#37-#39

I watched almost 20 bands within just one week. Good god.


#37

Victims
Trap Them
Black Breath
Torch Runner
Blck Vise

@ The Brewery 06/08/09


Despite the less than spectacular turnout, this turned out to be quite a rager. Props to Scottie P for booking this one, but a big WTF to whoever handled sound for the show. Vocals were buried for every band except the first one.

Blck Vise were on first and played exceptionally well to whoever decided to come inside and watch them. It was solid heavy punk, though it was a bit of a bummer knowing they were disbanding after only a few more shows.

I don't think I could ever get tired of watching Torch Runner. They're probably the loudest, most pissed-off band in the carolinas and make me slightly less ashamed to live in NC. The new songs fucking killed, and it was actually cool to look around and see members of the other bands into it too. I expect them to blow up in 2009.

Black Breath were on next, and I honestly wish I could say something slightly more intelligent about their performance, but I think I'll just stick with HOLY SHIT! This band fucking destroyed everything. I had downloaded the Razor to Oblivion EP a while ago and while it was fun, I wasn't completely sold on them. After this though, well, consider me a believer. The band played unbelievably tight, and the riffs were all instantly memorable. I don't know when Stockholm became the new Gothenburg, but after hearing bands like these guys, I don't mind at all. If I had more cash, I would have bought a shirt.

Honestly, I love Trap Them. A lot. But every time I've seen them, they destroy live, but are usually upstaged by the bands they perform with (Torch Runner the 1st time, Napalm Death the 2nd time). It really wasn't an exception tonight. That being said, they still did destroy. Playing a lot of material from SIBP, with a couple of tracks from Sleepwell and Seance thrown in for good measure. It was cool to actually see a few more folks into them this time as well, such as when Ryan McKenny went onto the floor for Guignol Serene and a few people (myself included) swarmed him for the end lyrics. Sweet. I took video of them playing "Mission Convincers" and "Gutterbomb Heaven..." which I hope to upload soon.

And now for the sweet finish, Victims from Sweden. It was their 2nd or 3rd time coming to the states if I'm not mistaken, and as they pointed out, their second time in NC. The setlist was quite long, and included quite a few numbers I wanted to hear (This is the End and We're Fucked being the ones I sang along to the loudest). I also got a few props from the band for my Nasum shirt. Thanks dudes. As for the performance, they smoked. D-beat/crust bands are usually never boring live, at least from the ones I've been able to catch before. They seemed to be having a blast from what I could tell. I picked up the new 7" and a "Killer" shirt after the set.



#38

Summer Slaughter 2009:
Necrophagist
Suffocation
Darkest Hour
Winds of Plague
Dying Fetus
Born of Osiris
Origin
Beneath the Massacre
After the Burial
Blackguard
Thou Shall Burn

@ Amo's Southend 06/10/09

My first venture to Charlotte, and it's really all thanks to a certain lady named Amanda who was kind enough to get me and my friend Dylan into the show for free. Good deal if you ask me. I could give a review of Charlotte itself, but that'll be saved for another time.

We got there a little late, thinking we were going to miss Blackguard, but it turns out there was a local opener to the show. It also turns out it was a band I've (sort of) seen before, Thou Shall Burn. They seemed to have gotten a little better since the last time I saw them, but they were still pretty forgettable death metal.

Thankfully, I didn't miss Blackguard. There's been a lot of hype behind these guys (and gal drummer) and I wanted to see if it was justified. After this performance, yeah I'd say they deserve some attention. A nice mix of melodic black/folk metal, with some fairly cheeky lyrics thrown in. The singer's mic kept going in and out, which kind of brought down the mood a little bit, and I personally wished the circle pit they called for had been a little bigger. Oh well. I've gotta give their record a d/l.

After the Burial and Beneath the Massacre were my first of two attempted "breaks," seeing as how neither band has ever really impressed live or on record. I caught a little of the end of both bands. The former is still pretty average, with their Meshuggah riffs being the only interesting part of their set. The latter were a LOT tighter than they were when I saw them 2 years ago (ironically) at Summer Slaughter 2007. Not great, but not as awful as they were once.

Origin were one of the 4 bands I was most excited to see on this, and minus some technical problems that befell the band halfway through their set, they didn't disappoint. Probably some of the most insane musicianship I've ever seen. They didn't play for as long as I had wanted them to, but that was expected. Hopefully they come through the carolinas again.

Born of Osiris were another "break" band for me, and from what I saw of their set was downright BAD. Jesus christ. I really wish all these new "tech" bands would quit with the abundance of breakdowns in their songs. The keyboardist was also mostly useless, serving more as a hypeman than a member of the band.

The last time I saw Dying Fetus, they played an excruciatingly long set at Lucky's Pub. This time, they played a surprisingly short set (5 songs!). Part of me was actually disappointed. Strange. Anyway, they were pretty good. They definitely had the most brutal pit of the day, with seemingly every weightlifter and overweight death metal d00d coming out of their house for their set.

I avoided Winds of Plague like, no pun intended, the plague. Band sucks, their fans suck, only on the tour because their keyboardist is fucking the drummer for Darkest Hour (at least that's what Suffocation's bassist said).

I think I've lost count with how many times I've seen Darkest Hour live, but I'd estimate it's probably between 10-12. That's not a complaint mind you, as they've delivered live almost every time I've seen them. They did a damn good job this time as well, but they were definitely out of their environment. Too many people standing their with blank expressions or just not choosing to do anything for their set. It was kind of cool being recognized by the band themselves though, including getting "you know what to do" spoken to me at the beginning of The Sadist Nation. Picked up Deliver Us on vinyl after the show was over.

Suffocation should have closed this show. I don't think there was any need for ANY band to follow them up after the job they did. As I've stated before, I'm really choosy with death metal, but these guys absolutely slay live. The set was comprised of mostly Blood Oath and Effigy of the Forgotten material. They got quite a nasty circle pit going for Infecting the Crypts. Frank went on a little rant about religion that seemed to go over well with most of those in attendance. Got to remember to find that new record when I get the chance.

I know some folks will crucify me for saying this, but Necrophagist were really boring. On record, I can't take a whole lot of what they do, but live, it was almost unbearable. Guys, at least look like you enjoy what you do. As far as technicality goes, they were on par with their records. But it was still boring.

Afterward, we all decided to hit the road (4 hour drive, oy), but not before we stopped by Waffle House (and I said bye to John Henry of Darkest Hour :P). Again, thanks to Amanda and Derek from Suffocation for being super cool and getting me in.


#39

Dillinger Escape Plan
The #12 Looks Like You
Knife the Glitter
The Lineage
The Reaping

@ The Brewery 06/12/09


It took me almost 6 years to do it, but I finally got to see DEP! Too bad the rest of the lineup wasn't as solid.

Zoroaster and ASG were originally supposed to be support for this show, but for reasons that are still unknown to me, they both dropped off. No big loss with ASG not playing, but I was thoroughly bummed to not see Zoroaster. The blow was more painful, considering who their replacements were.

I honestly wish I could tell you the difference between The Reaping and The Lineage, but I don't really think there were any differences. The music was near-identical, with the same shitty abundance of breakdowns and metalcore/deathcore cliches that I think most people have grown tired of these days (though judging by the moshing both bands got, Raleigh may be helping keep this crap alive). At the very least, as my friend Eli who rode up with me said, they got the place to wake up and show some energy. Doesn't really help their music though.

Knife the Glitter seems to get either a lot of love or a lot of hate from DEP fans who've seen them tour with the band before. I suppose you could say the most interesting parts of their set were the Phil Anselmo spoken word samples thrown in between songs. The music itself, wasn't really my cup of tea (instrumental 3 piece technical post-rock). They weren't terrible like the previous bands, but they weren't terribly interesting.

When I caught #12LLY on Sounds of the Underground two years ago, the best part of their set was their drummer. He was insanely talented, but he parted ways with the band some time ago in order to join Horse the Band (smart move). With him gone, I really didn't want to watch. And I didn't. Eli said they were abysmal though, and he even liked one of their albums.

Finally, after what felt like forever, DEP came on. They opened with a very eerie instrumental piece that apparently is going to be on the new record, and went right into Fix Your Face. The place went up pretty quickly. The band had an insane amount of energy and crazy stage presence, fueled by a light show that surprisingly wasn't annoying and nearly crisp clear sound. DEP had their own sound guy travel with them, which was a smart choice when I think back to the Victims show. The set was comprised of mostly Miss Machine and Ire Works material, with a few oldies (Under the Running Board, Sugar Coated Sour) and rarities (Come to Daddy, When Good Dogs Do Bad Things, Horse Hunter) thrown in for good measure. The audience was eating it up too. They even ate it up when Greg, the singer, tore dangling pieces of the Brewery's ceiling off and threw it at the audience. They loved it when Jeff and Ben, the guitarists, stagedived onto them while still playing perfectly. It was truly magnificent. When they closed with 43% Burnt, the floor almost turned into a blood bath. Everyone who seemed to fatigued suddenly had a burst of energy again, and they went berserk. It was probably the most satisfying performance I've seen this year, and it easily topped all of the other bands I've seen so far.

#35 & #36

#35

Pavlichenko
Plague
Shards
Wall

@ The Soapbox (Downstairs) 06/04/09


A sort of local punk/grind/thrash showing. Unfortunately, I arrived too late to catch Audacity and Surf Nazis on Ecstasy, and I really bummed to miss the latter. I did get there in time to catch Wall, who are still really righteous. I've seen these guys a handful of times already and this might have been the best time. The sound wasn't quite so deafening as it has been in the past, but everything still had the power and intensity it's had in the past.

Shards didn't really impress me. They had good energy and seemed to really be into what they were playing, but I was honestly bored throughout most of their set. Sorry guys.

Plague weren't musically amazing either, but they were more entertaining. The singer was certainly something else. He wore his sunglasses and a big denim jacket for the entirety of their set, and seemed to want to run into everyone, be it on purpose or accidental. He alone was worth the price of admission.

Pavlichenko closed out and did a fine job like always. I wish they'd put out an album already, seeing as how they're too musically talented to be just a "live" band. Great riffs, great dudes, good speed (the music that is).


#36

Indian
Dr. Powerful
Empire State Troopers

@ Reggie's 06/06/09

Weedeater was originally supposed to play this one, but due to a mishap involving Keko, the drummer, damaging/losing his finger after slashing his girlfriend's tires (don't ask), they dropped off. A big blow to the show if you ask me.

Empire State Troopers were kind of interesting. They had a chick singer who didn't really sound like a chick (even when she was talking). They played a mixture of old style hard rock and new school hard rock, meaning there were some songs that hit, and some that really didn't. Nice folks though. They offered a free d/l of their album because I took pics of their set.

Dr. Powerful were on next, and they were yet another band that didn't necessarily fit the bill. Playing kind of post-punk/post-hardcore with some almost dancy beats. Their main singer looked like Nate Newton from Converge/Doomriders fame. Not bad, but I don't think I'd be in a hurry to see them again.

And on next to close the night were Chicago's own doomsters, Indian. I needed some good riffs to really get me back in a good mood, and they definitely provided it. Before I forget to say it, these guys were LOUD. Sunn amps are cool, but in small spaces, they can make your experience painful. They were still pretty damn good though. Their set seemed shorter than the other bands' were. Oh well.