JUNGLE ROT / THROUGH DEAD CALM / SELF FULFILLED PROPHECY / GUNPOINT CRUSH / ABANDON ALL HOPE / FADED EMBRACE
Rock Hollow Gun Club, Freeport, IL - 12/30/05
by Dr. Abner Mality
Rock
Hollow Gun Club just outside of Freeport has surely got to be one of the
most unusual venues I've ever seen a metal show at. The place is the
very picture of the rustic hunting lodge, with thick wooden furniture,
walls and a generally woodsy feeling. The walls were festooned with the
heads and stuffed carcasses of many of God's creatures, all observing
the moshing and backslapping below with dark and shiny eyes. In one
corner of the room, a snarling bear and bobcat looked like they were
about ready to tear into any human who strayed too near. Elsewhere,
there were plenty of displays of hunting rifles and knives, along with
conservation publications. In other words, this was about as warm and
cheery as any place full of death and weapons could be! Perfect!
I got to the Club a little late, mostly due to rotten weather outside.
Despite the wet slushy onslaught, a very good turnout was evident. There
was a pretty good vibe throughout the night. As my good buddy Reverend
Randall Mikkelson, formerly of Submission, pointed out, it was kind of
like taking the old "That One Place" in downtown Rockford and dropping
it into the middle of a Montana hunting lodge.
First band that I saw was Faded Embrace, a new entity featuring members
of Hastings Way. I don't know if Hastings Way have called it a day, but
if so, Faded Embrace is a worthy successor. It's standard metalcore, but
thankfully with no emo traces and an emphasis on heaviness. Not
blindlingly original, but very tightly delivered and showing some
promise for what had to be one of their first shows ever.
Next up was another new band called Abandon All Hope and never has a
band been more aptly named. This bunch of junior high kids had "MySpace
band" written all over them and frankly it was awful. Youthful
enthusiasm excuses many things but I have to call it the way I see it.
They were not tight, they had no grip on style other than trying to cram
in every trendy thing in sight and the music sounded almost like it was
being made up as they went along. A little bit of crazy Dillinger stuff
here, sickly sweet screamo ala Atreyu there, "jumpadafuckup" nu-core
both here and there and a singer whose Mom probably had to pick him up
after the show. He angrily spat out cliches between tracks and generally
came across as greatly lacking maturity. I know in these days of
MySpace and Soundclick, you can write songs and five minutes later have
them on the net for your friends to moon over, but I'd like to see bands
take more time working on songwriting, chops, originality, all of which
were sadly lacking in Abandon All Hope.
Gunpoint Crush was up next and judged on appearance, I was kind of
expecting more of the same. Very anorexic lads with trendy "moppet"
hair-dos and I even think one of them was wearing girl pants with a
white belt. UGH! Fortunately, though, they were a step up from Abandon
All Hope and actually showed some good potential. If you're going to
imitate a metalcore band, make it a good one. These guys are trying to
follow in the footsteps of Bleeding Through and do a credible job of it.
There were some pretty powerful slower riffs accentuated by keyboard
reminding me not only of Bleeding Through but even stuff like Dimmu
Borgir. The breakdowns, as always, were predictable and the vocals on
the monotonous side, but Gunpoint Crush has got some promise. Refine and
broaden the sound, don't rush things and most importantly, don't wear
white belts with ANYTHING!!!
Self Fulfilled Prophecy are almost there. This band has been lurking
around the area for a good while now and has been steadily building up a
following. They were stripped down to a three piece tonight...the last
time I saw them, I believe they had five members, I could be wrong. They
sure kicked up a powerful racket for a three piece, at times
approaching blast beat velocity and at other times calming down for
moody interludes. They seemed to be another band with kind of an
identity crisis going on, as the songs jumped around and lacked focus
within themselves. When the band is on, they have got the intensity and
fury to carry them through. The vocals in particular are
harrowing...varying between intense raspy screams and VERY guttural
death-like growling. A second guitarist wouldn't be a bad move for these
guys.
The crowd was steadily building in intensity with each band and they
finally went apeshit when local heroes Through Dead Calm took to the
stage. This was the first time I've seen these guys and all I can say
is....JESUS! I am COMPLETELY impressed with them! I didn't think bands
this heavy could exist in Northern Illinois outside of Chicago, but I'm
glad to be proven wrong. A refined blend of influences like Napalm
Death, Hatebreed, Dying Fetus and Machine Head, these guys didn't waste
time with clean emo vocals, sad mellow bits or unnecessary bullshit, but
just smacked you upside the head like a pimp getting even with a ho
that stole from him! Thick and meaty, with brutish vocals, and great
hooks. The pit was a war! Check out the picture in this article for one
young soldier's bloody battlescars. I'd like to see some more guitar
soloing from TDC, but they don't need too much work. The younger bands
could learn from them. Instead of trying to please every trend, they
focus on what they do best and nail it. I look forward to much more from
Through Dead Calm and absolutely believe they could be signed to a
major independent!
I hope that Jungle Rot enjoyed the show tonight. You might think that
such an established band in the metal underground might be put out to
play in such a remote spot and relatively small venue, in front of kids
who probably were not too familiar with their material. The ingredients
were certainly present for a disappointment. I've seen shows loaded with
local bands where everybody left before the headliner came on. Happily,
such was not the case tonight. The majority of the crowd hung in to
check out Jungle Rot and there was a constant pit going through the
whole set.
Death metal needs bands like Jungle Rot. Bands that aren't so carried
away with their own technicality and so obsessed with what the critics
want to hear that they lose both themselves and their fans. Many of the
so-called critics find Jungle Rot to be stodgy and predictable. Much
like Obituary, who they somewhat resemble, their reliance on simple
catchy riffs and brutal rhythms is their greatest strength. On their
albums, I will admit they can sometimes seem lumbering. Live, in a great
intimate setting like Rock Hollow, their thunderous concoction of
punishing riffology virtually forces you to bang your head and get in
the pit. Those simple rhythms bite deep and sink in hard. There's enough
high speed fury mixed in to really get your blood boiling.
Touching on their latest album but also going all the way back to their
earliest demo days, Jungle Rot hammered it out like they were playing in
front of a European festival crowd. What a pleasure it was to see a
real circle pit going, instead of nitwit pit ninjas spazzing out and
hogging the floor. Anybody trying to do kung fu moves during Jungle
Rot's set would have been bulldozed into the ground! Those who stuck to
the sides and the back of the floor were headbanging and showing
enthusiasm for the band, who were extremely tight and played flawlessly.
The whole gig was refreshing because of the cool venue, the intimate
feeling and the killer performances from Through Dead Calm and Jungle
Rot. I don't what the people who owned the joint thought, but I'd like
to see more shows at Rock Hollow!
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