Filter/The Sammus Theory/Danger Casanova/Last Great Summer at O.N.E in Mandan, ND 06/24/13

I am a man who loves his words. I'm verbose, unable to be concise, and usually dominate conversations. However, I am in a unique position as I'm able to sum up the show I'm reviewing in one word this time around:

Hot.

I mean this in the most literal sense of the word, in that it was easily above ninety degrees, likely pushing a hundred both in and out of the venue. In just a few hours I purchased more than a half dozen bottles of water. It was an excellent show, all the bands were very cool, but all of those adjectives pale in comparison to the sheer hot factor. When the bass player headbangs and soaks half the front row, the sweating is excessive.

Thankfully, the first band had fairly short hair so we were able to stay dry. Last Great Summer is another local Minot band which has members I know and yet I've never heard. I find the reminders of my shame are becoming more and more frequent. At least this time, they're not in my chosen genre of music so I have some reasoning. Their brand of indie/alt rock was certainly well written and performed, but I can't say it ever really engaged me. Their performance wasn't helped by the fact that three of the five band members were clustered over stage right and seemed hesitant to move around at all. I was a bit more forgiving the day of, but after the stage presence of the next three bands, in retrospect I have to take points off for the awkwardness. Doesn't mean in a different room at a different time it wouldn't have been a problem.

Danger Casanova, however, overflowed with confidence. It could almost be said that it dripped from their pores, but that was just sweat. Regardless, the band, perhaps sensing the flat pulse left by the first group, turned the party vibes up to eleven and began throwing condoms into the crowd and attempting to recruit girls for photo shoots for an upcoming album. Each member, even the drummer, put forward a great deal of charisma and enthusiasm, and within a song or two the whole room was moving towards the front and dancing along. Unfortunately, the only merch available were a t-shirt I myself could not justify wearing in public and condoms, otherwise I probably would've loaded up on what CDs they had. As it is, I guess I'll just have to wait for this upcoming album and thank God that the female friend who accompanied me was able to restrain herself from either volunteering for any photo shoots or if nothing else throw herself directly into the lead guitar player's lap. That's not even a judgement on her by the way. That's just the effect these guys had on people. As grateful as I am, I would not have been able to blame her.



The Sammus Theory have evidentally been into town a few times, a fact I was unaware of, so the cheers that greeted them were ones of familiarity that surprised me a bit. Other than wondering if the band name was indeed a Metroid reference, a line of questioning that I never did pursue, their name didn't ring a single bell to me. They definitely brought a bigger sound and a feeling of experience to the stage, but in the wake of Danger Casanova I couldn't help but feel that there was something intangible that wasn't working for me. There was nothing wrong with them, other than the bass player's continual insistence on jutting his headstock out into the crowd and nearly decapitating me on a few occasions, but I also wasn't left with that same burning desire to hit the merch booth afterwards. My friend did, to the tune of pretty much all her spending money for the evening, and judging by crowd reactions and the lines afterwards her enthusiasm was in the majority, but I was on the outside looking in. Oh well, not the first time.

That outside looking in feeling continued into the evening's headliner. Going into the show, I knew Richard Patrick had been a touring member of Nine Inch Nails in the early days, he wrote a song called Hey Man, Nice Shot which was allegedly an enormous radio hit despite my never having heard it, and his new record was both called The Sun Comes Out Tonight and fairly good. I cannot emphasize enough how incredible their performance was and just how quickly the band won the room over. It was as if suddenly the heat didn't matter anymore, nor did the sweat. People's hair was flying everywhere as heads thrashed and banged, and nobody cared. We were all caught up in it. Suddenly, they began playing songs I recognized, and I realized I'd heard their songs Jurassitol and Can't You (Trip Like I Do) on the soundtracks to The Crow: City of Angels and Spawn respectively, a fact which in the moment seemed like curing cancer. The feeling was something I've rarely experienced in a live performance, possibly never outside of Lamb of God's show a few weeks before this one. It was readily apparent that the band was feeling it too. Richard Patrick was dancing around so frantically that other band members were tripping over his quickly discarded mic stand. He actually plucked my friend's camera out of her hands and took it on a tour of the stage shortly before climbing the scaffolding surrounding the stage. The rest of the band  It would've been a perfect evening...if a dude hadn't gotten pushy and started crap with my friend and I. But I can't really hold that against anybody. Richard Patrick was cool to hang out with afterwards and was really open to talking about his sobriety with me and signed just about anything thrown at him. He may have started the evening a touring member of Nine Inch Nails in my mind, but by the end he was the front man for Filter.

....

No, I didn't ask him for Reznor stories, but yes, I wanted to.

Album Review: Scarecrow by Decyfer Down

Music fans have gotten very used to a fairly regular cycle of write, release, then tour, write, release, then tour, to the point that if a band doesn't put out an album every year or two they're to at least some extent written off. Tool fans haven't lost interest in their fifth album after an eight year hiatus, but I find that Tool fans are an abnormality on any number of levels. It's been almost five years since Decyfer Down's last studio release Crash, and I'll admit that I'd stopped looking for news or anticipating what was to come at least a year or two ago. Then singles began appearing a few months ago, and much to my disappointment I didn't even like them that much. When I saw that Jesus Freak Hideout was hosting a stream of the album, I basically felt as though I was listening to it out of some kind of obligation, like I basically needed to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised with the results. There have been some stand out rock records this year that have really come out with a bang, and Scarecrow won't be one of them, but it's full of little idiosyncrasies that will hopefully make a lasting impression on the listener.

Leaving opinion aside, everyone will agree that Decyfer Down's first two records fit very easily into the modern rock sound in terms of production and song structure. While there are certainly some similar tracks to be found here, the parts of Scarecrow I appreciated the most are when Decyfer dipped into a more Southern feel, appropriate for a band from North Carolina I suppose, and introduced elements of the blues and country into things. Songs like Westboro and The River have a nice twang and character to them because of these touches, one that sticks with the listener. Westboro is also an excellent example of another aspect of the album that I appreciated: an ability to express anger, fear, and hesitation about aspects of the Christian life without ever losing sight of the positive. This kind of well rounded approach feels rare, it seems like you either get praise bands singing about the joys of life with God or metal bands singing about the hardships, but Decyfer Down finds a rare and wonderful middle ground. Westboro is obviously an impassioned call to arms against the Phelps clan and those who misrepresent God, but the album is able to close out with a lovely song like So in Love without losing any impact as well, making Scarecrow a rare listen and hopefully one that will prove a trendsetter. Actually, I hope it ends up a trendsetter in many ways. I've only had access to the album for less than a day, and I've already listened three times. That says enough right there.

Killswitch Engage/Miss May I/Darkest Hour/The Word Alive/Affiance at The Hub in Fargo, ND 07/01/13

Recent developments have brought a disturbing bit of information to light, and I think it is important that I share this with you, as it pertains directly to the concert review that you're about to read.

From this point on, up and coming metal bands are going to most often consist of musicians that are my age or younger.

The bands I found new and cutting edge are now a generation's influences.

I'm becoming part of the past.

Okay, maybe that last part is a little dramatic. The idea stands though.

When I got into heavy music nu metal was in ashes, and metalcore's seminal records were appearing. In 2004, the year I started listening to metal, we saw God Forbid's Gone Forever, Shadows Fall's The War Within, and my gateway record Killswitch Engage's The End of Heartache. These releases, alongside others such as As I Lay Dying's Shadows are Security and Avenged Sevenfold's Waking the Fallen, brought about a new movement, and by doing so changed the face of music. Now, almost ten years later, these bands are the headliners, the elder statesmen, and Killswitch have chosen to celebrate a much needed return to form and the return of Jesse Leach by taking a tour package on the road that, with one exception, highlights what their work hath wrought. For better, and for worse.

Unfortunately, the worst was first. I am so sorry for that rhyme, allow me to continue. Affiance were the youngest of the bands on the bill, and the inexperience unfortunately showed through loud and clear. They've clearly got important issues on their mind based on their lyrics, but they've got a ways to go. Their use of the "I'm mad as hell" speech from Network could've been a real call to arms, a crowd pleaser...except they used the entire speech. Not just an excerpt, but all three minutes of it. For an opening band, leaving the crowd standing still for that long is a potential show killer. Even before that though, the singer's voice wasn't up to snuff and the band's stage presence as a whole was lackluster. I'm up for second chances, Battlecross didn't impress me on the first try and now I'm fairly convinced they're going to become an important American presence, but Affiance is going to have to work hard to earn my respect.

The second band of the night, The Word Alive, were the first and only to address an important issue: the lack of As I Lay Dying. Tim Lambesis's legal woes have been so extensively covered that if you're reading this I'm sure you're familiar, so I won't go into them again here. I will say that, speaking only for myself, As I Lay Dying was the primary reason I was excited for this show, so to have it addressed in some way was nice. The fact that they chose to address it by playing 94 Hours, an ALID song, made it even more special. It was a fitting reminder that ALID is more than just Tim Lambesis and regardless of feelings concerning him they are a band that we can only hope will return. Beyond that, The Word Alive's set was extremely impressive. Where Affiance was lacking in presence, The Word Alive had it in spades with guitarists twirling and dancing, drumsticks flying in the air, and the vocalist milking the crowd for every ounce of pent up energy they had. The band's use of sampling and at times more staccatto guitars gave a hint of variation that also helped keep the music fresh and memorable amongst an evening of similar sounding bands.

I am apparently not as familiar with my recent metal history as I should be, because I assumed Darkest Hour was another younger band, and their debut in fact predates Killswitch Engage by four years even! An early blend of metal and hardcore from Washington DC, and from the home of such legendary hardcore bands as Bad Brains and Minor Threat? I would've been excited! As it was, the hardcore elements weren't as prevalent as my description might suggest, but the metal elements were well played, if perhaps a bit lacking in showmanship. After the incredible energy of The Word Alive standing still and headbanging with no lights or any kind of stage decoration came off a little boring. Also, nothing against the band, but I found it a bit distracting that members of the band resembled Jerry Cantrell, Max Cavalera, and to a certain extent the vocalist resembled Glenn Danzig. I mean, good for them, I'm sure they get compliments, but it caused distractions on my end.

We went from the prototypes of the first wave of metalcore to one of the bright rising stars of the second wave as Miss May I took the stage. While I haven't heard any of their songs, I was definitely in the minority as the crowd finally began to get energized and pumped up and stay that way. The band seemed to stick to standard metalcore tropes, except for the bassist who was rocking an excellent old school White Zombie denim jacket, and played right to what the crowd was wanting, but I was left a bit cold. For one thing, the vocalist's growling was kind of crackly and he seemed to be struggling a bit. Also, he seemed to be trying too hard with his instage banter, cursing to compensate for...something, I don't know. The rest of the band were fine, but like I said by this point in the evening we'd already seen three metalcore bands of varying skills and vintages and I really wish they'd brought something more to the table like The Word Alive had. Perhaps if they'd switched spots in the lineup the evening would've flowed better and I wouldn't have had as many problems, but considering Miss May I are a step or two away from headlining their own tours there was no way that was going to happen. All in all, I don't want to be too negative, because I did ultimately think the set was perfectly fine. I just didn't find myself wanting to stock up on merch afterwards.

At long last, after a long evening showcasing both their predecessors and ancestors, Killswitch Engage, arguably the first major and still biggest success of the movement, took the stage to a powerful overture of 80's dance music. Just in case anybody thought Adam D wasn't involved in the evening's festivities, he confirmed his involvement without even appearing on stage. I saw Killswitch for the first time in 2012 on the Trespass America festival tour, shortly after Jesse Leach's return to the band. Now, having released, in my opinion, the best album of the year in Disarm the Descent and having had a few tours to rebuild relationships, the band was as tight and focused as I've ever seen them. Songs from all six albums were represented, even going back as far as Vide Infra from the original self titled album. Any concerns that Jesse would seem odd performing Howard Jones's songs are unfounded, The Arms of Sorrow and Rose of Sharyn sound just as good as ever. I've been a fan for long enough that I was always going to come away with setlist qualms (I wanted to mosh to When Darkness Falls!), but I won't hold those against the band. You can only play so many, and they gave us plenty of variety. Overall, I can't really complain about any of the performance. You come to a Killswitch show to sing and scream and watch Adam D pull some outrageous crap, and after seeing him hit water bottles into the crowd with his guitar two or three songs in I'd gotten my money's worth. Killswitch, thankfully, is still Killswitch. Some things just don't change.

Album Review: Whole by Soil

The Wikipedia entry for Soil indicates that they achieved mainstream success with their first record for major label J Records called Scars in 2001. Outside of hearing leadoff track Breaking Me Down in several movie trailers, I cannot attest to this. The radio was my primary source for music around that time, and I don't recall ever hearing Halo. Regardless, Ryan McCombs's departure from the group a few years and one album later seemed to signal the dissipation of whatever fame the group had accumulated by anybody's scale. The AJ Cavalier years saw the band toiling in relative obscurity with a few releases on smaller labels before a lineup change saw the return of Ryan McCombs and the addition of Jon Wysocki, formerly of Staind, as the touring drummer. After a successful anniversary tour highlighting Scars in the UK, the band took to Kickstarter and the result is Whole, out August 20th via Pavement/AFM.

Although it may never reach the apparent heights of Scars's success given the current state of the music industry, in terms of quality it surpasses it by a wide margin and is one of the best records of 2013 to date. Whereas on past releases the primary draws in my opinion have been Ryan McCombs's lyrics and live performances, this time around the entire band, including session drummer Will Hunt, is firing on all cylinders. Hunt's drum tracks in particular shine, making me wish that he would become a permanent addition to the lineup. At this time the band has chosen to keep the drummer position open and are currently touring with Mitch Gable, formerly of Phoenix's Echoes the Fall, but I personally hold out hope that minds will change. Regardless, the rest of the instruments, held by guitarist Adam Zadel and Tim King, are played with the same variety of style and degree of excellence, making these songs a must hear live. McCombs is in his usual fine form as well. Judging by tracks like The Hate Song and Psychopath I worry for the man's personal life, but his personal issues are to our advantage because they make for great lyrics which he sings with a potent mix of venom and emotion. Pay particular attention to the track Amalgamation, the lyrics of which were taken entirely from past Soil songs as well as some of McCombs's work in Drowning Pool.

This kind of album has been a long time coming for Soil, and one can only hope that it will rise from humble Kickstarter roots to chart success, but regardless it will be one to hold onto and listen to many times over for a while to come.

To the Fallen Hero: God Forbid In Memorium

On August 16th, God Forbid co-founder and lead guitarist Doc Coyle announced via his Rebel Noise blog that he was leaving the band, citing professional disagreements and personal matters as his reasoning. Within a few hours singer Byron Davis and drummer Corey Pierce took to Facebook and Twitter to confirm that the band had completely disbanded. It appears that for the most part the members' personal relationships remain amicable, but from a business standpoint things had reached a point where they were unable to continue as a unit.

If I were a professional music journalist I would probably find some kind of industry friendly phrasing to put this in, but as an amateur I'm able to break my reaction down to one simple word: shit.

As a new metalhead the first website I gravitated towards for my news and criticism was metal-rules.com. This was around the time of Ozzfest 2004 and the release of what was arguably God Forbid's breakout album Gone Forever, so the buzz was very easy to detect. My interest was piqued, but it wasn't until the release of Constitution of Treason in 2006 that I can say I became a fan. To the Fallen Hero was hard to avoid on the primitive predecessors to today's Pandora and Spotify. The little streaming radio player on Yahoo Messenger seemed to come up with that or Slipknot's Vermillion every couple of songs. Probably my most vivid memory of that year is going to my first major metal concert, Heaven and Hell and Megadeth in Regina, Saskatchewan, and wearing my Constitution of Treason shirt through the border on the way back. For those who haven't seen the art, this meant I was wearing an image of a collapsing, destroyed Statue of Liberty through a major focal point for homeland security. Tensions, needless to say, were high. My fandom waned around the release of 2009's Earthsblood, a record which I've only come to really appreciate now, to the point that I wasn't even aware Dallas Coyle, Doc's brother and the rhythmn guitarist, had left the band until years later. I don't know why I lost interest to such a degree, it wasn't that I disliked Earthsblood that much, but whatever happened kept me out of the loop for quite a while. It wasn't until a couple years later that my interest returned, thankfully just in time for the boys to come through the state on the Metal Hammer sponsored Trespass America festival tour. Their performance was a welcome breath of fresh air that day after a rather lackluster opening set from Battlecross (who, by the way, have gotten much better with each tour and release I've seen from them), despite Byron Davis doing some serious damage to his ankle falling off a monitor. The meet and greet afterwards was well attended and I was definitely pleased with my experience meeting them. Doc has been a fixture in DVD documentaries and the metal press for years and is as personable as I'd hoped him to be, and all of the members were very kind and cool towards the fans. There was one little boy there who they probably made a lifelong fan after their treatment of him. The record they were touring behind, 2012's Equilibrium, is arguably their best release, but I guess whatever momentum they began to build up wasn't meant to be.

On the one hand, I certainly understand the reasoning behind the decisions here. The music industry is harder to make a living from than ever, and God Forbid have never really had the big break that some of their peers like Killswitch Engage got. Doc cites concerns about income and living conditions in his blog post and unfortunately this is an oft-cited concern for many bands both experienced and not today. It also doesn't sound like the guys are going away, they'll be involved with other projects that will keep them occupied and I will certainly be looking forward to those. But, obviously, I am extremely disappointed that this is apparently it for them as a unit. Despite my periods of inactivity I am quick to sing the praises of God Forbid and point people in their direction, and for good reason. The band was as important to the rise of metalcore as higher profile groups like Shadows Fall and As I Lay Dying and Constitution of Treason remains one of my favorite albums from that genre. This is a pretty great loss whether the masses realize it or not. It's too bad that those who don't realize it yet will only be able to figure this fact out in hindsight.

Becoming the Archetype/Echo's Answer at First Baptist Church in Minot, ND 07/29/13

I've seen all kinds of shows in all kinds of places. I've seen Brian Welch play in an arena, at least, the room where the liquor and concessions are usually kept when there's an arena show. I've seen Kiss play in front of tens of thousands of people with the kind of pyrotechnics that only the US and Kiss armies could pull off. It used to bother me to see bands I loved playing tiny rooms, but I've since come around to the quality not quantity idea. I would have loved to see Becoming the Archetype play to a packed house, but I'd say the kids we did pack into the First Baptist Church gymnasium more than adequately filled the space with their enthusiasm.

I'm more than willing to confess to a lack of enthusiasm in my local scene. I'll eagerly show up for my friends' bands, but it seems like the vast majority of the music played around Minot isn't exactly, well, my sort. Echoes Answer is one of the exceptions that I can only chalk my ignorance of up to laziness. Now that I've seen them, I am at an impasse however. The fact that they don't have a vocalist both endears them and puts them at a distance to be honest. All the instruments sounded amazing, and technically the songs were very, very impressive. But the lack of vocals made it very easy to drift away and lose the thread a bit. I'm definitely interested in pursuing them further and I'm all for encouraging the few local metal bands, but I can't pretend like this is a hundred percent up my alley either.

I fell in love with Becoming the Archetype because of the eccentricities in their music. They were my introduction to progressive metal, a genre that once bored me to tears outside of Tool but I've now come to consider a favorite. They're still the only band I can think of that has full out jazz breakdowns in their songs. If I'm being honest, I missed those little touches, but I can't ignore the fact that they more than made up for it with full out brutality. The vocalist, who I was mortified to only discover wasn't the band's regular vocalist after he asked the crowd if they were familiar with the group, a question I answered with a resounding yes, put his whole metallic heart into stalking around the band's corner and matching those of us upfront headbang for headbang. The guitarists' mics weren't working as well as they should've, but the guitars came through loud and clear and the solos were impeccable. I've never seen a drummer knock the microphone out of the kick drum, but by the third or fourth time last night it became pretty clear that I should keep that in mind as a criteria to grade future performances on. The crowd, as I mentioned above, threw themselves into the performance with a great amount of gusto. Last night was the first time I've ever seen a circle pit in a church, and the whole front row was a mess of hair whipping around. This whole show was part of a Kickstarter campaign that I contributed to, so I can't lie, I felt a bit of pride in addition to the usual enthusiasm.

I recognize that not everyone will share my enthusiasm, that there are cynics out there, but it's not about the location for me. It's about the music. Becoming the Archetype put on a great show, and it was a great experience. I wouldn't change a thing.

  

Asking Alexandria/Motionless in White/The Suit at The Hub in Fargo 08/06/13

When I was in high school, it was Slipknot shirts. By the end, it was Disturbed. While I was in college, Avenged Sevenfold was in. The great thing about metal/rock fans is you usually don't have to ask what we love. We wear it. That's how I knew I had to see Asking Alexandria for myself because at some point between my college years and now, they took over without my knowing it. I have to confess that I wasn't eagerly anticipating this, as I haven't liked the metal act of the moment in quite a while, but an obsessed friend and my usual lack of willpower combined with curiousity meant the decision was made. Unfortunately, the band I was most interested in seeing, original opener Upon a Burning Body, was unable to make the show. This seemed to disappoint some, but I can't lie, I was looking forward to getting back to the hotel and putting my feet up. I truly am an old soul.

I started regretting my attendance roughly half a song into local opener The Suit's set. I, even hours removed from the event now, still don't know what kind of music The Suit were attempting to play, but it was grating. Actually, grating doesn't do it justice. It was as though pop punk and metalcore both had relations with their sisters and then those inbred children watched Caligula. The crowd, perhaps unsurprisingly given their local roots, seemed quite into it, but all I could do was watch in dismay and horror. When you're screaming lyrics about dancing all night in your best 'core bellow, the degree to which you have fallen off the path to victory should be obvious. Unfortunately, it apparently isn't to The Suit.

The Asking Alexandria obsessed friend, whose human name is Lindsey, I mentioned in the introduction warned me ahead of time that I might not enjoy Motionless in White. After The Suit broke me I was honestly afraid I might lose my mind. To their credit, MIW were at least heavy, the kind of music I'd expected to hear. The problem is that they still weren't particularly good. For one thing, I found it a bit hard to look past how hard the vocalist was trying to ape Marilyn Manson (and not good Marilyn Manson either. Mechanical Animals this was not, this was perhaps Eat Me, Drink Me at best) and how the bassist was both apparently working to resemble Rob Zombie but had worn a Helter Skelter jacket in some kind of attempt to instead make us believe he wanted to look just like Charles Manson. This genre's obsession with serial killers is something I've grown out of, but that's a discussion for another day. For another, the sound was godawful. The vocalist was barely audible, the closest we got to lyrics we could hear were the screams of the keyboard player. The guitar playing sounded like a cross between malfunctioning car parts and static. The one instrumental point I will give them is their drummer's use of double bass was impressive. Unfortunately, this wasn't a drum clinic, this was a live set, and an unimpressive one at that. Two strikes, was my evening going to be a complete waste?

No. Thank the Lord. Asking Alexandria lived up to their reputation and then some. I was a bit put off by the electronic elements that I'd heard in their early work but mercifully the live show was mostly free of those trappings. Instead, it was fairly straight forward metalcore played by five guys who know how to put on a show and work a crowd. It had been a rough evening for security at the barricade already, I've never seen so many crowd surfers, but after Asking Alexandria's vocalist started asking people to surf up to the front they were coming in waves of four or five at a time. Said vocalist then jumped down to the floor, hopped up onto the barricade and leaned out into the crowd, an action which appeared to prompt fits and possibly tears from the already stressed security guards. Thankfully the sea of grabby hands was parted and he returned to the stage, but at what mental cost? I'd heard that Asking Alexandria were fairly hard partiers, but it goes beyond the standard mischief, these guys seem physically incapable of giving a damn, and you know? More power to them. It's a hell of a show, and they can actually play while, I'm guessing based on past stories anyways, obliterated. I see the appeal, and I'll even follow. I'm a fan of the "in" band. Who would've thought? Maybe Ghost will live up to their buzz and I can both be in on the ground floor of the next thing while at the same time becoming that hipster who knew who they were from the moment Opus Eponymous hit shelves.

Oh God, I hope not.