So, next show was Tuesday night down in Spartanburg, SC–3.5-4 hour drive with one good friend and one local metal pal who I’m still getting to know. The big upshot for me was that in that town is a Mr. Gatti’s Pizza, which is this chain of low-tier buffet pizza joints with arcades and kids TV rooms. Sort of somewhere between Chuck E Cheese and Cici’s. It’s not good. But I love it. And the only one I had easy access to, in my parents’ hometown, went out of business several years ago. So of course had to go.
Then, it was on to music!
First up was Xael, who I shared above. Excellent symphonic death metal with folk notes. They only got to play one song due to significant technical issues–it was one of their first real shows.
Then came Vesterian, a Charlotte, NC-area black metal band with cool armor and solid technical chops. They’ve got a few albums under their belt and I actually like 'em quite a bit, so getting to see them live was sick as hell.
After that was Thy Antichrist, who are just so ludicrously over the top that you can’t help but love them. Ludicrous medieval armor, the lead singer dressed up like a nature cult satanic priest or some shit with a giant skull staff and elaborate body paint all over him. . . they play some decent atmospheric-esque black metal that actually sounded a lot better live than it had on the albums.
Then came Dark Funeral, the legendary Swedish black metal maestros, back after a long hiatus and better than ever. While Thy Antichrist mistakes shock value and absurdity for personality and depth, Dark Funeral actually have some genuine fucking charisma and power to them that I think only comes with age and experience. Their set was amazing and bleak and filthily heavy.
Finally, after so long a wait, at last came Septicflesh, returning to US shores after something like 5 goddamn years. Their brand of symphonic, crushingly heavy death metal is EXACTLY up my alley, and they absolutely delivered live. Their sound mixing was super fucking on point and they did a great job of letting the orchestral instrumental parts breathe and flow between their live performed segments, and the lead singer’s boundless Greek enthusiasm was just fucking awesome. What a great, great show.
Amazing night. Followed by a 4 hour drive home punctuated by an ill-advised stop at Krystals (another restaurant I can’t easily eat in Raleigh and thus HAD to stop at when I saw one in SC).
Xael
Vesterian
Thy Antichrist
Dark Funeral
Septicflesh