I DECLARE WAR - April 9, 2013

Brutal deathcore band I Declare War played an intense show on April 9 at Station 4 in St. Paul while on tour with Within The Ruins, The Contortionist, Reflections, and City In The Sea. I previously posted the audio from Reflections, and now here is the complete audio of I Declare War. The concert was reviewed in two parts, here and here.

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

The download link is here. As always, please share, but share the link to this post rather than the direct Mediafire link. Enjoy!

I Declare War

Tonight We Lay Waste

April 9, 2013

St. Paul, MN, Station 4

mp3@192 kbps, 41.7 MB zip file (artwork included)

1. Human Waste (5:39)

2. Misery Cloud (3:40)

3. March On (4:01)

4. Weak Minds (4:09)

5. The Dot (4:36)

6. Putrification Of The Population (4:03)

7. Malevolence (2:20)

Total time: 28:28

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.

Tonight - CLUTCH, WITCHDEN in Minneapolis; THE CONTORTIONIST and WITHIN THE RUINS in Duluth

Clutch live on October 28, 1998 at the Granada Theater in Lawrence, Kansas. Click on the photo to see more pictures from this show.

Get ready for some heavy rock tonight at First Avenue in Minneapolis as Clutch returns with support from awesome stoner rock band Orange Goblin, Lionize, and Scorpion Child. This promises to be a great bill from top to bottom, so get their early for the 6:30 start time. It's an 18+ show, and tickets are available for $25 at the door. Check out the review of the latest Clutch album Earth Rocker (7/10) as well as the recent From The Vault feature on Clutch with pictures and a variety of promotional items from tours for their first three albums from 1993 to 1998.

Local sludge band Witchden continues their Wednesday night residency for the the month at Cause Spirits & Soundbar in Minneapolis with Gar and Morality Crisis. It's a free 21+ show that starts at 9:00.

The co-headlining tour of The Contortionist and Within The Ruins makes it up to Duluth at Clyde Iron Works with support from I Declare War, Reflections, and City In The Sea.   This is an all ages show with a 5:30 show time. Tickets are $15 at the door. Read the review of Intrinsic from The Contortionist (10/10) here. City In The Sea missed the show in St. Paul last night due to weather driving through South Dakota so don't be surprised if they can't make it to Duluth.

Tonight - WITHIN THE RUINS and THE CONTORTIONIST in St. Paul

A big metalcore tour co-headlined by Within The Ruins and extreme progressive band The Contortionist rumbles into Station 4 in St. Paul tonight with support from I Declare War, Reflections, and City And The Sea. This is an early (5:00) all ages show that is only $15 at the door.

Watch the video for "Dreaming Schematics" from Intrinsic by The Contortionist.

As reported by Blabbermouth back on March 22, The Contortionist vocalist Jonathan Carpenter has left the band and he's being temporarily replaced on this tour by Mike Lessard from Last Chance To Reason. The new album from The Contortionist, Intrinsic, earned a rare 10/10 in my review here.