Hatebreed
Hometown: New Haven, Connecticut
http://www.hatebreed.com/
Hatebreed Concert Photos
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
La Zona Rosa (Austin, Texas)
also:
The Black Dahlia Murder,
Napalm Death,
Exodus,
First Blood,
Despised Icon
I feel pretty old as I write this review. I mean, I remember hearing
Exodus before they even released their first record, and they were a very influential band for me in 80s. Paul Baloff was a nut case which is exactly what I wanted to see and hear for a band like Exodus, but when they got the next singer they lost me for a while. The band's lyrical content and style was altered and I was just not into it. Still, after over a decade of not seeing the band live I was anxious to see them.
So they take the stage, and the only original member is Gary Holt, a guitar legend in my eyes, and what kind of freaked me out a bit was he looked so much the same after all those years. Then to my surprise they open with the title track of their first record,
Bonded By Blood. I just about fell over. Talk about a flashback, I mean I saw the original lineup many times and this incarnation was delivering the goods as it should have been, played with the “fuck all trends, we are who we are� attitude and man, I was just shocked at the presence they had. They emanated true Bay Area thrash and it was freakin' awesome.
Then I'm noticing this new singer (new to me anyway). He was fat, gross, obnoxious, and well......I was thinking: Has Paul Baloff's spirit been reincarnated in this new madman? I really think they have found the perfect frontman. A friend of mine was telling me that their new record was great and they played a track off it and I thought it sounded pretty damn good.
Horns up for Exodus. Thank you, Gary Holt for holding the integrity that so many older metal heads lost following trends, and for keeping this band alive. If you used to listen to this band and have not paid attention to them for a while, you have to go see them and buy their new records. You will find yourself asking why the hell you stopped listening to Exodus. This is a great band. I heard they may do a headlining tour in the US some time soon and you can bet your balls I will be there.
Here I go again........reminiscing about the old days. In high school I brought the newly released
From Enslavement to Obliteration record to our morning thrash before class session. My Priest and Ozzy friends were in tears laughing at me saying I was the only person on earth who would listen to this shit. Even the guys in my own band, Nokturnel, thought I was nuts when I said this band is going to change to face of metal. Soon after they were shocked when
Napalm Death was known as the definitive grindcore band. Next thing we knew they were huge, legendary, and what was once heavy was a joke compared to them. I saw their first two shows in the US, and I believe they were vocalist Barney Greenway's first shows with the band EVER. The show at Streets in NYC was killer but it could not compare the insanity of the crowd at CBGBs. I will never forget that though it seems an eternity ago. So the band carries on after a few lineup changes and now again, over a decade later they’re still here. Well Shane Embury...the final original member is and again, I must say I have a lot of respect for him.
Though the band has covered a lot of ground with different feels to some records they are indeed the band that made the heaviest music a hell of a lot faster and heavier. They had a good mix and the songs were audible, not an easy thing to accomplish for a band so heavy. To hear them play a classic like "Rise" or "Suffer the Children" is just something I had actually taken for granted for a while. I mean I have seen so many bands so many times that sometimes I do more bullshitting and drinking instead of watching the bands. This night, however, I went alone, met Jeff B there, and some local friends, but I spent the majority of the night simply watching the bands. Seeing Napalm was actually pretty incredible. They did not really slip into any trends over the years. They actually are credited with starting one. The bands all had short sets.........which was really fucking annoying. So Napalm chose to play some brand new material and it had balls. It had Napalm Death written all over it and that is what their fans want.
The guitar was heavy, the bass pulverizing, the drummer is on fire and Barney is just nuts. His wacky seizures of this too much caffeine I am moshing but in my own creative way thing has been something I am not too into but hey, he can do whatever the fuck he wants. He took a moment to say something to the effect of how religion has brainwashed humanity for a few thousand years and he encouraged people to open their minds and think for themselves....free thought...he really seemed serious when he went on to say how fucked up the world is because of religion and views like this are often overlooked by people who do not listen to this kind of music. They have faith, there’s nothing wrong with that but there’s a lot of different things to believe in and when it influences things like war.......well, there should be times when you question it. “Normal� people usually think metal heads are just not capable of being intelligent and nothing could be further from the truth.
This band will continue to pack clubs which are filled with a very non-typical metal crowd. Hardcore fans, metal heads, regular looking people and of course really fucked up looking people too (I mean yeah, I was there). It seems they somehow turned into this band that appeals to so many fans of extreme music, this is not at all ordinary. They are no ordinary band. I have often asked friends who will be the “big� bands when the likes of Deicide, Morbid Angel, Napalm Death, and whatnot are gone? The bands who started when they were young, now with members all over the age of 35 ... Who will fill this legendary blank space? How is it possible?
I fear for the time when they are all no longer playing music. From the mid 80s to current times, metal has evolved, and bands like Napalm Death and Exodus are pioneers of the heavy metal we are hearing today. Do yourself a favor and buy some of their records and give them a listen. Support them and go see them when they come to your town. These guys have really made an impact on the underground and to think they’re not kids anymore and they still take it so seriously is really something they should be worshiped for.
The men in these bands are professionals. They play their music with intensity and have stood long and proud above the posers of commercial metal and have stomped them into the ground. To think I almost didn’t get to see this show........as you could probably guess I am so glad I did. It makes us older guys remember why we loved this music so much when were young, and why we will love it til our dying days. In closing I will have to say a lot of younger kids were really into these bands, the support they got from the crowd was impressive and I am sure they appreciated it as much as we appreciate the fact they do what they do. The only thing that sucked about the show was the length of the sets each band played......other than that it was the kind of show you think about and say...man ...that fucking ruled!
Now for the new band,
Black Dahlia Murder. Not new to some........ but a band I had overlooked. I have their freakin disc in my inventory for my Distro (yes I am keeping it) and I never checked them out, although they were hyped as a very great band. With the 18 crillion other bands out there it's hard to find a minute to hear them all. In other words, shit happens, and I had no idea what to expect when they took the stage.
To start off, I was fucking pissed off. In my opinion the fact they went on AFTER Exodus and Napalm Death was an atrocity! Who makes these freakin' decisions? So I was a bit irritated, but still it was important to me to see this band. Would I watch the entire set? That had not been decided. That was until they played for about 30 seconds. This band is killer. I mean incredible killer. The precision that was displayed from the band was just perfect. I mean the guitars picking in this mega down stroke, like "At the Gates" or "Dark Tranquility" but with an incredibly fast drummer, was just unbelievable. I will have to mention all their hair combined was not equal in length to one old school metal head and the singer looked like the guy who makes my pizza here in town but how’s the saying go, "the times they are a-changin'."
So they don’t look like a traditional metal band, or should I say generic metal band? Regardless, the music is all that matters and fuckin' A, these guys played some topnotch death metal. Now brutal, not blasphemous, but incredible music in a league with the heavier bands. The crowd ate them up, as they were just flawless. The music overall is really great but the drumming......holy shit was that ever the icing on the cake. The guys on guitar and bass were bit in the statue type mode, not a lot of thrashing or movement which bugs me a little. You may have wondered if they were lip synching as the sound was that perfect. I'm sure their fans were blown away, but for a guy like me, who was not familiar with them, I can say I have not been this impressed by a new band for a long time. They were untouchable. This is a band that deserves your attention. They are phenomenal and delivered one of the best live performances I have ever seen. They’re THAT good. I still think they should have gone on before Exodus and Napalm though... but the world is an imperfect place
I missed the openers
Despised Icon and didn’t hear anyone mention them the entire night.....so I assume I did not miss much. The next band,
First Blood, was hardcore, generic, and didn’t do anything for me. I can’t remember a note they played.
Hatebreed was the headliner. Although I am not into the vocal style of modern hardcore bands, the crowd loved them and the their sound was crisp, audible, and heavy. I am just stuck with the thrash and death
metal sound to the point where I can't get into much else. I watched one song and bailed. Jeff stuck around a bit longer, until the crowd surfers started surging over the security barrier and the photographers were ejected from the camera pit. Hatebreed have a huge following of dedicated fans, and are looked at as a premiere band in hardcore and I congratulate them on that. Just not my thing....so I called it a night.