Nekrogoblikon at The Whiskey on 1/18

Riding on the heels of my post about Klingon metal, I bring you another delightfully bizarre and original metal sub-genre: goblin metal! Seriously, I cannot make this stuff up.

Nekrogoblikon is a local metal band who writes songs mostly about goblins - except for that one song about bears. They've got kind of a Euro-thrash vibe with impressive twin guitar leads and bitchin' fast keyboard solos. There are also some campy electronic disco beats thrown in occasionally but it kind of makes sense, especially if you've seen the music video for No One Survives. I'd venture to say that fans of Children of Bodom and Powerglove would dig them equally.

Anyway, they put on a totally incredible show and since they were the headliners they actually got to play a long set. I especially enjoyed "Return to the Sky", the song about birds plucking out everyone's eyes and reducing humanity to bird droppings. I'm choosing to believe it was somewhat Hobbit-inspired.

The only photo I got right before my phone battery died.

Make sure you stalk Nekrogoblikon on Facebook or Reverb Nation to find out about their next shows and stream their music for FREE.

The next event on my concert calendar is Scrap Metal at The Key Club on 1/26.

Special Report from Portland - Klingon Metal at Dante's on 1/12!

Initially, the purpose of this blog was to provide recaps of concerts that take place in the Los Angeles area only but I happened to see a band called Stovokor play on my last trip to Portland and decided I absolutely had to write about them. These guys are a Klingon metal band that has fully immersed themselves in the Star Trek Klingon mythos. This band doesn't seem to tour much so if you're ever in the Portland area and they happen to be playing a show you HAVE to go!! Alternatively, you can contact them online and beg them to come play a show in LA. Seriously, I feel like I need to circulate a petition or something! I might even be willing to find them accommodations at Gene & Angela's Half-Way House for Traveling Bands.

Dante's was a pretty cool venue. I get the feeling that Portland is more of a punk rock town than a metal town because the times I've visited it seems to be mostly punk bands playing shows. Stovokor actually played in between two punk bands as well but there were several metalheads in attendance so it wasn't a totally punk crowd. As soon as the first punk band finished the metal fans lined up at the front of the stage.

Prepare yourself - Stovokor plays in full Klingon makeup. They have three guitar players, a bass player, vocalist, and drummer. I imagine that all of the Klingons in Portland are probably in this band. (Klingons seem to be sort of a minority.) But they were highly entertaining and had great stage presence! Musically speaking, I'm not sure I'd categorize them in any metal subgenre or call them anything but "metal" but I mean that in a good way.

Klingon guitar player. "For the Glory of Qo'nos!"

Klingon bass player.

Klingon vocalist. The rest of the band did a pretty good job hiding from the camera.

The only bummer was that the band disappeared quickly after their set was over because they had to move their gear out of the venue so I wasn't able to get a photo with anyone in Klingon makeup as I had requested. I also didn't get a chance to buy any merch because I didn't see any for sale. That sucked because I always try to buy merch and support the band. Hopefully I'll get a chance to grab a CD the next time I see them!

Be sure to check out Stovokor on facebook or stalk them in person in Portland! 

The next event on my concert calendar is Lighting Swords of Death at Footsie's tonight, 1/22.