By Andrew Bansal
July 20th 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: Los Angeles stoner doom quartet Yidhra recently completed the 5-date ‘Southwest Tempest’ mini-tour through Southern California, Arizona and Nevada with Wisconsin stoner rock band Attalla (not to be confused with Atala, a stoner rock band from the California high desert). Yidhra and Attalla began this short run of shows with a Los Angeles area gig at Complex in Glendale, California on July 20th 2016. Presented by Church Of The 8th Day, this gig also featured Sisters Ov The Blackmoon and Ancient Spell as local openers, the four bands together constituting an enticing lineup for a chilled-out, riff-filled Wednesday evening at LA’s home of underground music.
Los Angeles doom quintet Ancient Spell began proceedings with a set that was musically solid with some competent guitar work and strong vocal delivery, but will be remembered for the wrong reasons because of the singer’s misplaced stage antics. He did a more than decent job singing his lines but undid most of the hard work by constantly yelling at the crowd and forcing them to “make some noise”, as if he was playing at the Forum or the Rose Bowl and talking to a crowd of several thousand. When you’re playing in front of an audience of less than 10 people, there’s only so much noise they can make, and you’re better off not embarrassing yourself by trying to copy and emulate your idols. A lot of bands definitely overdo the crowd interaction bit, and this was a classic example.
Next up, Sisters Ov The Blackmoon took the stage for their brand of riff-fueled female-fronted stoner doom. Putting forth a good show and creating a positive first impression are traits that come naturally to this group and given the catchiness and power of their musicianship, there’s never any doubt that they would deliver on these fronts. But picking the right shows with the right bands and at the right venues is equally important, and in the year-and-a-half of their existence thus far, Sisters Ov The Blackmoon have succeeded in doing so with every single gig they’ve played. Their regular drummer was unable to do this show due to illness, but one of LA’s finest and most prolific drummers Zac Morris stepped in and pulled off the gig with ease. It has been interesting watching the progress of this band since their very first show in 2015, and they’re certainly headed in the right direction. They’re another one in a category of bands whose live performance is a far better representation of their music as compared to their recorded material, and for that reason Metal Assault strongly recommends readers to listen to this band’s music firsthand in a live setting. All things considered, another triumphant outing for the Sisters in Glendale.
Hailing from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, stoner rock quartet Attalla were doing this Southwest Tempest run with Yidhra as part of their own U.S. west coast summer tour, and took the stage for a set that seemed longer than it really was, simply because of the lack of variety from one song to the next. They presented some decent riffs but nothing stood out. Bands from Wisconsin and nearby states have invariably impressed LA/West Coast audiences, but unfortunately, Attalla currently stand as exceptions to the trend. They started out in 2012 and have only one album to their name, so they’re still young as a band and have a long way to go, but unless they inject more variety into their music, they will be lost somewhere in the sea of countless stoner rock/metal bands going around.
And lastly, headliners Yidhra hit the stage to unravel their quintessentially earth-shattering avalanche of heaviness, led by ever-excellent frontman Ted Venemann on vocals, guitar and theremin, and backed solidly by his three bandmates. Yidhra have metamorphosed from their raw beginnings in 2008 into the gem they are now, as proven by their late 2015 ‘Cult Of Bathory’ EP release, which they rightly performed three-fourths of in this set. Besides, they also played four tunes off of the 2013 full-length ‘Hexed’. The ‘Cult Of Bathory’ title track as well as ‘Witch Queen’ are highlights of any Yidhra set, but unlike other stoner bands including the one that took this stage right before them, every Yidhra song is different from the other and has its own identity, to the point where different combinations of instruments are used to perform each of them, and this is what makes a Yidhra set compelling. Making select few live appearances and doing only short tours, Yidhra is not a full-time band and probably never will be, but they do stoner doom better than a lot of full-time bands and for any fans of the genre, are certainly worth delving into, through their studio recordings and live performances in equal measure.
Overall, a laid-back stoner rock evening in Glendale which for the most part was worth the time.
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Yidhra set list:
01. Oath Breaker
02. Cult Of Bathory
03. Blood Is The Harvest
04. Witch Queen
05. Iron Mountain
06. The Adversary
07. Conquest For Nova
