Thank god this show date finally arrived. I have been DYING to see Behemoth! I wasn't disappointed with ANY of the bands...
My night began with Daath. These dudes really rocked it out. They had the chops whether they were playing blazing fast or creepily slow. Their music was infused with samples, which their speedy drummer was running off of a laptop. The guitars were pretty damn killer and churned out a lot of interesting and original riffs. I can't really think of a band they reminded me of, but they were very thrashy. Probably the funniest part of the night came a few songs into the set in which the singer proclaimed, "For those of you who don't know, I am from this county. I am the guy who was convicted of arson in 1992 for trying to burn down Robinson High School!" I found that to be awesome, because Robinson was a rival of my high school (TC Williams.. Ya know the movie "Remember the Titans"? Thats us...) Anyway... The members on the frontline were an awesome crew of headbangers. They were impressive to watch. The singer had his entertainment value as well. His catchphrase was, "I wanna see fucking blood!". I dunno if he got to see any, but the crowd of 300 sure tried. The singer also had a nervous tick which involved whacking the crap out of the cymbals with his mic. I'm sure the Jaxx sound engineer loved that! With about 15 minutes to go in the set the singer seemed to get hoarse and he started to sound squeaky, so I'm guessing he gave it all for the hometown crowd. The coolest thing Daath did was play Cannibal Corpse's "Hammer Smashed Face" and they nailed it. I rate em 8 out of 10.
The second band of my evening was a local band. Little did I know that the D.C. area had this good a metal band in it. I'm glad the Jaxx webguy insisted that I go inside and check em out. He was right. They were fuckin' awesome. Apperantly they aren't a local secret anymore, because I learned that they have been invited to play on BOTH nights of the Milwalkee Metalfest. These guys had a stunningly professional sound. I think my only complaint would be that the members of the band, except for the singer, seem to look as if they are very busy concentrating on their fretboards. The axe slingers didn't interact with eachother or move out of their invisible box much. Hopefully that is just a product of them being young and they will get into the groove out on the road. The sound of the band reminded me of Cannibal Corpse during some songs, then would remind me of Nile on other cuts. The guitar solos seemed to be hauntingly inspired by Death (RIP Chuck). The drums reminded me a lot of Morbid Angel. I suspect by now, just from the comparisons, you might imagine that these guys are pretty good. The singer was an original fellow who didn't remind me of anyone. He split his vocal duty between screaming and growling and did both just fine. He was a hoot to hear between songs because you could hear that he was a local. (See the people of this area have this... D.C. drawl thing... This area has so many cultures, that the people of the area have a kinda mish-mash accent.) The guitar work from this band was really good. I when they took the stage, these two, young, bald dudes stepped up and i was a little perplexed, but it didn't take long for me to see that they could not only whip my ass on a guitar, but probably 99% of the people on the planet. Speaking of guitars, I did find it to be cool that the bass player was playing a fretless! When they wrapped it up the club was impressed and so was I. I rate em 10 out of 10 as a local band (right up there with the only other DC area metal band of note, Wrathchild America) and I rate em an 8 out of 10 as a national band. Once all the members learn to entertain as opposed to just playing, I'm sure their score will rise!
Finally, the band I have been waiting months to see took their turn. The almighty Behemoth. The Polish trio, was now a four piece because they tour with a second guitarist and to tell you the truth, this hired gun kicked ass. You would have never had a clue that he wasn't an official band member. The band members, with the exception of the singer, all looked to be enormous guys. They were huge and their personas on stage made them giants. The band was decked out in their torture inspired leather, 4 inch spikes, and airbrushed death style warpaint. They looked simply devistating. As far as their stage act goes, their choreography was perfection. They moved as a mass and their movement timing was impressive to see. As if they learned how to do it in marching band. Now, I have seen lots of headbanging in my time. But Behemoth has just become my #1 ranked whirlwind headbanging band... They did it a lot, they did it with fury and, FUCK they were fast at it! It was literally a "head on ball-bearings" type of thing. Simply insane. The pit was non-stop, but I was glad to see that for the most part it was safe and no one had taken any stupid pills before the show. The people who weren't in the pit were just crushing forward against the edge of the stage and not caring if their ribs broke. The fans were in a dream-like state of amazement. I was feeling just like they were. I spent a lot of time shaking my head with a smile because I was in shock about how good this band is live. I really didn't take a lot of notes to write this story because I was too busy enjoying myself for a change. The singer of the band was a very passionate and polite person. He spent a lot of time talking about supporting the scene and he was great at his narratives. He really proved to be a guy who could be trusted to carry the flag for all of metal. His charisma was unmatched. He spoke against those who said that Behemoth had forgotten their roots to bands such as Bathory, Venom and Motorhead, and I would agree with him because their roots are still there and now they many huge branches of originality. The band gave everything they had as did the fans, one of which the singer saw and pointed out. There was a dude in the pit with a battered and bloody face and the vocalist thanked him for his commitment and courage... How awesome is that?! To put it simply, this is one of the best bands I have ever seen live. It is easy for me to rank them 10 out of 10... Ahh fuck it... 11 out of 10. If Spinal Tap can do it, so can I!
In my next report I hope to give you the scoop on the Rumplestiltskin Grinder show on May 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 friends at JAXX NIGHTCLUB! 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
