BONECRUSHER FEST

INGESTED

Package tours seem to be a common occurrence nowadays with usually 3 or 4 bands. However, the newest tour cycle from Avocado’s Never Say Die takes this to a new extreme by having a massive 7 bands on their tour. With the show venue being downgraded, it doesn’t seem to be that the organisers are awaiting a massive turn out for this night of metalcore. Kicking off the night at the unholy time of 5pm - put in place in order to give all the bands playing tonight a fair slot time - is the British band Ingested who mix death metal with metal and hardcore in a way which is done consistently nowadays, but live, it has an added depth which you just don’t appreciate on record. The crowd isn’t so receptive at this time of the day with only a handful of people on the barrier head banging along with the heavy riffs being thrown to them. This venue has pillars sporadically placed in the middle of the venue floor as well as in the middle of the stage, meaning that movement is limited for not only the crowd but for the musicians themselves. However vocalist Jay Evans makes the most of the space he has, throwing himself around wildly whilst slamming out some of the most guttural vocals of the night. The quality of some of the material played by Ingested is fantastic, their dominating use of double bass works well alongside their fast and heavy riffing. A good band to start the night off with.

DATE:

VENUE:

Wednesday 3rd February 2010

Garage in Glasgow, UK

OBSCURA

Germany’s Obscura take to the stage next with their superb brand of death metal, this band have some of the most technical pieces of music on display tonight by a country mile. Steffen Kummerer’s vocals are sounding fantastic as the band play material such as ‘Anticosmic Overload’ from the album ‘Cosmogenesis’. This isn’t just simple straight forward death metal, there are so many complex layers to their songs; the riffs are intense and the drumming is a constant assault on the ears with some superb fills. A highlight of watching Obscura live is seeing the insane skills that Jeoren Paul Thesseling has on his fretless bass of all creations, the mans fingers are continually moving. Kummerer’s vocal range is displayed perfectly tonight; he and his band mates are all on top form as the crowd warm up to their set, many patrons tonight spending the majority of Obscura’s set windmilling along to their fast paced madness. Obscura are a band whose creativity is limitless and their music sounds just as amazing live as it does on record, a definite highlight of the night, a fantastic set played with passion and energy, the way it should be.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER; 3 INCHES OF BLOOD; NECROPHOBIC; CARNIFEX; THE FACELESS; OBSCURA; INGESTED

Reviews by Siobhan Hogarty

THE FACELESS

The Faceless from California appear onstage to continue the assault of technical death metal. Derek Rydquist’s vocals are sounding great tonight as he stalks the stage, manoeuvring his way around the pillar on the stage as Michael “Machine” Keene and Steve Jones stay in their places firing out licks left, right and center. Some previous sound issues which arose earlier in the night have been resolved allowing the band to give their best to the waiting crowd. The Faceless seem to have a fair amount of fans in the crowd, people are windmilling and headbanging along to the riffs and even a pit opens up - bare in mind it’s before 7pm and most people are sticking to the bar area in the venue. Tracks like ‘Xenochrist’ and ‘Planetary Duality I and II’ show just how technical this band can be and just how superb they are live. The only negative point to be made about The Faceless’ set, is that it’s just not long enough for this band to showcase their talents or even to play enough material from their newest album ‘Planetary Duality’. A fantastically executed set from the Americans.

CARNIFEX

After the impressive display of skill from The Faceless, Carnifex’s offering just seems to slightly fall flat. Whilst they are displaying some pretty awesome skills of their own, most notably Shawn Cameron’s ability to windmill near perfectly whilst slamming out some amazing blast beats. Scott Lewis’ vocals are on top form tonight, his guttural vocals flowing well alongside the manic riffs being thrown out by his band mates in the midst of their mix of death metal and hardcore. Songs such as ‘Lie To My Face’ work well live as they have a lot of energy behind them, but it’s nothing outstanding and different in the genre, regardless of how well it works live. However, material from their new album ‘Hell Chose Me’ provides a little more depth to the usual dimensions of ‘deathcore’ with the title track being a fantastic showcase of just how good Carnifex can be. Overall it turns out to be a good performance for Carnifex who probably have an equal amount of fans and haters in the crowd tonight by the looks of things, but it definitely sets a good tone for the night ahead in regards to warming up the crowd.

NECROPHOBIC

Necrophobic hit the stage and they are entirely different to all of the other bands on the bill, clad in leather and spikes, they make a stark contrast of their blackened death metal to that of the deathcore before it. Sidegård stalks the barrier as if the stage is his own, however sound issues return which leave his vocals muddy and inaudible at times. The drumming on display is well executed but it is too high in the mix and drowns out the rest of the band at points during the set. Tracks from new album ‘Death To All’ seem to work well in a live setting, with ‘Revelation 666’ setting the band’s views and intentions clear in the mind and even has some really catchy ‘hey, hey, hey’ sing-along’s, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough for the crowd tonight despite the pit’s offerings of bodies being slung around the tiny floor.

3 INCHES OF BLOOD

The night continues and it makes it down to the last 2 bands on the bill, with 3 Inches Of Blood taking to the stage to a fantastic reception; it seems there are a lot of fans in the room tonight. In their denim cut offs and t-shirts, 3IOB are straightforward in your face metal out to have a good time whilst playing live. From previous experience of seeing 3IOB live, I was apprehensive about seeing them again, but was pleasantly surprised by how much Cam Pipes vocals had improved since the previous set I witnessed; the riffs and licks sound better than on record and the drumming is solid. ‘Demon’s Blade’ is a highlight of the set purely because it allows Cam’s vocal range to be displayed well in a live setting, as well as just getting the crowd fired up and headbanging whilst the pits kick off again as fans narrowly avoid being body checked into the stupidly placed pillars in the venue which are causing issues in regards to viewing the bands tonight once the audience steadily flows forward and fills out the floor. Whilst the band don’t move around stage much, they have a good presence and energy which makes for enjoyable viewing and listening. A good solid set from 3IOB.

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER

When The Black Dahlia Murder appear, it’s to a baying crowd and they aren’t set to disappoint. The set list mostly consists of the ‘classics’ from the Black Dahlia back catalogue, such as opener ‘Funeral Thirst’ which sees the crowd surge as many try to get as close to Trevor Strnad and co. as possible to scream along with every word he echoes around the venue tonight. ‘What A Horrible Night To Have A Curse’ and ‘Everything Went Black’ see the fans in the room absolutely lose it as the band fire through each song with amazing skill and energy. All sound problems have been resolved and the mix is flowing smoothly with the drums being loud enough to be heard and intense but not so much that is overpowers everything else. Black Dahlia Murder would have benefited from a larger stage tonight in order for them to fully move around and scope the crowd; I think the fans would have also appreciated a slightly longer set list but considering it was a package tour, the amount they received was pretty acceptable. A great set from a band who never seem to disappoint live.