Sweet Home Massachusetts

I enjoyed my last discussion about pits so much, I decided to write some more about them. This time specifically around bands from Massachusetts, and the awesomeness that is Mass. Metal.

For those of you who don’t know, Massachusetts has a long (in comparison to the average lifespan of a rock band) history of supplying the People of our oh-so-conservative commonwealth with “aggressive” music. In the late 70’s to mid 80’s it was Hardcore Punk. Now we seem to have a whole lot of a metal subgenre called Metalcore.

Quick definition – “(also known as hardcore metal) is a fusion genre, combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. Defining the metalcore sound is not an easy task; various bands have fused a hardcore punk sound and attitude with many different types of metal, thus creating a simpler and more mainstream genre that is more palatable to the general public.” Source – Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metalcore)

Metalcore and Deathcore are two genres that make the pit enthusiasts quiver at the loin, This is the music almost entirely made for moshing. Heavy chugging, breakdowns, and double bass drums pounding harder than the heart of a squirrel running across the highway.

Massachusetts has produced some of the most notorious in the scene, such as:

• The Acacia Strain
• All That Remains
• Bury Your Dead
• Converge
• Diecast
• Killswitch Engage
• Ligeia
• Overcast
• The Red Cord
• Shadows Fall
• Since the Flood
• Unearth

A few months back, I camped out at NEMHF ‘07 (New England Metal and Hardcore Festival) for the weekend and got the chance to witness some of these bands in action and got a taste of Masshole moshing tactics, which I can’t really give too many details about it because we also brought 5 cases and enough jello shots to fill a Styrofoam cooler. But, I distinctly remember getting the wind knocked out of me for Since the Flood, a bloody nose and lip for the Red Chord, and my face ripped off for Unearth. Not literally, but it felt like it. I had a buddy with me during all of this and he had to be the most banged up S.O.B. I have ever seen walk away from a pit. First, picture a guy about 6′2″, 150 lbs, dbl 0 gauge plugs, and snake bite lip piercings, this guy is beyond drunk and he can barely walk straight due to a mix of not sitting for about 14 hours and nothing to eat except a hearty helping of spiked jello.

Red Chord comes on stage, we’re going batshit crazy, I think I seen 3 or 4 pits open up before they started the set, just because of the amount of adrenaline and anticipation from the crowd knowing that Red Chord always starts their shows with metal so brutal it makes you want to kick a litter of puppies into a bonfire. Job for a Cowboy, not a MA band, had the same effect. With these two bands playing back to back, My friend left the pit with:

1. no sweater
2. no t shirt
3. no wifebeater
4. no shoes
5. missing half a pant leg
6. one sock
7. torn lip ring
8. both plugs missing
9. one earlobe torn from his head
10. bloody nose
11. and one mild concussion

Ding, Ding is right, and the best part was when I asked him if he wanted to go sit down he told me “Not until after I see Unearth… just gimme a beer and a cigarette, I’ll sleep it off later” Amen buddy, you sir are, in fact, a true metalhead.(and idiot)

I am also a follower of the MA local scene, most of the bands from where I live are generally one of three genres. Grindcore, Metalcore, or Deathcore. A personal favorite of the Central Mass. local Metal bands is Anomia, I don’t know their myspace off the top of my head, but I’m sure they would be fairly easy to find with what you already know about them. Some other really good local mass bands are Pillar of Autumn, Beautiful Gorgeous, Stoic, and Judecca. There are Dozens more that I could ramble off, and maybe someday I will, but for the sake of length, I’ll end with this… “Limp Bizkit still sucks d*ck!” – Zakk Wylde

Return to the pit.

Anyone that listens to metal knows, listening to the album is nothing like the feeling you get on your first trip to the metal show. Let me explain…

Sure, listening to an album will get your head bouncing, pulse flowing, air guitar skills reach their peak, and you’re near salivating to throwdown in a pit, this is all expected of a decent album. You wouldn’t be listening to it if it didn’t, right?

After you’ve memorized every riff and squeal and just before you are ready to declare that this is by-far your favorite band, you start looking up tour dates. You find out that they are playing in a town near you, in the near future and you start asking around to see if anyone else wants to go. You find a few people, or maybe you’re a solo kind of person, and now you are on the path to an experience that will forever change your life and for some, become your new favorite addiction.

Standing out front of the venue, you hear music coming from inside and you feel like a thousand little demons are running around under your skin, puking adrenaline all over the nerves that are telling you “maybe this isn’t a good idea” until they drown.

You get your hands X’ed and finally get through the doors.

The welcoming scent of stale beer, sweat, and a hint of piss, hit you with what feels like someone blowing a hot breath of ass all over your face and body. You probably stood off in the back or out of sheer ignorance, charged to the front. You start sizing up the guys standing around you and assess how much damage they could do in a pit. Your older brother or cousin told you about how pits can open up anywhere, so you’re constantly looking over your shoulder while you listen to the guy on stage repeatedly say “check, check” and there are about two or three other guys behind him holding a handful of drumsticks or strumming a guitar
Then the lights dim.

Three or four shadowy figures walk onto the stage, one mounts the double bass drums, lets out a quick blast beat and then bangs on the ride a little. The other two or three arm themselves with metal axes of doom, you might of heard some chugging, maybe a quick sweep, and my favorite, a long dragged out squeal. They’re ready, and you think you are too. Then comes the frontman. For effect, they’ll come out yelling until they get to the center of the stage, they stop and if you were lucky, introduce themselves and the song before they start thrashing and shredding, but probably not and then all that stuff that your brother/cousin told you is slammed back to the front of your head, The first pit almost always starts behind you.

Now, to the point of this post, did you return to the pit? or run to the hills? (Maiden rules!)

Personally, my first pit…

After the first pit of the night opened up behind me I could feel my chest compress from the crowd crush, it was about twenty minutes after I got through the door and I was sweating, honestly I don’t think it was all my sweat, it was a small venue, so I started to lean back a little so I could have room to turn around and then I seen it, A large open space with only about four people in it. This wasn’t what I pictured a pit to be like, but none-the-less, I wanted in. I found out quickly that people have no problem letting you into a pit, it’s getting out thats rough. I stumbled out into the edge of this open circle area and immediately someone pushed me into the middle of it and the rest was history, I started shoving around people and I got shoved, I honestly didn’t know how to mosh very well, but these other guys seemed merciful. When I was in the pit, the air seemed a little cooler, it wasn’t as loud, all I could really hear was my mind screaming from the inside, while I had a smile on my face.

I’m pretty sure my mind fell in love with that pit, because all it ever talks about is her.

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