Photo courtesy of l36. Originally uploaded by MXV.
Last night I went to see a band that I have shared that stage with a few times 10 years ago, The Locust. Now, I didn't have any expectation other than from what people said recently to be "blown away", so I anxiously awaited them to come on stage.
They began their set unfortunately by coming on stage and getting their equipment ready "in costume" which quickly diffused the alien-like vibe they were trying to create with their costumes and backdrop. It was a minor detail but one that shouldn't have been overlooked considering such veterans of concept-core were about to hit the stage.
The music was shreddy-grindcore which made "the kids" happy, but after 10 years of it I just didn't get it. The best moments were the keyboard intros on a wonderful modular analog synth that lasted about 30 seconds before the music fell into the typical grindcore and shredding/screamy fare. Now if there was more dynamic perhaps these moments of metal-bliss would have been all the more powerful, but it just seemed like it was a one trick pony.
Feeling frustrated, I left partly through the set to relax downstairs. The rest of the night my frustration lingered, focusing on seeing talented artists after so long not willing to put their creative selves and career on the line by making something totally outside of their box and sphere of what is expected. I can't believe it's not in them but some other life or logic force must make them stick within the confines of "extreme music" and thus rather boring technical grindcore.
The amazing artwork of the otherworldly organic city in their backdrop (and album art) plus their costumes really created a world and mood that could have been expanded upon sonically. It shared a stylistic feel between the animated films La Planete Sauvage and Nausica, Valley Of The Wind. I imagine the same visual configuration, but with the music of DC's Antelope meets bursts of grindcore and moments of rhythmic experimentation. Something that would make the watcher feel that "yes, this is 2007 and I'm watching music from an alien civilization... Amazing". But alas, I was left with only dreaming of an ideal that was not.
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