Metalocalypse animation and death metal stage guru’s Dethklok brought their 4 band bill of mayhem to the Sound Academy this past Wednesday night. The opening bands were The Black Dahlia Murder, All That Remains, leading up to Machine Head playing right before the headliner. The show started very early, so this review addresses the Dethklok and Machine Head sets only.
Machine Head hailing from Oakland California, has been banging heads for over 20 years now. Judging from the crowd response and the band’s full on stage show presence, they are still firmly in the pilot seat of this heavy metal jet. The jet analogy is fitting with this band because they are loud, powerful, fast, and relentless in their performances. The Sound Academy is a relatively small venue to contain the massive sounds Machine Head generates. Picture being inside a speaker, turn to 11 and you get the picture. This was a full on contact concert experience for the mostly male fans in the audience. Lead vocalist & guitarist Robb Flynn’s voice was in fine form. He alternated his vocal style between guttural, the depths of hell wailing, to melodic and darkly beautiful with ease. Bassist Adam Duce and drummer Dave McClain worked the offered a solid backing for Flynn and guitarist/backing vocalist Phil Demmel to build on. Demmel was fan friendly, leaning way out into the crowd so a few lucky fans could touch the neck of his black and white polka dot (Randy Rhoads inspired) Flying V. The set list looked somewhat short, with only 6 songs included. But Machine Head offers a no apology, non-radio friendly song length of around 6 to 10 minutes per tune, which puts their set (on this night) in at a respectable 45 min for an opening band. It’s curious as to why Machine Head is on this tour in the first place, as an opener? They have shown the ability to pack their own headline shows worldwide. An interesting thing was seen after their set was finished. Many fans simply left the venue before the headliner took the stage. Clearly, the Machine Head fans heard “their” headliner and exited after the set.
Dethklok is an anomaly when it comes to live bands. I kind of equate them with the 60’s band The Monkees. Where the TV show required a band to be created. Now, Dethklok is on a different musical genre and a different talent level than The Monkees. They are definitely death metal, with all the trappings of a death metal band. But I felt the live show was more about the images and videos flashed across the stage wide video wall, and less about the band. Watching the band play, primarily bathed in bright backlight, or seizure inducing strobes, the focus was firmly on the animation, and not the players. Of course the music was punishing, pulsating and hard driving, as would be expected. The requisite circle pit, crowd surfing and devil horned fist pumping were all there. The feeling I got though was this band gravitates toward the more campy and juvenile side of the genre. This took away from total metal experience that one may expect from a premier metal band. There were times where videos, mostly taken from the Metalocalypse TV shows, played during long breaks where the band left the stage. The flow of the show suffered by these breaks. Hardcore fans might be on board with this format of a show, but as a general metal fan that enjoys most metal band’s shows, this was an unfortunate distraction.
Frontman guitarist/vocalist, Brendon Small is the backbone to the band. His multiple voice talents gives the TV show most of the characters. He offered the fans a few opportunities to hear these characters throughout the night. Small nailed the music and vocals from start to finish. Drummer extraordinaire, Gene Hoglan, showed us why he is revered as one of the most extreme drummers on the planet and personified his nickname “The Atomic Clock.”
Guitarist/backing vocalist, Mike Keneally and Small traded guitar duels for much of the evening. There is no denying that these guys can shred with the best of them. Stand out songs from the set were “I Ejaculate Fire,” “Hatredcopter” and the massive galloping beats of “Thunderhorse.” The 2 song encore included the cool track, “Crush The Industry,” from the new album, “Dethalbum III.”
Machine Head Set List:
This Is the End
Imperium
Beautiful Mourning
Aesthetics of Hate
Locust
Halo
Dethklok Setlist:
Deththeme
I Ejaculate Fire
Hatredcopter
Dethsupport
Murmaider
Andromeda
Awaken
Duncan Hills Coffee Jingle
Ghostqueen
The Gears
The Galaxy
Thunderhorse
Encore:
Go Into the Water
Crush the Industry
We would like to thank Natalie Camillo from Adrenaline PR for the credentials to cover the show.
