H2O Live: Devoured By Pestilence, Via Maris and guests

I'm a visual guy.  When I go to a show, a lot of what I'm doing is watching. I've already told you how in love with H2O Live I am right now and with the way I love local shows, I think I'll start to spend a lot of time there.  My second time at H2O, I went to see Devoured by Pestilence, The Rookies, Condemned to Conspiracy, Leviathan and Via Maris.  All of the bands were tight and played good music, but perhaps the lack of experience showed through with some of the bands.  A severe lack of confidence was the only thing that prevented the show from being wonderful throughout, but despite that, there were some great finds at H2O.  Well worth the $5.

Through most of the night, I was not so stoked on the bands who were playing.  They were deathcore or bro-core bands who weren't really original or really my kind of core.  I guess you could say most of the bands were medio-core.  They sounded good but didn't have that energy that I seem to go on about. Via Maris and Devoured By Pestilence really brought it.  Musically, all of the bands were at

least passable.  I wasn't feeling like walking out at any point and sometimes, I really felt like moving.  There were lots of quick riffs, decent breakdowns and the like, and although they sounded alright, nothing really stood out, until Via Maris played.

Via Maris is a band from Central Florida who walk the line between deathcore and bro-core, and while they're a lot like other bands I've heard, they were definitely exciting to watch and listen to.  A lot of underground bands stand in one place and play, but Via Maris know how to work the stage.  They were energetic and charismatic and really entertained.  Via Maris only have one song on their Myspace, but are recording new material that will be out soon and I'm expecting a good release from them.

The other band I really dug at the show was Devoured By Pestilence, also deathcore/bro-core, and just as entertaining.  These young guys certainly are confident on stage, they play a tight, heavy set and although the guitarists and bassist don't move very much, the vocalists do a lot to work the crowd.  Devoured By Pestilence also only have 1 song on their Myspace, and are also recording right now, but they're still playing shows, including a battle of the bands for Summer Slaughter.

A few things I've noticed about younger bands is that guitarists and bassists generally stand still 95% of the time.  It frustrates me but when bands like these hit the stage, the fact that their performance looks as engaging as it sounds really sets them apart from a lot of the other bands that are on the bill.

The great thing about all these bands is that although some of them have some work to do, they're all making progress.  Some are in the studio, others are gigging, but the one thing that these bands all have in common is that they are making progress.  It's a beautiful thing, to see bands that are working hard and changing, and even if some of the bands are better than others, it's worth it to see where each one is at this point in time.  It's a preview of the shape of the scene to come.