No alcohol was spared as the Brew-Tality Tour swept through Fayetteville, NC…

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Brew-Tality Tour made its way on through NC and was an absolutely awesome tour! The show I was able to catch took place at Jester’s Pub in Fayetteville, NC on August 29, 2008 and I had a blast!

The main tour consisted of the bands Ekotren, Within Chaos, Straight Line Stitch, and Bleed the Sky, but at this particular show, local NC band NILAH tagged along as the opening act. I have seen these guys before, but they blew me away once again. This time around, NILAH played, I believe, their first show with their new lead guitarist guitarist Andy Fetzer. This addition, as seconded by vocalist Josh Nation, was definitely for the better of the band. Their overall sound and show was great and they really kicked the night off with a bang (even if there weren’t that any people there at the time).

The second band to play was Ekotren. Honestly, I’d never even heard OF this band before, but they certainly made their impression on me…and it was a good one! Their style is definitely along the lines of newer Metal, but the one factor that really made me enjoy this band was the groove they had radiating off the drum beats. It was excellent! Overall, not a whole lot to say about these guys (since this was my first experience with them) except that they were definitely brutal and cool to hang out with!

The next band to play was one I had heard of, but I had never heard any of their material. This band is none other than the great Within Chaos! Once again, I was really diggin’ these guys and they were really cool to talk to as well. As with Ekotren, this was another first experience, so I’m not quite sure what to say about them other than mentioning that they are definitely brutal as well and worth going to see live.

The fourth band to play was one I had an experience of seeing open for DevilDriver back in March. This excellent band is known as Straight Line Stitch. Just as my previous experience, I was blown away by the talent of this band and the utter brutality of vocalist Alexis Brown. That girl is awesome! And of course, the shredding guitars of Pat Pattison and Seth Thacker, the insane bass skills of Jason White, and the sick double bass of Patrick Haynes. Not having heard a huge amount of SLS’s material before, I don’t recollect any of the songs they played by title, but I know the underlying brutality and skill was there for sure! I definitely can’t wait to see these guys play again soon!

Last, but most definitely not least was OKC’s own Bleed the Sky! Well, 4/5 of Bleed the Sky. Although they were down a guitarist, these guys absolutely delivered a great show (with the help of Pat from Straight Line Stitch on one of their older songs). Heading up the group with his vicious vocals was Noah Robinson being backed up by guitarist Justin Warrick shredding the six strings, Ryan Clark thundering on his bass, and Austin D’Amond playing the hell out of his drums! Fortunately, I was familiar with BTS’s newest album Murder the Dance, so I recognized a few of the songs played (including “Murder the Dance” and “Poseidon”) throughout their incredible set that ended sometime after 1:00 am. Overall, the guys from Bleed the Sky are some of the coolest guys I’ve been able to hang out with at a show and I appreciate them being that cool and commend them for headlining a SICK show/tour.

All in all, the whole night was a great one for me and I really appreciate the conversations with everybody I encountered from the five bands over the course of the night. I can’t wait to see any of these bands again when they come through NC the next time!

Bleed the Sky – Murder the Dance
Nuclear Blast Records

(3.5/5)

Putting Bleed the Sky into a category is a bit harder than most bands because of the styles represented in their most recent full length release Murder the Dance. According to my “standards” for these categories, I would have to put BTS into the heavier side of Metalcore because of the use of more screamed vocals than clean vocals. Honestly, I like this album. Not all of the clean vocals are my favorite, but Noah Robinson’s screams have an aggression to them that seem to strike a good chord in my mind. As far as the music, the changing of the line-up seems to have been a good thing. I haven’t heard any of BTS’s older material, but Justin Warrick, Rob Thornton, and Ryan Clark seriously wail on this album with Austin D’Amond killing it on drums. These four guys seem to work together well to help Noah with vocals and provide very energetic and aggressive music for him to rip his vocals to. Overall, this is a great team. Getting more into the album, I’d have to suggest “Murder the Dance” (Track3/Title Track) and “Poseidon” (Track 10) as my “Top 2″. “Murder the Dance” simply has great heaviness and aggressiveness that will make you want to mosh till you can’t mosh any more and “Poseidon” just has a great groove to it (which is never a bad thing in my book). Overall, Murder the Dance is a great album that shows the great range of skills from the guys in Bleed the Sky.