Jolt Country

Maintaining my metal manhood - a friend and I went to see Fear Factory / Mastadon / Sworn Enemy / Walls of Jericho.

There was a pretty lame opening act, then Walls of Jericho, followed by a NYHC wannabe local band - Inherence, Sworn Enemy, then more Inherence, Mastadon and finally Fear Factory. They used both rooms of the club - local openers on the smaller stage in the smaller room - and everyone else on the main stage... with a few minutes between gigs. Nice way to get more music for the money, but it made for a long night with one crappy band after another until Mastadon came on.

Walls of Jericho had some big hootered chick screaming (not singing). They didn't float my boat and she didn't show her tits (how lame).

Inherence has potential - but every song sounded the same as the last.

Sworn Enemy I thought was a good band, but that's because I only heard their one and only good song on MusicChoice which is named after the band. They saved their titletrack for the end of the set making us endure the rest of their crappy set.

Mastadon. Man - where do I start with these guys. Two of them are from Rochester so they have that cool local connection. Kinda like a stoner/death metal kinda band with a metal jam groove. A bit hard to describe but it's something worth going out of your way to see live.

Speaking of metal Rochester people, I got to talk with Dan Likler, bassist, of Anthrax / Nuclear Assault / Stormtroopers of Death / Brutal Truth fame for a few minutes. He's been living in Rochester with his wife for a few years now. Funny thing was first time I saw him after he moved here was when he was working as a cashier at the local Best Buy. Didn't seem like many people at the show knew who he was and didn't pay much attention to him. My salutation to the dude was "Pope on a rope!" in honor of the legendary Nuclear Assault tune "Hang the Pope". Heh - how metal of me!

Anyway, back to the show - Fear Factory came on - started the set with the first tune off their new album Archetype, Slave Labor. They played the usual bunch of tunes from their past albums, a few slow tunes here and there too. FF rocked, pure and simple.

I hung pitside for FF - throwing people into the pit which was pretty lame. The older metalheads aren't showing up to shows and when they do they hang back. There wasn't a huge turnout for this gig - so I presume we won't be seeing FF in Rochester again for a long time, if they ever come back at all.

For you guys in Colorado - FF should be coming your way real soon. Check it out, if not for FF, but for Mastadon.

nessman wrote:she didn't show her tits (how lame).

Good clean "family values" right here folks. I'm sure your wife would be thrilled that you are dissapointed not to see some chick's "big hooters".

Oh, holy fuck, please tell me you're not going to do this again. He has opinions you find disagree with. We the forumgoers have duly noted this (not that we couldn't have guessed anyway).

There is absolutely no need to troll every goddamn post he makes.

Debaser wrote:Oh, holy fuck, please tell me you're not going to do this again. He has opinions you find disagree with. We the forumgoers have duly noted this (not that we couldn't have guessed anyway).

There is absolutely no need to troll every goddamn post he makes.

No more, that's enough. It just jumped out at me because he contridicted himself in his own posts.

What the fuck are you ass-clowns talking about?

Casual, you made a good point but should have put it in the other thread.

I'll just go smoke some pot instead.

Casual Observer wrote:I'll just go smoke some pot instead.

Roll a fattie for me, mmm-kay?

I heard the new FF album, and it just sounded to me like they realized that none of them were ever going to do anything better with their lives, sat around listening to all their old albums for a few hours, and copied them. It sounds the same...but it doesn't. The songwriting sucks, there's no composition, just Burton trying his very best to rip himself off and a decent drum backing. Ho-hum. I've seen them 4 times, and they haven't thrilled me since 1998. And Burton should NEVER have cut his hair.

Then again, if the only shows coming here anytime soon are FF and MM, it'll be a close call as to who I break down and see.

Vitriola wrote:Then again, if the only shows coming here anytime soon are FF and MM, it'll be a close call as to who I break down and see.

Admittedly, FF seemed a bit tired and the new album only has a couple of songs I actually like. But dammit - good metal shows are a rarity in Rochester these days, so it's like being left with little choice. They played a lot of older stuff which was cool (most "comeback" bands are realizing that no one wants to hear the new shit).

If anything - I know you're into the more eclectic metal stuff and you'd likely dig Mastadon making the trek to Denver worth it (IMHO for what its worth).

Vitriola wrote:Then again, if the only shows coming here anytime soon are FF and MM, it'll be a close call as to who I break down and see.

I think you should see Ministry with the Milker and I. Go for the good time you'll have, even if your appreciation for the music isn't the highest it could be.

What's that one Ministry album with the saxophone? It was EXCELLENT and I can't remember what it was called, which is why it's not in daily rotation.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:What's that one Ministry album with the saxophone? It was EXCELLENT and I can't remember what it was called, which is why it's not in daily rotation.

Don't know. But they won't be playing the dancey goth stuff you like, they won't be playing the industrial thrash I like, they'll just play alot of crap from their latest spewings which sound like a cross between stonerrock, The Doors, and a heroin addict howling through the DTs.

That being said, I rarely turn down an opportunity to ogle goth girls, so there's that.

Yeah, I was thinking of buying a Ministry album based on ICJ's liking it. Because I like the music his band made. Though I don't know which one to get.

I plainly don't know who Fear Factory is, but really, you've got to see Monster Magnet, or at least pick up their latest album.

I sort of hit my Metal wall with Monster Magnet and just stuck with them. I have a few Metallica albums I bought when I was younger and jazz, but all together it's just been Monster Magnet and Grindcore.

Name one metal band that has at least one album somewhat as good as Dopes to Infinity.

Worm wrote:Name one metal band that has at least one album somewhat as good as Dopes to Infinity.

Fear Factory - Demanufacture. Arguably the best American album of the 90s.

Machine Head - Burn My Eyes. One of those albums where every song is a hit.

Ministry - Psalm 69. Classic.

Anacrusis - Screams and Whispers. Years ahead of their time, virtually unknown, and all very good at their music. Prog/thrash.

Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power. Whatever your opinions of Phil may be, this album will always top people's lists.

Then there's lots of death and black and Euro and other decades, but these were in the same vein (US, time period, level of exposure (except for Anacrusis)) as DtI.

Worm wrote:Yeah, I was thinking of buying a Ministry album based on ICJ's liking it. Because I like the music his band made. Though I don't know which one to get.

I'll try to get the name of the disc for you. It's REALLY good. But I don't know if your tastes in music map to mine. The chorus of people prepping to type in "YEAH WORM DO YOU LIKE CRAP HAW HAW" is starting to affect my hearing and I've got to leave the room. Be right back!

Vitriola wrote:Anacrusis - Screams and Whispers.

You are like one of 2 or 3 people I know who have actually heard of this band (and liked them). I have their Manic Impressions CD (and subsequent MP3 download which I have here at work and now listening to) and I think I may have Reason floating in a box of tapes somewhere as well as the MP3 version that I just found in a CD wallet. Cool.

Pantera - Vulgar Display of Power. Whatever your opinions of Phil may be, this album will always top people's lists.

Concert memory - I'm near front row, Phil tells people to come up on stage, security guy tries pulling kid off stage, Phil takes his Shure SM-58 microphone which is no lightweight and beams it into security guy's head. Phil gets arrested by state police after show on assault charges.

I think the "good" metal died off by the late 90's. "Nu Metal" completely and totally sucks ass these days. Guitar solos are virtually unheard of nowadays and singing has been replaced by screaming. The good bands are trying to make a go of reuniting and having comeback tours, but the years have taken their toll on both the bands and the fans. Metal music a sad state of affairs.