Live review from Underground Heavy #2:
Setlist:
1. Frame
2. A Truth Behind the Glory
3. Proof
4. Quicksand
5. Endless Heart
To tease the audience as expertly as these guys did is certainly a quality worthy of praise. The very intense beginning to their set turned out to be a fakeout (or, euphemistically, levels-check)…promptly followed by another one, after which they reintroduced themselves. It was after this that their set truly began. There was further ribbing of the crowd, as singer Tai cheekily asked the crowd if “people are sleepy.” The audience seemed to enjoy this titillation, as enthusiastic pogoing was further added to the slam and headbanging. And there was plenty to headbang to; they had one foot firmly in metal with some Megadeth-like work on the bridge of A Truth Behind the Glory, while always retaining the driving, elastic nature of Slash’s licks.
Quicksand saw some bits that were actually sung (!) along with some clap-along bits towards the end, while Endless Heart featured some epic-sounding, zipping guitars, making the song almost melodic at points. The audience even seemed to know the words to the songs; a testament to these guys’ popularity. My sole complaint was with Proof; the machine-gunned guitars were let down by somewhat hammy vocals, along with a bit too many pace-changes in the song, leaving the song in no-man’s-land. This did not infringe on the enjoyability of the set, though, as it was fun to listen and slam-dance to all the way through.
Shashwati
Live Review from Underground 42:
even during their warmup, before they start, i’m filled with warm meaty metal expectations. Embryo really satisfies. i don’t know whether i’m particularly blood-thirsty or if embryo is just what the doctor ordered, but either way it’s good stuff. a bit incoherent, but they provide a primal sense of domination few others can match. very few homo sapiens indeed would choose to stand up against such masters of authority, as if they did, absolute decimation would shortly ensue.
Amos
