The Center Stage Theater, located on one of the confusingly numerous Peachtree Avenues, Streets, Boulevards, Roads (you name it) found in thick-aired Atlanta, Georgia, once again played host to the best Metal festival gathering North America has to offer: ProgPower USA VIII. In case you’ve been living an incredibly sheltered Metal life, the premise behind ProgPower USA is to assemble about 15 bands each year, predominantly from Europe, that play Power Metal, Progressive Metal, or some permutation of both of these oft-ignored-in-the-mainstream-American-music-scene subgenres of Metal. This year’s event boasted perhaps the strongest line-up ever, with Germany’s Vanden Plas headlining the Pre-Show Thursday Kick-Off Party, then Finland’s Sonata Arctica and Holland’s After Forever headlining the Friday and Saturday festivities, respectively.
Of course, it didn’t take long before Ozzy Osbourne’s profound mantra, “Good intentions pave the way to hell,” bit the organizers of the event in the proverbial arse … Shane DuBose, bass player for Krucible and lead curator of the Thursday soirée, had his worst nightmare become reality when the call came from Vanden Plas on Wednesday night stating the band had a better chance of playing Pick-up Stix with their butt cheeks than of making it to Atlanta in time for their Thursday ProgPower set. You may first venture to guess the cause was perhaps financial distress or a family emergency … nope. O.k., then how about a scheduling overlap or maybe some sort of internal band dissention … not a chance. Instead of a typical or even “cool Rock ‘n’ Roll” reason, Vanden Plas phoned in their regrets because they were denied entry into the USA by the Detroit, Michigan Customs authorities. Hmmm, yep, you can be sure these guys get mistaken for terrorists all of the time during their world travels. The Arian race … Muslim radicals … of course you can see how a typical Customs agent could get confused. Well, be that strange as it may, Vanden Plas, in an effort to save a few greenbacks by entering the USA through Detroit instead of opting for the direct route into Atlanta, were turned away and sent back to the lands from whence they came. Suddenly, there was no headliner for Thursday, and more importantly, a big ole’ scheduling gap was suddenly created on very short notice that had to be filled.
HALCYON WAY
Without the luxury of time, DuBose got on the horn and called a band named Halcyon Way, a Progressive Thrash outfit germane to the Atlanta music scene. All things considered, this was nothing short of a brilliant move. Halcyon Way were more than happy to jump at the opportunity of playing before some 1500 Metal-hungry fans, and made the most of their blind luck. With a beautiful belly-dancer rhythmically and artistically thrusting her trained abdomen this way and that to christen the set, Halcyon Way played an inspired selection of songs, mostly from their forthcoming Manifesto For Domination album. Showing true hunger and vigor on stage, within just a couple of minutes few in the audience gave 2 hoots that Halcyon Way was a last minute entry, and if anything, those in attendance who actually reside in Atlanta seemed to be familiar with this band and gave them a rousing welcome during their 30+ minute set. Delivering a solid vocal performance with periodic impressive range, a powerful but clean sound, and enough energy to power the twin screens perched on both sides of the ProgPower USA VIII stage, Halcyon Way set the tone for the rest of the festival … and Shane DuBose certainly must have breathed a huge sigh of relief when this act bid their farewells to the lathered up audience.
KRUCIBLE
With Vanden Plas missing in action, the other scheduled bands on this Thursday evening were asked to pick up some of the slack, so to speak, by extending their sets another 15 – 30 minutes. Krucible, based out of Texas, has been in the news over the past year for bringing into their Power/Progressive Metal fold St. Paul, Minnesota native Lance King, who performed at last year’s ProgPower USA VII festival as vocalist for Pyramaze in support of their highly regarded Legend Of The Bonecarver release. Unfortunately, that performance was the beginning of the end for King’s association with Pyramaze, however, many will recognize King too from his past days with bands such as Balance Of Power, Empire, and Gemini (amongst others). Overall, Krucible swung hard and connected square up when they landed King, regarded as one of the better Power/Progressive Metal vocalists out there today.
Except for King, Krucible came out dressed in basic, plain clothes, looking very un-Rock ‘n’ Roll-ish, if not makeshift. Strange, because King as vocalist for the band indeed looked like the frontman for a Metal band (the way the good Lord intended it to be!), but evidently that style is not the preferred mode for the other Krucible band members. Fair enough, and to each his own, but the chemistry amongst all of the bandmates in Krucible was immediately in question at first viewing based on the dichotomy of appearances. Of course, you can’t judge a book by its cover, because Krucible continued on where Halcyon Way left off, coming through very tight and concise with undeniable musicianship and talent at every post, and the audience was more than appreciative of their set. Krucible played the handful of songs that they have written since King has joined the band, and a pair of extremely well-received covers in Queensryche’s “Eyes Of A Stranger” and Dream Theater’s “Pull Me Under” – both presumably added to the set to fill that Vanden Plas time gap noted above. Funny, but sometimes it’s a difficult task to fully pinpoint a vocalist’s influences, but after hearing King deliver his renditions of these two Progressive Metal classics, it’s easy to decipher Geoff Tate and James LaBrie played a major role in motivating King to develop his talents in the manner he has. Neither Tate nor LaBrie have ever belted out those lyrics “better” than King did on this evening, and the rest of Krucible was there to meet the challenge as well.
The perplexing issue that became evident during their set was Krucible, in its current incarnation, has been together for upwards of a year now, yet they haven’t succeeded at completing a full-length album, and therefore weren’t able to put together a full hour set of original material. Kind of a shame, actually, because the talent is obviously there and the fans overwhelming want a release … the clock’s ticking, gents! Make it happen, or maybe the best decision should then be to just move on.
LANCE KING and his NIGHTMARE RECORDS label, beginning in December 2007, will be hosting a Sunday weekly radio show entitled The Nightmare Records Sunday Hour of Progressive Power Metal Show on Metal Express Radio. More details to follow in the upcoming months in our weekly e-newsletter (takes just a minute to sign up – see the right side of the www.MetalExpressRadio.com homepage!).
CELLADOR
By now, the goal of warming the audience up was fully accomplished, and credit should be given to the backstage crew for moving from one band to the other so efficiently (a situation that unfortunately wasn’t always replicated on Friday and Saturday). Next up was a fairly new band from Omaha, Nebraska (of all places) called Cellador, headed up by Chris Petersen, one part of the band’s twin guitar attack. If you’re not familiar with this band (just an EP and 1 full-length album on Metal Blade Records entitled Enter Deception to their credit) you will be in due time, providing they have the savvy to stick it out together. Cellador, comprised of “kids” who may or may not collectively be of legal drinking age in the USA, indeed could be the “future of Power Metal” in North America. On second thought, scratch that statement and call it instead Extreme Power Metal … thing of the blistering speed of Dragonforce meeting the vocal prowess of Metalium, and you should get the idea of what Cellador is all about.
Chris Petersen and Bill Hudson, the dual guitar attack, are outstanding musicians, and completely lit it up with their energy, speed, and skills. Style-wise, these guys aren’t clones – Hudson tends to be more along Traditional Power Metal lines with his playing, while Petersen adds a Neo-Classical tinge to his playing. Regardless, these guys were outstanding, and their solo change-offs and riffing were something to behold.
When Cellador initially took the stage dressed in “comfortable” t-shirts, tattered jeans, bandanas, etc., the first impression was that a typical talentless neo-Death Metal/NWOAHM band just strolled up. Not even close to reality, as Michael Gremio belted out Kiske/Halford-esque high notes from the get-go, and took immediate control over the crowd. With songs such as “King Of Your Illusion,” “Forever Unbound,” and “Follow Me” intermixed with a few covers (“Eagle Fly Free” from hallowed Helloween and “Eye Of The Tiger” by Survivor – not sure why, but it still rocked), Cellador did nothing but win over countless fans on this evening.
The only downside of their performance was the fact that they were plagued with one technical difficulty after another … dead mic, dead guitar, dead you name it at one point or another. Still, the band did not lose their composure and indeed managed to rip through one helluva set. In November 2007, the band heads into the studio to finish up their sophomore full-length release. By all means, keep on the watch for that one, again on Metal Blade Records!
The entire Cellador band will be hosting the Metal Express Radio GUEST DJ HOUR in the up-coming weeks! Keep checking into www.MetalExpressRadio.com for more details on when the show will actually air, and/or sign up for our weekly e-newsletter via the homepage to keep tabs on all Metal Express Radio shows!
FREAK KITCHEN
With Vanden Plas off the ticket, Freak Kitchen was thrust into the Headliner limelight on this first non-official ProgPower USA VIII night. The first difference between Freak Kitchen and the rest of the bands who had played so far is that Freak Kitchen actually has more than enough original “A” material in their archives to fill a 2+ hour set. Still, when you prepare for 75 or 90 minutes and “the man” tells you the day of the gig that you have to stretch it out to 120 minutes (or more), the pressure is suddenly on and the night becomes a tad more complex. The second major difference between Freak Kitchen and the rest of the bands is guitarist/vocalist/leader of the band Mattias “IA” Eklundh … a man who has nothing short of TOTAL control of his instrument. A few guitarists come to mind (e.g., Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen) who can squeeze out sounds not normally known to mankind from their axe, can shift to speed play to show their chops, and/or can dance on the fretboard with pure artistic grace whenever the situation calls for it … all without breaking a sweat and making the task look effort free. Eklundh is indeed in this league, and an argument could easily be made that his talents exceed those of the aforementioned contemporaries. The third major difference is Freak Kitchen was the first and only European-based band to perform on this night … yep, they’re Swedish, and Eklundh let the audience know this on countless occasions. The fourth and last major difference, and perhaps most notable, is that Eklundh and bass player Christer Ortefors are about 3 cards shy of a full house … there’s definitely something very WRONG with these guys. Intensive psychological therapy may well be in order for these Scandinavians … or perhaps it’s already too late for that.
Musically, Freak Kitchen offered a curiously variable set, as is their custom, opting to switch between Traditional Metal to Progressive Rock to periodic Grindcore – of course, at times all within the same song! Eklundh performed a plethora of 6-string tricks, including using various forms of dildos as guitar picks and introducing the world’s first (perhaps only) stringless guitar. Ortefors, a lovable clown though he may be, offered some great rhythm support, and succeeded each time he took his turn at the lead microphone. Highlights of the set included “Speak When Spoken To,” “Taste My Fist,” “Razor Flowers,” and “Silence,” and each of the band’s releases were represented.
The problem, however, with the Freak Kitchen set had nothing to do with the music, rather the bizarre comedic antics of Eklundh eventually began to diminish the overall quality of the band’s performance. Eklundh’s jovial “I don’t take myself seriously” demeanor was great and gut-busting funny through about the first hour of the Freak Kitchen set. However, the audience began to grow a bit weary of Eklundh’s jokes and recurring frolics as the set went on, wishing instead for the band to simply opt to continue cranking out the tunes. Eklundh’s clowning around basically began to take the air out of the crowd’s collective sails … the crowd was there to ROCK, and Freak Kitchen was more than capable of delivering what they desired. For half of the set, Freak Kitchen did just that … for the other half, the band fell a bit victim to their own game … perhaps part of that fall was indeed due to having to extend a 90-minute set to 2+ hours. Still, Freak Kitchen has an unbelievable amount of raw (and refined) talent … when they weren’t wearing out the comedic side of their show, their set was indeed a joy to take in.
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