Metal Militia: DragonForce, Isis and Hatebreed.

I love metal. Seriously. I love it. And metal concerts are always full of the most interesting experiences. However - the last couple shows I have been to I haven't really been into it. I remember back in the day when Matiss and I went to go see Dimmu Borgir and how awesome it was.  But lately I haven't really been into the whole scene. So I decided to try it out again. ;)

So I went to a bunch of shows. Last week was Mastodon and Converge. Mastodon was their usual sludge and somewhat boring selves. I had forgotten that when I saw them with Fear Factory awhile back I was disappointed because they don't move. I sometimes need them to move.  So this week - Jeffrey arranged for a bunch of awesome shows. And I rocked it.

The first show was Hatebreed with Black Dahlia Murder, Napalm Death and some other bands. We showed up in the middle of Black Dahlia Murder's set. They are pretty awesome. Really good vocals and obviously really hard. I was bummed I didn't get to see Napalm Death - but Black Dahlia Murder was a good replacement. Then Hatebreed came on. They are insane. This is the most "bro" music I have ever heard. Jeffrey broke it down to a formula and without fail every song followed. It was almost funny. The best part was the new guitarist jumping awkwardly off the platforms. hah. You gotta have style when you are jumping off stuff, not just jump off it like you are afraid to fall. That isn't tough, or metal at all.

I ended up leaving early to go and see the emergency metal show that the Beat Kitchen. Isis who has been touring with Tool was playing an unscheduled show at the Beat Kitchen - which is maybe the smallest venue ever. I met Kira there and ended up seeing a bundle of friends. It was a great event. Yakuza opened and was horrible. hah. I don't like that "art metal." I prefer hard, sludge, and doomy metal. Yakuza had some good stuff - but the sax work killed it for me. After Yakuza - Isis came on. The show wasn't too formal. It was such a small venue that they didn't have room for all the equipment and one of the stacks was on the far right - in a little cubby. But this didn't mean they didn't own. Isis played one of the better show I have seen. It was amazing. So good. I miss seeing shows like that. It made me excited for the music again.

Then last night I went and saw DragonForce. I went into it knowing that DragonForce was a retarded band. I mean seriously - wtf. Check out this video if you don't know what I am talking about. Its like listening to a bunch of nerds dreaming of the most awesome video game music ever. It is horrible. Horribly good. So Morgan and I showed up right before they started. Jake was supposed to meet us but he forgot his ticket at home and gave up. So we walk in and I immediately notice that the crowd was much different than normal shows. It was much more nerdy. And crazy packed. There were, of course, the normal metal dudes; but a lot of the people were just nerdy guys. So DragonForce starts. Jumps right into insanity and never slows down. The guitar players are insane. Really fast and seemingly accurate; playing their crazy solos and generally rocking. The thing that absolutely killed me is that they had cups with straws attached to their mic stands. So that while one of the guitarists were rocking, they could bend over and drink out of a cup. It was hilarious. The only thing I thought was stupid was how the lead singer emasculated the guitarist and bassist for have fake "tattoos" and calling them gay. Then having the audience chant "gay gay gay." I just don't think metal needs more "dude" and "bro" stuff than it already has.

So yea. I am more excited and happy about music right now. I want to listen to more music like Isis again. and probably less music like DragonForce. hah.