September 27, 2015 - Ah, I've kind of missed VENUE as it's been a while since I last shot Anti-Flag here, despite its lack of a photo pit. What I don't miss is the obnoxious, shitty security staff (dude, you're a bouncer at a venue for a metal show, not dealing with drunk fucks with fake IDs) and the pretentious, entitled people that come through these doors for regular nights (the amount of judgement at these alt kids after leaving was HILARIOUS.) Regardless, I felt horrible for missing like 3-4 shows that local act Angelmaker has put on due to other commitments such as work, birthdays, school or well more photo work. Anyway, shout out to Cole Rideout for the access and letting me use the photos for NotYourScene!
Angelmaker was up first, and boy did they start the show off right. Despite perhaps having the smallest following of the lineup, they held their own being the HEAVIEST of the lineup as well. Pig squeals and death growls lined their breakdowns and melodic sections of their setlist and everything sounded tight and in sync. It's definitely cool when there's people you know succeeding in the music scene when so many others have failed, and these guys have a ton of potential as you can tell they put their heart and souls into what they love.
You can check out their debut album, Dissentient, here.
To The Wind, a hardcore-punk band from Seattle followed suit and although shifting gears in genre, put on a good act with lots of energy (to be expected from a hXc band!) Although fairly quiet on social media, the band has put out two full length albums, Block Out the Sun & Sleep, being the most recent and had jumped on Warped Tour for 2014. They will be returning to open for metalcore act Texas in July in a month so I will put a more detailed concert review in there!
After the shit-show that was Tim Lambesis' (of As I Lay Dying) bribe to an undercover officer to kill his wife, the remaining bandmates did what most people would do if they found out that someone they knew was conspiring murder - get the fuck out (well technically, put it on hold while Lambesis serves his jail sentence and drummer Jordan Mancino still shares ownership rights).
Anyhoo, Wovenwar consists of the departed members of As I Lay Dying combined with Oh Sleeper's vocalist Shane Blay. The band itself isn't so much traditional metalcore as AILD as it infuses hard rock, alt metal and modern heavy metal into it as well - appealing for a more diverse audience compared to your stereotypical angsty 16-25 year olds. Wovenwar themselves put on a strong act and are building their reputation as they've toured with huge acts such as In Flames, Periphery and Black Label Society.
Their self-titled record is also available now!
Last, but not least was the metalcore headliner, Unearth, hailing from Winthrop, Massachusetts. Despite listening to a fair bit of metalcore, I'll be honest, I haven't heard of them until the night of. This might be perhaps that they formed in 1998 with more of the pioneers of metalcore such as Hatebreed and Integrity. Regardless, they have a more raw sound compared to the same old rinse-and-repeat acts of today (clean vocals/chorus, drop tuning breakdowns, etc.) The audience drawn was a much diverse crowd than what I would usually expect and the energy was high as I had to evacuate the front of the stage or my camera would have exploded with the fury of a couple hundred moshers.
Their latest album, Watchers of Rule, was released in 2014.
Setlists
Unfortunately no setlists available for Angelmaker or To The Wind.
Wovenwar
- Foreward
- All Rise
- Death to Rights
- The Mason
- Profane
- Tempest
- Matter of Time
- Prophets
Unearth
- Watch It Burn
- Never Cease
- This Lying World
- The Swarm
- Endless
- Giles
- Last Wish
- Burial Lines
- Zombie Autopilot
- My Will Be Done
- The Great Dividers