By Lisa Burke
April 3rd 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: On Sunday April 3rd, I attended a show at Complex in Glendale filled primarily with my favorite genre of metal which happens to be black metal. The four bands in attendance were headliners Absu and support acts Mictlantecuhtli, Harassor and Conjuror. On a scale of one to a great metal show with four solidly grouped talented bands I believe I don’t even need to tell you where I stand.
Very recently, Complex has put out a metal gate blocking the alley where the smokers hang, which I suppose deters the wrong people and vehicles from entering but definitely takes some getting used to finding a way around rather than just climbing over when the opening is blocked by a crowd. They did also add some comfy cushioned seats to the alley as well, and with the merch tables set up in the back it provides a good atmosphere for socializing between bands.
Local black metal trio Conjuror was a pleasure to watch and they really exemplify the technical aspects of some old school black metal bands with a modern twist at times. The guitars were a driving force, the bass was on fire in the best way, and the drumming was pure speedy fun. Having formed fairly recently in 2008 I was impressed with their depth and seemingly more mature take on this genre. The sound was as decent as it could be, the vocals took charge, the lyrics breathed paganism and darkness, and they left a full house satisfied in the end.
Another local black metal trio Harassor came up next to tear up the stage with some fast and ferocious tunes. With no bass player on stage, sometimes people miss the lows it brings in and the balance of the sound can get skewed even if there are backing tracks to fill in, however in the case of Harassor you don’t actually miss any live bass at all as it does not prove to be a necessary element. The guitar was as fast and full sounding as ever, the drumming was a skyrocket of fast blasting fun, and the singer Pete Majors with his evil black metal eye makeup, blood, bullet belt, leather gauntlet and bullet armband screamed bloody murder till the building threatened to crumble to the ground. I’ve seen this band on a few other occasions but always at a venue where the sound levels were slightly off, so it was always frustrating to me because I knew how much clearer and fuller they were capable of sounding. This show finally accomplished just that as the sound was great and their uniqueness shone through. While they definitely pick a style that carries through all songs, it is broken up in creatively different ways for each song and I really enjoy the punk influence and super early black metal and death metal traits that I hear in the tunes. The vocals are a high selling point for them, as the harsh evilness is sung so fast at times it is impressive in that although you may not be able to make out all the words, it has a definite coherent enunciation that can’t be denied. The stage presence is apparent and true to the vibe and once again the fully crowded room was exposed to a lethal dose of darkness that left us all as satisfied as Satan in hell after the apocalypse. In case you weren’t sure that this was the consensus all you had to do was watch the ‘king of the mosh pit’ guy making circles in the mosh pit who didn’t even stop between songs when all was silent.
Onto the next act, Mictlantecuhtli, who for me was actually the highlight of the night because based on their name alone I had preconceived high expectations for them immediately, and it turned out I was not disappointed in the least. The way I see it, any band whose name I can’t pronounce and takes me four minutes to spell and sounds foreign despite the band’s local origin must have talent as a back up plan. As it turns out, they are a perfect mix of extreme metal with just the right amounts of black, death, and thrash in the mix. The name comes from an Aztec God who long story short is basically into brutality, and their black metal face painting especially on the singer was some of the more interesting I’ve seen with its curvy vertical black stripes and was clearly influenced by this ideology. The music itself is clearly influenced by Immortal as well as Iron Maiden among others, and while the similarities were there they mix it together in a very convincingly original way and I therefore have no complaints. As the only band of the night who seemed slightly crowded on the stage with their five members, they were still packing in the success on all fronts. The most interesting and successful part for me was the dual guitars and how they fed off and contradicted each other in a very skilled and tasteful way. They both also wore the same band logo shirt as well, which interestingly enhanced the duality. Super heavy and brutally extreme with tasteful complex guitar at times made the whole set worthwhile. The king of this mosh pit happened to be the tall skinny dude in the cut-off sleeved light denim shirt who may have showed up directly from an episode of Growing Pains and his dancing skills were probably what got him on the show as well. It was around this unfortunate time that I happened to walk into the ladies restroom only to discover that it had been turned into a vomitorium, complete with excessive amounts of projectile floor vomit. Never in all my years of attending metal shows have I seen anything that vile and I’ve seen many disturbing and disgusting things, but whoever the poor soul was who had to clean that up after the show deserves a much better reward than what they got.
Moving on to less gruesome details, which by the way isn’t easy since I am discussing a black metal show, it was time for the headliners and most anticipated act of the night, Absu. Now I must preface this by saying that before they started I found my hero duty of the evening when I encountered a lone passed out metalhead outside on a bench in the alley. As peaceful as he looked, I thought it best to wake him up because I figured he had just miscalculated his alcohol intake before seeing his favorite band. I also figured that if he didn’t thank me at the time he’d probably thank me later assuming he remembered I was even there. Sure enough, his first question was “Is Absu on yet?” and after telling him there was no sleeping in black metal he told me how the room had started to spin so he thought a nap was in order. Luckily, he did make it inside for the show at least in part, and my duty to the metalhead society was complete. Absu has gone through many changes since their early ’90s origin, and they have that old school European blackened death metal vibe, yet come from Texas, and as a trio they are a force to be reckoned with. It is extreme metal that can go from brutal to ballet in 69 seconds and there was definitely one of the more mellow songs where I felt I was watching a mosh pit ballet.
I was into the brutally exquisite guitar riffage and had some hair envy of the long curly afro rocker style hair the guitar player Matt Moore carried. There is an old school death quality in their older songs and the newer songs range a broad spectrum but have some Behemoth-esque style as well. One of the songs sounded to me as if Painkiller from Judas Priest went black metal and I totally enjoyed that. An interesting aspect of this band live that was a little confusing but still effective was the backing vocals which were in demon sermon voice, perhaps pre-recorded by the drummer but was used between songs, and then backing vocals also appeared during some songs in odd times when you expected the main live singer to keep singing but realized he wasn’t, even though we were still hearing his voice. Why not sing it all? I was just left searching the stage for answers that never appeared, yet I somehow didn’t mind it though, as it did create a sort of demonic possession over the band even though it could have perhaps used an exorcism as well. All in all, the 69 and a half minute set they intended to play was not boring and is definitely worth viewing live with the guitar being the predominant reason, although all live instruments and vocals were terrorizing the audience with their black metal dominance and this is a positive trait if you couldn’t tell. The singer’s attire was original enough and very black metal with the cut-up black shirt and studded arm bands, and he made the appropriate impression even with minimal makeup. All is well that ends well in the land of black metal, and with the exception of the ladies bathroom, everyone pulled out of this night with clean success including the man, myth, and legend that is Daniel Dismal and his Church Of the 8th day. I advise you all to stay tuned and get your tickets for Mini Murderfest which is a three day adventure also at this location towards the end of April brought to you by the same good people.
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Remaining Tour Dates:
4/11 — Seattle WA @ The Highline
4/12 — Missoula MT @ TBA
4/13 — Boise ID @ The Shredder
4/14 — Salt Lake City UT @ Metro Bar
4/15 — Denver CO @ Hi-Dive
4/16 — Kansas City MO @ The Riot Room
4/17 — St. Louis MO @ Fubar
4/18 — Omaha NE @ Lookout Lounge
4/19 — Minneapolis MN @ Triple Rock
4/20 — Milwaukee WI @ Frank’s Power Plant
4/21 — Columbus OH @ The Summit
4/22 — Pittsburgh PA @ The Smiling Moose
4/23 — Rochester NY @ Bug Jar
4/25 — Burlington VT @ Foundation
4/26 — Portland ME @ SPACE Gallery
4/27 — Somerville MA @ ONCE Lounge
4/28 — Brooklyn NY @ Saint Vitus
4/29 — Philadelphia PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
4/30 — Raleigh NC @ Pour House Music Hall