Vader, Septic Flesh, Devian
London Camden Underworld 29th of April 2008 - Review by Marco
Gaminara
Owing to "extreme" weather conditions, I was rather late getting to
the venue, and the first thing I must say is: "Fuck is it expensive
to get into gigs". Granted it's been ages since I actually went to
one, but it's been even longer since I had to pay to get in and man
do I feel everyone else's pain.
Devian were already on stage
when I got there, and by the time I got to a suitable spot on the
dance floor to watch them, after chatting to a couple people I
haven't seen in years on the way from the entrance, they were
starting to play their last track. I'm not sure whether they were to
be taken seriously quite frankly, and I'm guessing the track was
called "Fuck Your Faith" and while there was plenty of serious
posturing, one of the guitarists had a hair band and bar the tattoos
they all looked very 80's hair metal. Music was a thrashy death sort
of thing, but as I wasn't really paying as much attention as I
should've, I can't really say much more.
Now the band I'd come to watch were on next,
Septic Flesh. The last time I came to watch them, they
didn't play, but as I'd just confirmed with Paul from Arcane
Promotions, they were definitely playing tonight, so I got myself a
good spot in front of the pillar in the centre of the dance floor.
and after what felt like too much time getting ready, they came out
to what I'm pretty sure was "Behold: The Land Of Promise" from the
2003 CD 'Sumerian Daemons' followed by the next 2 tracks from the
same album "Unbeliever" and "Virtues Of The Beast", and that's
pretty much as old as the stuff got, as everything else was from
Communion, unless I'm sorely mistaken. They pretty much kept
everything fast and up-tempo, and there were times that the band
appeared to be enjoying themselves more than the crowd were, if
that's at all possible. When introducing songs and whenever his
hands weren't on his bass, Seth would be giving us the horns, or
just having his hands grabbed by whomever was in the front row at
the time, and I must admit he looks a little overwhelmed by the
adoration bestowed upon him. Tracks like "Communion", "Lovecraft´s
Death" and "Anubis" had Seth's unmistakable vocals on them, but in
Sotiris' absence his clean vocals were all pre-recorded, in a
similar fashion to the choral and orchestral pieces. "We, The Gods"
had Seth, Chris and I'm convinced the session guitarist was from
Nightstalker, but have no confirmation for that claim, headbanging
in perfect syncopation to Fotis' drum blasting. They wrapped up
their set with "Persepolis" then said "Thank you, good night" and
walked off. I was left a little stuffed by what certainly felt like
an all too short a set, and they had just whet my appetite to hear
loads of older stuff, but alas, it was not to be, but hopefully when
they're back in December we'll get a longer more varied set.
Nice I was ready to leave at this point, but decided that I'd hang
around for a couple of Vader
songs before heading on home. Now the problem I find with Vader is
that they end up becoming monotonous with their sheer intensity and
while there were a couple tracks that I recognised owing to having
most of their early material at home, it eventually becomes a blur.
So I headed on home to the melodies of "Litany" and "Epitaph"
ringing in my ears, and bouncers storming in passed me on their way
down into the Underworld to do whatever it is that bouncers in a
hurry get up to. |
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L.A. Murderfest 4.0 April
19th, 2008 The Knitting Factory, Hollywood, California. Review by
Dave Schalek Round two for the week consisted of the Saturday show
of the L.A. Murderfest at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. The
fourth incarnation of this festival of a slew of death metal bands,
this was the first version that I had attended, and on my fortieth
birthday no less. With this review, I’m going to just give you an
impression of each band that I saw.
Fighting my way through the horrendous traffic, I arrived to catch
the last few moments of local, bizarrely corpse painted Aztec
warriors, Mictlantecuhtli on the
front stage, which has absolutely atrocious sound. The band showed
some energy for the song that I caught. I went to the main stage
area next (much better sound, to say the least) to catch the last
couple of songs from the recently reformed (at least, for this show)
doom act Morgion. Overall,
Morgion were quite good with a clear sound and an appreciative
crowd. By the way, the Knitting Factory was absolutely jammed from
the time that I arrived at about 6:15 PM.
Abysmal Dawn were next on the
front stage and delivered a great set of death metal with a good pit
opening up in the packed crowd. It’s too bad that there is such a
wide dichotomy in the quality of sound between the front and main
stage areas, and you definitely get the impression that bands
performing on the front stage are getting shortchanged. Case in
point is Sepsism, up next on the
main stage after a brief look at pornogrind weirdos The Meat Shits
(not bad if you’re really into misogyny), just finishing their set
after I watched Abysmal Dawn. The last time that I had seen Sepsism
was also at the Knitting Factory, but in the front stage area. They
were much better this time, and I suspect that’s entirely due to the
much better sound of the main stage. Sepsism were tight, fast, and
brutal. Excellent. |
I hung around and moved up
to the front of the main stage area for
Waco Jesus, who delivered an absolutely killer set with
an enormous pit opening up. Absolutely brutal and my favorite act of
the night. Next up were Bay Area gore masters
Impaled at the front stage complete with fire
breathing, uniforms with ties and nerd glasses, silly string, and
M&M’s masquerading as drugs for the crowd. Gore metal hilarity at
its finest.
Hot on their heels were Monstrosity,
whom I had been looking forward to, but they just bored the Hell out
of me after two slow songs with a lackluster degree of enthusiasm.
That was just fine, though, as legends
Repulsion were just opening up in the main stage area.
Absolutely awesome with enthusiasm and a hilarious frontman in
legend Scott Carlson (he repeatedly took pictures of the crowd
during the set, telling us that he was going to email them to his
mother). These guys had a huge influence on the beginnings of death
metal and grindcore, and they delivered in spades. They even threw
in a couple of Slaughter, Venom and Entombed covers. Wow!
Headlining on the front stage were Vital
Remains and, despite the lack of Glen Benton and the poor
sound, delivered the goods with a spot on, technical performance.
The crowd went absolutely nuts during “Dechristianize”. These guys
are definitely on my list of bands to see in a proper manner.
The legendary Massacre were up
next with old school death metal on the main stage, and a
performance that was getting a bit of a mixed reaction from the
crowd. Although Massacre were quite good, Kam Lee has a bit of a
tendency to ramble and |
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pontificate,
and the show was already behind schedule. But, keep in mind that we
were watching, besides Kam Lee, legends such as Terry Butler
performing here. By this time, the time was 1AM or so, and I bailed
out before Entombed. Yeah, I
know, that was probably dumb, but I was exhausted after 7 hours of
fighting my way through the crowds, the pits, the stench, the
overflowing urinals and toilets, and the stifling heat of the
Knitting Factory.
Couple of items worth mentioning. First, there were some metal
luminaries in the crowd, notably the huge presence of Gene Hoglan.
Also, the author of “Choosing Death: The Complete History of Death
Metal and Grindcore”, Albert Mudrian, was there (nice guy) along
with Decibel Magazine. I hung out with fellow blogger/ prolific
scribe Cosmo Lee (he of Invisible Oranges) throughout the evening
and we had a great time. The merchandise tables were overflowing as
well as the vendors completely taking over the Alterknit Lounge
area. Tony Koehl, noted death metal artist, was also there with
artwork on display as well as a painting in progress.
As usual, you can check out the crapola at
http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com |
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Dimmu Borgir + Behemoth + Keep Of
Kalessin April 16, 2008 The Grove, Anaheim, California
By: Dave Schalek
An icy blast of Northern darkness slams into sunny Southern
California in the form of a monstrous three-band bill. The degree of
anticipation was high for the appearance of Dimmu Borgir with
support from Behemoth and Keep Of Kalessin. You had better believe
that I wasn’t going to pass this one up! So, with a hearty cry of
“I’m going to Disneyland!” I headed out to Anaheim for this sold out
show on a Wednesday night.
The Grove in Anaheim is a mid-size theater that may become the
theater of choice that replaces The Galaxy, a venue that had hosted
metal shows in Orange County for a long period prior to that venue’s
recent closing. Unfortunately, The Grove shares its parking lot with
The Big “A” where the Angels play baseball, and a game was going on
that night, as well. Yet another traffic nightmare in a place where
traffic has become a contact sport.
At any rate, Keep Of Kalessin
hit the stage right at 8 PM and proceeded to fly through a half hour
set, consisting mostly of a few songs from “Armada”, as well a new
song from their upcoming full-length entitled “Kolossus”. I had been
greatly impressed with “Armada” with its lightning fast guitar work,
but was somewhat disappointed by the band’s set as the guitars were
turned down too low in the mix, and there was a moment or two of
sloppy musicianship. In short, Keep Of Kalessin wasn’t as nearly as
tight as I would have liked. Maybe they had a bit of an off night. |
Next up was
Behemoth, whom I haven’t seen
since the “Demigod” touring cycle from two or so years ago. I had
seen Behemoth as the support a couple of times during that period,
once at The Galaxy, and I wasn’t all that impressed. However,
Behemoth’s performance this night was by far the best that I’ve seen
from the band. Extremely high energy, incredible musicianship and
clarity of sound, and a great, confident stage presence were all on
display as Behemoth just ripped through a 45 minute set. A huge,
violent pit opened up immediately with the band hitting the stage
and did not abate for the entire performance. I was highly impressed
by Behemoth tonight and the comments afterward from the people
around me indicated that most felt that this was the best
performance they’ve yet seen from the band. Awesome.
Between Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir,
the house music was some dark ambient from Vinterriket, I believe,
instead of the usual Sepultura/Metallica, etc. playlist that you
usually hear in between bands around California. That set the mood
for Dimmu Borgir as the crowd quietly watched the crew change over
to Dimmu Borgir’s stage with plenty of pentagrams on display.
Finally, with a hush, the house lights dim as smoke begins to fill
the stage. Orchestral music begins as Satanic, robed figures slowly
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stage with
incense. To a huge roar, Dimmu Borgir hit the stage and the huge pit
that I mentioned immediately starts up again.
As you would expect from a skilled, professional act with a
dominating presence in metal, Dimmu Borgir did not disappoint with
an 80 minute set of tight musicianship, high energy, and a set list
covering their mid-period to recent discography. Hired hand Tony
Laureano, whom I’ve seen with at least three different bands now
over the last few years, filled in quite nicely for the absent
Hellhammer, and hit the songs with a high degree of precision.
Overall, yet another great show for us here in Southern California
with many more shows to come in the near future. As usual, you can
check out all of the crap at
http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com |
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