Brian Linville -
October 8, 2004The Boardwalk -- This marked only the second Powerslave Presents show in the Sacramento area since the relaunch. With a mix of veteran bands like Inruin, Thend, and Brand X Savior, and the newer but increasingly popular band
Drop Seven, the Boardwalk filled up close to official capacity. The crew over at The Pus Cavern(Sacramento based recording studio who's recorded such bands as
Oleander, Deftones, and Cake, to name a few), came out to do a live recording for headliner Inruin.
Drop Seven |
But first off, Drop Seven hit the stage, playing way too well for a new band and bringing a good sized crowd of supporters with them. Using a lot of interesting, and at times, off time snare hits and anything but typical rock/metal beats, drummer Jerry
Ward managed to use a good mix of rhythms that are hard to listen to without nodding along. Though keyboards are usually only in metal under the black or death metal variety, keyboardist Brandon Guadagnolo
did a good job of adding to the heaviness and grandness of the band's catchy choruses as well switching to higher frequencies to add some screechy grit here and there. Guitarists Randy Sinda and Ryan Leavitt along with singer Angel Flores carry the band through memorable hooks and vocal lines. And for the first performance with the band after joining just two days before the show, ex Council bassist Scoobie
Creamer rounded out the long vacant bassist position, locking in tight with the rhythm section despite having such a little amount of time to learn the material.
The lights dimmed as Brand X Savior took the stage. Singer Jason Fralish armed with a wireless mic stood in the crowd and started singing softly a cappella.
It took the crowd several moments to spot him, but by then, the band came in and the show was on. Playing like they owned the stage, the band tore through their
set, playing their normal closing song "Real Thing," tucked in the middle set, leaving a surprise for the end. The surprise, a cover that the band hadn't
played for quite some time, Michael Jackson's classic, "Billie Jean," got the biggest crowd response of the set.
Thend |
Thend, one of the only bands that can make high energy metal sound so brutal, took the stage third. Other than the artificial line of the stage, the band does an excellent job of blurring the division between performers and fans creating a vibe of fist shaking, body slamming euphoria. The amazing pace of one song hitting harder than the next, invigorated the audience, inspiring many of their fans to mosh harder,
jump higher and scream along lyrics louder.
Thend took most of their fans with them after departing from the stage, leaving Inruin to play to about 70 people, but those that stuck around stayed for the entire set. Inruin might just be the current longest running metal band in the Sacramento area. Being over a decade old, most show goers have seen the band numerous times over the years. But if you haven't seen them lately since ex-Fire Pie drummer,
Cack Quesada has joined the band, you should really check the difference a highly talented drummer can make on a band.
Lead singer Zoey Walton sets the band apart with his high degree of vocal techniques, accentuated even more with his vocal processor unit. Walton really makes
songs like, "Goat Farmer," come alive with his high pitched climb lead into low pitch vocal punches. The band slipped in a new song, "Burnt by the Light of Day," that went over pretty well with the late night
crowd. The song, "Anti Social," closed out the set and ended a long night of energized metal. See More Photos
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