May 13th 2013
KRISIUN/ARSIS/STARKILL
Review By: Metal Mom
Photos By: Char Tupper
http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/krisiunarsisstarkill/

Deep in the bowels of Vancouver, at the Rickshaw Theatre which was established back in 1971 under a different name. Vancouverites were given the honour of listening and enjoying 3 bands on this Monday night. I was really disappointed at the turn out for all of them, yes it was a Monday, but always thought that Vancouver did their best to get out and support the metal scene.  Oh I know Hypocrisy/Aborted were suppose to be on the bill, but Krisiun/Arsis are well known bands, and for me Starkill was a first, and they put on one killer ass show.

I like to go and be there for the first opening band, people remember something, all bands at one point in their career were just that, an opening band. So I never like to miss my chance of maybe seeing a band play and watching them grow to bigger heights. I will tell you right now, that’s what I am expecting to see from STARKILL (Chicago, Illinois). They put on an excellent show, sadly Vancouver was their last show on this bill, which is too bad as then the rest of the cities are missing out. They don’t seem to fit into any one main genre, they encompass many different styles to make it their own, listen and you can hear the influences of other bands that they admire, together an excellent job. They executed their set to perfection. I was really impressed for this being my first show seeing them, the blasting beat of the drums, shredding guitars, and vocals that all fit together so well. It takes a lot of talent to be able to create your own style and perform it this strong and vigorous. Make sure to check out STARKILL when they come to your town.

Next up on stage is ARSIS (Virginia Beach, Virginia), and the crowd filled a little more. Unfortunately with some idiotic moshers, come one guys, stop slamming into the front row, stay in the mosh pit where you belong, you make it so the fans that stand in front to enjoy the bands, have to watch our backs all night. Anyway, its been a long time since I had seen Arsis, so was looking forward to their set as well. Although their genre on their page says technical melodic death metal, I personally don’t care what it’s called, its great, and they performed their set to everyone’s taste for the metal. There has been a few changes/issues over time to the line for Arsis, but after watching them play on Monday night, you know they have the right combination of players. What you experienced on Monday was some classic addictive metal along with the fierceness of death metal, whats not to enjoy..excellent show by all on hand. One that brought more to the floor to enjoy. And that we did.


Now headliner tonight is of course KRISIUN (Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil), have I seen these guys before, oh yeah, and wouldn’t miss the chance again, just finished seeing them on Barge to Hell in December, and I know what kind of show they put on. This is when the floor filled up, still sadly a disappointed turnout, but the ones there, gave it their all and showed Krisiun their full attention, with some crazy moshers, headbanging, horns, you name it, there was support shown for them. There are only 3 members, and all brothers, that make up Krisiun, these are 3 very skilled musicians. Who would have thought that 3 brothers could get along this well to make their own mark in metal. They formed back in 1990 and have been moving up in the metal world ever since. You want some screaming fast death metal, influenced by some increased amounts of variety, then you came to the right place. Their tempos are what I call extreme, and definitely have the pure raw sound that captures your attention and doesn’t let go. We got to enjoy some pounding drums, searing heavy riffs, and some pretty brutal ruff vocals that pulled it all together to give us a very distinctive sound. Just looking around the room, I knew the fans were loving every minute of it, and I was right in there. My only wish is that they had played longer. Even though I had an hours drive to get home, and go to work the next day, there was no way I was leaving early and missing any of their set. I hope they find their way back to our city again soon. I will be there. And you want to know why….because they are one of the most eminent extreme death metal bands in the world.

Thanks to all the bands that came out and gave it their best. I for one thoroughly enjoyed each of the bands tonight at the Rickshaw. Not often I can say that.