Dimmu Borgir /
Nevermore / Children of Bodom
December 13, 2003
Palladium -
Worcester MA
Review by Paul Norton
Photos by Carrie Ciccone
Massachusetts metalheads have seen a slew of popular European metal
bands come to this side of the Atlantic in the last few years. Finally, Children of Bodom have been attached to a US tour! American
fans have been waiting for this for so long, and tonight, they were not
disappointed. Children of Bodom came on stage and filled the room
with their blend of neo-classical blackened metal. They were
tight as I expected, and they are great showman too. The
Wildchild lived up to his name as he strutted his stuff all around the
stage in a bad ass manner. One thing I hate about the Boston area
scene is that these events are held at the atrocious Palladium. Not only is the place too big for its own good, but the sound is always
terrible and the security guards are nothing short of jackasses. And again, I was disappointed with the sound, the volume level was low
making it hard to hear the band if you weren't directly in front of the
stage. This is not the bands fault though, musically, they were
amazing, and they were a lot of fun too! Great stagemen, all of
them. Putting the crowd into a frenzy with synchronized
headbanging, Alexi's swinging guitar around body trick, and crazy
finger tapping solos. They played many of their more known songs in
this short set... "Needled 24/7", "Hate Me', Every Time I Die", and "In
The Shadows".
Seattle dark thrash masters hit the stage soon after the COB
set. They filled the room with their thundering sound. Warrel Dane, front man, is a great stageman.
He really knows how
to play well with the crowd. He was encouraging everyone to
headbang throughout the show. The band focused heavily on their
latest effort, Enemies of Reality. I used to not care much for these guys, but after seeing
them I think I will reconsider that decision. I was very impressed by the show, and the crowd was
absorbing all their thunderous energy that they were putting out.
The masters of Dark Metal entered the stage sooner than
expected. Their
elaborate background for their exploding stage show came together rather
quickly. The show started with blue strobes flashing and a
keyboard laden intro.. then BOOM! the show began. Before you knew
it, everyone has their fists in the air and their heads banging. People that talked and lounged out for the other acts soon got up and
started shouting in excitement. The show had really began. The
band played a good mix of old and new material, but obviously focused
on their latest album, Death Cult Armageddon. Everyone ones
performance was in top shape, Vortex's clean vocals were up to par, and
Shagrath's vocals were ear piercing. My favorite member of the
band is the keyboardist. I love his style, and how he plays, and as a
character he is the spookiest. And I cannot believe, what a mad man
Nick Barker is behind the skins, damn that big guy can move. And
the guitars, of course, were in tip top shape. Now the sound for
Dimmu was pretty good, and it was LOUD. I wonder if this band has
some contract where they other bands have to be lower than them in
volume.. I remember reading somewhere that there was one or two bands
in the metal scene that had this type of thing going. The show
was excellent, like their shows have been in the pas. No one was
left disappointed at the end of the night.
Offical Dimmu Borgir
www.dimmu-borgir.com