Review by Andrew Bansal, live photos by Karina Diane
April 4th 2015, Loaded Rock Bar, Hollywood CA: Featuring in its ranks former Gypsyhawk and White Wizzard guitarist Erik Kluiber handling bass duties, Los Angeles-based instrumental stoner/doom metal trio Ironaut are a brand new entity, and made their on-stage debut at Hollywood’s premier rock venue Loaded last Saturday, along with Arizona’s Howitzer and four other LA locals Enrot, Lethal Dossage, Ascendancy and Abbacinare, for a gig put together by Lara Gladstone. The show attracted fans of each band as well as Hollywood rock regulars to create a typically bustling Saturday evening atmosphere at Loaded.
Proceedings began in earnest at 8:10 as Abbacinare played a high-energy 30-minute set of straightforward modern metal and did most things right except the manner in which they announced their name. One wonders why they chose such a name if they’re so clearly uncomfortable owning up to it. Third in the order of play were Lethal Dossage, bringing their brand of old-school thrash to the table. I’ve watched and known these guys for years and while I don’t think they should give up on their band, they still need a second guitarist in my opinion. Arizona’s Howitzer took the stage after them, putting forth a strong exhibition of (long-haired) Metallica/Pantera/Motörhead inspired metal, which is nothing new, but was done well. Their performance would have received an even better response than it did if they hadn’t interrupted its flow so many times by constantly talking to the crowd after every song. As for Enrot, the ‘headliners’ of this event in terms of the number of people they drew, if you’re into the Pantera/DevilDriver thing and you live in the LA area, this is your band as they are capably carrying the torch for that style of musicianship and live show. But in all honesty, this evening belonged to two bands, Ascendancy and Ironaut.
Coming in quite early in the piece as the second band on stage at 9 o’ clock, Ascendancy, who performed without a drummer for their previous gig at this venue, were without a bassist this time and had Desecrate singer/guitarist Nick Simile filling in on that instrument. But in terms of the quality of their live play and the musicianship in their new material, they’ve taken themselves up a few altitudes in recent months, as was clear from this show. Vocalist Gustavo Trujillo is developing brilliantly with both the clean and growling parts in his delivery, and to his credit, out of all musicians that performed on this stage this evening, he was the only one who bothered to check out the other bands, as he was seen headbanging to Ironaut’s set all the way towards the end of the night. But the strength, harmony and abundance of the guitar work is perhaps what separates Ascendancy from local bands of similar style. With producer extraordinaire Tom Chandler at the helm for their next set of recordings, Ascendancy are poised for great things in the near and distant future, as long as they can retain a functional lineup of musicians.
And hitting the stage as the very last band of the show at 00:20, Ironaut satiated the purists with a stainless presentation of all things gloriously old-school and heavy. The three-piece setup meant all members had to absolutely excel at their instruments, and that they certainly did, nailing down crystal clear tones all the way through and combining to create a colossal sound. The absence of vocals did not deter from their impact level, and in fact, only enhanced it as every single note could be absorbed and enjoyed in full. Ironaut’s music was the perfect companion for the dirty buzz induced by the smoothly flowing PBRs, and provided plenty of fuel to propel the handful of headbangers in the crowd. With no disrespect to any of the other bands, it has to be said that people who decided to leave even before Ironaut started most definitely missed the best band of the night. This was a highly impressive debut gig by all means. Ironaut seem well-positioned to play shows with like-minded LA bands such as Behold! The Monolith, Destroy Judas, Pendulous, Philthy Heathens, etc, and would perhaps be more suited to stages elsewhere because Hollywood clearly has no appreciation for the purity of expression and the sheer heaviness this sub-genre brings.
Overall, another colorfully interesting rock weekend experience at Loaded.