Tonight - BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME in Minneapolis, SENSES FAIL in Burnsville

The big show tonight comes from progressive, experimental hardcore stars Between The Buried And Me, who will be performing their latest album The Parallax II: Future Sequence in its entirety at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis. The entire bill is impressive, with The Faceless, The Contortionist, and The Safety Fire all appearing. Inexplicably, tickets still remain for $20 at the door. The show starts at 7:00, and it's 16+.

RELATED CONTENT: Review of Mouth Of Swords by The Safety Fire (here), review of Intrinsic by The Contortionist (here), and a concert review of The Contortionist from April 2013 in St. Paul. (here).

Tonight you can also catch hardcore/rock band Senses Fail at The Garage in Burnsville will For The Fallen Dreams, Expire, and Being As An Ocean. This is an all ages show that starts at 6:30, and tickets are $18 at the door.

LAST CHANCE TO REASON and EVAN BREWER To Begin Summer U.S. Tour, Play Minneapolis July 31

Click on the photo to see more pictures of The Contortionist performing in St. Paul on April 10, 2013 (27).

Metal band Last Chance To Reason embarks on a tour next week in advance of the August 6 release of their third album, Level 3. Joining them for all dates is The Faceless bassist Evan Brewer, while additional support rotates between Ever Forthright (July 25-August 1), Chon (August 2–12), and Alaya (August 13-16). After filling in as temporary vocalist for The Contortionist earlier this year, Last Chance To Reason’s Mike Lessard has joined The Contortionist full-time. Connections to The Contortionist run even deeper now, as guitarist Robby Baca will accompany Last Chance To Reason on this tour following the departure of guitarists A.J. Harvey and Mike Abdow. The tour stops in Minneapolis on Wednesday, July 31 (not July 30 as the poster states) at Studio B at the Skyway Theatre with local support from A Boy And His Dog, Purified, and The Broken Are Crowned.

July 25 – West Chester, PA, The Note, w/Ever Forthright

July 26 – Pittsburgh, PA, The Galley, w/Ever Forthright

July 27 – Westland, MI, The Token Lounge, w/Ever Forthright

July 28 – Cleveland, OH, Peabody’s, w/Ever Forthright

July 29 – Chicago, IL, Reggie’s Rock Club, w/Ever Forthright

July 31 – Minneapolis, MN, Skyway Theatre Studio B, w/Ever Forthright, A Boy And His Dog, Purified, The Broken Are Crowned

August 1 – Englewood, CO, Moe’s Original, w/Ever Forthright

August 3 – Tempe, AZ, Rocky Point Cantina, w/Chon

August 4 – Henderson, NV, Eagles Hall, w/Chon

August 6 – West Hollywood, CA, Whisky a Go-Go, w/Chon

August 7 – Tucson, AZ, The Rock, w/Chon

August 8 – El Paso, TX, The War Room, w/Chon

August 9 – San Antonio, TX, White Rabbit, w/Chon

August 10 – Fort Worth, TX, Tomcats West, w/Chon

August 11 – Austin, TX, Dirty Dog Bar, w/Chon

August 12 – Oklahoma City, OK, The Chameleon Room, w/Chon

August 13 – St. Louis, MO, Fubar, w/Alaya

August 14 – Nashville, TN, The End, w/Alaya

August 15 – Newport, KY, Thompson House, w/Alaya

August 16 – Wilmington, DE, Mojo 13, w/Alaya

BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Announces Extensive Fall North American Tour, Plays Minneapolis October 11

Progressive, extreme hardcore heavyweights Between The Buried And Me will embark on an ambitious, six-week headlining tour of the U.S. and Canada that starts September 13 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and wraps up October 25 in Nashville, Tennessee. Support on all dates will come from technical death metal band The Faceless, fellow progressive hardcore masters The Contortionist, and English progressive metal band The Safety Fire. Included on the itinerary is a stop in Minneapolis at the Varsity Theater on Friday, October 11; tickets are on sale now through Ticketfly. This show will sell out!

The Contortionist performing April 9, 2013 at Station 4 in St. Paul. Click on the photo to see more live pictures (27).

Between The Buried And Me w/The Faceless, The Contortionist, and The Safety Fire

September 13 – Winston-Salem, NC, Ziggy’s

September 14 – Knoxville, TN, NV

September 15 – Atlanta, GA, The Masquerade

September 16 – Jacksonville, FL, Brewster’s Roc Bar

September 17 – Orlando, FL, The Plaza LIVE

September 19 – Houston, TX, House Of Blues

September 20 – Austin, TX, The Mohawk

September 21 – Dallas, TX, House Of Blues

September 23 – Denver, CO, Summit Music Hall

September 24 – Murray, UT, Murray Theater

September 26 – Mesa, AZ, The Nile

September 27 – Hollywood, CA, House Of Blues

September 28 – San Diego, CA, House Of Blues

September 29 – Santa Ana, CA, The Observatory

September 30 – San Francisco, CA, Regency Ballroom

October 1 – Sacramento, CA, Ace Of Spades

October 3 – Portland, OR, Hawthorne Theatre

October 4 – Seattle, WA, El Corazon

October 5 – Vancouver, BC, Commodore Ballroom

October 7 – Calgary, AB, The Republik

October 8 – Edmonton, AB, The Starlite Room

October 9 – Winnipeg, MB, Garrick Centre

October 11 – Minneapolis, MN, Varsity Theater

October 12 – Chicago, IL, Metro

October 13 – Detroit, MI, Majestic Theatre

October 14 – Louisville, KY, Headliner’s Music Hall

October 16 – New York, NY, Best Buy Theatre

October 17 – Worcester, MA, The Palladium

October 18 – Sayreville, NJ, Starland Ballroom

October 19 – Philadelphia, PA, TLA

October 20 – Cleveland, OH, Peabody’s Downunder

October 21 – Pittsburgh, PA, Mr. Smalls Theatre

October 23 – Baltimore, MD, Sound Stage

October 24 – Asheville, NC, The Orange Peel

October 25 – Nashville, TN, Cannery Ballroom

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.