By Avinash Mittur
July 12th 2014, 333 Live, Los Angeles CA: Grindcore: to the average music fan, it’s a cacophony. A spastic burst of noisy chaos, something that no one would ever want to intentionally create. To the late Jesse Pintado, the sound he called “grindcore” was exactly what he sought to invent. To him, the music wasn’t merely noise and sonic havoc. It was art. For the second year in a row, Los Angeles’ underground metal scene came together to honor the fallen Pintado on his birthday with a festival monolithically entitled Grindcore 2014. It would prove to be a phenomenal celebration, one that overcame a few issues and detriments. Music talked, and the bullshit walked.
Trouble seemed to rear its head the minute the doors opened, with not a single ATM in the venue operating correctly. Promoter Emma Pintado, the Grindfather’s sister herself, was ably prepared however, arming herself with a credit card reader and warmly greeting patrons at the box office. The presence of the Pintado family throughout the event would prove to be more than welcome, as their sincere effort and passion during the show made it feel all the more special and humble.
As for the bands – well, if you’re reading this review, I probably shouldn’t have to tell you what grindcore sounds like. The songs were short, the riffs deadlier than a chainsaw at full speed, the vocals hewn from the most ghetto nail-spiked bat you can imagine. And the beats? You can bet they were of the blasted variety. Every band proved to be very well-chosen for the event. Some, like SoCal favorites Phobia, were as classic as vintage grind gets, while others like Houston, TX’s War Master proved to be more along the lines of Bolt Thrower-esque battle metal, complete with an unsheathed rapier. All grind, all the time would have been monotonous, and giving the bill some variety was a well-thought out decision on the part of the promoters.
Throwing the Venom tribute act Sons of Satan into the mix was a fun and inspired choice as well, giving fans a chance to bang their heads and chant along with a handful of metal’s most timeless tracks. With bassist and vocalist Menno Verbaten channeling Cronos with a downright frightening level of accuracy (albeit with a much higher level of proficiency than the original), Sons of Satan was nothing but a delight for those checking them out on the second stage.
Set List:
01. Bloodlust
02. Welcome to Hell
03. Warhead
04. Witching Hour
05. Acid Queen
Now about that second stage – as with many two-stage festivals, fans got to experience both the good and bad. With that kind of set-up in place, attendees always had the chance to see great music being played. Of course, then comes decision-time, when two essential live acts have the bad luck of playing during each other’s set. Ultimately, I opted to stick with the downstairs main stage for the majority of the show. Short changeovers between sets ensured that the action never let up.
The first of the big guns shown off on the main stage was Southern California’s resident grind supergroup, Murder Construct. The band, anchored by local grinders-for-hire Danny Walker and Leon del Muerte, stormed through a heart-racing twenty-five minute set. It was a frantic, yet incredibly tight performance despite sub-par sound and inaudible vocals from del Muerte. Luckily for all those around however, the amorphous throat-shredding of vocalist extraordinaire Travis Ryan were loud and clear, beckoning those on the floor to gather near him. The set, a mix of songs from the band’s masterful EP and full-length, was likely the most technical of the night, a modern apex of the sound that Jesse Pintado pioneered twenty-five years ago.
Set List:
01. Red All Over
02. Under the Weight of the Wood
03. No Question, No Comment
04. Control
05. No Savior
06. I Am That
07. Compelled by Mediocrity
08. The Next Life
09. End of an Error
10. Resultados
Next up was a pair of veteran thrash acts, Bloodcum and FCDN Tormentor. The former played a wild, borderline sloppy form of crossover that was full of manic energy and zany humor. FCDN Tormentor on the other hand, playing their first show in over two decades, showed off a tighter brand of the music. Where Bloodcum carried a down to Earth, punk-inflected backyard house show kind of vibe to their set, FCDN Tormentor fired like a well-oiled piston. A different feel from both bands, but both immensely powerful. Not to mention, both performed nearly all of their recorded material – how’s that for comprehensive?!
By this time the ugly side of the venue, 333 Live in Downtown Los Angeles, had begun to show itself. Though its large, roomy spaces and abundance of seats were duly appreciated, the alarmingly inept and greedy operation of the venue was anything but. Despite the place becoming a virtual sauna as the festival went on, the bar charged a shocking $5 for bottled water and $8 for cheap beer. The free water that the bar had to offer came in five-ounce cups and were sourced from the nastiest tap you can think of – certainly not the best way to keep hundreds of sweaty metalheads well-hydrated. To make matters worse, security was nearly non-existent throughout the show, and the few staff on-hand were unnecessarily rude to the patrons (and if the internet is to be believed, the promoters were ill-treated as well).
The two-stage setup soon came to a head with Phobia and Nausea having to compete for the audience as the two acts played their sets at nearly the same time. An unfortunate turn of events for sure. Choosing to stay at the main stage proved to be a fine decision however, as Nausea delivered a blistering thirty-minute set filled with plenty of pit action from the crowd. Bassist and screech-meister Alejandro Corredor was an intense presence onstage, constantly engaging the audience and encouraging them to go nuts. Leon del Muerte, making his second appearance on the main stage, stood side by side with vocalist Oscar Garcia as the two tore away at riffs dating back as far as twenty-five years ago all the way through songs from their scorching 2014 release, ‘Condemned to the System’. Though Garcia was a relatively subdued presence onstage, his fellow original member, drummer Eric Castro, battered his kit to oblivion while del Muerte and Corredor practically snapped their necks off.
One of the most highly anticipated acts of the night, Portland, OR’s Wehrmacht, was next. After blowing Hollywood away with an outstanding performance at the Key Club over a year ago, Wehrmacht once again conquered Los Angeles at Grindcore 2014. Brian Lehfeldt, one of thrash metal’s most vastly underrated talents, let loose with some of the most primal and powerful blastbeats you’ll ever hear. Classics like “Drink Beer, Be Free” and “Biermacht” were well-represented in the set, along with a surprisingly cool cover of KISS’ “Detroit Rock City.” Guitarist John Duffy was unfortunately plagued with equipment issues throughout the set though his tag-team partner Marco Zorich ably stepped up, albeit without the rad shark guitar that he came armed with over a year ago.
The band barreled through the set in spite of the technical difficulties, culminating in a raucous appearance from Scott Peterson of Cryptic Slaughter fame. Initially trading the drum throne with Lehfeldt, the newly augmented band blazed through CS’s classic ‘MAD’. After all these years, Peterson proved that he could blast away as well as ever. The Cryptic alumnus soon took over a vocal mic however, and he belted out the great ‘Lowlife’ and ‘Money Talks’ with Wehrmacht acting as a more than able backing band. The pit saw its most intense action during this portion of the show, as the center of the floor became a rotating sea of sweat, hair and denim.
The final band of Grindcore 2014 would end up being both the most famous and most mysterious. It was Terrorizer LA, a version of the band that many credit with inventing the grindcore genre itself. All that many knew was that the band featured original vocalist Oscar Garcia, and a few of his trusted friends. These friends would immediately reveal themselves however when the set began with ‘After World Obliteration’, the first track on the legendary ‘World Downfall’ record. The lineup for this band would be both accomplished and respectful, as they were all incredible musicians from various eras of the Los Angeles metal underground. Bassist Cosmo Reveles hailed from Majesty, one of LA’s earliest thrash acts while guitarist Rick Cortez has been a local supporter for years, serving in Sadistic Intent and co-operating Dark Realm Records. The new blood came in the form of drummer Mike Caffell of Exhausted Prayer and Dreaming Dead, and making his third and final appearance of the night was Leon del Muerte, taking on Jesse Pintado’s former duties on lead guitar.
This band, though lacking in original members barring Garcia, showed true reverence for the material and annihilated the crowd with 40 minutes of tunes from ‘World Downfall.’ Where Werhmacht gave a hyperactive performance like a bunch of kids on a sugar high, Terrorizer LA was towering and confident, deferent to the music and the man that they were paying tribute to. There was no room for extravagance or showing off here, simple headbanging, stellar playing and humble gratitude from Garcia more than sufficed. Del Muerte would have the loftiest task of the night, having to play the parts of the fallen Grindfather. The man took on the challenge with grace and muscularity, cracking a wide grin and mounting his left leg on a monitor as the crowd flailed about in the pit. The banner of Jesse Pintado gazed upon a band made up of his hometown’s finest heroes playing the songs he wrote to a crowd that worshipped the music that he loved. It was as strong and worthy a tribute as anyone could have mustered. Was it slightly disappointing to see a few songs from ‘World Downfall’ skipped? Sure it was. Did I ruin my poor neck and smile ear to ear during the tunes they did play? You bet.
Set List:
01. After World Obliteration
02. Storm of Stress
03. Human Prey
04. Corporation Pull-In
05. Strategic Warheads
06. Condemned System
07. Resurrection
08. Need to Live
09. Ripped to Shreds
10. World Downfall
Encore:
11. Fear of Napalm
12. Dead Shall Rise
All in all, Grindcore 2014 truly was one hell of a good time. Shows like this one are the reason why Los Angeles has a scene worth being a part of, and they put the horseshit featured on the Sunset Strip to shame. This wasn’t simply a celebration of Jesse Pintado and grindcore music, it was a show that honored the subversive heavy music that Los Angeles has had to offer for over twenty-five years, and a display of some of the best talent this city has to offer. Forget the abysmal venue. Forget the water that tasted like it had passed through a rectum before reaching the cup (okay, I probably can’t forget that if I tried). Remember the camaraderie in this scene that was on full display. Remember Emma Pintado’s wide smile as she looked upon the pile of grinders that loved her brother’s songs. Remember the rad music that blared through this sorry excuse for a club for just about eight hours straight. Remember the legacy of Jesse Pintado.