Holy Grail And Friends Throw Memorable "Summer Shred Party"

By Aniruddh "Andrew" Bansal

My rating:

June 11th 2011, Sound Bite Studios, Los Angeles CA: Even though they are on a break from their rigorous touring routine, Pasadena metal warriors Holy Grail continue to do hometown gigs here and there, purely for the love of playing music and having a blast while doing so. Their Japan benefit gig last month was one such gig, and tonight was another. This time the occasion was Sound Bite Studios' summer shred party. Supporting them on the bill were Prosthetic Records label mates The Funeral Pyre, fellow Pasadena metallers Gypsyhawk, doom metal quintet VYGR, and Bay Area punk thrash outfit At Our Heels. They promised us a party, and it sure as hell turned out to be one.

By the time I could get to the venue, unfortunately I had already missed out on the first two bands of the night, At Our Heels and VYGR. There were a few minutes to go before Gypsyhawk's set, and that gave me a chance to look around the place. Friends, food, drinks, pool table, foosball, and great music, not only from the bands but also between sets, delivered by Scott Carlson from Repulsion, our DJ for the event. It was indeed a party atmosphere here tonight.

The stage wasn't even something you could call a stage. It was more like a little corner in the outdoor space. At around 11 o' clock, Gypsyhawk took that 'stage', kicking off their short set with the song Gypsyhawk. They are the kind of band that creates an immediate impression on first-time listeners, and tonight was no different, judging by what I heard from some of my friends after the band was done playing. They went on to play three more songs, "Black Haven", "The Fields" and "Commander Of The High Forest". Their set actually had to be cut shorter than its supposed length, because of technical issues. Out of these four songs, The Fields is the only song that hasn't seen a release yet, and I for one can't wait for that to happen because the song is filled to the brim with awesomeness.

The next band was The Funeral Pyre. They were definitely the odd one out in this line-up, treating us with a 30-minute avalanche of black metal. Their performance of the songs was great in itself, and they seemed to overcome the technical issues that plagued Gypsyhawk's set. But I felt that the atmospheric element was missing from their show tonight, as they played in a well-lit outdoor setting. For me, they are a band that requires the atmosphere to heighten the impact of the music, such as tiny little indoor venues like The Blvd, The Echo, or even the Key Club. This is why I'm never able to understand how black metal bands agree to play outdoors in broad daylight when they do European festivals. But nevertheless, I give huge props to frontman John Strachan and his band mates in The Funeral Pyre for being a part of this wonderful event and daring to bring something different to the table.

Whilst we played a bit of foosball and waited for Holy Grail to hit the stage, apparently they were told by the cops to take the show indoors, perhaps because of the sound levels being generated as a result of the bands playing outdoors. So out went the pool table and in went the gear, and indeed all of us. I was extremely glad that they did move it inside, because firstly it was getting rather chilly outdoors, and secondly the sound and lighting turned out to be much better inside.

As always, the band started off with their quintessential tune, "Immortal Man" and the excitement levels inside that small room went sky high. The band was sounding amazing right from the outset, and having seen the band 8 times previously, I can safely say that this was definitely their best sounding performance. And may be I can come to the conclusion that the smaller the room, the better they sound! They continued this incredibly intimate show with "Chase The Wind". One or two people in the crowd decided to start a mosh pit during this song, and I was honestly quite miffed by that because it really isn't a song made for mosh pits. Holy Grail's music is made for head banging rather than moshing, but to each their own, what else can I say.

The band turned it up a notch even further, with the face-melting one-two punch of "Call Of Vallhalla" and "Crisis In Utopia" in the middle portion of the set. The intensity in the crowd was rising every minute as they played four more songs in this high octane set, and quite appropriately reached its peak by the time the final song of the night "Fight To Kill" kicked into gear. So tight was their performance tonight, that I wish they had ridden the wave so to speak, and played an even longer set with all the songs in their catalog as well as all the covers they've been known to play live. Well, that day will come soon enough. Luna sounded flawless tonight, and so did the rest of his band mates. It was nice to see bassist Blake Mount take center stage to start off "Hollow Ground" as well. Guitarists Alex Lee and Eli Santana gelled together extremely well, and Alex is proving to be a fantastic addition to this already terrific band. And finally, Tyler Meahl on drums did his job to perfection, this time without breaking his snare. All in all, a hugely memorable show.

If you weren't at this event tonight, you really missed out. I look forward to more such metal parties with Holy Grail hopefully in the near future, because they certainly know how to throw one.

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