I recently got the chance to attend an amazing concert in Hell at the Masquerade in Atlanta, featuring SOiL and the return of Dope. It was overall an amazing concert, with all four bands going all out in their performances. It all started with Inviolate.
On a night where I was not particularly in the mood for metal, I was introduced to the local band, Inviolate and everything changed. I was immediately captivated by the intriguing mixture of belly dancing and head-banging to melodious metal music. Fellow Filipina front woman, Kadria celebrated her birthday with the crowd in Hell and gave an absolutely amazing show. When the sword came out, their set was brought to an amazing climax as she sword danced with melodies in the background and the band played its final song, ending an amazing set and making way for the next band. They can be listened to here: http://www.reverbnation.com/inviolate
Next to play was Leaving Eden. Leaving Eden arguably did the best at making the most of a very small stage. Every member was getting in as much movement as possible. This went as far as bassist Daniel Cumming accidentally smacking the drum cymbals with his bass more than once. The second female vocalist of the night, Eve, was very active as well, even during times when she was not particularly active in singing. She left the stage a number of times and went into the crowd. It should be noted, however, that the sheer amount of movement almost made the set a little hard to follow. However, Leaving Eden still did an amazing job. On top the high energy of the performance, Guitarist Eric Gynan pulled out some of the best guitar solos of the night. More on Leaving Eden can be found on its site at http://www.leavingeden.com/HOME.html
When the first headliner of the show, SOiL took the stage the crowd had grown larger, as the stragglers filed in. They were ready for a great metal show, and SOiL did not disappoint. Ryan McCombs, former frontman of Drowning Pool and returning SOiL frontman, brought his hard, southern voice and delivered a great show. SOiL also made it a point to interact with the crowd. Ryan even got down into the pit with his special microphone to be surrounded by his fans. SOiL has its website hosted on a little webpage called http://www.soiltheband.com/
The greatest crowd reaction no doubt came from the first show from Dope after a four-year hiatus. Dope played an absolutely amazing set with the crowd finding more energy that the rest of the collective night. There was not a down moment while the band was playing. Edsel Dope, frontman of Dope, spent a lot of time talking with and getting to know the members of the crowd, which arguably hindered the band, as he spoke for long periods of time. Regardless, they had the most high energy songs, including “Die Mother Fucker Die,” which was the most energetic song of the evening. Dope’s website can be found at http://dopearmy.com/
