By Andrew Bansal
March 25th 2015, Complex, Glendale CA: Coming towards the end of their current US tour, San Francisco occult/doom metal trio Castle arrived at Complex in Glendale for yet another sonically delicious Church Of The 8th Day gig, along with touring acts Demon Lung from Las Vegas and Wounded Giant from Seattle, and LA openers Philthy Heathens. Still supporting their third studio album ‘Under Siege’ (released in 2014 in North America via Prosthetic Records), Castle continue on their quest to conquer the metal underground with material old and new. In this journey of theirs, they have played the Los Angeles area several times, but owing to a multitude of factors, I never got a chance to see them perform. This gig finally rectified that, and it must be said that I couldn’t have picked a better show to form my first impression of Castle as a live band. It’s almost as if they knew I was coming.
At 9:30 on this beautiful warm Wednesday night in Glendale, righteous Los Angeles-based 70s rock ‘n roll perpetrators Philthy Heathens started proceedings in earnest with a solid 30-minute set that impressed every first-timer and pleased those already familiar with the band. The quartet laid down some easily appreciable vintage-style riff-based tunes. When it comes to saluting the likes of Motorhead, Thin Lizzy, Black Sabbath and Witchfinder General, the Philthy Heathens seem to get better at it every time I see them, and fans of the old-school in LA are recommended to catch their next gig.
Things took a turn for the heavy, as Seattle trio Wounded Giant hit the stage to release a wall of sound that came crushing down on the audience with full force. Comprising ear-shattering riffs, psychedelic solos and varying rhythmic pockets, Wounded Giant’s long jams made a strong impact, and they were probably the heaviest band of the night.
Next were Las Vegas doom quintet Demon Lung. Led by an elegantly dressed frontwoman, they built up an ethereal atmosphere through her soulful voice and slow, melodic riff patterns in the first portion of their set. But they turned it up several notches in heaviness and intensity as they progressed through this performance, ending on an extremely powerful note and receiving a deservedly positive response from the audience. It is pleasantly surprising to note that this band is from Las Vegas, and it can be safely said that they’re the best to come out of that city in a long, long time.
And lastly at 00:15, the three members of Castle took their positions and wasted no time in cutting to the chase, straightaway hitting the audience hard with a manic blend of rich, heavy musical layers. Being familiar with their studio material but having never seen them live, expectations were high, and in complete honesty, the sheer quality of this Castle performance can be deemed synonymous to love at first sight and first listen. These musicians were in the zone and living every moment on stage to the maximum. I have no frame of reference, but this must have been one of their strongest shows ever in LA. They played a good chunk of ‘Under Siege’ along with sprinklings of older material, and based on the overall vibe of their set, it has to be said that the genre/sub-genre tags they are typically associated with definitely do not serve them anywhere near sufficient justice, because their music reaches far beyond any of them. It cannot be accurately described as ‘doom metal’, ‘witch metal’ or ‘female-fronted metal’. It is all of these things, but more essentially, it is just good rock ‘n roll, played through a classic Marshall-Gibson guitar setup, an equally old-school Ampeg-Kramer bass rig, and a five-piece drum kit.
The turnout was decent for a Wednesday night and considering that the lineup featured bands that frequent LA quite a bit. Soundman Daniel Dismal was also responsible for getting the best out of all four bands, and it makes one wonder why he doesn’t just do sound full-time. Overall, another glorious night at Complex, and the LA metal underground faithful looks forward to several more.