By Jennifer Russo

For a while now, metal and hardcore music, once catering to a very specific and narrow audience, has begun to step out of its box by melding other types of music in with the heavy-hitting, in-your-face thrash n’ scream we’ve long associated with it. Shakespeare wrote that “…if music be the food of love, play on.” Well, the 14^th annual New England Metal and Hardcore festival brought a new dish to the table. Though there was plenty of the traditional deafening and mind-blowing macabre, I thought this year (at least in the downstairs part of the show) was more than your meat and potatoes kind of meal. Instead, we were served up a more gourmet assortment of melody and borderline classical music concepts filtering through the guitar shred and double bass.

Saturday boasted an impressive lineup with bands like Periphery, Overkill, Protest the Hero and Unearth. Also hitting the stage was New Jersey band God Forbid, a band that in my humble opinion really defines the term metalcore. The brutal vocal of dread-head Byron Davis launching the pit into a frenzy that resulted in at least two people having to be checked out by the paramedics (hey, it’s all part of the show) followed by a patriotic, harmony-filled homage to our soldiers in the favorite “To the Fallen Hero.” After the set, I had a chance to catch up with lead guitarist Doc Coyle about GF’s new album, Equilibrium. He told me that “There was a real focus on songwriting in its purest form, focusing on all the hooks and heartfelt lyrics. It took some digging, we wanted to be truthful and have it be about something. There is a lot of reality on the page. I think this is the best collection of songs that we’ve ever written as a band. It’s still heavy, but there is an accessibility to it that I think will have a great impact.” God Forbid has an exciting tour coming up that is sure to melt some faces, so stay tuned.

Dragonforce took the metalfest stage with new singer Marc Hudson and ~ true to their video game influenced style ~ went right into the heavy rhythm and death-defying guitar speed that we all know and love. I am convinced that Herman Li and Sam Totman are really aliens. They closed out their set with their fan-favorite “Through the Fire and Flames,” which earned an ovation from the crowd. With All That Remains closing things without a hitch, the night was as successful as it could get.

What impressed me ~ aside from the music itself ~ was the amount of female representation on the floor and on the stage. It’s no secret that the metal and rock world has been dominated by men for a very long time. This is changing, as bands like In This Moment, Lacuna Coil, Evanescence and The Pretty Reckless have made their mark on the scene. For NEMHF, we were graced with Huntress’ singer Jill Janus, Hung’s violinist Lyris Hung, All That Remains’ bassist Jeanne Sagan, and iwrestledabearonce singer Krysta Cameron. A fellow photographer and I were discussing the increase in female metal fans, too, and he commented that “You use to go to these concerts and it was a room full of dudes ~ now there’s something nice to look at when you walk around.” In other words ~ Metalfest is no longer a musical sausage fest. Cool. My proud I-have-ovaries-and-still-love-metal rant is now concluded.

Sunday arrived with some clouds and rain, but that didn’t dampen the excitement over the return of Jesse Leach to Killswitch Engage. That being said, the other bands playing Sunday certainly weren’t in the shadows ~ there were some truly amazing performances. Upon a Burning Body warmed up the ever-growing crowd and was followed by Texas in July, who really turned up the heat so that the Gannset (at $4 a can) went flying out of the cooler. Next came a barrage of really good and heavy bands that threaten my word count so I’ll break it down this way: MyChildrenMyBride ~ kickass performance. Attila ~ I felt like I was at a party, very casual vibe. Chelsea Grin ~ Mad heavy and thrashy, got the pit going. For Today ~ After an amazing and tight set, we got a sermon-like testimony halfway though from singer Mattie Montgomery. I give him credit. There are a lot of people out there who feel they have no hope and maybe they were given a little that night. Vanna ~ always has been one of my favorites and always will be. Beautiful clean vocals and Muise’s screams balanced perfectly and the band’s high energy performance was like watching a Red Bull advertisement, with Davey climbing up onto the highest speaker he could find. The entire band went crowd surfing at the end of their set. Gotta love these local boys! Every Time I Die ~ kept the energy alive in true power anthem style.

And then the black curtain was up, hiding the stage for KSE’s set up and creating a jolt of anticipation so strong that the floor was pulsing with every beat of the drum check. Just when the crowd was getting jittery and impatient, the lights dimmed and “Reunited” by Peaches & Herb blares through the speakers. Nice touch, I must say. The curtain dropped, revealing the piece de resistance, Jesse Leach at home on the mic. Honestly, it sounded to me like he never left. The songs were their great old iconic selves. I have never seen The Palladium as packed as it was, a complete sell-out with about 60 photographers clamoring for the money shot in the barricade. It was an absolutely insane hour-long performance with a continuous flow of surfers and double the amount of usual security (Palladium security ROCKS by the way) catching everyone in their arms. Ending the show with Dio’s “Holy Diver” was a perfect end to a perfect night. It was a homecoming.

For recaps of New England Metal & Hardcore Fest 14, visit the official website: www.metalandhardcorefestival.com/

Photos by Jennifer Russo