Concert Review: While She Sleeps-- Somerville, MA--February 22nd, 2020

Lineup: While She Sleeps/He is Legend/Savage Hands/Silent Season
Venue: ONCE Ballroom

Silent Season: Decent enough local opener that fit the bill nicely. Silent Season's clean vocal-driven style makes them easy to differentiate from most other metalcore bands and all of their songs were pretty catchy. Really the only downside to their music is that their vocalist's screams were nowhere near as strong as his Jesse Leach-esque cleans. Based on their solid live show and somewhat inspired take on a genre that is widely popular in this area, they should have no issue becoming a fixture on the Boston metal scene.

Savage Hands: Going out and leaving everything you have on a stage is a great way to endear yourself to an audience when you're an up-and-coming band. This is exactly what Savage Hands did here. They came on stage with a clear desire to let the crowd know who they are and what they're about, and didn't deviate from that mission for the whole 25 minutes they were on stage.

Delivering a vintage style of metalcore that is built around the buildups and payoffs of its breakdowns with non-stop energy and passion is a foolproof way to get a metal crowd to lose its shit. The pits popped at all of the moments they were designed to and that only made the group go even harder on stage-which was just beautiful to watch. While I'm not sure if there was enough I liked about the actual content of their music to explore them further on record, they're definitely a legit live act that instantly earned my respect.  

He is Legend: He is Legend is a band that I've inexplicably ignored for ages. They've drawn comparisons to bands I thoroughly enjoy (Every Time I Die, Norma Jean) and came up during the mid-00's era that helped form my love for extreme music. Not even the recent recommendation from a close friend that I attended this show with was enough to get me to listen to them. In what can only be described as an inevitable conclusion to this long-running trivial saga, I became flooded with regret and self-disgust as soon as they started playing.

Driven by deep, scuzzy riffs, old school rock n'roll fury and a proudly goofy attitude, He is Legend is a kickass southern-tinged hard rock/post-hardcore/metalcore hybrid that appealed to me on a deep level. That glorious combination is especially satisfying in a live setting where hard-hitting guitar licks and furious energy hit their visceral peak. I'll be looking back on this occasion as yet another reason of why I need to do a better job of checking out artists that appeal to me on paper and/or are recommended to me by people who have knowledge of my tastes in a more timely fashion. Feeling like an idiot for consciously ignoring an artist when you dedicate so much time to exploring an artform royally sucks and is something I'm going to start working on right away.  

While She Sleeps: It took four albums and nearly a decade of being a signed, internationally-known act for While She Sleeps to embark on a headlining tour through the United States and Canada. As easy as it would be to complain to that this was long overdue, particularly since they've grown a sizable following around Europe since 2015's Brainwashed, I was mostly just glad that they were finally getting a chance to live out part of their dream after grinding so hard for so long to get this opportunity. Unsurprisingly, While She Sleeps didn't let the people down that had been waiting so long for this historic run to happen.

What's really remarkable about While She Sleeps is how they've managed to become an even more assured, wrecking ball of a live act in the nearly five years since I saw them last. While having music that combines emotionally-charged lyrics that touch on a variety of political/social issues with big riffs, catchy hooks and well-timed breakdowns is an excellent blueprint for getting a strong audience response in metal/hardcore scene, it's their electric stage presence and superb understanding of what draws fans to their music that really makes them standout. They want people to really run wild at their shows and by creating setlists that focus on their most anthemic tunes ("ANTI-SOCIAL", "Four Walls", "Silence Speaks", "You Are We") along with doing everything in their power to ensure that the manic energy levels never let up, they are tremendously successful with that goal. Every call to sing along is met with a sea of voices, there was constant activity in the pits and when vocalist Lawrence Taylor decided to climb up to then jump off the railing of the adjoining second floor bar/lounge at ONCE Ballroom, people happily moved over to catch him and assist him with crowdsurfing back to the stage. This type of blissfully joyous, relentlessly energetic atmosphere is exactly what you want out of a show in this genre and that is why While She Sleeps are one of the most fun, electrifying live acts in metal right now.  

Grades:
Silent Season: B-
Savage Hands: B
He is Legend: A-
While She Sleeps: A

Setlists:
He is Legend:
White Bat
Burn All Your Rock Records
The Seduction
Dixie Wolf (The Seduction Of...)
The Fight Song (Marilyn Manson cover)
Everyone I Know Has Fangs
Eye Teeth
Boogeywoman

While She Sleeps:
ANTI-SOCIAL
I'VE SEEN IT ALL
INSPIRE
Civil Isolation
Brainwashed
FAKERS PLAGUE
Death Toll
Four Walls
THE GUILTY PARTY
Hurricane
Silence Speaks
You Are We

Concert Review: Moon Tooth-- Cambridge, MA--January 24th, 2020

Lineup: Moon Tooth/Poh Hock/Vivisepulture
Venue: The Middle East Upstairs

Vivisepulture: Arrived late and missed their set.

Poh Hock: Poh Hock was on stage when I arrived, but it didn't take long at all for me to get into his set. Driven by a combination of catchy melodies, funky bass grooves and flashy guitar theatrics, the Native Construct guitarist's "solo" project (Hock has a bassist and drummer playing alongside him) featured the ideal balance of mellow atmospherics and absurd technicality that any quality instrumental prog metal act has to possess. Hock just dropped his debut EP last March and based on what I saw here, he absolutely has what it takes to eventually blossom into a genre staple.    

Moon Tooth: Being in the ideal geographical position to catch a headlining show from the up-and-coming New York prog metal outfit Moon Tooth is a gift. The jovial energy and distinct melodic vocal/aggressive music dynamic that made Crux one of the best records of 2019 translates beautifully to stage. Their 65-minute set had a terrific flow to it, naturally alternating between their heavier and spacier cuts while also showcasing the tightness of their musicianship and ease in which they command a stage at every turn.

It was also clear how glad they were that people had come out to see them perform on an informal tour at such a tiny venue (Middle East Upstairs has a capacity of about 175), which is always a nice touch and subsequently made me feel like kind of a dick for not reciprocating that appreciation by buying merch. Hopefully Pure Noise continues to invest in these guys because they're a killer band that seems to have a very bright future ahead of them.

Grades:
Poh Hock: B
Moon Tooth: A-

Setlist:
Moon Tooth:
Musketeers
Silver Gallows
Trust
Omega Days
Through Ash
Thumb Spike
Motionless in Sky
Rhythm & Roar
Vesuvius I/Vesuvius II
Awe at All Angles
Crux

Encore:
Igneous

Top 10 Live Performances of 2019

What a strange year for shows. 2019 saw me attending a much lower number of shows than usual (10, fewest since 2009) and making an unexpected return to my metal roots (8 of those 10 shows featured predominantly metal acts on the bill). Thankfully, these oddities didn't have too much of an effect on the performance front. The vast majority of the acts I saw crushed it-with a handful turning in sets that I already consider to be among the best I've ever had the privilege of seeing. Here are my picks for the top 10 performances that I saw over the past 12 months, which fittingly were uncharacteristically easy to pick.    

Concerts Attended:
4/14: Dance Gavin Dance/Periphery/Don Broco/Hail the Sun, The Palladium, Worcester, MA
5/14: Meshuggah/The Black Dahlia Murder, House of Blues, Boston, MA
5/25: Boston Calling Day 2 (Tame Impala/Hozier/Anderson. Paak/King Princess/Denzel Curry/Pile), Harvard Athletic Complex, Allston, MA
6/6 Coheed and Cambria/Mastodon/Every Time I Die, Blue Hills Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA
6/21: August Burns Red/Silverstein/Silent Planet, House of Blues, Boston, MA
9/6: Banks/Kevin Garrett, House of Blues, Boston, MA
9/12: Periphery/Veil of Maya/Covet, House of Blues, Boston, MA
9/20: Converge/Wound Man/Burden, Hardcore Stadium, Cambridge, MA
10/13: Vein/Higher Power/Buried Dreams/Silenus, The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
11/25: As I Lay Dying/After the Burial/Emmure, House of Blues, Boston, MA

Honorable Mentions: After the Burial, Don Broco, Meshuggah, Periphery (9/12), Tame Impala

10.Veil of Maya: This might sound crazy, but having a clear sound mix can really do wonders for the quality of a live show. Shedding the sound issues that bogged down their set at Summer Slaughter last year shined a light on just how electric of a frontman vocalist Lukas Magyar is as well as how their bouncy, hooky new material really flourishes when it has a fully engaged audience to feed off.

9.Hozier: Being in the presence of immense vocal talent is something that I particularly cherish as a concertgoer and Hozier is without question among the best singers I've ever seen perform. His pseudo-headlining set at Boston Calling was a masterful exercise in minimalism that shined a much-deserved spotlight on the dynamic talent he and his band possess.

8.Converge: While it might not have been as wild as I had hoped a hometown show being held in an Elks Lodge would be, getting to see an iconic band return to their DIY roots by playing a super intimate show in an unapologetically scuzzy venue still made for an unforgettable experience.  

7.The Black Dahlia Murder: Seeing The Black Dahlia Murder for the 10th time was just as magical as the first. Anybody looking for a blueprint on how to age gracefully and always deliver fun, balls-out performances-regardless of venue or billing-should take cues from these hardened death metal road warriors.

6.Denzel Curry: Getting a festival crowd riled up, especially in the middle of the day, is no easy feat. Energy is precious when you're spending so much time in the sun and there's a good chance that many people in the crowd have no clue who you are, so you're going to have to really bring it to generate any sort of notable reaction. By putting together a setlist driven by abrasive material ("Ultimate", "SUMO", several cuts from the then-unreleased ZUU) that showcased the overwhelming fire/technical ability he brings to the mic, Curry won the crowd over immediately and went onto get such an impassioned response that you could've easily mistook this set for a headlining gig. It was a beautiful moment in the rapid ascent of an exceptional young talent that is easily among the most exciting artists in hip-hop right now. 

5.Banks: Another headlining tour, another show-stopping performance from the pop world's most unsung artist. With her powerful vocals free from the shackles of the somewhat uneven mixing that prevented the studio version from reaching its full potential, the material from her latest record III reached dizzying new heights live and her ability to create an immersive atmosphere that matches the mood of each song through lighting, choreography, etc. remains simply unreal.  

4.Mastodon: Walking into a Mastodon show with any sort of expectations is a futile exercise. There's no way of knowing whether or not they're going to blow the roof off of the building or flood the venue with sloppy auditory excrement until about 10-15 seconds after they start playing. This consistent inconsistency makes the occasions like this where they do deliver particularly rewarding. Getting the majestic front-to-back performance of their 2009 prog epic masterpiece Crack the Skye that I was deprived off on the initial tour (thanks as always Brent Hinds!) they did in support of the record a decade ago was a spectacular gift I never expected to receive.

3.Dance Gavin Dance: Dance Gavin Dance is a no bullshit live act who wastes very little time doing crowdwork and just let's the music speak for itself. When that approach results in a performance that is so technically precise that it's damn near impossible to distinguish from their studio recordings, their lack of traditional engagement with the audience is not only forgivable, but welcome.

2.Vein: Nobody will ever be able to replicate the level of sheer chaos The Dillinger Escape Plan manufactured ever time they hit a stage, but Vein is easily the closest another act has come to harnessing their beautifully destructive aura. This hometown headlining show at the end of a lengthy tour was an exhilarating circus of carnage powered by the type of unrelenting intensity from both band and crowd that makes extreme metal shows such a distinctly visceral experience.        

1.Coheed and Cambria: Seeing Coheed and Cambria perform with a few of my closest friends on a beautiful June evening on the Boston waterfront is about as good as life gets in my eyes. Outside of Between the Buried and Me, there isn't an act on the planet that consistently delivers from both a musical and entertainment standpoint than these New York-bred prog rock juggernauts. I hope to never see the day where even an ounce of their chill-inducing immensity and borderline inhuman skill as performers fades away.

Top Shows:
5.Banks/Kevin Garrett
4.Meshuggah/The Black Dahlia Murder
3.Periphery/Veil of Maya/Covet
2.Boston Calling
1.Coheed and Cambria/Mastodon/Every Time I Die

Biggest Surprises:
3.Silverstein
2.Tame Impala
1.Don Broco

Biggest Letdowns:
3.Anderson. Paak
2.August Burns Red
1.Periphery (4/14)

Artists I Hope to See in 2020:
5.Greyhaven
4.FKA twigs
3.SeeYouSpaceCowboy...
2.Allegaeon
1.Lana Del Rey

Concert Review: Vein-- Cambridge, MA-- October 13th, 2019

Lineup: Vein/Higher Power/Buried Dreams/Silenus
Venue: The Middle East Downstairs

Silenus: Long Island has been regularly churning out beatdown hardcore bands for what seems like an eternity, but I've never heard one that's quite like Silenus. Combining the traditional beatdown attitude/breakdowns with fast riffing, death metal-esque vocals and eerie samples made them especially abrasive-even for a genre that prides itself on being over-the-top heavy. Their shit was so god damn punishing that I didn't even get overly bothered by the macho bullshit their vocalist was saying between songs! Silenus sold me on a style of hardcore that I don't typically respond overly favorably to and I'll be very interested to see if they continue to embrace this very interesting sound moving forward.

Buried Dreams: Boston's own Buried Dreams was added to this bill after Soft Kill dropped off a couple weeks of ago. Based on the crowd reaction, not only would've you've not known they were a late addition to the show, you probably would've thought they were headlining. This metalcore/traditional hardcore hybrid incited pits, crowd surfing and wall-to-wall movement galore as they ripped through a super fun 20 minute set. That type of widespread enthusiasm for an opener is beautiful to see and reinforced why the Boston hardcore scene is such a special community.

Higher Power: Referring to Higher Power as a breather wouldn't be fair to them because they were every bit as good and energetic as the bands that preceded them. However, they did utilize a lot of melodic vocals alongside the regularly-deployed breakdowns-which made them a welcome and very effective departure from the ultraaggressive mood that drove the rest of the night. Bonus points to their vocalist for being a super charismatic fellow who seemed beyond appreciative that the crowd was so responsive to their set.  

Vein: HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT. That's just a sample of the very deep thoughts that were running through my head during Vein's set. These agents of musical chaos bring an unrelenting, go-for-broke attitude to the stage that is reminiscent of The Dillinger Escape Plan and their distinct beast of a sound somehow manages to be even more intense live. Throw in the fact this was a hometown show on the last night of a month-long headlining run and you have yourself a lethal formula that helped make this show a jaw-dropping display of pure fucking madness..

This performance was the kind of visceral, adrenaline-fueled experience that drew me to heavy music as a teenager and has kept me devoted to it as an adult. Every single song hit like a sledgehammer. No one in the band that isn't forced to sit down to play their instrument stood still for more than a few seconds at a time. Mics were tossed around like a football. People were hanging upside down from the pipes on the ceiling. As many 20-25 people were on the stage at one time. Getting to be in an environment where anything goes without anything awful happening is an increasingly rare luxury in this wretched world and I couldn't be more thankful that this haven of contained chaotic euphoria still exists. Vein is a superhuman force live and I hope they NEVER lose that edge as their stock continues to ascend.

Grades:
Silenus: B+
Buried Dreams: B+
Higher Power: B+
Vein: A+

Setlist:
Vein:
Untitled
Broken Glass Complexion
Demise Automation
Spiral
Untitled (same lyrics w/ longer outro and slightly different instrumental)
Anesthesia
Ripple
Old Data in a Dead Machine
Rebirth Protocol
Terrors Realm
New Song
Virus:// Vibrance
Ideation: Self Destruct
New Song
Doomtech
Progenitor

Concert Review: Converge--- Cambridge, MA-- September 20, 2019

Lineup: Converge/Infest/Wound Man/Burden/Peace Test
Venue: Hardcore Stadium
Note: Infest was the headliner, but I left before they played.

Peace Test: Arrived late and missed their set.

Burden: This was my first time at the legendary Hardcore Stadium, so I had to do some exploring upon arriving. For those who have never there before, Hardcore Stadium is a functioning Elks Lodge that just happens to host shows from time to time. There's members working the door, musty odors protruding from every corner, ceiling fans that may or may not be functional and a bathroom, while surprisingly clean, that looks like it was thrown together by a mediocre, likely intoxicated handyman sometime in the 1950's. It's a DIY paradise and I'm disappointed that it took me so long to attend a show here.

As a result of being sucked into the glorious tacky ambiance and out-of-market baseball games being shown on the TV's in the basement area, I didn't get back upstairs until Burden was just about done playing. From what I saw, they reminded me of some of the old-school punk bands you'd come across on the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater soundtrack. While those songs made for cool, appropriate  background noise for a vert ramp shred sash, I never felt compelled to jam them outside of the game. I'll never hate on an act that's spirited and can generate positive energy from a crowd, but there was nothing about Burden's music that I found to be above average.      

Wound Man: Holy hell, what a powerviolence band Wound Man is. The balance between grind chaos and gloomy, mid-paced sludge was as clean as I've ever heard in the genre and their vocalist was an intense lunatic who performed just about every song in the middle of the pit. If their studio material comes anywhere close to resembling the freight turn of fury that was their live show, I'm going to become a huge Wound Man fan in no time at all.

Converge: Reliability is something that shouldn't be taken for granted-especially with live music. Not only is a group of musicians being able to bring it every time they take the stage a very impressive feat, it also provides the comforting luxury of piece of mind that your money is being well spent when you go see one of their shows. Metalcore pioneers Converge are flagship members of this special club.

The 50 minutes they were on stage played out like a tutorial on how to make playing extreme music look like the easiest thing in the world. They carry themselves with an easy yet not overbearing confidence, never miss a note and know how to craft a setlist that matches the tone of the bands they're sharing the stage with (in this case, it was a heavy dose of their heavier, spazzier material). Their universal prowess becomes even more jaw-dropping when you consider that most of the band is in there early-to-mid 40's (drummer Ben Koller is the young buck at age 39) and playing super technical music full of frequent, rapid tempo changes. Part of me wishes things got a bit rowdier than they did considering the space they were playing in, but it was still really cool to see them return to their roots in such a lowkey venue and with their 30th (!) anniversary as a band coming next year, hopefully they'll do some more intimate hometown shows like this.

Grades:
Burden: C
Wound Man: B+
Converge: A-

Setlist:
Converge:
A Single Tear
Dark Horse
Aimless Arrow
Under Duress
Forsaken
Reap What You Sow
Cutter
Glacial Pace
Sadness Comes Home
Runaway
All We Love We Leave Behind
Eagles Become Vultures
Concubine

Concert Review: Coheed and Cambria--Boston, MA-- June 6th, 2019

Lineup: Coheed and Cambria/Mastodon/Every Time I Die (The Unheavenly Skye Tour)
Venue: Rockland Trust Bank Pavilion, Boston, MA

Every Time I Die: Seeing a road dog veteran band who usually headlines dingy clubs perform at a fully seated venue in one of Boston's bojueest neighborhoods was super strange- a fact that vocalist Keith Buckley acknowledged multiple times during their set. Venue oddity aside, Every Time I Die was their usual excellent selves. The big stage and lack of a pit didn't prevent them from delivering 40 minutes of energetic, chaotic metalcore that went over surprisingly well with an audience that was at least somewhat comprised of people that didn't come to see them. Hopefully we'll be blessed with a new record and subsequent return to seat-free tours in sweaty 800-capacity rooms by the middle of next year.
<1 by="" capacity="" establishments="" nbsp="" next="" occur="" p="" spring.="" will="">

Mastodon: I've been absurdly nervous about seeing Mastodon again since the moment I found about this tour. Their live show is notoriously erratic and since the last time was an absolute doozy of a performance where Brent Hinds' vocals resembled a cat trying to cough up a furball for 90 minutes, my expectations heading into last night were incredibly low. Making matters worse is the fact that Crack the Skye, which they were playing from front to back in honor of its 10th anniversary, is one of my favorite records ever. The slew of negativity I walked in with proved to be nothing but a whole lot of false worry.

Clearly this triumph was much more than a pleasant surprise. Hell, I would've been shocked if I ended up merely ENJOYING their performance. This nearly hiccup-free shit that captured the epic scale and haunting atmosphere that makes Crack the Skye a progressive metal masterpiece basically scrambled my brain. I don't know if it caused by extreme shock or confusion, but it was a feeling that I've never felt before and couldn't possibly put into a suitable string of words. Will my cynical ass bitch about how this show was a bittersweet reminder of the force Mastodon used to be sometime in the near future? Without a doubt, but in the interim, I'm just going to cherish the fact that I saw a band that was crucial in solidifying my love of music put on a hell of a performance at a time where I thought they were no longer capable of doing so.

Coheed and Cambria: Whenever someone asks me to name live acts that have consistently impressed me, Coheed and Cambria is one of the first artists that pops into my mind. Every single time I've seen them dating back to their spring 2006 co-headliner with Avenged Sevenfold has been an incredible experience and that reliable excellence was on display once again here. Everything from the lesser-played songs from their extensive back catalog (“Gravity's Union”, “Mother Superior”) to the staples that have been bringing down the house for over a decade (“Welcome Home”, “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3”) to the plethora of material they played from their great new record The Unheavenly Creatures sounded tremendous. There's not a riff, drum hit or vocal note that isn't either exactly like the studio version or perfectly embellished to get a bigger pop out of the crowd. In my eyes, that's the definition of an exceptional performer. Even among the artists I'd place in the elite tier of live acts, Coheed sits comfortably among the top. As long as they are physically able to perform their songs, their shows will remain a clinic in both musicianship and sending fans home happy.


Grades:
Every Time I Die: A-
Mastodon: A
Coheed and Cambria: A+

Setlists:
Every Time I Die:
Roman Holiday
Glitches
Underwater Bimbos from Outer Space
We'rewolf
Floater
Decayin' with the Boys
Thirst
INRIhab
It Remembers
The Coin Has a Say
The New Black
Map Change

Mastodon:
Oblivion
Divinations
Quintessence
The Czar
Ghost of Karelia
Crack the Skye
The Last Baron
Blood and Thunder
Crystal Skull
Ancient Kingdom
The Motherload

Coheed and Cambria:
Prologue
The Dark Sentencer
Key Entity Extraction V: Sentry the Defiant
Unheavenly Creatures
In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
A Favor House Atlantic
The Gutter
True Ugly
No World for Tomorrow
Gravity's Union
Mother Superior
The Suffering
Old Flames

Encore:
The Pavilion (A Long Way Back)
Welcome Home

Concert Review: Behemoth-- Boston, MA-- November 1st, 2018

Lineup: Behemoth/At the Gates/Wolves at the Throne Room
Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA

Wolves in the Throne Room: Black metal, particularly of the atmospheric variety, has a tendency to grate on me and Wolves in the Throne Room continued that proud tradition. By the time they broke into their second 10-minute slice of droning ambient noise accompanied by lovely dying cat shrieks and a floor tom that sounded like a washing machine that it was on its last legs, I started texting one of my friends about the Celtics game against the Bucks and the solo albums of various Migos members to pass the time.

At the Gates: Finally getting another chance to see At the Gates again after being forced to leave their headlining set on the 2015 Decibel Tour early was a sweet piece of redemption. While Tomas Lindberg's vocals have understandably dipped a bit now that he's in his mid-40's, the Swedish melodeath pioneers still bring a ton of energy to the stage and have the same headbang-worthy punch they had in their heyday. As long as they keep performing with this much spirit and making highly enjoyable, riff-driven extreme metal, their second stint as a full-time band should continue to be a roaring success.  

Behemoth: Even without the séance-like backdrop full of incense and billowing smoke that you typically see at their shows, Behemoth was able to put on a commanding, often larger-than-life performance that reinforced why they're one of the most lethal extreme metal forces on the planet. Everything from the material from their breakout 1999 album Satanica to the cuts from their just-released 11th (!) LP I Loved You at Darkest felt like being caught up in a massive tidal wave of ferocity and darkness. Adding to this ominous atmosphere was the towering presence of the band itself. Nergal, Inferno, Orion and Seth carry themselves like warriors that just got off a battlefield in Hell and while I'm not going to pretend that there isn't a  bit ton of corniness attached to their imagery and stage banter, it matches their Satanic aesthetic perfectly. Behemoth delivers a unique, intense show that is always a lot of fun to take in and I hope they return to the States again before this touring cycle concludes.      

Grades:
Wolves in the Throne Room: D+
At the Gates: B+
Behemoth: A-

Setlists:
At the Gates:
To Drink From the Night Itself
Slaughter of the Soul
At War with Reality
The Chasm
Cold
Death and the Labyrinth
Heroes and Tombs
Suicide Nation
The Book of Sand (The Abomination)
Blinded by Fear
The Night Eternal

Behemoth:
Wolves ov Siberia
Daimonos
Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
Bartzabel
Ov Fire and the Void
God=Dog
Conquer All
Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
Decade of Therion
Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
Slaves Shall Serve
Chant for Eschaton 2000

Encore:
Lucifer
The Next 1000 Years

Concert Review: Lorde-- Boston, MA-- April 3rd, 2018

Lineup: Lorde/Run the Jewels/Mitski
Venue: TD Garden, Boston, MA
Date: April 3rd, 2018

Mitski: Anything that falls under the indie rock/folk/pop umbrella is always a huge dice roll for me. An overwhelming majority of the artists in these scenes either resonate with me right away or grate on me to the point where I want to chop my ears off with any sharp object that's in reach. Mitski is definitely in the former camp. With her utilization of heavily-distorted guitars and a distinct voice that constantly veers between beautiful and melancholic, she's easily the most interesting indie rocker I've been exposed to over the last several years. After I get the new Flatbush Zombies, Augury and Wonder Years records off of my listening queue, I plan on finding out if Mitski's recorded material has the same unique magic as her live show.

Run the Jewels: Full disclosure: The bizarre yet intriguing opportunity to see Run the Jewels open for Lorde was the driving force behind my decision to go to this show. While Lorde has considerably less teenage fans than most of her peers in the pop community right now, RTJ's rage-and-expletive filled brand of hip-hop was still a lock to shell shock a portion of the audience and as a huge fan of watching people become visibly horrified by music that's foreign to them, I needed to see this potentially hysterical scene play out before my eyes. In a mildly sad development, this hypothetical comedic scenario never materialized. The clear gap in musical style between Lorde and RTJ was a fact that Killer Mike and El-P constantly poked fun at during their 45 minutes on stage, and that level of self-awareness helped make the atmosphere a lot less awkward than I anticipated.

Even though the place wasn't completely dead, the crowd response still had a notable impact on the quality of Run the Jewels' performance. Despite their best efforts, performing on a massive arena stage in front of a crowd that was predominantly full of people that were either unfamiliar and/or didn't enjoy their music prevented them from establishing the beautifully raucous environment that their shows typically have. Relatively muted crowd reaction aside, Run the Jewels was still very enjoyable and they deserve a lot of credit for agreeing to appear on a tour where a majority of their corps fans weren't likely to show up.

Lorde: For as many misguided descision as I make, from time to time I'll stumble into a brilliant one. The morbid curiosity I had of seeing Run the Jewels and Lorde share a stage resulted in me experiencing a monster performance from one of pop's brightest young talents.

As impressive as her material is on record, the live setting benefits Lorde tremendously. I was honestly stunned by how much more powerful her voice was without the studio manipulations (pitch correct, Auto-Tune, etc.) that go into every major record. The live setting, where shit/lip synch-reliant singers get eaten alive, unlocked an even deeper range of vocals than I previously thought she had (demonstrated on Melodrama ballad "Writer in the Dark", Hunger Games Mockingjay Part I soundtrack cut "Yellow Flicker Beat" and her chilling cover of Frank Ocean's "Solo") and made the emotional undercurrent that drives all of her finest tracks ("Sober", "Tennis Court", "Perfect Places", "Melodrama", "400 Lux") even stronger. This might just be a kneejerk reaction that's stemming from a post-concert high, but I'd honestly go as far to say that Lorde is in the mix with The Weeknd, Lana Del Rey and Banks for the title of best vocalist I've ever seen perform in person

Another pleasant surprise was how much better the material from her debut Pure Heroine sounded live. The cheap-sounding minimalist production from Joel Little that prevented a lot of the record from connecting with me sounded much cleaner in a live setting and that adjustment in mix quality allowed these tracks to become raw and hypnotic as hell. I enjoyed these songs so much last night that I might get frisky and reevaluate songs like "Ribs" and "Buzzcut Season" that left me cold whenever I'd heard them in the past.

If you're an aspiring pop/R&B singer, you could learn a lot from taking in a Lorde show. Her show is light on elaborate theatrics, but her vocals are so god damn impressive that she doesn't need to do anything else to command a stage and send the crowd into a frenzy. I'm fucking elated that I decided to go to this show and I will happily go praise the Lorde whenever she returns to the lovely city of Boston.

Scores:
Mitski 8/10
Run the Jewels 8/10
Lorde 9/10

Setlists:

Mitski:

Francis Forever

I Don't Smoke

Thursday Girl

Townie

Your Best American Girl

I Bet on Losing Dogs

I Will

Drunk Walk Home

My Body's Made of Crushed Little Stars

Run the Jewels:
Talk to Me

Legend Has It

Call Ticketron

Blockbuster Night Part 1
Oh My Darling Don't Cry

Stay Gold

Don't Get Captured 

Nobody Speak (DJ Shadow cover)

Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)

A Report to the Shareholders

Thursday in the Danger Room

Down

Lorde:

Sober

Homemade Dynamite

Tennis Court

Magnets (Disclosure cover)

Buzzcut Season

400 Lux

Ribs

The Louvre

Hard Feelings

Yellow Flicker Beat

Writer in the Dark

Solo (Frank Ocean cover)

Liability 

Sober II (Melodrama)

Supercut

Royals

Perfect Places

Green Light

Encore:

Loveless

Precious Metals

Team

Concert Review: Thy Art is Murder-- Allston, MA-- September 19th, 2017

Lineup: Thy Art is Murder/Fallujah/Ghost Bath
Venue: Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
Date: September 19th, 2017

Ghost Bath: Tapping a melodic black metal act to fill the opening slot on a bill that features two of the more buzzed-about young death metal/core acts in the scene right now was a bold move by the promoter who booked this tour. While it was definitely a strange choice considering the musical styles and fanbases of their tourmates, Ghost Bath managed to be a tolerable opener that brought a nice dash of rawness to this otherwise polished, technical affair. Their reliance on repetitive  melodies/riffs caused them to get a little stale around the 20-25 minute mark of their set, but Ghost Bath was still pretty alright overall.

Fallujah: After voluntarily skipping their previous two Massachusetts shows with The Black Dahlia Murder and Between the Buried and Me/Devin Townsend, I finally got the chance to see Fallujah on the touring cycle for their latest album Dreamless. Since I'm an unapologetic fanboy of this band, this performance unsurprisingly filled me with a borderline sad level of joy. The setlist was damn near perfect (they legitimately played every single one of my favorite songs from Dreamless), their musicianship was flawless and above all, fill-in vocalist Monte Bernard (The Kennedy Veil, ex-Alterbeast) did an excellent job of capturing the tone of the band's material without mimicking former vocalist Alex Hoffmann's style. While Bernard's involvement with The Kennedy Veil makes it unlikely, I'd be completely cool with him becoming the permeant vocalist. I'm not going to pretend like I'm not very concerned about how this vocalist search will end up panning out, but for now, I'm just happy that they were able to put on a great live show without Hoffmann as their frontman. 

Thy Art is Murder: If you're looking for someone to blame for the resurgence and/or continued relevance of the deathcore movement in extreme metal, Australia's Thy Art is Murder should be the band you direct your anger at. How they were able to pull off the miraculous feat of reviving a genre that had pretty much died once genre leaders Suicide Silence and Whitechapel decided to take their music in new directions in the early 2010's becomes abundantly clear when you see them in a live setting. Their knack for establishing an atmosphere of pure, visceral devastation with their music is a gift that only a small number of bands in the scene right now possess. The Land Down Under's finest export since Crocodile Dundee backed up their terrific track record as a live act with yet another high-energy performance that showcased their ability to reduce a room into complete ruination.    

This hour-long headlining set combined the more straightforward death metal-inspired style they introduced on their newest album Dear Desolation-which was released last month-with a healthy amount of crowd-pleasing, breakdown-heavy favorites from their previous two LP's (2012's Hate and 2015's Holy War). Despite the slight stylistic differences between these releases, the band managed to compose a setlist that featured a majority of the most crushing tracks in their catalog, which sent the near sell-out crowd at the Brighton Music Hall into exactly the type of chaotic frenzy metalheads live for. Adding to the madness was the always imposing presence of vocalist C.J McMahon. McMahon, who recently re-joined the band after a year and a half away, was as sharp as ever vocally and did a great job of inciting the crowd without ever coming across as a hxC douchebag. While they'll never be among my personal favorites, Thy Art is Murder's live shows are always a ton of fun and do an excellent job of reaffirming why they've gained such a rabid following over the past six years.

Scores:

Ghost Bath 5/10

Fallujah 9/10

Thy Art is Murder 8/10

Setlists:

Fallujah:

Cerebral Hybridization

Adrenaline 

Abandon

Amber Gaze

Carved from Stone

Sapphire  

Scar Queen
Lacuna
The Void Alone

Thy Art is Murder:
Dear Desolation
Slaves Beyond Death
The Purest Strain of Hate
Shadow of Eternal Sin
Violent Reckoning
Emptiness
No Absolution
Absolute Genocide
The Son of Misery
Puppet Master
Coffin Dragger
Holy War
Light Bearer

Encore:
Reign of Darkness

Concert Review: Vince Staples-- Boston, MA-- March 28th, 2017

Lineup: Vince Staples/Kilo Kish ("The Life Aquatic Tour")
Venue: Paradise Rock Club, Boston, MA
Date: March 28th, 2017

Kilo Kish: Unlike a majority of the sold-out crowd at the Paradise last night, I was completely indifferent towards the half-hour performance from Vince Staples' frequent collaborator. Her take on modern R&B is admirably experimental and featured the occasional beautiful melody/hook, but her subdued stage presence and generally mellow sound made her an ill-fitting opener for an incendiary artist like Staples.  

Vince Staples: The Vince Staples hype train was built on his no-holds-barred aggression and brutal honesty about growing up in the rough streets of Long Beach, California. In a not-so-shocking twist, that authentic, palatable rage carries his live performance. While he's not big on crowd-work or moving around on stage, his venom-tinged delivery and no bullshit-attitude allows him to create a frenzied atmosphere that rivals the shows of more conventionally rowdy rappers (ScHoolboy Q, Run the Jewels, Danny Brown). The oddly high number of slow songs in the set ("Lemme Know", "Surf", "Summertime") and heavy use of backing tracks on the material from his 2016 EP Prima Donna halted the momentum at times, but for the most part, this set was a strong showcase of the raw intensity that makes Staples one of hip-hop's brightest young talents.

Scores:
Kilo Kish 5/10
Vince Staples 8/10

Setlist:
Vince Staples:
Prima Donna
3230
Smile
Fire
Lift Me Up
Jump Off the Roof
Senorita
Lemme Know
Birds & Bees
Big Time
Little Bit of This (GTA cover)
Smoke & Retribution (Flume cover)
Ghost (Major Lazer cover)
War Ready
Hands Up
Loco
Surf
BagBak
Blue Suede

Encore:
Norf Norf
Summertime

Concert Review: Tove Lo-- Boston, MA-- February 19th, 2017

Lineup: Tove Lo/Phoebe Ryan ("The Lady Wood Tour")
Venue: House of Blues, Boston, MA
Date: February 19th, 2017

Phoebe Ryan: This is a perfect example of how one song can change the trajectory of an entire set. I was completely indifferent on Phoebe Ryan after the first couple songs she played, but then she broke out a high-energy cover of R. Kelly's "Remix to Ignition" that used Miguel's "Do You" as a hook and instantly hooked me. Her heavy electronic influence, low-key catchy hooks and adorable awkwardness reminded me a lot of Kiiara, who went from unknown to one of the buzzed-about up-and-comers in pop after the breakout success of "Gold" last summer. Ryan has a lot of potential and given how popular synth/electropop is right now, she could very well be on the precipice of breaking out in 2017.  

Tove Lo: This was the first pure pop show I've ever attended (I saw Lana Del Rey and The Weeknd in 2015, but they don't really count IMO) and holy hell did Tove Lo set the bar high for anybody else I see in the future. The 80 minutes she was on stage were driven by a towering stage presence, spot-on technicality and beaming positive energy that radiated throughout the entire sold-out crowd at the House of Blues.

The biggest takeaway I had from Tove Lo's set was how good her vocals sounded live. I've always thought her voice was very good and distinct for the genre on the record, but I didn't really appreciate her range or command until this show. She outright crushed everything from ballads to uptempo dance-pop with almost no help from backing tracks and showed the full scope of her vocal capabilities by experimenting with different arrangements and deliveries live on a handful of tracks ("Cool Girl", "Imaginary Friend", "Keep it Simple", "Not on Drugs", "Vibes"). As great of a state as pop is in right now, it's not super common to see an artist that has the confidence to play around with the existing studio arrangements live, so she deserves a ton of credit for having the talent and guts to effortlessly pull it off. 

I've been all aboard the "Tove Lo is underrated" train for a little while now and this knockout performance only further solidified my place on that hypothetical locomotive. Tove Lo deserves to a be a superstar and I hope to hell she can become a Lady Gaga/Rihanna/Ariana Grande-type mainstay in the pop world sooner than later.

Scores:
Phoebe Ryan 7/10
Tove Lo 8.5/10

Setlists:
Phoebe Ryan included:
Remix to Ignition/Do You (R. Kelly/Miguel cover)
Mine
All We Know (The Chainsmokers cover)
Dark Side

Tove Lo:
True Disaster
Lady Wood
Influence
Moments
The Way That I Am
Not on Drugs
Thousand Miles
Vibes
Got Love
Talking Body
Imaginary Friend
Keep It Simple
WTF Love Is
Flashes
Cool Girl

Encore:
What I Want for the Night (Bitches)
Habits (Stay High)

Concert Review: Animals as Leaders-- Boston, MA-- November 30th, 2016

Lineup: Animals as Leaders/Intervals/Plini
Venue: Royale, Boston, MA
Date: November 30th, 2016

Plini: Plini has been the most hyped instrumental band of 2016 not named Polyphia and after seeing them perform, I completely understand why. The Australian jazz fusion/prog rock trio played 40 minutes worth of gorgeous, winding musical adventures that reminded me a lot of Collective-era Scale the Summit. These guys have the potential to turn into the genre's next seminal act and I'm mildly ashamed that I didn't take the time to check out them out sooner.  

Intervals: While I have a lot of love for Animals as Leaders, the main reason I went to this show was to see Intervals. Their latest release The Shape of Colour was one of my favorite albums of 2015 and I was dying to finally them perform as an instrumental group (the previous time I'd seen them was during their brief stint as a traditional prog metal band). Thankfully, their performance ended up living up to my ridiculous hype level. Aaron Marshall is one of the best guitarists in the game right now and it was fucking awesome to watch him rip through a 40-minute set of his distinct, wildly upbeat brand of prog. I'm elated that Intervals has returned to being a full-time instrumental band and I hope can catch them headline sometime in the near future.

Animals as Leaders: There is no more reliable live act in metal right now than Animals as Leaders. Every single time you purchase a ticket one of their shows you know you're going to see a virtuoso musicianship clinic and last night's show at the Royale was no exception.

Given the fact that I've seen them six times and their stage presence is understandably stoic, there really isn't much to say about their performance aside from gushing about just how fucking talented they are. The level of precision that Tosin Abasi, Javier Reyes and Matt Garska play borders on robotic and it allows every single song-regardless of how I feel about I studio version- to be captivating live. Watching top-tier musicians play in person that makes my inner music nerd weep with joy and that special (and arguably pathetic) feeling that comes with seeing them live is the biggest reason why I'll continue to go see Animals as Leaders every time they're in the Massachusetts-area.  

What will ultimately make this show standout from the previous times I've seen them is the fact that they played in front of a sold-out crowd of 1,000 people. Their ascent from playing before bands like Carnifex and Cephalic Carnage on Summer Slaughter six years ago to mid-size club headliner with one of the most passionate, devoted fanbases in metal is remarkable and something I never expected them to pull off as an instrumental band in a genre that is incredibly hard to breakout in. This wave of success couldn't be more well-deserved and with yet another impressive effort put forth on their just-released fourth LP The Madness of Many, I fully expect their popularity to grow even more in the coming months. Animals as Leaders is a wonder to behold live and an absolute must-see for any fans of complex, heavy and melodic instrumental music.  

Scores:
Pilini 8/10
Intervals 8.5/10
Animals as Leaders 8.5/10

Setlists:
Intervals:
I'm Awake
Sure Shot
Fable
Momento
Tapestry 
Epiphany
Black Box
Libra

Animals as Leaders:
Arithmophobia
Tempting Time
An Infinite Regression
Do Not Go Gently
Ectogenesis
Crescent
Ka$cade
The Glass Bridge
The Brain Dance
Physical Education
Inner Assassins
The Woven Web

Concert Review: letlive.-- Allston, MA-- July 5th, 2016

Lineup: letlive./Seahaven/Silver Snakes/Night Verses
Venue: Brighton Music Hall, Allston, MA
Date: July 5th, 2016

Night Verses: Night Verses is a band that I instantly became a huge fan of after becoming aware of them when they were announced as one of the openers for the second leg of Protest the Hero's Volition tour in early 2014. Unfortunately, they didn't end up appearing at the Massachusetts date of the Volition tour , so I had a solid two years worth of built-up anticipation to see them live heading into this show. Night Verses not only met my lofty expectations for their set, they eviscerated them.

The sheer strength of their musicianship grabbed me right away. Vocalist Douglas Robinson sounded almost exactly the same as he does on record, the guitarwork from Nick DePerro was magnificent  and this performance made me fully appreciate just how much of a beast drummer Aric Improta is behind the kit. Post-hardcore is a genre full of excellent musicians, but there are few bands that match the sheer talent Night Verses possesses throughout their ranks.

The setlist was evenly divided between songs from all three of their releases (2012's Out of the Sky EP, 2013's Lift Your Existence and their upcoming second LP Into the Vanishing Light, which will be released this Friday) and let every side of their wide-spanning sound shine through. The older material was appropriately chaotic and beautiful while the new material sounded a lot more melodic than most of the songs from Lift Your Existence without losing the unpredictable spastic edge that made that record special. Night Verses put on a spectacular performance that perfectly showcased their dynamism and made a strong case as to why they're the most exciting up-and-coming band in the post-hardcore scene right now.   
 
Silver Snakes: Silver Snakes are a band that have picked up a fair amount of traction of late as evidenced by the hype surrounding their new album Saboteur and their securing of the opening spot on Korn and Breaking Benjamin's co-headlining tour this fall. After seeing them live, it's easy to see why they've garnered so much buzz recently. Their hybrid of hard rock and post-hardcore is pretty fun to listen to and their vocalist Alex Estrada has a very unique and impressive voice. Their songs got a little bit repetitive at times and I wish Estrada utilized his excellent screams more, but Silver Snakes still managed to put on a good show.

Seahaven: Seahaven is the epitome of a band that I can understand the acclaim for, but can't personally connect with or appreciate in any way. While there was nothing objectively wrong with their music, their style of melancholy emo with bursts of post-hardcore aggression and pop punk breeziness simply isn't something that resonated with me. My lack of enthusiasm for them made me an extreme outlier in the room as the crowd went completely nuts for their set-greeting the conclusion of every song with warm applause and passionately singing along to just about every song in their 40-minute set. Unless they were opening for band that I absolutely love, I'd never voluntarily sit through another Seahaven set again.

letlive.: Going into this show I was worried about the potential effects letlive.'s more melodic, accessible new album, If I'm the Devil..., would have on their notoriously intense live show.  Thankfully the answer to that question was none. If anything, letlive.'s live show has only gotten more intense since the last time I saw them in 2013.

The centerpiece for letlive.'s chaotic live show is their vocalist Jason Butler. Outside of Greg Puciato from The Dillinger Escape Plan, there isn't a more batshit insane frontman in music. It's usually a mystery what he'll do during each show, but it always ends up being something completely bonkers and unforgettable. The highlights of Butler's one-man carnival of chaos at this show included him walking and climbing around in the rafters while singing during "That Fever Fever" and "Homeless Jazz", running and stage-diving over the barrier during "Banshee (Ghost Fame)" and "27 Club" and breaking into a freestyle rap when the group experienced technical difficulties after they played "Banshee". Butler is as electrifying of a showman as you'll see in all of music and experiencing his unpredictable antics in person alone is well worth the price of admission to a letlive. show.   

Aside from being a psycho with a flare for doing jaw-dropping stuff during performances, Butler also happens to be an incredible vocalist. Both his clean and harsh vocals were top-notch for the duration of the set and it was honestly kind of mind-blowing to hear how much sharper he was vocally at this show compared to the last time I saw them. His stage presence is understandably the primary attraction of letlive's live shows for a lot of fans, but Butler deserves just as much as praise for his damn near flawless vocal performance.

Backing up Butler's incendiary presence and standout vocal performance was an excellent setlist filled with surprising song selections. Hearing Fake History deep cuts in "Homeless Jazz" and "Enemies (Enemigos)" was surreal and the song selection from their 2013 album The Blackest Beautiful couldn't have possibly been better. Even the material from If I'm the Devil... sounded much more lively and attention-grabbing live than it does on disc. letlive.'s performance last night will undoubtedly go down as one of the most fun, insane and flat-out memorable performances that I see in all of 2016.

Scores:
Night Verses 8.5/10
Silver Snakes 7.5/10
Seahaven 4/10
letlive. 9.5/10

Setlists:
Night Verses:
Rage
Time Erases Time
New Song
A Dialogue in Cataplexy
Be Happy With Yourself, I'm Staying Here in Hell
I've Lost My Way Down

letlive.:
I've Learned to Love Myself
The Dope Beat
Banshee (Ghost Fame)
Enemies (Enemigos)
White America's Beautiful Black Market
Another Offensive Song
Younger
That Fear Fever
Homeless Jazz
Renegade' 86
Reluctantly Dead
27 Club

Encore:
Muther
Good Mourning, America

Concert Review: Kvelertak-- Cambridge, MA-- April 17th, 2016

Lineup: Kvelertak/Torche/Wild Throne
Venue: The Middle East Downstairs, Cambridge, MA
Date: April 17th, 2016

Wild Throne: Wild Throne is a band that I'd been meaning to check out since I first heard about them in late 2014, but for whatever reason, I just never got around to it. I'd heard a number of people compare them to early Mastodon, which really intrigued me as Leviathan and Blood Mountain are two of my favorite albums of all-time. While I found the Mastodon comparisons to be completely inaccurate, Wild Throne still put on a really good show. The blend of sludge instrumentation and high-pitched prog metal vocals worked surprisingly well and just about every song they played was filled with quality riffing and impressive, varied drumming. I'll definitely be giving both of their releases a spin in the very near future.

Torche: Torche has picked up a cult following since they arrived on the scene in 2005 thanks to their unusual blend of stoner/sludge metal and alternative rock. However, the stuff I've heard from them hasn't left much of an impression on me and their live show didn't do anything to change my mind. They certainly have talent and about half of the songs they played had some really dope riffs, but the vocals are really mediocre and a majority of their songs were repetitive to the point where I became almost completely disengaged from their set. Torche is an efficient live act whose appeal I can completely understand, I just can't get into their stuff for the life of me.

Kvelertak: This marked the third time I've had the pleasure of seeing these crazy Norwegian bastards and it was quite possibly the best performance I've seen from them to-date. No matter how times time you've seen Kvelertak live, nothing will prepare you for the tornado of destruction that ensues when they hit they stage. Their live show is a unique combination of punk energy, death metal intensity and arena rock goofiness. I know that sounds like a bizarre combination that would never work on paper, but it makes for a special and extremely fun atmosphere that's unlike any other extreme metal band on the planet right.

Vocalist Erlend Hjelvik serves as the facilitator for Kvelertak's special brand of chaos. He's an absolute psycho on stage that only stands still when he's addressing the crowd in between songs. Whether it be stage diving, sprinting around the stage like the The Flash or simply amping the crowd up during an instrumental portion of a song, Hjelvik is a commanding, incendiary presence that was practically born to be the frontman of a metal band.

Further adding to the quality of Kvelertak's performance was the damn near perfect setlist selection. They played a vast majority of the standout tracks from both their 2010 self-titled debut record and 2013's Meir. While their was a plethora of standout songs sprinkled throughout the set, the crushing "Offernatt" and rousing "Evig Vandrar" stood out as the clear highlights due to the particularly electric audience reception they generated and how hard-hitting the instrumentation were in a live setting.

The lone downside to their set is that based on the songs they played, I'm pretty worried about the quality of their new record Nattesferd. The five songs they played from it weren't terrible by any means, they just largely lacked the live wire energy and onslaught of quality riffs that has made their previous two records so memorable. Kvelertak puts on one of the most intense and straight-up fun shows on the planet and if you haven't gotten the chance to experience them live, I strongly urge to you rectify that as soon as humanly possible.

Scores:
Wild Throne 7.5/10
Torche 6/10
Kvelertak 9.5/10

Setlist:
Kvelertak:
Dendrofil For Yggdrasil
1985
Mjød
Nekroskop
Bruane Brenn
Månelyst
Berserkr
Evig Vandrar
Ulvetid
Offernatt
Ondskapens Galakse
Ordsmedar av rang
Spring fra livet
Fossegrim
Blodtørst

Encore:
Heksebrann
Kvelertak

Concert Review: Waka Flocka Flame-- Boston, MA-- April 7th, 2016

Lineup: Waka Flocka Flame/Oxymorrons
Venue: Paradise Rock Club Boston, MA

Oxymorrons: I would've strongly questioned your sanity if you had told me when I bought a ticket to this show that a rap rock band would be opening for Waka Flocka Flame, but that's exactly what ended up happening. They came out on stage and opened with a borderline indie rock song, which set a very odd tone out of the gate and left a majority of the audience in a state of bewilderment. Thankfully, things improved from there as they widely picked up their energy and tempo. Their other original songs were largely uptempo and had a surprising amount of amusing lines and their medley of rock versions of Migos' "Look at My Dab",Young Thug's "Best Friend", A$AP Ferg's "Work" and Drake and Future's "Jumpman" was surprisingly badass. I doubt Oxymorrons will enter my regular listening rotation, but they put on a pretty entertaining show.

Waka Flocka Flame: Anyone that's in-tune with the modern hip-hop scene knows that Waka Flocka Flame's live shows are among the most lauded in the entire scene. His off-the-walls energy, tendency to stage dive/go into the crowd and flawlessly perform all of his material have turned his live performances into the stuff of legend. After being a fan of his for the past few years, I was extremely excited to finally get the opportunity to see him. I don't know if it was due to the relatively tame crowd or Flocka's admitted drunkenness, but his performance last night largely didn't live up to the hype.

The biggest gripe I had with his set was the infrequency in which he rapped. I do respect that he didn't sit there and lip sync for the whole set like some rappers do and that he sounded pretty good when was he was actually rapping, but it was annoying to watch him rap a handful of lines then pause for a few seconds before starting again

The amount of time he dedicated to playing electronic/dubstep tracks was similarly obnoxious. I get that Waka Flocka has carved out a niche in the electronic music community recently, but watching him play covers of "Turn Down for What" and other stupid dubstep staples while he all but completely ignoring material from his spectacular 2015 mixtape Flockaveli 1.5 left a bad taste in my mouth.

On a more positive note, Waka Flocka's stage presence and ferocity was still enough to forgive a lot of the shortcomings with his performance. His energy may have not quite as overwhelming as I heard it was, but it was still pretty damn impressive. There was hardly ever a time where hasn't jumping up and down, running around the stage or trying to elicit some type of chant or gesture from the crowd. Flocka is a pretty great showman and I can imagine him being an unstoppable tornado of destruction when he's on the top of his game. I'm willing to give Flocka another chance live, but I'll definitely be tempering my expectations so I don't experience another letdown like this.

Scores:
Oxymorrons 7/10
Waka Flocka Flame 7/10

Setlist included:
Wildboy (MGK cover)
Hard in Da Paint
No Hands
Rooster in My Rari
50K
All I Know
Stay Hood
Turn Down for What (DJ Snake cover)
Ain't No Mountain High Enough (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell cover)
Grove St. Party
Murda Something (A$AP Ferg cover)
O Let's Do It
Workin'

Concert Review: Intronaut-- Cambridge, MA-- March 30th, 2016

Lineup: Intronaut, Scale the Summit, North and Rozamov
Venue: The Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA

Rozamov: These guys are the go-to local opener for any sludge/doom metal show in the Boston-area. Last night marked the first time I'd actually seen them and I really hope I don't have to ever again. Every single song featured the same plodding sludge riff, lifeless drum fills and muddled harsh vocals for seven or eight minutes and the entire band displayed an energy level that was reminiscent of the titular character from Weekend at Bernie's. Unless you're looking to learn the basics of how to play the most mind-numbingly dull sludge metal humanly possible, I'd avoid voluntarily seeing Rozamov at all costs.

North: Just about anything would've sounded good after Rozamov had just lulled me to sleep for 30 minutes, but North was seriously great. Their sound was a perfect mix of punishing sludge and atmospheric post-metal and the amount of killer riffs they laid down in every song was flat-out absurd. I'm going to need to dig into their discography ASAP after witnessing this excellent performance.

Scale the Summit: For those don't know, Scale the Summit was added to this tour at the last minute after the original direct support act-Germany's The Ocean-was forced to drop off after not getting their work visas processed in time for the start of the tour. While I was incredibly disappointed that The Ocean wasn't able to do this tour, Scale the Summit was about as perfect of a replacement as Intronaut could've got for this tour. I could ramble on for an elongated period of time about how tight the band was or how warmly the crowd received them, but this set largely served as a gateway to help me rediscover the brilliance of Scale the Summit's music. With the exception of giving their latest album V a few spins at the end of the last year, I've largely ignored listening to them for the past couple of years and for the entire 45 minutes they were on stage, I became overwhelmed with self-hatred for making such a moronic decision. Between their top-notch technical chops and ability to create a consistently rich, dense atmosphere with their music, Scale the Summit is firmly embedded in the upper echelon of instrumental metal bands. Scale the Summit is an absolute joy to behold live and I will never make the mistake of sleeping on their music again as long as I live.

Intronaut: I'd seen Intronaut three times prior to this (opening for Mastodon in 2009, Meshuggah in 2013 and Between the Buried and Me in 2014), but I was extremely excited to finally get the chance to see them headline. As with the previous times I've seen them, Intronaut's performance was freaking outstanding. While their live show has been consistently excellent over the years, this show saw them raising their game to the next level due to their decision to play their brilliant new album The Direction of Last Things in its entirety. The intimacy and note-perfect acoustics of the Middle East Downstairs maximized the power of the record's striking blend of crushing riffs and jazz-inspired melodies and made all seven songs even more immense and striking than the studio versions.

As always, the biggest highlight of going to an Intronaut show is getting the pleasure of seeing bassist Joe Lester and drummer Danny Walker play in person. As far as I'm concerned, these guys are the best rhythm section in all of music at the moment and seeing them perform live showcases just how exceptionally gifted they are at their respective instruments. Lester and Walker are the backbone of Intronaut's tremendous success as a band and prove that more bands in the present day should put a bigger emphasis on having a strong rhythm section. This show once again reaffirmed my belief that Intronaut is one of the most criminally overlooked bands in modern metal and I urge anyone that can catch a show on the last two weeks of this tour to do so.

Scores:
Rozamov 2/10
North 8/10
Scale the Summit 8.5/10
Intronaut 9/10

Setlists:
Scale the Summit:
Blue Sun
Oort Cloud
Narrow Sailanet
Atlas Novus
Pontus Euxinus
Soria Moria
Kestral
Odyssey
Origin of Species

Intronaut:
Fast Worms
Digital Gerrymandering
The Pleasant Surprise
The Unlikely Event of a Water Landing
Sul Ponticello
The Direction of Last Things
City Hymnal

Encore:
Core Relations
Milk Leg
The Literal Black Cloud

Concert Review: Parkway Drive-- Boston, MA-- November 15th, 2015

Australian metalcore act Parkway Drive have made their long-awaited return to the United States for their first American headlining tour since March/April 2013. The month-long trek- which features Miss May I and fellow Aussies Thy Art is Murder and In Hearts Wake in support-to promote their new album Ire stormed into the House of Blues in Boston, Massachusetts last night and proved once again with their fierce performance why they're one of the biggest powerhouses in modern metal.

In Hearts Wake: They had already finished up by the time I got to the venue. I'm not really familiar with their stuff and what little I had heard of their material didn't impress me, so missing their set didn't bother me in the slightest.

Thy Art is Murder: Anyone that's looking for a tutorial on how to do deathcore right needs to go to a Thy Art is Murder show. The breakdowns are colossal, their energy is off-the-charts, and C.J McMahon is an incredible vocalist whose vocals only become more powerful and sinister in a live setting. Aside from the head-scratching decision to open with the mid-paced "Absolute Genocide" from their new record Holy War, their setlist was pretty great. The material from Holy War sounded excellent live and the trio of cuts ("Shadow of Eternal Sin", "The Purest Strain of Hate", "Reign of Darkness") from their breakout album Hate hit as hard as ever. In a very hit-or-miss genre that's been rapidly losing steam over the past several years, Thy Art is Murder remains a reliably great act that's at their best in a live environment.

Miss May I: This marked the third time I've seen Miss May I this year and per usual, they were pretty solid. The biggest difference between this go-round and the previous two times I'd seen them in 2015 was the emphasis on material from their recently-released album Deathless and the improved clean vocals from Ryan Neff. Deathless is the best album they've put out since 2010's Monument and the more technical and catchy nature of the songs from that album made this performance more enjoyable than the other times I've seen them. As for Neff, he's shown a substantial amount of improvement as a vocalist since the first time I saw them back in 2012. He was the weakest aspect of the band's live shows for a long time, but this time around his strong, clear vocals made him their standout performer. Miss May I will never be a band that blows you away with their performance, but their consistency and high energy levels make them a more than respectable live act.

Parkway Drive: After seeing them at Warped Tour 2010 and 2014 and being a fan of theirs for seven years or so, last night marked the first time I got to see Parkway Drive headline. To be completely honest, I wasn't nearly excited as I should've been to see them because of how underwhelming their new record Ire is. Ire is the first of their records that I didn't enjoy and I was concerned that the wealth of material they were bound to play from it was going to ruin the show for me. Once again, my worries about were quickly put at ease once when they broke out a pair of Ire tracks in "Destroyer" and "Dying to Believe" to open up the set. The massive riffs, gang vocals and cheesy breakdowns made these tracks rousing and fun as hell live. "Destroyer", "Dying to Believe" and the rest of the material from Ire may be simplistic and disjointed, but it thrives in a live setting. While the Ire material was surprisingly impressive, the older material still made up a majority of the high points of the set. "Carrion", "Idols and Anchors" and "Romance is Dead" saw vocalist Winston McCall conjuring up his finest vocal performances of the night and garnered some of the strongest crowd reactions of the night. While Parkway Drive slays whatever songs they play, these tracks from their first two records (2005's Killing with a Smile and 2007's Horizons) stand a cut above everything else they've ever done. Hopefully the strong reactions to the aforementioned tracks inspire them to play more old material on their next headliner. Parkway Drive is one of the genre's truly elite live acts and I hope that they'll do another headlining tour in the States before too long.

Side Notes:
-Parkway Drive guitarist Jeff Ling tore his hamstring in a surfing accident a couple of weeks before this tour started and was forced to perform in a wheelchair. Ling didn't let the constraints of a wheelchair take him out as he was often smiling and exuding as much energy as he possibly could given his condition.
-To make Ling feel more involved in the show, bassist Jia O'Connor went over and spun him around the stage at numerous points throughout the set.
-A kid on the floor was having someone from the mezzanine section throw open beers down to him. Remarkably, he caught every single one without spilling a substantial amount on anyone else.
-A couple standing in front of me and my friends was practically having clothed sex during Thy Art is Murder and Miss May I. It was equal parts hilarious, confusing and disgusting.    

Scores:
Thy Art is Murder 8/10
Miss May I 7.5/10
Parkway Drive 9/10

Setlists:
Thy Art is Murder:
Absolute Genocide
Coffin Dragger
The Purest Strain of Hate
Shadow of Eternal Sin
Reign of Darkness
Light Bearer
Holy War

Miss May I:
I.H.E.
Relentless Chaos
Bastards Left Behind
Our Kings
Deathless
Masses of A Dying Breed
Turn Back the Time
Hey Mister

Parkway Drive:
Destroyer
Dying to Believe
Carrion
Karma
Dark Days
Vice Grip
Idols and Anchors
Deliver Me
Wild Eyes 
Bottom Feeder
Romance is Dead

Encore:
Crushed
Home is for the Heartless

Concert Review: Verge Campus Tour (Rae Sremmurd/Mike Stud/KaneHoller)-- Salem, MA-- October 29th, 2015

Salem State University got a rare moment of big-school glitz when the Verge Campus Tour featuring Rae Sremmurd, Mike Stud and KaneHoller rolled through the small, suburban Massachusetts campus last night. This was the first time since I transferred to Salem State in the fall of 2012 that a major concert was held on campus, so naturally I was excited to finally get the experience that so many of my friends that attended other universities had every year they were in school. Unfortunately, the show that ended Salem State's major concert dry spell ended up being a thoroughly underwhelming experience.

California-based electropop duo KaneHoller opened up the night. Before KaneHoller came out, the show's host went on a long rant about keeping the energy up the whole night. Based on the level of enthusiasm this speech was met with, it seemed liked the crowd was going to honor his request. However, as soon as KaneHoller came out and started playing, the electric atmosphere that was in the room instantly vanished. KaneHoller's performance was about as energetic as a nursing home cribbage game. Every single song featured the same lo-fi synth beat on a loop and lifeless choruses that were repeated to the point where I seriously contemplated vomiting in the middle of the floor. Adding to the sterile nature of their music was the fact that both members of the group stood around the stage like there were in the most boring trance in human history. The only time the group or the crowd showed any life was when they broke out into a random 5-minute techno instrumental interlude in the middle of their set. Given how poorly their normal songs were received, this seemed like a cheap gimmick to win over the crowd and while it certainly worked for most of the audience, it just left me cringing. Synthpop is a genre that I normally have a soft spot for, but KaneHoller lacked the intensity and memorable hooks that's required to make it work.

Mike Stud was up next. This kid has emerged out of nowhere recently to become a viral sensation, so I was intrigued to check out his set and see what all the hype was about. Stud came out and got about 20 seconds into his first song before his mic malfunctioned, which caused him to leave the stage for nearly 10 minutes while the problem got resolved. Once the technical difficulties were figured out, Stud came out and finished the rest of his set without incident. While Stud didn't put on an objectively bad show (his stage presence and rapping/singing were respectable), his style of poppy, fratboy-friendly hip-hop just didn't click with me. Stud writes nothing but cheesy, formulaic songs about drinking and getting girls that are solely made for high school and college kids who typically don't listen to rap. In other words, he's cornering the market on cornball white party rap now that Sam Adams and Asher Roth have faded into obscurity. Music like this can be fun once in a while, but it gets old really quick. If you're a fan of Stud's work, you'll enjoy the hell out of his performance. If you're not, his live show will do nothing to change your mind.

Headliner Rae Sremmurd took the stage to wrap up the night after a surprisingly brief 10-minute changeover. While I'm a pretty big fan of their debut album SremmLife, I was kind of nervous to see them because I've heard rumblings that they're a terrible live act. These rumors proved to be true. I can say with total certainty that Rae Sremmurd are amongst the laziest and most unpolished performers I've ever seen. They spent the duration of their 45-minute set lip-syncing, jamming out to their music and yelling out random shit about Halloween and smoking weed while only occasionally bothering to actually rap along with their overpowering backing tracks. Live shows are a huge part of being a professional musician and if you can't be bothered to actually perform your music for your fans who dished out their hard-earned money to see you, you don't deserve to have a record deal or bask in the glory of fame and fortune. Don't get me wrong, both Swae Lee and Slim Jimmy have a shitload of energy and are experts at hyping up a crowd, they just don't care enough about their craft to put any legitimate effort into their live performance. I'll still listen to Rae Sremmurd's studio material because it's a whole lot of fun to listen to, but I wouldn't even entertain the thought of seeing them live again.

Scores:
Kane Holler 2/10
Mike Stud 4/10
Rae Sremmurd 2.5/10

Setlist
Rae Sremmurd (missing 4-5 songs, but I'm sure they closed with "This Could Be Us" and "No Type"):
Lit Like Bic (intro played over PA)
Come Get Her
No Flex Zone
Blase (Ty Dolla $ign cover)
My X
YNO
Nightcrawler (Travi$ Scott cover)
Safe Sex Pay Checks
Throw Some Mo (left during this song)

Concert Review: Revocation-- Allston, MA-- October 3rd, 2015

Editor's Note: Due to time constraints, this is an abbreviated review. I apologize for the short review and I assure that this will not be a regular occurrence. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy this abridged review of the Allston, Massachusetts stop of "The Deathless Tour" featuring Revocation, Archspire and Black Fast. 

Coagula: Ironically, these guys were also the local opener the last time I saw Revocation headline at The Middle East Upstairs in April. While they were pretty solid when I saw them in April, they were much better this time around thanks to a much clearer sound mix and sharper vocal performance. Coagula is one of the few bright spots in Boston's metal scene at the moment and I hope they get more opportunities to open big shows in the future.

Black Fast: Really solid blackened thrash (their new record, Terms of Surrender, is a must-listen for any thrash fan) that kind of reminds me of Toxic Holocaust with more of a traditional thrash influence. The vocals weren't as crisp as they are on record, but the guitarwork and drumming were excellent and their frontman Aaron Akin's good-natured persona and high-energy level was infectious. Once these up-and-comers get another release or two under their belts,  they could very well become one of the premier acts in modern thrash. 

Archspire: This was the band I was most excited to see on the bill and they managed to blow the doors off of my absurdly high expectations. The whole band sounded incredible, as they managed to nail every note of their extremely technical music and Oli Peters' vocals were even more sinister and spastic in a live setting. Their setlist was damn near perfect as they played a majority of the best material ("Fathom Infinite Depth", "Scream Feeding", "Seven Crowns and the Oblivion Chain") off of their excellent 2014 album The Lucid Collective as well as a couple of prime cuts off of their 2011 debut All Shall Align. These beautiful Canadian bastards put on one of the best shows I've seen in 2015 so far and I hope they'll return to the United States soon. 

Revocation: Consistency is becoming more and more scarce in today's live music landscape, which is why you have to cherish a band like Revocation who comes out and delivers every time they take the stage. This show marked my eighth time seeing them and at every single one of those shows they've been technically-precise, generated a raucous response from their hometown crowd, and most importantly, been fun as hell to watch. The only downside of this particular show was the setlist. While it was great to hear Deathless standout "Scorched Earth Policy" and the fantastic instrumental track "Alliance and Tyranny" from their 2008 debut Empire of the Obscene live for the first time, the complete lack of material from 2011's Chaos of Forms and their 2013 self-titled album was a bit disappointing. It's clear from their recent setlists that they aren't overly fond of either of those releases, but for the sake of diversity, it would be cool to see a few tracks from those albums make their way into the setlist during their next touring cycle. Regardless of minor setlist deficiencies, Revocation put on another excellent performance and I will continue to go see them every time they play in the Boston-area.

Scores:
Coagula 8/10
Black Fast 7.5/10
Archspire 9/10
Revocation 9/10

Setlists:
Black Fast:
Haunted Vigil
Progenitors of Predation
To Propagate the Void
Tongues of Sliver
The Fall

Archspire:
Fathom Infinite Depth
Deathless Ringing
Seven Crowns and the Oblivion Chain
Scream Feeding
Rapid Elemental Dissolve
Lucid Collective Somnambulation

Revocation:
A Debt Owed to the Grave
Scorched Earth Policy
Enter the Hall
Bound by Desire
Leviathan Awaits
Alliance and Tyranny
Empire of the Obscene
Madness Opus
Dismantle the Dictator
Witch Trials

Concert Review: Incubus/Deftones-- Mansfield, MA-- August 7th, 2015

Incubus and Deftones have reunited for their first tour together in 15 years and they brought the widely-anticipated tour to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts last night. The rock/metal juggernauts lived up to their widely-respected names by delivering a fantastic evening of music on a beautiful late-summer evening. 

The Bots opened the show a little before 6:15 to an almost-empty venue. While they had a remarkable amount of talent for a such a young band (their guitarist/vocalist Mikah is 21 and their drummer is Anaiah is 17), their combination of bluesy garage punk and indie rock was too disjointed to be effective. While their music didn't really do much for me, you can't help but feel bad for them. Landing a tour with a pair of popular veteran bands is a huge opportunity for an up-and-coming band, but given that they're playing so early, they're more than likely playing to largely empty venues every night. The Bots are really skilled musicians and I really hope they can land another big tour with a more ideal time slot in the future.

Death from Above 1979 started shortly after the Bots wrapped up. I've heard the name tossed around a bunch over the years and I vaguely remember their song, "Little Girl", from the Tony Hawk's American Wasteland soundtrack, but I'd never really bothered to check them out at length. Death from Above 1979 ended up making a solid impression on me with their noisy and wildly pissed-off 35-minute set. Almost every song had a great collection of riffs and frontman/drummer Sebstian Greinger has the type of gritty voice that's perfectly suited for punk. Making their set even more impressive was the fact they're only a duo with a bass guitar and drums. I previously didn't think that it was possible for two men without the presence of a traditional guitar to produce so much noise, especially on the Xfinity Center's huge stage. It takes an unbelievable amount of skill to create chaotic, riff-driven music with only two people, so kudos to them for making it look effortless. Once again, the almost non-existent crowd's indifference towards the music took away from the quality of the set. In my immediate area, just about everyone was either playing on their phones or leaving to grab beer and food during their set and the conclusion of every song was met with very light applause from the 500-600 people that were actually paying attention to their performance. Death from Above 1979 made a new fan in me last night and I would love to see them in a setting where people actually give a shit about their music

As I expected, the venue filled in nicely as soon as Deftones went on around 7:45. Deftones was the only band on the bill I'd seen before and like every prior time I've seen, their performance was absolutely immense. Their use of atmosphere and ambient sections to compliment the heavy elements in their songs is tremendous and while not as sharp as he was the previous three times I'd seen them, Chino Moreno is an incredible vocalist that shines especially bright in a live setting. The setlist primarily focused on material from their 2010 comeback album Diamond Eyes and their widely-praised 2000 effort White Pony, which was awesome since those are my two favorite albums in their catalog. Songs like "Knife Prty", "You've Seen the Butcher", "Diamond Eyes" and "Passenger" were the highlights of the nine combined songs they played from those two landmark records and proved to be the finest moments of a set that was full of prime cuts from six of their seven studio albums. Deftones are always a blast live and I'm eagerly awaiting the release of their new record in the fall.

Incubus came on about 20 minutes later to close out the evening. I was a huge fan of their early material, but given the poor quality of their recent output (namely their 2011 album If Not Now, When?), I had absolutely no idea how their live show would be. Suffice to say, I was very pleasantly surprised when Incubus came out and played a stunning 90-minute set. Leading the charge behind this outstanding show was a phenomenal vocal performance from frontman Brandon Boyd. The 39-year old was able to hit every note with ease and exceeded his performance on the studio versions of all 18 tracks they performed. The quality of Boyd's vocals even made songs like "Love Hurts" and "Here in My Room" -whose studio versions I find to be insufferable- enjoyable. Other people should find out Boyd's vocal regimen and duplicate it if they hope to keep their vocals in similarly pristine condition as they grow older. Aside from Boyd's vocals, the biggest surprise of their was set was how fantastic the material from their newly-released EP, Trust Fall (Side A), sounded live. While the studio versions of "Absolution Calling" and "Trust Fall" are just decent, their huge-sounding hooks and guitars allowed to reach new heights live. While Trust Fall (Side A) still has its fair share of flaws, it's a definite step in the right direction for them following the unholy musical disaster that was If Not, When?. Given how fantastic "Absolution Calling" and "Trust Fall" sound live, I have faith that they could possibly have another great album in them. While the setlist definitely had its downsides (lack of material from Make Yourself, poor song choices from A Crow Left of the Murder), they still played a solid number of great cuts from their first four albums. It was especially awesome to see "Vitamin" off their 1997 masterpiece S.C.I.E.N.C.E.. Given the fact that their more mellow, alternative rock sound was responsible for making them breakout, it's great to see them acknowledge their funk/nu-metal roots, even if its just for a single song. Incubus defied any possible expectations I had for them and put on by far one of the finest shows I've seen in 2015 to-date.

Scores:
The Bots 5/10
Death From Above 1979 7.5/10
Deftones 8.5/10
Incubus 9/10

Setlists:
The Bots included:
Ethiopia 
 
Deftones:
Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away)
My Own Summer (Shove It)
Diamond Eyes
Rocket Skates
You've Seen the Butcher
Sextape
Feiticiera 
Digital Bath
Knife Prty
When Girls Telephone Boys
Tempest
Swerve City
Passenger
Change (In the House of Flies)
Headup
Bored
Engine No. 9

Incubus:
Wish You Were Here
Anna Molly
Circles
Absolution Calling
Are You In?
Vitamin
Trust Fall
In the Company of Wolves
Nice to Know You
Here in My Room
Sick Sad Little World
Pardon Me
Love Hurts
Megalomaniac
Dig
Drive
A Crow Left of the Murder