I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: June 26, 2019] Astronoid

I had not heard of Astronoid until I saw that Frost Giant was playing this show with them.  I actually had tickets to Bad Books this same evening and I posted a poll to see who I should check out live.  Of the 5 replies (including one from someone in Astronoid), 4 said Astronoid.  Sorry Bad Books.

Astronoid are from Boston and they play what has been described as “a buoyant mix of metal, thrash, punk, prog-rock and shoegaze.”  They cite as influences the Norwegian black metal band Emperor and the Danish band Mew (two very different bands indeed).

And all of that is evident in their music and their set.

They played every song from their new album (not in order) and a few from their debut from 2016.  The crowd around me was definitely more excited by the older stuff, but the guy next to me seemed to know every drum part to every song.

Astronoid play loud fast metal.  There is a lot of double bass drum.  In fact, drummer Matt St. John was so powerful that he pretty much drowned everybody else out from where I was standing.

After I took a few steps back (so I wasn’t behind the vocal speakers) I could hear the whole band really well and could really hear Brett Boland’s vocals (and guitar).  I should have backed up even further to fully appreciate how good they sounded, but it was great being close and being able to watch the precision strumming from Boland.

I really like Mew, and I could hear the similarities between Astronoid and Mew as soon as Boland started singing.  His vocals soar above the fray of the band and, impressively, he sings in a slow almost meditative way even while the drums are pounding away.  The juxtaposition of heavy and melody is fantastic.

Guitarist Casey Aylward (see my array of pictures after the setlist).  Was a lot off fun to watch and when he and Boland soloed together, it sounded fantastic.

Bassist Daniel Schwartz was essential to keep the proceedings in time while the ither two were playing some terrific riffs.

By the end even though I thought the drums were still a little overpowering I couldn’t stop watching St. John.

I’ll never know how the Bad Books show turned out, but I think I made the right choice in coming to see Astronoid.  They were fantastic.

SETLIST

1. A New Color *
2. Up and Atom ∇
3. Resin ∇
4. Lost *
5. Fault *
6. Breathe *
7. Beyond the Scope *
8. I Wish I Was There While the Sun Set*
9. Obsolete ∇
10. Water *
11. I Dream in Lines *
12. Ideal World *

∇ = Air (2016)
* = Astronoid (2019)

I really like their merch, too.