It was a terrible night to drive ANY distance to see a show. The fog was so thick that at times it was almost impossible to see the dividing line in the road. After a full two hours of driving in this fog (and getting lost a couple of times as well) we finally arrived, and to our luck a full hour before the first band was to hit the stage. Whew!!
Opening the night's festivities was Wicked who played an industrial/gothic/black metal hybrid that neglected to entertain neither I nor the audience. It's apparent that Wicked don't have any sound of their own as it seems as though they're happy with borrowing ideas from different genres and mixing them up and passing it off as their own sound. Sorry guys, but a new musical direction or more originality is in order. The most entertaining and endearing aspect of Wicked's set was that the singer looked like Alanis Morisette with corpse paint. NO JOKE!!!
Following were local death/grind band Flesh Feast, who played a good set of Deicide/Cannibal Corpse-influenced death metal that kept the crowd enthralled for the entire set. Having the most intense mosh pit of the night, FF's dueling vocalists kept things interesting while the drumming never got monotonous. Having seen Flesh Feast a couple of years ago, tonight they sounded more tight and intense and the crowd responded accordingly.
Recently signed to Pulverizer Records (see an interview with them in this issue), Blood of Christ followed and went on to play the best set of the night. Playing songs off their demo _Lonely Flowers of Autumn_ and some newer tracks that will appear on their debut CD for said label, they simply could not be denied on this night (despite the sound problems). Look for Blood of Christ at this year's Milwaukee Metal Fest!
Headliners Hemdale finished out the show and admittedly in a somewhat negative fashion. Playing gore-inspired grind numbers, the bass sound was great while the guitar could hardly be heard. The band's antics on stage provided for some visual entertainment but they couldn't do the same musically. About five songs into their set the songs became interchangable as you couldn't tell the difference between each song. But I guess that's why they call it grindcore, right? It became painfully clear that Hemdale were the wrong band to headline. The absence of a pit and lack of crowd response were the indicators of this. Hemdale started off somewhat entertaining but ended off just tiring.
Encountering fog for most of the trip back, I was truly lucky to have survived the night. But then again, I'd do almost anything for Chronicles of Chaos!