Upcoming Shows *UPDATED*

Talk about too good to be true! I would burn candles to every God I know just to see Summer Slaughter. That line up is beyond sick.

 

Meanwhile, Metal U-Night will be presenting East Bound And Death tour at Malarky's in Albuqurque on the 17th, featuring local bands Defleshment and Fallen Prophets. 

Don't miss Four Corners Metal Festival in Farmington, NM. Over 15 bands will be playing all day long, and it's an all ages event. 

 Hating Nate (formerly known as HN-88) are calling it quits after countless years of providing Santa Fe with some much needed Punk. They will be joined by locals Almost A Lie and Rockin' Rascals from Denver. 

Speaking of bands calling it quits, I hope you didn't miss As In We's swan song at the Santa Fe Bandstand on 07/15/14. That was one hell of a show. They are splitting up indefinitely, but who knows? Besides, at least you can check them out on Bandcamp, Reverbnation, or their official website.

Santa Fe Bandstand is an ongoing event, and you can check out the schedule here. This is not necessarily Metal, but a diverse array of genres and plenty of Rock n' Roll. 

Last but not least, The Santa Fe Reporter will be hosting the annual Best Of Santa Fe Block Party at the Railyard this Saturday. The top 3 bands voted by readers will be performing, so there's a pretty good chance that we'll be seeing some heavy fuckin' Metal. Even if not, it's a good excuse to grab a drink at 2nd Street Brewery. See you there, my friends.

*UPDATE* 

This is going to be Oscillation's final show, at least for the time being. In other words, yet another band is breaking up indefinitely. Frankly, I'm starting to lose count.  Let's make this last show a good one, with support from Torn Between Worlds, Carrion Kind, and 3 Weeks Later.

Conquerors Of The World

 

 Holy shit, just look at that sexy lineup. If you missed the show in Albuqurque on the 11th (or anywhere else they already played), sucks to be you. Here's what happened during their performance at Blackwater Music.

Endless Infection, from Albuqurque,  opened the show with blackened death metal.  The drums and riffs persisted at breakneck speed, accompanied by nasty, heavy growls. Their overall sound was primally aggressive yet complex, setting the standard for the rest of the night. 

Deforme, also from Albuqurque,  was a flashback to old-school death metal like Vital Remains and Suffocation. The ruthless music was a catalyst for rowdy mosh pits. Beastly gutterals and thrashy guitar riffs, layered over heavy percussion, resulted in a truly evil sound.

Necronomicon, a 3 piece  black metal group from Montreal, rivaled the headliners in theatrics and musical prowess. Their performance style was defined by atmospheric yet brutal soundwalls. Mid-paced guitar melodies were juxtaposed over dark growls and, for one especially memorable track, haunting female vocals.

Black Crown Initiate diversified the concert, being the only prog band amongst a plethora of black and death metal groups. The vocals were a combination of maudlin cleans and death growls. The melodies were multilayered and melancholy.  Although they were more ambient and less aggressive than the other acts, the music was heavy and the performers are clearly talented musicians. 

Fleshgod Apocalypse was fucking ace. They were at their peak when playing their magnum opus, The Violation. The astounding range in the clean vocals sounded better in the studio than on the stage. However, the relentless gutteral vocals  sounded excellent, especially when juxtaposed over Francesco Paoli's exquisite drumming, who is not only insane but inhuman playing over 300 BPM. Not to mention the eye candy of a bunch of hot Italian dudes wearing tuxedos and corpse paint.

Septicflesh sounded drastically different from their performance at Hellfest, which I've mentioned was nearly identical to their studio recordings. Conquerors Of The World was more like a live show, with more improvisations and audience interaction. I especially enjoyed when Spiros Antoniou would say: "On the count of three, together we destroy," inciting furious headbanging and lethal mosh pits. Three days later, and I still have whiplash.

 The small venue was somewhat claustrophobic for such elaborate, high octane music, yet that was part of the appeal. It made the music overwhelmingly loud and mosh pits virtually inescapable. Even if you weren't in the heart of the slam dance, you would leave the show with a bruise or two. Overall, the concert was damn near perfect. Five stars out of five.

Band Review: Distances

Last post grazed upon the surface of the Albuqurque band Distances and their extaordinary stage presence. However, I feel as though their talent warrants a little more attention than what I gave them. Since I'm already conscious at the ungodly hour of 10 in the morning, I'll do a quickie post before I go to the first annual Blu Phoenix Rising fest. (W21, $10, 5 PM). Anyway, this band is phenomenal, so check this shit out.

Lucid melodies sublimate, abrupt and yet seamless, into intense cadences. However, these heavy sections are still tempered by elements of ambience. The guitar riffs are pristine, distorted in their consonance, leaving the audiences ears ringing with this haunting silvery sound. The vocals are consistently caustic, never straying from the ruthless snarls that characterize the music. Meanwhile, the drums are usually in the background, but the shining moments of percussion are fucking immaculate, like seeing the moon shine through a veil of clouds.

Distances embodies audiovisual overdrive bordering on synesthesia. The sensory assault is lurid and brooding, and somehow remains harmonious. The sight of the musicians on stage, headbanging together amongst the scizophrenic lights, was a testament to the unison in entropy that defines the band. Distances was an exquisite experience, not only for their beautiful music but also for their visual spectacle. Five stars outta five.

(P.S.  Thanks for the acid flashback. )