Last Wednesday,
the city of Paris had yet again the honor to host a show from one of death
metals' most esteemed bands: Dying Fetus. Playing alongside these veterans of
brutality was a hefty and diverse lineup of supporting acts, each adding their
radically different take on heavy music.
First up on
the list was the San Francisco tech-death outfit Fallujah. Armed with insane technical proficiency and 2 magnificent
albums under their belt, the band was all set to put on a show that was sue to
convert any audience member that was not already a fan.
For those who are not familiar with the band, Fallujah play a style of technical death metal with an ethereal, space-like atmosphere, with a ambient guitars and dreamy orchestrations.
The 5 piece pulled off a solid performance, each member fully focused on playing their highly technical songs with the accuracy of a surgeon.
Unfortunately, while the performance of the band was spot on, the show was plagued by some sound issues. While the clean sections and leads were audible and fairly clear, the low end was rather muddy. The problem seemed to come from the sampled orchestrations and the loud drums that messed up what would've been an otherwise nicely balanced sound.
For those who are not familiar with the band, Fallujah play a style of technical death metal with an ethereal, space-like atmosphere, with a ambient guitars and dreamy orchestrations.
The 5 piece pulled off a solid performance, each member fully focused on playing their highly technical songs with the accuracy of a surgeon.
Unfortunately, while the performance of the band was spot on, the show was plagued by some sound issues. While the clean sections and leads were audible and fairly clear, the low end was rather muddy. The problem seemed to come from the sampled orchestrations and the loud drums that messed up what would've been an otherwise nicely balanced sound.
The second
band on the bill was a band that would go on to confuse a fair share of the
audience that night. Going by the sinister name of Malevolence, band caught a lot of people off guard by stepping on
stage with not so sinister hardcore/hip-hop attires, completed with beanie hats
and new-era logos. Facing an already skeptical crowd of death metal fans, the
band caught the audience off guard again by delivering a powerful concoction of
Metallic Hardcore with heavy thrash and groove metal undertones. Drawing
inspiration from a wide range of different bands, not the least of which
obviously being amongst the likes of Suicidal Tendencies and Lamb of God, the
band offers a surprisingly fresh take on Metallic Hardcore. Occasionally, the
songs would drift into beatdown sections, thus causing the mandatory allergic
reaction on the behalf of the purist metalhead community, though I found these
parts to be well integrated into the songs' structures, which is very rare. The
Vocal delivery were somewhere between that of a beatdown hardcore vocalist and
that of a heavy thrash vocalist.I'll also add credit to the bands' exceptionally
clean mix, there really isn't anything to say here. The audience who wasn't
there to see Malevolence was yet again struck by surprise when the band's lead
guitarist ripped up an incredible solo with an impressive display of tapping
skills and tasteful shredding. Overall, this set was a very nice surprise to
me, and I feel like the band's hardcore attire was one of the only things that were
holding the audience back from fully enjoying an otherwise solid set.
Next up was
a band whose name and appearance was more familiar to the crowd: Goatwhore. With their spikey gauntlets,
pointy guitar, grim black metal band shirts, long hair and beards, it would be
no exaggeration to say that Goatwhore are the archetype of the extreme metal bands.
Goatwhores' music is mainly based in thrash metal, while borrowing strong
influences from Black metal as well as some hints of death metal. If you are a
fan of catchy songs with blast-beats and d-beats over a crunchy guitar tone,
raspy black metal vocals and low death metal growls, this band is for you.
Their formula is simple, straight to the point and highly effective, with
enough variation to keep things from becoming redundant. Credit is also due to
the bands' superb stage presence, putting on a show of furious headbanging and
extensive air-guitar riffing from the vocalist. Like with the previous band on
the bill, Goatwhore's set was supported by an impeccable sound balance.
Finishing off with their ever popular single "Apocalyptic Havoc", the
band delivered a truly magnificent set that night.
Finally,
the time had come for the stars of the evening to come out and shine. Dying fetus walked on stage with grim,
serious faces, making it clear that they were not here to mess around. The band
went straight to business the very second they finished soundchecking, starting
the final set of the evening with the crushing "In the Trenches",
from their brilliant and appropriately named last album "Reign
Supreme".
The band showed yet again why they reign supreme on the deathgrind genre, to a crowd that visibly did not any convincing in the first place. Le divan du monde was conquered with lighting fast grindcore riffs and bonecrushing brutal death metal sections. The band went on to blast away with a set of songs focusing primarily on their newer material, while occasionally jamming out to some old classics.
While the sound was not perfect and the band did make the occasional mistake here and there, these problems were easily overlooked and unnoticed due to the absolute mayhem going on in the pit. To their satisfaction, Dying Fetus turned the venue into a gigantic, deadly warzone (Personal note: the 4ft8 girl and highlight green shirted girl who survived the whole set in the pit have earned my deepest respect, let me tell you). Amongst the heart of darkness, some audience members may have noticed the presence of a brave peacekeeper that was handing out free ice cream cones and Mars bar ice cream. I could not refrain from bursting into laughter at the surreal sight when one audience member decided to throw one of the Mars ice cream bars on the stage. I mean... out of all the things that must've landed on stage during a Dying Fetus show, I'm guessing tonights’ Mars ice cream bar must have marked a first in the bands' 23 year long career. Finally, finishing up their set with their old school classics "Pissing in the Mainstream" and "Kill your mother/Rape your dog", followed by the monumental "Your Treachery will die with you", the band left the venue with a splendid finale, leaving us all covered in sweat, blood, and bruises and most importantly a big smile on our faces. A perfect ending to a monumental evening.
The band showed yet again why they reign supreme on the deathgrind genre, to a crowd that visibly did not any convincing in the first place. Le divan du monde was conquered with lighting fast grindcore riffs and bonecrushing brutal death metal sections. The band went on to blast away with a set of songs focusing primarily on their newer material, while occasionally jamming out to some old classics.
While the sound was not perfect and the band did make the occasional mistake here and there, these problems were easily overlooked and unnoticed due to the absolute mayhem going on in the pit. To their satisfaction, Dying Fetus turned the venue into a gigantic, deadly warzone (Personal note: the 4ft8 girl and highlight green shirted girl who survived the whole set in the pit have earned my deepest respect, let me tell you). Amongst the heart of darkness, some audience members may have noticed the presence of a brave peacekeeper that was handing out free ice cream cones and Mars bar ice cream. I could not refrain from bursting into laughter at the surreal sight when one audience member decided to throw one of the Mars ice cream bars on the stage. I mean... out of all the things that must've landed on stage during a Dying Fetus show, I'm guessing tonights’ Mars ice cream bar must have marked a first in the bands' 23 year long career. Finally, finishing up their set with their old school classics "Pissing in the Mainstream" and "Kill your mother/Rape your dog", followed by the monumental "Your Treachery will die with you", the band left the venue with a splendid finale, leaving us all covered in sweat, blood, and bruises and most importantly a big smile on our faces. A perfect ending to a monumental evening.
Robin
Special thanks go to the guys from Fallujah for making this review
possible!
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| Dying Fetus Setlist |
Fallujah
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/fallujahofficial
Malevolence
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/MalevolenceRiff?ref=br_tf
Goatwhore
Website
http://www.goatwhore.net/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/thegoat666
Dying Fetus
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/DyingFetus
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