By Jason Williams
April 18th 2014, Mirror Image Studios, Anaheim CA: The term ‘legends’ can sometimes be thrown around loosely. In the death metal scene however, Canada’s very own Kataklysm can be put in that category. Long reigning Quebec since 1991, Kataklysm have provided and honored us with their style of “Northern Hyperblast”, fast paced, groovy, melodic death metal. Their style has been honed down into a more ‘accessible’ form of death metal, as their earlier material was considered to be extremely chaotic. Promoting their six-month old album ‘Waiting for The End to Come’, this tour of theirs also has Belgium’s brutal death metal standouts Aborted as main support, with their new album ‘The Necrotic Manifesto’, out on April 29th. These two veteran extreme metal bands coming together to support their new albums was going to be a real treat for Southern California, and this event took at Mirror Image Studios in Anaheim, CA on Friday April 18th, the only LA/OC date for this tour.
I arrived at around 8:30 PM, as LA’s progressive death metal outfit Syrebris was still setting up. The parking lot outside was packed, and this was my first time seeing a major death metal show at this venue. It was pretty full as I walked in. From the looks of it, they were having some minor technical difficulties setting up, as it would actually be somewhat evident for the rest of the night. By around 8:40 PM, everything was ready to go. The four piece came out with “Spiraling Downward”, a blasting death metal piece that would make a Cynic fan smile. A blistering pace, yet a with a vibrant, clear tone to the guitars. Extremely technical but not choppy and redundant. The riffs were very tasteful and even catchy, despite the degree of the musical complexity. Mirror Image Studio usually has great sound, but vocalist/guitarist Victoria Villareal’s vocals were deeply buried in the mix and could barely be heard, if at all. Drummer James Coppolino had some very interesting jazz fills throughout their set. They complimented the music very nicely, without sounding out of place. Bassist Jesse Villalta also added his input with some tasteful bass lines and tones, turned up to a fair volume as well. But my favorite part of their set was the guitar work of Victoria and her husband, Manuel. They were very unassuming in their demeanor, yet their riffs, leads and music were monstrous, especially with the guitar tone being so clear, yet not weak-sounding, enabling the guitar work to be furious and distinguished. By the 3rd song, the vocals were fixed and her growls and screams could definitely be heard. Their set only lasted a little under 20 minutes, as the show was running somewhat behind. The audience enjoyed them, giving them an ovation after their set. Fans of Cynic, Obscura and Spawn of Possession would definitely enjoy Syrebris. Color me impressed.
Visit Syrebris on the web:
facebook.com/SyrebrisMusic
twitter.com/Syrebris
Set List:
01. Spiraling Downward
02. Subjective Reality
03. Eno Lla (All One)
The setup for the next band Insentient went by much faster. About 9 PM rolled by and their set of blackened death metal went underway. One thing to note, James from Syrebris also drums for Insentient. With the way he plays and the fact that he’s drumming in two bands back to back, massive credit and admiration for him. Insentient’s style was somewhat similiar to Syrebris; a technical type of death metal. The difference was that while Syrebris had a very fast paced, blistering riff style, Insentient’s music is able to ‘breathe’ more, with the riffs somewhat slower and a little catchier. The musicianship was solid, as guitarist/vocalist Leslie Medina and guitarist Kimberly Orellana showed a variety of melodies, leads and solid death metal riffing, reminiscent of Individual Thought Patterns Death era. The crowd enjoyed them, with some mosh pits during their very short set. Insentient was only allowed 2 songs for their set, much to the disappointment of the fans. but they were very solid nonetheless and I’m looking forward to their next show. I believe Syrebris and Insentient opening up the Nile show in LA on May 6th would be a great addition to that bill.
Visit Insentient on the web:
facebook.com/InsentientOfficial
twitter.com/InsentientUS
Somewhat on schedule, 9:45 PM was Aborted‘s cue to enter the stage. The venue was packed at this point and the roar of the crowd indicated all of the Aborted fans, and you could argue a number of them were clearly there for Aborted. Opening the set with their classic album Goremageddon, “Meticulous Invagination” was up first and immediately the pit opened up in a frenzy. Aborted are known for their intense energy and brutal sound live, and this show was no different. Every song got an engaging response from the crowd, in the form of flying bodies from the stage, violent moshing and endless headbanging. Aborted played 6 songs off their new album. Although the songs are still new in the minds of the fans, they were well-received. Going far back as their 2nd album ‘Engineering the Dead’, they happened to play my favorite song of theirs, “The Holocaust Incarnate”. It was a blast hearing this song wreak havok amongst us all. As usual, their musicianship was amazing. Ken Bedene’s drumming was surreal. His technique, precision and power were fantastic, but his nonchalant look and minimal effort to the naked eye brought it to life even further. Guitarists Mendel bij de Leij and Danny Tunker played effortlessly (go watch the live video of Tunker playing “Lash by Lash” from Spawn of Possession live, blindfolded. I dare you.) But the highlight of Aborted’s set was the only original member left of the band, vocalist Sven de Caluwé, with his constant movement throughout the stage, absolutely stellar vocal ability and performance, and brilliance in interacting and motivating the crowd. He dedicated “Fecal Forgery” to the ladies in the crowd, and even for music of this kind, it was nice to see a decent number of women at the show. Their 45-minute set went by very quickly, yet was more than enough for this packed Anaheim crowd. As their set ended, chants of “Aborted!!!” and “One more song!!!” echoed throughout the venue, having Sven and the rest of his crew smile and thanking the crowd once more. Definitely a bombardingly brutal band to see live, Aborted proved why they deserve their place in the brutal death metal scene.
Visit Aborted on the web:
Goremageddon.be
facebook.com/AbortedOfficial
twitter.com/AbortedMetal
instagram.com/AbortedMetal
Set List:
01. Meticulous Invagination
02. Parasitic Flesh Resection
03. Necrotic Manifesto
04. Fecal Forgery
05. Expurgation Euphoria
06. The Holocaust Incarnate
07. Your Entitlement Means Nothing
08. The Extirpation Agenda
09. The Origin of Disease
10. Sanguine Verses (…of Extirpation)
11. The Saw and the Carnage Done
Only about 15 minutes later, Kataklysm walked on stage at around 10:45 PM. I was worried that the amount of energy the crowd used up during Aborted would make them lackluster for Kataklysm, but much to my surprise, the crowd was once again in a frenzy for Kataklysm, almost more consistently then they were for Aborted. “Prevail” opened the set, as singer and frontman Mauricio Iacono stood in the center of the stage, angrily singing his soul out, feeding off the crowd. Their signature sound has always been extremely heavy, and as this was my 5th time seeing them, it was no different. Clear, rich, brutal and straight in your face! The crowd was singing along to every word, even the new album. Even though I haven’t been a real fan of their more recent direction, ‘Serenity in Fire’ being the last album I was really excited about, the new material came off great, as I was expecting it to. Not being familiar with their albums from ‘In the Arms of Devastation’ and onwards, the songs were far greater than I remember hearing before. “Fire”, the opening track off their new album, was awesome. Fast moments, nitfy melodies and very catchy. We also got to hear some goodies such as “Blood of the Swans” and “Shadows and Dust”. Leader and founding member guitarist Jean-François Dagenais was in smiles the whole time, feeding off the crowd. New drummer Olivier Beaudoin amazed me, providing their ‘Northern Hyperblast’ trademark in full effect, extremely proficient in his drumming. Mauricio thanked the crowd several times and reminded everyone by saying, “This is no trend. This is heart. This is music. This is metal!” And the whole venue roared in approval.
But the highlight of the night was the last song of the evening, “Crippled and Broken”. During the first minute of the song, the entire PA system went out. Only the drums and a small portion of the guitar was audible. The band continued to play, but the awesome part was that the entire crowd kept going with the song, even singing the words AND the guitar parts themselves. The band kept playing but was in a joyful shock, Mauricio had a huge smile on his face through it all. It lasted for about a minute plus, and the PA was fixed and everything was to normal. Kataklysm played for tiny bit over an hour. A couple of songs more would have been perfect, but the pace they played and the crowd giving all of its energy to them, it was sufficient. When they were saying goodbye, Mauricio announced that they’ll be coming back to the states in October with Suffocation, which had the audience completely lose it, as myself even more as an extremely avid Suffocation fan. That tour will be a gigantic monster.
Overall, Kataklysm and company put on a solid performance on this packed Friday night in Southern California. Everyone in the audience had a great time, the attendance was great for the venue and it reminded me time and time again that you cannot almost never beat the intensity of a death metal show in California.
Andrew Bansal’s interview with Maurizio Iacono will be posted soon.
Visit Kataklysm on the web:
facebook.com/Kataklysm
twitter.com/KataklysmBand
Set List:
01. Prevail
02. Push the Venom
03. Like Animals
04. As I Slither
05. At the Edge of the World
06. Fire
07. Blood on the Swans
08. Kill the Elite
09. Iron Will
10. Elevate
11. Shadows and Dust
12. Crippled and Broken
Kataklysm/Aborted remaining tour dates:
04/21/14 Marquis Theatre – Denver, CO
04/22/14 Riot Room – Kansas City, MO
04/23/14 Reggie’s – Chicago, IL
Visit Mirror Image Studios Anaheim on the web:
MirrorImageStudios.net
facebook.com/MirrorImageStudios
twitter.com/MirrorImageOC