Archspire headlined at White Oak Music Hall in Houston, Tx on June 20th, 2024 with support from Aborted, Carcosa, and Alluvia on their Everything’s F#*!@D Tour!
Archspire is a Canadian technical death metal band originating from Vancouver, Canada and was formed in 2007. Their current lineup consists of vocalist Oli Peters (a.k.a. Oliver Rae Aleron), guitarist Dean Lamb, guitarist Tobi Morelli, bassist Jared Smith, and drummer Spencer Prewett.
Oli speaking about how the vocal style was developed for Archspire:
”The first music I remember listening to was Butthole Surfers, Melvins, Beastie Boys. Then junior high I got really into Deftones and Ice Cube. Then high school a friend gave me this disc and it was Crptopsy ‘None So Vile’ and that just completely changed everything for me and how I thought about music. Fast forward about ten years, my friend from high school Spencer gets ahold of me and he asks if I want to be a part of this project he’s starting no called Archspire. He basically said ‘can you go fast’ and I said ‘what do you mean by fast’ and he sent me some Tech N9ne. I said ‘no I can’t do that shit but I’ll do it as close as I can’ and that’s sort of how we developed the vocal style for Archspire.
The tech-death icons did not disappoint as they leveled the venue with a musical equivalent to a .50 caliber machine gun. The band was introduced as the fastest band in the world and they just might be! It was really impressive how well they were able to translate their studio sound to a live performance.
They unleashed a borderline schizophrenic onslaught of blast beats, breakdowns, riffs, and high energy. Immediately setting themselves apart in the genre as live performers. They don’t take themselves too seriously at all. Between wearing casual clothes on stage, engaging in witty banter between songs, blowing bubbles on stage, playing twister in the crowd, having shoey contests, breaking out Christmas trees, dawning dildos on guitars, and passing out birthday bananas to the crowd.
Not only was it a masterclass in technical performance, but it was also a nice comical show as well. This was definitely a one of a kind experience. Stay tech!
Oli doing a comedy skit between songs:
“Do you watch too much porn? You better cut that shit out. Porn fucked me up and I’ll tell you how. The first porno I ever saw was on a beach whenever I was a little kid. It was a Hustler magazine. The centerfold was called ‘The Yolker’ and it was a woman cracking eggs with her pussy. I’m not going to lie to you guys, it kind of ruined pussy for me a little bit. It made me love eggs! Is that weird? I fucking love eggs. Straight up. All through high school my friends would always be like ‘let’s go out and try to score some pussy’ and I would be like I’m kind of good on that shit. Have you heard of this new thing called brunch though? That shit is fucking sick! Can I get a round of applause for brunch please. Hell yeah!”
Oli breaking out Twister for the crowd:
“I want to kick things up a little bit, alright. Let’s ahead and kick things up. I want to do something super fucking brutal. Let’s split this crowd in half. You know what fucking time it is? That is right. It’s motherfucking Twister time! Alright left hand green. Hell yeah. Right foot green. Left hand yellow. Oh shit! Wall of death on the count of three. Fucking collide!”
Oli showcasing the prize for the shoey contest:
“You guys want to see what he won? Well Tobi is actually an art major. Our guitar player right over there. He makes custom t-shirts every city we go to. So let’s see what he made today. Oh it’s a Fuck-ee’s shirt! Hell yeah. It’s got Buc-ee fucking an astronaut. The astronaut is saying ‘Houston don’t tell my wife’. “
Oli expressing gratitude towards the other bands on the tour:
“I do want to just quickly thank Alluvial and Carcosa for immediately agreeing to do this tour with us. That was very nice of them. We needed a good direct support band to fill some rooms up. So we really wanted Aborted because everyone likes Aborted. Unfortunately, they said no. It was brutal. They said no to us. They probably think we’re stupid because we do shit like put Christmas trees on stage. They said no. We emailed them. They shot it down. Then we got out management to email them. They still shot us down. We didn’t know what to do. Finally we’re like ‘what if we suck all your dicks’ and they decided to do the tour. Give it up for Aborted!”
“You guys have been excellent. Thank you so much!”
Setlist:
- Bleed the Future
- Abandon the Linear
- Reverie on the Onyx
- Acrid Canon
- Remote Tumour Seeker
- Golden Mouth of Ruin (Twister Time)
- Drain of Incarnation
- Involuntary Doppelgänger
- Drone Corpse Aviator
Aborted is a Belgian death metal band originating from Waregem, Belgium and was formed in 1995. Their current lineup consists of vocalist Sven “Svencho” de Caluwe, guitarist Ian Jekelis, guitarist Dan Konradsson, bassist Stefano Franceschini, and drummer Ken Bedene.
The Belgian death metal legends Aborted have been steadily crushing it since 1995 unleashing their unrelenting insanity upon the world. This style of fast death-grind is always remarkable to see in person as they flow through their entire set without skipping a beat. Between the nonstop blast beats and inhuman vocals you’re really in for a treat. This band also has an amazing sense of humor and take a step back from being menacing to really make you feel comfortable.
Sven exclaimed:
It’s a pleasure to be playing live with not only such good bands, but good human beings. Make some fucking noise! (Crowd applauds) Let me hear it for our friends in Alluvial! (Crowd applauds) And of course, Carcosa! (Crowd applauds) You guys ready for the fastest band in the world? (Crowd applauds) I’m not sure what it is they’re fastest at. I’m a little confused. Is it driving? I don’t know, cumming? Or would it be playing the most insane fucking fast crazy fucking shit on the planet right? Make some noise for Archspire! This next song goes out to you all you guys because this next song is about Texas. About a little family called Hewitts! The saw is law and your meat is as good as any. When this starts I want to see the biggest fucking circle pit this place can give me!
Their latest record, Vault of Horrors, references classic horror icons and movies such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, and The Mist.
Sven introducing Insect Politics:
”This ain’t a death metal show without a wall of death right? Let’s go! Alright this next ones off the new album and when it starts you know what to do. Listen up, my favorite bloody horror film of all time ‘White Chicks’ with the Wayans brothers. I still get nightmares. This one is called ‘Insect Politics’!”
They concluded their set with a medley of “Threading on Vermilion Deception / The Saw and the Carnage Done“. These were popular tracks from their inception back in the early 2000’s.
Setlist:
- Retrogore
- Bathos
- Dreadbringer
- Condemned to Rot
- Brotherhood of Sleep
- Death Cult
- Insect Politics
- Threading on Vermilion Deception / The Saw and the Carnage Done
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