MIND INVERSION

In Flames, All That Remains, Gojira, 36 Crazyfists
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Maplewood, MN at the Myth

The temperatures may have finally taken a dip here in Minnesota, but none of that mattered last Wednesday at the Myth in Maplewood, as In Flames and their touring partners set the venue ablaze to some roaring metal classics. While I have nothing good to say about my experiences with the overly cautious asshole security guards that blanket the Myth, I was highly anticipating seeing some of the bands playing that night, especially Gojira, so my spirits couldn’t be killed.

In Flames sets off the mosh

It had been nearly 6 years since I had last witnessed a live set from 36 Crazyfists. In April of 2002, I was lucky enough to attend their album release show for their debut Bitterness the Star when they opened for Chimaira, and I saw them again later that year at the Warehouse in La Crosse with Candiria. At that time, I had been really impressed by the dynamic nature of their music, and they really struck me as a band that had limitless potential. Fastforward 6 years, and this is still the same band that I saw in high school. Although they might not have progressed in the ways that I hoped and thought they might, they still play an extremely catchy brand of melody laced metal and punk that has more to do with bands like the Deftones rather than Atreyu (despite what some of their fans might lead you to believe). I only wished that they had played more songs from their older albums because these were the only ones I knew, but sadly I was only familiar with about 1 of their songs that they played.

Gojira's Duplantier brothers reverse the rotation of the planet with their groove

Gojira came on stage next. These guys have been favorites of mine for quite a while  and they are just coming off the release of their colossal new album The Way of All Flesh so I was really anticipating the show. On Wednesday they brought the massiveness of their new songs to an entirely new level. At the beginning of their set, Gojira sent the crowd into a frenzy that didn’t stop until they left the stage. Their heaviness is something that is almost hard to define until you hear it; while Mario Duplantier’s drumming is mind-boggingly technical and the riffs are devastatingly heavy, a psychedelic, unnerving melody takes underlies the heavy barrage and entrances you. These French masters of progressive death metal easily put on the best performance of the night.  I strongly suggest to any fan of music – especially metal heads – check out these guys on youtube or at their myspace.

All That Remains came out next and gave the worst performance of the night. In all honesty, I don’t see anything redeeming about this band; their singer is a self-indulgent doucebag who didn’t even know what town he was in, and the scrappy band sounds like a trend-hopping bastard version of every popular style of metal from the last 4 years. To me it seemed very amusing that a second rate Gothenburg metal ripoff band was playing direct support to the Swedish death metal innovators of In Flames. Thank God they weren’t headlining or some bullshit.

It was my first time seeing In Flames live, and they certainly made it worth my wait. Their set was surprisingly short, but it was packed tightly with some of their best songs from their catalog – both old and new. While it was most fun to headbang to the likes of “Pinball” and “Behind Space”, newer anthems like “Cloud Connected” and “Take This Life” drew the biggest response from the crowd. Anders and the band were full of energy and were feeding off the crowd and they made it a very interesting and varied performance. All in all, it was great to see In Flames show All That Remains fans how Swedish death metal riffs were supposed to by played.

For a photo album from the night, click on one of the pictures or visit MetalInjection.net.

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