Homicide Black / Deceiving Eve in Duluth, GA – gig review

October 29, 2016 – Duluth, GA – Sweetwater Bar and Grill

Saturday was a great night for Atlanta. ZZ Top was playing in the city along with Mother’s Finest and Gregg Allman, Blue Oyster Cult was in town and bands such as Filthy Rebel and others were all playing gigs in the vicinity. Myself, I had waited months for Deceiving Eve and it was finally time. They were scheduled to play with two other bands, but My Dying Will decided to not show. I got to experience two great bands though.

HOMICIDE BLACK

First up was Homicide Black from PA. I had never heard of this band, but read a lot of Black Sabbath references online before I went. I definitely like the name.

Homicide Black formed in 2011 and consist of Sean Nestor on guitar and vocals, Jim “Jazz” Byers on drums and Mike “Lobo” Loborec on bass. The Pittsburgh band has a strong Black Sabbath influence (of course). The guys were nice enough to provide me a copy of their newest release, which I will review in a later post.

Before they started the show, a bucket filled with beers was strategically placed on stage. They had two flat screens on stage playing video effects and so the show started with a video, after which they started kicking ass with some good old fashioned rock and roll.

They continued with “Where My Demons Lie”, and did I mention the videos running in the background? An awesome effect. One can only imagine them on a big stage with a big screen in the back.

A real good rock sound and the band really, really knows how to play their instruments. The awesome vocals of Sean complete the package. They continued with a song off of their first release which went over to a Sabbath cover of “Heaven and Hell” that was perfectly performed.

After two more songs they played a song off of their new release, “Lifeless (But Beautiful)”

Followed by another song ending with a kick ass Sabbath jam, then “Church On the Hill” from their first release. Before the last song of the evening, the band gratefully let us know that the last time they were in GA, they had signed a deal but ended up parting ways with the management company. A Starship cover of “Somebody To Love” ended the evening performance for Homicide Black.

All in all, a perfect performance. The name promised good music and the band delivered. I love the Sabbath sound and these three musicians were just awesome. Sean has a great voice and no problem with the higher notes. Jazz made a good impression on drums showing off his kilt for the ladies between songs and Lobo on bass understood his job perfectly. The use of the video on stage is a perfect combination with the music and I hope they don’t wait to long to make their way back down to Atlanta.

You can find them on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/HomicideBlack/ and Twitter @HomicideBlack as well as their homepage http://www.homicideblack.com/index.html where you can buy their three releases as well as, of course, Reverbnation https://www.reverbnation.com/homicideblack

DECEIVING EVE

Next up was the band I was here for, Deceiving Eve, a local band from the McDonough area

Deceiving Eve consists of Reverend Jon on vocals, Jason J-Dawg on bass, Eric (Evil-E) Dietz on drums, Brandon Gray on lead guitar and Brian Grover on rhythm guitar. Their music reminded me of a mix of Mudvayne and Pantera. Their performance started with “Cold Dead Hands” and they had me headbanging from the beginning. What an awesome sound.

They followed with “Guilty” and Reverend Jon was quite a sight on stage as he seemed to fall in a sort of trance while throwing the lyrics at the audience. Then came “Suffocated”.

The band has been experimenting with audio tracks inbetween songs, similar sounding to the start of Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast” and it made for a wonderful creepy atmosphere, I really liked it. They played “Bitter” followed by “We All Fall Apart”

“Salt To the Earth”, which came next, was my favorite song of the evening. A real headbanging masterpiece. I noticed the bass player used a plectrum from time to time, which I do not see very often.

The evening ended with “Indian Corn” and “Dying Fall the Fall”.

This band rocks and the months I had to wait were worth it. I love “brutal in your face rock” and they delivered. Each musician was perfect with his instrument and Rev Jon’s growling vocals were just more than I expected. My only criticism was, during the audio tracks between the songs the band kind of stood around waiting, which I did mention as I was talking to Chris and Jon, but they were already aware and are still working on this new concept with the interludes (turn the stage dark guys). I am sure they will have a hell of a more awesome show once they have figured it out and I know they will.

You can find Deceiving Eve on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Deceiving-Eve-1436114060007385/ and Twitter @DE_ReverendJon and their homepage http://deceivingeve.net/home and of course Reverbnation https://www.reverbnation.com/deceivingeve

SUMMARY

What a great evening with two great kickass bands. I can only emphasize that everyone should see these bands perform. They can deliver and the atmosphere they both created is like none other. I am definitely looking forward to seeing them again.