Well, it looks as if I may have found another fest to attend each year other than ProgPower USA. The lineup this year was very solid though I would have switched the order of some bands. The lineup also had a lot of diversity to it, which is always a good thing. I mean I love - and do I mean love - Power Metal, but a nice change up is always welcomed.
First band up for the day one was Withering Soul. They are a Black Metal band that I believe is from somewhere in the Midwest. They were basically very over top typical Black Metal. The guitars didn't quite flow together very well, but if they had been separate, they would have been all right. I didn't really care for it on the whole, but the main reason was there was no stage presence. The band hardly moved except for the singer that just kind of headbanged and tried to look evil.
Gracepoint was next on my big plate of Metal for the evening. I knew absolutely nothing about them other than the fact they are from Minnesota. They ended up being really good. To describe their sound is pretty easy; take Dream Theater's Train Of Thought and remove the keyboards and that more or less is their sound. I particularly enjoyed the vocalist; he had a really nice crisp sounding voice. I also really liked the bassist; he had a very interesting style for this kind of music. He used a lot of slap bass as well as just normal playing with his fingers. The crowd also totally dug them.
Next up in our Metal feast was Agent Steel from California. Agent Steel fuse Thrash and Power Metal into a nice little package. Their guitar player, Bernie, oh man what a super savage. This guy was easily the best guitar player I heard all weekend. I honestly feel badly for the other guitar player to try to have to compete with Bernie. Both players though were sensational. The vocalist also had excellent control over the audience by talking with us and then his superb singing voice didn't hurt either. Any high note was reachable for the monster vocalist.
Finally the moment that I had been waiting for over year, which was the first time I had heard the monster force that is Biomechanical. This was the reason that I traveled 800 miles and this was the reason that I was at the very front of a concert since lord only knows when. They played every song that I wanted to hear except for Disintegration which after talking with John, the singer, he said that they didn't bring the seven string guitars, otherwise they would have. They even played covers of Slayer's Raining Blood and Judas Priest's Painkiller with Raining Blood being the closer of the evening. The highlight of the set though was easily Regenerated. I went absolutely fucking nuts. I guarantee you that I was the loudest person there during this song... After their set, I couldn't stop thanking the band for how much it meant to me that they were there. As for Eldritch, I was so exhausted that I just couldn't move and we had an hour drive to get home, so I left early. However, I have been told by several of the people that stayed that it wasn't that great of a set at all. Definitely couldn't compare to Biomechanical.
Okay, on to day 2 of this Metal madness. Well, this day started out with my friend that I was attending there to dare me to be the drunkest person at the concert. Well, I definitely achieved it but unfortunately I remember nothing from the evening at all. I must have blacked out at around 6 at night. Actually I am just kidding though I did achieve my goal according to several people I tried to speak with. Anyway the first band up was a band called Mirror Black and they are from Wisconsin. They had a very Nevermore-esque vibe to them, very dark and kind of haunting. I was having problems getting into them though this was not their fault. The sound was pretty awful during their set, so I feel like I didn't get the true Mirror Black thus I won't go too deeply. Basically I liked the guitar playing of Matt even with his Spinal Tap type moment. The singer I didn't really care for though, but that may have been because of the sound quality.
Next up was Twelfth Gate. They are a local Chicago band and are signed to Season Of Mist; they're also about to release a new album, Threshold Of Revelation. This was their first performance with their new singer Rob "Red Erickson. Their sound was very heavy and very awesome. The new singer put a very nice touch to the all the music since he hasn't been on an album yet. The difference between the two singers was the new one is more of a Hardcore type while the old one was more melodic.
Ion Vein; another Chicago band was also on the bill for the evening. They were pretty good. I couldn't really get into them on the whole, but I was think that was more than likely because of my anticipation for Nocturnal Rites since we were so close to finally seeing them. They are a Progressive Metal band with some nice Melodic Metal touches. The guitar player was the highlight of this band, easily. He totally shredded but the rest of the band was easily in his shadow.
The North American debut of Nocturnal Rites had finally come and here I was with lots of my Heavy Metal brethren from ProgPower USA and some new friends, and here we go. They started out with Fools Never Die off their latest album Grand Illusion and it really got the crowd going and me singing. Next came Never Trust; another track off their latest album which also got the crowd going. I think that everyone there was clearly a huge fan of their latest album because the songs from it got the crowd really moving. Songs from older albums were played and I enjoyed them, but wasn't really familiar with the material. It was getting close to what I assumed the end of the set and they still hadn't played my favorite song, Cuts Like A Knife, and what do they do, they fucking play it last and I go freaking nuts. It was easily the highlight of the set with the chanting chorus getting more horns in the air than I had seen the entire weekend. Then the encore of Afterlife and Wake Up Dead was also killer. I also want to note that Nocturnal Rites had easily the most stage presence of any band of the weekend. They had excellent crowd interaction and guitar players waving their guitars in unison. As cheesy as this is, I love it to death.
Nocturnal Rites setlist:
01. Fools Never Die
02. Never Trust
03. Shadowland
04. Deliverance
05. Awakening
06. Iron Force
07. Fire Comes To Ice
08. The Flame Will Never Die
09. Avalon
10. Still Alive
11. Against The World
12. New World Messiah
13. Cuts Like A Knife
14. Wake Up Dead
15. Afterlife
Next up was Morgana Lefay and after what happened last night, I wore myself out and just couldn't stand and with insufficient seating forced us to leave. I would like to thank Chris Lotesto and Rob Such for promoting such a great concert.
