Global Domination | Witnessed | Death To All: 2013-04-20

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Witnessed

Death To All: 2013-04-20

03/08/13 || Sokaris

There are those who would consider Death mastermind Chuck Schuldiner’s high esteem among metalheads to be slightly overstated. The more cynical among us might even cite his early passing as a catalyst to the rabid worship among the legions of Death faithful that hail the man as “The Godfather of Death Metal” or other such lofty titles.

Some dig up seemingly contradicting points of view from “Evil Chuck”, a morbid youngster obsessed with pushing extremity and brutality in the band’s early days and the man he would become.

Some seem to gain pleasure from focusing on the fact that Schuldiner was notoriously difficult to work with and wasn’t always on the best terms with his many ex-bandmates.

Some people might think Death isn’t as important as their legacy would indicate.

Well, fuck those people.

Fuck them in whatever hole causes them the most irritation.

My love of Death is well fucken documented here at Global Domination so it should come as no surprise that I would jump at the chance to see the Human-era lineup perform old classics. Billed as Death to All, the tour featured the band circa 1991, minus Chuck of course. Dates were announced, a vocalist/guitarist confirmed (Cynic members Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert invited their fellow bandmate Max Phelps to step into some impossibly huge shoes) and the show hit the road.

Everything seemed to come together on extremely short notice, no one really knew what material the band would hit upon and confusion about opening bands abounded (there was a flyer circulating advertising Atheist as a part of the show). No amount of chaos was going to stop this writer from attending and finding out himself whether this traveling tribute had truly earned the giant banner that simply and elegantly displayed the Death sigil behind them.

Things kick off with locals Machination Of Fate, playing what was apparently their first show. Despite the anus-clenching pressure of a live deflowering at a fairly large venue hosting such an event, I don’t think anyone could tell that these guys weren’t a veteran act. Regardless of the project’s young age there’s obviously a ton of experience in the individual members, most notably scene legend Ash Thomas (Estuary, Crucified Mortals, ex-Thorns Of The Carrion, ex-Acheron) pulling double duty on drums and vocals. The music the four-piece emitted was epic and riffy melodic death metal, served up cold and sharp, seasoned to perfection with some truly mind-melting leads. Worth checking out, even for non-fans of the genre.

The other touring band, Anciients came up next. I’m confused why they were there. Just as confused as I am about why they have two “i’s” in their name. To describe Anciients as a live band I would have to say…well…

Sokaris leans back into a deep red couch, the center of a media-laden living room, watching the cursor on his laptop blink. He glances to Wren, one of four cats that occupy his apartment, currently flanked against him. He scratches a sideburn, momentarily distracted by the Gorguts song playing at moderate level on the cheap stereo beside him. He ponders how to proceed. How to turn his assessment of this band into something interesting. They were fine. Not dull, magnificent, insipid, godlike or an adjective that evoked some kind of reaction but fine, that’s all. Sipping a room-temperature Sprite he sighs deeply, softly strokes Wren’s orange-specked dark brown fur and puts fingers to keys.

…they were fine. They’re kind of like Opeth but less interesting. I’m getting bored just thinking about these guys. I’d rather write about Ancient instead, they started out decent and at least got hilariously bad when their heads disappeared into their asses. Posting a picture of the moshpit wound suffered during Machinations Of Fate would probably hold your attention better than a breakdown of whatever band we’re still talking about. Relaying an anecdote regarding my internal debate about whether or not to order high proof clear alcohol to clean out said wound would entertain you more.

At $11 a double I risked the infection.

After spending my entire life waiting for this band to end and wondering why we didn’t get a more classic death metal opener (if only that fucked up flyer was right, even though I hear Atheist is a bit subpar on stage) the last mediocre note rang out and the stage was soon being readied for the main event.

The front line was cleared, a giant and simple Death banner was revealed and a projection screen rolled down in front of center stage. Images of Chuck, as a part of Death and otherwise were shown. As I craned my neck, intrigued by this live show addition, a smile crept on a normally stoic face, as the band, one by one, took their places. I was a little too inebriated to remember the exact order of their entrances but the crowd was delighted to welcome the amusingly un-metal visages of Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert (but really who gives a fuck about long hair and black t-shirts with the massive talent of this pair), nine foot tall bass lord Steve Digorgio and the wildcard, Max Phelps. In the dark, from a distance the guy kinda looked like Chuck, especially since he was wielding a B.C. Rich Stealth, its unique body practically synonymous with Herr Schuldiner.

Reinert slapped his toms in a trance-inducing, near-tribal rhythm, Digorgio’s digits effortlessly fluttering along. The pair of six-stringers joined as “Flattening of emotions” blossomed to spastic spotlights. As the last note of the intro rang out, cymbals ran a crescendo into the double-bass laden verse and we received, with great aplomb, our answer to whether or not this Phelps guy could manage the task of pulling double duty and doing justice to Chuck’s trademark croak.

Fuck yeah he could.

Maybe the first iteration of Death To All helped these guys dust off the cobwebs or (more likely) these guys are just such great players they can somehow transport us back to the very early 90’s but the band impressed. It was great to hear the bass guitar high in the mix, leads ripping through crystal clear and resonant drums that were FELT. Hearing tracks from Leprosy, which included the vicious title track and the encore “Pull the plug” that whipped the Cincinnati crowd into a fury, with a much improved drum performance lent the song more impact. A pair of tracks all the way from the debut masterpiece “Scream bloody gore” made an appearance as well, which made for interesting contrast with the majority of the set that comprised most of the “Human” album, fittingly enough. Speaking of the “Human” album, I always found that Steve’s basslines were a bit lost in the mix. Not so on this night, the guy was unstoppable. Though I’m riding the guy’s nuts a bit I want to point out that everyone playing put on a damn clinic. Max and Paul traded solos with volatile ferocity as Sean made sure the many tempo changes were handled flawlessly. But Mr. Digorgio is something special, maybe the best bassist in metal (maybe means yeah, probably) and him being given a spot to unleash some experimental soloing wasn’t a move that was out of place.

Other notable diversions included various audio clips that built a little atmosphere between songs, be they newsclips about Dr. Kevorkian leading into “Suicide machine” or “Baptized in blood“s prelude, a scene from horror classic Rosemary’s Baby. It was this particular scene (spoilers if you’re a fucken Philistine and haven’t seen the movie):

…And this put a smile on my drunk-ass mug. I’ll shed my pseudonym just for you loyal readers that have made it this far into the half-remembered ramblings of a wordy asshole. A wordy asshole that answers to Adrian outside of cyberspace. Shit, we just give and give to you guys around here.

“Baptized in blood” was a particular highlight as I understand it wasn’t even a part of the setlist performed by this lineup back in the day. But if I start delving into highlights then I’ll just end up describing every song performed that night.

So to the naysayers that probably want to call this a cash grab (despite the fact that proceeds go to Sweet Relief, a charity for musicians) you’re missing out. Maybe if I’d been lucky enough to have seen the real deal when I was a six year old I’d be able to turn my nose up at Death To All but this was as close to Death as I’d ever see.

I’ll leave you with one last random moment from the show. In one of the short intermissions between songs the Bogarts crowd slowly erupted into a chant. It took me a second to make it out but I joined in, a single syllable rising in volume in pace.

“CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK! CHUCK…”

Although the man wasn’t there, the power of his creative work was apparent as legions of metalheads gathered to celebrate a legacy that’s truly unmatched.

9 out of 10.

Who: Death, Anciients, Machinations Of Fate
When: 20 April, 2013.
Where: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.

Death To All Setlist
01. Flattening of emotions
02. Leprosy
03. Suicide machine
04. Left to die
05. Spiritual healing/Within the mind
06. Together as one
07. Baptized in blood
08. Cosmic sea
09. Zombie ritual
10. Living monstrosity
11. Lack of comprehension
Encore
18. Pull the plug

Witnessed