By Andrew Bansal
March 20th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Following the release of their comeback studio album ‘Omen Of Disease’ via Century Media Records last fall, Chicago death metal veterans Broken Hope did a support run with Deicide across North America and with Immolation in Europe, and are now on a co-headline trek with Oceano for ‘The Best In Brutality’ tour, along with Fallujah, Rivers Of Nihil and Kublai Khan as part of this all-out extreme package. The tour began in Tempe AZ last Tuesday March 18th and visited Pomona CA on Wednesday before making a stop at the Whisky in West Hollywood last night.
As always is the case at the Whisky, there were a couple of local openers added to the lineup. Out of these I missed the first one Apothesary because of my on-site interview with Broken Hope. I got to the venue in time to catch the second band Blood For Our Brothers but they didn’t turn out to be my cup of tea, and neither did the first of the touring acts Kublai Khan. But their brand of breakdown-heavy deathcore did bring out the ‘dancers’ onto the floor and watching them was absolutely hilarious, thus taking my focus away from the fact that I wasn’t enjoying the music.
Finally, the show got some semblance of musical sanity as Reading PA-based death metal band Rivers Of Nihil took the stage, and as soon as they began their scorching 30-minute set, the hardcore dancing gave way to headbanging and circle pits. Their music can be described as a very groove-driven style of technical extreme metal, with bassist Adam Biggs’ instrument standing out most prominently in the sound and acting as the lead instrument in many ways, combining well with the chordal, riff-based playing of the two guitarists in the band. Their vocalist Jake Dieffenbach delivered his parts with ferocity and interacted well with the crowd. It was a pleasant surprise to hear a vocalist not announcing song titles in a death metal voice, for a change. Rivers Of Nihil put on a show that combined technicality and brutality in appropriate doses, and fans of the genre are encouraged to check them out on this tour.
Visit Rivers Of Nihil on the web:
facebook.com/RiversOfNihil
twitter.com/RiversOfNihil
soundcloud.com/Rivers-Of-Nihil
youtube.com/RiversOfNihilPA
Next up were Fallujah from the San Francisco Bay Area. I saw them open for Skeletonwitch and The Black Dahlia Murder a few months ago in Pomona and wasn’t quite impressed by their performance on that occasion, but last night they were a lot better in every aspect, sound-wise and in terms of their stage presence, and made good use of their 30-minute set on the Whisky stage. Owing to the symphonic elements and clean guitar passages intertwined within their style of death metal, they were certainly the most diverse band of the night and their set came in at an aptly central time slot in the show.
Visit Fallujah on the web:
facebook.com/FallujahOfficial
twitter.com/FallujahBayArea
Oceano, rotating set slots with co-headliners Broken Hope every show of this tour, played second-last at this show, and unfortunately they were another band whose music didn’t do anything for me. But to their credit, they brought in a fair number of people to this show on their own, which was good for the other touring bands in terms of exposure. I have nothing against the breakdown-y deathcore scene and it’s obviously its own thing with its own fan base, so all I have to say about Oceano is, more power to them for doing what they do.
And lastly, the mighty Broken Hope took the stage and obliterated it with 60 minutes of pure old-school death metal. Although a sizable portion of the crowd departed the venue after Oceano’s set, the death metal fans definitely stayed to enjoy a solid Broken Hope set which was filled with a blend of new material and older classics, bringing forth a great representation of the band’s career. Guitarists Jeremy Wagner and Chuck Wepfer laid down some skull-crushing riffs with Wepfer doing a bulk of the soloing and shredding circles around his instrument. Vocalist Damian Leski was in his element, delivering the guttural growls with effortless ease, while Shaun Glass on bass and Mike Miczek on drums held the rhythm section excellently and kept the brutality intact throughout.
I felt that the one-hour duration of the set was just about perfect for a band of Broken Hope’s musical style, and it ensured maximum intensity for its entirety. Fans enjoyed every moment of it and indulging in carefree headbanging and circle pits. When it comes to proper death metal, you simply can’t go wrong with Broken Hope, and this performance by the Chicago veterans was just another proof and vindication of that statement.
The turnout at the show did leave a lot to be desired, and there came a point when the bar upstairs and the box office were shut down as they were getting no business whatsoever. Perhaps the Pomona show the night before was the reason, and this kind of tour should have may be had just one LA area show. Also, in all honesty, Broken Hope would have played to a larger audience if Oceano played last instead of them, as Oceano clearly had a bigger draw here and their fans left after they were done.
Nonetheless, it was a largely entertaining death metal Thursday here at the Whisky, and fans of the genre should certainly try to catch a show on the remainder of this tour in the next four weeks.
Visit Broken Hope on the web:
BrokenHope.com
facebook.com/BrokenHopeOfficial
twitter.com/
Set List:
01. Womb Of Horrors
02. The Docking Dead
03. Dilation And Extraction
04. Into The Necrosphere
05. Rendered Into Lard
06. Gorehog
07. Awakened By Stench
08. He Was Raped
09. Give Me The Bottom Half
10. Bloodgullet
11. Swamped In Gore
12. The Dead Half
13. The Flesh Mechanic
14. Remember By Members
15. Incinerated
Visit the Whisky-A-Go-Go on the web:
WhiskyAGoGo.com
facebook.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
twitter.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
instagram.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
Remaining Tour Dates:
Mar. 21 – Las Vegas, NV @ Southern Nevada Sports Centre
Mar. 22 – Lancaster, CA @ Industry Theater
Mar. 23 – San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
Mar. 24 – Reno, NV @ Jub Jubs
Mar. 25 – Portland, OR @ Branx
Mar. 26 – Seattle, WA @ Studio 7
Mar. 27 – Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
Mar. 28 – Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop
Mar. 29 – Calgary, AB @ Golden Age Club
Mar. 31 – Winnipeg, MB @ Park Theater
Apr. 1 – Minneapolis, MN @ Skyway Theater
Apr. 2 – Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
Apr. 3 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
Apr. 4 – Joliet, IL @ Mojoe’s
Apr. 6 – Toronto, ON @ Hard Luck
Apr. 8 – Quebec City, QC @ Le Dagobert
Apr. 9 – Ottawa, ON @ Mavericks
Apr. 11 – Montreal, QC @ Underworld
Apr. 12 – Springfield, VA @ Empire
Apr. 13 – Wilmington, DE @ Mojo 13
Apr. 15 – Reading, PA @ Reverb
Apr. 16 – New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
Apr. 17 – Worcester, MA @ Palladium **New England Metal and Hardcore Festival**
Apr. 18 – Cleveland, OH @ Agora Ballroom
Apr. 19 – Columbus, OH @ Alrosa Villa