The Chainsaw Symphony

So yeah I haven’t been posting for a while. In fact, I noticed that I was right in the middle of typing up my experience at NEMHF. I’ve been really busy for the past month what with school and work and other things in need of my attention. But I assure you, I’m still here.

Coming soon, I’ll be bringing you two, count ‘em, TWO interviews for you listening pleasure that I conducted about a week ago. One is with Mikee Goodman, perhaps best known as one of the singers for SikTh, who talked to me about his latest project Primal Rock Rebellion, a collaboration with Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith. The other is with Gus G., guitarist for Firewind and Ozzy Osbourne, discussing the latest album for Firewind and the Ozzy and Friends tour. These will be up soon.

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting my return, I raise my horns to you. If not, that’s ok. You’ll bend to the Chainsaw soon enough. 

 

I jumped into my VW Jetta at about 9:30AM on Friday April 20th and drove straight to Worcester, Massachusetts stopping only once for gas. When I finally arrived at the Palladium, I spent the first hour or so checking out the place and meeting up with people from various promotion companies. It’s really a great venue despite the fact the the room for the second stage was more than a little cramped and that the balcony for the main stage looked like it had seen better days. All in all, it’s a great place to see a show.

The first band I got to catch was The Controtionist. They were kind of stiff in terms of stage presence, but that’s likely due to the technical nature of their music. Good performance.

The Contortionist

The next band I made sure to catch was Fleshgod Apocalypse. These guys made quite an impression with only 20 minutes of stage time. I was very impressed with their ablility to recreate sounds from the album so well. I was lingering outside the venue later on and saw a couple members walking around. I didn’t get a chance to talk to them though. Good shit.

Speaking of people walking around, that happened a lot at the festival. I met so many band members during the 3 days and it was really something. The only trouble is that sometimes you see someone and you can’t quite figure out who they are. One of the first people that I saw I spend a good 10 minutes trying to guess who it was. It turned out to be Scott “Scunty D.” Hedrick from Skeletonwitch. Skeletonwitch then performed later on and it was a fun time. I’m not as familiar with their material as other bands, but they put on a good show.

Fleshgod Apocalypse

Skeletonwitch

Oceano came up next. There was a lot of hype (supposedly) for their performance since it was originally supposed to be their final show. I was indifferent about seeing them but I stuck around since All Shall Perish was on after them. I wasn’t too impressed though.

Now, when All Shall Perish came on, the energy spiked up a notch. They delievered a furious performance, but the highlight of it all was one of the craziest moments of the festival: wall of death. I believe it occured when they played “Deconstruction”. That, plus a solid set, made All Shall Perish one of my favorites from the festival.

Nile is the band I was most excited to see for Day 1. They didn’t disappoint. The presence on stage came off as very commanding, cool, and in control (how’s that for alliteration?) Their playing ability was splendid as well. As for the crowd, let’s just say that if you were anywhere near the pit during their set, you were not coming out without a few bruises or possibly a broken something. I loved “Black Seeds of Vengeance”. One of my top sets from the festival hands down.

 
All Shall Perish

Nile

Next up was the Acadia Strain. Once again, I stuck around to watch just because of who was up next and, once again, I wasn’t particularly impressed. I appreciated the energy but I wasn’t too into it.

The headliner for Day 1 was the Black Dahlia Murder. Between the three headlining acts, TBDM is the band I am least familiar with in terms of material. I did very much enjoy “What A Horrible Night to Have a Curse” when they played it and frontman Trevor Strnad was very energetic and appeared very happy to be performing. However, by this point in the evening I was dead tired from having driven earlier and I decided it would be good to rest up for Day 2, which I was most excited for. So I did unfortunatly have to leave before TBDM finished, but I enjoyed them all the same.

 
The Black Dahlia Murder

Day 1 was really all about familiarizing myself with Worcester and the festival. It was a fine start to the weekend despite the fact that I was quite tired a majority of the day. Thank Christ for free Monsters.

Wow. Just wow. I’ll be posting about it very very soon. I tried to do it over the weekend during the festival but…well that obviously wasn’t going to happen. Stay Tuned!

I am psyched. This is going to be a crazy weekend. For those of you who are also attending, I hope you all have a crazy time as well! I’ll be sure to post about the fest at some point. I am particularly excited to see: Fleshgod Apocalypse, God Forbid, Periphery, iwrestledabearonce, Unearth, Protest the Hero, Overkill, All That Remains, Every Time I Die, Killswitch Engage…and many more!

Fellow attendees, who are you excited to see this weekend?

For those of you who don’t know, I’m heading up to Worcester, Massachusetts this weekend for the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. I got to talk on the phone with the organizer of the festival, Scott Lee, and ask him about the event, bands, and what it’s like to be part of this tradition.

Tell me briefly how you came to be involved with the Music business?
Through some friends and going to local shows and helping my friends out. You know, moving their equipment. That’s where I came from.

There are bands on the bill that have played the festival before. Are there any in particular you are excited to see return?
Obviously excited for Killswitch Engage this year. I’m very excited about Sleeping Giant, Stick to Your Guns…The Acacia Strain is always a good time. Cockpunch…you know, there’s a lot of good bands that are playing. A lot of younger bands are playing like Rude Awakening, Revenge, Gideon, Obey the Brave. It’s a very exciting line-up. I mean, I say that because it’s my job to, but it’s pretty exciting.

It’s an exceptional line-up this year. Were there any bands in particular you worked hard to get on the bill?
Killswitch…Oceano, you know, whether together or not together (laughs).

The festival was originally supposed to be Oceano’s last before going on hiatus, but now they’re staying together. Thoughts?
Yeah, I’m the reason they’re staying together. Because they got so excited about the festival they decided like “We should just keep doing this, man. This is what we’re gonna do” (laughs). I’m joking. I have no idea what brought them back together but they had definitely broken up when they were booked. And then they had a change of thought is what it comes down to. I’m very excited about that.

Another thing of note is that Jesse Leach has returned as vocalist for Killswitch Engage. Any thoughts on that?
Yeah, he’s a good dude. I think Jesse is an awesome dude and I think it’s gonna be great for the band. Howard Jones is a good friend but you know he had some health issues. Sucks though. But you gotta keep the machine going. They’re back where they started from, you know?

What’s one thing about the festival you look forward to every year?
Just seeing friends and hanging out, getting it goin’, the excitement of the festival and just how it’s put together, you know, people working. It’s a really good time. I see a lot of people I don’t see very often. And you know, watching the bands play. It’s very exciting for people who look forward to playing this fest every year who want to keep playing the fest and they bring it. They bring the ruckus. Like Oceano last year. They destroyed the crowd. It’s amazing, you really can feel it.

With a festival like this, it’s possible for things to get a little rowdy. How concerned are you usually regarding safety and security?
Not at all! The Palladium has the best staff in America, hands down. No joke. Anyone that’s there knows that the people that work the Palladium are into the music. There’s one security guard who comes to the convention and he’s been there for probably 10 years. He knows all the music, he’s into everything. They know what’s up. They’re at people with these shows all year round of this magnitude and it’s great.

What, in your opinion, distinguishes the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival from similar festivals in the US like Mayhem, Ozzfest, or Maryland Deathfest?
The other two things [Mayhem, Ozzfest] are traveling festivals. Those are cool. I think Ozzfest had its day. I think Mayhem is amazing, I think it helps the metal community. I think the Maryland Deathfest is an incredible festival. It’s great for this country. They bring a lot of great bands and the do a hell of a job. At the end of the day, they’re no joke. They’re one of the premiere festivals in the country. There are other festivals like Jamboree and there are younger festivals and they do a mix between metal, hardcore, screamo, all that stuff and they do a good job at it. There’s the Bamboozle festival this year and in the past years they’ve had heavier bands. They’re starting to do heavier bands. We’ve been around for 14 years. There are festivals that come, there are festivals that go. We are a metal and hardcore festival and we combine everything. We do a hell of a job. The festivals just stick around because the guys are good at it. That’s what it comes around to be.

If you could go back to the first year of the of the festival in 1999, what advice would you give yourself?
Why does everyone keep asking me this question? (Laughs). Everyone keeps asking me this question and I’m gonna give the same answer. I wouldn’t give myself any advice. I’d do it the way I’ve been and how we did it and what we’ve learned along the way. I wouldn’t change anything. We’re a strong festival because we get it down and dirty. I really wouldn’t change anything other than the power going out for 3 hours one year. That was one of the worst parts.

How soon until you start planning for next year?
Already have. I already have been doing it. I’ve been talking to people about it and talking with some sponsors and trying to make it work. Next year is going to be year 15.

For those of you who don’t know, Scott Lee is in charge of organizing the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. I’ll be speaking to him via phone and I’ll be sure to post the interview ASAP. Stay tuned!