The heaviest week of the year continues on with the 10000lbs of riffs brought from Sumac. Small venues really bring out the loudest in bands and easily did each band justice this night as the middle east did the previous. Joining Sumac was the talented Dälek and the evil Infernal Coil, both I've seen before but this time tops the previous experiences.
Infernal Coil
Genre: Blackened Death Metal FFO: Undergang, Ascended Dead, Contaminated
Infernal Coil I've previously encountered at O'Brien's where they opened for Celeste and if we're being honest, O'brien's isn't the best sounding venue in the world and Infernal Coil weren't as good as I hoped. When they began at Great Scott, the sounded like the same noisey distortion all balled up and thrown in your ears but slowly but surely, I noticed the sound got better and better. As raw as the bands music, this was as good as it would get, you could hear the riffs more clearly as well as the vocals but the drums were just slightly faint. Personally I would say it was 10x better than they did at O'Brien's. What brings their performance to life is their appearances. they all wore war paint that ust made them look like savage warriors that just skinned a human alive in the jungle. Overall, wayyy better set than I hoped from Infernal Coil, raw death metal is the way to go.
Dälek
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap/Industrial/Shoegazing FFO: Death Grips, Earl Sweatshirt, Cannibal Ox
Previously I saw Dälek open for Cult of Luna at the Palladium last year and just like before, they were a very anticipated act for me. I would say I'm surprised they were on the bill, but playing with CoL and seeing throwback lineup featuring ISIS (the band) and Dälek in 2006, can't say its much of a shocker. Oddly enough, they've been around longer than the other bands on this bill. Unlike last time, Dälek played as a two piece with the rapper having a soundboard as well as another guy playing the beats. The rapper had double the energy here still doing his unamplified screams occasionally but more movement and even got some crowd participation. I can say I had the same type of feeling with the eerie music in the background that just makes you feel the atmosphere around you is a dark misty forest. I do recall them playing one song I was unfamiliar with, probably a new one, and one of the lyrics was "black lives matter". I'm sure you could imagine the cheer and praise in the middle of the song when the crowd heard this. I know its a common thing know where rappers and metal bands play the same bill mostly for the ignorance and energy that comes out of it, from what I've seen. Just know Dälek has been doing this for years and these aren't moshy bands as heavy as they may be. This was more a showcase of ambiance and Dälek fit the bill well enough to get the crowd ready for some post-metal.
Sumac
Genre: Progressive Sludge/Post-Metal FFO: ISIS (the Band), Neurosis, Amenra
So unfortunately due to my job, I only saw 20 minutes of the set, so basically a song and a half. In the battle for the heaviest, I'd say Sumac was heavier than Monolord. I felt like a boulder just dropped from the ceiling when they began with the new song and then into Rigid Man. Every riff just pounded your entire body until you were the music, and Aaron's vocals, demonic. I've witnessed him play with Old Man Gloom and feature in a Zozobra song but this was something else (the Zozobra feature was sick though). The proggy parts just make you feel like you're climbing a mountain, and just when you notice you're inches away from the top, that heavy riff slams its way back causing an avalanche. Wish I could've seen this entire set. If there's one band worth the hype of whats heavy, it's Sumac. Aaron Turner will never do wrong.
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