After waiting three months and 12 days for Hate Eternal to get their collective asses back to my club and make up for the shitty three-song set they played during their tour with Black Dahlia Murder, I can say it was well-worth paying my decreased ticket price and see Erik and crew, as well as new friends (Skeletonwitch), up-and-comers (Toxic Holocaust) and old warhorses (Soilent Green) playing before me and a couple hundred metalheads.
Upon their return to BB King, the boys of Hate Eternal seemed to be glad here, especially after their bus broke down and causing the delay on said tour with BDM. From their mouths to my ears, Erik (who said he was proud to be back), Jade (who said he felt vindicated being back), Shaune (who didn't say anything), and Makoto played their usual brand of blasphemous technical death metal, letting the hair fly - literally - and going through favorites from the new album Fury & Flames, as well as the first three. Despite the crowd's in-and-out-of-it mood, the energy was still electric that carried from the start of Skeletonwitch's set to the main event. (No knock against Toxic Holocaust, who played more like competent thrashers than the seasoned pros that followed them.)
Toxic Holocaust, upon first glance, didn't seem like much. Personally, I don't care for power trios as there always seems to be something missing. When they took the stage, the house lights hadn't even come on to let the crowd know they were onstage. It took the customary "how the fuck are you, New York?" and the first three guitar riffs to announce their presence. Looking at Joel Grind, the first thing you see is blond hair that would befit an 80s Glam band. Upon second glance, you see the patches of metal influences (Venom's "Welcome to Hell" goathead) and then you hear the growl of someone bringing out their best Cronos. Sadly, the vocals suffered from too much guitar and bass sound and was completely drowned out. Still, the touring bass player and drummer, Donny Paycheck (who looks like someone's Aunt Bertha) of Zeke, make it fun.
Skeletonwitch, black/thrash dudes from Ohio who, in my opinion, are destined to become America's next-generation of metallers. Far more prepared to take our heads off than Toxic Holocaust, they went right into their best songs off the new album Beyond the Permafrost. I asked Chance what was coming up next as far as any new material goes. Only three songs written and done so far, but for right now, they're taking their time with the new album and touring before sitting down to really concentrate on anything new. I wish I could tell you what they played, but unfortunately I didn't get a setlist and I'm still a relatively new fan of theirs to know their music by heart. Still, it was a kick-ass set deserving of an encore.
Old Louisiana warhorses Soilent Green don't know when to call it quits, and that's good, because they definitely have a lot of steam left. Despite tragedy that's befallen them this past decade that includes murder/suicide and natural disasters, the boys of SG pick up the pieces and moved on. With Ben Falgoust of Goatwhore manning the vocal spot, drummer Tommy Buckley of Crowbar, Brian Patton of Eyehategod on guitar, and Scott Crochet of Hostile Apostle on bass, you have some of the finest dudes this side of the bayou playing out the new album, Inevitable Collapse in the Presence of Conviction, and their brand of deathgrind/sludge metal to a huge crowd of potsmokers within the club that weren't too impressed with the two bands before them. I had always heard of these guys, but was more caught up with the tragedy rather than the music, which can always be the death of a band who are good, but not great. In this case, Soilent Green are great! They play with such confidence that you wonder why these guys never went beyond the bayou. Doesn't matter since they seem quite comfortable in their cult club status.
Hate Eternal came on and naturally blew everyone away. Makoto, however, looked a bit bothered onstage while Erik, Jade and Shaune seemed at ease in their respective places. I was surprised to see just how technical and specific Hate Eternal's set was. I mean, there's a "four counts" here, then "fast" into so-and-so song, with a "three counts then slow" into that song meshed with song titles. Just goes to show you what goes on inside Erik Rutan head when it comes to attention to detail.
The only sort-of bad spot of the evening was this one drunk dickhead, probably one of those Hardcore douchebags looking for a fight, that kept trying to bulldoze his way into the front row during Hate Eternal's set. Seriously, myself and about three other dudes were about to knock the shit out of this fucker! I refused to move for this idiot, but I really didn't want to fight. He did have a beer in his hand, which I thought he'd be a dick and pour it on me - then we would have had a problem - but thankfully he gave up and decided to sober up in the moshpit.
After the show, there was the usual goodbyes to friends. This time around the security didn't yell at us to leave or create a roadblock from the bands. Jade and Makoto were cool enough to chat with us. I think I pissed off Makoto when I told him that I had expected Alex Webster, instead of him, though I did say he played well, if somewhat distracted. Outside, I managed to catch 15/16 members of each band, with the exception of Makoto, who apparently split the venue. What a piece of shit and even after he promised to get a pic with me! Well, let's face it - he's just a hired gun anyway. It's not like he's even a part of Hate Eternal, according to wikipedia. So, fuck you, Makoto! (Just kidding, you rock, dude!)
Anyway, thank you to Joel, Donny, and unknown bass player of Toxic Holocaust; Chance, Nate, Eric, Derrick, and Scott of Skeletonwitch; Ben, Scott, Tommy, and Brian of Soilent Green; and Erik, Shaune, and Jade of Hate Eternal for being such awesome dudes and making it a great night at BB King. Not as great as the Exodus or Testament shows overall, but still a fun night of chilling out with the bands.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment