What makes for a great death-metal band? The
vocals — guttural roars and growls — are savage. The
lyrics are painfully dark. The tempo is abrupt, the guitar-play
fast and complex. And the guy on the drums is a human battering
ram.
Springfield gets a rare opportunity to sample
some of the region’s best death-metal bands at Viele’s
Planet this Saturday. The Slam Fest lineup includes these metal
masters, among others:
What Thou
Will — The best death-metal
band to ever come out of Springfield. (OK, they’re the only
death-metal band to come out of Springfield.) Listen for killer
cover versions of such metal giants as Slayer and Death.
Divulsion — This St. Louis band performs a
10-minute epic called “Rise of the Unholy Messiah”
that’s become a crowd favorite this year.
Cast the
Stone — If you like guitar
shredding, you will love this band, also from St. Louis.
World
Divine — This Decatur band
wears corpse paint and uses keyboards to create an eerie yet
melodic, atmospheric black-metal sound that will appeal to fans of
Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir.
Chainsaw
Homicide — The name fits:
This group plays brutal death metal in the vein of Cannibal Corpse
and Deicide. Listen for classic death-metal themes such as serial
killers and gory love songs.
Chaos
Order — The band has been
described as a cross between Pantera and Meshuggah mixed with Fear
Factory.
Keep in mind, the bands may sing about
murder, mutilation, and decapitation, but just as in the movies,
everyone goes home safe and sound and wearing a smile. You’ll
be pleasantly surprised by how good these bands really are.
Slam Fest starts around 7:30 p.m. Saturday,
July 16, at Viele’s Planet, 126 E. Jefferson St.,
217-544-0598; www.geocities.com/slamfestival/.
This article appears in Jul 14-20, 2005.
