On Saturday we got back to Eindhoven. While on the train we were checking out what bands we were going to see. Ready for today, I had my little flask of rum. And we were ready to party again!Continue reading
Tag Archives: David Vincent
Summer Slaughter 2014- Live at The Palladium, Worcester MA
Sometimes dreams do come true, and sometimes not so much. As much as I have been a supporter of Summer slaughter in all its incarnations, it has been some time since it really lived up to the billing of “The Most Brutal Tour of The Summer”. I even heard a NASCAR or WWE wrestling announcer’s voice in my head as I typed those words. Still, it’s the true to say that this tour has been lacking in the brutality department for a while and even though I rather enjoy prog and djent bands, and the “whateverthehellyoucallit” style of bands like The Dillinger Escape Plan, something was lacking the last few summers. It was death metal and balls to be blunt. Well this year the tour got all its balls back and then some with an amazing lineup stacked pretty much top to bottom. A death metal fans dream to be sure.
Of course my life has a way of clusterfucking my plans over sometimes and so on the big day of the show I got waylaid by a bunch of BS things all happening at once. I ended missing a good half of the bands I wanted to see most, which had me in sick to my stomach to be honest. I hate missing any bands, let alone some amazing locals and bands I admire like Fallujah, Decrepit Birth, and Origin but that’s what happened. I showed up in time to see Goatwhore and heard a bit of their set before I had to run and interview Alex from Fallujah. He was so cool, that it almost made up for the BS I went through.
The first full band performance I saw was Thy Art is Murder and these guys are always excellent live. I actually enjoy them in concert, even more on record. Perhaps it’s because I think their explosive live act hasn’t fully translated to a recording for me yet. Nonetheless, they destroyed the stage, the pit was insane and the crowd of moshing hooligans were feeling it. I know some people griped about TAIM being higher on the bill than Origin, but believe me, they deserve the props they are getting.
The Faceless was up next and I have covered them a lot in my career. At one point it seemed like they were going to be a hybrid of Cynic and Meshuggah and be a legendary band. At times, they actually are. They were cursed by really setting the template for all the “Sumerian” bands to follow them on that label and others, similar to Unearth with metalcore. Still, on this warm August night, The Faceless reminded everyone in the room just how much ass they can kick when they want to. Playing a predominantly old-school set (for them) mainly from the Akeldama and Planetary Duality albums, they just crushed it. Geoffrey Ficco long ago came into his own as the front man of this band, but he left no doubt about his mastery of brutal vocals, his domineering stage presence, and his great sense of humor. Michael Keene as usual played great. He could smile a little less, but I guess he is allowed to feel smug based on what he created here.
Even after the last notes of ‘Zenochrist’ rung out from The Faceless, it was all about Dying Fetus. Fetus is as close to a religious experience as it gets for tech death. They are flawless live and possibly the best band in all of metal in concert. The reason being is they insane virtuosity coupled with their extreme style is just a perfect match for many fans of the genre. They were flawless on this night, true masters of the sick tempos and heavy grooves. They played a short (always too fucking short for me) set list of deep cuts and classic tracks. John Gallagher’s growl is only matched by his unrelenting guitar style. I can’t really believe I have only seen them headline one time ever, but it’s true. ‘One Shot, One Kill’, ‘Intentional Manslaughter’, ‘Justifiable Homicide’ were all mind-blowing! Trey Williams is almost underrated when you start listing the best drummers in death metal. He certainly is never mentioned by most within the first few names, but he should be. He is one of the few drummers in all of metal that can still play super fast double-bass, but still hit for power when he wants to. ‘Praise The Lord (Opium of the Masses)’ was a fitting closer, despite not getting to play ‘Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog’ (again). If I ruled the world, DF would be contractually bound to play that song every single show. And at my house on my birthday!
At last it was time for Morbid Angel to take the stage. I was impressed at how fast and pro their crew was getting set up with nary an extra soundcheck to be done or needed. The band came out to some fitting intro music before lighting up the stage with ‘Immortal Rites’. The band was on-point and note for note perfect. I know David Vincent and crew have had their well-documented missteps, but the band was fierce and played like they had something to prove. Actually they do, and that is they still deserve to be mentioned among the greatest death metal bands/legacy acts around. The set list choices were phenomenal. I think a lot of people forget how many killer songs and albums this band has produced. ‘Fall from Grace’, ‘Day of Suffering’, ‘Maze of Torment’, ‘Curse the Flesh’ and so many more were so good to hear! Trey Azagothoth is still an insane level guitar player and performer. I wish I was able to see more than his elbow, since he hung to his side of the stage mainly. The only guy I was less than impressed with was Tim Yeung (Divine Heresy, World Under Blood). Don’t get me wrong, Timmy can play his ass off. I’d just rather him skip the Tommy Lee worshiping drum stick twirling, and pointing crap. Dude, that shit is lame and you are not getting laid because of it.
Meanwhile, everything on this end of the night set sprang from the presence of David Vincent. Ring leader, demon master, king; he was not to be denied as he curated the set bit by bit. He kept his comments entertaining, but thankfully short. The guy is brilliant and was great at motivating the crowd to keep their energy up after a long day and night. As tonight’s performance indicates, the band is far from over, certainly can still deliver live, and are not to be trifled with!
Until next year Summer Slaughter
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Morbid Angel Set List:
Immortal Rites
Fall from Grace
Day of Suffering
Rapture
Maze of Torment
Vengeance Is Mine
Ageless, I Still Am
Curse the Flesh
Existo Vulgore
Where the Slime Live
Blood on My Hands
Bil Ur-Sag
Word of Shit (The Promised Land)
God of Emptiness
WORDS BY KEITH CHACHKES
PHOTOS BY HILLARIE JASON PHOTOGRAPHY
Artistic Integrity- David Vincent of Morbid Angel
Morbid Angel reached a major milestone as their 1993 release Covenant turned 20 years old. Being one of the band’s biggest records, they chose to perform the record in its entirety and highlight this grand moment.
Band vocalist and bassist David Vincent explained how this idea came about. “It just happened to be the 20th anniversary so it seemed like a fitting time to revisit it ourselves.”
“We’ve had some of the songs from that record have been in the set over time. It’s difficult putting a set together. Once you have so many records out, then you look at some of these things and this is how it goes. Doing a themed tour like this…I know a lot of bands do it, but it almost gives you a chance to be like ‘here’s what we’re doing..’ and here’s the theme of the tour. We had additional material following the Covenant set. Some of these songs we haven’t played [in a while] and some we’ve never played. We’re having a good time.”
Many of the songs from that record have not been regular songs in their set list or simply have never been played live. They spent time relearning the tunes as part of this special moment.
“Everyone in the band is an accomplished musician so it was just adjusting a few things, rehearing and everyone owning their parts. Obviously Timothy (Yeung) and Thor (Anders Myhren – Destructhor) were not on that record but they’re both accomplished musicians. There were no challenges. It was just getting everything where it fits in and everyone owns it as much as any other material.”
One member missing from that era is drummer Pete Sandoval, who has not performed with Morbid Angel for a few years. While some fans may have missed his lightning fast drumming to the classic tunes, Vincent summed up his thoughts on his former band mate.
“Listen, I don’t cry over spilled milk. Life presents challenges and real men look at the challenges and find a way to navigate through them. Life is like a minefield. You can get caught up in one thing and blow yourself up, or you can navigate through things the best that you can. That’s the best answer I can come up with.”
Covenant was Morbid Angel’s first record that came out originally on the major label Giant Records, a then-subsidiary of Warner Brothers, which had on its roster such acts as Kenny Rogers, Oingo Boingo and Brian Wilson. A surprise choice to sign with at the time, they found themselves with a golden opportunity unlike before, despite having no real track record for signing metal bands of any sort and especially death metal.
“We had a very good team. Our manager, it was his deal. He worked on that and that was a big win. But it’s no individual that just did this. It’s not just the band. The band, the band’s management, our support crew, the label itself, the people who took the chances on us….it’s a lot of people that it takes to make some of these things happen. Somehow the stars aligned and we got an opportunity and we took it. It ended up part of the ride,” he said.
Vincent recalls the time working on the Covenant record. “Reminds me how old I am!
No, listen, all of these records again…everything we’ve done had its place in time. That was reflective of where we were at that time. Fond memories. That was an awful lot of opportunities that opened up for us with that record. We had some great videos. Obviously we were part of the Warner Brothers family for that and they managed to get us into…it was an admission ticket into a larger swimming pool. You don’t get life preservers but you get permission to swim in a larger pool. We’re thankful for the opportunity. We had a very good team and they were part of it.”
They chose to work with producer Flemming Rasmussen on Covenant, known for his work on the Metallica records. Vincent talked about how that came about.
“We talked about doing this a little different. We still recorded at Morrisound…the tracking. We thought it would be neat to bring in someone else. He hadn’t done anything quite…I mean Metallica, they’re a heavy band…they’re not Morbid Angel. I think it was interesting for him. We all had a good time. We all got along real well with him. I really enjoyed working with him. He’s a great guy.”
Rasmussen had his ways of recording but generally gave the band the freedom to do things their way. But throughout the recording, he did have little things he wanted done his way in order for him to capture their sound.
“He came over and was very specific about how he wanted the drums to be recorded. He listened to us and he went into the studio. That was his biggest thing is how to get the drums. At this time, there were no Pro Tools. This was on two inch tape. So he was very specific and was there throughout the process of the drums. He made a few suggestions but we had the rest of it down. His main concern was getting the drums down in such a way that where he didn’t have to do so much work splicing tape and making sure the takes were organized in such a way where he could do what he needed to do during the mixing process.”
No one could have predicted the impact the Covenant record would have upon the death metal world and its influence it would have on future generation of musicians. 20 years later and it is still one of the more common records which has had its impact felt.
“Listen, obviously everybody’s out to conquer the world. But we’re much more internal with the way we think about things. We look from within rather that look at what someone else is doing and try to follow. We’ve always paved our own way. And this was no different. But obviously we had these additional opportunities that opened up for being part of the Warner family. Big video budgets and larger touring opportunities – we were looking forward to doing the best we could pushing what we do as far as what we could push it, and retaining our identity.”
“A lot of times when people get put into a certain situation, then some things about their artistic integrity change. We were bound to determine that would not be the case.”
Despite the success of Covenant, Morbid Angel is arguably one of the biggest death metal bands around and continues to influence musicians of all eras. Vincent gave his thoughts on Morbid Angel’s impact on death metal.
“We have our own sound. In all honesty, back in the early years, I think everybody had their own sound. Things are a lot more amalgamated and homogenized these days. When we were doing what we do, we sounded a lot different. I’m thinking about a lot of the other Florida area bands, like Chuck Schuldiner, Obituary…some of the other bands….we all sounded different. I think it’s about we did our own thing and they picked up on it.”
by Rei Nishimoto
Morbid Angel- VadimVon- Scalpel, Abnormality: Live At The Middle East, Cambridge, MA
So what should you do to entertain yourself on a pre Veteran’s Day Sunday night? If you live in New England, and you are smart (sorry… “smaahht”), you go to see Morbid Angel play the album Covenant in it’s entirety at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA. Since this show was held at a venue with a maximum capacity of something like 575, it was not surprising that it sold out. If you were one of the anxious people shivering outside in line just to to be turned away, well, what did you expect? Mid-sized venue + Sunday + Morbid Angel + Covenant = buy your ticket ahead of time. In all fairness I had my own boneheaded, “What did I expect?,’moment that night as well. I’ll get to that later.
When I saw the announcement of the tour, a three things came to my mind. One, it’s been 20 years since Covenant came out already, wow. Two, there was no question I was going to be there, and three, what a smart move by the band to tour based on the album’s anniversary after all the rumblings in the metal community over Morbid Angels’ most recent release, Illud Divinum Insanus. We metal music fans can be, well, major pains in the asses when it comes to the bands that we hold dearest. When a band makes an album that is a departure from what we expect, we take it as a personal affront to our sensibilities and can be very unforgiving. I am not a fan of the last album but it didn’t change my opinion about what Morbid Angel is and has been. To me they are the best death metal band to date, period. Their first 4 albums are still untouchable in my eyes and I just can’t get behind “fans’that write off a band based on one album. I mean it’s one freaking album, get over it. All the hubbub over it made me think about the fine art world and what it would be like if some of our greatest painters never tried anything new. For every great painting, there are dozens, maybe hundreds of what might be considered less than stellar ones and some that you might think downright suck. It happens, you try things and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way and they can be pretty vocal about it. This is why it was great for Morbid Angel to go on this tour. To remind everyone how insanely great the band really is.
So anyway, I make the trek to Cambridge and get there in good time, park the car and walk over to the venue. Doors opened at seven and I figured the first band went on at 7:30. Unfortunately, I forgot about the line to get in. As is the case with most smaller to mid-sized venues, there is one line at the single entrance where you go to get or give your ticket as well as enter the venue. This makes for slow entry and with a sold out show there is guaranteed to be a line around the block. I planned on getting there just before the first band started, as I normally would for this venue. What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn’t. Took me a bit to get in then I went to the side ramp area where I would photograph most of the show from. Yes I missed the first band, native musical smut mongers, Sexcrement. Having seen them a number of times before, I am familiar with the stage show they have. There are usually one or more female dancers in various states of undress, sometimes in bondage attire, romping around the stage and getting the crowd into a bit of a frenzy. I asked one of my fellow photographer friends that was there, lets call him The Dude, how their set was to which he replied that it was “awesome.’I asked if they had the dancers and he said, “yeah they had a few but none of them had dicks.’Alrighty then.
After a few minutes of banter with some friends, it’s time for Abnormality, a local technical death metal outfit about to do a stint of shows in 
Colombia including a headlining spot on the Bogota Grind Death Fest XII on November 16th. As usual the band punished the crowd with it’s super technical and no less punishing riffage while singer Mallika belted out her soul reaping growls. Yes, she is a small statured female whose vocals could shred the larynx of most men twice her size but the band is not about some front woman novelty. The band delivers on all fronts. From the insanely complex bass and dual guitar stylings to the pummeling drum beats and fills, this five piece needs no crappy gimmick or girlie points to prove its worth. They played a number of songs off their newest release, Contaminating the Hive Mind which sounded great. As expected pits broke out and hair was flying in the crowd. After they played the last song of the set there were numerous cries for more.
A little break and then the local four piece formed in 2008, Scalpel, was up at bat. They are sort of a grind/death mix. They played a good set and the crowd was into it. I had a hard time hearing one of the two vocalists from my vantage point but other than that they sounded on point. Most of the stage presence came from the bassist and the faces one of the vocalists was making. Their songs were hard for me to get into as they lean at times more towards grind and I am very particular with anything remotely grind so my opinion on their music must be taken with a grain of salt. Like I said they sounded tight and the crowd dug it. Maybe it’s just not my thing but I felt like there was just so much going on that it gave me audio overload. They also have a recent release out called Sorrow and Skin and if your into later Suffocation, this may be for you. They aren’t trying to re-invent the wheel or anything, and yeah, it may be pretty derivative, but if you are into that style, you’d like them and they are seemingly solid live.
So then there was VadimVon, the only non-local band on the bill and the band that’s on the touring package with Morbid Angel, at least for the 
Dark Funeral, Grave and Morbid Angel last year at The Palladium in Worcester and I know they did a local show at a Metal Thursday event at Ralph’s in Worcester not too long ago but I guess at that time they didn’t have a drummer and played to tracked beats. This time they had a real live drummer and although they would no longer play to recorded tracks for drums, they still had a track playing with synth’s and the like. The three piece hailing from South Carolina started playing to a somewhat bewildered crowd most likely because they weren’t very familiar with them. As the set progressed there were more than a few that were won over by the band and yet still others that stood and stared. I thought the set was played well.
Ok so by now the show was running just a tad late. Not by a lot but just enough for me to wonder if Morbid Angel would be able to play everything on the set list. Because this show was the fourth on the tour, the set list was not a secret and I knew it had songs from albums David Vincent didn’t even sing on, which I thought pretty cool. There aren’t a lot of bands, or vocalists, that will want to play songs that they didn’t record. I mean I have never seen Anthrax play John Bush songs when they are touring with Joey Belladonna. Yeah, maybe that’s not the best example but you get my point I hope. Back to the show. The lights go out, after a few seconds Morbid Angel walks on stage. Some blue lights come up and David Vincent greets the crowd. Before a single note was played, incredibly, a pit started. Before a single note! I just laughed. To be so excited about the prospect of it that you feel the need to start a pit in the middle of this packed place before you even hear them play anything. Well, they had reason to be pumped for this. They blistered the crowd without flinching, keeping the between song banter to extreme minimum. Thank you for that. How many times can you hear someone say, “How are you Boston?,”or “What a crowd you guys are,’or whatever crap they have to fill time with. They plowed through the entire album and it was plain awesome. Everything, the sound, the experience, the crowd, all of it. So then I assumed there would be a break before the encore but no, they went right from ‘God of Emptiness’ only taking a few seconds seemingly, and then right into ‘Where the Slime Live.’There was to be no break and no respite. The rest of the set was delivered with just as much force as the beginning. “Fall From Grace,’would mark the end of the set and was absolutely great. They waved and walked off. That was it. Fans just stood there looking at the stage in awe, sweaty, some out of breath, and probably hoping there would maybe be one more. Slowly, they moved their way about the place looking dazed from the show, the heat, and the crushing crowd but all the same glad for the experience.
What a great show. I only wish it was in a bigger venue with a bigger stage. Other than that, what more could you really ask for?
Words and Photos by Hillarie Jason of Hillarie Jason Photography
Chaostar- Anonima
When you write a review of a band and their latest work, where there has usually been at least a modicum of hard work put in, but you personally don’t like the fruits of the proverbial labour, an easy route out is to take the band’s press release, re-write it a little bit and then conjure something along the lines of “it’s not for me, kids, but it might just be for you” as a cop out.Continue reading