal. It was my first time at an underground metal show, and it was pretty exciting, although I had gotten pretty tired on the drive from Springfield and didn't really have enough energy to enjoy it properly.
Maybe because I got extremely tired later, I enjoyed Possessor's set more. Their singer looked very 80's in a leather jacket with a big shoulder-guard and shoulder length wavy hair, and they had an 80's thrash sound with racing guitars, persistent drums and shouted vocals with the occasional wail. The crowd was pretty active, and I wondered that no one crashed into the band since the crowd was practically on top of them. I think the band was on a slightly raised platform, but the singer and one or two of the guitarists stepped off it right into the front of the crowd; the singer even directed or practically got into the pit a couple times.
I took a nap in a chair, and then just after midnight, Lich King came on. They seem to be a bit of a joke band, with songs about how black metal sucks and about Game of Thrones, webcomics, movies and the like. I couldn't really get into them - maybe I was just tired, or maybe it really was that their riffs are kind of repetitive and uninteresting, and the high pitched shouted vocals not to my liking. Also, since I couldn't tell what they were saying, the humor was lost on me. I was pretty relieved when they finished up, just because it meant we could go home and sleep.
Next concert: Ripper Owens on 4/6!
Maybe because I got extremely tired later, I enjoyed Possessor's set more. Their singer looked very 80's in a leather jacket with a big shoulder-guard and shoulder length wavy hair, and they had an 80's thrash sound with racing guitars, persistent drums and shouted vocals with the occasional wail. The crowd was pretty active, and I wondered that no one crashed into the band since the crowd was practically on top of them. I think the band was on a slightly raised platform, but the singer and one or two of the guitarists stepped off it right into the front of the crowd; the singer even directed or practically got into the pit a couple times.
I took a nap in a chair, and then just after midnight, Lich King came on. They seem to be a bit of a joke band, with songs about how black metal sucks and about Game of Thrones, webcomics, movies and the like. I couldn't really get into them - maybe I was just tired, or maybe it really was that their riffs are kind of repetitive and uninteresting, and the high pitched shouted vocals not to my liking. Also, since I couldn't tell what they were saying, the humor was lost on me. I was pretty relieved when they finished up, just because it meant we could go home and sleep.
Next concert: Ripper Owens on 4/6!
March Concerts
I was kind of depressed and busy for most of March, but I'm starting to feel better and less stressed now, so I've finally written up a summary of most of the shows I went to in March. The last two, which were both yesterday, actually have their own reviews.
Wimme - 3/9/13 at Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
Wimme Saari is a singer from Finland, who was performing as part of Kennedy Center's Nordic Cool festival. Wimme performs joik, a kind of traditional singing or chanting among the Sami, the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia and Finland. I first heard of him about ten years ago when someone gave us a "Nordic Roots" sampler of Fenno-Scandinavian folk music and folk rock. I hadn't really followed or gotten exceptionally interested in Wimme over the years, but I remembered his songs being pretty good - energetic in a flowing sort of way - and was interested to see him live. Besides, since he was performing on the Millennium Stage, it was free!
I got to the Kennedy Center a little early, perhaps fiften minutes before the performance was to begin, but the seats in front of the stage were already full. Luckily, I was at the front of the standing section, although I had t move back later when two friends arrived. And then people filtered out as the performance went on and other Kennedy Center performances began, and we eventually made our way back to the front of the standing section and might even have been able to get seats if we tried.
The performance started out very low key, and I thought it would have been better in a dark, closed space - the light and noises around were distracting and made it difficult to get absorbed in the music. Overall, the songs were slow with rather jazzy instrumentals, not as energetic or primal I remembered. It seemed Wimme had changed his style a bit since the Nordic Roots days. Accompanying him, he had a percussionist, a wind/brass guy (clarinet, saxophone) and a strings guy (guitar, mini guitar/mandolin, banjo). In the middle of the set, he did some solo joiks, which were a little more lively and depicted animals. After that he did a sort of remix of a song that sounded familiar, perhaps "Bierdna" (The Bear), which is actually a collaboration with Swedish/Finnish folk rock band Hedningarna, or "Bieggajorri" (Weathervane) (which I can't find online), and then finished with a long song that, although also pretty slow, built up to pretty high intensity.
Even though I was disappointed to find that Wimme's style had changed so much and incorporated so much jazz, I was still glad I went, simply to have the experience of seeing someone with such a distinctive singing style.
Soilwork, Blackguard, Bonded by Blood, Hatchet - 3/12/13 at Empire, Springfield, VA
I had to take my daughter to dance class before going to the show, so I missed Hatchet.
I got to the venue just before Bonded by Blood came on. They were fast, with a hammering sound. In spite of their awesome thrash sound, there was almost no one on the floor. I pushed S around the floor, and fell and twisted my ankle while shoving another friend.
Of this line-up, I was most looking forward to seeing Blackguard. They're one of my favorite bands to listen, see live and mosh to (so it really sucked about the twisted ankle, but it was feeling ok by the time I started, and I braved the pit, and lived to walk out of the venue at the end of the show). They used to play fast, black-ish folk metal with violin, harsh and fast vocals. Their last release changed to Children of Bodom style melodeath with an epic twist. They plan to release another album this fall, and the new songs I've heard are in the same epic melodeath vein, but with more clearly melodic guitar bits. They just toured Europe with Kamelot, and seem to be on the verge of getting big, so I'm pretty excited for this band's future.
However, when they started their set with "Firefight," it sounded like a mess. They got better as the night went on, although I don't think they sounded as dynamic and together as they did the last two times we saw them. They played two new songs, one being "In Dreams" which they performed for the first time ever at Empire last time we saw them there. The news songs sounded good - epic guitars, the usual intense vocals - though the melodic bits were a little lost in the mix. Unfortunately, there was not much of a pit - two heavy guys sort of wandered back and forth in the middle of the floor, and I bounced off them from time to time. There was a bigger and more energetic pit the couple of time that Paul actually called for one, but otherwise most people seemed content just to crowd around the stage.
I don't know Soilwork very well but thought they might be worth checking out, based on a few songs that S gave me, which were pretty heavy and a little melodic. They were enjoyable enough that I stayed for their whole set even though I was really tired and had planned to leave early. The venue was pretty full, but almost no one came to floor for Bonded by Blood or Blackguard - and even for Soilwork, a large part of the crowd hung back. There were a decent number of people on the floor, though, and a huge pit that was quite entertaining to watch, as well as a number of energetic individuals whose antics were also entertaining. Soilwork sounded good.
KMFDM, Legion Within, Chant - 3/18/13 at State Theatre, Falls Church, VA
I was a bit stressed out about life when I went to this show and that impeded my enjoyment, as well as making me irritable to my friends :( But it was worth it - KMFDM put me in a much better frame of mind, and was a fun time besides.
The first opener was Chant, a two person industrial band from Texas. They were interesting to see live, but I don't think I would listen to their recordings. Their sound involved quite a lot of percussion, with one guy on the drums (including some unusual drums) and shouting vocals, and another on what seemed to be a synthesizer (and who also banged what looked like a big barrel when really booming drumming was needed). Besides the music, their get-up and stage show held my attention - the drummer/vocalist's buckle-covered leather outfit, with brown and black paint smeared on his face and arms, the variety of drums and intensity of his drumming, and the flashing lights behind him all made the experience much more intense. I don't think a recording would capture much of it, not even the intensity of the sound.
The next band, Legion Within, started out good, with an energetic pop-like vibe that reminded me of bands like Deathstars, but then they declined from there. I was not a fan of the cabaret-like half-speaking, half-singing vocals that the singer used for most songs, and the instrumental portion of the music was not fast, heavy or intense enough to hold my interest either.
KMFDM, of course, were great like always. I am pretty sure they played most if not all the songs from their new record, some of which were great, and some just ok - although ok for KMFDM is still far beyond most other bands. The crowd went wild for "Kunst," with almost everyone jumping or taking part in the pit. There was a pit for almost every song, and I regretted wearing my huge baggy bondage pants which would have tripped me up in instants if I tried to join in. I hadn't thought there would be pit for KMFDM! So I had to content myself with dancing and headbanging, which was still pretty fun.
Wimme - 3/9/13 at Millennium Stage, Kennedy Center, Washington, DC
Wimme Saari is a singer from Finland, who was performing as part of Kennedy Center's Nordic Cool festival. Wimme performs joik, a kind of traditional singing or chanting among the Sami, the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia and Finland. I first heard of him about ten years ago when someone gave us a "Nordic Roots" sampler of Fenno-Scandinavian folk music and folk rock. I hadn't really followed or gotten exceptionally interested in Wimme over the years, but I remembered his songs being pretty good - energetic in a flowing sort of way - and was interested to see him live. Besides, since he was performing on the Millennium Stage, it was free!
I got to the Kennedy Center a little early, perhaps fiften minutes before the performance was to begin, but the seats in front of the stage were already full. Luckily, I was at the front of the standing section, although I had t move back later when two friends arrived. And then people filtered out as the performance went on and other Kennedy Center performances began, and we eventually made our way back to the front of the standing section and might even have been able to get seats if we tried.
The performance started out very low key, and I thought it would have been better in a dark, closed space - the light and noises around were distracting and made it difficult to get absorbed in the music. Overall, the songs were slow with rather jazzy instrumentals, not as energetic or primal I remembered. It seemed Wimme had changed his style a bit since the Nordic Roots days. Accompanying him, he had a percussionist, a wind/brass guy (clarinet, saxophone) and a strings guy (guitar, mini guitar/mandolin, banjo). In the middle of the set, he did some solo joiks, which were a little more lively and depicted animals. After that he did a sort of remix of a song that sounded familiar, perhaps "Bierdna" (The Bear), which is actually a collaboration with Swedish/Finnish folk rock band Hedningarna, or "Bieggajorri" (Weathervane) (which I can't find online), and then finished with a long song that, although also pretty slow, built up to pretty high intensity.
Even though I was disappointed to find that Wimme's style had changed so much and incorporated so much jazz, I was still glad I went, simply to have the experience of seeing someone with such a distinctive singing style.
Soilwork, Blackguard, Bonded by Blood, Hatchet - 3/12/13 at Empire, Springfield, VA
I had to take my daughter to dance class before going to the show, so I missed Hatchet.
I got to the venue just before Bonded by Blood came on. They were fast, with a hammering sound. In spite of their awesome thrash sound, there was almost no one on the floor. I pushed S around the floor, and fell and twisted my ankle while shoving another friend.
Of this line-up, I was most looking forward to seeing Blackguard. They're one of my favorite bands to listen, see live and mosh to (so it really sucked about the twisted ankle, but it was feeling ok by the time I started, and I braved the pit, and lived to walk out of the venue at the end of the show). They used to play fast, black-ish folk metal with violin, harsh and fast vocals. Their last release changed to Children of Bodom style melodeath with an epic twist. They plan to release another album this fall, and the new songs I've heard are in the same epic melodeath vein, but with more clearly melodic guitar bits. They just toured Europe with Kamelot, and seem to be on the verge of getting big, so I'm pretty excited for this band's future.
However, when they started their set with "Firefight," it sounded like a mess. They got better as the night went on, although I don't think they sounded as dynamic and together as they did the last two times we saw them. They played two new songs, one being "In Dreams" which they performed for the first time ever at Empire last time we saw them there. The news songs sounded good - epic guitars, the usual intense vocals - though the melodic bits were a little lost in the mix. Unfortunately, there was not much of a pit - two heavy guys sort of wandered back and forth in the middle of the floor, and I bounced off them from time to time. There was a bigger and more energetic pit the couple of time that Paul actually called for one, but otherwise most people seemed content just to crowd around the stage.
I don't know Soilwork very well but thought they might be worth checking out, based on a few songs that S gave me, which were pretty heavy and a little melodic. They were enjoyable enough that I stayed for their whole set even though I was really tired and had planned to leave early. The venue was pretty full, but almost no one came to floor for Bonded by Blood or Blackguard - and even for Soilwork, a large part of the crowd hung back. There were a decent number of people on the floor, though, and a huge pit that was quite entertaining to watch, as well as a number of energetic individuals whose antics were also entertaining. Soilwork sounded good.
KMFDM, Legion Within, Chant - 3/18/13 at State Theatre, Falls Church, VA
I was a bit stressed out about life when I went to this show and that impeded my enjoyment, as well as making me irritable to my friends :( But it was worth it - KMFDM put me in a much better frame of mind, and was a fun time besides.
The first opener was Chant, a two person industrial band from Texas. They were interesting to see live, but I don't think I would listen to their recordings. Their sound involved quite a lot of percussion, with one guy on the drums (including some unusual drums) and shouting vocals, and another on what seemed to be a synthesizer (and who also banged what looked like a big barrel when really booming drumming was needed). Besides the music, their get-up and stage show held my attention - the drummer/vocalist's buckle-covered leather outfit, with brown and black paint smeared on his face and arms, the variety of drums and intensity of his drumming, and the flashing lights behind him all made the experience much more intense. I don't think a recording would capture much of it, not even the intensity of the sound.
The next band, Legion Within, started out good, with an energetic pop-like vibe that reminded me of bands like Deathstars, but then they declined from there. I was not a fan of the cabaret-like half-speaking, half-singing vocals that the singer used for most songs, and the instrumental portion of the music was not fast, heavy or intense enough to hold my interest either.
KMFDM, of course, were great like always. I am pretty sure they played most if not all the songs from their new record, some of which were great, and some just ok - although ok for KMFDM is still far beyond most other bands. The crowd went wild for "Kunst," with almost everyone jumping or taking part in the pit. There was a pit for almost every song, and I regretted wearing my huge baggy bondage pants which would have tripped me up in instants if I tried to join in. I hadn't thought there would be pit for KMFDM! So I had to content myself with dancing and headbanging, which was still pretty fun.
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
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.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Urgamla, Axegressor, Primordial - 7/14/11 at Klubi, Turku, Finland; and Summer Wars
Something extra for you today. Not just a concert review but also a short movie review! And there will be a book review when I get back to the States. I finished One Jump Ahead in June but I left the draft of my review on my laptop. So it will be posted when I get back. Now I'm reading Kadonneet Kyyneleet (Lost Tears) by Mike Pohjola, so you may get a double review. And now on to the good stuff...
In Finland, everything is death metal
I thought there'd be this huge metal scene in Finland but it seems to be concentrated in Helsinki and Tampere - then again I have to drive an hour to most metal shows in my area too. But I did find a couple of shows in Turku as part of Hammer Open Air Metal Festival and decided to go see Urgamla, Axegressor and Primordial at Klubi.
Getting into Klubi is a little disorienting but once inside its quite cozy, kind of like Jaxx. You have to go into this alley, down some stairs, through a restaurant/bar area (empty both when I arrived and left), up some stairs and finally you're at the entrance to Klubi Live. The floor is a little smaller than Jaxx (I'm terrible with measurements though so don't ask me what the dimensions are) but there are more tables, chairs and benches for sitting and a little room to the back that I didn't really explore.
Hardly anyone was there when I arrived - and Urgamla had already started even though it was only ten minutes past their scheduled start time. Perhaps in Finland concerts actually start on time? Anyway, Urgamla is a black metal band from Turku with a very brutal and death metal like sound - growled vocals (mostly in Finnish) and heavy guitars, with very headbangable riffs and melodies, and a little folk flavor. They were going for a very evil image - the singer was covered in fake blood and at some point brought out an inverted cross with some candles on it. I wish they had more CDs (they only have two short demos) and/or more stuff on youtube. I liked them better out of the two openers.
Axegressor bills themselves as a thrash metal band and if you really listen for it, you can hear the thrashiness in their songs. The heaviness and melodic touches were more reminiscent of Scandinavian death metal, though, and I (who doesn't like thrash too much, I find it kind of boring) thoroughly enjoyed their set. I thought the singer had some kind of odd shorts on of some kind of printed fabric, and then toward the end I realized they were actually covered in band patches. Hoped he would be hanging out somewhere afterward so I could compliment him on the awesome shorts but didn't happen. However, I just realized that Axegressor will be at Tuska the day that I'm there so I'll get the chance to hear them again, yay.
Primordial, lastly, is a pagan/black metal band from Ireland. They started late and I had to leave early, so I only got to hear 45 minutes of them (4 songs, I think?). But they were well worth the wait and I would happily have stayed for the whole set (although my neck might not have liked me the next day). This is the start of their set (not my video). I was shocked to see that the singer had a shaved head since I had the impression they all had lovely long hair, and everyone else in the band had epic long wavy hair. Instead, the singer had corpse paint, but it fit the mood of the songs - a little bit slow paced, but very heavy. I didn't headbang much, because of the slow beat, but there were some epic melodic moments that were quite headbangable. There were a definite Celtic influence and the songs seemed to have Celtic themes, including the fall of Rome. We got to sing along to that one.
For three unknowns - I'd never heard of any of these bands before this concert - this was a great find. Definitely a fan of all three of these bands now, looking forward to seeing Axegressor at Tuska, and hoping Primordial will tour the US.
next concert: TUSKA, Helsinki, Finland, 7/23
Summer Wars
Now for my first ever movie review (on this blog at least).
Someone pointed out a review of an anime movie in the paper, which turned out to be Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars. I'm a bit of anime fan but not an expert, so I hadn't heard of this movie or director before. The picture in the paper looked a bit goofy, but it said the director was a big Miyazaki fan, so I figured, it's got to be ok at least. And I was kind of bored. So I went to see it at Turku's biggest (and only) movie theater. There were exactly three other people in the that theater with me - everyone headed to the Harry Potter movie next door.
The movie started out plunging us straight into a virtual world called OZ, moving very fast, with lots of bright colors and cute images - it was very disorienting, and I thought, if the whole movie is like this, then I'm going to get tired of it very fast. But luckily, it soon moved to the "real" world. And once the main conflict emerged - BEGIN SPOILER - OZ, which controls everything from GPS navigation to cell phone and TV transmission, was hacked by a powerhungry AI thing, and an unlikely team of programmers and game fanatics got together to beat it - END SPOILER - I was hooked and followed the story on the edge of my seat.
The characters were not very deep, but easy to relate to - the shy and awkward computer geek, the girl he likes and tries to help, the kid who spends all his time on the computer and turns out to be the game champion of OZ. The girl Natsuki's huge family was very interesting - the aunt who just wanted to watch baseball, the silly kids and the spitfire great grandmother were very memorable. It was probably because there was such a huge cast that no one in particular could be excessively complicated, and props to the director that in spite of the huge cast, I didn't have any trouble keeping track of who anyone was - they were very distinctive (although, I'm not sure I could say for sure how anyone except the most important characters were specifically related. For instance, I have no idea whose kid Kazuma, the game fanatic and martial arts genius, was.)
The action sequences - battles between Kazuma and the hacker, which took place in OZ - were downright amazing. So much fun to watch.
The story a bit simple, so I don't know if this is a movie I would want to watch over and over (unlike other anime favorites like Appleseed and Perfect Blue). But I certainly enjoyed it this time and would recommend it to other anime fans. Non anime fans might find it less than amusing due to unapologetic animatedness of the OZ segments and not quite logical moments (ex. magical girl costume morph) that anime fans take for granted.
Next movie: don't know..I hardly ever watch movies.
In Finland, everything is death metal
I thought there'd be this huge metal scene in Finland but it seems to be concentrated in Helsinki and Tampere - then again I have to drive an hour to most metal shows in my area too. But I did find a couple of shows in Turku as part of Hammer Open Air Metal Festival and decided to go see Urgamla, Axegressor and Primordial at Klubi.
Getting into Klubi is a little disorienting but once inside its quite cozy, kind of like Jaxx. You have to go into this alley, down some stairs, through a restaurant/bar area (empty both when I arrived and left), up some stairs and finally you're at the entrance to Klubi Live. The floor is a little smaller than Jaxx (I'm terrible with measurements though so don't ask me what the dimensions are) but there are more tables, chairs and benches for sitting and a little room to the back that I didn't really explore.
Hardly anyone was there when I arrived - and Urgamla had already started even though it was only ten minutes past their scheduled start time. Perhaps in Finland concerts actually start on time? Anyway, Urgamla is a black metal band from Turku with a very brutal and death metal like sound - growled vocals (mostly in Finnish) and heavy guitars, with very headbangable riffs and melodies, and a little folk flavor. They were going for a very evil image - the singer was covered in fake blood and at some point brought out an inverted cross with some candles on it. I wish they had more CDs (they only have two short demos) and/or more stuff on youtube. I liked them better out of the two openers.
Axegressor bills themselves as a thrash metal band and if you really listen for it, you can hear the thrashiness in their songs. The heaviness and melodic touches were more reminiscent of Scandinavian death metal, though, and I (who doesn't like thrash too much, I find it kind of boring) thoroughly enjoyed their set. I thought the singer had some kind of odd shorts on of some kind of printed fabric, and then toward the end I realized they were actually covered in band patches. Hoped he would be hanging out somewhere afterward so I could compliment him on the awesome shorts but didn't happen. However, I just realized that Axegressor will be at Tuska the day that I'm there so I'll get the chance to hear them again, yay.
Primordial, lastly, is a pagan/black metal band from Ireland. They started late and I had to leave early, so I only got to hear 45 minutes of them (4 songs, I think?). But they were well worth the wait and I would happily have stayed for the whole set (although my neck might not have liked me the next day). This is the start of their set (not my video). I was shocked to see that the singer had a shaved head since I had the impression they all had lovely long hair, and everyone else in the band had epic long wavy hair. Instead, the singer had corpse paint, but it fit the mood of the songs - a little bit slow paced, but very heavy. I didn't headbang much, because of the slow beat, but there were some epic melodic moments that were quite headbangable. There were a definite Celtic influence and the songs seemed to have Celtic themes, including the fall of Rome. We got to sing along to that one.
For three unknowns - I'd never heard of any of these bands before this concert - this was a great find. Definitely a fan of all three of these bands now, looking forward to seeing Axegressor at Tuska, and hoping Primordial will tour the US.
next concert: TUSKA, Helsinki, Finland, 7/23
Summer Wars
Now for my first ever movie review (on this blog at least).
Someone pointed out a review of an anime movie in the paper, which turned out to be Mamoru Hosoda's Summer Wars. I'm a bit of anime fan but not an expert, so I hadn't heard of this movie or director before. The picture in the paper looked a bit goofy, but it said the director was a big Miyazaki fan, so I figured, it's got to be ok at least. And I was kind of bored. So I went to see it at Turku's biggest (and only) movie theater. There were exactly three other people in the that theater with me - everyone headed to the Harry Potter movie next door.
The movie started out plunging us straight into a virtual world called OZ, moving very fast, with lots of bright colors and cute images - it was very disorienting, and I thought, if the whole movie is like this, then I'm going to get tired of it very fast. But luckily, it soon moved to the "real" world. And once the main conflict emerged - BEGIN SPOILER - OZ, which controls everything from GPS navigation to cell phone and TV transmission, was hacked by a powerhungry AI thing, and an unlikely team of programmers and game fanatics got together to beat it - END SPOILER - I was hooked and followed the story on the edge of my seat.
The characters were not very deep, but easy to relate to - the shy and awkward computer geek, the girl he likes and tries to help, the kid who spends all his time on the computer and turns out to be the game champion of OZ. The girl Natsuki's huge family was very interesting - the aunt who just wanted to watch baseball, the silly kids and the spitfire great grandmother were very memorable. It was probably because there was such a huge cast that no one in particular could be excessively complicated, and props to the director that in spite of the huge cast, I didn't have any trouble keeping track of who anyone was - they were very distinctive (although, I'm not sure I could say for sure how anyone except the most important characters were specifically related. For instance, I have no idea whose kid Kazuma, the game fanatic and martial arts genius, was.)
The action sequences - battles between Kazuma and the hacker, which took place in OZ - were downright amazing. So much fun to watch.
The story a bit simple, so I don't know if this is a movie I would want to watch over and over (unlike other anime favorites like Appleseed and Perfect Blue). But I certainly enjoyed it this time and would recommend it to other anime fans. Non anime fans might find it less than amusing due to unapologetic animatedness of the OZ segments and not quite logical moments (ex. magical girl costume morph) that anime fans take for granted.
Next movie: don't know..I hardly ever watch movies.
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