We live in a great time for complex and heavy music. There are no shortage of bands both old and new that are churning out genre defining albums and new music at an outstanding clip. Even better when these bands can deliver the goods on an album and live and not only recreate those impossible structures and sounds, but really move this style of music forward. This gives new and up and coming bands something to aspire to. ORIGIN and HATE ETERNAL have been setting the bar higher and on their respective new albums, moved it even more so away from its previous perch. Tonight’s show at The Worcester Palladium (upstairs on the more intimate stage) would be a night of impressive technical wizardry and great performances galore.

Make sure you check out ABYSMAL DAWN's latest album.

Local opener BLACK TRIP and up and comer ABYSMAL DAWN were first up tonight. BLACK TRIP plays thrash and death influenced metal and are led by brutal vocalist/guitarist Gennaro Ammendola. They are definitely gaining in stature and respect in the scene here and will have an new EP out soon. ABYSMAL DAWN is on the rise of late with the release of their new album earlier this year Leveling the Plane of Existence (Relapse). With their own brand of tech, prog and death influences in tow the band was on point as you would expect. They played a short set of mostly new songs on this night. “Perpetual Dormancy” was their best song of the bunch. They seemed to rise the occasion of this enormous bill and put on a fine show, earning a lot of new fans.

True.

In the middle slot in the lineup was good old VITAL REMAINS from nearby Providence, RI. Since Worcester is pretty close to their hometown this was practically home turf and the crowd reacted as such for the veterans. They played a set almost worthy of a headline band and it showed. From the first strains of “Where is Your God Now” the band was on fire and the fans were slamming and crowd surfing like mad. Front man Steve Willy killed with his performance, vocal strength and outstanding stage presence. As always mainstay Tony Lazarro was excellent with his iconic custom guitar, “The Crucifire”. Jamming out on songs like “Icons of Evil”, “Infidels” and “Hammer Down The Nails”, they were so tight and excellent considering this is a band with a lot of turnover in the lineup. Closing out with the epic “Dechristianize” they figuratively brought the house down.

Hands down one of 2011's best albums so far....

Next it was time for ORIGIN. I love their new album Entity (Nuclear Blast), but am a real sucker for their older work too. I knew I was going to miss departed vocalist James Lee going forward, but there was no use being a crybaby over it. I’d actually seen Jason Keyser before (SKINKLESS) and I knew he was up to the task at hand. As much as I have loved seeing them open for every other band over the years I was excited to hear a full length set from the band. And they did not disappoint! Just opening up a total can of whoop ass they started things off with “Expulsion of Fury”. You could tell just from the first few minutes of the song that this is a grown up and even more improved band than you could imagine. Of course in response to all this killer music the mosh pit opened up the biggest it had all night and looked deadly painful. Keyser just killed the vocals perfectly and has great stage presence to boot. The band sound phenomenally tight and brutal as you’d expect. “Purgatory” was next with insane drumming from John Longstreth as always. His fluid double-kick work and inhuman amount of stamina still boggles the mind. Of course Paul Ryan and Mike Flores decimate the strings of their instruments playing ridiculously fast yet, ultra controlled parts that never lack character or lose the song. “Conceiving Death” is one of the more old-school death metal sounding songs of the band and it was totally sick. Ryan just makes it look so easy on the guitar it is really not fair. Keyser’s mid-song high-range screams were a throwback to his previous work and sounded great. Flores of course is no slouch either as one of the leading lights of the genre at what he does, maul the shit out of bass guitars and ears.

Blasts of grinding technical goodness like the epic “Wrath of Vishnu”, “Vomit You Out” and “Starring From The Abyss” just lay down the gauntlet to every other band out there. It is not about how many notes you cram in a measure or what kind of blast beats you play, but how well you write songs using these skills. ORIGIN does this as natural as breathing. With absolutely no let up whatsoever they tore through the rest of the set with surgical skill on tracks like “Finite” and “The Aftermath”. Closing out with the sonic one two punch of “Antithesis” and my favorite “Portal” they had put on one of the single best performances of the year by any band. Truly flawless and again, I wonder if there is a better band live today than these guys. Whoa.

Set List:

Expulsion of Fury
Purgatory
Conceiving Death
Evolution of Extinction
Wrath of Vishnu
Vomit You Out
Implosion of Eternity
Staring from the Abyss
Finite
Saligia
Swarm
The Aftermath
Antithesis
Portal

Three maestros and servants of darkness.

After a mind blowing set by ORIGIN I kind of feared for a let down of sorts. Not because of anything to do with HATE ETERNAL at all though. I just thought the penultimate act would be impossible to follow. Still, unbowed and coming out to a heroes welcome the throng of worshipers jammed the front of the stage waiting for all hell to break lose. Opening with “Rebirth” the band sounded as good as ever. They were not about to let the younger upstarts upstage them tonight either. Although Eric Rutan made his name playing with MORBID ANGEL and RIPPING CORPSE and he is highly sought after as a producer, he came into his own when he became the leader of his own band. Tonight was further proof of Rutan’s guitar mastery and showmanship. Heavy, fast, and brutal as all get out “Rebirth” is a great show starter. “The Eternal Ruler” followed next and was so technical and sick sounding! Not only is Rutan a wizard at rhythm guitar, a terrific lead player, but also his guttural growls have never sounded so good. Drummer Jade Simonetto is made of pure professionalism and style behind the kit. The drummer’s role in death metal cannot be understated, especially in a power trio and Jade is a beast to be sure. His lighting fast footwork and trigger laden sound cuts through the waves of heavy guitar and his extra off-time cymbal hits call to mind the early work of Dave Lombardo among others. “Thorns of Acacia” off of the recent album is just killer sounding in a live setting. The blastbeats, double kick drumming and the amount of precision diamond cutter riffs are amazing. Rutan again growls his way to victory. Building up a deep set drawing from the bands’ entire career they played songs like “Behold Judas”, “Lake Ablaze” and the super heavy “Bringer of Storms”. Songs from Phoenix Amongst the Ashes and Fury and Flames highlight the late set cuts and prove to be some of the most popular tracks heard on the night. Rutan’s right hand picking defies explanation sometimes when it comes to live performance and bassist JJ Hrubovcak keeps up with him not for note. One of my personal favorite live songs is “Tombeau” with its amazing axe work, including on of Rutan’s best solos ever. Finishing up with a formidable one-two punch of “I, Monarch” and “King of Kings” they brought the night to a triumphant close.

Set list:

Rebirth
The Eternal Ruler
Thorns of Acacia
Behold Judas
Lake Ablaze
Bringer of Storms
Haunting Abound
Art of Redemption
Phoenix Amongst the Ashes
Tombeau (Le Tombeau de la Fuerer et las Flammes)
I, Monarch
King of All Kings

Reviewed by Keith (Keefy) Chachkes