Architects of Doom

REVIEW: Zeently Productions Presents Mike Nye Benefit Show

May 26, 2013 By Mike Ritchie Leave a Comment

On Saturday April 27, Zeently Productions presented the benefit show for local musician Mike Nye. Five bands came out to support the cause and play some seriously heavy sh- with Architects of Doom, Forces of Nature, King Stench, Spike Opera and The Reefer Hut alongside a crowd of local talent, friends and fans showing up to support Nye in his recovery.

While hanging out at a fellow musician’s house Nye suffered a freak, fluke injury coming down a flight of concrete steps planting his foot. His momentum caused an awkward shift resulting in several leg injuries including 2 cracks in the tibia, 1 fibula and a top ankle crack. A halo was placed on his leg with 9 insertion points used to reset bones with wires and three metal rods attached to bones. There’s a 6-8 month healing window expected and Nye hopes to be back to full metal strength ASAP.

Nye’s been a fixture in the Dayton scene since the late 80’s starting in Killust then playing in the original version of local legends Decay, appearing on Dayton’s Metal Mania public access show then joining Foul Stench, recording 4 CD’s and 3 more with Maximus Crispus.

Architects of Doom (photo by MIke Ritchie)

Within 24 hours of hearing the news, Marc and Shannon Godsey of Forces of Nature booked and organized the event at McGuffy’s including a 2 dollar raffle for CD’s and T-shirts donated by McGuffys, Foul Stench, King Stench, Internal Bleeding, Horlet, NDEX, Engraved Darkness, Vein Collector and Incurable Misogyny. Gift cards were donated by Subway on Linden/Smithville, 4 free drum lessons by Brian Harris at Absolute Music in Fairborn and Randy Gaines offered free body piercing. There was also a silent auction for a 21” Magnavox TV, with remote and table stand donated by Zeently and a HP-PC donated by Dayton Metal Mania.

Not even 24 hours after supporting Fear Factory on the same stage, Architects of Doom played double duty starting the party at 7pm for all the early evening diehards, Amish time for almost any metal band. Tonight they’re playing for ‘stripper money’ and all bets are off when Keith goes shirtless. They’re proud to call McGuffy’s their second home playing One Less Worry and a kick ass version of Sepultura’s Slave New World.

King Stench (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Forces of Nature came to thrash with their brand of clobbering sound. They’re a band that’s cemented a strong following, and they always have lady luck on their side. They play rapturous thrash with legit end of the world cred playing the Dec 21^st show last year, playing Reverbnation chuggers Magnus Lee, Rotten Tooth and As Seen on TV among others.

Next up Dayton’s black metal blasphemer King Stench spewed its version of evil incarnate. But even the most dark and sinister forms of the genre aren’t as insidious when used for a good cause, to help out a fellow human. Nevertheless Hell’s Gate opened with a fury as 10 songs of Devastation followed from their available CD’s Ungod and Visions of Death including new tune Eternal Fire. Hell’s Gate, Ungod and Goat Lord can be heard on Reverbnation. Marc Godsey played back to back double sets like a proud sweat stained metal soldier. The music is much like what you feel during those something’s chasing you and your feet are stuck in something/not moving dreams. King’s voice sounds like the last thing you’d wanna hear walking into a dark room.

Spike Opera (photo by Mike Nye)

Springfield’s newly resurrected/regrouped Spike Opera brought a blitzkrieg cacophony of sound to the senses. They’re a little bit punk, a little thrash with the frenetic pace of Slayer and Testament with hints of Yngwie Malmstein and the chaotic structure of black metal. Vocalist Dug Brown has a little bit of John Connely and Chuck Billy in his lungs and blood along with some heavy whiplashed dreads. Their music definitely inspires Blood-N-Bruises and Bloodspray. Leatherface gets a facelift and props on The Saw Is Family with all victims going in The Hearse. Their recording/touring history dates back to the mid-eighties. After many changes and a long hiatus the planets have aligned, and they’ve returned.

It was time for Confessions Of…A Near Death Experience playing and pulverizing anyone who dared to Talk Sh-. They pulled out the good ole ballpeen Hammer just for audience testing. Recently playing the Earth Day bash, tonight seems like they’d rather pummel and pillage rather than save it.

The Reefer Hut finished the show with a nice, cool, calm and mellow collection of pleasantries… but seriously, Adam Baumann also pulls double duty Moving Forward until he falls into a coffin and gets gurney out, that’s dedication. With many member changes, good times, hard times they’ve had their share but they have great Inner Pride in their Hardcore Urban sound adding elements of Cypress Hill, tribal sounds and Sepultura/Cavalera Conspiracy.

For all those loyal late nighters who stayed till the end, Shannon Godsey’s mother, Mrs. Rebecca Naylor baked and built a huge 3 layer Foul Stench hardcore delicious sugar bomb cake special for the occasion.

Nye thanks everyone for all the positive support, responses and everything done for the benefit. “I feel lucky for the support and friendship everyone’s shown”

REVIEW: Fear Factory Brings World Industrialist Tour to Dayton

May 22, 2013 By Mike Ritchie Leave a Comment

On Friday April 26, kings of cyber metal Fear Factory returned to the McGuffy’s stage to assault the crowd with mechanized sounds and metalized mayhem. Bringing the Industrialist to Dayton for human assemblage of skin to skin symbiotic fusion, battle and praise, all models shown obsolete were cast into the drone pit center floor and decommissioned. Tour mates Hate Eternal brought their technically unique death metal onslaught along with Canadian power-metal outfit Kobra and the Lotus helmed by the intriguing Miss Kobra Paige. Local thrash pounders Chambers of Chaos and Architects of Doom opened the show.

Chambers of Chaos (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Lighters and Moshpits alumni Chambers of Chaos emerged as the sunglass wearing, middle finger flailing, attitude adjusting, smirking Shaun Clark entered the proverbial staged ring as musical fists flew. Yelling the spoken word Hype train with plenty of pissed off attitude. They end slow, dark and melodic on the Kiss of Goodbye. CoC are not to be Pushed, played around with or pissed off in any way, shape or form. Why, because they said so.

The local architecture of metal continues to forge as Dayton’s designers of doom play their first of a two night stint marking their 5-6 stage appearance. They instigate the Collapse of the Tyrant and deal with that one annoying a—hole that everyone knows. Vocalist Keith Hamilton visits the crowd calling people out making sure they’re having fun. Hamilton resembles a diabolical Nicolas Cage and might have some of Galron’s blood in the family tree so offer him a beer if he’s coming towards you. One less drama queen means One Less Worry. Tonight’s show marked the one year anniversary of Hamilton at the helm. They celebrate with Danny ‘balls and buns of steel’ Doom cranking out the Ritual Punishment finishing off with some hand delivered Bloodshed.

The great white north comes to Dayton in the form of Kobra and the Lotus and the dreadlocked coiled Canadian Miss Kobra Paige, bringing her operatic four octaves to the mic and our appreciative eardrums. Opening with the spellbinding Nightwish’esk Nayana they invite us to their funeral. Decked in war-paint, tribal feathers, leather and lace Paige’s vocals carry the spirit of Tarja Turenun, with a sharper rock edge, encompassing the attitude and bravado of Angela Gossow. We are joined together Forever One in metal as Heavens Veins open a Lotus flood of classical symphonic power provided by guitarists Jasio Kulakowski and Charlie Parra Del Riego. Into their private inner Sanctuary we go for the dark fairy tale shredder 50 Shades of Evil. For the K&L video experience check out Forever One/Welcome to My Funeral/50 Shades on Facebook.

Hate Eternal (photo by Mike Ritchie)

Hate Eternal came out bellowing death metal like a dark sonic thunder-blast starting their onslaught with the loud beating heart of Rebirth, blast beating into Haunting Abound and the evil uprising and temptations of the dark one. Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel/Ripping Corpse) wrenches his guitar twisting and mangling sound into a beautiful growling tirade of mind possessing demonic disturbia. They bring hell’s fury on stage as the blazed Phoenix Amongst the Ashes arises to the call of its thunderous skyward summons accompanied by the soaring notes carried on the wind of its wings. They are ye humble Servants of the Gods, as the Art of Redemption is played at a thousand notes and beats a minute. Ancient robed druids roam the forests asking the Powers That Be for answers to the extinction of ancient lost civilizations. After summoning the Fire of Resurrection they finish with the spell-casting, necromancing Monarch. Thunderous guitars with soul screaming notes, echoes and harmonies. It’s quite possible when they play, angels cry and God takes notice. Hate Eternal are the perfect blend for electric chair head-banging.

Fear Factory (photo by Brad Flynn)

The bio-mechanical factory doors opened with industrial smoke and steam pouring out and the sounds of robotics being gnarled into form permeated the air. Endoskeleton was forged together by assemblage bots and the soul of a new machine was created. West coast lords of industrial cyber-kinetic metal Fear Factory came on stage. The band that made its early career based on the moment Skynet became self-aware was here. Started in 1989, 8 steel shredding albums later including ‘95’s ground–breaker Demanufacture, a slightly different approach of man and machine becoming one on 2001’s Digimortal while 2004 cemented them as the Archetype for other bands of mechanic elk to follow. In later efforts they focused more on government, religion and police states. They’re currently supporting new concept record The Industrialist about a machine collecting memories and the will to exist which will eventually be mankind’s demise.

The voice of the machine pushes through the speakers warning of mankind’s ignorance and destruction. Its four mortal messengers stand before the audience of slave laborers ready to disconnect body parts on command. But be forewarned… due to the graphic nature of this show, listener discretion is advised. The Industrialist begins and the evening’s event in subhuman assembly begins. A familiar Shock to the system hits us next. The Edgecrusher breaks humanity away from the machines, What Will Become? Our ears Linchpin to the onslaught of Dino Cazares’s guitar work. They powershift into government sponsored fear… the mind is fear, a Fear Campaign. Spiked gnarling guitars riffs grind through Recharger as the Smasher/Devourer is deployed to scan and salvage for defectors turning mankind into Martyr’s. The barcode spinal cord snaps, from chains of imprisonment tossed into scrap for Demanufacture as the crowd roars for the classic crowd pleaser. They end with a song of hope about the lone wolf, the human savior, the Self Biased Resistor. Bell’s instantly recognizable vocals range from dry throat scraping, yelling, to harmonious singing. When the world does end, we can only hope they’re around to write about it.

DRI Thrash Out McGuffy’s

March 23, 2013 By Mike Ritchie 1 Comment

Friday February 22^nd six bands threw down their best punk/hardcore /thrash performance bringing back the original spirit of the early 80’s rebellious alternative scene. Spikes, studs, leather, patches, tattooed faces and 12 inch Mohawks were the lay of the land tonight as every Dirty Rotten Imbecile showed up to mosh, thrash out, surf and tumble their way to a good time. Winding Hollow Productions’ second showcase at Dayton’s house of rock proved an initiation of cardio for the more ambitiously exercise minded in the crowd and an all-night free for all for extreme music.

Dayton’s Abortive Issue opened with the pretty, prim and proper Miss Ashley who danced around onstage like she was in her own private padded luxury cell, complete with open sleeved straightjacket and it was playtime. She embodied the spirit of Wendy O Williams fondling the mic like a plasmatic doll. She’s a raging tattooed Pat Benatar screaming in tune with schizophrenic movement, devious eyes and a psycho friendly smile warming up for mosh pit gymnastics. They play with a smack speed and lots of American Pride but those are just their Minor Qualities, and they Trash Talk too, Just for Kicks.

The Hard-Onz

From the snow covered wastelands of Illinois come’s a modern day version of Bad Brains and Fear in hardcover form in the Hard-Onz. Making the treacherous 7 hour trek from the dark, dank back alleyways of Lake County to defeating mother-nature’s fury and passing several overturned semi’s on the way to be here tonight, bringing the smell with them. They earned their way to the McGuffys stage bringing out the old-school noisy but rebellious conglomeration of punk and hardcore that made the sound of the early 80’s the forerunner of the movement. They spent time falling over each other and even turned a few technical mishaps in their favor adlibbing a song or two. Playing a song with a broken string totally fits the hardcore work ethos. With Leo on vocals the band jams on songs ramming us with colorful tunes about weekend beer, bitches, pigs, unidentified white powder and tramps also hitting Rock Bottom waking up to find a meth lab in the garage and a Hard-core twist on a Minor Threat classic. They also made the pit user friendly sending their mascot, Richard Hardon the 1st to stimulate crowd participation in the vintage creepy crawl and classic circle dance moves. What they lack in prettiness and grace they make up for with drive and passion, even if they were influenced by the naked talent of GG Allen and they always towel off after finishing.

The m-m-m-m-m metal shop opened for business with Grim State combining thrash, grindcore and just flat out pounding molten metal. It’s a loud noisy state of the union address and it’s Volatile as hell. All the Deadbeats followed the imbeciles in ready to cause/spread Illness. Turbine engines kicked on in Solitude and the Madness began as people got a little Absent-minded after a few pit hits.

The Legbone’s connected to the knee bone before a slip and slide beer on the floor disconnection. They’re a nice even groove of punk rock and metal with a packed crowd and filled pit showing a more friendly side of hardcore. With the spirits flowing there’s no Pressure. They dedicated an explicative laden crappy tune to the hard work of the Hard Onz. They’ve too happy and fun loving to be pissed off punks, too heavy to be just punk and punk enough to not just be metal. They do Swallow Razors just to prove their baddass’s though. There’s plenty of time for California dreaming after the screaming over. They cover I Drink too Much by The Give Ups who they’ll be sharing an upcoming split release with. Next up, the prettiest girls in the ugliest town get some love. Troy gets a unique tribute on Drunk Favors for Beer. Judging by some of the crowd at this point What You Are is one dumb, drunk belligerent degenerate waking up Saturday morning saying I Got Pains, with a Two Day Hangover, so you’re at the right place and basically had fun. They officially break out the metal, throwing up the beer after beer after beer after beer… and the devil horns. They sing a double bandaged, double dose of skater tunes about skinned knees, scraped elbows, broken bones and cracked craniums after 6 foot ledge jumps onto soft concrete. If there’s nothing else you remembered from tonight’s intoxicating show remember this…. B stands for belligerent, E stands for every time I get drunk, E stands for everyone I’m hanging with, R stands for ruthie and the process.

Architects of Doom

The unholy Dayton Architects of Doom were ready to spread fury and filth with a trigger happy mutiny of loud angry aggression. They open pulling The Trigger on their own loud heavy breed of Iron Maiden meets Arch Enemy with ‘up tempo’ Morbid Angel gathered in the mix. Keith Hamilton’s vocals are a mix of Zakk Wylde and sonic screamers Randy Blythe and the equally bearded Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg. Danny definitely has some of Eddie’s influence in his fingers powered by Dragonforce. They start a fierce Mutiny playing the Martyr’s dishing out the Ritual Punishment Under a Black Flag of Bloodshed. Black Flag was dedicated to anyone in music or in any kind of art. The Architects earned the night’s most vicious pit… so far. They played new tune Awaken for the first time and new tune Bloodshed. Their sound is a delicious mulligan stew stricken with cool melody with munchy pieces of scrap iron riffs floating in the swirling muck.

DRI

The 30th Anniversary of those Houston crossover hardcore punk’s with enough thrash to insight a yard full of angry attack dogs DRI began as the Thrashard opened and In The Pit everyone went. A large perpetually moving group of sweaty, hot, stinky bastards and ladies annihilated the floor and each other spreading bloodless DNA everywhere. Kurt and the boys played all the hits and some crowd surfers barely missed hospital time thanks to the heroic patient efforts and skill of the front stage security team. Classic crossover records Four of a Kind, Thrashzone and Definition were well represented also borrowing from the old school pre-hybrid success and some tunes from the mid-nineties. Brecht and Co played with syringes, discussed the Modern World, As Seen on TV with those annoying Suit and Tie Guys. So get Beneath the Wheel and accept your Manifest Destiny because it’s too late to Do the Dream. Brecht still has that raspy angry spoken word delivery surrounded by the punk-thrash pollutant mixture of the man of a hundred expressions bassist Harald Oimoen, drummer Rob Rampy and original guitarist Spike Cassidy. They’ve brought out the punks, skinheads and metal heads in droves from the early 80’s to present day earning them the status of being the major ‘crossover’ band of the movement. Judging by the crowd of flailing, flying, flowing and falling bodies both standing foot strong and airborne the band can still cause a Molotov Cocktail reaction in people. We’re all family in the pit anyway. Sweat and BO is the indoor version of Acid Rain. Original drummer brother Eric came up and played a few tunes from the very early days. They’ll be touring with fellow hardcore pioneers Suicidal Tendencies in April and Slayer for a few dates in May.