metal monday in the mission...Walken, Witch Mountain, & Premonition 13

so as i sat at work tuesday morning, moderately hungover and wishing for additional cups of coffee, i was still trying to process exactly what to say about monday night's show.  with so much brutal brilliance berating the venue, it's surprising that the elbo room's structural integrity held...but on to the recap...

i sauntered up to the elbo room at about half past 9, feeling accomplished (i washed AND folded a load of laundry...on a weeknight?!?!  hells yeah!) and ready for some beer(s).  i was stoked to be seeing one of my favorite bands (Walken...as if you had to ask) on what would otherwise be a lame ass monday night.  the dude working the door commented on my Walken t shirt on my way in...not really sure if he was talking shit or simply stating the obvious, but either way beer = sandeep's top priority, so what the fuck ever.  with beer in hand i grabbed a quick seat on the periphery and took in the scene.  many of the usual sf metal show regulars were about as members of Hornss, Hazzard's Cure, Black Cobra, and a slew of other local metal greats came together with nerdy fans (ME!!!) and scenesters (cooler, non-socially hopeless, significantly less nerdy metal heads) for the purpose of badass-ness.

considering that i was at a Walken show, i had no doubt that i was going to enjoy myself, but i was particularly curious about Witch Mountain.  i'd missed the band a couple of times in the past, but had heard nothing but badass reviews, so i was pretty stoked.  Premonition 13, being one of Wino Wienrich's bands would undoubtedly be fucking sweet, so all in all, i was revved up for a killer show.
anyone who's ever read insanehinduramblings knows i fucking love Walken.  i can't completely put my finger on what it is, but something about the way they put together their music makes it exactly what i want/need to hear.  their combination of sludgy riffs, mathematical rhythmic accuracy, disturbingly brutal musical talent, and the desire to tear this shit out of every stage they set foot upon ensures that i will avoid missing a Walken show at all costs, while verbally berating folks who can't make it or don't want to come. Walken's set monday night surpassed even my high expectations.  leading off with two newer songs, Walken set the evening's tone with blistering riffs, mournful growls, and the aggressive, meticulously well organized chaos that manifests as Zach Farwell's incredible percussion skills. 

other than the newer unreleased stuff Walken's set highlighted some of the strongest tracks off of their full length from november 2009.  while the set was totally badass, and i'll never get tired of hearing "Thunder Paws" performed live, i couldn't help but wish that the band might consider playing something older...maybe off the silk screened EP...?  (translation: sandeep wants to hear "Bitch Wizard"...cuz it's fucking awesome!!!) in conversation with various members of Walken post set, it sounds like the band will be taking a break from shows in order to get some new songs written.  yes, it will be a total bummer short term wise, but looking long term, that decision will only yield crushingly awesome results.  best wishes for your performance hiatus Walken, we'll be foaming at the mouth for a show when y'all are ready!

Sean, Shane, and Zack in the background...3/4 of the mighty Walken!!!

Shane, Max, and another failed attempt at photographing Zack...Walken!!!  bow down!!!

second to the stage was portland's Witch Mountain.  as a band with a female lead vocalist, it can sometimes be tough for metal audiences to get past that fact.  either we're too testosterone fueled and assume a woman can't thrown down the way a guy could, or we're totally enamored with the fact that it's a woman in a metal band and as a result just spend their set swooning.  Witch Mountain crushed either reaction before they started as lead vocalist Uta Plotkin's sound check caused a hush to fall over the assembled headbangers.  just to let y'all know, i've been having a hard time trying to fully articulate Witch Mountain's sound.  they definitely fall into the epic sludgy doom category (with riffs that reminded me a bit of Brainoil), but those vocals take me in another direction...like say if Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler passed on John Michael "Ozzy" Osborne and instead recruited Ella Fitzgerald to sing for Black Sabbath.  needless to say, i spent most of Witch Mountain's set flitting back and forth between complete awe of what i was experiencing, and rocking the fuck out.  if you ever get the chance to see this band or buy their album, DO IT.

Witch Mountain sound checking and obliterating all other sounds at the elbo room.

Witch Mountain...providing utter destruction in the best possible formats.

closing out the show was Premonition 13, Wino's most recent full band project after his acoustic solo album.  personally, i have a hard time not enjoying  Wino's work.  granted,  drony, sludgy, gravelly voiced, skull crushing awesomeness is kinda my thing, so how could i ever not enjoy a Wino production?  with Premonition 13, Wino definitely summons up that recipe for traditional Wino sauce that we all love, and then kicks it into high gear.  despite the delightfully chorused guitars and tube driven fuzz, Premonition 13's riffs represent a little more Thin Lizzy or Steppenwolf influence to Wino's traditional Sabbath/Pentagram styled sounds.  don't get me wrong, Premonition 13 still screams with those classic doom tones, but they're backed up with a little more attack.  during the set i overheard someone shout "it's never a bad day to see Wino", which is totally true.  despite the fact that monday night had turned to tuesday morning and i knew i'd need to be up in less than five hours for work, fuck it, Wino's on stage.

ah Wino...the definition of badass.

as i began my short trek home, i found myself still reeling from the show...so much gut ripping awesomeness...my brain still rattling between my ears...i should have stopped at three drinks...no more Walken shows for a while, bummer...i wonder if i could do some sort of random stream of consciousness section when i blog about this...somebody's pooping on the sidewalk...keep it gloomy y'all!

Walken, Aerial Ruin, Saturn's Return - thee parkside

hey guys, feel like a show review?  too bad, that's what you're getting.  i know what you're thinking, "...(sigh)...a review of another Walken show. let me guess, sandeep loved it.  surprise surprise, what an asshole."  well put.  i guess my burden is to make this a scintillating piece of reading then.  'ear me now (that was an ali g impression):

"i love it...this is like,'metal heads get old and mellow out' night at the bar..." i overheard some random chick saying to her dudeman as they were standing by me during Aerial Ruin's set.  she kinda wasn't kidding.  seriously, if you are into metal, live in sf, and have a significant other who's into lighter shit and you were at this show, you probably got laid like crazy saturday night/sunday morning, your patner thankful for some chill, acoustic-y indie-ish rock and you satisfied by some badass metal.  

as i was pulling up and finding a spot to lock up my bike outside thee parkside i heard music already seeping out the doors.  in my experience, Walken has always had badass bands with the on the bill, so i hurried through my lock up and headed in as quickly as i could.  Saturn's Return was up and laying down some mellowed out...indie (hard) rock?  definite essences of metal showed through with sweep picked guitar parts and the occasional double bass, laying down a sound that sound more akin to Built to Spill rocking out with Alice in Chains than annoying dumb homogenous arcade fire style stuff.  all in all, from the three songs i heard, they were pretty badass, but cill...a little perplexing for the first band at a show headlined by my favorite local metal band.


second onstage was Aerial Ruin.  i first heard about this band when i went to see Cuttthroats 9 at el rio a while back.  i was chatting with Will Carroll post show and asked him if there was any possibility of an Old Grandad doing a show.  he replied that a show would probably happen eventually, but at the moment he was busy with many other bands (at the time Death Angel being the most time consuming!!), and fellow Old Grandad member Erik Moggridge had moved to Portland and was touring with a solo acoustic project.  i wish i could say i looked it up the next day, but in all honesty, let's fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when i google the acts opening for Walken.  when i looked into Aerial Ruin, i found what looked like a rather stereotypical long haired, battle vest wearing, bearded, sludge and/or death and/or thrash and/or power metal looking dude sitting behind an acoustic guitar playing some pretty haunting technical riffs alongside almost folksy vocals.  needless to say, i was curious about what it would be like live...

Erik Moggdrige...aka Aerial Ruin

...and live, it was pretty badass...seriously.  it was an interesting juxtaposition, a dude wearing a Lesbian t shirt (the same Lesbian t shirt i have!!!) growling out song titles only to cut into riffs and vocals reminiscent of At the Gates' acoustic work and Neutral Milk Hotel simultaneously.  Aerial Ruin went electric for the last few songs featuring hypnotic guitar doubling between Moggridge and Eric Peterson (of Saturn Returns that night, but also Night After Night and Lost Goat).  All in all, Aerial Ruin's set was fun and despite expecting the usual distorted guitars that usually accompany Walken's opening acts, i really fucking enjoyed Aerial Ruin's show.  the album is well worth picking up, offering an interesting view one metal head's perspective of acoustic rock.  after listening to the album it was easy to see that i probably would have been much more into Aerial Ruin's set were i more in the mood for something a little more laid back...but saturday night i was ready to rock the fuck out to some Walken!

as Walken prepared to start heir set and close out the show, frontman Shane Bergman (also of Hazzard's Cure) joked that the audience could take out their earplugs.  thankfully, i never wear earplugs, and why would i?  put a fucking barrier between myself and the soul crushing awesomeness that is Walken live??!!  fuck no!  if you've ever read a blog post where i've mentioned this band, you know i can't be impartial on this front.  these guys seem to play music that exactly fits my definition of 'kickass tunes'.  now i don't mean to sound totally arrogant, but i like to think i have pretty fucking good taste in music (if i was being honest i'd say i have the best fucking taste in music on the planet, i just haven't discovered all the bands that fit into it yet, but in an attempt to show at least one measly iota of humility, i'll say i have 'pretty fucking good taste' in music), that being the case, it would follow that bands i think are totally fucking amazing are not only extremely talented, but are also folks whom you should think are totally fucking awesome...TOTALLY FUCKING MINDBEDINGLY AWESOME.  i for one, think Walken is one of the most amazing bands i've come across in the last five years, so following the simple syllogism i just set up...well, you get the point, you love Walken too, now read on.

Sean, Shane, Zack (in the back!), and Max..WALKEN!!!  \m/

i've constantly had the pleasure of being able to ask the members of Walken when their next album is coming out. totally awesome for me, though possibly a pain in the ass tot he membership of Walken, but i can't help it.  ever since my first Walken show, i've been hearing songs announced as "new songs" sometimes without lyrics or titles...and they've all absolutely destroyed...just totally fucking DESTROYED!  at first i would constantly come home from shows with 'Thunder Paws' stuck in my head for days, salivating rabidly over the prospect of having a copy (thankfully we got that album back in november of '09!). it's addictive fucking music folks, and staurday's show dished up even more...some new tracks that are starting to feel a little familiar (in the most headbangingly awesome way possible) and others that were brand fucking new.  the new material continues along the path the band has already set, with crunchy, groovy riffs heavily percussive yet melodic bass, gut shattering drums, and unrelenting growled vocals...though many of the new tracks seemed to be instrumentals...maybe lyrics are in the works...?  the new songs are fucking brilliant and show the band reaching new heights in their collective musical growth...but i would kill to hear them play 'Bitch Wizard' live again (it's been a while!)!

Sean, Shane and Zack, killin' it on stage as Walken destroyed...

Zack n' Max, takin' no prisoners with Walken saturday night

members of Walken are of course involved in various other projects, Zack and Max also forming two thirds of Grayceon and Shane joining various other badass local doomsters in Hazzard's Cure, both of which are awesome bands that i look forward to seeing as often as possible, but Walken, Walken inspires something distinct.  badass would be a good word for, but unfortunately badass in now way expresses the immensity of pure fucking awesome that Walken represents.  they're playing again in september if not before, i'll post details as soon as i hear 'em, BE THERE. (i'll twitter at ya' about it...follow me, i'm sandeeppbhuta)

Sean and Shane, shreddin' chords and vocal chords...Walkenroll!

...and Walken delivers one badass encore.

so yeah, an interesting mix this saturday night, in the end, undoubtedly a badass show....phew, and we're done!  perfect timing!  better grab my bike and get on my way to bottom of the hill for the Orange Goblin/Gates of Slumber/ Naam show...keep it gloomy y'all.

um...hey!

holy shit...it's been a while! i know, i know. you're sitting there, in front of a computer, curing my lazy ass for denying you pertinent information on the music you should be acquiring as you chuck out all that bullshit you thought you liked. sorry, i'm back, so continue destroying all non-metal music, and keep it tuned here...insanehinduramblings is getting re-envisioned.

so the flow of things is gonna change a little. as opposed to simply offering up reviews of badass albums and shows, i'm gonna give y'all some insights through a chronicle of one slightly off kilter eccentric metal head growing up, doing the adult thang and headbanging til i snap my neck doing so. so what does that mean for the blog you ask? basically, you'll get regular musings, show reviews, album reviews, show suggestions (all probably shorter than the reviews posted previously), and insight into the way metal has enriched my life and will yours as well...as soon as you quit being such a pussy. posts will be full of listening recommendations and disparaging comments about most other forms of music and folks who's political ignorance is so great that they require instant death and a Cannibal Corpse style postmortem skull fuck. it'll be awesome and everything you need...aside from the many badass downloads available at Illogical Contraption (...wait, you don't read Illogical Contraption?! why the fuck are you wasting your time on this pitiful joke of a blog?! do not pass go, just head over to Illogical Contraption and forfeit your life).

alright, well let's start my blog's zombified return to unlife with a quick recap of 2011. 2011 has been pretty shit kickingly awesome...nuff said. they year began with a new years party at guerrero gallery where some douchy whiny hipster band got totally blown away and musically mauled by Grayceon who brought some real talent to the party. since then, waves of awesome musical brutality have been ebbing and flowing like no other. Red Fang has shattered skulls with two SF appearances in less than a month, Walken has resumed regular (almost monthly!!) black masses (aka shows) in SF, Lesbian came through on tour to brutalize us with tunes from a new album, YOB decimated locals at the great american music hall in support of Neurosis, Unsane has laid waste to both thee parkside and el rio, Hightower pressed 'Tower to the People' on vinyl, germany's Nocturnal raised Satan in the united states for the first time ever at submission art gallery in the mission, Black Cobra (featured in shitty cell phone pictures below) continues to kick the shit outta every local audience they play for, and the 45 minute set of all new material Saviours played on their sf stop of the 'Eternally High' tour showed the band reaching soul shreddingly awesome new musical heights.

Jason of Black Cobra

Rafael of Black Cobra

a couple of new promoters of darkness to keep an ear out for would be the bone marrow guzzling brilliance of Hazzard's Cure (featuring Shane from Walken, Chris from Floating Goat, and a couple other folks that i'm pretty sure used to play for Orb of Confusion [who fucking owned] before they broke up), Pins of Light (featuring Jake from Hightower), Serpent Crown (female fronted awesomeness with Will Carrol [of a buzillion bay area metal bands, but most prominently Death Angel] pounding beats on his signature 'Hail Satan' drum kit), Pegataur (another loud ass, gut ripping bay area heavy metal two piece), Huntress (a collection of california badasses who's unrelenting, thrashy, sexy female fronted power metal stylings leave one seething for more), Hot Fog (who's tasty NWOBHM style goodness helps keep smiles on metalhead's faces), and Night After Night (i'm pretty sure they have the same drummer as Hot Fog, but they rarely play shows and are struggling to get an album recorded and released, so all i know of them is from rumors at shows, blog chatter, and random downloads from Illogical Contraption...but seriously, download this fucking Night After Night album...it owns!!).

wonderin' where to find me rockin' out  next?  shit, after reading this post i would be too.  well you're super fucking lucky, 'cuz next up for sandeep is Walken (dude, these guys are the shit...see previous posts if you have questions) next saturday the 4th at thee parkside.  come check out some awesome local shred slayed by some brutally talented folks      

so there you have it folks. insanehinduramblings is back with plans to be bloodier than ever. keep it gloomy y'all.

Walken/Huntress/Dark Black - Bender's Bar 12/4

"...so, how'd you hear about the show man?" the lead singer of Dark Black asked me as he handed me my freshly purchased copy of their 3 day old EP. i smiled immediately, "well i'm a big fan of Walken", i replied' "so whenever they have a show i try to check out the other bands on the bill as well, they're usually pretty badass too."

holy shit was last night an awesome night for music. i was stoked as hell as i locked up my bike outside of bender's bar, one of my favorite mission dive bars and the site of many a badass show in the past. it was just shy of a month from the last Walken show at the hemlock tavern. Walken, being one of if not my favorite local band (see previous posts for necessary confirmation) always shares bills with badass bands. Everything from big names like Death Angel and St. Vitus, to underground favorites like Lesbian, and often playing shows with other killer SF based indie metal bands like Hightower and Floating Goat. in my last 3 and a half years of living and show going in the bay area i have seen a wide variety of serious amounts of spine crushingly awesome music courtesy of attending Walken shows. yesterday night's show at bender's might have been one of the best though.

opening the show was portland's Dark Black. this may end up a comment i make in many of my future posts, but shiiiiiiiiiit, portland is churning out massive amounts of badass underground metal of various sub genres these days! i feel like i come across a new portland band that totally ends up melting my fucking face off at least once every couple weeks, Dark Black being the most recent addition to that list. belting out tunes that sounded distinctly of vintage power metal with a driving percussive bass, tight stabbing drums, epic double chorused lead guitars and a soaring vocals over the top coupled with sludgy doom riffs, heavy reverb on the vocal mics, and gratuitous use of crash cymbals Dark Black took the show going crowd through a set that encompassed some of the finest aspects of doom, power metal, and straight up good old fashioned 70s hard rock. their 30 odd minute set was hands down (horns up?) one of the most fun show going experiences i've had this year. the only downside of the set was being almost unable to hear the 2nd guitarist. the sound dude was running around the during the show trying to figure out what was up, by the end of the set, the audience was still straining to hear the dude shredding on the pink Charvel.

after Dark Black finished their set i felt a twinge of worry for LA based Huntress as i made my way to the merch tables. Dark Black has just torn it up, Walken would undoubtedly put on a brilliant show, so as far as i was concerned Huntress had a lot to live up to. before i get into some details on their performance, let me just say i never should have fucking doubted Huntress. the band took the stage and went on to bludgeon the audience with a skull crushing combination of rock n' roll attitude and aptitude. let's be honest, it's easy to please dudes at a metal show by throwing a super hot girl with a mic in front of the band, but add the fact that the dudes on strings and skins are fucking amazing and the girl with the mic can not only really sing (REALLY FUCKING SING) but she rocks that metaphorical spotlight in a way that would make Paul Stanley bow down and you have an amazing piece of ass kicking rock n' roll. the musical high i was riding from Dark Black was kicked into overdrive by Huntress' knee to the face, Judas Priest meets Electric Wizard meets Saxon styled heavy metal beat down. after their set i was mouth foamingly eager to pick up a disc or some vinyl and rushed over to the merch table as i saw the drummer sitting down and chatting with audience members. i asked if they had any recordings, but was informed that unfortunately they have yet to record an album, all they were selling were shirts. the drummer went on to mention that he plays in a number of other bands in the LA area and remembered seeing me at shows at annie's before that badass venue was shut down. :) well color me amused, guess i stick out in a crowd. in the end though, i was hoping the supporting bands would be good, turned out they were both fucking awesome.

Walken, of course was headlining last night (did i already mention that?). as i've said before, i'm not sure i'll ever get tired of writing about how fucking amazing i think this band is. i don't know what it is about 'em, but the way they put their music together is pretty much exactly my definition of awesome. to see it done live is always an ass kicking experience, and of course this saturday was no exception. slick sludgy guitar grooves, gut rattling bass, esophagus shredding vocals and intensely heavy handed yet agile drumming set Walken outside any label or box. is it doom? thrash? all and none of the above, it's just badass bay area metal (seriously, if you haven't yet, just go to this myspace page and listen to some samples...they're good for the soul: http://www.myspace.com/walken ). before they took the stage i had a chance to chat with Max Doyle (guitar for Walken and Grayceon) about what was up musically. excitingly, i was told that Grayceon has finished writing a new album (so hopefully that means they'll be recording soon!), but that Walken is still writing and rehearsing with about half an album put together. of course if either band makes any official announcements, i'll be sure to let y'all know. seriously though, i cannot fucking wait for the new Walken album! what unrecorded songs of theirs i have heard played live kick the shit outta me. this band does not stop progressing and growing musically. y'all gotta come to their next show with me. you'll be fucking blown away. Walken started saturday night's show with what i currently consider my favorite of their new songs (and possibly favorite overall Walken song as well) and didn't stop tearing it up until the sheer force of awesomeness caused a broken guitar string leaving Max to quickly replace it so that the show could go on. thankfully it did, and Walken kept the audience groovin' for a few more songs. unfortunately the brief break seemed to ruin any chances of an encore, so we didn't get to hear 'Running Out of Time', but ah well, all the more reason to be sure not to miss Walken's next show! keep it gloomy y'all.

Grayceon/Lesbian/Walken - 11/5

so, how was your friday night? undoubtedly pretty fuckin' lame compared to sandeep's. three of the most badass bands i've encountered in the last 10 years, one show, $8 cover, and it was diwali (and birthdays of members of two of the bands!). i had been stoked about this show for a while, with Grayceon (SF), Lesbain (Seattle), and Walken (SF) playing on one night it was almost an ideal lineup for me.

before coming to the bay, i spent a few years kicking around seattle. upon encountering Lesbian, i made it a point to attend as many of their shows as possible and buy up every recording of theirs that i could. Lesbian forges the way into a delicate metal sub genre of their own. dipping into sludgy doom coupled with intensely psychedelic jams interwoven between math rock-esque break downs, they are more than a little hard to cram into a box.

Grayceon, also being a very uniquely artistic band, has never failed to amaze audiences at every show i've seen them play. i distinctly recall some random dude approaching Grayceon guitarist Max Doyle (also of Walken) after the band had just tore it up on the roof of idle hands tattoo parlor during the lower haight art walk, shaking his hand and saying "i never knew i could like a metal band before today...". there are many qualities that about Grayceon that one doesn't often encounter in metal bands. Jackie Perez Gratz (also of Giant Squid and Amber Asylum) fronts the band as vocalist and electric cello shred mistress. add guitarist Max Doyle's crushingly heavy handed finger picking and drummer Zack Farwell (also of Walken)'s thundering rhythms into the mix and all you're doing is bringing together keen minds for music theory and ridiculous amounts of obvious musical prowess. it's impossible to describe the bands sound without frighteningly redundant use of the word 'epic', so i'm just going to recommend you head to their website (http://www.grayceon.com/) and their myspace page (http://www.myspace.com/grayceon), listen to a couple tunes, and have your credit card ready, you'll be wanting to buy the albums as soon as you're finally able to tear yourself from listening to the songs over and over online...if of course you don't own them already.

Walken...well i'll lay my bias out on the table, i fucking LOVE this band. i don't know what it is, but from the firs time i saw them play, i was fucking hooked. taking some of the greatest elements of doom, math rock, and a healthy dollop of thrash Walken churns out tunes that are just so satisfying to my ears and soul. somehow it's like their music better describes my emotions than words can...it would be fucking sweet if i could walk into work and simply say 'i'm feeling very Thunder Paws today' as opposed to explaining that i feel very intense and mind bendingly groovy with high chances of repeatedly throwing some metal horns...(seriously, look up the song! it makes sense!!)...but i digress. these guys fucking rock. featuring the guitar and drum combination of Max Doyle and Zack Farwell you've already come to love with Grayceon, Walken also hosts Sean Kohler on guitar and backing vocals, with Shane Bergman (also of Hazzard's Cure) rounding the grinding quartet off on bass and lead vocals. together, the band belts out a sound worthy of the badassittude and groovyness of their namesake.

walking in to the hemlock on friday night i could already hear the chug of the cello. it was 10:05 and Grayceon was already on stage! i rushed to the bar, grabbed a beer, paid my cover to gain entrance to the tiny back room with the stage and dashed in, only to be met by a wall of show goers nodding to the hypnotic stylings Grayceon shreds their audiences with. their churning, heavy tunes cutting back and forth between sharp, driving speed sections and grinding, epic, down tempo dirges all within one 5 to 12 minute opus. i have yet to see this band put on a bad show, not even an okay so, Grayceon throws down. add in the fact that it was Zack's birthday, and all the good vibes that brought, and you have one killer fucking set with an audience packed so tightly there isn't even room for a gangly indian dude to slither his way to the front.

next up on stage was Lesbian...i love those guys! i was sure to stake out a spot up front for this, it was maybe april when i saw them last, but being in SF means having way fewer opportunities to see them play, so i jumpon any chance i get! i remember reading once that they first chose to call themselves 'Lesbianwitch' because they were searching for a band name that would be as offensive to christians as 'Black Sabbath' or 'Pentagram', then after a bit, it became Lesbian (i have no idea why, but who the fuck cares?! they tear it up!). Lesbian's set began with frontman Dorando Hodous letting the audience know they only had time for two songs. i smiled, recalling a Lesbian show at chop suey in Seattle more than a few years ago with Book of Black Earth and Melt Banana where their show started the exact same way, it was a good indication that epic slaughter was soon to follow. Lesbian warmed the audience up slowly, weaving intricate, oddly syncopated patterns with more reverb than distortion, creating a pleasant false sense of security before tearing into some intensely sludgy yet mind bogglingly technical riffs, which managed to sound simultaneously hap hazard and delicately crafted. luckily with Lesbian, two songs is a good 30 minutes, and Lesbian utilized that time to batter the audience with two amazing tracks off of their recently released (a month ago maybe) album, Stratospheria Cubensis (which is awesome by the way...more details on that in a later post [oh, and just a side note, but Lesbian is going to be playing in oakland this thursday the 11th at Sugar Mountain Records on San Pablo]).
closing out the show was Walken. since y'all already know how i feel about their music, prepare for more of the same. the show was fucking awesome, AWESOME. Grayceon and Lesbian alone made it an amazing night, but with Walken headlining...i'm struggling to some up with a simile to adequately express how FUCKING AWESOME this show was. let's jsut say, i would have paid 8 bucks to hear Walken play just one song live.

i got a bit of a kick out of the fact that this show was happening almost a year to the day after the CD release show for Walken's most recent full length album (Nov. 6th, 2009 at annie's social club...oh annie's...) . this year, it was celebrating Zack and Sean's birthdays that was adding extra emphasis to the fact that it was bound to be a badass fucking set. i was super excited to see Walken play. i had missed a couple of previous opportunities to see them, and was super pissed at myself each time. after the first Walken show i saw, i made it a point to see them as often as they had shows i was aware of. there was one point a couple of years ago when i saw them three times within two months and i was thrilled as fuck. friday night lived up to and my expectations and completely destroyed any part of me that would ever contribute to missing a Walken show ever again.

y'know when you're chilling right before a show and you tell yourself, 'man, if they start with (fill in your favorite song by the band here) or (fill in your very close second favorite, but possibly actually favorite song by them here)', and then the band totally plays one of the songs? that was my exact situation as Walken tore into 'Right at Home' to open their set. from there it was straight into a five song block with almost no break for applause, Walken wasn't on stage to fuck around, they were up there to melt some fucking faces...and melt them they did (musically). i tried to keep track of the set list in my head, but got way too carried away rocking the fuck out to 'Watch it Burn', 'In the city of No Seasons' and of course getting some serious headbanging in on 'Thunder Paws'. the best part of the show was undoubtedly the new tracks, keeping me eagerly awaiting new recordings from these guys. after an intense and killer set of tunes, the guys from Walken stepped off stage, leaving the audience calling out to hear 'Running Out of Time'. i checked my phone, it was still hardly 12:40,surely there was time for...and before i could finish my thought they were back. the unstoppable machine of metal badassitude that is Walken tore into 'Running Out of Time' and 'Beast Toker' providing the audience their sought after encore.

as with all the bands that played friday night, Walken is a band that strives to play music that is recognizably metal in a way that few metal bands conceptualize their music. in my opinion, Walken owned the show that night. yes i'm biased, but seriously, give 'em a listen and go to a show. you'll be blown the fuck away. seriously, go buy some of these albums. check out some samples of the bands first if you need to:

http://www.myspace.com/grayceon
http://www.myspace.com/lesbianwitch
http://www.myspace.com/walken

alright, that's it, go listen to some music fun new music...and keep it gloomy y'all.

Red Octopus - layers upon layers of psychadelic goodness

i don't get why some metal heads or so anti-prog. prog is super fun! it's all spastic and abrasive and confusing to people that listen to all that mainstream bull shit that's always on the radio. in my mind, prog is the purest spirit of metal in musical for, a big, loud, unapologetic fuck you to folks who dont get it or like it. when you start through heavy elements of psychadelic rock, prog only gets more fun. case in point, san diego's Red Octopus. walking into thee parkside last month for a Hightower show, i was hoping the other bands on the bill would be pretty prolific. from Walken, to Pride Tiger, to Frontside Five, i've seen some pretty badass supporting bands courtesy of Hightower. Red Octopus is definitely the latest addition to that list (oh and Hightower's new album...freakin' sweet, review to come...soonish). claiming oneself to be in a psychadelic band can definitely pigeonhole one's sound. for me it invokes mental imagery of Jimi Hendrix spasmodically expressing his way through a full body performance of 'Voodoo Chile'...a ridiculously high standard to achieve. it's no surprise that many bands well worthy of referring to themselves as psychadelic bands prefer the label of 'math rock' as they use their extremely non-traditional time signatures and riffs to fight for musical legitimacy. some bands can totally pull it off, while other slip into the 'noise rock' category making them inaccessible to many music fans (especially during live performance). keeping in tradition with greats like King Crimson, Red Octopus goes out of their way to provide awe inspiring musicianship held together by a tightly mathematical rhythm section supporting ethereal lead grooves to keep your toe tapping despite being totally mesmerized by the enticing wall of sound this power trio puts forth. providing just enough of that gritty noise we would hope for from an extremely talented prog band, layered with dooomed out grooves, catchy melodies, and intensely headbangable moments.

Red Octopus' set that night was maybe 45 min or so, which was the perfect amount of time for them to power though 2 (yup, just 2) songs as the audience struggled to fight the urge to applaud at each down tempo breakdown. the tenacity and focus with which Red Octopus attacked their instruments was mesmerizing convincing me that i wasn't about to leave thee parkside without either a recording of their stuff or very explicit instructions on how to get one of their recordings. luckily their EP was for sale (or really just available for folks will to throw some cash down for it) on unlabeled burned CDs which came in a fun card stock sleeve which featured Red Octopus' logo silk screened on the outside (which the guitarist did in his bedroom after creating the stencil off a pen sketch!). the show was an unmitigated success with audience members converging upon the band to share congratulations, ask about recordings, and a slew of other questions around musical influences, song writing technique, and nerding out on their gear (they had some SWEET fucking gear). waking up the next morning and having the opportunity to give Red Octopus a listen in a state of *ahem* sobriety was mind blowing. the sheer power of this band's stage show is audible through one's headphones. though their recordings might be extraordinarily hard to get your hands on, it'll be well worth the effort. keep it gloomy y'all.

Floating Goat & Hellbeard - 9/19

a distinct memory of mine from the first Hellbeard show i ever experienced out at the merchant's saloon in oakland is midway through the first song the reggae loving friend of mine i had been dragging to metal shows for the past couple months turned to me with a huge smile on his face and mouthed 'fuck yeah!' the slow sludgy, booming, percussion laden grooves and intense vocal nodule inducing vocals brought a heaviness that no one could not sway to. from then on we made it a point to check out Hellbeard any chance we had. a couple more east bay shows happened, and each one had me searching for a merch table so as to buy a recording, but they never seemed to have any. then for a while...Hellbeard just seemed to drop off. my hope was that there was recording happening, but i really had no idea.

so yeah, i was pretty fucking stoked when i walked by force of habit records (a badass shop by the way) and noticed a flyer announcing Hellbeard and Floating Goat playing together at the parkside, i stopped dead in my tracks. Floating Goat?! It'd been a while since i had seen Floating Goat. the epicness that was the Walken cd release show last november was uncanny. though not the firs time i had seen floating goat, the excitement of the night made it the most on point and hard rockin' performances i had ever seen the band put on...until last sunday night that is. Floating Goat layed into their groovy, old timey, chunky, doomy, sound with a gut wrenching intensity. despite the twenty five odd person sunday night audience, Floating Goat electrified thee parkside. persoanlly, i was really hoping to hear them play 'half alive', but they closed out with the groove-tastic 'heaven's burning', which was pretty fucking epic.

after Floating Goat, the wall of melodic sludge that is Hellbeard took the stage. totally living up to my memory based expectations, Hellbeard threw the fuck down. those funkily syncopated sloshy down-tuned legato licks left the audience swaying at pace with the waves of sound. much to my excitement the band was also selling cds and i was finally able to take home some Hellbeard for myself. all in all, an awesome fucking show, and some fun new music to block out the sounds of muni with...keep it gloomy y'all!