(OOC: Quite a big transition in style here... let’s see if it works. Not happy with it, but it’ll do for now.)
“I’m worried now...” Spouted Jason, hair tied back and with his thick, black rimmed glasses resting lazily at the top of his nose. Tension mounted in the air as they awaited their fate. Would they get through to the final of the Battle of the Bands? Or would they just fall short? “We have to wait, I suppose. We’ve made it this far, let’s not go yet.” Aaron stuttered, visibly sweating in the heat of Phoenix. As well as being a part of the battle of the bands, they were touring with
Black Gold Reign in the Americas, spanning from the cold of Canada to humid atmospheres, such as Phoenix. Today was more than just another notch in the tour book though... it would mark a pivotal point in the career of Mind. It could make them superstars, or propel them straight back into obscurity, such as it was 2 years ago. Of course, just simply losing wasn’t going to be their downfall, it would be the spirit lost in the process.
Then Jason’s mobile rang. As the sounds of
“Price to Pay” by
Blood of Wecz rang throughout the bleakness of Arizona for a split second, Jason quickly flipped it open. “H-hello there?” he spoke nervously. “You’re through. Congrats!” said the voice from the other end, their manager. Jason fist pumped to signal they had got through before more came from the other end. “It’s with
Blood of Wecz and
Reckoner.
Ryan Ross Hernandez got knocked out.” “Okay. When do we have to perform?” Jason asked. “Uhhh... wait a sec... you have to record a video... it’s in for today. That’s not good. We’re going to have to record your performance today.” The manager said, partially angry and partially fed up. Jason was not happy at this. He didn’t perform well under pressure and he never liked recording anyway. “Fucks sake man... can you tell us earlier next time?” he said with rage being loudly contained in his eyes. “I didn’t get the info until now... anyway, I have to go, see you soon.” The manager said anxiously, and quickly put the phone down.
“Okay, the good news or the bad news first?” Jason said. To this, Aaron replied “Get the bad shit out of the way first, and then we can celebrate afterwards.” “We’re recording today’s performance.” Jason explained with venom. “Fuck... what’s the good news?” Robert spat, now also angry. “Well... we got through!”
The band made their way throughout backstage into the dressing room. Even though their usual stage shows were spectacular, they had to do something REALLY special tonight, since their competition is two of the toughest bands to beat in the world. Even though both bands were friends and dear to the band, they were looking for victory. If not for the glory, for their bandmate Harry, who, as you probably know by now, has been imprisoned for drug crimes, even though he didn’t commit them. They’d barely got past the last round, but could they go on and win it? If so, it would be a true underdog story. Judging on the positions thus far, the other bands were heavily favoured and it would take something huge to get back on top...
“May I remind you lot that we’re on in a couple of hours. We better think of some big, fancy shit quick, otherwise we’ve got no chance of winning this. Lasers? Good idea. Get a couple of clowns dressed as robots in there too. More sci-fi. MORE FUCKING SCI-FI NOW BITCHES!!” It was out of character for Jason to boss around quite like this. Of course, he was usually bossy anyway, but this was something else. The pressure was extremely high and the tension could have been cut with the very sci-fi electric knife Jason wished to possess.
The Voyd had just finished their set, and it was time for
Black Gold Reign to go first tonight, since this would allow the band more time to set up the stage show. The visuals were going to be huge tonight.
Black Gold Reign had just come of the stage to a roaring applause. As David was walking past to take a break, Jason pulled him by his shirt and said “Where do you think you’re going? We have work to do, mate.” Seeing that David looked a bit pissed off now, Jason said “Dude, we’ll save the partying ‘til later. Come on.” As Jason explained the plans to David, Aaron went outside for a smoke. Although Robert didn’t smoke, he tagged alongside him as well. “This is it, my friend. What we’ve been working towards the last few months. The big, grand finale...” Aaron whispered, tears in his wide open eyes, mouth trembling. “Yep.” Robert replied bluntly. For the few minutes they were out there was an awkward tension of silence.
“Okay dudes, man your battle stations. We’re on in a sec.” Jason said, untying his hair and fluffing it up. The rest of the band were grabbing their weapons (also known as instruments) and practicing for a few seconds. “Alright... ready?” Jason asked afterwards, provoking a huge cheer from the band and staff alike, including the robot clowns, who Jason still couldn’t find a use for. Then something ingenious sparked in Aarons usually empty head. “Why don’t we perform
The Juggernaut as a whole live set?” Jason looked stunned. Whether it was the fact that Aaron had a good idea, or whether he questioned it, no one knew, until he said “Wow. That’s an amazing idea. Everyone alright with that? Good. Let’s go!!”
Like most of their performances, the stage is pitch black when they reach it. However, a fan at the front sees Jason’s insufferable amount of hair and starts screaming, triggering a roar from the crowd. They know something special is on the way, when the band abandons their usual intro songs for
The Juggernaut, the albums intro song. There is hushed singing in it, but very little, which allows time for Jason to shout “How the fuck are you?! We have a treat for you tonight...” The venue lights up a bit, allowing the fans to see the band and the visuals on the screen. The visual itself is the same from the end of the Birdies, a spaceship sailing towards a black sun. However, unlike the Birdies, at the end of the song, a huge eruption comes from the speakers as the ship plunges straight into the sun. They then proceed to squeal into the first proper song off of the album, the chaotic
Scattered Hate. This is a true death metal song, combining ferocious guitars with harsh singing and chaotic lyrics. Did I mention it was chaotic?
After the fast-paced screaming of the last song, it went straight into the doom-laden
The Good Apollyon, with a crushingly heavy bassline. The clown robots slowly started to make their way from backstage, although not actively doing anything, apart from one, playing the violin to mark the end of the 7 minute song. By now, the atmosphere in the venue is huge. The fans are lapping it all up, cheering like mad. The melancholy song finishes in a stylish fashion, until going into to metallic anthem,
Divine Usurper, Minds biggest hit. With heavy, groovy guitars and pounding drums, the song is even better live, with the fans cheering and shouting along to the song. The sci-fi thing goes a bit out of hand, when one of the lasers accidentally swings round and knocks a clown over, although nobody cares about the clowns. Even the synthesizers are heavy as fuck.
It goes from one single to another, as the ripping, yet melodic riff of
Lyophilisation (The Words and the Worlds) comes into play. It is a fan-favourite, marked when one particularly over zealous fan tries to climb on stage and shake Jason’s hand, although he is swiftly taken away by security. The emotional, operatic chorus is completely sung by the fans, whilst Jason moves away from the mic and plays his guitar, smiling. Whilst Aaron concentrates on the intricate solo, Jason takes time to say “We want to thank everyone for coming... this is for
Delta Tau! Don’t forget to raise your horns for
Reckoner and
Blood of Wecz!” The song finishes to a great reception from the audience and numerous horns by the command of Jason. They then, without warning, go straight into the next track, yet another single,
Amber is the New Red. It’s one of their more political and punky numbers, with numerous mosh pits emerging from certain spots in the place. Jason’s guitar is not needed for this, so him and his hair go absolutely mental during it.
After that, a small non-album interlude takes place, sci-fi sound effects, including explosions and lasers. Except with actual lasers, since they had them. The reason for this interlude is so that Jason could equip himself with an acoustic guitar for the next song, the prog metal epic
My Fall from Grace. It was a huge number, the acoustic intro with quiet singing and hushed choruses, into a massive metallic song about 5 minutes into it with one huge scream. The lights flew into action on that note and so did the fans. A fan near the front was almost paralyzed; his eyes wide open and mouth drooping.
The whole song lasted for a good 9 minutes, displaying various emotions and styles of music. In one song! Anyway, after that, a drone noise came from the speakers, accompanied with a short film of an epic space battle on the screen. The next song is a full on, blistering death/ speed combination, reminiscent of classic death metal bands, with indecipherable, fast lyrics done in a pitch so high it was almost supersonic. Compared to the last song, it was quite a contrast, and the whole place was screaming and circle pit-ing. A huge wall of death was beginning as well, to make sure no-one goes home without a bruise or two. Then another interlude, similar, yet more dark than the last appeared for half a minute, which allowed time for Mind to go into their more folky song,
The Trail of the Wanderer. Unlike most of the songs, there were no blistering time changes or instrument wankery. Instead, it was a nice simple slab of folk rock, with slightly heavier influences. Aaron was also doing the backing singing on this song.
Then the lighting turned crimson red... machine gun noises came from the speakers, whilst flames came from the stage. The backdrop had turned to words written in blood. These words were Platinum Hearse, which could only mean one thing;
Anthema I: Platinum Hearse. A spectacle this big had never been seen in Minds stage shows before and it was received very well by the crowd. It was an epic doom song, in the vein of Candlemass, with alt. rock influences in it, making it sound like a darker version of Tool. There was Gregorian chanting and mini solos throughout the surprising 4 minutes it was executed in. After the song had finished, it went into the second part of the suite,
Anthema II: Serenade. The lighting had changed from dark red to dark blue by now and the background just showed the Mind logo. The song was more melodic death metal than anything, combining fast riffs and screaming with clean and melodic, catchy choruses for the entire crowd to sing along to, whilst they mosh their lives away.
So it was the final song of the evening... a ballad, acoustic song.
Anthema III: Into Ashes. It was sung along by the crowd again, almost being louder than the band themselves. Robert was allowed a break here, since there are no drums in it. The violin playing clown was back for the weeping sound that accompanied the sorrowful riff quite nicely. There was a little, tiny jam solo at the end, although it didn’t last for very long and the band were all smiling towards the end. “We love you. We couldn’t ask for a better crowd. And...” That was all Jason said, before he bit his top lip and tears started to form in his eyes. “And this has been the best journey we’ve ever been on. Thank you, so so much.” They then walked off of the stage into cheering staff members. Among the cheers were sighs of relief from the band and the manager. That was all there was to it. No more performances after tonight... but then they heard screaming from outside. They wanted an encore.
“Our job isn’t finished yet guys... come on.” Jason laughed, before running back on stage, his hands in the air. The other members followed suite until they were all prepared. With no warning, they went into their breakthrough hit,
Cascade of Blood. The industrial riff and heavy, crushing rhythm in it made it a fan favourite and the critics’ choice. The vocals were deeper than Minds usual stuff, reaching gruff growls in the verses. But then the solo comes in, engulfing the entire world around it. In the words of
Smash Reviews, “The song does a brilliant job of taking you from industrial to almost proggy solo, which is brilliant and the best part of the song. The song at no point feels like its split in two, and the breakdown in between the two merges them together brilliantly in a moment that makes you feel like the solar system is being sucked in around you.”
After that moment of band nostalgia, they went into another old song, and a big single for them,
Blasphemy!. It’s an unusual song, and it marks the starting point of Minds experimentation in songs. Its crunching riff smashes about for a while, before a small, folky break in which a flute plays in the background. It then proceeds with a terrifyingly massive solo and again with the riff. A personal favourite of the band.
“Okay dudes and dudettes, we really have to go now. We hope to come back soon. We love you guys!” Aaron claimed before they rushed off stage and screamed in delight that it was all finally over. The pressure was off, now they just had to wait. There were no words, just heavy breathing and cheering from the band. An emotional journey which took them places they never thought they’d go, at one point to the top, and on a musical experience that has to be respected by any fan of music anywhere. It was over.
