Advertise I Contact Frantik Goodies! Enter to Win! FREE! FREE! FREE! See the Prizes!

LIVE REVIEWS

Black Tyranny Tour - Machine Head, Arch Enemy, Throwdown and Sanctity

I have been eagerly awaiting for this tour ever since I heard of it. With a lineup that is sure to make any metalhead happy, I was ready to see all four bands bring the pain to the Avalon in Hollywood. As usual, parking down in Hollywood is just horrible and all of the parking is just way overpriced, but hey, we need parking don't we? Pay up before they tow you, they're good at that too.

The first band to hit the stage was Sanctity. Their debut from Roadrunner Records, "Road to Bloodshed," has been in my player for quite some time now and I really dig the record. Now I've never seen Sanctity live so I was real excited to see what they had to offer. I was real excited to see if they were going to either suck or be better than what I've been listening to. Wow. Needless to say, they were way better than what I've been listening to! Jared's vocals were completely amazing and soared through the crowd with utmost authority. Zeff's guitar monstrosity was on point and he made that poor little guitar cry for help. The bass was thumpin' and held the backbone very well, and the drums were nonetheless, completely punishing, care of Jeremy. Although most of their set consisted of tracks off their latest release, two tracks really stood out which were "Beloved Killer" and "Beneath the Machine." Sanctity executed those two tracks with much furiousity and with complete disregard. It was awesome! If you missed Sanctity, you missed out. I will be at their next show in Cali for sure, they were definitely worth my while. Hail Sanctity!

Where was all the hardcore kids? Not at this show. Throwdown is mostly known for their hardcore roots but their new album proves that Throwdown is taking thier sound much further......into Metal! Throwdown was up next and I have been hearing a lot of good things about their stage show and sound so I was quite eager to see what they were about. As soon as the lights go dim, these fuckers lit a fire up everyone's ass! They started their set with "Holy Roller" and quickly established to me that they were not here to play around. They were indeed here, To Throw it the fuck Down! These guys were totally going off and wasted no time barraging through songs like, "S.C.U.M.," "Weight of the World," and "Americana," one after another. They were intense and I'm impressed. For some odd reason though, the crowd was not responding as I thought they would be. I mean, these guys are giving it a good kick in the ass but the crowd seemed to be light on its foot. Maybe they weren't intoxicated yet? Who knows. Anyhow, Dave Peters and Co. live up to their name and definitely showed up. The coolest part of their set? Rob Flynn of Machine Head came out and covered the song "Roots" from Sepultura with Throwdown. That was the definite highlight of the whole night.

Uh-oh, I'm starting to hear some crazy effects coming out of the speaker....could it be? Could it be that.....Boom! Arch Enemy! The last time I saw Arch Enemy was about a year or two ago at Ozzfest in San Bernardino and from what I remembered, they destroyed the stage. This night wasn't going to be the same though. Arch Enemy came out one by one and the crowd was fuming! By the time Angela came out, the crowd was in absolute madness. They quickly rip through the first two songs and for some reason, I couldn't really hear Angela come through the speakers? Arch Enemy played the crowd favorites for tonight which was completely fine since most of the crowd was there to witness Arch Enemy. Stand out tracks include, "My Apocalypse," "Nemesis," and "Dead Eyes See No Future." Throughout their set, it was really difficult to hear Angela. The guitars were overpowering her, the sound was kind of going in and out and even as she spoke by herself to the crowd during breaks, it was like a murmur instead of power. Not sure if it was the sound guy, Angela herself or the crowd being louder than the band but that aspect just sucked and killed it for me. Other than that, Angela rocked it and the rest of the band was just phenomenal. The dueling guitars were fantastic, the drums were spot on and the bass was heavy. Did not miss a note and sounded exactly like the album you own. Ohh, and for the dudes, yes, Angela was looking sweet and menacing as usual. Gotta love that hot piece of pyscho girl!

After a break between sets, lights go dim once more and the chanting started. "Machine Fuckin' Head! Machine Fuckin Head!" It was getting wild in there and the acoustic intro of "Aesthetics of Hate" started bleeding out of the speakers, which in turn made the mob go absolutely wild. One by one, Machine Head filled the stage and then Rob Flynn came out and said "Wsup Los Angeles!" and directly into the song. The crowd responded with a circle pit, only a few bars into the song, and it was brutal. Machine Head then started delving into older tunes, none of which were from the time when they were trying to do some nu-metal stuff, which got my approval right away. Rob was fantastic as usual as a frontman and did not let up on the crowd, not one bit. I had prior arrangement before this show and had to leave early but before I left, I listened to one more song and was glad I did because they went into "Halo," which is one of my favorites of their latest, "The Blackening." It sounded so good. Machine Head sounded so good and by god, they were louder than shit. Machine Head was almost two times louder than the rest of the bands! Machine Head we're great as usual and they put on a show! I really dig how they're not scared to play 5-9 minute songs and still have the crowd in a trance, which only goes to prove that they do not bore nor give a flyin' fuck about what anybody thinks. I love that about them.

By: Gian Erguiza