Among the over-saturated wave of new American metal (read: metalcore), there are few bands that stand out. In order to do so in a scene overrun with mediocrity, a band must truly do something different; and not just do it differently, but do it well. Fortunately for metal fans at the 9:30 club on Saturday night, all three groups who performed are standout bands. On the last night of their tour together, A Life Once Lost, Himsa and Darkest Hour all laid waste to an eager 9:30 crowd.
Philadelphia's A Life Once Lost opened the show and pumped up the crowd, properly preparing them for what was to come. Led by the harsh screams and grunts of the bearded, grungy Robert Meadows, A Life Once Lost played a set chock full of bludgeoning riffs, noisy guitar leads, punishing drums and off-kilter rhythms and time signatures.
Seattle's Himsa separates itself from the metalcore vortex by refusing to recycle "Slaughter of the Soul" (by At the Gates) riffs and Hatebreed style breakdowns and vocals. Rather, Himsa play with a full-on heavy metal gallop like Iron Maiden. Granted, the riffs are much heavier, and the vocals are infinitely more brutal. As far as front men go, Himsa's John Pettibone is one of the best in hardcore/metal today. His stage presence, complete with David Lee Roth style jack-splits, is outstanding, and his crowd interaction is very strong, complete with high fives and head-rubs. The highlight of his stage presence was the end of the set, in which he did a front flip off the stage into the crowd. That is hardcore right there.
The crowd just kept getting progressively more pumped up for the headliners. Then, as the Darkest Hour banner went up, before the band even approached the stage, the people began to rush to the front of the club. When Darkest Hour finally took the stage, a huge roar erupted from the crowd, and they began to get even crazier. From the opening notes until the end of their set, Darkest Hour proved why they are one of the leaders of the new American heavy metal movement.
While they are clearly influenced by Swedish bands like At the Gates and In Flames, there is something so distinctly American about the sound of Darkest Hour, specifically in the vocals. While European death metal bands use a deep guttural growl or a piercing shriek, the trend in America is a more hardcore-inflected shout, with still guttural elements. A fusion, if you will, of the traditional hardcore growl with the death metal grunt. As far as the music goes, this is pure metal. Thankfully, Darkest Hour eschews the clich? of heavy breakdowns. This keeps things interesting, as breakdowns in longer, more complex songs typically drag the song down.
As far as the performance goes, the band was spot on, and they put out so much energy in front of their hometown. The drumming was heavy and outstanding, and the guitar work, chock full of harmony riffs and killer leads, was the sort of guitar work that would make anyone within earshot throw the horns. The highlight of the set was easily their performance of "Veritas, Aequitas," the 13-minute instrumental off of "Hidden Hands of a Sadist Nation."
The hometown crowd was very appreciative of Darkest Hour's performance. The band definitely seemed glad to be back in town, and they played their butts off throughout the entire set. While A Life Once Lost and Himsa definitely got great response from the crowd and played great sets, the night belonged to Darkest Hour, plain and simple.
