Concert Report: Pestilence, Warbringer, Vital Remains - June 7, 2010

My body is bruised and swollen, my voice is gone, I've got whiplash and above all I can't hear shit. This show was sick.

The Ultra Violet Social Club is a misleading name for a metal little gem of a venue located a stone's throw from Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. It looks like a converted warehouse, and isn't much more than a little black concrete room with a stage at one end and a bar on the other. I came in as Vital Remains were setting up, having missed the first two acts: Sacrificial Slaughter, a group of nice guys from Corona whom I spoke with briefly, and Enfold Darkness, which I can't say I regret (a judgment made solely on their facial hair). Local heroes Warbringer were set to play after Vital, with Pestilence (who of course needs no introduction) headlining.

Vital Remains didn't make me wait long. The Rhode Island natives were the most theatrical of the bunch, with vocalist Scott Wily leading the venue in almost a moment of prayer as their intro track played, then breaking the calm with an explosive inquiry of "Where is your god now?" and shattering every cross in a 666 mile radius with the title track from Icons of Evil. I was too busy channeling the quintessence of Satan to count, but they continued with another four or five tracks, including Dechristianize (complete with the great intro from the album) and Devoured Elysium. You owe it to yourself and to Satan to see these guys live, and I'm not just biased because they pulled me up on stage.

Up next was Warbringer, the thrashers from my old stomping grounds down in Ventura County. They played a song or two from last year's Waking Into Nightmares but their set was mostly tracks from their debut War Without End with Total War, Shoot to Kill, At the Crack of Doom, and Combat Shock. People fuckin' love these guys and it's easy to see why; they put on a great show, with more energy than a nuclear meltdown. The crowd went insane, I was up front, close enough that a mosher impacting me from behind was enough for my skull to meet a tuning peg from guitarist John Laux's weapon of choice. I hope it leaves a scar.

The crowd swelled to maximum as Pestilence took the stage, opening with Devouring Frenzy which broke any necks that hadn't already been there for the previous bands. They had a great set, running through Horror Detox, Dehydrated, The Process of Suffocation, Hate Suicide, Resurrection Macabre and I believe Malleus Maleficarum / Anthropomorphia, including others. Their presence was grim and from the oldest of schools, Patrick Marneli has great presence and sounds in person exactly like he does on the records; if I hadn't been watching him I could have sworn he was being eaten alive by a swarm of locusts or dragged to hell by the white horseman himself. They said a quick goodnight at the end and departed the stage, but returned just as fast before announcing the final song: "OUT! OF! THE! BODY!!!" The survivors in the crowd just fucking lost their shit, tearing each other limb from limb as that timeless riff pulverized our remains into so much human salsa.

Sound quality was an issue throughout the night. The sound was full and meaty as fuck, but the bass drowned out the higher guitar notes (Warbringer had some good solos that I could only hear because my head with two feet from the guitar,) and even the vocals lost a bit of edge to the imbalance. Only so much acoustic quality can be expected from a tiny converted industrial building, but it was an unfortunate price to pay. Still, it was far from a dealbreaker, and the intimate nature of the show was priceless. This show fucking killed. If modern medical science can replace my eardrums by the time any of these bands come my way next, I'll eagerly sacrifice them all over again.

http://www.ultravioletsocialclub.com/
http://www.myspace.com/championsofmetal
http://www.myspace.com/enfolddarkness
http://www.myspace.com/vitalremains
http://www.myspace.com/warbringer
http://www.myspace.com/pestilenceofficial - http://pestilence.nl/

Blind Guardian - Live (2003)

A decade past Tokyo Tales, it was time to release another Blind Guardian live effort, both to celebrate a very successful 10 years that included the release of all their best albums (Imaginations from the Other Side, Nightfall in Middle-Earth, Night at the Opera) and also pad the pockets for a job well done on their numerous tours. Live is given the full treatment, two discs and 22 tracks, at about 2 hours 14 minutes of total material. It was great to hear the newer stuff in particular, as I had been growing disenchanted by the band's excess studio edits and overdubs that had been evolving into their sound as early as Imaginations, but becoming almost unbearable for me on Night at the Opera (though I still love the actual songs). I had the chance to see the band perform at their Worcester Palladium gig around the year of this release, and can attest to how much better this later material sounds on the stage. For that reason alone, Live is worth spending the coin for.

Unlike Tokyo Tales, this is not the result of a few dates in a single city, but an accumulation of tracks from dates all over (Europe, for the most part). There are recordings from Aviles, Barcelona, Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Firenze, Granada, Hamburg, Lichtenfels, Madrid, Milano, Moscow, Munich, San Sebastian, Stockholm, Stuttgart, Tokyo, Valencia and Venice, a list which fully supports just how huge and international this band had become during the 21st century. The classic lineup is intact, with assistance from the Oliver and Alex Holzwarth rhythm section, and Michael Schüren on keys. Producer and sound engineer Charlie Bauerfiend (also responsible for some of their studio albums) is in charge of making it gleam, and to this extent the double live album is a raging success.

The biggest attraction for me here is to hear live takes of the more recent studio efforts, since much of the earlier material here is redundant to what had been recorded for Tokyo Tales. A Night at the Opera is represented with "The Soulforged", "Punishment Divine", and a great rendition of "Under the Ice". The Nightfall in Middle-Earth tracks comprise a solid chunk of the album; "War of Wrath" intro, "Into the Storm", "Nightfall", "Time Stands Still" and "Mirror Mirror" are all included. As for Imaginations to the Other Side, we get "The Script for My Requiem", "Mordred's Song", "Born in a Mourning Hall", "Bright Eyes", "Imaginations from the Other Side", and "The Script for My Requiem", all of which sound fucking intense. For earlier material, we have "Journey Through the Dark" and "The Bard's Song" from Somewhere Far Beyond; "Welcome to Dying", "Lord of the Rings" and "Lost in the Twilight Hall" from Tales from the Twilight World; "Valhalla" from Follow the Blind; and "Majesty" from Battalions of Fear. It's a great overall selection, spanning their entire body of studio work, and perhaps the only song that doesn't get me giddy is the "The Bard's Song", which to be fair, has never done much for me, though it does cause live crowds to break out their lighters and join together in...whatever.

In short, this is one of the better live offerings out there for a metal band, and assuming you aren't paying an arm and a leg for it, worth picking up. Most Blind Guardian fans are fanatics and already own this, but then, if you put a Blind Guardian logo and Andreas Marschall cover scan on a used tire or flyswatter, they'd also buy that. But with a great song selection and sound quality that rivals most of the band's actual studio efforts, Live is worth it even for the more conservative spender and listener.

Highlights: All the material from the three studio albums before this released.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://www.blind-guardian.com/

Satyricon / Septic Flesh, Grand Ballroom @ the Regency Center, 2/10/09

Let me start off by saying that the Grand Ballroom at San Francisco's Regency Center is both a horrible and excellent place to see metal. The venue is a bit big, and never quite fills up, which can leave the sound a bit wanting. They also place their stacks up high and pointed down at the crowd from the sides of the stage, which means that if you're about forty feet back, you're going to get the best sound. Anyone standing front and center will be sorely disappointed.

The crowd at this show was as you might expect. Near-Juggalos in "corpse paint" and assorted Hot Topic wear lined up outside in the drizzle to catch a glimpse of Danny (Dani? Seriously?) Filth's areolas. There were even girls in the front row with glow-stick headbands on. What the fuck?

Anyway, my friends and I waded our way in through the veritable food court of lameness and took a spot stage right and far enough back for good sound. We had managed to find a kickass parking spot and get in right before the show started. Off to a good start.

Septic Flesh

Not being a fan of Septic Flesh previous to this show, I didn't really know what to expect from the Grecian Death Metallers. What I got was an absolute treat. You know how every band that plays before your favorite band can't ever quite live up to them? How you spend the opening sets counting songs and wishing they would go by just a bit faster? Not so with Septic Flesh, who managed to come out of the gates swinging, tight and technically spot on for a half an hour of symphonically charged, groove-laden death.

They were, sadly, playing to a tape of some sort, since they lacked a keyboard to accompany them. I was impressed, however, that they managed to stay so perfectly synchronized with the samples throughout the entire set. Not a missed beat to be had here.

The singer, one Spiros Antoniou, seemed to be channeling almost a 1980's hardcore punk vibe, with spastic hand movements and crazed facial expressions between bass riffs. The guitars were a bit low in the mix, and the bass thundered over everything else, when he bothered to stop fingering an invisible vagina in front of his face and play it.

I couldn't really say much about the contents of their set, not being familiar with the band until now. I know they played "Communion", "We The Gods", and some song where everybody chanted "BURN!" a lot. Good shit, though. The guy in the pit who looked just like John Locke from Lost (shirt off and all) seemed to enjoy it. I did, too, and I would happily see them again. It's a rare experience to be surprised by an unknown band, but Septic Flesh earned it.

Satyricon

My friends and I forced our way forward, braving untold amounts of hair extensions, platform boots, and goggles. Not to be denied our Norwegian black metal by a bunch of under-developed, over-fed retards, we managed to get about three people from the front. Satyricon came out to much fanfare and shouting of "MOTHER NORTH!"

"Repined Bastard Nation" is a good fucking way to open a Satyricon set. Satyr looked like some sort of fascist German rocker, all rigid fury and hawk-eyed stares. His trident mic stand looked like it was missing some corpses hanging off of the side, but it was plenty intimidating none the less. Frost is as insane as I imagined, and though Satyricon certainly isn't the best demonstration of his technical abilities, he plays live with a passion other black metal drummers would benefit to imitate.

Satyricon tore through their songs, one after another with barely a break between them. I am old enough now to enjoy a short, sweet live show, and I have no complaints. Their setlist consisted entirely of material from their last three albums, so the more traditional black metal will have to wait until their headlining tour this fall. "Die By My Hand" still doesn't quite grab me, but they seem to love playing it. Playing the opening three tracks from Now, Diabolical, a healthy smattering of their newest material, and a pair of Volcano's better songs gave me plenty of time to throw claws in the air and bang my head like I'm not going bald.

Satyr gives up guitar duty live to engage the crowd a little bit more, and he does so in the standard metal fashion. "HEY!" chants and calls for jumping are so fucking tired, I wish metal would just let that shit go. Save it for Manowar and Amon Amarth, guys, you're supposed to be all grim and frostbitten. Drunk people love to yell and jump around though, so I guess it works.

You can tell that Satyr is a bit remiss over losing his strings to the capable live band. He picks up an axe later in the set for "The Pentagram Burns", but also spends a fair amount of time watching the guitarists longingly (accusingly, too) and playing air guitar to his own riffs.

"Fuel For Hatred" closed Satyricon out strong. This song has long been a favorite of mine from the much-maligned Volcano, and hearing it live only reinforced my love. Satyricon all lined up at the front of the stage and bowed out, making special efforts to thank the crowd. Frost has 300 abs, I swear to you. That dude is cut.

Cradle of Filth

What, you think I stayed for Cradle of Filth? Hahahaha.