The annual concert and horror convention known as Rock And Shock brought me back to Worcester MA once again and right in time to get into the Halloween spirit. Three plus day affair is always a good time for all and usually has something for everybody. The convention gets better every year with great guests like Robert Englund, Lance Henriksen, William Forsythe and Camille Keaton among the many name actors in horror in attendance. Even though I was only interested in the second night of the music portion of the proceedings which had a pretty amazing lineup of talent. I certainly enjoyed the convention at the DCU Center and you can see my coverage of it and another funny story here.
Although there was a bevy of side stage bands I only caught the main stage acts between the convention activities and some bands interviews I needed to do. I managed to catch THE OCEAN who put on the top performance of the early evening. For those not in the know these guys are inventive, philosophical and tight musically. Even though the venue was alarmingly empty when they began, they definitely had their own heads in the house who were feeling it. Opening with “Firmament” the band tore into their short set with abandon. The group plays music beyond the scope of typical bands and shifts in motifs and tempos fall on each other like dominoes. In particular vocalist Loïc Rossetti and guitarist Robin Staps make a compelling case for the future of metal. I urge you to check them out if you don’t know them already. They not only played part of their “Grand Inquisitor” suite they closed with the hypnotic and sick “Origin of the Species”. Also up early was reunited hardcore kings EARTH CRISIS. The room filled in a little more by now with some core dudes ready to karate kick and pick up change like crazy. The rest of the crowd just starred blankly and disappointed me with their lack of respect. EC’s militant hardcore and metal mix per-dated today’s mosh-core, tough guy bands and deathcore except, they had something smart to say. Even if you didn’t love the music vocalist Karl Buechner (FREYA) and company played their balls off as always. Mixing classic cuts like “All Out War” and “Wrath of Sanity” with newer cuts from Neutralize the Threat (Century Media) they put on a great, high energy show. At least by the end of their set there was some decent moshing by the end of their set, but I think it just was a weird crowd that would prove to be even more adversarial and weird as the night wore on.
Otep leads the crowd in a ritual.
Next up was OTEP who always puts on an awesome show. By now the floor had filled up pretty well and the band always draws well when they come to Massachusetts so they also had a lot of heads in the house. Otep herself makes every show an emotional ritual and the crowd was ready for some heavy mental music. Hitting the stage with a frightening baby mask on, the famous blend of theater and artistry was already on display as the band launched into “Eet the Children”. Backed by members of OTEP’s Victory records label-mates DESTROPHY, the band was tight and Otep was as usual dominating as a live performer. She sang, she screamed and generally led the crowd in a communal exorcism. Next up was the bands live staple “Battle Ready” which is still a killer track to hear after almost ten years. For the most part “Battle Ready” represents the remaining vestiges of Otep’s rap style that she doesn’t rely much on anymore. Still, she has an effective flow and combined with her severe growls it is a winning combo. “Fists Fall” off of Atavist is also a killer track. The energy of the crowd was significantly raised and Otep tries to connect with them to make a personal connection. Even though I was conscious of the short set I was unconcerned when the band led into “My Confession”. The song is one of the best of the bands has an the release it brings is far worth the sacrifice of other songs that may have been played in its stead. Closing out the all too short set with “Blood Pigs” they left the stage triumphant as if it was a headline set. All par for the course for this band.
Set List:
Eet The Children
Battle Ready
Fists Fall
My Confession
Blood Pigs
Next up was another headline worthy name in THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. Devin definitely brings his own crowd and easily could have filled this venue by himself on this night. Many DevyHeads rushed the front after OTEP to get a spot. Still other camped out for later acts held the rail and we not going to budge no matter who was coming on next. The band has been playing deep cuts and long sets on their headline run, but on this night they would play half their total number of songs in the middle slot. Still a DTP show is superior to most other acts mainly due to Devin being on of the premier forces in modern heavy music. The music played before he they hit the stage and the hilarious video projections are all from the crazy mind of Townsend. Be sure to pay close attention to this before the band hits the stage next time you see them.
Devin Townsend is so awesome he practically levitates himself off the stage!
Meanwhile The bands gear was set cross the stage side by side, even the drums! This was due to the rest of the back line being so huge. The band hit the stage one at a time with Devin coming out last, resplendent once again in his silvery suit. Before the band played a note he remarked that “Zombies are stupid!” Opening with “Truth” always seems like a good bet to combat the fans who only want to hear STRAPPING YOUNG LAD songs. The track is super heavy and Devin relishes playing it, clearly. He jammed out on his axe, grinned and humped it as he soloed like a modern day JIMI HENDRIX. Of course he is also a stupendous singer and skilled performer too. “Om” and “By Your Command” quickly followed in succession. Both tracks are also top notch and very hard even though not classically heavy like his earlier material is. Complimenting the music was all manner of bizarre videos and images projected over head on screens. Trippy! The band was also tight and in fine form, especially drummer Ryan Poederooyen whom I got to watch up close and personal. The man is a powerhouse behind the kit. “Kingdom” was next and was truly flawless to see and hear again. Dev is so in skilled and in control of his playing it hardly looks like work to the veteran star. “Supercrush!” is so slow and beautiful that is made the whole front row of Devheads loose their minds and me too. The track is almost like a mantra it is so singular and perfect, Dev’s operatic singing in particular. Just once in my life I’d like to see Anneke van Giersbergen perform her part of the song live rather than piped in. Sigh. I need to move to Europe! Meanwhile Dev was great as usual between songs and he baited the crowd by say he wanted to see more of them look disinterested and bored. I think this was a jab at a block of MUSHROOMHEAD fans who didn’t seem to even remotely like any other band. More theatrics abound on “Stand” and its grinding chug. “Juular” is likely the one track that states the ears of the doleful stubborn fans, not that the band cares any. They just go about being professional and awesome. “Vampira” closed things out in style with the hilarious video plying behind the band. It would prove to be hard to follow this act.
Set List:
Truth
Om
By Your Command
Kingdom
Supercrush!
Stand
Juular
Vampira
As the stage switched over for CAVALERA CONSPIRACY I got really excited. Even though I was totally mind jobbed by the previous two acts it had been years since I had seen either CAVALERA brother anywhere so I was intrigued to see them together again. The band came on strong opening with “Warlord”. Max took his customary spot center stage and led the charge. Right off the bat the band was cooking and Igor was just decimating his massive kit. I t was great to see him up there where he belongs. The crowd seemed to be eating out of Max’s hand the entire time too. The pits were pretty consistent since the band played a very up tempo set. Aside from the brothers the star of the band is guitarist Mark Rizzo. He was a madman on his side of the stage shredding his face off on solos and holding down his rhythms with a lot of style. If it’s possible he is almost underrated in the current scene and should be more top of mind when people do their best of lists. Bassist Johnny Chow was also solid held down the low end. “Inflikted” and “Sanctuary” came next as the band asserted their own material rather than go to the easy cover route too soon. “Inflikted” has an amazing solo by Rizzo. Both songs are solid, were performed great and had the crowd singing a long. Finally they did “Refuse/Resist” the place went bananas. It was a really treat to see the brothers doing this classic song together again. Max’s vocals still sound great after all these years too. This also set the pace for the rest of the night as well. “Killing Inside” is solid, but not too special. The mid-tempo groove allowed everyone to catch their breath a bit. “Thrasher” is also a solid song live too. Another gem came in the form of “Arise/Dead Embryonic Cells”. The old-school thrash anthem was awesome and the breakdown of DEC is one of the best ever with everybody on the floor moving, jumping and even skanking! “I Speak Hate” is one of the better CC songs to hear live. Max is more focused on being a front man at this point in his career than guitar work, but the axe work on the track crushes. Closing out with “Roots Bloody Roots” the entire place went ape shit as the band destroyed the stage practically. The ending groove of the track was amazing to hear and the band ended jamming a little bit of the “Troops of Doom” riff at the end of it all.
Max and Igor: Reunited and it feels so good.
Set List:
Warlord
Inflikted
Sanctuary
Refuse/Resist
Killing Inside
Thrasher
Arise/Dead Embryonic Cells
I Speak Hate
Roots Bloody Roots
Now the preparations for MUSHROOMHEAD to take over the stage began. The now totally full venue buzzed to life by the end of the last set. I had not seen the band in many years, but I was pretty excited to see how they would do. As they set up the stage for the band the crowd rumbled in anticipation which disappointed me somewhat considering how luke-warm the crowd had been most of the night. Sometimes fans of a band can squash a good time for everyone else.
Yes, that is Gary Busey playing the kettle drums with MUSHROOMHEAD.
Meanwhile the band hit the stage with a sense of theatrics and style as black lights the band imported washed over everything. They kicked things off with “Come On” and they crow ate up the bands antics of eight guys running around like crazy and their two percussionists St1tch and Lil Dan playing the light up water drums. Drummer and band leader Skinny played on giant drum kit resembling a car, complete with spinning rims. Newsflash: rims are passe unless you are Fred Durst and not metal at all. Both co-front men Jeffrey Nothing and Waylon traded vocals and complimented each others styles well. The band raged to their anthemic style of industrial metal and the crowd seemed to lap it up. Next track “BWOMP” added a little danceable beat to the proceedings. The performances were certainly fine even though the music was a little generic. Everyone in the band is certainly talented and each member of the band puts on a worthy show. Nothing is really charismatic in particular and is really compelling to watch. He has some fine singing chops and even raps well at times. Waylon has more of the screaming voice of the two. “12 Hundred” amounts to the bands hit song or one of them I suppose. Everybody in the place seemed to know the words and the band seemed to feed off of that energy as well. Other songs like “Sun Doesn’t Rise” have the band showing their song writing chops and their alt rock and metal influences. “Save Us” seemed to slow things down to a crawl, killing the momentum they built. “43” was at least more interesting since Gary and Jake Busey came out and played the water drums during the song. There were appearing at the convention and them showing up to jam was funny and cool. That was really the high point of the set for me. The group certainly played hard and well, but I found little of their music varied or heavy enough for my tastes save for “Simple Survival”, “Becoming Cold” or “Burn The Bridge” which ended the night. Even now I still can’t figure out their fans though. So die-hard they flipped off greats like Devin Townsend and then acting like a solid, long running band is the second coming of I don’t know what? I just don’t get it. I guess there really is no accounting for good taste.
Jefferey Nothing is excellent. The rest of the band, not so much.
I don’t know what to say about this DEVIN TOWNSEND video for “Juular” other than that it’s absolutely epic and entertaining. It’s the craziest, coolest video of the year thus far and I’m really interested to see what everyone here has to say about it. Check it out and then make sure you check out HEVY DEVY along with THE OCEAN on Devin’s Metal Army sponsored headlining tour this fall!
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!
Well now, this is a step back in the right direction!
Normally,I’m never one to bash a band for expanding their creative horizons, and trying something different. That being said, the German post-metal-core collective known as The Ocean made a fairly large creative boo-boo earlier this year with Heliocentric, the first half of this mellow-heavy dual concept record.
Said first strike simply disappointed with painfully bad clean singing-think U2, but somehow worse-and riffs which harshed the mellow and went practically nowhere. Anthropocentric is comparatively killer, incorporating the band’s clear melodic aim with a much higher success rate, melding the-now markedly better-singing of Loïc Rossetti into the mix with a fuller, heavier sound.
Indeed, the massive, rolling riff waves of such earlier Ocean efforts as Aeolian and Precambrian are back for attack, sharp ‘n focused with a bristling sense of intent. It’s almost as if The Ocean are trying their damnedest to make up for Heliocentric being so underwhelming, that they’ve pressed ‘n pushed all of their focus into this bad boy.
It shows, man. Anthropocentric balances out the band’s earlier, Coalesced fury with a forward-thinking progressive sound, moving the band down their creative path with just enough momentum to avoid any awkward missteps. Now, if The Ocean can only continue on this path without stumbling, things will be a-ok, for sure.
