Mastodon shreds Nashville with help from Gojira and Kvelertak

It was one of the most hotly anticipated metal tours Nashville has seen in awhile, and the city's denizens turned out in full force. Atlanta heavy metal act Mastodon is part progressive metal and part sludge, but has been turning heads recently with their ability to make those sounds accessible to the masses. Their latest album, Once More Round the Sun, was recorded in nearby Franklin, Tennessee, and the lines nearly stretched to the end of the street in anticipation of the band's performance.

The set served as a showcase for the band's new found sound. With plenty of catchy, sing-a-longable hooks, it shows just how much they've changed from over the years. Their sound is characterized by an abundance of noodly guitar leads, with a tendency to jam out for sure. Brent Hinds demonstrated his guitar mastery all throughout the night, while drummer Brann Dailor made a rare appearance on lead vocals during one of the night's most propulsive cuts, "The Motherload." There's a significant difference between their earlier material and that of the last two records, but they've maintained their credibility by augmenting their catchy hooks with top notch musicianship.

Troy Sanders and Brent Hinds (left) are proving their place as one of the greatest metal bands of our time.

They started breaking out older stuff later in the set, but make no mistake -- with only two songs from Blood Mountain and three from Leviathan, this was a showcase for the newest album.

"Ol'e Nessie," from their 2002 debut Remission, stood in stark contrast to the rest of the set with its coarse, guttural shouted vocals and slow, crushing riffwork. But it was the older hits that had the fans tearing the place up. None did better than "Blood and Thunder," which tells the tale of a doomed sailing crew attempting to take down a mighty white whale. The gale force intensity coming off the pummeling guitar riff coupled with the devastating impact of Dailor's crash cymbal is enough to make you feel like you're right there with the crew, staving off a pounding rainstorm and aiming your harpoon right at the killer whale. Needless to say, the crowd lost their shit.

On the downside, their sound was kind of muddy -- not exactly the most crisp, clear or sharpest sound by any stretch of the imagination. The vocals in particular were very hard to hear, and has been that way both times I've seen them. Hinds has drawn flak in the past for his live vocals, and he honestly isn't the best pure singer of all time so that's likely a design decision. But when it comes to songs you're less familiar with it's hard to pick them out by their melody. It seems strange since that's what they're focusing on more these days.

Erlend Hjelvik and the guys from Norwegian metal band Kvelertak swipe, slash, and shred the stage to pieces.

They were preceded by French heavy metal act Gojira, whose star has been rising ever since the release of their 2012 album L'Enfant Sauvage. I had previously seen this band when they held down the opening slot on Metallica's Death Magnetic tour in 2009, but all I can remember is some long haired guy frantically running around the stage. This time around, with a much closer view, I can say they are most definitely the most unique metal band I have seen. This is clearly more thinking man's metal. Joe Duplantier's vocals sound like a demon serpent being dragged out of a portal from hell. It's very heavy with a good bottom end. You could mosh to it, but there's much more to it than that. The best way I can describe them is exotic, and I'm always pleased when I get to witness a band like that.

To top things off, we all had the good fortune to see Kvelertak as the opening band. These guys are a blast to watch on stage. They're like viking conquerors, come to smite us with heavy metal. The band really gets into it, rocking out hard and spinning their instruments around. Their frontman, Erlend Hjelvik, and knows how to play to a crowd. He came out wearing an owl mask for their opening number "Åpenbaring." They hit loud, fast, and hard and played with the swagger of 70s rock and roll stars. The only downside is there's not much variety in their sound as of right now, but they're still a young band and they're getting there. If you get a chance to see any of these three bands anytime soon, I highly recommend you do so.

Joe Duplantier of Gojira conjures odd time signatures and crushing rhythms to forge artistic and forward thinking metal.

Whiskey Gentry and Animal Collective = scatterbrained weekend

I saw two shows last weekend, which leaves me in a bind. Which one do I cover for my monthly concert review? Why not both? Let's start with The Whiskey Gentry, who rocked Atlanta's Variety Playhouse Saturday night. There was a strong Christmas theme, due in part to the fact that this show was their 5th annual Merry Y'all Tide Celebration, which apparently they do in their hometown of Atlanta every year in December.

Blair Crimmins and Michael Smith find themselves in the holiday spirit.

Their basic sound is that of country mixed with folk, but what caught my attention with this band is they mix in gypsy/punk influences into the music. It's not exactly woven into the actual sound, but their demeanor on stage and the way they interact with one another has an almost punk mentality to it. And they're all practically virtuoso level on their instruments. There was a violinist, a mandolin player, a guy who played a banjo-tar, and they would all go nuts on their instruments cranking out crazy solo after crazy solo. There's a southern vibe to it to be sure, but it's almost as if New York or Boston was trying to emulate a Southern hoe-down.

Whiskey Gentry singer Lauren Staley rips it up.

It was also cool that they alternated singers. Lead singer Lauren Staley is a typical country/western girl, who
did have a great voice, but they let the violinist sing for one song and he impressed with his great, smooth tenor. They also had a big, unshaven guitarist who looked like he could have been from the Dropkick Murphys, who sang a song about New York in a rough bristling voice. The diversity of this band was incredible. Of course they did have their winey country tinged songs. There was song about getting drunk and making out with strangers, which was supposed to be a tribute to one of the singer's friends, and there was also this smartass song she wrote in response to one of her bandmembers who said she hadn't been writing enough songs.

But there was also the fact that this was apparently some sort of jubilee, and as such the band had several guests, all from other Atlanta area bands, that came out with them onstage periodically. There was a guy that looked like John Lennon who came out and sang a Christmas Carol with Staley, there was a lady who came out and did backup vocals on one song, and even a guy who came out and started playing crazy harmonica. During the encore, everyone came out on the stage, including Blair Crimmins, the opening act, along with his entire horn section. All told there were 15 people on stage at once all going nuts and singing, while confetti was raining down all over the stage. I'm not even from this town, and I was still feeling the vibes.


Animal Collective, on the other hand, was a completely different experience, for more reasons than the obvious. To be honest I was not really into this show. A few songs I liked, but as a whole I don't feel much of a connection with most of the material they have been playing on this tour. The setlist, which is dominated by their latest album, Centipede Hz, and tunes from a few obscure EPs, don't show off the band at their best. It's too noodly, too trippy, and spends too much time floating and wandering around without making much of an indelible impact. Opening with "Applesauce" was cool, but other cuts like "I Think I Can" and "Pulleys" just float around with too much abstract silliness and ambiance, that sound like it would be suited to sync up perfectly with an acid trip, but not everyone is into that.

Deakin of Animal Collective sets a dreary mood.

With their fanbase expanding, Animal Collective seems hard pressed to hold on to their status as the leading drug band which is what they seem to be trying to do. Merriweather Post Pavillion and Strawberry Jam are filled with great, challenging material that shows off various different components to the band than what they've played live recently, but judging by their setlists it's like they're trying to do as much as they can to disown those albums. It's like they're trying to maintain their indie/hipster cred by downplaying the fact they now have a successful/more accessible record and are trying to act like it doesn't exist. I respect they aren't selling out but it feels like they're going a bit far.

Certain songs did sound a bit different, which is a nice change. I didn't even really recognize "Lion in a Coma" until one of my friends pointed it out after the show. I did notice the song's trademark bouncing didgeridoos but wasn't sure if they were just trying to work those into the mix for some other song. The middle section of "Brother Sport" was also quite different from the recording, which was cool. I also appreciated "Amanita." The closing refrain of "I'm going to come back and things will be different/I'm going to bring back some stories and games" captures the childlike wonder that the band so masterfully captured during their early career. 
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Related post:

Animal Collective - Centipede Hz review

Laura Marling's dazzling guitar work and personality delights Nashville

British folk singer Laura Marling is only 23, but already has four albums to her name and is threatening to shake up the modern folk scene. She was kind enough to treat Nashville to a taste of her talents at a Nov. 11 show at Marathon Music Works. It was eminently obvious that she was well practiced on guitar, showing off dizzying picking patterns that gave her sound a unique timbre. She would stop fairly frequently to tune and retune the guitars. This would cut into the flow of the show somewhat, but she had a knack for covering it up with wonderful self deprecating humor. She commented on how each guitar has its own personality, and said the guitars she was working with had the personality of toddlers.

Her latest album, Once I Was an Eagle, opens with a stunning five song suite that all runs together, and she opened her show with this same five song run. It ended in jaw dropping fashion with "Master Hunter," an assertive and defiant tune that is unquestionably one of the best of the year. In contrast, "Alas I Cannot Swim" was delivered with a sense of cute, childlike wonder but also speaks to very adult themes that many can relate to.

Near the set's close, she preformed a cover of Townes Van Zandt's "For the Sake of the Song," which was humorously cut off by the blowing of train whistle coming down the track outside. Startled, Marling stopped right where she was and then stitched in a quick impromptu ending once she resumed. It was a cute moment which communicated that she's not some superstar or diva; at the end of the day she's probably not all that different from you or I other than the fact that she's crazy talented. It made her feel warm, and even more relatable. 

Laura Marling hand crafts every moment to make sure everything  is just right.

Sleigh Bells live act rattle concert venues down to their foundations

Let's admit something. Sleigh Bells' latest album, Bitter Rivals, is easily their least successful to date. In comparison with their first two records, the reviews were worse, the buzz was negligible, and it seemed most listeners have already forgotten about it.  Seeing that Sleigh Bells stock is at a low ebb, it naturally cast a shadow of doubt as to just what could be expected from their latest tour. It was a fair question going in, but if there are any doubters left after their demolition of Nashville's Marathon Music Works Friday night, be ashamed of yourselves. The studio albums (outside of Treats) may bear their fair share of dank tracks, but the Brooklyn noise/hardcore/pop duo have been regarded as a killer live act since their inception, and nothing about that appears to be changing anytime soon.

Alexis Krauss's infectious intensity spread through the crowd like a disease.

Intensity and badassery are two buzzwords that get thrown around a bit when discussing Sleigh Bells live shows, but let's expound on that. Guitarist Derek Miller spent time in a hardcore band, and being that he's the chief influence on the band's sound you can expect a hammering assault of guitar riffery along with an level of energy comparable to, if not on par with, a hardcore show. The other half of the equation, singer Alexis Krauss, has pedigree as the frontwoman of a girlpop group, and as such she knows how to play to a crowd.

Guitarist Derek Miller lays a smackdown.

She kicks, yells, jumps, screams, drops to her knees, lifts the mic stand, and does generally whatever to get the crowd into a frothing frenzy. She even hit the stage in style, donning a dazzling tiger print robe for the first couple of songs. On initial blush, Joan Jett and Brody Dalle of The Distillers seem apt comparisons in terms of their charm and magnetism, but whereas they championed rough, motor oil style vocal deliveries, Krauss has a voice that is much smoother and cleaner.

The setlist showed off the best material from Bitter Rivals, but also made sure to show proper respect for Treats, their 2010 debut and still their most successful album to date."Riot Rhythm" and "Infinity Guitars" were ultimate headbanging moshing anthems covered by plenty of fuzz, while the heavy, plodding rhythms of "Born to Lose" represented a somewhat slower paced approach for the band -- at least by their standards. The new material continues in the same hard hitting vein they've always been known for.

"Sing Like a Wire," "Minnie," and "Bitter Rivals" felt perfectly natural being played alongside their older material. The biggest deviation took place on "Young Legends," which comes across as their take on a Disney pop song, and is covered in Krauss's distinctive fingerprints. She ended the night by diving over the railing and crowd surfing during the final song, "A/B Machines." Sleigh Bells hit like a bottle rocket, and never let up for the duration of their set. They played just long enough to cover the essential tunes in their catalog, yet short enough to leave the crowd screaming for more.
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Related posts:

Sleigh Bells - Bitter Rivals album review
Sleigh Bells - Reign of Terror album review 

Crystal Castles fan outreach leaves Marathon Music Works smushed

Going to see Crystal Castles? Hope you don't value personal space.

The Canadian electro-noise group have never been big on being conventional, but it's a tough task to think of shows that get this wild. They blend together several layers of highly dissonant electronic music while also being very danceable and rave oriented. They can go from being noisy and abrasive to highly stylized and atmospheric.

But at the center of it all, Crystal Castles share a bond with their fans most bands don't have.

Bathed in brilliant light, Alice Glass put her crowd into a trance.

The majority of fan obsession centers on vocalist Alice Glass. Since getting kickstarted in 2006, Glass has cemented herself as one of the most exotic, alluring and mysterious figures on the indie circuit. She has a very en vogue look. Her face that resembles a department store mannequin from the 1980s, yet with full lips and a wide eyed glare still succeeds in presenting a mystifying, even attractive image.

But it's her antics that gets a crowd riling more than anything else. Her free spirited attitude sees her going farther to connect with her fans that virtually any other performer would do. Specifically, she likes crowd surfing: often, and as much as possible. Getting to make physical contact with a figure like Glass is quite a transcendental experience; at any rate, it's the type of thing that entire buildings of people go nuts for.

She crowd surfed about six or seven times during the set, which to the uninitiated may seem overdoing it. But that's not what it's about. Glass aims to give out as many chances as reasonably possible for her fans to connect with her. A girl beside me said she expected to scream like a schoolgirl when Alice came out. And another even lost her top once the melee broke out. Touching Alice's hand, giving her tall platform boot a shove her surfing, getting her microphone cord tangled around you, it's all very real and visceral.

The entire crowd is basically a huge mosh pit for the whole show, expect obviously not quite as rough. You're going to be tightly compacted and jostled around, moving in rhythm to the crowd's dancebeat.

The crowd surfing diva strengthens fan appeal.

The set itself presented a generous cross section of the band's first two albums, but naturally it all kicked off with "Plague" and "Wrath of God," the two singles from their upcoming album, III. It provided a nice, dense atmospheric blast before moving into a pair of staples from their previous album. "Baptism" provides music for your hips -- opening with a hardcore blast of 90s rave -- before moving into a quieter, simpler, melodic lead -- music for your head.

"Suffocation," meanwhile, is more of a sludgy raver, trudging its way forward until it Alice's ethereal vocals come in. Another highlight was their cover of Platinum Blonde's "Not in Love," an 80s new wave tune they spruce up by adding their patented brand of raging electronica. Main composer Ethan Kath stays hunched over the keyboards, cloaked in his dark hoodie. Meanwhile Alice is cutting loose onstage, twirling the mic stand above her head, climbing onto the drum kit, and swigging from a bottle of jack and spitting toward the crowd.

Sadly, the sound was not top notch. The thick, heavy bass synths came through clearly but the lighter electronic lead work over and the vocals were hard to hear. It was tough to make out what songs were what. I didn't recognize "Celestica" until it got to the soft part with Alice singing, and "Intimate" sounded like it was in a different key altogether. I'm pretty sure they did at least one of the noise tracks from II along with "Alice Practice" and "Untrust Us," but it was difficult to tell through the crowd chaos.

Needless to say, the show rocked. A bond could be felt between the band and everyone present that you don't come across everyday. I could have watched them all night, even though it's a very physically exhausting experience.

L.A. noise rock outfit Health played beforehand, showing off a rhythmic and aggressive brand of energetic art rock. They resembled Gang Gang Dance to a degree. Bassist John Famigletti danced around vociferously and pounded on a standalone drum, while Jake Duzsik dropped in otherworldly vocals. One song ended with a sharp buzzing produced by Famigletti strumming all of his bass strings together, like he was in Arab on Radar.

Beach House's dream pop fantasy seduces the Music City crowd

I have not had a long love affair with Beach House. Their 2010 breakthrough, Teen Dream, caught my attention, certainly. At the time, I felt Victora Legrand sounded pretentious, and the sound was a bit too thin. That changed, obviously; Bloom is what made me a fan. Deep and expansive are two descriptors you'll hear thrown around often in any discussion of what makes the Baltimore duo's latest offering so captivating. Saturday night at Marathon Music Works, they showed us why.

Victoria Legrand empowers you to drift away into a synth covered dreamland.

This was my first trip to Marathon Music Works, being one of Nashville's newer music venues. It was a great experience, except the crowd was slightly more obnoxious than usual. There was a little throng right next me who insisted on loudly babbling all throughout the set of opener Dustin Wong. Before he came out, one guy kept hollering about when this "William Hung guy" was coming on. Nothing like a stereotype to start your evening. Never understood why people come to a show and just babble on the whole time. If you want to talk, go to a bar. Everyone else is here to see a show and you're totally distracting. So sit down and shut up. You're not nearly as important as you think you are.

That aside, Wong did an admirable job. A scan of his bio on the venue's site reveals that he at least has the right influences - Jimi Hendrix, Brian Wilson, and Brian Eno. His set was predicated upon densely layered tape loop playbacks. Typically playing on his lower strings, his guitar emitted shrieking, high pitched lead work. Because much of his performance was based around the tape loops, his playing tended to be sporadic.

When he really hit a groove, however, his fingers flew across the fretboard in a dizzying manner that made his talent undeniable. He also sprinkled in a very rare instance of vocals, which ranged from quiet wordless chanting to pretty much shouting into the microphone. He did seem a bit more conscious of audience suggestion than most performers I have seen; whenever somebody would whoop and holler for him a slight grin would light up his face. When he was done he received a grand sendoff, though I couldn't tell if the crowd really liked him that much or if they were just that plastered.

Dustin Wong lets loose with a silent shriek of ecstasy during a crazed solo.

Thankfully, everybody decided to shut up for Beach House. Their setlist understandably focuses on their two latest records, Teen Dream and Bloom, but they've typically done an admirable job of at least touching on material from their lesser known albums. The biggest evolution is that they've moved away from being obviously electronic based and have now authored a much more organic sound that uses electronics to supplement it. Guitarist Alex Scally creates hypnotizing melodies and shifting rhythms that perfectly complement Legrand.

Her deep, husky voice was on full display on set opener "Wild," but on the whole her voice sounded a little higher and more honey sweet than I expected. Yet she still has the type of booming voice needed to deliver the big, anthemic choruses that are so essential to their sound, evidenced by her "I"LL TAKE CARE OF YOOOOUUUU" on "Take Care." The melodies and hooks are strong enough to make each song magnetizing and engaging, while the lushness of the instrumentation creates a spellbinding, even exotic flair. On "Myth," for example, Scally starts with captivating guitar lead recalling the tradition of the Cocteau Twins, while finishing with a hazy tremolo solo.

Another area Beach House excels is in setting an atmosphere. Light shows and smoke machines are nothing new, but the way the smoke and lights shroud them and obscure their visages makes them seem more grand. And it was fortunate that the sound was excellent, allowing every little flourish and nuance of their sound to truly leap out at you. In terms of pure immersion, it's hard to find an act much better than Beach House.