Written by:	D.T. Metal
Published:	September 27, 2014
Event:	Arsis: A Decade Of Guilt 2014 North American Tour
Location:	Moon Room, Denver, CO, USA
Galleries:	Arsis, Exmortus - Moon Room, Denver, USA - 23 Sep 2014 by D.T. Metal (30)

I haven't been to a show in what felt like forever, and going to the much smaller Moon Room (which is just the bar area of the Summit Music Hall) seemed a nice way to ease myself back into the swing of things. Ease ? yah right. My ass got kicked that night; my 'musical ass' that is.

For one reason or another, I missed Exmortus each and every time they had played in town and therefore I was rather excited to finally see them. And it almost didn't happen again since they were extremely late arriving at the venue. How late? Let me tell you: the touring bill consisted of (from top to bottom) Arsis, Allegaeon, Exmortus and two local bands which were added to the gig in Denver. Doors at 7pm, show at 7:45pm and I was late to begin with.

On my way to Denver I actually passed Arsis's van (they were stuck in the slow lane on I-25) but by the time I found parking and talked with a random metal head in the parking lot, Jim and the boys were loading in. Hugs, kisses, long time no see, how was the drive, where are the Exmortus guys? Nowhere to be found. Coming from Mesa, Arizona there are several ways to drive to Colorado; they took the scenic route, which of course also meant the much longer route. No big deal since there were two bands ahead of them.

I kid you not, the second local opener was on their last song when Exmortus finally showed up. Calling this too close for comfort is an understatement. After a mad dash to get all of the gear onto the stage, I was wondering if their performance would suffer from all that last minute huffing and puffing. Well - it did not and I finally got to see what some of my friends were raving about; Exmortus in all their glory.

With only 30 some minutes to play I get that Exmortus still wants to promote their latest album. And while Slave To The Sword is their best effort yet, they could have included some older songs in their set list as well and not just play the newer stuff. Despite that, their performance was awesome and I am glad I (or better yet they) didn't miss it once again.

Technical, death, melodic or what-not-ever thrash sub-genre they are labeled under, Exmortus has way too much harmony in their riffs and melody in their songs and while the power metal tag doesn't fit completely neither one thing is for sure: Herman Li watch out, there is a new sheriff in town. Seriously, when they played the instrumental piece "Moonlight Sonata (Act 3)" I was more than impressed.

I believe Exmortus found their calling, or better yet, found their sound with their last album. Yes, there is a lot of guitar 'wankering' going on, but it works, it sounds great live and it fits the overall message the band wants to convey: let's come out and party - metal is fun; or in their case - "Metal Is King". Awesome stage presence, awesome sound and I will make sure I won't miss them again when they come through town.

Setlist: Immortality Made Flesh, Foe Hammer, Moonlight Sonata (Act 3), Slave To The Sword, Metal Is King.

Click here for more Exmortus pictures

Up next was Colorado's own Allegaeon. Those dudes have been busy over the last couple months with releasing their third full length album (Elements Of The Infinite) back in June, finishing a tour supporting Chimaira in August and were ready the very next day to shred it up with the mighty Arsis.

Playing in front of a, more or less, home town crowd, Allegaeon didn't just bring their A-Game - they brought their A+ game. Technical as hell and it was fun watching all the guys interact with their fans. Fist bumping during the songs and having the guitars right up the fans' faces were just some of the trademarks displayed that evening.

Although Allegaeon played songs from all their albums, I believe they got the best crowd response while performing earlier material. Maybe the fans were more familiar with those songs or it just happened that way. Regardless, the energy was high during their entire set but since I was not feeling brave enough to venture upfront, there are no pictures. I'm old, get over it, I will wait until they play somewhere with a photo-pit.

Then, a little before 11pm, Arsis took the stage. Quick rant before I continue: folks, I get that you want to support your friends and hang out with them. But leaving before the headliner is just disrespectful in my opinion. If the bands were musically very different, I maybe would give you a pass on this, but come on. *shakes head* Anyway, it was not like the room cleared out, but I still noticed a much lesser crowd.

So - Arsis. Wow. I have seen them with all kinds of line-ups, even without main shredder and vocalist Jim Malone, and was so looking forward to their set. The 10th Anniversary of their debut album A Celebration Of Guilt and Arsis performing it in its entirety. Hellz Yeah!

While, as stated earlier, Allegaeon brought their A+ game, nothing could have prepared those in attendance to what Arsis brought to the table; A++ or even A+++. Shit, this really was one of their best performances I have seen; so much energy, so much fun, so much skill on that little stage. Jim was on fire to say the least and it showed that he had as much fun playing those old songs, as we had listening to them. If you have never seen Arsis live and are a technical guitar buff, do yourself a favor and attend one of their shows. Seriously, just do it.

Not enough can be said about Jim's shredding. I guess attending Berklee's in Boston, one of the most esteemed music colleges in the world, does come in handy when forming a band, but even today, after all those years, he still is a beast on his axe. With that being said, second guitarist Brandon Ellis, who joined the ranks a couple years ago, not only shines in Arsis but he was also shredding it up with Finntroll on their last North America tour and I just saw him playing with Cannabis Corpse as well. He sure is giving ol' Jim the run for his money. This kid is going places; mark my words!

While the songs played are 10 years old, they are still relevant and much appreciated by the fans. Face melting death metal while still being catchy as hell. I know, sounds weird, but that is exactly what Arsis is all about. Some songs of A Celebration Of Guilt were never played live before and Jim did a good job of explaining some of the details behind them. He was really very engaging that night, more so than I have seen before.

The mosh pit was going steady and during one song the ever so entertaining bassist Noah jumped right in the middle, fell on his ass but was lifted up right away by the fellow moshers - priceless. Another priceless moment was during the encore. After Arsis was done with the main part of the show, they did play 4 additional songs; one being a cover. As Jim explained: "We thought what song to cover and this one fits us; hope you like it" and commenced to play W.A.S.P.'s "Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)", Arsis style. Awesome!

Click here for more Arsis pictures

The night came to an end, way too quick I might add, and if it wasn't for the fact that I was going to Crowbar the next day, I would have stayed longer to hang out. Until next time dudes - and how about a new album?

Setlist: A Celebration Of Guilt in its entirety, Handbook For The Recently Deceased, We Are The Nightmare, Animal (Fuck Like A Beast), A Diamond For Disease.