Heavy meddle

by JOHNSON CUMMINS

I definitely got my metal fix this month, starting with Napalm Death, Toxic Holocaust, Coliseum and Trap Them at Foufounes Électriques on May 17. After climbing the familiar stairs of the dark, dank, classic venue, I was greeted by the crushing crust metal of Trap Them, whose real hook was their hardcore sense of urgency and intensity, with singer Ryan McKenney positioned in the crowd for the entire set. Louisville, Kentucky’s Coliseum followed and were as crushing as ever, with drummer Chris Maggio in particular proving to be one of aggressive music’s fiercest trapsmen. Outside of a few diehards, their brand of sludge-metal/hardcore tended to go over the heads of the majority of the crowd, who seemed to be patiently waiting for headliners Napalm Death and new thrash upstarts Toxic Holocaust. I am firmly in the minority here, but after the crushing sets by Trap Them and Coliseum, Toxic Holocaust’s homage to Bay Area thrash just seemed limp by comparison. Next up were grindcore grandpappies Napalm Death, who did sneak in some recent material but thankfully dusted off some chestnuts and expertly blasted through “From Enslavement to Obliteration,” “Suffer the Children,” “Siege of Power,” “It’s A M.A.N.S. World,” their classic cover of Dead Kennedy’s “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” and the one-second opus, “You Suffer.” I was expecting the worst as these one-time innovators are getting a bit long in the tooth, but by maintaining the same line-up for the past 18 years, these speed demons proved to still have some fire in their ever-expanding bellies.

A couple of days later, on May 19, la Sala Rossa was the place to be for an eclectic bill of the best of post/black/prog-metal, with Wolves in the Throne Room, A Storm of Light, Thrones and Krallice. Black metal may have been Krallice’s touchstone but they burst through its confines by perfectly balancing gut-level intensity and tech-metal prowess. With a pedigree including Earth, Melvins and Harvey Milk, sole Thrones member Joe Preston’s contribution to aggressive underground music is massive. After a particularly punishing set at Divan Orange almost a year ago to the day, a very polite and modest Preston returned with loops, vocoder and a cheap drum machine, and blew minds and eardrums. Storm of Light, featuring members of Neurosis, Red Sparowes and Tombs, lived up to their reputation, combining elements of Neurosis (natch), Godflesh and vintage Swans in their crushing post-metal. With the level of expectation running high, black metallists and current blog darlings Wolves in the Throne Room gave what is probably going to be the metal performance of the year. Mainly sticking close to their recent record, Black Cascade, they knew when to keep it grim before shearing your face off with blast beats that weren’t scared to leave the metal realm. Just un-fucking-believable!

For the heaviness ahead, look no further than the two-night Priestess stint this Friday and Saturday at Il Motore. Friday night, the support comes from Canada’s heaviest band, Fiftywatthead, and Barn Burner, with sludge drunks Dutch Oven and Magnetic Hill taking up the sweat-act spots on Saturday night.

DEATH TO FALSE METAL… JONATHAN.CUMMINS@GMAIL.COM