Cryptopsy/Candiria/Origin Live Report
April 8, Key Club, Hollywood, CA
By Rodrigo
This past April 8 I finally had the joy of attending my first concert of 2001. It has been quite slow in Los Angeles as far as shows for the first few months so I had a lot of excitement and energy for this gig. The show took place at the Key Club that is located at the Hollywood Sunset Strip. It is a very cool venue: lots of room for people to watch the show, big enough stage, a few couches, adequate bar sections, and the upstairs is a restaurant with tables where you could also watch the show. There are also TVs here and there that allows you to watch the show from the TVs but why anybody would want to do that is beyond me.
I actually arrived kind of late, the doors opened at 6PM but I didnt show up until 45 minutes later. The bill in the paper said that there was another band playing but I never found out if they did play or not. So the first band I first saw was Origin. I was not at all familiar with Origin. So this was the first time to hear them and what I heard wasnt all that great. They use a 3 vocal attack that is reminiscent of Nile but the songs werent all that impressive. The singer did his best to get the crowd going but no one really gave them much attention. I do have to say that the members of Origin have excellent taste because they were wearing T-shirts of the following bands: At the Gates, Morbid Angel and Nile. Hopefully, with time they will be able to be as good as these excellent bands.
The second band to play was Candiria. I was really interested to hear this band and find out what the buzz on them is about. Century Media is really excited to have them on their label and so my curiosity was present. There were a lot of people who were looking forward to see them (mostly teenagers) and the pit area got really crowded when they started. Well after hearing them for the first time, I have to say that I am going to have to give them more listens because I didnt like them that much. They were some songs that were entertaining but for the most part it just did not click with me. The vocalist has excellent stage presence. He got the crowd going and he generally was having a lot of fun. He mostly sung in a death metal fashion but he would occasionally rap which totally turned me off. Musically, Candiria plays loud and aggressive but with a certain "nu-metal" flavor. Not quite as obvious as some of those crappy bands but at times it did remind me of that "genre". Anyway, after their set ended a large amount of people left (WIMPS!!! They couldnt take the monumental force that is Cryptopsy).
So finally Cryptopsy was going to play. I moved from the bar area to the very front of the stage right in front of guitarist (put guitarist name) and I was ready to be blown away. They started their set with the songs "And Then it Passes" and "We Bleed" from their newest album And Then Youll Beg. These live songs were even better than the studio versions. The band played with so much passion and really gave it all during the hour plus set they played. Basically, after each song the band had to rest and I dont blame them because they were putting a lot of effort. It also allowed the fans to rest our rapidly increasing hurting necks. The majority of the set consisted from songs from And Then Youll Beg with but their other albums were well represented. From Whisper Supremacy came "Cold Hate, Warm Blood" (it was a great joy to hear this song because it is one of my favorite songs from that album) and "Slit Your Guts" from None So Vile. Even the one song encore came from None So Vile which was "Phobophile".
The entire band played superbly. Flo Mouniers drums were phenomenal and once again he left me speechless in how fast he can play. Bassist Eric Langlois showed that he has no problems keeping up with Flo and he played very well. Mike DiSalvos vocals were excellent but at times difficult to understand because of the sound mix. It is a damn shame he will leave the band since I really like him but I am sure the other members of Cryptopsy will select a great vocalist. Both guitarists Jon Levasseur and Alex Auburn had ample opportunities to showcase their skills.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by Cryptopsy and it was a damn shame that their set was really short. I believe there was another concert happening at the same venue at 10:30PM so it kind of sucks that the venue scheduled two shows for the same night. Otherwise, I was extremely happy to see this show and I look forward to seeing Cryptopsy in the future. For now I will continue playing their 4 excellent CDs and wear the None So Vile Long Sleeve T-shirt I bought at the show proudly!
April 8, Key Club, Hollywood, CA
By Rodrigo
This past April 8 I finally had the joy of attending my first concert of 2001. It has been quite slow in Los Angeles as far as shows for the first few months so I had a lot of excitement and energy for this gig. The show took place at the Key Club that is located at the Hollywood Sunset Strip. It is a very cool venue: lots of room for people to watch the show, big enough stage, a few couches, adequate bar sections, and the upstairs is a restaurant with tables where you could also watch the show. There are also TVs here and there that allows you to watch the show from the TVs but why anybody would want to do that is beyond me.
I actually arrived kind of late, the doors opened at 6PM but I didnt show up until 45 minutes later. The bill in the paper said that there was another band playing but I never found out if they did play or not. So the first band I first saw was Origin. I was not at all familiar with Origin. So this was the first time to hear them and what I heard wasnt all that great. They use a 3 vocal attack that is reminiscent of Nile but the songs werent all that impressive. The singer did his best to get the crowd going but no one really gave them much attention. I do have to say that the members of Origin have excellent taste because they were wearing T-shirts of the following bands: At the Gates, Morbid Angel and Nile. Hopefully, with time they will be able to be as good as these excellent bands.
The second band to play was Candiria. I was really interested to hear this band and find out what the buzz on them is about. Century Media is really excited to have them on their label and so my curiosity was present. There were a lot of people who were looking forward to see them (mostly teenagers) and the pit area got really crowded when they started. Well after hearing them for the first time, I have to say that I am going to have to give them more listens because I didnt like them that much. They were some songs that were entertaining but for the most part it just did not click with me. The vocalist has excellent stage presence. He got the crowd going and he generally was having a lot of fun. He mostly sung in a death metal fashion but he would occasionally rap which totally turned me off. Musically, Candiria plays loud and aggressive but with a certain "nu-metal" flavor. Not quite as obvious as some of those crappy bands but at times it did remind me of that "genre". Anyway, after their set ended a large amount of people left (WIMPS!!! They couldnt take the monumental force that is Cryptopsy).
So finally Cryptopsy was going to play. I moved from the bar area to the very front of the stage right in front of guitarist (put guitarist name) and I was ready to be blown away. They started their set with the songs "And Then it Passes" and "We Bleed" from their newest album And Then Youll Beg. These live songs were even better than the studio versions. The band played with so much passion and really gave it all during the hour plus set they played. Basically, after each song the band had to rest and I dont blame them because they were putting a lot of effort. It also allowed the fans to rest our rapidly increasing hurting necks. The majority of the set consisted from songs from And Then Youll Beg with but their other albums were well represented. From Whisper Supremacy came "Cold Hate, Warm Blood" (it was a great joy to hear this song because it is one of my favorite songs from that album) and "Slit Your Guts" from None So Vile. Even the one song encore came from None So Vile which was "Phobophile".
The entire band played superbly. Flo Mouniers drums were phenomenal and once again he left me speechless in how fast he can play. Bassist Eric Langlois showed that he has no problems keeping up with Flo and he played very well. Mike DiSalvos vocals were excellent but at times difficult to understand because of the sound mix. It is a damn shame he will leave the band since I really like him but I am sure the other members of Cryptopsy will select a great vocalist. Both guitarists Jon Levasseur and Alex Auburn had ample opportunities to showcase their skills.
Overall, I was thoroughly impressed by Cryptopsy and it was a damn shame that their set was really short. I believe there was another concert happening at the same venue at 10:30PM so it kind of sucks that the venue scheduled two shows for the same night. Otherwise, I was extremely happy to see this show and I look forward to seeing Cryptopsy in the future. For now I will continue playing their 4 excellent CDs and wear the None So Vile Long Sleeve T-shirt I bought at the show proudly!
