Concert Review : CELLBOUND
July 2009
This past weekend in my hometown of Pittsburgh Pa. I was very fortunate to spend the evening with the band "Cellbound" from Cleveland Ohio and I must say not only did the band put on a great show,they sort of inadvertently gave me a religous experience
at no extra charge. You see brothers and sisters,Metal as you may know is my life,my blood,my soul and I believe in my heart I was born to be a Metalhead...that is why I am here on this planet.Not to work some Shitty job,not to stress about if my motgage gets payed on time ,not to be a brain surgeon or save kittens from a burning building.....HELL NO! I am a Metalhead,this is what I do and where my passion comes from. Yes...... my wife Paula (who supports me in everything I do),family,good health and my beloved sports teams are all important in my life as well but Heavy Metal is what burns inside of me and what drives me everyday.
Lately I have been a little down with some of the comments I have read from some bands in the scene and the "Attitude" being displayed has left a sour taste in my mouth.Bands who Bitch nonstop about having to travel to a show,about not getting payed what they are worth, about club owners and fans who dont shell out the money they should for their services and most dissapointing to me about this sense of "entitlement"
that some of these bands think they deserve. While I do agree with some of the Bitching,bands do have a right to get payed and without a doubt some club owners can be real assholes to deal with,I think they are sadly missing out on the big picture
of what this music is supposed to be about,I mean this is not Amercian Idol.....is it?
Heavy Metal is ours and ours alone.It belongs to the fans and the artists who create the music. We dont bow down to radio or MT V...agina or the moral majority bible thumpers or the politicians or any-Fucking-Body......this music exists for us.Unfortunatley,some have forgotten that very important message.Thankfully Cellbound came along to redeem my faith in the scene and allowed me to see the other side of the coin, a band that is good at what they do,loves doing what they do and actually feels priveleged to be doing it.
I was chatting before the show with one of the band's vocalist's Chris E. and expressing to her how I hoped the crowd would be bigger by the time her band went on and you know what she said to me......."No worries my friend,we are thrilled to be here and even if only a couple people show up we are here to play for them and to get the word out about our band,we are not here for the big payday" Well I kinda felt like the "Grinch" when his heart grew "Two sizes too big"and busted out of his chest,for the first time in my life I was kinda speechless. Chris then proceeded to introduce me to the rest of the band......
Vocailst: Tom Hertna
Guitarists : Dave Borowske and Shaun Vanek
Bass player : Greg Baise
Drummer : Todd Alley
Now another amazing thing happened when I met these guys,they were all actually nice people,imagine that? No egos,no Bullshit rock star attitude and not one of them bitched about driving 2 1/2 hours through the worst road construction in the history of roads.
It was about this time we all found out the band wasn't going to be playing until after midnight and you know what happened then.....nothing.No one complained at all,we just all sat around and had a few beers checked out all the old nostalgia in the 31st. Pub (kind of the Pittsburgh version of CBGB'S In New York.....R.I.P.) and enjoyed the first two bands of the night "Liquified Guts" (Ok,is that not the coolest name for a band you ever heard?),
and "Samara" who were both very cool bands and put on a good show for the crowd.
I even got to hang with two members of the cellbound roadcrew Flip and Shawn who were great guys and did an excellent job setting up and tearing down all the band's gear which was no easy task given the very cramped quarters. Then it was time for Cellbound to go on and I was so psyched I could hardly contain myself,I mean I felt like it was me going up there to perfrom(Thankfully it wasnt ) I looked at the band and every single one of them had this look in their eyes and no it wasn't hazed from drinking several beers,I'm talking about the "Look". As corny as this sounds it was kinda like in the movie"Rocky" when he had the "Eye of the Tiger"....remember that look,I havent seen that look in a band in a long
time and it blew me away.They had a quiet confidence but not cockiness and even more importantly there was this "Hunger" in their eyes,sadly you dont see alot
of that anymore either. The band took the stage amidst several high fives from me and from that moment on,they owned the club and everyone in it.......this was going to be a blast!
From the opening notes of "Spit me Out"(one of my favorites) I knew I was not to be dissapionted.The band played an assortment of songs from their debut full-length cd "Fallen Angels of Sui Caedere" with "Voices" "Your Saviour"(where Chris E. really shows off her pipes) and another one of my favorite tunes "Forgotten"(ok,who am I kidding,there isn't a bad song on this cd),it was an appropriate time to follow with the title track "Fallen Angels of Sui Caedere" which has a very cool and slightly haunting acoustic intro that allowed the crowd a very brief moment to catch their breath before Tom punched everyone in the face with this line....."Your color blackened,my trust betrayed" and I felt the blood rush to my ears again...yes,break time was officially over.Next up was "Nothing to Die for" which has a brutal drum opening from Todd that I swear loosened some of the fillings in my teeth,the band rips through this song which also has some very cool lyrics as well such as "Promise me everything but I'm still bleeding"....great stuff man. Next up the band played a tune "Stolen Silence" which will be on their new cd out sometime in 2010 It was the first time I heard this song and if it is any indication of what the band will be putting out on the new disc,I cant wait to hear it. The encore of the night was the tune "Dark Groove" which definitley has a dark death metal feel to it and was a perfect way to end the show.
The only regrets I had was that this band was not allowed enough time to do their full set so the crowd missed out on hearing "Slave" and "Admit it" but when you have four bands playing I guess you have to give a little,besides I have the cd and if the rest of you had it as well you could hear these tunes anytime you wanted to so buy the damn cd,ok?
(I did not get to see the headliner of the evening Negative Theory as I had to bail right after Cellbound)
The stage was small,the crowd was maybe 100 people and here was this band playing in enemy territory (Cleveland and Pittsburgh are bitter rivals in Football)
who I dont think really knew what to expect from the crowd but they went up there and kicked everyone's asses,including mine. The energy of the band fed the crowd and vice versa,the way it is supposed to happen.Cellbound played with fire,conviction and professionalism and an intensity that brought the crowd to a screaming sweaty boil.Speaking of intensity,if you look up that word in the dictionary there should be a picture of vocalist Tom Herttna, I mean the Fucking guy looked like he was dancing on a hot plate all night,jumping on and off the stage and interacting with the crowd,even allowing me to sing along (Ok,it wasnt really singing since I sing like two cats having sex in a blender) but I guess you would call it attempted growling,haha. When Tom wasnt beating the Shit out of the crowd,the lovely Chris E. took center stage with her very accomplished vocal range going from screams,to angelic whispers to all out Metal thunder that would have made Rob Halford proud.You know when you hear someone say "Wow,that person has....."IT" and your not really sure what "IT" actually is,well my friends trust me when I say that this lady has "IT".Call it stage presence,charisma,saavy.....whatever you want to say but just know this, the lady knows how to work a crowd and definiltey holds them in the palm of her hand.For some reason I could not help comparing her to the legendary Doro Pesch.If that wasn't enough she was honestly one of the nicest and most down to earth people I have ever met.
*****Nick and Chris of Cellbound****
The rest of the band definitley matched the intensity of Tom and Chris that is for sure.The twin guitar attack of Dave and Shaun kept my ears bleeding through the
entire set.The rhythm section of Todd on drums and Greg on bass without a doubt helped to peel some plaster off the old walls of the Pub this night and most definitley helped me out with my stubborn bowel problem from earlier in the day....thanks guys! At the end of the set I was left dripping with sweat,my ears were pounding,I had no voice left and I knew I was only going to be getting maybe an hour of sleep before getting up for work the next day.....but you know what,I Fucking Loved it and would do it all over again the next time these guys come to town. Once again I am going to sound like a cornball but there was some kind of magic there that night,at least there was for me anyway.This to me is what Heavy Metal is about.It is about passion for your music and the bond that exists between the fans and the band and it is about losing yourself even for just a little while to maybe help
you cope with the stress of everyday life just a little better.It is about loyalty and commitment and performing for the crowd no matter how many are there and it is about the love for this music and the small part we all play in carrying on this magical legacy started by our Gods Black Sabbath almost 40 years ago.Metal has a unique power unlike any other genre of music and I owe a huge thank you to Cellbound for helping me to remember that and for allowing me to be part of this special night. If Cellbound can stay focused and avoid alot of the trappings that seem to tear down alot of bands,they have the talent,they have the drive and most definitley they have the desire to be unstopable for many years to come.
Horns up to you my Cellbound brothers and sister Chris.
Nick Rohm.
