Review & photos by Andrew Bansal
March 21st 2016, Blacklight District Lounge, Long Beach CA: The vibrant and diverse live music scene in Long Beach presents locals with various options of all kinds of music on a nightly basis, and often treats metalheads with top-notch underground shows. March 21st 2016 proved to be one such occasion, as Southern California bands Red River Massacre, Ironaut, Malison, Grand Lord High Master and Atala came together for a free Metal Monday event at the Blacklight District Lounge, put on by ADHD Entertainment. As is typically the case, locals were drawn to the gig because of familiarity with one or more bands in the lineup, and hoped to discover other good new bands in the process.
Starting proceedings promptly at 8 PM, Atala brought forth their brand of quintessential California desert stoner rock, and laid down some lovely doom-laden jams, the kind that are incredibly popular these days with the unprecedented resurgence of stoner/doom, but it still needs to be played with skill and variety, and these three dudes did that with a progressive flavor to their doom. Hailing from the high desert of Twentynine Palms CA, Atala began in 2013 and released their self-titled debut full-length in 2014, recorded under the supervision of desert rock legend Scott Reeder. Their second LP ‘Shaman’s Path Of The Serpent’ is slated for release on May 20th 2016, and a lot can be expected from Atala in 2016 and beyond.
Next up, the captivating weirdness of Grand Lord High Master ran amok all over the stage, and they brought the same level of intensity and insanity they’ve exhibited at Los Angeles area venues like Loaded and Complex in their short tenure as a band so far. Their 2015 self-titled debut EP showcases the feral nature of their musicianship, and this quality is all the more evident when the band is performing this music on a stage. Grand Lord High Master remains to be a unique phenomenon in the Los Angeles heavy music community, and for the foreseeable future, will continue to stand out as the oddball in every show they play.
The discovery of the show was certainly Malison, a San Diego-based four-piece traditional metal band playing their first show outside of their hometown. With their twin guitar and clean vocal harmonies and galloping rhythms, the band instantly orchestrated a throwback to the likes of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and White Wizzard. Malison is right up the alley for old-school metalheads. Like all the other bands in this lineup, Malison are also a very young band, and all they have to their name in terms of releases is their 2014 3-song self-titled debut EP. With this performance they showed they’re more than ready to take it to the next level, although a couple of visual aspects need to be pointed out. The vocalist/guitarist’s button-up shirt prevented the band from visually presenting themselves as an old-school band and a change may be needed there. On the other hand, the bassist was wearing a Between The Buried And Me sleeveless shirt, and upon talking to him after the show it was discovered that he is indeed a BTBAM fan and bought the shirt on the San Diego date of the prog masters’ ongoing tour. This shirt may have seemed like an odd choice for a band like Malison, but it actually proved the fact that there need not be a divide between old-school and modern metal, and fans of one style can certainly appreciate and play the other. Dress sense aside, an excellent set by Malison, and their first non San Diego appearance will definitely not be their last.
Next up, bringing back the stoner rock vibes that started this evening of music, LA trio Ironaut took the stage for a highly impressive set. This band has been gaining momentum in recent months since the November 2015 release of their self-titled debut EP, and clearly get stronger with every live performance. In all honesty, on first impression in 2015 the vocals did not exude much confidence, but a year down the road and it’s a different story, to the extent that people who got to witness Ironaut in their original instrumental incarnation may even forgot that the band existed in that form. Boasting a trio of fantastic musicians in Erik Kluiber (bass, vocals), Patrick McHugh (guitar) and Ivan Najor (drums), Ironaut have all the ingredients to move forward with success, and they look well poised to keep turning first-timers into fans.
Unfortunately, thanks to the inefficiency of the Blue Line, I could not risk getting stranded in Long Beach for an entire night, and hence could not stay to watch Red River Massacre, who were scheduled to take the stage at around 11:15. But even with the combined efforts of the first four bands, this was a high-quality, all-killer, no-filler show featuring great local underground talent, and in all likelihood, was raised further in quality by Red River Massacre. For a free show, the turnout was tremendously disappointing, and judging by how fruitful it was to attend this gig, LA and Long Beach locals are strongly recommended to give their hometown bands a chance, specially on low-key, no-cover nights.
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