Скачать или смотреть Beneath The Massacre - Live in Tokyo 12 June 2012 (1/3)

Saw these guys live last night, playing alongside Tech Death Legends Obscura.

To be honest, I had never checked them out before, and I was at the gig for Obscura - or more importantly -Obscura's drummer, Hannes Grossmann. However, I always make a point of filming as many of the bands as I can and so I recorded BTM as well.

For those of you who do know about the band, you'll already know what I didn't know at that time... Beneath The Massacre is an awesome live band. They took the stage and literally tore the venue a new sphincter... bar after bar after bar of perfectly choreographed extreme metal excellence. I'm one of those guys who stands at gigs watching and taking notes - a "critic" if you like, not a moshpit lunatic, and I'm pretty stern when it comes to new bands and unknown songs. I did not expect the band to impress me - I imagined a wall of noise and blast beats left right and center. And I was right, except for the fact that the timing, the fluidity and the overall polished sound of the band really did make the wall of sound and wall to wall blast beats a musical entity.... the first unknown band of the past 2 years to do that. I was truly impressed and encourage anyone who doesn't know about this bands live skills to attend one of their next available concerts. They will not disappoint. They have a new fan right here. It took them 5 minutes on stage to turn this sceptic into a believer.

Now, funny story time.... As Obscura ended their set, they announced that they would be downstairs near the merchandise tables to meet and greet, so I decided to go and say hello to Hannes Grossmann (drummer for Obscura/ex-Necrophagist). Hannes had not yet appeared (presumably showering etc) so I was leaning against a guard rail waiting patiently with my freshly purchased drum lesson DVD and Obscura CD to be signed. There were about 50 people milling about waiting to meet the bands and have photos taken etc...
Obscura had announced their intentions to meet fans in ENGLISH, so naturally only a handful of Japanese (and a small pack of westerners) understood them... good for us because the meet and greets are always uncrowded affairs. No lining up, no scrabbling fans and no need for much security.

I recognised the bassist and drummer from Beneath the Massacre walking past me. They stopped behind the barrier I was leaning against and I turned to speak to them.

"You guys are from Beneath the Remains right?" I said with a friendly smile.
"Massacre" they chimed in together with very polite yet slightly disapproving faces; the same faces that people make when they are complimenting a meal you have just served that in truth tastes awful.

Getting the bands name wrong filled me with a sudden deep embarassment, and I closed my eyes for a second in shame. Beneath the Remains was a Sepultura album from 1989..

I felt like a complete ass. And an old ass at that. I tried starting again.

"To be honest" I said, glancing down at my Obscura Tshirt and right hand filled with DVDs, CDs and other bits of Obscura merchandise, "I came to see Obscura", smiling. They also looked down at my shirt and handful of goods, then back up to my face again, wondering where I was going with this new sentence. The two band members shuffled a bit and looked impatient, as if they were at a loss as to how to respond to this idiot. They had come downstairs to say hello to fans and build a rock solid fanbase, not be accidentally insulted by some foreign jackass with social skills that have been severely dulled from a decade of near solitude in countryside Japan.

I continued.... "I came to see Obscura...... BUT I must say that out of the three bands that played tonight, you guys were the best. I was really impressed." They finally smiled as I suppose it dawned on them that I was actually trying to pay them a compliment, not offend them after all. I shook hands with both of them and I wished them the best of luck. They said thanks and smiled, and I wandered over to where Obscura had just appeared.

If either of you two guys read this, please accept my deepest apologies if I offended. I'm not very good at impromptu social interaction. I thought you guys were great, and I hope to hear more great things from you in the future. I also would like to apologise for getting your name wrong. I did actually know the bands name - I think it was just nerves :)

After some research, I dont think the bassist was member Dennis Bradley - I don't know who he was, but he played very well and had an excellent stage presence. I look forward to getting to know their albums and songs indepth.