The best band on a tour that hits Peabody’s tonight probably won’t even perform. Hypocrisy, a long-running Swedish death-metal band led by legendary producer Peter Tägtgren, has been forced to sit idle because its frontman can’t enter the U.S., though his bandmates are already here. It’s a shame, because Hypocrisy’s catalog is solid, and touring guitarist Alexi Laiho can be counted on to deliver shred-tastic solos on demand. Fortunately, the headliners, Finnish pagan-metal act Ensiferum, rock the crowd quite capably with their polka-thrash drinking anthems. Kataklysm singer Maurizio Iacono’s side project Ex Deo (which also had to miss some dates because of visa issues) plays death metal with lyrics about ancient Rome, which is sort of cool. And Blackguard is one of the “pirate metal” bands that are sprouting up like weeds lately. Doors are at 6:30 p.m. at Peabody’s (2045 E. 21st St., 216.776.9999). Tickets: $15 advance, $18 day of show. — Phil Freeman
This article appears in Nov 18-24, 2009.
Dude.. have you actually listened to Blackguard.. or looked into them at all? They aren’t a “pirate metal” band in either lyrical content or musical style…