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Band:Six Feet Under Album:13 Record Company:Metal Blade Writer: -deathboy- MP3: Myspace Click Album Cover To Buy Now

The night sky was a deep, overcast grey with a slight drizzling rain that the northwest is so famous for. The clouds were playing tag across the moon and The Lords Of Acid whispered sweet nothings in our ears as the Gorewhore and I made our way into the concrete jungle. A more perfect setting couldn't have been set for the evening’s offerings. As we arrived at Studio 7, deep in the industrialized warehouse district of SoDo, you could smell the testosterone and energy in the air. Seeing as how I was unfamiliar with any of the bands on the lineup other than SFU, my earballs were fairly quivering in anticipation. Unfortunately we stepped through the door just after Only Human finished playing, so I really can't tell you how their set went. Time to meander upstairs and get a beer...

As Thine Eyes Bleed prepared to take the stage, the house was semi full of an interesting blend of hardcore kids, metalheads, musicians, parents, kids and some chick in bunny ears. The Gorewhore wandered off, camera in hand, as I sidled up to the balcony, beer in hand. KaBlam! No shit! These guys kicked me directly in the forehead from the first riff! They’re tight as fuck! It was apparent that these guys have spent many, many hours honing their craft. The sound guy had them dialed in perfect and every instrument was crisp and clear and up in your face. The guitar work was pure metal mastery. The two interplayed seamlessly with speed metal perfection. The drummer is a machine! No, no, not literally, although when I closed my eyes it was hard to tell. He pounded a double bass tattoo into my head and blastbeated my grey matter. The vocals were a hybrid of brutal death growling and metalcore screaming. And when he did break out into a clean voice, it didn't have that "whining about my girlfriend breaking my soul" limpness. It still felt, well, metal! The highlight of their set was the last song called "Crystal Shit". This song was simply bad ass with a couple of tweaker solos that had me scratching my head puzzled. Thine Eyes was a welcome surprise, although I couldn't help but notice that the crowd just stood there like a herd of zombies on zoloft! And there was a hole in the pit!

Next up was Animosity. The crowd was starting to grow, and the testosterone level was rising. These guys took the stage for all the world looking like nothing more than the skatepunk crew of friends you hang out with downtown. Until they unleashed. Holy crap the pit went nuts! I guess these zombies aren't medicated after all! They cut loose with wrath and fury, whipping up the pit into a molotov cocktail of hardcore kids windmilling and spinkicking and metalheads playing human bumper cars. They had a cool blend of crusty style hardcore/metal and almost a grindcore edge to the vocals. It was right about this point that I thought to myself, if these two bands are any indication of the direction that hardcore/metalcore is going, I'm going to start paying attention again. The bass player was unable to play this show due to a tragic gardening accident, so one of the guitarists stepped up to the plate. I heard it remarked from out of the corner of my ear, "damn that bass player is fucking sick dude!". I had to smile in agreement. As I was grinning like an idiot, title bout #1 broke out. Large bald headed guy vs. skinny baldheaded guy. Security was on it with the quickness and it was declared a draw. But ringside some...female?...started rambling on sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher til the singer handed her the mic. Then she made a heartfelt statement about how hardcore kids and metalheads have no idea about each others style and blah blah blah blah blah. The singer laughed her off and defiantly stated there should be no divisions!* When they unleashed this time, the pit went insane. It was a beautiful sight Title bout #2, heartfelt hardcore...uh, female? vs. big mexican girl. Knockdown by hardcore girl but big baldheaded guy broke it up.

*This is a statement I support 100%

Things settled down a bit as I grabbed another beer, and Sworn Enemy took the stage. The fates seemed to be against them at first. They seemed lethargic, as if they had just woken up and were in desperate need of a cup of coffee. And to add rock salt to injury, there were some technical difficulties with one of the guitarists sound and we could barely hear him. Overall the mix was fairly muddy too. This lethargy transferred to the crowd, and the zombies slipped back in to a comfortable prozac coma. Yet, being professional, they pushed on with the set. As they got a few songs in they seemed to wake up and transformed from lifeless into a metal machine. The zombies were pleased. And they showed their pleasure on the dancefloor. SE took control of the crowd and preceded to whip them back into their previous maniacal frenzy. Continuing with what seemed to be a common thread between these bands, they played a hardcore/metalcore blend of noise that was pleasing to the earballs. Then just as the sweat was starting to fly, title bout #3. Young guy with the band vs. some hardcore kid. Security jumped in and grabbed young guy in a headlock. The music stopped instantly and the stage cleared as five pissed off metalheads surrounded the security and looked ready to rip some heads off. Security apologized, split the original two up and when the band started right from where they left off, the pit hit new heights. Title bout #4, a handicap match between the same big baldheaded guy vs. the security crew. This was the best match of the night! What a way to prime the crowd for SFU...

...And the zombies were laid to waste. Local metalshop hero, Steve Rock chanted the intonation that brought forth the adulations of the undead, and summoned those who would bring about chaos and devastation. Within heartbeats, clouds of nature's greatest gift rose in worship from the pit heralding the entrance of Six Feet Under. As the dark ones began, the pit erupted. SFU proved they are the grandfathers of death metal with supreme confidence. The sound was mixed perfectly and every minute detail was crystal clear. While slower then the rest of the lineup they were crushingly heavier and seamlessly in synch. What songs did they play? *shrug* I was too entranced to notice. Terry's bass was a thing of unnatural beauty, as he and Greg pummeled the collective entrails of the crowd into a sickening goo. Steve held the minions in thrall while the Zombie Master himself spewed forth guttural utterances and demonic shrieks to the lamentations of the pit. They did not jump around in youthful exuberation nor scream their defiance in the face of society. They held communion with the undead. And the zombies showed their pleasure by transforming the pit into a human meatgrinder. The dark ones rewarded the crowd by bludgeoning them with a two song encore of gore. The walls splashed in bloodsoaked hunks of flesh, streams of blood and ichor running in rivulets in between pieces of undead bodies stacked haphazardly in piles of decimated mess.

Grinning like an undertaker, I finished my beer as the lights came up on the scene of carnage, and arm in arm the Gorewhore and I wandered into the night.

Band:Six Feet Under Album:13 Record Company:Metal Blade Writer: -deathboy- Click Album Cover To Buy Now

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