Tour Title: Deathstock 2000
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Tour Title: Deathstock 2000 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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5 | |
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4 | |
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4 | |
| Go to Reader Reviews |
Abyss's Review (11/11/00 Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY):
Wow! A cool metal show at the Wetlands on a weekend! What, is it my birthday? No it’s not my birthday, it's Deathstock (but please feel free to send presents anyway). A metal festival that started way too early for me to get my hung-over ass up for the beginning of. I did, however, have bands that I needed to see, so I had a little hair of the dog that dragged me outside and shit on me to get me into the metal mood, and made off to the Wetlands Preserve.
Lamb of God
Photos by Cynthia PelznerAlthough the Wetlands has a very crunchy atmosphere, it lends itself well to the metal atmosphere. For some reason, even when it’s packed, it seems easy to move around and get a beer, making it one of my favorite places to see shows. I am tickled blood red that it seems the owners have found out that they can make money off of booking metal shows. As it happens, I had just enough time to meet my friends, grab a beer, and plop myself in front of the stage before my main reason for being there that night, Lamb of God, took the stage.
Any of you who have had the pleasure of listening to Lamb of God's last album (their first album as Lamb of God, they were formerly known as Burn the Priest), New American Gospel, know that these guys are cutting edge American metal, but I was curious to see how the material hit in a live setting. I was far from disappointed. The sound was quite good, and having a visual perspective allowed me to appreciate how good this band really is, especially the rhythm section. The band plowed though an all too short set that highlighted their newest work. I remember thinking that the vocalist seemed wolf-like throughout the show, stalking the crowd and presenting a stage presence that was impressive, especially in light of a luke warm crowd response (something that I’m still baffled by. The crowd did seem to get into them towards the end, so I attribute it to them not knowing this band rather than any true disapproval.) And just as I was thinking he was lupine in stature, he removed his shirt and confirmed my theories by revealing a patch of thick hair on his back. Now I’m not saying he’s a werewolf or anything, I’m just saying I’m glad it wasn’t a full moon. On a more serious matter, however, I continue to look forward to seeing this band evolve. They are definitely the real deal, and their ability to play live shows that they have the whole package.
Vital Remains was up next. I’ve seen this band many times and been happy with them every time they’ve played. This was also a good time to get to know the new lead singer, ….oh, I forget his name... Oh well, it doesn’t matter he’s probably been replaced by now anyway. Well, anyway, he did a good job, mixing up the growls and screams to give the Black/Death feel that this band has perfected. “Behold the Throne of Chaos” made its way onto the set and was a definite highlight, as was the fact that their best release, Forever Underground was also touched upon. I was a happy man.
EnslavedThe most eclectic band on the bill was, of course, Enslaved. These Norwegian gods have been a favorite of mine, so you can only imagine my anticipation since this would be the first time I would get to see them in a venue with at least relatively good acoustics. They played their intricate material beautifully, and showcased songs off of their new masterpiece Mardraum- Beyond the Within. Oh, by the way, if you don’t have that album, buy it. Now. I’ve always wondered why it seems Borknagar gets all of the attention, when Enslaved do the same thing, but do it ten times better (and don’t get me wrong, I really dig Borknagar). The sheer complexity of their songs would make one think that a live show could be a disaster, but they never missed a beat. I hope this band's popularity grows in leaps and bounds now that they have been given a proper stateside release.
Unfortunately for Cryptopsy and Dark Funeral, anything after Enslaved and Lamb of God had very little chance of making a huge impression on me. I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy their sets. They both played very tight sets, but I was still recovering from being blown away earlier. Cryptopsy went through their stop-start on a dime rhythms flawlessly, and the crowd seemingly couldn’t get enough, and when the band finally left the stage, their only solace was found in the fact that Dark Funeral would be on next. Their Blackness was evident throughout, darkly evil and textured, despite the lack of keyboards that many Black Metallers use these days. Their corpse-painted faces and shrill screams seemed the perfect ending to a great metal night. Well worth the hangover.
Death's Review (11/11/00 Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY):
Deathstock is not at all like Woodstock. No sun. No nudity. No brown acid. No 100,000+ strong crowd. Except for the "stock" suffix the two events aren't really anything alike, but that isn't always such a bad thing (like the brown acid was a good thing?), now is it? No bad nu-metal bands. No violence toward women. No random acts of arson justified post-hoc as ridiculous protests against expensive bottled watter. All in all, Deathstock really has no right to the "stock" name, and to my mind, it's all the better for it.
So I ventured downtown this past Saturday night to scope some death metal acts and to take solace in the fact that, although I was missing the November to Dismember in Los Angeles, I was still getting to see a whole slew of semi-diverse metal acts that don't normally play together. Tonight's gig was billed as "death metal versus black metal," and if I had to choose I'd say death metal carried the day (no surprise to anyone who actually knows me). But, of course, it wasn't about a contest, which wouldn't even be fair seeing as how only two of the five bands I viewed as legitimate headliners could fairly be classified as black, it was about celebrating heavy metal and, more importantly, it was about a New York promoter taking advantage of the fact that Dark Funeral and Enslaved were in the USA for the November to Dismember the night before. Knowing that the two bands would have to pass through New York on their way back to Europe, intelligence prevailed and several top-notch east coast death metal acts were invited to join in the festivities - thus, I surmise, Deathstock 2000 was born. Brilliant, really.
Vital RemainsI got there at 9 p.m., the time that one of my new favorites, Lamb of God, were supposed to take the stage. Guess what? Lamb of God took the stage, as scheduled, almost at 9 p.m. on the nose. Wow. We're not in Metalfest Kansas anymore. You mean, the bands actually go on when they are supposed to? What a novel concept! Anyway, I immediately saw Abyss and Musashi in the crowd right in front of the stage. I grabbed two beers (I made Abyss and Musashi fight it out for ownership of precious cup #2 - an amazing treat to be hand delivered up front in the pit of a metal show, if you ask me - I'll let you figure out which of them ended up with the beer), and joined them up front. As ususal, Hel just made herself small enough that she found the right place to stake her claim. All was well. And Lamb of God shredded.
Not just the drummer, who was as amazing live as I had expected. Instead, the entire band had not only chops, but stage presence. They really were a sight to behold. Too bad the crowd didn't embrace them more, but they clearly had won some folks over by the end of the set. Here's hoping that Lamb of God continue to set the highest of standards for themselves, and that the metal community, in turn, duly annoints them amongst the metallic elite. A new generation of metal gods is dawning, and Lamb of God are making a serious play to be considered at the top of the list. Their performance this night only increased their odds. Mark my words: keep an eye on this band.
Vital Remains was next. This time, with another new singer, and a new bass player to boot. Funny thing about Vital Remains. I've seen them perform with three different singers, and each can't possibly look more different than one another (skinny skinhead, huge bouncer-type dude, and long haired Robert Plant looking fellow), yet each deliver the goods both vocally and with their stage presence. I really did like the "showmanship" displayed by that Thorns fellow (although, come to think of it, he did tend to strike somewhat of a Nazi-esque pose at times), and the guy from this year's March Metal Meltdown looked sufficiently brutal. The new guy was very good, executing the blackend death stylings with appropriate passion and intent, and striking a powerful stance up on stage at the same time. Lineup changes and all, Vital was Vital, and the songs really sounded good. Props go to the band for soldiering on. Let's hope things get easier for them in the months ahead.
Once Vital was over, I somehow got into this intense election-debacle debate with Abyss which bled into the start of Enslaved and only finished when Abyss insisted I shut up and let him watch one of his current favorite bands (hey, I support them - I let Abyss borrow $20 for the tour shirt!). Anyway, it's no secret that I don't "get" bands like this, and while they didn't look like the oversized chess pieces they did at the 1999 March Metal Meltdown, a couple of them still had really funny European bowl haircuts. They did command more of a live presence than I expected. I guess after seeing Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth and Emperor live, I tend to expect the black metal bands to have this horribly thin and tinny live sound which is dominated by keyboards and leaves the guitar buried in the mix. This, of course, is not Enslaved, who have no live keyboard and who are serious metal musicians not that far removed from the death metal acts on the bill. Enslaved are OK, probably great at what they do. I respect them, but I didn't pay a lot of attention. I mostly rapped with Cynthia and Musashi and other friends while Hel and Abyss fought the crowd to get a better view.
CryptopsyCryptopsy were pretty killer. Very technical, with an intense live attack. The crowd ate it up - I guess New York loves Cryptopsy. For some reason, they also fall a little short for my tastes, but they did deliver the goods for the band that they are. Yes, they were technical. Yes, they crushed the crowd with their harcore-laced technical death metal brutality. Admittedly, I was tired, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, but for some reason, the band never totally wins me over and this remained true this DEATHstock night (hey - it was my night!).
That left only Dark Funeral, which I knew little about, truth be told. They too were better than I expected, with no keys and a serious performance style. And what the heck - they were the only band which played in corpsepaint. So I was cool with them, although as the clock approached 2 a.m. I just had to bail. I was literally exhausted. Another Deathstock in the books!
So what to score it? Really, I was mostly just psyched to see Lamb of God, and they were over thirty minutes after I got there. I had a few beers early but then petered out. Although it was a Saturday night, I guess I wasn't in the most raging of moods, and I never let the bands completely win me over. The good news, however, was that this was a well-thought-out and special event that ran on time and had no cancellations. After hearing about all of the problems at this year's November to Dismember in L.A., I think all in all we New Yorkers who chose to save the airfare got a nice consolation prize. Ubernoize Entertainment, whoever you are, you deserve praise for your effort here.
Hel's Review (11/11/00 Wetlands Preserve, New York, NY):
So it is the weekend of November to Dismember, but that's all the way on the far side of the country, and I couldn't go. So what's a metalhead to do? Go to Deathstock, of course. Silly question. I must admit, I was relieved to have a metal show to go to, since I'm such an obsessed loser I would have probably spent my Saturday night surfing around the web boards looking for metal news from LA. Fortunately for me, at least on this weekend, I live in the next best place.Frequent readers are aware that I have issues with opening acts. These issues being that I never see most of them. This time is no exception, but I wasn't the only one. I think we all arrived at nearly the same time, and that was in time to see Lamb of God, which some may know by their former name, Burn the Priest. I am not one of those people, however, and by the looks of the crowd Saturday night, neither were any of those people. Point of fact, it seemed like Death, Abyss, & I were about the only ones who even seemed to know who they were at all.
It was around 9pm at this time, and there was a respectable crowd at this point in the evening. Lamb of God put on a fantastic and, unfortunately, short set. They tried valiantly to get a quiet crowd into it, and were mostly successful by their closer. But I wonder if many people in the audience were as dumbfounded as I was when I first heard this band? I think I was just staring in shock, jaw on the floor when I first heard New American Gospel, so it's entirely possible that this may be an explanation for the reticent crowd. I was pretty quiet myself, I admit, finding the thought "He really does play like that", running over and over through my head. By "he", I am referring to Chris Adler, their phenomenal drummer. If you have not yet, I strongly encourage you to check out this incredible band. Not only do they have an excellent album, they put on a killer live set.
Dark FuneralNow, if my evening had ended right then and there, it would be 5 skulls, no question. As it was, I lingered in my position, more or less front and center of the stage, while I waited for the Vital Remains set change to be completed. I was happily treated to views of the devil-goat-monster-thing posters they placed flanking the stage, as well as to an entertaining set by the band, featuring a mixture of older and newer songs from their repertoire. Their latest singer, I'm sorry, I can't keep up, I don't know what his name is, but he put on a great performance and hopefully will continue to work out for them. It was clear that Vital Remains had gained a following in the NYC area from the pit that developed mid-way through their set. I'm guessing I wasn't the only one trying to forget about missing the fun in Cali...
So we're 2 bands in at this point in the evening, and the show's still holding at 5 skulls. I move off to the side between sets this time, going over to peruse the merch and compare notes with my comrades. After what seemed like an eternity, Enslaved took the stage. At this point, I decided to stay over to the side, not feeling like pushing through the growing crowd to return to the front of the stage. I had seen Enslaved live before, and as their set progressed, I began to wonder - wasn't there supposed to be guitars in this band? I realized, not only was the stage at the Wetlands facing the narrowest (and smallest) part of the club, so were all the speakers! No wonder I couldn't hear anything! So while I'm certain Enslaved was great, I couldn't tell you that firsthand since the sound sucked so much where I was standing.
At this point, the evening became a firm 4 skulls. Cryptopsy was next, and I was very psyched to see them. It had been a while since I last saw them live and they since put out a new album that I really liked. And I was quickly frustrated. Again, I swear this band has guitars! After a few songs, I realized that if I had any hope to see this band in any semblance of their true glory, I would have to go in. So I worked my way over to the left of that damn pillar, and to the left some more, and I finally could see and hear the stage. And, of course, about two seconds later, yep, the pit is right next to me. Over the years I have learned two things about live metal, which can be summed up in one statement: for a small woman, the edge of the pit is both the best and worst place to stand. There's a nice clear space with no one's head in the way, but it is necessary to divide attention between the stage and the pit to take action when a guy 3 times my size comes flying in my direction. There is much bonus entertainment to be garnered from this state of affairs as well, but in the end, the band has to be worth it. Crytopsy certainly was.
Still 4 skulls, since the crowd was big, rowdy, and drunk enough by this point in the evening to make the thought of standing in front of the stage for Dark Funeral wholly unappealing, and that's the only decent place to absorb the action from. So I went over to the side again and waited for what certainly felt like the longest set change of the night to be over - and that's saying something. At long, long, last, Dark Funeral emerged in all their corpse-painted glory. I realized instantly that if I wanted to get any sort of picture of what these guys are really like live, I would have no choice but to brave the sidelines of the pit once more. What I soon found out may have been the funniest thing of the evening. At first, the center of the pit was several feet away from me, and rather small, which afforded me the opportunity to truly enjoy the music before me. A song or so later, an extremely inebriated and inappropriately dressed for the occasion girlfriend and her metalhead boyfriend who had been standing in the same region most of the night returned from the bar. Said girlfriend starts her very own one-person pit right then and there. This sight was highly amusing, but definitely served as my cue to vacate the vicinity.
Despite the issues that I have with the club itself, most notably the hideous sound from the side on this particular night, I really enjoyed Deathstock. But honestly, how could I not? When you put this many metal bands in one place at on time, there's bound to be fun to be had. And fun it was. My favorite act of the night was undoubtedly Lamb of God, but all the bands I got to see were great. I would certainly be handing out a perfect score if I were going to base it on just the bands. But the night as a whole is the criteria I grade shows under. In order to still be fair to the bands, the night gets 4 crushing skulls.
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