A shroud of abysmal darkness blanketed the Chicago HoB on December 7th, 2004 as MTV2 hosted it's third Headbangers Ball Tour descending upon the audience caught amid the headliner, Cradle of Filth's snare of  screeching black metal. Co-headlining were Arch Enemy, which is led by mistress of death metal herself, Angela Gossow and harcoresters: Bleeding Through and HIMSA rounded out the third and fourth slots.  This bill did not disappoint, it was loud, visually appealing, dark and a raucous showing of metallic mayhem. The mastermind that booked the show came up with a real winner. Short, plain, and simple, the bill fit like a glove.

The cataclysmic event blasted through the speakers for a 3+ hour trek wreaking auditory destruction, which required earplugs. For those that chose not to use them were seemingly sorry, holding their ailing ears but the hearing impaired took it like real metal troopers. Guessing they took the old adage to heart "If it's too loud you're too old!" The four bands never let up as they fiercely annihilated the obliging fold. Here's how the night panned out:

Lineup: Johnny Pettibone - Vocals; Derek Harn - Bass; Chad Davis - Drums; Matthew Wicklund - Guitar; Kirby Charles Johnson - Guitar

Unfortunately, I missed the majority of HIMSA’s set due to scheduling conflicts with interviewing Cradle's Paul Allender. The one song I was able to catch, my personal favorite, “A Girl In Glass”. It was a perfect opener. The night was young and the venue was not even close to full capacity however, it made no difference if it was less than full, HIMSA played as if it were. Singer, Johnny Pettibone’s vocals were strong and clear. He is very reminiscent of AFI’s frontman, Davey Havok as far as his stage presence goes. This band is very tight as a unit. You can definitely hear Pettibone’s influence with goth music in the lyrics and in the music itself.

A little backlog, Seattle's HIMSA was spawned in 1998 by the sole remaining band's founding member, bassist, Derek Harn. The band also contains former members of Undertow, Nineironspitfire, and Trial. The band's name is from the Sanskrit word, "ahimsa" which means "abstaining from causing hurt or harm". The 'a' was dropped, as Pettibone explains "With more research he found there was an opposite meaning of ahimsa and that was “to cause rage and wrath” so that’s how the name stuck". Pain, rage and wrath are central lyrical themes for this quintet as they musically blend hardcore, metal, punk with a dash of goth thrown in for good measure as mentioned previously. Guitarist, Matt Wicklund, gave me their setlist after the show/photo session with Erika Kristen and the fact that we have an interview with Johnny, click here to read the 2-part interview.

SETLIST: Dominion, A Girl In Glass, Cherum, Destroyer, Rain To The Sound of Panic, When Midnight Breaks

Click here for live photos of HIMSA

Here for new interview with Johnny

Click on thumbnail to enlarge photo

Lineup: Brandan Schieppati - Vocals; Marta Petersen - Keyboards; Scott Danough - Guitar; Derek Youngsma - Drums; Brian Leppke - Guitar; Ryan Wombacher - Bass

Energetic, brutal, and punishing are very good adjectives that would describe BT’s heart stopping set. It was so full of hate and rage it was stifling. Vocalist Brandan Schieppati, got the crowd going in between his summersaults and jumping up and down like Mexican jumping bean. The one thing that can be said about Schieppati is that he is a strong frontman. I do not think the sound engineers at the HOB were ready for this set. The volume was obviously cranked to 11, which made it difficult for me to breathe. The set I am sure would have been much more enjoyable had it not been so cacophonous. Cacophonous to the tune of everything bleeding over one another, no puns intended here. The instrumentation was difficult to discern over the vocals, now this would have to be a first. This was particularly disconcerting because I enjoyed This Is Love, This Is Murderous, so I could not help but say this bummed me out not to be able to fully hear and enjoy their performance the way it was intended.

From what I could make out songs performed were: “Love Lost in a Hail of Gun Fire”, “On Wings of Lead”, and “This Is Love, This Is Murderous”. One of the biggest highlights happened when Johnny Pettibone, HIMSA's lead singer joined in for “Portrait of a Goddess”. Visually it was great, too bad the vocals were indiscernible.

Click here for interview with Brandan.

Here for more photos of the band on strHESS 2005 Tour

Here for photos from The Truth 2006 Tour

Lineup: Angela Gossow - Vocals; Michael Amott - Guitars; Christopher Amott - Guitars; Sharlee D'Angelo - Bass; Daniel Erlandsson - Drums

The screams and growls of German born singer, Angela Gossow, never cease to amaze me. It’s hard to fathom this petite woman can growl more ferociously than a T-Rex and sound damn good while she’s doing it as her vocals compliment the rest of her Swedish band mates. D'Angelo, the Amott brothers (Michael and Christopher) and Daniel Erlandsson, who is following the footsteps of his older brother, Adrian Erlandsson, Cradle’s drumming extraordinaire. They were a sight to behold, for the allotted 30 minutes that was given to them, that is. It seemed like just when it was at it’s best they were exiting stage left.

They began their whirlwind set with the powerhouse song “Enemy Within” which just so happens to be Sharlee’s all time favorite AE song. Find out more about The “Marquis de Suave” himself as he explains his new nickname in our interview with him. To see Arch Enemy command the stage they way they do is nothing short of breath taking. In between Gossow’s immobilizing vocals, D’Angelo’s onslaught on bass, Erlandsson’s fast & brutal attack on the drums and the brothers Amott metallic riffage…they left carnage in the wake as you almost expect to see a war torn stage with shell casings and smoke.

Giving much love to band as all admired Gossow’s immense spirit, the crowd went nuts during the band’s anthem “We Will Rise”. Literally, from beginning to end, there was not one person in the audience that was not either singing along or hurdling horns towards the stage. The floor showed support by giving Angela the pit she requested. Songs were performed songs off their new EP Dead Eyes See No Future and other favorites. Bottom line Arch Enemy leveled the HOB.

SETLIST: Enemy Within, Silent Wars, 1^st Deadly Sin, We Will Rise, Dead Eyes See No Future, Dead Bury Their Dead, Ravenous

Click here for new interview with Michael Amott

Here for photos of Arch Enemy on the 2006 Jägermeister Tour

Here for photos of Arch on their Doomsday headlining tour

Here for more photos of the band on Ozzfest 2005

Here for new Witchery interview with Sharlee

Lineup: Dani Filth (Dani Lloyd Davey) - Vocals; Paul Allender - Lead Guitar; Martin "Foul" Powell - Keyboards; David Pybus - Bass; Adrian Erlandsson - Drums; James McIlroy - Guitar

Hailing from Suffolk, England, the dark knights of black metal, Cradle of Filth put on a mighty set comprised of a wondrous mix between the new and the old. Obviously, the hour long set focused on their latest triumph, Nymphetamine interspersed with Damnation And A Day to earlier releases like Cruelty And The Beast and beyond. Opening the gates with "Satyriasis", the venue erupted sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy. For Nymph, the band chose to go in a new direction and used the amazing and angelic backing vocals of ex-Theatre of Tragedy's vocalist, Liv Kristine however she did not tour with the band. Sara Jezebel Deva assumed backing vocal duties as she has been a staple of Cradle of Filth. The Mistress of Darkness did as best as she could, however her vocals lacked conviction and potency. Under normal circumstances Sara possesses great vocal range that she so proudly displayed the last time I saw her (Ozzfest '03), that's why I am surprised by her performance; during the entire set, she was off key.

It's not hard to understand why CoF’s been around so long. They have honed their skills to an absolute science; of course,  it is latent with blood lust for this vampirous sextet. Dani's vocals have tremendously improved since the early days of Vempire Or Dark Faerytales In Phallustein and honestly since Midian. He is still able to shriek, a sound best described as nails on a chalkboard but his growls have become world class. Not to mention he is now singing which greatly suits him. The musicianship of Cradle has always been stellar; this performance was no less than superior per their enraptured audience. Allender ripped the crowd to shreds with his solos, as well as James' display was equally as impressive. Speaking of impressive, Erlandsson is always a pleasure to watch as he ferociously attacks his drums and cymbals beating them into sweet symphonic submission. The harmonic emanations produced by Martin were a long shot from Foul. It was pure bliss. Asides from the performance, the attention of the restless audience was held by visuals on 2 sizable monitors (located on both sides of the stage) which displayed Allender's work. Learn more about Paul in the interview conducted by Erika Kristen from earlier that evening.

Bevies of dedications were doled out during the course of Cradle's set. "Principle of Evil Made Flesh” dedicated to a member of the Arch Enemy camp, Sharlee D'Angelo where Dani knighted the 6'6" bassist; "The Marquis de Suave" and went on about his sex appeal. The puzzled crowd went nuts...particularly the gaggle. Mid set Dani announced that it was James' birthday. For his present, he petitioned the ladies in the crowd to “Throw their breasts at him”. Since no one obliged, he growled, “No braziers for the birthday boy? What are you people gay or something?” To no avail, not one undergarment got tossed to the guitarist, better luck next year, James! Dani then proceeded to dedicate “Nymphetamine” to the “All the lovely women in the audience”

The Master of Ceremonies was at it again during “Mannequin” when he chided James for getting his blonde mane cut earlier in the day for his special occasion, in which the stylist did a magnificent job. Last on the list, during their encore Dani dedicated “Dusk And Her Embrace” to Johnny Pettibone, lead singer of HIMSA.  During this time our very own Erika Kristen was doing a mini photo shoot with the band since we missed their performance due to Paul's interview. Johnny exclaimed, “Oh my god, he said they weren’t going to play it! I’ve gotta go out there!” He quickly exited the room so he could throw some horns from the balcony to show his appreciation. In essence it was an early birthday present for Pettibone (ironically he and bassist Derek Harn will celebrate their birthday tomorrow on 12/8).

SETLIST: Satyriasis (Intro), Gilded Cunt, Nemesis, The Principle Of Evil Made Flesh, Mannequin, Tortured Soul Asylum, Nymphetamine / Fix, Her Ghost In The Fog, The Forest Whispers My Name, Damnation And A Day (Intro), The Promise of Fever, Cruelty Brought Thee Orchids, From The Cradle To Enslave, **** ENCORE**** Dusk And Her Embrace

Click here for interview with Paul Allender

Here for photos of the band on Ozzfest 2003

Here for interview with Sarah Jezebel Deva

MTV2 HEADBANGERS BALL III 2004 TOUR SCHEDULE:
11/04 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
11/05 - Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory
11/06 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
11/08 - Cincinnati, OH - Bogarts
11/10 - North Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues
11/11 - Tampa, FL - Masquerade
11/12 - Lake Buena Vista, FL - House of Blues
11/13 - Atlanta, GA - Masquerade
11/14 - Winston-Salem, NC - Ziggy's
11/15 - Pittsburgh, PA - The World
11/17 - Kansas City, MO - Beaumont Club
11/18 - Dallas, TX - Gypsy Ballroom
11/19 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
11/20 - Austin, TX - The Back Room
11/22 - Denver, CO - Ogden Theatre
11/24 - Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
11/25 - West Hollywood, CA - House of Blues
11/26 - Anaheim, CA - House of Blues
11/27 - San Diego, CA - Soma
11/30 - Seattle, WA - The Premier
12/01 - Vancouver, BC - Commodore Ballroom
12/03 - Edmonton, AB - Shaw Conference Center
12/04 - Calgary, AB - Currie Army Barracks
12/06 - Minneapolis, MN - The Quest
12/07 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
12/08 - Milwaukee, WI - Eagle's Club
12/10 - Detroit, MI - Harpo's
12/11 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
12/12 - Toronto, ONT - Kool Haus
12/13 - Montreal, QC - The Medley
12/14 - New York, NY - Irving Plaza
12/15 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club

All photos Copyright © 2004. Pictures not to be used without written permission by FourteenG