Obituary
with Immolation, Blood Incantation, and Ingrown
I went to this two nights ago. I had never seen Obituary or Immolation live so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them both together. I had never heard of the other two bands prior to buying my ticket. Ingrown were first and played a solid, albeit short, set of high-energy metallic hardcore. Blood Incantation were second. Their style is rooted a somewhat psychedelic influenced death metal, and their most recent album isn't metal at all but rather Tangerine Dream-esque atmospheric synth music. At this show, they stuck to the death metal and they were excellent. Then Immolation took the stage and reminded me of why I like them so much. Their performance was tight, complex, and extremely intense. Apparently the drummer, Steve Shalaty, had just recovered from elbow surgery, but you would never know it from his flawless, intricate playing. Extra high marks go to lead guitarist Robert Vigna, who is among the most impressive guitarists I've ever seen live. Not only was his playing perfect, but for someone who didn't say a word, he had an incredible amount of stage presence. Finally, Obituary came on and they were great. Them and Death were my introduction to death metal back around 1989/1990, so it fun to actually see them in person after all these years. My only criticism is that Immolation is a very tough act to follow and I wish the bands had played in the opposite order, but regardless, Obituary were high energy and highly entertaining.
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