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Holy Grail, Exmortus & Spellcaster Concert Review, Austin, TX, August 3, 2016

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The Fellowship of the Strings Tour rolled in to Grizzly Hall yesterday featuring bands full of really good guitar players.  Having seen all 3 bands before, there were no real surprises here.

Spellcaster hit the stage promptly at 815PM.  Yes, you read that right.  An early show on a weeknight.  What a novel concept!  There was no local opener and set times didn’t get announced until about an hour before the show.  Had this show been downtown, it likely would have been a 10PM start time.  For us day job folks, these early shows are great.  Spellcaster’s slot was only 30 minutes and they blew through their set with ease.  The crowd was at about 60 people by my rough count during their set.  They sounded great.  I can’t recommend their latest album, Night Hides the World, enough.

Immediately after the set I hustled next door to grab a couple of al pastor tacos from Taco More.  Delicious I tell ya!  There was only 15 minutes between sets as all 3 bands were sharing the backline.  Exmortus was already on by the time I got back and I enjoyed their set a little more than I did last time.  The growing crowd was really into it and I think they may have had about 80 people.

Holy Grail rolls through Austin on the regular and the crowd had thinned out a little, but was still very much into the show.  To be honest, this may have been the best of the 4 shows I have seen by them.  James Luna’s voice was pretty much flawless.  They finished around 1115ish and all three bands just hung around and drank with the remainder of the crowd.

I bought a Spellcaster shirt, said a few goodbyes to them and some other friends and went home.  It was a fun early night.

 

Warbringer, Enforcer, Exmortus & Cauldron Concert Review, Austin, TX, February 11, 2016

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Quick and easy review today.

Having only been mildly familiar with all of these bands and being on the guestlist (thanks Metal Assault!), I took the decision to see this show that started at 645PM and would be done by 1030PM.  Silly sound ordinances in downtown Austin have made it like this.  Live Music Capital of the World?  pfft.

Cauldron goes on and they left me flat like they do on the one album I’ve heard.  They just don’t have the “umph” needed to keep me interested.  Production on the album I heard was really thin and they sounded thin live, and not because of the PA.  I think the singer, who has a decent voice, just doesn’t project it at all.  Not to mention the band was sloppy in general.  Decent riffs that go nowhere.  I really think the addition of a second guitarist would help.  And maybe a metronome or some extra rehearsals every now and then.  A touring band typically gets pretty tight.  They’re a band that I really want to like but just can’t.

Exmortus was up next and I didn’t care too much for what I had listened to online, but they won me over live, mainly based on the guitar work.  Both guys are shredders and I was totally hooked in.  I look forward to seeing them again.  There were a lot of Exmortus fans in the crowd singing every song, which was cool.

Enforcer (SWE) came next and had the biggest crowd of the night.  A good amount of the crowd was certainly familiar with their material.  Their singer/guitarist is a good frontman and the band was solid overall.  You’re not getting anything original here but they were at least fun.  My favorite part was his little Texas metal speech.  Something to the effect of, “We were influenced by a lot of great Texas metal, and not that Pantera bullshit.  I’m talking Militia, Wyzard and Watchtower!”

Warbringer closed out the night with their mix of thrash and death metal.  They share a guitarist with Exmortus, so some of the solos were killer.  While I wasn’t into the spurts of the blast beats, their drummer was certainly skilled.  They put on a solid set for sure.

Written by The Metal Files

February 12, 2016 at 10:57 am