"This next one is about rough sex...and by that, I mean a blowtorch in a vagina."



Tonight I made my return to the metal scene. Since November I have been to hardcore and hard rock shows and even indie rock shows. I have seen Life of Agony, Apartment 26, and Flaw...twice. I have seen Guster...twice...in a row. I have seen countless, worthless fucking local hardcore bands. None of those felt right, yes...in their own way they were all fun, and served their purpose of getting me out and experiencing new things and hanging out with close friends. However, none of these have had the impact that a metal show has on me.
Tonight I made the trip out to Rochester, literally a block away from where I last saw Guster in a small bar that recently opened called the Steel Music Hall, let me just say that this was my kind of place, kind of a more upscale Penny Arcade or Lost Horizon. By "Upscale" I mean that it isnt necessary to get rabies shots if you accidently fall on the ground.
The first band on stage was, local, Downdriven. as soon as I saw them take the stage I had flashbacks from when they had opened for Overkill last September and I began to taste bile, as I knew we were in for a half hour of worthless mallcore. The most frusterating thing about this band is that they actually doi have potential...but whenever they show said potential it is always ruined quickly by a *chug chug* riff that i can play in my sleep, or a breakdown that would get Korn kids hot in the pants. Not to mention the fact that their singer usually thinks that the drummer is his audience and promtly faces that direction for the entire set, all of this on top of having a horrible scream (I did better when i was in 11th grade and listening to Slipknot) and the charisma/stage presence/showmanship of a can of clam chowder that is missing its label.
Next we got a double dose of the Relapse records support crew. I can't remember the name of the second band to play, they really weren't that good, but the guys in the band were cool and had a good sense of humor. They were at least fun to watch in between songs and their drummer was a madman...which is a good thing because all I could fucking hear were drums! The guitar was completely drowned out (note to musicians: If your drummer is playing heavy double-bass blast beats...you DON'T play a fucking Strat with single coils!) and the bass wasn't really worth listening to. The little bit of the guitar I was able to hear made the band sound like a Grind band...this doesn't suprise me at a show in Upstate NY.
Next was Uphill Battle, they were alright, deffinetly not my kind of band. Standard metalcore/grind band who has listened to At The Gates - Slaughter Of The Soul one too many times. They still managed to pull off some decent riffs and the tripple vocalist set up worked well for them. Their drummer was damn good, but I could tell that somehting was up because when I heard double bass sometimes I only saw one foot moving...but I can deal with that, besides...the man deserves credit because he pulled a double set, playing with Uphill Battle and Exhumed. The guitarists were talented to say the least and really had me headbanging a couple times, but not enough to where I would buy an album. I really hate to stereotype people, but the members of this band were obviously a mixed bag of hardcore kids and metalheads and yo can tell exactly who was who just from how they looked and moved on stage. I won't go into details, but my notions were confirmed, these books had very accurate covers.
Finally Exhumed hit the stage...Matt seemed pretty anxious because Uphill Battle were still taking their equipment down and he was already up there starting his soundcheck. For those that don't know...he also plays in a thrash band called Dekapitator, this has confused me in the past because Exhumed is death metal ala Carcass from the the Necrotocism era...thats not an easy jump. after seeing and meeting this guy though I came to the conclusion "this guy is old school as hell" and all confusion was put to rest by his black and white Converse Hi-Tops :-P I really couldn't tell you the set list that followed, it was all just a blur of brilliance. I have been a fan of Exhumed for a long time, but their albums do absolutely no justice to their live shows. Its a rare treat that i get to see a death metal band that plays with this much passion and enjoyment. As a guitar guy, the riffage displayed by these guys was absolutely punishing. The band as a whole was flawless in sound and in performance, they used every damn inch of that stage...from climbing onto the monitors to do solos, or kicking a foot onto the bass drum, the showmanship here was incredible. The music itself made me feel right at home, at the last 4 shows i had been to I jave jumped around and ran into peole, and stood there bopping back and forth, but tonight I thrashed like I was born to....destroying my neck has never felt so refreshing. Being away from the metal scene for these past few months has really made me realise how much of a metalhead I am, and this show tonight reminded me why I'm a metalhead. It would be a great injustice to the band to try and explin with words the music tonight, as it defies all description, just check them out on your own and you'll see what I mean.

Oh...something cool also happened tonight, I asked Matt about a new Dekapitator album (they haven't released anything since their 1999 debut) and he said "By the end of the year" FUCK YES!!!!


- posted by Casey @ 11:25 PM