Last Friday night, Jaxx may have been the best place to find the highest concentration of absurdly talented musicians in the D.C. area. Florida legends Atheist, featuring a brand-new guitarist who made his debut at Maryland Deathfest, headlined a show full of technical metal bands and enough fast riffage, blast beats and time changes to make any metal nerd happy. Atheist was great, and visibly looser and more confident than their somewhat tentative show at MDF back in May. Their setlist drew from numerous albums in the band’s discography, and other than an unfortunately-timed sound issue that marred “Mother Man” (from the classic Unquestionable Presence), the band was tight and seemingly flawless.

More words and images after the jump; an excessive number of photos can be found at the full gallery.

Read More “Photos: Atheist @ Jaxx” »

Sweden’s The Haunted made me a new fan on Wednesday night at Jaxx. I had long planned on going to this show despite having no familiarity with this band. A few months ago, the lineup included three other metal bands of which I am a big fan: Nachtmystium, Kylesa and Intronaut. Incredibly, all three of these bands had to drop off the tour for various reasons. I can’t imagine how this made the guys in The Haunted feel; judging from the sparse turnout at Jaxx, all this attrition must have put a huge dent in ticket sales.

That said, the 50 or so fans who were there made up for their small numbers with their passion. If you never thought death metal could inspire sing-alongs, you haven’t been to Jaxx lately, where it’s not uncommon for charismatic frontmen like The Haunted’s Peter Dolving to lean into the crowd and have any number of fans screaming the words into the mic with him. Smiles all around onstage: these guys were having a good time, and it showed.

Photos after the jump and here in this gallery.

Read More “Photos: The Haunted @ Jaxx” »