Saturday, June 4th was a busy night for the Bay Area heavy music enthusiast. The Funeral Pyre, Walken, Atriarch and Deafheaven all played separate venues on the same night. I was able to make it to two out of the four, Deafheaven with KEN Mode was my priority, followed by Atriarch. Let’s take a closer look at one of many events that took place that night in the microcosm that is San Francisco. Check out the rest of this sick gig review after the jump!
The two bands played a popular bar called Elbo Room in San Francisco’s mission district. Usually the bar is already crowded and the metal heads have to stand awkwardly off to the side while they wait for the venue upstairs to open. But Saturday night’s show was an early one, with doors set to open at 6. The early show time coupled with a virtual lack of promotion made for a somewhat dismal turnout. Also the show was a door deal, so both bands didn’t stand to make much money from admission. The disappointment among the bands was tangible, but sometimes that brings out the best in some musicians.
This was my fourth time seeing Deafheaven and each time they blow me away with their unique blend of shoegazey blackened hardcore. While that sounds like a lot of adjectives, the sound is incredibly streamlined. Time-stretching opener ‘Violet’ went off without a hitch. Its a 12 minute song with various tempo changes and about a hundred ways to fuck up, but it sounded great. Without all the moshing and crowd surfing, it was easier to focus on the technicality of the songs. Black metal isn’t easy to play, but Deafheaven make it look effortless. Original second guitarist was busy recording the first full length for his other band Whirr, and was replaced by sole member of Black Monolith, Gary Bettencourt. The set consisted of 3/4 of their new album Roads To Judah.
KEN Mode are currently touring behind their fourth full length called Venerable which is out on Profound Lore Records. I’d never seen them before, and my expectations were met, then exceeded. The noisy, jagged metal of KEN Mode was the perfect counterpart to the atmospherics of Deafheaven. I was amazed by vocalist/guitarist Jesse Mathewson’s ability to yell as loud as he does while his fingers fly over the fretboard. Their set contained the perfect blend of chunky, downtuned riffs with squealing high notes.
While it was a shame that so few people turned out, I still got to see two awesome bands that are both energetic performers and intelligent songwriters.
Photos provided by SF Sludge.
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