It took getting past their new EP being played, but I've decided that tonight was the best time I've seen BTBAM live. They absolutely killed it opening for Mastodon last year, but the song selection and the talent that oozed from the stage tonight easily trumped any former performance of theirs.
The EP, "The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues" (played in its entirety tonight) definitely wasn't bad live. In fact, Lunar Wilderness had some jaw-dropping parts in it. It's just that the songs hadn't matured to be fully appreciated in a live setting. Still great, but what came afterwards just blew the EP out of the water. Focusing mostly on their last two records, the snippet (by snippet I mean about 10 minutes) of Swim To The Moon and the whole Ants Of The Sky performance were definitely the highlights from BTBAM. The soundscapes they create and the pure emotion they put forward in those two songs are unmatched. Sun Of Nothing was epic with lots of crowd sing-alongs, and I was definitely happy they pulled out Fossil Genera - I had forgotten they were playing it on this tour! The band themselves were spot on, the guitar and drum solo's were really awesome, and it was just a fantastic performance. A killer rendition of Selkies ended the set, and I hope they come back soon.
But I hope they come back with a better band directly opening for them. After a few minutes of backtracking, this is the third time I've seen Job For A Cowboy (i've paid to see them five times - blech) and they have honestly gotten worse over time. They pounded out the first three or four songs with no downtime in between them and it came out as just a cacophonous jumbling of dissonant down-tuned notes with no apparent direction in mind. I would blame it on the venue for their sound, but I know better. Job For A Cowboy just prefers their music to sound like this, and it just doesn't sound good.
Opening the show was The Ocean. People were wary about what to expect, but I think they won over the crowd around the third time the vocalist dove into the crowd! I didn't know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. I'm eager to check them out on record.
My only comment on the crowd is that I am a firm supporter of the "don't mosh during BTBAM" movement. That's all.
Specular Reflection
Augment Of Rebirth
Lunar Wilderness
Sun Of Nothing
Ants Of The Sky
Guitar Solo
Swim To The Moon (partial)
Drum Solo
Fossil Genera - A Feed From Cloud Mountain
---
Selkies: The Endless Obsession
Between The Buried And Me: 9/10
Job For A Cowboy: 3/10
The Ocean: 7.5/10
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Are you ready for the SLAMZ?
Ready to get GUTTURAL?
TXDM legend Shawn Whittaker will be bringing Insidious Decrepancy to the Boobie Trap in Topeka on June 21st. Support will come from Abolishment of Flesh (TX), Torn The Fuck Apart and Whoracle. Come get br00t4l!
TXDM legend Shawn Whittaker will be bringing Insidious Decrepancy to the Boobie Trap in Topeka on June 21st. Support will come from Abolishment of Flesh (TX), Torn The Fuck Apart and Whoracle. Come get br00t4l!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Amon Amarth -- Lawrence, KS -- April 16th, 2011
Set 1
War of the Gods
Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II
Destroyer of the Universe
Slaves of Fear
Live Without Regrets
The Last Stand of Frej
For Victory or Death
Wrath of the Norsemen
A Beast I Am
Doom Over Dead Man
Set 2
Twilight of the Thunder God
Masters of War
Live for the Kill
With Oden on Our Side
Guardians of Asgaard
Asator
Varyags of Miklagaard
Thousand Years of Oppression
Without Fear > Victorious March > Gods of War Arise > Death in Fire
Encore:
Cry of the Blackbirds
Runes To My Memory
The Pursuit of Vikings
Just absolutely awesome. In terms of performance, this might've been the best metal show I've ever seen. Amon Amarth was spot on, and the crowd was insane. The opening of War Of The Gods (which I also got on tape) was just epic in every sense of the word. The Surtur Rising set was really solid, and that really surprised me. It's definitely a better album than most think. Destroyer Of The Universe and A Beast I Am were real thrashers, but I think my favorite was the closer, Doom Over Dead Men. It's just got that great, mid-tempo melodic death metal beat that just makes for great headbanging.
In between sets, I hooked up with Nick (aka Nick_To_The_Face) and it was awesome that he made it! Lemme know if you can make it to BTBAM
The second set started off great. People went absolute nuts for Twilight Of The Thunder God and so many people were singing along that Johan didn't even sing the chorus. Live For The Kill got a great reaction, Asator was great to hear too. I dug the medley, although I wish they would've made Death In Fire its own song. The only song of the night I didn't like too much was Thousand Years Of Oppression. It was cool near the end, but that song made me feel the fatigue. Encore was just great, and we had a great sing-a-long to Pursuit Of Vikings. It's been a while since Amon Amarth had been in Lawrence, but the sold out crowd at the Granada will hopefully bring them back time and time again.
Oh, and we also sang Happy Birthday to their bassist, Ted.
Amon Amarth: 9/10
War of the Gods
Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II
Destroyer of the Universe
Slaves of Fear
Live Without Regrets
The Last Stand of Frej
For Victory or Death
Wrath of the Norsemen
A Beast I Am
Doom Over Dead Man
Set 2
Twilight of the Thunder God
Masters of War
Live for the Kill
With Oden on Our Side
Guardians of Asgaard
Asator
Varyags of Miklagaard
Thousand Years of Oppression
Without Fear > Victorious March > Gods of War Arise > Death in Fire
Encore:
Cry of the Blackbirds
Runes To My Memory
The Pursuit of Vikings
Just absolutely awesome. In terms of performance, this might've been the best metal show I've ever seen. Amon Amarth was spot on, and the crowd was insane. The opening of War Of The Gods (which I also got on tape) was just epic in every sense of the word. The Surtur Rising set was really solid, and that really surprised me. It's definitely a better album than most think. Destroyer Of The Universe and A Beast I Am were real thrashers, but I think my favorite was the closer, Doom Over Dead Men. It's just got that great, mid-tempo melodic death metal beat that just makes for great headbanging.
In between sets, I hooked up with Nick (aka Nick_To_The_Face) and it was awesome that he made it! Lemme know if you can make it to BTBAM
The second set started off great. People went absolute nuts for Twilight Of The Thunder God and so many people were singing along that Johan didn't even sing the chorus. Live For The Kill got a great reaction, Asator was great to hear too. I dug the medley, although I wish they would've made Death In Fire its own song. The only song of the night I didn't like too much was Thousand Years Of Oppression. It was cool near the end, but that song made me feel the fatigue. Encore was just great, and we had a great sing-a-long to Pursuit Of Vikings. It's been a while since Amon Amarth had been in Lawrence, but the sold out crowd at the Granada will hopefully bring them back time and time again.
Oh, and we also sang Happy Birthday to their bassist, Ted.
Amon Amarth: 9/10
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Kansas City Mayhem Off-Date #2
Mayhem Fest may not be in Kansas City, but some of the bands will be on off-dates! Here's the second one:
In Flames
Trivium
Kingdom of Sorrow
Straight Line Stitch
They'll be at the VooDoo Lounge inside Harrah's Casino (this venue is 21+) in Kansas City on August 8th.
In Flames
Trivium
Kingdom of Sorrow
Straight Line Stitch
They'll be at the VooDoo Lounge inside Harrah's Casino (this venue is 21+) in Kansas City on August 8th.
Kansas City Mayhem Off-Date #1
The Mayhem Festival isn't coming to Kansas City again this year, but we're getting another round of off-dates!
#1 is:
Unearth
Suicide Silence
All Shall Perish
Red Fang
At the Granada in Lawrence on July 18th.
#1 is:
Unearth
Suicide Silence
All Shall Perish
Red Fang
At the Granada in Lawrence on July 18th.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Thrash All Summer Long!
You've got DRI, Nocturnal, Witchaven, Holy Grail all in May. Want to continue the thrash into the summer? YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED:
June 27th...
Kansas City...
The Beaumont Club...
Thrash metal legends...
FORBIDDEN
will make their mark to be felt by the midwest for years to come!
Support comes from Revocation, White Wizzard, and Havok!
This will easily be one of the best shows ever to grace our city in quite some time. BE THERE!
June 27th...
Kansas City...
The Beaumont Club...
Thrash metal legends...
FORBIDDEN
will make their mark to be felt by the midwest for years to come!
Support comes from Revocation, White Wizzard, and Havok!
This will easily be one of the best shows ever to grace our city in quite some time. BE THERE!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Saint Vitus -- Merriam, KS -- March 28th, 2011
Whelp. Now that the show is over, I can confidently say that last night was the greatest night of my life and that life is not worth living now because I'll never relive last night ever again.
Although Helmet wasn't headlining this stop on the Metalliance tour, local band Apehanger opened the show to make everything even. They're pretty much one of the few local bands that I would classify as "doom" that are any good. In fact, they were pretty damn awesome. They at times reminded me of a Khanate-like sound, but much much much (much) faster. Good stuff.
The first of the touring bands was The Atlas Moth. I'd never heard them prior to this show, but they surprised me at how good they were. They definitely had a more psychadelic sound and a more black metal (at least in the vocals) sound. It was awesome! Only complaint I had was that I seriously doubt they need three guitarists, two would make the sound a lot clearer.
After them was Howl. It was my third time seeing the band, but the first with a new guitarist. The lead guitarist/vocalist was great, and this time was by far the best time I've seen them. Their new guitarist was awesome at soloing and even had to switch guitars halfway through the set! Lots of headbanging for them.
The thing about Red Fang was that I really dug their more groovy songs, but when they went over to the more sludgey type of metal, it wasn't as good. Still fun, though! Also incredibly loud. Too loud, actually. Couldn't hear the vocals for most of the songs. They ended their set with Prehistoric Dog and that was great. I really hope they slay everyone on Mayhem Fest!
Kylesa was great, although pissed off because they had lost a piece of their vocal equipment. It just made them play with that much more furious anger. They even used a theramin (!!!) and the dual drums came off awesome yet again. Running Red was amazing and the opener of Hollow Severer was heavy as hell, but my favorite will always be Scapegoat. Love it to death. Kylesa is awesome!
I had literally heard not one note of Crowbar until I saw them last night, but they might be the most surprisingly good band to me so far this year! I will be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of sludge metal, but Crowbar are the godfather's of the genre and are everything right with that type of music! Some of their songs had a fast punky beat to them too. Kirk was great and interacted with the crowd a lot, and the crowd went nuts. Such an awesome surprise!
And then came Saint Vitus. I can't even begin to articulate how amazing their performance was. Definitely in my top 5 performances ever. Probably the best performance I've ever seen. Wino is a legend. There's no other word to describe him. He was so into the performance. He would get right into the crowd and sing, give us all crazy eyes, stuff like that. He dove off the stage and crowd surfed during White Stallions and drank from a bottle of Jack on stage which he then let the crowd take swigs from. But for every unforgettable moment Wino gave to us as a vocalist, Dave Chandler gave to us an unforgettable moment as a guitarist. The solo's he played were all one of a kind and he looked like an absolute madman. During Mystic Lady, he looked like he was about to have a seizure from going so crazy on his guitar. He ran out in the crowd and kept rubbing the frets on people's heads during Born Too Late and even plucked at the strings with his teeth. The best guitarist performance I've ever seen, hands-down.
I know I'll never see Saint Vitus again like I did last night, and that really makes me upset. Damn.
Saint Vitus
Living Backwards
I Bleed Black
Clear Windowpane
Blessed Night (new)
White Stallions
Mystic Lady
Dying Inside
Born Too Late
Crowbar
Conquering
Lasting Dose
All I Had
New Dawn
Sever
Liquid Sky
I Have Failed
High Rate
Cemetery Angels
Kylesa
Hollow Severer
Unknown Awareness
Running Red
Scapegoat
Tired Climb
Distance Closing In
Don't Look Back
Said & Done
Red Fang
Reverse Thunder
Sharks
Wires (new)
Painted Parade (new)
Suicide (Dust cover)
Prehistoric Dog
Howl
Heavenless
Horns of Steel
...And The Gnawing
Ashereh / Jezebel
The Atlas Moth
Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
(New Song)
...Leads to a Lifetime on Mercury
Saint Vitus: 11/10
Crowbar: 9/10
Kylesa: 8.5/10
Red Fang: 8/10
Howl: 8.5/10
The Atlas Moth: 8/10
Apehanger: 7.5/10
Although Helmet wasn't headlining this stop on the Metalliance tour, local band Apehanger opened the show to make everything even. They're pretty much one of the few local bands that I would classify as "doom" that are any good. In fact, they were pretty damn awesome. They at times reminded me of a Khanate-like sound, but much much much (much) faster. Good stuff.
The first of the touring bands was The Atlas Moth. I'd never heard them prior to this show, but they surprised me at how good they were. They definitely had a more psychadelic sound and a more black metal (at least in the vocals) sound. It was awesome! Only complaint I had was that I seriously doubt they need three guitarists, two would make the sound a lot clearer.
After them was Howl. It was my third time seeing the band, but the first with a new guitarist. The lead guitarist/vocalist was great, and this time was by far the best time I've seen them. Their new guitarist was awesome at soloing and even had to switch guitars halfway through the set! Lots of headbanging for them.
The thing about Red Fang was that I really dug their more groovy songs, but when they went over to the more sludgey type of metal, it wasn't as good. Still fun, though! Also incredibly loud. Too loud, actually. Couldn't hear the vocals for most of the songs. They ended their set with Prehistoric Dog and that was great. I really hope they slay everyone on Mayhem Fest!
Kylesa was great, although pissed off because they had lost a piece of their vocal equipment. It just made them play with that much more furious anger. They even used a theramin (!!!) and the dual drums came off awesome yet again. Running Red was amazing and the opener of Hollow Severer was heavy as hell, but my favorite will always be Scapegoat. Love it to death. Kylesa is awesome!
I had literally heard not one note of Crowbar until I saw them last night, but they might be the most surprisingly good band to me so far this year! I will be the first to admit that I'm not a huge fan of sludge metal, but Crowbar are the godfather's of the genre and are everything right with that type of music! Some of their songs had a fast punky beat to them too. Kirk was great and interacted with the crowd a lot, and the crowd went nuts. Such an awesome surprise!
And then came Saint Vitus. I can't even begin to articulate how amazing their performance was. Definitely in my top 5 performances ever. Probably the best performance I've ever seen. Wino is a legend. There's no other word to describe him. He was so into the performance. He would get right into the crowd and sing, give us all crazy eyes, stuff like that. He dove off the stage and crowd surfed during White Stallions and drank from a bottle of Jack on stage which he then let the crowd take swigs from. But for every unforgettable moment Wino gave to us as a vocalist, Dave Chandler gave to us an unforgettable moment as a guitarist. The solo's he played were all one of a kind and he looked like an absolute madman. During Mystic Lady, he looked like he was about to have a seizure from going so crazy on his guitar. He ran out in the crowd and kept rubbing the frets on people's heads during Born Too Late and even plucked at the strings with his teeth. The best guitarist performance I've ever seen, hands-down.
I know I'll never see Saint Vitus again like I did last night, and that really makes me upset. Damn.
Saint Vitus
Living Backwards
I Bleed Black
Clear Windowpane
Blessed Night (new)
White Stallions
Mystic Lady
Dying Inside
Born Too Late
Crowbar
Conquering
Lasting Dose
All I Had
New Dawn
Sever
Liquid Sky
I Have Failed
High Rate
Cemetery Angels
Kylesa
Hollow Severer
Unknown Awareness
Running Red
Scapegoat
Tired Climb
Distance Closing In
Don't Look Back
Said & Done
Red Fang
Reverse Thunder
Sharks
Wires (new)
Painted Parade (new)
Suicide (Dust cover)
Prehistoric Dog
Howl
Heavenless
Horns of Steel
...And The Gnawing
Ashereh / Jezebel
The Atlas Moth
Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence
(New Song)
...Leads to a Lifetime on Mercury
Saint Vitus: 11/10
Crowbar: 9/10
Kylesa: 8.5/10
Red Fang: 8/10
Howl: 8.5/10
The Atlas Moth: 8/10
Apehanger: 7.5/10
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