Abominable Sno-Tour 2010 Review
By: Nick Habisch
February 14th, 2010 was an enjoyable day. Not because of some shoddy dinner with a girl or what not, but because I spent my Valentines Day at the Vault in Buffalo, Minnesota watching a few of my favorite bands. The Abominable Sno-tour came to the Vault and featured Lionheart, Shai Hulud, The Great Commission, War of Ages and Living Sacrifice. I arrived at the Vault around 5 o’clock, just in time to catch the end of Your Memorial’s (a local hardcore band) set. They have improved quite a bit from the last time I say them, which was a few years ago. Lead guitar work is now present and gives a nice sense of technicality to offset the monotony that exists in some of their songs. Up next was Lionheart, a hardcore band that I had never actually heard of before. Needless to say, I was not impressed at all with their set. They basically turned the entire Vault, a small venue in itself, into one big hardcore dance floor. Now this normally wouldn’t bother me if the band was actually good, but Lionheart was far from it. Relying on a formula of pure “chug-chug” and telling the crowd to “mess this place up” they were not of any interest to me at all.
Next up was supposed to be The Great Commission, but because of a van accident they were unable to make it to the venue. This meant that Shai Hulud was up next. They were much better then Lionheart, and played a more melodic style of hardcore, utilizing actual guitar riffs and such. Although I am not a fan of the hardcore style, I enjoyed their set even though I was not familiar with their stuff. Next up was War of Ages. Having seen them about 4 or 5 times, and being a big fan, I was excited and knew they would not disappoint. The band was energetic, obviously having fun, and spot on with their music, and put on a good set. Playing a few tracks form their newest album Arise and Conquer, a few from their self-titled, and notably only one track from Pride of The Wicked, they had a good variety of songs. They also debuted a new track entitled Eternal, from their future album release. They had good crowd interaction and overall were as enjoyable as the first time I saw them.
The main attraction of the night however was Living Sacrifice. Being called one of the pioneers of Christian metal, and coming back from a long hiatus, they were back, and they were ready to rock. They played a long set, composed of their popular songs from a variety of albums including Symbiotic, In Christ, and Reborn Empowered among others. They also played 2 tracks off their newest album, which is in my opinion, the best work they have ever done. They were into the show, and even without their lead guitarist, they still managed to perform at a high level. They were one of the better live bands I have seen, and I recommend that all you metal fans see them if you can.
