American Waste Festival -- Kansas City, MO -- June 6th, 2009

This was, by far, one of the best things to happen to the metal community in and around Kansas City. I only hope that this fest comes back again and again and again, forever. Such a good time.

I got into the Beaumont's backyard just as Muzzle Loader was starting their set. This band reminded me of when I was in junior high, going to local band house shows. The only thing is that all those bands were generic metalcore/screamo. Same for Muzzle Loader. They should spend less time on thinking how they could jump and do stuff with their guitars to look cool and more time on writing some good music. They have potential, but they're gonna have to dig for it. 5/10

After them on the outside stage as well was Iseah. Again, another generic deathcore band. Nothing special at all. 5/10

The first band worth seeing today was Sicadis on the outside stage. The vocalist was funny, they had good stage presence, and even invited some guests on stage, most notably the vocalist for At the Left Hand of God. They are melodic death metal which at times was worse, but at other times was better. It all evened out and they were very enjoyable. If they took out every instance of clean vocals and kept the same death metal vocals, it'd be great. 7.5/10

One of the main reasons for me attending this wonderful fest was up next on the outside stage and the un-unholy time of 3:15 PM. It was my third time seeing Skeletonwitch and they continue to get better and better each time I see them. They played 3 songs off their new album, due out on October 14th called "Breathing The Fire", so sayeth Chance Garnett. The rest of their set was a brilliant look back through Beyond The Permafrost. On the title song of that album, me and everyone else up close to the stage got to shout the chorus along with Chance into his microphone. They were on fire throughout their entirely to short 30-minute set. But it was 30 minutes of unholy bliss. 10/10

Sacrifice For The Slaughtergod
Fire From The Sky
Limb From Limb
Remains Of The Defeated
Crushed Beyond Dust (new)
Upon Wings Of Black
Beyond The Permafrots
Blinding Black Rage (new)
Where The Light Has Failed (new)
Within My Blood

The first band I saw inside the Beaumont club today was another band who I was really psyched to see: Hammerlord. I've said it before, I'm saying it now, and I'll say it forever more: They are the best band in and around the Kansas City area. And, as evidenced today, they have one of the most talented guitar players ever. The solos were mind-blowing. Every single part of the band clicked and they sounded outstanding. I will continue to support Hammerlord until they're as big as Testament themselves! 9/10

? (new)
Shut Your Eyes
Dead City Radio
Lordess
Thunderers

After Hammerlord, I went outside to see Troglodyte, but the schedule got mixed up. The Killer went on instead. This was, unfortunately, the worst band of the day. They sounded like generic "brocore" hardcore, and the mix was terrible. All I could hear were drums. No one in the band looked into it at all until about the last song. They just didn't sound good at all. 4/10

I decided to skip Snake Eater and watch The Esoteric reunion inside the club. I'm not really sure what kind of genre to put The Esoteric in, but they were heavy, and that's all that really matters. I think maybe they'd be called metalcore, back when it wasn't such a dirty word but actually, you know, good. Also elements of heavy metal thrown in. A good show all around. 8/10

Partial/Out of order setlist:

Until The Grave Gives Up The Ghost
Destroy, She Said

To close out the outside stage, Troglodyte battered everyone who was out there to witness their awesome brand of death metal/grindcore. They seemed really into it, especially the vocalist, and it came through. The mix was a bit iffy at time, but it hardly mattered to Trog. I wish they could've played for longer; it's always a pleasure to see them. 8/10

Partial/Out of order setlist:

Troglodyte Rises
Don't Go Into The Woods...
Skunk Ape Rape
We Eat Our Own
Die When You Die (GG Allin Cover)
Beaten And Eaten
They Walk Among Us

I walked back into the club to catch the last song from LaZarus A.D. Not enough to really give them a fair review, but I liked what I heard. I hope they come back soon.

I saw Unearth open for Slayer back in 2007. While they were slightly better this time around, they were still very, very bad. Every song was pretty much 50% generic breakdowns. It didn't really help that their guitarist is a huge tool as well. Some parts sounded halfway decent, but it just went back down the toilet with breakdown after breakdown. Not good at all. 5/10

Testament. Need I say more? They were near perfect. They are pretty much the epitome of a classic thrash band. I've seen Exodus, Metallica and Slayer and Testament blew them all out of the water. What kept this from being the perfect set is that I wished they would've played for longer. But what we got was fantastic. Alex Skolnick is a beast on the guitar and Chuck Billy is a fantastic frontman. They were loud, fast, and awesome. And they played Disciples of the Watch!

OBEY!
9.5/10

Not 100% on the setlist, if anyone wants to correct it, go ahead:

The Preacher
The New Order
Over The Wall
More Than Meets The Eye
The Persecuted Won't Forget
Burnt Offerings
True Believer (?)
Into The Pit
Disciples Of The Watch
encore:
D.N.R.
3 Days In Darkness
The Formation Of Damnation

Overall, this was an outstanding day of metal. Tomorrow, Coalesce is headlining, but I'm dead. Everyone else go. Let's hope this becomes a yearly thing in Kansas City.