Live Review: Sepultura with Hate, Keep of Kalessin, Neuraxis
Monday, May 30th, 2011
When: May 29, 2011
Where: The Starlite Room, Edmonton, Alberta
This show has itself a bit of a long introduction. As far as I knew, Nevermore were the headliners; I had no idea Sepultura were coming. Then I found out that Sepultura were the headliner while Nevermore and Bonded by Blood were not going to be there, and the show was to be opened by a local band called Miskatonic. They didn’t show up either.
I was on the guest list for Hate, and I was going to interview ATF Sinner, their singer, before the show (which I did). That stuff worked out just fine, after Mrs. Blaspheme and I got to the venue. As it turned out, I was the only person with a photo pass, so that made me feel really cool.
So the show was going to be Neuraxis, Keep of Kalessin (my second time seeing them), Hate, then Sepultura. Kick ass.
Neuraxis hit the stage to a big amount of applause and moshing. Turns out they were in Edmonton a couple years ago with Cannibal Corpse, gaining them a ton of fans. They got a new one out of me last night. They play a fairly technical death metal with some really fucking awesome riffs. Their vocalist is insane, which the fact they are from Montreal kind of explains things.
Keep of Kalessin took over the stage (and Neuraxis’ drum kit) to a good applause. They were in town last with Dimmu Borgir as far as I know, so this was my second time seeing them. And just like the first time, they kicked ass. Blackened death metal with some really catchy tunes, I saw a couple people singing along. Unfortunately, due to timing crap, they had to get off the stage early.
Finally, Hate, who I was so stoked to see, got to play. With Neuraxis’ drum kit. Those poor skins were beaten really hard last night.
There was some technical issues with Destroyer’s rig, but when all that shit was shoveled away they got down to some good old fashioned evil Polish death metal with more than a heaping helping of blackened elements. They wowed the crowd for the second time in two months, and were given a huge chant of “Hate! Hate! Hate!” several times.
ATF Sinner is a killer frontman, while Destroyer really helps to get the crowd moving and moshing (despite moshing not being allowed). I can’t wait for this winter, when they’re supposed to come back to North America, hopefully stopping in Edmonton once again.
After they got off the stage, another round of “Hate!” was chanted. You’d think these guys were the headliner.
But, instead, we were treated to another band. Sepultura, legends of thrash and death metal since 1984 were gracing our city with their appearance. And I was very much bored with the whole affair. I closed my eyes several times, and instead of hearing that classic Sepultura sound, I heard some generic MySpace deaththrash. Open my eyes again, and there they are, seeming to go through the motions (except for singer Derrick Green, who seemed to truly be enjoying himself). Truth be told, I couldn’t continue to bear witness to a classic band play so horribly, so Mrs. Blaspheme and I left with all the Hate, Keep of Kalessin, and Neuraxis merch I bought, as well as the Sepultura shirt that I’m wishing I didn’t grab, and went to Denny’s to finish the night off.
The Big Win: Hate. Interviewed ATF Sinner, and got his and Hexen’s autograph, as well as a bunch of merch from them, as well as the other bands.
The Big Loss: Sepultura. Lackluster performance and generic sound really made me wish they were Jungle Rot, or a similar groove metal band that still have something to prove and won’t just rest on their laurels.
