I am completely secure to admit that I was wrong, wrong, wrong. The new Exodus record, "Tempo of the Damned," should become the handbook by which any waning metal outfit should consult before doing a "comeback" record. The album is stellar and contains every bit of the angst, aggression and clever word play that every true metal fan had come to expect from the older Exodus.
In short, buy this record if you ever cared about true metal. I would cite some songs of note but, honestly, they are all 100% bad ass. For those of you who thought the "Black Album" was the best thing Metallica ever did, you might want to steer clear of this Exodus release. It is not for the timid.
That said, I was giddy with excitement to discover that Exodus was coming to Indy in support of this metal revival. I began the evening by cruising over to the Zombie Inn/Pat & Sandy's/ Whittaker's/ NonExist or whatever the hell they are calling the bar across the street these days (J. Clyde's is closed on Sundays) to meet up with a bunch of my friends. I had just enough time to say "Hiya" and down about 3 Diet Cokes before trekking across to the theater and finding that Bledd had already begun.
I had been warned by several trusted sources that Bledd was not that great and really not what I was into. I must say, though, that I was pleasantly surprised with their show. While they're maybe not as aggressive or fast as what I was hoping for, Bledd definitely held their own on the bill and didn't seem out of place at all. Bledd's sound was somewhat dark in a good way. They even pulled some faster guitar riffs out of their hats. These things are good in my book.
Bledd is still not my cup of tea, but they definitely had been given a worse rap than they deserved. In my opinion, they were entertaining. My only personal gripes are that I would like them to delve more into the intricate guitar stuff and for the vocalist to drop the small amounts of yarling he did during their set. It also looked to me as if were definitely into promoting their own band by way of two of the members sporting their own band's shirts and another member sporting a "Bledd" toboggan hat.
All in all, they're not bad with potential to be even better. If this band has grown already as much as people informed me that they have since they opened the Anthrax show at the Vogue a few months back, it looks as if they will be some major contenders in the Indy Metal scene.
Back to the bar. Six more diet cokes and I was ready to hear more extremely heavy stuff. I ran back across to the Emerson and noticed right away that something was wrong. There were even fewer people inside than there were for Bledd. I guess the reason for this was Shunned (I guess some would call this irony).
I must confess that I didn't stay for the entire Shunned set, even though maybe I should have since I was there to review the show. Honestly, I couldn't take too much from this band. Shunned was comprised of pretty much everything I don't like about nu-metal. They are good at making nu-metal stuff but, in my opinion, it was a somewhat cookie-cutter sound and not very innovative or even energetic. The music that Sunned makes just is not my thing and I didn't think they even fit the bill very well.
Diet Coke. Diet Coke. Diet Coke then Demiricous. From gleaning the melodic riffs of the Swedes and the beautiful layering of the older Metallica stuff to the perfectly timed breaks of earlier Slayer, Demiricous have brewed this incredible metal stew that at once seems familiar yet wonderfully fresh and exciting. The only thing that could make this band better for me would be for them to utilize their dual guitars for harmonies more. It is rare as hell to hear something like this in today's metal world. My advice to you: buy their demo and rock it every day on the way to work. It kills.
A quick trip back to the bar for a hilarious round of drunken karaoke (a story for another time), then:
EXODUS!
EXODUS!
EXODUS!
As the show started, I couldn't help feeling as if I had been transformed into a 15-year-old kid again. Exodus was one of the last bands that I would have believed to bring good, old-fashioned metal back to life. Once again I was wrong. From the first notes of "Scar Spangled Banner" through "Piranha", the music was fast, heavy and loud. It was just the way I remembered it and the way I want that era of metal to stay. It didn't seem sophomoric or immature to me, it just seemed right.
I am so happy I got to go to this show. Being on call for my job, I didn't think I would really get to go and stay all the way through. I did and I am truly grateful. To anyone who thinks there is no metal going on in this town, go to the friggin? shows. There is much to be proud of. True metal is alive.