thePULSEBy Jillian Locke
I am NOW ready to report my full (well, not entirely full ~ scroll down for my complete recap of NEMHF) account of the 10th Annual New England Hardcore and Metal Festival that once again annihilated the Palladium from April 25th-27th.
I missed Friday night’s Megadeth show (booo!), but Saturday had many, many highlights. Trap Them, Cockpunch!, Soilent Green, and On Broken Wings (to name a few) dominated the second stage, just as Through The Eyes of the Dead, Animosity, Despised Icon, and Kataklysm destroyed the main stage. For me, however, the most highly anticipated moment was when Worcester’s own brutal doom kings, The Acacia Strain, took the stage. The crowd instantly awoke, bursting with brutal fruit flavor. The best thing I heard out of the mouth of any vocalist that weekend was from the grizzled, snarling lips of vocalist Vincent Bennett: “I don’t care whether you’re a metal head, hardcore kid, or emo kid. We’re all here for the same reason.” Amen. P.S. – Everyone who can make it needs to get to The Waterfront in Holyoke, MA June 29th for the Acacia Strain show, where they will be filming for their new DVD!
Behemoth, whom I already mentioned in last month’s column, tore pages from a Bible and threw them out to a hungry crowd, completely owning the rabid audience, and was followed by MA’s Shadows Fall, who worked the house like always. The night was capped off with Norway’s incarnation of pure evil, Dimmu Borgir (but not without the longest sound check in the history of sound checks). For this performance, I sat myself in the balcony and thrashed myself into metal oblivion as the twisted metal tyrants tore into gems like “The Serpentine Offering” off their latest release, In Sorte Diaboli, complete with a full projection screen flashing ancient etchings and morbid clips. And of course no DB performance would be complete without “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” and “Puritania” during the encore. I could NOT have been more pleased with my brief brush with the devil.
The weekend of Metalfest brought me back to my roots and reminded me of the pure, animalistic love for metal that’s been brewing and growing inside me my entire life, much like any true slave to the darker, heavier side of music. This weekend rekindled that passion, igniting it like a flame assaulted by a harsh yet completely satisfying (and arousing!) wind. I have MUCH more to share that can’t fit into this print edition, so for Sunday’s performances and excerpts from my party time with Skeletonwitch and the dudes from Prosthetic Records (much thanks to Bob, John, and Jordan!), check thepulsemag.com for the entire experience.
www.myspace.com/theacaciastrain
On to shows I’m pissed I missed: May 1st came way before I even realized that I Rise, one of Worcester’s own Up and Comers from last month’s issue, was playing Welfare Records in Haverhill, MA with Meltdown, Wake Up Call, and the legendary Worcester hardcore outfit that has probably influenced all of the aforementioned bands, Bane. I usually make this a predominantly metal/rock influenced column, but I’m not going to lie – I’m pissed I missed Thrice with Circa Survive and Pelican at the Palladium May 10th. The Sword, Torche, Stinking Liz, and Never Got Caught played at the Middle East in Cambridge on May 18th, which I’m sure was absolute heaven.
Clear your calendar for June 24th, as Cartoon Network’s Dethklok comes to the Palladium IN THE FLESH! That’s right! Brendon Small, the brainiac who gave us Home Movies will be leading the band on vocals and guitar, supported by Chimaira and Soilent Greet. I’m crying inside knowing I can’t see this show, so leave some feedback and let me know what it’s like when cartoons come to life!!!
“Full speed ahead” is the phrase that comes to mind after one listen to Lancaster, PA’s Century, whose April 2008 release, Black Ocean, is one of the latest additions to the Prosthetic Records family. Truth be told, my introduction to Century came at 8:15 in the morning on my way to work. The first thing I thought was, “Man, this is kinda monotonous, and just a tinge too brutal for my ride to work.” However, upon further inspection and a second listen, I realized that I really need to stop being so critical and really listen to the myriad albums that I receive each month. Black Ocean makes it O.K. to listen to metalcore again…and actually admit it. Brutality is perfectly spliced with epic melody, and the album’s title track is a shining example, ending with the lines “And we’ll be sorry one day when the lives we build are worth more than the lives we take.” Along with George Fava, Jason Baker, and Matthew Smith, Century’s brainchild/vocalist Carson Slovak has built upon the indestructible foundation that 2006’s Faith and Failure laid for the band, and has created a more polished, directed and progressive effort with Black Ocean. Yep, you read that right – progressive. The beginning of the album echoes with annihilation and destruction, but as you travel further down the brutal road, you’re greeted with more melody, more sadness…no, this is not emo, so fear not. Wait for track 7, “Monolith” ~ It’s beautiful, it’s epic, it’s heart-wrenching. There are definitely tones of Hopesfall’s The Satellite Years that blend perfectly into a more progressive, Intronaut-inspired sound. It speaks to the metalcore kid in all of us. www.myspace.com/century
I hope you have your Iron Maiden tickets for their June 20th show at the Tweeter Center! Come back for the July Locke on Rock, it’ll feature Darkest Hour and The Cavalera Conspiracy! Until then, GAME ON!!!
For those who followed the black print road to the online version, THANKS! You’ve made my efforts of recounting the shock, awe, and sheer joy of two days of metal heaven worth while! Now, time to paint a nice, fluffy picture, and step into the print (kinda like the chalk drawing in Mary Poppins… I KNOW you know what I’m talking about!) and really SEE the spectacle. SO, ahem…as far as the eye could see, at each establishment within walking distance of the Palladium, an array of long hair, tattoos, piercings, black t-shirts, and Viking-looking dudes greeted residents of Worcester. They congregated in central Massachusetts for one annual purpose: The New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. This year marked the 10th anniversary of this brutal onslaught. People nation wide traveled to the Palladium to see over 70 of their most beloved bringers of doom and damnation.
The Acacia Strain and headliners Dimmu Borgir annihilated the already exhausted crowd Saturday night. After the show concluded, I made my way to a local hotel to crash the Prosthetic Records headquarters – Bob, John, and Jordan, you are the most hospitable and general metal chaps around. I salute you! The hotel was FILLED with wily metal kids littering the halls. A welcomed sight indeed. Connections were forged, friends were made, and the night was recapped. Hotel management had their hands full trying to contain the chaos ensuing at every corner (and every room, not to mention the elevator. Memorable quote from the night: “Dude, who put this tree in the elevator?”). Energy and camaraderie reverberated through the hotel walls, enjoyed by one and all… except for the gaggle of folks attending a weekend convention in the same hotel. Clearly, someone didn’t do their research. Management was called (time and time again), until the Prosthetic crew, members of Skeletonwitch and I were ushered into the lobby (“where we couldn’t wake anyone up”) and succumbed to a Dominos pizza party at 4 a.m. On a side note, I gotta salute Skeletonwitch drummer Mullet Chad, because I’ve never seen someone so dead asleep flip people off with such swift and unrelenting accuracy. Good for you buddy! After the pizza was consumed and the shop was talked and argued (a true music lovers little piece of heaven on earth), the night of debauchery had concluded, and what a damn good night it was.
Onto Sunday, which in the metal world is anything but a day of rest. Upstairs at the Palladium was all out hardcore day, with Legeia, whom totally pumped the crowd’s proverbial nads, especially with their Superbad “down to f*ck” sample resounding through the cramped smelly sweaty space (ah, the scents and sights of the second stage). Full Blown Chaos obliterated the cramped room and caused one of the most furious and blurry fist fights of the weekend. Vocalist Ray Mazzola opened a song by saying, “I want everyone in the crowd to look at the person next to them. When we start playing, I want you to punch that person in the face. I wanna see blood. The first person who bleeds gets a free shirt.” At seemingly the speed of light, a fist fight broke out right in front of me, followed by two bouncers pummeling the fighters, followed by all four of them rolling out of sight. It was seriously like Looney Tunes Taz’s famous spinning dust cloud. Ridonculous. Lesson learned? Unless you like a bloody face and broken appendages, steer clear of the FBC pit. But they are a fantastically brutal band, are they not?
Shai Hulud, with new singer Matt Mazzali, played a satisfying array of old and new songs, coercing fans of all ages to scream their faces off along with Mazzali. The new material off of this year’s release, Misanthropy Pure, is awesome because they still retain their signature sound, but I couldn’t help wanting more from Hearts Once Nourished With Hope and Compassion…but enough of what I want – the crowd seemed pleasantly full with metalcore. The way it should be.
There are some bands whose names really do sum up their sound, like Cambridge, MA’s Motherboar screams sludge rock, and The Tony Danza Tap Dancing Extravaganza, screams something just ridiculous and indefinable all together. The same rings true for Sweden’s Meshuggah, the gods of progressive, dirty, raw riffage. The lights went down in the Palladium, and crowd exploded with ruthless anticipation for the monster phenomenon. Now I have to admit (ashamedly so), that I was SO exhausted at this point and had close to an hour drive home, that I had to bow out of the performance early and miss even the almighty Ministry, which I’m still kicking myself in the ass for. But what a way to close out such a euphoric weekend! Thanks to everyone who made it possible, especially the folks at the Pulse Magazine for making this weekend a reality. See you all next year!!!!
www.myspace.com/fullblownchaos
www.myspace.com/profoundhatred
pictures from top to bottom: Dimmu Borgir, Acacia Strain, The Sword, Century, Full Blown Chaos, Shai Hulud
