Enslaved at The Roxy - Scion Metal Matinee on 11/10

Enslaved played a special FREE show last Saturday at The Roxy courtesy of Scion A/V Metal's Label Showcase. If you are not on the Scion A/V email list or at least following them on facebook you need to do so ASAP! Scion works with various record labels to host a free matinee show every month and the bands they choose are good at least 50 percent of the time (I've seen Holy Grail and Skeletonwitch on two different metal matinee occasions). That's a pretty good ratio if you ask me. The catch is that you have to RSVP to go to the shows.

So as I was saying, Enslaved played last Saturday. These guys flew all the way out here to play one show in LA, so I feel really fortunate that I was able to attend.  The crowd was pretty good although I was a bit disappointed that the venue didn't hit max capacity since it was a FREE show. I think some people were confused and didn't realize that the show was in the afternoon at 4:00 pm. Pay attention, people! 

If you aren't familiar with them, Enslaved is an awesome metal band from Norway. It's hard to pin them down to a particular genre although Enslaved is currently associated with viking metal. They certainly had roots in the Norwegian black metal movement but their music has become more progressive and atmospheric over the span of their 20 year career. I enjoy it, although there are a few prog moments that make my head spin. Mostly, it reminds me of being lost in a Norwegian blizzard after slaying all of your enemies in a surprise ambush!  If you're into that sort of thing, Enslaved is the band for you! They played some songs off of their newest album, (which I do not currently own but it is on my Christmas wish list) as well as plenty of old stuff. Fans always love the old stuff! Of course they finished with Isa and a cover of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song. I don't place Led Zeppelin on a masturbatory pedestal like lots of other music fans but I really dug this cover. It was kind of evil and foreboding! If you missed them this time, check them out when they come back to LA on an official tour early next year.

Be sure to check out Enslaved on Facebook if you have not done so already. (I always plug everyone on Facebook because it's the easiest thing to do.)

The next events on my concert calendar are Legal Tender, Ascendancy, and Desecrate tonight at The Whiskey, and Eluveitie at The House of Blues on 11/29.

Inquisition, Melechesh, and others at The Key Club on 10/28 - The Hater Recap

The past seven days have been nothing but non-stop concerts for me and there is more on the horizon! I visited The Key Club Sunday night to see Septic Flesh and various other acts I anticipated as being boring and uninteresting (the lineup was mostly black metal - not my thing). I hate to be a negative Nancy but this night had more downs than ups. 

The Key Club is fast becoming my least favorite venue. They opened the doors an hour and a half late, the bar was cash only, they were out of sweet potato fries and Jack Daniels, and security moved the line so slowly I thought I might lose my shit and kill someone. Seriously, the last thing I want to do is discourage people from going out to see metal shows but The Key Club SUCKS so prepare accordingly. Oh, and one of my buddies who played there recently said they treated his band like shit backstage. Well, enough ranting about that.

The opening act was surprisingly really good! I don't like much black metal but Inquisition pulled me in with a stunning performance, especially considering that there were only two guys in the band. Front man Dagon's guitar and vocal styles were similar to Abbath's (of Immortal). He made a thunderously impressive amount of noise for one person and got most of the cranky, defeated crowd to forget the one and a half hour line saga they had just endured. He also had the epic power stance! The drummer also had serious chops and laid down some wickedly fast double bass. Major props to these dudes.

I also really enjoyed Melechesh, a Mesopotamian metal band that played after Ex Deo. These guys were a crunchy, energetic blend of thrash and black metal with a middle eastern sound. They had a local guy named Caleb filling in on rhythm guitars but I think everyone else was from overseas. It was a multicultural kind of night.

The rest of the night was sadly a bit of a let down. There was entirely too much backing track being relied upon by the other bands and not nearly enough soloing or creative guitar playing. You can't win 'em all. But really, most of the concerts I attend are consistently awesome.