BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUSS is one of the those bands that I had been dying to see due to the technical prowess that is demonstrated on their albums mostly by the madman bass player. I had seen INTRONAUT with HIGH ON FIRE, but I was interested to check them out again and MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECT... I just assume they fit the general mold of the other bands.
I was curious as to why INTRONAUT were opening since they have already been on several successful tours. After talking with some of the dudes from INTRONAUT they had been alternating each night who plays last or first, which I thought was a cool idea. of course they rocked the shit out of the little venue with drone tuned metal and super harsh vocals, not guttural Death, but still very powerful. The beauty of INTRONAUT, unlike to some that are grouped into this genre, if that�s what you want to call it, is that they vary it up with some lighter interludes with a jazzy kind of feeling. That jazzy feel is brought out by the bass significantly, which is another thing I like about them is that you can actually hear the bass. Some definite real headbangers for sure were included in their set.
MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECT was up next and I was surprised since the bass player of INTRONAUT remained on stage pulling double duty, which I imagine has gotta be tiring. Anyway these guys were more along the lines of NEUROSIS and while they are talented, that kind of Metal just isn�t my cup of tea.
Now it was time to witness the bass guitar prodigy and BEHOLD THE ARCTOPUSS, and lets just say he did not disappoint. His bass looks nothing like any bass I have ever seen; it appeared as if the strings were thin at the top then got thicker and then skinnier towards the bottom. I couldn�t even describe the stuff he was doing and it certainly wasn�t picking. The guitar player and drummer were tearing it up as well. The structures for their songs were extremely bizarre and random and odd and... well all over the freaking place. It was hard taking my eyes from the bass fret board for the whole hour set.
Afterwards I heard that the INTRONAUT guys needed a place to stay and I was more then obliged as usual, very nice guys. I would like to thank Terry Taylor from Hunt Industries as always for the passes.
