Saw Anciients, Exhumed, Death last night.
Anciients is simply boring. They're really great musicians, but they can't/don't write hooks. I definitely see the Mastodon comparison now that Zad mentioned it.
Exhumed are a bunch of old dudes and they're playing their old death metal and having a blast, but I thought it was super boring. Needed more breakdowns. I got splattered by green sugar paste at the end and so wasn't happy about that. They do the same shtick that they've probably done for 25 years and that's cool, but not my thing.
Death was awesome. The kid who is filling in for Chuck is fucking amazing. He looks stiff on stage, but he hits the vocals perfectly and is playing is pretty solid. Masdival took over most of the ridiculous moments in tracks, but the kid was solid. DiGorgio, Reinert, Masdival were all having a blast. When did Masdival become Pucciato lite? I had a great time and it was kind of a dream come true insofar as I never imagined hearing those songs live ever. When I was sixteen and first heard Death, I had already been too late for the party but here it was. Pull the Plug for an encore was sick.