Nasum/Landmine Marathon/Nausea@ The Black Castle, Los Angeles. 5/30/12.

...long live the king

Nasum was an awesome Swedish grindcore band. Tragically, the band's singer/guitarist Mieszko was killed in the horrific Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004. When Mieszko died, Nasum perished along with him. That is, until now.

2012 would have marked the band's 20th anniversary. Nasum founder/drummer Anders Jakobson decided to reform the band for one final tour to mark the occasion. Due to Mieszko's tragic and untimely passing, Nasum never got to say goodbye to it's legions of fans. Now, after 7 years on ice, Nasum was back (with Rotten Sound singer and friend on vocals) for one last hurray.

I was beyond stoked for this show. Remember, the band had been dead for the past 7 years. I never thought I'd be standing inline for a Nasum show, yet here I was. I didn't even mind that the venue was a dump (well, not a first). We missed the first act Early Graves which is funny because, I ALWAYS miss Early Graves every time they share a bill with headliners I want to see. We walked inside as LA grindcore legends Nausea were playing. I respect all that they did for the genre back in the 80's but the band was pretty boring. In fact I'd say about 1/2 the band members themselves looked bored out of their minds (including the frontman). The best part of their set was when they did sloppy versions of Terrorizer songs.

Landmine Marathon were next. Their schtick is that they're a death/grind band that has a girl singer. The band's music is kind of "eh" (competent riffs but nothing special...pretty bland/inconsistent drumming) but their live show is pretty awesome. Again this is all due to their female frontwoman:

She's pretty fucking crazy onstage. She's tall, thin and fair as snow but don't let her looks fool you, she's Linda Blair/Exorcist insane when her band starts playing. This was my 2nd time seeing Landmine Marathon and again I was not disappointed. I don't really follow their musical career, so I don't know much about their history or names of songs but so long as they keep Grace on vocals, I'm always down to see them when they role through town.

Remember when I said that I didn't mind that the venue was a dump? Well, now I did. Big Time. The Black Castle is basically a former auto body repair shop that's been hollowed out, painted black and had a stage thrown up in the back. There is no air conditioning or ventilation system at all inside. As the night progressed and more people arrived, the temperature inside skyrocketed. The "bar" was a U-Haul type trailer outside that sold drinks from the back of the truck bed. So as the bands played on and the smell of sauna-fied gym shorts filled the air, the outside U-Haul bar/holding pen became the only means of salvation/fresh air (and if by fresh you mean cigarette filled).

Anyways. Aside from me melting like the witch from Wizard of Oz, Nasum played a killer set. They came out and just slayed the place. They rarely addressed the audience and didn't make any official statements about this being their final tour or acknowledging Mieszko. No, they let their music do the talking for them. They played a lengthy set, with songs represented from most of their catalog. Keep in mind these are grindcore songs, where anything over the 2 min mark is considered "lengthy" so the fact that they played for an hour means they played a shit load of material!

I stood down in the front near the stage for the first 6 or 7 songs before my sweat glads had enough. I rushed outside for some (somewhat) fresh air and water, but alas, they sold out of my precious H20 and I had to settle for room temperature Coke instead. After returning inside I watched the remainder of their set from the sidelines. Despite the heat, the band and their rabid fans near the stage keep the energy level up all night. I looked around the room and say the awestruck grin on most everyone's faces toward the end. The "holy shit! They're playing "The Black Swarm!" I must be dreaming!" look. Truly an awesome and memorable night. That being said, there was slight specter of dread hang over their set. It was amazing to finally see Nasum live but this amazing show was less a reunion than a blazing farewell and I had to remember that. Bummer...Mieszko's still gone and the band is going back on ice after this. Still, hell of a way to go out if I must say so myself.


*NOTE*
For mote high def photos from Nasum's Black Castle gig, check out:
thestreetsarecalling.com

Despised Icon & Misery Index @ Chain Reaction, Anaheim. 9/28/10

au revoir mes amis

So this is it. Despised Icon's final US tour. Sad news for me, because my heart is filled with  regrets when it comes to this band. See, I used to hate on these guys because they were different. The breakdowns/hardcore dancing, the two singers with the wide brimmed hats...it wasn't "metal enough" for me back in the day. I came to see Suffocation and Cryptopsy, dammit, not THIS! Well after a few more encounters (on Summer Slaughter, opening for The Red Chord, etc) and the release of last year's awesome Day of Mourning album, I finally accepted Despised Icon as my deathcore lords & saviors. Then they announce they're breaking up and this will be their final US tour. Ever. At least they brought my favorite East Coast grinders, Misery Index out on this, their farewell tour.

So we arrive early yet still somehow miss the beginning of the local opening band. I normally wouldn't care because most local bands are fucking horrible but this band, Wage Slave were sick. I walked in late and ask the dude on the side of me about these guys and it ends up being the Alex Grind, drummer from Despised Icon, standing there diggin their set. So the first local opener ruled, the next group...not so much. I believe they were called Goliath. I don't really remember, I'm trying to forget about the whole experience actually. I want to say they had energy and charisma but no, none of the guitarists or bass player even looked like they wanted to be onstage. The drummer was sloppy as hell and only one of their two vocalists was any good, and the dude with the cool gutterals was wearing a Slipknot shirt....so yeah. No dice man.

Revocation came out and the contrast in talent between them and Goliath was frightening, and I'm not even a Revocation fan either. They're a pretty competent thrash act. All the dudes shredded the fuck out of their respective instruments and they had mad energy onstage. You could tell these guys love playing and were having fun up there. I dug there set but still wouldn't have minded if them and Goliath had not played and given more time for Misery Index.

conquistadores in action

Ah yes, Misery Index. They owned. It's what they do. New guitar player was awesome live, Jason moving to the left side of the stage and letting Mark move into the center and handle unofficial frontman duties (crowd banter) bothered me for a second but I let it go when I realized how much ass they were kicking. Adam Jarvis on the drums...he's inhuman (thanks for the drumstick man! Wearing old ass tour shirts pays off sometimes kids).  Despised Icon's fans didn't really show that much love for Revocation's thrashy shred fest but most the crowd seemed to enjoy Misery Index's set. Who doesn't love blasting death/grind you can bob your head to?



Sadly, Misery Index had the shortest set of the night which was a crime against humanity as far as I'm concerned but alas, they made the best of what they had and tore the place up.

MVP's

Despised Icon came out to their adoring two stepping fans and went straight into "All For Nothing." I gotta say I was impressed how Icon was able to keep the crowd and their own energy level so high playing in such a tiny sweat box like Chain Reaction (with six dudes onstage plus Alex's monster drum set).  The band rarely addressed the crowd and made no comments about they're impending demise, other than the "...this is your last chance" remark during the nights closer, "MVP" which had a literal meaning this time. From my vantage point near the side of the stage I was able to capture some sweet pics/video but sadly, the view of  the floor become obscured during Icon's performance and as we all know, watching the floor at these type of shows can be as much fun as watching the band sometimes. I couldn't see much but could definitely hear the shouts and "ohhhhhhhhs" during the silent parts of the breakdowns where all the dudes in bright colored shirts demonstrated their style.

Overall, this was an awesome show. Sucks that my first Despised Icon headlining show was also my last but hey, at least they went out on top and brought the house down at Chain Reaction. No really. Watch this video I took, I literally expected the roof to fall. 



*side note*
I was talking to Alex Grind from Despised Icon during Wage Slave's set and a little after the show about this top secret new double bass technique he's working on that is supposed to make all extreme metal dudes shit their pants in the near future. Needless to say, I'm STOKED.

Misery Index is still alive and kickin' and they just released an awesome compilation of all their splits/EPs and non-album material titled Pulling Out The Nails. Check that shit out if you're unfamiliar with the band and in the mood for getting your face grinded off.