Amon Amarth / Himsa / Sonic Syndicate
By Taylor Green
Monday. Jan 14, 3:59 PM
live at Slim's (San Francisco, CA) Dec. 18th, 2007.

With The Pound dead and buried, Slim's has now become the new mecca of metal in San Francisco. And of all the bands I've seen pass through, from Nonpoint to Arch Enemy to Children Of Bodom to Finntroll to Chimaira, not once have I attended a sold out show. This night marked the exception. Amon Amarth and Himsa hardly seem like the two biggest bands on the planet, but were you at Slim's on December 18th, you would have been fooled. The will call line stretched nearly a full city block. Scattered by its side were dozens of kids dressed all in black, offering upwards of $50 for an extra ticket to a show that retailed at $20. Once I finally reached the doors, the inside appeared as packed as ever, literally spilling out to areas people normally shouldn't be standing. But as the night passed, my questions for why such a large mob would fill out the cozy confines of Slim's would clearly be answered.

The show opened with Swedish six-piece Sonic Syndicate, and they certainly put on a show. Though the band hail from Falkenberg, their sound is decidedly Gothenburg. However, inside that melodic death metal foundation is the popish sprinklings that could only come from listening to the latest Atreyu album. The mix provided something I'm not too keen on, sounding almost like Still Remains’ latest but with more bite. But musical griping aside, Sonic Syndicate put one hell of a performance for an opening band, and anyone interested in the lighter side of metal should definitely check this up and coming band out. Based on the energy and quality of their live show, they may very well be the next big band to come out of Sweden.

The middle band of the night was metalcore behemoth Himsa, bridging the gap between the poppy metalcore opener and the raw and untamed fires of Amon Amarth. Himsa came out to an instant roar, and once the first chords of the guitars blasted, frontman John Pettibone lost his freaking mind per usual. Pettibone's antics ranged from jumping into the mosh pit to crowd surfing to grabbing the heads of those who didn't headbanging and forcing them to. Their set list surprisingly didn't focus on the new album, rather splitting about halfway between it and Hail Horror while tossing in a Courting Tragedy and Disaster track here and there. The highlight of the set had to be "Wither," a song Pettibone dedicated to local metal heroes Neurosis. And during the closer, Pettibone grabbed an unsuspecting member of the crowd to come onstage and party. Pettibone continues to be the light that guides the band's live presence, which is arguably the best in the entire metal world. For those who haven't seen this band in some capacity live owe it to themselves to catch them just once. Even my hangups of their recent studio material couldn't prevent me from going all out for their near 40-minute set.

After Himsa came a massive set break, but the good folks at Slim's kept the crowd occupied by showing Japanese horror classic Battle Royale on a projector screen. The crowd reacted to some of the more gruesome murders with as much enthusiasm as when Amon Amarth finally reached the stage. While the venue was packed, it became blatantly obvious how packed it truly was when the vikings came forth. The band plowed through their material with as much fury as the album, focusing mainly on With Oden on Our Side. However, it took a track off Versus the World to get the fans truly fired up. "Death in Fire" came early in the set and stoked the crowd the way only a trademark single could. From there, the band marauded their way through the majority of their old classics and new favorites. For the venue, Amon Amarth's set produced one of the hungriest, most blood-thirsty metal crowds I've ever been a part of. While coming into the show, I had no idea why Amon Amarth warranted such a huge turnout, but their performance definitely answered the question.

Beyond all of this, missing from the night's lineup was Polish death metal act Decapitated. For those unaware, the band suffered a tragic bus accident in Europe during their last tour that injured several band members and claimed the life of drummer Vitek Kieltyka. All the bands dedicated parts of their sets to his memory. Though he is gone, his memory will live through his music. Rest in Peace, Vitek.
www.amonamarth.com
www.himsa.org
www.sonicsyndicate.com

Taylor Green

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