HOLY GRAIL, CAULDRON & GYPSYHAWK: A Night To Remember

By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal

My rating:

April 15th 2011, The Viper Room, Hollywood CA: To say that I was eagerly waiting for this show ever since it was announced is already an understatement, because having seen Holy Grail open for other bands, I always wanted to see them do a headline tour of their own. I was extremely glad to see that the day had finally arrived for the Pasadena-based classic metal warriors, as they embarked upon a tour with their Canadian brothers Cauldron, starting with a hometown gig right here at the Viper Room on the Sunset Strip. Fellow Pasadena metallers Gypsyhawk were also on the bill to raise spirits even further.

It was Gypsyhawk who kicked things off. The crowd was sparse at this time of the night, but that didn't deter them from bringing their A game on stage. They made excellent use of the 30 minutes alloted to them as they played the best of their material, old and new. "Eyes Of Ibad" turned out to be a live gem, and made me appreciate the song that much more than the studio version. They closed out with "Commander Of The High Forest", my favorite part of their set. The guitar solo sounded simply fantastic, and this alone would have been enough to turn strangers into fans, which is exactly what happened, going by what people told me afterwards about what they thought of Gypsyhawk. A killer performance indeed. When will the metal police name Pasadena as the classic metal capital of North America?

Next up were a band called Nekrogoblikon. This was a melodic death metal group that really did not fit this bill, but I have to commend them for smashing all my doubts and putting on a great performance. The combination of the two guitars and keytar worked beautifully, and the singer did a good job with his vocals and stage presence. So in addition to having an awesome band name, they boast of good music. I would be inclined to check them out again in the near future, whenever the opportunity arises. Well done Nekrogobilikon!

The almighty trio of Jason Decay, Chris Steve and Ian Chains, better known as Cauldron, hit the stage at around 10 PM and wasted no time whatsoever. They went straight into the face-melting "All Or Nothing" and it only got better from that point on, which is saying a lot, because it's a highly enjoyable song in itself. I was chuffed to hear four songs from the band's latest album "Burning Fortune", an album I'm absolutely in love with at this point. I found myself almost losing my mind as I rocked out to "Rapid City/Unchained Assault", a classic in every sense of the word. With that said, their older material was in full force as well, as they got sufficient time to present the best of both worlds, so to speak. It was cool to see drummer Chris get a solo. Funnily enough, he was let into the venue only for the duration of the band's set and had to remain outside before and after, because he is under 21 years of age. Anyhow, Cauldron were terrific, delivering musicianship and stage presence of high caliber. It only baffles me as to why they aren't more popular outside of Canada. I would like to thank them wholeheartedly for making the 44-hour drive to come and play for us.

After a bit of a waiting period which gave me a chance to catch my breath and get some air, Holy Grail stormed on to the stage with their staple opening number, "Immortal Man". The place went nuts, with mosh pits breaking out at full tilt. I could feel the thrust from behind me as I stood by the edge of the stage and the response from this crowd was much better than I had expected, going by my experiences in the usually funereal Hollywood crowds. As I said at the top of the review, the best part about this particular Holy Grail performance was that they weren't opening for anyone. For the first time ever, I got to see them play a 10-song set, and they played everything but one song from their only full-length "Crisis In Utopia". And I'm actually thankful that they did not play "Cherish Disdain", otherwise I wouldn't have any energy left to even write this review. But for me the highlight of the night wasn't anything off of the album. I mentioned something about almost losing my mind earlier. Well, I lost it completely as soon as frontman Luna announced the title of the fourth song in the set, "For All Eternity".

This song presents everything that's great about Holy Grail, and I for one can't wait for it to be on a studio release in the near future. Amongst the newer stuff, i.e songs on Crisis In Utopia and not on the Improper Burial Ep, I enjoyed "Hollow Ground" immensely and it was also nice to see "Requiem" finally make an appearance in their set. I've always felt a special connection with "My Last Attack", with tonight being no different. I loved how the stage at this venue was low enough to enable band members and fans to be in each other's faces. The older songs "Fight To Kill" and "Call Of Vallhalla" were more enjoyable than they've ever been, because of the fact that this crowd was here to see Holy Grail, and not the band after.

This was their first gig with ex-Bonded By Blood guitarist Alex Lee, and I could really feel that Alex struck a great chemistry with his new band mates. It was also great to see the return of Blake Mount on bass. I see this as the perfect line-up, and hopefully they'll agree.

Overall, all five members of Holy Grail were amazingly tight with their performance. All those support tours have definitely helped them fine-tune their live musicianship and it's great to see that they have peaked at the perfect time, in readiness for their own tour. it was a memorable gig not only for me but for everyone who attended the show, I'm sure. With bands like Holy Grail, Cauldron and Gypsyhawk around, the bastion of classic heavy metal will always stay strong. Thank you for an amazing night! \m/

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