Exocaster
New member
Crossposted from HCAF.
I'll try and get something of a coherent review down before I'm either too tired, too drunk, or both to make a bit of sense, so:
Nachtmystium opened the show; they were already onstage when I arrived. I'm not familiar with them in the least- the first time I'd seen the name was on the bill for this show. I'd describe their style as "blackened death-thrash" if I had to come up with something. It's definitely not metalcore or melodeath. Their performance was energetic, but the sound at the venue, for the openers at least, was less than stellar. Their vocalist played a black SG with a silver pickguard into a Sunn Model T reissue and an Emperor 6x12. The bassist played some oddball BC Rich into a Trace Elliot head and a Trace Elliot ported 2x15. The other guitarist played a plain black ESP or LTD superstrat (I could make out the inlays and the general shape of the logo, but couldn't read which) into a plain old 5150 on the green channel and a Mesa 4x12.
High On Fire was up next. I'm only vaguely familiar with them- I went for Opeth- and I had heard "stoner metal" and "Motorhead" as reference points. There's more to it than that- some noisy punk and maybe old-school black metal with all the 16th note strumming in there? While none of their songs really grabbed me, I did enjoy them as a live band. They were obviously having a good time and enjoying themselves up there, which is a welcome change from the over-serious metal types. They were sludgy and speedy at the same time, exceedingly loud, and their drummer is an absolute beast. A total bury-the-stick-in-the-head basher, but a great groove and cool tom work and very consistent tempo-wise. (His toms were massive- it looked like he had floor toms for rack toms!) Not something I'd actively listen to, but a good show. Matt Pike (the only band member's name I know) played a 9 string doublecut (I don't know who built it...) into an SLO and two Emperor 4x12s and a JCM 800 2203 Kerry King sig head into another Emperor 4x12 and a battered old 4x12 of unknown origins. The bassist played what looked like some sort of Spector into a tube SVT, two unlabeled 4x10s, an original '70s Sunn Model T, an Emperor 4x12, and an old '70s Laney head and a Matamp 1x18. Yes, they ran all that at once, and yes, it was cranked way up. The bass tone was pretty awesome if you like gained out bass. I wish the mix was better (earplugs cleared up a lot of the nasty treble, but the low mid boom from the PA remained) because what was coming off the stage was cool.
As for Opeth, the setlist, from memory: Heir Apparent, The Grand Conjuration, Serenity Painted Death, Harvest, The Lotus Eater, Hope Leaves, The Night And The Silent Water, Deliverance, Demon Of The Fall, Bleak. I hope I'm not forgetting anything there. I may have it somewhat out of order in the middle.
Opeth, I've seen before. I'm quite familiar with them- my introduction to them was When on the Identity Five compilation from Century Media in the late '90s. I'm an unabashed fan; I think Watershed is an astounding record. I last saw them before Damnation came out. The Opeth I saw then was a very different band. They were a four piece- three of the current members weren't even in the band then- and their performance gave off the vibe of a metal Pink Floyd show, mellow even when they were heavy. This was different. This was Mikael Åkerfeldt And His New Gunslingers. They are a badass metal band, heavy even when they're mellow. This is a much more energetic, active band onstage, not the melancholy Goth Floyd stoically standing there as they played. Martin Axenrot makes this a much heavier band. He's a much heavier hitter than Martin Lopez was, and a tighter player live, and the band still grooves as much as they ever did, if not more- his consistency is a plus for them. Per's keys mesh well with the older material, and he's the most tasteful "metal" keyboardist I can think of. (I'd much rather listen to him go off on the B3 than some keyboard shredder who sounds like he's playing an 8 bit NES!) Fredrik Åkesson plays largely a supporting role, just like Peter Lindgren did, taking the odd solo but largely just holding down the rhythm work. Mikael was his usual self, cracking jokes (Mendez cut his hair to look like Bobby Ewing from Dallas, "I'm not sexist, but do you have big tits?", relating an anecdote about Ted Nugent picking up his discarded Snickers wrapper, etc.) between songs. The band's playing was surprisingly fiery- I expected a much more laid-back band!- and pretty much flawless, as one might expect.
Now the gear geek bit: from what I could see from where I was standing, Mikael's board had just a GT-10 and a wireless receiver. He may or may not be running the four cable method these days; it looked like the tech had a four cable "snake"- really a bunch of cables duct taped together- running to his board. Fredrik's board appeared similar- just a GT-8 and a wireless receiver. I couldn't make out what Martin Mendez had on his. Mikael had two Laney 4x12s, the bottom cab miced up with what looked like a Beta 87 and an AT LDC. His head or poweramp of choice was nowhere to be seen- probably behind the cabs. Fredrik had a Marshall JVM 410H on a pair of Marshall 1960Bs, with the bottom cab miced as Mikael's was. He's either running the four cable method with his GT-8, or using it in the loop only. I didn't see the JVM footswitch on his board, but he was obviously switching channels throughout the show, likely with the GT-8's MIDI out. Martin Mendez had an Ampeg Classic 8x10 miced up with a single SM58, and I'm fairly certain his amp rack was behind the cab. Per played a Nord Lead and another synth I couldn't identify, and had two Laney VC30 combos behind him. Martin Mendez mainly played his Marcus Miller sig Jazz Bass, but occasionally played a black 5-string Fender Jazz as well. Fredrik played a sunburst PRS Singlecut for most of the set, but he had a trans black Singlecut for The Grand Conjuration, and a couple ESP Eclipses on a stand that never got brought out. Mikael played most of the set on a dark amber PRS doublecut (don't know the model), but had a similar black PRS for TGC, and his blue PRS for Demon Of The Fall. Their tone was better this time around than when I saw them last. It's fuller in the mids and less fizzy. Not fizzy at all, really. Basically a classic Marshally crunch, not modern brutal. (But you expected that, right?) Mikael's lead tone is pretty fantastic, and he makes good use of controlled feedback and did that trem bar warble thing I associate with Bob Savage at the end of the Grand Conjuration solo. It's hard for me to be a dispassionate guitar nerd here, because I adore this band.
Anyway, fantastic show, highly recommended, especially if you haven't seen Opeth in a while. The newer, heavier Opeth is as much a treat as the older, spacier, mellower Opeth, albeit a different flavor.
I suppose that's a decent review, no?
I'll try and get something of a coherent review down before I'm either too tired, too drunk, or both to make a bit of sense, so:
Nachtmystium opened the show; they were already onstage when I arrived. I'm not familiar with them in the least- the first time I'd seen the name was on the bill for this show. I'd describe their style as "blackened death-thrash" if I had to come up with something. It's definitely not metalcore or melodeath. Their performance was energetic, but the sound at the venue, for the openers at least, was less than stellar. Their vocalist played a black SG with a silver pickguard into a Sunn Model T reissue and an Emperor 6x12. The bassist played some oddball BC Rich into a Trace Elliot head and a Trace Elliot ported 2x15. The other guitarist played a plain black ESP or LTD superstrat (I could make out the inlays and the general shape of the logo, but couldn't read which) into a plain old 5150 on the green channel and a Mesa 4x12.
High On Fire was up next. I'm only vaguely familiar with them- I went for Opeth- and I had heard "stoner metal" and "Motorhead" as reference points. There's more to it than that- some noisy punk and maybe old-school black metal with all the 16th note strumming in there? While none of their songs really grabbed me, I did enjoy them as a live band. They were obviously having a good time and enjoying themselves up there, which is a welcome change from the over-serious metal types. They were sludgy and speedy at the same time, exceedingly loud, and their drummer is an absolute beast. A total bury-the-stick-in-the-head basher, but a great groove and cool tom work and very consistent tempo-wise. (His toms were massive- it looked like he had floor toms for rack toms!) Not something I'd actively listen to, but a good show. Matt Pike (the only band member's name I know) played a 9 string doublecut (I don't know who built it...) into an SLO and two Emperor 4x12s and a JCM 800 2203 Kerry King sig head into another Emperor 4x12 and a battered old 4x12 of unknown origins. The bassist played what looked like some sort of Spector into a tube SVT, two unlabeled 4x10s, an original '70s Sunn Model T, an Emperor 4x12, and an old '70s Laney head and a Matamp 1x18. Yes, they ran all that at once, and yes, it was cranked way up. The bass tone was pretty awesome if you like gained out bass. I wish the mix was better (earplugs cleared up a lot of the nasty treble, but the low mid boom from the PA remained) because what was coming off the stage was cool.
As for Opeth, the setlist, from memory: Heir Apparent, The Grand Conjuration, Serenity Painted Death, Harvest, The Lotus Eater, Hope Leaves, The Night And The Silent Water, Deliverance, Demon Of The Fall, Bleak. I hope I'm not forgetting anything there. I may have it somewhat out of order in the middle.
Opeth, I've seen before. I'm quite familiar with them- my introduction to them was When on the Identity Five compilation from Century Media in the late '90s. I'm an unabashed fan; I think Watershed is an astounding record. I last saw them before Damnation came out. The Opeth I saw then was a very different band. They were a four piece- three of the current members weren't even in the band then- and their performance gave off the vibe of a metal Pink Floyd show, mellow even when they were heavy. This was different. This was Mikael Åkerfeldt And His New Gunslingers. They are a badass metal band, heavy even when they're mellow. This is a much more energetic, active band onstage, not the melancholy Goth Floyd stoically standing there as they played. Martin Axenrot makes this a much heavier band. He's a much heavier hitter than Martin Lopez was, and a tighter player live, and the band still grooves as much as they ever did, if not more- his consistency is a plus for them. Per's keys mesh well with the older material, and he's the most tasteful "metal" keyboardist I can think of. (I'd much rather listen to him go off on the B3 than some keyboard shredder who sounds like he's playing an 8 bit NES!) Fredrik Åkesson plays largely a supporting role, just like Peter Lindgren did, taking the odd solo but largely just holding down the rhythm work. Mikael was his usual self, cracking jokes (Mendez cut his hair to look like Bobby Ewing from Dallas, "I'm not sexist, but do you have big tits?", relating an anecdote about Ted Nugent picking up his discarded Snickers wrapper, etc.) between songs. The band's playing was surprisingly fiery- I expected a much more laid-back band!- and pretty much flawless, as one might expect.
Now the gear geek bit: from what I could see from where I was standing, Mikael's board had just a GT-10 and a wireless receiver. He may or may not be running the four cable method these days; it looked like the tech had a four cable "snake"- really a bunch of cables duct taped together- running to his board. Fredrik's board appeared similar- just a GT-8 and a wireless receiver. I couldn't make out what Martin Mendez had on his. Mikael had two Laney 4x12s, the bottom cab miced up with what looked like a Beta 87 and an AT LDC. His head or poweramp of choice was nowhere to be seen- probably behind the cabs. Fredrik had a Marshall JVM 410H on a pair of Marshall 1960Bs, with the bottom cab miced as Mikael's was. He's either running the four cable method with his GT-8, or using it in the loop only. I didn't see the JVM footswitch on his board, but he was obviously switching channels throughout the show, likely with the GT-8's MIDI out. Martin Mendez had an Ampeg Classic 8x10 miced up with a single SM58, and I'm fairly certain his amp rack was behind the cab. Per played a Nord Lead and another synth I couldn't identify, and had two Laney VC30 combos behind him. Martin Mendez mainly played his Marcus Miller sig Jazz Bass, but occasionally played a black 5-string Fender Jazz as well. Fredrik played a sunburst PRS Singlecut for most of the set, but he had a trans black Singlecut for The Grand Conjuration, and a couple ESP Eclipses on a stand that never got brought out. Mikael played most of the set on a dark amber PRS doublecut (don't know the model), but had a similar black PRS for TGC, and his blue PRS for Demon Of The Fall. Their tone was better this time around than when I saw them last. It's fuller in the mids and less fizzy. Not fizzy at all, really. Basically a classic Marshally crunch, not modern brutal. (But you expected that, right?) Mikael's lead tone is pretty fantastic, and he makes good use of controlled feedback and did that trem bar warble thing I associate with Bob Savage at the end of the Grand Conjuration solo. It's hard for me to be a dispassionate guitar nerd here, because I adore this band.
Anyway, fantastic show, highly recommended, especially if you haven't seen Opeth in a while. The newer, heavier Opeth is as much a treat as the older, spacier, mellower Opeth, albeit a different flavor.
I suppose that's a decent review, no?
