Due to the sheer volume of bands and out of consideration for the eyes and souls of any readers, I won’t get into great detail with any band that kinda sounded like all of the other bands or that I don’t particularly like. Or in some cases, missed either because I chose to because I’m boss status or various circumstances. Also, hello again.
This show got started with SAVING GRACE, who are a Christian (obv.) band from Australia that play some form of hardcore that is heavy. You can get down to it with relative ease. Following them were yet another Christian crew, albeit a little heavier, both sound and weight-wise, under the moniker THOSE WHO FEAR. They provided a little anti-sermon, which is much appreciated so you know you’re not being judged. Totality was neatly sandwiched between the two, but their unremarkable sound and downright silly pit action that resembled enthused leprechauns circling a pot o’ gold bore their almost being left out of this review entirely. Sorry, guys.
A time skip and a jump later, FIT FOR AN AUTOPSY came out and encouraged the pitters and sinners to act a fool. One of the few true Deathcore bands currently existing as a legitimate combination of blasting Death Metal fury and Hardcore pit ignorance, FFAA have a lot to be proud of. For starters, they got to play the pre-party with REVOCATION, THE ACACIA STRAIN, and ABIOTIC to name a select few goodies. They can also be proud of the fact that they’ve got fans in both the Metal and Hardcore crowd going hard in the pit for ‘em as though the differences are non-existent. The set was spot-on, with cuts like “The Jackyl” and “The Conqueror”, and even a few new songs, ringing true and clear despite Nate Johnson’s apparent throat problems following an incident where he nearly swallowed his own beard. Hence, babyface Nate. Following these beasts were EAST BEAST, an up and coming crew of aggressors from (wild wild) Western Mass. Heavy, pissed off, but maintaining a sense of fun, I hope East Beast goes places with their churning breakdowns and rousing two-step sections.
The next band I witnessed, GLASS CLOUD, is well on their way to success, despite their part in the controversial “djent” movement. Boasting the guitar talents of TONY DANZA TAPDANCE EXTRAVAGANZA‘s (RIP) own Josh Travis, they’ve already got one musician that’ll provide the heaviness and dexterity that’s needed for a band of their type. Luckily the rest of the band is able to pick up their own slack, with tight drumming, tastefully layered melodies, and delectable clean vocals to go with the standard shouts and growls. I dug it. What I didn’t dig was the sound mix during TÝR, and unfortunately these otherwise fierce Viking warriors were sounding rather dull and neutered. I couldn’t stand to hear it for more than a minute and ran outside to socialize.
TYR played great set suffered from a poor sound mixi
Freeing us from the hordes of noisy Norsemen were THE CONTORTIONIST, bereft of their usual singer, Jonathan Carpenter (not to be confused with the director of The Thing, of course), but it mattered not, since the equally talented singer of LAST CHANCE TO REASON, MICHAEL LESSARD, stepped up to fill in while the band searches for a new singer, presumably American Idol style. Replacing Jon Carpenter, even temporarily, is a job that would make anyone short of BTBAM‘s TOMMY ROGERS nervous. Despite the pressure to stay on key during the melodic sections of “Geocentric Confusion” and “Holomovement”, he cut through them with the same ease as he would during “Programmed For Battle” or “The Linear”. Spot on, you couldn’t tell the difference, aside from his apparent nervousness on such a large stage. The band as a whole remained professional and broke it down with the heaviness we know and love (that breakdown in “Oscillator” gets more massive every time I hear it live), and regaled us with tales of space and the inner workings of the mind. Marvelous, would repeat.
BATTLECROSS played upstairs, banged heads.
Sadly not all progressive/technical Metalcore acts cannot be as rousing of the spirit as THE CONTORTIONIST, as their peers WITHIN THE RUINS so gladly demonstrated with their show of brute chugs and going-nowhere-fast noodles. They weedled too much on “Creature”, they attempted to even it out on “Invade” by adding in some random chugs, and “Elite” is just much more of the same palaver. It’s not impressive by any means, but it isn’t terrible, so I’ll just stick them with a solid “meh”. AFTER THE BURIAL are a band that has drawn many comparisons to the WtR crew, but I feel that their style and panache entitles them to the chugging and weedling that other bands simply cannot master. I eagerly anticipate their new album to be released on Sumerian Records later this year. The band simply cannot fail as a cohesive unit, blending polyrhythms with a mind-bending ease, crafting dizzying melodies and mosh parts with equal verisimilitude, and of course, lyrical splendour that lends to great quotability. From the brutality of “Berzerker” to the more heartfelt hitters “Your Troubles Will Cease And Fortune Will Smile Upon You”, they get the crowd moving in a way that WtR can’t; with passion. BORN OF OSIRIS were the final flagbearers of prog-leaning Metalcore for the night, playing a set almost exclusively made of songs from their most recent outing, The Discovery, the only exceptions being oldies (but goodies) “Rosecrance” and “Empires Erased”. Some sound difficulties made the second one difficult to recognize until some way through, but hey, it’s a killer tune. The fact that The Discovery is just about a perfect album saved the set from being wearisome, as playing only material from one release is often a bad move for any band to make, but hey, like I said, it’s perfection in sound.
ENSIFERUM took the stage next, but not feeling in a very folky mood, I made my way upstairs to let the Vikings return to the battlefield once more, and check out ALPHA & OMEGA. One particularly awesome thing I saw was FitFo’s guitarist Pat Sheridan tearing it up in the pit like a monster programmed to kill mercilessly. Other than that, not much to say. Following them were everyone’s favourite tuff guy crew to love/hate, the infamous TERROR. Boasting equal parts old-school Thrash circle-pit riffs and breakdowns to get stangry to in a flat-brim sports cap, Terror have been damn near unstoppable since their inception in 2002. Sure, SCOTT VOGEL may have (unnecessary) beef with THE GHOST INSIDE, and may have dissed Refused on their reunion tour needlessly, but there’s no doubting their power to get a crowd going. The stage was as full of rabid fans that were at once tearing at one another and sharing the space, shouting every word without fail, and also knocking out fools that weren’t with the program. The staff’s completely helpless when a band with TERROR’S draw plays upstairs, and that’s the Lord’s truth.
TERROR’s “Live By The Code” is out now on Victory Records.
THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN wrecked the stage and themselves.
While I did not physically spectate THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN and instead mucked about upstairs, what I heard was their normal grinding technical Calculatorcore fury, punctuated by mellow moments that provide eyes for an otherwise blind hurricane of extreme music outpouring OPETH played a really long set of cool songs with growls this time. Two and a half hours. I have no words for it, except damn that shit was dope.
JONAS RENSKE from KATATONIA
OPETH brought back the growls and the heavy songs!
Our intrepid metal scribe Sean “That Black Metal Dude” Genovese caught up with Bob Meadows of A LIFE ONCE LOST recently. Sean caught the band live a few weeks back in Allston, MA at Great Scott, where the band was on tour with REVOCATION and KEN MODE. ALOL is out on the road supporting their new album Ecstatic Trance, (Season of Mist)which you should all go get asap!
MA: When you guys first started out in 1999, where did you guys expect to be about ten years from that point?
BM: I guess I just expected to be more on a different train of life, y’know? You don’t really expect ever to start a band with a bunch of kids and then eventually it kind of unravels and unfolds into something 13 years later. It’s just kind of a surreal experience in a way. But man, it’s pretty awesome, I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Actually, a lot of other friends of mine are moving along, moving past, and kind of starting these new lives and here I am, still chasing down this thing, this dream that I call music. It’s pretty wild, man, I never really expected it all.
MA: Right. So what are some of you guys’ main influences, and what are some artists or bands might be surprised shaped your sound?
BM: You can hear the BLACK SABBATH and the MESHUGGAH influence for sure, but in (the) Ecstatic Trance record there’s definitely other influences we’re pulling from, anywhere from FELA KUTI, and TI PEYI A, and ORCHESTRA DE POLYRHYTHMO from North Africa, to the German Krautrock scene, bands like CAN, KRAFTWERK, AMAN DUUL, things like KING CRIMSON. Anything within that little hiatus that we took where we ended up exploring a lot of different things in music. It’s always been an interest of mine with music; the more obscure, the more different and weird it was, the better it was for me, that’s kinda what I got off on. Being able to pull from those influences, and finally being able to let it hang on my sleeve, it’s a pretty cool thing, it’s definitely very unique, and I definitely think we’ve developed a unique sound with the Ecstatic Trance record.
Bob Meadows of A LIFE ONCE LOST.
MA: Let me ask you something that I’m sure most people probably ask you; What are your attitudes on the “djent” craze, as many cite you guys as innovators of poly-rhythms in Metalcore and related genres. Have you any love for bands like PERIPHERY and AFTER THE BURIAL that are expanding on that formula?
BM: I don’t have any feelings towards it. I’m not really interested in that music. When I listen to music, I kinda wanna be floored. When I was younger, when I was 19, that kind of music would be more appealing to me. But since I’m older now, I find more satisfaction in something that’s more soothing, and it’s not really soothing. I hear it all the time, people referring to us as a band in that scene, and I agree to a certain extent, but there were bands before us that were doing it, and there are bands that are still doing it, and those bands deserve more of the credit. When we started doing it, we didn’t do it to fit into a “scene”, like these other bands, these younger kids are doing, but the youth of America is a very impressionable group of individuals, and they feel the need to be able to fit in somewhere. Maybe this new “djent” thing is the new Deathcore, the new Pop Punk or the new whatever. It is what it is, it’s popular, those dudes can play. Misha’s a cool dude; I don’t like his band, but I think he’s a cool dude. I can be friends with someone and not enjoy their band, and that’s the case here. THE AFTER THE BURIAL, BORN OF OSIRIS guys, I really don’t know them. Michael Keene, EVAN BREWER, those guys in THE FACELESS, awesome dudes, but I just can’t get down with the tunes, y’know? Doesn’t make me less of a man, but more of an individual, I guess.
MA: Yeah. I noticed you guys were selling a shirt that says “Drop Acid, Not Bombs”. Is this a hint at some of the creative process behind Ecstatic Trance, since there are a lot more psychedelic influences, as you may have mentioned before?
BM: You can look at it as that. One of the main things was to explore that world of music, like psychedelic rock, I definitely think we’ve succeeded with this, and it’s definitely a great introduction to unravel into something that’s gonna be bigger in the future with our sound. With hallucinogenics, there are only two of us that sorta dabble in that, haha. I think it was more like a goof shirt. We had this ROLLING STONES rip-off tee goin’, with some dude with fucked up teeth, and we were like “We should totally put an acid tab on his fuckin’ tongue, just throw in ‘Drop Acid, Not Bombs’, it could be funny”. So we ended up doing it, and I think the design turned out pretty good. And it’s funny, the people that actually come up and buy this shirt, they’re so weird, haha. We had t-shirts of a “World Bong”, something like that, and we were on tour with NORMA JEAN. We printed the shirts on yellow, red and green, kinda like a Rastafarian, Jamaican color scheme going on. Then you had these impressionable youth, the Christian kids buying the shirts because of the colors, not necessarily knowing what was going on with it. But if it’s funny, it’s funny, it’s fun to be in a band and do shit like that. But yeah it’s more of a goof, haha.
MA: Since you guys recently replaced half the band and have been experimenting with some new sounds on your last two sounds, some fans have expressed that they’re not entirely happy with the direction you’ve taken. Do you have anything to say to them?
BM: Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion. There are kids that don’t like my band now that probably really love PERIPHERY and AFTER THE BURIAL. That’s the beauty of being a person, you’re entitled to your own opinion, likes and dislikes, and shit, man, if you don’t like my band, you don’t like my band! That’s fine, just don’t base that on my character as a human being. I’m sure my conversations are ones of humour and also interest. If A Great Artist is the record you wanna hear, you can pop that on while you’re driving and punch the steering wheel. But if you’re coming to our shows, that’s what to expect: We’re gonna play what we just put out, what we believe in. An Ecstatic Trance is that record we believe in at the moment. When we go into the studio to do more things, that’s what you can expect. You’re either with us or not with us, it’s no sweat off my ass, y’know?
MA: Yeah. Going on with that previous question, do you believe you’ll ever make another album like A Great Artist or Hunter, or has the musical environment in the ALOL camp and the general Metal/Hardcore scene has changed to the point where you have to leave those concepts behind?
BM: We were never a band to repeat anything or fall into sequence, or an order when it comes to writing music and songs. We had a very large gap of aggression between A Great Artist and The Iron Gag. It’s a small gap, but there’s progression nonetheless. Once you step back and rewrite something like that it’s regressing in a way. For us to constantly evolve and grow as people, I think the only thing we can do is continue to move forward and develop on sounds that we created in records past. You may see me doing another band in the vein of the older stuff, but never in replication. I would say the likelihood is very slim at this time, haha. But you can never really rule out the elements of pure brutality and heaviness mixed in with the music.
MA: Alright, this is probably the most important question you’ll be asked within the next six months: Was math your favourite subject in high school, and if so, what type?
BM: I actually like math a lot. I like Algebra. I wasn’t a Geometry guy, but number solving, shit like that was always a big interest of mine, haha.
MA: Alright, well thank you very much for taking the time to do this interview, Mr. Meadows, and I hope you guys have much luck in your future endeavours: tours, albums, stuff like that, and I hope to see your band again, hopefully with a crowd that’s more energetic?
BM: Ah, see, that shit never really matters to me. I think that it slowly morphed from people going crazy like it was with A Great Artist and with Hunter. With Iron Gag you saw people just more there to experience the show, experience what we’re doing, and that’s actually kinda cool. It takes the Metal that we’re writing and evolves it so that you can sit back and enjoy it whether you’re a fuckin’ stoner, you’re drunk, you’re a cokehead, you’re fuckin’ trippin’ on acid, or you’re straight-edge. You can step back and watch the show, enjoy the show for what it is, and that’s the place where Doug and I are trying to take the group now, make it a live experience, not just an experience for the record.
MA: Hmm, that’s actually a pretty good way to look at it. Well, once again, thank you very much, and I wish you luck.
CHELSEA GRIN, a deathcore outing from the land where fun goes to die (also known as SLC, Utah), has grown (in)famous since their Cesarian section birth in 2007, which divided the Extreme music listening world in two camps: Those who loved CHELSEA GRIN and dug their chugtastic formula, and those who wished an untimely death upon GAZA’s fellow townsmen. I remained impartial, since they haven’t proved themselves worthy of capital punishment, just court jesters in the realm of Deathcore. Boasting two albums and an EPs all in 5 years leads to a lot of rushing, recycling and no time to actually, y’know, write good songs. A challenger by the name of Jason Richardson, hailing from Progressive Deathcore contemporaries BORN OF OSIRIS has joined the ranks, playing guitar better than Ziggy. Could this be the redemption this band needs to go from drab to fab? Could the title of this EP be a sign that they’re done writing the same breakdown over and over, and are willing to push their limits to uncomfortable, but ballsy places? Let’s begin, and mind your head.
“The Second Coming” opens up with some cheesy strings, and a breakdown that sounds as though it was written for BORN OF OSIRIS’ newest release, The Discovery. In fact, the keys, synth accents, and twinkles that decorate the breakdowns like hood ornaments on a tank are telltale signs that Mr. Richardson had a lot of say in how this album was written. It’s almost a note-for-note clone of something that came from BORN OF OSIRIS’ more forgettable tunes, but that’s still a major step up for CG, who were once content to write the wimpiest breakdowns known to deathcore. Speaking of breakdowns, I’d be a fool not to mention that those have actually improved vastly. Where they were once monotonous interrupted chugging, on this track they allow more room for the low end to come in and provide punch. I always said CG would be better if they wrote heavier breakdowns at least. Maybe they read my Christmas letters.
Up next is the track that was released as a promotional tidbit to get everyone excited, “Lilith“. Having heard this when it came out, my feelings were mixed, as this track starts out directly aping their peers SUICIDE SILENCE in every arena, from the vocals to the tempo of the riff and drums that kicks in at about 50 seconds. It’s a bit of a drop in quality for the time being, until Alex’s clean vocals came in. Yes, you heard that right, and if you hadn’t already checked it out, do so at once. Like their pals in ALL SHALL PERISH, BRING ME THE HORIZON, and EMMURE, they’ve decided to break the vocal monochromaticism and inject some soul. Surprisingly enough, they’re not too bad, and the sweep behind them is well written, and not stolen from an earlier song, like so many of them are. Overall, they were wise to put this track out first, even if it doesn’t display the proficiency they keep locked away tighter than a Mormon virginity.
“S.H.O.T.” immediately opens with a jumpdafuckup, proving old habits die hard. Shortly after that nonsense they come back to the BORN OF OSIRIS worship, only to run headfirst into another everybody-fuckin’-bounce, and repeat as needed for pain. CHELSEA GRIN have always liked to tease with being able to play their instruments but then subsequently ignite a bro mosh. This track toggles from melodic technical noodling to wifebeater chugs. Take my pick as to which I liked better.
The opening breakdown to “Confession” sounds like it was written for them by a collaboration between No Time To Bleed-era SUICIDE SILENCE and OCEANO. Pure laziness takes the stage here with some left/right trade-offs and a of sweeping behind the plainly bored breakdown. Following that is what I swear is a splice from the beginning riff of AFTER THE BURIAL’s “Berzerker”, and then another uninspired frat boy chug. Remember, kids, CHELSEA GRIN are actually decent musicians, they’re just part of this ADHD generation. I’m only reviewing an EP, but it feels like that moment in the middle of an album where the band seems painted in a corner of their own good ideas. Vocalist Alex’s vocals aren’t usually particularly good, but it feels like he’s half-assing this song. I can practically hear them phoning in their lunch order by the end.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is CHELSEA GRIN’s pop song (quite literally), and once again, we’ve made The Discovery our main course, gentlemen, and women. Can’t forget the women, that’d be sexist. From this track I get an odd J-Rock vibe, namely bands like D’ESPAIRSRAY and PHANTASMAGORIA, as well as that of a Christcore band by the name of FOR TODAY when they start getting hymnal. It gets a bit repetitive at around the 3 and a half minute mark and if it were shorter, it’d be a perfect celebration of their… evolution. After that is a remix of “The Human Condition”, which is a track I never particularly cared for, and if anything it just sounds even worse, so not exactly essential listening. I suspect they only threw it in so the album would end on a heavier note, but sometimes, like the time honoured sport of coitus, it’s better to go out soft.
THE VERDICT: Ripping off others more talented are in their field and stumbling on gold is what some do best. Just ask Jim Theis.
BORN OF OSIRIS has announced an epic headlining tour with the likes of VEIL OF MAYA and CARNIFEX in support of their latest album, ‘The Discovery’. This is going to be a crushing lineup — BOO is one of the most impressive bands on the label and VEIL OF MAYA have really honed their live show after a few years of relentless touring. CARNIFEX is not my favorite band in the world, but the few times I’ve seen them live, they’ve really delivered a killer set.
Also on the bill are two of SUMERIAN’s young guns, STRUC/TURES and BETRAYING THE MARTYRS. The songs I’ve heard have been cool but I’m not familiar with their live shows at all. One thing that I know, I will be there early to see what they’re like. This has the potential to be the hottest young metal tour of the year! Fuck yeah!
Here are the dates so far, stay tuned for more as they come in!
11/18 Dayton, OH – The Attic
11/20 Cleveland, OH – Peabodys
11/23 Indianapolis, IN – Emerson Theatre
11/25 Joliet, IL – Mojoes
11/26 Detroit, MI – Harpos
11/27 Pittsburgh, PA – Altar Bar
11/28 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church
11/29 Syracuse, NY – Lost Horizon
Well it was a matter of time, wasn’t it? With all of the genre bending and mashing together of styles of music lately someone was going to dip their deathcore into someone’s rave music. Similar to spandex clothing for women just because you can do it, doesn’t mean you always should. Although this is nothing truly ground breaking in general (see also: industrial music in the early-1990s for the roots) few bands have really dived in the deep end of the pool splicing these two styles like THE BROWNING. They have achieved a true split of modern metals step-brother style and funky electronics and dance beats in a cool way that doesn’t seem fad-ish or contrived. So get your glow sticks out because we’re gonna party like it’s 1997!
“No Escape” starts off with electric ear candy, synthesized riffs, sound effects and bass drops all in just the first thirty seconds of the song. The dirge like main riff announced the song like a boxing match MC and I have to say it got me unexpectedly pumped. The screaming vocals of front man Johnny McBee has a sound that fills your ears. He conveys a definite feeling of anguished dread in spite of the happy electronic sounds going on (which McBee also provides). A chirpy dance beat intrudes on the song for a breakdown before the original death core sludge-y riffs comes back in. “Not Alone” is a touch more straight forward. Another urgent keyboard part introduces the main theme while guitarist Collin Woroniak plays some minimalist core riffs and chords. There are some haunting keyboard sounds and more of McBee’s guts spilling vocal harshness. Drummer Noah Robertson plays equal parts industrial battery and traditional drums with his beats and it works well. Once again an uptempo part comes in as a prelude to a breakdown. I like that the music flips back and forth like a light switch, perfectly tempered for today’s short attention span kids. “Bloodlust” comes next and is very heavy on the 1990s rave beats and trance sounds. Then it gives way to the crushing main riffs and blasting double-kick drums that make up the head-nodding verses. Robertson again pushes and pulls the tempos back and forth, creating a vortex like effect owing as much to ARMIN VAN BUREN as it does to AL JOURGENSEN. McBee again produces some exciting extra-musical parts as well. “Standing On the Edge” seems to be the best representation of the band in that it is the most outright heavy track in terms of riffs, but laced with the smoothest keyboards too. Fans of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA and the lighter side of BORN OF OSIRIS will like the trance motifs that melt into the beatdown parts. The breakdown is sure to be a hit amongst the “bro” crowd too with its slow burn feel. The title track is equally tough with an evil main riff that switches between guitars and keys. Like most of the tracks on the album they are short, to the point and chock full of sound and fury. Some of the other standout tracks here are “Ashamed”, “Living Dead”, “Tragedy of Perfection” and “I Choose You”. THE BROWNING will not be everybody’s cup of tea. They tend to get a little repetitive on multiple listens and rock the bass drop a bit too much for my personal taste. However, you have to give them props for being adventurous and bold enough to pull this type of music off. I suspect we will be hearing about them more in the future.
THE BROWNING: They may look serious, but their music is heavy, trippy and fun!
The ALL STARS kicked off this week, which reminded me that if I was booking an “All Stars” tour, this most certainly be it. Now, granted, I’m not the top demographic for this tour because I’m not 15 but there’s a lot of bands on this tour that are just plain bad. The top 5 bands on the bill are total no-brainers and I’m sure that they each belong there and will bring a lot of fans out – those being EMMURE, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, ALESANA, BLESSTHEFALL and IN THIS MOMENT. All of these bands have been around the scene for a while and have a lot of fans.
After that, we have FOR TODAY and BORN OF OSIRIS who are younger bands that do have a buzz. Again, not a buzz from me or the metal heads I hang out with, but I get why they belong on this bill. Once you get past these bands though, it’s a whose who of who cares. Sleeping with Sirens and For All Those Sleeping – to my knowledge – have not released albums yet so how on Earth could they be All Stars? My girlfriend likes MEMPHIS MAY FIRE but I had never heard of them before she mentioned them so, again, not sure how they’re All Stars. CHELSEA GRIN and ATTILA are very generic deathcore that came along very late in the game, perhaps SUICIDE SILENCE, WINDS OF PLAGUE or JOB FOR A COWBOY would be All Stars of that scene, but not these guys.
That brings me to THIS ROMANTIC TRAGEDY, which is one of the worst bands I’ve ever heard in my entire life. They’ve been toiling in obscurity for years now and I actually thought they had broken up. Wishful thinking, I guess.
If you do go, I would recommend showing up a bit later in the day. I’ve seen all of the top five bands on this bill multiple times and, even if I don’t listen to some of them on the regular, they all put on top notch live shows.
(EDIT – just noticed that I forgot to talk about Motionless in White and The Ghost Inside… but, I guess that proves my point that they’re not really All Stars if you don’t even remember they’re on the bill.)
Another short player has landed on my desk (or in my iTunes as it would be). The new EP from Massachusetts metallers WITHIN THE RUINS is out and it seems like these guys have put out about a release a year since arriving on the scene. The EP has been released in celebration of the band being the final act added on this years installment of The Summer Slaughter Tour. It is vital for bands to always hone their craft and in terms of keeping a fan base energized, this is a great strategy too. Just a year after Invade came out the band has released two new songs along with two covers. “Controller” is just an over the top assault of technical death metal. The band tends to have two speeds: overdrive for their blastbeats and riffer madness type material and then the half-time breakdowns for the deathcore part of their influence. The song is like a greatests bits type track, accentuating all of the things they do well as band. With their creative twin guitar work Joe Cocchi and Jay Vanscheldt put themselves creatively in the wheelhouse with CARNIFEX, BORN OF OSIRIS and at times even DECREPIT BIRTH. Second track “Infamy” has an even more prog/death metal direction and the song flat out-crushes. Vocalist Tim Goergen has the requisite gravel in his throat to make this music work. He continues to improve and stake his claim as one of the rising talents in the game.
Then it’s on to the covers and two very curious choices indeed. The first being the KANSAS classic rock staple “Carry On Our Wayward Son” which is solid. The song is cool, declares the bands’ respect for prog and their marriage of their unique style with the song works well. Once again the guitar work stands out above everything else since it covers a lot of the melodies that would normally be done by multi-tracked, harmonized vocals. The second cover is a more straight ahead version of METALLICA’s “Fight fire With Fire”. Both songs are well done and even though both have been covered recently by other bands, WTR puts their own stamp on them. This EP is a nice treat for the fans and something to tide people over until there is a new full length album sometime next year.
Southern California has been a breeding ground the last few years for a stunning group of metal bands. Most fall under the techie/progressive death banner and a few others have jumped on the “djent” trend. Santa Cruz metallers ARSONISTS GET ALL THE GIRLS share some elements in those sub-genres, but also liberally add in odd prog-rock tendencies, traditional death metal motifs and a grindy-death core attitude into the mix to form their own sound. They have been steadily improving and their new album Motherland is definitely the high point artistically in their brief career.
The guy not looking at the camera is supercool.
Kicking things off the heavy and quirky “Rise to Fall” the band sets the tone for the entire album. Blast-beats, ridiculous fretboard acrobatics and wacky keyboards fill up the din and melt together well as a song. The song goes through several other movements including a poppy jam and a brutal hardcore stomp. Jared Monnette’s ill, screaming vocals only have a few modes to work with, but he does admirably with them. Garin Rosen’s drumming is really above the cut, which it almost needs to be since you couldn’t attempt this style of music with anyone less gifted. Like most of the tracks within “Neck To Contrast” is short, to the point and manically evil sounding. Some of the guitar textures in the slower parts call to mind NEUROSIS while the rest of the cut is just a frenetic proggy burn. Jazzy riffs and throwback (think 1970′s) keyboards also make an appearance. At just under four minutes “Gooseknuckle” almost qualifies as an epic for this album. Impressive shifting tempos and and almost DREAM THEATER-like attention to detail where each instrument seems to lead for a portion of the song really open your ears. Even bassist Greg Howell gets into the act. Despite having a stable lineup for a little over a year and a half, the band is very tight and none of the genre hopping sounds forced at all. Similar to bands like THE HUMAN ABSTRACT, IWRESTLEDABEARONCE, BORN OF OSIRIS and even DECREPIT BIRTH they can shift gears and mash styles seamlessly without sounding contrived. A cool musical interlude like “It Was A Memoir” show the maturity of this group. My favorite track on the album is next in “Dr. Teeth”. Named for my favorite Muppet Show band leader, the song is killer and has some great melody stuff going on between Sean Richmond’s keyboards and the twin guitar attack of Arthur Alvarez and Jaeson Bardoni. They seem to favor a lot of colorful ear candy parts as opposed to shredding solos, but it is hard to quibble with the results. Other tracks I favored upon repeated listens are the heavy “Avdotya”, the grindcore speed of “Waiting for the War to Die”, “Woebegone” and “Tempest”. Motherland is a definite big leap forward for this band who is about to lose the underrated tag.
My first day at the festival had left me beat, but not bloodied and yet determined to try to see all the bands I could. I was pumped up for sure, at least mentally. Generally the final day of the festival has been reserved for the heaviest bands the last few years and today was no exception. Although HATEBREED might have seemed like a better fit on the hardcore minded bill the night before, the flow of the bands on both stages made a lot of sense with styles ranging from neo-thrash, deathcore, death metal, techie death and and thrash influenced hardcore.
I really tried to get into the venue early, but I only managed to catch the last two songs of LAZARUS AD on the second stage. I really like their new album Black Rivers Flow (Metal Blade Records) and have been a fan for a few years. I got to at least hear “Absolute Power” and “Revolution” before they went off. As usual lead guitarist Dan Gapen was just killing it. He is one of the best shredders to come along in a while. They are always fun live so I need to get out to see them this summer and so should you.
"Kill For Weeeeeeeeed!"
I ran down stairs to get a good spot for CEPHALIC CARNAGE’s set. They are always amazing live and it was nice to see a healthy size crowd gathered for them. As always they played a good mix of songs from their entire history and tore shit up! Crushing blasts of grindcore and techie-death encompasses the style of these twenty-plus year vets of metal. Frontman Lenzig Leal is one of the most feral and funny guys I have ever seen live and he never disappoints. The entire band is really full of maestros as demonstrated on cuts like “Warbots A.M.”, “Endless Cycle of Violence” and “Abraxis of Filth”. Drummer John Merrymen put on a veritable clinic that was one of the standout singular performances of the weekend. Both Steve Goldberg and Brian Hopp played dizzying guitar parts and bassist Nick Schendzielos also killed with his fluid finger-style playing. Wrapping up with the one-two punch of the party anthem “Kill For Weed” and the classic “Lucid Interval” they set the bar really high for the rest of the day.
This is the art of shred. It's in the emotion...
I hustled back up to the second stage to catch REVOCATION. Despite them being from Boston I was late getting into them, but now am wearing out their last record Existence is Futile (Relapse) like crazy. The upstairs was predictably packed and they started their set off with a sick run-through of “Reanimaniac”. Led by Dave Davidson on guitar and vocals the band is not shy about blending their many influences into the stew that makes up their sound. At times, death, thrash, power groove, shred and progressive rock they touch a lot of bases in their songs and they somehow make it work. The three-man vocal attack was employed for “Pestilence Reigns” for full effect with each member having a distinctly different style. Drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne seems to effortlessly shift tempos and has all the power and deft touch in his stick work needed to pull off the tunes. Closing with “Exhumed Identity” they left everyone wanting more which is always a sign of a good band. Dave said there is a new record in the works and I will be looking out for it this fall.
Choosing this time to take a short break from the show to chow and recharge the batteries came with a high cost. I wound up missing THE OCEAN, A LIFE ONCE LOST and most of OCEANO as well. Twas a steep price to pay, but again I was strapping in for the rest of the day. OCEANO was tearing shit up as usual with their take on brutal death-core. Adam Walker was dominating the stage with his sick, gravely voice. The pit was crazy and it was nice to see these guys going over well. They finished up strong with “District of Misery” and I can’t wait to see these guys on the Summer Slaughter Tour this August right back here at The Palladium.
Feeeeetus!
Next up was the band everyone seemed to be clamoring to see, the always insane DYING FETUS. The entire floor at the main stage was packed full and you’d have thought these guys were headlining by the energy there. Opening with the awesome “Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)” they band set off a wave of action in the pit that was barely rivaled the rest of the day. Precision beats and riffs blasted out of the P.A. system and just killed my brain cells immediately. Watching John Gallagher play guitar is a treat as the guy is one of the top axe-masters in all of metal. Next up was “Your Treachery Will Die With You” and I was delighted to hear the band switching up the set list from recent tours I have seen. Sean Beasly on bass/vocals and Trey Williams on drums have really settled in now and make a great two-some of deathly rhythm. They kept the intensity up high the entire set which was killer and just confirms the theory that there is no filler in DF at all. Not one weak song ever! I basically ruined my neck headbanging at this point and felt somewhat crippled the rest of the day. John thanked the crowd for all the support, but kept the banter to a minimum as they ran through “One Shot, One Kill”, and “Sheppard’s Commandment”. Williams absolutely destroyed his kit and he adds all kinds of sick rolls and fills live that are not on the albums. They slayed the crowd into submission with their final cuts of the day in the ridiculous “Homicidal Retribution” and “Grotesque Impalement”. It was over all to soon for me since I could have jammed out to about ten more songs. DF will also be on The Summer Slaughter Tour!
Scorecard: Devilock- 1, Emo- zero
I had a precious little window between bands, but I wanted to catch at least part of NAILS’ set. As one of the most exciting bands in the underground today I am always down to support these guys. Their loud and unwavering devotion to noisy crust-punk/d-beat metal is admirable and true to form some of the people at the second stage got it while others just stared blankly. I was enthralled myself as they slammed through cuts like “Conform” and “Life”. They should have a new record out on Southern Lord by year’s end and I highly recommend these guys.
Just as the final strains of NAILS set was ending I bolted downstairs to find JOB FOR A COWBOY half way through “Unfurling a Darkened Gospel”. They were flat out killing it live! It’s hard to believe they went from best new prospect to one of the best acts in the genre in a few short years. Next track “Constitutional Masturbation” highlights the complex style the bands brings and the evolution they have made to true death metal greatness. Drummer Jon “The Charn” Rice (whom I just saw a month ago with THE RED CHORD) is a beast behind the kit with his relentless playing. Guitarists Bobby Thompson and Al Glassman intertwine their killer parts and occasional ear candy textures. “Knee Deep” was led by Jonny Davy’s brutal, and varied vocals. He is perhaps the best young front man in death metal. Next they played a brand new song called “Signature of Starving Power” off of their forthcoming EP. I have to say musically speaking, it is a big step forward for the band and holds great promise for their next full-length as well. Bashing through a few more songs they ended things with typical closer “Embedded”.
Scott Lewis of CARNIFEX gave me chills.
CARNIFEX is a band I haven’t been into much compared to some of their other So-Cal techie-death brethren. I’ve always felt they were talented, but just missed the mark for me on originality and performance. Well I was proven wrong tonight on one count as these guys were on fire. I don’t know if it was them, the competition or the fans, but they stepped up like never before tonight. Heavy and full of massive grooves, songs like “Split Wrist Saviour” and “Names Mean Nothing” just crushed balls. Vocalist Scott Lewis has an otherworldly growl that just gave me chills. Other cuts like “The Diseased and the Poisoned” weave elements of blackened death metal with prog and death core. Very impressive stuff. The crowd absolutely lapped up the combination and there were a lot of heads in the house who clearly knew every breakdown and screamed every word. They played a bunch of harsh and catchy jams and they seemed really in their element as performers. After their last song “Hell Chose Me” rang out, I definitely came away with a new found respect for these guys and what they do.
TIMES OF GRACE.
DARKEST HOUR would have been the next main stage band, but they canceled due to the birth of Mike Schleibaum and his wife’s first child earlier in the week. So everyone on the schedule at this point got moved back a bit and seemed to play a little longer which was cool. TIMES OF GRACE stepped up for their second home state show and didn’t miss a beat putting on a great performance. Led by Jesse Leech (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE/SEEMLESS/THE EMPIRE SHALL FALL) and Adam Dutkiewicz (KILLSWITCH ENGAGE), they managed to play a headliner-worthy set in under an hour. “Strength In Numbers” is a terrific opening salvo. “Willing” and “Hope Remains” are flavored with the thematic metalcore stylings they were known for in their heyday together in KsE. “Hope…” also has one of the best, melodic guitar solos I have head Adam do in this or any band. Once again I was blown away by “Fight For Life” which starts out like a sermon-like blues and transforms into heavy modern rock. Leech’s paint peeling upper register is truly wondrous to hear again and I hope he keeps it going in all of his many projects. When they were joined on the mic by bassist Daniel Struble (FIVE POINTE-O) the results were extra impressive. Other songs showcase Adam D’s singing and playing ability and reminds one that you don’t have to like the guy and his antics, but you must at least respect his talent. Other tracks like “Live In Love” and “Worlds Apart” highlight how deep and enjoyable TOG’s debut record is. Jesse, humble as ever, addressed the crowd right before “Hymn of the Broken Man”. Thanking everyone for supporting them and recognizing that TOG is not the same kind of metal band as the others on the bill. He went on to say that we fans are all brothers in a way, no matter what style we represent. He basically summed up what NEMHCF#13 is all about right there.
Chicago’s BORN OF OSIRIS were up next and all things considering, after almost ten hours of bands the fans were hanging in there nicely. Hitting the stage quickly they launched into “Open Arms to Damnation” with their melodic, proggy take on death-core. Their six-man crew put on an excellent show jumping all around, on and off of small risers. They are masters of pushing and pulling tempos of songs at a furious clip and their staccato riffage is great material for the pit ninjas. Playing a lot of songs off their recent release The Discovery (Sumerian Records), they just whupped ass the entire set. Lots of groups this weekend know how to be brutally heavy, but few were inventive about how to add good melodies in their writing. Credit goes to guitarists Jason Richardson and Lee McKinney as well as vocalist/keys player Joe Buras for this. Tracks like “Empires Erased”, “Recreate” and “Now Arise” have fantastic lead lines from these instruments that really take the listener new places. Vocalist Ronnie Canizaro contrasts these melodic parts with his scorched earth guttural singing style. Drummer Cameron Losch ties it all together from behind the kit. Ending with “Bow Down”, a lot of people needed to do just that when they were finished.
As we neared the end of the weekend the stage was changed over for the next to last time. I had seen more BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME shirts on people more than any other band today. As the stage started to take shape with their gear and banner a huge cheer went up. Talking to their fans you can see why the band has captivated them with their blend of prog/death metal. Still, I have been a holdout for a longtime, never really caught up in their hype even after seeing them live several times and hearing all of their albums.
Tommy Rogers of BTTBAM.
Needless to say they hit the stage and all hell broke loose. Starting things off with “Spectacular Reflection” of off the just released EP The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues (Metal Blade) they went over great! The crowd went nuts for this new song as if it has been in the set for years. No wonder since the band toured constantly behind their last few albums and the fan-base has been starving for something new. They have been playing the entire EP on the road this past month, but they switched it up nicely tonight. “Sun of Nothing” is a mish-mash of 1970′s progressive rock influences like RUSH and EMERSON, LAKE AND PALMER blended with odd stabs at CANNIBAL CORPSE-type death metal. Oddly enough the mix works and weirder still is that people were really feeling it! Frontman Tommy Rogers is a one man army with his beautiful singing, gruff screaming and playing the keys like a wild-man. He does a great job of giving equal parts to his musical performance and to crowd engagement, which is key. Blake Richardson also really impressed me being one of the hardest hitting, yet most precise drummers of the entire day. “Selkies” was about as close to a hit as the band has and totally had a CYNIC/DEATH vibe that I really enjoyed. They definitely go a little overlong on some of their more jammier parts in my opinion, which is the thing holding me back from really getting more into them. Paul Waggoner also deserves mention for his sick soloing and intricate thematic guitar lines. After a few more long, jammy moments they wrapped up the proceedings with “White Walls”. Tommy thanked the fans, promised a new full-length record soon and implored people to stay for HATEBREED which I thought was cool.
Set list:
Spectacular Reflection
Sun of Nothing
Selkies: The Endless Obsession
Fossil Genera: A Feed From Cloud Mountain
White Walls
HATEBREED might have been more at home and in line with the previous day’s bands, but you wouldn’t know it from the roar of fans when the massive banner unfurled for the final time this weekend. To their credit many people lasted to the very end . Perhaps this is because Worcester is basically in HATEBREED’s backyard of Connecticut, but all the same it is likely due to the respect they command. I have seen the band headline many times so I knew we would be in for a fun show.
Peeling the lid off with “Everyone Bleeds Now” the floor erupted into the chaos I expected. Jamey Jasta (KINGDOM OF SORROW/ICEPICK/JASTA) hit the stage as usual with is trademark energy and fire. The entire band seemed very jacked up and the pits did not let me down either. Second cut “In Ashes They Shall Reap” has been a favorite of mine since it dropped a year ago and is another big crowd mover. Great lyrics and sing -a-long for the heshers. By now we all know the drill with this band and its mix of old-school punk attitude with thrash and death-core riffs. It isn’t the most original music ever, but damn is it fun to mosh and headbang to for a night. Jasta is awesome at prodding the crowd and getting them to echo his mostly positive, feel good lyrical sentiments. “Perseverance” is another song you need tattooed on the inside of your eyeballs if you are a sad sack. For their part the rest of the band follows his lead jumping around and inciting the crowd to kill each other. Guitarists Wayne Lozinak and Frank “3 Gun” Novenic, bassist Chris Beattie and drummer Matt Byrne are all solid players, but not spectacular in any way. They aren’t asked to do much out of their little box musically by Jasta, who writes the majority of songs himself.
The band did play an excellent set list spanning every album of their career so if you are a die-hard, this was your dream show. Rarely heard deep cuts like “Smash Your Enemies”, “Under the Knife”, “Beholder of Justice”, “Puritan” and “A Call For Blood” are songs you just don’t hear the band do all the time. Of course their anthems like “Destroy Everything”, “Live For This” and “This Is Now” were also played to the fullest. It’s hard to believe hearing the massive set list that the band is coming up on almost twenty years in the game and still going strong. Jamey left it all on the stage like he always does. There were plenty of circle pits, pile ons, Jamey singing in the crowd and of course a wall of death too. He even dedicated “Last Breath” to Peter Steel (TYPE O NEGATIVE) and talked about how much he taught him about the business. He said his goodbyes, promising a new record soon and thanked everyone for supporting the festival and the scene, giving a shout out many local New England bands and Scott Lee too. Then they closed the entire weekend out with the classic “I Will Be Heard” and promptly bounced. Thanks again to Scott Lee and The Palladium staff for another great weekend and Return to the Pit for the photos!
While this style of American deathcore is most certainly a product and possession of the young, the end results of The Discovery are damningly impressive, no matter what the age group.
Born of Osiris have crafted a solid full length here; a collection of songs which might indeed justify the exploding deathcore trend-which will ultimately see a vicious crash and burn, just like metalcore and nu metal before it-as a legitimate form of expression, mainly due to the album’s compositional depth and variety.
Yes, this isn’t your average breakdown fiesta, littered with half-hearted heavy-isms just for the sake, but instead an album which delivers melodic surprises by the dozen, with an even more shocking amount of genuine substance beneath all of The Discovery’s inherent brutality.
Yes, Born of Osiris are damn heavy, but they also know how to separate themselves from the pack via an almost new-age incorporation of keyboard, and the semi-shoegaze approach to the clean guitars. While the end results of the songs aren’t exactly the most memorable in the world, they’re catchy enough to place the band atop the heap of similar sounding acts out there, perhaps alongside Finland’s Circle of Contempt as one of deathcore’s most musically daring and involved acts.
Of course, a question also needs to be raised as to how much of The Discovery can properly be performed live, without the band shitting all over themselves. Yet, in a day and age where so much modern digital metal is a product of gearheads and studio magicians-rather than analog balls, blood and sweat-Born of Osiris is a startling example of the metalhead new breed; an attitude to which the guard simply must adapt, or be left behind in the dust. Yes, the band is very clinical and precise in their approach, yet Born of Osiris seems to be bereft of their genre’s penchant for soulless pablum, choosing to lead, rather than follow.
For what it’s worth, there is a damning believability to The Discovery which proves itself as no fluke; a dizzying and creative effort which should please Osiris fans, for sure, while also converting more than a few greyhairs out there, as well. A genuine job well done.
