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.

Gatecreeper, Exhumed, Necrot and Ungoliant in Omaha: November 21, 2019

A few weeks ago, it looked like I would not be able to attend this concert.  Originally I was scheduled for a shoplifting jury trial on November 22.  While I was not terribly concerned about needing to present much of a defense (there was actually virtually no evidence tying my client to the crime), I still did not much feel like getting home between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. before doing a jury trial.  But luckily the prosecutor eventually realized he had nothing and dismissed the case.  So, I got to spend the evening at the Lookout Lounge watching a bunch of death metal bands.

UNGOLIANT

Ungoliant is a black metal band from Omaha that I have seen once before.  I enjoyed them then and this time, I think they were even better.  The band had a new bassist, who appears to be very young.  The songs were all tight and powerful.  The band has been one of the better local bands I have seen in the last several years.  Unfortunately, they have very few releases (three demos) and none of them are very easy to find.  I have my eyes open.  A new release would be nice though.

NECROT

I have seen Necrot before as well.  They were one of the opening bands when I saw Suffocation and The Black Dahlia Murder.  I thoroughly enjoy everything I have heard from Necrot and the concert was no different.  They are an explosive band live, with a lot of energy and some dark and heavy riffwork.  Necrot's sound is more of an occult death metal band and their album from 2017 was in my top five albums of the year.  I am still waiting on a follow-up.

EXHUMED

I have never really been the biggest Exhumed fan.  Possibly because they do not really stand out from a bunch of other grindy gore-obsessed death metal bands.  A lot of their primary characteristics also describe groups like Aborted, Impaled and others.  I have a couple of their albums, but I always mix them up with Impaled in particular.  But, holy shit I will remember them now.  They were massively impressive live.  Their three vocalists play off each other quite well, with each one having a distinct style.  The band was also the most visually impressive of the night, using two television screens showing trailers of old school horror movie classics and also having a man dressed in bloody scrubs take the stage several times to spray fake blood, and generally pump up the crowd.  They played the most songs of the night and were probably the highlight of the show due to their energy and some terrific songs.  I will be paying more attention now.

GATECREEPER

After Exhumed's flurry of activity, Gatecreeper was a bit of a letdown.  Not to say they were bad, completely the opposite, they just could not keep up the energy level after Exhumed practically destroyed the place.  Gatecreeper's new album is one of the better albums of the year and they played a number of the best songs from the album.  They were impressive in their own way and the songs "Desperation" and "Flamethrower" in particular are ones which are absolutely crushing live.  Gatecreeper has been making some major noise in the metal underground and they absolutely deserve it, but based on the relative stage shows, I just feel like the wrong band played last.  

Enforcer and Warbringer in Omaha: September 19, 2019

It has been kind of a rough week and I have been exhausted all week.  As such, my wife and I chose not to stay for the entire concert here and we actually missed Warbringer.  That's okay though because I have seen Warbringer twice before (opening for Overkill and then Dark Tranquillity) and we were originally planning to go to see Enforcer anyway.  The show was at the Lookout Lounge in Omaha, where I have previously seen groups like Goatwhore and Bell Witch, among others.

The concerts at the Lookout Lounge often have local bands and this one was no exception.  It is one of my favorite things about concerts at this location.  The bands opening up for Enforcer and Warbringer were Ungoliant, Dopecorpse and Inner War, none of whom I have seen before.  It was actually quite the eclectic group of bands.

Ungoliant was first and they are a black metal band from Omaha.  They were terrific, playing a particularly fast-paced and heavy black metal that is exactly the kind of black metal I love.  This was apparently the bassist's last show, but the band is continuing.  Hopefully a physical release is coming, because I would definitely snatch one up.  Dopecorse was next and they play a heavy stoner/doom with harsh vocals and slow, monolithic riffs.  They were pretty decent, but the songs tended to drag a little bit.  Finally, Inner War was the last band before the headliners.  Their sound is an unholy concoction of hardcore, thrash metal and black metal and they made a lot of noise with some excellent riffs.  They were also able to work the crowd into a frenzy.  All three bands were terrific and are good examples of the improving metal scene in Omaha, Nebraska.

The band that we were there to see was Enforcer, the Swedish retro metal band whose sound is based completely in the early 1980's speed and heavy metal scene.  I have been listening to the band for years now and they have never released a bad album.  Their recent album Zenith is not my favorite, but is by no means a disappointment either.  Enforcer had some sound issues, particularly with the vocals, which is a shame because that is frequently one of the best elements.  However, their intensity was infectious and their speed metal riffing was balls to the wall.  Enforcer played a number of songs that are favorites, including "From Beyond", "Katana" and "Live for the Night".  I was only disappointed that they did not play "High Roller", which was the major song that really got me into Enforcer.

It was a lot of fun seeing Enforcer.  They play a hyperactive, exciting and catchy form of metal that owes a lot to the 1980's metal scene.  It was disappointing to not stay for Warbringer, but it was a late night as it was.  I am sure I will catch them again.

Nebraska Metal: Borealis

I was at a concert a few weeks ago and these CDs were being handed out for free at the front door.  Not one to pass up free stuff, especially if it is an album from a Nebraska metal band, I grabbed one.  This is kind of an odd one to pop up between Borealis no longer exists and this EP was from 2009, but that's not a problem.

Borealis is from Omaha and previously went by the name Frozen Embers.  Neither band was on my radar at any point, but that's not a problem.  The cover art definitely makes an impression.  This is some very brightly-colored and very disturbing artwork.  I was not really sure what to expect musically, maybe some kind of stoner doom/death metal fusion.  That is definitely not what this sounds like though.

Borealis is much closer to a thrash metal band with some melodic death metal tendencies.  The music is generally fast-paced with a load of riffs.  Second track "Darkened Lights of Affinity" has some pretty awesome leads and soloing going on in the early moments before breaking into something akin to At the Gates-influenced metalcore groups like Killswitch Engage, Darkest Hour and Trivium.  The energy is infectious and I frequently found myself nodding along to the riffs.  The album is dynamic too, with slower sections breaking up the ever-going riff-fests in the faster tracks.

What is really surprising about this release is how polished it sounds.  It is crisp and clear and sounds terrific.  This is no raw recording of a brand new band.  Even though this is the first release from this group, it is clear they have real talent and have honed their abilities somewhere along the way.

It is kind of a shame I am just now hearing this band.  I would have enjoyed seeing them in concert. 

The Chasm in Omaha: July 9, 2019

On Tuesday night, I had the opportunity to see The Chasm in concert, along with a few other bands.  The show was at The Slowdown, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues.  The show included a couple of Nebraska local bands and a couple of other groups.  I will get to all of them.

ORPHEUS

The first group out of the gate was the Nebraska native group Orpheus.  This was not my first time seeing them as they were one of the groups that was opening for Goatwhore awhile back, so I knew what to expect.  I liked them quite a bit, they were loud, fast and aggressive, and it appears they have been improving with time.  Nothing really stood out, but they did a great job setting the tone for the evening.

EZRA

Ezra is still kicking after all these years.  The band has been around since the early 1990's and have undergone a number of sound changes over the years.  The Ezra that appeared last night seemed different than the Ezra I have seen on previous occasions.  The music was more raw and primal, and heavier.  Also, I don't recall but it seems like the last couple times I saw Ezra there were only three members.  They may have added a guitarist.  They sounded terrific last night, probably their best performance of the times I have seen them.

INFERNAL CONJURATION

Now we get into the primary bands, not to infer anything bad about the Nebraska groups.  I had not previously heard of either Infernal Conjuration or the next band and I have seen both of the Nebraska groups before.  Infernal Conjuration is a death metal band from Mexico and they blew me away.  They were fantastic.  Obviously influenced by The Chasm, Infernal Conjuration uses progressive structures and riffs upon riffs upon riffs.  They were extremely impressive.  I picked up a record, so look out for a review on that at some point.

CRUCIAMENTUM

Despite the name, Cruciamentum is the only of the three touring bands that is not from Mexico.  Cruciamentum is a UK death metal band.  They were the most straight-forward death metal band of the night, but they were crushingly loud and extremely intense.  They played a long set, but had great riffs and were also very impressive.  I ordered an album when I got home that night, since the band did not have anything in my preferred format.

THE CHASM

Finally, we get to the headliners.  I have always been more of a fan of Daniel Corchado's previous band Cenotaph a little more, but I do definitely enjoy The Chasm as well.  I thought I knew what to expect from The Chasm, but they absolutely blew me away.  They were amazing.  They played some of their more straightforward stuff without a lot of the real progressive structures.  Daniel Corchado sounded great and the riffs were crushing.  They played one or two instrumentals and The Chasm is a band that can really do instrumental music well.  I met Corchado briefly after the show and thanked him for the terrific concert.  He seems like a genuinely nice guy and was just happy that people turned out for the show.

Xenomorph: Subspecies (1993)

Over the last couple of years, I have been keeping an eye out for a few select demos.  I managed to recently add the first demo by Dawn of Azazel, something I have been watching for for almost a decade.  I also picked up a demo by Melechesh, though I suspect it may have been a bootlegged copy, and the demo from Innsmouth, which I previously reviewed.  But none of those demos were as exciting to track down as this one. 

I have talked at great length about the metal scene in my home state of Nebraska, and though it is improving greatly due to groups like Garoted, it still leaves much to be desired.  My personal pick for the best album of all time from a Nebraska metal band is Empyreal Regimes by Xenomorph.  And I am not sure there is really another contender out there.  Unfortunately, due to the obscurity of the band, it is hard to come across any of their recorded output, though Blood Harvest Records re-released their full-length a few years back.  I grabbed it as soon as it was available.  I managed to find an original copy of the band's demo just a few weeks ago for a reasonable price and snagged it as well.

Predictably low production value notwithstanding, this is a very high quality demo that presents the band mostly as they would sound on their upcoming full-length.  Interestingly, none of the songs present on this demo would appear on the full-length released just two years later.  The murky, technical riffing style that the band used to great effect on the full-length is present, as well as late singer Pappshammer's psychotic growl.  The drumming is incredibly interesting, performing an almost endless number of fills among the complex rhythms.  Drummer Chris Haley simply never finds time to slow down and relax.  

The playing on this release was still somewhat raw and there was a little more growth and maturity that occurred prior to Xenomorph releasing their debut, but this band still is very close to the one on the full-length.  Xenomorph remains a curiosity.  I think they could have been a very strong death metal band, unfortunately the untimely death of Pappshammer in 1996 ended the band.  It's too bad, they were really onto something.

Cannibal Corpse: Nov. 20, 2018

I have been to a fair number of concerts, especially over the last few years.  And yet, I have not been to too many pure death metal concerts.  I have seen Suffocation, but they were supporting The Black Dahlia Murder.  I have seen Obituary, but they were with Skeletonwitch and Pallbearer, among others.  So the concert last night was the closest I have been to a real death metal concert.  Cannibal Corpse was the headliner, with Hate Eternal in support, and local band Ezra as the opener.  Of course there was one more band, and I will get to that.

Ezra was the opener, and the Lincoln natives remain one of the longest tenured Nebraska metal bands, having formed some time in the late 80's/early 90's.  I have seen them before and they impressed me once again.  The bassist and guitarist are brothers of former Nebraska football standout Cory Schlesinger.  Just kind of an interesting note.

The next band was Harms Way, a group I had not heard of before looking into this concert.  I was not terribly impressed.  Harms Way is a hardcore band and much of their music sounded basically the same, with chugging riffs and shouted vocals.  The singer is a muscle-bound ball of energy who blasted around the stage.  But I just could not get into them.  I will not be checking them out further.

Hate Eternal, the band formed by former Ripping Corpse and Morbid Angel axe-man Erik Rutan, was next on the stage.  There were no real surprises from them, Hate Eternal has a fairly straightforward sound, with fast-paced riffing, blasting drums, and Rutan's decayed vocal style.  It has been awhile since I have checked in with the band, and I am not shocked that not much has changed.  Their hyperactive blasting style works for them.

And finally Cannibal Corpse took over and delivered a blistering set featuring a wide variety of new and old songs.  George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher was feeling a little under the weather and was not able to hit some of the deep roars the band had become known for.  The other aspects of the band's sound were present from the grotesque lyrical themes and slightly technical riffing.  The band played a number of their classic tracks, such as "The Wretched Spawn", "Skull Full of Maggots", and "Make Them Suffer".  Of course they also had to play "I Cum Blood" and close out the set with "Hammer-Smashed Face". 

It was a fun show and it is great to cross another legendary band off the list of groups I need to see.  I am not the biggest Cannibal Corpse fan, but I enjoyed the show quite a bit nonetheless.  They can definitely still get the crowd worked up. 

Lamb of God and Napalm Death in Omaha: August 17

Honestly, I am not much of a Lamb of God fan.  There is only one reason I went to this show, and that was to see Napalm Death.  I missed a couple of chances to see them recently and determined that I was going to see them the next time.  I would have preferred to have seen them as the headliner, but this was fine.  Lamb of God was the headliner this time and the show was at Sokol Auditorium in Omaha.  My wife declined to go to this one with me again.  So I went alone.

Narcotic Self was the opening band, a fact I was unaware of prior to arrival.  The band is a local one and this is the second time I have seen them.  They are one of the better Omaha-based bands, with a sound rooted in a more modern thrash metal sound.  They also put on a terrific show.  They were excellent as they were when I saw them opening for Exodus last year.  Unfortunately I was a little late to their performance because I honestly had no idea there was a band on stage before 8.  Websites need to get a better handle on this.

Napalm Death was next on the stage and they were the only reason I went.  I was curious as to what their setlist would consist of as the band has had a number of sound changes over the years.  It turns out that most of the setlist was fairly recent, with a few songs from their early grindcore years sprinkled throughout.  The band members were fairly entertaining in their performances, Barney Greenway moves around the stage like a five-year old throwing a tantrum, and the other members look like guys you would see passed out at the end of the bar at last call.  The highlights of the performance were "Suffer the Children", one of the band's best songs, and of course, "You Suffer", the one-second song that had the band listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.  They actually played the song twice, to the delight of the people in the crowd who understood what was happening.  They ended with the fantastic cover song "Nazi Punks Fuck Off".  As promised by Greenway early in the performance, Napalm Death was unapologetically noisy as fuck.

I stuck around for Lamb of God though I am not the biggest fan of the band.  I enjoy Ashes of the Wake quite a bit, but most everything else I have heard from the band was mediocre.  They have some great songs, and played most of them: "Omerta", "Walk with Me in Hell", and "Now You've Got Something to Die For", in particular.  They were definitely an energetic live band and put on a decent performance, but they did not really play anything that made me want to check out more of their music. 

It was definitely worthwhile to see Napalm Death.  Had ticket prices been a little lower, I may have skipped on Lamb of God.  I'm glad I did not, but the band did not really change my opinion of them that much.

YOB and Bell Witch in Omaha: July 11, 2018

I almost did not get to see this one.  I was scheduled for an evidentiary hearing on a kidnapping case late in the afternoon yesterday.  I resisted the urge to buy the tickets right away with the concern that maybe, I would not be able to see it.  That would have been pretty disappointing.  I have really taken to Bell Witch over the last year, starting with their impressive Mirror Reaper album and leading to me picking up each of their previous releases as well.  So I was pretty excited to see them.  But I had that hearing potentially in the way.

After my hearing went quickly, I rushed out of court and to my office to buy my ticket (my wife did not attend this one with me), and I was off to Omaha.  The venue was the Lookout Lounge, an entertaining place to look at all of the flyers from shows years in the past.  It is kind of hard to imagine Machine Head playing in such a small venue for instance. 

Omaha natives Processions was up first and the singer announced that this would be the band's final show.  Upon looking at their Facebook page, it appears the members just want to start a new project and stop doing Processions.  The band played some pretty decent death/doom and I have to say I was pretty impressed with their slow-paced, rumbling sound.  It is a shame that the band is stopping a real release.

Bell Witch was next and I made an effort to get closer to the stage.  Bell Witch is an interesting band, consisting of just two members: a drummer and a bassist.  No guitars, no keyboards.  Yet the result is some absolutely devastating funeral doom metal.  I was kind of surprised that the band ended up playing the only track from their latest album, though a somewhat abbreviated version of it.  I did not expect the band to play one hour-long song for their show, but they absolutely killed it live.  It is difficult to make such a long, slow song interesting in a live setting, but the ebbs and flows of the melodies worked and it built up to a crushing climax. 

YOB was next, and I have never really gotten into them.  This was my first extended exposure to the band and they were decent enough.  Their songs were a little long, which seems like an odd complaint from someone who was just praising Bell Witch for one hour-long song, but I knew what to expect with them.  YOB was definitely heavy and interesting enough, I just do not know if I will be checking them out further. 

I am glad I managed to make it to the concert.  Bell Witch alone was well worth it.  This is one of the more unique concert experiences I have had to date, but it was a great time.

Iced Earth in Omaha: Feb. 27, 2018

Last night, Iced Earth brought their Incorruptible World Tour to Omaha with support from Sanctuary and Kill Ritual, as well as a performance from local band The Clincher.  The venue was Sokol Auditorium, but it was in the basement instead of the main stage, which was definitely weird.  The basement was pretty musty and featured a small stage.  It was a shockingly small crowd for a band of Iced Earth's stature and the band seemed somewhat dismayed by it (that and some douchebaggery in the crowd).  I do not blame them.  I thought that Omaha was doing a better job of supporting metal bands in concert, but this was a step backwards.

Omaha band The Clincher was the first to take the stage.  I will admit I knew next to nothing about the band before last night.  They had a strong performance, and I would be interested in checking them out a little bit more.  Vocalist Lori Piper was the main draw with her ability to change her vocal style from a soft croon to a blood-curdling shriek quickly.  

Kill Ritual was next, and I was able to get a little bit of information from the Metal Archives on them, though I feel that information needs to be corrected.  The band is much more of a power metal band than a thrash metal band.  The riffs were definitely not all that thrashy and the vocals were the driving force.  They were catchy enough at the time, but not terribly memorable.

Up next was Sanctuary, a band who has hit some major hardship recently.  Legendary vocalist Warrel Dane died suddenly while the band was in Brazil on tour in December.  Somehow, the band managed to find a replacement singer to continue with their commitments, and that singer does do a hell of a Dane impression.  After overcoming a few sound issues (we were treated to a very loud bass solo randomly), the band performed an incredible set that covered all of their albums.  I recently discovered Sanctuary's early albums before forming Nevermore and kicked myself for not looking into them earlier.  The performance was of course dedicated to the departed Dane.    

Iced Earth finally took the stage and they were absolutely incredible.  The band is celebrating 30 years of releasing material under the name "Iced Earth".  Of course, guitarist Jon Schaffer is the only continuous member of the band during all of that time, with a variety of other members over the years.  Of particular note is that Stu Block, formerly of the underrated Into Eternity, has been the singer for the last few years.  Block does a shockingly good job performing a number of songs that were originally written for Matt Barlow.  I was a little disappointed there were no tracks from the Ripper Owens era.  I think Block could have handled them well.  They played songs from all eras of their history.  The biggest surprise for me was seeing Schafer himself sing on "Stormrider" from the band's first album.  I was not overly impressed with the new songs from last year's album, but a lot of the other songs were great.  Iced Earth really does put on a terrific live performance and a lot more people should have been there to see them.

The highlight of the night from my wife's perspective was likely the compliments she received about her clothes and the fact that another woman acknowledged to her that it was nice to see another woman there.  She has long referred to metal concerts as sausage parties.    

Mailday 2/12

In order to get a few more posts going, I am going to start doing a quick and easy write-up whenever I get something in.  This should help getting things going a little bit.

So, today I received four albums in the mail.

BELIEVER: SANITY OBSCURE (1990)
Yes, there are some decent Christian metal bands out there.  Believer is probably my favorite of the bunch, with the possible exception of Trouble.  Believer plays technical/progressive thrash metal in the vein of their antitheses Heathen and Atheist, with a little bit of Voivod thrown in for good measure.  When you look at the song titles and the lyrics, the band's religious leanings are pretty obvious, but the music is so damn good that it is pretty easy to not have to focus on that.  Satanic bands can be just as annoying about their "message" too, but for some reason Christian bands sacrifice quality of music for the message more often.  That is not true in Believer's case.

BOLT THROWER: ...FOR VICTORY (1994)

Fuck yeah, Bolt Thrower.  Honestly, this is probably my favorite name for a metal band, ever.  Plus, it helps that Bolt Thrower is fucking awesome.  Unfortunately, the band no longer exists, so I will never get the chance to see them live, but I am still in the process of discovering some of their older stuff.  Really, I only had a few of their albums previously, so there is a long way to go.  This is one of the band's higher-rated albums and it is not hard to see why that is.  The band's trademarked grinding riff assault is on full display, accompanied by Karl Willetts's gruff roar.  There are some great riffs and songs on this one and it has quickly taken the spot as my favorite Bolt Thrower album.  It only took one listen.  It is that good.

DREAM DEATH: JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY (1987)

A criminally underrated album from 1987.  I first heard about this album from perusing the Decibel Hall of Fame.  I had never heard of this band, so I looked into it a little bit, and then quickly decided I had to find it.  This is possibly a very early progenitor of the death/doom sound, with quite a bit of thrash thrown in for good measure.  The Celtic Frost influence is obvious from the muddy riffing style and singer Brian Lawrence's angry bark.  The Lovecraftian and horror-filled lyrics match well with the band's dark and dreary sound.  How this album managed to escape me for so long is beyond me.  As with many other bands, Dream Death has re-formed in recent years.  I may have to check them out.

GHOST TOWER: HEAD OF NIGHT (2012)

I love finding obscure albums from bands from my home state of Nebraska.  Technically, almost all bands from Nebraska count as obscure as Cellador, Xenomorph, and maybe Narcotic Self are the only Nebraska metal bands to make any sort of impact on the metal scene outside the state, though Garoted seem to be on their way.  Ghost Tower is a short-lived band that released two full-length albums and play a mix of thrash and doom metal with some impressive occult-sounding melodies throughout.  The vocals take a little bit of getting used to, but the music is pretty damn impressive to make it worthwhile.  The band does actually kind of remind me of a thrashier Ghost at times.  It is a shame they no longer exist as they had some real talent.

Goatwhore in Omaha: May 18

Last night, the sludgy black/death metal band Goatwhore came to Omaha, playing with a number of local bands.  The venue was the Lookout Lounge, a small dive bar tucked away in a corner of a strip mall near one of the busiest intersections in the city.  Apparently it is an often-used venue for local metal bands and some of the more underground bands to come to the area.  I will have to keep an eye out for more shows there.  Four local bands opened up for Goatwhore: Drowning in the Platte, Exit Sanity, Orpheus, and Autopsick.  Many of them have strong local support.  It was the first time I had heard of any of them, but they all impressed me to varying degrees.

Drowning in the Platte is a two-person death/grind band from Columbus, Nebraska, a city about half an hour south of me.  The members are brothers and they originally had a bass player, but now exist with just two members.  They had a fairly short set, but had some decent songs, and I like the layered vocals between the two members, similar to Deicide.  Still though, it was missing the bottom end a bit.

Omaha's Exit Sanity was probably the biggest surprise of the night.  They had some terrific, catchy songs and their vocalist sounded like a cross between Phil Anselmo and Kirk Windstein of Crowbar.  Musically, the band blends a number of different styles together: some hard rock, sludge and groove metal elements.  On top of everything, they were there just to have a good time, and certainly looked like it.  The singer (and probably other members, we could not see well) was tossing back beer between songs and bantering with the crowd.  My wife and I were both very impressed with this band.

Orpheus took the stage next.  The local band played a combination of thrash and death metal with some aggressive riffs and shrieking vocals.  Where Drowning in the Platte was completely bereft of a bass guitar, Orpheus was notable for having their bassist stand out throughout their set.  And he was very impressive, though I am not sure that the sound was supposed to work out quite that way.

Autopsick was the last of the local bands to take the stage and their sound was rooted in old school death metal bands such as Immolation, Incantation, and Morbid Angel.  They were probably the most polished of the local bands, though based on some admittedly minor research, I am not sure that is really based on anything more than my own impressions from last night.  They did seem to have a bit of a local following.  I even saw some people come in wearing Autopsick t-shirts.  Apparently the band used to be known as Rotting Malignancy, which was more of a brutal death/slam band, and I now want to find more information about that inactive band.

Finally, the headliners arrived and delivered a blistering set.  Goatwhore has been one of my favorite bands for several years now.  Their music is fast, intense, and aggressive, with very little room for anything close to resembling melody or softness.  Between the grooving black/death metal riffs of Sammy Duet, and the rasping shriek of Ben Falgoust, the band's strengths were on full display.  The small, dirty, dank venue matched the band's own raw and filthy sound perfectly.  They played for a little more than an hour and their set spanned their entire catalog, even closing with a song from early on in their history, when they did tend to have a bit more of a melodic sensibility and used some clean singing.  It was a terrific show for the band and reinforced their standing as one of my current favorite bands.

There was originally some concern about going to this concert.  I had a lot of major hearings scheduled for the week and was not sure I was going to be able to attend this one.  After a few of the hearings dropped out, it became more likely that I was going to be able to go.  My wife was mostly concerned about some bad reviews she read about the bar, but it turned out that we both actually liked the place.  We will be keeping an eye out for shows there in the future.  And I can now say that I have seen Goatwhore in concert.  My wife even enjoyed them a bit more than she thought she would.

Kreator in Omaha: April 5, 2017

The Waiting Room in Omaha is quickly becoming one of my favorite venues.  I have now seen three shows there and they are all bands I was shocked to see in Nebraska.  Blind Guardian and Queensryche had been there previously.  When I heard that German thrash metal titans Kreator were going to be there, I had to go again.  I have been a big fan of Kreator for about ten years now, and their early albums are some of my favorite thrash metal albums of all time.

Kreator was supported by a couple of local Nebraska bands, which was cool.  I had not previously seen any Nebraska bands live.  Since I am somewhat isolated from Lincoln and Omaha, I only go to shows with bigger bands, instead of checking out local groups.  I was vaguely familiar with both of the supporting bands, so I had a general idea of what to expect.

Garoted was the first band to play on Wednesday night.  The death metal band from Lincoln actually put on a fairly impressive show.  They have been around for about ten years now and have released a couple of albums, so they had quite a bit of material to draw from.  Their music was obviously heavily influenced by early death metal bands and even the German thrash metal scene.  They even covered "Curse the Gods" by Destruction.  All told, I was actually very surprised by how much I enjoyed Garoted.  Even more shocking, my wife did too.

After Garoted came Ezra, the very long-running Lincoln band.  I remember seeing Ezra appear on a cable access show back when I was in high school, which was almost 20 years ago now.  The guitarist and bassist are brothers, though it is their other brother that is inarguably more famous: Cory Schlesinger played football at the University of Nebraska and went on to an 11 year career with the Detroit Lions.  Ezra was a little more raw-sounding than Garoted, but turned in a reasonably impressive performance as well.  I did not remember much about their sound from when I saw them on cable access before, so I don't know if their sound changed at all.

Kreator took the stage next and played a healthy mix of stuff off of their new album and several classics from their more than 30 year career.  I like their latest album, but not nearly as much as their albums from the 1980's and early 1990's.  Stuff from that era was what I was most looking forward to, and Kreator definitely played some good stuff.  "People of the Lie" is perhaps one of my favorite Kreator songs and the band played it fairly early in the set.  I was a little surprised to hear "Phobia" as that is from a mostly-reviled era of their career.  The band was a bludgeoning force all night, they sounded great and were as aggressive as their recorded output.  Mille Petrozza's voice is not as powerful as it was early on in their career, but that is to be expected.  The raw intensity was certainly present though.  Kreator saved the best for last of course, with a three song set at the very end of the show that included "Violent Revolution", "Under the Guillotine", and of course set closer "Pleasure to Kill".  It was great seeing a band that I had no expectation to ever see in Nebraska.  Now, if only Sodom can show up.

After the concert, I asked my wife what she thought.  She said she enjoyed the concert well enough, though the vocals were not to her liking and she was not sure she would like their albums.  That is as close to a ringing endorsement that I could have expected.

Nebraska Metal: Faith Buried in Flames: Scriptures of the Suffering

I recently had an occasion to meet a member of this band, though I will not tell you how or which one.  As a thank you he gave me a copy of his band's CD and a t-shirt.  I like free stuff.

Faith Buried in Flames is a groove metal band from Norfolk, Nebraska, which is the city in which I am currently working.  It is one of only two metal bands from this area I am aware of, though the other one may be defunct.  I am honestly surprised there is even one.

Groove metal is not really a genre of which I am a big fan.  I like some Pantera, some Machine Head, the Sepultura groove metal era, Exhorder, and a few other random bands.  But for some reason Nebraska seems to produce a number of groove metal bands.  Deadechoes and Seppeku are two such bands that were reviewed on this blog.  More than likely this is due to Nebraska being hopelessly behind the times.  Faith Buried in Flames is a pretty decent groove metal band really.  Their music is not the simplistic, meat-headed style that has become synonymous with the genre name.  There are some complexities in this music with some other elements that keep it from becoming a typical and boring groove metal album.

There are the occasional death metal elements to be found in the music.  That in and of itself makes this far more interesting than the stereotypical groove metal album.  Faith Buried in Flames has some impressive death metal riffing going on in several places.  The guitar work for the most part is very entertaining and keeps things from growing stale.  The band also uses the occasional acoustic interlude to break up the otherwise fast-paced and punishing songs.

The album does tend to drag a little bit by the end, but for the most part it is a bit of a wild ride.  I was overall very impressed by this release.  Hopefully they can keep things going and not get discourage by having their home in an otherwise metal-deficient part of the state.

Nebraska Metal Pt. 5: Deadechoes: Case File I: The Dead Will Walk

I am always on the lookout for metal bands from my home state of Nebraska. I first heard about Deadechoes some time last year when they were a part of some Next Big Metal Band contest through various independent record stores and handpicked by Brian Slagel of Metal Blade.

Deadechoes definitely has a more modern approach to metal, blending influences from thrash metal, death metal, groove metal, and some nu-metal as well. That is probably more a function of where they developed as Nebraska is hopelessly several years behind the times and is one of the few places where nu-metal bands are still very popular. Nevertheless, the band does combine their influences reasonably well and the music is still quite interesting. The better tracks are the more clearly metal ones, while tracks like the very Mudvayne-esque "Everything" tend to bring things down a bit.

The vocals are delivered in a harsh yell with some clean vocals thrown in for good measure. The earlier Mudvayne reference is probably the best comparison vocally, along with Slipknot's Corey Taylor. The riffs are typically reminiscent of groove metal era Machine Head and Pantera. There are some industrial elements and electronics thrown in occasionally and the bass is a driving force in the riffs.

This particular album from Deadechoes is a bit heavy on the nu-metal side, with some definite metal riffs present, but also quite a bit of the dreaded 1990's genre present. I would still argue it is clearly a metal album, but it is pretty close. The band did focus more on the metal riffs on their next album though.

It is not a bad album, but it all depends on your view of nu-metal influences in metal bands.

Nebraska Metal Pt. 4: Xenomorph: Empyreal Regimes

Well, well, well. What do we have here? There's a couple of reasons I picked this up.
1) Old school progressive/technical death metal band that was recommended on the Metal Archives boards;
2) Picture of the Alien on the cover (and obviously the band is named after the Alien), my favorite movie monster; and
3) Band from my home state of Nebraska. Omaha, more particularly.

So, is it any good? Oh, hell yes. It's extremely hard to believe that this came from Nebraska in 1995. It's like finding a fully formed fish in rock dating back to the Precambrian age. Quite the nerdy analogy, true, but it's apt. There is absolutely no way that this could have evolved out of Nebraska, because the state has not really had anything like it, before or since. It is like it came out of nowhere.

This is technical and filthy death metal. The production quality is fantastic, with a beefy sound which emphasizes every sick riff and snarled vocal. It sounds absolutely great, yet again, completely out of nowhere because this was not released on a big label, or even a medium-sized one. It just has a great sound that cannot be readily explained.

The music owes a lot to groups like Morbid Angel, Death, and Immolation, with a little more of a technical riffing style and more progressive song structure. The guitar riffs have the same otherworldly feel to them as Morbid Angel's. The leads sound more like something the late Chuck Schuldiner would have produced, with a strong tone, they are like the only light in an otherwise dark and dank room. The album creeps along like some Lovecraftian horror, slimy and cold. The drumming is intense and powerful, the bass rumbling along at the pace of the guitars.

There are frequent samples, which consist mostly of clips from horror movies. They go very well with the general sound of the album. Each of the songs is generally a little long, none of them being less than five minutes, but with the intricate and ever-changing song structures, things never drag.

As for the vocals, they sound like a slightly more malevolent, but overall not as deep version of David Vincent's vocals from the first few Morbid Angel albums. The vocals sound seriously unhinged and psychotic.

Like a fully-formed fish found in Precambrian rock, this twisted slab of progressive/technical death metal that puts many other bands even from the same time period to shame emerged out of the metal wasteland of Omaha, Nebraska. It's really extraordinary. It's a shame this band was not able to stay around and that so few people have been exposed to it.

Nebraska Metal News Update

Michael Gremio, former vocalist of Cellador and Omaha, NE native has been tapped to replace Wyatt Anderson in White Wizzard, a throwback metal band making big waves right now. Given Cellador's unknown status at this time, this can only be seen as a good thing for Gremio.

There's a couple of concerts this summer in Omaha. Neither of which I will be attending, due to other plans those days. Thou will be playing in Omaha at The Manor on June 30th, a Wednesday night and The Funeral Pyre and Early Graves will be playing there July 23. Of course I have a rehearsal dinner for a wedding in Lexington that night and of course Wednesdays are not conducive to travelling to Omaha for a concert. My fiancee has lucked out.

Response to Anonymous

I have been getting some comments lately. More and more people have started to discover this blog. Which is great and I encourage people to comment. I love seeing what people think of this because it started off as a way to simply amuse myself. My fiancee was the first to really begin visiting regularly. I have a couple other friends that visit frequently too.

That said, I wanted to make a public response to this comment from Anonymous on my Year in Review post. Here's the relevant portion.

I only ask that you re-explore the Nebraska metal scene a little bit. We really do have a fantastic scene, it's just spread a little thin across the state. I used to live in New Orleans, which as I'm sure you're aware has produced some pretty notable metal bands, and I've done a lot of traveling. However, since moving back here I've been amazed at how tightly-knit and diverse the metal scene is here, especially given how rural most of the state is.

Don't be afraid to go to local shows in the city nearest you, or to head to Lincoln or Omaha and see some underground shows. Not every band in this state is good, but there are some definite jewels -- Ezra (death metal from Lincoln), Deadechoes (also death metal from Lincoln), To The Grave (technical death from Lincoln, amazing and very young lead guitarist), Mortal Dezire (from Kearney, sadly now broken up, great live band) and Leave None Alive (melodic, thrashy death from North Platte, one of the best live shows I've ever seen).

I would love to explore the Nebraska metal scene more thoroughly. I am familiar with Mortal Dezire and even own their only album. It's pretty good. Unfortunately the band recently broke up. I am also familiar with Seppeku, Gravegouger, Catastrophic Massacre, Cellador, and a few other bands. I also met an individual with Electric Sky Entertainment, responsible for the Cornstock festival in Grand Island, NE through my practice. I have not had the pleasure of seeing many of these groups in concert or attending Cornstock however as the life of a lawyer two hours away from Omaha is not terribly conducive to going to many shows. It's unfortunate and I wish it could be a little different, but that's what I get for my career pursuit. If anybody knows of any other Nebraska bands, I would love to get a look at them.

The criticism is fair, I do wish I knew more about my state's scene. So, if anyone wants to talk to me and point me in a direction, I would be more than willing to listen.

Nebraska Metal Pt. 3: Seppeku: Seppeku

Seppeku is a very new band from Omaha, Nebraska forming in early 2008. As a Nebraskan myself and knowing that my home state does not have much of a local metal scene, I am always interested in finding groups who share my origin. The band was handing out free copies of this EP as the crowd was leaving an Opeth/Enslaved concert, which is how I got my copy.

Seppeku sounds mostly like a cross between Atrocity Exhibition-era Exodus and Vulgar Display of Power-era Pantera. They play a style of groove metal meets slower thrash metal with shouted vocals reminiscent of Phil Anselmo or Rob Dukes. The music is powerful and aggressive, fitting with the vocals. The style has been done a lot and this band does not really bring anything new to the fold. Still it's a fun listen and short so it does not take up too much time.

The album opens up with some industrial rock-like noises before kicking off into a fairly decent thrash riff. The riff changes into a similar riff soon after and then continues throughout most of the rest of the song. The guitar solos are competent, but seem to get a little lost in the rest of the playing. They often occur at or near a breakdown. The leads are pretty good and the drumming is surprisingly good for such a new band. The second song kind of meanders a little bit in the middle threatening to lose the listener before jumping back into a groove metal riff.

As mentioned earlier, there are breakdowns in this, which should not come as that much of a shock. Metalcore is not the only style featuring breakdowns, it has been a part of metal since the beginning of thrash. However, the breakdowns on this EP do keep the interest level in the music and there is only one per song.

This EP consists of three songs: one thrash, one groove, and one that is in between the two similar styles. It is a decent first recording, if not very original, from a young Nebraska band and is a hopeful sign of good things to come out of Omaha. This state could really use a decent metal scene.

Nebraska Metal Scene Pt. 2: Mortal Dezire: Mortal Dezire

Mortal Dezire is a band from Kearney, Nebraska of all places. There is not much of a metal scene in Nebraska in general, but those bands that do or have existed mostly have come from Lincoln or Omaha, the closest things Nebraska has to big cities. Kearney is in the center of the state and is in a much more agricultural region, so the fact that there is a metal band from there at all is surprising.

Even more surprising is the fact that this metal band is more influenced by traditional styles of metal than by groove metal and metalcore. Mortal Dezire sounds like they should have come around in the 1980's. Their influences sound like US power metal bands such as Jag Panzer and Liege Lord. They combine those influences with some progressive metal and thrash metal influences into a decent mix of traditional metal styles that sounds fresh and keeps the listener's interest.

The production is fairly decent for a first time recording. Most of the instrumentation can be heard, except for the bass which is not audible all that often. The drumming is precise and is mostly there for keeping time. This is a guitar-driven album. The riffs are a little raw but are crunchy and catchy. They sound like they were influenced by the galloping riffs of Iron Maiden and Iced Earth. The leads blaze in and out of the riffs, and the solos are very well done. This band has taken a lot of time to learn their instruments and it shows.

The vocals fit in with the traditional metal style of the music. The singer is not a great vocalist, but it fits well with the sound. Every once in awhile, he attempts a high-pitched wail that is a little weak in the upper registers. However, this is definitely a throwback to 80's metal and adds to the charm of the album instead of detracting from it. The lyrical content seems to deal much more with fantasy themes than anything else, although some songs do not.

As for the songs themselves, they are catchy and memorable. The ballad slows things down and prepares the listener for the full speed throttle of the last quarter of the album.

The only real complaints I have are that many songs seem to simply stop without a natural-feeling ending. This band could play much longer songs and probably would sound more natural. The song "Hate Anthem" seems a little out of place. It is much angrier and aggressive than the rest of the music. The album would flow better without that song. The album itself does not end naturally. It feels like there could be more songs on the album.

All in all though, Mortal Dezire is a very good young band from an unexpected place.