By Andrew Bansal
April 18th 2015, Complex, Glendale CA: After an underground existence that lasted for nearly two decades, LA ‘murdercore’ veterans Crematorium split up in 2010 and hadn’t played a show since 2009, but in celebration of their frontman and Church Of The 8th Day founder Daniel Dismal’s 40th birthday, they announced a reunion/farewell gig which took place exactly on Dismal’s birthday, at Complex in his birthplace Glendale. Also reuniting for this gig were LA hardcore group Tomorrow Comes Today, and joining these two on the bill were Fatal Substance, Beneath Flesh and Skulls. All of LA metal underground’s regulars were in attendance at this most ideally chosen venue, and it promised to be a celebration filled to the brim with heavy music brought to this stage by bands from all corners of Los Angeles.
Doors opened at 9:30 and Santa Monica two-piece stoner/doom band Skulls started proceedings with a 30-minute set of excellent, dynamic jams that resonated through the entire room and fit the vibe to perfection. They turned out to be on par with the headline act as the two best bands of the night. Next up were LA death metal group Beneath Flesh, who came across as sonically brutal and put forth a relentlessly energetic performance, very much reminiscent of Cattle Decapitation in more ways than one, specially in terms of the sheer range of guttural growls and screams exhibited by their vocalist. The only flaw in Beneath Flesh’s set, aside from the absence of a bassist, was the vocalist’s repeated insistence on getting a mosh pit going when the crowd clearly wasn’t up for it. It only makes the band looks bad when the singer does such a thing. They should just let the music speak for itself. Besides, every crowd at every venue is different, and the lack of a mosh pit does not mean they’re not enjoying you show. Other than that, a tremendous set.
There is often the one band that ruins an otherwise flawless show, and Fatal Substance was that band on this occasion. They took an eternity to get their relatively simple gear setup ready, sounded extremely sloppy with none of the four members in sync with one another, did not present themselves well as at least two of them were already inebriated and one was wearing completely out-of-place gold bling, and took just as long to get their gear off the stage after they were done playing. Complex and Church Of The 8th Day have had a stainless record when it comes to the bands that play their shows, but Fatal Substance is by far the worst band to have stepped on this stage till date.
Thankfully, the next band Tomorrow Comes Today salvaged things with a well-executed set of old-school hardcore. Their on-stage energy and manner of executing this style was appreciable and they got the strongest mosh pit action amongst all five bands that played this show, but at times the action was a little too strong, as the karate kids let their arms and feet fling wildly in all directions and created a distance between the band and the rest of the audience. Good set, nonetheless.
And finally at around 1:20 AM, Crematorium hit the stage for a delightfully brutal onslaught, led excellently by Daniel Dismal himself on vocals as he let out some truly monstrous growls and had the audience in splits with epic jokes and one-liners between songs. The band and their frontman have a very respectable history behind them in their years in the LA scene, and the gratitude towards them was evident from this packed house at Complex as well as from the response Crematorium was getting throughout their set. The real LA metal faithful were out in full force to support this event and make it a highly successful reunion/farewell gig for the city’s most notorious murdercore giants.
All in all, a fittingly heavy celebration.
(Check out full video coverage of the show on Arturo Gallegos’ YouTube channel)