Metal Alliance Tour -- Lawrence, KS -- April 15th, 2012

Even though the lineup of this year's Metal Alliance tour paled in comparison to last year's, it was still a really fun show. The Granada had a good amount of people in it that were ready to mosh and give their all for each band on the bill.

The first band of the day was local band Enemies Laid To Rest. The music they played was a big like a typical melodic metalcore band, not so unlike Killswitch Engage or As I Lay Dying. Their drummer was the vocalist as well, and he really worked his small kit all over the place. A great drummer. They weren't great by any means, but they were alright. Kind of just how an opening band should be!

The first band of the tour was Wretched. I really hadn't listened to them before, but they did a great job! I felt like they were the perfect combination of deathcore and technical death metal that just caused for great stupid fun. Their guitarists can shred, too. Fun stuff, if not the most intellectually stimulating music.

After them was Impending Doom. I've seen them before and while I definitely didn't like their performance, at least they didn't preach about their religion that much. But that wasn't the case this time. I couldn't care less about what religion people are or if it is used in their lyrics or anything, but to force those on the crowd you're playing to and then having a flippant attitude toward them if it isn't received very well just isn't cool in my book. They still play supremely boring deathcore - still one of the worst bands in the genre.

Next was 3 Inches of Blood, the first band I was super excited to see. And they slayed! The stuff they played off their new album sounded fantastic, I'm going to have to pick it up. The circle pits didn't stop for them the entire time they were on stage, and Cam Pipes has never sounded better. I think tonight might have been the best time I've ever seen 'em! Deadly Sinners was epic as always.

And then that band came on stage. Yes, that band. Job For A Cowboy. This marks the...hold on.........sixth (I think) time I have paid money to witness Job For A Cowboy. It was my fourth time actually seeing them. Yes, I've tried listening to their albums. Yes, I've checked out their new stuff. Yes, I agree they aren't deathcore anymore. They still are supremely boring death metal and everything in their live sound just runs together. I will say that their closer, "Constitutional Masturbation" sounded pretty good in some parts. Other than that...pass.

But now was the point in the concert that I'd been waiting over five years for - Dying Fetus. They played the 2nd metal concert I ever went to, and I haven't had a chance to see them until now. And it was totally worth the wait. Their brand of slamming brutal/technical death metal translated so well live. They didn't rely on gimmicky breakdowns or anything, and the riffing is what got pits and stage divers going, not the singer endlessly chiding the audience to get up there. Every member of Dying Fetus is so ridiculously good at their instruments, especially Sean Beasly for me - the bass during Homicidal Retribution killed me. It was some of the purest, excellent moshing I've ever seen for a band, and everyone in the venue ate up everything Dying Fetus was putting out. Spot on in every song, and the new songs sounded great too. Honestly probably in my top 3 performances I've ever seen. I need to see them again, RIGHT NOW.

The Faceless closed out the show for me. I thought I wouldn't like them because there was no way to follow up Dying Fetus, but I'm really glad I stuck around for all of their set. They opened up with Prison Born, which I don't think they've done all tour long. The Planetary Duality songs sounded magnificent and all the solo's and technical riffs sounded just like the album. The new song was super, super weird, but in a good way! Again, I'll be jonesin' to see these dudes soon in the future.

I left before DevilDriver - It's kind of my ritual nowadays.

But yeah, would I have liked another Metal Alliance tour in the same style as the 2011 version? Of course. And I really hope the tour goes back to that style in years to come. But tonight was a fantastic show. Behemoth tomorrow.

Wretched:

Cimmerian Shamballa
Dilated Disappointment
Repeat? The End Is Near
My Carrion
Fetal Consumption

Impending Doom:

Murderer
There Will Be Violence
Anything Goes
For The Wicked
More Than Conquerors

3 Inches of Blood:

Leather Lord
Deadly Sinners
Metal Woman
God of the Cold White Silence
Battles and Brotherhood
Dark Messenger
The Goatriders Horde

Job For A Cowboy:

Entombment of a Machine/Embedded
Black Discharge
Regurgitated Disinfomation
Imperium Wolves
Unfurling a Darkened Gospel
Plastic Idols
Constitutional Masturbation

Dying Fetus:

Your Treachery Will Die With You
From Womb to Waste
Homicidal Retribution
Invert the Idols
One Shot, One Kill
Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)
Killing on Adrenaline
Kill Your Mother / Rape Your Dog

The Faceless:

Prison Born
Sons of Belial
New Song
Legion of the Serpent
An Autopsy
Xenochrist

The Faceless: 8.5/10
Dying Fetus: 11/10
Job For A Cowboy: 4/10
3 Inches Of Blood: 8.5/10
Impending Doom: 2/10
Wretched: 7/10
Enemies Laid To Rest: 6/10

Skipping Kansas: too much!

I've seen the history of places like the Static Bar and the Bottleneck back in the day. It's depressing how many awesome metal tours now skip over this part of the states.

Ensiferum recently announced a US tour with Hypocrisy (who have tapped Children of Bodom frontman Alexi Laiho as a touring guitarist!), Ex Deo (Kataklysm frontman's side band), and Black Guard (formerly: Profugus Mortis). The fantastic pagan tour 's closest KC-area date is most likely Texas or Minnesota.

The first pagan tour of 2010 was announced, yet is nowhere near us KC folk. Korpiklaani will be hitting the road with Tyr, and support will come from Swashbuckle and White Wizzard. Closest date looks to be Tulsa, OK at the Flytrap Music Hall on January 23rd.

And last but not least, Dying Fetus will not be coming here on their first tour supporting their amazing new album, "Descend Into Depravity", although more dates are rumored to be announced. Co-headlining will be The Faceless, and support will come from (on select dates): Vital Remains, Beneath The Massacre, Annotations of an Autopsy, and Enfold Darkness. Looks like the closest current date is Denver, CO on November 18th.

Hatebreed will be here! (kind of)

Talk about going to a show for the opening acts. Hatebreed will be touring behind their newest all-covers album "For The Lions" later this year, and they will be Springfield at Remmington's Downtown. The lineup is this:

Hatebreed
Chimaira
Winds of Plague
Dying Fetus
Toxic Holocaust

Dying Fetus, Toxic Holocaust? Technically, the only really bad band on the bill is Winds of Plague! I'm gonna try and catch this!

Skipping Kansas: Summer Slaughter (again)

After a complete (or near) sell-out at the Bottleneck back in 2007, Summer Slaughter, for the second year in a row, is skipping Kansas (and Missouri, Oklahoma, Nebraska...wtf?). Closest date is going to be either Denver or Minnesota. The tour returns this year with, in my opinion, the best line-up yet, featuring Necrophagist and Suffocation with support from Ensiferum, Dying Fetus, and Wichita's very own ORIGIN! Write angry e-mails for this one, folks.

Full dates:

http://sumerianrecords.com/summerslaughter/usa2009/Dates.jpg

Summer Slaughter 2009 Line-up Revealed?

NECROPHAGIST
SUFFOCATION
ENSIFERUM
DARKEST HOUR
WINDS OF PLAGUE
DYING FETUS
BORN OF OSIRIS
ORIGIN
AFTER THE BURIAL
BLACKGUARD

That's right, Kansas's own Origin (possibly the best technical/brutal death metal band the US has to offer right now) is gonna be on this mofo. Besides from Winds Of Plague, this looks lile the best Summer Slaughter yet. :D

Pillage the Village!

This right here, kids, is going to be a hell of a show. I've seen Necrophagist twice and Dying Fetus and BtM once, and they all put on a fantastic show. Too bad I won't be here. :( School nights and 3 hour drives don't mix well. Someone go to this for me!

Full dates for those who can't read 'em:

8/26/08 @ "Studio Seven" - Seattle, WA
8/27/08 @ "Rock N Roll Pizza" - Portland, OR
8/28/08 @ "The Venue" - Boise, ID
8/29/08 @ "Club Boom Va" - Ogden, UT
8/30/08 @ "Black Sheep" - Colorado Springs, CO
8/31/08 @ "Club Oz" - Wichita, KS
9/01/08 @ "Rockstar Nightclub" - St Louis, MO
9/02/08 @ "Headliners" - Louisville, KY
9/04/08 @ "The Penny Arcade" - Rochester, NY
9/05/08 @ "The Palladium" - Worcester, MA (w/ Carcass, Suffocation, 1349, Aborted)
9/06/08 @ "Nokia Theatre" - New York, NY (w/ Carcass, Suffocation, 1349, Aborted)
9/07/08 @ "Steppin Out" - Virginia Beach, VA
9/08/08 @ "Lincoln Theatre" - Raleigh, NC
9/09/08 @ "Starland Ballroom" - Sayreville, NJ (w/ Carcass, Suffocation, 1349, Aborted)
9/10/08 @ "Northern Lights" - Albany, NY
9/13/08 @ "Jannus Landing" - St. Petersburg, FL (w/ Carcass, Suffocation, 1349, Aborted)

And here's their tasty set from a couple days ago:

Stabwound
Only Ash Remains
Intestinal Incubation
Epitaph
Diminished to B
Foul Body Autopsy
To Breathe in a Casket
Extreme Unction
Ignominious and Pale
The Stillborn One
Fermented Offal Discharge