Pig Destroyer - Live in Tokyo 23 Aug 2012

Support acts Pig Destroyer and Nasum played before the gods Napalm Death last night. I had heard the bands briefly and had seen their T-shirts on sites (I buy band t-shirts now and then) but didn't know a lot about them. I was into grindcore/grind metal and the heavier, messier blast beat ridden music back in the day, but nowadays I tend to listen to bands like The Faceless, with the clean precision blast beats, so grindcore bands like Pig Destroyer no longer get a look in from me. Thats not to say they don't deliver - they certainly have a voracity about them that appeals to the 20 year old I once was, but the days of getting drunk on vodka (or cheap $7 self-refill-in-a-coke-bottle port) and headbanging in the livingroom are long gone. That said, as I had paid ($108 USD or $133 NZD) to see 3 bands, I recorded them on the off chance that they would woo me, and of course for the benefit of fans who have yet to see Pig Destroyer live. I record bands for that reason alone - seeing underground bands like this isn't easy unless you are from their country of origin... most tours would be domestic, and New Zealanders like myself never get to see anyone live ever.... we have to fly to Australia to be in for a chance to see anyone world famous....let alone underdogs like this.They performed well and the sound wasn't too bad for this club. Their sound was better than Napalm Death actually - the drums were better mixed for these guys. I find that the mix can make or break an extreme band - the mix has to be clean enough to discern the notes and instruments played at that speed. Muddy drums and a wall of midrange just sound awful at high speed. I saw Obscura at this club and the mix was better, but honestly, Shibuya Quattro club has the shittiest acoustics. I suggest for any extreme bands to play Shibuya O-West. It's a bigger club so it would need to be a bigger event, but the sound is always great there. Big room, better acoustics. Shibuya Quattro has the acoustic qualitites of a broom closet in a disused public toilet - seems a waste to travel half way around the world to sound worse than a bunch of drunk kids in a garage playing entry level musical instruments. Theres a small gap in the set about 10 minutes in when I lost interest and stopped the camera. Next song was a good one though, so I decided to continue. I sometimes give up on support acts, because recording three bands isn't easy to do. Try holding a camera steady at head height for 10 minutes. Those shoulders start to complain. Now do it for an hour. Legs get stiff. Now do it for 3 hours..... circulation to your legs is gone, backs sore, shoulders, chest and arms are fucked. I'm not complaining though -it's worth it for the chance to record the bands I will probably never see again. But, yeah, if the supports rubbish, I tend to save my back for the better bands. These guys did well though, and at the end of the set I was impressed. I'll have to check out their albums a bit more, and maybe even get the t-shirt :)

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