Illuminated

Geomancer @ the German Club with Exit to Eternity, Southern Bastard Church, and Verismo

Gordon Bennett

It’s 9:30 on a Saturday night, and the Stonington cops want to know if there are any current warrants out for John Smith’s arrest. Geomancer is back in town…

Growing up a metal head in Mystic is rough. Although far from culturally unacceptable, metal is a polarizing art-form, one that has a tendency to keep you from rocking out at work, popping in your brand-new Dimmu Borgir record over the stereo at the Mystic Disc, and, inevitably, will result in you being informed of your awaiting punishment in Hell by old senile women on a weekly basis at least…

But all three metal heads a stone’s throw away from the historic German Club, rejoice! Southeastern Connecticut’s local high ambassadors of instrumental metal (dubbed “Instru-metal” by the band), Geomancer, returned triumphantly to the German Club on October 6 for their most ground-breaking show yet.

Releasing their first demo in 2001, Geomancer have been on the forefront of heavy metal in New London county as the most technically-adept, most intense band ever to be produced by our home state. However, when talking to Geomancer master-mind and lead guitar player John Smith, I get a feel for how up hill the struggle still is.

“We really haven’t found an outlet for our music yet,” Smith tells me. “You really have to humble.”

But modesty doesn’t seem like it should be in Geomancer’s vocabulary.

“They get better every time I see them,” says Carmine, front man for underground favorites Exit to Eternity. Clearly, in the current metal scene, Geomancer were at some level, getting the respect they deserved.

Although, when Geomancer added Danielle Turano, a classically-trained violinist to their line up, all bets were off.

Smith and the rest of Geomancer have been actively searching for violin players to add another layer to their already epic, symphonic sonic landscape. It wasn’t until July of 2007 that Danielle, a 22 year-old Berkley/Juliard graduate, contacted the band via Myspace interested in filling the slot.

And so we wait in the hallowed halls of Mystic’s own German Club, to bear witness to something that will be talked about for a long, long time to come…

However, not even Geomancer’s locally held prestige could eclipse what can only be described as on of the best metal lineups at the German club in years.

The night kicked off with Brooklyn’s Verismo. The trio’s tight, bass heavy groove harkened back to the day when the riff was king and Pantera still roamed the earth. Everyone was super tight, and the bass player, who’s unorthodox Jaco Patsiouris meets Eddie Van Halen style blew the crowd away, clearly made an impression.

“The bassist’s fucking awesome!” comments Kerry of Geomancer, among other people.

Following Verismo was the aptly named Southern Bastard Church. Not only did this Mississippi-based trio bring a chugging, southern-rock edge to the night’s lineup of more technically-oriented metal, but they were also responsible for managing sound for the night with their own PA and rack unit. Anyone savvy to the German Club’s tendency to devour sound can appreciate what a great job these guys really did.

“You really have to mic everything,” John Smith remarks. “The place just eats it up.” Here’s to Southern hospitality!

Aside from Geomancer, the resident favorites of the night were New York’s Exit to Eternity. After trying to classify the band during the first few moments of their set, it occurred to me, that the four guys all wearing tie-dye and Allman Brother’s Band shirts I had seen earlier were actually channeling classic eighties thrash and speed metal reminiscent of Slayer and Testament.

They were doing a damn good job, too.

As if the rest of the set didn’t kick enough ass, the boys from NY wrapped up their stint with a cover of Megadeth’s classic “Holy Wars,” which was enough to turn even the most conservative head bangers into a frenzy. With fists pumping and lips mouthing every word, Exit handed the stage off to Geomancer.

Just in time for the last half-wasted soul to emerge from the bar downstairs, Geomancer struck their first chord. They opened up with the first of four brand-new songs, titled “Natural Selection.” It didn’t take long for John Smith’s interwoven tapestry of machine gun-style riffage and fluid, legato leads to make the crowd take a step back and listen. With the average Geomancer song clocking in at about 12-15 minutes, it was a long, hard wait till they got to “Illumination”, their first song ever preformed live with Danielle. Like a modern day Artemis, with a poise that could only come from a classically trained musician, she made jaws drop with the first draw of her bow. Soon, crushing passages coming from the band gave way to soaring melodies carried by Danielle’s fluid, sweeping violin, giving even more depth to a band already fluent enough in music to get across any message they wanted to. Any perceived nervousness on her part soon gave way to confidence, as she was soon walking the front of the stage with an almost feline grace.

With “Illumination” (finishing up at a whopping 20 minutes and fourteen seconds) done, geomancer sought to close up this groundbreaking gig with “Growth”, a crowd favorite. With newly written and rehearsed violin lines, the song was difficult to get used to at first. Any doubt, however, soon gave way to awe at the birth of a new chapter in the history of this dynamic local group.

“She was a gift from God,” Smith remarked to me. “It was total Providence.” Well, for any pent-up metal head sandwiched between the band-politics capital of New London and the stagnant, un-original metal shows being held in Pawcatuck and Groton, this show was nothing short of providence, and no doubt a major re-affirmation of the faith. At least to me, that is.