Kylesa in Allston, MA

To my recollection, it was a cold winter evening when my friend Sam dragged me 40 minutes from my house via public transportation to the Tufts University campus for a house show. I hadn’t heard of any of the bands playing and begrudgingly followed him based purely on his enthusiasm and a “just trust me”. As Kylesa began setting up their wall of amps and giant drums in a living room smaller then most club stages, I noticed Jake Bannon lurking by the merch table. I knew who he was, so I figured that was at least two people whose tastes I trusted vouching for the bands that night. When Kylesa started playing it was like a jet plane taking off. Myself and the 20 other people crammed into the room were pushed against the walls by volume and apparently the cops were just as impressed as I was, showing up 20 minutes or so into the set.

Numerous years and albums later, Kylesa took the stage at Great Scott two nights ago with more instruments then ever. The set was full of tribal percussion, keyboards, two drummers, theramin and most importantly, the duel vocal/guitar attack of Laura and Phillip that has always made this band unique. When their current tour swings through your town, go check it out, trust me.

Photos: Kylesa

Rosetta in Allston, MA

As some of you may recall, sometime around 2004 there was an enormous wave of reverb that washed over the American heavy music scene. Isis we’re on top of the world with their post-oceanic touring, hardcore kids were breaking edge in favor of weed and 180 gram grooves and metal heads were suddenly putting up with whale noises in lieu of shred. A world when Mastodon were still a metal band and a gajillion Neurosis wannabes were popping up in every small town, each with the orange cabs and Les Paul’s for the job, though not necessarily the riffage or creativity.

Well folks, the best way to see what bands are true and what bands are false is to wait till the smoke clears. Isis have broken up, the bandwagon jumpers have moved onto “deathcore” (or thrash, or screamo crunk, or whatever kids are into these days) and yet Rosetta tours on. A band truly passionate about their non-traditional take on metal, these guys are absolutely true and their live show continues to be blissful and worth trekking out in the cold to experience.

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