The members of The Answer, one of the newer faces in the rock world, hail from Northern Ireland and are no strangers to performing with some of the most storied bands in music - Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, and Deep Purple are just a few of the bands with whom The Answer has shared a stage. The Answer supported AC/DC on their Black Ice Tour and I had the honor of seeing them perform in Philadelphia at the Wachovia Center on October 21st 2009.
The Answer started off their set with a guitar solo from Paul Mahon, after which they launched into “Tonight,” a song that highlights the bands strong command of dynamics. It is one of their new from their most recent album Everyday Demons. From start to finish, bassist Michael Waters and drummer James Heatly provided a high energy rhythm section that kept the music driving. Frontman Cormac Neeson kept everyone in the audience involved throughout the performance, and even gave the members of the crowd one of the greatest compliments rock n’ roll fans can receive…telling them that they could drink and party on par with the Irish (and coming from an Irishmen no less!).
Other highpoints included songs like “Demon Eyes”, “Comfort Zone”, and “Preachen’”. A band that is strong and appears to only be getting stronger with time, The Answer played an all around powerful 45 minute set that was received positively from the fans (not to mention the dude next to me with the Irish Flag - just another one in the growing fan base for The Answer here in the States). Any fans of bands that play good old fashioned rock n’ roll should look into picking up some of The Answer’s music. Even those who don’t associate much with rock should give them a listen; the passion and intensity from this band not only shows that they will go far on their own terms, but the variety within their material makes it a good addition to anyone’s music library.
-Kevin Ryan
Monday, December 7, 2009
Concert Review - All Shall Perish, Born of Osiris, and After the Burial
The under 21 entrance was curtained in a thick air of cigarette smoke as younger fans and twenty-somethings alike packed into Allentown’s Crocodile Rock for the eastern leg of the Night of the Living Shred Tour featuring co-headliners All Shall Perish, Born of Osiris, and After the Burial. The Oakland area metal outfit All Shall Perish entered the city of Allentown having toured for some time, both at home and abroad, and looked to run off the high energy acts which they followed. In an interview with the band before their set, lead singer Eddie Hermida expressed his excitement over performing with up and coming deathcore acts Born of Osiris and After the Burial, this being their second tour with the latter.
Minneapolis Sumerian signees After the Burial started the night off for the series of co-headliners with a full and breathtakingly heavy set. Their eight string guitars chugged through old favorites and new favorites alike, performed with new singer Anthony Notarmaso. This was Notarmaso’s first nationwide tour with After the Burial after the release of their reissued, rerecorded 2008 LP Rareform. Notarmaso proved himself to be tour ready, never missing a note and in some cases, performing better than ATB’s previously recorded material. When asked about Notarmaso, Hermida passed down his approval in WXVU’s preconcert interview and hinted at a switch from 7 strings to 8 strings for their next album.
Fellow Sumerian deathcore artists Born of Osiris, based out of Chicago, would provide the most energy next to the closing act. Their schizophrenic brand of hardcore led to a great amount of activity in the pit, but also to some very confused headbangers trying to keep up with timing and tempo changes. On most tracks in their set, Born of Osiris slowed down the tempo just enough to make for a tighter show but it did not go unnoticed. Instead of the frantic blasting in Brace Legs or the complex guitar work in Abstract Art, their sound was a bit lazy; wanting to break out into full force thrash, but restricted by efforts to keep their live show together. Despite the tempo change, fans still erupted with the opening note of each familiar The New Reign track. Favorites on the night include “Open Arms to Damnation” and closer “Bow Down”; each containing a moment of mic-reaching, sing-along intensity as the entire GA section sandwiched towards the stage to be closer to the source of the excitement.
Finally, after a short wait, All Shall Perish made their way to the stage and proceeded to pound out an hour long set that appeased new and old fans in the crowd. After almost five hours of hard-hitting acts, the crowd looked rejuvenated as All Shall Perish ran through a setlist that included their two best of the night “Eradication” and cowbell thumping closer “Wage Slaves” off of 2006’s The Price of Existence. The band sounded tight throughout the night playing songs from both of their most recent albums including Awaken the Dreamers. The drumming of Matt Kuykendall was masterful as always as he provided the backbone for All Shall Perish on tracks such as “Better Living Through Catastrophe” and even gave private lessons before the show. During our preconcert interview, Hermida reacted to a question about the Oakland metal scene. Happy to get the opportunity to talk about the area in which they call home and came into their own as a band, Hermida reflected on the glory days of Metallica and thriving metal clubs throughout the Bay Area. However, according to Hermida, the Oakland scene has declined greatly in the recent past and has become a shadow of its thrash-metal prime. But judging from their live show and the music backing it, All Shall Perish is doing their best to restore the Bay Area’s once lustrous metal reputation.
-Brendan Bianowicz
Minneapolis Sumerian signees After the Burial started the night off for the series of co-headliners with a full and breathtakingly heavy set. Their eight string guitars chugged through old favorites and new favorites alike, performed with new singer Anthony Notarmaso. This was Notarmaso’s first nationwide tour with After the Burial after the release of their reissued, rerecorded 2008 LP Rareform. Notarmaso proved himself to be tour ready, never missing a note and in some cases, performing better than ATB’s previously recorded material. When asked about Notarmaso, Hermida passed down his approval in WXVU’s preconcert interview and hinted at a switch from 7 strings to 8 strings for their next album.
Fellow Sumerian deathcore artists Born of Osiris, based out of Chicago, would provide the most energy next to the closing act. Their schizophrenic brand of hardcore led to a great amount of activity in the pit, but also to some very confused headbangers trying to keep up with timing and tempo changes. On most tracks in their set, Born of Osiris slowed down the tempo just enough to make for a tighter show but it did not go unnoticed. Instead of the frantic blasting in Brace Legs or the complex guitar work in Abstract Art, their sound was a bit lazy; wanting to break out into full force thrash, but restricted by efforts to keep their live show together. Despite the tempo change, fans still erupted with the opening note of each familiar The New Reign track. Favorites on the night include “Open Arms to Damnation” and closer “Bow Down”; each containing a moment of mic-reaching, sing-along intensity as the entire GA section sandwiched towards the stage to be closer to the source of the excitement.
Finally, after a short wait, All Shall Perish made their way to the stage and proceeded to pound out an hour long set that appeased new and old fans in the crowd. After almost five hours of hard-hitting acts, the crowd looked rejuvenated as All Shall Perish ran through a setlist that included their two best of the night “Eradication” and cowbell thumping closer “Wage Slaves” off of 2006’s The Price of Existence. The band sounded tight throughout the night playing songs from both of their most recent albums including Awaken the Dreamers. The drumming of Matt Kuykendall was masterful as always as he provided the backbone for All Shall Perish on tracks such as “Better Living Through Catastrophe” and even gave private lessons before the show. During our preconcert interview, Hermida reacted to a question about the Oakland metal scene. Happy to get the opportunity to talk about the area in which they call home and came into their own as a band, Hermida reflected on the glory days of Metallica and thriving metal clubs throughout the Bay Area. However, according to Hermida, the Oakland scene has declined greatly in the recent past and has become a shadow of its thrash-metal prime. But judging from their live show and the music backing it, All Shall Perish is doing their best to restore the Bay Area’s once lustrous metal reputation.
-Brendan Bianowicz
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