They Came, They Saw, We Moshed
I consider Exeter to now be my second home as part of the local music scene, but upon news that Chimaira were on the bill I jumped at the chance to review it. The queue was a small rabble of people standing below the stairwell at the phoenix at around 7pm, which left me wondering if the gig would been a flop, but a barrage of people soon wedged their way into the venue. After grabbing a pass, first band up Neosis were on.
Neosis is a mind boggling acronym which stands for New Evolution Of Society Influenced by Scientism. This concept sounded absolutely awesome, as did the band as they graced the stage of the Phoenix. With their new drummer Anthony blasted the double bass pedal to bits, which was surprising how the band could still remain that tight together, embracing in many polyrhythmic parts of the songs. The guitar from Greg and a tone that many guitarists would want to die for, with the futuristic feel to it with the thumping bass behind it, with the sounds of programmed samples leaking their way through the set. Sadly, the audience didn't interact to the enthusiastic band on the night, nor make any attempt to jump about, which can be argued of the crowd not being aware of most of Neosis' material or the small interaction from band to audience. But regardless of which, it was a fine set from the Swiss metallers - 4/5
Second band up were Welsh quintet Revoker. At this stage, the personalities of the audience clashed and conflicted between each other by one side who were anticipating Mark Hunter and friends headlining band to the people who wanted to get the party in full swing after the late entrances of the bands and the rather useless timings that no one bothered paying attention to the members of the audience who remained static. After running in halfway during their second song of the set, I joined the fun side of the room, with the energy throbbing from the mosh to the band and vice versa, with the chants for devil horns and circle pits and the general madness and shenanigans by frontman and guitarist Jamie Mathias who created thrash metal grooves that have easily melted faces, from riffs to divine solos from him and Chris Green, and the growls from bassist and drummer Shane Phillips and Jack Pritchard. The highlight for everyone had to be the raw power from the song off their latest album "Revenge for the Ruthless" entitled "Psycoville" and "Stay Down", which achieved more energy than previously expected from anyone.
People who suffer from insanity problems are often found at lunatic asylums, but in this case the location was the Exeter phoenix, where the band Chimaira just simply dominated the room, with vocalist Mark Hunter spitting out vocals of hate into the audience, who bathed in the rising metal bands first time down in Exeter. The album 'The Age of Hell' was controversial amongst fans, with only one main person who had stayed with them and a whole new band. But that didn't stop anything, it only increased the pulsating energy with guitarists Emil Werstler and Matt Szlachta performing extravagant solos and impressive stage presence, to the formulated breakdowns with drummer Austin D'amond blasting away the backbeats that assisted in the creations of the spontaneous moshpits and the scarily frequent Wall of Deaths. Although the set did drag on a bit with the metalcore styled breakdowns there, audience members found themselves dripping in blood, sweat, and excess multitudes of flying alcohol and various items being thrown into the crowd by the band. When you emerge from the gig thoroughly dripping with sweat and having the single "Year of the Snake" ringing aloud in your ear, you know that you've had a good time. - 5/5
Link to my interview with Neosis and Revoker - www.soundcloud.com/keithling
Links to the other bands
Chimaira -http://www.facebook.com/revokeruk?ref=ts&__adt=18#!/chimairaofficial?sk=info
Revoker- http://www.facebook.com/revokeruk?ref=ts&__adt=18#!/revokeruk
Neosis- http://www.facebook.com/revokeruk?ref=ts&__adt=18#!/Neosisofficial
Neosis is a mind boggling acronym which stands for New Evolution Of Society Influenced by Scientism. This concept sounded absolutely awesome, as did the band as they graced the stage of the Phoenix. With their new drummer Anthony blasted the double bass pedal to bits, which was surprising how the band could still remain that tight together, embracing in many polyrhythmic parts of the songs. The guitar from Greg and a tone that many guitarists would want to die for, with the futuristic feel to it with the thumping bass behind it, with the sounds of programmed samples leaking their way through the set. Sadly, the audience didn't interact to the enthusiastic band on the night, nor make any attempt to jump about, which can be argued of the crowd not being aware of most of Neosis' material or the small interaction from band to audience. But regardless of which, it was a fine set from the Swiss metallers - 4/5
Second band up were Welsh quintet Revoker. At this stage, the personalities of the audience clashed and conflicted between each other by one side who were anticipating Mark Hunter and friends headlining band to the people who wanted to get the party in full swing after the late entrances of the bands and the rather useless timings that no one bothered paying attention to the members of the audience who remained static. After running in halfway during their second song of the set, I joined the fun side of the room, with the energy throbbing from the mosh to the band and vice versa, with the chants for devil horns and circle pits and the general madness and shenanigans by frontman and guitarist Jamie Mathias who created thrash metal grooves that have easily melted faces, from riffs to divine solos from him and Chris Green, and the growls from bassist and drummer Shane Phillips and Jack Pritchard. The highlight for everyone had to be the raw power from the song off their latest album "Revenge for the Ruthless" entitled "Psycoville" and "Stay Down", which achieved more energy than previously expected from anyone.
People who suffer from insanity problems are often found at lunatic asylums, but in this case the location was the Exeter phoenix, where the band Chimaira just simply dominated the room, with vocalist Mark Hunter spitting out vocals of hate into the audience, who bathed in the rising metal bands first time down in Exeter. The album 'The Age of Hell' was controversial amongst fans, with only one main person who had stayed with them and a whole new band. But that didn't stop anything, it only increased the pulsating energy with guitarists Emil Werstler and Matt Szlachta performing extravagant solos and impressive stage presence, to the formulated breakdowns with drummer Austin D'amond blasting away the backbeats that assisted in the creations of the spontaneous moshpits and the scarily frequent Wall of Deaths. Although the set did drag on a bit with the metalcore styled breakdowns there, audience members found themselves dripping in blood, sweat, and excess multitudes of flying alcohol and various items being thrown into the crowd by the band. When you emerge from the gig thoroughly dripping with sweat and having the single "Year of the Snake" ringing aloud in your ear, you know that you've had a good time. - 5/5
Link to my interview with Neosis and Revoker - www.soundcloud.com/keithling
Links to the other bands
Chimaira -http://www.facebook.com/revokeruk?ref=ts&__adt=18#!/chimairaofficial?sk=info
Revoker- http://www.facebook.com/revokeruk?ref=ts&__adt=18#!/revokeruk
Neosis- http://www.facebook.com/revokeruk?ref=ts&__adt=18#!/Neosisofficial