DRAGONFORCE was one of those bands that I had to see and that I had been dying to see since I heard Sonic Firestorm by total accident a few years ago. Even with their recent rise in popularity I didn't know how well they would fare due to the area where I live is a Metalcore fricking breeding ground. CHIMAIRA I know was going to deliver, but the other two I wasn?t so sure about since I had never heard of HE IS LEGEND and KSE is getting more and more commercial.
HE IS LEGEND was the first band and they played an interesting mix of Metalcore and Blues, however they should have stopped before they started. The interesting thing about the music was how horrendous it sounded. It was just like this wall of sound that I just couldn?t quite decipher until the singer started; once that started it was like a cat dying. I couldn't be in the auditorium longer than 2 songs before I had to leave.
Resurrection is the title of the new album by CHIMAIRA, but I don't know the title is appropriate since their last album Chimaira was really their resurrection from almost anything even somewhat resembling a Nu-Metal band and becoming a full on Thrash band and THRASH IS WHAT I WAS READY FOR!!!
They opened the set with Powertrip, which really got this crowd of 16 year old kids and their parents or I should I say the it got the real Metal heads to toss around and overall frighten some people that didn?t really belong there. Next they kicked into the self-titled track from their new album, this was my first time hearing the track, and it was crushing. I just couldn't have asked for a better sound to come from CHIMAIRA's new album. The rest of the set consisted of the following:
Nothing Remains
Severed
Empire
Salvation
Pure Hatred
The closer had the whole floor of about 700 people going nuts and it was easily the highlight of their set with the huge singer-a-long chorus it was just breathtaking.
Now the time had come for me to see a Power Metal band on a REAL stage in my hometown. I thought they should have been headlining, but as stated in the first line I didn?t know how this was going to turn out.
I don't remember the last time I was this excited for a band, I was jumping around like a little schoolgirl. They opened their colossal set with Revolution Deathsquad and it got some people pumped up, but they didn't have the crowd really in the palm of their hand until the second song Fury On The Storm from their second album Sonic Firestorm. This is where I saw everyone bust out their air guitars and horns high on in the air. DRAGONFORCE I had heard was really known for their stage presence which to say the least dominated. They had this platform that was set up in the middle of the stage so the people in the back could see the guitarists, Sam and Herman, duke it out via guitar solo. ZP also spent a good majority of the time on the platform with a fan blowing his hair around it was cheesy Metal at its best. The keyboardist was not something to look over either. He was jumping up and down and really pounding the shit out of his keys. He even busted a keytar and came to forefront of the action during about ? of the songs, which is really something unique at least nowadays. The real highlight of their set was fourth song My Spirit Will Go On, since this was the song that got me into DF it was really something special to see this song in a live setting.
DRAGONFORCE's Set List:
Revolution Deathsquad
Fury Of The Storm
Operation Ground and Pound
My Spirit Will Go On
Through The Fire And Flames
Valley Of The Damned
Now it was time for the faux-headliners KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Now when it comes to a band like KSE, I usually enjoy them on c.d., but for whatever reason I just don?t find them to be that impressive live, this unfortunately was the case. Their stage was set up with a platform that kind of went around the stage so to speak. The first song they played was Daylight Dies and they followed that with Take This Oath, which are both tracks that I enjoy on the album, but trying to DF my excitement level was through the roof and KSE just didn't impress. My friends and I decided to leave after the next track Life To Lifeless since we were just too high on DF.
Thanks to Terry Taylor from Hunt Industries for setting up the passes.
