Carnifex / Rings of Saturn / Lorna Shore / She Must Burn / Signs of Swarm
Club Diesel
March 8, 2017
It has been quite some time since my last metal show. To be honest, Mayhem Fest of like 08 or 09 might have been my last encounter. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just not an everyday type of listen for me anymore, simple as that. But after pretty much only covering hip hop, punk, and electronic shows for the past nine months with Sound Scene, I jumped on the opportunity to cover this show when Lorna Shore reached out. So that Thursday night, I made my way down to Diesel on the South side, which I also haven’t been to in quite some time (Hawthorne Heights / Just Surrender / Punchline ’09) for some long overdue moshing and head banging.
I could hear the growls of the first band as I walked down the hallway into Diesel, passing a security guard who was already dragging some troublemaker out by his collar. The band already performing was local metal act, Signs of Swarm, who were playing to a full and energetic crowd. I hung out towards the back and listened for a while before making my way to the front to get a few photos before their set was over. The doors had only been open for about 20 minutes before I had walked in so I was pretty impressed to see how big of a crowd this local act was playing to. They definitely have a solid fan base here in the burgh, and rightfully so because these dudes killed it.
Next on stage was She Must Burn, a deathmetal band straight from London. They didn’t waste anytime, jumping right into their set which was good because the lead mic cut out after the first song. The lead singer was getting pretty pissed after fighting with the mic for another song. When he asked if they were doing anything to fix it, the sound guy came on over the speakers to say that they had sent someone out to buy a new mic cable, to which the singer responded, “fuck it, whats the next song?”. Luckily he only had to scream over the music for two more songs before the issue was resolved, but to be honest they still sounded pretty good without the mic, which I think says a lot. They ended their set with a song they had just released a few days prior, but not before making sure to let everyone know that even though they had been piss drunk the night before, they planned on doing it again so they encouraged everyone to come drink some whiskey with them at the merch table…which they did.
Following She Must Burn was Lorna Shore, a metal band from New Jersey. But before I get into that, I have to mention the sound guys who kept playing super soft music between bands which was cracking me up. She Must Burn’s guitar feedback hadn’t even stopped yet before the sound guys threw on IZ’s Over The Rainbow song. Its just funny hearing that or Seal’s Kissed By a Rose as you look around and see nothing but metal heads. So to the sound guys or DJ or whoever kept playing hella soft music between sets, thank you. That being said, Lorna Shore seemed to get the crowds blood pumping because they didn’t stop moshing until the band left the stage. Within the first couple minutes of their set, I saw one dude getting taken out of the pit by security as a bunch of blood ran down his face from a nice cut above his eye. He wore it with honor though, laughing and waving to his fellow comrades as security made a way for him to get out. By the time I turned back around to take some pictures of the show there was already another security guard jumping into the pit to give a dazed mosher a quick concussion test, with the old pen light in the eyes trick. All I could see was the fan saying, “Im fine” a few times as the security guard leaned in closer and closer, before realizing that the kid was fine and letting him go back to playing with his friends.
Rings of Saturn (RoS) took the stage next, and kept the crowd moving. Although, while Lorna Shore has some intense moshing, RoS took the award for most people crowd surfing. I started in the front row taking photos right as they started their set, and it seemed like within the first 30 seconds of their first song I was already getting kicked in the back of the head by a crowd surfer. But you cant go to a show like that and not expect to get smacked via someone in the mosh pit, or a crowd surfer, or even a musician. Especially if you’re hanging out in the front row. So after fighting my way out of the front row I found some breathing room to take some more photos and enjoy the rest of the show. The lead singer, who I found out is from somewhere in PA, brought out his little brother towards the end of their set so he could help sing a song. It was pretty cool seeing how much this little dude looked up to his big brother. He was pumped to be on stage next to his brother, and you could tell because he was trying to fight off an excited smile so he could keep a mean look on his face like everyone else in the band.
The last band to take the stage for the night was Carnifex. Although I have never listened to them, I definitely remember seeing their names on line ups for stuff like mayhem and other shows like that. Again I started off in the front row as the band came out, and I’m glad I did because it seemed like the lights and smoke and all that had been cranked up for their performance, making for some good photo opportunities. Once I had my fill of the front row I muscled to the back of the crowd to see that the little bit of room in the back had now filled up. So I made my way upstairs to try to find a railing spot to watch from, but Carnifex had filled the entire place up front to back, top to bottom. And rightfully so because they put on a hell of a show, the sound was amazing and the lights/smoke only made it better.
Band Info For Your Health:
Signs of Swarm – signsoftheswarm.bandcamp.com
She Must Burn – facebook.com/shemustburn
Lorna Shore – http://lornashore.bandcamp.com
Rings of Saturn – facebook.com/RingsofSaturnband
Carnifex – facebook.com/CarnifexMetal
Lorna Shore
Carnifex
Rings of Saturn
She Must Burn
Signs of Swarm
