Saturday, August 2, 2008

Live: August 1st, 2008

Lethal Strike

Instead of wasting a night watching reruns of Junkyard Wars I decided to check out my friends in Lethal Strike and Cypher Seer and after a short ride up to The Cup in Linden, I walked in just as L.S. were beginning their set. Their self-titled track was a definite highlight as well as a blisteringly awesome cover of Seek and Destroy. Toxic Terror sounded dreary as ever as well - really looking forward to a good recording of this song. Also included was a cover of Anthrax's Metal Thrashing Mad which would have been even better if only Marcus or Salim had multicolored facial hair.

Syd Barrett

I was impressed. I was actually curious before I even saw them come on stage since I see their drummer all the time since he works at the legendary Vintage Vinyl. Definitely a conglomerate of hardcore punk and sludge and metal and all things doom, each song was expertly crafted for maximum punch. Interestingly, I found myself constantly watching the drummer, as his playing reminded me greatly of Steve Shelton (Confessor) in his continued twisting of beat and rhythm. though I found his use of only a floor tom and one rack tom unique. Heavy is a word that describes many things. Syd Barrett are massive...

Cypher Seer

Though I tend to find the use of keyboards in metal tedious, Cypher Seer's use of the instrument doesn't irk me. It is not overused and their brand of European styled power metal is still very much a guitar-bass-drums showcase. Zano (sp?) has a strong voice, and carried the tunes and vocals well though. I am reminded of the singer of Killswitch Engage in his inflection though overall I get a distinctly "metal" feel. Apparently, this was the first show Cypher Seer has played with their three new members. Only Sergio, Sergio 2, and Rod - Guitar, Keyboards, Guitar respectively - are original members. I am looking forward to their show in September at B.B. Kings with Iron Savior. As good as they were. I think that they will be even tighter and better rehearsed next time in September.

On a more personal level, it was great to see Rod since his relocation to Florida.

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