By Jason Williams
August 17th 2016, DiPiazza’s, Long Beach CA: From increasing BPM, shredding neoclassical guitar techniques, intense pummeling blasting, and all doses of vocal attack, extreme metal has had its share of barriers broken. With Suffocation paving the way for brutal technical death metal back in 1989, bands all across the world engaged in becoming more jaw-dropping with skill, speed and intensity as the next. Archspire, however, hailing all the way from Vancouver, Canada, just might be at the top of the current class. Their hyper-intensified technical death metal leaves nothing short of destruction and exhausting chaos in their wake, and the chance to see them headline a show, after numerous times as a main support, was surely going to be a pleasure.
Last Wednesday August 17th 2016, this event took place at DiPizzas, located in Long Beach, a place I’ve actually never visited before. With a full bar available and a restaurant included, DiPizzas was quite the comfortable environment for these metalheads already waiting for the 8:30 PM show time. Props to ADHD Entertainment for making this a mainstay for the majority of their shows, and opening my eyes to a solid venue for more bands in the future.
Due to Sacrifical Slaughter dropping off the tour last minute, Angel Flesh would be the first band on the bill, and while a number of the fans in attendance were relaxing in the patio and happily conversing, a good number of the rest gave Angel Flesh respect right up in the pit area. Their brand of death metal didn’t quite stand out to me in the beginning, as the sound was still being mixed into the PA, but I could still tell right away how stellar the growls were from their guitarist Zion Flores. Outstanding guttural range, not dry at all, and fairly sinister, it was easily the highlight of their set for me, while drummer Efren Rodriguez pounding the life out of his kit. Zion’s clean guitar passages definitely got the crowd going in between their songs and death metal riffage. Overall, a live act I wouldn’t mind seeing again.
Consuming Fire was next, as the number in attendance was slowly increasing. Seeing them a couple of times years ago at The Doll Hut in Anaheim, I’ve always found their live death metal sound to be enjoyable and consistent. The sound was crystal clear, and the drumming of Ray Banda continues to show me how incredibly consistent and high level extreme metal drumming is, even in the local scene. There were some gear issues with the band, with main singer/guitarist Robert Davis was left with only a mic and no guitar onstage. As solid as his growls were, he seemed clearly out of it, staying in one spot essentially the whole time. He then explained later on he was ill, so it was justifiable. Their riffs stood out for me more, as their technical sound, especially with the music being so clear, resonated with the audience, who were continuously head-banging and cheering the band on. I would like to see Consuming Fire on support for bigger tours in the future, as this set showed me again that they’ll continue to grow and get better.
With the show getting a little behind as some equipment confusion and misplacement occurred, The Last of Lucy came on next, to clearly their own fans included in the audience. A number in attendance chanting for the band, head-banging in unison, it was clear their constant touring through Southern California is slowly and surely paying off. This was my second time seeing the band, and with that growth in popularity, it was easy to see due the professionalism of the band, meaning more of their polished yet still rugged sound. They have the metal checklist down for a starting modern death metal band, in terms of clean passages rightfully timed, proper breakdowns, wicked drumming, and clear and audible vocal work. The Last of Lucy definitely has the makings of being an even bigger band, and with the support from the audience as clearly seen, I’m looking forward to their gradual rise.
Lord of War completed the list of openers for this show, as they had much to celebrate as well with their newest record ‘Suffer’ just released last month. Perhaps their fanbase wasn’t really in attendance on this Wednesday evening, or that the show was running a little late and fans were being impatient for Archspire, but the crowd was extremely tame during their set. Vocalist Andrew Rodriguez easily noticed and called out the crowd on it, to no avail, unfortunately. Still, the death metal continued, as the 8-string dual attack was quite heavy and was felt throughout the venue. Lord of War’s evening didn’t get any better, with their electrical malfunction on the guitarist’s amp taking a good 10 minutes to fix, and it sadly cut their set fairly short. The band stayed professional and Rodriguez thanked the crowd for supporting death metal, “in any way you can, standing or moshing”, and ended the set with the title track of the new album, which didn’t disappoint. This wasn’t the best show for Lord of War, but with their growing fanfare, they’ll have plenty more positive gigs fairly soon.
The crowd gathered, Archspire chants reigned in the air, DiPiazza staff cleaning and serving the last set of drinks, and right at 12 AM, Archspire’s virtuoso mixture of unbelievably hyper technical death metal came to storm the heavens, and into our souls. The tension and nervousness of everyone in attendance anticipating the level of elite, sonically diverse musicianship could be seen even from a telescope, far into the distance. Vocalist extraordinare Oli Aleron wasting away the life of everyone in attendance with his incredibly swift vocal assault, never letting up for one moment. The first verse of the opening track ‘Scream Feeding’ got a part of the crowd going, with the other part just simply amazed at they were witnessing. I don’t ever get on the crowd for not moshing during Archspire, as there’s so much going on musically, on top of the absurd, blistering speeds the band plays, it would be impossible to head-bang properly. Even though hard to pick just one, my highlight of the evening was clearly the opening moments of ‘Fathom Infinite Depth’, with Oli’s triplet-like speed of singing, alongside the monstrous musicians making each counterpoint violent and vile, blasting the crowd into outer space. Newest member Jared Smith, who I was able to interview before the show, did not miss a single beat on the bass, showing wonderful discipline and technique, as anyone would expect nothing less from the band.
Asides from the chaotic speed Archspire plays in, my favorite aspect of them has always been their ability to present their style without seeming to be too technical for the sake of it. In other words, the music is still tasteful with what you hear, and the skill on display is memorable, catchy, and stays with you. Guitarists Dean Lamb and Tobi Moreli put forth many sets of fantastic riffs and lasting solos. Both gave a solid effort in making the music stay with the speed and technicality of it all, and had the audience cheering with multiple clean guitar breaks between songs. Playing at an abnormal speed will get you nowhere if the songs themselves weren’t of lasting quality, and both guitarists make it a mission to keep that going. It’s also a blast to see the audience in a state of positive paralysis by the band, especially watching drummer Spencer Prewett easily play 280 BPM +. It’s blissfully exhausting, and attempting to keep up is a challenge in itself. Two new songs ‘Involuntary Doppelganger’ and ‘Remote Elemental Dissolve’ were played tonight, as this short US stint was the lead-up to the studio, in which Archspire will record their third album and will release it sometime later this year. The new songs sounded right on par with the previous two records, and did not disappoint. Although their headlining spot was only 40 minutes long, the songs themselves more than satisfy the amount of time the band actually had, as it’s a marathon to head-bang or even pay attention properly at all. Plus, believe or not, Archspire are human, despite their ability to seem robotic from the ease at which they were playing, so playing anything more than that could compromise their fingers and joints. The audience loved every minute of the show, and was more than gracious for Archspire to travel so very far to make it here.
Technicality in metal is a gorgeous and monumental aspect to behold, as the musicianship is ever increasing, new techniques engage the eager guitarist, bass playing isn’t just in the background, and so much more. Archspire are a prime example of the evolution of extreme music, and their new record cannot be here soon enough.
Set List:
1. Scream Feeding
2. Fathom Infinite Depth
3. Involuntary Doppelganger
4. Seven Crowns and the Oblivion Chain
5. Rapid Elemental Dissolve
6. Remote Tumour Seeker
7. Lucid Collective Somnambulation
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Remaining Tour Dates:
08/20/2016 – Denver, CO @ Trailside Saloon