Ex Mortus, Winterthrall at The Airliner on 1/5

The Airliner is a such a cool venue! Ex Mortus, Winterthrall, Letum Ascensus and several other bands put on a killer show at this place last Saturday and there wasn't a single boring moment the whole night! The Airliner has a really cool set up inside with two separate stages upstairs and downstairs so that one band can play while the next band tears down or sets up. They also serve food and have a really spacious smoking patio outside where drinks are allowed. So far, it's also been a 100% douche bag free environment. Seriously, it's awesome!

The first band I saw was Ex Mortus, who blew away any expectations I had for the night and set the bar way too high for the bands playing after them. These dudes probably aren't major headliners yet because not enough people know about them but, damn, I would hate to follow these guys. It's like a neoclassical thrash metal explosion full of technical playing AND catchy riffs! Both guitar players have an extremely intimidating skill level but no one in the band is douchy or arrogant. (I'm sure I'd probably be a douche bag if I did anything half as well as these guys can play guitar.) Another note about this band: the sound was perfect at this show, and it was perfect the last time I saw them, too, which I think says a lot because some of my very favorite bands consistently have a really hard time getting their levels right. So major props to them for getting the sound perfect. I bought a T-shirt and a CD.

    Yet again, I forgot to bring my camera and had to rely on an iphone for photos.

I wandered around for a bit in between sets and came back upstairs to see Winterthrall put on a great performance. They're a blackened death metal band with a doom feel, except that their music isn't slow and boring like a lot of doom metal. It's the perfect music to listen to on a really rainy day when you suspect that the sun has finally been swallowed up by portentous black clouds and the sheer hopelessness of humanity is finally being washed out to sea. (I wish!)

And then Letum Ascensus finished off the night by playing some very loud and heavy death metal. It was fun!

Be sure to find Ex Mortus, Winterthrall, and Letum Ascensus on Facebook, Reverb Nation or whatever your favorite music site is.

The next event on my concert calendar is Lightning Swords of Death at Footsie's on Tuesday, January 22nd (or possibly Nekrogoblicon on Friday, January 18th, at The Whiskey).

Gypsyhawk, Ex Mortus, and Holy Grail

Last weekend was one of those concert weekends that I hope will go down in music history as the humble beginnings of something huge.  If so, I will be able to look back on it and say that I was there. Gypsyhawk kicked it off on Friday at Vacation Vinyl with their record release party for their new album Revelry & Resilience. (Have you heard it? It's totally bitchin - like 70's rock injected with heavy metal power and epic guitar solos.  So far, my favorite track on the new album is The Fields but Galaxy Rise is a close second.) Vacation Vinyl was completely packed with head bangin' fans and the Grill 'Em All truck was parked out front representing heavy metal cuisine. After party was at 4100 Bar. Awesome night!

But the awesome didn't stop there. Saturday night Holy Grail and Ex Mortus played a free show at Footsie's in Cypress Park. I've spotted Ex Mortus' name on the moshking.com concert calendar several times but I've shamefully never checked them out, mostly because I suspected they were probably a black metal band, which is not my thing. INCORRECT! Ex Mortus turned out to be a shockingly impressive thrash metal band with virtuoso guitar talent. These guys laid down impeccable and energetic neoclassical guitar solos left and right. The bass player and drummer were amazing, too. Everyone who got to watch can now claim that their existence has been improved a little bit.

Holy Grail wrapped up the night at Footsie's by playing some of their awesome new stuff, as well as some of their equally awesome not-so-new stuff (I wouldn't quite call it old stuff, yet). They had kind of a rough start due to sound system issues but when you're playing in a bar parking lot with your amps facing out of the back of two pickup trucks you can't expect the sound to be perfect. Regardless of sound issues, Holy Grail still kicked ass and I'm sure they still made new fans out of anyone who was seeing them for the first time.  

The next event on my concert calendar is Saviours at Los Globos this Thursday, August 30th.