Where death is most alive

I went to see Dark Tranquillity with Insomnium and Cypher16 at the Underworld last night and I had a lot to say about it, so I thought I'd share my wise and well-informed opinions with the rest of the world.

First of all - Cypher16. J hates the name, but I don't think it's so bad, although numbers with any name just make it look like a bad email handle. Terror 2000 remain my exception to the rule, because I love that band :D

So, crappy name...and crappy band, for me at least. I think they have a lot of potential and some people may well think what they're doing is cool already, but they were not my cup of tea at all. If I'm honest, I checked them out on MySpace, decided I didn't like them and so only bothered to turn up right at the end of their set. A little unfair, but I'm hardly Lady Justice.

Moving on...Insomnium fucking RULED. They owned that place; every song was awesome. It's the second time I've seen them and both times they've blown me away - I'm not saying they're technically the best or they have the best sound or whatever, but overall, they are one of my favourite live acts. They had a lot of fans there, which was great to see and they had an incredible atmosphere for a relatively unknown band here in the UK. I got one of their albums after I saw them the first time and didn't think much of it, but I'm definitely going to try again. If not then hey, I only like Immortal live, there's nothing wrong with that.

Dark Tranquillity were really really good, despite a few technical difficulties, but overall, I think Insomnium won the day. DT are one of my favourite bands, but in terms of what they play they can be very hit and miss. More than half their set was songs I really didn't care for at all - although the upsides were two from The Gallery (my favourite album - they played the title track and Punish my Heaven) and ended with Terminus, for me the setlist wasn't that great. My highlight would have to be Punish my Heaven as it's one of my favourite songs ever.

The other highlight of the night, I have to say, was Michael Stanne himself. Obviously I don't know him, but he comes across as a really, really nice guy. There was a lot of crowd interaction - he surfed, didn't mind holding hands or holding out the mic to people and generally seemed incredibly happy and at ease with everything. At the end he said the band were going to be at the merch stand and would be sticking around for a couple drinks after the show, which is great to hear from a band that's big enough to get away without doing that shit nowadays.

In terms of venue, I'd say they could have done with a bigger place. The Underworld is small and has many pillars and last night was probably the busiest I'd ever seen it. Even the merch stand could have done with more room - the bar just ain't big enough. Had the Astoria not been razed (bastards), that would have been a perfect venue, but without it, London's really lacking a great medium-sized venue. Last time DT played the UK it was at the stupidly small Barfly in Camden, so I don't know whether the band's management are too cautious with the bookings or just undervalue their commercial appeal, but I'd say they could easily play Islington and with a little more advertising, they could even fill Brixton or Shepherd's Bush.

My final point - oh dear god, £4 a pint? I spent almost a tenner, wasn't even close to drunk then decided I couldn't possibly afford to get drunk. Doesn't make for a fun night, Underworld (and all you other venues charging stupid amounts for watery beer). Improve please!

Seasons in the Bathroom

J: Slayer Guitarist's Food Poisoning Forces Tilburg Cancellation - from the comments;
> Seasons in the bathroom
i lol'd XD

M: >... maybe this will help Kerry to shed a few pounds. In fact, maybe he can give the bug to Hanneman...When I caught the Big Four movie, I was amazed to see they made leather pants that big.
:D

J: > When I caught the Big Four movie
what is this :?

M: >what is this :?
ohh, the first set of it, they showed in cinemas across europe, tickets were bear dollar tho :3 i don't think that many people went, i don't know any that did. i only knew it was happening 'cause P told me...

J: so it's some film about the big 4 now? :O

M: no, not a film, they literally screened the sets in via satellite link so you could 'watch as if you were there' sort of thing...

J: oh that, i've noticed that on other gigs.

M: orly? i never seen it before :O

J: yeah, read about it on the nme (i think), some band have a proper director involved in doing it :/

M: omg that's lame :(( what's the point? i hate live stuff unless i was there, someone i know was there or....well yeah, that's about it. apart from s&m, which most people hate anyway...

J: just in case you didn't feel like showing up :)

M: :DDDDDDDDD yeah hehe :)

Jammer

M: FEAR FACTORY Drummer GENE HOGLAN Discusses His Technique In New Interview - "i enjoy triggers and joining as many bands as possible. you could say i model myself on nick barker. we're fat and we're both in a lot of bands..."
is what the interview should say.

J: that made me lol irl XD

M: :D true tho ain't it :))

J: yeah :)

Cash Fiends

M: METALLICA To Play Special 'Old-School' Show In Christchurch - ohh, i thought they meant old-school set. they do not. they just mean they're not gonna be playing in the round 'cause it's not big enough...... but to be fair, that's how 99% of other metal bands play, so it's not that old-school or significant at all. thanks bbmouth, for making me think there was a story when there was none.

J: they should play on the same level as the fans with no barrier, see how that goes, or how many people spit and fall into them :)

M: LOLOLOL that would be awesome :D sadly, instead of getting spit, piss and other secretions they generally deserve, people would just want to get up close to their "heroes" (heroes that ruin music, i might add!!) or to touch their guitars or whatever. lameness.

J: > or to touch their guitars or whatever
whilst kirk's playing a solo, help mess it up :)

M: ooooooops :) i'd love that :D you could listen to the bootleg after and feel pleased :D

J: clumsy dudes at the front twiddling their fingers, get pushed into james, ooops :O

M: i reckon metallica are the sort of band now that would get pissed at that. not like those old shows with dave and everyone, just arsing around. friends :)

J: ah, friends :)
they're friends now, gaying it up an shit :)

M: yeah, not nice friends like they used to be, but seedy friends because they've come together in their love of screwing people out of their cash....

J: cash friends :)

M: that :)

J: cash fiends XD

Albums I Like - 2

Death - Sound of Perseverance

Here's number two on the list and it's an album I'll never, ever get tired of hearing. It's the only Death album I listen to now because it's as if all the albums built up to this point - it really is the sound of perseverance - so why listen to anything that came before? All the preceding albums were just practice runs: this is the real thing.

And why do I like it so much? Like I said about Artificial Emotions, it sounds nice in my ears. It's crunchy and chunky, but often delicate and pretty too - even the solo it all builds up towards is bordering on cheesy, but the complexity of the album overall means all of the cheese is still complete joy. Over the years, Death went from, well, death, towards the Control Denied mark that Chuck Schuldiner ended up at, and if you imagine Scream Bloody Gore colliding with The Fragile Art of Existence, The Sound of Perseverance is kinda where you'd end up. Which pleases me greatly.

Halfway to 50...

Well, I didn't make it last year, but this year, if I'm going to turn 25, I may as well do it at Bloodstock :D

I'm going to be a complete lord and see all kinds of ridiculous bands that I imagine no-one else will want to see, but I don't care!! Amorphis, Rage, BLOODBATH, Behemoth, Bonded by Blood...none of it actually on my birthday (which is the Thursday), but like I said, might as well make a weekend out of it.

If anyone's going that reads this that I don't know already (which would be highly surprising) gimme a shout :)

Albums I like - 1

(These are in no particular order).

Hieronymus Bosch - Artificial Emotions

This album is pretty hard to describe, so I'm not gonna try too hard, I hate all of that self conscious bullshitting people do. It's progressive death metal, to be genre-specific. It has roars, jazz (which usually I don't like), a lot of pinch harmonics (squeaky) and a Sound of Perseverance vibe.

All I can really say is that this is easily one of the best experiences my ears have ever had, they enjoyed every single second of it. It was like when I heard Enthralled in Essence by Atheist for the first time. It was like I had popping candy in my ears and my ears liked it. Crunchy.

This is all even sadder to say now, 'cause the band split up just a couple months ago. I haven't heard their newest album yet and I dunno whether I'll like it, but I'm gutted I'm never going to see this band now. Really fucking gutted.

So there, that's the first album in my list of all-time favourites. I highly recommend you go listen to it, all the way through.