2013 New England Metal And Hardcore Festival

On Sat. April 20th, I attended the NEMHF with Opeth as the headliner. The show was amazing with many different genres of metal playing. Of all the bands that played I would have to say I enjoyed Katatonia, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and Opeth the best. Katatonia was the supporting band for Opeth and rocked. The set was a little shorter than I would of liked, but they played an amazing set.  Jonas Renkse looked like Cousin It with his hair in his face, but still sounded great.

The Dillinger Escape Plan have to be one of the most energetic bands out there right now. It was a toss up who was more wild and crazy between singer Greg Puciato and lead guitarist Ben Weinman. Puciato had the roadies earning their money that night knocking down and throwing microphone stands, jumping off amps, climbing anything he could get on and kicking anything in his way. He ended the set in a stunning fashion by throwing the high hat symbol into the bass drum. The energy was just amazing and if you ever have a chance to experience them live, definitely do it!

Dillinger was a hard act to follow, but Opeth pulled it off. Mikael Akerfeldt said from the beginning he's not as energetic as Puciato, but what he lacked in energy he made up in raw talent. The set went from progressive rock to growling death metal. They varied the songs so it wasn't a whole set of one or the other. For those of you who like their more progressive songs, they started the set with "The Devils Orchard" from their Heritage album. He switches back and forth between clean and growling vocals with very little effort. The show was simply amazing!