In Flames with Killswitch Engage, Dark Tranquillity and Sentenced
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In Flames with Killswitch Engage, Dark Tranquillity and Sentenced | Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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5 | |
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5 | |
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4 | |
| Solomon's Review | 4 | |
| Chainheart's Review | 5 |
| Go to Reader Reviews |
Abyss's Review (9/27/02, Birch Hill, Old Bridge, NJ):
Killswitch Engage
Photos by HelOne of These Bands is Not Like the Others...
Wow, what a great bill. This is the type of bill I used to dream about back in the mid-90s, when it seemed like none of these bands would ever make their way over to the States. Well, here we are, it's 2002, and there are still two bands that I've been aching to see live. And lo and behold, they wind up on the same tour! Of course, I'm talking about Dark Tranquillity and Sentenced. I did get to see like four songs from Sentenced at the Metal Meltdown a few years ago, but that didn't really seem to count. If these bands didn't mean so much to me, there is no way that I'd have made the trip down to Old Bridge, NJ by bus (can't believe this tour didn't make it to the city), especially to a venue that recently lost their liquor license due to the owners conviction on an offense of (tee hee) moral turpitude.
Now that Death is safely tucked away in LA, getting to the venue on time wasn't a problem. Solomon and I took a look around the venue and anxiously waited for the show to commence. I made a few observations while I waited however. First up, I noticed that I'm a far less patient person when stuck in a venue with no liquor license. Secondly, I'm not sure what 'moral turpitude' refers to, but the loss of a liquor license definitely seems like cruel and unusual punishment (for me anyway). And lastly, there were a ton of kids at this show. Now, I realize I'm getting longer in the tooth (unfortunately my penis is remaining the exact same size), but I'm not exaggerating when I say kids. I'm talking younger than 16 here. I guess it's good that metal is reaching a younger audience, but I was suspicious that a lot of these kids were hardcore fans there to see Killswitch Engage.
Dark TranquillityFinally Dark Tranquillity took the stage, and I have to say that if this show was representative of the rest of their first American tour, they've had a largely successful debut. With the exception of sound (which was sub par for every band this evening), Dark Tranquility were just about perfect. Mikael Stanne is an excellent frontman, daring the audience to have as much fun as he is. The band dove into all of their material with a confidence that is generally unheard of in an untested act (at least on these shores). Also contributing to my pleasure was the fact that the band did an excellent job of picking a set list that highlighted their new album, but also appreciated the fact that there was a lot of classic material that us ugly Americans have never seen live. The crowd seemed to appreciate them too, which I was very psyched about. Hopefully they'll find away to come back around soon.
Sentenced were up next and seemed to have the impossible task of getting a whole bunch of hardcore kids to listen to something melodic with happy leads and clean vocals. To be truly unbiased, I'd have to admit that they were probably the weakest act on the bill this night, however, they also had the hardest style to put on live, in my opinion. They did seem to win over the majority of the crowd, but there were definitely some significant pockets of dissent throughout the crowd. Sentenced tried to touch upon as much of their material as they could, often playing only half of a song and going into another. Normally this would piss me off, but since they had limited time to work with, I'm glad I got live exposure to so much of their catalogue. My favorite track of the night was also the oldest one they played, "Nepenthe" off of Amok. I especially liked it with clean vocals, and find myself in the rare position of hoping they come out with a live album, so I could hear it like this more often. I was also very pleased that they paid close attention to my favorite album of theirs, Down, playing a medley of a number of tunes. I also had the revelation that the chorus of "Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" is harder to get out of your head than that damn Suzanne Vega song about that chick Luka.
In FlamesAfter Sentenced's mid-paced melody, Killswitch Engage came out and had little difficulty sounding like one of the heaviest bands out there. While I'm not the hugest fan of this band, they did sound pretty damn good tonight, and they definitely seemed to be the crowd favorite. The new singer screamed his way into the aural cavity of everyone in the audience, even if he seemed a little less at ease with some of the cleaner passages. The crowd was very appreciative, however, and I'm assuming it was because of the music and not that all of the straightedgers were enjoying watching all of us drinkers go into the DTs.
And so whoopity-doo, next was In Flames, for the millionth time. I actually wasn't really excited to see In Flames at all, even though I've always found them to be a great live act. I had just seen them open for Slayer, and was disappointed by their song selection, not to mention the fact that their new album just isn't that good. But a funny thing happened. Once the lights went down and they started to play, I couldn't help but enjoy myself. They mixed up the set list pretty well, but there were no huge surprises. Fortunately, their newer songs ("Cloud Connected," "Trigger," etc.) sounded much better this time than the first time I saw them played. They came across as much heavier, and the guitars were thickened up a bit. Sure the new album is still pretty weak, but in this setting I found myself able to get into it a bit more. In Flames are still a viable live act, and their newer material still sounds much better live. Now I'm not saying that the new material live makes everything okay, but it should never be seen as an excuse not to see this band.
Death's Review (9/17/02, The Glasshouse, Pomona, CA):Why do so many "L.A. area" shows have to take place so far from L.A.? I mean, having to battle L.A. rush hour traffic on a Tuesday in order to travel to Pomona in time for a 7 p.m. start time to see Sentenced's first U.S. tour just plain isn't fair. It's kinda like asking a New Yorker to make it out to Old Bridge or something on a rush hour Friday night. Oh yeah. That's what they were asked to do for this tour too. Well would you believe they (as in "the man," or "the powers that be" - kind of ironic to use the word "power" in any form to describe a metal booking agent, I know, but in this part of my world, "they" hold the cards . . . anyway, I digress) had the audacity to make us shlep all the way to Pomona just to discover that this show was at an all-ages venue serving nothing harder than soda and popcorn? I guess if the rumors are true then Old Bridge isn't serving alcohol anymore either. Some major market tour; in New York and L.A., we're talking serious inconvenience.
Dark TranquillitySo how do you think we fared? Of course we missed Sentenced. Flat out. At least I can fall back on the memory of the one and a half songs I saw them play live at some Koshick fest a few years back before the plug got pulled. I'm kidding of course: that was no consolation.
Anyway,we got to the sold-out 700 person capacity venue probably mid-way through Dark Tranquillity. Fuck it, at least we got to see the last four songs, including "Zodijackyl Light" (from Enter Suicidal Angels/The Mind's I), "The sun Fired Blanks" (from Projector) and closer, "Final Resistance" (from Damage Done). This was Dark Tranquillity's second U.S. show ever, and the young, all ages crowd ate it all up. It was clear that, like In Flames, Arch Enemy, and Soilwork, the time has come for Dark Tranquillity to make a move here in the U.S., and the fact that DT is currently moving away from the "Gothenpop" sound (credit to Hel for coining the phrase) currently employed by In Flames and Soilwork that is leading the charge toward mainstream success for this subgenre, may actually help them distinguish themselves as they begin to cultivate a wider audience. Kudos to Anders (ex-Dark Tranquillity and current In Flames vocalist who watched the DT set from the side of the stage) and In Flames for taking Dark Tranquillity out on this tour. Hopefully, the rumors are true and the band will be back on U.S. soil for a tour with Arch Enemy later in the year.
In FlamesAt least you could go outside between bands. We grabbed a beer across the street and talked about the new Opeth album with some friends who had heard parts of it. We mostly hung around out front after the first few songs of Killswitch Engage. The kids seemed to like them, but something about the band takes it too far from the core metal sound I like to hear. I can't put my finger on it completely, but something about Killswitch Engage comes across as too much "Slipknot meets hardcore" for my tastes, and the thrashy elements and Shadows Fall similarities are simply not enough to maintain my focused attention.
Soon it was time for In Flames. Once again, the white-jumpsuit bunch put on an outstanding show. With their new album Reroute to Remain landing that day alongside Meshuggah on Billboard's 'Heatseekers' and 'Independent Albums' charts (FYI, In Flames missed the Billboard 200 by a mere 140 copies sold), In Flames owned this crowd, showing that they belonged headlining venues in the 700-1,000 capacity range and proving that they could still connect in an incredibly energetic, entertaining and visceral way with their audiences, whether they were playing the new material or the old. All the usual In Flames songs were played, and everyone in the audience walked away a bigger fan than they were when they walked in.
All in all it was worth the trek by a longshot. Thank got we hustled it out there to this show, even though we were running so late that for a moment we considered bagging it. Forget the "nu" shit, this is the "new" metal everyone will soon be talking about.
Hel's Review (9/17/02, The Glasshouse, Pomona, CA):
I have the worst luck with opening bands. I admit, there have been occasions when missing the openers was a calculated act, because I just didn't give a damn, but this is certainly not true in regard to Sentenced. In this instance, it was yet another occurrence of: the venue is so damn far away the only way to get there is the freeway and there's no way anyone's getting anywhere on the freeway by 7pm. When it comes to going to shows that start early (i.e., all of them!), at least, I'm not loving the L.A. life-style.So, yeah, I missed Sentenced, and I may never stop kicking myself for it. I can console myself with the vague memory of the two songs I caught before they were kicked offstage at the end of the first night of the second March Metal Meltdown, but that's not much to go on. I know, life's full of difficulties. I'll continue to work on getting past it.
Killswitch EngageFortunately, I did catch most of Dark Tranquillity's set. And what a set it was! First of all, they put on a fantastic show. The members of the band were constantly in motion, banging their heads, moving around the stage, and all that. Then there was the fact that they acted like they were having the time of their lives. That always improves things. Finally, they were fantastic, and played many of my favorite songs, old and new. Absolutely killer.
After each band, there was an exodus to leave the building, since this venue lets you come and go as you please. This is a nice feature, but it is important to utilize it appropriately. Like going across the street to get a beer, as the venue did not provide alcohol. Since I don't drink, this was of limited entertainment value for me, but my compatriots were happier, which made me happier. As we were leaving on our little quest, I overheard some old-timers discoursing on the conflict arising between the "circle pit" moshers and the "hardcore dancers." This was educational for me, because my last decade of concert-going on the East coast had convinced me that the old-fashioned circle pit had fallen by the wayside altogether. Yet another difference between the East and West coasts.
Killswitch Engage was next on the bill, which I consider a crime. In my opinion, they should have been the band to go on first, and then I would have missed them, and I could have gotten over that. But, alas, this was not the case. On paper, I should be a Killswitch fan. I am not, however. I do not feel they provide me with an invaluable new experience, and while they are good live, it doesn't make up for this fundamental lack. The hardcore dancers loved it though.
Dark TranquillityIn Flames closed out the night. I have mixed feeling about In Flames these days, which I'm sure most of you are already familiar with, but since I've come this far - the new songs all have parts that suck, instead of sucking in their entirety. Seeing the new material performed between the old favorites did not diminish the sting, instead, it was like turning a very bright spotlight on the parts that suck. That was almost as disappointing as missing Sentenced. OK, so that's not true - but it was disappointing. But the older material is still killer, and they still play them wonderfully. If they would just ditch the matching white outfits, and delete the crappy parts from the new songs, they'd be the same awesome band they always have been.
All in all, it was a fun night. I may never get over missing Sentenced, but at least you're finished hearing about it for now. This tour was very well conceived and would have been flawless if another Swedish act had been along for the ride instead of Killswitch. For future reference, I leave you with this directive: See all Swedish metal bands that come through your town!
Solomon's Review (9/27/02, Birch Hill, Old Bridge, NJ):For those of you who live in NYC, you are probably aware of the fact that owning and maintaining a vehicle is often more trouble than it's worth. Given the already high cost of living, paying that much more for gas, insurance and parking is just another pain in the ass. The public transportation system is rather decent, and so we choose to hoof it by foot, train or bus. No sweat. When it comes time to travel beyond the jungle of concrete and steel, problems arise. Such is the case with making a trip to Birch Hill, which is only about forty miles outside the city. When you have to rent a car or take a bus through Friday evening, rush hour traffic, those forty miles turn into a Lewis and Clark expedition. Given my current finances and unwillingness to drive out of Manhattan at such a busy time, I was able to convince Abyss to take the NJ transit bus to the venue. Once we deciphered the routing system and climbed aboard, it was giggles all the way.
No offense to our NJ brethren but, crap, why Old Bridge? I know In Flames just did a double-header opening for Slayer, but with a bill like this, you'd think there would have been plenty of places in NYC willing to host this event. Well, anyway, I wasn't going to let a few transportation issues get in the way of seeing THIS tour. In Flames, Killswitch Engage, Sentenced and Dark Tranquillity all together AT THE SAME TIME! YEAH!!!! This was my first exposure to that which is Birch Hill, and my experience provided mixed emotions. I'm sure my buddy Abyss has the non-existent alcohol situation covered in fine MJ tradition, so additional comments are unnecessary. Seeing the stage from the back was difficult at times, but making our way up to the front of this packed room was near impossible. The worst part about the evening was the sound situation, which for Dark Tranquillity and Sentenced, at least, sucked. They both sounded like they were rattling away in a tin can. I don't know if this was an acoustics thing or if they just kept the volume down, but these guys got robbed a bit, methinks.
In FlamesGiven the band's status among the metal underground, you'd think Dark Tranquillity would have been given a higher billing, but Friday night they were first on deck. It's a bit sad that a veteran, ground-breaking act like DT was playing a family resort for a few hundred people with bad sound on their virgin trek to the States, but that's the state of metal, isn't it? From the smile planted on Mikael Stane's face, you could tell the band was giddy about touring America for the first time, despite the conditions. Stane is a proper frontman, grinning from ear-to-ear, telling the crowd how great they were (even if they didn't always deserve it) and hopping around the stage like it was an arena. The band stormed through several tracks off Damage Done, including "Final Resistance," "Monochromatic Stains" and "White Noise/Black Silence," as well as digging into the past with "The Sun Fired Blanks" and "Punish My Heaven." How disappointing it is when you hear these bands sound great on record and then hear "pingping/twangtwang" when you go see them live. That's the way it goes, I guess, and it's no fault of the band, who projected (pun alert!) themselves well and should have been on a bigger stage to begin with. Sentenced was up next and, aside from an extremely brief set at a recent metal festival, this was also their first time on US soil. I hate to say it, but the band was a bit dull, which was accented by the more aggressive groups they were sandwiched between. Their music is great, but I can see where it can be difficult to communicate those cold, moody, Finnish feelings to a live audience who's average age is, like, twelve or something. Guitarists Miika Tenkula and Sami Lopakka were pounding away, chugging through "Cross My Heart And Hope To Die," "Noose" and an abbreviated "Warrior of Life." "Neverlasting" came off well, featuring some well-executed back-up vocals, and "Excuse Me While I Kill Myself" got the crowd to sing along with glee. If suicide is so great, I don't understand why these guys are still here, but I'm glad they decided to stick around long enough to grace our shores with their presence.
As much as I had hoped DT and Sentenced would leave the stage as hard acts to follow, Killswitch Engage came out and upped them both. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, as Alive Or Just Breathing is catchy as hell and is in perpetual rotation on my CD player. I saw these guys with Hypocrisy back in May but knew very little about them then, so this time I was ready. Howard Jones (ex-Blood Has Been Shed) has replaced Jesse David Leech on vocals and, even though I miss the old guy, the new one does his job just fine. The band drove their set home with plenty of muscle, chugging through "To The Sons of Man," "Temple From The Within," and "Numbered Days." There were a few oldies in there, too, and that material sounds just as bombastic. Killswitch are coming to NYC next week, and I must say that seeing them live is mandatory.
Killswitch EngageIn Flames opened with, you guessed it, "Bulletride," featuring one of the most infectious guitar riffs you'll ever hear. A little predictable, but potent. Okay, as far as Anders Friden's new hairdo goes, I understand the Jonathan Davis wannabe thing, and I can handle that. When it comes to the matching mental ward orderly outfits, this crap has to go. Do the powers-that-be at Nuclear Blast really think that by pulling a cheap Slipknot stunt, In Flames are gonna sell that many more records? Hey, I'm all for self-promotion but, please, who are they fooling? Aside from some bad fashion statements, the band was good, although they didn't kick my ass like they did at Roseland with Slayer. Maybe it was just an anticipation/atmosphere thing, but, anyway, I could see In Flames year-round and feel just peachy about it, thank you very much. Thankfully, the band knew better than to dominate the set with new material. Reroute To Remain, IMHO, is a good record, but it failed to blow everything else out there this year away like I had hoped. Still, there are some goodies in there that are welcome additions to the live set, "Cloud Connected" and "Trigger" in particular, the last one featuring a particularly solid and aggressive performance from Friden. Standards like "Pinball Map" and "Behind Space" were in there along with a few surprises like "Episode 666" and "Gyroscope," of all things.
All in all, the trip was worth the downpour we had dumped on our heads all the way back to the bus stop. This show deserved a better venue, but with this style of music, you take it where you can get it. Hopefully DT and Sentenced will come back and do it again, soon.
Chainheart's Review (9/17/02, The Glasshouse, Pomona, CA):I do not think that you could have picked a better lineup of bands to tour together and this was easily one of my most anticipated shows. The only think that had me pissed off was that Dark Tranquillity was only supposed to originally get 25 min in the opening spot. On arriving at the venue I met up with the guys and they let me know that they will be playing a 40 minute set and that Sentenced would also be playing a 40 minute set, as both bands rotated in the opening spot each night. I thought that this was perfect and I was now more excited than ever. The line was wrapped around the corner and Sentenced was about to go on. Knowing that I did not want to miss any of the band's set I cut the line and preceded to walk in, running straight to the front row.
Now it was time for Sentenced to hit the stage and the last time I saw this band at the good old Jersey metalfest they got cut after four songs. This time it would be much different and the band came on the stage ready to kill the crowd. What I like most about this band is that their songs are very captivating and even though the lyrics are really depressive the songs have a pure rock feel to them. Opening with "Cross My Heart and Hope To Die" off their new release The Cold White Light the band went through an amazing set. Concentrating more on the newer material they managed to fit in such classics as "Warriors Of Life" and "Noose" among others to please the diehard fans. At this point you could tell that the crowd was anxiously awaiting the other bands as many must just have been hearing this band for the first time. Nevertheless, I never stopped singing along to ever word throughout the set. With such a long career to cover the band managed to fit in four new songs and leave their mark on the weary crowd as they left to many people chanting for more.
Dark TranquillityUp next was Dark Tranquillity and this is what I have been waiting for all day. I have heard from many people that this band had an amazing stage presence and damn, they were right. As they began to walk on stage the sold out crowd went crazy as everyone ran to the front. Once the whole band ran on stage they broke into "Wonders At Your Feet" and the pit began to get brutal. The band continued to play like they were playing in front of 10,000 people instead of 700 and this is one band that can get as big as In Flames in the US as long as they continue to tour here. The 40 minute set also consisted of four new songs including "The Treason Wall" and "Final Resistance" from Damage Done among other classics such as "The Sun Fired Blanks" that were unexpected. If you are fortunate enough to see this tour you will clearly see that this is the best and most energetic band on the bill. If you do not have Damage Done then you need to stop reading this and go and pick it up. This is what Swedish metal is all about and do not worry the band also fit in some older material but I am not going to ruin that surprise for you.
Now, I figured that since this show was in Orange County, the hardcore kids would be ready to get the pit moving for Killswitch Engage but that was not the case on this night. Whether or not you are a fan of hardcore music, Killswitch should not be pinned into such a broad category. They take many Swedish metal elements and mix them up with clean vocals and this band can hit you from almost every possible angel. The band took the stage and this night you could tell was reserved for the bands actually from Europe but they still made there was through a solid setlist. With a new singer named Howard Jones on board the band has become more aggressive and you can tell that he is a perfect fit with this band. With songs such as "Life To Lifeless" and "My Last Serenade" you can see that this band is going to be a real dominate force in the metal world for years to some. At this point I was ready for In Flames more than ever.
In FlamesEvery time I see In Flames I am always in the front row but this time I actually wanted to hang back to take more of it in. This is one band that I can say has never done any wrong and their new release Reroute To Remain is one of their best releases to date. It is great to see that this band just keeps getting heavier as they also expand their music to incorporate more melodic vocals. They opened the set with "Bulletride" and you could tell that this crowd was there for them. Wearing all white worker suits the band has a commanding stage presence and it is great to see them now dominating the US crowds. The band also played such classics as "Episode 666", "Behind Space" but stuck mostly to more recent material leaving out Jester Race completely. The new songs they played such as "Reroute To Remain", "Drifter", and "Cloud Connected" fit in perfectly. You could see that many people must own the new release as almost everyone was singing along. As they closed the set with "Pinball Map" and "Colony" the hour and 15 minute set was clearly not enough for this crowd but that is all we got. I know that this band will be back very soon and I better hear at least one song from Jester Race next time around. I think that the Slayer tour has really pushed this band up a level and they are more than ready to step it up.
If you get a chance to see this tour then you are very fortunate as both Sentenced and Dark Tranquillity are touring the US for the first time. I must say that I have to give this show five out of five because this tour features four of the best bands around today. This could easily be one of the best tours of the year. Now I just hope that these bands will keep touring the US because we need to have more of these real metal tours over here.
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