One of the more competent acts was California’s Light This City, who got on my radar with their rough but energetic debut, The Hero Cycle back in 2003. Laura Nichol fronted the band with venom and ferocity and the band made no bones about their At The Gates influence, cemented by a cover of “Cold” from Slaughter the of the Soul. They released two more albums in 2005s Remains of the Gods and 2006s Facing the Thousand and in 2008 they released their swansong, Stormchaser, and called it quits with little or no fanfare. Well, a decade latter the largely original-ish line up from across the bands discography has renunited and released a scorcher of an album that almost puts their peers from then and now to shame.

Well, the band nor Laura Nichol has lost no steam as Terminal Bloom shreds from start to finish like its 2006. The crisp, tight Zach Ohren production is perfect allowing every shredding, tight as fuck melodic riff and lead and Ms Nichol’s potent screams to leap from the record with a confident intensity. Riff wise, this is the very epitome of the melodic death metal genre, as Steve Hoffman and Ryan Hansen deliver some brilliant riffs and leads  that are searingly melodic (Just check out the dancing riff of “The Wake of my Will”) and still rooted heavily in Slaughter of the Soul. In fact, they sound more like classic At The Gates now than At The Gates do now (listen to “Neverlanding”).

Other than brief interlude “Death Downwind” , the 10 tracks are so tightly wound yet, addictively melodic it’s hard to pick out stand outs. That said, I kept coming back to the compact, furious infectiousness of straight up gallopers like “Dormant Tide”, “Extinguished”, “Neverlanding” and closer “Wildheart” over and over again. But more restrained, developed but still excellent numbers like opener “Reality in Disarray”, the title track and first single “A Grotesque Reflection” are still incredibly satisfying.

Terminable Bloom will probably be one of the more underrated and under the radar. yet satisfying reunions of the last couple of years. Which is a shame as Light This City came up when  melodic death metal was in a bit of a tired state and got a little swept under the rug with then saturated metalcore scene but still delivered 4 strong albums. And now their 5th album still might get overlooked as both genres have had their day, in spite of being an incredibly strong release.

Now, I’ll admit even with its foreboding horns to start the opening title track, the first few moments of the album hardly impressed me as “Stormchaser” and the intense but relatively forgetful “Fragile Heroes’ hardly signal a band calling it quits at their peek. However, on the third track (“The Anhedonia Epidemic”) and stunning fourth track (“Beginning with Release”), Light This City show why they are so good, as some incredible melody creeps into the razor sharp thrash attack and from there, the album just steamrolls into excellence, and with a closing trio of tracks that makes Stormchaser a more than apt parting gift.

With a typically tight Zach Ohren production and Nichol’s feral rasps,  tracks like “Firehaven” (featuring Testament’s Chuck Billy), rip roaring “The Collector. Part 1: Muse”, as well as the aforementioned 2nd and 3rd tracks as well as the somber “Wake Me At Sunset” and stellar closing three tracks (“Bridge To Cross”, “Sand And Snow” and “Self Portrait”) rip and shred with a sense of melody and craftsmanship that only The Black Dahlia Murder seem to have perfected with the same level of consistency and quality on this side of the pond. Oh and those last three tracks? Good lord, so fucking good; from the urgent canter of “Bridge to Cross”, killer opening flourish of “Sand and Snow” and perfectly executed furious end note of “Self Portrait”, Stormchaser ends and album and career on a high note.

I have to wonder how bad things were on the road for the band to suddenly announce thier break up after recording such a great album, but I have to give Light This City credit for going out on such a positive album and on thier terms, and to know when to call it quits. Either way, I wish the members of Light This City the best of luck in their future endeavors and look forward to hearing whatever they involve themselves with in the future

LIGHT THIS CITY – STORMCHASER

1) Stormchaser

2) Fragile Heroes

3) The Anhedonia Epidemic

4) Beginning With Release

5) Firehaven

6) The Collector. Part 1: Muse

7) The Collector. Part 2: Donor

8) A Desperate Resolution

9) Wake Me At Sunset

10) Bridge To Cross

11) Sand And Snow

12) Self Portrait

“Looking back on the writing and recording of ‘Stormchaser,’ I have to say it couldn’t have been a more amazing experience,” drummer Ben Murray says. “Rehearsing every day for two months to write this record was grueling, but rewarding in the end. Working with producer Zack Ohren was awesome as usual, and he definitely got the best performances out of all of us. Having Chuck Billy do vocals was a surreal honor, and having our friend John from the Funeral Pyre contribute his vocals was also an awesome addition. Both tracks, ‘Firehaven’ (with Chuck) and ‘Collector Part 2: Donor’ (with John) came out heavy as hell thanks to those guys.”

“We also hope you guys dig the artwork by none other than Necrolord [Kristian Wåhlin] himself (At the Gates, Dissection, Emperor),” Murray continues. “This time around, we wanted him to conjure up an epic image of the idea behind the record title, which we think he nailed perfectly! Thanks again to him for hammering that out for us.”

‘Stormchaser’ is the follow-up to 2006’s ‘Facing The Thousand,’ which took the band on the road Death Angel, labelmates All That Remains, the Death By Decibels tour with Vader and Malevolent Creation, HORSE the band, Edguy, Into Eternity, The Funeral Pyre and Antagonist, among others, over the course of nearly two years. Three in-studio updates from LIGHT THIS CITY’s time recording ‘Stormchaser’ are available here in three parts: part 1, part 2, part 3, while the video for “The Unwelcome Savior” from ‘Facing The Thousand’ is available here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H4SVRApGhM).

The two hour drive from my home to Pop’s in St. Louis (Sauget, Ill to be exact – right across the river from Downtown) is always a long one, but I’m more than willing to make it to see a good show. Death Angel, God Forbid, Arsis and Light This City is certainly a good one, as I’m a fan of all four, ranging from casual fan (Light This City) to all out fanatic (Death Angel).

We walked in the venue to find a local band opening the show by the name of Soul Descenders. I had heard of them before, but until now had never gotten a chance to see them perform. I must say they weren’t that bad, playing thrash that seemed to border on the classic Bay Area style, while also borrowing a bit from newer bands ala Sanctity or Wolfpack Unleashed. These kids were young – I’d say between the ages of 17-21, and were full of energy, running about the stage, headbanging, windmilling, and obviously loving every minute of it. The vocalist/guitarist pulled a few jump and kick-mid-air moves along with some other clichéd moves that made me laugh out loud. Both guitarists shared lead duties, soloing and shredding though about 7 songs. All in all, I enjoyed their performance and their music, though some of the clean vocals need some work, coming off at times as almost whiney, but that’s a minor complaint on their otherwise good show.

Next up was Light This City, the female fronted thrash/death band from San Francisco. I was first exposed to the band with 2006’s Facing the Thousand, and album that registered pretty high on that years best of list for me, so I was eager to check them out live. The biggest thing for me coming into their performance was to see if the female front was genuine, or if it felt like a gimmick ala In This Moment – I’m glad to say it’s the former. Laura Nichol is the real deal, screaming and growling (no clean vocals) her way through songs as well as any man, and putting on a top notch performance without flaunting the fact that she is indeed female. Their set was, from what I could tell, comprised of songs from 2005’s Remains of the Gods and their most recent, Facing the Thousand as well as a new song from their forthcoming album this fall, and all were finely executed slabs of death/thrash with hints of melody here and there. I have no real complaints to report – their sound was good enough, there were no fuck ups to speak of, and they were highly energetic – what more could you ask for out of a live show?

Arsis – I had just seen them a month prior in Columbia, MO on tour with The Black Dahlia Murder, and they played a good set, though their sound guy kind of ruined it, jacking the drums and vocals through the roof, leaving the guitars and bass buried in the middle – I was hoping this kink would be worked out here so I could thoroughly enjoy their set as they’ve been my favorite thus far this year with new release We Are the Nightmare.

Though just days before the show, it was announced that drummer Darren Cesca was out, and Alex Tomlin was in. To make matters worse, St. Louis was to be his first show with the band, so I was praying he didn’t fuck things up. Much to my dismay, he did.

The first three songs, all from older releases (“The Face of My Innocence” being the only one I can identify by name), seemed to be fine, with the exception of James Malone being like a statue up there, where as in Columbia, he did plenty of headbanging when not on vocals. It was at this point he explained he had been suffering from a killer toothache and had just had it pulled – I gotta give him props for soldiering it out as toothaches are no joke, especially when doing vocals. After this, they launched into “Sightless Wisdom”, and at first things went fine, but then Malone skipped the second verse lyrics, and all the lyrics at the end of the song – no biggie really given his condition, but the drums also seemed to be off a bit. Then came the title track from We Are the Nightmare, and things got real bad, real quick. Malone skipped all vocals, Tomlin butchered the drum parts early on, and struggled to get back on track while both Malone and other guitarist Ryan Knight threw a couple glances his way. About mid way through, Malone took off his guitar, set it down, tied his hair back, put on his glasses and just glared at Tomlin. At this point, I had had quite enough, so I made a bee-line for the bar then outside to smoke. Shortly after coming outside, the person I was there with came out to inform me they ended the set after that – good thing too, as that was probably the worst thing I had ever witnessed on stage. I hope that next time they come around, they’ll have their shit together and give me a vicious performance.

A couple cigarettes later, I headed back inside for God Forbid and got a surprise – Death Angel was coming on and God Forbid would be closing the show. I had forgotten that this was a co-headlining thing and that this might happen – oh well, I like both bands quite a bit and I was certainly ready to see the mighty Death Angel.

The Bay Area legends came on stage with a fire, kicking things off with monster lead-off track “Lord of Hate” from new album Killing Season, and continued kicking ass through their whole set. Frontman Mark Osegueda made it very clear at every chance he got to tell us how happy they were to be there, and how thankful they were for each of us being there, and it showed in each and every song. The whole performance ace and 100% pro – one of the best shows I’ve ever seen by any band – full of energy and enthusiasm, regardless of there only being 200 or so people in attendance. Most of the material they played was from Killing Season, but they also treated us to “Seemingly Endless Time” from the seminal Act III, “Voracious Souls” and “Kill as One” from the equally seminal debut The Ultra-Violence, one song I couldn’t quite identify from either Frolic Through the Park or The Art of Dying (I’m leaning towards the former though), and closed the show out with “Thrown to the Wolves” from 2004’s “comeback” album The Art of Dying. A most stellar performance that inspired me to lose my voice and headbang until it hurt – something that no band I’ve seen live has done in the past couple years. My hats off to them and can’t wait to see them again.

Still riding the high Death Angel left me with, God Forbid came on stage with a fury almost on par with the former band and I was digging it. The first couple songs went smoothly, but during the third, some jackass that I had noticed had been sitting the entire show until now was in the pit – not a bad thing, but then being a jackass, he had to start fucking with the people on the edge of the pit who were just trying to watch the show, such as myself, knocking half of my fresh $5 Guinness on the floor. This brought me down pretty quick, as my eyes were fixated on him instead of the band, until moments later he disappeared. Shortly thereafter, he reappeared and ran into me again – by now I had finished my beer and sent him flying the other way, only to watch him start shit with other people. By now, an employee had come to clean up my spilled beer and we had informed him to keep an eye out for this guy – 10 minutes later, they were wrestling him to the floor and throwing him out – this is what you get for being a drunken retard at a show.

Back to God Forbid. I was stilled pissed and on somewhat of a down note and couldn’t quite into their set as I was before, though I must say this being the fourth time I’d seen them live, they put on a show equally as good as each time before. It was solid as they ripped through songs primarily from 2004’s Gone Forever and 2005’s IV: Constitution of Treason with high energy and intensity, but also treated us to a new tune from their forthcoming album due this summer/fall, and one or two older songs that I’m not quite so familiar with.

All in all, it was a show with several ups and downs. Soul Descenders, Light This City and Death Angel on the upside, Arsis’ new drummer and my spilled Guinness being on the downside. I had expected this to be my favorite show of the year thus far, and pretty much got what I expected save those couple bad moments. I highly urge all who get a chance to see Death Angel – it’ll be well worth the ticket price.

San Francisco’s melodic death metallers Light This City have issued the second of four in-studio video updates while the band is recording its fourth record, tentatively scheduled for a fall 2008 release via Prosthetic Records. The clip, featuring guitar and bass recording snippets, is available at the band’s YouTube page by clicking here, while the first clip is also still available here.

“We have been in the studio in Oakland, CA with engineer Zack Ohren tracking the follow up to Facing the Thousand, which should see a release date in September,” said drummer Ben Murray. “We couldn’t be more excited on how these new songs have turned out, and we are SURE that you guys will love them. Stay tuned for more info on the album as well as more video journals as the recording progresses.”

Light This City was also recently added to the In Thrash We Trust tour alongside Death Angel, God Forbid, and Soilent Green, along with two shows alongside Testament, which will start May 1 in Michigan and conclude June 11 in New York City, criss-crossing the United States and parts of Canada along the way.

Light This City on tour
4/07 Redwood City, CA – The Oddstad Gallery (with The Swellers)
4/20 Bakersfield, CA – The Dome (420 Fest with Dragonlord, Animosity, more)

In Thrash We Trust Tour with Death Angel, God Forbid, Soilent Green
5/01 Flint, MI The – Machine Shop (with Testament)
5/02 Cleveland, OH – Peabody’s (with Testament)
5/03 Allentown, PA – Crocodile Rock
5/04 Long Island, NY – Crazy Donkey
5/06 Albany, NY – Northern Lights
5/07 Baltimore, MD – Sonar
5/08 Springfield, VA – Jaxx
5/09 Raleigh, NC – Volume 11
5/10 Virginia Beach, VA – Stepping Out
5/13 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
5/14 Seminole, FL – Boomerz
5/16 Houston, TX – TBA
5/17 Ft. Worth, TX – Ridglea Theatre
5/18 San Antonio, TX – Rock Bottom
5/19 El Paso, TX – Chic’s
5/21 Farmington, NM – Gator’s
5/23 Las Vegas, NV – Jillian’s
5/24 Los Angeles, CA – House of Blues
5/25 San Francisco, CA – Slim’s
5/26 Bakersfield, CA – The Dome
5/27 Modesto, CA – Fat Cats
5/28 Sacramento, CA – The Boardwalk
5/30 Portland, OR – Hawthorne Theatre
5/31 Seattle, WA – Studio Seven
6/02 Denver, CO – Marquis Theatre
6/04 St. Louis, MO – Pop’s
6/05 Columbus, OH – Alrosa Villa
6/06 Mokena, IL – The Pearl Room
6/07 Detroit, MI – Harpo’s
6/08 Toronto, ON – Opera House
6/09 Montreal, QBC – Foufounes
6/10 Quebec City, QBC – L’anti
6/11 New York, NY – BB Kings

Starting with the orchestral build and steady percussive climb of the opening title track, you get the sense ‘something’ special is about to occur; and it does. The track literally explodes at the 2:40 mark with reckless, yet harmonic abandon. “Cradle for a King” hacks and slashes with tangible Darkest Hour pacing and a fine solo a the track’s end. The molotov cocktail of melody and riveting intensity continues for “The Unwelcome Savior” and the searing start of “Exile” which deftly shifts into some really nice melodies. Just when you think and feel that Facing the Thousand is gearing up for a mid-album reprieve, “Maddening Swarm”, keeps the pedal to the metal and “City of the Snares” displays just how good this band really is with just a brilliant stop/start riff and melody line that’s to die for.

Honestly , there is not a weak track on the album as even “The Eagle”, “Fear of Heights”, “Tracks of Decay” and “Like Every Song’s Our Last”, which could easy follow the album’s amazing first few tracks with somewhat of a letdown, but finish out the album with consistent energetic intensity and pin point riff delivery and drumming and makes Facing the Thousand an improvement over the impressive Remains of the Gods, it self a damn good album.

The abrupt ending of Facing the Thousand, results in a heavy breath finally being let out, as if ending some adrenalin fueled, white knuckle carnival ride. And like me, you will get right back in line for another go…..and another …. and another…