Immolation

Live at the Whisky in

Los Angeles, CA

October 14th, 2010

I am a fairly recent comer to the Immolation crowd, just having encountered the band on their newest CD "Majesty and Decay".  

It was the extremely cool artwork that got my attention and once I gave them a listen I found they were pretty cool Death Metal style music.

I listen to a lot of Black Metal but in honesty, I find the nuances between Black, Death, and Thrash vary quite a bit from band to band and while these guys did not have any of the symphonic qualities common to a lot of the Nordic Black Metal I listen to, they do utilize many of the other conventions such as blast beats, harsh vocals, and multiple guitars building walls of atmosphere.

They also fall into some areas of Thrash Metal depending on the song and these were the ones that whipped the mosh pit up the most.

I only recall a few of the songs of the set by name which were "A Glorious Epoch", "A Thunderous Consequence", "Power and Shame" and then the title track off the new album.

I have not seen a show at the Whisky in some time, and I was excited for it, but once I was here I remembered all the reasons why I am so happy that the majority of metal shows have moved over to the House of Blues (and seeing how I have a grudge against LiveNation, that is saying a lot).

The band sounded great, that is for sure. The sound mix was not the problem but the lack of good stage lighting made photography a nightmare and the lights they did have were directly behind the band, pulsing like a strobe light into the audience's eyes, leaving mostly silhouette impressions of the band.

I like loud shows, but for some reason the actual decibel volume and proximity of the speakers to the audience left me feeling like I had screw drivers jammed into my ears after the show and that never happens at the Key Club or House of Blues so that was bit disconcerting.

The crowd was an extreme mix of ages. There were some little children there, under eight years old, which was weird and then the upper range must have been in the forties to fifties as Immolation have been around nineteen years themselves and their tour mates, the legendary Vader, have been around for twenty five years.

Mosh pits broke out often during the last two bands which is good for the vibe but the attitude of the moshers was at times annoying as some of them seemed to be out to actually injure one another rather than have a communal good time.

Since they do not have a photo barrier here, I usually move in close to get what photos I can and then get the hell out when the pit starts so my cameras do not get damaged.

Each and every time I started to get out of the pit, someone would run at me and nail me in the back with their elbows or push me hard even though I am holding my camera up to protect it and definitely not part of the pit.

I know, I am in the zone so be prepared, but there is such a thing as good sport, especially when the crowd was as small as it was. It did pack the floor nicely but in a venue of this size it was still a small enough crowd where by the fourth band playing, you had a good idea of everyone who was there.

The lead singer seemed like a really nice guy when he spoke between songs and he dedicated several of the songs to different people, one of which was Nergal from Behemoth who has been diagnosed with Leukemia. He mentioned there were women upstairs taking contributions and promoting the DNA testing happening at Dark Realm this month to see if a bone marrow donor can be found for Nergal as well as others suffering from the disease.

Overall, it was a good show despite some short comings of the location and a few of the attendees. I personally think Immolation and Vader deserved a better venue without so many added bands thanks to M Productions but I am still very happy I went and experienced these two bands.

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t lac"al