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The Palladium
Worcester, MA
April 26, 2008
The 10th Annual New England Metal Fest found me and the other two assclowns out in full force for the Saturday lineup, the one that most appealed to our current tastes in metal!
 The first act we caught was Monstrosity on the main stage, and by the sound of their set they're still cranking out the same powerful brutal death metal they did back in the early nineties when I first heard them. They played mostly new songs in their short set, which was literally 15 minutes with them almost getting pushed off the stage for the next band. I've lost track of them over the years but it sounds like they haven't lost track of their brand of metal fans know and love!
Skeleton Witch were the next band on the main stage that impressed me with their brand of classic thrash mixed with a traditional metal sound. Powerful vocals and double lead guitars and a rhythm section that would please any classic metal fan. Skeleton Witch were definitely my favorite new discovery of this years Metal Fest!
Next it was up to the second stage to catch the mighty Soilent Green play a blistering 20 minute set of grindcore influenced metal. Playing mostly songs from their newest CD, they had the room grooving and at times moshing. This is a band that are veterans of the extreme metal scene and it's great to see them going as strong as they were 10 or 12 years ago!
After a dinner at the always deliciously reliable Four Seasons (Freddie!) we made it back to the venue in time to catch Vital Remains last song. Taking over for former lead vocalist Glen Benton, was Worcester's own, and Zircon frontman Scott Wily who handled the lead vocals admirably. The rest of the band seemed to have the same power and fury I've known them to have.
Kataklysm kicked some serious ass in their 30 minute set as did death metal super group Hate Eternal. Overkill cancelled so we were treated to GASPetc favorites, Behemoth sooner than scheduled, and they annihilated the place as usual with their dark religious-hatred fueled 45 minute set playing a smoking set comprised mostly of songs from Demigod and their newest opus, The Apostasy. They truly are what has made the past 3 or 4 Metal Fest events what they have become known for, absolute brutality!
All in all it was another day of extreme metal as only the NE Metal Fest can provide, and I look forward to seeing many more!
B -Matt Smith
With Daylight Dies
BB King's
NYC, NY
May 20, 2008
Messiah who?
As everyone knows, the much publicized bitter breakup between Candlemass and charismatic, emotive vocalist Messiah Marcolin occurred in late 2006. Since then, Solitude Aeturnus frontman Rob Lowe has taken on the job, leaving the doomsters of the world wondering whether or not he could fill the epic shoes of Messiah. Well, let me answer that question for the world of Doom.
He can.
Opening up for them was North Carolina doom/death act Daylight Dies. Not knowing much about these guys beforehand, I wasn’t expecting too much. Once they began, though, they proved that they would not be upstaged by Candlemass (even though they slightly were). The harsh vocals complimented their morose riffing and pace, and the entire first row engaged in a synchronized headbang. Their songs were lengthy—the usual somber doom length. Throughout their entire thirty minute set, the crowd ate them up. They perfectly whet the appetite for the towering majesty of Candlemass that was to come.
After a thankfully short wait , the forefathers of Doom graced us with their monumental presence. Rob Lowe put the mic to his mouth and boomed those ever-familiar words: “I bind unto myself today the strong name of the Trinity.” Then, the mammoth guitar riff chimed in a “Well of Souls” induced the crowd into a headbanging frenzy. Hair flew into my face. Instead of taking a break between songs, the mighty band just went straight into the grandiose, overpowering “Mirror Mirror.” It was clear that Rob Lowe wasn’t afraid of going after the challenging range of Messiah Marcolin. He went straight for the piercing high notes, and usually hit them. Sometimes, when he couldn’t hit the notes, it was a welcome departure, as Messiah’s fierce vibrato often overpowered the serenity of Candlemass classics such as “At the Gallows End” and “Dark are the Veils of Death.” Chants of “Fuck Messiah” were heard sporadically throughout the night.
While the crowd of course wanted to hear the classics, the band truly flourished on stage when playing their newer material. When playing the songs off their new album, King of the Grey Islands, the Swedish doomsters simply clicked. Everything fell into place. Every note came across with the crisp, foreboding sound trademarked by Candlemass. Doing songs like “Emperor of the Void,” Lowe communicated with the crowd, getting them involved. It’s not like he had to try, though! Other new songs like “Devil Seed” and Of Stars and Smoke” came off equally as demonstrative and echoed the newfound inspiration within Candlemass.
Rob Lowe put a new twist into some classic Candlemass tracks. His straightforward mournful tone brought forth a sense of hopelessness during “At the Gallows End” and “Solitude.” At the same time, Rob interacted with the crowd in a humanistic way that Messiah just never could. Lars Johansson clearly had a great time onstage, loving the American soil. He executed the classic solos in fresh, energetic fashion. Over on bass, Leif was obviously enjoying himself as well. Especially during the newer material, a smile could be seen across his often somber face.
How do I rate a show that came across so perfectly? The band synched up effortlessly; Lowe’s vocals carried classic songs with newfound power and majesty; and the band was clearly ecstatic to be rocking American audiences for the first time in seventeen years. If I could rate this higher than an A+, I would.
A+ -Adam Kohrman
with Kylesa, Lair Of The Minotaur, and Withered
Church
Boston, MA
May 24, 2008
Formerly the Linwood Grill, church has become the place to see some damn good metal shows that are too small to get into the Palladium in Worcester. So that is what brings me to church on this fine Saturday night in May.
Considering there were 6 bands(!) booked on this night it's safe to say I didn't catch the first two, Boston's own To the Wolves and Hirudinea. But I did get there in time to catch Withered's set of Black Doom style metal. Playing mostly songs from their new disc Folie Circulaire they kicked the place into gear and had the roughly half-filled venue moving to their heavy sound. At times I became a bit bored with the more Black Metal parts of their songs, but just as I was losing interest they would break into a slower doomier riff. I would like to see these guys do a headlining show sometime to see what damage they can really do!
Up next were Chicago's own Lair of the Minotaur, out in support of their brilliant Southern Lord metal masterpiece, War Metal Battle Master. They hit the stage with a thrashing fury I haven't witnessed in a metal band in a long time. Playing a good portion of their set with War songs they plowed through as many as their time allotted them and did it with a tight set that had me up front witnessing the fury first hand. Lead vocalist and guitarist Steve Rathbone layed down some sick riffs while assaulting our ears with his roaring battle cry vocals. Bassist DJ Barraca and drummer Chris Wozniak held the rhythm section down like a herd of stampeding bulls. Already on their third record for Southern Lord, with two more to go, this is a band you MUST see live to fully experience their fury!
Up next were Kylesa, who, with their two drummer line-up rocked us pretty damn hard by way of a heavy stoner vibe, not unlike a rockier version of Kyuss with female vocals. I had to leave early in their set to interview Lair  of the Minotaur, but what I saw made me a fan!
Now, as I mentioned earlier, there were 6 bands on this bill tonight, so needless to say by the time The Ocean were done setting up their gear onstage, it was 12:45 am! Unfortunately there wasn't anyone there to move along the openers so that there would be ample time for The Ocean to play their complete set, so they had to cut it down to about 30 minutes because of the curfew at church. But that 30 minutes proved to be an amazing set of powerful low-end intelligent metal that borders on progressive. Being their first time in the US, they were more than ready to kick our assess, which they did with songs mostly culled from their newest Metal Blade release Precambrian. Their stage set up had these trippy multi-colored led-like lights flashing off and on in sequence with the music and only added to the disorienting heaviness they were playing. Looking visibly disappointed when they had to end their set, the audience that had come to witness this phenomenon begrudgingly accepted defeat and headed home or to the merch table (guess where I ended up?).
Check out some photos from the show here.
A -Matt Smith
with Chimaira and Soilent Green
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
June 24, 2008
Probably one of the most anticipated shows of the year, Dethklok brought their multimedia event to the Palladium in Worcester for one sold out show to an adoring, albeit young and violent crowd.
 Opening the show early (6:50 PM) was Soilent Green, who cranked out their grindcore thrash songs as the place quickly filled up. Honestly, considering what veterans these guy are in the extreme metal scene, they should have been on right before Dethklok, but no such luck! Instead Chimaira bored us with their metalcore sound, oh well, it just gave me and the other assclowns time to down more beers!
Starting their set with a video screen depicting the panel of experts from the Metalocalypse series, they discussed how they could control the audience that were going to see the Dethklok tour with a mind controlling gas that would be pumped into each venue Dethklok played. As soon as the clip was over, they kicked right into the "Detheme" and had the knuckleheads moshing like it was the eve of the Apocalypse. They then kicked right into "Briefcase Full Of Guts" complete with the video playing behind them. Speaking of the videos behind them, they were mostly collected from the show and first season DVD, but there were a slew of new images and funny bits like new material with Dethklok mascot, Facebones, one especially funny Facebones clip was one about moshing.
"Birthday Dethday", "Awaken", "Bloodrocuted" were all superbly executed by show creator Brendon Small on lead vocals and guitar, first season voice guy Mike Keneally on guitar, drummer extraordinaire "mean" Gene Hoglan, and bassist Bryan Bello. They sounded extremely tight ad if you closed your eyes and used your imagination, you could actually picture Dethklok up there playing the songs themselves!
No Dethklok concert would be complete without the "Dethjingle" which made the crowd go even crazier than before. "Dethharmonic", "Castratikron", "Go Forth And Die" all sounded even heavier than they do on the Dethalbum. A break in the show was provided as a hilarious new clip with Murderface taking a piss and the rest of the band going into the bathroom to fetch him. If this clip isn't on a live DVD of the tour or the second season DVD I will be truly pissed, pun intended! Next, Pickles "took over" on lead vocals for "Hatredcopter" while "Murmaider" and "Thunderhorse" were personal favorites of the night for me.
For the encore they concluded the expert panel bit about killing the fans before they launched into "Go Into The Water" and show closer "Fansong", indicating how much the band hates us fans! For a tour based on a cartoon it was pretty fucking cool, aside from the aforementioned knuckleheads moshing a little too rough for my taste! But the coolest part of the night was hanging out after the show (it ended before 10 PM) and meeting the band and getting to do my Dr. Roxxo impression for Brendon, "LETS GO GET SOME HOOKERS AND ICE KUH-KUH CREEEEAAAAM!!!!" This fanboy's dream was fulfilled, 'nuff said!
A -Matt Smith
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
June 27, 2008
Matt and I met up at the bar across the street from the Palladium a bit before show time. While watching the line outside the venue dissipate after they opened the doors, we enjoyed a couple of beverages. The line was gone, so we decided to fetch our tickets and head in.
 First up were deathcore youngsters Whitechapel. Playing to about a half filled venue, they made the most of their 20 minute set. Playing two songs each from each of their releases, they got the crowd going fairly well. Vocalist Phil Bozeman pulls off all the crazy stuff from their recordings quite well live, and drummer Kevin Lane keeps up the frantic pace perfectly. I'm still not convinced that they really need three guitarists, though. I'd like to see these guys in a small venue with a longer set to see if they can keep the energy going.
Australian technical death metallers Psycroptic were next, with the crowd slowly growing a bit now. They, too, had about a 20-minute set to work with, and featured songs from their last two releases. They were spot on with all the technical bits, and vocalist Jason Peppiatt had tons of energy to help get the crowd into it a bit better. The sound was a bit murky through their set, though.
Born of Osiris was up next. We had meters to feed so our rides home wouldn't get towed away, so we took the opportunity to do that now...as well as check out the bar across the street again to quench our never ending thirst.
We made a pit stop on the way back in to speak with a friend at the Palladium, but I snuck out a bit early to catch as much of Belgium's Aborted as possible. Holy fucknuts were they good. I sadly missed their first two songs, but the four songs I saw spanned their last four releases, and were performed perfectly. Totally insane stuff. Please come back and do a club tour soon!
Mati and I ran into someone else we know, and decided to skip to the back to chat for a bit. After all, Despised Icon and The Faceless weren't really on out list of bands to check out today. We spent much of their sets chatting with various people and quenching the aforementioned never ending thirst.
 Crayptopsy hit the stage next, and while I think that The Unspoken King is terrible, I wanted to see what they did live with their new vocalist - maybe, just maybe, they'd be good live still. First off, they play this terrible intro (see "It's Dinner Time" on their myspace page). Thankfully, they only play one new song live. Not so thankfully, they also butchered 4 older songs. I guess it's not so much "they" as "he", because the new singer just seemed to be grunting and piq-squealing the same thing over and over for the entire set. His between song banter was pretty lame as well. The crowd seemed very un-interested in anything they were doing. Flo did break out his pink-LED tipped drum sticks at one point - that is totally freakin' metal!
 This is what I've been waiting for. Poland's Vader was up next to kick ass for a way too-short 30-minute set. The bands been around for 25 friggin' years, and they only get a 30 minute? It's criminal if you ask me. Anyway, they made the absolute most of the time they were given. Playing songs from just about their entire career (although not going all the way back to their debut, The Ultimate Incantation), Vader blew the crowd away the entire time. By this time, the venue was pretty packed, and it seemed like most were up front enjoying themselves during this set - I know Mati and I were. Absolutely brutal would sum it up nicely I think. Peter's vocals and Daray's drumming were, of course, damn near perfect, and guitarist Mauser and temporary bassist Martin were no slouches either. The crowd wanted more after their set ended, but the crew was already dismantling their set before they could say thanks.
 Kataklysm was next, and they were out to show that there are still some metal bands from Montreal that can kick ass. Getting a 45-minute set, their set focused on their release from the past 7 years. Fiercely brutal and full of more energy than the energizer bunny, Kataklysm ripped it up for their entire set. Opening with the title track to their latest release, Prevail, and ending with the title track to 2002's Shadows And Dust, they put on a brilliant clinic on how to play kickass death metal.
Headliners Black Dahlia Murder were up next, but by this point, Mati and I had enough metal for the day (hey, we're old bastards and we'd worked up a major thirst during Vader and Kataklysm). We decided to head out and hit the Dive Bar for a late evening thirst quencher before calling it a night.
Check out some photos from the show here.
Grade given doesn't take into account the bands we missed, or Craptopsy as I feel it would be unfair to all the good bands to bring the score down that much.
B+ -Goz
with Darkest Hour, Municipal Waste and Toxic Holocaust
The Palladium
Worcester, MA
July 11, 2008
 We were running a little late to the show and missed the opener Toxic Holocaust, I've heard a lot of good things about this band but it's ok, I was still in plenty of time for AtG. Arrived a couple songs into Municipal Waste, this band is pretty rad to see live. They are just a lot of fun and pretty tight. It's no wonder they have gotten as popular as they have in the past few years. I dig them and if you love thrash or old skate punk/metal I think you should totally dig these guys if you don't already.
Next up was Darkest Hour. A lot of people love this band, but the just don't do it for me. I think they are too showy for me. and I'm not really into their flavor of metal. Don't get me wrong, this band is heavy and very technical, but when I'm waiting for AtG I don't care who you are I want you off the stage so I can see AT THE FUCKING GATES!! They must have known this because I swear their set was maybe 30-40 minutes tops.
So now we wait, it's hot and the Palladium hasn't always been known for the best sound and it's hard to see from where we are. So I figure this is AtG I want to see everything and hear it all too... we went upstairs where I found a small group of my friends sitting direct center of the stage on the balcony. We are close, we have the perfect view, our seats are broken and feel like they could slide out from under us at any moment and they start to do sound checks. Oh yeah this is going to be loud, I can feel it already. The lights go out, the floodlights go on and that little buzzing goes off, "GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
I can't believe this, "Slaughter of the Soul" is the opening song.
Everyone is freaking out, people are screaming, hair is flying around and everyone is completely stoked. I don't know if the sound is better when you sit upstairs or they were that good, but I could hear everything and everyone on that stage. AtG continued crushing the audience through an unbelievable set of 17 songs (listed below) stopping briefly between a few to tank the crowd for coming out. It's been 12 years since this band has been out, and you wouldn't know it by the way they played. The set was pretty long and it seemed like people's energy started to die out a couple times, I don't if people were spent or didn't know a few songs but each time they started a song some group on the floor or balcony were loving it. AtG were probably one of the best live bands I have ever seen... and one of the loudest, its 10 hours later and I still can't hear anything. They played at least 1 song off of every release and did a 2 song encore ("Blinded By Fear" and "Kingdom Gone"). I could write about this for hours but seriously... all you need to know is they were incredible and if you take a look at the set list provided you know I'm telling the truth.
1. Slaughter Of The Soul
2. Cold
3. Terminal Spirit Disease
4. Raped By The Light Of Christ
5. Under A Serpent Sun
6. Windows
7. World Of Lies
8. The Burning Darkness
9. The Swarm
10. Forever Blind
11. Nausea
12. The Beautiful Wound
13. Suicide Nation
14. All Life Ends
15. Need
16. Blinded By Fear
17. Kingdom Gone
A+ -Eric
with Torche and Clouds
The Middle East
Cambridge, MA
July 11, 2008
I had the tough decision of seeing At the Gates in my hometown of Worcester or spending a lot more on gas to drive out to the Middle East in Cambridge to catch a sweet bill consisting of Boris, Torche, and Clouds. Just so you know, I made the right decision, for many reasons, one being, where else are you going to see three bands each with an arsenal of Sunn and Orange amps on stage? As a matter of  fact, I would easily say that collectively, the equipment on that stage at one time could easily feed a starving nation if someone had the guts to auction it off on ebay! Anyway, I digress from my amplifier envy and will start the review.
Clouds were just starting as I walked downstairs and as anyone who has seen these Boston natives live, they know they are a force to be reckoned with on stage. Two guitars blazing, churning out arena rock stoner riffs atop a driving rhythm section with three members sharing the vocal duties (guitarists Jim Carroll and Adam McGrath, and bassist Johnny Northrup). I had seen these guys in Worcester at Ralph's over a year ago and knew they were good live, but seeing them again only cemented that fact. They played choice cuts off their two CDs, "Legendary Demo" and the brand new "We Are Above You" (see my review this issue) to an adoring crowd of local and new fans.
Torche were up next and I have to say I was really looking forward to seeing them as I've been digging their Meanderthal CD ever since Goz passed a promo copy to me earlier this year. They opened their set with an instrumental of The Beatles "She's So Heavy" that got the crowd warmed up for the first track off the amazing Meanderthal disc, "Triumph of Venus" and lead vocalist/guitar Steve Brooks looked like he couldn't be happier (complete with a shit-eating grin throughout most of their set) playing for the sold out crowd that had filled the Middle East this night. They continued to plow through tracks off the aforementioned disc and Juan Montoya on guitar, Jonathan Nuñez on bass, and Rick Smith on drums all played a tight set that had the crowd moshing to their melodic fueled stoner metal. They ended their 45 minute set with the title/last track (and the heaviest) off Meanderthal and it sounded twice as heavy as the album version. All I can say is I absolutely need to see these guys live again!
 The mighty Boris were up next, and by the looks of the crowd, it's what mostly everyone came for and like their Japanese peers The Boredoms, they have this knack to perfectly combine artsy noise, mellow tunes and heaviness and make it work. At times sounding like a artsy, noisy punk-metal band and other times sounding like Pink Floyd, Boris is one band that is definitely unclassifiable. Out in support of their excellent new disc "Smile", they started off their set on a mellow note with the first track off Smile, "Flower Sun Rain". Drummer Atsuo, looking like a Japanese version of Tommy Lee bashing his simple 4 piece kit with arena rock abandon, while touring guitarist Michio Kurihara looked a lot like a Japanese version of Tony Iommi, complete with a Gibson SG and a noisy arsenal of effects that only Thurston Moore's set-up would rival. Moving on to the next song off Smile, "BUZZ-IN" got the crowd moshing (pretty violently at that!) with Takeshi on vocals and a sick double neck guitar/bass combo and Wata wailing away on guitar to this punk metal fueled song. Atsuo and Takeshi share vocals with Atsuo doing a lot of the chanting and screaming parts and Takeshi doing the more actual singing. Guitar effects were in full force on the equally heavy third track from "Smile", "Laser Beam". "PINK" was next and one of only two songs they played not on Smile. "Statement" with it's Motorhead-like guitar riff was the next song to keep the crowds' ears splitting while "My Neighbor Satan" slowed things down with it's mellow tone before the end of the song kicks into heaviness again. The crazy "Ka Re Ha Te Ta Sa Ki--No One's Grieve" and the somber, CAN/Radioheadesque, "You Put Up Your Umbrella" were the precursors to the last untitled track off Smile that ended their set on a heavy noisy note that left me and many other fans there with our mouths hanging open wondering what we just witnessed.
Check out some photos from the show here.
A -Matt Smith
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