If there is one Death Metal band that seems to consistently captivate me and grab my attention, it is Cattle Decapitation. Having grown up in a rural area with a progressive background, I couldn’t help but develop a strong sense of respect for environmental ecology. I went to clear cut protests in high school, I’ve been a supporter of indigenous tribal water rights and the movement to remove the Klamath Dam (which thankfully came through a few years ago and has already seen a healthy increase in Klamath Salmon numbers now that their run has been restored), and I’ve been staggeringly aware of man’s effects on our home. So when I wandered by the local record store one day and saw the promotional art for Cattle’s death grind album Humanure, let’s just say I knew I was going to be on board with their mission statement: Earth First, Humans Last.
I first saw Boris performing Pink in San Francisco before the pandemic forever changed life as we know it. To say that it was incredible is an understatement, as I became not only a fan, but utterly obsessed with the band, having covered them numerous times for this publication as evidence. Of course, when this tour was announced, I had to jump at the chance to cover them again.
This was another trek from work directly to the venue, House of Blues Anaheim, where I had gone the previous year to see Hanabie on their co-headline tour with Kim Dracula. While I was incredibly excited for the evening, I was also a bit anxious because the sound mix of the aforementioned concert had left a lot to be desired. Fortunately, the FOH mixers of this evening would prove that anxiety baseless. Let’s get on with it, shall we?
I’ve never been to a concert in Ventura, CA. I’ve also never seen Cannibal Corpse live. So, when given the opportunity to head out to The Majestic Ventura Theatre, a theatre that has seen countless bands over its lifetime, to see one of the progenitors of goregrind death metal, I simply had to take it. Mind you, this was a 50-mile trek for me, but it was a Friday, so I hit that fuck it button, cranked the throttle on my motorcycle, and zoomed off straight from work.
Opening the evening was an Italian death metal group paying homage, not only in name, to the great Lucio Fulci. Fulci was everything a horror movie-obsessed death metal fan could have wanted. In addition to bone-crushing songwriting, they brought awesome visuals directly pulled from or inspired by one of my absolute favorite directors of classic Italian genre cinema. They were relentless, tight, and loud as fuck. I loved it.
Following Fulci was a four-person wrecking crew who went off like a fucking bomb. Full of Hell were insanely high-energy, blending death metal, sludge, grindcore, and powerviolence into quite the unique concoction. Singer Dylan Walker never stops moving, save for a few moments between songs, which are at breakneck speeds and absolutely destructive. I felt a lot like how I felt the first time I had ever heard The Locust, and I say that as a huge compliment!
Municipal Waste is the main “coheadliner” of the tour, and goddamn are they fun. Within 30 seconds, I got hit by flying beer drops. These guys take old school trash and blend it with a no fucks given party attitude. They rile up the crowd and get ’em moving, jeering that whatever city they played before this one had more crowd surfers. Throughout the night, a guy in a banana costume was constantly being heckled into starting circle pits, and he sure did oblige!
As it turned out, this evening’s show was bass player Philip Hall’s birthday, and as such, singer Tony Foresta dedicated “The Art of Partying” circle pit to him. They also took a moment to recognize the passing of At The Gates’ Tomas Lindberg, dedicating the final circle pit to him before launching into “Born To Party.”
As I stated before, I’ve never managed to see Cannibal Corpse live. Partially because it took me a minute to come around to them in my younger, less enlightened, days, but by the time I did, I was absolutely hooked. So when they came out on stage and George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher almost immediately started headbanging, the night was officially ON. These guys rip, and they’re so ridiculously fast while also headbanging and windmilling throughout!
It seemed like Corpsegrinder was having some monitor trouble at first, but they got it figured out by the time he dedicated “Disposal of the Body” to Phil for his birthday. Allow me to say, the meme of “Respect The Neck,” in regards to Corpsegrinder’s inhuman ability to windmill and headbang harder and faster than anyone alive, is well deserved. It’s honestly mesmerizing at times, because I have no idea how he doesn’t give himself whiplash. All said and done, it was a hell of a night, and I’m glad I made the trek!
Upon pulling up to the Lodge Room and parking my motorcycle on the street for the second show I would be covering that week, I made a discovery that is every photographer’s nightmare. In my rush to pack up and leave my house, I forgot to pack my SD cards. This part of Highland Park is relatively small and while there was a camera shop nearby, it had closed an hour or two ago, which meant I would have to haul ass to the closest target, panic coursing through my veins, mixing with adrenaline, where I would find the only SD card they had in stock. A quick purchase and a semi-reckless speeding jaunt back to the Lodge Room later, I had luckily made it with time to spare and also discovered that a guard rail had been set up —a first for my experience with this venue, rendering my previous panic somewhat unnecessary. After a celebratory beer, I readied my camera for a night of heavy metal.
Although I gravitate towards, and certainly cover, a lot of heavy and angry music, my tastes are more eclectic than I let on. It’s a bit of a mood thing for me, as I’m sure it is for many, and believe it or not, but my moods fluctuate rather wildly. I may not be the picture of poly-jamorous, but I’m just as comfortable listening to avant-jazz as I am death metal. So, it might be surprising to learn that I have never seen Swans before. I’ve listened to them on and off for years and even been ridiculed by my more obsessive peers for never having made it to one of their performances, so when the opportunity finally lined up, I pressed that go button.
It was another night of firsts for me. My first time shooting at the Greek Theater in the hills of East Hollywood, my first time seeing both Chelsea Wolfe and Wardruna, and I sure picked an interesting night for it. Thankfully, the temperature had dropped over the past couple of days so at least we wouldn’t be sweating it out with the sun down. The Greek is a seasoned and slick venue, boasting a damn good sound system. With the weather being nice and the wind nearly nonexistent, which is a rarity in outdoor music venues, it was a great experience.
I’ve never been to the Bellwether downtown before, but I gotta say I was digging the vibe. It’s a newer venue, from what I understand. Upon entering the stage floor, I immediately noticed that my hair was glowing. The whole room was bathed in blue theater lights, which had the fun effect of illuminating UV-reactive hair dye. The night before, I stayed up entirely too late at a Black Metal show with a friend, as a guest, so my brain was a little fried, but I was determined to rally forth and enjoy some loud, fuzzy music
It’s been too long since I’ve covered a show. Legitimately over half a year. That’s not to say that I didn’t get out of the house and into the dancehalls, but my camera stayed home, and the gigs were few. I’m not really sure WHAT to chalk this all up to, but I certainly hope that this drought is ending. Notably, the first show I’ll be heading to is at the Moroccan Lounge, where I last covered TsuShiMaMiRe.
I love heavy metal. Shocking, I know, and there are still so many legendary heavy metal bands that I’ve never seen, so whenever a chance arises, I try to snap it up. So when I found out that Testament and Kreator were going to tour together and that, on top of that, they got Possessed to join in? I couldn’t beg fast enough for that press pass!
