October preview: Freaker's Ball

I haven't really liked the past Freaker's Ball's too much, but this one is pretty good. Despite being headlined by Five Finger Death Punch, legends Anthrax along with Hatebreed, Rev Theory and one local, will play at the Independence Events Center on October 21st.

Lamb of God -- Kansas City, MO -- July 19th, 2010

Personal opinion and taste aside, I honestly believe that Lamb of God is the biggest American metal band right now. Following Slayer in the 80s and Pantera in the 90s, Lamb of God incites crazy crowds wherever they go. On one of the hottest days of the summer, they brought a huge tour to the Beaumont Club and each band brought a different genre of metal and each band performed really well.

First band up was 3 Inches Of Blood. I saw them on Ozzfest 2007, but that was in the midst of a torrential downpour, so it was good to see them without a distraction. Although I was off to the side at the Beaumont, the sound was pretty good all night long. I think they'd be better if they still had their old screamer, but Cam Pipes and company did a fine job. I haven't heard any of their new stuff, but it fit in well with their old stuff. Deadly Sinners is awesome live and The Goatrider's Horde is one of the best! I hope they come back soon, but I won't hold my breath.

I've had a chance to see Hatebreed before multiple times but I've always skipped them. Since the first time at Ozzfest 2007, I've been turned on to real metalcore and good hardcore, so I was kind of anxious to see how they'd be. First off, let me say that Jamey Jasta is lying if he doesn't take a huge influence from Biohazard, More than once, I could tell there were some hip-hop overtones. Other than that, Jasta is a great frontman and he worked the crowd throughout their entire hour-long set. At one point, he said, "When I count to three, the people on your left and right are Cardinals and Raiders fans!" which was just priceless. He also dedicated one of their songs to Peter Steele, which was the first I've seen. They played the Beaumont with Type O (and 3 Inches of Blood!) on a Jagermeister tour a couple years ago, and Jamey said it was bittersweet. But you couldn't tell that. They tore through a set that left everyone smiling.

It's no secret that Lamb of God are the biggest American metal band right now. I have no doubt in my mind that in 5 years, they will easily sell out any venue they headline, from clubs to amphitheaters. I'm not the biggest fan of their music; at times I found it just going through the motions. Almost like they wrote songs just to "sound like Lamb of God". But that might be because I'm not a fan. When they did songs that really got the crowd going, such as Set To Fail, Now You've Got Something To Die For, Laid to Rest and Redneck, they were pretty fun to watch. I don't know if they need more old or new songs in their set, but if they had more fast songs, they'd be greater live. But that's just my opinion. From the number of mosh pits and crowd surfers, it's clear that Lamb of God were on the top of their game tonight.

Lamb of God:

In Your Words(?)
Set To Fail
Walk With Me In Hell
Now You've Got Something To Die For
Ruin
Ashes Of The Fall
Dead Seeds
?
?
Contractor
Laid To Rest
Omerta
?
Vigil
Redneck
Black Label

Hatebreed included:

Betrayed By Life
You're Never Alone (maybe)
I Will Be Heard
Doomsayer
Defeatist
Destroy Everything
In Ashes They Shall Reap (maybe)

3 Inches Of Blood:

Battles And Brotherhood
?
Trial Of Champions
Wykydtron
Deadly Sinners
Goatrider's Horde

Review to come.

Lamb of God: 7/10
Hatebreed: 7.5/10
3 Inches of Blood: 8/10

A Mayhem off-date

July 19th
Kansas City, MO
The Beaumont Club

Lamb of God
Hatebreed
3 Inches Of Blood

The first of the Mayhem off-dates?

Cannibal Corpse -- Kansas City, MO -- November 22nd, 2009

A great night! The place was pretty well packed, and people went really crazy for most of the bands. Great crowd, great bands, great experience.

Except for the warm-up band. They're local (I think?) and called Seasons After. They're pretty much the generic hard rock/"metal" bands you hear on the radio. Mudvayne, Stone Sour, etc. It was the generic formula you get from those songs and the singer was horrendous. People were yelling for them to get off the stage by the end of the first song. 2/10

Erik Rutan is the MAN. Third time seeing Hate Eternal and they were fantastic as always. Only a three-piece this time, no second guitarist. But it really didn't matter. Erik was definitely the best guitar player there tonight. Crowd was pretty meh for them. Unbelievable. Oh well, I think Hate Eternal and Mr. Rutan speak for themselves. 9/10

Bringer Of Storms
Behold Judas
I, Monarch
Catacombs (YES, DON'T EVER STOP PLAYING IT, ERIK!)
Fury Within
To Know Our Enemies/The Obscure Terror (I don't remember which!)
The King Of All Kings

I think I am older than every member of Born of Osiris. Seriously, I doubt any of them are above 21. It was funny. I knew I wasn't going to like them, but they were a lot less bad than I thought they'd be. If they got rid of all the deathcore garbage and breakdowns, their twin guitar work could actually produce something listenable! Other than that, it was pretty much 50% breakdowns. Sometimes they'd add keyboards on top, but it really didn't do much. They have potential, but they need to get away from deathcore. Still, probably the best (or least worst) deathcore band I've seen. Miles ahead of Winds of Plague and Whitechapel. 5/10

Unearth. It was my third time seeing them, so I knew what to expect. And to make matters worse, I was smack dab right in front of their douchey guitarist. I knew I was going to get beer spit on me, have him thrust his crotch in my face and whatnot. But you know what I did? I decided to headbang and play along with Unearth for the sake of maybe he wouldn't do stuff to me. And you know what?

It was great.

I know, but they were SO much better than the two times I saw them before. In fact, the guitarist was one of the best parts! He faked out giving me a pick a couple times before he finally gave me one. I got another one and gave it to this kid behind me who was going nuts. Unearth was actually...*gulp*...good. I had a great time. I dunno if I'd pay money to see them headline just yet, but they might be getting there. 7.5/10

Unearth opens for good bands. I saw them open for Slayer, then Testament, and now the mighty Cannibal Corpse. Third time this year for me seeing them, and they are one of the funnest live metal bands ever. "Death Walking Terror" remains the heaviest song ever live and "Hammer Smashed Face" is just fantastic to hear. I headbanged so hard that I had to stop, lest I wanted to vomit on the security guards.

I wasn't on the same side as Alex Webster, but after a few songs, people started chanting his name. He laughed. In fact, Paul Mazurkiewicz got a chant too! And I finally did it: I yelled out "FUCK THE ALLIANCE!" and Corpsegrinder laughed and said "Of course!" No Skull Full of Maggots, but it was still fantastic. 9.5/10

Evisceration Plague
The Time To Kill Is Now
Death Walking Terror
I Cum Blood
Fucked With A Knife
Pit Of Zombies
The Wretched Spawn
Make Them Suffer
Vomit The Soul
Priests Of Sodom
Unleashing The Bloodthirsty
Hammer Smashed Face
Stripped Raped and Strangled

I actually inteded to see most of Hatebreed, at least until they played the Slayer cover, but I was dead. Headbanged harder than ever, except for the last time I saw Skeletonwitch. Great show. Lots of good surprises, and all the bands really delivered.

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!