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Abyss' Review (5/16 & 5/17/03, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Another One Rides The BusThe Gods had aligned against me. My boss had taken off on the Friday that was to commence the 5th annual New England Metal & Hardcore Festival, therefore I couldn't (and keep my job anyway). This meant after a long day of work on Friday, I would have to take a bus to Worcester, MA at 5:30, getting me into that little metal metropolis around 10:30pm. Sure I'd miss almost all of the first night, but Hel and Death would be in town from Cali, not to mention that I haven't seen Pestilence, Famine, War, Requiem, etc., etc. in what feels like ages, so I had to go. Regardless, a five-hour bus ride didn't exactly do much for getting me psyched. After having a thoroughly shitty day at work, I was waiting on line for my bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal constantly remembering a three line conversation between John Candy and Steve Martin from the movie Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, our heroes are frustrated after being stranded, and decide to take a bus. The conversation goes something like this:
John Candy: "So, you ever traveled by bus before?" Steve Martin: "No."
John Candy: "Your mood's not going to improve much."
photos by Hel
Strapping Young LadThe feature film on this bus was Eddie, the Whoopi Goldberg vehicle. Who in the world made that decision? Did someone think she had across the board appeal? A 'sassy' woman screaming all her lines for two hours does not make for a good time.
Anyhoo, after what felt like, without using hyperbole, three gazillion hours on a bus, I finally arrived at the Palladium right as Shadows Fall was leaving the stage. At least I'd get to see Nevermore and Opeth. It became obvious quite quickly that I had a great deal of catching up to do when it came to drinking once I met up with my friends. Being stone sober in the presence of a bunch of drunken idiots is a new experience for me. I'm supposed to be the drunken idiot. It's what I do, it's who I am, but here I was a stranger in a strange land. I began a well-coordinated attack of Red Bull and vodka, to try to gain some ground and forget how spent I was.
The plan worked, and as Nevermore began their pounding set, I finally started to settle in to the fact that I had finally made it to the best metal festival in the US. I have seen Nevermore many times, but usually at crappy NYC clubs that have shitty sound (not to mention the fact that Mr. Dane is hit or miss depending on how much he chooses to drink on any particular evening. *cough * Arch Enemy tour, Downtime NYC *cough *). So I'm happy to report that Nevermore have never sounded better to my ears than they did that night. I was overly impressed by how thick they sounded. You could literally feel the sound waves hit you as you stood there gazing at the bombast before you. What a way to start a metal weekend (okay, I probably would've preferred to have been there for the whole thing, but give me my moment).
OpethOpeth ruled as always, playing a heavy set that showed they knew that, no matter how much praise their Damnation has received, everyone wanted to hear the heavy shit. I'm embarrassed to admit that the drinks have blurred my memory a bit (but I'm also impressed that I did such quality drinking in just a few hours!), and much of the time Opeth were on stage I found myself arguing that, while they were still one of my favorite bands, their last few albums didn't have much new to offer. Many around me disagreed and a heated debate followed.
The next day started with a dreaded Red Bull hangover complicated by hayfever (damn Massachusetts, don't they realize they're supposed to pave over all those damn trees?). I would later find that the hangover was there to stay, despite how many beers I drank. God I'm getting old.
We were late again as always, but I did get to see many great performances in between bouts of nursing my hangover. The first band I got a chance to check out was Victory record's Darkest Hour. These guys were a lot of fun. They were on the second stage, so it was packed and I didn't have the best of views, but they really had the room on their toes, injecting the audience with their crossover appeal.
Pig DestroyerAnother impressive band was Unearth, who have undying energy on stage. I was lucky enough to sit down in the balcony during their set, (as I felt like vomiting through most of Darkest Hour's) giving me a view of the whole stage. Their singer has been a great frontman the few times I've caught them, but this night was stolen by the guitarist who smashed his axe to pieces after the final song, and then proceeded to smash it against the stack of amps on the right side of the stage. This resulted in him being scolded for quite some time after the set. Kinda wish I coulda heard that conversation.
Mastodon ruled again, as always. They always strike me as the metal equivalent of a jam band. They're great musicians who play well off each other, and keep the music interesting despite any tangents they might go off on. It was great to hear their plodding style amongst all of the blastbeats of the weekend, and I still think this is a band that will continue to grow in the underground. By this I mean that their days as a second stage act are limited, as well they should be.
Once Eighteen Visions took the stage with their matching orange shirts and black ties, I knew they were going to suck. And suck they did. They came across as another incantation of the 'garage rock' scene that is being heavily fueled by MTV. You know, the White Stripes, The Vines, The Strokes... perhaps they should change their name to 'THE Eighteen Visions". Anyway, move along, nothing to see here...
The HauntedChimaira and Misery Index were two bands that didn't really move me, but that many of my immediate friends seemed to enjoy. Misery Index held my attention a little better, but they seemed a little lackluster, like your average run of the mill death metal act, when I know damn well they're not. The performance seemed like it lacked energy from both the crowd and the band, but then again, maybe my hangover was at work. Chimaira just don't really do anything for me. They're good at what they do, they just don't get my nuts in a bunch. In fact, they do nothing for my nuts at all. Perhaps it's better this way.
The Overkill fan in me was quite interested in seeing Speedkillhate, but again, they were just okay. I remember talking to quite a few people that were very impressed by them, but I had to disagree. The were good, no doubt, but I found myself a little disappointed. It struck me like Overkill with less character and drive. An adequate substitute for the dry periods, but dwarfed by Overkill's latest behemoth of an album.
Strapping Young Lad owned the festival for me. Not only did their sound feel like a punch in the gut, I've also never been so entertained by someone viscously insulting me in between every song. A Canadian calling Americans inbred, that's funny. Canadians being extremely patriotic is funny in itself (just kidding). They opened with "Oh My Fucking God" in an adrenaline infused performance that was as exciting as it was punishing. His voice sounded immaculate and synthetic at the same time, dripping with anger. Gene Hoglan is just a machine, even with as charismatic a frontman as Devin Townsend you can't keep your eyes off him. I can't wait to see these guys open for Meshuggah (hopefully they'll have time to add "SYL" and "AAA" to the set).
ConvergeLamb of God ruled the fest for the second year in a row. It's hard to believe that just a few years ago the average person didn't know them. The finest point in their performance was the final song, "Black Label" when the band coordinated a 'wall of death' in the pit. Having the participants separate to opposite sides and then get all 'Braveheart' when running in on cue. It was insane, and quite the spectacle to watch from afar. Luckily this band is talented enough to absorb the backlash that seems to be creeping into conversations I've been hearing.
Of course everyone was awaiting the reunion of Suffocation. I've personally never seen them live, and they put on a good show. They even played some new material, it was called "Deceit" I believe, but I can't be sure as it was growled into the microphone in the introduction. I'm definitely looking forward to a new record, as it's hard to gauge a song after only hearing it once in a live setting, but we all had "Effigy of the Forgotten" to tide us over. A great performance even if it fell slightly short of my elevated expectations.
The Haunted are continually impressing me. They are really coming into their own. Their new album rules and they sound better live every time I see them. They played classics like "Undead", but let's face it, the new material is what stole the show. There has been such a drastic improvement in their sound and songwriting that I would rather they stray away from their older material, something I'm not sure I've said of any other band before. I can't wait to see them again in the city.
So, like my hangover, this too eventually had to end. I really think this is the best-run festival in North America. It has a great deal of bands, but not too many. Of course, being a metalhead, I could do without the hardcore, but there are like three metal bands for every HC one, so we have little to complain about. The venue seemed less crowded this year, despite being sold out in advance, so at least they seem to be keeping the numbers down to a respectable level. If only the second stage was more accessible. I'll see you next year.
Death's Review (5/16 & 5/17/03, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Lamb of GodThis may have been the best metal festival ever on U.S. soil. The New England Metal and Hardcore Festival series, now in its fifth year, has largely surpassed Jack Koshick's aging Milwaukee festival as the pre-eminent metal gathering in the United States in recent years. Its closeness to big cities like New York and Boston, relatively low incidence of band cancellation, decent sound, smooth-running schedules and full bar at all times help its cause. So does the fact that there are good hotels within walking distance from the site, good street vendors selling hot food until late, and a decent pizza and sandwich stand adjacent to the venue.
Against it is the too-small, upstairs "second stage" area, which always hosts some popular bands and attracts packed crowds, making it almost impossible to casually drift in and enjoy any of the acts on this stage. You just simply can't "hang out and party and have a good time" and be any kind of serious about seeing any of the bands on the second stage. If you wanted to go check out a second stage band you had to be on a fucking mission. If you tried to drink beer in there, you'd quickly regret the decision. Also regrettable is the location of the vendor area upstairs on the balcony overlooking the second stage. Also literally impossible to navigate during peak festival hours due to the crush of traffic and overcrowding.
Premonitions of WarThis year's festival sold out a week in advance - for both nights. Perhaps in part for some of the aforementioned reasons, but probably mostly because of the incredible lineup the festival's organizers had managed to assemble, one of the best ever at a U.S. fest, a diverse and representative sample of the best the metal underground has to offer (possible exceptions - power metal and/or black metal?) was on display. A-list underground names like Superjoint Ritual, Opeth, Meshuggah, Lamb of God, Strapping Young Lad, Nevermore, Lacuna Coil, Killswitch Engage, and Shadows Fall were scheduled to play. We flew in Thursday night and headed for the hotel to get some rest before heading over to the festival, knowing that a pummeling of epic proportions was about to unfold.
First stop? Not even the festival itself for me. I met up with some of the MU/MJ east coast crew for a couple of pre-game beers at Irish Times across the street. Then it was off to the fest and straight to the bar at the back of the floor on the mainstage. Hel has already been inside. Abyss won't arrive for a couple of hours. It's about 6 p.m. on Friday. I drink and talk to people through the sets of a couple of hardcore bands that I didn't feel like paying attention to. I wanted to settle in and have some fun first while I geared up for the evening's attractions. It was already clear that trips to the second stage and vendor areas were gonna be rare for me, as they were way too fucking packed to be any fun. The action was at the back bar and later that night would turn to the main stage. I started to get interested in the metal being performed in front of me about the time that two events converged: (1) the booze kicked in; and (2) Diecast bust into their cover of "Reign in Blood" followed by their own "Singled Out". By the end of those songs, we all had our beers in the air and were all singing out loud and thrashing around.
Lacuna CoilAfter Diecast was Lacuna Coil. Sadly though, they didn't excite me. I liked Comalies, but when I saw them at the Blackest of the Black show in Hollywood a few weeks back they were strange. Visually, the "operatic" and frankly pretentious side of the band comes across more. They seem sillier somehow. I liked 'em then overall, but I wasn't too interested in a second helping this time around. I was more into talking, hanging out and drinking beer. Killswitch Engage, however, came next, and they are starting to win me over. I think the album had too much nu-metal in the production and too much hardcore in the vocals. Live, neither are present, now that the band has a better vocalist and have been embraced for the harsher, more metallic side of their sound. I banged my head furiously along to a couple of songs as Famine and I ventured down to the side of the stage for a up close view of the action.
Shadows Fall were next. They jumped right on the wave that Killswitch Engage had created, ripping through new thrash classics like "Destroyer of Senses" and "Thoughts Without Words" with intensity and dexterity in front of the "home town" crowd. I was jamming air guitar to the Testament-esque solo parts at the back bar. Good times were had by all. But the best of the night--and the festival--was coming next. I headed for the floor to watch Nevermore. Holy fucking shit, I soon thought to myself; as the band began an intense set, you immediately knew they were going to be on fire the entire night. This was probably the best Nevermore show I have ever seen and trust me I've seen the band a number of times. First of all, even though they stand out as perhaps kind of not fitting in with this festival or being "un-hip" to the kids from the hardcore side of the scene, this seemed not matter at all here. The festival crowd instantly embraced Nevermore, moshing and stage diving and thrashing around throughout the entire set. By the end of the show, half the freaking audience seemed to be onstage! The venue was packed, the crowd was amped and into it, they sang along at every chance. The sound was perfect, and Dane delivered his lines with ferocity and vocal clarity as well as musical precision. He told us that thrash was back. I think he might be right. The entire audience ate the whole thing up. I can't wait for Enemies of Reality. Unbelieveably at this stage of their careers, Nevermore just keep getting better.
Found Dead HangingFinally, we all got to mellow out and come down from day one with a little Opeth. Opeth played a great set - as always - and were the perfect ending to one of the best one-two-three band bills I could imagine -Shadows Fall, Nevermore and Opeth, right in a row on the mainstage with lots of metal friends from all over the country in attendance enjoying it with me and partying heavily. At the end of the show, many of us drifted off to the hotel to continue the night's festivities, relive the day's highlights and anticipate the music that was yet to come on day two.
Day two came way too early, and thus the idea of me seeing any of the bands that played before mid-afternoon was pretty much out of the question. Eventually, we made it to the pizza place, ordered a steak and cheese and a slice for breakfast and headed inside. This time, I followed Hel up to the side of the second stage to see Kataklysm. We only caught the last couple songs, but they were cool. I banged my head to the thrashy death metal grooves and watched the new drummer just pound the shit out of his kit on every riff. Awesome. My first second stage experience was a good one, so I came back up - this time into the crowd - to watch the beginning of Mastodon. They crushed, but it was way too packed and I wanted to drink so I split after a few songs. I went down to the mainstage and saw the end of Unearth. They were cool but seemed to cultivate their hardcore side a bit more with this set than I think they had when they played with Nevermore in LA last December. I hung out for a while and partied after that, missing a few bands. But I listed to Overkill member side project Speed Kill Hate while I drank at the back bar. This is essentially Overkill without DD and Blitz, and the sound captures both the positives and negatives that implies. The sound was fairly straightforward metal. I could bang my head, but nothing really particularly caught my ear.
DiecastI went onto the floor to watch Strapping Young Lad. They were cool. Thrashy and fun, this was probably the most focused I've ever been for a Strapping Young Lad set, and watching them with friends who were big fans got me into it even more. I hung out a bit more after that, but did catch the end of Hate Eternal on the mainstage while I waited for Hel who was taking pictures. I totally hung out and thrashed around to Lamb of God, watching the show with a bunch of people and headbanging and thrashing through the entire set. I love As the Palaces Burn. Seeing it live is even better. I paid little attention to Converge. But I did watch the Suffocation reunion show, and admired the clarity of my now deeper understanding of what New York style 90's death metal was all about. Next came The Haunted, supporting the awesome One Kill Wonder, and their show did not disappoint. Meshuggah was next, and I liked what I listened to, although I did not focus on a lot of it as a preemptive strike as I had sat for almost an entire Meshuggah headlining set a few weeks earlier at a Hollywood gig and had found doing so to be cool at first but increasingly an exercise in patience and a test of my attention span as the set wore on. I opted to take a last lap or two around the venue before the end of the night. I went back to the main stage area to watch a bit of Phil Anselmo and Superjoint Ritual, but since they too I had recently seen live (Blackest of the Black), and had also found the set to grow boring after a while, and also because I was tired, hungry, and more than a bit exhausted, I took off with Hel before it was over and went back to the hotel room for beers and tunes and friends and partying until the wee hours of the dawn.
So that's my metalfest story. Many of you should get to see some of the actual performances yourselves soon. MTV2's "Headbanger's Ball" was there with host Rob Zombie. Juliya and Fuse's "Uranium" show were also in attendance. Trustkill will be issuing a DVD documenting the festival. All in all, it seems like hindsight may prove this to have been a legendary metal weekend. I'm just happy to have participated.
Hel's Review (5/16 & 5/17/03, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Over the years, I have attended many of the various metal festivals held throughout the United States. Each year, this one is invariably the best run, and most reliable in terms of the bands who are scheduled actually showing up. So, having relocated to the other coast, I knew it would be necessary to make the journey back East for this occasion. Thursday night found Death and I boarding a red-eye flight, so we could be sure to arrive in time for all the fun.The theory was that we would go straight to the hotel and snag a few hours of sleep before the festivities began. Of course, this plan was better in theory than in reality. So, after trying unsuccessfully to add to the couple of hours that I had managed to sleep on the plane, we started meeting up with various friends and headed out to get a bite before going into the venue. I actually slipped inside while everyone else went to Irish Times, because I wanted to be sure to see A Life Once Lost.
I jetted down to the main stage, and found Locked in a Vacancy onstage. A feeling of relief washed over me; the band I was anxious to see would be on next. There were a lot of people already inside the venue, and those at the main stage seemed to be enjoying LIAV's set. These guys have been openers on at least one bill that I went to in New York, but of course, I didn't catch them back then. They were very energetic onstage, and I liked the few minutes I saw, but I had people waiting across the street for me, so I left after only a song.
On my way back outside, I stopped by the second stage, in the interest of photo-documenting the entire event, and snapped a couple of shots of On Broken Wings. I wasn't particularly impressed by the couple of minutes that I saw, and it was already impossibly crowded in there. Time to eat.
MeshuggahAfter a bowl of soup to soothe my savagely sore throat - I had been battling a sore throat and an evil migraine headache for two days already - it was time to see A Life Once Lost. This ferocious group of youngsters now sport facial hair and fresh tattoos, but their unrelenting delivery and reckless stage presence has only gotten better. Now, I was fully in the Metalfest Mood.
My friends, on the other hand, wanted to stop back at the hotel room. I suppose I'm easily swayed by this kind of peer pressure, but mostly I just wanted to spend some time with good friends that I don't see very often. This sidetrack caused me to forfeit what I am sure were outstanding sets from Novembers Doom and Noctuary, but there's one thing that is invariably true at every metal festival - you just can't see every band. The venue will allow people to come and go only until about 8pm, and then you were trapped for the rest of the night. So everyone was eager to exercise their ability to come and go fully before then.
We returned to the Palladium just as Cannae was taking the stage. I went down for some photos, and discerned that they were a fairly talented hardcore band. At this festival, there is an entire contingent of hardcore bands that fall into the category of "eh, hardcore." These are the bands that I watch and say, "eh, hardcore." Cannae - eh, hardcore. Not my thing, but good for what they are, and the hardcore kids get to karate kick their hearts out in the pit.
Moving on to the second stage, Found Dead Hanging was in full swing. I plowed my way to the front (thanks to everyone who made room for a chick with a camera this weekend!) and discovered a bleeding frontman and a stage full of chaos. The front row at the second stage is far too violent for any but the most determined, and once I knew I had adequate documentation, I got the hell out of there. I generally found myself lasting only a song or two, and the motley of lovely bruises I wear today are ample reminder of why that was. Once you're out of the second stage area, you're basically out of the range of the music, so those two manic songs are all I heard. Definitely a band I'll check out again after those ten minutes.
Most Precious BloodBy this time, Most Precious Blood was on down at the main stage. I've since learned that they are mostly former members of Indecision, but I didn't know that at the time. I was happy to see a woman on guitar, and thought their brand of metalcore was pretty cool. I needed to leave to be sure to catch Bongzilla, who was supposed to be next on the second stage, so my moments with Most Precious Blood were few, but it seemed, in retrospect, that it lacked the elements I had found most objectionable in Indecision. I'll look to check out this band again in the future.
When I got to the second stage, however, it was not Bongzilla. Instead, it was a random band that I did not recognize, going completely crazy. Their fans seemed to be predominately hardcore, and I was getting pummeled, so I got the pictures I needed and got the heck out of there. I can't really even remember what they sounded like, but I have a vague impression of hardcore and therefore, not my deal. After exhaustive research on the Internet, I finally found a couple of other pictures and confirmed that it was Premonitions of War.
My friends were once again waiting for me at this point. No one was interested in seeing Nora main stage, or in going near the second stage, and it was about 7 at this point. So we made one last trip outside. When we returned, there was no one at all on the second stage. It was over, done for the night. What about DRI? I liked them back in the day, and was curious what they were like these days. Someone told me they had already played, but I heard later that they showed up ten minutes late and the venue wouldn't let them go onstage. I'm not sure which is the truth, but the latter has that certain ring of truth to it. As we would see Saturday, the venue proved to be far more interested in keeping their schedule than in making the fans happy.
At this point, I remembered I hadn't even visited the vendor area yet. Past years have taught me the harsh lesson that it was always brutally hot and crowded, and I guess at this point I've just developed an instinctive avoidance of it. This time really proved no different, and I could not muster the attention or concentration necessary to peruse the tables, so I headed back to the main stage, the only place we had left to go.
UnearthDiecast was onstage, and I knew that from this moment on, each and every band was going to be great. Tonight marked the final performance of Diecast with their current singer. As such, it was an obviously passionate performance by a band that has repeated proven their chops live. Their energy level was amazing, and the singer certainly went out on a high note, so to speak.
Next up was Lacuna Coil. At this point, things in the photo pit began to turn ridiculous. There were far too many people in that small space, and conditions would not be improving as the weekend wore on. Once again, the male members of Lacuna Coil wore the same skirts, and the woman wore the same Capri leggings and jacket with big white cuffs. What is it with bands wearing the exact same outfits every single show? I can now prove it, as I have a few bands wearing the exact same clothes at different points in time. Opeth is also guilty of this. Maybe it's coincidence, but I wonder. In any event, their set was once again incredibly well received, and well delivered. The place was completely packed and everyone seemed to love Lacuna Coil.
Killswitch Engage was next, after a fairly speedy set change. I have witnessed Killswitch live several times, and they have consistently delivered an entertaining set. I like their new singer so much better than the last one, and each time I see them live, my appreciation goes up a notch. I've gone from being rather ambivalent about them, to being fairly close to admitting I like them. The crowd here loves them, but that should come as no surprise. I imagine the Ozzfest crowds will also be appreciative.
Locked in a VacancyThe schedule stated Nevermore would be next, which I thought was just one of many botched scheduling jobs of the weekend. But, for no known reason, Shadows Fall took the stage. Personally, while I love Shadows Fall, I felt putting them after Nevermore was a crime, so this felt right to me. I believe that Shadows Fall will be the breakout band of Ozzfest 2003, and they certainly deserve it. I'm rooting for them. And performances like this are the reason why. The capacity crowd agreed completely.
And then it was finally time for Nevermore. At this point in day one, people were clearly beginning to tire, and I was too. But Nevermore stormed onstage and re-energized the entire place. The camera in my battery started to die, to my horror, at the very beginning of Nevermore's set. I started using every trick I could think of to squeeze more shots out of it, I turned the flash off, I kept turning it back on when it shut itself off, anything to squeeze off one more before it died completely. It finally did during the last song we were allowed to shoot, and it was one of my favorites, "The Seven Tounges of God," so I just pantomimed taking pictures, and enjoyed the song. In the end, the photo you'll see alongside these review was taken after Famine kindly took the batteries out of his own camera and donated them to my cause, though I was still able to get some great ones in photo pit, despite the adverse circumstances.
You see, at the very beginning of the show, Warrel invited the crowd to join the band onstage, saying, "Our stage is your stage." He apologized to the security guards, proclaimed that anyone with a camera should consider leaving now, and proceeded to grab a fan's outstretched arm, and bodily pulled him onstage. And then another, and another, and another. At first, most simply dove back into the crowd, some hugged band members, others sang into the mic with Warrel. But by the end of the set, there were a LOT of people onstage. It was a beautiful metal moment. So I whipped my camera back out, and now you can see a slightly fuzzy picture of that moment alongside these reviews. Isn't technology grand? I could go on and on about how great Nevermore's set was, but I'd like to finish this review someday, so I'll let it go now. Except to say, this was the best performance of the entire weekend in my mind.
Nevermore - "Our stage is your stage"Opeth closed the evening in dramatic fashion. Their set was basically the same as the last few times I've seen them, and I heard other people complaining about that afterward, but I always enjoy whatever they play, as long as I get to hear the three "D"s - "Demon of the Fall," "Drapery Falls," and "Deliverance." I'm pretty sure they played all three this night, but frankly, I was too tired at this point to notice what songs were played. I just enjoyed the show, like I always enjoy Opeth.
We went back to the hotel with a few friends and talked metal for a while. Then we ventured out to a few other rooms, where more people were hanging out and talking metal. Fun conversations were had, cool people were met, and a good time was had by me. But my lack of sleep the night before was becoming a problem, so after loading my hard day's work onto my laptop so I had space for more pictures tomorrow, at 4am, I finally dragged my sorry carcass to bed.
The next morning came too soon. Having by no means adjusted to my new time zone, of course I woke up late, and by the time we were ready to get moving, our friends stopped by our hotel, and we sat there for a while longer. Then of course the basic necessity of food was required, but I needed to dash into the venue to establish where the schedule stood thus far. I went inside long enough to realize I had already missed Goatwhore - which upset me to no end - and that for the second year in a row, the main stage was running a full set ahead. Apparently one of the early bands (someone told me later it was Drowning) had not shown up, and therefore everything was ahead of schedule. So even if I had gotten my shit together earlier, I still probably would have missed Goatwhore, but that didn't make me feel any better about it.
Killswitch EngageSince everything was now running early, Atreyu was onstage downstairs, and having viewed their video on MTV2, I knew there was no way I was staying for their set, particularly when I needed food so badly. I actually had a conversation at one point over the weekend about how the name was from The Neverending Story and we were all disappointed because we like the movie/book but thought the band blew. They didn't bother to see Atreyu either. It was definitely time for food.
So we elected to eat at "Palladium Pizza" under the theory it would be fastest, but in reality takes longer than imaginable for something as simple as French fries. And why can't I have my coffee right away? Perhaps because I was too tired to ask, I guess. After eating as quickly as possible, I returned to the venue to find Kataklysm almost finished with their crushing set. There was no way to get into the second stage area while their set was in full swing, so we took the back way to get out onto the stage behind the band, and I desperately tried to document their staggering set before it was over. They finished all too soon, and while I was disappointed not to have witnessed every moment, I loved what I did see. I love Kataklysm!
Unearth was shredding the main stage to pieces by this point, and I rushed down for the mandatory pictures of this incredible set. As always, they were bouncing around the stage with immense energy, and the audience was enthralled. This is a band that I've always enjoyed, particularly live, and they were even better than usual on this day. Unearth definitely deserves attention for their amazing ability and fantastic stage presence, not to mention the affection they consistently receive from every crowd I've ever seen them play for.
Shadows FallI then went back upstairs to fight through the crowd for some pictures of Mastodon. Times like these are when I'm glad to be taking pictures. I never would have battled my way up to the front under other circumstances and from my front row vantage point, I was actually able to see and appreciate the band's frenetic performance. These guys put on such an amazing set, it may have actually been worth the array of bruises that I carried away from my two songs of picture taking.
No one wanted to see Eighteen Visions, particularly me, since I had seen their awful video on MTV2 also and had decided I despised them based on that, so a group of us went back to the hotel for another break away from the crowds and noise. These trips were fun, a chance to relax and be comfortable and hold conversations in which you can actually hear the other people. But this one cost me my chance to see Misery Index again, and that disappointment will take some time to pass.
Returning to the venue, we found Speed Kill Hate onstage downstairs. I didn't know why I should care about this band until someone informed me that it was three of the members of Overkill (basically the band minus Blitz and DD). So I perked up, though I still pondered why I might care, as Blitz and DD are the two biggest reasons I love Overkill. I ran down to the stage to try to get a couple of pictures, but one of the security guards had taken it upon himself to begin enforcing the "three song" rule, and SKH was beyond that point in their set. Ironically, as the night wore on, the same security guard would decide to change the rule to two songs, therefore rendering my picture taking task all the more hellish. So I was annoyed that I couldn't get pictures. Which didn't put me in the mindset to appreciate the band, though what I heard was clearly not as good as Overkill. Under other circumstances, I can imagine I may have enjoyed it more though.
A Life Once LostStrapping Young Lad was up next downstairs. I had been up to the second stage, but without any particular reason to shoot bands I'd never head of, I decided I wasn't going to even try going in there. So I went down early to jockey for space in the over-crowded, needlessly competitive photo pit at the mainstage. My past two attempts at photo documenting SYL had failed miserably, the first was at an overcrowded club with no photo pit and I had come in at the tail end of their set, and the second I missed the band completely. So I was hoping for better this time. The set up was such that the house kit was very close to the front of the stage, so my view of Gene Hoglan's drumming genius was unparalleled. The set was incredible, and the band was on fire. I, on the other hand, was unceremoniously ushered out of the photo pit after the second song, and since SYL songs are not particularly long, this was highly disappointing. Not so for their set, however, and the crowd completely adored them.
At this point it was around 6:30pm, and people wanted to go to the hotel instead of watching Shai Hulud. I had no reason to argue, but Cephalic Carnage was beginning to tear up the second stage at this point, so I asked them to wait a couple minutes and barreled through the crowd to document their decimating set. Two songs later (one more than I had promised) I dashed back out, sweaty, sore, and happy that I got to see up close what few others at the venue were able to witness. This was one of the many scheduling crimes of the weekend - CC so should have been on the main stage.
Coming back after our break, Hate Eternal was in full swing. With no knowledge of how long they'd been up there, I dashed down and was able to get off one solitary shot before the security ogre came and chased me away. Their set was over soon after, but it was enough to make me once again regret my decision to withhold the fifth skull from their last album. Between the repeated rotation of their video for "Powers That Be" on MTV2, and their flawless live delivery, I am glad I reconsidered this one at the year end re-evaluation.
Hate EternalI had missed The Red Chord on the second stage while we were outside, which I regretted. I have not gotten a chance to see these guys live yet, but the album is great and the buzz around them is huge. I hope they make it out to the West coast in the near future. So I took position as Pig Destroyer launched into their ravaging set. For the first time this weekend, the kids in the front were too determined to let me in, so I did the best I could, while chaos erupted all around me. The band members moved almost too fast for my camera to catch, and the enthusiasm of the few in front of me hindered my efforts as well. Not to mention Lamb of God was about to go on, and I'd only have two songs to document that. That meant I had to go quickly anyway.
Not sorry to leave the inferno that was the second stage, though sad not to see more of Pig Destroyer, I raced back downstairs and took position in the nick of time as Lamb of God stormed out to a thunderous reception. They ripped into their set, while the vocalist showed no sign of his recent injury, which had reportedly broken his collarbone. Either he's invincible, or more likely, just oblivious to the pain. The entire band delivered their usual high-quality, high-intensity set. Near the end of their set, they encouraged the audience to participate in "the wall of death" which got the entire floor involved in a crushing display of exuberant violence.
A good friend had tipped me off to the surprise going on simultaneously upstairs on the second stage: the first ever live appearance of Agoraphobic Nosebleed. So in the middle of Lamb of God's aforementioned display, I ran back upstairs to see if I could pull off the impossible. Things were in full swing up there, and the crowd was rabidly enjoying their surprise treat. Agoraphobic Nosebleed songs are notoriously short, and with no idea of how long I'd have to try to get a picture, I opted to not battle through the crowd again, and instead made for the back stairway. Unfortunately, between the poor lighting on the stage and the imminent end of the special appearance, I only got one very dark picture. But believe this: it was incredibly intense, and proved that AN should take their spectacle in front of the masses more often. Once the madness subsided, the second stage was done for the weekend. And I realized I had never once made it up to the vending area all day.
Converge was next on the main stage, and after a frustrating attempt at documentation (my best picture, an incredible shot of the singer, was spoiled by a fellow "photographer" sticking their disposable camera right into the center of my shot), I left in a fury. At this point, I was tired, I hadn't had enough sleep in two days, and my temper was growing increasingly short. I haven't really found a reason to like Converge in the past, and I wasn't even going to bother trying at this point. So, trapped inside and hungry, we decided to avail ourselves of the pizza closet before the lines got out of control. As it was, it took forever, and I ended up taking my slice down to the photo pit with me, so that I could be sure to capture the historic return of Suffocation.
Agoraphobic NosebleedThe death metal legends received a deafening welcome, and proceeded to hammer home the reason why. Never missing a step on their classic material, and rolling out a couple of astonishing new songs for the rabid fans, they proved they are back and they plan to stay. No one in the audience had a problem with that, and once their all-too-short set ended, the outcry for an encore was phenomenal. But the venue didn't care that these long-departed death metal forefathers were the darlings of the audience, or that the audience was clamoring for more. It was over, and that was that. Disappointment reigned at that moment, but otherwise everyone was ecstatic over their blazing return. I gave myself a big pat on the back for my foresight in procuring a Suffocation baby doll for my t-shirt collection. And thanks to the band for having one for me to buy!
I can't explain why, but I continually forgot that The Haunted was playing this weekend. Someone would remind me, and I'd forget. I'd see it on the schedule, and then I'd forget. But there they were, in all their thrashy glory. I enjoy this band, and they put on a great live show every time. Things in the photo pit were getting more miserable by the band at this point in the weekend, and I was actually relieved by the time they tapped me on the back to tell me to go. Many of my fellow photographers were really starting to get on my nerves, and going back out into the crowd at this point was a relief. The Haunted put on a fantastic show, as usual, but it was becoming clear that every person in the place was starting to feel the toll of two days of madness.
Were it not for the fact that I was committed to my photo documentation of the entire event, I may have gone back to the hotel with Abyss, Famine, Pestilence, and War at this point. I had seen both Meshuggah and Superjoint Ritual within days of each other in LA only two weeks before, so I didn't really care, was incredibly tired, and completely ill-tempered. But I stuck it out, and both bands performed exactly as expected, exactly as they had two weeks before. The rest of the crowd seemed to agree, and by the time Phil extended his invitation to the audience to share the stage with them, there was a far less than packed house present to take him up on his offer.
Shortly after being kicked out of the photo pit for the last time, Death and I headed back to the hotel. We sat there, relaxing, with a few friends that had bailed out during Meshuggah, and Abyss et al had already left for their own hotel by the time we arrived. Things were mellow, and we all spent the time recapping bands we enjoyed, etc. Then, a knock on the door, and a few others who had stayed longer at the show arrived to hang out. Then a few more arrived. Soon, the room was fairly full, but everyone was talking quietly and being mellow. People continued to knock on the door, until soon it seemed like the whole damn festival was in my hotel room. It wasn't long after that the hotel powers that be demanded that everyone leave. So, quiet returned, and another crazy metalfest weekend retreated into the annals of history. Thanks to everyone who contributed to my enjoyment of the weekend!
Metal Militia's Review (5/16 & 5/17/03, The Palladium, Worcester, MA):
Superjoint RitualMetal all day? Twelve hours of the music I love? At one point in my life I could only dream of such things. Growing up on the West Coast I didn't have any all day metal festivals, in fact I went to three concerts a month at most. Well, that's why I decided to move east for college. Metalfests all around me and some of the best concerts of the year come around here. Simply amazing. This year's New England Metal and Hardcore Festival epitomized what a metalfest should be about. Top tier bands from the beginning of the day all the way through until the end (well, Superjoint Ritual sucks, but close enough). I only attended the second day of the event and it was even better than I expected. The sound quality was phenomenal for a venue of that size and the lineup was absolutely ridiculous, almost all of my favorite bands of the last few years played on Saturday.
KataklysmWe woke up on Saturday at 11:30 and slowly made our way over to the Palladium from our hotel and got into the venue just in time to see Dyshrhythmia finishing up their set. For the sake of convenience and brevity I won't go into detail about any of the bands that were on the Relapse Contamination tour, if you want to read about those bands check out the review of that tour. The sets were very similar and the performance was of equal quality. After Dysrhythmia and Uphill Battle I browsed the massive merchandise section upstairs only to find out that Harakiri was going to play fifteen minutes earlier than what was listed on the schedule. So I hurried down the stairs all the way back to the main stage to catch one of the best new death metal bands around. They opened with "You Too Can Have Your Own Cranklab" and went straight into "In His Own Image." Both tracks were incredible and the band's performance was very inspired considering there was about thirty five people in the audience at that point.
The next band worthy of attention was Goatwhore and I only managed to catch the tail end of their set because of the schedule got fucked up when a band didn't show, making all bands on the main stage play early. The two Goatwhore songs I did catch were very impressive and even better sounding than when I saw them open up for God Forbid and Gwar a few years back.
SuffocationSome other highlights of the day included: Kataklysm, whose new drummer is an absolute terror on the kit; Misery Index, who never disappoint; Unearth, who probably had the most violent and energetic set of the day; Mastodon and Cephalic Carnage, who I had seen only forty eight hour earlier, but still played powerful sets. I also enjoyed talking to metal author Ian Christe, bullshitting with Erik Rutan at the Dunkin Donuts, and running into Bill Talley of Internal Bleeding. One could not ask for a more metal day.
The night began with The Red Chord who were the second to last performers of the night on the second stage. Once again they destroyed all other bands that had played up until that point. A blistering twenty four minute set that included two new tracks as well as highlights from their debut record, The Red Chord proved once again that they are the best up and coming band around. Their set was frantic and the audience was rapidly destroying each other as each song progressed, with the set ending with forty kids on stage pulling everyone and everything off the stage. The Red Chord never disappoints and afterwards I talked to the singer, Guy. He and bassist, Adam, have started a record label, Black Market Activities. Be on the lookout for these releases beginning this summer.
MastodonAfter The Red Chord I rushed over to the main stage area to see Lamb of God. Although their new record is somewhat of a disappointment for me their live performance is still awesome to behold. They started off a little disjointed but quickly found their groove and played a remarkable set. The new songs sound much better live than on disc and I couldn't believe the drumming. Especially on Ruin - Adler can pull off everything on that disc live and it is unfuckingbelievable. The highlight of their set was when they got the crowd to participate in "The Wall of Death" during "Black Label." The mosh pit was absolutely insane with people separating to two sides and smashing the living fuck out of each other. Good times indeed.
Converge was up next and I really had no interest in them or their idiot fans, musically they are adept but they are a very boring band in my opinion. They made some decent background music as I perused the merch section for the second time.
Cephalic CarnageNow the moment that everyone was waiting for came. Suffocation. Their first show in five years and it was almost everything I could want from these death metal legends. They opened with "Thrones of Blood" and the whole band was on point. Frank Mullen sounded awesome and I could barely tell that Doug Cerrito wasn't in the band. The only downsides to this awesome set was the short set time. I think they played five songs. Oh, and the Palladium gets a big FUCK YOU for not allowing these legends to play an encore. Their first live performance in five years, the whole crowd wants to hear another song and the venue people have the balls to say no? Fuck whatever rigid dick denied the paying fans one more classic track. Other than that Suffocation put on the performance of the night, outshining everyone.
The other headliners really didn't interest me. The Haunted suck so I didn't even pay attention to their set, and Meshuggah had a very good live show but I'm not a fan of theirs so I wasn't sure what they were playing and how it sounded in comparison to the studio stuff. I didn't even bother staying around for Superjoint Ritual, I can do without Phil's stupid ramblings and drunken antics. But this was easily the greatest show I've ever been to.
Party! Party!
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