Show Review: Nile, Ex Deo, Psycroptic and Keep of Kalessin- November 12th in Seattle, WA

        So the night started with two local bands, one was a bunch of middle aged drunk men who played something like groove-metal, not sure why they were on the bill but luckily we missed most of their set. Then the lead singer didn't want to get off the stage so they turned everything off. Then the next local band was pretty okay, definitely a step up. They were something like black metal if I remember right, some cool riffs and some people started to move. They played for about twenty minutes and then Keep of Kalessin was up. (Pathology should have been up, but were in a van accident and couldn't make it).
        I've never listened to the band or even heard of them, but they kind of sounded like Amon Amarth. Their website says "the best live band from Norway," but to be honest I didn't see the big deal. There was really nothing special about them to me, but they do what they do well. A mosh started, and with a show like this, there were no dancers anywhere and if they were to show up, they would be killed. So they played for a half hour and next up was a band I was there to see- Psycroptic!

Psycroptic

They started with and mostly played songs from Ob(servant), with the exception of "Lacertine Forest" and a new song that sounded pretty badass. "Ob(servant)" was the best song of the night for them in my opinion. I got super stoked for that and started the pit, such a good song. Then they ended with "Initiate" and that was that. I was pretty pissed at the amount of people moshing for them compared to Keep Of Kalessin, since Psycroptic had about half the people for some reason. One thing that sorely disappointed me was the lack of Jason Peppiatt. His vocals are so unique but fortunately for him and unfortunately for us he had a kid, nonetheless congrats to him! So since he has unique vocals, his replacement (Zdenek Simecek of Godless Truth) sounded lacking (he was good, but not as good), mainly because he didn't really do anything but lows. And seeing as this was the last tour cycle for Ob(servant), it'll be a while til they come back.

Psycroptic

The next band was Ex Deo. Not a lot to say about them either, damn near every song had the same equation: Sound clip, chant start, fast part, and slower epic ending. So for the first song I was like "yeah, this sounds pretty rad," but it got old quick and to the point where me and a friend just chanted for the whole song. Not a band I would go out of my way to see again.

Nile

        Then the headliners, Nile! Longest sound check ever, but it was worth the wait. They started with "Kafir!" and it was crazy good, just as the rest of their set was. More than half their set consisted of songs from Those Whom The Gods Detest. The bar emptied and all the drunk people came in to mosh. I got to the stage again so I yelled the words along with Karl, very fun band. My friend made his way to the bathroom and apparently there was a guy who got his teeth knocked out, their pit is no joke! For sure the most people in the pit the whole night. No encore or anything, but Karl stood around to shake hands and whatnot. Pretty good show, just wish they were with better bands.

-King of Those Who Know

Why do kids hardcore dance? Not even Karl Sanders knows

King of Those Who Know Show Review: Cattle Decapitation w/ Devourment, Knights of the Abyss, Burning the Masses, and Son of Aurelius October 28th in Seattle, WA

Please welcome another new writer (and old timer apparently) to our midst, King of Those Who Know. Expect more show reviews and blog posts from him in the future.

So the night starts out with local opener Bloodhunger from Tacoma. Not too many people there except the bar, but they were ridiculously good. Usually I'm up to date with local bands but they got by me, and man do I regret it. I definitely think anyone who likes any kind of metal to check them out! They play about half an hour set and some more people start coming in.

Devourment

Next up is Son Of Aurelius, another band of whom I've never heard. Apparently they have a new vocalist. A young band that brings a lot to the table if you like tech death. Some people start getting into them, some headbanging going on and some moshing, not much though. People were more watching then moving, with good reason cause these guys were good!

Another young band is up by the name of Burning the Masses. I've listened to these guys a little on last.fm but just never got into them, for some reason I just assumed they were a lame deathcore band, not a good misconception! The place now has maybe 50 people on the floor, lots in the bar, a pretty good turnout for a Thursday night. A lot of young people showed up for this show, so at least there are young people who know what good music is. These guys go up and shred and I just watch. Now theres a pretty good pit going, with one or two hardcore dancers. These guys played like one breakdown and of course they hardcore dance.... right next to the pit. So a hardcore dancer hits a mosher in the face and theres almost a fight, but security and other moshers break it up. That was the only time my eyes were off BTM, they had great harmonies and straight riffin just about the whole time. A great band that people should check out if they like bands like The Faceless.

Devourment

Now Knights of the Abyss is up. They have talent, but I think they were on the wrong tour. It couldn't have been easy to follow the other acts, cause they just seemed boring to me. No moshing or headbanging for the most part. I was right in front of the stage so I looked back to see the same kid dancing just about the whole time, but no one cared because these guys just didn't cut it. Great talent, but the other bands just had my expectations raised too high for these guys. 

Next up is Devourment, their first time ever in Seattle. They were one of the most heavy, brutal, crushing death metal acts I have ever seen. It was 

Cattle Decapitation

like a bulldozer over everyone, just fast crushing riffs and blast beats. It was almost indescribable. They were a great live act, everyone was moving for these guys, I got into a few pits, almost everyone on the ground was either headbanging or moshing. The live experience was great, this is the true meaning of "heavy." On a side note I think its funny and great that the Hardcore dancers left after KOTA.

Finally the headliners: Cattle Decapitation! I got right in the middle of the stage for these guys, the anticipation was great, made even better by the Terminator song played in the dark. Everything about this band was great; one of the most insane guitarists I've ever seen, the bassist was matching a lot of it. The drummer was amazing, and Travis was in my face for most of the show. The performance was complete with his spitting all over the place and catching it. A live performance that can't be described through words. Everyone was moving for these guys too, just good fun moshing. If you have never seen these guys, I recommend that you go out of your way to see them. They played a lot off the Harvest Floor and some older stuff. After they walked off everyone started to chant "Encore! Encore!" They came out again and Travis asked "you guys want another? how about two more?" then he thanked us for staying for all the bands. He said their next song was "The Decapitation of Cattle" and it was about a second long, then he said seriously thanks for coming out and the next song is "The Recapitation of Cattle" and that song lasted about a second and that was it. Very funny guys that are truly in a league of their own. The only performance I've seen better than this was The Dillinger Escape Plan.

Cattle Decapitation

So the tour's just about finished but I highly recommend that you go to see these bands when they come through your town.