Bands: Origin, Misery Index, Abysmal
Dawn, local support
Venue: Safari Sam’s, Hollywood, California Date: August 1, 2008 By:
Dave Schalek
After the awful Summer Slaughter tour from a few weeks back,
technical death metal of the highest caliber is just what I needed.
That arrived in Hollywood on a Friday night in the form of the
Relapse Contamination Tour, featuring Origin, Misery Index, Abysmal
Dawn, and three local support bands.
Safari Sam’s in dumpy, downtown Hollywood was packed for this show,
one of the only truly all death metal shows of the summer. First up
was Dominance, a local act
lacking a bassist with whom I was not familiar. Surprisingly,
Dominance were actually pretty good with solid, fast riffs and
drumming. Find a bassist, crank out a proper demo, and we’ll see
what happens. Next up were Obliterated,
who turned out to be the weakest band of the evening. Still, a bunch
of their friends were in attendance, and they managed to get a pit
going. I spent their set propped up against the bar. |
Reciprocal were next, a band
that has formed from the ashes of Gatekeeper and a few other local
acts. I see these guys in show audiences all of the time. Frankly,
they were great with excellent technical death metal and their three
song demo was selling like hotcakes after their set. They are
preparing an album for early next year, so watch for it.
At this time, I made my way to the merchandise tables, where I
promptly bought a t shirt from Origin bassist Mike Flores. I also
asked him a question that’s been on my mind since the band’s self
titled debut, and that is, “What does the Horsehead Nebula have to
do with death metal?” “Absolutely nothing, it just looks fuckin’
cool”, he replied. Agreed. At any rate, I also picked up an Abysmal
Dawn t shirt from guitarist/ vocalist Charles Elliot.
Abysmal Dawn were next and
played a huge set with equal emphasis placed upon both of their
full-lengths. Opening with “Programmed To Consume”, Abysmal Dawn
were firing on all cylinders as a huge pit opened up for the
duration. Monstrous.
I crammed myself right to stage center for
Misery Index, who absolutely fucking smoked with an
unbelievable set. Adam Jarvis was simply inhuman behind the kit as
Misery Index roared through their set, which included a few songs
from the band’s upcoming |
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full-length, “Traitors”. 2008 has been shaping up to be a banner
year for death metal, and I eagerly await the release of “Traitors”.
Origin were next and just blew
everyone away, even though they played as a quartet without Jeremy
Turner. Adam Jarvis owned this night behind the kit, but John
Longstreth was unreal, as well, as Origin played unbelievably fast
and were tight as Hell.
Needless to say, this was a great show that came at just the right
moment during a rather dismal, concert going summer. As usual, you
can check out all of the garbage at
http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com |
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Summer Slaughter 2008 Venue:
The Vault 350 Location: Long Beach, California Date: July 14, 2008
Review by Dave Schalek
Here’s a half assed review for a totally half assed show. I have a
back story to this review and a fair amount of griping to do, so
please bear with me. Frankly, I wasn’t all that ecstatic about the
line-up of the 2008 version of Summer Slaughter, but I managed to
finagle a guest/photo pass to the West Hollywood show on July 11th
(famously reported as sold out, by the way). Sure enough, I get to
the HOB Sunset Strip and, after much hemming and hawing, it turns
out that I’m not on the guest list (I had been told previously that
I was confirmed). Sigh. I end up driving home; four hours and 40
miles worth of gas, down the drain. OK, plan B: buy a ticket to the
newly added July 14th date at the Vault 350 in Long Beach.
Yeah, I’m in a foul mood from the get go, and it just got worse as
the afternoon and night wore on. The show started at about 4:00pm
and, because I’m anal retentive, I pretty much have to see the whole
thing. With the exception of the main headliner, The Black Dahlia
Murder, each band’s set ran about 20-30 minutes. Here’s a brief
impression or so of each band.
1) Devolved: Added to this
particular show, Devolved play mediocre technical death metal and
originally hail from Australia, although they’re now based in Los
Angeles. Apparently, the band has released two full-lengths, the
last dating from 2004, but Devolved were barely entertaining.
2) Whitechapel: Increasingly
popular deathcore band from Tennessee. I reviewed their debut
full-length awhile back and gave it a positive review. In addition,
I’m slated to review the band’s new full-length very soon. I was not
impressed. Whitechapel were basically a wall of sound with one
breakdown after another with nothing to distinguish between them.
Also, for some reason, the white trash skinheads from Riverside and
San Bernardino counties crawled out of their trailers to come see
this band. This bunch’s version of pit slamming consists of wild
gyrations of arms and legs, obviously simulating fighting. One older
guy in a Suffocation t shirt was so pissed off by these nitwits that
he immediately started shoving them in a more traditional sense.
Naturally, the skinheads all jumped him en masse but, luckily, the
trash left the venue soon after. What a great way to make a name for
your band, attract the worst sort.
3) Psycroptic: Amazing technical
death metal band from Tasmania, I actually enjoyed their set
although I feel that they would greatly benefit from a second
guitarist. Unfortunately, the mallcore/ emo kids that were present
in staggeringly high numbers had no idea what to make of their
display.
4) Born of Osiris: Crap
metalcore that all of the pre-pubescent kids really got into. At
least, unlike Whitechapel, they have some songwriting skills. Guest
list? |
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5)
Aborted: A great band from years past, Aborted are now
merely a shadow of what they once were back in the “Goremageddon…”
days. No surprise since this was an entirely different band from the
line-up that I saw a few years ago. I’ve written them off, as of
this point, but at least they played a few older songs. Some of the
death metal heads present were also shaking their heads in dismay.
In addition, during the set, we were informed that Kataklysm would
not go on due to a health issue. Great. My reason for coming to this
show basically went out the window. My mood soured even further.
6) Despised Icon: At least these
guys are top notch musicians, and the mallcore crowd really got into
them. They had some technical problems, though.
7) The Faceless: A Los Angeles-
based technical death metal band that’s getting some notice, The
Faceless, frankly, still have a long way to go to compete with the
likes of Necrophagist, Gorod, Anata, etc. Still, at least they’ve
dropped the keyboards and the |
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hoods that one
or two of them were wearing last year.
8) Winds of Plague: These guys
were added to the bill after Suicide Silence dropped off for some
reason (at least, I think so, we were never informed why). Another
breakdown-based deathcore band, at least these guys showed
tremendous energy and enthusiasm. Also, unlike Whitechapel, at least
they could write songs.
9) Cryptopsy: OK, everyone was
waiting for Cryptopsy, given the serious beating the band has been
taking over “Cold Lake/St. Anger/The Unspoken King”. Opening with
“It’s Dinner Time” is not a good way to start. Afterwards, at least,
Cryptopsy only played older material, finishing with “Phobophile”.
Matt McGachy was average, at best.
10) Vader: The other reason that
I was here (and still here), Vader played an all too short set that
suffered from a few mixing problems. The mallcore/ emo crowd, by the
way, had long since left the venue.
11) The Black Dahlia Murder: A
good band that’s not really my thing, I left after about five songs.
This show was awful on so many levels. First, the concentration on
metalcore is going to attract a huge crowd of kids, but throwing in
some class death metal acts at the same time resulted in a totally
uneven show that discouraged a lot of people, probably on both
sides, from showing up. Second, the white trash that showed up also
ruined a good time for everyone; although, at least, those
screwballs left early. Third, the show was way too long with way too
much filler. How about five or six top notch bands, instead? If you
want to mix genres, fine, but, at least ensure that all of the bands
are class acts.
I’m going to look very carefully at next year’s line-up and I fear
that Summer Slaughter is on its way to becoming the next Ozzfest.
Will the same happen to Death By Decibels? Stay tuned. Ugh.
As usual, you can check out the garbage at
http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com |
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