By Andrew Bansal
July 21st 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: The brainchild of Harassor guitarist James L. Brown, Vorpal Sword blends raw black metal with elements of industrial music, noise and punk, and all its compositions are singlehandedly written and recorded by Brown himself. Vorpal Sword is a brand new entity which saw its 7-track, 16-minute debut ‘10,000 Stab Wounds’ released in November 2015 by Rising Beast Recordings, and will be putting out two more new releases on cassette in late August. Sporadic live rituals began in early 2016, with gigs at the Lash, Honey Trap and Five Star Bar in downtown LA, and on Thursday July 21st, Vorpal Sword playing its fourth show decimated the stage at Complex in Glendale, as part of a Church Of The 8th Day/Elegy Ensemble presented event.
Even though this show featured a lineup headed by Baton Rouge, Louisiana black metal group Barghest and two solid Los Angeles based extreme metal bands Our Place Of Worship Is Silence and Aylwin, for Metal Assault, the sole and primary reason for attending this show was Vorpal Sword, who were the second band to take the stage. With James L. Brown’s Harassor bandmate Sandor GF joining him on stage on ‘drum pad’ duties instead of a regular drumkit, Vorpal Sword was fully brought to life through this performance, turning out to be everything one had expected it to be and then some. In an increasingly stale world of black metal, there is dire need to push the boundaries, explore the realms of possibilities, and incorporate various influences together. In what would seem like an unlikely combo, Vorpal Sword unites black metal, industrial music and harsh noise into its wildly experimental musicianship and as witnessed here, presents it with unabated intensity on stage. Using a simple setup of an electric guitar linked to a single-stack amp rig and a drum pad intertwined with an array of effects, delays and loops, the duo hammered away relentlessly on their respective instruments, as Brown also provided the vocals. The music sounded very much rooted in black metal but took upon various personalities depending on the beat, very harshly noisy during certain parts, while ultra-fast and punk-laden at times. Vorpal Sword certainly relies on the aural aspect and not on the run-of-the-mill black metal visual elements of facial makeup or clothing, but the two members do wear gimp-like masks to add a touch of mystique.
Although clearly not everyone’s cup of tea, Vorpal Sword embodies sonic innovation at its most extreme, and comes as LA’s newest heavy music entity worth discovering.
Vorpal Sword links: facebook | bandcamp
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