By Lisa Burke
October 11th 2016, The Roxy, West Hollywood CA: Just when you think you’ve all but discovered every heavy metal band out there worth knowing, you end up witnessing something that inspires you yet again. This is why arriving at shows early when possible is a wise idea, because not only do you get more for your money, but you end up with a larger music collection and the extra knowledge to feed your corrupted brain with. On Tuesday October 11th 2016 at the Roxy Theatre I attended the Skeletonwitch show with support from Iron Reagan, Oathbreaker, Necrot and Gatecreeper.
Although I was unable to arrive until after Necrot’s set I did hear some great feedback on Arizona’s death metal band Gatecreeper and will be keeping an eye out for them in the future. The same can be said for Oakland’s death punk band Necrot as well, but the band that really stood out as totally unique and enchantingly haunting was Oathbreaker from Belgium featuring lead female vocalist Caro Tanghe. This is primarily a black metal band but to me it has a few elements of melodic death as well as a touch of hardcore. They played their entire set in a dim eerie blue light and the female singer covered her face the entire time with her long curly locks to add in the perfect amount of darkness and curiosity. Her voice is absolutely breathtaking and one of the best female metal vocals I’ve ever heard from the start of her clean and beautifully serene tone that was as gothic and haunting as it was elegant, to the exciting build up, into the switch over with perfect black metal screams that still carried the genuinely accurate pitch from her clean sound. It had total substance, unlike a number of other death and punk bands with female vocals that just come across as an anger filled scream. This was pure talent and taste which was exciting as well as refreshing to witness the purely enchanting darkness of it all. She had the stage presence of a mythical creature with witch-like powers, and Kira the Gelfling from the movie ‘The Dark Crystal’ came to mind for some reason. The rest of the band was pure talent as well and perfectly supported the darkness and power of the vocals. They announced two days after the show that the drummer was leaving and being replaced, so let it be noted that his softly brutal and creative drumming really held them together and took away any unwanted harshness. There was nothing I didn’t like about this band, and everything I did love was in the mix, therefore I highly recommend checking Oathbreaker out if you love talented dark female vocalists and any kind of metal.
Next as the odd balls out on this bill was punk/thrash crossover band Iron Reagan which is Tony Foresta’s second brain child band besides Municipal Waste. It was a nice change of pace and created a draw for those who aren’t into the blackened death styles as much. As much as I could die happy at a pure-as-the-driven-snow black metal festival, seeing shows that mix up the elements and metal genres nicely not only seem to draw a bigger crowd, but also breaks up any monotony and keeps the audience on their toes. One of the many fun traits of Iron Reagan is that all their songs are so speedy and punk rock length, which means less than three minutes, so basically you can see a thirty-song set in about twenty minutes if you time travel backwards for ten of those minutes. Makes sense right? Well seriously though, my favorite song is called ‘Your Kid’s An Asshole’ and its entire duration is exactly twelve seconds, with the only lyrics being the title and “one more time”. It’s short and to the point in a punch-you-in-the-face sort of way, as all punk songs should be, and ranks as pure genius in my book. Another stand out favorite is ‘Miserable Failure’ and it pretty much speaks for itself in a purely sarcastic way, but you figure anyone who can switch back and forth between two successful bands as if they are simply changing their underwear is no failure at life. They came on stage with such thunder and lightning that apparently the snare drum broke by the end of the first song. Tony joked along with the drummer about how to carry on without one, and then the race to the finish was on again. This band is full of great players and all have presence worthy of watching on stage and they all sing back-up at one point or another, but the funny part of it is as much as I try to focus on the rest of the band my eye automatically travels back to Tony because he is always running around like a maniac seemingly without any shortness of breath and is a total show stealer. As always, it was a super fast, short and fun set that never had a dull moment.
Finally, it was Skeletonwitch hour, and as I have seen these dudes a few times in the past, this was actually the first time I felt as if I was cast under a dark spell and couldn’t escape until the end of the set. The current singer Adam Clemans, who joined only this year, seems to bring more of a black metal style into the vocals and he really adds an extra element of magic to the set. Changing lead singers is a very difficult hurdle to jump and not fall over in the process. Skeletonwitch had a great vocalist and now they simply carry on with an equally great vocalist who may carry this band forward to an even darker and more intense existence that could be a step in the right direction for them at this point in their career. As I said, this current line-up is truly mesmerizing and probably the best they’ve had to date with strengths lying in all areas from the out-of-the-box powerful drumming to the intricate guitar riffage that melts your face at times, to the brutal bass, to the excellent pitch of the vocals. Adam knows he’s “the new guy”, as he stated, but he is grateful to not be treated as such, and for good reason, as he is vocally a very compatible fit that I feel changes the direction of the band out of the thrash and into the blackness which makes sense to me. The newest release is ‘The Apothic Gloom’ EP which I believe they played most of in this set, and it is darker than previous albums to begin with, although the last studio album may have been the one to start the trend of more blackness. The clarity of sound and intelligently lit stage enhanced an already crushing set and despite the slight thinning of the herd after Iron Reagan’s set, the venue was still crowded and the true fans of “The Witch” remained in awe.
One thought I had upon leaving was, what is it about straight-up black metal that is under-appreciated? It can’t be the satanic elements alone that people steer clear of, because some black metal bands aren’t even at all satanic. The bands on this evening who fall under the black metal category are disguised by the other elements in the mix, yet still more metalheads seem to follow hardcore or metalcore shows which is most of the time not nearly as creative yet is brutal in its own rite. To each their own I suppose, but black metal is one of a kind, holds perhaps the broadest spectrum within its genre, and has been around longer than most, therefore it deserves a better listen in my opinion. Anyway, if you want to ease your way into the dark side of it all, check out this tour and come out with a new love and a charred soul for the win.
Skeletonwitch set list:
01. Beneath Dead Leaves
02. Burned from Bone
03. Crushed Beyond Dust
04. Black Waters
05. Serpents Unleashed
06. Beyond the Permafrost
07. Gorge Upon My Soul
08. This Evil Embrace
09. Well of Despair
10. Upon Wings of Black
11. Choke Upon Betrayal
12. Cleaver of Souls
13. The Apothic Gloom
14. From a Cloudless Sky
15. I Am of Death (Hell Has Arrived)
16. This Horrifying Force (The Desire to Kill)
17. Red Death, White Light
Remaining Tour Dates:
10/17 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Bar
10/18 – Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
10/19 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
10/20 – Des Moines, IA @ Vaudeville Mews
10/21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
10/22 – Chicago, IL @ Subterranean
10/23 – Indianapolis, IN @ 5th Quarter
10/25 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Cattivo
10/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
10/28 – Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus
10/26 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery
10/30 – Richmond, VA @ Hardywood Brewery