4WITHOUT, Sinister Fate, Proudest Angel, Evil Engine. 4-30-16

Post # 328

On Saturday April 30th, at Smiler Coogan's on Chicago's northwest side, 4 local Chicago bands got together to put on a kick-ass metal show (with a hint of punk!) Presented by Rebel Radio in conjunction with the venue, the 4 band line-up easily caught my eye, since I had previously reviewed works from members of 3 of the 4 bands, and only missed seeing the 4th band previously because I was out-of-state during Dame-Nation 2012. This was an excellent opportunity to see 4 bands at once, all of which I had interest in covering...

The opening act of the evening was Evil Engine, a 4-piece punk-rock act who are busy recording their debut EP. Their line-up features 2 members from Deadmanswake, previously reviewed here at www.happyheadbanger.com and a former Independent Band of the Year from 2010!

Their set was intense; packed with fast tempos and kinetic stage-presence in every song, they got me headbanging early! At one point their bassist even jumped into the crowd and kept on playing... They played many songs from this forthcoming EP, my personal favorite being 'Father', a demo track for which they made a lyric video previously this year. Another highlight for me was their cover of the Ramones' 'Pet Sematary', inspired by the Stephen King novel and film.

Next was Proudest Angel, a band featuring 2 members from Sutured Psyche, another band I've reviewed here before.

Although they are working on new material to be released soon, they are actually a re-tooled version of the band, and had recorded a couple EP's from 2000-2002. Their set featured mostly material from those early recordings plus a couple new ones. Their best number in my opinion was 'Whole Again', also available to hear in a youtube video.

Then came the dark and demented Sinister Fate! I had seen this band once before, and was looking forward to see what they had in store. They are known for incorporating a DIY-pyrotechnic display into their live sets, and this show didn't disappoint! They had two stage-dancers/performers who added a visually impressive spark-thrower display...

Their traditional metal/thrash metal style was easy to bang your head to, and they of course closed with their anthem to their favorite curse word: 'I Love to Say Fuck!', a cover of The Murderdolls song.
(**It should be noted that vocalist Dave Bates had been running a fever of 103 earlier in the day. In addition to delivering a great performance on vocals here with Sinister Fate, he ALSO played drums for Proudest Angel in the previous set! That is some true, heavy-metal style dedication to the fans of live music. Much respect to ya Dave!)

The last band of the evening was 4Without, a female-fronted metal band with roots from the Czech Republic. As I mentioned previously, they were part of the line-up for Chicago's female-fronted-metal fest Dame-Nation, a concert series I often covered here, however this was the first time I got to see them live.

They delivered numerous tracks from their own self-produced CD, Line of Love. Their style is melodic metal, or heavy-hard rock. One highlight from their set was 'Move On'. Click the song title to see their youtube video for it!

Setlists for this night's performance from each band are as follows...

Evil Engine Setlist:
Father
Degeneration
Resistance
My God's Bigger Than Your God
Radio
Pet Sematary
Egression
Ugly Public

Proudest Angel Setlist:
Shoulda Known Better
Civilly Feral
Anathema
Ex Chrysalis
Brink
Starlight
Canto Dolor
I Like It Rough (Lady Gaga Cover)
Whole Again
We Had Fun

Sinister Fate Setlist:
Trust/Obey
Decay
Sympathy From the Devil
Hellbound
Zombie Bomb
S and M Anthem
Drop Dead Goregous
Gore Whore
Natural-Born Killer
Dragstrip Dragula
Fetish
I Love to Say Fuck!

4Without Setlist:
Line of Love
Running Away
Sweet Bite
Territory
Desire
Personal Jesus
Where I Belong
Kill Him 1st
Move On
Life