Public Display Of Aggression

OUT OF MY ELEMENT AND INTO YOURS
BBK/PDA DUAL CD RELEASE
BY AMANDHA GILSON

It's been a long time since I've had the opportunity to attend a metal show. I had an idea of what I was getting into from my past experiences as a high school metal-head, however, as time passes, so do the ideals of people. I was very intrigued by the names of the headliners, Public Display of Aggression and Bound By Karma, but didn't really know what they were about until I experienced their dual CD release show on Aug. 5th at the Gothic Theatre. It was here that my ears, body and mind were exposed to something that I did not expect. It all started when we arrived at the show around five. Here I saw people in true metal attire already waiting in line to get inside. Many were adorned in band t-shirts, while others dressed in outfits that seemed to express their inner angst. However, this inner angst that was literally worn on many of their sleeves, was not the mood for the night, as I would soon learn.

The first band to perform for the night was Nutricula. They started out the evening with an immediate dive into what I expected a metal show to sound like. Their vocalist posed thoughts and ideas into my mind with a voice that he seemed to pull from the deepest darkness I could imagine. This voice, paired with well-articulated guitar solos, allowed the audience to get into the moshing mindset.

Sanity's Edge performed next and was composed of six members that had a very strong unity amongst themselves and their fans. With two lead vocalists, a much broader spectrum of communication was created. A deep growling voice from one vocalist was accented and clarified by the flowing and melodic wails of the second vocalist. The passion with which the vocalists expressed their message through their vocals and stage energy allowed me to find the place they were at very easily. A few tracks were paired with such hype-the-crowd-up energy, I couldn't help beginning to feel the emotion behind the lyrics and sound.

Up next came Til The End, the band which I found myself musically bonding to the most for the night. Their unique construction of riffs, solos, and breakdowns were presented in such a way that my heart felt a little pain I didn't even know needed to be released. The group presented breakdowns that allowed me to hear the voice of each of the players, and allowed me to bond with each artist independently. The vocalist sang to each audience member, it seemed, as he walked from one side of the stage to the other, stopping to sing a few lines to every person in reach. This personal attention given to each audience member allowed me to see how metal-heads can become so bound to their favorite artists. After their set, the vocalist, Corey, informed the audience that their bassist had to borrow another band's bass guitar for the night. He also went on to say, “That's how local music should look out for other local music.” I couldn't agree more!

What came next from Public Display of Aggression was something I did not expect. James Aggression , the lead vocalist, made his appearance on stage by emerging from a coffin in a deathly energetic fashion. Each member of the band was dressed in a white button-down shirt that had been torn to shreds, giving a visual representation of the mental breakdown that was to come. Within the first few songs, they had the audience in their fists and continued to shout messages of their trials and tribulations in both their personal lives and society. Each word appeared to be taken to heart by the audience as the first full-blown mosh pit of the night emerged. Guitarist Jimmy "The Bohlen" Shoe and bassist Mr. Robbie X balanced riffs and solos to create a highly energetic scene that was all backed by their relentless drummer NixXxon. A song for the ladies was announced and delivered, followed by a challenge to any audience member who could effectively throw off balance one of their largest, most sturdy ragers in the crowd. The challenge was met by a surprisingly smaller, but equally aggressive audience member, who was promised a shot for such a feat. At this point, I was in awe of the personal nature with which the band seemed to interact with their fans, and how the fans ate up every gut-thrashing moment. They followed with a new track, “Rebirth”, was dropped into the ears of the eager crowd, who responded in kind with an energy that filled the Gothic to the brim. Next came a cover of Metallica's “For whom the bell tolls” which was performed with equal energy and passion of their own written works. The final track was announced by James, with a message formed of the song's title, “They will never take this from us, even though we're Drowning in Oppression.” This final track gave a call to everyone in the audience to take notice of what is going in every society, especially our own. With this track, I understood the depth of anguish of our generation.

My growing appreciation for this deeply family-oriented culture continued and was clarified even further when Bound By Karma took the stage. It began with a dark, spacey, almost scientifically menacing recorded track that played for a few eerie moments. Just at the point when I began to think how intense and creepy the introduction sounded, members J.D. Menace Hudson (vocals), Manik Corbett (bass), Code Red Truesdale (guitar), Claydog Richards (rhythm Guitar), and Steve Whoa Walton (drums) creeped onto the stage adorned in neon green black-lit ties. Corbett, Truesdale and Richards took things that extra mile with neon-green strung guitars in hand. Immediately diving into emotionally jarring tracks, I was impressed with the range of the lead vocalist in his ability to create a unique growling style and pair that in the same song with a singing range I did not expect. Having their own connection with the audience, they had each person involuntarily throwing their hands up in the air in anticipation of the next mind-jarring track. As their set progressed, I was equally impressed with the tightness of the band as a whole, and with the tightness of the individual players. Strong riffs and solos were presented in an unexpected way that gave this group a more unique and oddly more soothing listen-ability, with my attention being focused on each instrumentalist. I greatly appreciated being able to take note of each member's talents, and appreciated the whole presentation even more because of this.

Ploy for Extinction finished up the night with their own hard-core thrashing style. With a solid screaming growl, their vocalist wouldn't let the audience be disappointed and continued to deliver messages of doubt, betrayal and a failing world. Each song brought them closer to the crowd with a powerful energy felt through the desire to head-bang in unison. The guitar and bass works were tight and created a full sound that left me wanting more. Their last track polished off the whole night and allowed everyone to leave with energy completely drained and ears bleeding in the best way possible.

What I expected for the night was not what I got. What I left with was so much more meaningful. I expected to see some crazy things go down, and I did, but I also learned some heart-warming things about metal and family. This is how I want to leave you, as this is how I left the night. I had a wonderful conversation with J.D. of Bound by Karma in which I was given a lesson on the metal family, because it is just that, a family. J.D. was speaking mostly of his band, but he also related his ideas to the general metal genre as well. For Bound by Karma, their music and mission is about heart and soul, in the sense that with karma, you get what you give. Therefore, they are bound. They recognize that in order to expect heart and soul from others, you have to give it. But this was also clarified by J.D. when he said, “don't confuse my kindness for weakness.” This was explained to mean that most people in the metal genre are family-oriented people, and are kind to one another, and are kind to most everyone else, until they are forced to stand against another.

My personal experience at the show proved the same thing. It has been a really long time since I've been to a show where I didn't see people getting into fights, where I didn't see someone alone who needed help, where I didn't hear angry words being shouted in the restroom, where I didn't get pushed out of the way just for being there. All of that was what I actually expected, even worse, really, because I do go to a lot of dub-step, electronic, hip-hop, bluegrass, and everything-in-between shows and see it happening there all the time. I am also a electronic music producer and have many experiences with all aspects of putting on and experiencing live shows. I absolutely loved being immersed into this culture and honestly think it's one of the strongest and kindest genres of music I have ever experienced. I will definitely be in attendance at future shows and hope that those who haven't been to a metal show will too, because it is something worth experiencing. Metal-heads and metal music is one of those things that is almost taboo in a lot of society, and I hope that by expressing the personal interactions I witnessed and experienced myself will allow others to want to look past all that has been said before. And at the very least, please do not pass judgment on your fellow man, even if you think he looks different, because he could be the one person that has the kindness and heart to push you, a stranger, out of the way of a moving car.
- Amandha Gilson