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Metal Media

CAN’T WAIT FOR VINCE’S SCION REVIEW? READ THE ONE IN THE NY TIMES

 Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 12:30pm by

scion rock fest 2010

Not that I trust the opinion of Ben Ratliff more than I do my main man Vince – but while he’s still doing this whole Heavy Metal Road Trip thang, we probably ain’t gonna get a proper review of the show.

So it’s Mr. Ratliff at the New York Times to the rescue! This being the Paper of Record, a lot of the prose is pretty flowery (and by “flowery,” I mean “bordering on pretentious and meaningless”), but it still gives you some sense of how the show went down. Here’s an excerpt:

“What a generation ago would be called hardcore punk is now routinely a part of metal festivals, slotted in as grindcore. Magrudergrind, a trio from Washington, brought a fantastic standard of it: speeding, screaming bullets of songs, squalid and economical two-beat frenzies with quick turns and no bass player. (They don’t need one.) This was at Circus, a smaller club. But over in the smallest of the four — the tiny, dingy basement club Bernie’s Distillery — the Texas black-metal band Absu was going at it with dark eye makeup, horror-house gothic vocals and no letup in its music’s clattery, narrow, obsessive drive. Metal is deep and wide. Between this and Yob lay two miles of college-town strip and an aesthetic galaxy.”

Read the rest here.

-AR

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  • Death to bro metal

    The United States NEEDS more metal festivals. Scion fest is a great start, I wish I could have gone.

  • http://www.myspace.com/faceofruin ruindrums

    I ended up driving the 8 hours from Milwaukee to get to this fest. I was slightly disappointed when I had received an email from Scion with set-times and the four(!) venues that would be hosting bands. Two of the venues, Circus and Skully’s, were a block apart which was manageable. The other two venues, Bernie’s and the Newport, were 11 blocks to the North. That isn’t that far to walk, but when some set-times are basically simultaneous this could have become a pain. Scion, however, totally had there shit together and were supplying shuttle-busses constantly throughout the night.

    I always dig that “Make your own adventure” feel of some fests, and this one had that vibe throughout. I only had to wait in line at Circus once. It was one of the smaller clubs and when you’ve had Saviours crowd transitioning out and Thou fans funnelling in, it

  • http://www.myspace.com/faceofruin ruindrums

    ..got congested, that was the only time this situation arose for us.

    In my opinion, this fest needs to continue. Whether it’s a sponsor trying to establish some sort of mainstream credibility to an otherwise underground vibe is inconsequential. These bands deserve these crowds, they deserve to be known, and the accessibility of this event is a concert-goers dream. Sure, it was difficult to catch all the bands I’d wanted to see, but if you wanted to be there bad enough, you definitely had the means to get there.

  • Deth

    I basically stuck to Newport and didn’t arrive until Hate Eternal went on. While their sound was crap, they played well. Eventually they got boring, as they usually do when every song has the same blast beat. I went outside to smoke.

    Three Inches Of Blood is not a band I’ve ever been into. The music’s not bad but the vocals just didn’t work for me. They converted me a little on Saturday. Amazing show, great music, solid tunes. I tried to listen to a studio recording again and it didn’t do anything for me, but I was pleasently surprised in their live experience and I certainly wouldn’t shudder by seeing them on a bill again.

    After that I anxiously awaited DRI. I’d been waiting 20+ years to see them live and it was excellent, every minute of it. They played songs from almost every album and Spike sounds like he hasn’t aged one day. Impressive. My neck hurt thoroughly after their set. Can’t wait to see them again in Maryland.

    Voivod was a surpise, they actually played some older songs but a chunk seemed to come from Nothingface – which was fine by me since I love that album (they closed with Astronomy Domine!!!! – nothing like a Pink Floyd cover to finish a set). Their sound was off a bit but continually improved over the course of the set. By the time they made it to the third song they were sounding strong. I hadn’t seen them since 1989, so it was cool to know more of the material and enjoy the sonic progression mixed with sheer heaviness – the latter of which is sorely missing on their discs.

    Corpse, well I’ve seen them a dozen times. My friend’s leg was bothering him (he broke it a few years ago and he can’t really stand all night) and he wanted to leave, so I had no problem with that.

    Here’s hoping this comes back – preferably with some different bands for me to catch. I understand, and admire, the diversity in metal they had but I really had no interest in anyone outside of who I saw.

    • http://www.myspace.com/faceofruin ruindrums

      Deth….you hung out at the one venue with all the bands that will be back through the Midwest within the next few months.

      You didn’t catch ANYTHING outside of that one venue…out of FOUR stages?! It seriously sounds like you lucked out that this was all free. Holy shit did you miss out on this one.

      My night was thus:

      Deadsea – Columbus locals. If Chuck Shuldiner would have been proud.
      Black Tusk – They needed a smaller venue to play. There sound would have been better in tighter quarters.
      Struck By Lighning – Honestly, I liked these guys better on album. Something was lacking live.
      Thou – Their set got cut short, but they used their 20 minutes better than anyone else could have. I’m a devoted Thou fan from that day forward.
      D.R.I. – I’ve never been into these guys, but I was convinced I had to see them live. I wasn’t disappointed, but I wasn’t blown away either.
      Yob – Holy fucking heavy. Epic songs. Their spaced out sections were made all the more intense when drawn back into their driven-sludge vibe.
      Shrinebuilder – They built shrines of sludge and psych. They worship and embrace the groove. Supposedly they’ll have another album in the works, according to Dale. Can’t wait for that.

      • Deth

        I didn’t see the other bands because I have no interest in them – plain and simple. If there were bands playing at Skullys or Bernies that I wanted to see, I would have gone to them.

        I don’t care if the bands I saw will be back or not, I saw what I likes, just like you did. We just have different tastes is all.

  • The Great Danton

    I only caught a couple of bands, just because OSU has finals this week. Managed to catch Lightning Swords of Death, Pelican, and 3 Inches of Blood. I had never heard of LSoD, tbh I went because their name sounded awesome, but I was pretty impressed. Hopefully we get something like this next year. Kind of annoying that they scheduled it before finals week, oh well.

  • Adam

    Landmine Marathon, Brutal Truth, and Magrudergrind tore it up. Nuff said.

    • Adam

      Oh and Cannibal Corpse – but that’s a given…