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Tony Ziebol's Hatebreed review - 092306 - The Rock, Maplewood Mn
 Anybody who believes metal is dead, wasn’t at the Rock
September 23 from the Jagermeister Monsters of Mayhem tour. Walking
into the club, I couldn’t believe how many black t-shirt,
black-everything clad people filled every nook and cranny of the club.
Appropriately on a God-is-pissing-on-me, crummy weather day, 800 people
showed up to bob their heads and let off some steam. Taking a look at
the global lineup, I guess I shouldn’t have been that surprised.You had a band from Europe (Napalm Death), a band from Canada (Despised Icon), two bands from the West Coast (Exodus and First Blood), a band from the East Coast (Hatebreed) and a band from Middle America (The Black Dahlia Murder). Whether you want to call it metalcore, grindcore, death metal, thrash metal or hardcore, this night was all about one theme: metal. Unfortunately, due to a band practice going late (big shocker), I missed the first band, Despised Icon. First Blood had just started when I made my fashionably late entrance and apparently I was one of the few who wasn’t there at like noon. The place was jammed. After familiarizing myself earlier in the week with a few of the bands that I wasn’t all too familiar with, I was looking forward to hearing this San Francisco band and they didn’t disappoint. You can always gauge a metal band by watching the individuals surrounding you and watching how much their chins dropped at the downbeat. I must say, First Blood’s headbanger effectiveness was very good. This band had traditional metal grooves that were infectious and pounding, but with a hardcore edge. They mixed up the tempos at just the right times and fell into these overpowering grooves that left you wanting more. A very impressive band. Next were two bands that in Metal-America needed no introduction, Napalm Death and Exodus. I remember having picked up a cassette of “Utopia Banished” in 1992 (Damn, was it that long ago?). Since then I’ve kind of lost track of the band. In any case, the band proved it still has it. It was just like being back in ’92 and was just like I remember it: ridiculously fast drumming, demonic-sounding vocals, and blistering guitar work. Ending the set with a cover of the Dead Kennedys’ “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” was an especially nice touch. This was the second time this summer that I’ve seen Exodus, which is insane since I never saw them during their heyday in the 80s. Whatever. As far as thrash goes, this band has always been very underrated and it was great seeing the legendary Paul Bostaph (Slayer, Testament) on drums again. To be perfectly honest, I didn’t really care much for the next band, The Black Dahlia Murder. It had great energy and very tight musicians, but the songwriting wasn’t anything to get excited about. Maybe I’m just too old school for them. The crowd seemed to love ‘em, though. At this point, the energy in the room went up about 10 notches. As I made my way to the front to catch Hatebreed up close, you could just feel like the place was going to explode. And it did. It felt more like a First Avenue show than one at the Rock. From the first note, mosh pits erupted all over the floor, people were bodysurfing, bodies were flying and barely-controlled chaos ensued. The feeling was so contagious that even I jumped in the pit for a while. Through it all, Hatebreed singer Jayme Jasta (the new Ricki Rachman of Headbanger’s Ball), had the crowd completely jacked up and moving. The band followed his lead effortlessly and threw down a monster performance. All in all, it was a much better show than expected, with the new and old breed of metal masters jammin’ side by side, and toe to toe. Bruised, tired and yes, not a little intoxicated (hey, it was the Jagermeister tour!), I went home pleased that metal was indeed live and kickin’ over headstones. Show Coverage by Tony Ziebol Sept 23, 2006 www.rockwatch.org The Rock 2029 Woodlyn Ave. Maplewood , MN www.therocknightclub.com |