Alright, I saw the show last night in Santa Ana. I drove 5 hours from Vegas, just to see Into Eternity, and I was not dissapointed. I would gladly do it again. Here's my review:
Good news: 6 bands!
Bad news: Short-as-all-fuck sets
Resistance
Guitars were good, and overall they have the right idea. Lyrically, they were....lacking, but the vocals were pretty cool. Like a hard rock/power metal thing. I'm pretty sure they're local to LA. Perfectly acceptable opening band.
Souless
Old-school Death Metal 3 piece. Vocalist was really, really good. He wasn't just doing the standard Cookie Monster death vocal, he had an insane high-pitched blackened shriek as well...think: what Chris Barnes TRIES to do in SFU in like "Rising from the Grave"; the "I WANT TO EAT YOUR BRAINS!" part. Drummer had some of the fastest blast beats I've ever heard. I will definitely be seeking out more from them.
Single Bullet Theory
FUCK YEAH. Never heard them at all before tonight, but I will be getting everything they have done asap. Best frontman I've seen in a long time, great growl/singing voice and he's an even better guitarist. Almost has a Stoner Metal quality to it along with everything else they do. Highly impressive. I expected some Emo band with that name for some reason.
Beyond the Embrace
Excellent as always. I saw them with Iced Earth about a year ago, and before the show I got their first record, listened to it, and thought "Yeah, that's not bad, but nothing spectacular", then I saw them live and they were amazing. So, I got the record out again, and I thought the same thing. They have not captured what they do live on an album yet, and they need to NOW. The 3 guitar thing is awesome, and they make serious use of it. Great musicians.
Into Eternity
Totally made the bumper-to-bumper, horrible, suicide promoting LA traffic worthwhile. The new singer fucking blew me away. If I'm not mistaken, he was doing some of the highest harmony parts on the BIO album....only *AN OCTAVE HIGHER*!!! Some of the notes he hit (with power and CLARITY) were simply inhuman. They need to get into the studio and make serious use of that range he has as soon as they get home. My only complaint is that the set list was like 6 songs. That was it! Off the top of my head they played:
Splintered Visions
Embraced by Desolation
Spiraling Into Depression
Elysium Dream
Point of Uncertainty
Beginning of the End
And....I can't recall anything else. If so, it was one more, max. I wanted Black Sea of Agony in a bad way, or Selling God, or Left Behind (would love to hear the new vocalist do the s/t stuff)....but I got none of it. I guess I'm gonna have to fly up for a Regina show to see a proper set?? I'll do it, fuck it.
I have no idea why they aren't headlining this tour as I'd say 75% of the people there were there to see IE, and that's no shit. After they played, there was no hope for Amorphis...
Amorphis
They had no chance. As I said, the crowd was there to see IE, and they are waaaaay too mellow to follow something like that. Had it been a different order, I would've enjoyed them a lot more. What can I say? They're Amorphis. They're awesome musicians, they played flawlessly, and create a mood when they play that a lot of bands can't pull off. Unfortunately, that mood translates differently than intended to some people (eg. I saw two dudes SLEEPING in booths during their set!).
On the way out, I saw Tim hanging out with some people, I didn't want to bother him, but I shook his hand and said "Hey man, I drove 5 hours to watch you play, and it was worth it, thanks." Great guy, he acted surprised...ha!
So guys if you read this, thanks for a great (albeit, SHORT) show, and capitalize on that motherfucker's range on the next record!
I'm looking forward to the future!
Up the goddamn irons!!
Good news: 6 bands!
Bad news: Short-as-all-fuck sets
Resistance
Guitars were good, and overall they have the right idea. Lyrically, they were....lacking, but the vocals were pretty cool. Like a hard rock/power metal thing. I'm pretty sure they're local to LA. Perfectly acceptable opening band.
Souless
Old-school Death Metal 3 piece. Vocalist was really, really good. He wasn't just doing the standard Cookie Monster death vocal, he had an insane high-pitched blackened shriek as well...think: what Chris Barnes TRIES to do in SFU in like "Rising from the Grave"; the "I WANT TO EAT YOUR BRAINS!" part. Drummer had some of the fastest blast beats I've ever heard. I will definitely be seeking out more from them.
Single Bullet Theory
FUCK YEAH. Never heard them at all before tonight, but I will be getting everything they have done asap. Best frontman I've seen in a long time, great growl/singing voice and he's an even better guitarist. Almost has a Stoner Metal quality to it along with everything else they do. Highly impressive. I expected some Emo band with that name for some reason.
Beyond the Embrace
Excellent as always. I saw them with Iced Earth about a year ago, and before the show I got their first record, listened to it, and thought "Yeah, that's not bad, but nothing spectacular", then I saw them live and they were amazing. So, I got the record out again, and I thought the same thing. They have not captured what they do live on an album yet, and they need to NOW. The 3 guitar thing is awesome, and they make serious use of it. Great musicians.
Into Eternity
Totally made the bumper-to-bumper, horrible, suicide promoting LA traffic worthwhile. The new singer fucking blew me away. If I'm not mistaken, he was doing some of the highest harmony parts on the BIO album....only *AN OCTAVE HIGHER*!!! Some of the notes he hit (with power and CLARITY) were simply inhuman. They need to get into the studio and make serious use of that range he has as soon as they get home. My only complaint is that the set list was like 6 songs. That was it! Off the top of my head they played:
Splintered Visions
Embraced by Desolation
Spiraling Into Depression
Elysium Dream
Point of Uncertainty
Beginning of the End
And....I can't recall anything else. If so, it was one more, max. I wanted Black Sea of Agony in a bad way, or Selling God, or Left Behind (would love to hear the new vocalist do the s/t stuff)....but I got none of it. I guess I'm gonna have to fly up for a Regina show to see a proper set?? I'll do it, fuck it.
I have no idea why they aren't headlining this tour as I'd say 75% of the people there were there to see IE, and that's no shit. After they played, there was no hope for Amorphis...
Amorphis
They had no chance. As I said, the crowd was there to see IE, and they are waaaaay too mellow to follow something like that. Had it been a different order, I would've enjoyed them a lot more. What can I say? They're Amorphis. They're awesome musicians, they played flawlessly, and create a mood when they play that a lot of bands can't pull off. Unfortunately, that mood translates differently than intended to some people (eg. I saw two dudes SLEEPING in booths during their set!).
On the way out, I saw Tim hanging out with some people, I didn't want to bother him, but I shook his hand and said "Hey man, I drove 5 hours to watch you play, and it was worth it, thanks." Great guy, he acted surprised...ha!
So guys if you read this, thanks for a great (albeit, SHORT) show, and capitalize on that motherfucker's range on the next record!
I'm looking forward to the future!Up the goddamn irons!!
