Stormzone – Donum Dei: Live At Diamond Rock Club, Northern Ireland

Posted on July 30, 2014 by News Team

A Bloodstock rehearsal with a difference

When Stormzone announced a pre-Bloodstock Open Air show on Saturday 26^thJuly at the Diamond Rock Club, Ahoghill, Northern Ireland fans could have been forgiven for expecting a 30-45 minutes run through.

Instead they had a real treat as the band played 20+ song in a two-hour set, all based on fan requests – this wasn’t so much of a warm-up as a treat for an audience.

Opening for Stormzone were the youthful Donum Dei, who have been making remarkable strides in harnessing their music recently, with the track ‘Justice Fails’ a highlight of a tremendous opening slot.

Stormzone have become festival favourites across Europe in recent years, their classic metal vibe hitting the spot everytime with well-judged melodies combined with searing solos and serious riffage.

Front man, Harv is the perfect leader of the troupe, hitting high notes and stalking the stage. His easy banter when not screaming out the songs is perfect for this home turf show, as he jokes with the audience and passes out ‘goodie’ bags to those who managed to have their requests played.

With a Sonisphere slot now behind them this year the band could have looked on this as a relaxed way to ease themselves into the groove for Bloodstock. Instead they delivered a full speed assault with the twin guitars of Steve Moore and Davey Shields trading solos and merging with perfect riffs.

With the title track of the recent Three Kings album one of the highlights, when the band sing Where We Belong, it is clear that this band belongs on the live circuit.

‘The Pass Loning’ and ‘Cuchulian’ were an opportunity for Davy Bates to shine, and Graham McNulty shrugging off technical issues with his rig to lock down the bass.

Bates was a constant beaming presence behind the kit, standing on top of his drum stool at one point cajoling all in the room to clap along,

What was evident from the performance was the range of songs on display from epics such as ‘The Legend Carries On’ and ‘Death Dealers’ trough to the melodic ‘Crying In The Rain’ and ‘Tugging on Your Heartstrings’.

If this was a performance for a local audience it had at times the feel that the band were playing for A&R men, not for a crowd that ranged from toddlers to (almost) pensioners.

With such a positive response to their Sonispehere set, what is sure that there will be a Storm(zone) front blowing away all in its path with a contemporary hard rockin’ stunner of a set. And, I can confidently pen those words weeks ahead of their appearance, such is the quality of Stormzone.

Stormzone on Facebook

Donum Dei on Facebook

JONATHAN TRAYNOR

King Buzzo – Mary Halvorson: Live At Brighton Music Hall, Allston MA

Posted on July 24, 2014 by News Team

There are few true iconoclasts in heavy music like King Buzzo. Of course, if you tell him that personally, he scoffs at the notion, perhaps even poo-pooing the weight of his impact in nearly thirty years of exciting fans, confounding critics and the like with his music. Obviously Buzz Osborne is known for his masterworks with the many incarnations of The Melvins (which he will at least acknowledge begins and ends with him). Arriving at the venue early to interview Buzz, he was mellow and cool as hell. Really humble to the last. Also at the venue early was Tim Bugbee, a concert photo and music journalist I look up to very much. It was cool talking shop, chatting with him and his wife all night. Check out Tim’s work.

Since I got done with the interview early I headed to grab some grub and a brew or three at my local BBQ spot in the neighborhood. By the time I got back in the venue, it was starting to fill up, although that would take some time. Despite The Melvins popularity and cred, its kind of hard to predict how full the crowd would be for a show like this on a weekday. Sauntering over to the merch table I spotted Brian Walsby selling merch and his own hand drawn wares. For those not in the know from graphic novels, Brian is author of Manchild, has done artwork for The Melvins and Corrosion of Conformity among others, played some drums in a few punk bands and has a cute daughter to take care of these days. Brian is a phenomenal artist, and has a unique POV story telling-style, and has done a fair share of music journalism via his work too. Please check him out and buy his stuff, it’s killer!

Showtime was upon us and opener was Boston native Mary Halvorson. Her amazing solo-guitar performance brought out her own fans on this night, including one rabid kid at the front who was basking in her twangy glory. She played it cool, and played a set of interesting covers, mostly Jazz and Americana type track from what I could tell. Using the guitar not just as an instrument, but as an emotional foil for the source material, she is a master. Her between song, self-effacing banter was hysterical. I stood for most of the performance next to her mom, who was totally stoked and entranced as the rest of us were. If you love outside of the box thinking, and great guitar work in general, please do yourself a favor and check Mary out!

After Buzz’s tour manager set up the stage (an incognito Dave from Unsane), Buzzo hit the stage casually with the lights up. Got himself together and ready to play and scanned the audience. Stepping in to his familiar stage walk, a gait akin to how a monster stalks his prey, Buzz started the jam the familiar first notes of ‘Boris”. The crowd immediately picked up on this, let out a whoop, and sang a long. There was even some rigorous headbanging, but no moshing tonight. Lots of bro smiles in the front and confuzzled looking girlfriends. Is Buzz unplugged girlfriend metal? I hope not. Meanwhile the man was up on stage doing his usual thing, just quieter. His playing immaculate, the acoustic holding nothing back as he roamed the stage between verses. I am a massive Alice Cooper fan and so is he, so it was no surprise that ‘The Ballad of Dwight Fry’ was next. He would later joke that we all better have known what that song was, and it seemed like people in the house tonight were fans, and had a clue. Alternating between some Melvins gems from across his career and his new solo album ‘This Machine Kills Artists’ (Ipecac), he constructed a killer set, full of twists and turns.

About a third of the way through the set Buzz took a break to tell a story and he joked with the audience about which story to tell. When he settled on a “Mike Patton” story, he then had to decide which one to tell, since he apparently has many. What followed next was one of the funniest tales I’ve ever heard. I’d relay it here, but I could never do the delivery justice. You will need to see Buzz on tour and maybe you’ll hear it.

Settling back into the music newer tracks like ‘Drunken Baby’ and The Melvins ‘Evil New War God’ meshed well, and in general it was just killer to hear this presentation of these songs. During another break, he made jokes about himself, touring, and imitated his wife picking on him pre-tour about the pretentiousness of doing a solo-acoustic tour. Classic. Ending the night with a spirited closing set of Melvins tunes, ‘We Are Doomed‘,

‘Hooch‘,‘Revolve‘, Buzz closed it out in rousing fashion. It was a really fun time and an interesting look into the mind of a genius, in a way we never have before.

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King Buzzo Set List:

Boris (Melvins cover)

Ballad of Dwight Fry (Alice Cooper cover)

Suicide In Progress (Melvins cover)

Story break #1

Evil New War God (Melvins cover)

The Vulgar Joke

How I Became Offensive

Story break #2

We Are Doomed (Melvins cover)

Hooch (Melvins cover)

Revolve (Melvins cover)

King Buzzo on Facebook

Mary Halvorson on Facebook

Wolves in the Throne Room: Live at the Star Theater Portland, OR

Posted on July 23, 2014 by News Team

Wolves in the Throne Room—a band that never cared much for black metal orthodoxy to begin with—recently took a sharp left turn off the dark path with Celestite (Artemisia), an LP of ambient synth exploration with nary a blast beat in sight. This added an extra layer of intrigue to their already storied live presence: Would they be pausing in the middle of a set for ten minutes of synth noodling, or would they leave their new-age material to the album?

Plenty of people were willing to buy a ticket to find out. The Star Theater was already 2/3 full by 8 pm for the opener, Portland’s own Druden. Wolves’ blend of Cascadian darkness and agrarian ethos brings a large and varied crowd in the Pacific Northwest: There were dudes in kilts and Paganfest tees, there were Burzum shirts, there were teen girls in battle jackets and crusty dread-headed eco-warriors. Druden held the room’s attention with straight-ahead shrieking black metal that alternated between one of the guitarist’s excellent dying-witch scream and the drummer’s deeper battle howl. With varied song structure and an ability to build some epic tension this four piece is formidable and warrant showing up early when they’re on the bill.

Nommo Ogo is an electronic collective of sorts that began in the Alaskan noise scene and has since migrated to Oakland. Wolves is bringing them along for the entire tour, perhaps as an ode to the ambient sounds of Celestite. This night Nommo Ogo was a three person unit surrounded by an assortment of synths, from which they summoned a host of teutonic burbles and industrial beats. Their compositions were somewhat meandering and suffered from the problem of many electronic sets, which is that there just isn’t much to engage with, particularly in comparison to the maelstrom of a blast-beat propelled live band. But there was a bracing moment when, without warning, the frontman broke a long instrumental trance by barking “onward!” and then repeating the phrase forcefully and violently for several minutes, giving the rest of their set a sense of urgency and unpredictability that it had previously lacked.

By the time Wolves’ five sylvan banners were unfurled, people were lined up three deep on the balcony and the floor of the Star Theater was full. The band has a reputation for playing shows in the dark, and while it wasn’t pitch black it was dim up there. Roadies with headlamps on spelunked around stage, lighting four oil lamps and prepping Nathan Weaver’s and another unnamed guitarist’s rigs and Aaron Weaver’s kit. Additional atmosphere was added by single blue lights shining up the fretboard of each guitar and a smoke machine.

After a false start caused by some technical difficulties with the second guitar, they played ‘Thuja Magus Imperium’, the opening track from Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord), to start the set. Any lingering questions about whether Wolves will still perform heavy music were answered upfront; they are playing exclusively older material and they are playing it damn well. The only trace of Celestite in the set was an ominous, erratically thudding soundscape they had cued to play over the PA in between songs. Otherwise it was a mix of songs from earlier albums including the gargantuan ‘(A Shimmering Radiance)Diadem of 12 Stars’ which they played second.

Inevitably, Wolves’ music loses some of the mist-covered atmosphere it has in album form when it is played live as a three piece. But, in its place, there is an intense ritualistic physicality. Nathan Weaver’s scream seems both richer and sharper in person, and has an almost tangible quality to it. Aaron Weaver’s drumming becomes a sort of primal force as he locks into ridiculous tom-heavy patterns. Together they created a trance-like state that wasn’t broken until the end of closer, ‘Prayer of Transformation’ and is more than worth witnessing if you get the chance.

Wolves in The Throne Room on Facebook

Druden on Bandcamp

JARED CHRTISTENSON

Rockstar Mayhem Fest 2014: Live at San Manuel Amphitheatre, Devore CA

Posted on July 21, 2014 by News Team

The annual touring metal festival known as the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest returned to the Southern California area and once again gave metal and hard rock fans their fill of 19 bands to rock out to.

This year’s edition featured main stage acts Avenged Sevenfold, Korn, Asking Alexandria and Trivium and each giving the reported attendance of 26,000 people a rock show filled with props, fire and a whole lot of loud music.

Headliners Avenged Sevenfold brought out a bigger live experience with a full on set with Greco-Roman-esque demons and warrior themed backdrops, often reminding of a cross between Iron Maiden and the 300 movie series, with a slight Metallica-ish metallic feel mixed in.

Their set list featured favorites from their current Hail To the King (Warner Bros) release, as well as songs from prior releases, and having the backdrops adjust to each song. Front-man M Shadows, along with the guitar team of Synyster Gates and Zack Vengeance both worked the crowd and entertained them with a classic hard rock show filled with solos and other guitar chops that got the crowd singing along to each tune.

Co-headliners Korn returned to the tour with their returning guitarist Brian “Head” Welch, and got the crowd on its feet from the start. The band sounded strong and on fire, nailing every note and giving fans a classic show reminiscent of the older days. Their set list featured older favorites like ‘Got The Life’ and ‘Shoots and Ladders’, as well as current numbers from recent records, and the fans were jumping along like any other Korn show.

Considering both headliners being relatively from the area (Avenged Sevenfold from Orange County and Korn from Bakersfield via Orange County/Long Beach), both bands’ sets felt like a hometown show with fans representing their hometown heroes. They both waved the flag for rock and metal at one point in time, and showed why their popularity helped keep heavy rock and metal’s exposure public.

Asking Alexandria and Trivium both held their own with their respective brands of melodic hard rock and metal. Asking Alexandria has slowly crept into the mainstream with their metalcore turned modern hard rock sound, and continues to attract new fans. Trivium with their modern hard rock meets thrash sound got them in front of a larger audience and representing the metallic sounds on the main stage.

The two label sponsored stages were Headbang For The Highway/Sumerian Records’ stage featured deathcore heroes Veil of Maya and Upon A Burning Body, metalcore stalwarts Darkest Hour and Body Count. Victory Records’ stage featured Ill Niño, Wretched, Islander, and Erimha.

Amongst the label sponsored stages, much of the attention went to Body Count’s anticipated return, Darkest Hour and Ill Niño. Body Count’s abbrrievated set featured older favorites, but the fact that Ice T’s animated manner got the crowd into it. While it has been a while since they last performed, it didn’t seem to phase the fans.

Darkest Hour’s neo-thrash meets metalcore sound stood out amongst the sea of deathcore and neo nu-metal sounds found amongst the stages. Their veteran status shined through and they easily won over the crowd.

Ill Niño’s set consisted of largely older tunes from their first two records, but that didn’t seem to bother the crowd. Putting on their heavy groove-tinged Latin metal sound, the younger crowd were jumping along and enjoyed every second of their brief set.

Coldcock American Herbal Whiskey Stage featured Cannibal Corpse, Suicide Silence, Miss May I, Mushroomhead, Texas Hippie Coalition, and King 810. This stage easily attracted many of the acts the crowds were eager to see, despite the vast range of bands playing on it.

The two brutal acts – Cannibal Corpse and Suicide Silence – both slayed the crowd with their sheer angst driven assault and did what they do best. The pits opened up and the crowds responded. Miss May I was easily the most melodic band but that didn’t phase the crowd from singing along with them, as well as getting the pits going at the same time. Mushroomhead brought out their animated stage show with their Faith No More meets industrial-esque sound, with updated masks and the crowd jumping along with them. While at times the public believed they fell out of favor with the music scene, apparently today proved that myth wrong.

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Mayhemfest on Facebook

WORDS BY REI NISHIMOTO

PHOTOS BY KALEY NELSON

Failure: Live at The Fonda Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Posted on July 18, 2014 by News Team

It has roughly 16 years since Failure had done a proper tour and seemed like the end of another 90s cult status band falling to the wayside. But fast forward to 2014, if they knew that reuniting would result in a sold out El Rey Theatre show and opening for both of Maynard James Keenan’s Cinquanta shows at the Greek Theatre, they timed it perfectly for a reunion.

Tonight’s show was ironically frontman/guitarist/bassist Ken Andrews’ birthday with special fog and new songs for the fans who made it out. Tonight was part of their first North American tour in 16 years and the set spanned their catalog throughout their history.

The set opened with ‘Another Space Song’, which got the crowd on a roll. The trio of Andrews, multi-instrumentalist Greg Edwards and drummer Kellii Scott were on point from go and did not miss a beat. If you didn’t know they took the past 16 years off, there was nothing that hinted that at all.

Other tunes like ‘Frogs’, ‘Saturday Saviour’ and ‘Wet Gravity’ gave the crowd an earful in the early portion. The second segue went into ‘Dirty Blue Balloons’, ‘Undone’, and ‘Pillowhead’, while the third segue was “The Nurse Who Loved Me” before they broke into an intermission.

The second half consisted of their heavier side of their discography, such as ‘Blank’ and ‘Solaris’, and even ‘Heliotrophic’. A new song called ‘The Focus’ was included in their encore, which they have been playing while on tour.

Andrews and Edwards traded off instruments throughout the set and looked flawless how they interacted with each other. While they are not the most visually stimulating band on stage, their music strikes a chord with the crowd and they interacted with screams of various song titles throughout the show. And of course, ‘Bernie’ and ‘Solaris’ were the commonly requested ones that did come up in their set list.

Failure proved that they are here to stay and possibly are bigger now than the first time around. Now with rumblings of a new album coming out sometime in 2015, the buzz will continue to grow and this will not be the last time we will be hearing from these guys.

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Failure Set List:

First Set:

Segue 2

The Nurse Who Loved Me

Second Set:

Encore:

Failure on Facebook

WORDS BY REI NISHIMOTO

PHOTOS BY KALEY NELSON PHOTOGRAPHY

Pelican – Tombs: Live At The El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, CA

Posted on July 17, 2014 by News Team

Chicago instrumental post-rockers Pelican have been known for putting on quite the powerful show despite the lack of vocals. While this is a minor setback for those unfamiliar with the band, Pelican’s sound is quite heavy enough for those who love their music this way and tonight’s show was no exception.

Bassist Bryan Herweg was positioned in center with guitarist Trevor de Brauw and their “newest” member Dallas Thomas working together and creating a vibe that comes across heavy yet atmospheric. The visuals playing in the backdrop works well with the low lighting and creates a somewhat somber atmosphere that got the crowd into it immediately.

Almost half of their ten song set covered their latest release Forever Becoming, such as ‘The Tundra’ and ‘Deny The Absolute’, while sprinkling songs from various releases such as ‘Dead Between the Walls’ and ‘Ephemeral’. Their set list flowed fairly smoothly and unlike past tours, Pelican weaved it together fairly well and gave the crowd an earful of heavy sounds.

The encore of ‘Mammoth’ was their heaviest tune of the evening, getting a mosh pit going and raising the tempo for the night. While many may not expect such things happening at a Pelican show, they do throw in surprises.

Brooklyn, New York’s Tombs is a bit of the opposite of what post-rock fans may expect and instead leaned towards crushing riffs and a tinge of black metal meets experimental heaviness. Rarely letting up on low end heaviness, Tombs kept the crowd on its feet with its vicious heaviness and rarely letting up. Neurot Recordings artist Mustard Gas And Roses a.k.a. MGR a.k.a. Mike Gallagher (ex-ISIS) opened the night.

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Pelican on Facebook

Tombs on Facebook

WORDS BY REI NISHIMOTO

PHOTOS BY KALEY NELSON

Agalloch – Jex Thoth – Obsidian Tongue: Live at Brighton Music Hall, Allston MA

Posted on July 11, 2014 by News Team

You knew it was going to be a killer night when for the first time I can recall for any show, the line to get in stretched around the block, over an hour before doors at this venue. Agalloch always draws a big crowd in the Boston area, what with our love of black metal and emo-style self-hatred overflowing at all times. All jokes aside, Agalloch on their first tour supporting the excellent new album The Serpent and The Sphere (Profound Lore) was a can’t miss proposition for this summer of metal shows so far. The venue was well sold out with people walking up for tickets turned away. I bumped into many of my friends in the scene and my photographer for the night, the exceptionally cool Hillarie Jason outside while I waited to get in. I wonder if selling out the House of Blues is next for this band, since every time they visit our city, the sell out yet another venue.

Growing local legends Obsidian Tongue opened tonight, following a brief, but successful mid-west run opening for this tour. Front man Brendan James Hayter has long had a relationship to Agalloch, written songs with them, and in general is in a mutual admiration society with them. All good, but playing in front of basically a sold-out hometown crowd had advantages too. Brendan, flanked by powerhouse drummer Greg Murphy just blew everyone in attendance away with their all too brief set. As always, their gut-wrenching, perfectly executed traditional USBM, captivates and kills. In addition to playing a brand new song that was nothing shot of epic at almost 14 minutes long, John Haughm himself joined the band for a closing rendition of “A Nest of Ravens in the Throat of Time”, of which Brendan remarked they will likely “never play this again.” One of the cooler moments of the night was meeting Brendan’s beaming parents, clad in their O.T. Shirts. Parents- you’re doing it right!

The BM-centric crowd was a little less forgiving the doom of Jex Thoth. For her part Jex was awesome, and in her own little world. She was nonplussed by the few mumbles in the room about them and their placement on this bill. Nevertheless her tight band blessed with her namesake blasted through a lengthy set of good songs. Caught up in the ritual, Jex wailed like the chanteuse that she is, connecting with the audience, but she was also on her own trip too. As my pal Mike Vargus commented later, she brought the sexiness to doom. Transformed by the process of the ritual, lost in the magic, she milked every bit of soul out of each note that escaped her throat. Her band was no afterthought either, they were present in the moment, right with her musically, especially guitarist Jason Hartman. Playing songs mostly from their 2013 album Blood Moon Rise (I Hate). At one point Jex jumped off the stage and into the crowd to get up close and personal with everyone. She sang, and danced and played with fire, burning some sage for effect. Maybe the beers and shots I had were fully kicking in by this time, but I was totally in her spell. She said little when their set was done, but they certainly made an impact.

There was a pretty fast change-over for Agalloch to come on. The sold-out crowd held their collective breath together while the band made their way to the stage. Not one note had played, but you felt something electric in the air. Everyone felt it actually, you could just tell. From the swell of the intro music, the wave just hit the eager crowd and a cheer went out. The opening notes of ‘The Astral Dialogue’ and the rollicking beat meant there would be no slow burn build up to start the show tonight. Nope, tonight had is moments of dynamic intensity, but Agalloch was full of hustle and power much more than in the past when I’ve seen them. It was an instant reminder that American black metal is the real deal now, and a band like this is the reason. Haughm’s economical playing style looks almost too easy, and his bleak vocals just crush. He is always note perfect and flawless live. I was immediately surprised by how much knuckle-headed moshing there was, more so than any show in memory for black metal in Boston. Perhaps it is a swell of new fans, but I was turned off by it, as was Haughm who joked about it later on.

The new ‘Vales Beyond Dimension’ was more typical fare I was used to for these Pacific Northwest giants. The fans seems to chill out for a minute and soak it all in. Always impressive, Aesop Dekker almost stole the show on this night with his tireless blasting behind the kit. I have seen him live many times with different acts, and this night was a performance we’d never seen from him before. Epic in scope, ‘Limbs’ was another killer early set highlight. Oh, so heartfelt and deep, I almost felt like a hippie for a second. Almost. John finally addressed the crowd, dissed the moshers, and generally welcomed all to the tour. Picking back up with ‘Ghosts of the Midwinter’s Fires’, we fell into the emotional abyss again. This is what Agalloch does best: toying with your soul and mind with their songs. There was a lot of singing along to this one, which made me smile. Other standout songs were the newer ‘Dark Matter Gods’, ‘Celestial Effigy’ and the mighty ‘Into the Painted Grey’.

Coming back on for an encore, Haughm thanked the openers, made more jokes about moshers and then just melted the place down with the stirring ‘Falling Snow’ and Plataeu of The Ages’. We were all left speechless and happy. What a great night!

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Agalloch Set List:

Intro(Serpens Caput)

The Astral Dialogue

Vales Beyond Dimension

Limbs

Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires

Dark Matter Gods

The Melancholy Spirit

Celestial Effigy

…and the Great Cold Death of the Earth

Into the Painted Grey

Encore:

Falling Snow

Plateau of the Ages

Agalloch on Facebook

Jex Thoth on Facebook

Obsidian Tongue on Facebook

WORDS BY KEITH CHACHKES

PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON PHOTOGRAPHY

Septicflesh – Fleshgod Apocalypse – Black Crown Initiate – Forced Asphyxiation: Live at The Middle East Downstairs

Posted on July 11, 2014 by News Team

On the same night in Boston when nearly a hundred people were hospitalized due to intoxication and drug overdoses at a trance show, the crowd at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA could only complain of short show. After a trade in bands and another band not appearing at the Cambridge stop, The Conquerors of the World Tour came down to just 4 bands: local opening band Forced Asphyxiation, mid tour replacement, Black Crown Initiate, co-headliner Fleshgod Apocalypse, and the masters of symphonic death metal, Septicflesh. After hearing that Necronomicon would not play on this night in Cambridge, the Middle East staff had the downstairs emptied and an hour was killed off as no replacement bands could be found on short notice. As some fellow metal heads in line were a little disgruntled over this news, the bill tonight would surely make up for this slight inconvenience.

Starting the night off first was local band, Forced Asphyxiation. A “classic” death metal band with lyrics that ranged from smoking some sweet ganja to having an epic fight back in the medieval times. Small pits opened up from time to time to show appreciation for the band’s appearance as the Cambridge crowd was getting into the band more with each song. Unfortunately, Forced Asphyxiation’s set was shorter than most were hoping given the delayed start of the show. However, I am certain that for those locals who had not heard of this band before, became fans after this set. Next up was one of my most eyebrow raising bands of the night, Black Crown Initiate.

Having taken over for Hour of Penance on this tour, Black Crown Initiate had quite the shoes to fill, and personally, I think they overfilled them. For those who may not know of BCI, and I was one of them, let me explain what this band sounds like. A melo-death band that plays with djent beats, a death metal lead vocalist with some of the deepest growls you’ve ever heard, and then topped off with jazzy sections and clean vocals from their bassist. I spent most of BCI’s set trying to come up with that sentence as I would lose myself in each song’s complex structure. It was extremely hard figuring out when one song would end and another would begin as each song would smoothly transition to the next. When done right, in this case it was, it can make for quite an experience both in a studio and, a little more challenging, during a live show. I am making it a personal goal to see BCI the next time they come to the Northeast US area as they had certainly left their mark on this warm June night.

Next up on this great night in the heart of Boston was the six piece from Italy, Fleshgod Apocalypse. After hearing of this band a few years ago, and the hype that followed them, I made it a goal of mine to get around to listening to them. Up until this night, I failed miserably. Having said that, I think it was a good thing as this band literally made my jaw hit my sternum on a multitude of occasions. Coming into this show, I understood they were, as some put it, “a lot like Septicflesh.” The death metal outlook, orchestration, piano, and some operatic vocals immediately came to mind, but still I underestimated Fleshgod Apocalypse. All of the members of the band were dressed in old orchestra clothing that had been ripped and tarnished. Each member came complete with a very tasteful corpse paint, and when I say corpse paint I mean they looked dead with pale faces and dark sunken eyes, not trying to impersonate Kiss. Lastly, the two guitarists and bassist each had designs on the bodies of their instruments that made them appear to look like classical instruments with the wooden color and black clef marks. Each and every song that came out of the amplifiers and entered my ears continuously made me so angry that I never got around to listening to this band prior. Songs like ‘The Hypocrisy’, ‘Elegy’, and ‘Pathfinder’ had me itching for more and more as the set moved along and the crowd grew more and more hostile. The night for Fleshgod Apocalypse ended with the amazingly epic closer, ‘The Forsaking’, which left all wide eyed and mouths wide open in amazement at what they just witnessed. At one point, I turned to a friend of mine and proclaimed that I would go home, destroy my iPod, and start over with this band being the first to be uploaded. Just when I thought this night could not get any better, it was time for the main event.

The foursome from Greece known as Septicflesh was here and ready to destroy what was left of the Middle East. Having just released their newest album, Titan, I was hoping for a few new songs and then a few goodies off of the past two releases. When the orchestration hit marking the beginning of ‘Vampire From Nazareth’, I knew we were in for a good night and so did the rest of the crowd behind me. The symphonic death metal gods played a great selection including: classics from Communion like ‘Anubis’, ‘Lovecraft’s Death’, and ‘Persepolis’ to favorites from Great Mass like ‘Pyramid God’, ‘A Great Mass of Death’, and the closer, ‘Five-Pointed Star’. The Cambridge audience was also blessed to hear two new tracks, ‘Order of Dracul’ and one of my favorites, ‘Prototype’. I was impressed to see how far Septicflesh have come in popularity these past few years as finally at my third show, this being the second headlining spot, the fans in attendance actually knew who they were. This time around, everyone around me knew most if not all of the songs and the accompanying lyrics to said songs. These guys have worked so hard to reshape themselves into the well oiled machine they are now and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Overall, this tour did have its changes and last minute cancellation/delays, but I was more than pleased to have been in attendance. One of my favorite bands today, Septicflesh, has started to receive the attention they deserve, Fleshgod Apocalypse smacked me right in the face for never listened to them prior, and Black Crown Initiate made a stand with their very unique style. I also can’t forget local openers, Forced Asphyxiation, now having seen them a second time since their opening spot with Aborted a few months ago, they have gained a fan in me! If you have yet to get out to this tour and a stop near you is coming up, I highly recommend you get a ticket, bang your head until your neck hurts, buy some merch, and enjoy one of the best shows you will see all year.

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Septicflesh Set List:

The Vampire From Nazareth

Communion

A Great Mass of Death

Order of Dracul

Pyramid God

Unbeliever

Prototype

Lovecraft’s Death

Burn

Persepolis

Anubis

Five-Pointed Star

Septicflesh on Facebook

Fleshgod Apocalypse on Facebook

Black Crown Initiate on Facebook

Forced Asphyxiation on Facebook

WORDS BY TIM LEDIN

PHOTOS BY CWS PHOTOGRAPHY

Thou & The Body – Fórn – Rozamov: Live at The Firehouse, Worcester MA

Posted on July 9, 2014 by News Team

It’s been a while since I went to a DIY show and the perfect, and maybe only, reason to rectify that came about on Sunday July 6th, when the collaborative project between Thou and The Body came to a place called “The Firehouse” in Worcester, MA. As is the norm with most DIY shows, this was not in a very safe part of the city by far, so I was glad that four of us drove in together. These kinds of shows are not my favorite things usually, since you just never know what you are going to get. That can be exciting for people I guess, but me? I just want a freaking bathroom, clean running water and one clear exit I can hop out of the second it looks like any sort of trouble. Call me a pansy, I don’t care.

Around 9:30pm the openers, Fórn, began their set. I saw them once before at The Middle East Upstairs and was really distracted by a combination of bad sound and the smell of electrical wires in their gear frying. I felt like they were too concerned with playing loudly than having any substance back then. This set was definitely musically stronger and lacked the overpowered sound of too many amps turned past 11 just because they had them. Instead it seemed like they were attempting to capture the sludge/doom sound by playing it instead of just blasting a slow riff and calling it sludgy. The microphone went out for two songs but other than that there were no problems and they sounded good.

With a quick changeover, Rozamov was next up and the night was moving right along towards the 12am curfew. For me, this was the first time seeing this band as a three piece and although I feel like they could use more guitar somehow, they totally held their own with the stripped down sound. They steamed through their set with intensity enough to keep everyone inside this quickly becoming oxygen poor room. Suffering through the now quickly rising heat and smell of sweaty arm pits, groins and asses (I may have thrown up in my mouth a little just typing that), the crowd was rapt and made no attempt at escaping the hot stench to the outside area.

I went for some air and was quickly followed by a room full of sweaty twenty somethings all either looking for cooler air or a puff of burning tobacco. During the swapping of gear and whatnot, a couple of people in attendance were apparently shot with BB guns by un-identified neighbors; such a nice part of town. One was shot in the head and one in the arm, but luckily nothing serious and apparently they got the BB’s out.

By the time Thou and The Body started to play it was clearly uncomfortable in there and had come close to about forty minutes before the curfew. I have seen both bands individually but had not even checked out the collaboration on-line so I was kind of blindsided by the experience. Was it heavy? That is a stupid question but it was that special kind of heavy that tugs at your innards just so. Not enough to lose control of your bowels but more than enough to make it almost impossible not to bob your head, stomp your feet and grind your teeth just a bit. There was a little of the electronic element The Body is known for as well as the punishing vocals you get from Bryan Funck of Thou and when you put that together with a bassist, 2 drummers and 3 guitars, you have a truly one of a kind set. I would have liked to have heard more of Chip King’s (The Body) vocals but from where I was it was barely audible and I would have been interested to hear the dichotomy of his signature wails with the shredded vocal style of Bryan. They closed the set with a Nine Inch Nails cover of “Terrible Lie” but sadly for me, I had just popped outside to get some air and missed the song. I was told it was amazing. Go see the collaboration if it comes near you. It was worth it and I am glad I braved the BB’s, the locals and the smell of moist, hot body stink to witness it.

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Thou on Facebook

The Body on Facebook

Fórn on Facebook

Rozamov on Facebook

WORDS AND PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON

Barrows: Live at The Know, Portland, OR

Posted on July 1, 2014 by News Team

The Know is a punk venue located in North Portland on a street populated with boutiques, food cart pods, and the odd carniceria. A curtain sections off a bar and some pinball machines from a low bare-bones stage in a room maybe twenty feet wide by forty long. A couple of what appear to be gold couch cushions are affixed (glued?) to the ceiling above the stage, and there’s a big ‘ol poster of a lightning storm on the right-hand wall, for atmosphere.

Barrows is a band from Los Angeles that plays epic instrumental post-rock with a narrative bent. They are out touring the West Coast on their latest LP, Red Giant (Barrows Recordings), a concept album that lays out the life and death of a star (Hubble Telescope kind, not Tom Cruise) in five spiraling songs. This was their second stop on the tour, third if you count their first date at home.

The night began with Portland locals The Sky Above and Earth Below playing a solid set of melodic screaming hardcore in the vein of Glassjaw or Shai Hulud. The three piece band set up on ground level in front of the stage (D.I.Y. pragmatism’s not dead!) and though no actual floor punching occurred surely we all floor punched in our hearts as they riffed in our midst.

After a brief sound check Barrows began their set on the red-lit stage with the atmospheric winds and clean swells of album opener, ‘Nebula.’ Drummer Richy Epolito and bassist Jim Leonard were joined by guitarists Brock Haltiwanger and Ryo Higuchi, and when they hit the huge flanging crashes that come near the end of the song it was apparent that the band is fully locked in and not prone to lose any power in their live presence.

Their formidable sound brought more people in from the bar, and Barrows ended up playing to a decent room for a Monday night. They moved through the bulk of Red Giant in a focused manner, pausing only a few times to switch basses, and bringing a tight intensity to the many transitions and builds in the material.

Leonard paused briefly to say hi to the crowd before announcing their last song of the night, ‘Pirates,’ the closing track from Barrows 2011 debut , Imprecari Island. Fifteen minutes later Barrows was packed up and ready to, as Saint Rollins once put it, “Get in the van.”

Barrows on Bandcamp

WORDS BY JARED CHRISTENSON

PHOTOS BY CURTISS DUNLAP PHOTOGRAPHY

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Category Archives: Concert Reviews: USA

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Thou & The Body – Fórn – Rozamov: Live at The Firehouse, Worcester MA

Barrows: Live at The Know, Portland, OR