All That Remains has been touring nonstop and riding the momentum of commercial success with albums like For We Are Many and last year’s A War You Can Not Win. Returning to Syracuse for the second time this year for Nightmare Before Xmas, they brought in Chicago’s Soil, who reunited last year with original singer and ex-Drowning Pool singer, Ryan McCombs. 95X brought in local acts Era, from Oswego and Cry To The Blind, from Rochester, to complete the entire act. The show was at the Wescott Theater, which may be the venue of choice for metal acts in Syracuse.
Dealing with absolutely shitty weather for a December 14 night, the Metal Fans and 95X listeners proved that shitty weather does not stop anyone from catching a great show. It was a packed house.
Era opened the act. I don’t know a whole lot about them; this was the first show they played with their new lineup. They opened for Hatebreed back in December of last year. They were more metal oriented than the other acts. I would say they were a combo of Slayer and Clutch. But they were solid and the crowd was very receptive to them.
Cry To The Blind stormed the stage for their 20 minute set. They have a more hard rock flavor to them and VERY energetic. When it’s ball shrinking cold outside, it’s nice to have a band jumping around getting the crowd pumped up and having a great time.
Soil, who was part of the tour, played a 30 minute set. Keep in mind, Soil played Syracuse over the summer as well which I was in attendance for. The first time they played, they actually played a couple of Drowning Pool songs. This time, they didn’t. Frontman Ryan McCombs made it clear to the crowd that he wasn’t feeling well. But that didn’t stop him from giving a stellar performance. Opening with “Loaded Gun,” then the rest of their set consisted songs off their 2001 CD Scars. And of course, they closed with “Halo”, with McCombs going into the middle of the crowd to get everyone into. Hopefully Soil sticks around and comes back soon. The rest of the band actually hung at the merch table after their set which is always nice to see.
All That Remains made quite the entrance. With House of Pain’s “Jump Around” playing over the PA before they got on stage and opened with “Down” and “Stand Up.” I’ve seen All That Remains several times. The first time I saw them was back at Ozzfest in 2006; at the time they were relatively unknown. Talk about progression (in a good way). All That Remains did a good job of blending their heavier songs with their mellower hits and ballads. Most of the Ballads were played in the middle of their set while their heavier stuff opened and ended their set. One thing I was really impressed with in their overall performance is Jeanne Sagan’s backing vocals to harmonize with Phil. And I personally think Phil is one of the best singers that can go from a death metal growl to singing clearly. That’s always been the band’s strength. Also this was the 3rd to last show of the tour and no one seemed worn down at all. Some of the other songs that were played were “For Now We Tremble”, “Dead Wrong”, of course “What If I Was Nothing”, and their 2 closers were “Hold On” and “2 Weeks”, rounding out about a one hour set. No encore. The crowd went nuts. A good-sized mosh pit was in the middle of the entire venue. Overall fantastic show. I would imagine All That Remains will return next year.
According to ThePrp.com, All That Remains tour bus was in an accident on the NYS Thruway on the way to their next show at Clifton Park. Luckily, no one was hurt. It didn’t help the roads were shitty before and after the show. Also I would imagine we will start seeing more metal shows at the Wescott than the Lost.
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