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.

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.

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!

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!

Black Tar Prophet, Bleeding Heart Blues, Clorange, and Ponykiller at The End

It was a dark and stormy night. I left early from a Passover feast, and was headed to this show at The End. As I was driving in the middle of the highway, a huge gust of wind attacked my car, and blew the hood up over my windshield! I couldn't see a thing! Somehow I was able to flick on the emergency lights, roll down my window and see if any cars were coming behind me, and pull of to the side of the road. I fished out a tiny tire iron from beneath my car's seats, whacked the hood latch until it came unstuck, and secured the hood until I was sure it wouldn't blow up again. Having successfully cheated death, I then proceeded to make it the rest of the way to the show without any further incident. And what a show it turned out to be!

First up was Black Tar Prophet.
Greg, the drummer was one of the few people that showed up to the Nashville HQ/Harpeth Garage show, so I was happy to return the favor by seeing him play. After hanging out and discussing the merits of Bongripper's different releases, the show began, and Black Tar Prophet went on stage. The guitar setup was a gorgeous freakish wall of assorted amp heads and cabs, including Kustom to Sunn cabs and heads. Their show was just one long song entitled "Note to Nod". An interesting beast, the sprawling song contained bits of drone, sludge, and doom metal. Fluid, groovy, loud, and plenty heavy. These guys rocked.

So great was their worship of the Riff that Mark sacrificed his guitar upon its altar.

The highlight of the show, at least for me, came at the very end of performance. Guitarist Mark, after a furiously twisting and turning the lowest string's tuning knob, began pressing his guitar against the tall Sunn cabinet. Suddenly, he began violently swinging his guitar violently and smashing it into the wall of speakers. Smash! Crunch! Crack! Pieces of it go flying. Mark knocks over the speakers, pulls out a cigarette, and walks off stage. Epic.
8.8/10

Video footage of the show!

Video courtesy of VintageQueen54 Videos!

Bandcamp shenanigans!


Next up was Bleeding Heart Blues.



These guys were interesting, but not in a "damn, this is really interesting" way, more of a "thats uh, hm, interesting" way. Reminiscent of Heart, but with quasi-Kyuss riffs. The girl singer caterwauled a bit. She had her moments, but overall I was not a huge fan. They could be pretty fun at some points, but they didn't ever really blow me away.
7.1/10






Third was Clorange.



This was my second time seeing Clorange. The first time, I was a little unsure of Carrie's smooth, soulful vocals' interplay with the doom metal guitar backing, but I think this time it really clicked for me. They play in a Traditional Doom metal style, but with more complicated riffs than I normally associate with traditional doom. I guess you could call them psychedelic female-fronted traditional doom metal? That's a mouthful. It's easier just to say that these guys are beautifully heavy. Carrie's vocals, as I mentioned above, were soaring and soothing, soulful and sincere. The riffs were heavy and the hooks were catchy. Just as good as the first time. Highly recommended.
8.6/10









Stream stream stream...




The last band of the night was Ponykiller.

Meeting cool people and even band members is one of my favorite parts about the little Nashville scene. Before any bands went on, I met some of the folks milling around, one of which was dead set on convincing me that Ponykiller wasn't metal. Singer/guitarist Collin Yeo, who I was lucky enough to meet before the show, confirmed this. I was immediately skeptical. Equine skulls adorn their shirts and album covers. They're on Phil Anselmo's label. Their name is Ponykiller for christ's sake. But lo and behold, when they took the stage and started to play, I was transformed into a believer.

I have in my notes "WTF". That seems to about cover it. This trio of NOLA guys are stylistically all over the place. The 5-string bass is fretless, the guitars go from crunchy to swirling to dreamy, and the vocals range from a few well-placed screams to emotional, even heartfelt clean singing. Singing! And this guy plays bass in Arson Anthem alongside Phil Anselmo, Mike Williams, and Hank Williams III! This man knows his music, and it comes through in his playing. Soft, loud, aggressive, tender, or a mix of all 4. If I had to label their style, I would call it "Post-post-metal". But thankfully I have to do no such thing, so I will not. If the dudes from Intronaut got together, decided to sing as seriously as While Heaven Wept, covered a few Spacemen 3 tunes, and then said "fuck all that, let's play whatever we want", it might sound vaguely similar to Ponykiller. But just barely: these guys defy explanation. All I can really say is to see them for yourself.
8.9/10

These guys really have to be seen live in order to get the full experience. Until you can, here's their bandcamp to tide you over!