Peter Iwers of In Flames at La Zona Rosa - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer |
by harrison davis
club kingsnake staff
In Flames
Hometown: Gothenburg, Sweden
http://inflames.com
November 29th, 2008
La Zona Rosa
Austin, TX
Also:
Gojira,
36 Crazyfists
The In Flames tour came to Austin like a metal United Nations. No bands from the continental United States makes for a great night of metal. We’ve struggled with the whole metal thing ever since Pantera ended, but the Europeans still know what they’re doing, and they showed us.
The first band on actually was American, but from Alaska so I’m not sure it counts. 36 Crazyfists was a decent, but not incredible band. Their metalcore style was good for what it was, but in the end it wasn’t anything that I haven’t heard before. That said, 36 Crazyfists put on a killer show, really getting the crowd into it. When they first started their set singer Brock Lindow tried to get the crowd into it, but ended up with limited results. Things really got going when Lindow got the 4-way Wall of Death going. The Wall of Death is of course when a mosh pit is split down the middle and then, upon the singers command, they charge at each other. I’ve been in a few Wall of Deaths but this was by far the best. From that point on, the band completely had me.
Mick Whitney of 36 Crazyfists at La Zona Rosa - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer |
France’s Gojira was the only band that I had seen before and they have really improved sinceI first saw them back in February ’07. A big part of the improvement came from the setlist. Back then they were still supporting the From Mars to Sirius record, this time they were supporting one of my favorite metal albums of the year, The Way of All Flesh. With their expanded catalogue, the band ripped through a killer set. The show was undoubtedly less calm than 36 Crazyfists but the music was fantastic here. Even though the band generally stood still for the entire show, I found myself really getting into the music.
The band kicked off with the killer opener from Way of All Flesh, Oroborus. Right from the start I was extremely impressed by drummer Mario Duplantier. The set only got better as it went on as the band continued to showcase its excellent blend of death and progressive metal. The crowd agreed with many calling for an encore as the band left the stage. The numbers calling out for one more song showed that Gojira had nearly as many fans present as In Flames did. Pretty impressive for a band that’s only been around for a few years.
In Flames is one of those metal bands that doesn’t get the credit it deserves from the general rock community simply because they are a metal band. They formed in 1990 and have been the leading name in melodic death metal ever since. In Flames is one of the most influential death metal bands in the short history of the genre.
Highlights of the nearly 2 hour set were fan favorites Take This Life and Satellites and Astronauts but the set covered both old and new material. It was a fantastic show. The only complaint I have is that it did run a little long. Many in the crowd began leaving well before the show had ended. The extended set was understandable due to co-headliner All That Remains cancellation but it was still a bit much. I was never bored enough to leave, but I did lose some interest around the 90 minute mark. Fortunately, the band picked it right back up again for the last few numbers and really brought it home for me. Few people look as cool headbanging as In Flames vocalist Anders Fridén does with his insanely long dreadlocks. The Swedish death metal legends had no need for an encore as they got everything they cover in their main set, but had they decided to play a few more, the crowd absolutely would have been down.
Joe Duplantier of Gojira at La Zona Rosa - more photos... photo by Jeff Barringer - Staff Photographer
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