Category: Blog

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Concert Review

Epicenter Music Festival

I went to Epicenter this past weekend and it was… eventful.

This was a highly anticipated festival because it was replacing the Carolina Rebellion. I saw multiple comments on social media saying to “bring back the Rebellion” and that the “Rebellion would never have these issues.” Now, it is important to understand that Epicenter is not and will never be the Carolina Rebellion. Having a negative mindset about the new festival and having high expectations for it will inevitably end with disappointment.

Inside of the festival on Friday was great! The first band that I saw was Ded and they jammed! They started the day off right with their energy and they announced that they will be coming out with new music soon! The next band I saw was Vein, and their set was intense. The pit was crazy and some guys brought in pillows and literally had a pillow fight in the pit. The singer for Vein was getting in the crowd and bringing Hardcore to Epicenter.

I then met up with some of my friends from my hometown and we went and saw Beartooth and Skillet. We were in the back hanging out, saving our energy for that night. We saw Knocked Loose, and I think they were my favorite performance of the weekend. They were very interactive with the crowd and were always in our faces. Then I went and saw Evanescence and all I can say is WOW that girl can sing. Finally seeing Evanescence was really fun because they were a band that I would listen to when I was a little rocker.

My friend Ellie and I waited at the stage Rob Zombie was going to play at because he is one of Ellie’s favorite artists. So, we made sure we were going to get a good spot for Zombie! While waiting for Rob to come on, Machine Gun Kelly (MGK) was playing on the other main stage. We could see and hear his performance on the jumbo screens above the stage. He did a good job of interacting with the crowd. He also got a lot of lighters thrown at him when he asked for one. He didn’t catch a single one! Once Rob Zombie went on, the entire crowd exploded. Everyone was moshing and crowd surfing during his entire set.

Then, Ellie and I went to see Korn. Ellie has also never seen Korn and I was excited that she finally got to see them! Like always, Korn crushed it. They played all of their hits and I started a mosh pit near the sound booth. I am proud of that.

Everything inside the festival was great! The food was good; expensive, but good. The bands all started and ended on time, and their sound and light show was impressive! But it was what happened outside of the gate that, to me, was horribly planned. On the first day, there was only one entrance and one exit to the parking lot (rather, parking field). This was a problem the entire day. Some people were stuck in traffic for hours trying to get into the festival. Many were turned away because they ran out of parking, or they were stuck in traffic and missed the bands they wanted to see. We were staying 30 minutes away from the festival and we were stuck in the parking lot for 3 hours (only moving one car-length). No one was directing traffic and a lot of people were getting impatient.

The parking situation and traffic issues that occurred on Friday were (somewhat) resolved on Saturday when entering the festival. They had added entrances! The first band to come on was Alien Weaponry and they set the mood for the day. The next band of interest was Wage War and as always, they killed it! Probably the best performance of the day because they had the crowd wound up! Everyone was moshing, crowd surfing, and singing along with the band. They were assigned one of the smaller stages, but judging from the size of the crowd, they should have been on a larger one. Black Label Society was on a larger stage, and they were steamrolling into their third song when an announcement appeared on the screens that we must evacuate the grounds and head back to our cars because of a tornado warning. The band quit playing, mid-song, and the entire crowd herded toward the exit. Once back in the cars and waiting out the storm for hours, the rest of the festival was canceled (there was damage to the venue). I did not get to see the two bands that I have been looking forward to all weekend: Tool and Judas Priest. Trying to get out of the parking field was tough because, first, part of it was flooded due to the storms that rolled through and, secondly, everyone was leaving all at once.  

Sunday was the one day that everything was great! Parking was quick and easy, and the weather stayed sunny for us to mosh in! The band of the day was Architects, and boy did they put on a show! Their stage presence was fantastic and their light show was great! There was a bunch of crowd surfing for this band. Bring Me the Horizon was of interest, next, they always put on a great live show. Interaction between the singer and the crowd was insane! Everyone was trying to crowd surf and give the singer a high five. Foo Fighters closed out the night and everyone was singing, dancing, and crowd surfing along with the band.

Although everything was great while inside the festival, what occurred outside of the festival is what has me second guessing if I will ever return to Epicenter. Parking was poorly planned out, for one. The logistical nightmare of being out in the middle of nowhere lends itself to chaos when 90,000 people descend. But the thing that bothers me, and many others, the most is that the majority of us spent over $200 to attend Epicenter. Then they had a $20 sale on Saturday passes. A week before the festival, tickets were only $1. To me, this is disrespectful to the people who paid a lot of money to attend and support the festival.

I question if Epicenter will be worth going to next year because after this experience, I won’t be getting tickets early; and if there is a chance that I do go, it will only be for a day.

Stay Metal,

THE SAW 

Categories
New Album Review

Album Review: Amon Amarth – Berserker, 2019 (Metal Blade)

The Swedish Kings of Melodic Death Metal, Amon Amarth, have delivered again! 2019 sees the arrival of Berserker, the band’s 11th studio album. There is no other metal band like these veterans – the near-perfect combination of (seemingly) opposing concepts of melody and crushing brutality, harmony and roaring gutturals – and this record exemplifies that fact, once again, while also showcasing some new aspects. Where 2016’s, Jomsviking, was a concept record that (lead vocalist) Johan Hegg had written the story and the other band members supplied music thereafter, Berserker saw all music finished before Hegg had penned a single lyric. This offering also introduces us to the band’s new drummer, Jocke Wallgren, who fits in nicely with the other members while adding some fresh blood (so to speak).

Tracks

Fafner’s Gold opens with acoustic guitar and keyboards before launching into the ever familiar gallops of Amon Amarth’s trademark storytelling. A dragon’s tale.

Crack the Sky is a bop about Thor (and his hammer) that sounds like a holdover from 2008’s Twilight of the Thunder God.

Mjolner, Hammer of Thor is pretty self-explanatory. It reminds me of something from Deceiver of the Gods (2013).

Shield Wall sounds like it came right off of Surtur Rising (2011), and is also self-explanatory; though I sense there is something personal, here, too. A real anthem!

Valkyria is a story about a female heavenly messenger in the old Norse mythology. The track also ends with some spooky keyboards (nice!).

Raven’s Flight – war, vengeance, conquest – any questions?! It features a wicked breakdown, and the overall feel of the song gives you a real sense of the battle.

Ironside features ‘the spoken word’ by Hegg, who not only has one of the best general vocal gutterals in metal, but also an awesome speaking voice. This one is adapted from the mythical Norse character by the same name, famously portrayed by the series Vikings.

The Berserker at Stamford Bridge is based on a historical account from English mythology about a battle against a single Viking. The music, here, is extremely dramatic and Hegg shouts a line at one point as if the Berserker himself is speaking. Awesome!

When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails If you liked 2008’s Embrace of the Endless Ocean (Twilight of the Thunder God), then you’ll like this bop. It also has the darker sound of 2006’s Under the Northern Star (With Oden on Our Side).

Skoll and Hati is a song about “one who mocks" and “one who hates.” The former races across the sky chasing the sun, while the latter chases the moon. Isn’t Norse mythology great?!

Wings of Eagles is a narrative about fleeing from Norway to Greenland and westward discovering new and distant lands. In Amon Amarth fashion, the listener feels an emotional bond to the story because of the melodies, harmonies, and double kicks.

Into the Dark is an interesting ballad-like song, like Back on Northern Shores (Yomsviking, 2016). It’s heavy, but very dramatic. Hegg’s vocals hit a new low guttural, here. A perfect ending to this saga.

Rating: 8.5

Favorite Songs: Raven’s Flight; The Berserker at Stamford Bridge; When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails

Stay Metal, 

THE SAW 

Categories
Concert Review

Show Review – Whitechapel at the Ramkat 5/17/19

Okay, y’all should already know that anytime Whitechapel comes to North Carolina, I’m going to go see them. I was really looking forward to this show because the lineup was STACKED. The North Carolina date was the last date of the tour and you already know that NC brought the energy.

I got to the Ramkat before doors because I bought VIP tickets to meet Whitechapel. I have never met Whitechapel before so this was exciting for me! The meet and greet was supposed to start at 3:30, but it didn’t start until 4:15, 15 minutes before doors opened. When I was in line to get my Whitechapel poster signed, I was thinking about how I was going to tell Whitechapel that I am The Saw and how much of a fan I am without sounding like a fangirl. They appreciated my support for the band and Phil Bozeman (vocalist) also said, “Go Wolfpack.” I also got a picture with the band, so I now have proof that I met my favorite band.  

There were some opening bands that came on and they set the tone for the whole night. One of the bands that opened up for this show was Primordial Tides from Greensboro. I have seen them a couple of times and each time I see them, they get better and better. After the opening bands, Fallujah came on. I have never seen Fallujah before and I was really impressed! They sounded great and there was a good crowd for their set. I started listening to this band more after the show and I really like their sound. They are a very technical band and I’m glad I got to see them.

Spite came out and completely dominated the crowd. Spite’s singer, Darius, is one of the best front men I have ever seen. He was in the crowd’s face the entire time and he was running around the stage the entire time. Right when he came running on stage and yelling at the crowd, people automatically started moving and getting rowdy. The band sounded really good and Darius can hit his highs and lows perfectly. Probably one of my favorite vocalists right now.

The next band to come on was Revocation. They have that old school thrash, death metal sound and the crowd really loved this band. People started moshing and headbanging during their entire set! They set the tone for the next two bands to come!

Dying Fetus came on next, and we both know how much I love Dying Fetus. I am still mind blown by how technical, fast, and brutal this band is with only three people in the band. Right when they hit the stage, the crowd went crazy. There were certain times when no one was standing still and everyone was in the pit. I don’t know why but almost every guy in that building took off their shirt when Dying Fetus came on. They played some of my favorite songs such as Fixated on Devastation, Panic Amongst the Herd, and Subjected to a Beating. I moshed a lot for them, but for the most part, I stood there in awe.

Whitechapel headlined the show and they came out with their song When a Demon Defiles a Witch. They played a handful of songs off their new album, The Valley, and during that 5-song stretch is when the crowd went absolutely insane. No one was standing still when they started playing Brimstone and Black Bear. I was moshing and yelling the words to every song and I eventually pushed my way up to the barricade. Phil is also a great front man, he was hovering over the crowd and interacting with us the entire time. He also has some of the best vocals live, too. When they played Brimstone, I was shocked, impressed, and in awe when Phil hit that low note, it was beautiful. Whitechapel also played Mark of the Blade, Elitist Ones, Let Me Burn, and The Saw is the Law. 

Overall, this was one of the best shows that I have been to this year. The set up and tear down was quick and easy, and the sound of every band was clear! The light show for this show was also really cool. The venue impressed me as well. The Ramkat is very spacious and there is a lot of room for people. There is also a balcony (with its own bar) that people could pay extra to sit up there. I will most definitely be back at this venue.

Did you go to the Chaos and Carnage tour? What did you think?

Stay Metal,

THE SAW  

Categories
Classic Album Review

CLASSIC REVIEW: WIPERS- Over the Edge

CLASSIC REVIEW: WIPERS- Over the Edge

Best Tracks: Doom Town, So Young, Romeo, No One Wants an Alien

 

Wipers weren’t the first to fuse punk and introspection.  They weren’t the first to rely on atmosphere above blunt force.  And they certainly weren’t the first to rely on raw production to communicate desperation. But Wipers put all of this together in what became a necessary precursor to alternative music as we know it today.  Nowhere is this more clear than on their third album, 1983’s Over The Edge: an album which bellows out a simple, singular message.  Doom.

 

I know, I know, of the first two classic reviews I’ve pumped out, both are 80s alt-punk born out of the Northwest.  But I couldn’t resist. Unfortunately, the double edged sword of being adjacent to Kurt Cobain means that while bands that otherwise would have been long forgotten have received a decent amount of a spotlight, that spotlight is still dwarfed by the shadow of Nirvana.  And Greg Sage’s rotating cast punk rock trio, AKA Wipers, deserves so much more than that. In mixing the ferocity and simplicity with lo-fi, feedback driven atmosphere, Over the Edge lies bathed in an eeriness which trudges the listener into Sage’s desperate pleas.  It’s a simple dread which seems to speak universally of alienation.

 

Wipers were, effectively, Greg Sage.  Sage, a wiry native of Portland, was pretty old at 25 to form a punk band in 1977.  And so, he had an edge on his younger, primal counterparts. He grew up on classic guitar heroes such as Hendrix and Clapton, and while Sage certainly wasn’t a proponent of theatrical face-melters, he understood that a guitar had the potential to convey abstract, monolithic human expressions.  When first conceptualizing what would become Wipers, Sage originally planned for his band to be an exclusively studio act. Sage, notoriously self-disciplined, would record the songs and they would be subsequently self-released sans any promotion. While I’m personally glad this plan wasn’t actualized, since it probably would have inhibited the still-limited fame Wipers see today, they would admittedly be the best candidates for this treatment.  Sage’s songs sound as if they’ve been pulled out of an ether; a despondent catharsis in the face of an impending doom. When they fully formulated Wipers by the late 1970s, Sage and an amorphous combination of bassists and drummers decided to release their 1980 debut Is This Real? on Park Avenue Records in an attempt to gain some semblance of a following. And it worked.  Is This Real? became an instant cult hit while Wipers gained notoriety in Portland through their live shows.  And with that, the American Northwest had their first punk band.

 

While Is This Real? offers a wholly solid introduction to Wipers’ doom punk, Over The Edge is a complete fulfillment of driving introspection.  The album’s opening three songs; Over the Edge, Doom Town and So Young, are all constructed around the same four chords.  But they somehow circumvent repetition. I honestly haven’t fully figured out how Sage managed to make these songs sound so different; maybe it’s the blunted bass subtly moving beneath a thin overdrive, Sage’s simple and ephemeral guitar leads, or his reverbed croon which varies from a gravely plea to a panicked shout.  Romeo offers the first break from standard three-chord punk with a fuzz-coated rockabilly trudge coupled with Sage’s lyrics of absolute isolation and longing which eventually erupt into a singular screech.  No One Wants An Alien is an exploration into variation in that it appears unconcerned with any motif established by the preceding cuts.  Opening with a surprisingly clean guitar carrying a tidy, yet rough melody, the song churns out three minutes of new-wave which could have easily been found on an early New Order album.

 

Though Greg Sage likely did not know at the time how influential his choice to chimera punk rock and dread-heavy vulnerability would ultimately be, it’s impossible to omit Wipers from the canon of American alternative music.  So as someone who works for a college radio station, I feel pretty obligated to recognize how crucial Wipers were in my current employment. Without Wipers, the Northwest alt-punk underground may have been horribly crippled; something which would have surely impacted the Grunge explosion which current indie rock necessitates.  So to all of you DIY, baby jeans wearing kids out there: take the time to thank a Wiper.

Categories
New Album Review

IGOR Album Review

Any longtime Tyler, the Creator fan understands the implications of him shying away from his old impulsive, unapologetic, musical expression, which might discourage them from listening to his new music. In this day and age however, you cannot chant, “Kill people, burn s*** f*** school.” and be successful in any sense. One thing that Tyler will alway maintains however, is the exposure of his various alter egos which take us into the creative, dreamy, and unstable world that lies within his head. On May 17, Tyler, the Creator released his sixth studio album, IGOR. This is a detailed excursion introduction to his softer alter ego and in all, is far from disappointing. The album tells a story of a drifting love affair and features albums including Playboi Carti, Charlie Wilson, and Kanye West. In this album, Tyler directly channels N.E.R.D. through his fabricated instrumentation and raw, storytelling style of rapping. This album clearly conveys his sense as he maintains his same daunting use of repetition to personify melody. Along with this is the use of his same metaphoric language to tell a story that we are not directly told, but can directly understand. One of the best elements about the album is the distinct melodies that positively allow the song to take you on a musical rollercoaster. Though the tempos are rather upbeat and more pop-like compared to previous albums, I believe this is simply a tool. Through this, Tyler wants us to understand the distinct differences of his IGOR in his purest and most expressive form as compared to other characters like Flower Boy or Wolf. Furthermore, all the songs within the album though they tell a single story, stand on their own as mini masterpieces from the production to the instrumentation, to the intricate execution. Overall, this album gives me hope for the future of hip hop. Through Tyler returning back to his old authentic self and expressing himself in a way that does not appear to stereotypical commercials values, I believe originality might once again return to the top charts. So go give it a listen!

-DJ Bulma

Categories
Weekly Charts

Heavy Charts 5/24

# Artist Record Label

1 SUMMONERS CIRCLE Become None Pavement
2 THY ART IS MURDER “Human Target” [Single] Nuclear Blast
3 WHITECHAPEL The Valley Metal Blade
4 EAST VIRIDIAN Pathfinder [EP] Self-Released
5 AFTER THE BURIAL Evergreen Sumerian
6 VOLUMES Coming Clean [Advance Tracks] Fearless
7 NINE SHRINES Retribution Therapy Mascot
8 ENTERPRISE EARTH Luciferous Entertainment One
9 ICED EARTH Enter The Realm [EP] Century Media
10 AMON AMARTH Berserker Metalblade

Categories
Music News and Interviews

The Saw’s Electric Chair: Raine from Nuclear Desolation

The Saw's Electric Chair WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 heavy metal podcast

Join us for the premiere edition of WKNC’s newest podcast: The Saw’s Electric Chair! It’s a casual interview/discussion about music with Raine Rumple from Nuclear Desolation. Raine is in multiple heavy metal bands throughout N.C. and The Saw will be talking all things metal. We will also be talking about other genres of music because he enjoys (and sees) all types of music live. 

Categories
Classic Album Review

CLASSIC REVIEW: THE U-MEN- Step on a Bug

The U-Men- Step on a Bug

Best Tracks: 2 X 4, Willie Dong Hurts Dogs, Solid Action

To call the U-Men a precursor to the Seattle Grunge scene is extremely tempting, but ultimately sloppy.  Admittedly they had all the check marks: a hardcore punk foundation that had been warped into its own separate entity, a charismatic front man in John Bigley and a disgustingly mysterious otherness. This otherness, however, was so pronounced that to categorize the U-Men as “grunge” or “proto-grunge” would be an offense to the band and all of its fever-addled, swamp-o’-billy greatness.  Their sole full-length album, Step on a Bug, is half a half hour trip of humid lunacy; a moment where fuzz-drenched guitars and rockabilly drum patterns build a surprisingly stable arena for Bigley to writhe as if his skin were melting off right there in the studio. It should be required listening for, well, everyone.

Conceived in 1981 Seattle adjacent to the “second wave” of west-coast punk which was becoming harder, more subversive, and (somehow) even less commercial than its mid-70s parent, the U-Men stood among out even among the most libertine acts, like the Germs, in their ultimately holistic embodiment of chaos.  They didn’t appear so much as rebels as they did an unstoppable entity which existed completely separate from reality. Their sound wasn’t just speed for the sake of aggression; it was a bastard of western swing and grimy, overdriven guitar; it was the sonic equivalent of a bloated frog with an oversized cowboy hat doing an Elvis impression after inhaling too many cursed swamp vapors. They called it “swamp-o’-billy”.

The U-Men were Seattle’s flagship band from the early to mid-1980s.  That’s right, less than a decade before the Northwest became an American Mecca for dirty melodrama, before even legitimate precursors like Mother Love Bone or Green River, its underground was ruled by a gothic hillbilly quartet whose lack of explicit metal influences were replaced by a drunken swing.  And their popularity, at least before Kurt Cobainification, was strictly limited to Seattle simply because of their complete inability to tour. Unsurprisingly, any U-Man effort to take on the globe was hampered by a combination of drugs, mischief, and destruction which followed the band’s condensed chaotic energy.  So Seattle was the only place to be.

Again, Step on a Bug’s greatness lies in its throbbing, pronounced otherness.  Take, for instance, its opening track “Whistlin’ Pete”. Pete begins with an overdriven, mid-heavy guitar blast, and is followed up by a moan. Oh yes, a moan.  A moan eases into a growl by the next blast. The drums kick in: Bigley’s cue to slip comfortably into an unhinged persona who dry heaves out poisonous gravel.   His (or hiss) vocals lurch while his rhythm section doubles his vocal line, proving that his performance isn’t meandering by adding a distorted structure to the song’s belching path.  The U-Men sound as if they are panicking through their caricature of Americana romanticism. But Whilstin’ Pete is only an introduction to the rest of the album, and by the time its growls are fully audible the listener has likely surrendered to a feverish catharsis.  The remainder of the album offers episodes of the same ridiculous frenzy in Juice Party or Flea Circus. Unflinching, the Brothers U only begin to slow things down in Papa Doesn’t Love His Children, a mocking ballad which acts as another reminder of the bands’ classic country blues, uh, roots.  Solid Action is crazy.

The U-Men’s, and Step on a Bug’s, popularity has unfortunately been relegated to a study of the conditions which made bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam possible.  It’s not a malicious connection, they could fill the hypothetical gap between hardcore punk and the Seattle sound, but it is an oversimplified one. To afford the U-Men a proper appreciation, they have to be treated as a force of themselves. Their unbridled madness is unlike anything I’ve ever listened to.  There is no discernable goal within it: no violent rebellion and no camp for the sake of theatrics. The U-Men seemed to have been sick and depraved before they recorded their first song.

–

Cliff Jenkins

Categories
New Album Review

REVIEW: AA BONDY- Enderness

Best Tracks: Diamond Skull, In the Wonder, Images of Love  

FCC Violations: Diamond Skull

Okay…A.A. Bondy…what can I say? His new record Enderness was my first experience with the artist. After doing some mindless “computer research,” it turns out this is his first record in eight years but I have to say it’s excellent though its musical foundations are usually not my cup of tea, coming from a heavy all-around rock and metal background.

Initially, I felt a cerebral vibe from the record and come to find out, that’s Bondy’s niche. Though the Alabama folk singer/songwriter has turned to more electronic devices, leaving guitars few and far between for this outing, the record still boasts his in-depth analysis of the social times we are currently surrounded with, tackling big pharma, the internet, and the environment.

With the subject matter and ensuring implementation, the record could easily come off as gimmicky but it doesn’t. Instead, it takes the listener on a euphoric ride of fluidity and melancholy – you know, the kind that makes you sad but good at the same time.

As a lover of guitar instrumentation, I’d have to say the first song ‘Diamond Skull’ was my favorite. Somewhere between a blend of blues, the old west, and a splash of Frusciante, this song is a heavy-hitter. The chorus takes you on an ascending, slow ride from the initial “Oh la la,” and the singing out of text and internet acronyms O.M.G. and L.M.A.O.

“In the Wonder” was another cool song. The vocal tracks had a tremolo effect through its entirety, giving them that bouncy and wavy feel that normally go to an instrument in the rhythm section via stompbox.

Even though I’m in unfamiliar territory, I feel that naming my least favorite song is splitting hairs at this point. The record really is fantastic but if I had to name one it would be “I’ll Never Know.” I felt the synthesizer, even though it was the prominent sound of this album, was used as a quick escape in notching on another track.

Overall, Enderness was excellent and I’m glad this record made its way into my realm. I like that feeling of finding an artist I’ve never heard before so I can take a light jog down their discography.

–

Justin Capoccia

Categories
Weekly Charts

Underground Charts 5/23

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# Artist Record Label
1 ALT-J “3WW” [Single] Atlantic
2 RICO NASTY “Sandy” [Single] Self-Released
3 DENZEL CURRY “RICKY” [Single] Loma Vista
4 BONES Failure TeamSesh
5 KIDS SEE GHOSTS Kids See Ghosts G.O.O.D.
6 OPEN MIKE EAGLE What Happens When I Try To Relax [EP] Auto Reverse
7 BUSDRIVER Electricity Is On Our Side Temporary Whatever
8 AMINE Onepointfive Republic
9 KOOLEY HIGH Monogamy Mass Appeal
10 MALIBU KEN Malibu Ken Rhymesayers