It's that time of year again. Maryland Deathfest: "America's biggest metal party." It's slogan is true, but it's also a four-day test of one's endurance for metal, Baltimore heat/humidity, and drunken heshers.
Tickets for Thursday sold out quickly, so Friday was the first day I attended. I planned on seeing the first band of the day Castevet, but I missed them due to some ticket confusion. Bummer. After catching up with some old friends, the first band I saw was Creepsylvania's Ghoul. Replete with giant Robo-battles and fake blood flowing, their set was fun as always. Ghoul is absolutely all about the live show; they have some solid thrash metal records but live is where the magic happens.
After Ghoul I saw Today is the Day. Their sound was botched by an extreme over-abundance of sub-bass frequencies, but their set was fantastic nonetheless. Frontman Steve Austin always puts 100% into each performance, even with the sound issues and breaking guitar strings. After that was British grind OGs Napalm Death. Most of my enjoyment of their set was rendered null by their atrocious sound. The thing about metal/hardcore/whatever is one needs to hear the guitar riffs to recognize and enjoy the songs. Napalm Death's sound was mostly bass drum, vocals, and sub-bass; the guitar was an indiscernable, high-frequency mess. I know playing outside isn't ideal, but I've never seen such a good band sound so bad. I decided to stop recording them 20 minutes in to save space for Godflesh and Unsane.
Godflesh immediately followed Napalm Death. I was looking forward to seeing them more than any band at the festival, so I was pretty concerned about the sound issue. Luckily, there is much less to mess up with them seeing as they are a two piece with a drum machine. They really delivered, opening with "Like Rats" and crushing everyone in attendance with those massive riffs. Justin Broadrick was intense as he ever was in the early days of the band. They kind of blew their load early with a bunch of songs from Streetcleaner, but I was beyond stoked to be seeing them at all.
Right after Godflesh inside was NYC noise rock legends Unsane. They actually had good sound, and played a nice, varied set. The material from their new album, Wreck, sounded great. They ended their set with a cover of Flipper's "Ha Ha Ha." Not being a big fan of the last band Nasum, I left after Unsane to get some sleep for day two.
-Ben
Download/Stream the show:
Monday, May 28, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Live show #6: Sky Burial at Piss Palace
The Piss Palace is not actually a palace made of some sort of crystalline urine, but a tiny basement in Baltimore. I'm not sure if they're still calling it Piss Palace, as the promotion for this show merely said the address of the house. Regardless, this was not my first time here; At the Graves played here with openers Dead Peasants not too long ago.
Dead Peasants started things off well with their bassless drone/black metal set. These guys are seriously one of the best new bands in Baltimore; be sure to check them out. I was particularly transfixed by their drummer's performance. I've never seen blasts so fast, so forceful, and unaided by triggers (or even microphones in this case), and he only uses a miniscule 3-piece set. Mind blown once again.
Next was The Lottery. I was pretty stoked to finally see them after recording them a while ago. Instead of bass, this band uses a cello. It's an effective replacement, and it certainly gives them some originality. While each member was plagued with technical difficulties throughout the set, it was still very enjoyable from an audience perspective. Their set consisted of one 30-minute sludge epic, with a smidge of post-rock dynamics thrown in occasionally.
Sky Burial were the headliners, on tour from Nashville, TN. I wasn't familiar with them prior to this evening, but any band that uses the holy grail of tone that is the Mesa Mark III is worth checking out to me. They didn't disappoint, giving a very solid performance of their spacey post-metal sound. They happened to be the only band that had a bassist this show. His basslines reminded me of the bass playing in Isis; very present but clearly serving the song. Despite being the headliners, Sky Burial played only a criminally short 20-minute set. I guess it was at somebody's house, though: such a show needs to be over at a reasonable time.
-Ben
Listen to/download the show:
Dead Peasants started things off well with their bassless drone/black metal set. These guys are seriously one of the best new bands in Baltimore; be sure to check them out. I was particularly transfixed by their drummer's performance. I've never seen blasts so fast, so forceful, and unaided by triggers (or even microphones in this case), and he only uses a miniscule 3-piece set. Mind blown once again.
Next was The Lottery. I was pretty stoked to finally see them after recording them a while ago. Instead of bass, this band uses a cello. It's an effective replacement, and it certainly gives them some originality. While each member was plagued with technical difficulties throughout the set, it was still very enjoyable from an audience perspective. Their set consisted of one 30-minute sludge epic, with a smidge of post-rock dynamics thrown in occasionally.
Sky Burial were the headliners, on tour from Nashville, TN. I wasn't familiar with them prior to this evening, but any band that uses the holy grail of tone that is the Mesa Mark III is worth checking out to me. They didn't disappoint, giving a very solid performance of their spacey post-metal sound. They happened to be the only band that had a bassist this show. His basslines reminded me of the bass playing in Isis; very present but clearly serving the song. Despite being the headliners, Sky Burial played only a criminally short 20-minute set. I guess it was at somebody's house, though: such a show needs to be over at a reasonable time.
-Ben
Listen to/download the show:
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Betterment
All the shows I've recorded are now on bandcamp, and there's a player embedded in each post for your listening convenience. You can also download them in whatever format you want from bandcamp. Easier for me (no mp3 encoding), easier for you.
Here's the page: http://inhumanyouth.bandcamp.com
-Ben
Here's the page: http://inhumanyouth.bandcamp.com
-Ben
Friday, May 11, 2012
Live show #5: Tragedy at Ottobar
Tonight I was faced with the tough decision of attending either this Tragedy/Triac/Occultist show or Pygmy Lush/Screaming Females at the Golden West. Obviously I chose the former, mostly because it seemed like the rarer occurance.
I missed openers Wargames due to some serious traffic on 295 going into Baltimore. Local grind greats Triac were second. Xozo played with them once. I was eagerly anticipating seeing this band, as I've not yet seen them without ex-singer Noel (now in Lady Piss). As usual, they failed to disappoint. Jake's drum performance was mesmerising, and Chad and Kevin held it up vocally.
Next were Occultist from Richmond. Having no prior experience with this band, I was pleasantly surprised by their solid set. Their sound kind of ran the gamut from thrash to death to black metal, but they tied it all together with tight transistions. Frontwoman K.Z. put on a pretty menacing performance. Check 'em out; I think At the Graves is playing with them on May 20th at Casa Fiesta in D.C.
Though some might unfavorably compare headliners Tragedy to their legendary old band His Hero is Gone, I like them both for different reasons. Tragedy has that sappy minor-key feel that I'm usually a sucker for. The recording of Tragedy's set came out pretty well, but it doesn't come close to representing their live energy. Their music seems to be built for the live performance, with lots of epic vocal refrains and D-beats to encourage audience participation. They mixed in some decidedly darker new material from their new LP, but their set had a good flow and included a nice mix of their material.
Download the show: 051012 - Tragedy at Ottobar
-Ben
I missed openers Wargames due to some serious traffic on 295 going into Baltimore. Local grind greats Triac were second. Xozo played with them once. I was eagerly anticipating seeing this band, as I've not yet seen them without ex-singer Noel (now in Lady Piss). As usual, they failed to disappoint. Jake's drum performance was mesmerising, and Chad and Kevin held it up vocally.
Next were Occultist from Richmond. Having no prior experience with this band, I was pleasantly surprised by their solid set. Their sound kind of ran the gamut from thrash to death to black metal, but they tied it all together with tight transistions. Frontwoman K.Z. put on a pretty menacing performance. Check 'em out; I think At the Graves is playing with them on May 20th at Casa Fiesta in D.C.
Though some might unfavorably compare headliners Tragedy to their legendary old band His Hero is Gone, I like them both for different reasons. Tragedy has that sappy minor-key feel that I'm usually a sucker for. The recording of Tragedy's set came out pretty well, but it doesn't come close to representing their live energy. Their music seems to be built for the live performance, with lots of epic vocal refrains and D-beats to encourage audience participation. They mixed in some decidedly darker new material from their new LP, but their set had a good flow and included a nice mix of their material.
Download the show: 051012 - Tragedy at Ottobar
-Ben
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Live Show #4: Old Man Gloom at Ottobar
Monkey time in Baltimore! It's awesome Old Man Gloom are back. It's too bad At the Graves couldn't play this show, but oh well.
I missed the first band and all but the last song of Passage Between. The latter seem to open most of the good tour shows that come around. They seem to get better every time I see them, though. Ilsa, the heaviest band in DC, were next. Not much needs to be said on them; I love those guys and they always fucking rule live.
Lastly, Old Man Gloom brought the simian rage. Interspersing tracks from their new tour-only album "NO" with cuts from all their other releases, they played a satisfying 50-minute set. The climax was when they played most of the monumental single track from Seminar III, "Zozobra." Notice the "most"; they inexplicitly left out the awesome coda with the guitar solo. My only other complaints were that the bass was a little too loud and they could have played a lot longer, considering the show was over before 11. That's nitpicking though; it was a rare treat to finally see them and in turn I seriously enjoyed it.
Download the show: 050612 Old Man Gloom at Ottobar
-Ben
I missed the first band and all but the last song of Passage Between. The latter seem to open most of the good tour shows that come around. They seem to get better every time I see them, though. Ilsa, the heaviest band in DC, were next. Not much needs to be said on them; I love those guys and they always fucking rule live.
Lastly, Old Man Gloom brought the simian rage. Interspersing tracks from their new tour-only album "NO" with cuts from all their other releases, they played a satisfying 50-minute set. The climax was when they played most of the monumental single track from Seminar III, "Zozobra." Notice the "most"; they inexplicitly left out the awesome coda with the guitar solo. My only other complaints were that the bass was a little too loud and they could have played a lot longer, considering the show was over before 11. That's nitpicking though; it was a rare treat to finally see them and in turn I seriously enjoyed it.
Download the show: 050612 Old Man Gloom at Ottobar
-Ben
A Warning
So, apparently these sendspace links I have for the shows can be a little confusing. To mitigate such confusion, I have constructed a handy diagram with pro imaging software Microsoft Paint. Enjoy!
-Ben
Live show #3: Barclay House 8th Anniversary Show
Barclay house: Baltimore's longest-running DIY space and one of my favorite venues. It was my mom's birthday, so I missed all but the last four bands. I arrived during Bad Biology's set. Their noisy, My War/Slip It In-era Black Flag worship resonated with me; that's the way I like my hardcore punk.
The turnout was great for this show; it was pretty much a giant party for the Baltimore underground punk/metal scene. This amounted to much less boredom between bands. The next group was Musket Hawk; a solid, newish punk/metal band with a touch of early screamo influence. I dug 'em. Their drummer was pretty awesome.
After Musket Hawk, and being entertained by my inebriated friends, was Philly's noise-punks Nightfall. They were as good as the last time I saw them, when Revolta played with them at Sidebar about a year ago. During their chaotic set I got caught in the mosh, so the recording's a little uneven in parts. It's got that err... gritty, real charm to it!
Lastly was the return of Diablero. While they had some technical difficulties, they played with conviction (especially Mr. Carnes!) and it was good to see them again after a few years. The basement was packed for their set, which made it that more intense. All in all it was a fun, fitting show to celebrate a mainstay of the Baltimore underground.
Download the show: 050512 Barclay Anniversary
-Ben
The turnout was great for this show; it was pretty much a giant party for the Baltimore underground punk/metal scene. This amounted to much less boredom between bands. The next group was Musket Hawk; a solid, newish punk/metal band with a touch of early screamo influence. I dug 'em. Their drummer was pretty awesome.
After Musket Hawk, and being entertained by my inebriated friends, was Philly's noise-punks Nightfall. They were as good as the last time I saw them, when Revolta played with them at Sidebar about a year ago. During their chaotic set I got caught in the mosh, so the recording's a little uneven in parts. It's got that err... gritty, real charm to it!
Lastly was the return of Diablero. While they had some technical difficulties, they played with conviction (especially Mr. Carnes!) and it was good to see them again after a few years. The basement was packed for their set, which made it that more intense. All in all it was a fun, fitting show to celebrate a mainstay of the Baltimore underground.
Download the show: 050512 Barclay Anniversary
-Ben
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)