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Abyss' Review (4/5 & 4/6/02, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
photos by CYN
Arch EnemyA full three days before the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, I could tell I was getting sick. Waking up revealed the onset of a sore throat, I was really tired, and I could just tell that a fever was right around the corner. Of course, normally in these situations I do something stupid, like go out every night and drink too much so that my body never has a chance to recover. But things are different now, I've just turned 30, and I seem to have been blessed with the ability to think ahead all of the sudden. Plagued by the thought of standing around the venue in Mass. feeling shitty for an entire weekend, I did the responsible thing (for the first time in my life, I might add) and went to bed early every night that week, and refrained from drinking and smoking during this time. Of course, this isn't really the shocking part, the shocking part is that it actually worked! I ended up not ever really getting that sick, and felt nice and chipper by the time Friday rolled around. I used to have the outlook that, "I'm going to get sick anyway, I might as well have fun." I guess maybe I should have listened to my parents all those times when I was younger (I pretty much disregarded their advice once I realized the hair growing on the palms thing was bullshit.) So my abstinence worked! I was able to go to the Fest and drink heavily (which resulted in me feeling pretty crappy all weekend anyway, but that's beside the point.) and enjoy myself to the gills.
I did find it much harder to see as much metal as I wanted to at this fest. First of all, the place was sold out and packed! Second of all, there was no smoking in the venue, so we found ourselves constantly going outside, also there always seemed to be way too many people to talk to, and too little time to do it all. This is really becoming work! I was barely able to see any of the bands on the second stage as, more often than not, it was packed tighter than Pamela Anderson at an award show. I did make my way up there for a few good bands, the first being November's Doom. These guys' epic/goth metal thing is really cool, and this is the first time I would get the chance to see them in a live setting. And I'm glad I did, even though it seemed that most people didn't care. The room was relatively empty for their set, with a good amount of solid fans keeping the faith. I do wish their stage presence was as elaborate as their music, but there was little they could do, corralled into such a small space (Especially with a singer who is slightly larger than "svelte").
Another band I'm glad I made the effort to see on the second stage was Pig Destroyer. I found myself a big fan of their latest release, Prowler in the Yard; unfortunately, my view wasn't all that great, and I only saw the tops of their heads bobbing around (something that usually isn't a problem, as I'm not exactly short). From what I saw it looked like an energetic show, at least the singer's head was bobbing around at an entertaining pace. And the sound was about as good as you could hope for for that stage- meaning you could decipher the different notes to a certain degree. More people should pay attention to this band.
Arch Enemy was easily one of the most popular and entertaining acts of the night. The debut (for us anyway) of new throat Angela was a rousing success, the band ripping through highlights of their new masterpiece, and dabbling in the older stuff as well. Angela proved herself to be a talented frontwoman, keeping the crowd in the show the entire time, as well as acting the diva. Arch Enemy seemed poised to take the next step in their career, as they now seem to have a solid fan base here in the states. The Amott brother's continued to amaze with their particular blend of technicality and heft. Unofficial Metal Judgement Poll concluded that most attendees believe further success would be guaranteed if Angela decided to start playing naked. Personally, I think that gimmick just might work.
Cannibal CorpseI, for the first time in awhile, was excited to see Cannibal Corpse. Their new album, Gore Obsessed, was a real breath of fresh (if by "fresh" I mean evil and putrid) air, reviving my interest in this band, and as a result I spent a good portion of my time screaming along. I'm pretty sure "Stripped, Raped, and Strangled" was most responsible for my voice being so hoarse on Saturday, but hey it was well worth it.
Saturday really started with a surprise, as I couldn't believe that I wasn't all that hung over! Oh, don't get me wrong, I put my time in the night before, so I just figured that now that I've turned 30, I've become indestructible (I would find this logic to be flawed later on). Anyway, we went back to the venue, and I decided that this next day should be a Red Bull and Vodka day (called a Greed here in lower Manhattan), and tried to make myself pay as much attention to metal as I could. Well, this plan was doomed to fail from the start. It seems the times were a little off, and I spent so much time looking at the wrong band believing it to be someone else that I felt like I was running around like a chicken with it's head cut off (or actually any animal with it's head cut off, as they all seem to lose direction once that happens). I ended up missing A Life Once Lost, a band that I was really looking forward to seeing. I blame Death (not that it was really his fault, I just blame him anyway).
Pig DestroyerI did see a few of the bands that were around A Life Once Lost timeslot wise, but no matter how many people I asked, I couldn't really nail down who they were.
Of course, during this time I ended up missing Misery Index, whom everyone else couldn't stop raving about. I hate it when people do that... I know I do it too, but I hate it when other people do that.
I do know that Lamb of God remain a commanding presence on stage, and I think they made some new fans here. This band is really taking off, what with their constant touring and impressive material. The pit erupted into one of it's most violent of the weekend during their set, and everyone in the place seemed to take time out to watch this band. If their next album is as good as their last, these guys are definitely the next big thing.
Dark FuneralI always realized that Overcast was a well liked band, but I was completely unprepared for the reception they received when they took the stage. I realize that this was their backyard, but with their absence from the scene, I figured it would take a little to bring the crowd around. Boy was I wrong! The biggest crowd of the weekend amassed and remained vocal throughout, as lead singer Brian held them in the palms of his hands. He proved himself an amazing frontman, as anyone who's seen a Shadows Fall show can tell you. The band was quite tight considering their hiatus, and they ripped through some impressive material that probably made some of the youngins rush upstairs to figure out if they could find a copy of this band that broke up before their time.
Unfortunately, I had to do some leg work during Nile and Soilwork's set, but I wasn't to traumatized, because, I wasn't that psyched with Soilwork, and I've had the pleasure of seeing Nile about a million times in the last few years.
I did get my responsibilities done in enough time to catch the beginning of In Flames, however. And even though I find this band going in a direction that I'm not sure I'm happy about, there is no doubt that this band remains a viable live act. Just compare the song "Only For the Weak" on the album, versus it's live presentation. You can see that this band is much more brutal when they've got a ton of screaming fans around them. Their logo was in the shape of "The Empire Strikes Back" of Star Wars fame, which I guess will cause a lawsuit as soon as Lucas gets wind of it (I was sued by Lucas the other day just for saying "Star Wars") Anyway, by the time In Flames was winding down their set, my body was starting to give way. I did, however, notice that they didn't play "Jotun", which I was disappointed in, but all in all it was a fitting end.
Hopefully next year I'll be able to hit the Jersey fest and the New England one. Plus I do think that there were less bigger name bands before the headliners this year, and I hope that changes as well, but let's face it, I had a ball and I can't wait for the next festival to punish my body once more.
Death's Review (4/5 & 4/6/02, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Sniff . . . Sniff . . .What's that I smell in the springtime air? Beer, sweat and overflowing toilets? It must be metalfest season in the northeastern United States! Too bad it's already over. Sadly, the 2002 campaign was reduced to a single weekend, with the two premiere festivals (Metal Meltdown 4 in Asbury Park, NJ and New England Metal and Hardcore Festival 4 in Worcester, MA) scheduled directly opposite one another for the April 5-6 weekend. North American metalheads everywhere were forced to choose which festival to attend.
We opted for New England instead of making our traditional trek to New Jersey. Sadly, this meant that Metal Meltdown 4 would be the second "Koshick fest" I've skipped in a row, as we also skipped last summer's Milwaukee Metlafest to go to the Thrash of the Titans benefit in San Francisco that same weekend. I'm sure that if I had gone to Asbury Park, I would have had a good time. Metalfests are great metal gatherings, a place to "camp out" for the weekend, park your cars, forget about your jobs and get hotel rooms with metal friends from all over so you can hang out and drink for 14 hour stretches while watching metal bands hand selected from around the world for your listening pleasure. You get drunk and laugh your ass off all weekend long with metal all around you and bang your head with other true believers. How is that ever not fun? I'm sure Metal Meltdown 4, with its old-school headliners like Saxon, Manowar and Diamond Head, was a hell of a lot fun amidst the seas of denim and leather and metal backpatches. I'm sorry I missed it.
Misery IndexWe went to New England primarily because Metal Update's own Scott McCooe was going to be performing as part of the Overcast reunion. This was something I was anxious to see, so upon learning the news that Overcast would play, I was immediately "in" for going to New England, confident that by the time April 5 rolled around the festival organizers would have lined up an interesting soundtrack to this weekend of debauchery. Sure enough, they did. Arch Enemy, Soilwork, In Flames, Nile, Cannibal Corpse, Lamb of God, etc., etc. Sounded pretty damn good to me.
The weekend got off to a rough start for me though. I missed the planned 12:07 p.m. train from Grand Central on Friday. I was so pissed and stressed out I felt like blowing off the whole fucking weekend and going home. Cooler heads prevailed, of course, and Cyn (by cell phone), Hel (missed the train with me) and Ylana (met up with us in the train station to pick up fliers to take with her down to the New Jersey fest) all took turns talking me down. We got on the next train.
God ForbidA few hours later Abyss, Hel, Cyn, Musashi and I descended upon the Crowne Plaza hotel, about two blocks from the venue. It was now about 4:30 on Friday and we only hung around the room for a little while before heading the show. Shortly after we got in, we ran into Famine, Pestilence, War and Antichrist (and later Requiem and Alysha), and the drinking and debauchery officially began.
I lived at the back bar in the mainstage room the entire weekend. As soon as I got to the venue each day, I started drinking. I was still drinking when the headliners played at the end of both nights, even though I could barely stand up or see straight by that point in the festivities either night. This was a seriously brutal weekend on the liver, at least for those I was immediately surrounded by. You know who you were. We fucking pounded alcohol and spent way too much money. But we all met all sorts of cool people back there and I feel like the MJ team must have partied with everyone at the fest in at least one form or another. Cheers to all of you. I had a blast.
Musically, the coolest new band was definitely Misery Index. These guys fucking smoke!!! Jason, Kevin and Sparky all are ex-Dying Fetus and I loved their work with them but I think I like Misery Index even more. This is totally metal material, backed of course by the incredible drum talents of Kevin Talley (rumored to be under consideration for the vacant drum position in Slayer) and anchored by some killer, killer riffs. Jason Netherton's bass performance was also exemplary and was presented high enough in the mix to enjoy it. Overall, Misery Index's live performance was technical and brutal at the same time, and judging from the crowd response Misery Index is headed for bigger things for sure. Definitely the break out band of this fest, from my perspective.
I also liked Lamb of God, as always. The scary thing is they are starting to command a big stage like the one in Worcester with the kind of confidence that validates some critics labeling of the band as a "modern day Pantera". This is a good thing. They really are developing into an absolutely titan live act, something special to behold every time, and perhaps slightly even better somehow in a "larger" setting such as this one. It has almost become a yearly tradition for me to tell you that Lamb of God is going to be a major player in this genre sometime soon. So I'll spare you, and just tell you that Lamb of God smoked once again.
In FlamesArch Enemy was also incredible. Everything I wanted them to be. Aboslutely kick-ass. I can't wait for the band to come back as part of its own tour. Angela had the crowd enraptured on this night, and the Amott brothers sounded awesome and delivered many blistering leads. My personal highlight? "Hearts of Darkness" from the new 'Wages of Sin', but that's just me. I love that riff. Everyone in the packed house seemed to like Arch Enemy in one form or another though, and they clearly were a crowd favorite.
In Flames were fun, with their Star Wars banner and the "G.I. Joe" style God Forbid shirt. They also had the best rallying cry I've ever heard come from a metal stage: "Put down your fruitbaskets!" Don't understand it, except that it I assume it meant "metal!!!!!!" or as Ozzy would say "get fucking craaaaaaazzzzzzyyyyy!" So In Flames pretty much ruled, and the newer stuff sounded rawer live and old favorites like "Episode 666" kept everyone happy.
Soilwork were cool too, again sounding raw and energetic live although perhaps not coming across as well sound-wise as Arch Enemy and In Flames. Overall, the sound was not good this weekend - I have heard much better in this same venue. Anyway, I was definitely banging my head a lot while Soilwork were playing. Unfortuantely I missed Nile, as I was outside and came in during the end of "Black Seeds of Vengeance", which of course sounded killer. I was partying while listening to God Forbid and Killswitch Engage in the background, not paying focused attention to either act, but I did notice some killer moments of each and often caught myself banging my head to what was happening onstage. Cannibal Corpse were good but I was really drunk and really tired while they played, so while I enjoyed it, most of it was a daze. Any band that played upstairs was basically off-limits, as drunk as I was, because it was so packed up there that it was next to impossible to hold a beer anywhere even near that room, let alone navigate my way to a comfortable position inside. It was mostly hardcore bands up there anyway, although I lost track of the time and missed Deceased who played up there on Saturday afternoon.
Lamb of GodThe big "news" of the festival was the reunion of Boston metalcore pioneers Overcast, featuring members of Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage and Medium. They fucking tore the roof off the place, with the hometown crowd going absolutely nuts. Three cheers for Overcast, a totally cool, totally metal outfit that delivered killer riffs with bludgeoning heaviness and a headbanging groove to a "crossover" audience way before their time, setting the stage for the modern wave of metalcore and the "Gothenburg, MA" sound. It would be great to see them perform sometime again. Perhaps one day Shadows Fall or Killswitch Engage will be big and Overcast will be a like S.O.D. and reform every decade for an album and tour. Until then, I'm glad I saw them at NEMF4.
In the end, this was the festival of partying with old friends and metalheads from far and wide. It was the festival of Arch Enemy and Misery Index, of Lamb of God and Overcast. Sadly, it was also the last east coast metalfest (she'll also shoot the April 10 Iced Earth/In Flames/Jag Panzer show) before veteran Metal Judgment photographer Cyn moves west. Cyn will of course continue to be heavily involved with Metal Judgment from her new locale, but her leaving us truly does mark an end of an era. The core "Abyss, Hel, Death, Cyn and Musashi" team has seen almost every big metal show to come through New York together since 1998. Cyn has taken some incredible pictures, helping to visualize once again that which I might never have otherwise remembered from the night before. Her documentation of the scene has been as comprehensive as any metal photographer of the last five years. Her day-to-day presence in the photo pits of Hammerstein, Roseland, L'Amours, CBGB's, The Beacon, Irving Plaza, The Hard Rock Cafe and WWF World will surely by missed by many. She'll take her New York bow at WWF for Iced Earth on April 10, but by the time you're reading this, that show will already have past. So bon voyage, Cyn - at least we'll have some killer pictures to look at while you're gone.
So there you have it--another metalfest weekend in the books. Judging from how packed the venue appeared on Saturday and the event's sold-out status, booking this on the same weekend as Metal Meltdown 4 certainly did not impact the attendance in Worcester. This was once again a killer event for the scene. I feel psyched to have been there.
Hel's Review (4/5 & 4/6/02, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Ah, Spring. Smell the metal in the air? Sure, it smells just like stale spilled alcohol, stale cigarette smoke, and then thereís that funny smell coming from vicinity of the Men's room… Thatís metal, baby! Time once again to abuse our bodies and our ears with a two day festival of all that is metal (& hardcore).This year I was looking forward to attending the 'fest in relative health. Last year, this particular festival was held on the weekend immediately following the one in Jersey. After that first weekend, I arrived at the second in a state of near death. Boy, was I sick. So with the choice of attending both sequentially forcibly removed from my hands, I was actually able to arrive at this event with a modicum of good health.
The choice to attend the New England festival over the fourth iteration of the Metal Meltdown was an easy one. In New England, you have a venue that is an actual music venue, with heat and everything. In Jersey, only one room was meant to be an actual venue, the others, not at all, and zero heating capability. In New England, you may leave during the day to seek actual food (the pub across the street is very slow but tasty), but in Jersey, you're pretty much stuck with the nasty food they serve inside, even if you are allowed to leave, since there's not a lot of anything near the venue. Finally, for the drinkers, in New England, there's a full bar by every stage, and in Jersey, you're apparently not allowed to drink a simple beer while simultaneously viewing a band. So you see, New England provides a more comfortable scenario all around.
My attitude going into this weekend was different than it had been in the past. In prior years, regardless of which festival I was at, I had practically memorized the line up for each day by the time I got there. I'm not sure why, perhaps because I was so busy in the days and weeks preceding this 'fest, or perhaps because I had been burned by line up changes and cancellations so many times in the past, but this time, I barely had any idea who would even be playing in New England at all.
So, with no agenda and almost no expectations, I began my weekend of metal. Rain Fell Within was literally playing their final notes when I walked into the main stage area on Friday. I heard six or seven notes maybe, but, because I had not hyped myself up to see them (see above), I survived my disappointment. Speaking of which, I may as well list those things I was disappointed about before I go on. First, there was one band who apparently cancelled, and thereby disappointed me - Hate Eternal. Second, there were a few bands who played and I regretted missing. These bands were: Halo, A Life Once Lost, Novembers Doom, Today is the Day, Mastodon, Burnt by the Sun, and Deceased. It sucks that I missed them!
NileThe majority of bands in this second category played on the second stage. Yes, there is a story here. At this venue, the second stage is a small room upstairs with a small stage, and small stairway that leads up to a balcony area where the vendors set up their wares. Every year, the balcony is hot and crowded. This year, the balcony was again crowded and hot, but so was the entire second stage area. On Friday night, I made a vain attempt to reach this area, and after ten or fifteen painful minutes of being trapped on the short flight of stairs from the lobby to the second stage area, I gave up. I tried going to this area again, early in the day Saturday, and again it was hot and time-consuming. Based on these two trips, I ended up blowing off this stage entirely. Frankly, the viewing area for this stage is too small, as is the vending area, and I think the best move the venue could make would be to drop that stage, and turn the entire area into a vendorville/hang-out space. Yeah, like that will happen.
So on to the bands I did get to see. The first band I saw go on was Averse Sefira, and they were pretty good, though a little silly in that way that corpse-painted black metal bands tend to be silly. I caught a bit of Brand New Sin - more hardcore than I usually go for, but good. Kataklysm took the honors for first band to blow me away. They produced a set of pure metal mayhem, and reminded those of us watching of why we were there: metal. The night moved on, and eventually I found myself watching Incantation. Nothing wrong with that. They put on an excellent, brutal set. Dark Funeral was the next band of interest, and once again, they proved their amazing ability to draw you into their blackened world.
Finally, the time for the main attraction had come. Though Cannibal Corpse was the headline act, there was one band that everyone was anxious to see. After all, Cannibal Corpse was there last year too, weren't they? When I heard they were playing this year, my reaction was: Cannibal Corpse again? So, the true excitement surrounded Arch Enemy and their new vocalist's debut.
OvercastI saw Arch Enemy a couple of years ago, at a little place called Downtime, opening for Nevermore. That was my standard for comparison, and they measured up well. The place was absolutely packed for their set, and they were extremely energetic. Angela's voice held well overall, and she does this odd thing with her mouth that is morbidly fascinating. My biggest complaint about her performance - someone needs to teach that woman how to bang her head properly. Otherwise, it was excellent.
Cannibal Corpse rounded out the evening with a rousing set. Inasmuch as a band who plays, to a man, rooted completely in place, can be rousing. Corpsegrinder showed us a thing or two about banging heads. He has this ultra-fast windmill technique which is as astounding to watch as it is to contemplate the strength and balance it must take to do it as frequently as he does. I left for home looking forward to more.
And more there was. Misery Index started my day off right, with an amazing display of technical death metal mastery. The dual vocals were particularly powerful, and the drumming of Kevin Talley is simply godly. The three best parts of Dying Fetus have come together again to form Misery Index - consider that.
I came and went a lot after Misery Index destroyed the main stage. I made another attempt at going upstairs at some point, and, well, it was still too crowded. Eventually it was time for Lamb of God. At this point, I've seen Lamb of God live several times. And you know what? It just never gets old. Again, I was blown away by the sheer power and energy displayed before me. This is a truly great death metal band. I hope for more brutal heaviness just like this in the future, don't you?
No one really captured my attention again until Overcast. Talk about your excitedly anticipated bands! Everyone was buzzing about the reunion, and even God Forbid was unable to lure me into staying in one spot for long. Finally, the time had come, and Overcast took the stage. The response was amazing. They sound completely fresh and relevant today, and it seems clear they were true innovators. Scott McCooe, Metal Update interviewer, resumed his role on guitar with ease, as did the other former Overcast members. Great fun, and a historic occasion.
IncantationMy Soilwork prediction was that they would open with "Follow the Hollow," and they certainly did. I also predicted that they would be fun live, and they were. I found myself constantly shifting places during their set. I saw them from above, from up close, and from afar. And I decided that the best place in the house was right in the middle. Hell, good old common sense could have taught me that! Nonetheless, Soilwork put on a great set.
Then, Nile. I was quite excited for this set. I have not seen them since they opened for Cradle of Filth, which was some time ago. The new member was rough back then, and has since settle into a comfortable place in the band. Not as out front as his predecessor, but they operate well as a unit in this configuration. Another excellent set.
I finally ventured back upstairs, desperate for a fix between bands. Pig Destroyer was well into their set, and the room was full. I could not see a damn thing. I had a good time listening, and that, in the end, is what truly matters anyway, right?
In Flames closed the weekend. They blasted onstage with their usual energy, and put on a set of melodic death metal the way only they can. The crowd was dwindling fast by this point, as it had been a long weekend, and this fact was no reflection on the quality of the performance given by In Flames. They were amazing. But the metalheads were pooped, a sad, but true fact.
SoilworkAnd that, my friends, is how my weekend was. I hung out with a lot of great people, met some more great people, and some of them were even MJ fans. How cool is that? If you've never been to a metal festival before, you really need to. It is a great experience, and a lot of fun. If you went to Jersey instead, I'm sure you had a great time too, since in the end, it seems many bands played both, so it's sort of like we were all at one really big metal festival, right? Nah, I was in New England, and you were in Jersey! But, unless another conflict arises, we'll see you in Milwaukee.
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