Tag: black metal

Deafheaven at Lodge Room- A Perfect Marriage Of Time

Danny Ryan February 8, 2023

Deafheaven astonishingly achieved fitting their enormous, atmospheric sound into the intimate setting of The Lodge Room for 2 sold out nights, hosting different lineups and playing different setlists for each of them. As heavy metal further evolves with its experimentation and hardcore punk is currently seeing a revival in its popularity, artists that were early to adopt this innovative nature, like Deafheaven, are now seeing the respect that they deserve for breaking ground within these movements. With the environment of Night 2 shifting from their classic black metal influenced material to the shoegaze and emo sounds of their newest album Infinite Granite, Deafheaven showcased the importance for legendary bands within modern heavy music scenes, to continue to explore and evolve as these genres do alongside them. While Deafheaven is known for bringing a massive and theatrical presence to the audience with their live performances, Spiritual Cramp creates a completely different atmosphere with their upbeat, groovy sound that inspires pogo dancing in all directions within any room that they play. Spiritual Cramp is one of the most distinctively unique bands to come out of the punk genre in recent years, having the spirit of classic ‘77 punk rather than the hardcore

Goths Go Metal: Tribulation at the Lodge Room

Rob Shepyer October 10, 2018

You don’t usually see goth boys and girls embrace extreme metal but in the case of Swedish melodic death metal band, Tribulation, the goths have found a band that represents their heart and soul and lets their dark fantasies play out on a stage. Tribulation doesn’t really incorperate the sound of goth in their music though. It’s this melodic death metal monster combined with glam/hard rock rhythm and jamming that makes for a show any fan of rock and roll can understand. Solos of every stripe, virtuosity from every player, I see Tribulation as the Guns and Roses of death metal. I was lucky enough to meet the whole band before the show as I waited in line to get tacos across the street. All of them without their signature makeup, they were incredibly friendly and even gave me the compliment of calling me their groupie! The Lodge Room usually doesn’t host metal, with its regal interior and the delicious paintings that decorate its walls, the venue seems more inclined hosting jazz or you know, decent varieties of music. This show fit just fine in the Lodge Room though and I expect more metal there to come. related content: The

Unplugged and Undying: Six Organs of Admittance, Wino, and Xasthur at Resident

Rob Shepyer August 30, 2018

When Bob Dylan first plugged in and went electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1963, he was harangued, mocked, and shit on by the same followers that professed their total devotion to him as a folk singer. Similarly, when metal goes acoustic, there are always detractors. Yet, with the talent exhibited by the artists Church of the 8th Day booked to play The Resident, Xasthur, Wino, and Six Organs of Admittance, the voices of those detractors seemed to shrink under the monumental weight of the emotions in these folk songs. Proving that Kansas can be just as dark as Darkthrone, Alhambra’s Xasthur was once a one-man black metal machine, pumping out the haziest, most brutal black metal in California. Having soaked in all of isolation’s inspiration, Scott Conner knew there were muses he had to follow beyond the boundaries of electric music. Startling the purist following he had garnered, Xasthur went acoustic and the fans that once battled his skeptics, became skeptics themselves. related content: Satyricon’s Final Los Angeles Show: A Night Too Blackened To Forget Taking the stage as a three-piece, all on acoustic guitars, Xashur wore a bandana to cover his face while Christopher sang his lyrics and

Luna 13 G.O.A.T. Witch Record Release Party at the Viper Room

Janky Smooth Central Command August 11, 2018

Luna 13 had their G.O.A.T Witch record release party at the Viper Room last Sunday, Aug. 5, 2018. The album was put out by LA’s iconic post-punk label Cleopatra Records. The group consisted of Lilith Bathory and Dr. Luna, which together created a dark visual black-metal bass theatrical experience. Other bands playing as part of the record release party included; The Audio Virus, Artifact Corruption, and Midnight Nightmare. Words and Photos by: Abraham Preciado

Satyricon’s Final Los Angeles Show At The Regent: A Night Too Blackened To Forget

Rob Shepyer May 21, 2018

How do music writer’s typically describe the black metal sound? Frigid riffs? blast-beat drums? Cold shriek vocals? Epic? Medieval? Symphonic? These keywords are standard diction in black metal analysis but when talking about Satyricon one must introduce words like groove, experimental, and rock and fucking roll. That’s how the band set themselves apart from the rest of their contemporaries in the second wave of black metal (of the True Norwegian variety). They started with that typical winter blitzkrieg assault then evolved by slowing down the rhythm section for groove and making more chorus-heavy, kick-ass song structures while still fitting in the black metal mold. Satyricon should be credited for inspiring bands to blacken up their sound. related content: Slayer’s Final So-Cal Show At Five Point Amphitheater: The Most Insane Review I’ll Ever Write I remember first hearing Satyricon on the soundtrack for the cult movie Spun, directed by former Bathory drummer Jonas Akerlund and written by Will De Los Santos. The song “Mother North” off Nemesis Divina was featured prominently in the film and immediately made me take notice of their thrilling riffage and arrangements. Then once I saw the music video for “Fuel For Hatred” on MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball,

Thou Demonstrate The Blackest Doom At The Echo For FYF Club Show

Rob Shepyer July 18, 2017

Doom metal only keeps evolving and engrossing the current metal scene, drowning all the lesser genres in the tar pit of its sound and forcing the future icon bands to rise up to the surface. Thou are the inheritors of Louisiana’s rich sludge-metal heritage and they take that sound to a place no doom band has ever taken it before. With ten minute songs that feel like hell itself, Thou blends doom and black metal into a sound that brings together doom and stoner fans, black metal fans, noise fans, and grindcore fans. When a promoter like FYF Presents gives you the blessing of playing a show under their banner, you know you’re part of a brewing musical storm, if not the whole storm. But for a band as brutal and against the grain as Thou to be awarded that blessing at The Echo just 5 days before their annual festival, it’s indicative of how mainstream tastes are being pushed into a very extreme corner and FYF, at the center of it all has helped to move the status quo- even while being criticized for softening and being “less punk” themselves in the way that they book the festival. Poppycock.