By: Fender Tavano
CHICAGO– Napalm Death and The Melvins are two sides of the same coin. That coin being noise. Controlled noise, it sounds and looks like chaos but once you can get a sense of what’s going on and what the musicians are really doing up on stage, it all comes together. But good artists need a good canvas, in this case, The Metro.
The Metro makes a completely unique concert experience, and this is the perfect venue for these two bands. The Metro’s sound system is one of the best I’ve ever heard, and it genuinely is one of the best concert venues in Chicago. This sound system gives an unparalleled experience, everything is loud but it isn’t overpowering. You can feel the bass in your chest and when the drums pound the whole floor vibrates. But if you really listen you can hear the individual notes of each instrument and what each person is doing.
And that brings us to The Melvins. They did something I have never seen at a live show before. They had two drummers, one original member Dale Crover who’s been playing with them since 1984 and a new member Coady Willis who joined them in the late 2000s. They both played with a matching kit that worked inverse of each other so they were mirrored. They played together, in perfect synchronicity, not missing a beat. It gave the drums a whole new amplified intensity that was amazing. They did a couple of my favorites including hitting the ground running with Billy Fish, History of Bad Men, Revolve, and ended off the setlist with Your Blessened. All of these showcase the talent of the drums and all the musicians, working together to deliver that classic sludge sound with youthful angst and constant high octane energy.
The main drums were in the center of the stage and to the sides of them were the symbols and crashes, they looked like mirror images of each other. It was one of the coolest things ever. Hearing the man himself King Buzzo, the namesake of the band who’s been a writer, guitarist, singer, all the way since 1983 wail on the guitar in the background of these wild drum solos while you can hear everything perfectly was one of the best displays of talent I’ve ever seen.
Their music genre is called sludge, which is very accurate considering it’s slow, heavy, and full of dirty hardcore punk elements. Once The Melvins show ended, it was time for my personal favorite, Napalm Death. This band is the opposite, they delve more into grindcore and thrash, which is what the show gave us.
The mosh pits were insane, elbows getting thrown and bumping and shoving everywhere, but cutting through all the chaos is this wailing screeching guitar backed up by a thud of a double kick drum you can feel in your chest like gunfire as the lead singer screams and yells all of the vocals. In contrast, the Melvins played 11 songs and their showtime was roughly longer than Napalm Death, but Napalm Death absolutely eclipsed them by doing 22 songs in less time, true thrash nature. They really dug through their catalog and did my favorites Amoral, Dead, Suffer the Children, Necessary Evil, Fuck the Factoid, Scum, Prison Without Walls, Suffer, and they did an amazing cover of a Dead Kennedys song Nazi Punks Fuck Off. The pits loved these and each song was barely over a minute long, it was a constant barrage of noise and agitation which is all you can hope for at a show like this.
The best part however, was in between all of Napalm Death’s chaos, the lead singer Barney Greenway would pause and talk, giving a political monologue to the audience. He talked about the new wave of fascism sweeping America, Trump’s policies and how he’s a terrible leader, and just getting really political on multiple levels. These small breaks were amazing and hearing his speeches were awesome to hear.
It brought a wave of intelligence and political discourse into this seemingly chaotic venue. Showing that this show and everything these bands stand for has a point. It’s not just aggressive meaningless noise and chaos, there’s a message behind it. It’s political, smart, and stands up for something. It’s more than just music and bands, it’s a community for like minded individuals, all fighting for and thinking about the same things.
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