Album Review: "Dead To The World" by Helmet

HELMET

*Dead To The World*

(earMUSIC)

Helmet, certainly not dead to the world, just won’t go away. And that’s a good thing. The band’s eighth album since 1989 is another uptempo alternative metal effort that showcases singer/songwriter/guitarist Page Hamilton’s catchy tunesmithing. The chorus of “Bad News”--“all news is bad news”--seems to reflect the tenor of the times, doing so in a repetitive pop rock way. The guitar work on “Red Scare” and “Drunk In The Afternoon” displays more of the edgy and groovy Helmet swagger first set down on 1992’s definitive album *Meantime.* “Green Shirt” is a throwaway, quirky song, out of place amid the tight riffing and discordant lead guitar style of Helmet’s usual sound. “Die Alone” better showcases Hamilton’s crisp yet distorted guitar work, as he disdainfully delivers the lyrics, biting off each word in frustration: “Last to first, people are the worst / Die alone, honey, you don’t need them.”

6/10
Link to print version of review in December 2016 issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine. Navigate PDF file to page 44.

Appearing Dec. 16, 2016 at Metro, Chicago. I'll be there...you?

Album Review: "The Violent Sleep of Reason" by Meshuggah

MESHUGGAH

*The Violent Sleep of Reason*

(Nuclear Blast)

Meshuggah is, in a word, otherworldly. The aesthetic of the latest album--the eighth in a 25-plus-year career--heavily resembles H.R. Giger’s alien surrealism style, furthering the extreme Swedish metal band’s exploration of futuristic themes and sounds.

Off-kilter, syncopated rhythms and frequent time changes, done with maximum percussion and riffage, disorient the listener on the best of tracks. “Monstrocity” builds chaotically until a downward spiral riff progression repeats with singer Jens Kidman deliberately barking out the syllables “Monstro....City!”

“By The Ton” is a mid-tempo beast of a song, heavy on thudding bass and bordering on sludge metal. Another repetitious and downward spiral chord progression is mined in “Ivory Tower,” a warning against putting faith into false institutions, which has H.P. Lovecraft-like allusions to inevitable horror: “The construction is our penance here / tumorous growth chiseled in white / when the darkness comes to slay the day / enters horrors that you’ll be wishing away.”

“Stifled” is another mid-tempo track that shows a slightly groovier side to the band’s brutality. But the title track, opening track “Clockworks,” “Born in Dissonance” and “Our Rage Won’t Die” (with an opening drum line that can only be described as a game of Whack-a-Mole) will satisfy the fans who prefer uptempo shredding.

9/10
Link to print version of review in December 2016 issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine. Navigate PDF to page 44.

Deer Season 2016: Early Action

An Indiana five-pointer

Being a deer hunter is mostly about being in tune with the passage of time--the passage of time between hunting seasons, the passage of time from the start of the season until the end, and the passage of time from sunrise to sunset. Hunters obsess about time passing, and this hunting season for me was one of the shortest I've experienced.

Not hunting on the opening weekend of firearm deer season in Indiana is a fate I've come to accept. Due to work commitments that take me out of town, I suffer by having to wait a week to finally get into the deer woods; I'm fearful that I'll miss the peak of the rut and be relegated to watching the silent woods for hours and days on end. That my dad took an 8-pointer on the property on opening day added to my anxiety.

With these thoughts I climbed into my tree stand that overlooks the prairie on my family's plot of land in northwestern Indiana (Porter County). It was 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 18, 2016, and nothing was visible at that dark hour. The temperature was 55-degrees, certainly warm for that time of year, but it would rise to 75 by mid-afternoon. A rain storm was predicted for later in the day, with a 35-degree drop in temperatures by the next morning. I was hopeful that deer would sense the weather shift and be on the move ahead of it.

A few minutes after settling in my seat 17 feet above the ground, I heard a rustling in the dry leaves below and to the left. It was too dark to make out any detail, so I was left only with my ears and imagination: due to the steady and light gait, it must've been a coyote. And even if it were a deer, it wasn't yet dawn, which marks the start of legal shooting time. So I waited some more.

At dawn, at the first gray light, I heard a different noise: the splashing of feet through the creek that flows from the west (and my extreme left), flowing toward me until it curves behind me and meets the bigger creek that flows south to north. My tree stand, pointing north to overlook the prairie, sits in the crook of this confluence.

I looked down and, 30 yards to my left near where I heard the first rustling, there was a buck crossing the creek from the north. It was slowly creeping by in the same footpath used by the buck I had shot last year. Only this buck was heading south; last year's was heading north.

I shouldered my Savage 220 bolt action slug shotgun and centered the sights on the buck's vitals. Thoughts of how I missed the first shot on last year's deer--shooting high over its back--flickered in and out of my mind...

I fired and the buck ran south toward the tall swampy weeds and woods that border the main creek. I thought I missed, again, an easy shot. But, as I strained to peer into the weeds seconds later, I saw the waving of a white tail. Normally, this means a deer is running away with the raised and waving tail a flaming white warning to any other deer around. However, the tail wasn't moving away from me. It was waving in place, as if the deer was just standing there. Then it disappeared.

I waited a moment, thinking that if I had mortally wounded it, it would be better to let it lie down and die in peace, as opposed to chasing it wounded. But I was too anxious and knew the circuitous route I'd have to take would give the deer plenty of time for peace. I could not take a direct route through the creek and into the weeds, but would have to walk through the prairie, across a farm field, down a hill and into the weedy, wet and woodsy patch where the deer disappeared.

When I got to the spot where I saw the white tail waving, there was nothing. I walked a quick grid, searching the ground for blood. A few minutes later, I found a blood trail and despair over thinking I had missed the deer turned into hope. It was a steady trail in the browns, greens and reds of the ground vegetation. I found the deer about 50 yards from where I hit it. The five-point buck died a quick death due to the double-lung shot it had suffered. The slug also passed through the liver and exited the other side.

The third buck in three years taken from the same tree stand.

I hadn't missed, and the suddenness of the season's end washed over me with relief. It was only later after I took care of the deer that disappointment set in: disappointment in that I would not be sitting in the woods anymore practicing the hunter's zen of quietly being in the moment, attuned to my surroundings in the deepest ways possible--ways not achievable for me in any other activity.

But that was only a small disappointment that I could not let be a distraction as I had much work to do after finding the buck. Once again, just like the year prior, I had to drag the deer from the  weedy, swampy edge of the creek, up a wooded hill and across the farmer's field. After that would come two days of processing and butchering. At least I had ample time to get it done, thanks to an early arriving buck on my opening day.

Snow would've made this task easier.

Concert Review: Baroness at Metro

Baroness at Metro (Chicago): Aug. 21, 2016

You just can’t help but root for Baroness: the band recently released its best (and fourth) album, *Purple,* which represents a come-back after a horrific tour bus accident in 2012 left them broken. And John Baizley is not only a gifted singer and guitarist, he’s also a brilliant painter, having done artwork for his own band and others, from Kvelertak to Metallica.

All that would be moot if they didn’t bring the goods live. They brought it at Metro with a 90-minute set that had everyone in attendance reveling in how fun heavy metal can be. The band played *Purple* in its entirety (not in album order and omitting the brief instrumental that closes the album), proving that recent collection of songs to be all killer, no filler. Hard rockers “Shock Me,” “Try To Disappear” and “Desperation Burns” were highlights from the album, and the crowd--which maintained the friendliest mosh pit around--reacted just as lustily by singing along  to the album’s ballad, “If I Have To Wake Up (Would You Stop The Rain)?” Baizley and guitarist Peter Adams were technicians on their respective guitar parts, with the two of them in perfect harmony during the numerous twin lead guitar solos, especially on “Fugue.”

Baizley, with his near-bald head, long black beard and gleaming white eyes and teeth--was a true frontman, exuberantly delivering his vocals and flashing smiles to the audience, as if he was in on some joke about how fun it was to play a rock god on stage. It was hard to tell who was having more fun: the audience or Baizley. And bassist Nick Jost, with ‘stach and mullet, looked like he stepped off stage with the Scorpions, circa 1989, as he rumbled his five-string bass and did double duty on synthesizer, taking the spotlight for the “Green Theme” instrumental.

Older tracks like “March To The Sea,” “Board Up The House” and “The Gnashing,” which ended the main set, were also delivered with bombast.

“Take My Bones Away”--an outstanding track from the *Yellow* album released just before the fateful bus crash--closed the three-song encore, with Adams telling the audience to “get home safe.” It was a reminder of what was, and what almost wasn’t.

SET LIST

Kerosene

March To The Sea

Morningstar

Shock Me

Board Up The House

Green Theme

The Iron Bell

If I Had To Wake Up (Would You Stop The Rain?)

Fugue

Little Things

Chlorine & Wine

Try To Disappear

Desperation Burns

The Gnashing

ENCORE

Isak

The Sweetest Curse

Take My Bones Away

Link to *Purple* album review.

Link to Illinois Entertainer magazine webpage, where this review was also published.

Album Review: Faith No More's "We Care A Lot"

FAITH NO MORE

*We Care A Lot* reissue  (Deluxe Band Edition)

(Koolarrow)

The reissue of Faith No More’s debut album is a nice package (10 original tracks and nine other demo, live or 2016 mixes) that shows the genesis of one of the most influential bands in alternative music, and a band that had already developed its thudding bass and crunchy guitar riffs on its way to alternative punk-metal stardom later with singer Mike Patton. “We Care A Lot” was the standout track from the 1985 debut, and the 2016 mix tightens up the composition, getting right to the chorus after the first verse, unlike the original edit that lets the tribal bass / drum interplay lead the way for a moment. All the 2016 mixes tamper little with the originals, so devout fans might have fun pointing out the subtle tweaks. Singer Chuck Mosley’s vocals work best fully throated, as on “As The Worm Turns,” another track that gets a 2016 mix, and on the original demo version of “Greed” with a Jim Morrison-like wail to end it. Live versions of “The Jungle” and “New Beginnings” from a 1986 show in San Francisco are included, but the mix here favors the drums/cymbals and keyboard, at the expense of guitar and vocals.

8/10

Link to original print version of this review, published in the August 2016 issue of Illinois Entertainer. Click link and navigate PDF to page 28.

Album Review: "The Getaway" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

*The Getaway*

(Warner Bros.)

On “Dark Necessities,” crooner Anthony Kiedis hits on a common theme of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ songs, common at least since 1991’s smash hit “Under The Bridge”: the allure of sinister temptations in life. He sings, “dark necessities are part of my design” amid piano and Flea’s funky bassline. However, it’s an underwhelming song on an underwhelming album, at least to RHCP fans who pine for any remaining vestige of the 1980s version of the band that was the very definition of a punk-funk party band on albums such as “Freaky Styley” (1985), “The Uplift Mofo Party Plan” (1987), and “Mother’s Milk” (1989). Middle age has mellowed RHCP since the band’s double album “Stadium Arcadium” (2006), and “The Getaway” follows form with songs that should be classified as adult contemporary listening, at least compared to past seminal offerings aforementioned. This album’s guitarwork--from Josh Klinghoffer--also follows the trend of mere background texture. It seems guitar has been deemphasized since the times of Hillel Slovak and John Frusciante, both scratch-guitar prodigies. (We don’t talk about the Dave Navarro years, 1993-1998). “Goodbye Angles” is one of the few songs with a featured guitar solo, although it’s repetitive and derivative. The guitar riffs of “Detroit” and “This Ticonderoga” are the most rocking on the album, and these song might be the best of this album heard in a stadium or open-air concert, like this year’s Lollapalooza headlining gig. “Sick Love” has a satisfying funky groove of bass and guitar and a sing-songy chorus, channeling a laid-back Cali aesthetic. Production by Danger Mouse is crisp but also sterile, although the style suits the album’s closing ballad, “Dreams Of A Samurai,” which relies on subtle piano and vocals juxtaposed with distorted guitar passages to fill its meandering and bloated six-plus minutes.

5/10

Album Review: Radiohead's "A Moon Shaped Pool"

RADIOHEAD

*A Moon Shaped Pool*

(XL Recordings)

“This is a low-flying panic attack,” singer Thom Yorke warns early on “Burn The Witch,” the opening track on Radiohead’s latest beguiling work. Indeed, the electronic beats and stringed instruments build to a crescendo of Hitchcockian “Psycho” proportions. Yorke’s laconic delivery belies the melancholy emotional undercurrent present on every good Radiohead composition. The video for the song takes this to the next level with a claymation riff on the British “Wicker Man” mystery/horror legend. Shape-shifting music modes abound on the album: Piano carries "Glass Eyes" and “Daydreaming,” which amounts to a soothing lullaby and ends with deep breathing effects, bordering on snoring. The English band’s subtle style makes its Lollapalooza headlining gig (July 29, 2016 in Chicago’s Grant Park) a head-scratcher, but fans should look forward to “Deck’s Dark,” a slinky uptempo song with stark guitar and drum interplay. “Ful Stop” is the liveliest song featuring a driving bass line and the oft-repeated, ominous line: “You really messed up everything.” Maybe you have, but Radiohead keeps getting it right.

9/10

Album Review: Kvelertak's "Nattesferd"

KVELERTAK

*Nattesferd*

(Roadrunner)

Defying the laws of physics, Norway’s Kvelertak keeps getting better, improving even from the brilliance of “Meir,” the band’s 2103 album that was one of the best heavy metal albums of that year. On its third album, the band crafts the tastiest hooks of any: “1985” is all the proof one needs. A mid-tempo, groovy riff is mined to the core, with an extended instrumental section of one repeating riff spanning minutes--without overstaying its welcome. The ferocity of lead singer Erlend Hjelvik’s gruff vocals have been tempered a tad since “Mier,” to the band’s overall benefit. A wide array of metal instrumental stylings--from the opening hardcore shredding of “Dendrofil for Yggdrasil” to the punk rock of “Bronsegud” to the prog metal epic “Heksebrann”--are given ample room for the band to explore. The Norwegian lyrics may be indecipherable (they may as well be in Klingon), but the musical talent displayed is universal. Kvelertak is simply one of the best metal bands on the planet.

9/10
Link to print version of review, published in the Julu 2016 issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine. Click the link and navigate the PDF file to page 28.

Review: "Justice League: Battle For Metropolis," Six Flags Great America

Inside the Hall of Justice (Cyborg in foreground)

I've got a score for you to beat: 192,106. That's the score I racked up on Six Flags Great America's new 4D interactive thrill ride, "Justice League: Battle for Metropolis." This type of indoor ride, although new for the Gurnee, Ill., location, is the latest trend in amusement park marketing--a physical video game experience that feeds into the instant gratification, competitive youth culture.

I've experienced Walt Disney World's similar "Toy Story" attraction, and Six Flags' version amps up the superhero/comic book violence over Disney's more child-centered ride.

The backstory to the ride is this: Superman, Batman and Cyborg need help rescuing Wonder Woman, Supergirl and Flash from Joker and Lex Luthor, along with their henchmen and killer Lexbots. Rider "volunteers" travel through a simulated indoor video game: tracked, self-moving carts holding six riders each whirl around corners and zip in front of video screens. There, riders use "electromagnetic pulse blasters" to take out the bag guys and rescue the good guys and gals. Each rider's score, based on what they hit with their laser pistols, is recorded. The hope is that riders will want to come back again and again to better their scores.

The action of the carts is sufficiently jarring to simulate explosions and other disasters that come riders' ways. The 4D effect is achieved when Joker's laughing gas is sprayed at each cart, and riders can feel the heat of real flame at one point when something blows up. But the best part of the ride occurs when the carts get positioned close to big video screens. There, with the help of 3D glasses, simulated movement is almost too real as riders seemingly zoom down subways and through other inner city locales, all the while letting the lasers fly. Lexbots aggressively approach and exploding virtual debris flies everywhere. It's a genuine thrill.

Joker entertains waiting riders.

The Hall of Justice indoor waiting space for the ride is the most fully realized fictional space in the park. Video cartoons, colorful placards and even an animatronic Cyborg indoctrinate waiting riders to the objectives of the upcoming mission. 

That said, the line is long. I experienced the attraction on Thursday, June 9, 2016, an overcast rainy day. I got into line with my 8- and 10-year-old at 11:30 and we got on the ride at 12:45. On that ride, the lasers, audio and most video screens did not work. We were whisked through the indoor space puzzled by the technical difficulties. Upon getting off the ride, a Six Flags employee allowed us to wait at the front of the line for the glitches to be fixed. Thirty minutes later, we were back on and racking up the points. In all we waited nearly two hours for a short ride.

Oh, and my score (192,106) registered as the 50th percentile score, so you've got a great chance to best me. Good luck.
(Link to my review of Six Flags' Goliath roller coaster)

Hall of Justice

Album Review: Deftones, "Gore"

DEFTONES

*Gore*

(Reprise)

There may not be a groovier or sexier metal band than Deftones. Singer Chino Moreno practically whispers, “There’s a new, strange godless demon awake inside me” shortly after “Prayers / Triangles” begins. Discordant synthesizer (or heavily distorted guitar) takes the soft lead, only to be juxtaposed with a loud--and hard rocking--chorus built around Moreno screaming “Prayers! Triangles!” And so begins Deftones’ eighth album, “Gore,” one that continues to show how far the California band has left behind its “nu metal” roots only to become a major influence of metal in general. Exhibit A: Moreno providing guest vocals on "Embers,” one of the best tracks on Lamb of God’s latest album . As for this effort, “Acid Hologram” features mid-tempo, wall-of-sound guitar that is both slinky and threatening at the same time. Those especially unfamiliar with the band’s style should listen to “Acid Hologram” and “Doomed User” back-to-back. The latter song picks up where the former leaves off, nailing the band’s intoxicating energy and compelling riffage. “Hearts / Wires” plays more like an experimental ballad: “Nothing can save me now / Is what I believe,” Moreno confesses at the start, only to later wail, “Cut through this razor wire / And dine on your heart / Mine ‘til the end.” That’s an apt summary of the band’s sonic appeal.

8/10

Link to print version of the review, in the May issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine:
Click on this link, open the PDF and navigate to page 28.

Album Review: Baroness, "Purple"

Baroness

*Purple*

(Abraxan Hymns)

The latest Baroness album represents a triumphant comeback. After releasing the landmark 18-song double-album *Yellow & Green* in 2012, the band suffered a bus accident while on tour, leading to the eventual departure of two members. The melodic hard rock on the 10-track *Purple* album does not show signs of this past trauma or a divergence of the band’s aesthetic due to its reformation. The band already outgrew its “sludge metal” descriptor albums ago. In fact, this might be the band’s best effort to date. Lead singer/guitarist John Baizley--also an accomplished painter/artist of his own band’s album covers and dozens of other metal bands--exuberantly sings every line above the high-energy guitar-driven tempos. “Shock Me” “Try To Disappear,” “Kerosene” (which starts off with Mastodon-like chiming guitars), “Chlorine & Wine” and “The Iron Bell” are all standout hard-rock tracks, as good as any Baroness has released in the past.  “Fugue” is a beguiling instrumental track, and “If I Have To Wake Up (Would You Stop The Rain?)” is a slow-build ballad that is both melancholy and uplifting.

9/10

Album Review: Sadie And The Stark

Sadie And The Stark

Self-titled, self-released 5-song EP

“Witches”--the first song on a five-track debut EP by local band Sadie And The Stark--is an intriguing introduction to the band’s aesthetics: Lead-singer/guitarist Sadie Rogers’ strong and confident vocal style (not unlike Garbage’s Shirley Manson)  is the centerpiece, as she sings about the thrill of desire, with an underbelly of danger: “I want to taste you” and “You are going to answer for the killing/You are going to get on your knees.” “Apocalypse,” with a more seductive and slower tempo, furthers this theme, with Sadie urging multiple times, “Come on boy, do what you do to me.” A three-piece band ably lays down the backing rhythms behind her vocals. “Two Reasons” is a theatrically delivered breakup ballad with a twinge of country acoustics, and, showing instrumental range, “Black Hearted Lover” uses wide-open, distorted guitar chords and rapid snare shots, along with Rogers’ powerful yodels, to tell one more rocking story of ill-fated lovers.

7/10

Click this link and navigate to page 40 for original print version, published in the March 2016 issue of Illinois Entertainer

Soundcloud link to music

www.sadieandthestark.com

Album Review: Megadeth's "Dystopia"

MEGADETH

Dystopia

(Universal)

On Megadeth’s latest album, Dave Mustaine’s dystopian world view begins with Middle Eastern vocalization and instrumentation that quickly transitions into electric guitar shredding and Mustaine declaring: “Justified obliteration/No one cares anymore.” And that’s just the opening track “The Threat Is Real.” Don’t kill the messenger. Megadeth is here to remind us that the world is going to hell. Mustaine is not giddy about it: he’s upset, and *Dystopia* serves as his latest political/social manifesto, something fans expect along with high-energy thrashing and Mustaine’s trademark sneering. Multiple other tracks (including the title track, “Conquer...or Die!” and “Lying In State”) mine similar pessimism about the current state of the world, with Mustaine declaring on “Fatal Illusion” that “It’s a fatal illusion to think that evil never dies,” a song that also showcases Mustaine’s considerable lead guitar skills alongside Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler’s double-bass assault. On “Post-American World,” Mustaine asks, “If you don’t like where we’re going/Then you won’t like what’s coming next. What will we look like in the post-American world?/ Why cower to all those who oppose the American world?” Spoken like a true patriot.

9/10

Click this link and navigate to page 24 to see print magazine version of review, published in March 2016 issue of Illinois Entertainer magazine

Concert Review: Sleep

Sleep lays down the groove.

Sleep

Thalia Hall, Chicago

Jan. 27, 2016

Sleep--the seminal stoner/doom metal band--hasn’t recorded a new album since the late-1990s. As legend has it, the band’s most visionary effort was twice rejected by the record label because they turned in one epic, 63-minute song (“Dopesmoker”) as the album. The Bay Area group soon disbanded, and, even though the song was released in all its glory in 2003, the group hasn’t released any significant music since.

They have rejoined for sporadic touring since 2012, and perhaps haven’t fully formed as a band due to guitarist Matt Pike’s success fronting the three-piece metal outfit High On Fire, releasing a series of albums that have made a heavy impact on the genre and cemented Pike’s status as one of the most riveting figures in metal.

Still, Sleep’s legend was enough to sell out two nights in a row (Jan. 26 and 27, 2016) at Thalia Hall, which might be one of the best places in Chicago to see live music (more about that below). It was a transcendent night of music and undeniable proof of the band’s genius, influence and ahead-of-its-time quality.

The band played “Aquarian,” “Dragonaut” and the title track all from 1992’s “Holy Mountain,” Sleep’s best full album of material.

But the highlight of the set, of course, was “Dopesmoker,” at least the first 25 minutes of it that the band played. Singer-bassist Al Cisneros doesn’t begin his monk-like chanting vocals until eight minutes in, allowing the three-piece to firmly establish its mid-tempo groove. Pike wrings the most out of each power chord, letting each ring out like a distorted, mystical gong. Drummer Jason Roeder (also of Neurosis) keeps a steady beat, heavy on the cymbals, for seemingly days. Pike, as usual, stood stoically bare-chested in front of his stack of Orange amps, focused solely on wielding his axe.

The band wasn’t overly heavy, nowhere near aggressive, just pleasantly rhythmic and even hypnotic. There were zero showy guitar solos and absolutely no rock posturing. The overall effect, however, was a collective weight, a slow crushing that descended on the audience like an aural sedative.

The historic building that houses Thalia Hall also houses
Dusek's Board & Beer and The Punch House.

The Venue

Newly renovated rock concert venue Thalia Hall, at 1807 S. Allport St. in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, is magnificent. It first opened in 1892 as an opera house, and is now a three-dimensional complex of bars and restaurants, all under one roof. The architectural landmark has an inviting and comfortable personality.

At one end, Dusek’s Board & Beer restaurant is a fine spot for food and a wide range of craft beers, including new neighborhood brewer Moody Tongue. Downstairs is the Punch House--decorated as if it’s a suburban home basement bar, circa 1975, with wood paneling and taxidermied fish. An impressive saltwater fish tank serves as the bar’s centerpiece. This hipster hideaway specializes in cocktails both classic and innovative, and still more bites to eat. Punch is sold by the glass, carafe or actual punch bowl, and a faux-wall bookcase serves as a speakeasy-like door (if you move the correct period-piece tchotchke) into a wine cellar and large room, ostensibly for party rental.

The sleekly renovated concert hall is located upstairs. A main floor features standing room akin to the space of Metro. Paying a few more bucks allows a customer access to the balcony seating area with good views all around. A high ceiling makes for an airy space. The sound there is clear and well mixed, and modern temperature controls help make it a comfortable space, something sorely missing in grungier places that usually host such bands (like the Riviera, Metro, Congress...you name it). The hall allows in-and-out privileges, perfect for those who want to sneak down to the Punch House or Dusek’s bar before the headliner takes the stage. It feels like home.

Concert Review: Lamb of God / Anthrax / Deafheaven

Lamb of God during encore.

Concert Review: Lamb of God / Anthrax / Deafheaven

Aragon Ballroom, Chicago

Jan. 30, 2016

Lamb of God’s latest album *VII: Sturm Und Drang* contains a few songs about singer Randy Blythe’s imprisonment in a Czech prison for the accidental death of a fan at a show, an incident for which he was eventually brought to trial in Prague and ultimately exonerated.

But it would be unfair to accuse Blythe of profiting creatively and monetarily from this young man’s death through the writing and publishing of tracks “512” (nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance) and “Still Echoes,” which speaks to the horror Blythe endured while imprisoned. As he writes in his memoir of the ordeal--entitled “Dark Days”--he is a man of honor and would have served his proposed 10-year sentence willingly and eagerly if found guilty. He could not live with himself if he were guilty and unpunished, his “hands painted red” and his “future painted black,” as he sings in “512.”

This sense of honor combined with Lamb of God’s unflinching dedication to their brutal form of thrash metal are two reasons why they have built a rabid following, on full display at a near-capacity Aragon Ballroom. During the entire 90-minute set, the crowd moved as one, head-banging and swaying to the crushing rhythms--it was total crowd buy-in that is rarely seen at any show, regardless of genre.

The band opened with “Desolation” then quickly transitioned to classic track “Walk With Me In Hell,” with images of Armageddon playing on twin screens. Rather than using unsteady monitors for his perch, Blythe frequently jumped up on a platform at the front of the stage to growl out his orders: “Pray for blood / Pray for the cleansing / Pray for the flood / Pray for the end to this wide awake nightmare.”

“512” and “Still Echoes” were played, but it was tracks like “Ruin” that really got the double mosh pits frothing and even combining like two twisters meeting. Footage from cult debacles including Jonestown and Waco, Texas, played on the screens as Blythe and the crowd sung together the ending words to “Ruin,” a mantra of a warning about the evils of cult deception: “Fear, pain, hatred, power.”

“Now You Have Something To Die For,” a staple at any L.O.G. show, whipped the crowd into another frenzy as slideshow images of U.S. military servicemen and women scrolled on the screen, all in a tribute to their service.

The first encore included “Blacken The Cursed Sun,” during which the entire crowd was ready for every call-and-response moment, answering “Hell, no!” to every question Blythe barked at them, including: “Is there still hope for us?” and “Is any of this even real?”

Oh, it was real, and the crowd won’t soon forget this show.

“Redneck” closed the second encore, but not before Blythe declared during “Vigil”: “Smite the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.”

As long as Blythe and L.O.G. are shepherding, this crowd would have followed them to hell and back.

Set list for Lamb of God:

“Desolation”

“512”

“Walk With Me In Hell”

“Still echoes”

“Ruin”

“Overlord”

“Walk The Faded Line”

“Now You Have Something To Die For”

“Set To Fail”

Encore #1

“Blacken The Cursed Sun”

“Erase This”

Encore #2

“Vigil”

“Laid To Rest”

“Redneck”

Anthrax breaks out the classics.

Original “Big Four” member Anthrax still holds a relevant place in metal, opening for L.O.G. in advance of forthcoming album “For All Kings,” to be released Feb. 26, a date the crowd was reminded of no less than six times during the set.

They opened with “Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t” from 2011’s *Worship Music* and also played “In The End” from that album as a tribute to deceased metal legends Ronnie James Dio and Dime Bag Darrell.

The band’s 50-minute set was full of polished arena rock posturing, which was a nice juxtaposition to Deafheaven’s at times awkward stage presence (more about that later). Classics “Caught In A Mosh,” “Antisocial” and “Got The Time” showed the aging thrashers are still fun-loving yet defiant,  and new tracks “Evil Twin” and “Breathing Lightning” were also introduced with warm reception from the crowd.

The best moment came during the last song--1987’s “Indians”--during which the song came to an abrupt end mid-thrash. Drummer Charlie Benante (who is originally from Chicago while the rest of the band hails from NYC) wanted to make sure his hometown crowd was having fun, and lead singer Joey Belladonna (who couldn’t quite hit the high-pitched Native American-inspired wails in the song) encouraged the twin most pits to merge once they restarted the song where they left off. The crowd did its best to oblige.

Set list for Anthrax:

“Fight ‘Em ‘Til You Can’t”

“Caught In A Mosh”

“Got The Time”

“Antisocial”

“Evil Twin”

“In The End”

“Breathing Lightning”

“Indians”

Deafheaven played a four-song, 35 minute set.

Pitchfork-endorsed hipsters Deafheaven tried to engage the early-arriving crowd, but its brand of death metal may be a tough sell to those who haven’t heard the studio albums, which are chock full of subtle and beautiful movements amid the crushing tempos and blood-curdling shrieks from lead singer George Clarke.

Clarke, although wearing all black, doesn’t quite embody the mannerisms of a death metal singer. Starting with opening song “Brought To The Water” from latest album *New Bermuda,* he head-banged his short-haired head in short bursts, waved his arms like a conductor over the crowd and moved about the stage like some awkward interpretive dancer.

The other four band members (three on guitar and bass, and a drummer) were also all in black, and largely stationary in the shadows as only green or blue spotlights barely illuminated any stage activity during the 35-minute set.

The California band hit a comfortable groove during the second (and less brutal) half of “Luna.” The crunchy power chord riffs of “Come Back” were another high point for the band trying to find its niche with the diverse metal audience in attendance.

“Dream House” closed the set with Clarke theatrically banging on his chest with two fists and wailing into the din--the vocals were mixed much louder live than on studio recordings where they are more of an eerie, ghost-like presence.

Set list for Deafheaven:

“Brought To The Water”

“Luna”

“Come Back”

“Dream House”

Power Trip, from Texas, opened the evening with a short set of songs that showed influences from punk, hardrock and thrash in the vein of classic Metallica.

Link to original post of review on www.illinoisentertainer.com