I am kicking around the idea of coming back. At least part of the time. I do not know if I will ever be able to post every day like I was, but I kind of miss this. Anyway, I should at least catch up on some concerts that I have attended recently. The less said about the Godsmack show, the better. Would you believe my wife's sister's favorite band is Godsmack? I was honestly shocked by that, I was not even aware they were still going because I tend not to listen to modern rock stations. Then she also wanted to see Disturbed. What the hell is happening?
Well, let's talk about something good.
Just prior to COVID hitting, I had planned to see Italian symphonic death metal band Fleshgod Apocalypse at The Royal Grove in Lincoln. They were supposed to be playing with a four-piece string ensemble. Then everything got fucked up due to the pandemic, the tour was cancelled and it was a long time before I got to see any concerts. So last year, they announced they would go back out to make up for the lost tour. They did not have the string quartet, but were accompanied by tech-death band Obscura along with Wolfheart and Thulcandra.
I got there a bit late, but did not miss any of the main bands. I came in about partway through some local band who was pretty good, but because it has been so long since I saw them, I do not remember who they were. Sorry. Wolfheart was the first band I remember fully seeing. Their sound is a bit like Wintersun-meets-Insomnium. It's melodic and chilling, with a real cold sound to it. Thulcandra was next and I was expecting to really be on board with their blackened thrash sound, but the sound production was not really there and there really was not anything memorable about them. That was kind of disappointing.
Next up was the German band Obscura. Now, I have talked at length previously about my feelings about technical death metal. So much of it is so focused on the technicality of the riffs and time signature changes that it just sounds mechanical and soulless. Obscura was a band that I enjoyed in the past, but not to a large degree. That changed with this performance. They blew me away. Of particular note was the song "When Stars Collide" which is an extremely powerful track with some melody and clean vocals that send chills down the spine when they kick in. I bought the record. I had to.
Finally, Fleshgod Apocalypse took the stage. For those that have not seen them, they generally in vaguely 19th-Century dress with a lot of theatricality. It works with the symphonic elements permeating the rather more brutal death metal foundation of their sound. They played most of the songs I expected, the "hits", if one were to believe that an underground metal band had them. While the majority of the symphonic elements were not replicated live, they still fit in with the music flawlessly. I would have liked to have seen the band backed by the string quartet, but they managed to put on a fantastic show regardless.
