Swallow the Sun and other Bands

Last night was the Swallow the Sun concert with my brother for his birthday, and I have to say, I had an awesome time. I was worried about getting there, the atmosphere, the area, getting home, money, and an assortment of things, but everything worked out perfectly. I couldn't have asked for a better night. The bands that were playing were Destroy the Opposition, Sangre, Swallow the Sun, Warbringer, and Darkane, and these five were opening for Soilwork.

Destroy the Opposition: We arrived only for the last two songs of the set for this band. Honestly, they were pretty awful. They had no stage presence and their lead singer was facing away from the audience while singing as much as he was facing the audience. The best part of their show was the end (haha, yes I know) when they brought up some random friend of theirs and he did a massive pig squeal, which was demonic and amazingly frightening, but impressive at the same time.

Sangre: Their name apparently is spanish for blood, and I was honestly pretty impressed by their show. Their guitar players could both shred pretty well, but I couldn't hear the guy on the right. However, what impressed me the most was their hybridization of thrashcore with some traditional hispanic musical elements. For example, the guitar player on the left played some traditional flamenco guitar between huge shredding solos during one song. Also, their vocalist had a good high scream range.

Swallow the Sun: Swallow was the reason I was there. This band stood out like sore thumbs in comparison to all of these thrash bands, and they were AMAZING. Their slow pace and patient doom metal style shown forth, and even the lighting was fantastic! There wasn't so much fog that you couldn't see anything, like with the later bands, but there was just enough to make the performance etherial, and the blue lighting added an awesome effect. My favorite part though: their lead singer. Unlike every other band, who ran around trying to get the crowd hyped and cussing like sailors, this dude just STOOD THERE with his hands behind his back until it was time to sing. Then he covered his face and let loose the most awesome low and high screams ever!

Warbringer: Ahhh! I was too busy laughing to listen to most of this band. Their lead singer didn't stop using his devil-scream voice the entire show, even when he was talking to the audience! And he was so full of "evil clichés" that it was hilarious. I've heard that Warbringer has been compared to Slayer, and that seems pretty accurate from the sound of their spastic, constantly blastbeating style. But come on man. "Mortal's Falling Down at the Crack of Doom?" That is the WORST song title on the planet.

Darkane: Darkane was interesting. They were powerful, loud, and had the shreddiest guitars on the planet. However, their singer sounded like he was losing his voice, and I felt bad for him, trying so hard and sounding so silly. Where we were standing for this band was a horrible choice though; we were RIGHT next to the speaker, and I think they were louder than even the main act, so my head HURT by the end. Not to mention Darkane is a serious thrashmetal band, so every song was a million bpm and uber loud with no dynamics. However, their guitar player was AMAZING. I saw probably the most phenomenal guitaring that night from that guy, and he was even a little funny, putting his guitar down for the audience to slap during a solo. Worst thing: everything sounded exactly the same.

Soilwork: Soilwork was the second best act of the night, and everyone else was opening for them, so they did a really awesome job. It helped that everyone was all pumped (and drunk, of course) for the final band, but they put on a great show. Their guitarists both could shred like no other, and what was nice was they were much less of a thrash band, and had a lot more melodic elements to their songs. You could sing along (if you knew any of the songs, which I didn't)! Their singer had a great sounding voice, both when he was screaming and when he was singing, which is really difficult, and he even sounded pretty in tune. Their drummer was pretty fantastic too, but he was so covered in fog that I couldn't even hardly see him. :)

So that was the show. I have no voice, and can hardly move my head thanks to Swallow's performance, but it was worth it! All in all, the venue was fantastic too. Apparently the restaurant upstairs has really good food too. We'll check that out next time!

No More Church.

Mel Gibson said in the last supper scene of Signs “I’m not wasting another minute of my life on prayer.” Well I’m not wasting another minute of my life on church.

There are things to be done, and I’m not doing them. There are people to be loved, and a god to be seen, and it’s not a church anymore, if it ever was. So I’m done wasting my time there.

I don’t think church has anything at all to do with god. I mean, it has something to do with god in the sense that golfing or tying your shoes has something to do with god – everything a christian person does is supposed to be based around god. But church…church is about community, it’s about learning by giving, and getting over yourself. Since when does god need church? Focusing on god at church is an excuse to avoid getting our hands dirty.

I am sick and freaking tired of not getting my hands dirty. I’m so furious that I could cry, that I have been wasting my life at church, because those are hours that were supposed to be about you that I made about me. Where is god in self centeredness? It’s such an EXCUSE to go to church on sunday and sing to god. No more singing! No more talking about the god that loves and saves and does all this awesome stuff. No more pretending that it’s god’s job to love the outcasts! No, I am SO finished with excuses. I’m tired of no action.

You know what else I’m tired of? Hypocrisy. And I’m tired of deceitfulness. Oh yeah, I’m really tired of that one. I’m tired of church trying to elicit certain emotions from me, because I’m apparently not able to reach the same conclusion as them on my own. I’m so fed up with the LIE that church is an act with other christian people. I am so tired of the western christian ideology!

I don’t want any more announcements. No more causes or offering boxes, and especially no more routine. I’m tired of a building, I’m tired of worship bands and powerpoint presentations with the words to popular songs. If I hear another clever sermon, my head might explode. I am not interested in a god who works through lectures and notes, because I know the lecture and note god, and he hasn’t done it for me.

I am afraid if I denounce chuch, that I’ll be disobeying god. He says to meet in a community and do church. What if I’m wrong, and this is the way things are supposed to be, at least relatively, and I’m just spinning my wheels? Well in that case, fuck christianity. I’m not wasting one more minute of my life on prayer to the god of lectures and regurgitated plastic religion.

I know my god isn’t one who lives in a house. He isn’t a person who will take excuses, and I’ll bet he’s as fed up with church as I am. I can picture god screaming out during worship, “STOP! Stop, look around you, stop using me as a distraction, and look at the pain and suffering that you can alleviate around you!”

It’s lent time. I gave up the internet in recreational use, and now it’s time to fill that time with something else. I don’t know how I’m gonna do it, or where its gonna be, or what it’s gonna look like, but I can assure you, it’s going to be damn different. I CANNOT GO BACK to church knowing that if I do, it will be an excuse to stay at home and hide.

I’m so, so tired of hiding from god in the church.