{"id":4793,"date":"2014-09-21T01:04:29","date_gmt":"2014-09-21T08:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=4793"},"modified":"2014-09-25T01:05:57","modified_gmt":"2014-09-25T08:05:57","slug":"arsis-bring-a-celebration-of-guilt-to-oc-music-hall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2014\/09\/21\/arsis-bring-a-celebration-of-guilt-to-oc-music-hall\/","title":{"rendered":"Arsis Bring ‘A Celebration Of Guilt’ To OC Music Hall"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jason Williams<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

September 20th 2014, OC Music Hall, Anaheim CA:<\/strong> For the past 14 years, Virginia’s technical melodic death metal veterans Arsis have been providing listeners with their blend of intense and catchy death metal. “A Celebration Of Guilt”, their first album released 10 years ago and considered by many, including this writer, to be their best work; was to be played in its entirety on their headlining tour. Joining Arsis were Allegaeon, Colorado’s most misspelled death metal band and Exmortus, who have really been making their name out there on more recent tours. The Music Hall held the successful 2014 OC Death Metal Fest last week, making this the second awesome Orange County show myself and those in attendance could be part of.<\/p>\n

I arrived at about 9, missing a few of the local openers and in time for the last opener, Ascendancy<\/a><\/strong>. Their performance was also their official CD release show for their new record ‘Pinnacle Of Creation’. The crowd was at a decent level for this time, although there could have been more in attendance, this being a Saturday night and a solid tour lineup for only $12. With that being said, the ones in attendance were in great spirits, headbanging, pits and lots of excitement throughout. Ascendancy fed off the crowd, playing a fitting live setting of melodic death metal. Their guitar work was fun to watch and the vocalist kept the crowd going throughout their set. If you enjoy good melodic death metal, pick up their new record.<\/p>\n

The band that seems to be on the bigger tours constantly late, Exmortus<\/a><\/strong> have been slowly building their name up, opening for bands such as Dark Tranquillity and Destruction earlier this year. Combining death metal with some fine and tasteful neo-classical shredding, their live show is fast-paced and neckbreaking. Vocalist\/guitarist Conan as usual delivered to the crowd with guitar solo faces, flawless guitar work and confidence for days. His other 6-string axe partner in crime David Rivera matched guitar sequences, solos and anything else note for note. Unlike other shredders, who only focus on what solo to play, Exmortus use it to compliment the music, not engulf the listener with it. As with the Destruction show, their rendition of “Moonlight Sonata (Act 3)” was the highlight of their set. Exmortus did not disappoint, and one hopes they continue to their rise in the metal scene.<\/p>\n

Set List:<\/strong>
\n01. Immortality Made Flesh
\n02. Foe Hammer
\n03. Moonlight Sonata (Act 3)
\n04. Slave to the Sword
\n05. Metal is King<\/p>\n

By 10:30, the show running a little behind, Allegaeon<\/a><\/strong> took the stage in front a very frenzied crowd. Judging by the reaction, I almost thought that Allegaeon was the band everyone wanted to see the most. Their newest release ‘Elements Of The Infinite’ has been on my playlist constantly, being one of the highlights of 2014 so far. They opened their set with the first song of Elements, “Threshold of Perception”, immediately taking the fans in attendance by storm, never letting up and raising hell throughout. It almost felt like they had something to prove, coming out all guns blazing right away. That level of passion and intensity is what makes death metal truly unique and special. They combine a powerful technical melodic death metal approach with an extra dose of clarity and presence in their riffs. Vocalist Ezra Haynes was hilarious throughout the set. Giving the mic for some to sing verses, constantly moving across the stage with a huge grin on his face and even reminiscing about earlier shows years ago with some fans in the crowd. Longstanding guitarist Greg Burgess and newer fellow axeman Michael Stancel combine technicality with originality and brutality within their music, really setting themselves apart from many in their genre. Almost as big as their music, the band is known for hilarious stage antics, humourous posts and their mascot “The Crabcore”. But make absolutely no mistake about it, they take their music incredibly seriously, and the level of their musicianship and quality of music inherently shows. They played four songs off their new album and a mix of their other two studio releases. Ending their set was the opus “Genocide for Praise: Vals for the Vitruvian Man”, my favorite track from the lastest record.\u00a0 Even though their set was about 45 minutes, it seriously felt like 15, and I know much of the audience felt the same way. I felt honoured to finally see Allegaeon play after these past few years, and cannot wait for a possible headlining tour in the future. The best act of the night.<\/p>\n

Set List:<\/strong>
\n01. Threshold of Perception
\n02. Behold (God I Am)
\n03. Biomech – Vals No. 666
\n04. Biomech II
\n05. 1.618
\n06. The God Particle
\n07. Genocide for Praise: Vals for the Vitruvian Man<\/p>\n

The evening was winding down, as Arsis<\/a><\/strong> played to a happy and engaging yet stil small audience. I’ve always felt Arsis came into the scene at the wrong time, wrapped in somewhat bad luck. For the amount of quality they have put out and how long they’ve been around, Arsis really never got the kind of push that I feel they deserve, as other bands of lower quality continue to succeed. Nevertheless, I would still rather see a small audience that is passionate and into the music, then a sold-out crowd folding their arms and looking like they do not want to be there. The set started with their very first album that would be played in entirety, opening with “The Face of My Innocence”. It was warming to see history, as the first 11 songs in their set were made over 10 years ago, when many in this audience were probably barely getting into the extreme side of metal. Founder, guitarist and singer James Malone was in his element, playing beautiful melodic riffs with some adequate and melancholic lead guitar and melodies, the Arsis trademark. Throughout the night, Malone thanked the crowd for coming and gave some history on the album, mentioning some of the songs off of ‘A Celebration of Guilt’ have never been played before. Some of the guitar sounds were a little muddy in the beginning, but cleared up fairly quickly. After their magnus opum was finished, they ended their set with 4 other songs, one off their lastest release ‘Unwelcome’ and also included a well-done cover of WASP’s “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)”, which Malone dedicated to the ladies in attendance. I’ve never been a fan of WASP, not withstanding Blackie Lawless’ constant unprofessional antics, but Arsis’ rendition of the cover was fun, precise and done in their style, something covers have to be when playing them live. Arsis finally closed their set with their track from their 2005 EP “A Diamond for Disease”, and although I wish they would play the entire 12 minutes of the song instead of only half of it, it still works as an outstanding closer to their set. \u00a0hey played for about 70 minutes or so, and many after the set came to take pictures with Arsis at their merch booth, something I always give admiration and credit to when bands of any stature give to the fans.<\/p>\n

Although I felt I’ve seen Arsis at better junctures and times, and it didn’t help how extremely high Allegaeon set the bar this show, I was glad to be a part of history for Arsis’ outstanding first album, and they still crushed it. The disappointing attendance after Allegaeon played was frustrating, but the crowd still gave it their all. “A Celebration Of Guilt” is a true and extremely underrated gem in the melodic death metal catalog. If they come to your area for the rest of the tour, don’t miss history and some other outstanding metal bands on the bill.<\/p>\n

Set List:<\/strong>
\n01. The Face of My Innocence
\n02. Maddening Disdain
\n03. Seven Whispers Fell Silent
\n04. Return
\n05. Worship Depraved
\n06. Carnal Ways to Recreate the Heart
\n07. Dust and Guilt
\n08. Elegant and Perverse
\n09. The Sadistic Motives Behind Bereavement Letters
\n10. Looking to Nothing
\n11. Wholly Night
\n12. Handbook for the Recently Deceased
\n13. We Are the Nightmare
\n14. Animal (Fuck Like a Beast) (WASP cover)
\n15. A Diamond for Disease<\/p>\n

Remaining tour dates:<\/strong>
\n09\/25\/14\u00a0 Rail Club \u2013 Fort Worth, TX
\n09\/27\/14\u00a0 Haven Lounge \u2013 Orlando, FL
\n09\/28\/14\u00a0 The Orpheum \u2013 Tampa, FL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jason Williams September 20th 2014, OC Music Hall, Anaheim CA: For the past 14 years, Virginia’s technical melodic death metal veterans Arsis have been providing listeners with their blend of intense and catchy death metal. “A Celebration Of Guilt”, their first album released 10 years ago and considered by many, including this writer, to … <\/p>\n

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