Photos and Review by Brian Underhill
Minneapolis was rocking on April 8th. The Fillmore hosted the Rise of The Machine tour on a beautiful Saturday night. A tour years in the making has had anticipation boiling over and inflated hopes for many of the Minnesota faithful. Those hopes did not go to waste, as this was a killer show! The guys in Cultas Black, Twiztid, Dope, Fear Factory, and Static-X filled The Filmore with a full night of headbanging and amazing music. Cultas Black, along with Twiztid, got things started and made sure that energy never died out. The loud music and the sound of the fans blew the roof off in this sold-out show, which definitely wasn't the first, with a majority of the Rise of The Machine dates being sold-out affairs so far. Cultas Black is an east coast band with an image straight out of a horror film. The lead singer, L, is painted in white and black body paint while the other band members wear masks and dark clothing; the frontman is a former member of Motograter, although not an original member. With two badass guitar players, H and T, a heavy-hitting drummer, Z, and a thumping bass player, M, Cultus Black was born. In this formation, they found a way to drop a sick album and create an eerie, fierce, and severe sound with intensified vocals. Off their self-titled debut, Cultus Black, they have songs like Burn, Nevermine, and Beautiful, just to name a few. The sound of mixed instruments going into very catchy riffs with thunderous bass knocks your socks off. They played all of their hits and are a wonderful opener to compliment the rest of the bands on the bill.
Twiztid was the next band to the stage, a hip-hop-rock act that brought a completely different vibe. This dynamic duo consists of Madrox and Monoxide from Detroit. They started with Phlegm in the Windpipe, a track off their 2019 album Generation Nightmare. With about 30 minutes of grooving music, they made sure to keep the energy up and the crowd going crazy throughout their set.
Dope is an OG band in the Nu-Metal genre, and their experience certainly translates to a great performance. It was awesome to see that the band played some of their old stuff and mixed it great with the new stuff. Their set was a decades-spanning affair, going all the way back to the beginning, 25 years ago. This is a band you do not want to miss when they come around.
With a new singer, Milo Silvesto, at the helm for Fear Factory, they made sure to bring their patented metal sound to the stage, assuring fans that this is the Fear Factory they have always loved. They started right off the bat going with a bone shattering rendition of Shock. They went through their hits and even did the song Zero Signal from the soundtrack to Mortal Kombat. The songs with the roaring and blasting drums and guitar riffs were a perfect combo to get the crowd really off their feet. Silvestro showed that he is here to stay, and along with Dino Cazaras, Mike Heller, and Tony Campos, will lead Fear Factory into the future with great music. Coming to the stage last, with intense anticipation and incredible stage presence,
Static-X. Their set was phenomenal! The Industrial Metal mainstays proved that the new iteration of the band is still viable and well received. Helmed by Xer0, the still heavily rumored but unconfirmed to be frontman Edsel Dope, Static-X was on full blast through the night. Opening with Permanence and This is Not, the crowd was rowdy and rearing for more. It was incredible to see fans, new and old, clamor for the band that has gone through so much. When Tomy Campos, Ken Jay, and Koichi Fukuda decided to restart the band, little did they know the great reception they would receive. Xer0 fired on all cylinders, showcasing fantastic vocals on more, well recepted songs like Fix, Destroy All, and Cannibal. They ended the show with a raucous encore, finishing with their most well-known song, Push It. Words cannot describe enough how amazing this show was, so you may just have to see it in person! The Rise of The Machine tour has a select few dates left in Las Vegas and California, so go out and rock out!
Check out more photos from the night below!
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