Converge frontman Jake Bannon's Beverly, Massachusetts-based record, label, Deathwish Inc., kicked off their first-ever festival at The Middle East in Cambridge, Massachusetts yesterday. A sampling of Deathwish's stable of standout hardcore and sludge acts made up the bill for the label's inaugural festival and as excepted with a label of this caliber, the evening was a grand success.
The only thing that was not great about Deathwish Fest was the entry process. The line was unlike anything I've ever seen at the Middle East before as I waited over an hour in line to get into the venue. Upon entering the venue, I figured out that the delay was caused by the fact that they needed to verify that everyone that was supposed to go (the show was moved to the Middle East from another venue in Cambridge) to the show got into the show. The venue had to go through a bunch of hard-copy lists to figure out who was on the list for single day and two-days passes, which as you can imagine, is a very tedious process. Despite getting to the venue right after the doors opened, I ended up missing the first two bands while waiting in the unholy-long line.
Thankfully, I was able to get into the venue right before the first band I wanted to see, Cult Leader, started their set. For those who don't know, Cult Leader rose from the ashes of Salt Lake City sludge/grind outfit Gaza and features the same lineup they had (minus vocalist Jon Parkin) before they disbanded in early 2013. Cult Leader has pretty much the same amount of raw heaviness that Gaza has with a little more of a pure sludge edge. Vocalist Anthony Lucero isn't quite as intimidating of a frontman as Parkin was -namely because he's not 6'8- but he still possesses the fire and rage that made Gaza such a force as a live band. They played all of their debut LP Nothing For Us Here plus a new track with basically no time in-between songs, making their set that much more crushing. Unfortunately, Cult Leader got a lukewarm crowd reception and left the stage after their half-hour set with perhaps the most indifferent round of applause I've ever heard in my life. Despite the collective shoulder shrug from the crowd, I thought Cult Leader was great and I'm glad to see they're just as effective of a live band as Gaza was.
Doomriders was up next. These guys were the only band on the bill that I'd seen before and just like the first time I saw them opening for High on Fire last November, they were great. Their wide-ranging material and knack for catchy, memorable riffs makes them one of the most pure fun bands to see in all of metal. Frontman Nate Newton- who pulled double duty last night as he is also the bassist for Converge- is an excellent frontman who really knows how to work a crowd. Despite Newton's best efforts, Doomriders still went over like a fart in church. It was really odd to see Doomriders' riff-heavy brand of sludge/stoner metal go over so poorly with a Converge crowd when one of their members is in the band, but I guess their music just doesn't appeal to the hardcore-based crowd Converge draws. Doomriders is a dope live band and I'd love to see them again with a better crowd.
Based on the reaction to Cult Leader and Doomriders, I expected the crowd to wake up for the first hardcore band on the bill in Blacklisted. I was correct. People not only woke up for Blacklisted, they lost their fucking minds. I enjoy hardcore, but I'm not fully immersed in the scene, so I had no idea who Blacklisted was before this show. That all changed after their performance as Blacklisted put on one of the evening's finest performances by far. These guys are one of the most dynamic hardcore bands I've ever heard tackling everything from thrashy, in-your-face Terror-esque hardcore to full-on experimental, progressive material over the course of their 35-minute set. In a genre that typically stays to a clear formula, it's great to see a band that goes all over the map and excels at every style they try out. Adding to the unpredictable nature of their music was the immense passion of frontman George Hirsch. He was suffering from an illness and was pretty hoarse in-between songs, but he poured his heart and soul into every song and sounded amazing vocally throughout the set. Blacklisted has traveled to the top of my must-listen list and I look forward to hearing their new LP this fall.
Modern Life is War was up next. Of all the bands not named Converge on this bill, they were the band I was most intrigued to see. I'd heard nothing but amazing things about things and it's always cool to get an opportunity to see such an iconic band perform. For reasons I can't quite put my finger on, Modern Life is War slightly underwhelmed me. About the only logical explanation I can think of is that Modern Life is War had the rough task of following Blacklisted, who is a much more varied act that plays the same style of music. I seemed to be the only a-hole who felt this way because Modern Life is War had arguably the most explosive crowd reaction of the entire show. Vocalist Jeff Eaton constantly got mugged for the mic by a sea of crowd surfers and stage divers while giving all of that energy right back to the crowd by repeatedly going into the crowd himself and encouraging even more people to get up front and yell the words into the mic with him. During the second-to-last song, Eaton asked the security guard standing on the side of the stage what the crowd could do during the song. The security guard responded by saying "anything as long as it's not stupid". Of course with the type of unintentional blessing for chaos from security, the room launched into an all-out warzone for the entire song with a non-stop flow of people getting on stage and the pits expanding to fill the entire front of the room. That is one of the things I love about hardcore shows, the fans are incredibly passionate and go absolutely crazy at every possible opportunity. Modern Life is War put on a solid and wildly energetic performance, they just didn't impress me as much as I expected them to.
The first of the two headliners, Trap Them, took the stage. It was amazing how much of the room cleared out after Modern Life is War, but the people that remained for Trap Them were every bit as passionate as the diehards who were present for Modern Life is War. Trap Them is a band that I've slept on for a long time and after their performance last night, I kind hate of myself for it. These dudes have a level of grit that few other bands in the scene do. Every single song has this unique, grimy aura to it and it's just beautiful to listen to (if you enjoy sloppy, heavy bands that is.) Their music has so many dark, punchy riffs that you start to lose count by the time they've played a couple of songs. "Salted Crypts" off their new record Blissfucker set the ominous tone with a barrage of slow doom riffs while closer "The Facts" from 2011's Darker Handcraft is a full-on punk anthem with fast riffs galore that would make the legends of the genre ecstatic. The bottom line is that regardless of the pace of the song, Trap Them has the perfect riffs to accompany it. Despite a plethora of amazing riffs, the highlight of Trap Them's set was vocalist Ryan McKenney. McKenney is one of the most quietly intense frontmen I've ever seen perform. In-between songs, he's a soft-spoken, reserved guy, but when he's doing vocals, he becomes this almost otherworldly being who seems solely focused on destroying everything in his path. McKenney is the perfect frontman for a band that makes music that's as dark and evil as the material Trap Them makes. Trap Them's performance here has instantly made me a fan and I plan on delving into their older discography (I listened to Blissfucker in its entirety before the show) immediately.
The men of the hour and the reason this fest exists in the first place, Converge, came on at 11:15 to wrap up the nearly six hours of music I heard on the evening. Despite also hailing from their home state and being a fan of theirs for over five years now, the stars had never really aligned on me seeing Converge until now. Now that I've seen Converge, I'm really frustrated that I hadn't seen them sooner. All the hype I'd heard about their live shows over the years was 100% true. Converge is every bit as good, if not better live than on record. The utter chaos, power and beauty of their music really takes flight in a live setting. The ringleader at the forefront of Converge's wild performances is vocalist Jake Bannon. Bannon is one of the most intense and flat-out insane frontmen of all-time. His signature shrieking vocals are just as menacing live and he barely stopped moving for the whole hour they were on stage-constantly running around and holding the mic out for fans in the front to scream/sing along. Bannon wasn't the only member of Converge that was active on stage, bassist Nate Newton carried over the energy he had with Doomriders by flailing and jumping around like a crazy person while drummer Ben Koller and guitarist Kurt Ballou provided tons of energy as well despite the complexity of the material they're playing. Underneath all the energy they give off and musical bedlam they provide, Converge is one of the single most talented bands I've ever had the pleasure of seeing perform. Koller's leads the rhythm section with his mesmerizing drumming which features a surplus of mind-boggling fills and blast beats (especially on the newer material) while Newton shines on bass every time he gets the chance to be heard in the mix. Ballou is a similarly freakishly gifted musician with the solos on "Reap What You Sow" and furious set closer "Effigy" showing his penchant for unconventional and genre-defining guitarwork. Watching these guys play in person made me appreciate them that much more as musicians. Converge gets a lot of love for their contributions to the genre over the years and have had numerous acclaimed records, but the individual members of the band still don't get nearly enough credit for how brilliant they are at their respective instruments. As for the setlist, it was damn near perfect with a plethora of material from their 2001 classic Jane Doe and their two most recent releases Axe to Fall and All We Love Be Leave Behind made up an overwhelming majority of the set. The Jane Doe material including "Concubine" and "Homewrecker" was as insanely heavy as I expected them to be, but it was the more recent album standouts like "Trespasses", "Glacial Pace" and the aforementioned "Reap What You Sow" that were the most enjoyable and purely energetic tracks of the evening. It was a treat to finally see Converge and I have no doubt in my mind that day two of Deathwish's festival will be equally fantastic. Here's hoping this becomes an annual event.
Scores:
Cult Leader 8/10
Doomriders 8/10
Blacklisted 8.5/10
Modern Life is War 7.5/10
Trap Them 8.5/10
Converge 9/10
Setlists:
Cult Leader:
Played all of their LP+ 1 new song, they closed with Driftwood.
Doomriders included:
Come Alive
Black Thunder
Blacklisted included:
I Am Weighing Me Down
Turn the Pike
Rip Tide
Matrimony
New Song (it was the title track from their new LP, the name just slips my mind
Modern Life is War included:
John and Jimmy
Fuck The Sex Pistols
Health, Wealth & Peace
Currency (closer)
Trap Them included:
Salted Crypts (opener)
Lungrunners
Fucking Viva
Savage Climbers
The Facts (closer)
Converge:
Eagles Become Vultures
Aimless Arrow
Veins and Veils
Drop Out
Heartless
Heartache
Trespasses
All We Love We Leave Behind
Runaway
Reap What You Sow
Cutter
Glacial Pace
Heaven in Her Arms
Homewrecker
Concubine
Fault and Fracture
Disintegration (The Cure Cover) (w/Stephen Brodsky, first proper live performance according to Jake Bannon)
Effigy
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