Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
January 5th 2014, The Echoplex, Los Angeles CA: Featuring in its ranks Mike IX Williams of Eyehategod, Scott Kelly of Neurosis, Sanford Parker of Minsk and Bruce Lamont of Yakuza, Corrections House is a new collaborative project which formed in 2012 and following the ‘Hoax The System/Grin With A Purpose’ single which came out in early 2013, the quartet went on to release their debut full-length ‘Last City Zero’ via Neurot Recordings last October, an extremely intriguing set of tunes that brings forth the talents of these musicians in a different light as compared to the main bands they are respectively known for. After a run on the US East Coast and in Europe, Corrections House finally headed to the West Coast and visited the Echoplex in Los Angeles last night, for what turned out to be an incredibly powerful performance.
But before they slayed the stage, the audience was treated to two opening acts, the first of which, Author & Punisher, started at 8:30 PM. This is a one-man industrial drone project based out of San Diego, featuring the unique creativity of Tristan Shone. He brought with him a strange self-created assembly of machines and controllers on to the stage and used this setup to create a psychedelic array of dark, dirge-ridden sounds accompanied by thought-provoking visuals projected in the background. It felt more like peering into the secretive world of a scientist conducting some sort of experiment rather than watching a live musician. It’s safe to say that Author & Punisher is not everybody’s cup of tea, but it was most certainly an interesting 40 minutes for everyone in this audience. In many ways, it cannot even be described as music, and it’s hard to understand as to how or why this act gets to open for metal bands like Phillip H. Anselmo & The Illegals, but it’s definitely a better fit on this lineup with Corrections House and I could envision Author & Punisher opening for the likes of Tool and Nine Inch Nails because the forerunners in those bands would most probably be able to appreciate and understand what Tristan Shone is trying to do with this project. This Author & Punisher set was the definition of the word ‘industrial’, as it demonstrated the marriage to man and machine in a manner never witnessed before.
Visit Author & Punisher on the web:
TristanShone.com
AuthorAndPunisher.com
facebook.com/pages/Author-Punisher/193205745964
Wrekmeister Harmonies, a three-piece Chicago-based art/ambient project led by J.R. Robinson, was the next to take the stage, and in complete contrast to Author & Punisher, this set was all about soft, ethereal guitar melodies and was very atmospheric in nature. The guitar parts were extremely repetitive, and the overall vibe of the music gave the listener a feeling that it was building up to something, albeit very gradually. But the buildup phase lasted for the entirety of the set and it never really eventualized into an explosive crescendo. With that said, it was still a compelling set, of the kind that doesn’t blow the listener away at first instance but takes a while to settle in and make its impact.
At 10:30 PM, the stage was clear for the quartet in Corrections House to stamp their authority on. They quietly appeared and took their respective positions one by one, and began their mission to destroy and punish this place with their unrelentingly powerful onslaught. This, with no exaggeration whatsoever, a truly skull-crushing, mind-bending 70-minute performance that left the audience mesmerized and awe-struck. When musicians of such calibre announce a collaboration, the expectations ought to be high but the actual results are generally not even close to meeting those expectations. But fans of Scott Kelly, Mike IX Williams, Bruce Lamont and Sanford Parker would be glad to discover that Corrections House defeats the norm and succeeds in its endeavor of utilizing the trademark talents of these individuals but combines them in a manner that separates and distinguishes this project from anything else they’ve done in their careers.
Scott Kelly’s signature heavy riffs combined excellently with Bruce Lamont’s exploits on the saxophone while Sanford Parker provided the backdrop with his samples, and at the forefront, Mike IX Williams delivered a performance filled with immense angst. A large portion of his vocal parts consisted of spoken-word passages and the words seemed to form an ideal fit with his on-stage personality. At one point he ridiculed the audience for being so ‘typically LA’ that they wouldn’t even clap to give themselves an applause, which brought a welcome touch of humor to an otherwise extremely dark set. The nature of the entire set was very ritualistic, and in all honesty it was one of the most intense concert experiences anyone in this audience would have ever had. They played everything off of the Last City Zero album except for Run Through The Night, perhaps because of its acoustic guitar parts, and ended the show with a mind-numbing rendition of the ‘Hoax The System’ single. The intensity and expressiveness of the band reached its peak during this track and it was a fitting way to bring this show to a close.
While it was disappointing to note the poor turnout at the venue, it wasn’t a surprise because saying that Corrections House is an acquired taste is quite an understatement in itself. May be the Echo, the smaller room upstairs, would have served as a better venue for this small number of attendees, but the size of the Echoplex stage enabled the band to present their musicianship to the fullest, and in the end it proved to be the right choice.
Overall, this was an incredibly devastating performance by Corrections House that will be remembered by attendees for a long time.
Related – Interview: Bruce Lamont Talks About ‘Corrections House’ Project
Visit Corrections House on the web:
facebook.com/CorrectionsHouse
Remaining West Coast dates:
1/06/2014 Soda Bar – San Diego, CA w/ Wrekmeister Harmonies, Author & Punisher
1/07/2014 Great American Music Hall – San Francisco, CA w/ Wrekmeister Harmonies, Sutekh, Hexen