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Arsinic live at The Blank Club in downtown San Jose
The opening band, Arsinic, hit the stage at around ten o' clock and brought in their street level hard edged heavy sound that pumped pretty well off the Blank stage. Featuring bassist / vocalist Jeff Danner, guitarist Kirt Teeple, guitarist Jamie Sedgwick and drummer Eddie Rochette, Arsinic has a real tough feel to them, as if their sound is scraped from the dirtiest streets in the Bay Area and assembled in a formidable fashion. On stage, the band lit into a concise set including "Pain", "Road Rage", "Burial Ground" (one of the band's best), and "Dead End". Arsinic did not waste much time on stage, opting to slam into each song almost directly following the previous tune. Arsinic lays down a pretty mean groove live, layering a deeply buried penchant for pure thrash metal with these loud, contused, bruised, full force riffs that mount their total show. Vocally, this is straight up bark in key motives here, with Danner pretty much spitting his lyrics (and literally for those up front) in that extremely raw and pissed off presence. Their music moves with some good tempo, but their biggest play in each tune is the subtle speed shifts, moving the song from one tempo to another, but never announcing the change. The band opts more for that gradually melted intertwining riff method, sometimes taking the sound to this barraging chop riffs. Arsinic produces a sound that breeds in the gutter, with that complete "from the streets" feel (and matched by Danner's overgrown facial appearance), giving them all kinds of street creed. And they become cool because of it too. Mario Perotti - July 19, 2003 Powerslave.com top ARSINIC | War Machine | Red Eye Records Remember the glory days of metal when bands actually played rippn' solos? Arsinic sure the hell does.Arsinic is like a blast from the past playing 80's thrash metal played in the vein of Slayer or Four of a Kind era DRI. The vocals are raw but still audible, the drums pound out double bass beats and these guitar riffs are the real deal. From the first track "War Machine" to the last track "Worthless" Arsinic's debut CD gets your blood pumping. On the song "Social Drinker" vocalist Jeff Danner changes it up abit and proves that he has some vocal range. Don't worry, these guys don't get all emo/ screamo on you - they stick to the Arsinic formula, which is 100% metal. Add some awesome CD art and packaging and you have yourself an excellent debut CD by this up - and - coming local band. Remy Armstrong - August 10th 2004 ZERO Magazine top top |