VINCE’S NEW ENGLAND METAL AND HARDCORE FEST WRAP-UP
Monday, April 20th, 2009 at 3:11pm by Vince Neilstein
A great time was had by all at this year’s New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. The bands killed, the people were quality, the Metal Insider panels were insightful, the beer was alcoholic, the pot potent, and the hippies at The Dead festival down the block were downright hilarious and provided for some good laughs. I had smashing fun live-Twittering the event (search for #metalfest on Twitter for all event updates posted by anyone, or look at the MetalSucks twitter account for just our updates), and made many new friends. Your MS reporters did 7 interviews, including a philosophy session with Haunted vocalist / blogger Peter Dolving, and those will be published in due time. But for now, check out my quick synopses of the bands that we saw after the jump.
THURSDAY:
Kobra Kai: Cover band featuring members of Shadows Fall and Fates Warning kicking through some classic ’80s metal gems. At the early hour of 9pm they were way more wasted than any of the industry heads in attendance; as such, I feel like they would’ve been way more warmly greeted had they played at, say, midnight. But even so, they fucking killed it and everyone had a good time. Playing Queensryche’s “Eyes of a Stranger” sealed the deal.
FRIDAY:
Psycroptic and Sylosis: Bummed I had to miss both bands due to the Metal Inside panels, but heard through the grapevine that Sylosis was fantastic.
After the Burial: Had a lot of people there to see them, and they were absolutely virgin-tight (no surprise… their album kills). These kids have a bright future.
Trap Them: I’ve listened to their album three times now and I still don’t get why people love this band so much… so I figured I’d give the live show a shot. Still, no dice. Kinda sloppy and just not that interesting musically. Sorry.
Kataklysm: Really solid. Best I’ve heard them sound. Not sure if I’ll ever be super-stoked on this band, but they sounded good, I’ll give them that.
The Destro: Best performance of the entire metalfest, hands down. Like a time-warp back to the hay-day of ’90s power groove resembling Pantera in more ways than just one, but that kinda seems to be the point. Dudes fucking ripped it up in front of 30 people at the 3rd stage. Maybe the fact that those, um, cookies kicked in around this time influenced my experience… but these guys just blew me away. Recordings don’t quite live up.
The Haunted: Intense performance, no surprise. Seemed genuinely happy to be there and put on a great show as always.
Colliseum: Ripped it up! Just the dose of southern hardcore-tinged metal I needed at the moment. All who were there seemed to agree.
August Burns Red: Serviceable if not entirely interesting metalcore. Good musicians, fun to watch live, but the music lacks that X factor for me.
Cattle Decapitation: Sounded like Cattle Decapitation! Had a good interview with the guys before-hand.
Napalm Death: Sounded like Napalm Death!
Between the Buried and Me: Ridiculously good. This band continues to be on the up and up and impresses every single time. Had the crowd on their side in a major way, and totally lived up their billing as main support to the headliner.
All That Remains: Meh.
SATURDAY:
Animals as Leaders: Canceled because of personnel problems. Bummed.
Century: Not that good, which was kind of a bummer because I dig their record.
Unholy: Surprise of the day for me… they were really tight and had a great hybrid of metal and hardcore (but definitely not “metalcore”) going on. Solid band that I’d recommend seeing if they come to your town.
Broadcast The Nightmare: The 3rd stage was running a bit behind, so when we got there to see Conducting From the Grave we were greeted by Broadcast the Nightmare. Really fucking solid Sumerian-core band (aka… modern progressive death metal) with top-shelf players who put on a good show too.
Conducting From the Grave: Like Broadcast the Nightmare but a little more polished. Excellent. Sumerian-core… can we make that into an official sub-genre please?
Book of Black Earth: Only caught about half a song, but it was a really fuckin’ good half song. Epic, doomy black metal. Or blackened doom metal. The latter, I think. But definitely epic.
Iwrestledabearonce: Put on a really good show and had the kids up front in an absolute tizzy. New material went over really well.
Suicide Silence: Rumors began to circulate Friday that Suicide Silence had been added to Saturday’s lineup last-minute, and it ended up being true. I didn’t make it to their performance but heard from nearly everyone that they impressed the fuck out of the unsuspecting audience.
Austrian Death Machine: Total. Brutal. But the gimmick got old after about one song.
Municipal Waste: Re-thrash. Competently generic. I’m over it.
God Forbid: Completely killed it and had the crowd solidly on their side in a way I was not expecting. Kris Norris filled in adequately for Dallas, though understandably wasn’t much of a stage presence as he had to focus on playing the parts correctly. Still, the band was as on point as ever.
Children of Bodom: You’ve seen one Bodom song and you’ve seen ‘em all, but this band is still great. Looked kind of disinterested the whole time, but Alexi’s between-song banter is always entertaining.
As I Lay Dying: Another great surprise. Full confession: never been a fan of this band, and yes, I have seem them live before. But their live show is at a whole new level now, and they were very, very good on Saturday night.
Lamb of God: My tweet after their first song sums it up; “Is there any doubt that Lamb of God are the biggest and best metal band of our generation? If so, fuck you.”
-VN
For the record, I really like Trap Them and was disappointed by their set. I feel like their live sound lacked all the components that make them appealing to me; the speed wasn’t quite there, the bass just didn’t sound great. I dunno… I was pretty psyched to see this band and ended up let down.
I love Trap Them, and when I saw them live they were absolutely incredible, but ive never seen them in a “large” setting. I imagine it could be similar to converge, ever see them try to play at a festival? it just doesnt work.
I had an awesome time this year at NEMHF
I don’t get Lamb of God’s appeal.
I would say then, that there is likely much else you don’t get.
This comes from someone with the SN ozzyzak.
Odd still that someone with the SN that references a dated meme, and I mean REALLY dated, and you’re gonna call me out on my SN. At least I’m the only ozzyzak on the net. lolwut indeed.
If you can read this, you do not need to go to your eye doctor.
oh god can anyone read this
Now this was a good write up, much more coherent than the last one. Good job! I enjoyed reading it.
Didn’t make it – Instead I opted for seeing Lucuna Coil, Chimaira, KSE and some other band in my hometown. MS thanks for the wise advise, I left after Killswitch.
I’m a Mastodon guy, not a Lamb of God guy. I’ve never carred for LOG, even though live they do put on a good show, but then I’ve never cared for Pantera that much either.
This festival looks like it blew chunks. From the review Municipal Waste and Napalm Death would have been the only bands I would of wanted to see.
Maryland Death Fest is going to blow this shit-fest to pieces.
“I’m a Mastodon guy, not a Lamb of God guy.”
Oh man, is THIS the choice we’re forced to make now?
Nice re-cap. Although I am not as crazy about Lamb of God as everyone else is. Wrath is good, so is there old shit, but Randy Blythe is a shitty singer/screamer. They could do better.
Hey, even if you’re not a fan of Municipal Waste, you can’t tell me their jokes about the Dead Heads wasn’t a fucking riot.
It sucks missing out on all these awesome metal festivals living on the west coast, but I was able to catch Mastodon/Kylesa/Intronaut last night and it was fucking incredible so im not that bummed haha.
The idea of sitting there and just texting away during a metal show sounds more like some dude’s bored girlfriend than actual journalism.
For those of you who were around the second stage on Saturday, Terror put on a fucking awesome show!
Really wish I could’ve gone to this. Thanks for giving Conducting From The Grave some coverage, I hope to hear more about them in the future. Those guys need to be bigger.
I’m a mastodon/killswitch/lamb of god guy and I would say mastodon & killswitch > lamb of god musically atleast.
lamb of god is interesting metalcore while kse is just boring
mastodon obliterates both though
I’m glad to hear God Forbid still did their thing even without Dallas. I hope they find an adequate replacement (a difficult task) and continue to kick ass.
And I agree with Lamb of God being arguably the biggest and best metal band out there. I wasn’t at the fest, but every time I have seen L.O.G over the past few years they have been exceptional – always outperforming everyone on their bill (including making Slayer look tired and old by comparison on a few occasions) and winning over the crowd. L.O.G’s appeal is so widespread; they seem to entertain the entire audience regardless of the show’s lineup, from from the ‘core kids to the older thrash/death dudes and everyone in between.
Now I’m even more disappointed than I was before that I couldn’t manage to get transportation up there. Damn.
There’s always next year, I guess.
“Is there any doubt that Lamb of God are the biggest and best metal band of our generation? If so, fuck you.”
woooooooooow
LAMB OF FUCKING GOD !!!! YEAH! wish they would finally move their asses back to uk, do a kickass tour.
Unholy is from Syracuse ( where I reside) and I saw them open for All that Remains here the other night and I can say I will def be buying their new album. I think people will really dig this band. They are talented and the singer sounds great live. They are a cross between LOG and any metalcore band known to man. Yet they arent metalcore at all. Everyone should give them a shot.
THE DESTRO! HELL YES!
Where’s the info about Landmine? I saw them live earlier in their tour and they totally deserve a shoutout. And thanks for covering The Haunted. There was next to nobody at the show that I saw them at and they still gave 110%. Great fucking band.
totally agree! I saw LM for the firs ttime a week ago and it was by far the best show ive seen all year!
DESTRO….DESTRO…..DESTRO….DESTRO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My first Metalfest experience… had an AWESOME time… met a SHIT load of bands and even decided to skip The Haunted to go help White Chapel pack their shit up. Got some battle scars to show for too. Deff worth every moment and dollar spent. Can’t wait til next year!
ya greatest weekend ever me and my buddy (this comment here two thumbs up) skipped out on the
haunted cause of there bashing of lamb of god cause its jsut stupid immature internet shit. We met lamb og god saturday and asked them wats was up , they said they confronted him about it . hope they kicked his ass
he doesnt deserve our time. So ! we helped white chapel the nicest guys ever ! learned a bit guitar tech wise buy ya do it again next year !
LOG is awesome, but that last line definitely applies to modern America metal fans who live in America only.
great write by the way
I thought All That Remains put on a hell of a show in Louisville in October.
I can’t wait to see Lamb Of God and company May 2nd in St. Louis!
Why cant any good fests come to Cali? OTHER than L.A. Murderfest…if you only goto one Murderfest this year…!
THE BIGGEST AND BEST METAL BAND OF OUR GENERATION IS TODAY IS THE DAY. FUCK YOU. I AM SUPER, SUPER CEREAL.
Just saw Lamb of God and company in Philly on Sunday. Left in an ambulance. It was worth every fucking minute.
How come the eastcoast has like 10 huge metalfests and the midwest has nothin…FUCKING JACK KOSHICK!!!!!
There’s a whole bunch of videos from this show up on YouTube already:
http://www.youtube.com/user/DietThatguyPlus
Sweet! It was def a fun time!
emmure tore it up had the place goin nuts pits were brutal