M3 Fest (Day 2) - May 12, 2012 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

Wait, what happened? I went to M3 Fest, a big hair band festival, because S. was going. It was actually pretty fun. I didn't really know any of the bands well, and some not at all. The two bands that I wanted to see most were the ones that were least - perhaps not at all - hair band-like: Loudness and Queensryche. It might have been more fun if I knew the bands better, but I would also have gotten more hot and tired from jumping around if that were the case. For a relaxed day off when I didn't want to do much, it was a good choice.

When we got there, L.A. Guns were on. They were all right; they didn't especially stand out in my mind. After they finished we commenced a constant running back and forth between the main stage and the second stage, since the bands went on one right after the other, even overlapping sometimes. Bang Tango, on the second stage, was a little more energetic, loud and heavy enough to get me bobbing my head. Then it was back to the main stage for Dokken. The songs sounded decent but the singer was not into it at all. After that, Loudness was great - loud, fast and heavy. I didn't know any of the songs but they were heavy enough that I took my hair down to headbang. Warrant, back on the main stage, sounded really good too. In sharp contrast to Dokken, the singer was very into it, delivering the lyrics emphatically and waving the mic stand around. He wasn't the original singer of the band, though, as apparently that guy is no longer with us. During their set, S's pal T. kept telling me to sing along, but I didn't know the words. S. did manage to teach me the chorus to "Heaven." Last band I heard before having to leave to do work was Lynch Mob who were also pretty good. I can't remember if it was their singer who jumped down into the crowd or if that was Bang Tango. 

After I left, I later heard a bit of Queensryche and Skid Row while making copies at a place across the street. thought to myself, dangit they must be having so much fun. Indeed they were - when I picked up S and T later, S was completely hoarse from singing along to Skid Row.

Next concert - Sabaton and A Sound of Thunder!!! 5/21/12

S. wrote a more detailed review and setlists.

Behemoth, Watain, The Devil's Blood, In Solitude, Evoken - 5/5/12 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD

Actually, we missed Evoken, In Solitude, and The Devil's Blood entirely, due to travel time, slow service at a restaurant and the need for corpse paint.

Our excuse for arriving late. From left, K., S. and I in corpse paint.

We got there just as a band was leaving the stage, which we figured was The Devil's Blood. I wasn't too disappointed, because I'm not that into the whole resurgence of 70's-esque slow and gloomy metal, of which they are an example. I might have changed my mind about them after seeing them live (just a glimpse of Ghost at Tuska Festival improved my opinion of that band immensely) but oh well.

As the next band set up, we guessed from the array of candles that it was Watain, setting up for their Satanic ritual. (As far as I know, they could have sold all our souls to Satan and we have no idea..) Their set had a great atmosphere - the candles and minimal lighting creating a spooky feeling that enhanced the music. They were not very heavy, but had a bewitching sound - sad melodies or melancholy riffs over pummeling bass and drums, alternating with slow and dark segments, the vocalist conducting it all with his growled incantations. I was not sure if there would be moshing, since it was black metal, but there was. "Total Funeral" was a crowd favorite - it starts with rocking riffs that got everyone jumping, and then a huge pit appeared. They ended with "Waters of Ain," a masterpiece of black metal - you could just about feel the cold dripping of evil.

Behemoth also evoked the ultimate evil but in a different way - whereas Watain was dark and gloomy, Behemoth was powerful and dominating. They lived up to my expectations - that they would be amazing. As with Watain, lighting and staging added to the effect. They began with lights directly behind them, which was painful if you were at an angle but pretty dramatic. They didn't move much - only switching between center, left and right positions a few times - but seemed to tower over audience like some sort of evil statues. Nergal looked even more sinister with short hair, and the other guys looked a bit like Klingons. Their sound was my favorite kind - the thunderous kind that shakes the building. It was like some sort dark god rising roaring out of hell..except that for Behemoth that god is probably humanity itself.

The crowd was energetic, and the pit was pretty crazy. At some point (perhaps during "Conquer All"?) a huge wave of moshers knocked down the people in front of us and pushed us back to the back corner of the floor. A guy in a wheel chair was spotted in the pit and crowdsurfing. I suspect it was the same guy we saw at Arch Enemy (I talked to him afterward but didn't get a chance to ask about that show).

Nergal, recovered from the brink of death, seemed to be doing fine. Some vocals appeared to be recorded but that may have been for effects - the lower, more ominous vocals. S thought the set was a litte short though. Neither band talked very much, they just played their songs with a few dramatic proclamations here and there.

Overall it was a great show, recommended for anyone who's into the darker side of metal, or into heavy music.

Next concert: Sabaton, 5/20 or 5/21

The Map of Time (El mapa del tiempo) by Felix J. Palma, trans. Nick Caistor

Mr. Palma is apparently an accomplished writer in Spain, but The Map
of Time is his first book translated into English. It's a mind-bending
story set in Victorian London, which seems to be about time travel,
but will likely completely scramble your notions of time and time travel.

I generally don't like time travel - the paradoxes and parallel
universes bore me, and besides that I find the whole notion
implausible. But there were slim pickings in science fiction books on
the new books shelf at the library, so I spared this a second glance.
Also, the fact that it was translated intrigued me, and the
exaggerated "dear reader" introduction was different from norm. This
impression was borne out by reading - the book's style is one of a
kind, at least in modern science fiction. (As the back cover states,
it harks back to the pioneers of science fiction, Jules Verne and HG
Wells.) The style also seems distinctly Spanish to me - there is a
rhythmic flow to the sentences, and the word choice is more direct
than writers in English would normally use. The narration, however, is
anything but - in a Victorian way, Mr. Palma takes his time getting to
the point. But it's an enjoyable ride because of his jovial tone and
humorous choice of images and analogies. I quickly realized the novel
is laughing at itself the whole time. By the end I understood why -
this isn't an adventure story, but a novel about writing and about
time travel through reading, storytelling, and illusion.

So about the time travel (and the plot). Another reason I didn't mind
reading about time travel is because nothing is as it seems in this
book. Mr. Palma surprises you once and you think you have it figured
out, but he pulls the carpet out from under you again, and again.
Additionally, the plausibility of the various time travel methods
quickly becomes irrelevant, because at their core, the three connected
stories that form the novel are not about grand historical events that
have to be averted or preserved - although the novel does touch on a
few - but about the human bonds that span the abyss of time and are
perhaps our truest measurement of time.

As a writer, I enjoyed the book immensely, mostly due to its humorous,
self-referential style and the commentary on writing through the medium of
HG Wells, who features as a major character. People looking for an
epic adventure may be disappointed, but if you don't mind a change of
pace for the sake of some laughs and mind-bending twists in your
perception of time, this is a gem.

Amazon has a letter from author about the novel, which I have not yet
read, as I don't have a pdf reader on this computer:
http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/HomifEMS/MapofTime.pdf

The author has another book titled El mapa del cielo; I'm wondering if
this is the sequel and whether it might be translated sometime
soon..hope so.

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

PAGANFEST - Turisas, Alestorm, Arkona, Huntress, Deranged Theory, Yesterday's Saints, Fallen Martyr - 3/29/12 at Sonar, Baltimore, MD

Ok, finally touched this up - as in, finally wrote it in complete sentences.

This was probably the biggest show of the year for me - three awesome folk metal bands in one night. It was a lot of fun, although there were a few points where I was disappointed. Mostly organizational things; the actual performances were great and I had a good time.

We got there during the second band's set - just after 8pm. We had judged that getting there around 8 would get us there just in time for Huntress (the fourth band and the first of the official Paganfest bands). It turned out the show was running way late. For a show with seven bands, that definitely cut my enthusiasm a lot - it meant sitting through several not as interesting bands hoping I wouldn't get hungry before the fun started, and a really, really late night on a week when I have no days off.

But anyway, enough of the whining, in spite of the annoying lateness, I did have fun, so here's my review of the bands:

We missed Fallen Martyr entirely. S thought they had cool shirts though.  (As I go to post I realize we have indeed seen these guys before since I already have a tag for them, so if you want to know about them, click on the tag at the bottom of the post.)

We arrived in the middle of Yesterday's Saints' set. They were loud, but not every interesting. The singer had a nice voice though.

Deranged Theory was the last of the openers (we perhaps cheered a little too heartily when they finally cleared the stage, no offense to the band, we were just getting a little impatient). They had some headbang worthy melodies and riffs, reminiscent of Iron Maiden at one point. S disapproved of the singer's vocals, but I thought he sounded all right. Perhaps a slightly deeper growl would have been better. But still, I enjoyed their songs, and S was amused that many of them were about video games, like Castlevania.

Huntress had a strong metal sound, but I find the vocals kind of bland - at least, that was my initial impression of them. "Eight of Swords," their single, is not a good representation of singer's vocal range - she can growl like Masha (of Arkona) and also has a lovely clear high singing voice. S compared her to Doro. She had an..eye-catching outfit that helped to keep attention on her for the whole set.

Arkona came out blasting with "Pokrovy Nebesnogo Startsa", which I have always considered a great moshing song and was really looking forward to hearing and moshing to. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the pit, because I was too far back; the pit was right in front of stage. I got in on the second song though. The pit was big and brutal, with a lot of big lumbering drunk guys, so I didn't go in as much as would otherwise. They played a really short set, about 5 songs, with no time wasted on talking. They sounded good and heavy to me, but S thought they didn't sound as good as on their recordings. Perhaps the sound could have been clearer, I dunno, I was mostly thinking about the pit, and wishing that the pit was better. Masha called for a Wall of Death for Stenku Na Stenku but the moshers ignored her or didn't hear (but at least they were folking). I didn't quite feel like being pit boss and making it happen. Maybe next time.

Alestorm sounded great, and the pit was a blast - besides the usual shoving, there was lots of jigging and headbanging circles. I sort of got my right side abraded off by a guy in chain mail. In contrast to Arkona, Alestorm got a really long set - the singer kept saying how no one was telling them to stop so they would just keep playing. They didn't play Captain Morgan's Revenge, which was disappointing, but on the other hand, we got to hear a bunch of other songs that aren't played as much.

Turisas came out strong with "March of the Varangian Guard." They followed it with "Take the Day," the second song from new album, and I wondered if they were going to play the whole album. But that was not to be. The third song was "To Holmgard and Beyond", and I started looking for pit. On the next song ("Dnieper Rapids") I started a pit. People did not seem to realize that one could mosh to Turisas. (Someone called me a warrior maiden for starting /constantly being in the pit.) Then, the music slowed way down, with slow paced solos from Olli and some slow paced songs. A lot of the crowd drifted away, dunno if it was because of the late hour (well after midnight) or because of the slow songs. Netta (accordion player) is not with band anymore, and I noticed that some parts sounded a little odd, so I wondered if they replaced the accordion parts with keyboard. I missed the accordion sound. Toward the end, the set picked up again; Turisas saved the best for last, with "Stand Up and Fight" and "Battle Metal" at the end.

I had fun, although besides for Alestorm, I didn't have the epic folk pit experience I was hoping for. I also expected more of the pirate/Viking (Varangian) rivalry, and perhaps more songs from Turisas. It would have been great for if they could have pulled out "Rasputin" or "Those Were the Days." If not at Paganfest, where else? But still, for folk metal fans, these 3 bands in one place is not a show to miss.

Leviathan Wakes by "James S. A. Corey"

The quote marks will be explained in a bit.

This was an enjoyable and well crafted read.As the cover promised, it is "a really kickass space opera."

Unfortunately, the book has a slightly weak start, after a very suspenseful prologue. In fact, at first I kept reading simply because I wanted to know what had happened to the character in the prologue. The characters it switched to in the first chapter seemed flat and stereotypical - the old fashioned XO, the tough female EO. (At one point, I actually said to someone that if another tough female officer appeared, I was going to put the book down. But luckily that didn't happen till much later, when I had gotten sucked back into the story, and forgotten about my silly declaration.)

As soon as the action started up again, things got better. The XO kept making mistakes, which transformed his character from an archetype to a much more rounded character. The space-based "world" was gritty and full of nuanced detail, just the way I like it. I was very impressed that some Chinese words were used in the slang of the Belters (people that grew up in the asteroid belt) and they were actually the right words. Just enough other details were dropped about space station- and ship-board life to feel the differentness of life in space. And very impressively, when minor characters died they were named AND their sacrifices were remembered.

Still, and although I know space opera is not hard science fiction and therefore not thoroughly grounded in hard, plausible science, the vague descriptions and improbable powers of an alien molecule that plays a huge role in the plot bothered me a little. But I was willing to overlook it for all the other excellent things I mentioned above.

I was pretty impressed that one new and unknown author managed to turn out such a well-crafted, almost ingenious novel. Then I found out that "James S. A. Corey" wasn't a person at all, but the pen name of two writers - one of whom is George R.R. Martin's assistant. And that the two of them were helped along by an all star team of other authors. Well no wonder! The book is still a good read, but less impressive an achievement. Still, I'd highly recommend it, and am looking forward  to finding the sequel.

Children of Bodom, Eluveitie, Revocation, Threat Signal - 3/4/12 at Ram's Head Live, Baltimore, MD

We completely missed Threat Signal. I had worked for 38 of the 48 hours before the concert, so I did not feel like rushing back to Baltimore.

Revocation was in the middle of their set when we got there. I thought they sounded better - heavier, more interesting - than on their Youtube videos (my primary way of researching bands I don't know), but S. thought the opposite. They were loud and heavy with some cool riffs, but fell short of awesome. The singer said something silly about Skyrim which I had already read on Youtube. We wondered if he said the song was about Vikings just to play to the folk metal crowd.

I may be biased, but Eluveitie was awesome. They were much heavier than I expected for a folk metal band that actually uses a lot of folk instruments. I started to wonder whether they made their sound heavier and/or picked their heavier songs for the set just because they were touring with three death metal bands.

ELUVEITIE!

S. said that Eluveitie's drums were too loud, but I did not really notice during the show. In the first song ("Everything Remains..") the drums sounded like an army marching and banging their swords, which I thought was pretty cool. From the front, I could hear the acoustic instruments like the tinwhistle, but I guess they were a little overpowered by guitars and drums.

At first people did not seem to know it was ok to mosh for folk metal (most of crowd seemed to be death metal fans although there were a few definite folk metal fans). I tried to start pit during the second song ("Nil") but did not quite dare run into the really big guys. But when the singer called for a circle pit for the 3rd song ("Kingdom come undone") they sure got into it. (I was standing right near "Primordial shirt guy" when the singer picked him but I think you can only see the top of my head in the video. The circle pit was pretty big though you can't really see it since it's dark.) There was not much of a folk pit at any point, though there were a few moments of jigging (I owned the pit with a jig at one point). There was also a girl pit at one point; sadly I can't find any youtube videos of it. If anyone has one, please post and tell me!

I don't really do the setlist thing - that's usually S's forte - but Eluveitie did play one new song which they said they hadn't played before on the tour: "The Siege." Otherwise they seemed to play the same setlist as their other shows on this tour.

Other fun videos:
Intro and first 2 songs
"Inis Mona" (last song they played)
None of the videos are mine. Much gratitude to the metal people who take vids and post on youtube, so that those of us who are too busy moshing and headbanging can enjoy later XD

Children of Bodom were amazing, of course. I couldn't hear as much of their awesome melodies as I would have liked (too loud and heavy, the melodies were drowned out), but the heaviness made up for it. Now I can really see them as a death metal band (and understand why there were so many death metal fans there. Nothing against death metal or its fans, but I was hoping for a good folk crowd for Eluveitie). I wondered what the death metal fans thought of the more (very much more) melodic segments in COB's music, like the parts that sound somewhat like Nightwish.

Children of Bodom, RAR

You all know my highest compliment to a band is that they sound like thunder (ex Medeia and A Sound of Thunder) but COB did one better. Not just thunder, they sounded like a thundering war machine, like some alien battleship pounding the earth, it was so intense. The pits were massive and crazy. We were all the way in the back (I was wiped out after Eluveitie and didn't think I could handle the giant pits anyway) and we still got jostled around.

I would have gone to see either Eluveitie or COB on their own, so it was great to see them together kind of like a "package deal." Next time though, I hope Eluveitie tours with folk metal bands for more folk metal fun in the pit!

Next concert: Iced Earth, Warbringer - 3/13/12. I kind of forgot about this one, augh!

The photos are by Steve Wass. More photos