Another year come and gone! This one was busy for me in and out of the music world, I wrote a couple reviews for Cvlt Nation in the spring, I continued playing bass with my heavy shoegaze/post-rock trio Cosmic Yawn, I screamed about the gods of Chaos in Great Unclean Ones (coming soon), and I wrote FREE BITCH on my stomach as I screamed a Lady Gaga cover into a mic’d warhorn with Cøurtney. Outside of music, I played some sweet video games and then got hired on as a Research Assistant in a lab. But enough ado, here are the lists of top albums from some of Nashville’s finest:
Showing posts with label hardcore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hardcore. Show all posts
Friday, January 1, 2016
Saturday, May 11, 2013
May 4-10 full res picture and video uploads
Just a forewarning, the sound quality on the videos is terrible.
EDIT: Added a jump break so those running MS-DOS don't crash and burn when loading the main page. Click something nearby to see the videos.
EDIT: Added a jump break so those running MS-DOS don't crash and burn when loading the main page. Click something nearby to see the videos.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Act of Impalement; Anodes; Regret, The Informer; Altar of Complaints at the Hymen House 2/2
Update! Jesse Mowery has been kind enough to post the videos for these performances on Youtube. Check out the performances beneath each review!
Ah the Hymen House. Every time I come, it's like hanging out with friends, and then all of a sudden awesome bands are playing. Everybody is laid back, and there's never any unnecessary bullshit or drama. Posters of shows past coat the walls, and there's even a shrine to a stranger in the music room. Out of all the venues I've been to in Nashville so far, this one feels the coziest. Perfect for the show tonight, which consisted of three (mostly) post-hardcore bands and one "war doom" group.
That war doom group was Act of Impalement. Back when I first started this blog back in January of last year, I was inspired by Brother Ares' sonic power and obscurity to start writing. While I was at this show, I was approached by a trio of amigos who asked my friend and I, "do you guys like Electric Wizard?" and smoked us out. As it turns out, two of those dudes would go on to form a band of their own called Act of Impalement, and I am happy to report that these guys rule (and not just for guitarist Ethan's apt Varg impression). They were the only band I missed at the exhausting Bobbarroo show last year, so I was excited to finally see them perform. Talking to Zack and Ethan before the show, they labeled their sound as "War Doom", a mixture of war metal (which itself is, according to Kim Kelly, "a blasphemous, violent black/death metal hybrid so extremely fast, raw, and chaotic that it often borders upon grind") with doom metal, whose definition I'm hoping you already know. These two blend the two styles fairly seamlessly, winding up with varying tempo and drumming, rough and raw guitar tone, and a low growl (though I would associate it more with black metal than death). With only two members, these guys don't have a whole lot of extra bells and whistles. What they do have are some absolutely killer doom and black metal riffs. Despite their professed inebriation (or maybe due in part to it), as soon as they started playing, they got right in sync and in the zone. Moving from lumbering doom passages to sprinting black metal with surprising efficacy, these two weave together extreme metal in earnest. With song titles like "My Warhorse Awaits" and "Now Your God Has Fallen", it's not hard to figure out what their agenda is. Churches beware. Look for their debut album coming soon, as well as a side project with Erik of Black Tar Prophet called either Wolf Pope, Vomit Wolf, or War Bong also coming soon. Check out their awesome meh-fi demos here:
After AoI was when the post-hardcore began. When I was growing up and beginning to explore metal, my only exposure to post-hardcore was horribly whiny groups that were even lamer than the "modern hardcore" bands of the time. I thought that post-hardcore, and to an extent, hardcore as a whole was about skinny jeans and feathered hair. Thus, my exposure to good post-hardcore has been severely delayed, so my knowledge on the subject hasn't quite caught up to my knowledge of metal (of which I still have volumes to go), but shows like this one are a powerful example to what amazing post-hardcore sounds like. I'd even go as far as to say that this was the best post-hardcore show I've ever been to, and St. Louis artists Anodes are a big part of that. I didn't hear much about them beforehand, but I was impressed by their performance. They blend heaviness with a sense of soul-baring personal truth by shout-speaking emotionally during the soft parts, and then not holding anything back during the loud and heavy segments. Bassist Katie Brown would often hold the melody while guitarists Sean Survant and AJ Hofstetter would scream and play delicious flowing harmonies over top. Very epic stuff reminiscent of Rosetta and one of my current favorite groups, Light Bearer. Stream their recently released album here, and make sure to pick it up on vinyl if you've got the rupees. (Apologies for lack of picture, none came out well)
Third up was Regret, The Informer from my old stomping grounds, Kansas City. I have in my show notes that these guys are "Post-hardcore with great bassist foundation under wonky and evil shoegaze." Damn, there must have been some good shit at this show, because in listening to their 7" "Less Than Three" that I got, I don't hear much shoegaze at all. Regardless, these guys were really energetic and interesting, with sometimes melodic sometimes noisy guitar shredding, and a thrumming bass that held everything together. The vocals were shouted in almost a D.R.I or Kowloon Walled City style, and even screamed at some points. At some points, I'd say they were heavy enough to border on post-metal (ambient sludge for the purists). Really fantastic and varied stuff, I was not disappointed. It's also worth nothing that these guys have some of the most clever and humorous lyrics I've read, lyrics like "you can hold my hand but you can never hold my heart/ stay the fuck away from me/ baby, i'm a work of art/ you can never hold my heart" (from "Good Morning Drug" off the aforementioned 7"). Check it out for yourself right here, right now.
Last up was some new voodoo from right here in Nashville, Altar of Complaints. I'd been looking forward to seeing this new band since Jesse Mowery's other band Dawn broke up. I'm happy to report that these guys absolutely kick ass. Vocals are shouted and screamed over noodlesome, flowery, and even spacy guitars. These guys are all over the place, but in the best way possible. Elias MacDonald from local death metal band Axis (and others) provided the low-end foundation with some gorgeous 6-string caressing, and said "fuck mics" and screamed without one. The drums were really powerful, especially considering how "pretty" the guitars could be at time. These guys managed to bring together some pretty unlike parts into a surprisingly cohesive package, especially considering how unseriously these guys apparently take themselves. From their facebook page description, "...we don't consider this to be a band but more of an on going experiment in having fun and not taking ourselves too serious. Cause let's face it, our music isn't saving the world from shit. And we are fine with that. You want enlightenment?, go see Deepak Chopra and LSD." Sounds pretty apt. To experience their delightful musical dickery, stream their newly album album aquí:
Jesse was too busy playing to record himself, so there's no live video of this performance that I could find. So instead, have this video of AoCchortling about tambourines recording at Black Matter Mastering:
Another one in the books. Next on the docket, a show with a few multiple-bass bands, and one without! In the meantime, if you need me, I'm going to be working up to doing DNA work on these guys this summer:
Ah the Hymen House. Every time I come, it's like hanging out with friends, and then all of a sudden awesome bands are playing. Everybody is laid back, and there's never any unnecessary bullshit or drama. Posters of shows past coat the walls, and there's even a shrine to a stranger in the music room. Out of all the venues I've been to in Nashville so far, this one feels the coziest. Perfect for the show tonight, which consisted of three (mostly) post-hardcore bands and one "war doom" group.
That war doom group was Act of Impalement. Back when I first started this blog back in January of last year, I was inspired by Brother Ares' sonic power and obscurity to start writing. While I was at this show, I was approached by a trio of amigos who asked my friend and I, "do you guys like Electric Wizard?" and smoked us out. As it turns out, two of those dudes would go on to form a band of their own called Act of Impalement, and I am happy to report that these guys rule (and not just for guitarist Ethan's apt Varg impression). They were the only band I missed at the exhausting Bobbarroo show last year, so I was excited to finally see them perform. Talking to Zack and Ethan before the show, they labeled their sound as "War Doom", a mixture of war metal (which itself is, according to Kim Kelly, "a blasphemous, violent black/death metal hybrid so extremely fast, raw, and chaotic that it often borders upon grind") with doom metal, whose definition I'm hoping you already know. These two blend the two styles fairly seamlessly, winding up with varying tempo and drumming, rough and raw guitar tone, and a low growl (though I would associate it more with black metal than death). With only two members, these guys don't have a whole lot of extra bells and whistles. What they do have are some absolutely killer doom and black metal riffs. Despite their professed inebriation (or maybe due in part to it), as soon as they started playing, they got right in sync and in the zone. Moving from lumbering doom passages to sprinting black metal with surprising efficacy, these two weave together extreme metal in earnest. With song titles like "My Warhorse Awaits" and "Now Your God Has Fallen", it's not hard to figure out what their agenda is. Churches beware. Look for their debut album coming soon, as well as a side project with Erik of Black Tar Prophet called either Wolf Pope, Vomit Wolf, or War Bong also coming soon. Check out their awesome meh-fi demos here:After AoI was when the post-hardcore began. When I was growing up and beginning to explore metal, my only exposure to post-hardcore was horribly whiny groups that were even lamer than the "modern hardcore" bands of the time. I thought that post-hardcore, and to an extent, hardcore as a whole was about skinny jeans and feathered hair. Thus, my exposure to good post-hardcore has been severely delayed, so my knowledge on the subject hasn't quite caught up to my knowledge of metal (of which I still have volumes to go), but shows like this one are a powerful example to what amazing post-hardcore sounds like. I'd even go as far as to say that this was the best post-hardcore show I've ever been to, and St. Louis artists Anodes are a big part of that. I didn't hear much about them beforehand, but I was impressed by their performance. They blend heaviness with a sense of soul-baring personal truth by shout-speaking emotionally during the soft parts, and then not holding anything back during the loud and heavy segments. Bassist Katie Brown would often hold the melody while guitarists Sean Survant and AJ Hofstetter would scream and play delicious flowing harmonies over top. Very epic stuff reminiscent of Rosetta and one of my current favorite groups, Light Bearer. Stream their recently released album here, and make sure to pick it up on vinyl if you've got the rupees. (Apologies for lack of picture, none came out well)
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| greatest picture I have ever taken |
Third up was Regret, The Informer from my old stomping grounds, Kansas City. I have in my show notes that these guys are "Post-hardcore with great bassist foundation under wonky and evil shoegaze." Damn, there must have been some good shit at this show, because in listening to their 7" "Less Than Three" that I got, I don't hear much shoegaze at all. Regardless, these guys were really energetic and interesting, with sometimes melodic sometimes noisy guitar shredding, and a thrumming bass that held everything together. The vocals were shouted in almost a D.R.I or Kowloon Walled City style, and even screamed at some points. At some points, I'd say they were heavy enough to border on post-metal (ambient sludge for the purists). Really fantastic and varied stuff, I was not disappointed. It's also worth nothing that these guys have some of the most clever and humorous lyrics I've read, lyrics like "you can hold my hand but you can never hold my heart/ stay the fuck away from me/ baby, i'm a work of art/ you can never hold my heart" (from "Good Morning Drug" off the aforementioned 7"). Check it out for yourself right here, right now.
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| guys wrong way |
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| we're over here guys |
Jesse was too busy playing to record himself, so there's no live video of this performance that I could find. So instead, have this video of AoC
Another one in the books. Next on the docket, a show with a few multiple-bass bands, and one without! In the meantime, if you need me, I'm going to be working up to doing DNA work on these guys this summer:
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Black Tar Prophet, Forest of Tygers, Gorgantherron, and the Holy Mountaintop Removers at The End 1/26
And here we are again, it's time for another installment of NashVile! This highly titillating entry takes place at one of the best sounding places in Nashville, The End.
First up was low end assailants Black Tar Prophet. Prior to this show, guitarist Mark Owen had said in a facebook post on the band page that he would be returning this year. I spoke to drummer turned bassist Greg Swinehart before the show and he told me that there was some strife, and that he'd just had enough of him, so Mark was out. Thus, the band remained a twosome. Playing a three-string bass, Greg belted out some gut-rearranging stoner doom grooves while drummer Erik Dever banged away on drums, even throwing in a (still rather slow) blastbeat on a new song. Greg had some new cabs which had intense power. These guys are really going for the groove of Om and the crunch of Bongripper while trying to approach the volume levels of Sunn O))). Punishing to the uninitiated, these guys aim to make you feel their music as much as hear it. Listen to their split with Crawl from Atlanta:
Second was Forest of Tygers. Brand new band, very first show! Featuring the talents of Jim Valosik of Nashville-native band Serotonin on guitar and vocals, his wife Rachel Valosik on drums, and Niki Carolan of Tijuana Goat Ride on noisy keyboard and vocals. Stylistically, they blew me away. The guitars were beautiful and flowing at times while violent and aggressive at others. A looping pedal was utilized some; at a few points, a riff was recorded and looped so that tasty licks could be played on top. The looper in conjunction with a pedal that sent differently effected signals to different amps really gave a lot of depth not usually found in trios. Supporting all of this depth was drummer Rachel. At first glance, I didn't notice much about her, aside from her Young and in the Way shirt, which should have been a tip-off because once she started playing my jaw hit the floor. These guys borrow a little from hardcore, black metal, post-hardcore, sludge, post-metal, and D-beat, and this girl can handle them all. Her runs and blastbeats had me impressed. Riding on top of all this are the vocals of Niki Carolan, whose screams rounded out the sound well. I wanted her to make use of the noisy keyboard, I could barely make it out, but that's my only complaint on an otherwise auspicious beginning. Check out the performance for yourself:
Third up was Gorgantherron. These guys are from Evansville, IN and play some pretty righteous stoner metal. According to their facebook description they're actually chimps sent into space in 1968 but after being evolved and trained in the ways of black and doom metal by the Andromedian race of Gorgantherrons, they returned to Earth to warn us of our selfish ways. You seriously need to read it, I laughed pretty hard. Sonically though, their sound is heavy but also nice and round and warm. It's got a great, lumbering-yet-groovy sound that's reminiscent of the greats like Sleep and Black Sabbath. The vocals were especially reminiscent of Sleep, namely on the mighty epic Dopesmoker. Great fuzzy riffs galore. Give 'em a listen, and make sure to see if you can find their photo of them in their astronaut suits:
Last up was newcomers Holy Mountaintop Removers. Borrowing members from local country-doom jammers Hellbender, this trio took jams to the next level. They started out playing as fast as they could, and nowhere near in sync. They came together for some bluesy fuzzed out rock, but at one point the drummer (who's actually a guitar player in Hellbender) was hitting cymbal with a maraca and tambourine. When not playing in free jazz mode, the bass kept time in pulsing fashion, but things got droney when the bassist switched to synthesizer. He mashed the keys as everyone else delved into chaos, but once retreating from madness, those same keys were put to good droning, melodic use. As for the guitars, that guy could shred with the best of them, but he also busted out some toe-tapping melodies when everyone's decided that yeah okay we can play together sometimes. Overall, these guys were a fantastic and even inspiring example of what free jazz and doom rock could sound like together, and I'm excited to see what they do next. I'd post some of their stuff here, but there's nothing to post! No links or nothing. Only thing left to do is get out and go to one of these shows. So do it!
Another show post come and gone. Look for my upcoming writeup of 3 post-hardcore bands and one black/doom band at a house show soon!
First up was low end assailants Black Tar Prophet. Prior to this show, guitarist Mark Owen had said in a facebook post on the band page that he would be returning this year. I spoke to drummer turned bassist Greg Swinehart before the show and he told me that there was some strife, and that he'd just had enough of him, so Mark was out. Thus, the band remained a twosome. Playing a three-string bass, Greg belted out some gut-rearranging stoner doom grooves while drummer Erik Dever banged away on drums, even throwing in a (still rather slow) blastbeat on a new song. Greg had some new cabs which had intense power. These guys are really going for the groove of Om and the crunch of Bongripper while trying to approach the volume levels of Sunn O))). Punishing to the uninitiated, these guys aim to make you feel their music as much as hear it. Listen to their split with Crawl from Atlanta:
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| Also, creepy x-ed out mannequin heads. |
Second was Forest of Tygers. Brand new band, very first show! Featuring the talents of Jim Valosik of Nashville-native band Serotonin on guitar and vocals, his wife Rachel Valosik on drums, and Niki Carolan of Tijuana Goat Ride on noisy keyboard and vocals. Stylistically, they blew me away. The guitars were beautiful and flowing at times while violent and aggressive at others. A looping pedal was utilized some; at a few points, a riff was recorded and looped so that tasty licks could be played on top. The looper in conjunction with a pedal that sent differently effected signals to different amps really gave a lot of depth not usually found in trios. Supporting all of this depth was drummer Rachel. At first glance, I didn't notice much about her, aside from her Young and in the Way shirt, which should have been a tip-off because once she started playing my jaw hit the floor. These guys borrow a little from hardcore, black metal, post-hardcore, sludge, post-metal, and D-beat, and this girl can handle them all. Her runs and blastbeats had me impressed. Riding on top of all this are the vocals of Niki Carolan, whose screams rounded out the sound well. I wanted her to make use of the noisy keyboard, I could barely make it out, but that's my only complaint on an otherwise auspicious beginning. Check out the performance for yourself:
Third up was Gorgantherron. These guys are from Evansville, IN and play some pretty righteous stoner metal. According to their facebook description they're actually chimps sent into space in 1968 but after being evolved and trained in the ways of black and doom metal by the Andromedian race of Gorgantherrons, they returned to Earth to warn us of our selfish ways. You seriously need to read it, I laughed pretty hard. Sonically though, their sound is heavy but also nice and round and warm. It's got a great, lumbering-yet-groovy sound that's reminiscent of the greats like Sleep and Black Sabbath. The vocals were especially reminiscent of Sleep, namely on the mighty epic Dopesmoker. Great fuzzy riffs galore. Give 'em a listen, and make sure to see if you can find their photo of them in their astronaut suits:
Last up was newcomers Holy Mountaintop Removers. Borrowing members from local country-doom jammers Hellbender, this trio took jams to the next level. They started out playing as fast as they could, and nowhere near in sync. They came together for some bluesy fuzzed out rock, but at one point the drummer (who's actually a guitar player in Hellbender) was hitting cymbal with a maraca and tambourine. When not playing in free jazz mode, the bass kept time in pulsing fashion, but things got droney when the bassist switched to synthesizer. He mashed the keys as everyone else delved into chaos, but once retreating from madness, those same keys were put to good droning, melodic use. As for the guitars, that guy could shred with the best of them, but he also busted out some toe-tapping melodies when everyone's decided that yeah okay we can play together sometimes. Overall, these guys were a fantastic and even inspiring example of what free jazz and doom rock could sound like together, and I'm excited to see what they do next. I'd post some of their stuff here, but there's nothing to post! No links or nothing. Only thing left to do is get out and go to one of these shows. So do it!
Another show post come and gone. Look for my upcoming writeup of 3 post-hardcore bands and one black/doom band at a house show soon!
Sunday, February 24, 2013
In Fidelity, Pissbath, Choking on Ash, Good Luck Varsity, Pray For Teeth, Cerce, Out of Time at the Owl Farm on 1/14
If you think that's a lot of bands, then you're absolutely right. 7 bands on a Monday night. No way I was going to miss it though, I'd been looking forward to seeing Cerce since one of my best friends/worst roommates showed them to me a year before. I wanted to see them so bad that I offered to pay the booking fee to bring them to Cafe Coco, but Chase Wilson of the Owl Farm crew beat me to the punch. Thank goodness, since I have absolutely zero experience in putting together or promoting shows, and would probably just ruin everything. So thanks Chase and everybody else at the Owl Farm, even if it was a lot of bands for one night it was still a hell of a show.
Anyway, let's get to the bands. First up was In Fidelity. These guys are local metallic hardcore heavy hitters who played either with no breaks and great transitions or one long song. Personally I hope it's the latter, but only because I adore extra long songs a la Dopesmoker and Absolutego. These guys had put on a really high energy show, with a lot of movement from every member. Vocalist Cooper Pemelton seemed especially restless, exploring the stage space in a manic pace back and forth, never really finding a spot to settle down in. This was possibly due to nausea, as he vomited more than once after the performance. Other members of the band assured me that this was an occurrence that happened somewhat regularly, and that I shouldn't be alarmed. His actual vocals were passionate and earnest, as though he was verbalizing his own personal tales of hardships and outrages, and how fed up he was about them. The rest of the band sonically supports this attitude very well, pondering the grievances during more subdued portions and lashing out during more aggressive passages. To me they have a varied hardcore sound, with bits of metallic hardcore somewhat similar to earlier Converge, D-beat, and even a touch of sludge here and there. They even have some tasty post-metal moments, with soft parts building and crescendoing into heavier phrases. Overall, really infectious stuff that'll get your blood pumping. Check out their split with Chained on local label Spaghetti Spaghetti Records here, and look for their EP These Things I Can't Forget on the same label soon.
Next us was Murfreesboro shredders Pissbath. These guys are fucking rough! Screaming and distortion galore. This shit is not for pussies. These Avalon House kids play their punk/hardcore music as distorted as they can (almost to the point of harsh noise at some points), and screamer Melissa Hurley holds nothing back. Some might be turned off by it, but my absolute favorite part of these guys is when they play so furiously that they start to come apart ever so slightly, as if their desire to be fucking raw and agressive takes precedence over the need to be bolt-tight. Their sound is tearing at the seams, and that's the way they like it. Talking to the band afterwards, they said that they were supposed to play the show with a bass player, but he ended up going to Florida, and despite saying that he'd make it back in time he was absent for the show. Bassist or no, these guys rocked. Check out their demo on guitarist and Avalon House aficionado's label/distro Primitive Prison:
Third up was what's quickly becoming one of my favorite local groups Choking on Ash. Featuring members of local crushers Yautja, Sacaea, Sky Burial, and a plethora of other Little Hamilton/Owl Farm-related bands, this group punishes in way that makes you beg for more. Ever since I heard their demo (below), I've been impressed with their work. It would be easy to just label this group stoner metal/sludge with screamed vocals, but to do so would miss some of the nuances that make this group great. Kayhan's guitars are sludgy enough, but the breakneck fast parts show that he's not resting on his laurels one bit. And what great tone! Like wearing a sharkskin condom with the rough side on the inside. I'm not sure it's represented enough in their demo recording, but the bass was really driving and even intricate at some parts at this show. I was impressed, I hope it comes through clearly whenever they put out an official release. Story's vocals - just, goddamn. Could they be considered black metal? I'd say they're pretty close. They definitely add another layer and texture which just fleshes out the band that much more. Drummer Ivan is a scene veteran and a beast at drums. Whether it's a beat every other second or frantic blasts, seems like he runs the gamut in this band. Check out their demo right here:
Fourth up was the first touring group, Good Luck Varsity, all the way from Detroit. If you're scratching your head and thinking "well that doesn't sound like a very hardcore name" then you're absolutely right. These guys are a pop-punk/post-hardcore group from Detroit. Seeing as they were the middlemost band of the night, I can't help but wonder if they were meant to be an intermission of sorts, seeing as most people went outside to imbibe their drink or drug of choice when they started playing. Sonically they're outside of my area of expertise, but once I got past the fact that they weren't heavy I didn't mind them. They were certainly competent, and had some pretty good vocal harmonies. Guitars were rather noodly and the bass was groovy. I relished the occasional scream. Someone lamented the fact that one guitarist was also using a laptop and the bass play was using a wireless pickup system, but I don't give enough of a fuck to be bothered by shit like that. I'm more bothered by the fact that these guys were playing this show at all. I wouldn't say that I wish I hadn't seen them, I just wish it wasn't at an overbooked show. Regardless, they still deserve a listen. Check them out:
Band number five was Pray for Teeth from Pittsburgh, PA. Their facebook page genre is listed as "No genres no masters", so I'm going to attempt to describe without using genre labels for as long as I can. It can be like charades! I give you clues, and you can call out the genre while you read. THREE WORDS. RHYMES WITH: Claymore Sheath. SOUNDS LIKE: Lumberjacks lamenting fallen forests. Echoes of unrest clamoring off of canyon walls. Feedback; ambient yet crunchy guitars and throaty yells. Pulsing bass and pounding drums. But enough with the poetry and shit. Sorry guys, I held off for this long, but I gotta throw around some genres. Still, these guys really don't fall into one specific group, so none of these monikers goes all the way in describing them, but here goes: I heard elements of post-metal (ambient sludge, if you're a purist) a la Isis and Rosetta, doom metal and sludge, hardcore, and even black metal, both atmospheric and regular flavors. I was especially impressed with Neal Dudash's vocals, whose hardcore shouts were almost powerful enough to be considered black metal screams. Watch this video about hot sauce of them recording material for their 7", streamable below the video and look for the vinyl copy coming out on It's A Trap! and Moshtache Records, as well as Root of All Evil Collective.
Band six was the moment we'd all been waiting for, the heavyweight championship fight we'd all come to see. In this corner, all the way from Boston/Philadelphia, weighing in at a gaunt 650 pounds collectively (that's an average of 130 lbs per band member for those of you who preprogrammed the answers into your TI-83 before tests), coming off of a 12-show winning streak, CERCE!! As I mentioned in the beginning, a friend of mine showed me these guys' bandcamp page, and I was intrigued. So much pink, but yet these guys had a wicked sound. Not much in the way of releases though... until they put up their self-titled 7". Lordy, this thing was a monster, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. On even the most contrary music forums, I saw a pretty strong positive response to this release, some even citing it as one of the best releases of last year. You can imagine my excitement at getting to see them play. And I was not disappointed. Raucous and explosive, they fuse an abrasive mass of sludge, hardcore, and powerviolence into an earthquake of musical transgression. The place was electric when they played, everyone in the crowd receiving the energy which the band put out with every pugilistic riff. Once they began playing it was like going over the top of the first mountain of the biggest roller coaster at the park: all you could do was hold on to this ride hurtling around tight corners at breakneck speeds, and you knew that any signs of softening or slowing would only lead to bigger hills and more violent lurches. These guys shifted and accelerated like a hawk battling a falcon in midair, and deceptively pink-haired Becca Cadalzo had screams match. Her vocals, which are something of a focal point for this band, something that makes them stand out, were just as enthralling live as on record, screeching and crying out while guitars writhed and pounced beneath. As a total package, these guys succeed in earnestly expressing some pretty powerful emotion without sounding histrionic or patronizing. I can't tell you how excited I am that I got a hold of one of the last original pressings of their 7".
Before I link to their music and tell you to buy it, there's one issue that plagued this show that I think bears mentioning. Throughout the show, there was one girl who seemed way more animated than anyone else in the crowd. Hardcore dancing around, singing along with lyrics she may or may not have known, throwing her arms about. I'm not here to hate on any of that, hardcore shows are a great time to do whatever the fuck you want to music, including moshing and whatever else you feel. What's not okay is when you get so fucked up and out of control that you fucking PUNCH BECCA FROM CERCE IN THE FACE DURING THEIR SET. I apologized to Becca after the show for it, after she said she felt like an asshole for pointing the girl out for punching her in the face. Hardcore shows are rough, violent expressions are okay, but not if you're interfering with the band that you and everyone else paid to see.
In any case, Cerce put on a killer show despite encroachment, and you should buy their stuff.
Their 7" first pressing is pretty scarce, but a few of the 2nd pressing with Solidarity Recordings might be left. Look for their split with Stresscase coming soon on Mayfly Records soon! Till then, stream:
Last band of the night! I'm getting tired just typing this up. Band #7 was, ironically, Out of Time. Fighting out of St Louis, MO, these bruisers played meaty hardcore with a sludgy punch that hits you right in the gut. Vocals are shouted in the vein of oldschool hardcore punk, and fit the style perfectly. The drums were especially punchy live, and complemented the overall sound very well. A lot of people probably left after Cerce, but I'm glad I decided to stick around. These guys exemplify what solid, no-bullshit-all-pit hardcore should sound like. But don't take my word for it, find out for yourself:
Whew! Another review under my belt. If you see any mistakes or things I left out, please contact me or leave a comment. In the meantime, I'm going back to studying biology like this:
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Third up was what's quickly becoming one of my favorite local groups Choking on Ash. Featuring members of local crushers Yautja, Sacaea, Sky Burial, and a plethora of other Little Hamilton/Owl Farm-related bands, this group punishes in way that makes you beg for more. Ever since I heard their demo (below), I've been impressed with their work. It would be easy to just label this group stoner metal/sludge with screamed vocals, but to do so would miss some of the nuances that make this group great. Kayhan's guitars are sludgy enough, but the breakneck fast parts show that he's not resting on his laurels one bit. And what great tone! Like wearing a sharkskin condom with the rough side on the inside. I'm not sure it's represented enough in their demo recording, but the bass was really driving and even intricate at some parts at this show. I was impressed, I hope it comes through clearly whenever they put out an official release. Story's vocals - just, goddamn. Could they be considered black metal? I'd say they're pretty close. They definitely add another layer and texture which just fleshes out the band that much more. Drummer Ivan is a scene veteran and a beast at drums. Whether it's a beat every other second or frantic blasts, seems like he runs the gamut in this band. Check out their demo right here:
Fourth up was the first touring group, Good Luck Varsity, all the way from Detroit. If you're scratching your head and thinking "well that doesn't sound like a very hardcore name" then you're absolutely right. These guys are a pop-punk/post-hardcore group from Detroit. Seeing as they were the middlemost band of the night, I can't help but wonder if they were meant to be an intermission of sorts, seeing as most people went outside to imbibe their drink or drug of choice when they started playing. Sonically they're outside of my area of expertise, but once I got past the fact that they weren't heavy I didn't mind them. They were certainly competent, and had some pretty good vocal harmonies. Guitars were rather noodly and the bass was groovy. I relished the occasional scream. Someone lamented the fact that one guitarist was also using a laptop and the bass play was using a wireless pickup system, but I don't give enough of a fuck to be bothered by shit like that. I'm more bothered by the fact that these guys were playing this show at all. I wouldn't say that I wish I hadn't seen them, I just wish it wasn't at an overbooked show. Regardless, they still deserve a listen. Check them out:
Band six was the moment we'd all been waiting for, the heavyweight championship fight we'd all come to see. In this corner, all the way from Boston/Philadelphia, weighing in at a gaunt 650 pounds collectively (that's an average of 130 lbs per band member for those of you who preprogrammed the answers into your TI-83 before tests), coming off of a 12-show winning streak, CERCE!! As I mentioned in the beginning, a friend of mine showed me these guys' bandcamp page, and I was intrigued. So much pink, but yet these guys had a wicked sound. Not much in the way of releases though... until they put up their self-titled 7". Lordy, this thing was a monster, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. On even the most contrary music forums, I saw a pretty strong positive response to this release, some even citing it as one of the best releases of last year. You can imagine my excitement at getting to see them play. And I was not disappointed. Raucous and explosive, they fuse an abrasive mass of sludge, hardcore, and powerviolence into an earthquake of musical transgression. The place was electric when they played, everyone in the crowd receiving the energy which the band put out with every pugilistic riff. Once they began playing it was like going over the top of the first mountain of the biggest roller coaster at the park: all you could do was hold on to this ride hurtling around tight corners at breakneck speeds, and you knew that any signs of softening or slowing would only lead to bigger hills and more violent lurches. These guys shifted and accelerated like a hawk battling a falcon in midair, and deceptively pink-haired Becca Cadalzo had screams match. Her vocals, which are something of a focal point for this band, something that makes them stand out, were just as enthralling live as on record, screeching and crying out while guitars writhed and pounced beneath. As a total package, these guys succeed in earnestly expressing some pretty powerful emotion without sounding histrionic or patronizing. I can't tell you how excited I am that I got a hold of one of the last original pressings of their 7".
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| All together now: LET ME PUT THIS BODY TO REST |
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In any case, Cerce put on a killer show despite encroachment, and you should buy their stuff.
Their 7" first pressing is pretty scarce, but a few of the 2nd pressing with Solidarity Recordings might be left. Look for their split with Stresscase coming soon on Mayfly Records soon! Till then, stream:
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Last band of the night! I'm getting tired just typing this up. Band #7 was, ironically, Out of Time. Fighting out of St Louis, MO, these bruisers played meaty hardcore with a sludgy punch that hits you right in the gut. Vocals are shouted in the vein of oldschool hardcore punk, and fit the style perfectly. The drums were especially punchy live, and complemented the overall sound very well. A lot of people probably left after Cerce, but I'm glad I decided to stick around. These guys exemplify what solid, no-bullshit-all-pit hardcore should sound like. But don't take my word for it, find out for yourself:
Whew! Another review under my belt. If you see any mistakes or things I left out, please contact me or leave a comment. In the meantime, I'm going back to studying biology like this:
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Tijuana Goat Ride, Brother Ares, Dawn, and Black Table (NY/NJ) at the Hymen House
Ah yes folks, it's time for another show review! This show took place at the thoughtfully-named Hymen House, which is named for the street upon which it sits: Heiman street. Longtime NashVile readers will recall that this is the very same household in which I interviewed band members from a plethora of different bands, including Brother Ares and Dawn. Coming back again was a delight. In the few times that I've been there, the Hymen house has been full of fun and interesting people. It's cozy, and the walls are covered in fliers from shows past. There's also a wall featuring a shrine to a complete stranger, including pictures and some of her graded papers. But enough about the venue, let's get to the bands.
First up are local bangers Tijuana Goat Ride. This band contains members of former Nashville gut-rumblers Seawitch, whom you should definitely check out. But do that later. Read about TGR now, because they kick ass. Sonically, they're thick and heavy and loud and just everything nice. They have kind of a stoner sludge sound, but they're not satisfied to stay at a crawling pace all the time like most stoner-y, sludgy bands. These guys mix in angular if not downright technical runs in with meaty riffs, all while effusive drummer Chris Fox hammers away. These guys have a fantastic mix of galloping fast and thundering slow parts, all while keeping a head-nodding groove. And have I mentioned Niki Carolan's vocals yet? This girl can scream! It's somewhere between a hardcore scream and a black metal shriek, but regardless, it's effective. Bassist Christopher Frey throws some cleaner vocals into the mix, strengthening the stoner metal aspect of the music. Check out some show footage here:
Next up was Brother Ares. Sheesh, for the amount of press I give these guys you'd think I'd be at least band girlfriend by now. But really, these guys end up playing with a lot of cool dudes, and guitarist/vocalist Blake Conley always invites me to the shows, so how can I refuse? Anyway, on this night, they were as good as ever. It felt like a shorter setlist, until I remembered how long a single song is. Blake's octaver pedal and his three different distortion pedals give a really full, powerful tone to his guitar (especially the TurboRAT pedal) that you wouldn't always expect from a two-piece group. I also don't mention drummer Nick Gore's vocals enough: they're quite powerful, and really what blew me away the first time I saw them. When he's at full power, it's a quite impressive thing to behold. Watch all 32 minutes of their set here, including their fucked-up-in-a-good-way cover of Black Flag's "My War":
Band number 3 of the night was Black Table from the border of New York and New Jersey. I scratched my head at the name too until I saw these guys perform. Holy shit, they are awesome, and a delight to hang out with, to boot! I had a wonderful conversation with vocalist and guitarist Mers (pronounced like "nurse") Sumida about human evolutionary divergence, quantum physics, favorite pyschedelic experiences, and Hawaiian ladyboys. Quite a treat. As far as their music goes, Black Table is a smorgasboard of heaviness. They take cues from post-metal ("ambient sludge" for genre purists) and black metal, as well as sludge metal and hardcore. They even throw in a death metal-style chug or two. Guitar duty is split between Mers and Ryan Fleming; one usually shreds while the other plays in a more legato style. Drummer Mike Kadnar is a beast, and has the handlebar 'stache to prove it. I didn't get a chance to talk much to bassist Matt Mellon, but this doesn't diminish his playing one bit: this guy is fantastic, and his 6-string bass adds a really interesting, almost Intronaut-esque quality to the sound. The overall sound itself is surprisingly deep and intricate. These guys keep you interested throughout, adding nuances here and there and switching things up before you can even think of getting bored. Some parts reminded me of Isis, others, the indomitable Deathspell omega. I kept wondering what profoundly awesome shit they would play next, and they never failed to deliver. Check out concert footage below.
In addition, without a doubt one of the coolest things these guys have is their "Deepwell" package. It's a CD that contains a 22-minute ambient track, but with what's essentially a séance kit included. I'm not going to say all what's inside, but it's definitely worth tracking down and getting your own copy. I tried the ritual myself and found it to be pretty wild. To tide you over until you find your own copy, check out their brand-spanking new EP "Sentinel." It's absolutely, positively worth the price of $Name-your-price, only so cheap for a limited time. Stream it right here:
Last up was Nashville hardcore staple Dawn. This group features Ivan Doerschuk and Jordan House of Sky Burial and Alraune (among others) on drums and bass, respectively, and Jesse Mowery of Altar of Complaints and Nut Collector (among others). They kicked ass when I saw them at the Owl Farm, and they kicked just as much ass on this night too. Combining elements of hardcore, mathcore, sludge, powerviolence, d-beat, grindcore, and maybe even a whiff of black metal, this trio rains down an onslaught of intense music. The screams are strong and visceral, but also somewhat enticing. The drums were really punchy and tight. The use of feedback fits the style perfectly. Overall, these guys have a really restless style, with a sense of urgency felt throughout. This music gets your blood pumping. Since Jesse Mowery was manning the video camera during the show (credit goes to him for all the videos posted here), I don't have any footage from their set (sorry), so here's a stream from their last release.
First up are local bangers Tijuana Goat Ride. This band contains members of former Nashville gut-rumblers Seawitch, whom you should definitely check out. But do that later. Read about TGR now, because they kick ass. Sonically, they're thick and heavy and loud and just everything nice. They have kind of a stoner sludge sound, but they're not satisfied to stay at a crawling pace all the time like most stoner-y, sludgy bands. These guys mix in angular if not downright technical runs in with meaty riffs, all while effusive drummer Chris Fox hammers away. These guys have a fantastic mix of galloping fast and thundering slow parts, all while keeping a head-nodding groove. And have I mentioned Niki Carolan's vocals yet? This girl can scream! It's somewhere between a hardcore scream and a black metal shriek, but regardless, it's effective. Bassist Christopher Frey throws some cleaner vocals into the mix, strengthening the stoner metal aspect of the music. Check out some show footage here:
Next up was Brother Ares. Sheesh, for the amount of press I give these guys you'd think I'd be at least band girlfriend by now. But really, these guys end up playing with a lot of cool dudes, and guitarist/vocalist Blake Conley always invites me to the shows, so how can I refuse? Anyway, on this night, they were as good as ever. It felt like a shorter setlist, until I remembered how long a single song is. Blake's octaver pedal and his three different distortion pedals give a really full, powerful tone to his guitar (especially the TurboRAT pedal) that you wouldn't always expect from a two-piece group. I also don't mention drummer Nick Gore's vocals enough: they're quite powerful, and really what blew me away the first time I saw them. When he's at full power, it's a quite impressive thing to behold. Watch all 32 minutes of their set here, including their fucked-up-in-a-good-way cover of Black Flag's "My War":
Band number 3 of the night was Black Table from the border of New York and New Jersey. I scratched my head at the name too until I saw these guys perform. Holy shit, they are awesome, and a delight to hang out with, to boot! I had a wonderful conversation with vocalist and guitarist Mers (pronounced like "nurse") Sumida about human evolutionary divergence, quantum physics, favorite pyschedelic experiences, and Hawaiian ladyboys. Quite a treat. As far as their music goes, Black Table is a smorgasboard of heaviness. They take cues from post-metal ("ambient sludge" for genre purists) and black metal, as well as sludge metal and hardcore. They even throw in a death metal-style chug or two. Guitar duty is split between Mers and Ryan Fleming; one usually shreds while the other plays in a more legato style. Drummer Mike Kadnar is a beast, and has the handlebar 'stache to prove it. I didn't get a chance to talk much to bassist Matt Mellon, but this doesn't diminish his playing one bit: this guy is fantastic, and his 6-string bass adds a really interesting, almost Intronaut-esque quality to the sound. The overall sound itself is surprisingly deep and intricate. These guys keep you interested throughout, adding nuances here and there and switching things up before you can even think of getting bored. Some parts reminded me of Isis, others, the indomitable Deathspell omega. I kept wondering what profoundly awesome shit they would play next, and they never failed to deliver. Check out concert footage below.
In addition, without a doubt one of the coolest things these guys have is their "Deepwell" package. It's a CD that contains a 22-minute ambient track, but with what's essentially a séance kit included. I'm not going to say all what's inside, but it's definitely worth tracking down and getting your own copy. I tried the ritual myself and found it to be pretty wild. To tide you over until you find your own copy, check out their brand-spanking new EP "Sentinel." It's absolutely, positively worth the price of $Name-your-price, only so cheap for a limited time. Stream it right here:
Last up was Nashville hardcore staple Dawn. This group features Ivan Doerschuk and Jordan House of Sky Burial and Alraune (among others) on drums and bass, respectively, and Jesse Mowery of Altar of Complaints and Nut Collector (among others). They kicked ass when I saw them at the Owl Farm, and they kicked just as much ass on this night too. Combining elements of hardcore, mathcore, sludge, powerviolence, d-beat, grindcore, and maybe even a whiff of black metal, this trio rains down an onslaught of intense music. The screams are strong and visceral, but also somewhat enticing. The drums were really punchy and tight. The use of feedback fits the style perfectly. Overall, these guys have a really restless style, with a sense of urgency felt throughout. This music gets your blood pumping. Since Jesse Mowery was manning the video camera during the show (credit goes to him for all the videos posted here), I don't have any footage from their set (sorry), so here's a stream from their last release.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Alraune, Thetan, Dawn, 16, and Tombs at the Owl Farm
On Thursday, October 18th, I went and saw Alraune, Thetan, Dawn, 16, and Tombs at the Owl Farm. The Owl Farm is a new venue that opened up this summer out in northeast Nashville. It's meant on some level to be a successor to the Little Hamilton, which shut down not too long ago. I was never fortunate enough to make it out to Little Hamilton, so I was excited to see some of the bands associated with that scene, since they tended not to play too many other places around town.
On a metascriptive note, I've decided to change how I review live shows by deleting one element: the number out of 10 at the end. They just feel too slapped on there, too arbitrary, and too extraneous. I'd like to give 9s to every local band I ever see, because so many of them are so talented, but if everybody gets a 9, what's the point? Too often people look to the numbers to glean how I feel about a band, and that's not representative at all. So no more numbers, unless any of you feel strongly about them.
Anyway, first up at this show was Alraune. These guys feature members of Sky Burial, Yautja, Gnarwhal, Vesicus, etc., and they kick ass. These guys played fast heavy black metal. Really great, interesting stuff, with the bassist and both guitar players each contributing on vocals. I thought that the bassist (Jesse from Sky Burial, I think) had the strongest vocals out of all three. They had some cleaner and softer parts to break up the mountains of metal; the best quieter moment came at the end, when it really had an impact. My only complaint is the same one I'm starting to have with most local bands is the fact that they're vocals were often lost in the mix, and though I could see their mouths grimacing, I could barely hear their darkened cries. Also, I'm not sure if this was the venue or what, but the guitars sounded a little murky. This is a smaller complaint though; aside from these two minor issues, these guys were great. I'd put up a streaming thing right here, but these guys must be too kvlt for any of that nonsense. I can't find a single thing. So get your ass to a show of theirs, because these guys are good.
Update: streaming things!
Next up was Thetan. Despite being a two-piece that consists of a drummer and a bass, these guys sound nothing like Om. If Alraune was murky in a detracting way, then Thetan was murky in just the right way. Bassist/screamer Dan Emery's wall of amps rumbled your guts at high speed. It's almost like these two tried the full band experience, got sick of it, and said "FUCK IT we can do this just the two of us!" And they absolutely can. The energy put forth by Dan was incredible. He wailed on that bass like it was a dog that had just chewed up his favorite slippers. Drummer Chad L'Plattenier is no slouch either; he kept up with Dan the whole way. Together, these two make you want to raise your fist and bang your head as fast as you can. Until the slow parts, that is. The heavy, sludgey bits were absolutely satisfying. These guys played through with zero banter, zero talking to the crowd, as if their sole focus was on playing and absolutely nothing else. There was no jokes, no bullshit, just fucking awesome fast and heavy music. And they don't give a shit about money. Their merch sign said "7" for $3, shirts for $I don't care." These guys are all badass and no bullshit. If you like Tusk or Trap Them, you'll love Thetan.
Next up was Dawn. When I did the interviews at the Hymen house in February Jesse Mowery talked about his band Dawn (albeit after my phone had stopped recording the interview), and the guys and girls from Fenris said they were an amazing supergroup of some of the best players in Nashville, so you'll imagine my excitement at getting to see them play. They feature Jesse on guitar/vocals, Jordan House (of Sky Burial and also played guitar earlier in Alraune) on bass, and Ivan Doerschuk (also of Sky Burial... christ, is this the supergroup or is Sky Burial?) on drums. Their sound is definitely hardcore, but it's not always straightforward. They'll be rocking along at a quick tempo, then throw an interesting time signature into the mix. Something to interrupt your headbangery and make you listen closer. The vocals were great, nice and intense. These guys are relentless, barely giving you time to think or breathe while they erupt dynamic, hard-hitting riffs. When they do slow down for a brief bit, your body will move with it whether you want to or not. Sludge interludes like theirs make me cream my pants. If you like Converge, High on Fire, or any metallic hardcore band, you will adore Dawn. I know I do.
Now it was time for the "big name" bands. 16 was up first. I'd heard about these guys a few years ago and I enjoyed what I heard, so I was looking forward to seeing them. They put one a pretty damn good show. Their vocalist was fairly animated, though I had trouble hearing him very well. The guitarist had a sweet setup, with a stack of amps behind him, and a big Orange cab off to left that he send a drier output to. He would often send a signal to only the far amp, and then send it to both to make big hits even bigger and meatier. Their riffs were slow, fuzzed out, and heavy. Really good stuff, apart from my douche-o-meter going off for a split second when Tyler from Alraune (and also Gnarwhal) came to help the vocalist with the PA system, and said vocalist backed away and said "Guess it's his PA guys..." to which Tyler gave a pretty good "What the fuck?" face. Still, a little blemish isn't enough to discolor this review. These guys have been sludging it up for many years, and they know what they're doing at this point. Crunchy, heavy stuff.
The last band of the night was Tombs. I'd heard a little bit of their stuff before, and everyone was pretty gaga over their album last year, but when I went to check them out I was pretty turned off by their 'Gossamer' video. Still, I thought I'd give them another chance, and even if they suck, all the other bands would be sweet. Man, what a difference a show can make! These guys were absolutely stunning. They were just so heavy and fast and just everything I could've hoped for. Much more black metal than that awful Gossamer video, and I loved every minute of it. The vocals were sick, and the tremolo-picked guitars lined up with the drums more precisely than maybe any band I have seen live. Now that I think about it, this was my first black metal show! I hope they're all this awesome, and fine-tuned. I had to borrow money from friends to get it, but there was no way I was going home without their Path of Totality LP. Stream it for yourself right here, and see what all this fuss is about. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Feels good to be writing again. Sorry for the lack of pictures; the ones I took before my phone died didn't come out at all. Look for my reviews of Bobbaroo (7 bands!!), and Loss/Bell Witch/Clorange/Brother Ares at the End coming soon!
On a metascriptive note, I've decided to change how I review live shows by deleting one element: the number out of 10 at the end. They just feel too slapped on there, too arbitrary, and too extraneous. I'd like to give 9s to every local band I ever see, because so many of them are so talented, but if everybody gets a 9, what's the point? Too often people look to the numbers to glean how I feel about a band, and that's not representative at all. So no more numbers, unless any of you feel strongly about them.
Anyway, first up at this show was Alraune. These guys feature members of Sky Burial, Yautja, Gnarwhal, Vesicus, etc., and they kick ass. These guys played fast heavy black metal. Really great, interesting stuff, with the bassist and both guitar players each contributing on vocals. I thought that the bassist (Jesse from Sky Burial, I think) had the strongest vocals out of all three. They had some cleaner and softer parts to break up the mountains of metal; the best quieter moment came at the end, when it really had an impact. My only complaint is the same one I'm starting to have with most local bands is the fact that they're vocals were often lost in the mix, and though I could see their mouths grimacing, I could barely hear their darkened cries. Also, I'm not sure if this was the venue or what, but the guitars sounded a little murky. This is a smaller complaint though; aside from these two minor issues, these guys were great. I'd put up a streaming thing right here, but these guys must be too kvlt for any of that nonsense. I can't find a single thing. So get your ass to a show of theirs, because these guys are good.
Update: streaming things!
Next up was Thetan. Despite being a two-piece that consists of a drummer and a bass, these guys sound nothing like Om. If Alraune was murky in a detracting way, then Thetan was murky in just the right way. Bassist/screamer Dan Emery's wall of amps rumbled your guts at high speed. It's almost like these two tried the full band experience, got sick of it, and said "FUCK IT we can do this just the two of us!" And they absolutely can. The energy put forth by Dan was incredible. He wailed on that bass like it was a dog that had just chewed up his favorite slippers. Drummer Chad L'Plattenier is no slouch either; he kept up with Dan the whole way. Together, these two make you want to raise your fist and bang your head as fast as you can. Until the slow parts, that is. The heavy, sludgey bits were absolutely satisfying. These guys played through with zero banter, zero talking to the crowd, as if their sole focus was on playing and absolutely nothing else. There was no jokes, no bullshit, just fucking awesome fast and heavy music. And they don't give a shit about money. Their merch sign said "7" for $3, shirts for $I don't care." These guys are all badass and no bullshit. If you like Tusk or Trap Them, you'll love Thetan.
Next up was Dawn. When I did the interviews at the Hymen house in February Jesse Mowery talked about his band Dawn (albeit after my phone had stopped recording the interview), and the guys and girls from Fenris said they were an amazing supergroup of some of the best players in Nashville, so you'll imagine my excitement at getting to see them play. They feature Jesse on guitar/vocals, Jordan House (of Sky Burial and also played guitar earlier in Alraune) on bass, and Ivan Doerschuk (also of Sky Burial... christ, is this the supergroup or is Sky Burial?) on drums. Their sound is definitely hardcore, but it's not always straightforward. They'll be rocking along at a quick tempo, then throw an interesting time signature into the mix. Something to interrupt your headbangery and make you listen closer. The vocals were great, nice and intense. These guys are relentless, barely giving you time to think or breathe while they erupt dynamic, hard-hitting riffs. When they do slow down for a brief bit, your body will move with it whether you want to or not. Sludge interludes like theirs make me cream my pants. If you like Converge, High on Fire, or any metallic hardcore band, you will adore Dawn. I know I do.
Now it was time for the "big name" bands. 16 was up first. I'd heard about these guys a few years ago and I enjoyed what I heard, so I was looking forward to seeing them. They put one a pretty damn good show. Their vocalist was fairly animated, though I had trouble hearing him very well. The guitarist had a sweet setup, with a stack of amps behind him, and a big Orange cab off to left that he send a drier output to. He would often send a signal to only the far amp, and then send it to both to make big hits even bigger and meatier. Their riffs were slow, fuzzed out, and heavy. Really good stuff, apart from my douche-o-meter going off for a split second when Tyler from Alraune (and also Gnarwhal) came to help the vocalist with the PA system, and said vocalist backed away and said "Guess it's his PA guys..." to which Tyler gave a pretty good "What the fuck?" face. Still, a little blemish isn't enough to discolor this review. These guys have been sludging it up for many years, and they know what they're doing at this point. Crunchy, heavy stuff.
The last band of the night was Tombs. I'd heard a little bit of their stuff before, and everyone was pretty gaga over their album last year, but when I went to check them out I was pretty turned off by their 'Gossamer' video. Still, I thought I'd give them another chance, and even if they suck, all the other bands would be sweet. Man, what a difference a show can make! These guys were absolutely stunning. They were just so heavy and fast and just everything I could've hoped for. Much more black metal than that awful Gossamer video, and I loved every minute of it. The vocals were sick, and the tremolo-picked guitars lined up with the drums more precisely than maybe any band I have seen live. Now that I think about it, this was my first black metal show! I hope they're all this awesome, and fine-tuned. I had to borrow money from friends to get it, but there was no way I was going home without their Path of Totality LP. Stream it for yourself right here, and see what all this fuss is about. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Feels good to be writing again. Sorry for the lack of pictures; the ones I took before my phone died didn't come out at all. Look for my reviews of Bobbaroo (7 bands!!), and Loss/Bell Witch/Clorange/Brother Ares at the End coming soon!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Hellbender, Haarp, and Black Tusk at the End
What a night this night was. There were shows galore this night, from The Darkness playing somewhere nearby, to The Body and Sky Burial, to Ascent of Everest at the High Watt. And then of course, there was the show I went to: Hellbender, Haarp, and Black Tusk at the End. I think I chose right, what a fantastic star-studded evening of zazz this turned out to be! I arrived on the scene at what I thought was a few minutes late for the beginning of the show, only to find that not only was it not for another hour, but Hank III, his son C4, Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, Kirk from Crowbar and a few others were hanging out on the curb. Hanging out with these guys, drinking beers, smoking cigs, and hearing stories about how Wino of Saint Vitus/The Obsessed was a crazy speedfreak motherfucker with a different girl every night felt like a privilege. But these guys were so cool that they'd probably scoff at such notions. After a good bit of shit was shot, the first band began to play, and everybody went inside.
First up was Hellbender.
If you've known me very well over the past three months or so, then you'll know that I bitch and moan about missing Hellbender each time they come to town, despite having owned and reviewed their full-length LP "Cosmolux" (scroll down a few posts to see for yourself.). I had initially planned on seeing Sky Burial and The Body tonight, but as soon as I heard that Hellbender was filling in for Lung at this show, I knew I couldn't miss them again. Boy was I right!
These guys were unbelievable. Groovy, psychedelic, and doomsome. It was beautiful. They really know how to start from something simple, like a nice bass or guitar riff, and jam it all the way up to its fullest extent. Everyone was completely in sync with everyone else, like a giant lysergic heartbeat. And guitarist Joey's fingers, good lord! They never stopped moving! No wonder that guitar string broke, no way that thing could take so much stress! It was restrung in a heartbeat, however, and the show went on beautifully. If you can't tell already, I am overwhelmingly glad I went and saw these guys, as they may have made some of the best live music I've ever heard.
9.5/10, easily.
Check out the badass 7" I picked up!
Next up was New Orleans' bangers Haarp.
Wow. These guys make music for your guts. By that I mean if you just put on some dinky headphones and listen to them, you'll probably go "meh, these guys aren't so great". These guys aren't headphone music. This is cranked up all the way in your car, huge stereo, seven-subwoofer slamtastic shit. Fuck your head, fuck your ears, fuck your mind. This is music for your guts. These guys rumble up from the core of your being and shake you all the way back down. This shit is almost death sludge, like a dying Argentinosarus' last cries while being sucked under a tar pit swamp. These guys start and don't stop the pummeling punishment until they've had their fill.
Their vocalist Shaun Emmons got down into the audience and stayed there for most of the set, roaring at all of us like he wanted to make sure that each and every one of us heard him, and felt his presence. What a voice this man has! Sometimes he would scream and sometimes he would growl, and all of it was with his whole body. And who else would shout lyrics into the mic along with him? None other than Phil Anselmo! Haarp is signed to Phil's label Housecore Records, and I think I heard somebody say that Down had just played close by recently and was off that night, so he, Jimmy, Kirk, and the other guys from Down must have decided to swing by in support of Haarp. It's hard for me not to sound like a squealing schoolgirl here, but goddamn was it cool to see Phil Anselmo in person.
Anyway, the guitar/bass riffs were sick. My only real complaint is that I wish these guys would have been a bit more dynamic. They threw in a few tasty odd time signature stanzas to keep things interesting, but perhaps a quiet section here or there might have increased the heavy parts by contrast. But, that's not really my call to make.
8.5/10
I wish they had a bandcamp, but I guess reverbnation is cool...
The last band of the night was Black Tusk out of Savannah, Georgia.
I need to confess something. I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to Savannah sludge. Kylesa and Baroness, though pretty cool in their own right, really don't do too much for me. It's just really not heavy or doomy enough for me. It's plenty cool, just not... you get the picture. With that said, Black Tusk is probably the best Savannah sludge group I've heard. They play heavy, groovy stoner riffs at a midtempo pace with head-bobbing hardcore aesthetic. And did I mention everybody sings? Everyone in this band fucking sings. I haven't made up my mind fully about this facet, but I'm leaning more towards the "that's pretty cool" end of the spectrum. The best part is, each of their voices adds something a little different to the mix. Guitarist Andrew Fidler's shouts are high, bassist Jonathan Athon's are low, and drummer Jamie May's are somewhere in the middle. So when one member is playing a difficult passage, another might be on vocal duties. It keeps you on your toes in a fun way.
These guys were a whole lot fun. They might not be punchiest, the slowest, the doomiest, or the heaviest band, but boy were they fun. These guys were having a blast on stage, and it translates pretty well to the audience. You can feel their energy as they shred out a swampy punky riff in unison, or when Jamie beats the skins while yelling, or when Andrew lifts the guitar high above his head and smacks it a few times for some good feedback. I'd say go see these guys life if you can; a lot of their records can't truly capture how much fun they are live.
8.3/10
Stream their shit here:
Keep reading Nashvile! If I can ever get my shit together, I should have a review of Brother Ares', Billy Castro's, and maybe even Sky Burial's latest releases soon!
First up was Hellbender.
These guys were unbelievable. Groovy, psychedelic, and doomsome. It was beautiful. They really know how to start from something simple, like a nice bass or guitar riff, and jam it all the way up to its fullest extent. Everyone was completely in sync with everyone else, like a giant lysergic heartbeat. And guitarist Joey's fingers, good lord! They never stopped moving! No wonder that guitar string broke, no way that thing could take so much stress! It was restrung in a heartbeat, however, and the show went on beautifully. If you can't tell already, I am overwhelmingly glad I went and saw these guys, as they may have made some of the best live music I've ever heard.
9.5/10, easily.
Check out the badass 7" I picked up!
Next up was New Orleans' bangers Haarp.
 |
| Look who showed up to party! |
Their vocalist Shaun Emmons got down into the audience and stayed there for most of the set, roaring at all of us like he wanted to make sure that each and every one of us heard him, and felt his presence. What a voice this man has! Sometimes he would scream and sometimes he would growl, and all of it was with his whole body. And who else would shout lyrics into the mic along with him? None other than Phil Anselmo! Haarp is signed to Phil's label Housecore Records, and I think I heard somebody say that Down had just played close by recently and was off that night, so he, Jimmy, Kirk, and the other guys from Down must have decided to swing by in support of Haarp. It's hard for me not to sound like a squealing schoolgirl here, but goddamn was it cool to see Phil Anselmo in person.
Anyway, the guitar/bass riffs were sick. My only real complaint is that I wish these guys would have been a bit more dynamic. They threw in a few tasty odd time signature stanzas to keep things interesting, but perhaps a quiet section here or there might have increased the heavy parts by contrast. But, that's not really my call to make.
8.5/10
I wish they had a bandcamp, but I guess reverbnation is cool...
The last band of the night was Black Tusk out of Savannah, Georgia.
 |
| Getting a good picture of these guys was ridiculously difficult. They never stopped moving. |
8.3/10
Stream their shit here:
Keep reading Nashvile! If I can ever get my shit together, I should have a review of Brother Ares', Billy Castro's, and maybe even Sky Burial's latest releases soon!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Brother Ares, Dead Channels, Nothing But Wolves, and Across Tundras at the Muse
Ah the Muse. With your subpar acoustics and stodgy sound guys, you were always one of my places to see shows with earplugs in tow. Sadly, the Muse is slated to close at the end of May, so this might have been my last show there. Sad faces all 'round.
Anyway, first up at this possibly final gig was my good friends Brother Ares.
Good show like always. It's been too long to remember too many specifics, but one glaring thing I do remember is that Gore's vocals definitely weren't high enough in the mix. I'll chalk that up to the stodgy sound guy. Otherwise, great show as usual.
8.something/10
Look for my review of their new self-titled EP soon! Til then, give it a go yourself and form your own opinion.
Next up was Dead Channels.
These guys are from New York, so I probably shouldn't be reviewing them since I review Nashville bands, but whatever. They made it all the way from NY to here, so I feel like they deserve a little feedback. These guys were pretty sweet. They're a little hard to pin down, but if I had to, I'd characterize their sound as somewhere between High on Fire and Primus, with a hefty dose of KEN Mode thrown in. The vocals were shouted, and the guitarist was excellent. The riffs were a bit staccato for my taste, but not enough to be as annoying as the breakdowns in most deathcore. They made it work. I hope these guys come back soon.
8.6/10
Oh hey, these guys have a bandcamp too!
Third up was Nothing But Wolves.
These guys are from NY as well, and the same goes for them. These guys were definitely full-on hardcore. The singer was energetic, and the bassist was lively and sang a bit. Also, I could swear that the guitarist was in Mastodon. I never got to ask him, so I guess that thought will just bug me forever. Regardless, these guys were fun. I can't say they were especially innovative, but damn they were fun. If I'd known the words to their songs, you bet your ass that I would have been up there, screaming the lyrics while forehead to forehead with the singer.
7.9/10
Like them here!
Last but certainly not least was Across Tundras.
These guys are moving up in the world! Last I heard, they were recording with Neurosis' label, Neurot Recordings. If that doesn't qualify a band as badass, then I'm not sure what does anymore. Anyway, these guys have been through a lineup change or two since I saw them in March of 2010 with Junius and a few others. Thankfully, this hasn't deterred their sound much - these guys rock as hard as ever. With a mix of Metal, Country, and everything in between, these guys are soothing, hypnotic, and invigorating all at once. Twang metal? I'm not sure how I feel about that moniker.
However, partway through their set, disaster struck: guitarist/vocalist Tanner's guitar amp went out. After a powerful and decidedly angry kick to it, the thing still didn't work, so they decided to cut their set short. Sadface. Despite the shortened set, these guys still kicked ass. I hope they play close to home once more soon!
8.6/10
I was fortunate enough to snag one of their 7" splits with Hellbender (accompanied with a sweet poster), so I may review that in the near future if I get a chance. Since I think I posted that with a different review, here's Across Tundras' latest full release, Sage:
At the time of my writing of this entry, this blog has made it to over 1000 hits! Thanks so much to all 20 of you who have visited the page 50 times, it means a lot to me. Hopefully I'm on my way to writing this thing for actual money someday!
Anyway, first up at this possibly final gig was my good friends Brother Ares.
Good show like always. It's been too long to remember too many specifics, but one glaring thing I do remember is that Gore's vocals definitely weren't high enough in the mix. I'll chalk that up to the stodgy sound guy. Otherwise, great show as usual.
8.something/10
Look for my review of their new self-titled EP soon! Til then, give it a go yourself and form your own opinion.
Next up was Dead Channels.
These guys are from New York, so I probably shouldn't be reviewing them since I review Nashville bands, but whatever. They made it all the way from NY to here, so I feel like they deserve a little feedback. These guys were pretty sweet. They're a little hard to pin down, but if I had to, I'd characterize their sound as somewhere between High on Fire and Primus, with a hefty dose of KEN Mode thrown in. The vocals were shouted, and the guitarist was excellent. The riffs were a bit staccato for my taste, but not enough to be as annoying as the breakdowns in most deathcore. They made it work. I hope these guys come back soon.
8.6/10
Oh hey, these guys have a bandcamp too!
Third up was Nothing But Wolves.
These guys are from NY as well, and the same goes for them. These guys were definitely full-on hardcore. The singer was energetic, and the bassist was lively and sang a bit. Also, I could swear that the guitarist was in Mastodon. I never got to ask him, so I guess that thought will just bug me forever. Regardless, these guys were fun. I can't say they were especially innovative, but damn they were fun. If I'd known the words to their songs, you bet your ass that I would have been up there, screaming the lyrics while forehead to forehead with the singer.
7.9/10
Like them here!
Last but certainly not least was Across Tundras.
These guys are moving up in the world! Last I heard, they were recording with Neurosis' label, Neurot Recordings. If that doesn't qualify a band as badass, then I'm not sure what does anymore. Anyway, these guys have been through a lineup change or two since I saw them in March of 2010 with Junius and a few others. Thankfully, this hasn't deterred their sound much - these guys rock as hard as ever. With a mix of Metal, Country, and everything in between, these guys are soothing, hypnotic, and invigorating all at once. Twang metal? I'm not sure how I feel about that moniker.
However, partway through their set, disaster struck: guitarist/vocalist Tanner's guitar amp went out. After a powerful and decidedly angry kick to it, the thing still didn't work, so they decided to cut their set short. Sadface. Despite the shortened set, these guys still kicked ass. I hope they play close to home once more soon!
8.6/10
I was fortunate enough to snag one of their 7" splits with Hellbender (accompanied with a sweet poster), so I may review that in the near future if I get a chance. Since I think I posted that with a different review, here's Across Tundras' latest full release, Sage:
At the time of my writing of this entry, this blog has made it to over 1000 hits! Thanks so much to all 20 of you who have visited the page 50 times, it means a lot to me. Hopefully I'm on my way to writing this thing for actual money someday!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
A Quick, Rather Overdue Review of Kit Fistu, Brother Ares, Exorcism, Fenris, Intoxicated Male, and Witch Hex at the Muse
First off, I'd like to all apologize to my readers (yes, all ten of you) for how late this review is. Between sickness, school, skiing accidents, and other shenanigans, I've barely had time to think. But here it is, a quick n dirty review of Kit Fistu-Brother Ares-Exorcism-Fenris-Intoxicated Male-Witch Hex at the Muse on Feb 26th.
First: Intoxicated Male.
Post-tech-math-prog-grind-core from somewhere around here. Guitarist's fingers never stop moving. Screamer Elias is intense. Good, high energy show. 8.5/10ish
Stream their shit here!
2nd: Fenris!
Show is as good as ever. [Lead Singer] Chance is the man; he and Elias of Intoxicated Male are bros, yelling together into the mic often during Fenris' set. Chance talks about hating religion before one song. Good crunchy heavy shit throughout. 8/10
My memory gets a little hazy here so bear with me. I think the next band was Witch Hex:
When Exorcism and Brother Ares join forces, planets are shaken and demons cower. Crazy, droney, screamy improv jam set. Incredible. 9/10 DO IT AGAIN
Afterwards, Brother Ares and Exorcism each put on a show of their own. the Ares Bros were as solid as ever. I got to sit on the stage for their set! Awesome. Can't wait for their EP to get finished. Exorcism was fantastic as well. Sean got down from the stage and joined the crowd. Despite his normally mild-mannered nature, the guy is a madman when Exorcism gets going. He puts his whole body into the music. So energetic, so awesome. So glad I got to see a full set.
9/10ish for both.
Last was Kit Fistu.
I don't remember their show very well, unfortunately. I think it was pretty fun, but I don't remember any details. They sound pretty good on record though. Nice and crunchy. Can't remember/10
Check them out below!
First: Intoxicated Male.
 |  |
Post-tech-math-prog-grind-core from somewhere around here. Guitarist's fingers never stop moving. Screamer Elias is intense. Good, high energy show. 8.5/10ish
Stream their shit here!
2nd: Fenris!
Show is as good as ever. [Lead Singer] Chance is the man; he and Elias of Intoxicated Male are bros, yelling together into the mic often during Fenris' set. Chance talks about hating religion before one song. Good crunchy heavy shit throughout. 8/10
My memory gets a little hazy here so bear with me. I think the next band was Witch Hex:
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
When Exorcism and Brother Ares join forces, planets are shaken and demons cower. Crazy, droney, screamy improv jam set. Incredible. 9/10 DO IT AGAIN
Afterwards, Brother Ares and Exorcism each put on a show of their own. the Ares Bros were as solid as ever. I got to sit on the stage for their set! Awesome. Can't wait for their EP to get finished. Exorcism was fantastic as well. Sean got down from the stage and joined the crowd. Despite his normally mild-mannered nature, the guy is a madman when Exorcism gets going. He puts his whole body into the music. So energetic, so awesome. So glad I got to see a full set.
9/10ish for both.
Last was Kit Fistu.
I don't remember their show very well, unfortunately. I think it was pretty fun, but I don't remember any details. They sound pretty good on record though. Nice and crunchy. Can't remember/10
Check them out below!
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
THE LONG AWAITED HIMEN HOUSE FENRIS BROTHER ARES ASSNUKE DEX/FRIENDS EXORCISM INTERVIEWS SHOW REVIEWS PICTURES CLUSTERSHITFUCK
ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT! After a long 11 days of being somewhere between busy and sick, I am finally posting this Himen House thing in one whole blog post! Alright!
Let's start with the interviews!
Fenris and Jessie Mowery of quote: "Every Band Ever"
After moving to Jessie's room and shooting the shit about how awesome Dixie Dave and all of his bands are, we got down to "business".
Me: So tell me about your band, what you guys are all about.
Fenris' vocalist Chance: We've been a band for like a year now.
Guitarist Danny: We smoke weed and drink beer and ride bikes.
Bassist Deighton or Dee-dee (or a variation of that spelling): The story of our first show is pretty interesting.
Drummer Jimmy: Our first show was terrible...
Dee-Dee: Not really the show... (garbled)... but between our first and second show, we completely changed the lineup.
Chance: We didn't even have a band.
Dee-dee: The first show came down to the last week. Evan Galvarez was supposed to be the bassist of Fenris, right? It came down to the last week, and he lived in Hendersonville. They got robbed. And [the other band members] were like "Well Dee-Dee, Evan can't come, so we're just gonna teach you all the bass parts, and if it works out, you can be the bassist." And I was like "Sweet."
Chance: We had a fill-in drummer at our first show and Jimmy played guitar, and it was all on practice amps.
Dee-dee: We wrote at least half our setlist two nights before the gig. It came down to like three nights before the gig and we were like "We've got two songs, we need to make a few more." So yeah, it was pretty ridiculous, and it wasn't that great. But then, it got good.
Chance: The coolest thing about our first show was the Filler cover.
Dee-dee: And then we were like, we need a guitarist, Jimmy should be the drummer. How about Danny? He's a really good guitarist. And then we got Danny for our next show, and he's been with us ever since.
Jimmy: Yeah, they were like "See if this works" and I was like "Alright man."
Me: You guys rock hard. Influences?
Dee-dee:Brainwreck, I would say.
Dex and Friend's guitarist/vocalist Jessie: Yeah, Brainwreck. They're a band from here.
Chance: When I started a band, I started it because I saw them.
Jessie: They broke up September of last year. I think they were a band for almost three years. I played a lot of shows with them.
Chance: They were just fast and raw and heavy as fuck. Badass.
Jessie: Really awesome hardcore. Powerviolence. Whatever the fuck. But always really emotional sets. They didn't give a fuck, they were just playing to fucking do it, and have fun.
Chance: But musically we've been listening to a lot of post-hardcore. Saetia, Orchid, shit like that.
Unfortunately, I realized after the interview after this that the voice recording app I was using on my phone stopped recording at five minutes, so the above transcript is all I have verbatim from this interview. Which is really quite unfortunate, because after this part, we talked about the Nashville scene and how it has evolved, and Jessie Mowery waxed rather eloquently on the subject. I will make a new blog post once I am able to catch up with him and see if he remembers what he said on this night.
Brother Ares and Sean from Exorcism
After musing for two minutes about Unsane, beards and mustaches, makeup, and Carson Daly trying to be Dick Clark:
Me: So what are you guys all about? That's a good place to start, right?
Brother Ares' guitarist/vocalist Blake: Beards.
Brother Ares' drummer/vocalist Gore: I don't know what that means.
Me: : Maybe something easier. Influences!
Blake: The Body, Beast in the Field...
Gore: Melvins...
Blake: Earthless, Om. We totally cover Om in practice. And of course, by proxy, Sleep. And with all metal bands, it comes back to [Black] Sabbath, really. Any slow metal band to an extent.
Jessie pokes his head in here: Really any evil sounding metal band...
Blake: The tritone! The devil's chord!
Me (to Sean): How about you?
Exorcism's vocalist Sean: I guess basically shit like Swans, Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, Discharge, and Meanderthal. The Gun Club are a big one. Fuckin' love the Gun Club. Shit like Trial, Undertow. Just basically anything fuckin' heavy and visceral. Not even necessarily heavy, but just visceral. We all listen to a lot of shit. Patsy Cline.
Blake: We'd be all about that.
Gore: We actually want to start a powerviolence cover band called Johnny Gash.
Sean: Just a lot of different shit. If you limit yourself to one type of thing...
Gore: ...You're really fuckin' up.
Sean: Shit like that. Black metal stuff.
Norwegian music is discussed. Modern black metal is brought up. Arguments concerning Liturgy ensue.
Me: So you got your demo out, are you guys (Exorcism) at a standstill, what with the eviction and stuff?
Sean: Well I mean, this just happened a few days ago, the guys are staying at a motel right now, but we'll be alright. We'll figure something out. If the guys could drag themselves up from Murfreesboro they could practice at my house...
Me: So what do you think about the Nashville scene?
Sean: I'm just getting into it. I moved back here after living out West for a couple of years. There's so many fucking good bands. There's really good shit. I kind of feel like this area almost has its own sound. Everybody seems really restless, nobody wants to do the same thing. All these punk, metal, whatever bands. There's so many bands that feel that way and pull from whatever the fuck they want. It's really, really cool. I really like what's going on here. I've liked every band we've played with. It's really surprising. They're not going for anything specific, they're just going for what they want to hear and play.
While I wasn't able to talk much to Clay Cronic of Assnuke beyond talking about DRI and Melvins being influences at the time, I was able to catch up with him tonight and ask him if he wanted to talk about any other influences.
Assnuke's guitarist/singer Clay: "Poison Idea, Aus Rotten, we play a Battalion of Saints cover, and if I wanted to be that asshole I'd say the Germs, but that's a big stretch. Preston [the drummer] is into a lot more metal than I am. Needless to say, I listen to a lot of shit across the board, but as a punk band, it's hard not to sound completely musically autistic. At these days? We try to practice a lot, same old shit."
Pictures of Brother Ares coming soon. I invited mydumbass sweet and loving brother to come take pictures of the show, but there was an error in communication so he thought I only wanted pictures of one band. He showed up, took pics of Bros Ares, and left. He still hasn't sent me the pictures. I'm trying to get him to come and actually cover all of the next event.
And now it's the part everyone's been waiting for! The Reviews! Let's hope I remember enough of the show to review it.
First up was Fenris.
Sludge. Hardcore. Punk. Crust. Grindcore. If Fenris was a refrigerator, all of these labels would stick like magnets (and you can bet your ass that this Fenris-fridge would be stocked with nothing but beer). These guys could do slow, fast, and anything in between, with topics ranging from the serious (one song was about how Chance had lost a friend to prescription pill abuse) to the delightfully, blasphemously absurd (I'm fairly certain their last tune was a speedy grinder entitled "Skullfuck Moses"). Excellent show, full of passion and energy. Would watch again. 8.5/10
Next was my bros Brother Ares.
Don't be fooled by their lack of band members, this duo will rip your face off and make you beg for more. Their mighty beards alone should be reason for you to cower in both fear and awe. Their crunchy mixture of sludge and doom metal will leave you flattened, gasping for air as your lungs are unable to open beneath the crushing, glacier-paced sound. Despite needing to borrow a cymbal or two, Blake and Gore were in top form, their screams and shouts shaking the diminutive venue and annoying at least one neighbor. Just when I thought they couldn't get any better, they debuted a cosmolith of a song, with an extremely heavy almost minimalist riff, punctuated by a gorgeous noise-inspired mid-section and outro. After a few more songs and an outcry of "TUNE, ASSHOLE!", Blake switched to the totally brutal sparkly blue guitar for their traditional closing song, a cover of Black Flag's "My War". It was better than I remember. 9.2/10
Third on the bill was Assnuke.
This duo kicked off their playlist with a song about cigarettes, with an Addams Family-esque intro and clap(snap?)-along parts that quickly turned into a DRI-fueled thrashy hardcore moshfest. In fact, most of their songs sounded quite DRI-inspired, moreso than just their cover of DRI's "I Don't Need Society". Despite this slightly derivative sound, the band was a blast. I found myself head-banging along even joining in in making an itty bitty mosh pit with about five other guys. Their last song was a bit more robust, with a slower, almost more thoughtful pace, and Clay using a different vocal style. I hope these guys explore this direction in the future, what with variety being the spice of life and all that good bullshit. 7.9/10
Fiddlesticks was to be the next band on the bill, but the guitarist split. So at the last second, Dex (the drummer of Fiddlesticks) teamed up with fellow Himen house resident Jessie Mowery (veteran of countless Nashville bands, including the up and coming Nut Collector who has a split with Fenris) to becomeThe Dex Experience Dex and Friends!
For being a rather rushed collaboration, I was extremely surprised and impressed by this pair. Dex jammed on drums while Jessie played very echoey, post-rock/metal/punk guitars and screamed at a level that was somewhere between hardcore punk and black metal. After one building jam, I craved more. Unfortunately, one jam was all they played. NEEDMOAR/10
The final act was Exorcism. I'd heard a lot about these guys in talking to Blake before the show, so I was excited. To my extreme mispleasure and disfortune, I was outside smoking a cigarette during most of their set, and made it in during the tail end of their heavy as fuck, doomy sludge tune. Their "last" song was a blaster of a hardcore song, with Sean waking the dead on vocals. After a brief pause, some premature gratitude, and a quick water break, the band reconvened and played a ruthless cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid". I was more than proud to join in with the handful of guys screaming the words into the fittingly tinted pink and gold microphone. It was an absolute blissful end to a heavy-hitting, exhausting night. And while I'd like to give these guys a numerical review, I feel that I need more data in order to make an apt judgment. 2.5 songs simply isn't enough. Needsmoreresearch/10
Should I get around to it, look for my review of the next show I attend, which looks to be Kit Fistu-Brother Ares-Exorcism-Fenris-Intoxicated Male-Witch Hex at The Muse on Feb 26. Should be a good time.
Let's start with the interviews!
Fenris and Jessie Mowery of quote: "Every Band Ever"
After moving to Jessie's room and shooting the shit about how awesome Dixie Dave and all of his bands are, we got down to "business".
Me: So tell me about your band, what you guys are all about.
Fenris' vocalist Chance: We've been a band for like a year now.
Guitarist Danny: We smoke weed and drink beer and ride bikes.
Bassist Deighton or Dee-dee (or a variation of that spelling): The story of our first show is pretty interesting.
Drummer Jimmy: Our first show was terrible...
Dee-Dee: Not really the show... (garbled)... but between our first and second show, we completely changed the lineup.
Chance: We didn't even have a band.
Dee-dee: The first show came down to the last week. Evan Galvarez was supposed to be the bassist of Fenris, right? It came down to the last week, and he lived in Hendersonville. They got robbed. And [the other band members] were like "Well Dee-Dee, Evan can't come, so we're just gonna teach you all the bass parts, and if it works out, you can be the bassist." And I was like "Sweet."
Chance: We had a fill-in drummer at our first show and Jimmy played guitar, and it was all on practice amps.
Dee-dee: We wrote at least half our setlist two nights before the gig. It came down to like three nights before the gig and we were like "We've got two songs, we need to make a few more." So yeah, it was pretty ridiculous, and it wasn't that great. But then, it got good.
Chance: The coolest thing about our first show was the Filler cover.
Dee-dee: And then we were like, we need a guitarist, Jimmy should be the drummer. How about Danny? He's a really good guitarist. And then we got Danny for our next show, and he's been with us ever since.
Jimmy: Yeah, they were like "See if this works" and I was like "Alright man."
Me: You guys rock hard. Influences?
Dee-dee:Brainwreck, I would say.
Dex and Friend's guitarist/vocalist Jessie: Yeah, Brainwreck. They're a band from here.
Chance: When I started a band, I started it because I saw them.
Jessie: They broke up September of last year. I think they were a band for almost three years. I played a lot of shows with them.
Chance: They were just fast and raw and heavy as fuck. Badass.
Jessie: Really awesome hardcore. Powerviolence. Whatever the fuck. But always really emotional sets. They didn't give a fuck, they were just playing to fucking do it, and have fun.
Chance: But musically we've been listening to a lot of post-hardcore. Saetia, Orchid, shit like that.
Unfortunately, I realized after the interview after this that the voice recording app I was using on my phone stopped recording at five minutes, so the above transcript is all I have verbatim from this interview. Which is really quite unfortunate, because after this part, we talked about the Nashville scene and how it has evolved, and Jessie Mowery waxed rather eloquently on the subject. I will make a new blog post once I am able to catch up with him and see if he remembers what he said on this night.
Brother Ares and Sean from Exorcism
After musing for two minutes about Unsane, beards and mustaches, makeup, and Carson Daly trying to be Dick Clark:
Me: So what are you guys all about? That's a good place to start, right?
Brother Ares' guitarist/vocalist Blake: Beards.
Brother Ares' drummer/vocalist Gore: I don't know what that means.
Me: : Maybe something easier. Influences!
Blake: The Body, Beast in the Field...
Gore: Melvins...
Blake: Earthless, Om. We totally cover Om in practice. And of course, by proxy, Sleep. And with all metal bands, it comes back to [Black] Sabbath, really. Any slow metal band to an extent.
Jessie pokes his head in here: Really any evil sounding metal band...
Blake: The tritone! The devil's chord!
Me (to Sean): How about you?
Exorcism's vocalist Sean: I guess basically shit like Swans, Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, Discharge, and Meanderthal. The Gun Club are a big one. Fuckin' love the Gun Club. Shit like Trial, Undertow. Just basically anything fuckin' heavy and visceral. Not even necessarily heavy, but just visceral. We all listen to a lot of shit. Patsy Cline.
Blake: We'd be all about that.
Gore: We actually want to start a powerviolence cover band called Johnny Gash.
Sean: Just a lot of different shit. If you limit yourself to one type of thing...
Gore: ...You're really fuckin' up.
Sean: Shit like that. Black metal stuff.
Norwegian music is discussed. Modern black metal is brought up. Arguments concerning Liturgy ensue.
Me: So you got your demo out, are you guys (Exorcism) at a standstill, what with the eviction and stuff?
Sean: Well I mean, this just happened a few days ago, the guys are staying at a motel right now, but we'll be alright. We'll figure something out. If the guys could drag themselves up from Murfreesboro they could practice at my house...
Me: So what do you think about the Nashville scene?
Sean: I'm just getting into it. I moved back here after living out West for a couple of years. There's so many fucking good bands. There's really good shit. I kind of feel like this area almost has its own sound. Everybody seems really restless, nobody wants to do the same thing. All these punk, metal, whatever bands. There's so many bands that feel that way and pull from whatever the fuck they want. It's really, really cool. I really like what's going on here. I've liked every band we've played with. It's really surprising. They're not going for anything specific, they're just going for what they want to hear and play.
While I wasn't able to talk much to Clay Cronic of Assnuke beyond talking about DRI and Melvins being influences at the time, I was able to catch up with him tonight and ask him if he wanted to talk about any other influences.
Assnuke's guitarist/singer Clay: "Poison Idea, Aus Rotten, we play a Battalion of Saints cover, and if I wanted to be that asshole I'd say the Germs, but that's a big stretch. Preston [the drummer] is into a lot more metal than I am. Needless to say, I listen to a lot of shit across the board, but as a punk band, it's hard not to sound completely musically autistic. At these days? We try to practice a lot, same old shit."
Pictures of Brother Ares coming soon. I invited my
And now it's the part everyone's been waiting for! The Reviews! Let's hope I remember enough of the show to review it.
First up was Fenris.
Sludge. Hardcore. Punk. Crust. Grindcore. If Fenris was a refrigerator, all of these labels would stick like magnets (and you can bet your ass that this Fenris-fridge would be stocked with nothing but beer). These guys could do slow, fast, and anything in between, with topics ranging from the serious (one song was about how Chance had lost a friend to prescription pill abuse) to the delightfully, blasphemously absurd (I'm fairly certain their last tune was a speedy grinder entitled "Skullfuck Moses"). Excellent show, full of passion and energy. Would watch again. 8.5/10
Next was my bros Brother Ares.
Don't be fooled by their lack of band members, this duo will rip your face off and make you beg for more. Their mighty beards alone should be reason for you to cower in both fear and awe. Their crunchy mixture of sludge and doom metal will leave you flattened, gasping for air as your lungs are unable to open beneath the crushing, glacier-paced sound. Despite needing to borrow a cymbal or two, Blake and Gore were in top form, their screams and shouts shaking the diminutive venue and annoying at least one neighbor. Just when I thought they couldn't get any better, they debuted a cosmolith of a song, with an extremely heavy almost minimalist riff, punctuated by a gorgeous noise-inspired mid-section and outro. After a few more songs and an outcry of "TUNE, ASSHOLE!", Blake switched to the totally brutal sparkly blue guitar for their traditional closing song, a cover of Black Flag's "My War". It was better than I remember. 9.2/10
Third on the bill was Assnuke.
This duo kicked off their playlist with a song about cigarettes, with an Addams Family-esque intro and clap(snap?)-along parts that quickly turned into a DRI-fueled thrashy hardcore moshfest. In fact, most of their songs sounded quite DRI-inspired, moreso than just their cover of DRI's "I Don't Need Society". Despite this slightly derivative sound, the band was a blast. I found myself head-banging along even joining in in making an itty bitty mosh pit with about five other guys. Their last song was a bit more robust, with a slower, almost more thoughtful pace, and Clay using a different vocal style. I hope these guys explore this direction in the future, what with variety being the spice of life and all that good bullshit. 7.9/10
Fiddlesticks was to be the next band on the bill, but the guitarist split. So at the last second, Dex (the drummer of Fiddlesticks) teamed up with fellow Himen house resident Jessie Mowery (veteran of countless Nashville bands, including the up and coming Nut Collector who has a split with Fenris) to become
For being a rather rushed collaboration, I was extremely surprised and impressed by this pair. Dex jammed on drums while Jessie played very echoey, post-rock/metal/punk guitars and screamed at a level that was somewhere between hardcore punk and black metal. After one building jam, I craved more. Unfortunately, one jam was all they played. NEEDMOAR/10
The final act was Exorcism. I'd heard a lot about these guys in talking to Blake before the show, so I was excited. To my extreme mispleasure and disfortune, I was outside smoking a cigarette during most of their set, and made it in during the tail end of their heavy as fuck, doomy sludge tune. Their "last" song was a blaster of a hardcore song, with Sean waking the dead on vocals. After a brief pause, some premature gratitude, and a quick water break, the band reconvened and played a ruthless cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid". I was more than proud to join in with the handful of guys screaming the words into the fittingly tinted pink and gold microphone. It was an absolute blissful end to a heavy-hitting, exhausting night. And while I'd like to give these guys a numerical review, I feel that I need more data in order to make an apt judgment. 2.5 songs simply isn't enough. Needsmoreresearch/10
Should I get around to it, look for my review of the next show I attend, which looks to be Kit Fistu-Brother Ares-Exorcism-Fenris-Intoxicated Male-Witch Hex at The Muse on Feb 26. Should be a good time.
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