Live 4 Metal - Live Reviews

Obituary, Onslaught, Dam, Dead Beyond Buried London The Underworld 5/7/2007 Review and photo by James Young Summer has obviously bypassed England this year, and due to the frequent downpours in the afternoon, a queue was slow to form around the World’s End. But with tickets sold out earlier in the day you just knew it was going to be heaving in the sweaty Underworld, and even before the first band took to the stage, there was an audience which could outnumber even the most popular death metal gigs. Brits Dead Beyond Buried have got incredibly huge since I saw them last year opening up the Deathfest. They were promising then, but I never would have thought a year later they would be signed to Candlelight and have had tours with Zyklon and Obituary behind them. Their style of death metal, a cross between Suffocation and Cannibal Corpse, is not the most innovative, but then again that in itself is a reason for their ever-growing fan-base. Oliver Marchant’s bellowing growls have come along immeasurably, as has his hair, which is now much longer. His voice is comparable to that of the treetrunk-necked Corpsegrinder, and it gave songs such as ‘Organic Dimensia’ a nice kick. Even if the riffs weren’t as meaty as some bands, I found the sound as chunky as on their records, and by the time the intro of ‘Condemned To Misery’ blasted forth, I was beginning to enjoy what I was hearing. The horror-movie style guitar squeals really fitted this band, and the stop-starts were impressive, and by the time their half hour came to end, I can’t say it was the most memorable set ever, but I’ve seen a lot worse, and it was a major development from last year. At the rate their popularity is growing, goodness knows where they’ll be in a few years time, and it could very well be their name on top of the bill soon. I remember when it seemed like Dam found their way onto every death metal show at the Underworld, but there was a long period where they didn’t seem to have any gigs at all. It looks like things are about to change with this show and one lined up later in the year with 1349, and with the recent departure of their drummer and guitarist, and a new album on the horizon, it looks like a fresh start is due for the band. That’s why it’s not promising when the setlist contains a number of bands next to their own songs, including Trivium of all bands - I’m not really sure what band names were doing next to song titles, but I suppose it should be said that there was a noticeable Suffocation influence in ‘Made Of Beasts’, and the vocals were decidedly Celtic Frost-like in ‘This Has Nothing To Do With Apathy’, although I didn’t really like the style myself. New recruit behind the drums, Brad, is extremely fun to watch, headbanging throughout the technical metal that they played. I’m still undecided about whether I liked the thrashier ‘Spiritual Void’, but it provided some interesting variation in the set. Guitarist Dan Knight, newly recruited from Ted Maul, provided a much needed energy, which perfectly suited the abrasive metal that the band play. The sound was rather poor also, with an overly loud guitar sound making me reach for the nearest malleable object to shove in my ears. The band obviously needed a bit more rehearsal time together, with Dan shouting ‘We fucked that one up a bit!’ after ‘Made Of Beasts’, and by the time closer ‘Mirror-Image Ritual’ was played, I was just about losing interest in what I was watching, with the overly long songs and repetitive riffs beginning to drag. It was a mixed set, and some of it was entertaining, whilst the rest was fairly dull; hopefully with a bit more time together, the band can become a bit tighter and work on their stage show. The third British band on tonight happened to be the legendary Onslaught. I’ve heard a shockingly small amount of this band in the past, and I can suitably say that from the very start of their set I was totally pulled in by their amazingly heavy yet catchy thrash assault. Starting the chaos with ‘Killing Peace’, the Underworld suddenly came alive and people started killing each other in the pit, sailing over heads and generally making things more chaotic. Annoying I suppose, but perfectly befitting of such sonic violence. Sy Keeler’s vocals sound perfect in a live environment, whether singing cleanly or screaming as in ‘Let There Be Death’, and it was impossible not to sing along, even if you didn’t know most of the words in headbangers such as ‘Metal Forces’. ‘Planting Seeds Of Hate’ was announced as having resonance in a week filled with terror threats, and the band showed that musically they could still keep up with the times also, with a fantastically heavy assault on the senses. The sound was spot on and the guitarists Jordan and Rockett looked like they were having the times of their lives onstage, with limitless energy throughout the performance from start until the final song, which was the opener from Power From Hell. Many people have questioned the reason for Onslaught getting back together, putting it down to money, but I say if they can still produce shows of this quality, nobody should be complaining at all.
The previous set would be hard to follow, but with the whole drum kit needing to be changed, there was plenty of time for us to forget about it, with Obituary taking the stage at the ludicrously late time of twenty past ten. The band don’t usually play at venues of this size, and it was clear from the outset this wasn’t going to be a comfortable show. It needed a few riffs before the bodies started flying, but nobody really cared with the groovy magnificence of ‘Redneck Stomp’ thundering through the Underworld. John Tardy’s entrance received a huge ovation, with his long wavy hair taking up most of the stage as he moved around to the likes of ‘Insane’, ‘Chopped In Half’ and ‘Turned Inside Out’. Ralph Santolla fitted in perfectly in a live environment, not that there was any doubt, although his guitar was so low in the mix from where I was standing on stage right that none of his solos
could be made out, which was more than a tad annoying being a hallmark of the Obituary sound. The same could not be said for the drumming, which was as heavy and crisp as you would expect from the legends, and it’s acceptance was seen by the bodies sailing over the crowd. ‘Back In Time’ was followed by a couple of new numbers, including ‘Xecutioner’s Return’, the title track from the forthcoming album. The new stuff is sounding like classic Obituary, mid-paced and as sludgy as hell, with the wonderfully indecipherable vocals of Tardy present throughout. The songs came thick and fast, possibly due to the limited stage time available, although a drum solo three-quarters of the way through suggested otherwise. After the solo, which was fun to watch but frustrating when a couple of songs could have been squeezed in, ‘Slow Death’ from the last album Frozen In Time was played, which saw the Tardy boys both yield drumsticks in a headbangable percussion-fest, showing that this song was made to be played live. Finishing off a classic Obituary setlist was ‘Slowly We Rot’, slowing things down to a sickening crawl, and it works perfectly live, even if the sound was pretty dire. Even running with bruised legs trying to catch the last tube, it was obvious that tonight we’d seen something special. As if Onslaught weren’t enough, an Obituary show in a tiny venue was so rare and spectacular I doubt London will see such a thing for a very long time. What an old-school night of metal!



Sentenced to Suffer, Breed Apart, Irony of Christ, Viscera and Bloodshot Dawn London Bar Monsta 26th June Review and photos by Samuel Munch-Petersen I know where Camden is, I know how to get there. I know where the Underworld, Electric Ballroom, Barfly and Koko are. This venue looked like an office block and I’ve waited outside it several nights before for my bus ride home. But I’ve never noticed it being there until I did this review. So I walked in, two hours early of course and made sure everything was okay and on the go; sound checks were being done and band members (I presumed at the time) were sat on the sparse sofas. Welcome to Bar Monsta. Drinks in, camera set up, pad and pen out, surrounded by lots of long hair; I was ready to start listening. This was the second day of the six-day tour that these five bands were on and they change headliners at each show which allows for the bands to all give something of a finale on the night. The mix of death metal and hardcore meets thrash certainly makes for a good selection of bands for the night.

I was impressed by the barrage of Bloodshot Dawn smashing song after song out of the system to a rather small collection of listeners. They’re certainly a confident band and a decent band to start off the show with since they power through their music with ease and are definitely a likeable band. This four-piece continued to impress even at their third track; Puncture, a raw and intense song with heavy blast beats given to us by Doug Anderson and circular riffs played by James Taylor and singer Josh McMorran. They gave us a sense of rhythmical solos and proceeded to throw guttural vocals mixed with a thumping bass; expertly fingered by Daniel Gaylard (shush now) into the fray. They worked well together and played up to the crowd when the crowd played up to them. Bloodshot Dawn broke their songs up with crispness and steadiness whilst always making us linger for the jump back into the shit fast beats and picking. They moved then from the fourth instrumental track to their final song Death Row that accompanied the instrumental excellently. Their final musical extravaganza gave us a solo intro with a heavy double time beat mixing into half time as the song moved forward. Some elements of Iced Earth coming through in the vocals on that track which made me smile no end. A great band to start with.

Next we had Viscera from Guildford come on stage to the sounds of cheers and clinking glasses. Viscera are a younger band yes, but a band that can dish out its share of hate and depth with excellent ability. The drums (Ewan Ross) and the guitars (Jamie Sweeney and Tom) worked a treat; the vocals (Dave Axle) cut out a bit and were quiet some of the time and bass (Fed) carried on through without a problem. Overall it worked well for them. A five-piece band, which makes up two other bands later down the line-up, Viscera kept us on the edge with their hard-hitting and raw tracks. They kept their guises on stage as each song was introduced in that ever so metal of voices; the guttural-claw screech, opening with Graveyard Landslide and moving on to Cycles of Slaughter. They played impressively, while mildly lacking confidence, but made up for this in the music that they’ve clearly worked on for a long time. Both tracks, as with the rest of the set, were heavy, fast in places and filled with odd time signatures battling the grounds on which they were played. Not only was this band loud, fast and odd but they made for good thinking time to try and figure out what time sig they were exactly playing in. They carried on to deliver great sounding tracks; Leader, Reside into Silence and The Blind Faithful, all of which were intense and action packed. Not a slip up yet and already two bands down, going good so far. Viscera finalised their set with Born into Rest which had some of the best tom work I’ve heard and witnessed for an upcoming band. Bass lines followed double pedal work and vocals carried on that guttural religion whilst mixing it up with breaks for solos. They gave us one hell of a show. Look out for their self titled three-track EP out now (plug? Me? No).

Slowly the crowd started to fill out a bit and the world outside got darker. Next those metal-wielding lovers came to the stage; Irony of Christ, a four-piece from Bristol that gave us a taste of their melodic death metal off their new EP (a third under their belt); six tracks that seemingly reek of goodness and were once again played with talent. Opening with Milites Christi they started off with a bit of a waver as the drummer (Pete Aplin) dropped a stick and the guitarist (Dave Maclean) had to change due to a breakdown somewhere along those electrical lines. Even though these things happen it’s all about how the band handles that situation. Irony of Christ weren’t perturbed at all; they carried on and recovered instantly. A bonus of being an upcoming band is that no one knows your music therefore you can get away with stuff. Sacha Darwin’s vocals cut through on that low level and worked well on all the tracks. Backing vocals and guitar work kept the music crashing along with true death aplomb. We were welcomed by Jamie Sweeney again, this time moving from the guitar to the bass and with ease it would seem. Impressive so far and they hadn’t turned my ears away even as their second and third tracks came along; Jeremiad being delivered in 7/4 and 5/4 and A Betrayal smacking us in the face with as much force as that broken stick Mr. Aplin gave us, again with mind-confusing time changes. We then moved on to Absolution in Flames and Before There Was where pummelling drums and breaks with guitars doing their thing were truly impressive. Before There Was sounded as though Opeth had been heavily listened to and been a heavy influence for the band. A slower and more dark song it led us into the last section of their set; Your Own Death. Overall Irony of Christ have got something behind them that makes them a band you can definitely get into.

Coming up to the end now we had the penultimate band Breed Apart that are heavily influenced (in my ears at least) by Killswitch Engage, Shadows Fall, Hatebreed and Lamb of God. The five-man band hailing from Surrey took command of the stage and the crowd fucking loved them. I loved them. I was wondering even at the beginning if this was actually the headlining band. Unjust Martyr started us off and went straight through to Shattered where it came thick and fast; impressive drum work and insane guitar picking with bass trembles that just begged to be felt cascaded throughout their songs. Breed Apart were tight as fuck and they were great showmen. Bouncing around the stage and off stage front man Lee Tilbury really just makes you enjoy the show. He’s a kind and approachable guy and the band are full-on behind him as he takes on that persona on stage. Guitars from Steve Collinson and Rich Bush (I’ve had my fair share) had some mental control of their instruments whilst being so fluid and flowing. Bassist (Clarkey) made for a menacing and yet somehow teddy-bear kind of guy with that mohawk doing it’s thing whilst he smacked away at the bass strings. I always find that when a drummer brings on a pre-built rack for his cymbals it shows some sort of thought behind his passion. Alex Gray concentrated and was sweating bucket-loads whilst on stage and there’s nothing that stopped him from giving his best. It’s possibly the best drum work I’ve seen of the night and Breed Apart had certainly been band of the night for me so far. As a point of note they were meant to be headlining the evening but due to time constraints they were unable to. I can imagine that them headlining is something of a treat to whatever venue they get to. Certainly it was a treat to see them and indeed, you’d think the same. They moved on to Wars and then Silence with Neurotic coming close after. All tremendous songs with little chat in between. The set was short enough for the band to fit in ten songs; almost double everyone else’s. Then we were given Fight; “do you want a fight?” and taken straight into a very clever cover; 11th Hour (Lamb of God). They played it expertly and made it their own in every instrument; a good move on their part. Breed Apart are one of those bands you could easily see again and again whilst also giving them a slot at a major festival like Download. They’d fill a tent no doubt and the audience would appreciate it heavily. For their last three tracks they played Epic, Apocalypse and Broken. Three hardened songs that, though fast and furious, are brutal enough to make even the hardened death metal fan get in the pit and start a poke. Very much enjoyed. Check out their EP coming out in the coming months.

And now what we’d all been waiting for; Sentenced to Suffer, with familiar faces Dave Axle on bass and backing vx and Ewan Ross on drums. Two new fresh faces that we got to see were Chris Latham and Ronan Moynihan on guitars with both giving some heavy vx. The mood was set for the final sound barrage and so it began. Opening with Defiling The Altar, Sentenced to Suffer did a smash up job on delivering some top notch music. It was fast-paced, blast-beated to buggery and full of highlighted screeches and grunts from the vocalists. A sense of harmony and anger spawned from this band and I could imagine many members of the audience at other venues would be as into them as the fans were at Bar Monsta. Once again met with circular guitar patterns and bass lines that echoed the double pedals, it had been a good night of metal. Next they played Judgement Day followed by Into the Void; epic songs but songs that drew your attention when they were played this well. Into the Void sounded a lot like Dark Tranquillity or Darkest Hour had influenced the band as the solo came poking out of the metal riffage and took pride of place out front. Then we were given the likes of Destroyer of Hope and others which simply made me smile at the technicality of their musicianship. Rounding us off Sentenced to Suffer gave us Sinners of Time and they were nothing of the sort with the night rounding off nicely, if not a little later than scheduled. In conclusion these five bands have what it takes to get big and I recommend any of them to those fellow metal lovers out there, especially those death and thrash fans. If I’m not a great lover of death and the like, then I’m sure you’ll praise them since they gave me, as well as everyone else, an enjoyable and metal-filled evening.

The Southern Lord West Coast Tour
Bands: Sunn O))), Earth, Weedeater, and Wolves In The Throne Room
Venue: The El Rey Theatre, Los Angeles, California
Date: July 3rd, 2007
By: Dave Schalek

Southern Lord is certainly a label that needs no introduction to most and features an eclectic mix of artists on their roster. With that in mind, a rather unique tour is currently making its way through select West Coast cities. Featuring Wolves In The Throne Room, Weedeater, Earth, and Sunn O))), bands from a diverse group of sub-genres are represented. The tour stopped at the fabulous El Rey Theatre, an historic, rather beautiful venue in the Miracle Mile area of Los Angeles on July 3rd.
The crowd for this diverse show was not just the usual bunch of familiar faces that I see at most death and black metal shows that plow through Los Angeles. The crowd consisted of a wide slice of Los Angeles with the usual contingent of metalheads plus older folks, kids supporting different genres, and more than a few rock celebrities that I spotted (Pepper Keenan and Henry Rollins amongst others) in the mix. First up was Wolves In The Throne Room, a band that has gathered considerable acclaim, from me included, for their ecological-tinged black metal debut “Diadem Of 12 Stars”. Consisting of a trio without a bass on a darkened stage, the band blazed through a very taut, precise 25 minute set without any acknowledgement of the crowd. They simply went out and played with noticeable intensity, ultimately resulting in a great set. Needless to say, I’m looking forward to their imminent second release.
Stoner sludge barons Weedeater from North Carolina, whose third release “God Luck And Good Speed” impressed me (review to be published soon, I wrote the review only a few days prior to the show) enough such that I was really looking forward to their set. An exceptionally powerful sound dripping with resonance and harmonics was the order of the day with a great, enthusiastic performance from all band members during their 30 minute or so set. Weedeater is yet another band on Southern Lord with a bright future on the label.
Drone/doom masters Earth were next and I was really looking to see how this band would be able to capture what they’re able to do as a recording in a live setting. “Never has a band achieved so much with so little” is how I like to describe Earth, and I was definitely impressed with their live performance. Glacially slow heavy tones, actually precise drums hit at just the right moments spaced out over minutes, and a mammoth presence were all on their display during their 50 minute or so set. Each song’s conclusion was greeted with enthusiastic applause from the quiet, attentive crowd. Fantastic!

The El Rey stage is hidden by a curtain. Five minutes before Sunn O))) took the stage, smoke began to billow out from under and over the curtain as the house lights began to slowly, almost imperceptibly, dim. Muted tones begin, the house lights darken, and the curtain opens to five robed figures on stage. The opening harmonics featured very low keyboards, a trombone, gong, and cymbal. A vocalist takes the stage dressed in a robe, a mask that completely hides the face, and a long blond wig very reminiscent of the Morlocks from the 1960s version of “The Time Machine”. A circulating rumor prior to show indicated that none other than Attila Csihar himself was supplying the vocalizations for the show, although I had no way of verifying this claim (but, I don’t doubt it).
Sunn O)))’s set consisted of one long 70 minute track that had three noticeable movements with accompanying stage lighting. Opening deep tones without distorted bass were accompanied by howling vocalizations that were followed by Attila leaving the stage and the basses taking over for over 40 minutes of continuous, layered harmonics. One of the basses was a stand up, electrified string bass played with a long bow and the musician made a labored point of applying resin to the bow prior to its use. In addition, each strumming of the basses was preceded by a clawed hand raised high to the crowd. Sunn O))) is an experience to be seen to be believed.
The last movement consisted of Attila re-taking the stage with a change in costume. Literally using a bloodstained potato sack that restricted physical movement instead of a robe, the vocalizations consisted of high pitched shrieks and clicks accompanied by a rattling gong. Gradually, the stage lights dim, and the curtain closes. Wild applause.
Simply put, this was a show that must be fully experienced to be believed. Bravo!

Additional pictures and video can be found at http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com