Megan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ferrumaeternum) wrote2009-11-21 11:14 pm
ferrumaeternum) wrote2009-11-21 11:14 pm
Entry tags:
Monsters of Death (Part One)
Sorry for the novel, but hey, it’s NaNoWriMo.
Last Saturday was the Monsters of Death show at The Rave. Even though I got there an hour ahead of time, the doors weren’t open yet for the show. Everyone else had to wait around for twenty minutes, but I was escorted into the bar, since I was on the guest list for winning a free ticket from The Rave’s online contest. I was surprised to see Swashbuckle doing their soundcheck, as it said online that they canceled before the show. John from Warbringer sat next to me at the bar, but while I was thinking of something non-fangirly to say to him, he left. :/
This has been the smallest room in The Rave I’ve seen a concert in. The stage is about fifteen feet wide and it’s only about twenty feet from the front of the stage to the back wall. The backstage area for most of the bands consisted of a small barricaded area to the left of the stage where their equipment was stored and the lights and sound system were operated. The merchandise area was directly on the other side of the stage and was so small you were practically in front of all the bands’ booths if you turned in a complete circle.
When I went over to the merch area to buy a Warbringer shirt, which I sadly never got around to due to certain distractions, Dominic from Augury immediately approached me. He explained that Swashbuckle was supposed to “crash the show”. I ended up talking to him for the next half hour until Swashbuckle came onstage about anything and everything. He’s from Montreal and speaks English as a second language, and it sounds like he’s only had a couple years’ worth, but he wasn’t too difficult to understand. I was also surprised how easy it was to talk to him compared to other people from bands I’ve met. I feel proud for teaching him the words for ‘goosebumps/gooseflesh’, ‘swimming pool’, and ‘shampoo’. He’s the only guy I’ve met who’s told me they use Redken conditioner, but doesn’t his hair look gorgeous? XD He also told me he was in the basement earlier and saw a type of shadow ghost that I’ve also had a few experiences with in my house. (I will post about that later, but we did finally get rid of it.) He said he was going to go back down there after the show and play a concert for the spirits, which I thought was nice. I’m so glad to have met someone who’s had an identical paranormal experience and doesn’t think I’m nuts.
Swashbuckle
I was really disappointed there were probably twenty people at most in the audience when they came onstage. As usual, I was in the front, but I left a space for the guy filming the live broadcast of the show. Although Alestorm has a much more polished sound, how can you not love the idea of pirate thrash metal? The entire band was dressed in pirate regalia, the frontman had a stuffed parrot attached to his shoulder, and there was an inflatable palm tree onstage. They came out to “I’m on a Boat”, and had a guy dressed as a parrot running around onstage who jumped into the crowd to try and start a pit. I hate it when people take metal too seriously, so I thoroughly enjoyed these guys. Their frontman did a great job talking just like a pirate on and offstage. Sam, who was standing behind me with his wife, Beth, got a fairly decent shot:
I actually met Sam and Beth on Facebook. They randomly added me, looking to befriend another metal fan in Milwaukee. I had seen them at Summer Slaughter, but they were busy talking to friends the whole time and I didn’t want to bother them. This time they approached me right after Swashbuckle’s set. For once in my life, I had a great conversation with people who live in Milwaukee. We share a lot of the same views and taste in music, and they’re not into any drugs, heavy drinking, or moshing. It probably also helps that they’re a few years older than me and have a daughter, so they’re more responsible than most people my age. Beth had a very similar childhood to mine and doesn’t really have any close friends. Since the show, we’ve been talking a lot on Facebook and are trying to plan to get together soon to hang out. This is just what I need, so hopefully it will work out. I mean, yeah, I still hang out with Catherine from time to time, but she’s really changed and abandoned her old values since high school, so we’ve been growing apart. Sam was so kind as to invite me out for dinner with them after the show, but I didn’t end up going as Dominic whisked me away right after Vader’s set. More on that later…
Augury
After watching Dominic playing bass back by the merch booth during Swashbuckle, he finally took the stage with the rest of his band. They completely blew me away. I knew they were a progressive technical death metal band, but boy were they technical! The thing that really set them apart from the rest of the bands that evening was that they featured the bass in most of their songs. They took a lot of musical risks and used really haunting, beautiful melodies and unusual rhythms. The growled vocals were great and Dominic’s playing was just as intricate as any lead guitarist I’ve heard. He used both a fretless bass and a six-string. In fact, I had only heard a couple of their songs before that night and will definitely be listening to more.
The Amenta
I don’t really have much to say about this band because I didn’t care for their music. They describe themselves as a combination of death metal and industrial, but they were more black metal than anything. Half the band had their faces painted entirely black, and they all wore solid black clothes. Their singer wore white contacts and had smeared black paint on his body and face like Vreth from Finntroll does. He actually looked quite a bit like Vreth! Their drummer (who also filled in for Augury, as their drummer left before the tour) was pretty easy on the eyes as well. But the sad part is their aesthetics were the only thing I liked! The only industrial elements were some scary metal stomping sounds coming from a laptop they set up. Their songs weren’t very imaginative and most of the band’s purpose seemed to just be scary and morbid. I will admit, compared to most black metal bands I’ve heard, these guys were downright freaky, which seems really contradictory for a bunch of Australians. I’m just not a fan of most black metal in general because of the close-minded views expressed, the squealing and grunting vocal style, and the fact that it is rarely melodic. I also didn’t like the fact that their singer said that everyone who didn’t go into the circle pit was a “bitch”. I am no sissy, but I’m not going to throw myself in with a bunch of angry, overweight guys who have had too much to drink slamming into each other.
After they went offstage, Dominic found me in the crowd. I felt bad lying a bit about what I thought of The Amenta’s performance, but I was told they’re both sharing a van for the tour. He said they’re actually a lot of fun and really nice guys, and I’m sure they are offstage, but I’m just not into their music or stage presence. Before Warbringer took the stage, Dominic left with his bass to go back down to the haunted basement pool.
Warbringer
This was the band I mainly came for, and they delivered! I know I’m a bit biased because I love thrash metal and these guys are true to its roots, but this band is really solid for only being around for five years and being so young! I’m starting to feel old now that I’m going to see bands that are my age. XD Their whole performance was very high energy, everyone had great stage presence, and some fans even jumped up to sing a few lines or just rock out with the guys. They actually sounded better live than on their recordings! The circle pit was insane and never regained its momentum that night after Warbringer finished their set. There were a lot of other fans that came for this band, and I hope I’ll be seeing them again in the near future.
At this point, Dominic was back from the basement. He was pretty freaked out, since all he had was a flashlight and said he saw an apparition of a little girl up on the balcony above the pool I felt bad for not offering to go with him, but I was not going to miss Warbringer.
Then this guy who looked quite a few years younger than me appeared out of nowhere. He asked me what bands I was here to see, and after I told him, he was like, “So you wanna go make out for a few minutes?” My response was basically, “Uh…no, sorry.” WTF was that? Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only weirdo in the crowd that evening. While I was chatting with Beth between bands, these two middle-aged guys who were drunk off their asses came up to us, asking when Slightly Stoopid was going to be on. (They were playing in another area of The Rave that night, so how would I know?) When I said, “What? They’re not playing here at the bar,” one of them said, “Oh, yeah, she knows!” and walked away winking and laughing. Thank you for suggesting I’m “slightly stupid” when you’re the ones who don’t even know what show you’re at. Then there was a guy who approached us who was so fucked up I don’t think he knew where or who he even was. At first we thought he was asking if we liked Halloween or Helloween, but he was slurring so badly we had to ask him to repeat himself. He didn’t even register what we asked for a good ten seconds. Then he asked me if I “wanted between”. I asked him again what he said, and he was just as confused as I was. He asked the same thing, and when I told him no because I had no idea what the hell he was saying, he finally stumbled away. This is why I never plan on drinking to the point where I’m totally out of my mind. Ugh, what a mess!
There were some other freaky people in the crowd as well. The guy who looks exactly like Gimli was there again! There was also this white trash wigger (Timberland boots, cargo shorts, a wife beater that didn’t stay on too long, and a shaved head) who kept starting circle pits. He had this horrible scowl on his face the entire time and just randomly started punching people around the perimeter of the pit. The runner-up douchebag of the evening was the Hot Topic poster child. He was also in the pit the majority of the time, wearing a Cradle of Filth shirt, huge “bondage” pants, skateboarding shoes, and dreadlocks with a bandana. I know a metal concert isn’t the place to look for high fashion, but it was still amusing watching these angry, drunk guys trying to show how badass they were with their poor pit etiquette. There were also a bunch of other massive, clueless guys in the pit that resulted in everyone near the perimeter, like myself, being thrown sideways. Still, it was better than being in a pushpit!
Decrepit Birth
I saw these guys at Summer Slaughter a few months ago. I wasn’t impressed with their performance then, and I’m still not after this show. They’re just run-of-the-mill deathcore. I can’t really tell if they’re more generic death metal or metalcore, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re boring. It’s kind of cool that their singer is in his mid-40s and still playing metal, but that’s about it. I was impressed that when he did a stage dive, everyone in the audience passed him around in a perfect upright sitting position back to the stage. However, I’m still annoyed about the whole incident where their drummer tried to talk me into going on their bus and got mad when I refused. I hate guys who think every girl wants to sleep with them. He wasn’t even cute, so I wonder where he even got that idea.
Vader
I wish I would’ve been able to appreciate their performance more, but by this point, my back was killing me from standing in one spot for several hours in stiletto heels. My pinched nerve was also acting up from having my bag with my camera inside slung over my shoulder. As expected, these guys were great. They’ve been around since the ‘80s and are one of the most well respected death metal bands out there. The vocals and all the instruments sounded perfect. They also worked the crowd really well. I don’t really have much else to say, since I’m just a casual fan of theirs. My only complaint was that between several songs, there was no pause and they went right into the next. Some of the transitions didn’t work so well and I felt like a dumbass for trying to clap and cheer when they just kept on playing. Otherwise, everything was extremely professional and it was really exciting to see this legendary band so close up.
Stay tuned for part two, where the saga of Dominic and I continues as we go on a little adventure…
Last Saturday was the Monsters of Death show at The Rave. Even though I got there an hour ahead of time, the doors weren’t open yet for the show. Everyone else had to wait around for twenty minutes, but I was escorted into the bar, since I was on the guest list for winning a free ticket from The Rave’s online contest. I was surprised to see Swashbuckle doing their soundcheck, as it said online that they canceled before the show. John from Warbringer sat next to me at the bar, but while I was thinking of something non-fangirly to say to him, he left. :/
This has been the smallest room in The Rave I’ve seen a concert in. The stage is about fifteen feet wide and it’s only about twenty feet from the front of the stage to the back wall. The backstage area for most of the bands consisted of a small barricaded area to the left of the stage where their equipment was stored and the lights and sound system were operated. The merchandise area was directly on the other side of the stage and was so small you were practically in front of all the bands’ booths if you turned in a complete circle.
When I went over to the merch area to buy a Warbringer shirt, which I sadly never got around to due to certain distractions, Dominic from Augury immediately approached me. He explained that Swashbuckle was supposed to “crash the show”. I ended up talking to him for the next half hour until Swashbuckle came onstage about anything and everything. He’s from Montreal and speaks English as a second language, and it sounds like he’s only had a couple years’ worth, but he wasn’t too difficult to understand. I was also surprised how easy it was to talk to him compared to other people from bands I’ve met. I feel proud for teaching him the words for ‘goosebumps/gooseflesh’, ‘swimming pool’, and ‘shampoo’. He’s the only guy I’ve met who’s told me they use Redken conditioner, but doesn’t his hair look gorgeous? XD He also told me he was in the basement earlier and saw a type of shadow ghost that I’ve also had a few experiences with in my house. (I will post about that later, but we did finally get rid of it.) He said he was going to go back down there after the show and play a concert for the spirits, which I thought was nice. I’m so glad to have met someone who’s had an identical paranormal experience and doesn’t think I’m nuts.
Swashbuckle
I was really disappointed there were probably twenty people at most in the audience when they came onstage. As usual, I was in the front, but I left a space for the guy filming the live broadcast of the show. Although Alestorm has a much more polished sound, how can you not love the idea of pirate thrash metal? The entire band was dressed in pirate regalia, the frontman had a stuffed parrot attached to his shoulder, and there was an inflatable palm tree onstage. They came out to “I’m on a Boat”, and had a guy dressed as a parrot running around onstage who jumped into the crowd to try and start a pit. I hate it when people take metal too seriously, so I thoroughly enjoyed these guys. Their frontman did a great job talking just like a pirate on and offstage. Sam, who was standing behind me with his wife, Beth, got a fairly decent shot:
I actually met Sam and Beth on Facebook. They randomly added me, looking to befriend another metal fan in Milwaukee. I had seen them at Summer Slaughter, but they were busy talking to friends the whole time and I didn’t want to bother them. This time they approached me right after Swashbuckle’s set. For once in my life, I had a great conversation with people who live in Milwaukee. We share a lot of the same views and taste in music, and they’re not into any drugs, heavy drinking, or moshing. It probably also helps that they’re a few years older than me and have a daughter, so they’re more responsible than most people my age. Beth had a very similar childhood to mine and doesn’t really have any close friends. Since the show, we’ve been talking a lot on Facebook and are trying to plan to get together soon to hang out. This is just what I need, so hopefully it will work out. I mean, yeah, I still hang out with Catherine from time to time, but she’s really changed and abandoned her old values since high school, so we’ve been growing apart. Sam was so kind as to invite me out for dinner with them after the show, but I didn’t end up going as Dominic whisked me away right after Vader’s set. More on that later…
Augury
After watching Dominic playing bass back by the merch booth during Swashbuckle, he finally took the stage with the rest of his band. They completely blew me away. I knew they were a progressive technical death metal band, but boy were they technical! The thing that really set them apart from the rest of the bands that evening was that they featured the bass in most of their songs. They took a lot of musical risks and used really haunting, beautiful melodies and unusual rhythms. The growled vocals were great and Dominic’s playing was just as intricate as any lead guitarist I’ve heard. He used both a fretless bass and a six-string. In fact, I had only heard a couple of their songs before that night and will definitely be listening to more.
The Amenta
I don’t really have much to say about this band because I didn’t care for their music. They describe themselves as a combination of death metal and industrial, but they were more black metal than anything. Half the band had their faces painted entirely black, and they all wore solid black clothes. Their singer wore white contacts and had smeared black paint on his body and face like Vreth from Finntroll does. He actually looked quite a bit like Vreth! Their drummer (who also filled in for Augury, as their drummer left before the tour) was pretty easy on the eyes as well. But the sad part is their aesthetics were the only thing I liked! The only industrial elements were some scary metal stomping sounds coming from a laptop they set up. Their songs weren’t very imaginative and most of the band’s purpose seemed to just be scary and morbid. I will admit, compared to most black metal bands I’ve heard, these guys were downright freaky, which seems really contradictory for a bunch of Australians. I’m just not a fan of most black metal in general because of the close-minded views expressed, the squealing and grunting vocal style, and the fact that it is rarely melodic. I also didn’t like the fact that their singer said that everyone who didn’t go into the circle pit was a “bitch”. I am no sissy, but I’m not going to throw myself in with a bunch of angry, overweight guys who have had too much to drink slamming into each other.
After they went offstage, Dominic found me in the crowd. I felt bad lying a bit about what I thought of The Amenta’s performance, but I was told they’re both sharing a van for the tour. He said they’re actually a lot of fun and really nice guys, and I’m sure they are offstage, but I’m just not into their music or stage presence. Before Warbringer took the stage, Dominic left with his bass to go back down to the haunted basement pool.
Warbringer
This was the band I mainly came for, and they delivered! I know I’m a bit biased because I love thrash metal and these guys are true to its roots, but this band is really solid for only being around for five years and being so young! I’m starting to feel old now that I’m going to see bands that are my age. XD Their whole performance was very high energy, everyone had great stage presence, and some fans even jumped up to sing a few lines or just rock out with the guys. They actually sounded better live than on their recordings! The circle pit was insane and never regained its momentum that night after Warbringer finished their set. There were a lot of other fans that came for this band, and I hope I’ll be seeing them again in the near future.
At this point, Dominic was back from the basement. He was pretty freaked out, since all he had was a flashlight and said he saw an apparition of a little girl up on the balcony above the pool I felt bad for not offering to go with him, but I was not going to miss Warbringer.
Then this guy who looked quite a few years younger than me appeared out of nowhere. He asked me what bands I was here to see, and after I told him, he was like, “So you wanna go make out for a few minutes?” My response was basically, “Uh…no, sorry.” WTF was that? Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only weirdo in the crowd that evening. While I was chatting with Beth between bands, these two middle-aged guys who were drunk off their asses came up to us, asking when Slightly Stoopid was going to be on. (They were playing in another area of The Rave that night, so how would I know?) When I said, “What? They’re not playing here at the bar,” one of them said, “Oh, yeah, she knows!” and walked away winking and laughing. Thank you for suggesting I’m “slightly stupid” when you’re the ones who don’t even know what show you’re at. Then there was a guy who approached us who was so fucked up I don’t think he knew where or who he even was. At first we thought he was asking if we liked Halloween or Helloween, but he was slurring so badly we had to ask him to repeat himself. He didn’t even register what we asked for a good ten seconds. Then he asked me if I “wanted between”. I asked him again what he said, and he was just as confused as I was. He asked the same thing, and when I told him no because I had no idea what the hell he was saying, he finally stumbled away. This is why I never plan on drinking to the point where I’m totally out of my mind. Ugh, what a mess!
There were some other freaky people in the crowd as well. The guy who looks exactly like Gimli was there again! There was also this white trash wigger (Timberland boots, cargo shorts, a wife beater that didn’t stay on too long, and a shaved head) who kept starting circle pits. He had this horrible scowl on his face the entire time and just randomly started punching people around the perimeter of the pit. The runner-up douchebag of the evening was the Hot Topic poster child. He was also in the pit the majority of the time, wearing a Cradle of Filth shirt, huge “bondage” pants, skateboarding shoes, and dreadlocks with a bandana. I know a metal concert isn’t the place to look for high fashion, but it was still amusing watching these angry, drunk guys trying to show how badass they were with their poor pit etiquette. There were also a bunch of other massive, clueless guys in the pit that resulted in everyone near the perimeter, like myself, being thrown sideways. Still, it was better than being in a pushpit!
Decrepit Birth
I saw these guys at Summer Slaughter a few months ago. I wasn’t impressed with their performance then, and I’m still not after this show. They’re just run-of-the-mill deathcore. I can’t really tell if they’re more generic death metal or metalcore, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re boring. It’s kind of cool that their singer is in his mid-40s and still playing metal, but that’s about it. I was impressed that when he did a stage dive, everyone in the audience passed him around in a perfect upright sitting position back to the stage. However, I’m still annoyed about the whole incident where their drummer tried to talk me into going on their bus and got mad when I refused. I hate guys who think every girl wants to sleep with them. He wasn’t even cute, so I wonder where he even got that idea.
Vader
I wish I would’ve been able to appreciate their performance more, but by this point, my back was killing me from standing in one spot for several hours in stiletto heels. My pinched nerve was also acting up from having my bag with my camera inside slung over my shoulder. As expected, these guys were great. They’ve been around since the ‘80s and are one of the most well respected death metal bands out there. The vocals and all the instruments sounded perfect. They also worked the crowd really well. I don’t really have much else to say, since I’m just a casual fan of theirs. My only complaint was that between several songs, there was no pause and they went right into the next. Some of the transitions didn’t work so well and I felt like a dumbass for trying to clap and cheer when they just kept on playing. Otherwise, everything was extremely professional and it was really exciting to see this legendary band so close up.
Stay tuned for part two, where the saga of Dominic and I continues as we go on a little adventure…
no subject
no subject
no subject
By the way, I finally got around to listening to the Valravn and Gåte albums you sent me. I like Gåte, but a lot of their songs sound the same. Valravn, on the other hand, is amazing! I like the more tribal feel to their music. Thanks again for sending me those!
no subject
no subject
Yay! I can't get enough of Valravn right now. The singer's vocals are so wonderful :)
My favourite Gåte tracks are the ones that stand out a bit: Kjærleik, Margit Hjukse, Sjå Attende and Inga Litimor. I found they took a while to grow on me, except Kjærleik, which was my introduction to them.
no subject
I'll go back and give those Gåte songs a listen. Some bands take longer to grow on me than others.