CAGE Concert Review - Part 1 of 2

Cage, Dawn Of Valor, Minos, Eternal Voyager, Noble Beast, Iron Finger

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Station 4, St. Paul, MN

Part 1 of 2

Click any picture to see additional photos of Cage (27).

Power metal survivors Cage have put forth a significant effort in touring the US in the last 5–6 years, so it’s been a treat to have them here in The Cities for the third time in recent years. This show was the first of three on a short run through the Midwest as the band is gearing up for the release of their sixth album, Supremacy Of Steel.

My review of the show will be in two parts—Cage here in Part 1, to be followed soon with the supporting bands in Part 2. I also conducted an exclusive video interview with all five members of Cage before the show, and this will also be posted in the near future.

  

Having seen Cage numerous times since the early Unveiled and Astrology eras, I can state with confidence that this was the best show I’ve seen to date, and this version of the band is the most polished and technically proficient. Steve Brogden has moved bass to guitar, while Psychotic Waltz drummer Norm Leggio’s bandmate from Teabag, Pete Stone, has joined Cage on bass (I’ll have to dig out some old pictures of Norm and Pete playing in Teabag!). Leading this new lineup are original vocalist Sean Peck and guitarist Dave “Conan” Garcia. Everyone was in top form, and Cage has definitely solidified a loyal base of fans here in the Twin Cities.

Watch Cage perform “Doctor Doom” from the upcoming Supremacy Of Steel album. Visit my YouTube channel to see videos of the complete show!

Cage is pushing the upcoming Supremacy Of Steel album hard, and they ripped into five new songs this night, many played live for the first time. Selections from their last three albums, Science Of Annihilation, Hell Destroyer, and Darker Than Black, rounded out this marathon 15-song, nearly 90 minute set. New song “Bloodsteel” opened the show with a blistering scream from Sean, then they immediately launched into crowd favorite “I Am The King”. Two more new songs, “The Beast Of Bray Road” and “Doctor Doom”, also received a great response from the audience. Cage then settled into a string of familiar tunes, including fire-spitting versions of “Planet Crusher” and “Hell Destroyer”. “War Of The Undead”, another new one that was debuted in Minneapolis last year, kept the band on fire and eventually led into the set closer, “Metal Empire”, the last new track of the night which can only be described as epic. Wasting little time before returning for an encore, Cage sounded rejuvenated as they ripped into the brilliant “King Diamond” and a pounding version of “Metal Devil”. The last surprise for the night was closing affairs down with a nearly 11 minute version of “Wings Of Destruction” from Darker Than Black.

Watch Cage perform “Bloodsteel” from the upcoming Supremacy Of Steel album. Visit my YouTube channel to see videos of the complete show!

Cage once again demonstrated that they continue to be taken seriously as one of the top power metal bands in the world. Their consistency over six albums is virtually unmatched and they are a force to behold live. Incredibly, Cage continues to get better and they’ve yet to reach their creative peak. Judging from the new songs played this night, Supremacy Of Steel will leave the metal world wondering how Cage does it. “Doctor Doom”, “Metal Empire”, and “The Beast Of Bray Road” were probably my favorites. Although Cage’s past US tours have not been extensive the band is making a serious effort to penetrate more markets, so do yourself a favor and get out to see them if they come to a town near you.

Head on over to my YouTube channel to watch videos of Cage’s entire performance, and check back soon for an exclusive video interview with the entire band and Part 2 of the concert review for pictures and videos of the supporting bands Iron Finger, Dawn Of Valor, Minos, Eternal Voyager, and Noble Beast.

CAGE Tonight in St. Paul; SKID ROW/DIO DISCIPLES Cancels Medina Show

Bad news first—Skid Row and Dio Disciples have cancelled their show scheduled for tomorrow, September 30 at the Medina Entertainment Center in Medina. No reason was given for the cancelation, but the venue was nice enough to call ticketholders with the news yesterday. A post on the Skid Row website indicates that the show might be rescheduled.


Given that cancelation, there's no reason not to get out tonight for the return of Cage, a long-running traditional power metal band from San Diego. The amazing thing about Cage is that they continue to grow through their years of hard, underground DIY work ethic. Having known and seen the band live since 1999, I can attest that every show is brilliant. Tonight's show, at Station 4 in St. Paul, is Cage's third visit to the Twin Cities, and is the very first since completion of their soon-to-be-released new album, Supremacy Of Steel. This sort Midwest jaunt for Cage takes them to Moorhead, Minnesota tomorrow, then to Chicago for a festival show on Saturday. There's a great lineup of local support bands, including Dawn Of Valor, and it's only $8, so do the right thing and head to Station 4 tonight.

Cage performing new song "War Of The Undead" for the first time on June 23, 2010 at The Triple Rock Social Club in Minneapolis.

Cage performs tonight, Thursday, September 29 at Station 4 in St. Paul with support from Powerfinger, Dawn Of Valor, Minos, Eternal Voyager, and Noble Beast.

EVERGREY Album Review

Evergrey – Glorious Collision

Steamhammer/SPV, 2011

5/10

Sweden’s Evergrey are widely touted as being at the forefront of the current progressive metal movement, but Glorious Collision leaves me wondering how much longer fans will be patient following a string of less-than-stellar albums. This latest album has its moments, but it’s difficult for any band to maintain a high level of consistency over 13 songs in 60 minutes. I’ve probably said it before, but I’ll state my problem with too many albums—they’re too long and have too many songs. Glorious Collision is a textbook example of the failure of bands to put forth the best 8 songs for an album. Throw out the weakest songs here – “You”, “Out Of Reach”, “The Disease…”, “Wrong”, and “I’m Drowning Alone” – and immediately this would be a superior record. The biggest doubt with Glorious Collision was how extensive personnel changes would affect the album. The songwriting core of the band is intact, however, and the new members do a great job. “Leave It Behind Us” starts the album acceptably, but things quickly go south with “You” and “Wrong”. Only when “Restoring The Loss” and “To Fit The Mold”, the best songs on the album, kick in does my attention pick up. The rest of the album then continues to meander through mid-tempo melodies that feature great vocals and some solid playing, but there’s simply too little that’s compelling. Another problem is the placement of the vocals waaaaay too far up in the mix. I love Tom Englund’s voice, but hearing it so prominently throughout gets tiring on these ears. I wish I could find more to like here, but multiple listens have failed to spark the love I used to have for Evergrey. Fan reaction to Glorious Collision seems to be very much split, so you’ll probably still want to give this a spin if you’ve read this far.

Evergrey performs tonight, Tuesday, September 27 at Station 4 in St. Paul with support from Sabaton, Blackguard, Powerglove, and The Absence.

ALATION Demo Review

Alation – Demo 2011

Self-released, 2011

9/10

 Click picture to see more photos of Alation performing last year (23).

Minneapolis-based Alation is keeping their strong momentum going with the recent release of a new two-song demo to follow their killer five-song demo from last year (reviewed here). Overall, I’d have to say that the band does a modern take on thrash metal, but there are many reasons why Alation shines. For one, don’t mistake the thrash influences for this being a retro-hack regurgitation like many signed bands. The closest comparison, musically, is to mid-tempo Testament, with an emphasis on well-crafted melodies and extended guitar solos. Female vocals aren’t a gimmick anymore in extreme metal, and vocalist Angel uses the full range of her capabilities more than most. She can sing clean and with a rough scream with the best of them, but what I love is the way she sings melodies to give the songs a haunting, personal feel. The first song on this latest demo is “Abcess Of Insanity”, which after a powerful introduction leads into a slow, stomping song that kicks in with a vocal melody of the type I was referring to. There’s plenty of guitar fills and solos along the way from Stu and Sawyer, and it’s clear this song is another winner for the band’s catalog. The second song, “Aflame”, appeared on the expanded version of last year’s demo (reviewed here), and I’m not sure if it’s been changed at all for release again here. It doesn’t matter, this is the band’s best song and represents best what Alation is capable of. As I’ve noted previously, “Aflame” has Angel spitting out some vicious vocal barbs while the rest of the band kicks it into high gear, with a acoustic vocal and guitar interlude that progresses into a fast closer for the ambitious, seven-minute track. Alation continue to prove that they’re the real deal, and labels would be wise to start paying attention to this talented, original band that offers a fresh take on thrash-influenced metal that blows away the stale retro-craze still ongoing. See Alation tonight to pick up your copy of this and show ‘em your support, or head over to their Facebook page to stream these and other songs.

Click to watch Alation perform “Aflame” last year in Minneapolis.

Alation performs tonight, Thursday, September 1 at Station 4 in St. Paul with Hollowstone, Urn, Northsky, and Eldergaad. This is a 21+ show with doors at 7:00 and Eldergaad takes the stage at 7:30.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM Cancels Tonight's Minneapolis Show

Don't know how I didn't hear about this show in the first place (actually I do - short notice, venue that doesn't have metal shows, no publicity), but atmospheric black metal band Wolves In The Throne Room has canceled a recently scheduled appearance tonight in Minneapolis at Club Med. A statement posted on the band's Facebook page last night reads: "Our van broke down in Montana. We are forced to cancel the Minneapolis show. Many apologies to everyone." It remains to be seen whether any other shows will be affected by their van breakdown. The next shows on the tour itinerary are September 1 in Chicago at Reggie's Rock Club and September 2 in Louisville at Rudyard Kipling. Let's hope their next show in the Twin Cities is at a more appropriate and visible venue.


If you're not already there, there's still time to get down to Station 4 in St. Paul tonight for Vreid and Kampfar.

VREID Album Review

Vreid - V

Indie, March 2011

9/10

Every once in a while an established band steps out of their shell to release an unexpectedly brilliant album, and Norway’s black metal stormtroopers Vreid have done just that with their fifth album V. Vreid’s past output left me feeling respectful but uninspired. Smash all your previous notions about the band because V is one of the best black metal albums of the year. With new guitarist Ulcus (ex-Windir, along with the rest of the band), Vreid has evolved their sound into the harsher, raw-edged brother of Enslaved. A masterful production job enables the introduction of acoustic passages, bone-jarring riffs, and subtle keyboards to the band’s sound without taking away from the vicious sting of their buzzsaw guitars and harsh (yet surprisingly understandable) vocals. It’s true that many Viking and black metal bands have run with this same sonic and conceptual masterplan laid down by Bathory on Blood Fire Death in 1988, but Vreid succeeds by bringing forth progressive elements without sounding forced or contrived. “Slave” is the most extreme example, with a recurring march-style drum beat that leads into ballad-like verses with acoustic guitars and clean vocals, eventually building up to a well-crafted guitar solo near the end of the song. Similarly mind-bending are “The Sound Of The River” and “The Other And The Look”, both of which twist and bend Vreid’s sound in interesting ways. Not all vestiges of the band’s earlier work is lost, and “Welcome To The Asylum” and “Arche” retain enough brutality to help V seem like a progression. “Wolverine Bastards” is the only song to not scale the heights of the remainder of the album, but only enough to be a minor blemish on an otherwise masterful album. V is strong enough to vault Vreid to the upper echelon of progressive black metal bands, and I have no doubts that nothing but more praise and visibility will come to the band if they further evolve their sound in the manner shown here.

Vreid performs a co-headlining show with Kampfar on Wednesday, August 31 at Station 4 in St. Paul with support from Necronomicon, Enshrined, and Maledicere.

BANGALORE CHOIR Album Review

Bangalore Choir - Cadence

Metal Heaven, September 2010

8/10

For those who don’t remember or weren’t there, Bangalore Choir was the Los Angeles-based hard rock band fronted by David Reece, vocalist for legendary Minneapolis band Dare Force. Dare Force was made a big impact in the Midwest during the 80s with a couple self-released albums and massive touring (how many bands today have their own PA, lights, and road crew?), but major label offers could never be finalized. The band eventually got back together in 2006 to record seven new songs, World Run Amuck. After recording with LA’s Sacred Child in 1986 or 1987, David bailed before their debut album was released, however, these recordings can be heard on the rerelease of the Sacred Child album. David rose to international attention in 1989 when he replaced Udo Dirkschneider as vocalist in Accept for the poorly received Eat The Heat album. Bangalore Choir was then formed, and all the pieces seemed to be in place for success when their album, On Target, was released in 1992. Hard rock and metal quickly fell out of favor with the industry and public around this time, and Bangalore Choir quickly fell into obscurity. Like many bands from this era, their legend continued underground and the call for another album was heard. After one or two aborted attempts, the reformed Bangalore Choir is now back with Candence which was released towards the end of 2010.

Joining David on Cadence are original guitarist Curt Mitchell and bassist Danny Greenberg alongside newcomers Andy Susemihi (ex-U.D.O.) and Hans In’t Zandt. Cadence certainly sounds different than On Target with its darker, heavier tone, but there are enough sonic threads between the albums so as to sound like an 18-year-interrupted progression. My second big impression is how much David sounds like David Coverdale from his bluesy, early 80s Whitesnake days. What you get here, then, is a modern-sounding hard rock album that is better than On Target in every respect. The album’s too long (14 songs) for my taste and attention span, so it took a few listens to fully appreciate the full album. Cadence gets off to a decent start, but “Survival Of The Fittest” really kicks it into high gear with a powerful, inspired melody. “Tomorrow” and “Heart Attack & Vine” keep up the energy before the excellent, soulful ballad “Still Have A Song To Sing” hits about halfway through. The layered vocals on “Sweet Temptation” are a cool lead-in to the chorus, but “High On The Clouds”, near the end of the album, quickly overshadows this with its melodic groove.

It’s hard to find decent, no-frills hard rock albums these days, so Cadence will strike a chord with those appreciate great songwriting combined with the quality execution of some veterans. My initial rating wasn’t quite this high until I released how much I really enjoy listening to the entire album in its entirety, despite its length. Some songs are definitely better than others, but taken as whole the album can only be seen as an artistic success. Bangalore Choir has returned with a winner, and hopefully more albums are in the cards. David has also been keeping himself busy with other bands and projects recently, including the Reece Kronlund album Solid. To the best of my knowledge, tonight’s show is the first performance of the reformed Bangalore Choir in the US, and one of only three shows, all opening for Diamond Head.

Bangalore Choir performs tonight, Wednesday, August 24 at Station 4 in St. Paul in support of Diamond Head with Dark Mirror.

DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT - July 5, 2011, St. Paul, Minnesota

Devin Townsend Project
July 5, 2011
St. Paul, MN, Station 4

Click photo to see additional picture of the Devin Townsend Project (13).

Having seen Strapping Young Lad and the Devin Townsend Band a few times before, I knew to expect the uncanny during this support slot to Children Of Bodom. Although the set was short (35 minutes), it ranked up there with two other memorable shows by Devin. The first time I saw SYL was way back on the City tour (opening for Testament and Stuck Mojo), undoubtedly the best time to have seen them. My favorite Dev show was seeing the Devin Townsend Band open for Symphony X about 5 years ago, where floored me by playing some songs from the godly Ocean Machine album.

Click photo to see additional picture of the Devin Townsend Project (13).

Back to the present - this show was sold out and Station 4 was unbearably hot inside. Septicflesh and Obscura did a great job opening the show, but everyone was here for the final two acts. Multiple equipment problems delayed the start of DTP's set, but Devin keep the crowd entertained with his bizarre wit as he and the crew scrambled to get things going. Having released four albums in the last two years, it was shocking that only two of the six songs came from those albums. "By Your Command" from Ziltoid The Omniscient opened the show before Dev dug way back for "Truth" and "Om". Introduced as a ballad, "Supercrush!" would have been the evening's highlight if they hadn't followed this with "Kingdom", a super heavy, emotional song from the criminally overlooked Physicist album. It's one of my favorite Dev songs, and I couldn't believe I was actually hearing performed live to perfection. "Juulaar" was cut from the set, so "Stand" closed out the show.

Click to watch the Devin Townsend Band perform "Kingdom". Videos of the entire set can be viewed at my YouTube channel.

This was the most engaging I've ever seen Devin, and his on-stage banter can only be described as unique and bizarre. His band sounded tight despite playing in extreme heat. I'll get to Children Of Bodom in an upcoming post, but in many ways DTP stole the show. Download this and bask in the glory!

Click to watch the Devin Townsend Band perform "Supercrush!". Videos of the entire set can be viewed at my YouTube channel.

Devin Townsend Project
July 5, 2011
St. Paul, MN, Station 4
Shall I Tell You More??
192 kbps, 46.33 MB

Setlist:
1. By Your Command
2. Truth
3. Om
4. Supercrush!
5. Kingdom
6. Stand


http://www.megaupload.com/?d=K41F9085


As always, please feel free to share the link but do me a favor and share the link to this post rather than the download link. Thanks!

Upcoming Posts

Okay, I'm finally set to get a whole bunch of overdue things posted. You may have seen a slew of videos from some shows during the last three months that I've posted on my YouTube channel. This month I intend to get the audio of these posted for downloading. I've posted some full-length concert videos for download, but I won't be doing this any longer. The main reason is that video files are very large (especially the high-resolution ones I've been most recently shooting), and all file hosting services I've tried are extremely unreliable, to say the least. More often than not, the uploads crash and major headaches ensue when I have to attempt uploading a single file multiple times. Sorry about those of you who like video bootlegs, but it's just too much of a hassle.


I'll also add a note about audio file quality of shows available for download. First, I post everything at the bit rate at which they are recorded, 192 kbps. I currently don't have anything that records at higher bit rates. For people that sniff their nose at anything not lossless or at 320 kbps, I understand. I could encode files so that they appear to be lossless, but I don't want to fool anyone or waste your hard drive space. Second, yes, the quality of bootleg recordings varies! Some of these sound better than others. My experience has been that the quality primary depends on the sound inside the venue. I'm not a sound engineer, but I do master the original files so that they sound the best that they can on my sound system. They probably sound a bit different on your stereo or computer, so adjust your equalizer settings to listen. The most important thing is that these recordings do not have any distortion, and so generally they are extremely listenable for audience recordings.


There's a lot of things to post so I'm going to start with shows for which I've had requests. First up will be the Devin Townsend Project on July 5, 2011 in St. Paul. Here's the artwork for some other upcoming posts to whet your appetite. These posts will be combined reviews of the respective concerts. There's many more to come, so just hold tight.