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.

Dark Tranquillity in Sioux Falls, SD: September 21, 2017

Well, I am really not sure about going to Sioux Falls for a concert more than once every few months or so.  Particularly if it is on a weeknight.  Not to say the experience was bad, but getting home at 3:00 a.m. and having to get right back up in a few hours is definitely tough on me.  I'm getting old.  Anyway, last night Swedish melodeath pioneers Dark Tranquillity appeared at The Icon Lounge along with Warbringer and Striker, and a couple local bands.  It was a long concert, but it was still a lot of fun.

First on stage was the unfortunately-named local band Tons of 'Em.  They were playing when we walked in and played only two songs that we saw.  The sound was interesting enough, somewhat technical, and a little doomy.  The most interesting aspect of the band was that the two guitarists and bassist were all in their 20's, while the drummer appeared to be in his 60's.  I made the joke to my wife that it was nice of the band members' dad to play drums for them.  Apparently that is partially correct.  He is only one of the members' dad.

The next band was Traverscion, a prog-death metal band from Sioux Falls, led by a Sheldon Cooper-lookalike and a Thor lookalike, which thrilled my wife by the way.  This band I really enjoyed.  Their sound had kind of a Lovecraftian murkiness to it and the three vocalists complemented each other quite well.  The times when they would play more melodic sections were the definite highlight.  I will be keeping an eye on this group.

Side story: I made a comment at the Kreator show to my wife that there would probably be some scary-looking guys there.  She responded that they are probably more scared of her than she is of them.  The ratio of men to women at most of these concerts probably bears this out.

And we are back.  Canada has become quite the fertile ground for traditional metal bands over the last decade or so.  And Striker is just one example of this.  I have heard one of their albums and quite enjoyed it, so I had a decent idea of what to expect, but for some reason I thought they were thrashier than they actually are.  They played a blistering 20 minute set with some of the catchiest songs of the night.  They definitely looked like throwbacks to 1980's metal too.  I will have to check out more of their material.  I wish they had had a t-shirt with their Armed to the Teeth album cover on it.  I would have grabbed it quickly.

Where was this t-shirt, Striker?

Hell, my wife would have bought one!

Next up was Warbringer.  I saw them about five years ago when they were an up-and-coming band in support of Overkill.  They played their entire new album Woe to the Vanquished.  A little unexpected, but that is a monster of a modern thrash album, so it was damn good.  Of particular note is the absolutely infectious neck-breaker "Remain Violent".  They looked like they were having a blast too, which was true of each of the five bands of the night.

And finally, Dark Tranquillity took the stage.  I have been a big fan of the band since I was in college, though I preferred their heavier material prior to their more gothic metal-influenced melodeath (my favorite of their albums is still the Of Chaos and Eternal Night EP).  That being said, they have some damn great songs and they played a lot of that material last night.  Mikael Stanne was a very charismatic presence and explained some of the stories behind some of the songs.    My wife stated that Santa Claus has a lot more tattoos than she remembered, referring to bassist Anders Iwers, who does bear a resemblance to a badass metal Santa.  The best song was "ThereIn" from the Projector album, which surprised me at its inclusion.  The band played in front of a projected screen that played music videos the band did, which also surprised me.  They were in top form last night and sounded just as potent as they do on their albums.

I was definitely glad I went, though my wife was not nearly as pleased.  It was a damn late night, but seeing Dark Tranquillity for the first time was well worth it.

Top 10 New Thrash Metal Songs

Recently Lich King posted a question on Facebook asking users to name their top ten favorite songs from thrash metal bands that have formed since 2001.  Since I love thrash metal, I will list mine.  Youtube clips are after the jump.  Some of these are not pure thrash metal bands, with some black, death, or speed metal influence, but they will all lead to broken necks.

Initial Impressions: Warbringer: Worlds Torn Asunder

It would appear as if the retro thrash metal wave has passed. Most of the bands that populated the wave still exist at this time but we will probably begin to see a die-off with them. Only a few will continue, much like the first thrash metal wave. Only the strong will survive.

Warbringer is one of the strong ones. The band has rarely sounded like an imitator. It is very clear that they know the subject material well and have crafted their own take on it. It still sounds like Bay Area thrash, but it is Bay Area thrash done with a more modern twist.

Unfortunately this album is not exactly a step forward for the band. They are not treading any new waters with this release. It is very similar sonically to their prior albums. There is nothing really wrong with that per se. There are not a lot of bands out there who continue to put out innovative release after innovative release. Some are just content with the status quo. Warbringer appears to be one of those bands.

Their music remains aggressive with razor-sharp thrash riffs and in-your-face vocals. So basically, it is a Bay Area thrash metal record. No more, no less. As a fan of the scene, I have no problem with this. It is just not essential listening, that's all.

Field Guide to Retro-Thrash Metal Bands

I am a fan of thrash metal. I believe I have made that fairly clear throughout this blog. Retro Thrash has emerged in recent years, and though it's day in the sun is receding somewhat, I felt it would be a good idea to expose some of the groups for those seeking out new metal.

BONDED BY BLOOD
Habitat: Pomona, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Early Exodus gone progressive metal
Best Output: Exiled to Earth

DEVASTATOR
Habitat: Somewhere in Florida
Defining Audio Characteristics: Blackened Thrash metal steamroller
Best Output: Nuclear Proliferation

EVILE
Habitat: Huddersfield, England
Defining Audio Characteristics: Middle-Period Slayer-style crunch on steroids
Best Output: Infected Nations

GAMA BOMB
Habitat: Newry, Northern Ireland
Defining Audio Characteristics: 1950's pulp sci-fi lyrics over Anthrax-meets-Suicidal Tendencies style party thrash
Best Output: Tales from the Grave in Space

LICH KING
Habitat: Amherst, Massachusetts
Defining Audio Characteristics: Goofy party thrash with a preference toward lyrics about zombies, sci-fi movies and cereal?
Best Output: Necromantic Maelstrom

MERCILESS DEATH
Habitat: Canyon Country, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Dark Angel-style rifftastic thrash metal performing the soundtrack to a particularly gory George A. Romero movie
Best Output: Realm of Terror

NOCTURNAL FEAR
Habitat: Detroit, Michigan
Defining Audio Characteristics: The Motor City Sodom
Best Output: Code of Violence

SKELETONWITCH
Habitat: Athens, Ohio
Defining Audio Characteristics: Mastodon covering early Venom and Hellhammer
Best Output: Breathing the Fire

TOXIC HOLOCAUST
Habitat: Portland, Oregon
Defining Audio Characteristics: The bastard offspring of Hellhammer, Venom, and Bathory out for revenge against the society that spurned it
Best Output: An Overdose of Death

WARBRINGER
Habitat: Newbury Park, California
Defining Audio Characteristics: Brutal thrash in the vein of Demolition Hammer, Morbid Saint, and German bands meeting the sound of an epic tank battle
Best Output: Waking Into Nightmares

Concert Review 4/12/2010: Overkill Plus More

At long last, the concert finally happened last night. I've been blathering on about this for quite some time. Ever since I heard about it, and definitely since I convinced my fiancee to go to it with me.

We were late to the concert. We both work in Norfolk and the concert was at Knickerbocker's in Lincoln, a two-and-a-half hour drive from our home. Thus, unfortunately we missed Woe of Tyrants and Evile. My fiancee was disappointed because Evile was her favorite name of the six groups, although she probably would have hated them if she heard them.

At any rate, we made it seemingly right on time for Warbringer's set. Vocalist John Kevill has a pretty good stage presence and some entertaining between song banter. The guitarists sounded great and the sound quality overall was quite impressive. The band is only about five years old, but they have a seasoned quality and an impressive live show. They could be huge.
Highlights: the snot rocket, "Total War", "Pray for Death".

Next up was God Dethroned. This was easily the most melodic band of the groups we heard. I loved their album last year, but as good as the recording was, their live show is even better. They were quite possibly the highlight of the night as their sound came off heavy as hell and melodic at the same time. I was slightly disappointed they did not play "No Survivors" but not surprised as that song has a guest vocalist who has far more range than Henri Sattler.
Highlights: "Under a Darkening Sky", "Passiondale", "Fallen Empires".

Then we came to Vader who essentially steamrolled the entire crowd. Despite being from Poland, they have a very committed following, even in Lincoln, Nebraska. They were heavy and brutal as fuck. The band is a little intimidating live, sounding like a caged animal, but they put on one hell of a show. It would have been great to just see them tear up the stage for an entire night. My only disappointment was that they did not play "What Color is Your Blood?".
Highlights: "Sothis", "Impure", "Demon's Wind", "This is the War".

And that brings us to the headliner: Overkill. The pioneering thrash metal band has proven to have more energy and power than many of their contemporaries. They were fast as hell and showed no signs of age whatsoever, despite this being their 25th Anniversary tour. It was D.D. Verni's birthday, and he still looks like a lost member of the Backstreet Boys. They played a long time, and my fiancee got bored, nearly fell asleep twice, and then started playing with my phone. The band brought some 12 year old up on stage at the end of the show to play "Fuck You" at around midnight, a move I am convinced could have gotten the band cited for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Nevertheless, one hell of a show.
Highlights: "Ironbound", "Fuck You", "I Hear Black", "Coma", "The Green and Black", "Rotten to the Core"

Note: This is from Wikipedia, it is not a picture from last night.
I picked up two shirts while there: one for Overkill, and one for Vader. I surprised the merchants by tipping them. This was my first real crazy concert experience. The other groups I have seen were not nearly as extreme. It was thus also my fiancee's first experience with an extreme metal show. She survived it too. We'll have to do this more often.

Initial Impressions: Impiety, Stratovarius, Immortal, Warbringer, and Iron Fire

IMPIETY: TERROREIGN

The Singaporean (hopefully that's correct) metal mavens in Impiety combine styles of black, death, and thrash metal. The band would fit in with the Australian bands like Destroyer 666 and Destruktor as they possess the same sort of extreme, frenzied style of metal. Impiety has been lurking underground for years now, never really garnering much recognition as they are somewhat geographically isolated. It's time for that to pass. Impiety has been one of the most extreme, powerful bands in underground metal for years.

The band continues in this vein on their latest album, the aptly titled Terroreign. Things always start up slowly, softly building into a crescendo of chaos that doesn't let up for the rest of the album. An Impiety album is more like a destructive event than a listening experience. They leave the listener dumbfounded, mouth-agape, wondering what the hell just happened. The music is like tornado ripping through the listener's head and leaving no survivors.

Impiety is not an easy band to listen to, far from it actually, but if one wants metal that is extremely aggressive and destructive, look no further than Impiety.

STRATOVARIUS: POLARIS

Every once in awhile, I am in the mood for something very melodic. Luckily, metal is a genre of extremes and there are very melodic bands out there. Much of the power metal genre for instance falls into this category.

Stratovarius is one such power metal band.

Stratovarius and other bands like them (Rhapsody of Fire, Sonata Arctica, etc.) play a very melodic form of power metal derisively referred to as "flower metal". I won't refer to it as such as I happen to like the music once in awhile. It is by no means my favorite style, but it is easier to listen to. It's not terribly relaxing as the music is often very fast, but it nonetheless does not rely on the heavy riffs and extreme vocals other genres feature.

This album is Stratovarius at its best. Fast melodies, occasional choral vocals and current singer Timo Kotipelto's amazing tenor vocals. Stratovarius is a band that whose music closely resembles classical music. The band arranges its music very carefully and results in a full beautiful symphonic metal style.

The album is one of the better examples of the oft-reviled "flower metal" genre. Stratovarius has more than enough metal parts to keep metalheads happy, while also heavily relying on gorgeous melodies.

IMMORTAL: ALL SHALL FALL

Ah yes, the Norwegian true black metal warriors return from a long hiatus. Immortal has never been a band that has been taken very seriously. Over the years, many black metal bands have shed the corpsepaint and leather, not Immortal though. Immortal looks just as silly and bizarre as they ever have. Abbath still looks like a death metal panda, and the other members follow suit.

However, musically, Immortal is one of the most important black metal bands from Norway and have continued putting out good album after good album. The sound has become a little more streamlined and melodic over the last couple albums and is not as chaotic and ball-out furiously fast as they have been in the past. But, none of their power and glory has diminished.

Immortal's newest album is continuing down the musical path laid out by their last album. The black metal is still there. The thunderous drums and lightning fast riffs, the deep throated gargle of Abbath, all of the elements necessary for a good Immortal album are present. Which is what makes this such a great album. Immortal is one of my favorite bands from the Norwegian second wave of black metal, and every reason why is found in this album.

Welcome back Immortal.

WARBRINGER: WAKING INTO NIGHTMARES

Their last album was a warning shot. Warbringer was here and ready to thrash. From the Lovecraftian nightmare that is the album cover, to the opening volley in the opener, it is clear that Warbringer has been honing their craft, ready to let the naysayers who claim that the band are nothing but trendwhores have it.

Warbringer is one of the better new "retro thrash" metal bands, along with Merciless Death. They are also one of the such bands that best know their material. Warbringer often sounds like a demented cross between Slayer, Kreator, Exodus, and Dark Angel. The band is often derided for their presence on Century Media's roster and the fact that they emerged at the same time as a lot of the other bands. It's unfortunate because those people who don't give them a shot, don't know what they are missing.

Warbringer's newest album is still full of the same venomous rage as their prior album and finds the band tightening up on their playing ability. They served notice last time, this time they will take no prisoners.

IRON FIRE: TO THE GRAVE

Iron Fire is the other type of power metal. That is, Iron Fire is not an overly melodic, almost symphonic "flower metal" band. Instead, Iron Fire draws influences from such acts as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Jag Panzer, Liege Lord and other traditional, speed, or power metal bands that are aggressive, yet melodic.

Iron Fire fits in well with the resurgence of more traditional sounding metal bands, although the band itself has been around for nearly 15 years and has put out five full length albums. They are not a new band, but they are beginning to see some recognition based on their brand of metal becoming more widespread in recent years.

The songs are all fast-paced with good, traditional riffs and Martin Steene's soaring vocals and are catchy as hell. Martin Steene is the singer for Force of Evil as well, the side project band of members of King Diamond and Mercyful Fate. He has a vocal style well-suited for power metal.

All in all, this is a very good example of the more aggressive style of European power metal propagated by groups like Blind Guardian instead of Rhapsody of Fire.