Concert Review! WHITECHAPEL

March 16th, Beaumont Club, Kansas City, MO….the crowd has already gone nuts several times for the opening bands and now they await patiently for the main event, the headliner….Whitechapel. Set up takes awhile and the stage opens up big for the 6 monsters from Knoxville, Tennessee, allowing them to perform and move about without bumping into one another. Lights are set up, tones are checked and the lights go out. The fog machine spews obnoxious amounts of steam into the faces of the crowd and dimly a blue light barely illuminates the stage and the 5 gents up front walk towards the end of the stage and Ben Harclerode sits down at his kit. The beginning of Section 8 begins to play and then slams into it hard just like how the song is done on the EP. The Recorruptour has come and now the main event is owning the crowd, forcing them to headbang, scream and mosh like crazy.

The sound was loud, terrifyingly loud and very very clear. Their stage was mostly blackened with very little lighting at first. Then the spooky lights would come on every once in awhile covering the stage and band with red, blue and green colors. There were also a ton of strobe light action happening on the faster parts of songs as well, sometimes the colored lights joining in on the strobe fest. It was a sight to behold, one second you can barely see the band, next thing you are being bombarded with flashing lights and evil sounding music. It was intense and the experience was a damn good one, the best I’ve ever seen from Whitechapel.

Album Review! PLAGUE WIDOW – Plague Widow EP

Newcomers from Sacramento, CA known as Plague Widow came together and recorded this EP last winter and just released it through Buriedinhell Records. This 3 piece death/grind band produces a straight forward metal attack that is filled with lightening fast riffs, blistering drumming and deep monstrous vocals. Vocals usually tend to stay on the low end with a couple of high registered screams on the EP. Drumming is always going non-stop; Tons of blasts, fills and interesting patterns when the music isn’t out for blood. Guitar is tuned low but that adds to the brutality and it’s used for actual tremolo riffing and sinister chords. Not just open string palm mutes and breakdown shit, Hal Rotter’s guitar work is sheer madness and his technique and style is quite deranged; he is trying to kill you with his guitar. Throw all three of these together and you have one solid EP, just murderous death metal that is some of the finest I’ve heard so far this year.

My only complaint isn’t even about the music itself, I find the music ultra satisfying and headbang worthy. I’d blast this shit in my garage/office or car anytime. It’s the obnoxious interlude/intro/outro stuff that takes up 45% of the EP’s space. I don’t find it necessary nor interesting to listen to. I skip them every single time, unless I am just too busy to switch it out. Even then I’m thinking to myself “Come the fuck on, get to the music”. The songs are rather short too but they are so good you can listen to them over and over and they still held my interest even after 10 full listens back to back. The EP is solid and just incredibly heavy, so if you’re a fan of death/grind you’ll appreciate the self titled EP that Plague Widow has released.

Pros: The music is straight up death metal riffs, blast beats and growls. Great production. 8.5 minutes of some of the best death metal so far this year.

Cons: Songs are rather short, the non music crap should be cut from the next EP or full length.

4 out of 5

Concert Review! HATE ETERNAL

Erik, J.J. and Jade set up and the two front men turn their backs to us and check their tuning (I’m guessing), making sure everything is ready for what is about to happen. The main lights dim and the stage is illuminated with a dark blue color. Erik gets the guitar to scream a little and he and J.J. turn around to begin the sudden slaughter. The sheer brutality and immense sound that comes from the band from here on out was absolutely amazing. This was my first time seeing Hate Eternal live and It was far more satisfying that I had hoped for.

The sound was absolutely breathtaking and true to how the albums sound. Jade’s drumming was impeccable and the performance on J.J.’s and Erik’s fretboard was very impressive. J.J.’s work on that bass guitar was mind blowing and he is incredibly over looked when it comes to talented bass guitarists and even vocals. I managed to talk to both Erik and J.J. briefly and it’s awesome how two genuinely nice guys can growl and scream and play such savage music. They play their music with intensity and precision, the band’s sound throughout the entire set was very tight and just massive. Not one note was fucked up (from what I could hear, I was headbanging quite a bit) and these guys play with a fierce fire in their hearts and it truly shows on stage.

Album Review! IF THESE TREES COULD TALK – Red Forest

First off, I have to say that this album is great. I really enjoy this album listen after listen. It’s truly compelling and constructed really well. There is a blend of influences coming together to make the particular sound come out of If These Trees Could Talk, and it’s very recognizable. From start to finish, there is a lovely blend of post-metal, post-rock, ambient acoustic/clean channel guitars and smooth bass grooves that work together to form these amazing works of art. The styles are very familiar to other bands if you’ve been listening to this kind of music for sometime. ITTCT have a rhythmic sense about them and their powerful grooves and riffs are similar to something Junius and Russian Circles have done. Their sense of  melody and tremolo work is similar to Alcest and Falloch, those long winded chords that they do along the fretboard; there is no denying that their influence is similar to these other bands. I hate comparing bands to one another in my reviews but I couldn’t help but think of how much certain parts of Red Forest sounds like previously released material from other artists. ITTCT have created a remarkable album, don’t get me wrong…it’s just that I felt like I’ve already heard this before.

Album Review! Nephelium – Coils Of Entropy

Nephelium’s “Coils of Entropy” is straight up death metal with no gimmicks or any filler bullshit. This is straight up raw and dirty death metal. I say dirty because those guitar tones are muddy and nasty. Rhythm riffs are just thick and get the riot moving and the leads are well executed and fun. Drums n bass are monstrous and vocals are done in the style of old school era death metal. Each track is throat ripping death metal that is heavily influenced by old school death metal. The riffs are the main focus on the guitars, showcasing some technical leads. Solos are often quick and fuckin shred.

Where Coils of Entropy succeeds is how good the songs are. The riffs man, the riffs! Each song is packed with them and the brutality of the album as a whole is on par with Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse and Autopsy. I just want to throw up horns and headbang each time I listen to this album. Nephelium is one of those bands who are severely over looked and under appreciated. The only thing I didn’t care for on the album was the ending vocals on the song “Malediction“. It sounded as if the singer watched some Looney Tunes and then tried to mimic the Tasmanian Devil, it’s just laughable the way the vocals are on that part. Other than that, the album front front to back is rather flawless.

There are some rather long songs on here and you might think to yourself, “Man, these are going to get repetitive and boring awfully quick.” Well, you are wrong. “Malediction” and “Coils of Entropy” are a combined total of just under 19 minutes and they never lost me. The musicianship and writing on this album are done with care and executed with vicious precision and it’s clear that Nephelium take their work very seriously. If you are a fan of old school death metal, good guitar work or just a fan of heavy music in general, then Coils of Entropy is just what you want/need.

Pros: The guitars fucking rule man, vocals are brutal and drumming/bass work is destructive

Cons: Just 30 seconds or so of silly vocals, other than that…no real negative comments

4.5 out of 5