The universe as drtcentric

Four shows this week, three of them surrounding the True Christmas. Or maybe the Antichristmas. Either way, they are well-timed.

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The first show, Monday, was more fun to attend than to hear. Toxic Holocaust, Bloodwolf, and a couple local bands of ill repute. Bloodwolf, I am told, worship at the altar of GISM. I am also told we should all be bowing down before the mighty GISM, and from what I've seen of their shows, and heard of their releases, this would be true if the Pacific Ocean didn't separate us from their tiny, earthquake-beleagured system of islands. Bloodwolf, on the other hand, was entertaining but pretty obviously a tribute band. Any time punks play metal, they invite catastrophe.

Which brings us to Toxic Holocaust. A one-man band with backup touring bands scattered throughout the world (one in Europe, one in Japan, and one in Australia, that I know about). He made a lot of people happy with his early releases, due to the very 80s production (tubes and analog recordings) and his 84-era Sodom-worshipping riffs. Live, though, the band's weaknesses glare. You can't have a song called "666" just for the sake of being metal. Personally, I didn't get much of a Christ hating vibe off the songs or the set - more like a happy revel in metal's ancient past. Bands like Black Witchery, Morbosidad, Krisiun - I believe their vitriol spewings. Toxic Holocaust, like Bloodwolf, felt like dress-up.

I was able to grab the latest Bone Awl tape, though, and that made me happy. A split with The Rita, a noise band I haven't heard of. Lots of ambient static noise, fading into feedback and Bone Awl playing, back into The Rita's noise, back into Bone Awl, etc.. The second side in particular is great. Bone Awl is sneering punks doing metal right. Which is weird, because they break most of the rules while they're doing it.

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Last night was Krisiun, Behemoth, and Morbid Angel. All three bands share a common trait - they have spectacular drummers. Two of them share also a sound very inspired by Morbid Angel. Krisiun and Morbid Angel both have jaw-droppingly great guitarists, as well.

Krisiun came on first. In addition the Morbid Angel influences, they (unsurprisingly) have a very South American feel - with the pummeling drums that Sarcofago perfected years ago. Unfortunately, their riffs are very Brutal Death Metal, which is kind of boring, but the guitar leads are insane and strange enough to make up for it, and they have a very anti-religious bent. Unfortunately, I was near the back of the venue for their set, being a lazy bastard.

Behemoth, from Poland, used to be a black metal band. Now they are death metal, and take some pretty obvious cues from Morbid Angel. Another anti-christian band. Pretty eh for most of the set. They played a very old song (from a '92 demo, I think they said), and it was better - more epic and more rocking. But I was waiting for them to finish so Morbid Angel could start.

For some reason, I wasn't expecting much from Morbid Angel. David Vincent is back doing vocals, which is great, and they only play songs from when he was in the band, which is also great, but their performance at the Fillmore last year (opening for nu metal band Soulfly - the horror) was just okay. I forget what they opened with, but it was old. I was at the front, and stayed there the entire set. I couldn't get enough. They went through a lot of classics - "Maze of Torment", "Lord of All Fevers and Plague", "Evil Spells", "Pain Divine", "Where the Slime Live", and others, ending with "Chapel of Ghouls", which has some lyrics of the type for which I'm a total sucker. After that final song, Vincent said "Let's have a beer", and walked off the stage, through the crowd, to the bar, where he had a drink and chatted with everyone. I walked away from that show stunned - completely amazed and awed, and that's not an exaggeration. The entire audience seemed to be grinning ear to ear as they left.

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Tonight, Anvil Chorus and Ulysses Siren are playing at the old CW in SF. Both bands are from the Bay Area and broke up in the 80s - Anvil Chorus was a pre-thrash metal band that kind of died when Metallica exploded. Ulysses Siren was a thrash band that never managed to get a record deal. But they were great. Along with them, Stone Vengeance is playing. They've also been playing since the very early 80s, but they're just kind of eh. Lastly, Embers of Euphoria, a newer band that plays traditional metal, but features the drummer from Weakling, Sangre Amado, and Saros.

And tomorrow, if I make it that far, the mighty Slough Feg, possibly the best metal band in North America, is playing with yet another band from SF from the very early 80s - Brocas Helm. And some seemingly hipster/smirk band, Bible of the Devil. At Bottom of the Hill.