Strange occurrences throughout the metro last night. A baby born deaf heard her mother's voice for the first time. A veteran wounded in Iraq spontaneously regenerated an amputated leg. A note was discovered on the smoking ruins where the Phelps family
| Scott Spychalski |
This can only be the miraculous ripple effect of the Metalocalypse tour stop in Kansas City, where three of the best metal bands working today and the best cartoon metal band of all time came together to hurt you so bad. I'm going to get certain overused metal review phrases out of the way right now, so if you just want to read a condensed version of the review and then get on with your day, you can leave after this paragraph. Brutal, jackhammering, fuck, hard poop, massacre, thrusting jackhammering of brutality, hammer, death, scorched-ass donkey punch.
For those of you still around, I have to mention that this was a weird crowd for a metal show. When your first three bands are High on Fire, Converge and Mastodon, that right there is going to bring in a mix of metal heads, DIY kids and hipsters. Dethklok, the animated death metal band, brought in a lot of the same people but also a lot of kids who clearly didn't know much about metal until they saw the show and maybe weren't that interested in the openers.
Now, I'm not an elitist dickbag out to judge how metal you are based on some standard that only works in their own heads. If Dethklok got you into metal, cool. The Adult Swim show is hilarious, and the albums are solid. Whatever grows the tribe's numbers. I just hope that it doesn't stop at Dethklok. Because last night the merch table for Converge and High on Fire were woefully bare of customers compared with the Mastodon and Dethklok tables, and if you were outside smoking when either of those bands were on, you cheated yourself. Some woman was even telling me she didn't care about Converge because they weren't as heavy as Dethklok or Mastodon. Seriously? Have you fucking heard Converge? Because anyone there who was talking about Dethklok or Mastodon being the heaviest metal bands in America needs a copy of Jane Doe dropped in their laps right fucking now. To start.
| Scott Spychalski |
| Troy Sanders of Mastodon |
High on Fire, who opened the show, are pretty goddamn great too. I'm running short on space here, so lets just say they did what they were supposed to do which is play their great studio material as well as you could ask and, even though they were the show opener, threw it at the crowd with as much force as they would've if they were a few names higher on the bill. If you like Mastodon, go buy a High on Fire album. I promise you, there's a reason to be happy all these bands were under one roof.As for Converge, who followed, holeeee shit. Jacob Bannon stalks around that stage swinging his mic cord and letting you know, for a fact, you are going to die. Deal with that shit. Bannon was probably the best frontman of the night. Not to harp on a point but these dudes have been around going on 20 years because they never lay back. Converge is advanced metal studies, but once you get there, their music is as intricate and technical and out there as some of the best experimental jazz. Plus they know what all the best rock bands know: People are busy. They've got things to do. You've got to make them listen to you. And Converge makes you listen. The new album, Axe to Fall, comes out next week, ladies and gentlemen. You are welcome.
Let's talk about the sound for a second before we get to the main acts, because you should know that the guys working the boards didn't do a seamless job last night. From now on, when you picture me in these shows - and you will - (a) enjoy yourself and (b) realize there's a fair amount of screeching feedback on the vocals and guitar from where I was standing.
Mastodon... man, I love those dudes and everything I have to say about them I said before about their show at the Granada, and all that shit stands. Of all the bands, they also made best use of the huge video screen hovering behind the stage all night in preparation for Dethklok's arrival. As they went through their latest material from Crack the Skye, receding back into their past, they illustrated the changes with a video to accompany each song. For the latest stuff, a paraplegic was loosed from his earthly body to meet Rasputin, Rasputin got poisoned, then the two of them fought a baby and Satan and one turned into a baby and the world was saved. I think. The rest of the material was illustrated by past album covers and spiralling wormholes, from the three-headed deer creature, to the leviathan, to an exploding horse. I am serious.
| Scott Spychalski |
| Brendon Small of Dethklok |
Finally, we got to the main event. Dethklok. This was less of a concert than an episode of the show for the fans to live inside. Between songs animated clips let the audience know that a virus was about to be unleashed turning them all into ravenous mutants unable to spend money on Dethklok merchandise. The connected skits were fun, but after three bands building such furious momentum, the pauses between songs made it seem like Dethklok's first half was lethargic by comparison. But that's just a tempo issue. The actual live band, fronted by show creator Brendon Small, were more on point than they likely even needed to be given the fans there that night. The audience ate that shit up. And even though most of the aforementioned Klok fans were probably watching the music videos behind the band more than the actual musicians themselves, none of the flesh-and-blood men on stage used that as an excuse not to be showmen.
So, yeah.. I was pretty deliriously happy last night. I've seen a lot of metal shows in the last year or so, and this was probably the best. And I've got to give Adult Swim credit for putting together such an amazing line-up. Fuck Ozzfest. Hail the Metalocalypse.
Showing 1-6 of 6
Anonymous 1 - Regarding your criticism about the graf and the screen, that's fair. It's just that I reviewed Mastodon not all that long ago (if you didn't click the link. no worries if you didn't) and didn't have much to say I hadn't already said. The screen was the only new thing about this show. And as much as some people might hate it, at a concert like this a lot of people are more interested in the videos.
Anonymous 2 - when I mentioned that thing about elitist dorks whining about whether something was better based on some standard that only worked in their own heads... I was talking about you. I doubt you've ever punched someone in the face like you claim, but if it makes you feel tough to talk about dick moves online I guess do what you have to do. Seems strange you're so hard in shows but online such a pussy you won't sign your name to your comments. You know what's not Metal? Commenting anonymously. That's so far from Metal that the light from Metal will take millions of years to reach you.
Ok I am a dethklok fan and a overall metalhead. The one thing i dont like about dethklok is that you have pussy ass anime cartoon people, and the shit heads that just know that show and like the band. Now when those people come to the shows i feel like taking a knife and sticking it up there ass because they one probably never moshed to anything more hardcore than MCR. That and when there is crowd surfing and squishing up front they continually bitch and complain and act like there the only ones suffering. And worst of all when they try to name good bands they usually cant name anything thats not a song out of a Final Fantasy game or some shit. personally the last time I saw dethklok was with Soilent Green and Chimaira and when the irritating dickhead anime bitch decided to yell "We want Dethklok" during an awesome band like Chimaira. I turned around and punched him right in the fuking face and ended his night quickly, which is what he deserved. SO FOR ALL YOU ANIME TIGHTWADS GO SUCK A DICK WE DONT WANT YOU AT METAL SHOWS YOUR A BUNCH OF PUSSIES AND YOU DONT KNOW SHIT ABOUT HEAVY MUSIC SO DONT TRY AND FAKE IT CUZ WE KNOW! NOT METAL FUCK OFF!
I was at the 10/14 show in Des Moines, yah, the screen is a cool aspect, man, but you focused way too much of your word count on a god damn screen. Nice effort to breathe new life into a tried and true formula of live music reviews, but geez... you didn't mention more than the one sentence how you love Mastodon, the rest of the graf was dedicated to the screen and its images.
For more, the screen was an after thought, especially after seeing earlier this year. I know when I attend shows, I go for the music, not the flashing images.
Since moving to OP from the great(est) state of IL, I've been devoid of a decent hardcore/grindcore/insert-core-here show anywhere from Lawrence to KC and in-between. From a state that created HeWhoCorrupts, how can the KC Metro area even compete?
So I'm glad Dethklok and Mastodon came through town, but I hope they realize how appreciative I'm sure a lot of people were that they brought along Converge.
Any news if BTBAM is going to put a touring leg through here? Or Dying Fetus?
like
dislike
