By Andrew Bansal
May 17th 2013, The Vex, Los Angeles CA: After headliners Hypocrisy and direct support act Aborted dropped off, this tour appeared to be in the doldrums. But, Brazilian death metal trio Krisiun decided to go ahead with the tour and took on the headliner spot, as Viriginia-based melodic tech death metal band Arsis became the main support act. The trek began on May 1st in New York and made its way to Los Angeles, visiting the Vex last night. The local promoters Church Of The 8th Day had made every effort to ensure that the turnout still remains strong by lowering the price of the tickets and allowing the pre-sale buyers to come in with a plus 1. I arrived at the venue at around 7, waiting to check out how these remaining touring bands and the three local openers would fare at this show, what the turnout would be like, and whether the Vex made any improvement in their much-maligned sound system.
Los Angeles-based melodic metal band Sirion opened the show with a short 20-minute set. Although they aren’t the kind of band a hardcore Krisiun or Arsis fan would necessarily be interested in, they took the opportunity to play this show and made good use of their short time. I was familiar with their style through listening to them on the internet, but they came across as more diverse than I was expecting, actually. They had the Amon Amarth-style windmills going on, with power metal, symphonic metal and even thrash elements at times. One thing I did expect though was the sound at the Vex not being up to par, but despite that, these guys sounded pretty good. I enjoyed the keyboard player’s lead parts immensely, specially because that was to be the last keyboard action for the night. Good set, I look forward to seeing them again open for Katatonia later this month, a show in which they’ll be a much better fit.
In almost complete stylistic contrast, local tech death metal band Isolation In Infamy took the stage next. I saw them at the Airliner on May 4th, and they were back on yet another extreme metal LA show. They took a long time setting up before they started playing, probably because they wanted to make sure the sound up there was as good as it could possibly be. But still, I wasn’t able to feel the impact of their music as much as I did at the Airliner. The concert hall at the Vex is rather oversized to create any sort of real vibe, and that was evident during Isolation In Infamy’s set. Performance-wise, they were as good as always, but the sound just wasn’t cutting through because of the size of this venue. With that said, the set closer ‘Psychological Bombardment’ was still awesome. This was a solid set marred by sound issues. If this was your first time seeing them, don’t form your judgements yet. See them in a better setting before doing so.
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The last of the local openers Nihilitus hit the stage with a deathgrind-influenced extreme metal style that again didn’t really fit the theme of the show but were fun to watch for those with an open mind. I couldn’t help but think of Cattle Decapitation while watching these guys. This form of extreme music requires the group’s frontman to showcase a certain level of mad energy on stage, and Nihilitus vocalist Nic Ody had that in plenty. One or two of their songs were a little too long for my liking. They should throw in some shorter length, higher impact tunes instead, specially as an opening band. Other than that, this band piqued my interest, and they’d be very entertaining in a smaller-sized room, with more like-minded bands and audiences. They would have been perfect at that Gorod show at the Airliner that I mentioned earlier. But, there’s always a next time.
I tried to do a head-count, and the turnout last night couldn’t have been more than 100, which was sad for the touring bands that worked hard to continue with this tour. But even amongst those 100, some middle-aged folks from the LA underground scene were seriously rolling their eyes and grumping at the number of local openers, eagerly waiting for the touring lineup to start playing. That time finally arrived at close to 10 PM, as Arizona-based Autumn’s End hit the stage. Looking at them, I imagined they’d sound something like Slayer and play a death/thrash type of set, but I was hugely surprised by the progressive and intricate nature of their musicianship. They had the faster death-thrash segments, but I was definitely digging the slower, doom-laden stuff more. The riffs packed serious punch, the tempo changes were interesting, and the quieter, clean guitar parts were great. These guys simply got together in a car and drove from Arizona without any gear, to be part of a few shows on this tour. They were playing with Arsis’ gear, and considering all that they did a mighty fine job. I’d say the vocals were the only flaw in their sound. May be it was the venue’s echo or may be the vocals could actually use some improvement. Either way, a pleasantly surprising set by Autumn’s End.
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Arsis came on next, much to the delight of their fixated fans who were rendered restless at this point of the evening by having to stand through four bands they clearly weren’t in the mood to see. I’ve seen Arsis plenty of times in the past both as an opening act and as headliner, following their checkered journey through recent years pretty closely. At first impression in 2010, I liked their melodic death metal style and hoped they wouldn’t fall into the modern trap by going too technical. But judging from the new songs they played last night, I think they have done exactly that. Guitar prodigy Brandon Ellis is their new member after Nick Cordle’s departure to Arch Enemy, and that might have something to do with it. Granted, he showed his skills on guitar plenty during the set, but for me it killed the strength of the music to a great extent. Nothing against Brandon at all, I guess it’s just the style of the band now. I much prefer the simpler, catchier direction they were going for on ‘Starve For The Devil’ but sadly my hopes have been smashed and they are back to being a technical million-notes-per-second metal band again. And if I remember correctly, they did not play even a single song from that album.
So as you can tell, honestly I was beyond bored by this Arsis set. I respect and admire their guitarists as excellent musicians, but I was tired of hearing that same old technical stuff over and over again. And the sound issues didn’t help. Everything was sounding really muddy and there was no clarity in any instrument whatsoever. At times the vocals weren’t loud enough, and at other times they were too loud. ‘A Diamond For Disease’ was the only exception. The sound seemed to be decent and the tempo changes sparked some interest in an otherwise monotonous set. All in all, I was disappointed by the song selection by Arsis on this tour, and I hope for a better set next time.
A lot of people left after Arsis were done, which did not surprise me but it was sad to see the lack of support for Krisiun, on a Friday night. No excuses for leaving early, really. There were hardly 50 people remaining inside the venue by the time Krisiun took the stage, and I’m glad to say that the band put on a show that vindicated the decisions of those who stayed, treating us with an hour of massively crushing, no-bullshit death metal. The biggest factor in the excellence of this performance was, funnily enough, the weak link that affected the show for all other bands that played last night, the sound. Krisiun being a three-piece act was a huge advantage for them, as every instrument sounded big, strong and clear. Instead of drowning each other out, they locked in together and created a sonic colossus. I had seen them open for Destruction, Obituary and Nile in the past. While I did like their show each time, I wasn’t really blown away or anything like that. Well, last night was completely different, and I was proven wrong as I could not believe how good of a show these guys put on.
I can’t really pick out any highlights from their set because every single song had its own purpose and impact. On the flip side, one thing I did find off-putting was bassist/vocalist Alex Camargo’s constant speeches to the crowd, saying the same thing repeatedly, thanking pretty much everyone he knew by pointing out their names. I did get excited and pumped when he said, ‘We don’t find cheap excuses to drop out of tours. We don’t give a fuck, and we’re here for you guys!’ But other than that, his talking was a bit excessive and if he could tone that down a tad, Krisiun would become a perfect live extreme metal band well capable of blowing better known bands off the stage. Overall, killer set by Krisiun that more than made up for Hypocrisy and Aborted’s absence and gave this small gathering something to cheer about. If you’re an extreme metal fan and haven’t heard of Krisiun, check them out right now!
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Set List:
1. Ominous
2. Combustion Inferno
3. The Will to Potency
4. Vicious Wrath
5. Vengeance’s Revelation
6. Descending Abomination
7. Kings of Killing
8. Bloodcraft
9. Ravager
10.Slaying Steel
11.Hatred Inherit
12.Blood of Lions
Remaining Tour Dates:
5/18 – Phoenix, AZ – Joe’s Grotto**
5/20 – Dallas, TX – Trees**
5/21 – San Antonio, TX – Korova**
5/23 – Tampa, FL – The Orpheum***
5/24 – Pompano Beach, FL – Firehouse***
5/26 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade***
5/27 – Charlotte, NC – The Casbah***
5/28 – Springfield, VA – Empire***
5/29 – Wilmington, DE – Mojo 13***
5/30 – Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery***
5/31 – Trenton, NJ – Backstage at Champ’s***
6/1 – Middletown, NY – Sounds Asylum***
*= with STARKILL
**= with AUTUMN’S END
***= KRISIUN only