Southern Lord Recordings‘ package US tour featuring Black Breath, Martyrdöd, Burning Love, Enabler and special guests The Secret, ripped through The Barbary in Philly’s Northern Liberties neighborhood last week for what proved to be one of the best shows of the summer.
First up in this bulletproof cast of performances was Milwaukee’s Enabler, who is having quite a week. Blow The Scene had the exclusive privilege of debuting the band’s forthcoming LP, All Hail The Void, last Tuesday, before the official drop on Southern Lord Recordings tomorrow (July 17). Do your ears a favor and scope that premiere, as Enabler are already definite contenders for album of the year with this beast of an LP. This veteran line-up features founder and guitarist/vocalist Jeff Lohrber (Harlots, Eyes Upon Separation, Trap Them, Today is the Day, Shai Hulud), and is rounded out by guitarist Greg Thomas (Misery Signals, Shai Hulud, The Risk Taken), bassist Amanda Daniels and drummer Andy Hurley (Racetraitor, Kill the Slavemaster, Fallout Boy, The Damned Things, Earth Crisis). Scores ahead of what you would normally expect from an opening band, Enabler set the bar high during an already 100+ temperature day.
Burning Love picked up right where Enabler left off, with a smoking set that featured a barrage of tracks from the band’s latest LP on Southern Lord Recordings, entitled Rotten Thing To Say, which hit streets in June. We recently caught up with singer and founder Chris Colohan for an in-depth exclusive interview with insight into the new record and much more. Burning Love made a mess of the place with Colohan touring as much of the Barbary property as the mic chord would allow.
Italy’s The Secret was up next and while they may not be fluent in English, they are more than fluent in the art of shredding. If I had to pick one word to describe this band it would be, “unrelenting.” With a punishing delivery and noticeable absence of melody, the band pummels from opening shots to closing bells with a compelling blend of punk-infused metal without the frills.
They don’t call Martyrdöd ‘legendary’ for nothing. The band swaggered onto the stage next and let a frenzy rip like few bands are ever capable of. If you missed this band, you missed one of the best performances of the summer season. I would expect many will be having blood in their stool after this onslaught of crushing tracks. These Swedish d-beat mainstays already shook up the underground with one of the best releases of 2012, which happens to be the band’s latest full-length, Paranoia. As we said in our in-depth review of the album, “this is an instant Swedish d-beat classic and is must have for any fans of the genre. ” Really, we can’t say enough good things about this band.
Last and certainly not least, Seattle’s Black Breath was the final and most ferocious band to play with a nonstop battery of beards, riffs, and brutality. The band is also supporting a new full-length, Sentenced to Life, which hit streets in March via the Lord. Sentenced to Life is ten tracks of blistering and unforgiving intensity. The guitars run a wide gambit of executions and styles, one moment blasting forward with a speedy black metal riff only to open up in to some meaty, low-end-induced Swedish death metal, all while taking full advantage of producer Kurt Ballou‘s ability to capture a gargantuan guitar sound with vicious low-end distortion.
And if you missed it, we recently caught up with Black Breath guitarist Eric Wallace, who was kind enough to give us the skinny on the writing processes behind the new record, recording at God City with Kurt Ballou (Converge), interesting equipment picks, tour plans, lyrical motifs, life in Seattle, and blasphemous graveyard rituals during tour in a recent interview.
We know you are here for the photos, so without further ado..
All pictures by Blow The Scene Senior Staff Photographer, Dante Torreiri, of Useless Rebel Imaging.
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