Forces of Nature (photo by Mike Ritchie)
Oddbody’s brought the metal October 25th, from New York, Rhode Island, West Virginia and of course Dayton with four bands of different types and styles but all screaming for metal.
One of the rock-solid pillars of the Dayton metal scene Forces of Nature owned the stage as only they can playing set staples “Mary Hates Herself”, usual opener “Magnus Lee” and the newer enchanted “Forest of Corpses”. They gave what every male and some female metal-heads love with a set of double D’s playing “Deception and Devices”.
New York’s IKillYa touring on their second release Vae Victis, naming their outfit after the boiling point where you just can’t take the stress, bullshit, stupidity and hopelessness of a situation anymore and go do something constructive about it. So it was fitting they started out loud, roaring and angry with a “Godsize” problem. The warrior spirit came out with a vengeance tearing up the stage with a DevilDriver rasp and Danzig’s yelling throat. “And Hell Followed With Him”…engraved upon these knuckles the frantic need to escape a car wreck before the flames attack, OH! The tempo changes of “Driven” were enough to trip up any mosh pit to fall into each other. “E.H.R”, screaming is just vocal therapy that must be exhaled to sooth the tortured voice of Jason Lekberg. “Jeckyl Better Hyde” was the good and the bad of dueling personalities always at war. Can’t let the darkness win. They finished with “Vae Victis” and woe ye to the vanquished and the conquered.
They Will Be Done (photo by Mike Ritchie)
Thy Will Be Done, began with the severe head beating, ear bleeding “Solemn Oath”. With the brutal tastes and stage tactics of Machine Head and Hatebreed they blasted and banged through eight throttle churning road burners. J. Costa had an eerie presence which probably had nothing to do with his odd resemblance and stage charisma to a late 60’s hippie guru. “Unto the Sanctified” spilled the blood of Rob Flynn’s fret fingers down the Nile with enough growling to appease the gods and enough gear rattling guitar work to keep the machine roaring. Taking a piece of the temple “The Apathy Divine”’s was a chug, head stomper leaving debris on the dance floor. YouTube video “Earth’s Final Embrace” was three minutes of pre-apocalypse warning. Crush the distracters, naysayers and spirit draining vampires with the strength and passion of “A Lion and A Lamb”.
The groove metallers of the underground have achieved cult status after a 2013 comeback after half a decade away, playing support to their upcoming 2015 release To Release is to Resolve early next year. Byzantine opened with The Fundamental Components of “Hatfield”, reviving the family feud, the metal way. The metal mathematicians went to work making us earn our penance the hard way by the “Stick Figure” and “Slipping on Noise”. They broke out the serpents on “Justica” and “Taking Up Serpents” and traded screeching/clean vocals on the sizzling groove thrash and bluesy melody of “Jeremiad”. Oblivion Beckons on “Nadir” then they came current on “Efficacy” and style defying “Signal Path”, finishing with the black tar grin of the “Soul Eraser”. A throwing wall of death of personal conflict and self-made chaos get thee behind me Satan.
Forces of Nature will be with us again on Saturday the 8th at Oddbody’s with Engine of Chaos and Columbus’s Lick the Blade for the University of Dayton Metal and Cultural Impact Conference Aftershow featuring legendary guitarist, Testament’s Alex Skolnick. All door profits are being donated to the Ronnie James Dio Stand Up and Shout Cancer Fund and Dayton’s Project Read! Come out and support the bands, the charities, and have a banging good time.
