Tag Archive for 'Bleeding Through'

The Black Procession Tour: Machine Head, Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Emmure

Published on March 26, 2010 in Gigs, Music and My Photography. 0 Comments Tags: Bleeding Through, Emmure, Hatebreed, Machine Head.

The Black Procession Tour: Machine Head, Bleeding Through, Hatebreed, Emmure

First of all, before we kick things off here, I gotta thank the promoters Blunt, Metal Obsession and Soundwave – for allowing the photographers to stay in the venue after our respective three song allotment for each of the four acts on tonight’s bill: Machine Head, Hatebreed, Bleeding Through and Emmure. You made our lives a helluva lot easier and we didn’t have to endure the stupidity of being escorted out of the venue after the first three songs. (As was the case for the Lamb Of God, Devil Driver, Shadow’s Fall & Hire On Fire gig back in December).

At one point, it looked like it was going to be a repeat of that as Emmure had hit the stage and all the photogs were still outside and waiting to be let in. Thankfully, we were escorted in and the shooting began in earnest.

Emmure hit the stage a little before 7pm and played in front of a mostly empty Festival Hall. They tried their guts out and put in a serviceable set. Can’t say I am a fan of that particular brand of music but I did my best to get some shots under the very, very limited light show they had at their disposal.

Security was quick to pull us out of the pit after the 3 song limit and were proceeding to escort us out. Oh no, not again. I quickly flashed my pass AND the ticket we had been given by the promoter and were subsequently allowed to stay in the venue. My fellow photogs and I got to witness the remainder of each band’s set from stage-right. Much nicer than sitting outside the venue in-between bands I-can-assure-you!

I thought Bleeding Through were a little on the disappointing side. Granted, they were without two band members and had fill-ins take their place. It all seemed rather sloppily put together but I can only imagine how hard it would be to replace your drummer and guitarist for any given gig. All in all, a pretty forgettable performance.

Hatebreed on the other hand, well, they were simply phenomenal. They received tremendous support from the crowd and put forth a blistering set. Seriously, they blew me away and if tonight was any indication, I’d clearly go and see these guys again when next on our shores.

Headliner Machine Head are quickly moving to the upper echelon of Metal acts. After a few years of some amazing albums, they are quickly becoming a slick, polished, well oiled machine. It was an absolute pleasure shooting them. There were several times where I was getting total eye contact with main man Rob who stared me down at one point as I was clicking away frantically. He finished his verse off with giving me the mighty finger, but I was getting some great, great expressions from him and was well pleased with the resultant shots. An amazing live band all round who can now mix it up with the big boys. A class act!

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Bleeding Through Live @ The Hifi Bar

Published on January 24, 2009 in Gigs, Music and My Photography. 0 Comments Tags: Bleeding Through, Hifi Bar.

Bleeding Through @ The Hifi Bar

Well, it turned out to be a pretty exciting night. I had never been to the Hifi Bar before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was lucky enough to be granted a photo-pass for the night’s show but it can be a little hard to prepare for something like that when you don’t really know the venue.

When it comes to live music photography, I’m pretty wet behind the ears. I have been practicing by going to the local Route 66 gigs and have only had a genuine photo-pass once before when I shot the Angels live a couple of months ago. Other times, I have had to sneak a camera in and get a lucky couple of shots from the balcony or something like I did for DJ Shadow, Tori Amos or PJ Harvey.

Once I was granted access into the venue the usher told me I had three songs to shoot, no flash and no climbing on the stage. No problemo. The problem tho – there was no designated photo area at all. I wasn’t really sure how I was gonna pull this off and my editor needed these shots so I had to make do.

I shot some of the opening acts to get a feel for the place. I just wasn’t getting the results I wanted and the 17-85 lens just wasn’t cutting it at all. I switched to the 50mm and now we were cooking!

Just before Bleeding Through’s set I found the opportunity to mingle to the second or third row of peeps and I was in a pretty nice position. I basically stuck with the 50mm for most of the set. The crowd was incredibly wild and I found myself dodging the obligatory stage jumper every so often.

It really was an insane gig. I had basically worked up a sweat by the second or third song and I shot the entire gig. No bouncer or usher could get anywhere near to where I was so their 3 song policy was shot to hell.

Anyway, I’m really happy with the results.

Look for a full on gig review soon…

Check ‘em out at Fasterlouder and over at my Flickr page.

Bleeding Through: Declaration

Published on August 29, 2008 in Album Of The Week, Article By Metalisteis and Music. 0 Comments Tags: Bleeding Through, Devin Townsend.

Bleeding Through - Declaration

“Tonight… We dine in hell!” Pretty apt. This ubiquitous quote from ’300′ serves well as the appropriate punctuation to the brief instrumental prelude as well as being the perfect bridge into the aural assault that’s about to be unleashed.

The title track ‘Declaration’ opens the proceedings at a blistering pace and there’s no real let up, aside a few meaty breakdowns, until we reach the magnificent ‘There Was a Flood’. One of my faves on the album, it teases with the ominous and haunting opening as though it’s going to delve into ‘Perfect Circle’ type power ballad, only to fire up and then give minimal respite with a catchy melodic vocal. Fittingly, the first single ‘Death Anxiety’ has the characteristic melodic formula reminiscent of ‘The Truth’, but at the same time it’s heavy riff is a good insight into the direction of this new work. Follow the lyric sheet, and it’s clear there’s some serious anger issues coming to the fore here.

At times, my untrained ears find it hard putting bands and their music into genres and I may well be wrong, but this ‘Bleeding Through’ release seems to be veering the band more and more into the realms of Death Metal. As much as I have loved all their previous efforts, it’s possible that at times maybe I was just tolerating the thrashier parts of the songs waiting for the more melodic vocals to kick in. On ‘Declaration’ though, this emphasis on melodies has been stripped back and while still present, what remains is a brutal album with substantially more aggression and punch.

You have to hand it to Devin Townsend, what on the surface may appear to be an unusual band-producer pairing, has ultimately resulted in an album that after just one listen, will have you thinking your epididymis couldn’t possibly be wound any tighter. Contender for one of the top releases of 2008.

Bleeding Through - Declaration