Due to my non-Blog of Doom schedule, I haven't been able to check out as many local shows lately as I would like to. I rectified that issue big time this past weekend with a double-dip of Cincinnati's finest in heavy music.
Friday night I had the pleasure of attending Mangrenade's first show in Cincinnati in over 4 months. I headed down to Mainstay Rock Bar after my own band practice and arrived just in time to see the Reds lose on a horseshit replay call. More importantly, I arrived in time to see the complete set from show openers Bearer of Bad News, out of Dayton, OH. I don't really know how to accurately describe Bearer of Bad News. In my show notes, I simply wrote down, "heavy as fuck, three chord punk metal". They struck me as a marriage between Helmet and Matt Pike. That's a good start, but I think you really need to see these guys live in order to get the full effect. Very solid set; extremely entertaining. I'll make it a point to see Bearer of Bad News again and I recommend that you all do the same.
One of Cincinnati's top unsigned bands, Mangrenade, was up next. Despite having a fill-in drummer for the evening (Aaron Boyer from Valley of the Sun), Mangrenade was as tight as I can ever recall seeing them. Playing mostly tunes from their upcoming double-EP Severed, Mangrenade blasted their way through a furious set filled with their signature brand of catchy, dual-vocal rock and roll. If the new recordings are anywhere close to the live performance, I think we're all in for a treat when Severed is released. These dudes know how to write a hook and the new stuff sounds incredible. It's good to have Mangrenade back in the live rotation.
Saturday night, I made my way to Covington to check out a local extreme metal show at the fabulous Backstage Café, which is quickly becoming my favorite local music venue. I missed the first three bands because I was working overtime at The Blog of Doom headquarters (and watching the Reds lose again). The first band I was able to catch was Machinations of Fate. I've heard a lot about these guys, but I never had a chance to see them live before this weekend. I was really impressed. Machinations of Fate delivered an absolutely monstrous set, with killer thrash riffs and excellent black/death vocals, courtesy of the drummer and his headset mic. The star of the show, though, was the bass player who took center stage to give the crowd the full view of his destruction of his 6-string fretless bass. I was in awe the entire set, and I don't think that's just because I play bass. This dude was absolutely incredible and his bass lines were outstanding. I don't think a single square inch of his fretboard went untouched throughout the course of the set. That dude was worth the price of admission by himself, but the whole band was incredibly tight for such a fast unit. Thumbs up, guys.
The evening's headliners were local death metallers Soul Rot, who seem to be on every single extreme metal bill in town. They're definitely one of the hardest working bands in town. Soul Rot had one of the thickest live sounds I can recall in a long time. I was immediately headbanging along to their brand of brutal death metal and the vocals sounded great. I'm always impressed when I can make out the lyrics to a death metal band. They grabbed a dude out of the crowd to sing on a Cannibal Corpse cover and he knocked it out of the park. I assume he was from one of the earlier bands, but if not, someone needs to pick that dude up as a singer. I'm looking forward to checking out Soul Rot again and based on their track record, I shouldn't have to wait long. All in all, it was a very enjoyable show at Backstage. The sound guy there has figured out how to make extreme metal bands sound fantastic in a small venue. Usually you get a muddy sound when everything is so fast, but Saturday night I could hear every instrument and vocal line like I was listening through headphones. Well done, Backstage sound guy. Impressive turnout, too. It's always fun to see a shitload of local metalheads out supporting local music on a Saturday evening. Something cool is going on at Backstage Café. Don't miss out.
Friday night I had the pleasure of attending Mangrenade's first show in Cincinnati in over 4 months. I headed down to Mainstay Rock Bar after my own band practice and arrived just in time to see the Reds lose on a horseshit replay call. More importantly, I arrived in time to see the complete set from show openers Bearer of Bad News, out of Dayton, OH. I don't really know how to accurately describe Bearer of Bad News. In my show notes, I simply wrote down, "heavy as fuck, three chord punk metal". They struck me as a marriage between Helmet and Matt Pike. That's a good start, but I think you really need to see these guys live in order to get the full effect. Very solid set; extremely entertaining. I'll make it a point to see Bearer of Bad News again and I recommend that you all do the same.
One of Cincinnati's top unsigned bands, Mangrenade, was up next. Despite having a fill-in drummer for the evening (Aaron Boyer from Valley of the Sun), Mangrenade was as tight as I can ever recall seeing them. Playing mostly tunes from their upcoming double-EP Severed, Mangrenade blasted their way through a furious set filled with their signature brand of catchy, dual-vocal rock and roll. If the new recordings are anywhere close to the live performance, I think we're all in for a treat when Severed is released. These dudes know how to write a hook and the new stuff sounds incredible. It's good to have Mangrenade back in the live rotation.
Saturday night, I made my way to Covington to check out a local extreme metal show at the fabulous Backstage Café, which is quickly becoming my favorite local music venue. I missed the first three bands because I was working overtime at The Blog of Doom headquarters (and watching the Reds lose again). The first band I was able to catch was Machinations of Fate. I've heard a lot about these guys, but I never had a chance to see them live before this weekend. I was really impressed. Machinations of Fate delivered an absolutely monstrous set, with killer thrash riffs and excellent black/death vocals, courtesy of the drummer and his headset mic. The star of the show, though, was the bass player who took center stage to give the crowd the full view of his destruction of his 6-string fretless bass. I was in awe the entire set, and I don't think that's just because I play bass. This dude was absolutely incredible and his bass lines were outstanding. I don't think a single square inch of his fretboard went untouched throughout the course of the set. That dude was worth the price of admission by himself, but the whole band was incredibly tight for such a fast unit. Thumbs up, guys.
The evening's headliners were local death metallers Soul Rot, who seem to be on every single extreme metal bill in town. They're definitely one of the hardest working bands in town. Soul Rot had one of the thickest live sounds I can recall in a long time. I was immediately headbanging along to their brand of brutal death metal and the vocals sounded great. I'm always impressed when I can make out the lyrics to a death metal band. They grabbed a dude out of the crowd to sing on a Cannibal Corpse cover and he knocked it out of the park. I assume he was from one of the earlier bands, but if not, someone needs to pick that dude up as a singer. I'm looking forward to checking out Soul Rot again and based on their track record, I shouldn't have to wait long. All in all, it was a very enjoyable show at Backstage. The sound guy there has figured out how to make extreme metal bands sound fantastic in a small venue. Usually you get a muddy sound when everything is so fast, but Saturday night I could hear every instrument and vocal line like I was listening through headphones. Well done, Backstage sound guy. Impressive turnout, too. It's always fun to see a shitload of local metalheads out supporting local music on a Saturday evening. Something cool is going on at Backstage Café. Don't miss out.
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