The cuts, scrapes, bruises and bloodshed may have overshadowed an otherwise fine performance.
There was no shortage of volatility Sunday night at Xtreme Wheels, the indoor Buffalo skate park where a brutal hardcore show featuring With Honor, Himsa, As I Lay Dying and Sworn Enemy took place.
As the bands ripped through their sets of intense hardcore and metal, the show's many fans showed their appreciation by stage diving, slam dancing in the sprawling mosh pit and enthusiastically screaming along with lead singers.
Immediately after opening act With Honor began playing, a large area in the midst of the crowd exploded into a chaotic circle of full contact dancing known to fans as "the pit." Those brave enough to enter this area furiously swung their limbs rhythmically along with the music, occasionally colliding with each other. With Honor, hailing from Connecticut, played a melodic brand of straight-edge hardcore that set the energetic tone of the night.
The next band to play, Himsa, featured the deep powerful vocals of lead singer John Pettibone, which complemented crushing breakdowns and impressive guitar work. As Himsa played a brand of hardcore metal that Pettibone later described as being influenced by bands such as Integrity and Testament, as well as early Metallica and Slayer, the crowd became increasingly wound up and subsequently more violent.
Midway through the set, a conflict broke out between several people in the pit that resulted in a minor injury and concert security ejecting an individual from the show.
"I'm not sure exactly what happened, but a lot of times there are fights in the pit between the hardcore and metal kids," Pettibone said. He went on to explain, "hardcore kids have a definite style of dancing...and a lot of metal kids just like to run around and bump into each other. A lot of times when you get both of (these groups) together at a show, there's going to be some conflict."
While the conflict in the pit may have momentarily diverted the crowd's attention, it was almost immediately refocused on Himsa.
For most of those in attendance, the highlight of Himsa's set was not the scuffle in the pit, but rather the band's performance, which included songs from their latest album, "Courting Tragedy and Disaster." Pettibone dedicated "Dominion" to the substantial number of straight edge kids at the show.
As soon as singer Tim Lambesis began singing the opener for As I Lay Dying, "94 Hours" from the album "Frail Words Collapse," the show reached a new level of intensity.
His band played a brilliant set of Swedish-influenced metalcore that was close to perfection. Lambesis' intense vocal style melded perfectly with the bands instrumentation to produce a unified sound that was highlighted by exquisite breakdowns that helped to spur on crowd participation. Other songs that stood out song during As I Lay Dying's set were "Elegy" and "Forever," on which Pettibone joined the band briefly for an intense duet.
While there were no visible fights in the pit while As I Lay Dying played, the music spawned an intense environment that caused several minor injuries. Clearly, this band is among the fastest-rising independent label metal acts in the country.
The last band to play was New York City's Sworn Enemy. Veterans of New York's hardcore scene, the band played a set that continued building on the crowd's momentum that began during As I Lay Dying's performance. Sworn Enemy's set consisted of an excellent mixture of old favorites such as "IDS" and "My Misery" as well as newer songs like "My Misery" and "These Tears."
Unfortunately their performance was interrupted several times by fighting within the crowd. Early in their set a chaotic fight broke out in the pit that completely drew the crowd's attention away from the band. While band members kept a sense of humor about the interruption by playing the guitar line for "Eye of the Tiger," they seemed rightfully annoyed.
Toward the end of their performance, Sworn Enemy was interrupted again when concert organizer Shawn Richards was forced to come onstage and warn the crowd against further violence.
"This sort of negative violence is unacceptable and it stands in the way of what we're trying to achieve through these shows...friendly, violent fun," said Richards after the show. The organizer continued by saying, "Any negative vibe from the crowd brings down the positive vibe I'm trying to create by having these shows. I want to provide entertainment and make people happy."
While brief bouts of fighting interrupted the exceptional momentum of the show, it was for the most part a great experience for any fan of hardcore or metal music.
