We all remember that this whole blog stemmed from our hatred of all things HxC, right? It's been a while since we've talked about something that isn't actually news, but something has come to my attention recently, and I'd like to see what everyone else thinks about it. We all know bands like Suicide Silence, Emmure, The Acacia Strain and all those other bands are more or less obligated to play obscene amounts of breakdowns, it's pretty much their lifeblood. But what would happen if the bands we always stick by, the super heavy, super brutal tr00 bands, the ones we proudly name when we're discussing "real" metal, suddenly managed to sneak a breakdown past us? Would we all yell Cryptopsy and start gathering pitchforks and torches (for the record I actually like the new Cryptopsy), or would people generally be cool with it as long as it doesn't become a constant for that band? Well, that's what I aim to find out, so here's a few examples of songs that are by probably the last bands you would expect to include blatant breakdowns in their songs. Let it be known now that I don't dislike any of these bands, or even the songs that I'm about to show, I'm just remarking that they caught me totally off guard when I first heard them.
Behemoth- "The Reign ov Shemsu-Hor"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FfQHe3P4aM
(Breakdown starts at 2:09)
This is the one that caught me off guard the most. It's pretty much a proven scientific fact that Behemoth is one of the single heaviest death metal bands on the planet, a band that most would say shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as the word "breakdown", but this part sounds like it was ripped right out of an I Declare War song. Granted it's still heavy and beefy enough to make your balls shrivel, but a breakdown is a breakdown is a breakdown. And to think that this is on the same album as some of the songs that have made Behemoth famous, like "Demigod", "Conquer All" and "Slaves Shall Serve". Then again, I guess if you're going to play a breakdown you might as well play it like this, because as far as breakdowns go this is actually really good, and the rest of the song is just as fast and evil as any other Behemoth song.
Vital Remains- "Savior To None, Failure For All"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Pri9RYtUPo
(Breakdown starts at 2:40)
Alright, this one's a little easier to swallow. It's still very much a breakdown, but it doesn't last for very long, and Dave Suzuki plays his signature shredding leads over a good portion of it. This is something that I think deathcore bands could stand to learn a lot from: if you absolutely must play YET ANOTHER fucking breakdown, at least have the other guitarist doing something else over it, like a solo or a cool riff, don't just whore the chugga-chug chug over and over again with both guitars, it's fucking exhausting that way. In any case, I was once again extremely surprised to see a legit death metal band, one generally held in very high regard, suddenly busting out a breakdown, and once again on the very same album that made them famous. However, in this particular case I actually kind of like what the breakdown does for this song. With their lightning fast blast beats, tremolo picking and shredding solos, Vital Remains' brand of blackened death metal is pretty much America's answer to Behemoth, but this breakdown is something of a brief respite from the madness, and with songs that often exceed seven or eight minutes in length, that counts for a lot more than you might think.
Pantera- "Slaughtered"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZI24UQUvuo
(Breakdown is at the beginning of the song)
We all know that Pantera is famous for their constant grooves, the kind of riffs and beats that you just can't help but bob your head to. In fact, most people also know that Pantera has lots of songs with parts that could be considered breakdowns, most notably at the end of "Domination". But nobody seems to mention this song when they're talking about that, and this song is probably the best demonstration of it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love this band and this song, but there is no way that's not a breakdown. For the safety of the person I'm about to talk about I won't use any names, but I have one friend who is a devout Christian and is really big into the Christian metalcore/deathcore scene, and when I showed him this song he said, and I quote, "Oh man, I could totally two-step to this". There you have it, a self-proclaimed hardcore dancer agrees that this is a genuine, bona-fide, two-steppable breakdown, written by none other than Pantera. Do you need any more proof than that?
Fleshgod Apocalypse- "In Honour of Reason"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtDxvvYlxqQ
(Breakdown is at the beginning of the song... again)
Alright, seriously, defend it all you want, that is a fucking breakdown if ever there was one. The first time my friend ever played me this song, I was seriously getting ready to tell him to turn it off and put something else on, because I literally thought he was showing me the new Born of Osiris song or something. Fortunately the awesome kicked in about ten seconds later, and I've been in love with Fleshgod ever since. I'll admit, the pattern is insanely complicated and I have no idea how they managed to memorize and synchronize it (ooh nice rhyme, didn't see that one 'til after I typed it), but the fact is they're only playing the open E string the whole time, so it's a breakdown no matter how you slice it. Normally I would say it might make more sense to have something like that happen in the middle of the song, but in this case it works out nicely, because it's a bit of a fakeout. It's like they're getting it out of their system early, so that when it's over they can stop and yell "PSYCHE!" and then play awesome death metal for the rest of the time. Now that's something I'd like to see a band do at a show, if anyone's reading this who's in a band that regularly plays shows, you can have that idea for free. Send us a video or something if you do, it'll be a good laugh.
Right, you get the point. As I said in the beginning, I'm not trying to demean any of these bands at all, they're some of my all-time favorites, and one breakdown isn't going to change that, I just felt that these specific songs needed to be addressed. Leave your thoughts on all this in the comments below, Tweet about it, Facebook it, whatever the fuck you nerds do on the Interwebs these days. Make sure you make yourself a blogspot profile and follow Mosh Rebellion as well, don't forget that we're trying to bring the number of followers up to fifty so we can do a little something special for you guys and gals. Tell you what, if we can get it to thirty, we'll tell you what it is, and then we'll see if that's enough to put us over to fifty, in which case we'll actually go through with it. Sleep with one eye open, kiddies ;)
Metallica reference FTW
-The Baby Killer
Showing posts with label Fleshgod Apocalypse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fleshgod Apocalypse. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Interview: Paulo Rossi (Fleshgod Apocalypse)
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't giddy as a schoolgirl when I got the chance to interview our next guest. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one Paulo Rossi, bassist of Italy's greatest export, Fleshgod fucking Apocalypse!
Hey man what's up, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. You guys just recently got off your first U.S. tour, and with Suffocation no less, how did America treat you? What did you think of the crowd response for Fleshgod, and what was it like to tour with one of the most legendary death metal bands of all time? Can you tell we're jealous?
Hey! Thank you for your interest and support!
Yeah, our first tour in North America has been nuts! Crowds were absolutley amazing, we didn't expect such a great reaction from the fans, and man, Suffo are GREAT, great people, great musicians! We toured with them in Europe as well and now we're good friends! It's been so good to hit North America for the first time in that package. We had the chance to work with such good bands and people!
Now that you've gotten your name out there, do you guys have any plans to come back to the States anytime soon?
We are about to announce our presence in the Summer Slaughter fest, scheduled for this summer, so definitely yes, we'll come back soon there!
As you may or may not know, the main purpose of this site is to weed out hardcore dancers and all their bullshit, and since that tour also included Through the Eyes of the Dead I'm sure you guys saw your fair share of them, what's your take on them? Did their presence affect your crowd response at all, or would you say they were smart enough to stay away for your set? In fact, what's your opinion on hardcore dancing period, if you have one?
I think TTEOTD are a good band. They are very good guys, nice and helpful people!
I think that the Decibel Defiance tour was not properly their kind of audience, but they managed things so good that I'm sure they made some new fans! The metalcore scene is much more melded with death metal in the U.S. so the crowd was not disappointed about seeing a metalcore band, they just didn't follow the live set of the band if they preferred that!
You guys are often lumped in with other Italian metal bands like Hour of Penance, is there a sort of tight-knit metal scene over in Italy, which is why a lot of the bands from that area tend to sound very similar to each other?
I think every band has its personal way to conceive stuff. In these last years many bands coming out from Italy play death, or brutal death metal, but every one has its mood. For sure the more you go on with that, the more you'll hear different bands coming from our country.
On the other hand, your focus on classical music definitely gives Fleshgod Apocalypse an edge over other bands, what inspired you guys to start putting classical elements into brutal death metal?
That was the basic idea when we started the band, we wanted to have some elements that could be associated immediately with us, so the idea of melding classical with death metal was the first, since everyone in the band loves the classical approach!
Since you guys use so many classical elements, it's pretty obvious that you guys listen to more than just metal, what would you say some of your biggest musical influences are, metal or otherwise?
Surely we have many metal influences as well as classical, rock and even pop music ones! I think a good musician has to know every aspect of music if he wants to be really focused on what he does. Our influences are really various, and on the classical side we're pretty much inspired by Beethoven, Mozart, Mahler, Listz, Verdi, Vivaldi, Bach, Wagner and so on! But in general we're greatly inspired from all the bands or composers which have given an idea to their music, or you could say, which have given a music to their idea.
The new Mafia EP, in many people's opinion, was a huge success; there's a reason why it was in one of our "Best of 2010" lists. Are you guys planning on using any of that material for the next full-length? And while we're on the subject, when do you think we can expect to hear a new album? Any plans to go into the studio anytime soon, or are you just going to ride on the EP for a while?
No, the EP is a closed chapter. We did it as a proper "small album", so it's impossible to take songs from it and using for another one, since every album we make lives for its own. We hope to have new stuff out before the end of this year. That's all I can say about it!
Now that you've done a full U.S. tour, what would you say the biggest difference is between the European and American metal scenes? It seems like metal has a much stronger following over there, whereas it's very difficult for a band that doesn't play a breakdown every ten seconds to make any money in America.
Euro and U.S. scenes are different, and that's a point, in Europe we are more focused on music, but maybe we are too cold when we see a band perform its set, things are the opposite in the U.S. as I experienced, but I think if you're a good band and you manage to give great shows to the people, everyone can pass over the trends or fashion and recognize if the project has a long lasting value or not, that's it!
Well that should just about do it, thanks again for talking to us, guys. Anything else you wanna say to the readers before we call it a day?
Thank you and keep on supporting Fleshgod Apocalypse!
We'll see you all on tour soon!
Paolo, FA
Grazie \m/
You heard it here first folks, Fleshgod Apocalypse are set to perform on this year's Summer Slaughter. Sold! Thanks again to Paulo and everyone in FA for chatting with us, and thank you to all the readers who keep this bad boy going, keep it coming guys. There's plenty more really exciting stuff in the works for Mosh Rebellion, so as always stay tuned.
-The Baby Killer
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Baby Killer's Other Albums That Were Pretty Good of 2010
See that? I stuck to my New Year's resolution. For now...
Anywho, when I looked back at my best of 2010 list, I realized that there was a lot of stuff left out of it, either because it was getting late and I was tired or I just plain forgot about them, so I think I'll close out the week with a continuation of sorts. The following albums were also really damn good and are definitely worth picking up.
Fleshwrought- Dementia/Dyslexia
Tech death fans rejoice, this album is nothing short of a masterpiece. It's a collaboration between Navene Koperweis (not to be confused with the girl from Avatar) of Animals As Leaders and Jonny Davy of Job For a Cowboy, and I gotta say, I have no idea how so much talent can come from two people. Actually, Navene plays all the instruments and Jonny just does the vocals, but it's still arguably his best work to date. If you want to get an idea of what it sounds like, first I would suggest you, I dunno, buy the album and listen to it, but for those of you who need to be wooed first, think The Faceless' first album but WAY heavier and beefy-sounding (which is fitting since Navene played for The Faceless for a while), and obviously with Jonny Davy doing vocals. The music is superbly written and manages to be experimental as all hell, yet undeniably catchy. I'll go on record and say that Mr. Koperweis is one of the best metal musicians of our generation, and his passion for what he does shines through brilliantly on Dementia/Dyslexia. Get it, and get it fast, but I must warn you, the outro to the song "Weeping Hallucinations" will make you feel like you just did a lot of drugs, even if you didn't. And if you did do drugs, for the love of Christ save yourself and turn it off now!
Dimmu Borgir- Abrahadabra
Yes, I'm well aware that this album has been getting a lot of flak lately, so much so that Dimmu was actually named the Worst Band of 2010 in Terrorizer Magazine's reader's poll, but fuck you, it's my best of list, I'll put whatever I damn well please on it, and I happened to like this album, thank you very little. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love a good powerful melody, and what better way to do just that than to record with an entire orchestra? And not that MIDI shit either (I'm looking at you, Winds of Plague), but the real thing. Despite no longer having the two members that made them great, Dimmu managed to put out an album that flat-out defines the phrase "symphonic black metal" by perfectly combining the two genres. They do stumble occasionally (I try to just ignore Agnete Kjølsrud's curious screeches in the first half of "Gateways"), but for the most part the band and the orchestra compliment each other nicely, creating a truly epic sound that they haven't achieved since "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" first gave us brain aneurysms. Not bad for a band that doesn't have a full-time drummer, bassist or keyboardist. Now they just need to bring Vortex back and everything will be right with the world.
Hour of Penance- Paradogma
The general atmosphere of this album can be accurately summed up in three words: blast... fucking... beats! The Italian quartet's latest offering doesn't slow down a bit for its entire duration, and I don't really have a problem with that, like at all. Machine gun drums, gnarly riffs (with occasional shredding), rapid fire vocals and crisp production are what make Paradogma a keeper. Believe me when I tell you folks, this is brutality incarnate. If you can find someone who isn't intimidated by such blasphemous gems as "The Woeful Eucharistry", "Thousands of Christs" and "Spiritual Ravishment", then I'd say you just found yourself a new friend. There's not much else I can say that wouldn't end up being redundant at this point, so just get the damn album and enjoy.
Fleshgod Apocalypse- Mafia
For everything you need to know about Fleshgod Apocalypse's new EP, see the above paragraph but sprinkle the songs with audio clips of classical music. 'Nuff said. Although to be honest I don't really know what the giant octopus has to do with anything, but whatever, it still looks scary.
Short Bus Pile Up- Repulsive Display of Human Upholstery
Last but certainly not least, you may remember these Virginia slamsters from when we featured them in Slam Spotlight a while ago, and they were put there for a very good, very simple reason: their new album is bad-fucking-ass. The only way I can describe it is that the band just got everything right, from the guitar tone to the snare tone to Tyler Sharpes' vocal tone; any tone you can think of, they thought of. And the music ain't too shabby either, with plenty of catchy grooves, brutal slams and just the right amount of new songs and re-recordings to please fans both old and new. If you're looking to get your mosh on, put on songs like "Ball-Peen Beating", "Stench of Her Burning Flesh" and "Gagging On Dick" and see if they don't make you wanna grab someone smaller than you and throw them just for the fuck of it.
Alright, now we can put 2010 behind us for good. It was a pretty rad year for metal, but the forecast for 2011 is looking pretty damn bright as well, so here's to the future. Tell us what your favorite metal memories of 2010 were, or what you're looking forward to the most this year, in the comments below.
TGIF
-BK (gaaahhhh too many acronyms!!!)
Anywho, when I looked back at my best of 2010 list, I realized that there was a lot of stuff left out of it, either because it was getting late and I was tired or I just plain forgot about them, so I think I'll close out the week with a continuation of sorts. The following albums were also really damn good and are definitely worth picking up.
Fleshwrought- Dementia/Dyslexia
Tech death fans rejoice, this album is nothing short of a masterpiece. It's a collaboration between Navene Koperweis (not to be confused with the girl from Avatar) of Animals As Leaders and Jonny Davy of Job For a Cowboy, and I gotta say, I have no idea how so much talent can come from two people. Actually, Navene plays all the instruments and Jonny just does the vocals, but it's still arguably his best work to date. If you want to get an idea of what it sounds like, first I would suggest you, I dunno, buy the album and listen to it, but for those of you who need to be wooed first, think The Faceless' first album but WAY heavier and beefy-sounding (which is fitting since Navene played for The Faceless for a while), and obviously with Jonny Davy doing vocals. The music is superbly written and manages to be experimental as all hell, yet undeniably catchy. I'll go on record and say that Mr. Koperweis is one of the best metal musicians of our generation, and his passion for what he does shines through brilliantly on Dementia/Dyslexia. Get it, and get it fast, but I must warn you, the outro to the song "Weeping Hallucinations" will make you feel like you just did a lot of drugs, even if you didn't. And if you did do drugs, for the love of Christ save yourself and turn it off now!
Dimmu Borgir- Abrahadabra
Yes, I'm well aware that this album has been getting a lot of flak lately, so much so that Dimmu was actually named the Worst Band of 2010 in Terrorizer Magazine's reader's poll, but fuck you, it's my best of list, I'll put whatever I damn well please on it, and I happened to like this album, thank you very little. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love a good powerful melody, and what better way to do just that than to record with an entire orchestra? And not that MIDI shit either (I'm looking at you, Winds of Plague), but the real thing. Despite no longer having the two members that made them great, Dimmu managed to put out an album that flat-out defines the phrase "symphonic black metal" by perfectly combining the two genres. They do stumble occasionally (I try to just ignore Agnete Kjølsrud's curious screeches in the first half of "Gateways"), but for the most part the band and the orchestra compliment each other nicely, creating a truly epic sound that they haven't achieved since "Progenies of the Great Apocalypse" first gave us brain aneurysms. Not bad for a band that doesn't have a full-time drummer, bassist or keyboardist. Now they just need to bring Vortex back and everything will be right with the world.
Hour of Penance- Paradogma
The general atmosphere of this album can be accurately summed up in three words: blast... fucking... beats! The Italian quartet's latest offering doesn't slow down a bit for its entire duration, and I don't really have a problem with that, like at all. Machine gun drums, gnarly riffs (with occasional shredding), rapid fire vocals and crisp production are what make Paradogma a keeper. Believe me when I tell you folks, this is brutality incarnate. If you can find someone who isn't intimidated by such blasphemous gems as "The Woeful Eucharistry", "Thousands of Christs" and "Spiritual Ravishment", then I'd say you just found yourself a new friend. There's not much else I can say that wouldn't end up being redundant at this point, so just get the damn album and enjoy.
Fleshgod Apocalypse- Mafia
For everything you need to know about Fleshgod Apocalypse's new EP, see the above paragraph but sprinkle the songs with audio clips of classical music. 'Nuff said. Although to be honest I don't really know what the giant octopus has to do with anything, but whatever, it still looks scary.
Short Bus Pile Up- Repulsive Display of Human Upholstery
Last but certainly not least, you may remember these Virginia slamsters from when we featured them in Slam Spotlight a while ago, and they were put there for a very good, very simple reason: their new album is bad-fucking-ass. The only way I can describe it is that the band just got everything right, from the guitar tone to the snare tone to Tyler Sharpes' vocal tone; any tone you can think of, they thought of. And the music ain't too shabby either, with plenty of catchy grooves, brutal slams and just the right amount of new songs and re-recordings to please fans both old and new. If you're looking to get your mosh on, put on songs like "Ball-Peen Beating", "Stench of Her Burning Flesh" and "Gagging On Dick" and see if they don't make you wanna grab someone smaller than you and throw them just for the fuck of it.
Alright, now we can put 2010 behind us for good. It was a pretty rad year for metal, but the forecast for 2011 is looking pretty damn bright as well, so here's to the future. Tell us what your favorite metal memories of 2010 were, or what you're looking forward to the most this year, in the comments below.
TGIF
-BK (gaaahhhh too many acronyms!!!)
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Show Review: Suffocation, The Faceless, Through the Eyes of the Dead, Decrepit Birth, and Fleshgod Apocalypse - November 13th in Allentown, PA
Last Saturday, my four buddies and I made a two hour trip to the Crocodile Rock to see the final stop of one of the most epic tours of this year. Things started out pretty slow due to the seemingly endless slew of medio-core local openers, with the exception of the Jersey band Grimus. I had seen these guys once before at a local show in Delaware, and while they are very breakdown happy, they have a very talented drummer, and they hate the douchebag tough guy dancers just as much as we do. Before one of their songs the vocalist even went so far as to go on a rant against them, saying "This song goes out to all the tough guy assholes out there who come to shows just to ruin it for everyone else. Go fuck yourselves!" Funnily enough, there was a group of about six or so dancers flailing it up for their set the whole time, and after he said this they all stopped and looked around like they were confused as to whether or not they should have taken offense to what had just happened, but once the breakdowns resumed they went back and did their thing.
Later, after what seemed like an eternity of sound issues, Fleshgod Apocalypse took the stage, and they decimated from beginning to end. Theatrics was the name of the game for this band, from beginning their set by blaring Beethoven's Fifth over the PA to the tattered conductor's suits they wore as their stage garb. However, they didn't sacrifice musicianship by any means. I had high expectations for Fleshgod, because their recorded material is nothing short of incredible, and they met those expectations beautifully. Both of the songs I wanted to hear the most, "Embodied Deception" and "Through Our Scars", were played, as well as several other songs from both their Oracles CD and their new EP Mafia. The only drawback to their set was how goddamn LOUD they were. Far be it from me to complain about a death metal show being too loud, but when I have a headache and I haven't even started headbanging yet, something's not right. But even still, they played great, and I got to meet their bassist Paulo Rossi when I bought one of their shirts. Nice guy.
Next up was one of my favorite live bands of all time: Decrepit Birth. This was my fifth time seeing them, and I swear they only get better every time. They're one of the few tech metal bands that not only play their songs almost flawlessly live, but also have very energetic stage presence at the same time. Their set list was actually switched up from other times where I've seen them; there were the usual suspects like "Diminishing Between Worlds", "The Infestation" and "Symbiosis", but they also introduced two songs from their new album Polarity that I had never heard them play before- the title track and "Metatron". As per usual, the crowd reaction was great. There weren't pits for every song, but when they did get going they were intense, and vocalist Bill Robinson doing his signature stage dive didn't help matters either. As an added bonus, when they played one of their songs from their first CD, Derek Boyer (Suffocation's current bassist) came out and did guest vocals, culminating in Robinson accidentally hitting him in the head with his microphone, to everyone's amusement. If you ever get the chance to see these guys in concert, do it. You will not be disappointed.
Unfortunately we missed Through the Eyes of the Dead, and the fault was partially our own. After Decrepit Birth started unloading and TTEOTD was preparing to load in, we noticed that more hardcore kids were starting to make themselves known, and also we were long overdue for a joint break, so we decided to sit them out. However, their new CD is top notch, so if they played any songs from it I'm sure they were awesome. The next time they're playing at a show I'm at I will definitely stick around for them.
After that, we made it back in just in time to see The Faceless wrapping up their sound check. The Faceless is another band I've seen multiple times, and like Decrepit Birth, they only seem to get more awesome every time, perhaps even more so because the first time I saw them they weren't very good at all. Before Planetary Dualitycame out, these guys sounded sloppy and uncoordinated, like they knew how to write and record complicated songs but not necessarily play them to an audience. However, that phase is long gone, and The Faceless are now just as impressive on stage as they are on CD. Their set was surprisingly short but still had all the essentials such as "Planetary Duality Pt. 1 & 2", "Xenochrist", "An Autopsy" and "Pestilence", as well as a new song from their upcoming album. The new song was a bit more melodic than one would expect from these guys, but it still had plenty of killer solos and riffs, so I'm interested to see where they're going to take things.
Last but certainly not least, after a long night of very talented bands, the death metal legends Suffocation took the stage to deafening cheers and applause. The crowd seemed to have thinned out a bit by this point in the show, but that didn't dull the intensity of their set one bit. After twenty plus years, these guys still know how to make everyone else before them look stupid and work a bunch of tired-out kids into a frenzy. Just when I thought everyone was going to stop moshing and assume the "headbang a lot, throw the horns and scream the words" phase, Frank Mullen would command someone to start it up again or to get a circle pit going for the next song, and they obliged every single time. Even I couldn't contain myself at one point and jumped in for a round despite my considerable headache. They played songs from all throughout their discography, opening with "Liege of Inveracity" and going right into songs like "Entrails of You", "Funeral Inception", "Blood Oath", "Infecting the Crypts" and many, many more. Another thing that many old school bands seem to fall victim to is lack of stage presence, but Suffocation don't slack there either. Frank, Terrance, Derek and crew all look like they're still having the time of their lives even though they've been doing the exact same thing for two decades. The highlight was when they brought all the vocalists from the other bands on the tour on stage at once to do guest vocals for "Funeral Inception", inciting yet another frenzy from the crowd.
Finally, after at least a dozen songs, Suffocation called it a night, and we all headed for home feeling deeply satisfied (splitting headache, fatigue and extreme thirst notwithstanding). We made new friends, cheered as a tiny, unassuming kid managed to fend off a dancer hell bent on fighting him, defended and won back the pit from the dancers for The Faceless and Suffocation, almost smoked out Bill Robinson, and basically made it a night to remember. Leave your comments below and share your experiences if you went to this tour or have seen any of these bands play at some point.
- The Baby Killer
Later, after what seemed like an eternity of sound issues, Fleshgod Apocalypse took the stage, and they decimated from beginning to end. Theatrics was the name of the game for this band, from beginning their set by blaring Beethoven's Fifth over the PA to the tattered conductor's suits they wore as their stage garb. However, they didn't sacrifice musicianship by any means. I had high expectations for Fleshgod, because their recorded material is nothing short of incredible, and they met those expectations beautifully. Both of the songs I wanted to hear the most, "Embodied Deception" and "Through Our Scars", were played, as well as several other songs from both their Oracles CD and their new EP Mafia. The only drawback to their set was how goddamn LOUD they were. Far be it from me to complain about a death metal show being too loud, but when I have a headache and I haven't even started headbanging yet, something's not right. But even still, they played great, and I got to meet their bassist Paulo Rossi when I bought one of their shirts. Nice guy.
Next up was one of my favorite live bands of all time: Decrepit Birth. This was my fifth time seeing them, and I swear they only get better every time. They're one of the few tech metal bands that not only play their songs almost flawlessly live, but also have very energetic stage presence at the same time. Their set list was actually switched up from other times where I've seen them; there were the usual suspects like "Diminishing Between Worlds", "The Infestation" and "Symbiosis", but they also introduced two songs from their new album Polarity that I had never heard them play before- the title track and "Metatron". As per usual, the crowd reaction was great. There weren't pits for every song, but when they did get going they were intense, and vocalist Bill Robinson doing his signature stage dive didn't help matters either. As an added bonus, when they played one of their songs from their first CD, Derek Boyer (Suffocation's current bassist) came out and did guest vocals, culminating in Robinson accidentally hitting him in the head with his microphone, to everyone's amusement. If you ever get the chance to see these guys in concert, do it. You will not be disappointed.
Unfortunately we missed Through the Eyes of the Dead, and the fault was partially our own. After Decrepit Birth started unloading and TTEOTD was preparing to load in, we noticed that more hardcore kids were starting to make themselves known, and also we were long overdue for a joint break, so we decided to sit them out. However, their new CD is top notch, so if they played any songs from it I'm sure they were awesome. The next time they're playing at a show I'm at I will definitely stick around for them.
After that, we made it back in just in time to see The Faceless wrapping up their sound check. The Faceless is another band I've seen multiple times, and like Decrepit Birth, they only seem to get more awesome every time, perhaps even more so because the first time I saw them they weren't very good at all. Before Planetary Dualitycame out, these guys sounded sloppy and uncoordinated, like they knew how to write and record complicated songs but not necessarily play them to an audience. However, that phase is long gone, and The Faceless are now just as impressive on stage as they are on CD. Their set was surprisingly short but still had all the essentials such as "Planetary Duality Pt. 1 & 2", "Xenochrist", "An Autopsy" and "Pestilence", as well as a new song from their upcoming album. The new song was a bit more melodic than one would expect from these guys, but it still had plenty of killer solos and riffs, so I'm interested to see where they're going to take things.
Last but certainly not least, after a long night of very talented bands, the death metal legends Suffocation took the stage to deafening cheers and applause. The crowd seemed to have thinned out a bit by this point in the show, but that didn't dull the intensity of their set one bit. After twenty plus years, these guys still know how to make everyone else before them look stupid and work a bunch of tired-out kids into a frenzy. Just when I thought everyone was going to stop moshing and assume the "headbang a lot, throw the horns and scream the words" phase, Frank Mullen would command someone to start it up again or to get a circle pit going for the next song, and they obliged every single time. Even I couldn't contain myself at one point and jumped in for a round despite my considerable headache. They played songs from all throughout their discography, opening with "Liege of Inveracity" and going right into songs like "Entrails of You", "Funeral Inception", "Blood Oath", "Infecting the Crypts" and many, many more. Another thing that many old school bands seem to fall victim to is lack of stage presence, but Suffocation don't slack there either. Frank, Terrance, Derek and crew all look like they're still having the time of their lives even though they've been doing the exact same thing for two decades. The highlight was when they brought all the vocalists from the other bands on the tour on stage at once to do guest vocals for "Funeral Inception", inciting yet another frenzy from the crowd.
Finally, after at least a dozen songs, Suffocation called it a night, and we all headed for home feeling deeply satisfied (splitting headache, fatigue and extreme thirst notwithstanding). We made new friends, cheered as a tiny, unassuming kid managed to fend off a dancer hell bent on fighting him, defended and won back the pit from the dancers for The Faceless and Suffocation, almost smoked out Bill Robinson, and basically made it a night to remember. Leave your comments below and share your experiences if you went to this tour or have seen any of these bands play at some point.
- The Baby Killer
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