Quite honestly I thought this show was going to be completely dead because Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, and Dragonforce were playing at another venue in town. But once again, the allure of a show at Jaxx brought out a pretty good sized crowd.
It had been so long since I had been to a death metal show, that I had forgotten about the fact that death metal bands pretty much just play. No onstage silliness, no big light shows, and no gimmicks. So considering that fact, I will grade their live performances on the "death metal curve". Alright let's get started.
Quite honestly I thought this show was going to be completely dead because Killswitch Engage, Chimaira, and Dragonforce were playing at another venue in town. But once again, the allure of a show at Jaxx brought out a pretty good sized crowd. Guessing I would say the house was 2/3 full, so considering what I was expecting, I would say this show was a success. As I seem to say in a lot of my articles, I really knew absolutely nothing about these bands. I tried for the last three weeks to find out info about em all, but I really couldn't find squat, so I was entering this gig completely blind.
Belphegor was up first. Musically they reminded me a lot of Morbid Angel. The music was good, but it had no hooks so I found it very difficult to get into. The guitar solos were very "Slayeresque", in the fact that they were just sloppy, all over the place, had no musical root. Of the three bands I saw tonight, this band had the most rabid fans. There was a small pit which lasted through the set, but it never came near being out of control. For the most part the band just stood there and let the singer/guitarist do all of the entertaining. When speaking between songs, you got to hear the vocalists crazy-cool accent. He was a lively guy, but any chance he had to flash the "horns", he flashed em. He must have "horned-up" about thirty times per song, so after a while it just became silly. Overall the band was good at what they did, but I can't say I was excited about seeing them when it was over, so I rate em 6 of 10 as a live band. Eh... No big deal.
The next band to take the stage was Krisiun, which from what I could figure out is a South American band. I was somewhat excited to see them because seeing a band from down there is always just a little bit different. I don't know why that is, but I have always noticed that South American bands and their fans act just a little bit different from their other metal brethren. To my surprise Krisiun was only a three piece band, in which the bass player was the singer. Their music reminded me a lot of Soulfly (suprised?), but it was heavier, with more blast beats. The songs had lots of twists and turns in tempo and were musically stellar. The guitarist had a killer tone and he busted out pinch harmonics that sounded like death metal Dimebag. His chromatic solos were inventive and the fretboard-sprinting riffs were complicated, but crystal clear. The drummer was pinpoint accurate and was a thrill to watch. When the Krisiun set began the crowd was pretty sparse.One thing that I thought was cool, is that it seemed the band gained many fans, because as the set progressed the floor became more full. They gained the respect of the audience. Speaking of the audience... Jaxx is located near Washington, D.C. and for those of you who don't know, the DC area has a very large latino population. During Krisiun's set there were a lot of latinos on the floor jamming out. Now as I mentioned earlier, South American bands/fans present themselves a little bit differently. Well as I watched the crowd I noticed that the white dudes were the typical pit guys... Ya know, standard stuff. The latino guys on the other hand spread their legs way apart, and did a slow headbanging sway from the waist. As if headbanging in slow motion. Lots of em had huge hair which remind me of seeing palm trees in a hurricane. I know it's a silly thing to notice, but I love how international metal can be. To me it is cool to see how people from different backgrounds can all enjoy metal with their own uniqueness. To me this band was the best of the night because they were just so different. I rate em 9 of 10 for a live band. They were really tight and damn interesting.
The headliner for the night was Unleashed. Supposedly this band used to be a big deal and there was a big "to-do" about the fact that they hadn't toured the states snce the early 90's. I dunno man. I looked around the internet for info about them and couldn't really find shit. But somehow all the people in the club knew who they were and greeted the band with huge fanfare. While we all waited for what seemed like an eternity for the band to take the stage, Death was played during the intermission and the crowd went a little nutty. Groans and yelps of, "CHUCK!" went up into the air. That was pretty cool. Anyway, Unleashed finally took the stage. Their sound reminded me a lot of Possessed or 'Haunting the Chapel' era Slayer. To my suprise the crowd was very excited to see the band. Even the guy next to me on crutches was hopping around and waving his crutches in the air. The Swedish band was pretty damn good. They had great dueling guitars, and the guitarists were very interactive with the fans. For such an old band, I was suprised how many blast beats they had in their songs. I would venture to say that maybe they were one of the first bands to use em. I don't know that for a fact, but considering the age of the songs they had to be one of the first bands to use them.The singer (who's name is Johnny Cash?) had a viking look about him and even drank from a horn. For the first time in a long time I saw a band drinking beer on stage as opposed to water. How old school is that, eh? The singer was very animated and focused a lot of his energy on riling up the crowd. The crowd loved the band. Like LOVED, loved. All night long they chanted, "UNLEASHED! UNLEASHED! UNLEASHED!". While there was a rowdy pit, it was pretty safe, with no bonehead shit going on. The band jammed many anthem type songs which made the band feel "classic". Of the three bands that played, Unleased was the loudest, but at no time during the night was any bands volume painful, so I thank whoever for that. The band was prodded by the crowd into playing three encores, so I suppose the band was happy with the results of the night. I score them 8 out of 10 as a live band. Overall, Unleashed was fun to watch and brought my mind back to the death metal days of old.
In my next report I hope to give you the scoop on the 'DOPE' show on March 9th. Stay tuned.
Go to the BGR gallery (CLICK HERE) and check out my pics from last night's the show.
BE SURE to check out our new friends at JAXX NIGHTCLUB! http://www.jaxxroxx.com/
If you would like to attend a Jaxx show please let me know. I might be able to drag you along with me.
Comments Questions or Concerns? Hit me up! berube@braingell.com
And oh yeah...
Peace and Metal Grease!
berube
