The Perfect Saturday
Saturday was totally sweet. First of all, I got to go catch Mitch Fatel's live standup comedy act, which was hysterical. He included in his act a real think-piece about shooting jizz on a lady's face that raised philosophical and existential questions that rattled me to the core. No, he just made a funny face. It was awesome though, and if you haven't ever heard his live act, you should find somewhere online to steal his albums from; homeboy can write the shit out of a dick joke.
The meat of my Saturday was spent at Red 7 in downtown Austin at the Skeletonwitch/Withered/Landmine Marathon show. I had been anticipating this show for quite some time; my cash flow just recently got revived and I wanted a night out on the town and a totally kvlt Withered shirt to make me feel like a big man. Thankfully for me I wouldn't have to go it alone, as a couple of my crusty, cake-y homebros from Crustcake (Andy Wilhelm and the WZA'd, from the metal blog you should be reading instead of this garbage) came through and helped me do some sausage-party rocking. It was a recipe for some br00tal fun and wholesome kvltitude.
Arriving just after 10 o'clock, I caught Landmine Marathon's set in its entirety, which totally rocked. I wasn't so floored by their newest album, Sovereign Descent, as I anticipated I would be; something about the production just didn't really do anything for me. Luckily, there wasn't a producer in sight as Landmine thundered through a brutally heavy set. It is a revelation finally getting to see Grace Perry perform. I had heard that she brings the FUCKING FURY when she performs (moreso after dipping into Ol' Grandpa's Cough Medicine apparently), and the rumors proved true. Her voice was very impressive in a live setting, and the band as a whole should not be missed.
Withered was the band that I showed up to the show for, as I have experienced the tightly focused thrash attack of Skeletonwitch shortly after the release of their latest album, Breathing the Fire. Withered was the band supporting a brand new album on this go 'round. I have yet to experience their latest black/doom metal opus (titled Dualitas), but I do know that I'm cuckoo for Withered, and what I've heard from the album proves to be at least as stellar as their last outing (Folie Circulaire). Their set was as tight as any blackened-doom band could be; fuzzed out bass interludes gave way to washing-machine drumming and maelstroms of bilious hate. Their signature smoke machine was conspicuously absent from this set, but they offset that by burning incence on the mic stands, which made the stage area smell like a Hot Topic. It was unsettling (in a bad way), which detracting from the normal good kind of unsettling that accompanies listening to Withered. And to answer your question, hell yeah I got my shirt. Sheeeeit.
Skeletonwitch was great. They played a tight set that suffered only from the bass being painfully low in the mix, which detracted from The Heavy; however, their song selection was impeccable and played with the fervor and gusto of a hungry band; since they are a metal band, I assume it's because they are quite literally malnourished (beer apparently has very few vitamins and minerals).
The greatest moment of the night was actually a surprise for me. As I walked into the show, I happened to glance upon the bill that listed the bands and the times they were to start playing. Second from the top, where I expected Withered to be, I beheld the two greatest words any person can read: TRAP THEM. Hell yeah! A little background for the uninitiated: I am gay for Trap Them. Their supercharged grind attack gets my D-boner raging so hard I can feel my heartbeat in it. I have only seen them 3 times now, which is not nearly enough, considering I would pay them to follow me around on a papier mache demon float and play their music all day long if it were fiscally possible. They played a great set with a new/fill in drummer who totally slayed, with choice cuts from Sleepwell Deconstructor all the way through their latest EP offering Filth Rations. Speaking of which, they are currently carrying with them a limited run of Filth Rations, the previously vinyl-only EP, on Compact Disc, so get your ass out to the show and pick it up like I did, because it's amazing. In fact, Filth Rations will be the focus of tomorrow's post, so stay tuned to watch me jack my spicy D-boner all over it, because it rules that hard.
Happy Monday, slaves!
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