Hulder and Skeleton in Lincoln - July 12, 2022

I went back and forth on whether I would be going to this one.  Things have been crazy busy at work and the day of the concert, I was scheduled for a long day.  The other issue was that when I first heard about this concert, I was under the impression that Devil Master would also be on the bill.  Devil Master released the amazing album Satan Spits on Children of Light in 2019, which was a top five album for me that year.  They also released another great one earlier this year.  But upon further examination of the tour, I realized that Devil Master would not be at the show in Lincoln.  So, it was just Skeleton, a band I had not yet heard, and Hulder.  I do enjoy Hulder quite a bit though, so I decided to go after I got done in court a bit earlier than expected.

The venue was the 1867 Bar in Lincoln, which is located downtown.  I had never even heard of that bar before.  It is a fairly small venue, with a small bar area and a larger room for concerts.  The stage, such as it was, was only a slightly elevated floor.  That promised a rather close and cozy show.

Opening the night were a pair of local metal bands that I have seen several times now.  First was Ungoliant.  This is the third time I think that I have seen Ungoliant.  They are always impressive and strike me as down-to-earth guys who just love to play at these shows.  They need to release something though.  Ezra was next.  This was the fourth time seeing Ezra, I think.  Ezra is sort of notable for being led by the brother of a former University of Nebraska football legend.  Ezra has been around for a very long time and mentioned that they were playing mostly songs from the mid 1990's.  Both bands were impressive for local bands. 

Skeleton was on stage next.  The power trio is from Austin, TX and, in something I do not see too often, their singer is their drummer.  As such, rhythm is very important to the band's sound.  Apparently the band started out as a punk band, before going in more of a black/death metal sound.  They were able to really get the crowd moving with their no frills, bludgeoning riffs.  The songs were all on the shorter side and got to the point quickly.  It was a raw and primal sound and damn, was it impressive.

Hulder was the headliner.  Hulder has been making noise in the metal underground for a few years now.  The one-woman black metal band from Portland, by way of Belgium, first caught my attention with a two-song EP in 2019.  Of course, being a solo project, a backing band had to accompany the band leader, who now goes by the name of Hulder.  The sound was primarily amped-up, aggressive black metal, complete with tremolo riffing and shrieking vocals.  Hulder has an extremely powerful voice and it hits hard in concert.

Hulder hit the stage and promptly bulldozed through an incredible set, then left.  There was no talking between songs, or even after the set.  Hulder came, Hulder saw, and Hulder conquered.  I was blown away by the set though and set to picking up the rest of the band's releases.  I was damn glad I decided to go to this one.

The Cavalera Brothers in Lincoln - June 8, 2022

It has been a long time since I have posted here.  There has not really been much to post.  This is the first concert I have been to since December, 2019.  Fucking pandemic.  I keep meaning to get around to doing top albums from the last couple years.  I need to figure out what those would be first.  And that will take some work, because I have been picking up a ton of albums during this time.

Anyway.  So, the concert.  I will get to the headliners in awhile.  The first band taking the stage was playing as I was getting there, so I did not see their whole set.  That band was local metal band Deadechoes.  Deadechoes started out as something of a nu-metal/groove metal band, but they have ditched most of that in exchange for a much more thrash-oriented sound.  They sounded damn impressive honestly, much better than they did on the album I have from the band.  Apparently it was the band's last show with their bassist.  I am not sure what that means for the future of the band.  It is always nice to see a local band at these shows.  Nebraska has some surprisingly good metal bands these days.

Healing Magic was next to the stage.  Their name really does not fit with the band's sound, which is a dark and aggressive form of stoner doom metal, with some rough vocals.  Healing Magic is fronted by Igor Cavalera Jr., oddly not Iggor Cavalera's son, but Max's.  I was fairly impressed by the band, much more than I was the couple times I have heard them on Liquid Metal.  I may even pick up an album one of these days.

Up next was Warbringer.  This is actually the third time I have seen Warbringer live.  The first time was when they were a young band supporting Overkill.  Oddly, I was wearing my Overkill t-shirt on Tuesday.  The second time was when they were supporting Dark Tranquillity about five years ago.  Warbringer always puts on a great show.  They are easily one of the better modern thrash metal bands and each of their albums absolutely rips.  Warbringer played a nice selection encompassing much of their history.  They were electrifying as usual.  

And finally, the Cavalera brothers took the stage.  Max and Iggor Cavalera were founding members of Sepultura, one of my absolute favorite bands.  Sepultura was my primary gateway into the more extreme styles of metal.  The band was making major waves in the mid 1990's after the release of the Roots album, but some internal strife among manager Gloria Cavalera (Max's wife) and the rest of the band split the group in two.  Max left, creating Soulfly, and the band brought in Derrick Green to take over vocals.  Iggor left in 2006 and the brothers reunited with Cavalera Conspiracy.  

I am not really sure what they were calling themselves on Tuesday night, but they were playing much of the albums Beneath the Remains and Arise, two of my personal favorite Sepultura albums.  I had to go, it was as close as I was ever going to get to see the band that was my gateway into extreme metal.  I saw Sepultura before, but neither Cavalera brother was still in the band at the time.  The band sounded great live.  These two albums are known for their ferocity, and that came through in the concert.  It was a great concert and as close as I will ever get to seeing the classic Sepultura, the one I grew up with.