Concert: Tour And Loathing
Posted on June 29, 2007 at 7:17 am by admin
On June 3rd in London Ontario at Cowboys Ranch, an unsigned band on this tour named The Holly Springs Disaster took stage. Hailing from Saskatchewan, I’m sure many people were unfamiliar with the band. Southern tinged metalcore similar to Every Time I Die, with some slight differences, such as some more jagged caustic stabbing from the guitars, songs beginning with samples and the odd death growl were the permutations The Holly Springs Disaster provided. Many of the single note breakdowns had stage presence added to the mix with the shaggy-haired guitarists and bass player doing full-bodied headbanging. Is the band truly sign worthy? If they were from the states, I would have no doubt that Tribunal would snatch them up, but it’s the readers call to whether that’s a compliment or an insult…
Canadian metals biggest hopefuls, Threat Signal took the stage next. True metal influenced by Fear Factory, with shredding solos and 80’s synth-pop sensibility cranked up to maximum heaviness was on display here. The vocalist owned his words with sneering gnarly faces, the bass player made his presence known with his exaggerated movements, and even playing bass in the audience. The lead guitarist owned every guitar solo with face stern enough to make Dirty Harry proud.
Rising stars in their current field, Bless The Fall appeared next in the show. Sounding like a cross between As I Lay Dying and Underoath, this new band was the most energetic of all, tossing guitars all over the place. The band could probably attribute their energy to their youth, as the two guitar players looked as though they were only sixteen. From a vocal standpoint, clean singing was a main focus, but bits and pieces of a Tim Lambesis inspired scream were used to extenuate the beginnings and endings of phrases. As cool their live show was, one couldn’t help feeling that the stage presence, attire, and sound were very familiar…
I was familiar with Protest The Hero, but I hadn’t had a chance to truly hear a full album from them. The outstanding reviews I had read from even the truest of troo metal magazines and websites hadn’t quite fully described their sound. The idea of technical grind with mostly clean singing, with a lot more stylistic elements I found difficult to describe was incredibly original. The band was as energetic and full of life, as much as their videos and other rumoured sources had told. Between songs there was much banter from vocalist Rody that was was long and could range from humorous, to cocky, to insulting. I can’t quite say that insulting hardcore fans who were watching Protest The Hero enjoyed themselves as much after hearing Rody talk about how much he hates hardcore.
There was a major downfall to their live show. It seems that as good as their latest album “Kezia” is to listen to, Protest The Hero seem to have some difficulty gearing the music towards their live show. Anything resembling a moshable part or breakdown was typical short lived. It seemed confusing to the audience to hear something to move to, and get ready to start only to have the music move on to something else.
The real stars of the show were direct support All That Remains. All That Remains had the biggest audience of all the bands. Experienced in their craft, they know how to write good songs to listen to, and sing along with, as well as create music to move ones self to in the live environment. Not only that, but they’re willing to experiment with new sounds the band personally hasn’t tried before.
On their albums, All That Remains has a consistent signature sound driven by the melodic guitars and Phils signature mid-range bark we all know him for. With the drums in this show being so up-front, the setlist mixed between sing-along songs sandwiched between blast beats felt slightly, (but easily forgivably) inconsistent. The end result was actually very good, with the heavy black/death experimental songs focussing their breakdowns and crowd movers on metal riffs as opposed to single note chuggas, and the sing-alongs getting the crowd to repeat the chorus.
It seemed strange that Protest The Hero was going on last, with All That Remains providing direct support. I guess the the London audience felt the same way.
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