In Flames / Chimaira / Soilwork
Monday, July 21, 2003
The Commodore Ballroom
Vancouver, British Columbia Canada
Review & Pics by Lord of the Wasteland
These days, the mere mention of In Flames will typically bring about 2
terms: "SELL-OUT"! "MALL-CORE"!
I, for one, do not agree. Some bands (AC/DC immediately comes to mind)
have made a successful career out of churning out essentially the same
album year after year, most see the well run dry in a hurry. After 7 years
and 6 full-length CDs, In Flames released REROUTE TO REMAIN in 2002, while
long-time fans voiced their displeasure over the band's "new
sound", comparing them to mallcore giants, Soulfly and Korn. Fans
wondered how a band who pioneered Swedish melodic death metal could
abandon their roots for a more commercial sound. My answer to the band's
critics is this: EVOLUTION! Did Metallica remake MASTER OF PUPPETS again
and again? No. They made the "mistake" of changing and saw their
fan base simultaneously crumble and blossom. The die-hards cried
"sell-out", while the masses bought the new albums up in record
numbers. Sometimes it works (Metallica's BLACK ALBUM) and sometimes it
doesn't (Celtic Frost's COLD LAKE or Van Halen 3). Did In Flames keep
cranking out clones of their 1995 masterpiece, THE JESTER RACE? No. If one
looks at 1999's COLONY and even some traces on 1997's WHORACLE, the change
was subtle yet evident. I don't see why everyone seemed so utterly shocked
when REROUTE TO REMAIN came out! It is because of this backlash that I
eagerly anticipated the band's Vancouver headlining date with Chimaira and
fellow Swedes, Soilwork, supporting.
Thanks to the good people at Nuclear Blast, I was granted a photo pass
for the show and the chance to interview In Flames and Soilwork for Metal
Rules. Despite being warned that, this being the last date of the tour,
the bands may be more apt to drinking and partying than sitting down for
an interview, I made a promise to myself that I would corner Speed from
Soilwork and either Bjorn or Jesper from In Flames for a few
thought-provoking questions.
Unfortunately, my wings were clipped early on. The tour had the bands
stop in Seattle the night before and thanks to our "service with a
smile" customs agents, they were forced to spend 6 hours trying to
get into Canada! An in-store autograph session at Scrape Records (www.scraperecords.com)
had to be forfeited by In Flames due to their late arrival in Vancouver.
Though almost an hour late for the 3:00 PM scheduled start, Soilwork made
it and about 100 or so fans waited in the scorching heat for a chance to
get their CDs, guitars and posters signed.
I was told to be at the venue around 5:00PM for an interview, so I
showed up The Commodore about 10 minutes early. After asking around for
the band's respective tour managers, I was told that Soilwork's manager
was refused entry into Canada, but Tom Kubick, the man behind In Flames,
would try to help me out. He explained how frustrated everyone was with
the hassles they had all faced at the Canada/U.S. border earlier in the
day and said the band was not even at the venue yet. He said he may be
able to get something set up for later but that it did not look good. I
took that as a subtle hint not to bother waiting around…
I
showed up back at the venue around 9:00, thinking it not a big deal if I'd
missed Chimaira. I'd been waiting to see Soilwork since I first heard them
in 2000 and in all honesty, I was looking forward more to their set than
In Flames' since I already saw them in 2001 on the Extreme Steel tour with
Pantera and Morbid Angel. Their new album, FIGURE NUMBER FIVE, is already
in my top 5 for the year's best CD. At precisely 9:15, the lights went
down and out stormed Soilwork to a house packed with rabid fans. This was
the band's first visit to our city and we were hungry for them. After some
initial technical difficulties with Speed's mike, the band tore through a
40 minute set of "Needlefeast", "Follow The Hollow",
"The Bringer", "Light The Torch", "As We
Speak" and "Rejection Role". The crowd went crazy for
Soilwork and certainly made them feel welcome upon their first visit. I'm
sure I wasn't the only one who was hoping Devin Townsend, producer of
their brilliant 2001 CD, NATURAL BORN CHAOS, would join them on stage for
a song since he was in the audience, but sadly he did not. For some reason
that I'm still unsure of, drummer Richard Evensand, was using Chimaira's
kit. Maybe it didn't have the right paperwork and was refused entry into
the country, too?! I can't wait for Soilwork to come back to Vancouver
because their set was far too short. Personally, I was hoping to hear
"Shadow Child", "Black Star Deceiver" "Razor
Lives", "Sadistic Lullaby" and "Bastard Chain".
Maybe next time they'll be headlining?!?!
After
Soilwork, I was fully expecting In Flames to come out but I began to
notice that Chimaira banners were being raised on stage. I thought to
myself, "Surely Soilwork wasn't the OPENERS?!" A few minutes
later, my suspicions rang true: Chimaira was higher on the bill!! Now I'm
not completely averse to mallcore. Let the wrath begin, but Slipknot's
first CD is one of my favorites of the last few years and Disturbed fits
nicely between Dio and Dokken in my CD stands. In other words, unlike many
others, I will not instantly dismiss mallcore as "crap" (editor's
note: you're fired! haha). I had read many good things about Chimaira
and how, along with bands like Lamb of God, were putting North American
metal back on the map. When the band hit the stage at 10:15, I let the
fact that dreadlocked/hoodied lead singer Mark Hunter immediately ordered
the crowd to "JUMP THE FUCK UP!" roll off my shoulders. I let it
go that they had a keyboardist who would rap a few harmonies. I thought to
myself, "These guys are pretty heavy!" Drummer Andols Herrick
really is a great drummer. His double bass work is phenomenal and along
with bassist Jim LaMarca (whose "cool" quotient instantly went
up for me when I saw his Gene Simmons tattoo and wristbands!!), gives
Chimaira a pretty heavy bottom end. I was unfamiliar with the band's music
before this show but they did interest me enough to pick up their 2 CDs,
2001's PASS OUT OF EXISTENCE and 2003's THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF REASON
afterwards. Check out "Pure Hatred", "Down Again" and
"Dehumanizing Process". They aren't exactly reinventing the
wheel but with the state of affairs that American metal is in, you can't
go wrong with Chimaira. Their 45 minute set won me over, but still, they
had NO business playing AFTER Soilwork!
Between Chimaira's set and the headliners, I decided to take a walk
around and see who was in the crowd. Drum legend Gene Hoglan (Dark Angel,
Testament, Death, Old Man's Child, Strapping Young Lad) has become a
staple at Vancouver metal shows, so I thought, "What the hell?!"
and chatted with him for a minute and got a picture. I'm a big guy, but
Gene has got to be 6'3" and 300 lbs., so with that physique and
enough hair to make Cousin It from The Addams Family jealous, you'd think
he'd be a pretty nasty piece of work, but he's one of the nicest guys I've
met in the music industry. Thanks to his lovely lady friend for snapping
the picture, too! I was hoping to ferret out Devin Townsend for a picture
and a few words, but I think he had disappeared backstage by this point to
rip it up with his protégés in Soilwork.
Between my interactions with the "who's-who" of Vancouver
metal, I couldn't help but notice that The Commodore's PA system was
torturing us with the abysmal sounds of the new Radiohead CD. The
Commodore Ballroom is a legendary venue that has been voted the "Best
Live Venue in Canada" for a few years running. The sound is great,
the dance floor has some weird bounce to it and there isn't a bad seat in
the house. They pride themselves on the "classy" décor but they
really need to invest in some more music. I've seen many shows there over
the years ranging from Nashville Pussy to Type O Negative and their only
"metal" CD that they seem to play is the NATIVITY IN BLACK II
tribute album!!! With all the metal shows that come there, wouldn't you
think that some more metal music should be played during band changeovers
than the same CD OVER AND OVER AGAIN?!?! And surely not Radiohead!!!!
Before In Flames hit the stage, Manning from XFM's
Xtra Loud program strode on stage to let the cat out of the bag for an
upcoming show: Dimmu Borgir/Nevermore/Children of Bodom/Hypocrisy!! The
crowd went nuts as many remembered the debacle of last March's Dimmu show,
where the promoter booked a rave club for the show (?!?!) and then failed
to get the roadies access to the venue until 4 hours before showtime!
Krisiun didn't get a chance to play, Cryptopsy played for all of 20
minutes and Dimmu-the headliners--had a half hour on stage because the
promoter promised the show would end by 10:30 so the ghouls would be out
and the ravers could begin their ecstasy-fuelled lovefest for the rest of
the night.
At
11:30, In Flames hit the stage for their first headlining show in
Vancouver. This was their second visit here after the 2001 Extreme Steel
tour and an unfortunate last minute cancellation on the Iced Earth/Jag
Panzer bill last year. The crowd seemed pretty whipped up to see them and
any detractors of the band's new sound were not present. It was obvious
though that any death-heads have long abandoned In Flames. This was a
crowd of mostly 19-25 year old meatheads in wife-beaters looking to throw
elbows in the moshpit and take any opportunity to crowd surf or stagedive.
One guy even made it on to the stage 3 different times while the security
guys were attending to other matters! I still don't understand the point
of hurting people and why being passed over the heads of other people is
fun, but maybe I'm just showing my age. Why spend $35 to push people
around to music? Anyway, before anyone asks, no, In Flames weren't wearing
white jumpsuits and I don't recall Anders Friden telling anyone at any
time to "JUMP JUMP". There weren't really any surprises in their
75 minute set. All the favorites were played including "Episode
666", "Only For The Weak", "Pinball Map",
"Behind Space", "Colony", "Jotun",
"Scorn (with a jam of Slayer's "Reign In Blood") and
"Gyroscope" as well as some new songs like "Cloud
Connected", "Trigger" and my favorite cut from REROUTE TO
REMAIN, "Drifter". Anders let loose a diatribe against the
border guards who kept them waiting but said he was happy to be in
Vancouver. His voice sounded strong throughout the set without any
problems. Jesper played some great riffs and Bjorn Gelotte hammed it up on
stage, mugging for fans. He even went so far as to take an enthusiastic
Chimaira fan's CD booklet over to the side of the stage for the band to
sign, which I thought was a nice gesture. Unfortunately, there wasn't an
encore despite chants of "IN FLAMES…IN FLAMES…IN FLAMES"
shaking the walls. There was still time left before the "last
call" lights had to go up so I'm guessing this was a band decision.
Overall this was a great show. The three band bill was one of the
better to come through Vancouver this year. I was excited to see Soilwork,
indifferent about Chimaira and unsure of In Flames but all three made a
positive impact on me. Unfortunately, my questions surrounding In Flames'
choice for covering Depeche Mode and Genesis songs, the Hammerfall
connection, and whether or not the band's follow-up to REROUTE TO REMAIN
will be heavier to silence their critics are left unanswered. If anyone at
Canada Customs reads this, please take it easy on the body cavity searches
next time, huh?!
