Nile/Arch Enemy/Hate Eternal/Origin
The Back Room in Austin, TX on 7/12/02
Reviewed by Jeff Moore (aka Dreamlord)
Boy was I excited about this show. While not knowing jack squat about the first two bands, I was ready to blow my load when Arch Enemy began and then blow a second time when Nile finally started. But lets start from the beginning shall we?
The Back Room is quite an interesting club/bar. One side of the venue is a place for little size concerts such as the one I attended. The other half is a place for billiards, video games, watching sports and listening to mellow music. So it was quite an interesting mix of people. On one hand you have your "normal" people with their UT shirts and such. And on the other hand you have your combat boot wearing, camouflage pants wearing, heavy metal band t-shirt wearing people. I wore an At the Gates shirt for your information.
Anyhoo, my girlfriend and I got there at 8:30 during the Origin set. And I'm sorry we came so early. Origin is definitely not my cup of tea. While I will digress from saying a band "sucks", Origin did not appeal to me one iota. Every song sounded the same. The front man, two guitarists, and bassist didn't move one bit during the set. My girlfriend turned to me and said "It sounds like 10 year olds playing with instruments and the back up singer sounds like my dog when she barks." I would agree. Origin might appeal to some, but I will definitely not be pushing people out of the way in the music store to get their CD's. In case your wondering, this is extreme brutal death metal with three vocalists, although two of them are rarely used.
Next up, Hate Eternal. The most exciting thing about Hate Eternal was their backdrops. And those weren't that exciting. Hate Eternal is a three-piece, which surprised me. The drummer was decent, but like Origin, every song sounded the same to me. Maybe it was the venue. The lead singer's between song bantering was pretty cool though. "THIS ONE GOES OUT TO NILE. WE WANT TO THANK YOU MOTHERFUCKERS FOR BRINGING US OUT ON TOUR" in his brutal voice. That was cool.
Then the moment that every male metal head in the place had waited for. First the drummer came out, then Sharlee D'Angelo, then the Amott bros. Then the intro and jamming to the opener. YES! THERE SHE IS. Angela comes out and tears the place apart. My girlfriend was even impressed. Angela was much shorter than I thought she would be, but still very attractive. She was wearing a tight shirt cut off below the breasts that read "Princess". Her pants looked like tight vinyl/leather. But what impressed me most was her stage presence. She got the crowd involved numerous times and actually moved around instead of planting her feet for the whole set. While I'm no Arch Enemy expert, I do think their best album is "Burning Bridges", and Angela performs those songs better than Johan did on CD. Notable songs were 'The Immortal', 'Beast of Man', 'Ravenous', and 'Heart of Darkness'. Mike and Chris Amott were pretty much stationary on stage noodling away at their guitars. They were quite impressive. Even the drummer(is the drummer Daniel Erlandsson? European musicians change bands like I change underwear) got the crowd involved. But Sharlee blew the other three guys out of the water. My girlfriend is now in love with Sharlee. She called him a "bigger, badder Joe Perry"(for the ignorant, Joe Perry is the guitarist for Aerosmith). Sharlee constantly signaled the crowd and, showed his bass skills and walked on the stages tiny catwalk a few times. And like that, the show was over. It did seem their set ended early, but maybe I was just enjoying the show so much that time escaped me. Arch Enemy definitely made a believer out of me. Angela is for real. I will be dusting off my "Burning Bridges" and "Wages of Sin" CD's when I get home.
And next came the band I had driven to Austin to see. NILE! After a 15 minute delay due to technical difficulties (Karl Sanders' mic wouldn't work in case you were wondering), the band came out of the gate like hellhounds. I never had a chance to see Chief Spires perform with Nile, before his departure. But I must say, the new member(his name escapes me at the moment) is quite the vibrant front man. They played classics from '....Nephren-Ka' and 'Black Seeds...' and some new material from their upcoming full length. And I must say, I WILL be pushing people out of the way to purchase this one. The new stuff slays. Like Angela, the new front man has great stage presence and constantly gets the crowd involved. His between song bantering was more entertaining than Hate Eternal's front man. Especially when he said (in brutal voice) "AUSTIN. YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE FUCKING CRAZY. BRING IT ON MOTHERFUCKERS!" With their three vocal attack, Nile out performed the other three bands easily. How an individual cannot like this band, I do not know. Surprisingly, Karl Sanders was the most boring member on stage. Even the drummer got more involved. It looked like Karl was going through the motions. The front man, and Dallas Toler Wade (third vocalist and second guitarist) were extremely into the performance. You could tell they were putting 120% into the show. I ate it up. Put simply, if you don't like Nile, either you're a pussy, or you're too old and should start listening to Yanni. Nile (along with The Chasm) is brutal death metal at its best. Bow down.
Well, all good things have to come to an end. My girlfriend and I then went to 6th street and visited the bar my sister works at. We got all our drinks for free. It was the best night in a long time. Until next time.
JM
The Back Room in Austin, TX on 7/12/02
Reviewed by Jeff Moore (aka Dreamlord)
Boy was I excited about this show. While not knowing jack squat about the first two bands, I was ready to blow my load when Arch Enemy began and then blow a second time when Nile finally started. But lets start from the beginning shall we?
The Back Room is quite an interesting club/bar. One side of the venue is a place for little size concerts such as the one I attended. The other half is a place for billiards, video games, watching sports and listening to mellow music. So it was quite an interesting mix of people. On one hand you have your "normal" people with their UT shirts and such. And on the other hand you have your combat boot wearing, camouflage pants wearing, heavy metal band t-shirt wearing people. I wore an At the Gates shirt for your information.
Anyhoo, my girlfriend and I got there at 8:30 during the Origin set. And I'm sorry we came so early. Origin is definitely not my cup of tea. While I will digress from saying a band "sucks", Origin did not appeal to me one iota. Every song sounded the same. The front man, two guitarists, and bassist didn't move one bit during the set. My girlfriend turned to me and said "It sounds like 10 year olds playing with instruments and the back up singer sounds like my dog when she barks." I would agree. Origin might appeal to some, but I will definitely not be pushing people out of the way in the music store to get their CD's. In case your wondering, this is extreme brutal death metal with three vocalists, although two of them are rarely used.
Next up, Hate Eternal. The most exciting thing about Hate Eternal was their backdrops. And those weren't that exciting. Hate Eternal is a three-piece, which surprised me. The drummer was decent, but like Origin, every song sounded the same to me. Maybe it was the venue. The lead singer's between song bantering was pretty cool though. "THIS ONE GOES OUT TO NILE. WE WANT TO THANK YOU MOTHERFUCKERS FOR BRINGING US OUT ON TOUR" in his brutal voice. That was cool.
Then the moment that every male metal head in the place had waited for. First the drummer came out, then Sharlee D'Angelo, then the Amott bros. Then the intro and jamming to the opener. YES! THERE SHE IS. Angela comes out and tears the place apart. My girlfriend was even impressed. Angela was much shorter than I thought she would be, but still very attractive. She was wearing a tight shirt cut off below the breasts that read "Princess". Her pants looked like tight vinyl/leather. But what impressed me most was her stage presence. She got the crowd involved numerous times and actually moved around instead of planting her feet for the whole set. While I'm no Arch Enemy expert, I do think their best album is "Burning Bridges", and Angela performs those songs better than Johan did on CD. Notable songs were 'The Immortal', 'Beast of Man', 'Ravenous', and 'Heart of Darkness'. Mike and Chris Amott were pretty much stationary on stage noodling away at their guitars. They were quite impressive. Even the drummer(is the drummer Daniel Erlandsson? European musicians change bands like I change underwear) got the crowd involved. But Sharlee blew the other three guys out of the water. My girlfriend is now in love with Sharlee. She called him a "bigger, badder Joe Perry"(for the ignorant, Joe Perry is the guitarist for Aerosmith). Sharlee constantly signaled the crowd and, showed his bass skills and walked on the stages tiny catwalk a few times. And like that, the show was over. It did seem their set ended early, but maybe I was just enjoying the show so much that time escaped me. Arch Enemy definitely made a believer out of me. Angela is for real. I will be dusting off my "Burning Bridges" and "Wages of Sin" CD's when I get home.
And next came the band I had driven to Austin to see. NILE! After a 15 minute delay due to technical difficulties (Karl Sanders' mic wouldn't work in case you were wondering), the band came out of the gate like hellhounds. I never had a chance to see Chief Spires perform with Nile, before his departure. But I must say, the new member(his name escapes me at the moment) is quite the vibrant front man. They played classics from '....Nephren-Ka' and 'Black Seeds...' and some new material from their upcoming full length. And I must say, I WILL be pushing people out of the way to purchase this one. The new stuff slays. Like Angela, the new front man has great stage presence and constantly gets the crowd involved. His between song bantering was more entertaining than Hate Eternal's front man. Especially when he said (in brutal voice) "AUSTIN. YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE FUCKING CRAZY. BRING IT ON MOTHERFUCKERS!" With their three vocal attack, Nile out performed the other three bands easily. How an individual cannot like this band, I do not know. Surprisingly, Karl Sanders was the most boring member on stage. Even the drummer got more involved. It looked like Karl was going through the motions. The front man, and Dallas Toler Wade (third vocalist and second guitarist) were extremely into the performance. You could tell they were putting 120% into the show. I ate it up. Put simply, if you don't like Nile, either you're a pussy, or you're too old and should start listening to Yanni. Nile (along with The Chasm) is brutal death metal at its best. Bow down.
Well, all good things have to come to an end. My girlfriend and I then went to 6th street and visited the bar my sister works at. We got all our drinks for free. It was the best night in a long time. Until next time.
JM
- that's more time spent getting drunker before AE comes out & Angela makes me sport wood 
