At Scout Bar

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All Photos By Larry Petro/Petrofyed Photography

Being the Managing Editor for KNAC.COM is a lot of work. Between managing around 20 part-time writers' assignments, posting all the daily rock news and my writers' pieces, not to mention my own articles (all in my spare time, mind you), things can sometimes fall through the cracks. Such was the case with this review. Between the Thanksgiving holiday, having to catch up on all the news posts and then getting the crud that's been going around everywhere it seems, this review ended up getting posted way later than I like, so my apologies to the band in advance for that.

The week before Thanksgiving, Swedish rockers AMARANTHE swung through Houston, Texas for a stop at Scout Bar as their latest North American headlining tour was winding to a close. This run saw support from none other than BUTCHER BABIES and LULLWATER. Having missed AMARANTHE when they played H-Town earlier in the year on their first headline run of 2015 was a definite bummer for me, especially given the fact that their most recent album, Massive Addictive, made my 2014 year-end Top Ten list at #2, beaten only by the Metal Gods JUDAS PRIEST and Redeemer Of Souls. I would not be denied this time around, even though the show was a), on a Thursday night and b), at the aforementioned Scout Bar, a place, if you've been following my reviews at all, that I rarely go to for shows even on weekends given its distance from my house and the dreaded traffic having to drive through the heart of Houston to get there. As it was, I made it and even showed up early so that I could interview the band prior to the show. Look for the exclusive video interview on KNAC.COM soon!

Besides the tour support mentioned above there were also two local Houston openers as well, APOTHICA and BLACK MARKET TRAGEDY. Both of these bands were female-fronted, making it 4 of the 5 bands that would play on this night. The former was a heavier, more metalcore style act while the latter was more melodic in nature with nice, clean vocals. Both bands played great sets and having never heard of, let alone seen, either, I was quite impressed.

Tour opener LULLWATER was next, the only all-male band on the bill, and their style was almost out of place in the midst of all the heavier bands that played. They were more of a straight-ahead rock sound and it was a nice, brief change of pace in the midst of the heavier rock.

By now the crowd had filled in quite nicely in anticipation for the next act, BUTCHER BABIES. Quite a few of those in attendance were there solely for this band and their twin vocal attack of Heidi Shepherd and Carla Harvey, and the band did not disappoint. Hitting the (rather small) stage with "Monster's Ball", off their brand new album Take It Like A Man, the band was off and bludgeoning. The band rolled through what seemed like a longer than 10 song set with tracks like "Never Go Back", "Igniter" and "Mr. Slowdeath", with Harvey and Shepherd all the while jumping around and carousing the close quarters as much as possible, exhorting the crowd to jump, mosh and basically get crazy. It was a sight to behold as these two beautiful women sang with a vocal style that would make Cookie Monster envious. Even though not my personal favorite when it comes to singing, the spectacle they performed was indeed gratifying. The band closed their nightly set with a cover of NAPOLEON XIV's "They're Coming To Take Me Away" and then "Magnolia Blvd", from 2013's Goliath album before calling it a day. The band made it a point shortly after their departure to head to the merch table to meet with fans, sign autographs and take pics.

Setlist:

• "Monster's Ball"
• "Never Go Back"
• "The Cleansing"
• "Igniter"
• "Jesus Need More Babies For His War Machine"
• "Mr. Slowdeath"
• "Gravemaker"
• "Thrown Away"
• "They're Coming To Take Me Away" (NAPOLEON XIV Cover)
• "Magnolia Blvd"