Seven. Seven pairs of camo pants. I know Matt McCarthy will be sad to hear that there were no tripp pants worn here. Didn't think I would be writing this one. After hearing the new EP by Code Orange, I just needed to hear at least one of those songs live. Quite a mixed bill with the special guest for this date being Wicca Phase Springs Eternal who I was more than curious to see, along with metal hardcore geniuses Twitching Tongues and the masters of chaos, vein. Let's dive right in.
Trail of Lies
Genre: Heavy Hardcore FFO: Suburban Scum, Lifeless, Naysayer
This band was bad.
vein
Genre: Experimental Hardcore/Mathcore/Alt. Metal FFO: Thumbscrew, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Slipknot
vein have proven time and time again since 2013 that they are the next important band in hardcore. With the constant trend of heavy, vein take it to the next level and create music you didn't know could be possible. This night in particular was the release date of the new LP: Errorzone. As you can imagine, the set was crazy. From the moment they began, every member would move sporadically and Anthony would jump straight over the security guards into the crowd. I couldn't wait to see how the song Virus://Vibrance would play out. The drum roll was sampled well, and the crowd knew every word. Anthony went over the barrier shove the mic into the crowd while they screamed the end to the song. Kids were constantly getting on stage only to fly back into the crowd. For Doomtech, a friend of the band was on stage singing the clean part, I believe he was the vocalist of the band, Zero Hour. Of course vein ended with Progenitor where a ton of kids got on stage, let me remind you this was at the paradise, and shouted "WHY DID I SURVIVE?!?!". I lost count on how many there were. If there's one band that one needs to experience live, its vein.
Twitching Tongues
Genre: Doom Metal/Hardcore/Crossover Thrash FFO: Candlemass, Merauder, Only Living Witness
Now Twitching Tongues was one of the bands I was waiting for. No matter how much hype they get, it will never eliminate the fact that their music is incredible. If I recall, this was the first time I've seen Twitching Tongues since the incredible performance at This is Hardcore 2015. Opening with the hit Eyes Adjust, the crowd was upfront, myself included, singing along to Colin's doomy words. The pit was rather small compared to vein, but if you've seen TT before, you know that a fan of TT L O V E S TT and will go to the farthest lengths to show it. This may have been the best sound I've heard the band have, but it has been a while since I've seen them so it's tough to say. The song Preacher Man, one of my personal favorites post-Sleep Therapy, had one of the best reactions of the night. I even managed to get the mic. It was almost like seeing Type O Negative with the sound quality they had. I feel obligated to say the one and only Billy Mourned got the mic multiple times throughout the set which is becoming a normal thing for shows I review it looks like. The Sound of Pain unfortunately did not have the reaction I hoped for, being the most thrashy and heavy song on the new album. Traditionally, Twitching Tongues ended with World War V, and naturally the crowd screamed every words and the pit was a complete warzone with tons of people getting clobbered.
Wicca Phase Springs Eternal
Genre: Cloud Rap FFO: nothing,nowhere. LiL Lotus, Tigers Jaw
Half the crowd cleared out for this set, but this was the one I was most curious about. I've tried to get into Wicca Phase before but its tough for me. It's one of those things where I can appreciate it for what it is more than enjoy it. Regardless after the last soundcloud rap show I went to and had tons of fun at, I wanted to see how Wicca Phase would play out. Again with my man Connor, he informed me that doing Wicca's beats was Fantasy Camp, and I'll say it, those beats went hard, and Adam definitely sounded way better and less whiny than he does on record. Some songs I did recognize, like In Providence, and you could see his emotion as he was performing, however the song Corinthiax remains my least favorite. The second song he played was called Stop Torturing Me (Thanks Connor) which was one I was not familiar with and it basically sounded like Tigers Jaw with beats. Most songs where he sampled acoustic guitar sounded like Tigers Jaw now that I think of it. At the end of each song you would hear over the speakers "Goth Boi Clique". The one thing that stuck out to me the most was the last song he played that I do not know the name of (If anyone can tell me please do). The beats had a doom metal riff sampled into it that I feel like I've heard before but not sure, if Adam wrote it, bonus points to him. The song altogether was dark, gloomy, and depressing just like a doom metal song. I turned to Connor excited yelling "Dude that song sampled a doom metal riff that was sick" and some idiot nearby heard me and said "Most of his stuff is sampled". What the fuck was this idiot trying to do by giving me this information. Wicca clearly did not have a band with him and all instrumentals were clearly playing over the speakers. As Code Orange were setting up, Connor saw Wicca Phase walk by and just said "Sup Wicca" and he responded "Yo!" and held up peace. Cool set, glad I didn't skip out, fuck that kid though, what an idiot.
Code Orange
Genre: Industrial Metalcore/Alternative Metal FFO: Disembodied, Slipknot, Bloodlet
Alright so most kids in their 20s like myself can say how we've seen Code Orange grow. Most remember two tours they did as Code Orange Kids: one with Defeater, and the other with Gaza. These were both back in 2011-2013 or something. I still remember the first headline tour with Twitching Tongues at the Middle East upstairs right when I Am King came out. From there, they worked hard enough to headline the paradise. No matter what, these guys always have and always will give their all. Opening with My World, the intro was played slower and heavier, and the crowd responded. The lightning was almost seizure inducing. Kids were flying all over the venue. The band still had the same passion and energy with their movements from the very first time I've seen them. for the most part, the set contained most songs off of Forever, with I Am King, My World, and The Hunt. Kill The Creator was the most dissonant sounding song they played, my favorite off the release and Anthony from vein did a guest feature for the end. I'm sure most people were hoping to see Corey "The Knot" Taylor for The Hunt, however Reba did his part in the song , but still did it justice. The glitchy end to the song was done in a more Full of Hell noise type of way but the samples and everything else was spot on. Throughly impressed at how they pulled it off. Jami stated that they first played a garage in Lynnfield to 5 people and they are very grateful that they manage to escalate to where they are now. The fans were primarily young hardcore kids with a select few mainstream kids sprinkled in and it showed in the way they reacted to they band. Whether they were holding up horns, fighting their friends, stage diving, you name it, it all happened. Joe and Dom would be pulling kids on stage while playing, and Eric's vocals sounded even more inhumane than ever. Code Orange ended with I Am King followed shortly after by The Hurt Goes On. Quite a performance and quite an adventure seeing how much these guys grew.
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