Live at The Best Buy Theater, New York, New York

New York City was invaded this month by hordes of metal heads of all kinds when CHILDREN OF BODOM brought their headline tour to town. The long running act has their own legion of fans and I have admired their devotion for the kings of Finnish thrash and trash; particularly the hero worship for front man/shredmeister general Alexi Lailho. A fairly diverse bill was a welcome surprise even though all the bands share some common musical bonds too. The venue, with its corporate shill namesake belies that coldness as one of the best places I have been to see a concert. Great stage, comfy amenities and great people make that place hum and shows usually go off without a hitch. I did write usually, didn’t I? More on that later.

OBSCURA was up first tonight. They have been traversing the globe and separating heads from bodies musically with their unique take on progressive tech death. I talked to front man Steffan Kummerer before the show and he told me how excited he was that people really love “Omnivium” so much. They opened with the lead track from that album “Seputaignt” and it was amazing. The entire band was flawless in their performance as you would expect. Kummerer and his evil twin on guitar, Christian Muezner make for an impressive team with many sweet axe skills at their disposal. They even split a dueling solo that took the track to next level status. “Anticosmic Overload” was next and it was another death and prog workout. Steffan’s vocals, which are killer on record are even more impressive in a live setting. In addition to more fine axe work, the song features some amazing bass lines performed by Linus Klausenitzer who has been their touring bassist of late. Drummer Hannes Grossman is also a standout player who seems like he can throw down on any style of music. Thrash, death metal, rock and jazz forms all come into play with the bands compositions. All of their songs are memorable while maintaining tremendous instrumental virtuosity, which is no easy feat these days. Other tracks like “Ocean Gateways”, and “Centric Flow” were also excellent to hear live as well.

SEPTIC FLESH and evil death metal=good. Overdoing the smoke machines=really bad.

Coming up next was SEPTIC FLESH and I was excited since I had never seen them before, but been a fan for while. Thick, ominous smoke filled the stage as the lights went down and the bands’ intro music played. They opened with the crushing “The Vampire from Nazareth” off of their recent opus The Great Mass (Season of Mist). The blend of tribal war drums, blast beats, classical orchestrations and black metal fury are intoxicating. However, the band is not all fire and brimstone. Their music has dynamic moments of subtlety that will stun you as they did me. Melodic guitar solos harmonize in time with piped in cellos and other strings. Front man/satanic shaman/bassist Seth Siro Anton is an amazing stage performer and charismatic at being the center of the chaos too. His vocals are even more brutal in person than on his records too. The entire band was very strong in fact as they were killing it and had a heavy fan presence in the house hanging on every note and beat. Then after beginning a new song, “Pyramid God” something weird happened about halfway through. Suddenly all the power to the stage was cut, the building fire alarms started to go off as confusion filled the club. It seems the thick smoke effects the band were using triggered the fire alarms, killed the power and effectively ended their set a few songs early. When the power did come back on the techs started to break down their gear and set up for the next band. Guitarist Sotiris Vayenas took to the microphone to apologize and thank the fans for their support. Bummer.

As the thick smoke dissipated and the set was changed over for DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT to take the stage you could feel a current of excitement fill the room again. Devin Townsend’s near cult following and status as a legend of heavy music notwithstanding, he has reinvented and re-branded himself for what seems to be the umpteenth time in his long career. His band took the stage one at a time and played a generous set for an opener mostly from his recent material. I fully expected a lot of songs from the twin releases Ghost and Deconstruction (InsideOutMusic), but they opened up with “By Your Command”. The place immediately went nuts and Devin was classy and sharp looking in his suit. A masterful guitarist and singer on a level that goes beyond mere rock and metal, Devin was the focal point of attention. His powerful voice and theatrical personality shine through in the music. Naturally there is very little he can’t do on the guitar and he makes it look so easy it’s not even fair to compare other musicians to him. The song almost has a feel to it like classical music with all of its movements and changes. Heavy and beautiful, the song was a truly epic start to things. “Truth” was next and was equally killer. The members of the band Ryan Poederooyen (drums), Brian Wadell (bass) and Mark Cimino (guitar) were excellent the entire night, but it was impossible to take my eyes off of Devin for the most part. The bookend “Om” followed in succession as usual and it was magical sounding. Devin’s little between song asides and commentary was almost equal the quality of the song lyrics. “Supercrush” came next and was also amazing to hear live again. As truly one of the most expansive and hard songs he has ever written, it is one of the musical hallmarks of this era. Not too mention Devin embodies the characters in his music like no one else I know, adding even more depth to the performance. Like many artists who have carved out a unique and singular path and then move on from that time, you always attract a few oddball fans at shows. There was a kid right near me at the rail the entire night who kept yelling out STRAPPING YOUNG LAD song titles, as if Devin would hear him and cater to this one fans wishes. I loved that music too, but this is where he is in his life now and although the music is surely a different vibe, it is still excellent and worthy of full respect. Featuring another one of his most accomplished songs, “Kingdom” from his Physicist album is truly a masterpiece. Wrapping things up with “Stand” and “Juular” from Deconstruction he ended a breathtaking set of songs that had no weak links at all. I can’t wait to catch the DTP full headline tour this fall!

DEVIN TOWNSEND is a performer with almost no equal.

Set List:

By Your Command

Truth

OM

Supercrush!

Kingdom

Stand

Juular

At last it was time for CHILDREN OF BODOM to hit the stage. Having seen them many times over the years as an opening act I had been a little worn out on the heart of the CoB set list they had been playing. I definitely saw them three times in one year play almost an identical set list. However, on this night I was excited to hear them get into a deeper, better selection of songs and the fans I think sensed it too. CoB have a ravenous following of metal fans, guitar enthusiasts and lots of chicks which made it a fun atmosphere in the club. The stage set up was interesting with tattered sheets hanging from the rafters as a nod to the bands artwork off of Relentless Reckless Forever.

Ladies love cool Alexi!

Peeling the lid off with the energetic “Not My Funeral” the band was in fine form right out of the gate. Naturally Alexi Laiho has running all over the place, soloing his little fingers off, screaming like a madman and generally causing a ruckus. The entire band always puts on a fun performance and tonight was no exception. It was fun to see them play for their own crowd for a change and everybody was singing along, head banding and moshing like crazy. Of course when the solo part came, “The Wildchild” did his thing with his trademark ESP Flying V’s held upright so he can get at all of the higher frets. The second song of the set “Bodom Beach Terror” was the first of many throwbacks on this night with tracks that represented their entire career. Thrash and death metal influenced anthems like “Needled 24/7” and “Shovel Knockout” displayed the high talents of the band. Perhaps the equal of Alexi on guitar is Roope Latvala who took several impressive solo flights himself throughout the evening. Keyboard player Jaane Wirman also plays an integral part in the BODOM sound and occasionally will play a solo too. Songs like “In Your Face”, “Living Dead Beat” and the classic band theme song from which their name came from went over big with the crowd and were among the highlights of the night. Alexi, with his lithe form often looks like a strong wind could knock him out, but he is a helluva player and watching him up close you really appreciate his skill as a tasteful shredder. At one point he complained that their light show, which was going to be very elaborate was knocked out by the earlier fiasco with the smoke and he apologized. It didn’t matter much and I thought the simplicity of the stage show actually made the music easier to enjoy. Other more popular songs like “Blooddrunk” and the semi-metal ballad “Angels Don’t Kill” provided a little breather in the set for the hessian in the pit. Although he was solid the entire night, I did feel that drummer Jaska Raatikainen had a little trouble keeping up with the tempos on the faster parts of some songs. Still, the band continues to produce catchy, yet complex music and performs it very well. Going off stage after a rousing rendition of “Downfall” they took an extended few minutes break leaving us in the dark and the crowd chanting their name. They came back out and did a surprising three song encore much to the fans delight. “Was It Worth It?”, “Are You Dead Yet?” and the question mark-less “Hate Crew Deathroll” brought the long night to a satisfying end.

Janne Wirman shows off his new keyboard stand made of bras and thongs.

Set List:

Not My Funeral

Bodom Beach Terror

Needled 24/7

Shovel Knockout

In Your Face

Living Dead Beat

Children Of Bodom

Hate Me!

Roundtrip to Hell and Back

Blooddrunk

Angels Don’t Kill

Follow the Reaper

Downfall

Encore:

Was It Worth It?

Are You Dead Yet?

Hate Crew Deathroll

(Special thanks to Century Media Records, The Best Buy Theater and Danielle Volpe of DEV Photography)

Reviewed by Keith (Keefy) Chachkes