On the eighth anniversary of
September 11, my band,A Dream
Worth Dying For, was scheduled
to play a show at Studio 98.
We were supposed to play third,
but we got bumped up to the
opening act. On the bright side, at
least I was able to review every
band consecutively. Three bands
played after us: Favor the Brave,
I Am the Trireme and When Man
Meets His Maker.
Favor the Brave was a very
standard hardcore/metal act. They
reminded me of Hatebreed, but
with more talent. They sounded
good and were able to play well,
but they were a very unoriginal
sounding band.
Their screamer had a pretty
good scream, but it kind of
sounded like he was starting to
hurt himself by the end of their
set, his voice was very raspy.
I am the Trireme played second,
their style was deathcore/grind
akin to As Blood Runs Black or
Job For A Cowboy. They started
out strong but I started to get
bored with their music. After the
third or fourth song I was losing
interest in them, but what they
played at least didn’t sound like
garbage.
Their screamer at one point
salsa-danced with a crowd member
during a goofy bridge in one
of their songs; it was probably the
highlight of the night. But again,
they were very cookie-cutter
which is why I started to get
bored.
The last band, When Man
Meets His Maker, was the best
band of the night. They are a
melodic death metal/hardcore
band that I would say best sounds
like early In Flames or All That
Remains.
Their screamer opened the
show by calling out everybody in
the room and saying, “You are
greatly outnumbered if you want
to fight me, everyone here will
back me up,” which was a little
unnecessary.
When Man Meets His Maker
had good music, bottom line. And
they didn’t bore me because they
didn’t sound like every other band
in their genre.
Overall, it wasn’t the best show
I’ve been to, but it wasn’t the worst
either. The bands had talent, but
not all of them were overly creative.