Live: Chimaira/Impending Doom/Revocation/Carry The Storm

FITZGERALD’S — 10/29/11: On Saturday, October 29th, Halloween came early this year at legendary Fitzgerald’s. For, seemingly from the bowels of hell itself, up came The Age Of Hell Tour. For the night, this included four notable bands originally from all four corners of the country.

First to hit the stage was local Houston group Carry The Storm, filling in for the previously-billed Rise To Remain but certainly giving no reason to be disappointed by the former group’s absence. Hyping up the band’s first full-length CD, From Nothing, was frontman Nick Koumbis, who has a voice like an angel…with a deviated septum, that is…and a real doom-and-gloom style to back it up.

Next up was Boston-based group Revocation. The finger-blistering dual guitar solos fretted-out by Dan Gargiulo and David Davidson were absolutely mind0melting, and as a cool and slightly comical finale, on the final lick of the song, they both pressed their guitar picks against each others’ forehead…and both picks actually stuck. In contrast, the vocals belted out by Davidson were really nothing to write home about. Overall, though, they held it down and redeemed themselves with a great visual performance.

The third act, self-proclaimed “Gorship” band and Christian metal group Impending Doom truly dominated the stage, complete with their trademark “Repentagram” logos. The group’s foursome set out to save souls the only way they know how: through gut-wrenching vocals and shredding guitars. Despite being down their regular drummer, Revocation drummer Phil Dubois pulled double duty and lent a hand (or, in this case, two, I suppose) for the night with his hypnotic rhythm stylings.

With the crowd thoroughly warmed-up and geared-up for the final act, headliners Chimaira took the stage with a vengeance, unleashing an enviable presence and an unforgettable onslaught of unadulterated, raw talent. Coming off the last leg of their tour before teaming up with Unearth for the upcoming Jagermeister Presents Tour, the band confidently displayed that they are definitely ready for prime time.

They started off their set by ripping it up with “The Age Of Hell,” the title track from their new album, and continued laying down further barrages of teeth-shattering hits like “Lose My Mind,” “Nothing Remains,” and “Severed.”

During one interesting segment of the show, vocalist Mark Hunter challenged the crowd to randomly name a song, and if the band couldn’t play ten seconds of it, the audience would win a prize. Out of the four songs selected by individual mic points, only one prize was ultimately relinquished. Another great moment that won the crowd over was when keyboardist Sean Zatorsky migrated to centerstage and took over as vocal executioner right in the middle of “Born In Blood,” showcasing a much deeper and raspier voice in the process.

The last song selection for the night was one that everyone was truly on-edge for, “Resurrection.” The whole room was enveloped in high energy, as the song symbolically started raising the dead, literally busying group members dealing with hype-animated fans braving stage dives and sending bassist Emil Werstler Jim LaMarca zipping around like a virtual lunatic. Overall, this far-fetched craziness was a fantastic and fitting end to a very memorable night of heavy music fare. END

(Photos: Revocation; Impending Doom; Chimaira. All photos by Chris Reed.)