Review by Lisa Burke
October 14th 2015, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Abigail Williams and Today Is The Day teamed up for a five-week North American tour, and towards its end, made a visit to the Whisky in West Hollywood for a gig last Wednesday October 14th. Check out our writer Lisa Burke’s review of the show below.
Last night I ventured out to the Whisky-A-Go-Go to catch yet another heavy metal tour, of all the atrocities I could have possibly encountered. Headlining this particular tour was Today Is The Day with support from Abigail Williams and opening acts XKingX, and Anthea. Unfortunately for Abigail Williams who wins the most underrated talented metal band award in my eyes, the venue was far from crowded. Still, I was perfectly glad to have been in attendance because they alone made the show worth watching.
I arrived after XKingX took the stage and left the stage so I will not be able to comment on them, unfortunately. Next, and interestingly enough, a four-piece ‘symphonic progressive power metal’ band called Anthea played their first live show. They are local from California and apparently just formed this year, and giving them that credit, it was a pretty good start. I respect and understood fairly quickly where they were headed in terms of style. I’m just not sure they have fully grasped the whole concept of symphonic or progressive power metal just yet. Sure, there were elements of all, and it’s uniquely commendable that the singer also played a giant white keytar. The progression was not smooth and at times too many schizophrenic styles were happening at once. The singer seemed a bit self-conscious which led to a few pitch problems that were quickly overcome by successful screams. I saw the talent under it, however I just wanted more strengh and commitment to shine through. Also, they played a cover of the 80’s Norwegian synth pop/rock band A-Ha called ‘Take On Me’ which was such a giant stretch from the original, to the extent that I just didn’t understand it. Personally, a cover needs to keep the general rhythm and lyrics at least, and it must be mastered originally before it can be altered to a band’s style. A positive note was when the guitar player did some gutteral harmonizing, yet in general I feel the lyrics could be pushed further, and there needed to be some added creative interest in the guitar as well. They did have a Manowar vibe going for them, and if pushed to the max with the interest of live symphonics, I believe this band could have a following.
I’d like to take the opportunity to mention that when DJ sets are played between bands it’s usually a good idea to keep it in the family of what’s happening on stage. Nobody at this show wanted to hear hip-hop right before a black metal band as far as I’m concerned, and if it was a joke it flew at 88 miles per hour over my head. Moving onto my favorite highlight of the evening which was when black metal, melodic death metal, old school metalcore, and symphonic metal band Abigail Williams took the stage. While they may combine many elements together, they don’t always do it on the same album, and they accomplish it in such a fluid and melodic way that it sounds like top quality, yet seems effortless. The drumming stood out as perfectly creative and kept the audience completely engaged and excited. The singer was giving his all, and the screams blended beautifully with the guitar and bass melodies. The symphonic elements in this band could only be accomplished by backing tracks live because there were no more members to take this on in a live setting, and while normally too much backing could have killed their performance they kept it to a bare minimum, still making a beautiful transition into the rest of their set. This minimalistic approach gave the live sound a raw, true tone which really brought strength, and oddly, depth to the performance as a whole. The drumming was so skillful and entertaining I’m going to tell you about it twice, and the mix of new into old songs solidified their range which concluded in all of it reaching forth to the audience with sucess. On a fashion note I enjoyed their black sleeveless hoodie with vest uniforms contradicted with a topless drummer. Perhaps this band is underrated because some don’t understand the meaning behind the name and think it’s just a solo artist? Or perhaps more people need to school themselves on witchcraft and literature, and stop judging a band on its title. It’s a beautiful name for an equally beautiful black metal band you should all make an effort to listen to, and possibly add to your collection of great music.
Set List:
01. Path of Broken Glass
02. Of The Outer Darkness
03. Lost Communion
04. Radiance
05. Beyond The Veil
Finally the headliner and post-hardcore, grindcore, noisecore band Today Is The Day blew up the stage with their larger than life noisefest. This is either a good description or an acceptable description depending on what you are into. This band has been in existence since 1992, although it was at this show that it pretty much happened to be the day I became aware of their presence in this world. Where they have been hiding or why I may have missed them growing up is as much a mystery to me as it probably is to them. Regardless, they are a mere trio, yet a force to be reckoned with, and typically display no shortage of noisecore which is totally a genre you may or may not know exists. It reminded me a little of Asking Alexandria if Henry Rollins was screaming the lyrics and while that promotes interesting I was not a fan of the excessive backing tracks no one could claim live, despite the noise factor they were aiming to accomplish. Their fashion style was a little all over the map with one member in a baseball cap and another in a country-inspired black button-up dress shirt. The audience was a bit confused as well on their style, as t-shirt award winners for back phrases ranged from “You came to the wrong forrest mother fucker” to “Sadness will prevail”. Whoever knows what bands or alternative origin these phrases come from should also get a prize. Anyway, back to the tunes, it was successful for the genres it was trying to maintain and if it’s your vibe these guys bring the skill. For me, it happened to be a bit of a brain hemorrhage followed by an implosion, yet I absolutely enjoyed the concept and the energy they brought forth.
All attributes considered, it was a pleasantly interesting metal show that I was happy to attend, and I vote you check out this tour if possible, as you never know when you next chance will be to catch these bands live.
Remaining tour dates:
10/16 – San Francisco, CA – The DNA Lounge
10/17 – Portland, OR – Black Water Bar
10/18 – Olympia, WA – Cryptatropa Bar
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