2K7 in Review: My Favorite Albums, #8
Christ, am I sore. I suppose four straight hours of beer drinking, sweating, fist pumping, headbanging and hollering "hey! hey! hey!" will do that to a nearly 33 year-old body. Let me tell you, if the Paganfest USA tour is coming to your city, you would be a complete fool to miss it, as all four bands completely kicked my ass last night. The Mokena, IL tour stop also functioned as the kickoff for Chicago Powerfest 2008, which begins in earnest tonight. Click here for my full preview, including a look at the performers and a review of the long-awaited new album by Saturday's headliners, Testament. And now, more metal!
8. Wolves in the Throne Room, Two Hunters (Southern Lord)
Black metal has been a contentious and often silly thing for a while now. While the legendary old Norwegian bands have changed their style, gone to seed or become nostalgia acts, pockets of activity in eastern Europe and America have picked up most of the attention. However, the often interchangeable, repetitious nature of the U.S. bedroom projects and the often primitive, racist nature of the former Eastern Bloc cadre don't do much to spark my interest. Similarly, the curious rise of pagan metal to commercial viability has wrought a lot of bandwagon jumpers who would rather hop around and chant about beer (admittedly, a fun path if followed with spirit) than wring ideological and spiritual convictions into serious music. The truly great pagan metal bands, especially those who stick to black metal rather than the more demonstrative folky side of the scene, always sound as if they could play nothing else, as if modern humanity's disregard for the natural world has so repulsed them that it has poisoned their blood, propelled their limbs to attack, to force these wretched humans to dwell upon the beauty of their planet one last time before it's stripped away from them forever. That's the kind of band Olympia, Washington's Wolves in the Throne Room have become on their second album, a huge step up from 2006's interesting but embryonic Diadem of 12 Stars. The bass-free trio's unreadable logo and dedication to analog recording scream "kvlt," while their backstory (radical leftie environmentalists who live on some sort of bio-friendly commune/farm) wholly informs their self-described "transformative black metal."
Like the debut, Hunters consists of four tracks, The record floats in on "Deo Artio," an almost hopeful shoegazer instrumental propelled by slooow, cavernous drums and spacy keyboard atmospheres as thick and dank as an autumn woodland mist. Then a guitar rings out as "Vastness and Sorrow" wakes up the sleeping predators, exploding into black metal ferocity laced with euphonous drones. By the time it's wound down, Rick Dahlin and Nathan Weaver have sawed out several cyclical tremolo riffs that methodically drill and drain you of outside thought, concluding with a razor-sharp melody so triumphantly bleak it brought me to tears when I experienced it live. "Cleansing" follows in two perfectly contrasted halves, the first a spooky, fuzzy forest lullaby conceived and vocalized by guest Jessika Kenney, the second the most merciless doomy black metal segment on offer. The wordy title of "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots" portends its 18-minute length as it alternates mournful doom with searing black tempos, its mesmerizing tribal-paced interlude its calling card, with Aaron Weaver hammering the funeral drums for a suitably epic closer. Given its bite, beauty and desolation, Two Hunters ranks among the most immersive, organic, overwhelming heathen hymns ever recorded by metal musicians, achieving the effect of classics such as such as Ulver's Bergtatt, In the Woods...' HEart of the Ages and fellow tree-hugging Northwest intellectuals Agalloch's Pale Folklore. Yes, it's that good.
No official videos have been made for Wolves in the Throne Room's Two Hunters, but here is a real nice bootleg of them performing in The Netherlands in January.
"Vastness and Sorrow"
8. Wolves in the Throne Room, Two Hunters (Southern Lord)Black metal has been a contentious and often silly thing for a while now. While the legendary old Norwegian bands have changed their style, gone to seed or become nostalgia acts, pockets of activity in eastern Europe and America have picked up most of the attention. However, the often interchangeable, repetitious nature of the U.S. bedroom projects and the often primitive, racist nature of the former Eastern Bloc cadre don't do much to spark my interest. Similarly, the curious rise of pagan metal to commercial viability has wrought a lot of bandwagon jumpers who would rather hop around and chant about beer (admittedly, a fun path if followed with spirit) than wring ideological and spiritual convictions into serious music. The truly great pagan metal bands, especially those who stick to black metal rather than the more demonstrative folky side of the scene, always sound as if they could play nothing else, as if modern humanity's disregard for the natural world has so repulsed them that it has poisoned their blood, propelled their limbs to attack, to force these wretched humans to dwell upon the beauty of their planet one last time before it's stripped away from them forever. That's the kind of band Olympia, Washington's Wolves in the Throne Room have become on their second album, a huge step up from 2006's interesting but embryonic Diadem of 12 Stars. The bass-free trio's unreadable logo and dedication to analog recording scream "kvlt," while their backstory (radical leftie environmentalists who live on some sort of bio-friendly commune/farm) wholly informs their self-described "transformative black metal."
Like the debut, Hunters consists of four tracks, The record floats in on "Deo Artio," an almost hopeful shoegazer instrumental propelled by slooow, cavernous drums and spacy keyboard atmospheres as thick and dank as an autumn woodland mist. Then a guitar rings out as "Vastness and Sorrow" wakes up the sleeping predators, exploding into black metal ferocity laced with euphonous drones. By the time it's wound down, Rick Dahlin and Nathan Weaver have sawed out several cyclical tremolo riffs that methodically drill and drain you of outside thought, concluding with a razor-sharp melody so triumphantly bleak it brought me to tears when I experienced it live. "Cleansing" follows in two perfectly contrasted halves, the first a spooky, fuzzy forest lullaby conceived and vocalized by guest Jessika Kenney, the second the most merciless doomy black metal segment on offer. The wordy title of "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots" portends its 18-minute length as it alternates mournful doom with searing black tempos, its mesmerizing tribal-paced interlude its calling card, with Aaron Weaver hammering the funeral drums for a suitably epic closer. Given its bite, beauty and desolation, Two Hunters ranks among the most immersive, organic, overwhelming heathen hymns ever recorded by metal musicians, achieving the effect of classics such as such as Ulver's Bergtatt, In the Woods...' HEart of the Ages and fellow tree-hugging Northwest intellectuals Agalloch's Pale Folklore. Yes, it's that good.
No official videos have been made for Wolves in the Throne Room's Two Hunters, but here is a real nice bootleg of them performing in The Netherlands in January.
"Vastness and Sorrow"
posted by SoulReaper at 11:47 AM
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Defenders of the Faith: Dedication and friendship fuel Chicago Powerfest
Just weeks before Chicago Powerfest 2008 opens its doors, its organizers are still banging their heads against the details.
Lake Zurich's Rob Such, bassist of Twelfth Gate, and Prospect Heights' Chris Lotesto, guitarist of Ion Vein, huddle around a table and a pitcher with friend John Coyne of Chicago. The three long-haired, bewhiskered men feverishly discuss plans for the festival's sixth and biggest incarnation, which takes place today and Saturday at The Pearl Room in south suburban Mokena, the area's current hotspot for non-mainstream metal tours.
Who will pick the bands up from the airport? When will VIP attendees receive their packages? What kind of beer do they need backstage? How are they going to pay for all of this? Even though the guys say they started planning the fest the week after their last one in April 2007, building its biggest year yet means dealing with more factors such as these.
"We're trying to make sure everything is taken care of ahead of time," says Such, noting that as a fan, he'd like to make sure he can actually watch some of the performers this year.
"But it doesn't matter," Lotesto adds. "There's still stuff that comes up last-minute."
Desire brings
Powerfest began in 2000, when Ion Vein and Such's previous band, Syris, wanted to reunite with friends in bands they met at Powermad, an East Coast festival that catered to the progressive and power metal niche. Chicago-area musicians Such and Lotesto themselves first met at that event.
"The idea was to bring something to Chicago and help the scene," Lotesto recalls. "Chicago needed a metal fest. It would be good for the bands, it would be good for the city. It started as a grassroots thing, where bands that we were friends with from other states could get exposure here."
Such mentions Perpetual Motion, an online forum for fans of Powermad-style bands, as a helpful medium, saying "back in the late '90s, that's how I was finding out about bands." On the forum, people were clamoring for another event, while Such and Lotesto were hatching their own fest.
Lotesto notes that even though the first Chicago Powerfest was a one-day show with only five bands, it was enough to get the scene rolling. Soon, another fan launched ProgPower USA at the same venue that once hosted Powerfest, JJ Kelley's in south suburban Lansing.
"We just kind of stepped back and said, 'OK, run with it,'" says Lotesto, who performed with Ion Vein at that first ProgPower and even helped its organizer secure the venue. "Then he moved it from Chicago." Now based in Atlanta, ProgPower has become one of the country's best-known destination metal festivals, selling out months in advance annually.
For local fans who couldn't make the trip, though, there was a void until Powerfest returned in 2004. The delay came while Ion Vein worked on their second CD, Reigning Memories, and Such's new band, Twelfth Gate, sculpted their debut, Summoning.
"In 2003, when our albums came out, we started planning Powerfest again as another reunion," says Such. The event, which expanded to two days in February 2004, featured some of the same bands but also included a pair of local doom/death metal acts, expanding the fest's focus.
Then Coyne stepped in for 2005's edition, when he contacted Lotesto through a mutual friend about putting on a festival of his own. Coyne admits he's not a "tech-head" or a musician, but simply a lifelong metal fan.
"I was somewhat familiar with him," Coyne says of Lotesto. "I had met him in Atlanta and knew we were both from Chicago. I wanted Ion Vein to play and figured he could help with the backline, stage manager stuff." Coyne knew that Lotesto and Such were planning Powerfest, and when his own partner fell through, he told them that he had contact with Swedish bands Tad Morose and Morgana Lefay. The men combined their resources, and both bands made their first United States headlining appearances at Powerfest in April 2005.
"We had Moe and Larry," jokes Lotesto. "We just needed Curly."
Trial by fire
"Have you noticed that in the last five years, everyone's doing a fest?" Such posits, rankling at detractors who think they can do a better job. "And they last one time and they're done. It's hard doing a fest. That year we had Tad Morose and Morgana Lefay, we luckily broke even. Since then, we've been losing our asses."
"This year, we're throwing all our cards on the table," says Lotesto. "If Chicago doesn't accept this festival, then it's not worth it." Yet the organizers admit that they've gained experience each year.
"Up until last year, we didn't want to rely on sponsors," notes Such regarding this year's VIP upgrade option. "Then it dawned on us: we're forking over thousands of our own dollars to put on a festival, and for what? Because we love metal, we love the scene. And that's why these sponsors want to throw money at us. They want to be a part of it. They want to help us. That's when we said we'd do it again. We're like, let's lose twice what we've lost just to say we tried it all."
"The big learning curve for me came in '06," says Coyne of the weak turnout for that year's fest, which took place in Chicago Heights with headliners including the returning Morgana Lefay, Italy's Eldritch, Sweden's Nocturnal Rites and England's Biomechanical. "I was truly disturbed, because that was as strong of a lineup as any fest that caters to this genre can ever put together in this country. We took a bath, although every band was impressed. They weren't dealing with some agent or promoter, we were the real deal."
"We learned logistics," says Such. "Location is huge. Having it 18 and over, not all ages, that hurt us."
"Band relevance is important," adds Lotesto. "It doesn't matter how great they are or how much we love them. How relevant are they right now?"
"We decided right then that we were putting together a Chicago fest, not a national fest," Such continues, noting that more fans actually came to 2006's Powerfest from out of state than from the local area. "We put together bands that people from Chicago want to see. This time, we went as far as to make the bold statement on one of our t-shirts: 'Welcome to the new Chicago metal scene.' This is when it starts."
The future is now
"Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth is geeking out about playing," says Such of tonight's headliners, who are performing their first show since reuniting with classic-era vocalist Matt Barlow.
"He said that Chicago was the first city in the U.S. that really embraced Iced Earth," Lotesto says. "I think it's great that they can start this new phase of their career here."
As for Bay Area veterans Testament, who headline Saturday, Coyne is a longtime fan, noting their influence on many of today's young thrash metal acts. "They didn't have the sales Megadeth did, they didn't sell out like Metallica did, but Testament is a legendary band," he concludes.
The organizers warn not to get to the show late, as anyone unfamiliar with the rest of the bill will be surprised by bands from five countries playing eclectic styles ranging from melodic metalcore and thrash to gothic prog and folk-influenced death metal.
"These bands from Europe are sacrificing a lot when it comes down to financial matters, time off of work, missing their families," Coyne says. "Whether you've heard of them or not... show up, get educated, at least respect their sacrifice to come and play."
"Rob and I have been on that side of the coin," Lotesto says. "We've forked out cash to go play a fest in Podunk, USA, simply to get out there in front of people who want to discover a new band. If someone just wants to get there for the headliner, fuck you! We've gone out there into a strange place with strange people, hoping to win new fans over. I just wish everyone recognized that."
All three men agree that the key to booking a dream lineup fans will show up early for is timing, which has at times worked against them. For instance, Seattle thrashers Nevermore were set to play last year, but since they were lacking a rhythm guitarist and their drummer was expecting a baby, they bowed out. This year, progressive metalcore heroes Between the Buried and Me were interested, but instead took a simultaneous opportunity to tour with Dream Theater and Opeth.
"It's luck," admits Lotesto. "It's not like we haven't been trying to get Iced Earth and Testament for two or three years, because we have."
Regardless of how well Powerfest does this time, Such says plans are already in motion for an event in 2009, although "we realize that it's never going to be easy. No matter if it gets really big, you're still gonna see these three guys handing out fliers at shows."
The internet continues to be the best tool for connecting Powerfest's organizers with bands, since it makes international communication a snap. Such makes a point to reach out to other performers, saying "we plan to take advantage of the contacts we made this year while the buzz is hot, having planted the seeds with so many bands. Then it's like, 'Oh, you know so-and-so?' But as we learned this year and previous years, you can hope you're going to get this or that band, but it's not going to happen. It's all about planting seeds."
From seeing the three exchange friendly jabs, it's clear that building Powerfest has given them more than a few great concerts. The highs, lows and hard work of the experience have forged a joint venture that is most importantly a dedicated friendship.
"It comes down to quality control," Lotesto says. "We're up against every single tour package, every single style of music and club you can imagine. If we want this to be a quality festival, one we would want to come to as fans, our hands are going to be dirty and we're going to be in the center of it."
**************
Here's a look at this year's Chicago Powerfest performers.
Friday
Iced Earth (all over, U.S.): The fest's biggest coup in 2008? Scoring the first live performance by this veteran power thrash outfit since vocalist (and fan favorite) Matt Barlow returned last December. Expect masterful rhythm guitar triplets, anthemic choruses and maybe a taste of the impending second CD in their Something Wicked saga.
A Life Once Lost (Philadelphia, Pa.): These young chaos bringers used to play a weighty, mathy style, but their recent album Iron Gag focuses more on tough Pantera-style grooves.
Epicurean (Minneapolis, Minn.): Melodic death metal done the American way, with symphonic keyboards and some 'core elements to counter the onslaught of diddly-doo guitar wizardry.
Ion Vein (Chicago suburbs): The former traditional prog/power metal band emerges from a long hiatus with new vocalist Allen James and, judging from their new demos on MySpace, a much meatier power thrash sound.
Arise and Ruin (Ontario, Canada): Surging metalcore from north of the border that doesn't share the technical focus of many Canadian peers, opting for eye-popping Sepultura-esque energy and sprinklings of melody.
Saturday
Testament (San Francisco/Oakland, Calif.): Four-fifths of the classic lineup returns to the Chicago area for the first time since 1992. Considering their new album (see below), Testament remains one of the few old school thrash bands worth keeping up with today.
Darkane (Helsingborg, Sweden): Vicious deathly thrash favorites with screamed and sung vocals, astoundingly complex drums, rabid guitar riffs galore and a vaguely futuristic feel.
Suidakra (Düsseldorf, Germany): Making their live U.S. debut, this long-running pagan clan laces melodic death metal with pronounced folk influences for an über-European treat. (While they're in the States, the band will join some West Coast dates of the Paganfest USA tour featuring Ensiferum, Turisas, Týr and Eluveitie, which stopped at the Pearl Room last night, functioning as a Powerfest "kick-off party.")
The Autumn Offering (Daytona Beach, Fla.): Polished metalcore for Trivium fans, with harmonic guitars and lots of clean vocals adding a vibe somewhere between classic metal and emo.
Twelfth Gate (Chicago suburbs): The underrated progressive thrash machine has fortified their chunky, rhythmic attack with the more diverse, aggressive pipes of new vocalist Aaron Broderick.
Chaoswave (Cagliari, Italy): Although the vocals are split between a male/female pair, don't expect the flowery style of their countrymen Lacuna Coil, because the singers' nocturnal velvet tones are fused to a techy prog-thrash frame.
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Testament, The Formation of Damnation (Nuclear Blast)
Bay Area thrashers Testament spent the '90s in the underground, culminating in 1999's hidden classic The Gathering. Its all-star lineup (including onetime Death guitarist James Murphy, Sadus bassist Steve DiGiorgio and Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo) was almost inconsequential next to its rock-solid songs. It was the heaviest, most bracing thrash album released during the heyday of nü-metal, let alone from a veteran "second-tier" band.
Nine years later, vocalist Chuck Billy and guitarist Eric Peterson finally succeed their late-career masterwork by welcoming lead guitarist Alex Skolnick and bassist Greg Christian back to the fold. As if that 1999 disc didn't create enough expectation for a follow-up, Formation nearly reunites the "classic" Testament lineup (with drums by Paul Bostaph of Forbidden, Slayer and Exodus fame).
If this disc was a stinker, Testament would be done. Thankfully, it's anything but, bridging the gap between the crushing death metal-ish brutality of The Gathering with the more nimble and melodic slant of their '80s work.
From high-throttle ragers like "The Persecuted Won't Forget" and the title track to the insistent midpaced chug of "More Than Meets the Eye" and "Killing Season," the band plays to their strengths. Billy delivers demonic roars and sonorous croons in all the right spots, while Skolnick's smooth, jazzy solos provide the characteristic piece missing from Testament since his departure. The only dated element is the Sept. 11-themed lyrics of "The Evil Has Landed," and even those aren't corny.
There's nothing on Formation that Testament fans haven't heard before, but they've never heard it all on one album. Formation is truly a career-defining disc and will surely find its way onto many year-end best lists not due to nostalgia but because it's virtually timeless thrash by pros who care about what they're doing. Even if it's bound to sell a lot more ringtones, there's simply no way the impending Metallica platter can hope to match its quality.
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