It was cold, foggy and lame heading into the city on a Friday night, anxiously awaiting to see Impaled.  I wasn’t that familiar with all the bands on the bill, but I was in an accepting mood.  All I had heard of direct support band, Funerot, was that they were breaking up after this tour and that I thought their stuff online was somewhat interesting.  I also was assured that Population Reduction were a cool band, but live they were supposed to be hilarious.  My apologies to Man Among Wolves, because I hadn’t heard them before the show.

Man Among Wolves:

The first thing that ran through my mind when I saw these guys setting up was “grindcore 3 piece.”  I was right.  Immediately, I realized that live grind is not for me.  It’s tough for me to get into my groove as a concert goer when songs are only about 1 minute long, often times less.  With that said though, they were alright.  The lead vocalist mentioned that it was his first show with the band, and I thought he did pretty well.  He also cracked some jokes about his age and how tough it is to be up there.  I thought the whole band were enjoyable, even though grindcore isn’t for me.  If I were a fan of the music, I’d love the band in a live setting.

Population Reduction:

For some reason, the two dudes that make up this band remind me a whole lot of Swashbuckle.  Now, before you recoil in fear at the mention of Swashbuckle, I must say these guys really pulled it off.  They were funny, interesting and in general cool people on stage.  Their music wasn’t my thing, a lot like Man Among Wolves.  They had a few headbangin’ moments though, and their tunes seemed a lot more focused than other grindcore that I’ve heard.  All in all, a fun band live that doesn’t take themselves too seriously, and a good break from metal bands that do so.

Funerot:

Funerot continued the trend of playing fairly short songs, leaving me to be somewhat disappointed when songs would end so abruptly.  I feel like some of the songs they were playing had so much more in them, but I digress.  I thought this four piece from Washington really tore the place up.  There were some shredding solos, and some really heavy riffs being thrown around throughout their set.  They talked only a little to the crowd, introducing themselves and whatnot, and played their brand of thrash to the San Francisco crowd.  I don’t really think the crowd quite “got them,” though, because I looked around to see some blank faces.

Impaled:

Boy, it took foreeeeever for Impaled to set up.  Just when I thought they were done, they’d bring out some lights and two sirens to complete the stage setup.  With that said though, I thought Impaled were fantastic in a live setting.  It was apparent immediately at the beginning of their set that the crowd was there for them.  A pit opened up in seconds, making the already filled venue even more cramped.  One thing I was totally struck by was the lack of Death After Life material in the set.  I personally consider that to be one of the better death metal albums of the decade, and was really sad to see it ignored in the set.  Sound in the venue was somewhat lackluster, but I think that might have been due to me being crammed against the stage.  All throughout though, metal was enjoyed, people headbanged, and Impaled destroyed.  They only had about a forty-five minute set, which left the whole crowd wanting more.  In fact, most people (including myself) stayed, thinking there was going to be an encore.  Alas, there was none.  Nevertheless, Impaled put on a fantastic show, and one that I will gladly see again if the opportunity presents itself.

Man Among Wolves: 6.5/10
Population Reduction: 7/10
Funerot: 7.5/10
Impaled: 8.5/10