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I spent the first three hours of this show waiting to get in due to a guest list problem. I was thinking that Worcester has something against me, since something bad usually happens every time I go to a show there, and I was about to make Worcester my mortal enemy (replacing the ever hated Maine and New Jersey), but Worcester made me a $10 peace offering, as it knows that the city is better off being on my good side.
I got into the show just in time to check out Spitfire, who had some pretty dman good stage presence, even though the crowd watching them was small. These guys were very mobile on stage, which made them entertaining to watch, as well as tight to listen to.
Sworn Enemy was supposed to be next (even though I'm pretty sure the schedules were screwed up), but the metal riffs being played made me realize that this was someone else. The Human Abstract fucking blew me away. The guitars were insane, reminding me of Between the Buried and Me mixed with some power metal. The only played about four songs, but they were amazing, turning me immediately into a fan.
I rushed Downstairs to see Skinless, but I had to wait about ten minutes before they played. It was well worth the short wait, as they played an awesomely fucking brutal set. the sound wasn't that great (it was much better Upstairs), making the vocals close to inaudible, but they were still impressive, especially in the guitar and drumming departments. They played the first song from their upcoming album (the singer's use of repitition engraved June 13 in my head), which sounded amazing.
After interviewing Spitfire, I went Upstairs to watch the last few Turmoil songs, which I found impressive. I wasn't that into their album that I have, but I enjoyed the songs I heard.
The singer of Full Blown Chaos started their set by holding up a giant pillow like vagina, offering to give it to the first pussy who complained about getting hit in the pit. Their breakdown laced hardcore made a good soundtrack for buying music from the Relapse table. Despite their enjoyable set, I went Downstairs two songs before they finished their set because I wanted to check out Hate Eternal, arriving just as they started playing.
Their drummer was fucking amazing. Not only was he playing super fast blast beats, he also was doing some technical cymbal work while playing blast beats that made my damn head spin. While not as good as the drummer, the guitarist was also pretty incredible, ripping solos like nobody's business. To make things even better, Hate Eternal had the long hair that made for rad looking headbanging.
Samples and lots of feedback started Damnation A.D.'s set before they jumped into some wonderful progressive hardcore tunes. Its been years ince I laste listened to them, but the three songs they played made me want to dust off their CD (that I own) and give them another listen.
A fight broke out during their set after a tall guy in the pit mosh jumped into the crowd near the stage. I'm guessing he ran into a girl because she got pissed and started punching him. I don't think he noticed because he walked away as if nothing had happened. She ran after him and started punching him in the back. He turned around confused soon before security got there and escorted her out of the building.
I wasnted a few Death Threat songs before going Downstairs to watch who I was hoping to be Cryptopsy. I didn't think they were playing because their name had been taken off the website, but they were listed on the schedules at the venues, which gave me hope. It turned out that they weren't playing because Suffocation took the stage. I was bummed because I wanted to see them most, but I got over it quickly as Suffocation played an awesome set in which they paacked in as many songs from their catalogue as possible in the half hour they had to play. The double bass flowed like a river and the guitarists shredded, making for a fun set.
Terror was surprisingly good. I'm not usually a fan of them, but I really enjoyed their set; so much so, in fact, that I was wondering if it was a different band (possibly one taking Cryptopsy's place), espeically since I always thought that Scott Vogel was bald. But, it was Terror, and I enjoyed them.
I wasn't that into the Overcast songs that I knew, but I wanted to check them out anyway. They sounded decent, and I have to respect how ahead of their time they were, but I thought that their songs went on too long. They drew out some of the riffs much longer than needed, even though there were some killer riffs in there.
I left a few songs into Exodus' set. I really liked the few songs I heard, but I didn't want to fall asleep to my death on the 45 minute ride home. Exodus played awesome speed metal that the crowd loved. They were a fitting last band for me to watch.
Written by: RF