Review by Lisa Burke
August 28th 2015, The Viper Room, West Hollywood CA: Philadelphia PA-based metal bands CKY and Foreign Objects, both led by vocalist/guitarist Deron Miller, performed a Los Angeles area headline gig at the Viper Room in West Hollywood last Friday August 28 2015, along with local military metal quintet Kings Of Carnage, and our writer Lisa Burke was in attendance to capture the event through her words. Check out her review below:
Last night I ventured off to the Viper Room to check out the unusual combination set of Deron Miller’s CKY and Foreign Objects. Also on the bill was 5-piece Kings Of Carnage, a local act from Hollywood that can rightfully be termed as military metal. This night happened to be my second viewing of this band’s performance on the Viper stage, and they prove to be consistent with their commanding presence and welcoming energy. They always drive in empowering riffs and creative bass lines that are guaranteed to be complimented by really solid and entertaining drumming. Unfortunately it must be said that the weak link here is in some of the vocal styling. The energy of all band members really brings these guys a solid ground to stand on, until it’s stirred up a bit by the cleanliness of the vocals at times when the rest of the band is swimming in death metal territory. Now I can argue with myself and say that it’s just that I don’t appreciate that Linkin Park-esque style, but really for me I just know he is capable of pushing himself further and with some more break-up in the vocals into a less clean, more scream sound it would be a better match. I’ll add that the bass player jumping into the pit to jam out with the audience always proves to be a fun time for all. All things considered, they had a commendable set of originals including ‘Fight The Tide’, and ended with two covers, one of which was surprisingly ‘Whip It’ by Devo that proved to be a wonderfully fun and creative rendition complete with the perfectly pitched mix of vocals, riffing, and excellent drumming.
Somewhere around 10:45 the combo of Foreign Objects and CKY (Camp Kill Yourself) hit the stage running. Deron Miller is the mastermind behind this project and together with his band of recruits from both CKY and Foreign Objects with the inclusion of guitarist Kenneth Hunter they packed in a really exciting and dynamic show. With the already compelling notion of CKY’s history which involves a 4-pack video series of skate tricks and pranks etc, mixed with their music featured in the Jackass TV series, it was bound to be a party on stage. They went from the heavier death metal stylings of their most compelling Foreign Objects songs transitioned with ‘Disengage The Simulator’ and proceeded into a more straight heavy metal sound mixed with the alternative, punk, and stoner vibe that is the uniqueness of CKY. While I play favorites with the Foreign Objects side of the equation, I also enjoyed the CKY aspect. All performers on this night brought their best game to the park where I had the pleasure of enjoying the picnic they served up, mixed up, and shook up like the best mix of salad toppings you ever had. There were some great vocal harmonies with the bass player happening in moments, and the technically strong guitar riffing which packed an added and welcomed punch to my face. The difference between these two meshed bands was clearly sorted out and noticeable in the mosh pit. I’m a big fan of studying mosh pit etiquette at all shows I attend, no two bands’ pits are ever really the same, and that just makes life more interesting. It must be mentioned that there was a videographer in attendance wearing a ‘Listen to CKY’ shirt that entertained me with his unusual methods of what looked to me like machine gun shooting with the video camera. He really worked his ass off with his ninja skills of avoiding the mosh pit yet standing in it any time the action dissipated as well. I’m actually curious to see how noticable the sweat rainstorm that poured out of Daren’s armpits during most of the set will be. It was 100 degrees all day, and he had a long sleeve black button up shirt over his CKY tee shirt. Not sure what the deal there was other than him being a fan of torture, however the thought crossed my mind that maybe he did it for some purpose for the video. Regardless, this was a unique and very entertaining experience for me that I highly recommend checking out if you get the opportunity in real life because television never ever gives you the same experience, and anyone who says it does is lying to themselves.