Much head banging was had
last Tuesday at The Whiskey for the Skeletonwitch and Havok show! Since
it was the night before Halloween there was a smattering of costumes
and skull face-paint. Major props to the giant banana circling in
the pit!
The first band I caught
was a local band named Legal Tender. Seemed like kind of an odd
name for a thrash metal band but maybe there's a story behind
that. Anyway, they were pretty choice. The bassist and the guitar
player shared an incredible dynamic and played really well off of each
other. I'll definitely be catching another Legal Tender show!
The big surprise of the
night for me was seeing Havok. I've heard a little bit of their
music before and I seem to recall thinking it was pretty rad but not ever following up with a second listen. Needless to say, I was not prepared for the face crushing, adrenaline surging show that they brought to The Whiskey. As soon as these guys hit the stage, the crowd erupted into a voracious, frenzied circle pit! Both guitarists stormed up a whirlwind of rapid rhythms, furious melodies and immaculate solos, although it was the drummer who really drove the train with his pounding,
relentless drum fills and double bass. This band was seriously
tight. I will definitely be picking up a CD soon, and a "No Karate in the Pit" T-shirt.
Few bands could have
followed a set like that without falling short but Skeletonwitch didn't miss
a beat. They tore right into the audience with a song off of their
newest album and kept hammering away with all of their old fan
favorites like Beyond the Permafrost, Soul Thrashing Black Sorcery, Submit to the Suffering, and Upon Wings of Black. The nightmarish song lyrics combined with Chase Garnette's despair
inducing scream really make Skeletonwitch seem like a band that teleported here straight from the bowels of hell. There's a visceral quality to their music. It has the
heaviness and complexity of death metal with the speed and dexterity
of thrash.
My throat was mostly hoarse by the end of the night from screaming along to Skeletonwitch.
It was the perfect end to a crazy run of six concerts in seven
days. Check out Legal Tender, Havok and Skeletonwitch on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/skeletonwitchmetal
https://www.facebook.com/HavokOfficial
https://www.facebook.com/legaltenderband
The next event on my
concert calendar is (hopefully) Scattered Hamlet on Wednesday,
November 7th, at The Viper Room. I'll also be seeing
Enslaved on Saturday, November 10th at The Roxy.
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