By Andrew Bansal
August 4th 2015, All Star Lanes, Los Angeles CA: Toronto-based extreme metal/grindcore band Abyss released their debut full-length studio album ‘Heretical Anatomy’ via 20 Buck Spin earlier this year, and made a visit to the Los Angeles area on their touring run, headlining the All Star Lanes in Eagle Rock, for a gig put together by Crash The Clubs and also featuring Deadbeat and Our Place Of Worship Is Silence as local openers. There is no shortage of venues in this city, specially when it comes to underground music, and the closure of certain iconic venues definitely does not equate to the death of the scene. On that note, I ventured to All Star Lanes for the first time.
Doors opened at 8, and a show started at around 9:15 as Our Place Of Worship Is Silence, boasting a four-pronged lineup of seasoned LA underground extreme metal musicians, began proceedings with an avalanche of heaviness. Unlike the other two bands that played this show, they asked for the house lights to remain switched off during their set, which added further to the atmosphere even though they were hardly visible while they performed. In comparison to their debut gig at the Five Star Bar last February, their live show is already more powerful. LA locals can look forward to more appearances from this band in the near future.
Next up, LA hardcore punk/power violence group Deadbeat took the stage and destroyed it with a high-octane, to-the-point set that was enjoyed by every single attendee, as mosh pits broke out. Their personality and musical style is very much reminiscent of the likes of Nails. They are a very new band and currently only have a demo release under their belt, but they deserve to play in front of the city’s largest HxC/punk/PxVx audiences. Excellent set.
And as a result of Suffering Luna dropping off the show at the last minute, headliners Abyss were the only remaining band. After a quick line check, they laid into a devastating 25-minute set. This kind of underground gig attracts people in the community that attend to support the whole show rather than to specifically see any particular band, and Abyss undoubtedly ended up making new fans amongst those that were unfamiliar with them. Eagle Rock getting offended at being addressed to as ‘Los Angeles’ by the vocalist was a tad ridiculous, but Abyss generally got a solid response and along with the efforts of the other two bands, made it worthwhile for attendees.
As for the venue, there was tiny ‘stage’ or platform, but all three bands used it to place their backline and drumkit there, with all other members setting up on the floor in front of it. But the room is spacious enough for people to stand around the band and be able to get a good view of the show. Between sets, people hung out at the bar in the next room to enjoy reasonably priced alcoholic beverages, and adjoining these rooms is a full-fledged bowling facility. The sight of kids and families bowling, with the most deeply subversive extreme music emanating from the concert room was hilarious, but it’s great to note that owners of the establishment are welcoming events of this nature even while their doors are open for bowling, and to return the favor, attendees as well as organizers of the Crash The Clubs event were just as respectful and disciplined.
A pleasant evening of extreme music at a venue that will hopefully witness more such events.