I have always felt like I've kind of missed the boat when it comes to Iced Earth. They were always one of those bands that I thought I would get around to listening sooner or later, but unfortunately never did. So when I saw that they were back in San Francisco, this time with Saviours, who are one of my favorite bands, and that long-time vocalist Matt Barlow had returned to the band, I figured it was about time to check them out.
Opening the show was Canada's Into Eternity, who are on the road supporting their latest effort, The Incurable Tragedy. As they combined elements of progressive, death and thrash metal while blasting through their 30-minute set, I was pretty impressed with the band. Although I was disappointed the founding member and lead guitarist Tim Roth was not touring with Into Eternity during their string of dates with Iced Earth, fill-in guitarist Sean Maier was a pretty remarkable replacement, and together with fellow shredder Justin Bender the two of them delivered the guitar goods. I was also pretty impressed with vocalist Stu Block who went from air-raid-siren highs to death metal lows seemingly at will while the rhythm section of bassist Troy Bleich and drummer Steve Bolognese kept it heavy. Usually this type of melodic metal really isn't my cup of tea, but I must admit that I really dug their short set.
After a quick break the band that I had came to see hit the stage and proceeded to do nothing short of kick my ass. Like fellow Oakland-ers High on Fire, Saviours can pretty much do no wrong as far as I'm concerned. With the chugging like a runaway locomotive guitars of Austin Barber and new guitarist Sonny Reinhardt, combined with the bombastic rhythm section of bassist Cyrus Comiskey and drummer Scott Batiste the band ripped through most of their latest album, Into Abaddon, with stand-outs including “Raging Embers,” “Narcotic Sea,” “Firewake Angel,” and my personal favorite, “Cavern of Mind.” As heavy as these tracks are on the record, they totally melt your face off live. Every time I watch this band live I am continually blown away by how they have taken their NWOBHM influences and have totally created their own unique sound, which is increasingly rare in today's metal world. With all that being said however, I do have to say that like the last time I saw Saviours as a support act, I couldn't help but notice that some of the crowd didn't quite know what to make of the epic metal that was being crammed down their throats, and seemed a bit bored. Maybe because Saviours just do their thing, and don't try to cash in on the metal flavor of the month. Being a lot older and a bit wiser however, I totally loved every minute of the band’s set, and am looking forward to a new album and many more shows from them.
Although I was now feeling compelled to call it an early night, I decided to stick around for the headliners Iced Earth, and was pretty stoked that I did. As the lights dimmed while the intro of "In Sacred Flames" brought the band onto the stage, it was obvious that this was the band the kids had come to see. Supporting their just-released The Crucible of Man album, Iced Earth showed the crowd just why they are still considered one of the prolific power metal bands around today. Guitarist and founding member Jon Schaffer and his partner Troy Seele absolutely shredded on their guitars, while recently returned singer Matt Barlow went from growl to falsetto at any given time. And with Brent Smedley on drums and Freddie Vidales on bass the band was incredibly tight, and some of the highlights of their set for me were "Vengeance Is Mine," "Pure Evil," "Stormrider" and "I Walk Alone."
As I walked out of the Regency Center after the show, I thought to myself that what started out as a quick trip across the city to catch a brief set by one of my favorite bands ended up being a pretty stellar night of metal. Funny how things work out.
Artists:
www.myspace.com/saviours666
www.icedearth.com
www.intoeternity.net
Downloads:
Saviours – “Cavern of Mind” – [mp3]
Saviours – “Circle of Servants Bodies” – [mp3]
Into Eternity – “Timeless Winter” – [mp3]
Into Eternity – “Severe Emotional Distress” – [mp3]
Related Articles:
Saviours –“Making of Into Abaddon” Video Feature – [Lunarcast]
