By Andrew Bansal
November 25th 2015, The Lexington, Los Angeles CA: Florida grindcore band Maruta embarked on ‘The Road Remains Dystopian’ US headline tour with New Hampshire extreme metal quartet Vattnet Viskar as support act, and arrived in downtown Los Angeles last Wednesday November 25th to bring some pre-thanksgiving extremities to the Lexington Bar, along with local openers Our Place Of Worship Is Silence and Reality Lost, for a gig presented by Church Of The 8th Day and The Elegy Ensemble.
Strangely enough, despite this venue’s easily accessible location and proximity to the Five Star Bar, this was my first visit to the Lexington, and for reasons beyond the scope of explanation, it emanated a vibe that wasn’t very LA-like, and I almost felt as if I was on tour, entering an unknown venue in some other town. Even as early as 8 PM, all business around the venue were already closed, and anybody hanging out in this neighborhood was either homeless, or here for the show, or both.
Doors opened at 8 but the show didn’t begin until 9:20, as local crust/grind band Reality Lost took the stage. With their musical style, in theory they were an apt choice to open this show and full marks to the promoters for that, but the front of house mix was off from the outset and they looked nervous and dysfunctional as a group, so one hopes that this wasn’t an accurate representation of the band and it’s best to not judge them based on this set.
Next, one of Los Angeles’ newest purveyors of bleak sonic destruction, having made their live debut earlier in 2015, Our Place Of Worship Is Silence played, after almost not doing so and dropping out at the last minute. Their bassist was M.I.A., but they still performed as a three-piece, and just like the first band, they faced sound issues and this wasn’t a fair depiction of what they sound like or are capable of. But they stil garnered a decent response from the crowd, and props to them for not canceling their appearance altogether.
While the locals took an eternity to set up their equipment on stage, Vattnet Viskar readied themselves in record time, helped by the fact that they let Our Place Of Worship Is Silence use their cabinets. Within ten minutes from the end of that band’s set, Vattnet Viskar were poised for domination, showing the sheer difference in professionalism and agility between local bands and national/international touring acts that set up and break down on a nightly basis. So confident was this band, that they told the sound guy they didn’t even need anything in their monitors. They certainly helped speed the show forward, starting their set at 10:45 and putting forth a devastating, spellbinding, high-intensity performance, presenting all of their musical elements, the black metal of the non ‘hail Satan’ type, the proggy transitions, the atmospheric/post-metal textures, and the crushing slow, heavy grooves. Through a combination of material from their stellar 2015 sophomore full-length Century Media release ‘Settler’ and their 2013 debut LP ‘Sky Swallower’, Vattnet Viskar succeeded in orchestrating a powerful set that undoubtedly was the highlight of this show.
And finally, Maruta hit the stage for a dosage of straight-up old-school grindcore mixed with brutal death metal, changing the vibe completely from that of Vattnet Viskar’s set. There were people in attendance that clearly came to see Maruta but waited patiently through the other bands, and sprung into action as soon as Maruta started, engaging in circle pits. Maruta did exactly what was expected of them, fully serving the death/grind fans with their style of musicianship and live performance. The band has been around for ten years, longer than I honestly realized, as I never got a chance to see them prior to this. With three full-length albums to their name, they have enough solid material to play headline sets but would also do well as a support act on grind-oriented tours.
The turnout was expectedly light, with this being the night before Thanksgiving, but thanks mainly to Vattnet Viskar and to Maruta to a lesser extent, it was another worthwhile underground metal event by these tireless promoters.
Remaining Tour Dates:
11/30 – Reno, NV @ PB&J’s
12/01 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro
12/02 – Denver, CO @ Roxy
12/03 – Wichita, KS @ Dead Eye Dicks
12/04 – Columbia, MO @ Cafe Berlin
12/05 – Knoxville, TN @ Open Chord
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