By Andrew Bansal
June 14th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: American heavy metal flag bearers Unearth are currently celebrating the 10th anniversary of their 2004 sophomore release ‘The Oncoming Storm’ by playing it in its entirety on a North American headline tour with support acts Texas In July, Cruel Hand and Armed For Apocalypse completing the touring package. This is the only tour where Unearth are playing the whole album, and for many longtime fans of the band in Los Angeles, as well as for those who’d never seen the band live before, last night’s gig at the Whisky promised to provide a great evening.
I didn’t arrive at the venue early enough to catch the two local openers, thanks to an action-packed day at the soccer World Cup, but I got there well in time for the first band of the touring lineup. In all honesty, I wasn’t at all familiar with any of the bands here except for Unearth and came in to the show with no expectations.
Chico CA-based Armed For Apocalypse started their set at around 8:50 and brought forth an extremely heavy three-guitar sound that combined elements of sludge and power violence. Lately my eyes and ears have been treated with a lot of sludgy music and as a result I was instantly able to appreciate what Armed For Apocalypse brought to this show. They’ve got to be the first and only three-guitar sludge band I’ve ever seen, perhaps making them stand out from the rest because of it. Prior to their set I was told they would remind me of Crowbar, and that they did, but taking the power violence part of their music into account, I would describe them as a blend of Crowbar and Nails. They received a deservingly positive response from this crowd, and for those attending any shows on the remainder of this tour, I would suggest getting there early to check out Armed For Apocalypse.
Armed For Apocalypse links:
A4Aband.com
facebook.com/ArmedForApocalypse
twitter.com/AforA
Next up, Portland, Maine’s Cruel Hand took the stage and presented some highly enjoyable old-school hardcore punk in a very energetic performance fronted excellently by their vocalist Chris Linkovich, whose Madball shirt quite appropriately demonstrated the band’s biggest musical influence. The bass sound was also delightfully prominent, and on those unfamiliar with the band, Cruel Hand certainly created a great first impression and managed to win some new fans here. For fans of hardcore punk, Cruel Hand is an unmissable live band.
Cruel Hand links:
CruelHand.com
facebook.com/CruelHand
twitter.com/CruelHandHC
instagram.com/CruelHandHC
Serving as the main support act, Lancaster PA-based metalcore quintet Texas In July went on at 10:20 and played a 30-minute set, and even though they had some redeemable qualities in their music, they were honestly my least favorite band of the lineup because of the overuse of the generic distorted chug-chug guitar parts throughout the set. But the guitar solos were actually more than decent and technically well-crafted and kept the set somewhat interesting, and the bassist’s insane energy levels as he moved and spun all over the stage made them watchable. The crowd seemed to be having a great time during their set, and quite a few Texas In July shirts were to be seen, so the band definitely brings their fans to this show and for that reason they’re a good addition to the lineup.
Texas In July links:
TexasInJuly.com
facebook.com/TexasInJulyBand
twitter.com/TexasInJulyBand
instagram.com/TexasInJulyBand
And at around 11:10, Christopher Cross’ ‘Ride Like The Wind’ was played on the PA as an amusing prelude to Unearth‘s entrance onto the Whisky stage. The quintet from Massachusetts who’ve now been around for more than 15 years, longer than some people realize, started off the set by playing one song from every album other than ‘The Oncoming Storm’, including a tune called ‘Metal Core’ which will feature on their upcoming sixth full-length studio release, due out this fall via E1 Music. This very guitar-oriented new composition came as the second item of the set, following which they played ‘Giles’ off of the ‘In The Eyes Of Fire’ album and it truly got this party started as the crowd started really getting involved. Vocalist Trevor Phipps was in top form and besides belting out vocals with utmost fury, he also dove into the crowd on a couple of occasions, as fans in the front few rows gladly caught him and held him aloft. Soon enough, Unearth kicked off ‘The Oncoming Storm’ part of the set with ‘The Great Dividers’ and played the album track by track for the next 40 minutes, the fans loving every bit of it and reciprocating with plenty of action in the pit and raucous applause between songs. The fact that this 2004 release is now 10 years old makes some of us feel a little old, but Unearth’s presentation of the album in this setting retained the intensity with which it was originally written, recorded and performed, and last night’s rendition of it served almost like a time capsule that took us ten years back.
This was my first time seeing Unearth in almost four years, and the most notable difference to me was in the performance of guitarists Ken Susi and Buzz McGrath, who’ve clearly progressed in a positive direction during this period. It’s their musicianship and the influx of traditional metal harmonies along with technically skilled tapping and soloing that perhaps separates Unearth from the plethora of metalcore groups that sprung up as their peers and successors. Besides nailing the guitar parts the duo also kept their stage presence strong and moved around plenty to showcase themselves to every section of the crowd. The rhythm section was excellent as well, and altogether this Unearth set treated the audience with an hour’s worth of solid American heavy metal, revisiting an album many of their fans grew up with and at the same time raising the anticipation for the upcoming new release.
Related: In Conversation With Unearth Vocalist Trevor Phipps
Unearth links:
Unearth.TV
facebook.com/UnearthOfficial
twitter.com/UnearthOfficial
instagram.com/UnearthOfficial
Set List:
01. Watch It Burn
02. Metal Core * new song *
03. Giles
04. My Will Be Done
05. My Heart Bleeds No Longer
06. The Great Dividers
07. Failure
08. This Lying World
09. Lie To Purify
10. Bloodlust Of The Human Condition
11. False Idols
12. Endless
13. Predetermined Sky
14. Zombie Autopilot
15. Black Hearts Now Reign
Remaining Tour Dates:
6/15 – Tempe AZ – Pub Rock
6/16 – Albuquerque NM – Launchpad
6/17 – Dallas TX – Tomcats
6/18 – Norman OK – The Labyrinth
6/19 – St. Louis MO – Fubar
6/20 – Newport KY – Thompson House
6/21 – New York NY – The Studio At Webster Hall
6/22 – Hartford CT – Webster Hall
The Whisky-A-Go-Go links:
WhiskyAGoGo.com
facebook.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
twitter.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
instagram.com/theWhiskyAGoGo