Holy shit! I'm still recovering from this show, I think. Thursday night's gig at the Lil Red Lion in Eureka, CA (Cobras' favorite town!) was friggin' awesome! And that isn't the booze talking! Yet... It is rare to see a show up here in the Arcata/Eureka area of this caliber. I mean we'll get maybe one or two of these bands but not all four! Here in Humboldt County I've witnessed a few heavyweights pass through on their way to SF or Portland while on tour, namely Embryonic Devourment, Vile, Decrepit Birth, High On Fire, WITTR, Vektor, Nachtmystium, Earth, Skeletonwitch among others. We even have a few metal bands here that are of worthy note: Locust Furnace, Miasmic, Ash Borer, Cerebrate, Unholy Crucifix, and Sadistic Hallucinations but to get a tour coming through here - or any metal band to play for that matter - is amazing to say the least! The bands that played Thursday weren't necessarily huge but they each have their own following and deserve mentioning.
So without going into a long, laborious and detailed account of the show, I will simply post some brief info on each band. You can check them out further on your own.
FYI: Currently Sacrament Ov Impurity and Blood Etchings are wrapping up their tour tomorrow at the SUB-Mission in SF. No they're not these guys... and no, they're not these guys either, but they're solid musicians and if you like going to shows at smaller venues and you happen to be in SF tomorrow evening, I would recommend checking them out.
So first things first, MIASMIC rules. Period. They spawned from the ashes of an old band I used to be in up here, morphing from an embryo of mixed ideas into a formidable juggernaut. I don't have a link to download any of their material yet but plan to do a proper review of them soon enough! In the mean time go check them out, befriend them on Facebook, and immerse yourself in the Redwood Darkness that is MIASMIC!
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VELLUM hail from the LA area and are good friends of Miasmic. They are an obscure band with little info out there on them but they have solid intentions. Rumor has it that they literally drove up from LA to Eureka just to support Miasmic - apparently is was their first gig even! Talk about dedication! Having recently lost their drummer, Iishtok from Miasmic filled in on the kit despite literally only having a week or two to learn their material... Despite this and time constraints, it was an epic set! Hopefully we'll be hearing more of them soon!
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BLOOD ETCHINGS were interesting. They were menacing. A bit rough around the edges perhaps. They were engaging enough to hold my interest at least. They had a bit of an attitude that I could have done without but they had several worthy songs. They label themselves as "Black Baroque Metal". Definitely had a black/death vibe going at times but shit, at that point the last gin & tonic I had been drinking began to catch up to me so my account is a bit fuzzy.
SACRAMENT OV IMPURITY stole the show. Simple as that. They recently lost their bassist/vocalist. I had the opportunity to purchase and download their debut two weeks ago prior to the show so I was already familiar with their material. There were subtle differences, especially where the bass should have been and the change of vocals but they held it down. They played a solid set to a small but solid crowd. Despite not understanding a single word she was saying, Naphula was one hell of an intimidating vocalist - and that is coming from a vocalist! (she was pretty hot also but that may have been the booze talking)
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As mentioned, Blood Etchings and Sacrament Ov Impurity are wrapping up their tour tomorrow in SF. If you live in or near the City, I recommend going and checking it out.
...for those curious, I am compiling a list of songs from these bands and others as a mix of sorts for y'all in which I plan to feature in a subsequent post at a later date...
