Quarta-feira 9 Mai 2012, 1h:19

Sun 6 May – The Occupation Domination Tour 2012

This would be my first show at the famous Whisky a Go Go, where bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Mötley Crüe, Van Halen and many more have played. Death's Live in LA DVD was even filmed there. It was cool to be in a venue that so many iconic bands have played in.

On the way to the show I stopped at Amoeba and found Cattle Decapitation's Humanure on vinyl. I thought it was an appropriate purchase. By the time I got to the Whisky Embryonic Devourment was doing their sound check. I had seen them a few years ago and they were alright. I think they have improved quite a bit since then. They're still not a band I would listen to regularly, but I enjoyed them. It was really cool to watch the vocalist play a fretless bass. They mentioned they will have a new album coming out soon and they played a song from it.

• Militarized Reptoids
• Vivid Interpretations of the Void
• Eye of the Horomatangi
• Darken Thy Fluids
• Speaking in Tongue (new)
• Human Harvest

Next up was Battlecross, who I had never heard of before this tour. The first thing I noticed was that the vocalist was wearing light blue crocs. Their music was horrible and I tried to not pay too much attention during their set. After they finished the vocalist announced that Rings of Saturn was next. I believe this was their first date back on the tour after getting in an accident last week. A couple years ago nobody cared about this band and it's been weird to see them get popular out of nowhere. I remember they actually released their album through MySpace because they weren't signed. The crowd seemed to enjoy them a lot, and there were even people two-stepping during the new song. Personally, I found their music to be extremely annoying and I think the guitarists are wasting their talent.

Thankfully Rings of Saturn didn't play for very long and Aborted was going to take the stage next. I have been waiting to see them for four years now. I was planning on seeing them on the Summer Slaughter tour in 2008 but I ended up not being able to go at the last minute. Since their last time in the states they have had a major lineup change, which is nothing new for the band. Sven is the only member actually from Belgium, but he now lives in Israel and the rest of the band is spread out around the world. Along with the lineup change has come a change in direction for the band. They've not only returned to a heavier sound with their new album, but since last year they have been playing more old songs and have dropped everything from their more melody driven albums, Strychnine.213 and Slaughter & Apparatus.

It wasn't long before they exploded into "Global Flatline". I was in awe that I was finally seeing them. Sven's vocals were insane live and the rest of the band sounded great as well. Unfortunately it seemed like only half of the crowd was into them. The pit was relatively empty, with the same three or four people in it for most of the set. I ignored the partially asleep crowd and headbanged as much as possible. When they went into "The Holocaust Incarnate", my second favorite song by them, I nearly went berserk. I couldn't believe I was hearing it finally. After "Sanguine Verses" Sven announced that the next song would be their last. I was expecting them to play "From a Tepid Whiff", but then he continued, "This one is from Goremageddon." I knew exactly what that meant. Once again I went into a headbanging fury as they played my favorite, "The Saw and the Carnage Done". After four years of waiting I was not let down. I really couldn't have asked for a better set from them.

• Global Flatline
• Coronary Reconstruction
• Meticulous Invagination
• The Holocaust Incarnate
• The Origin of Disease
• Sanguine Verses (…of Extirpation)
• The Saw and the Carnage Done

My neck was already extremely sore, but I stayed in the pit for Decrepit Birth. It was immediately obvious that nearly everybody was into them. The pit was much more violent and there were a lot more people headbanging. As usual, the band put on a remarkable performance. I'm glad they decided to open with "Of Genocide" again, because it's an absolutely crushing intro. I was disappointed they didn't play "A Gathering of Imaginations" though. Not playing anything from Diminishing Between Worlds just seems wrong. I consider it to be their best work and it was the album that got them popular. If they were short on time they should have cut something else instead. It was really cool to hear them play "Crystal Mountain" though. Bill introduced it by saying "You should all know this one." Indeed, the crowd did, and everybody went crazy when they started paying it. I'm not usually a fan of bands playing covers, but Decrepit Birth playing a Death song is very fitting.

• Of Genocide
• Metatron
• The Infestation
• Prelude to the Apocalypse
• The Resonance
• Symbiosis
• Crystal Mountain (Death cover)

Then it was time for Cattle Decapitation. I love Monolith of Inhumanity, so I was really looking forward to hearing the new songs live. The band was tight and had a perfect sound. I love how well you can hear the bass when they play. And of course, Travis looked like a deranged psychopath on stage, vomiting his guttural vocals onto the mic and wiping his spit on himself. The set mainly consisted of new material, but they did dive into the back catalog for two songs. I was disappointed that they didn't play "Chunk Blower" though. I hope they do a headlining tour before the end of the year, because I'd love to hear some more older material again. However, I must say that "Kingdom of Tyrants" is a great closer. Cattle Decapitation remains one of my favorite live bands, right up there with Suffocation.

• The Carbon Stampede
• Dead Set On Suicide
• A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat
• Testicular Manslaughter
• Forced Gender Reassignment
• Your Disposal
• Success Is… (Hanging By the Neck)
• Lifestalker
• Kingdom of Tyrants

After Cattle Decapitation finished I went upstairs to watch Origin. I'm not really a fan of them, but I was still interested in seeing them live, especially since I haven't seen them since Jason Keyser joined the band. Needless to say, they are lightyears better with Jason. They put on an energetic performance and Jason's stage banter was very entertaining. He mentioned the "stage dive wall of death" they did at the Roxy and that they were banned from the venue because of it. Then before "Swarm" he asked the crowd to stage dive. Security began grabbing people and kicking people out, but they could only get a few since there were a lot of people doing it, including Bill from Decrepit Birth. Jason actually convinced them to let one of the guys back in. Even though I can't say I'm a fan, I really enjoyed their set, although it seemed a bit short.

• Expulsion of Fury
• Purgatory
• Wrath of Vishnu
• Banishing Illusion
• Staring from the Abyss
• Swarm
• Saligia
• The Aftermath
• Implosion of Eternity
• Finite
• Portal