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What
could be better on a freezing cold Newcastle night than to see 2
rising stars of the metal scene along with 2 rather more
established acts on a packed sponsored bill dubbed "The
Taste of Chaos" tour.
Those making it to the Academy early (and there were a few of
'those' there) were in for a treat as the excellent Maylene and
The Sons of Disaster opened the proceedings and got the circle
pits off to a start with an incendiary set which would have
earned them many new fans.
Their
brand of tuneful but heavy Southern tinged metal (the band
hail from Alabama) borrows heavily from Pantera at times but the
band went down extremely well with the early birds, especially
the tracks from latest album 'III'. One to watch for in
the future with a headlining tour!
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Next
up came Everytime I Die, whose brand of screamo metal seemed to
divide the crowd a bit. A bit of a contrast to Maylene,
roughneck screamo vocals kind of dominated the first 5 of 6
tracks in their set, however by the last couple of tracks they
added a couple of more tuneful numbers with some clearer guitar
parts.
Unfortunately
their sound was a bit muddied which may have ruined the impact
of their set (to my ears at least).
In Flames followed with an excellent performance. I have
to admit I was never really a fan but I was mightily impressed
with their career-spanning set, with vocalist Anders Friden
on particularly fine form. Highlight of their
set had to be the closing 'Take This Life', from 2006's 'Come
Clarity', which was noticeably beefed up a few notches
for the live setting. The circle pits were in full flow for
every song by this point, and one lucky fan will never forget
the night as he was dragged out of the crowd by Friden to take video
of the crowd from the stage and also head-banged with his
heroes for a couple of tracks!
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Killswitch
Engage took to the stage (after their intro tape of The Benny
Hill Show Theme!) dressed in matching tuxedo T-shirts, with
everyone's favourite nutty guitarist, Adam D, resplendent in an
official Killswitch Engage cape (available at the merch stall,
folks!) and his trademark shorts!
Beginning
with the live favourite 'My Curse', the band
simply looked like they were enjoying themselves immensely from
the off, Howard Jones vocals perfectly slipping between brutal
and soft, as is the band's trademark sound.
The
tour is also being used to promote the bands latest eponymous
album, and a number of cuts were played, the best of which was
'Take Me Away' and 'The Forgotten', which both got the now
almost sell-out crowd whipped up into a frenzy, much like the po-going
Adam D!
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A number of
the old classics were played, most notably a rampant version of
'Rose of Sharyn' and probably the band's most well-known track 'My Last
Serenade', which got the biggest cheer of the night. The band ended the
night with their excellent cover of Dio's 'Holy Diver' which got
the whole hall bouncing. Ending the gig with a track from a rock legend
was the perfect end to a perfect Killswitch show, they are destined to
become rock legends themselves at this rate, with performances like
this. A great way to spend a cold Monday night!
Killswitch Engage setlist (thanks to Dave Shotton for keeping track of
this for me!): My Curse, Never Again, A Bid Farewell, Numbered Days,
Arms of Sorrow, Reckoning, Fixation on The Darkness, Take Me Away,
Temple From The Within, Starting Over, Rose of Sharyn, The Forgotten, My
Last Serenade, The End of Heartache, Holy Diver.
Review
by: Dan Armstrong
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