Sounds of the Underground. August 4, 2006. The Rave, Milwaukee WI
Through the Eyes of the Dead
Evergreen Terrace
Chariot
Behemoth
The Black Dahlia Murder
Terror
Gwar
Cannibal Corpse
Trivium
Machine Head
In Flames
As I Lay Dying

PART TWO

This is part two of a three part segment. Imagine how HUGE this would be if bands actually played long sets!
Behemoth, a crowd fav and a recent find of mine (thank gawd for Hard Attack). For some reason I can't read a darned thing I wrote on these guys (maybe it's because I have been waiting to board a plane for over an hour) but I must say I really love this band. I mean you may have fear when you hear the words Polish and black metal in same sentence, however, this trio has the look, the attitude, and the sound. And really, the Europeans do wonders with the black metal genre. (And I have a weakness for a European man in makeup.) They were definitely a crowd fav and show signs of being major up and comers.

One thing I really liked: My job here is to basically watch and give opinions. I tend to stand to the side now, watch the show, watch the pit, watch the crowd, and take notes. What I saw from this band was total respect for fans. While he had just finished a set and was assisting to pack their gear, a kid kept calling to Nergal. Rather than just blow the kid off, he stopped and took five minutes to talk with this kid. While they are not superstars to the level of some of the bands, they are fairly well known. I have seen local bar bands treat fans worse, and, well, the fans pay your bills. Props to Nergal for looking out for the kids.

The Black Dahlia Murder seems almost more death lite or thrash. High screaming vocals that make the hackles rise, while deep growls add a balance. I say they are more thrash or speed than death because they seemed to lack the darkness needed with death. That isn’t a bad thing, because variety at these shows is the true beauty. Once again this was one of the bands that seemed to get lost. The vocals and drums really seemed to overpower the guitars, which is what impressed me most with the songs I had heard so far. One thing I do have to say, seriously, is the Rave can kill some bands. This would be one of the bands it did that to. That's what CDs are for. I would really like to see them at a different venue. I know their quality was affected by the Rave.

Terror is what a hardcore band is supposed to be: angry, strong and, well, hard. This is music that reminds me so very much of old skool skater thrash it just put a smile on my face. It was also the first time of the day that I wanted nothing more than to run into the pit and throw some fists. Part of the Trustkill stable, these guys are a band I intend on spending a bit more time getting to know. We cut our time with them short to get the rubber on the camera, and that was disappointing.

The reason for the rubber of course was GWAR! Its been many years since I last saw GWAR, and I think time has slowed them a bit. Their work at world domination is taking on a slower, almost cleaner pace, however as you can see it still involves plenty of gore. Perhaps the best set up idea this location afforded was to end the Rave shows with Gwar and start the ballroom nice and clean. However the smaller stage seemed to detract from the usual insanity of the band and made seeing them a tad harder. The Nazi Pope was great fun and I think Brian got his best photo of that. The Giant Worm will be further fueled August 29 with the new album

On to the upstairs for the headlining bands of the evening. While I know many people were happy to see Cannibal early on, it was hard for me. Thinking about death, disembowelment and decapitation with the sun still shining takes a little bit of the fun out of it. This was my first show since Chris Barnes left the band, and if you have read my posts, you know he is one of my favorite death metal vocalists. It also is never a good thing, then again it could be, when the stretcher comes out BEFORE the band even starts. The natives were getting restless. They sounded phenomenal live. Even the shitty acoustics in the ball room could not ruin them. In fact out of the nine or so times I have seen them, this was probably the tightest sounding they've been. “Make Them Suffer� and wonderfully my fav “Hammer Smashed Face� were among the songs played. And as much as I hate to admit it, the new Cannibal is the best incarnation yet. Cannibal will always be the greatest death gore metal band ever.