SOMA, ACCURSED DAWN, ASERAPHYMN, SINS OF MEMORY

The Muse is a new club in Nashville catering primarily to heavy genres. National metal labels such as Relapse are quickly making this club a staple on their touring rosters and now I see why. The venue just SCREAMS metal.. from the graffiti covered building to the concrete floors/walls and absolute standing room only crowd space. This place is stage and pit period like a metal club should be with not wimpy ass signs discouraging moshing! It is just the right size for regional/national metal shows (just big enough to accommodate a few hundred but small enough to maintain that small venue feel that all bands metal-heads love.

First up was Nashville's “Sins of Memory;” a self-proclaimed “metalli-core” quartet with great stage presence for a band only on their 9th show together. Vocalist (Chris Higgins) allows no barrier between he and the crowd. He's writhing and seething in the with you for the better part of their set. Near the end of their set they do a cover of John Cougar Melloncamp's “Rain on the Scarecrow” dedicated to the U.S. independent farmers. It strikes an oddly dissonant chord at first after a set of screaming hardcore but they pull it off with a kind of in your face conviction that has you swinging your head by the end of the song (which is an accomplishment since I am certainly no fan of John Cougar-Melloncamp). These guys have a very cool southern grove with a hard-core edge, with just a dusting of retro that anyone into northern U.S. hard core will dig.

Second up was Knoxville, TN's “AseraphymN” who I will not be reviewing due to the fact that I a member.

Third up was Virginia's “Accursed Dawn.” This VA based quintet has a swelling vibe rolling in the east-coast underground and after seeing them live I can appreciate why. This band's unique blend of guitar harmony drenched, melodic thrash stole the show!. Dueling guitar harmonies compliments of Brian Blickle and Chuck Henry create an intensely intricate, retro thrash feel to pieces such as “The Becoming” and “Beneath A Sun So Cold.” These guys inter-play between death, thrash, melodic, black and speed metal with pile-driving precision….put Arch Enemy and Dark Tranquility into a cauldron with the guitar harmonies of Iron Maiden and old Metallica, mix-in the drumming intensity of Kyus and Testament and bring to a full-rolling boil… serve hot with a side of “I'm going to kick your teeth in with my boot-heal” and you've got “Accursed Dawn.” I would definitely recommend checking these guys out if you get the opportunity.

The fourth and final band was “Soma” whose set we unfortunately had to miss due to our travel schedule. Overall it was an awesome metal show at a venue with character that many southeastern venues could learn something from.

Website: www.themusenashville.com