BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE Announces Summer U.S. Tour, Burnsville Concert On July 28

Progressive Christian death metal band Becoming The Archetype have lined up some summer dates with Creations that bring them to The Garage in Burnsville, Minnesota on Sunday, July 28. Tickets for the Burnsville show are on sale now through Ticketfly, and additional local support will come from From Concept To Chronicle, Essex, In The Line Of Duty, Upon His Flesh, and Neuralizer.

From Concept To Chronicle performing April 9, 2013 at Station 4 in St. Paul. Click on the photo to see more live pictures (14).

Brules Rules Part Deux Tour  w/Creations

July 19 – Greenville, SC, The Channel

July 20 – Chesapeake, VA, Club Relevant

July 21 – Linthicum, MD, Linthicum Heights United Methodist Church

July 22 – Nutley, NJ, Radiant

July 23 – New York, NY, Full Cup

July 24 – Lemoyne, PA, The Champ

July 25 – Mansfield, OH, Planet Rock

July 27 – Barrington, IL, Penny Road Pub

July 28 – Burnsville, MN, The Garage, w/From Concept To Chronicle, Essex, In The Line Of Duty, Upon His Flesh, Neuralizer

July 29 – Minot, ND, Oak Park

July 31 – Indianapolis, IN, Hoosier Dome

August 1 – Cincinnati, OH, The 86 Club

August 2 – Lisbon, OH, Hope Christian Fellowship

August 3 – McDonald, PA, Heritage Park, Alliance Festival, w/The Devil Wears Prada, Demon Hunter, others (no Creations)

August 4 – Arlington, VA, Triple A Pavilion, Intensity Music Fest, w/The Devil Wear Prada, Demon Hunter, others (no Creations)

Concert Review - WITHIN THE RUINS, THE CONTORTIONIST, I DECLARE WAR, REFLECTIONS, DON'T WORRY I'M A DOCTOR, and FROM CONCEPT TO CHRONICLE

Within The Ruins, The Contortionist, I Declare War, Reflections, Don’t Worry I’m A Doctor, and From Concept To Chronicle – Part 2 of 2

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Station 4, St. Paul, MN

Due to the length, I’ve divided my review of this six-band bill into two parts. This is the second part featuring Within The Ruins, The Contoritonist, and I Declare War. Read part one for the reviews and pictures of Reflections, Don’t Worry I’m A Doctor, and From Concept To Chronicle.

Click on the photo to see more live pictures of I Declare War (22).

Seattle’s I Declare War was nothing short of brutal and intense. Vocalist Jamie Hanks set the tone at the start with an angry rant against humanity to introduce “Human Waste”. The band forged their way through half of their latest, self-titled album, including “Misery Cloud”, “March On”, “Weak Minds” and “The Dot”. Their slow, cranium-numbing death metal in the mold of Obituary went over well with the crowd, and they wrapped up their 30 minutes with “Putrification Of The Population” and “Malevolence”. I Declare War’s albums seem to elicit love or have, but their live show makes an impression whether you like them or not.

Click on either photo to see more live pictures of The Contortionist (27).

The Contortionist was the reason I was here, and they put on a phenomenal show despite the recent departure of vocalist Jonathan Carpenter before the start of this tour. Mike Lessard from Last Chance To Reason was brought in to sing for tours this spring and summer. Upon starting with the subdued “Holomovement” the crowd underwent a dramatic transformation to the point were everyone stood transfixed with attention and giving polite applause between songs. Mike, aside from doing a fantastic job singing, took over the stage, walking and running around while the band mainly stood still during the performance. The 40 minute set focused on newer material with six of the eight songs being from the Intrinsic album (reviewed here). After “Oscillator”, the new album was then represented by “Causality”, “Feedback Loop”, “Geocentric Confusion”, “Cortical”, and “Solipsis”. While the keyboard parts were pre-recorded, the band played nearly flawlessly with the same precision and dynamics found on their albums. The polite crowd response made it unclear how The Contortionist’s progressive music was going over with the much heavier bands on the bill, but the sustained chants of “One more song!” following the end of “Vessel” made it clear that the band won everyone over.

Click on any of the photos to see more live pictures of Within The Ruins (24).

If The Contortionist was a breather of sorts for the audience, co-headliner Within The Ruins brought the exhausted crowd back to life with an equally impressive set. From the opening strains of “Solace”, the entire band took command of the stage and was unrelenting in their execution. Guitarist Joe Cocchi was especially impressive as he stormed across the stage, only pausing to deliver ripping, technical solos throughout the show. Their new album, Elite, was emphasized with “Solace”, “New Holy War”, “I, Blaspheme”, “Feeding Frenzy”, and “Absolute Hell” taking up just over half the set. It was rounded out with a good selection of older material: “Versus”, “Controller”, “Invade”, and the closer, “Tractor Pull”. I really liked Within The Ruins, but the overuse (perhaps abuse?) of backing tracks, particularly guitars, has given me pause about whether they’re crossing a line. It was only about ten years ago that Dope was mocked as “Metal Vanilli” for arguably lesser transgressions. Unless there’s some type of enabling technological wizardry of which I’m not aware, hearing rhythm guitars during solos and what sounded like double-tracked, recorded guitars frequently during the show left me wondering how much of this show was pre-recorded. All of this seemed to go over the head of a crowd more interested in shoving and moshing, so maybe expectations and tastes have changed. This aspect of the show was disappointing for what otherwise was an outstanding performance.

Concert Review - WITHIN THE RUINS, THE CONTORTIONIST, I DECLARE WAR, REFLECTIONS, DON'T WORRY I'M A DOCTOR, and FROM CONCEPT TO CHRONICLE

Within The Ruins, The Contortionist, I Declare War, Reflections, Don’t Worry I’m A Doctor, and From Concept To Chronicle – Part 1 of 2

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Station 4, St. Paul, MN

Due to the length, I’m dividing my review of this six-band bill into two parts. The first part here will feature the first three bands of the night.

Click on the picture to see more photos of From Concept To Chronicle (14).

A massive snowstorm across the upper Midwest left City In The Sea stranded in South Dakota, so locals From Concept To Chronicle and Don’t Worry I’m A Doctor were brought in. From Concept To Chronicle was up first with a crushing three-guitar attack whose brutality was impressive. These guys play a very technical style of fast metalcore with a singer belting out high-pitched screams. They made the most of their short 20 minute set, and did a great job of warming up the early arrivers.

Click on the picture to see more photos of Don't Worry I'm A Doctor (13).

Don’t Worry I’m A Doctor also made a good impression with their 20 minute set. Similar to From Concept To Chronicle, their music borders more on death metal rather than metalcore, and their vocalist uses mainly a deep scream and spent most of this time howling into a light box on stage. It took a couple songs for me to warm up to them, but the band quickly hit their stride and also delivered a short, crushing set. Both opening bands are ones to watch out for.

Click on either picture of Reflections to see more photos of the band (21).

The Twin Cities’ own Reflections have amazingly built up a growing national fanbase on the strength of their great self-released debut album, The Fantasy Effect, last year. Their inclusion on this tour is proof that key industry people are taking notice of their groove-based, technical metalcore. A large contingent of fans turned out early to catch Reflections on this hometown stop for the band, and they looked comfortable on stage as they proved they’re the real deal. The Pantera-like assault of “Lost…” and “…And Found” opened their show as the crowd chanted along. “Good Push” went over well, and this was followed by a new song, “Derlirium”, another heavy one with plenty of guitar pyrotechnics. The ambitious “Rotations” was one of the set highlights before closing out with a shortened version of “Ceilings”. Reflections has confirmed a yet-to-be-announced summer tour, so get out to support them when they roll through your town.

Part 2 with reviews and pictures of I Declare War, The Contortionist, and Within The Ruins will be posted soon.

SWORN IN - Tonight In Burnsville

A show that completely missed my notice takes place tonight, so thought I'd highlight it here. Extreme metalcore band Sworn In plays an early all ages show tonight at The Garage in Burnsville atop a huge bill will Our Judgment, Fail To Decay, Get The Gun, From Concept To Chronicle, Hold The Throne, A Change In Tides, Hope Is Strength, Maybe Tomorrow, and Carlina White. It'll cost you $10 to get in, and the doors open at 4:30 for at 5:00 start.