Dear Metal Fans,

We need to talk.  Conducting from the Grave.  Heard of that band?  Well, I was standing upright leaning my arm on the bar table when a sweeping gust of mind-searing metal rushed through the room and knocked me on my ass.  Within the first 10 seconds of the set, they had me pinned to the floor and swearing at them.  I fought to get to my feet and blocked some of the fine debris flying into my eyes to see the dual guitars harmonizing with each other during “The Calming Effect” and the singer (not Lou Tanuis from the album) conjuring up his zombie brothers with his stance and gestures.  Thankfully, they stopped playing to beckon the crowd to mosh and I took the time to strap myself to the table rooted into the ground.  They started back up, but this time I was ready, digging my fingers into the lacquer of the tabletop.  With their finger tapping arpeggios and the vocals mixing high screams and deep dry lung vocals, CFTG excels far beyond its peers.  Yes, it has been done, but it hasn’t been done well in who knows how long, and I haven’t seen it done quite like this.   The bassist doesn’t just follow; at times he steps up and leads with equally as complex bass riffs.  Well executed, the sound is so honed, and the members are so sharp together.  With just the right amount of technicality and the right amount of break down and groove, there is something for everyone in this music.  The guitar solos, executed fastidiously, are so intelligent and a pleasure to listen to.  Balanced like a sword and meant to slice with precision, Conducting from the Grave is a weapon to be treated with the utmost respect and reverence.  “Marching Towards Extinction,” changed my religion to Conducting from the Grave.  With my hair whipping madly behind me, from the still gusting storm ahead, I, still clinging to the table took out my camera and managed to get only one shot of these beasts.  If it weren’t for the wrist strap, it would have ripped out of my hand and into the young man standing behind me.  With this picture and newfound information watch out for these guys, if you see them coming, find something with a solid foundation to bind yourself to.

August 16, 2010

Report & Photos by: Lynora

The Crazy Donkey
Bar and Grill
1058 Rte. 110
Farmingdale, New York 11735 USA
631-753-1976 

Sunday - June 6, 2010

BANDS:
Without Remorse
Conducting from the Grave
Annotations of an Autopsy
Misery Index
Arsis
Dying Fetus

Dying Fetus' Facemelter Tour - 2010

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TO THE TOP

Conducting from the Grave

Notes From the Underground

Dear Face Melter Tour Organizers,

Thank you.  For once a tour lived up to its name.  With acts like Dying Fetus, Arsis, Misery Index, Annotations of an Autopsy, and Conducting from the Grave it was a wonder that any fans survived.

Without Remorse opened the show, they were “punch your friend in the back of the head” good.   This gigantic Samoan in a Stone Cold shirt was doing spin kicks this guy in front of me ducked with his arms over his head, and turning away.  The Stone Cold aficionado saw this, and grabbed him and punched him in the head and back.  When I saw him smiling at him it was good to see they actually knew each other.  Without Remorse is definitely a hardcore pleaser, but they are more guttural.  They are following this show with a US tour during all of June and July with Waking the Cadaver and Catalepsy.

Annotations of an Autopsy weren’t the first to be pranked on the last day of the Facemelter tour.  During Conducting from the Graves stellar set Noah from Arsis came out and imitated the lead singer, both vocally and visually with what I have labeled as his bizarre “zombie conjuring” hand gestures, while standing behind him.  While Annotations was blasting out their set, Misery Index got involved.  It was innocent enough, and at first I thought that the drummer’s cymbal had fallen when Adam Jarvis ran out and carefully placed a cymbal for him.  He walked off and then came back with another cymbal placing it on the other side of his set.  He and someone else then started to walk chunks of Misery Index’s drum set on stage holding up the small tom drum combos over the top of his set so that he could play his set and the 4 additional drums that now surrounded him.  Brad Merry of Annotations took it like a pro standing up and sitting down and closing Annotations set in time and in good humor.

Misery Index came out and blew my mind (and melted my face!)   How could it not be with “Manufacturing Greed” off of 2001 EP Overthrow, and “The Great Depression” off of Retaliate?  Heirs to Thievery title track continued the assault.  I looked over Misery Index a hundred times that night and counted and recounted only three people on stage.  Where was Sparky Voyles?  I researched after the show and see that he’s still in the band I just thought it was odd that one of the members was missing on stage for the last show of the tour.  They played another song I was eager to hear, “Conquistadors” off of Discordia and the song I was totally itching to hear live, “Traitors,” they closed with.  It was during Misery Index’s set that a new mosh pit move was unveiled.  The double-foot ass-kick!  Framed by two fans in front of me, I watched the kicker get full air, and get both his feet up, nailing that innocent headbanger square in his ass.   Hopefully that move doesn’t catch on!  Honestly, Misery Index needs to play for hours on end instead of 30 minutes but with such a huge bill I can see having to cut everyone short so more people can play.  Here’s to hoping for a longer set next time, and here’s to hoping it’s incredibly soon.

With dual lead guitarists, Arsis is great band to watch closely live.  But, payback! Noah’s prank led to the singer of Conducting from the Grave coming back out and imitating Noah’s windmills.  The two laughed at each other and he escaped to the back.  Two notable songs were the title track “We are the Nightmare,” off of their stellar 2008 release, and “The Face of My Innocence”, the first track off their first album A Celebration of Guilt.  While their drummer Mike VanDyne is back with the band he wasn’t able to drum this tour due to prior work commitments, so I believe it was Shawn Priest who was filing in for them.  Arsis either writes incredible drum parts or Shawn Priest is something else cause he kept grabbing my attention and dazzling me.  Jim Malone and Nick Cordle’s guitar work is wonderful together and worth the ticket price just to see them work off of each other.

Dear Long Island Pits,

You crafty bastards, stop being so picky.  I have written home about you guys so many times I can’t even count.  Notorious for hardcore pits, what does it take to get you to move for a metal band?  For the first 4 bands of this show (except for the local act, you hams!) I was going to write about how Long Island’s “Notorious” status should be reduced to “Prissy.”  And then Dying Fetus goes on and you have to make me choke on my words.  Dying Fetus came out to “Opium of the Masses,” and no wonder the place exploded.  Dying Fetus, one of the most technically tight acts out there, is still as impressive as when I first saw them nearly ten years ago.  Playing “Epidemic of Hate,” “Killing on Adrenaline,” “One Shot One Kill,” and “Pissing in the Mainstream,” they closed with “Kill Your Mother/Rape Your Dog.”  It was during this beloved number that I watched someone take a break from the pit; we’ll call him Butch.  The entire pit died out during this number, which I thought was odd, but not as odd as what happened next.  The guy at rest, Butch, stood with his arms crossed when another young man moved next to him standing on his left, we’ll call him Richard.  They faced the pit together when suddenly Richard leaned forward and in a flash, kicked up and back, directly into Butch’s face.  Butch took Dick’s kick to the face, but as Dick’s leg was coming down Butch grabbed the culprit’s foot and pulled up, lifting the leg over his own head!  As Dick lost the footing on his other leg Butch slammed Dick’s body into the floor, face first.  Butch raised his arm over his head clenched his fist and came down as a dog pile started to form.  And I’ll I could think with a wicked grin was: Run, Dick, Run.  With security guards, endless punches from everyone involved and people coming out of the woodwork, Dying Fetus’ pit ended with the nastiest mayhem since… well the first time I saw them at L’Amours.  That show also resulted in a dog pile with 40 fists coming down on one guy.  On the way out I heard one guy yelling to his buddy, the giant head-punching Samoan, “Fuck this hardcore pit bullshit!  I’m done with Dying Fetus!”  I know I shouldn’t have smirked as I got to the door and left, but after what I saw from the Long Island hardcore pits that night, it was the only appropriate reaction.

Best,
Lynora

Dying Fetus

Arsis

Annotations of an Autopsy

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)