Into Eternity – Technical Prowess with no Soul
The last opening act of the night was Canadian extreme progressive death metal band Into Eternity. Although I picked up the band’s self-titled debut six years ago, I had never seen them live. Hyped up by rave reviews of the band’s live show, I started their set with high expectations…expectations that were completely unfulfilled by the end of the performance.
The problem, I’ve decided, is one of creative ability. Talent isn’t the issue – the five members of Into Eternity are all accomplished musicians with a great deal of both talent and technical skill that comes through in all of their music – but when it comes to creating music that moves beyond ability and has actual soul, Into Eternity seems to be sorely lacking. All of their songs followed a number of set formulas that didn’t seem to vary much from song to song and while they were a lot of fun to watch, they weren’t that much fun to listen to.
Destruction – Teutonic Metal Monsters
Destruction hit the stage like a nuclear assault, blinding us with strobes and blue stage lights, choking us with stage fog and, of course, melting our faces off with the power of German thrash. They were happy, despite the lateness of the hour on a Monday night, the small crowd and technical difficulties with the lighting, to play for the group of old school metalheads gathered around the stage as long as they could and even opened up the set list to requests halfway through the show. The effect of having blue-lit fog swirl in a very metal fashion around the stage was very cool and I was impressed at the strength of Destruction’s performance – perhaps it’s because they’ve been playing for so many years, but the band looked comfortable without looking jaded and sounded old school and thrashy without sounding tired or clichéd.
One thing I came away with from Destruction’s set was singer Marcel Schirmer’s ability to foster community among a group of strangers merely by invoking the names of clubs sacred to the old guard of New York’s metal scene. It was a very interesting demonstration of the value, as a band, of remembering the common roots for you and your fans and using those roots to connect with old fans and inviting new fans into the fold.
All Things Must End
Even though I was having fun, 12:45 AM on a workday is a little too late for me and I had to duck out before Destruction’s set was over, ending a decidedly mixed night of metal. On the one hand, there were a number of strong performances, some from bands I’d never seen before. On the other, the small crowd in the large space and the six and a half hours plus it took for the club to put on six bands onto the stage made for a long, uneven night. With a little more organization, some better weather conditions – and maybe keeping Into Eternity off the bill – this could have been a top-notch show.
