(Live Review) BLADES OF STEEL - Night Two (Wisconsin, 8/30/24)

By

The Beard & Little Johnny

Welcome friends, fans, and followers to show #52 as we cover night two of the three-day extravaganza known as Blades of Steel. Tonight, we will be covering bands #176-183 as we look at: Blind Oath, Queen of Dreams, Sanhedrin, Storm Ruler, Acero Letal, Dexter Ward, Arther Realm, and Cirith Ungol. 

It will be another long day of metal music and the lad and I are ready, although Little Johnny’s alleged adventures with the ladies of Nervosa the night before do have him running a little slow today. When I was going over the band list and mentioned Sanhedrin Johnny said, “Cool, I need a couple of those this morning.” “Uh… I think that’s ‘Excedrin’ you are thinking about little dude.”

Still, the bounce back ability of youth did have him dressed and right back under his new cap by showtime, and he certainly did not feel too under the weather to accept an IPA when I said I was buying. We now await the Friday chaos.

BLIND OATH

First up was some power metal from Tulsa in the form of Blind Oath.

There was only a light crowd this early, as Blind Oath kicked things off at 4:00pm, so their big grandiose intro tape was somewhat lost given only about fifty people were there to cheer it, but at least we were off and running. Blind Oath was a five-piece power act. Vocally, they were a little more growly than standard power. Like Cronos of Venom if he was singing with a sore throat.

They did move around a lot trying to present a show, and while the Beard could appreciate the effort, I also had to say that on their second number I was not entirely certain everyone on that stage was playing the same song. Put simply, that one was not good.

Other songs were much slower paced bordering on death doom but, again, vocally it just was not there. Ultimately, I am not sure exactly what they were going for, but I just cannot believe what I heard was it. Moments and portions were fine, but I found Blind Oath at best “musically disheveled.”  64/100.

What did you think Johnny? "Well Beard, they ran around a lot, but I am not really sure what they were trying to do."

QUEEN OF DREAMS

Second up, was Madison’s own prog/power act Queen of Dreams.

Already the crowd had filled in nicely. There was still plenty of room, but at least the place now felt kind of full. Hopefully, it gets better with each band.

This local act was “busy.” There were tons of drum fills and guitar leads all over every song, and what is it with the fans and the glow sticks. Glow sticks are not metal. This seems to be a problem, both with this act and progressive metal music in general. Namely, everyone feels like they must get their stuff in every number and the songs become an exercise in bloated excess instead of simply good metal. If you are constantly looking at everything often you are seeing nothing.

My take from this thirty minutes, Queen of Dreams needs to shed a few pounds worth of musical notes and create some leaner stripped-down numbers because with the current ones so much was happening that nothing was ultimately memorable. I am giving my second disappointing grade of today with 67/100.

Johnny? “Beard, I am not really into it yet. I think I am still waiting for the fest to really start today. By the way, where are they selling glowsticks?"

SANHEDRIN

Third up tonight were Brooklyn power trio Sanhedrin.

Sanhedrin had a female singer (Erica Stoltz) whose voice was clear, yet had nothing particularly stylish about it. This was an okay power trio, but I found them to be filler metal. There was nothing distasteful, but also nothing I am getting excited about either. The guitar bits were decent from ex Black Anvil guitarist Jeremy Sosville, but the low-end sound of the bass was just too loud.

There was also not much in the way of between songs rapport here. Sometimes that “don’t engage the audience” thing works for a band, but here it felt dead between songs. Add in that overly loud bass and the noise became my focal point which was distracting.

To be fair, I should give their studio stuff a shot so I can hear them balanced better, but today listening to this set was like eating a bowl of cornflakes. I am full, but do not really remember eating it. For this set I am going 75/100. (Ed: Check out their last album Lights On, one of my fave trad metal albums of 2022. Hail!)

Little Johnny had wandered away again so I never found out what he thought, but to put this into another context, right after this band ended, the stage manager announced that the food truck had arrived and the biggest chant of the entire day up to this point went up. “Food Truck…Food Truck!!!” It is depressing when the food truck gets the biggest crowd pop. I am still waiting for a band to really grab the audience today.

STORM RULER

At the midway point we had melodic black metal from St. Louis in the personage of Storm Ruler. 

Black Metal in the vein of Immortal or third album era Bathory. Storm Ruler had clear vocals for black metal. Their first song was a lot like “Eternal Fire” (from Bathory’s Under the Sign of the Black Mark) in vocal quality. Now, given that St. Louis hardly conjures up the cold Stygian depths of a Finnish or Norwegian ice field that I think of when I envision 90’s era black metal, I must concede Storm Ruler did a respectable job here of performing it live.

With both slow and fast pacing vocally and musically, their songs from 2022’s Sacred Rites & Black Magick were well done. Storm Ruler was not much for appearance, but they were the best sounding so far. The songs sounded like 90’s black metal and finally someone brought forth a legitimate mosh pit for Little Johnny. We both agreed on an 82/100.

ACERO LETAL

Diving into the second half of our busy day, and up fifth, was a band all the way from Chile ... Acero Letal, who had put on a notable rain-soaked set at the Hells Heroes festival back in March.

Acero Letal came out firing. Like a Chilean version of Midnight, this speed act kept the energy high throughout. The lyrics were in Spanish, but the intensity was there, and the guitars were good, especially when they traded leads back and forth. They had full crowd support by the second number. Some technical difficulties after the second number slowed the roll, but they got the crowd right back with a cool third number that infused a touch of doom before slipping back into the speed metal.

The best parts of Acero Letal were the traded guitar leads, and the genuine enthusiasm exhibited between them and the stage front audience. When there is that palpable energy exchange it is almost always going to be a good set. This was an 86/100 and, although it arrived a bit late, now we have a Friday night metal festival.

What did you think Johnny? “They were pretty cool Beard, but I couldn’t understand any of their lyrics.” “They were in Spanish John.” “Oh, okay cool then. I just thought they were saying the stuff too fast for me to pick up.”

DEXTER WARD

Sixth to hit the stage, was a rare North American appearance from the Greek band Dexter Ward. These guys do not play the U.S., and this was one of the most anticipated bands that would perform this weekend.

Dexter Ward was a great get for Madison metal fans. The singer (Marco Concoreggi) walked out on stage, and it was as if Rob Halford (circa 2000) had appeared in front of our eyes. Goatee? Check. Bald dome? Check. Dark sunglasses? Check. Clean clear powerful vocals? (maybe not quite Halford range on the upper register) but otherwise check.

A singer cannot do it himself though, and the rest of Dexter Ward was more than up to the task tonight. This was particularly good NWOBHM style metal. They were practiced and professional and absolutely pulled in the crowd. Songs were epic metal and with Akis Pastris & Manolis Karazeris laying down non-stop incendiary guitar parts, Concoreggi had the voice to power up with them and bring the songs off well.

Dexter Ward were easily the best in show tonight so far. The Beard is going 89/100 and Little Johnny is already cracking a cold one for the Greek purveyors of classic Priest/Maiden style metal.

AETHER REALM

Seventh up tonight were North Carolinas death/folk act Aether Realm.

The lad and I had already seen these guys this year with Tyr, Trollfest & The Dead Crew of Oddwood. Still, this allowed us that opportunity to already know what they do and therefore take a deeper dive into the review.

Aether Realm came out like death metal poets who then followed up with melodic heavy music. The first two songs involved some spoken verse by singer, and bassist Vincent Jones and then it went into the death metal. An odd but slightly intriguing stylistic choice. I think initially the Madison crowd was not exactly sure how to take this band. Their first several numbers were received without much mosh or movement. Finally, on the fourth number they played something that popped a circle pit. The following song was some kind of North Carolina redneck romp metal. Now, admittedly Little Johnny lost his shit during this one and ran around like a pig with a clamp on its tail, but for me the song was a bit bizarre. These guys had originality but original does not always mean good and the Jury is still out on this one. I need to think about it.

Honestly though their last number WAS pretty damn good. That one was how I imagine melodic death metal should sound. So, I am going 80/100 subjectively.

CIRITH UNGOL

Finally, headlining and in what will likely be the Beard's final chance to see them, were 1980’s “we are going to do doom during the heights of the hair metal movement” California act Cirith Ungol.

Cirith Ungol took the stage bringing over forty years of slow paced ultra-heavy metal with them. Tim Baker has been at the helm for almost half a century and in this final tour he brought us one more chance to hear classic doom like early 1980’s tracks "I’m Alive", "Frost & Fire", "Black Machine" and "King of the Dead",  along with newer numbers like 2023’s "Looking Glass" & "Down Below".

Baker is now getting a little help (ala technical wizardry) for when he must hold those twenty second screams, but, in general, his voice has remained remarkably resilient given he has been doing it since the Beard was in grade school. As always, Cirith Ungol nailed a classic professional headlining set and if indeed this was my final time then I will certainly miss them. Everything ends though, and the young inevitably supplant the old. One day Little Johnny will be the head guy of this review team as the Beard moves on to a soft green meadow somewhere, but for tonight, a firm salute to original members Mr.’s Baker, Lindstrom, and Garven, along with newest member Jarvis Leatherby (who has now gotten to headline both of the first two nights), and Cirith Ungol for helping create a metal sub-genre. The Beard shall crack a cold one with 90/100 for you and your mighty doom metal.

This finished night two of Blades of Steel and with a giant super Saturday still before us, it was best to get the lad back to the hotel and some sleep. Remember to follow us each week on The Mighty Decibel, watch over four hundred videos from all the bands we have covered this year on our TikTok page at thebeard0728, and follow Mark McQueen on Facebook for our weekly nonmetal adventures and reviews.

Until next time, this is the Beard and Little Johnny saying ... Live Life, Stay Heavy and Horns Up.