Immolation, Arsis, Disma – July 28th – The Studio at Webster Hall, NYC

These are the kind of performances I live for; the shows where perfect sound, incredible feats of musicianship and intimate settings let us step through the looking glass into the meaning of metal. The entire evening didn't entail such glorious suspension of disbelief, but Immolation were certainly true to their name on this night, incinerating the souls of the fans who came out to celebrate their 25th anniversary.

Thursday was my first visit to this underground appendage of Webster Hall. It appears to be a venue capable of both excellent sound and unfortunate muddiness, completely at the whim of the band's equipment and of the person behind the sound board. I came out to the show alone, but the venue was packed with familiar faces. Ross Dolan and Bob Vigna were hanging out at the Immolation merch table speaking with friends and fans. I chatted with them briefly while picking up a T-shirt. They're incredibly friendly guys.


I'd never heard of Disma until they were added to the bill at a late date. New old school death metal is not an instant win for me; many proponents of this resurgence simply do not interest me. Disma, however, have got the extra sauce that gets me drooling. Before the show, I checked out their 2009 demo, The Vault of Membros and was extremely impressed. I only found out later that the band had signed on to record an album for Profound Lore Records. Somehow that came as no surprise.


Disma is comprised of seasoned veterans who served in bands like Incantation, Funebrarum and Goreaphobia at one time or another. Imagine what Incantation would sound like if they'd ever recorded at Sunlight Studios – it's not hard to conjure up a vision of the grisly death that will follow. In person, these songs really win, with excellent and memorable rhythms to accompany compelling riffage.


The audio mix was not optimal for Disma. The guitars were too quiet, blunting the edge of their sound. Although the venue was decently cooled, it was clearly a wretched steam bath up on the stage. Vocalist Craig Pillard seemed to be melting before our eyes. Perhaps the heat was also affecting the rest of the band; apart from some brief headbanging, Dimsa were largely static on stage. I don't think the crowd really cared; there was quite a buzz about these guys and everyone seemed quite engaged by their set. Keep an eye out for Disma in the near future.

Next up were Arsis, whose appearance on this bill was only a little bit strange. I think we can concede that A Celebration of Guilt is a landmark album which I personally still enjoy quite a bit. My interest in Arsis has diminished with each release, however. The crowd seemed split between folks who were rabid fans of the band and a larger group who were mostly indifferent to their performance. I haven't seen Arsis live since they toured with Enslaved in 2007, so I was fairly interested in seeing them play.


The mix was wretched for Arsis' set; the guitars were buried behind the drums and vocals. And really, who wants to watch an exhibition of guitar wizardry when you can't hear the guitars? Some people seemed to be enjoying themselves, but I had to leave the room. It was a shame.


By this point I was in absolute terror that the awful sound would bleed into Immolation's set. As they took the stage I realized that a new face had appeared behind the soundboard, so there was still hope. “The Purge,” the first proper track off their new album, started off the set. The mix was complete perfection; the guitar amps were perfectly mic'd, with the drums and vocals in perfect harmony. Win.



I'm a huge fan of Majesty and Decay; it's certainly one of my favorite albums of the year. The band played a good number of tracks off it, and the crowd was pleased. I was lost in completely blissful headbanging throughout the set. A few folks tried to get pits going, but for the most part we stood there like an enthralled mob of head-bobbing fools.



It's been said before, but Bob Vigna is ridiculous on stage. He plays his instrument like he's performing a bizarre guitar mating ritual. He mouths the words to each song while Ross Dolan roars. Besides demonstrating an endearing eccentricity, these mannerisms really show how much this core duo have communed to give these songs meaning.


Somewhere along the way I realized the dim lighting was going to defeat my negligible photography skills, so I decided to shoot some video. This worked out great for one track, but turned absurd for “Father, You're Not A Father.” As you can see below, I got caught in a mosh. This song really sent the crowd into fits. The band played two tracks off Dawn of Possession; first the obligatory title song, and then “Burial Grounds.” The latter song also started a decent pit.



Steve Shalaty was incredible behind the kit. I loved his drum work on the new album, and those rhythmic accents were appreciably audible in person. It's absurd how well oiled Immolation feels in a live setting. That perfection really manifested for “Unholy Cult,” filled with demented cadence and intricate corkscrew riffing.

“Passion Kill” closed out the set with thunderous consequence, driving that righteously perfect riff home into our cloven skulls. With much pain in the neck, I left the venue sated. The only omission I'd note is the lack of tracks from Here In After, but I can't really complain. This was one of those life-affirming shows that keeps me alive to grind another day.

Comments

Labels

3 Inches of Blood1 7 Degrees Records1 A Storm of Light1 Abbath2 Absu1 Abyssal Vacuum1 Acephalix2 aftermath music1 Agalloch1 Agrath1 Altar of Plagues4 ambient1 Amon Amarth4 Amorphis1 Anarkhon1 Ancient Wound1 Ancst1 Anhedonist1 Animals as Leaders1 Aosoth2 Apostasy Records1 Arsis1 Assück2 astrogrind1 At The Gates1 Atakke2 Ataraxy1 Augury1 Aural Music1 Australia1 Autopsy2 Avantgarde Music1 Backslider1 Bandcamp4 Bandit1 Baroness5 Barren Earth1 Basilysk1 Batillus2 Be'lakor2 Beansidhe2 Beaten To Death3 Belgium1 Berlin1 Bindrune Recordings3 Black Anvil10 Black Cobra1 Black Metal72 Blender Theater3 Blood Harvest4 Blood Incantation1 Blood Music1 Bloody Panda1 Blue Bedroom Records1 Blue Record1 Blut aus Nord2 Bolt Thrower2 Bosse-de-Nage1 Botanist1 Bowery Ballroom1 Buckshot Facelift1 Burning World1 Burst4 Cake Shop2 Canada1 Candlelight1 Cannibal Corpse2 Captain Cleanoff1 Carcariass1 Carcass4 Castevet8 cats1 Century Media1 Chepang1 Chronicles of Chaos1 Chuck Schuldiner1 Cicada the Burrower1 claustrum1 Cloud Rat2 Cobalt2 Code6661 Coffinworm1 Concussion1 Coney Island High2 Converge1 Convulse1 Convulsing1 Creator-Destructor Records1 Crom Dubh1 Crucifist1 crust4 Cryptic Shift1 Curandera2 Cynd1 Cynic1 d-beat1 Dååth1 Dark Descent Records6 Dark Tranquillity1 Darkane1 Darkthrone2 Deafest5 Death2 Death Angel1 death metal78 Death Toll 80K1 Deathspell Omega1 Debemur Morti2 Decibel2 Decrepit Birth2 Defeated Sanity1 Defeatist8 Demilich1 Denmark2 Dephosphorus2 Desecresy1 Disappearer1 Discordance Axis1 diSEMBOWELMENT1 Disma3 Disrotted1 Dissection2 Don't Give a Fuck1 doom32 Down2 Dream Theater2 drone1 Drown1 Drugs of Faith1 Dry Cough1 Dunkelheit Produktionen1 Duplicate Records1 Dying Fetus1 Dystrophy1 Earache4 Eight Bells1 Eluveitie1 Emperor1 Enslaved3 Entombed2 Epoch2 Europa3 Exhumed2 Explosions In The Sky1 Falls of Rauros1 Fen4 FLAC1 Flaming Tusk4 Flourishing6 flowing downwards1 folk1 folk metal2 France1 From Exile1 Fuck the Facts5 funeral doom6 Funeral Moth2 Fuoco Fatuo1 Gattaca1 Gaza1 Germany1 GetOverHere1 Gigan1 Gilead Media4 God Dethroned2 Gojira5 Google Music1 Google music beta1 Gorephilia1 Gorguts3 Gorod2 Gramercy Theater2 Grand Ballroom1 Grave Miasma1 Graveyard Hill Records1 Grind and Punishment1 grindcore35 Grindcore Karaoke1 Guns N' Roses1 Gustavo Santaolalla1 Gwynbleidd1 Gygax1 Haftvad Records1 Halo of Flies1 Handshake Inc.1 hardcore11 Heaving Earth2 heavy metal2 Heavydeath1 Hells Headbangers2 Hellthrasher Productions2 High Command1 High Water Media1 Highline Ballroom1 Hivelords1 Holy Grail1 Hooded Menace2 Horrendous3 Horror Pain Gore Death Productions2 Howls of Ebb2 Hreilia1 Human Remains1 Humanity Falls2 Hybreed Chaos1 I1 I Abhor1 I Voidhanger Records2 Ill Omen1 Imbroglio2 Immolation8 Immortal4 Impiety1 In Flames2 Incantation4 industrial2 Inexorum1 Infernal Stronghold1 Infestus1 Ingrowing1 Inquisition2 Interviews1 Intronaut2 Inverloch1 Invertia1 Invictus Productions2 Ipsissimus2 Irkallian Oracle1 Iron Bonehead1 Iron Bonehead Productions1 Iron Maiden4 Irving Plaza4 Isis1 Katatonia3 Khthoniik Cerviiks3 King Giant1 Krallice10 Kreator4 Krypts4 Kylesa4 Lamb of God2 Landmine Marathon4 Last Rites1 Laster1 Latitudes1 Lavadome productions2 Lay Down Rotten2 Legion1 Lifeforce Records1 Listenable Records1 Lit Lounge1 Ludicra4 Lychgate2 Madison1 Madison Square Garden1 Magrudergrind2 Man's Gin1 Manipulator1 Marduk1 Mare Cognitum1 Marty Friedman1 Martyrdöd1 Maruta1 Maryland Deathfest2 Mas-Kina Recordings2 Masonic Temple1 Mass Grave1 Massachusetts1 Mastodon6 Megadeth1 melodic death metal5 Melvins2 Metal Bandcamp7 Metallica1 Mikael Åkerfeldt1 Milwaukee Metalfest1 Mind Mold1 Mirovia1 Misery's Omen1 Mithras2 Mitochondrion1 Moksha1 Mollusk1 Mono2 Moonsorrow1 Morbid Angel1 Morbus Chron1 Mortal Incarnation1 Mortician1 Mortiferum1 Motörhead1 Mournful Congregation1 Music Hall of Williamsburgh1 Mutant Supremacy5 Mutiny Within1 My Dying Bride4 Nachtreich2 Naisian1 Napalm Death5 Nasum1 Necrophobic1 Necrosemen1 Necrot2 Necrowretch1 neo-classical1 Nephelium1 Nerve Altar2 Neuraxis3 Neurisis1 New Zealand1 Nile2 Nirvana1 No Fashion Records1 noise3 Nokia Theater1 Nordvis2 Nuclear Blast3 Nuclear War Now!1 Nucleus2 NWOBHM2 obituary1 Obscura4 Obsequiae2 Ogg Vorbis1 Olympia1 Opeth5 Order of Orias1 Osmose Productions1 Owen Hart1 P.L.F.1 Pact Ink Records2 Pagan Records1 Pallbearer1 Pantera1 Paroxsihzem2 Peaceville4 Pelican6 Phantom Glue1 Pharmacist1 Phil Anselmo1 Pinnacle of Bedlam1 pirate metal1 Plebeian Grandstand2 Poland1 Polluted Inheritance1 Portal1 post-metal2 post-rock2 PRC music1 Priapus1 Prisoner of War1 Profound Lore10 prog11 Prosthetic2 Psychic Limb3 Pulverised Records1 punk1 Qrixkuor2 Quorthon1 Radiation Blackbody1 random playlist3 Red Album1 reissue1 Relapse8 Revocation5 Ritual Chamber1 Robert Johnson1 Ruins of Beverast1 Sabre1 Saint Vitus Bar1 Sarcasm1 Sarpanitum1 Satan1 Scion1 Scrotum Jus Records1 Selfmadegod Records1 Sentient Ruin1 Seraphic Entombment1 Sesecresy1 Setentia2 Seventh Rule1 Severnaya1 Shadow Kingdom Records1 Shea Stadium1 Siberian Hell Sounds1 Skeletonwitch6 Slough Feg1 Sludge20 Slugdge1 Social Distortion1 Soilwork3 Solar Asceticists Productions1 Soulseller Records1 Southern Lord3 Spectral Lore3 speed metal1 StarGazer1 Stockholm1 Streetwalker1 Suffering Hour1 Suffocation5 Sulaco1 Summer Slaughter1 surf1 Swallow the Sun2 Swashbuckle3 Sweden1 Swedish Death Metal1 Swimming1 Swords of Chaos1 Sydney1 Symphony X1 Taake1 technical death metal7 Temple of Abandonment1 Temple of Void1 Thantifaxath1 The Absence1 The Acheron3 The Ajna Offensive1 The Binary Code1 The Bowery Electric2 The Chance4 The Charleston2 The Communion1 The Faceless4 The Fucking Champs2 The Knitting Factory3 The Ominous Circle1 The Path Less Traveled Records7 The Rolling Stones1 The Ruins of Beverast1 The Secret2 The Studio at Webster Hall5 Thou1 thrash13 Thrawsunblat1 Throatruiner Records1 Throne Records1 Tiger Flowers3 Toad's Place1 Tombs6 Triptykon1 Union Pool2 Unmen1 Unrest Records1 Unspeakable Axe Records1 Urfaust1 Vancouver1 Velnias1 Vendetta Records1 Vex1 Via Nocturna1 Vic records1 viking2 Vile Creature1 Vit1 Vitriol Records1 Vore1 W.T.C Productions1 Wadge1 Wake2 Warbringer2 Washington1 Weakling3 Weapon1 Weedeater1 What We All Come To Need1 Willowtip4 Wisconsin1 Withered5 WITTR1 Woe3 Wolves In The Throne Room5 Woods of Ypres4 Wormrot9 Writhing Mass1 Xaddax1 Xantam1 Xenoblight1 Xibalba1 Year of the Knife1 year-end list9 year-end-list1 Yellow Eyes1 YHDARL1 Yith1 Zhrine1 Zosimus1
Show more