By Lisa Burke
February 19th 2016, Complex, Glendale CA: If you’re in Glendale or anywhere in the Los Angeles area and you are in the market for a good live concert, you can usually count on Complex to provide such an experience for you, as they have a plethora of live shows with solid line ups on any given night. On Friday February 19th, 2016 I attended Complex to see headlining act Deth Crux playing the tape release show for their debut EP ‘Pears Of Anguish’, with support from MAask, Christ The Witch, and Costume.
Now if you are wondering what the theme is here, it’s probably only relevant in the names themselves rather than actual style and character of bands, yet the DJ between sets definitely had an old school gothic theme (for example Sisters Of Mercy etc) going on, which did provide the missing chain link to keep these bands flowing in a room together. I arrived for the DJ set before Costume took the stage. If you are wondering what a band called Costume looks like, well it looks like normal musicians with four keyboards on stage with one double stack, and the mix of some real instruments worked in occasionally, such as guitar and bass, plus there were synth drums mixed with real drums. It was definitely interesting and the vocals at times had a Sonic Youth quality to them mixed in with some additional noise elements. Between songs they had harsh uncomfortable noise tones happening and whether this was simply their way to tune and warm up or part of the art to just to make you appreciate the difference in vibe once the songs happened, again I’m not sure, regardless, interesting in a good way it still was. The variety in the songs was a plus and there were some Depeche Mode and Sisters Of Mercy-esque tunes that carried some goth undertones. Long story short, this is music that you can groove along to and immerse into and always be surprised as to what comes out next.
Let’s keep in mind that I attend shows of this nature based on recommendations from trusted sources and while I was diving in fairly blind and wasn’t sure what I was getting myself into, I knew that not only would I most likely become a fan of a few new bands but that I wouldn’t leave disappointed in the quality of the night either. This reigned true as Christ The Witch took the stage and with their experimental doomy goth tunes I was easily put into a comfortable trance of doom and gloom. Unfortunately in the beginning the vocals were too low and would have definitely served better in the correct balance because the voice and lyrics really carries the weight of interest for me. They had a simplistic, old school, slightly industrial approach to the riffs that reminded me slightly of Godflesh with a slight influence of Type O Negative as well, and all in all I was into the vibe and would be happy to check this trio out at their next show.
Moving on to the next act MAask, I’m not sure there were any hidden secrets about them as they were pretty straight forward with their mix of punk and alternative with a slight sprinkle of death rock. The vocals were decently accomplished and the drum and bass kept me engaged, although the retro backing tracks over it all were not as purposeful as I would have liked them to be. Backing tracks are such a fine line to straddle, and depending on the origin, influences, and especially the intention and message of the band, the backing tracks can enhance or digress the overall sound. I feel in this case it was sort of in a state of limbo where it could work if it was made more intentional and in one clear set direction that could fit more fluidly with the live jams. On the other hand, perhaps the live instruments should have taken more of a back seat if the backing tracks were supposed to be the focus. Good overall performance and stage presence here, and if you are into this style of music you probably enjoyed their whole set although personally it wasn’t my usual brand of tea.
Finally after a careful ritualistic set up of a candelabra lighting and faux roses placed around the keyboard, Deth Crux took the stage by force and despite their best stage antics they refrained from burning the place down. The use of the projector with band logo and horror film character faces flashing in black and white on the wall behind the stage was a pleasant touch and with frontman Farron Loathing’s cryptic vocals that at times carry that demanding depth that Henry Rollins has been known to excel in, the night was on fire. Rumor has it Deth Crux is a side project for some of these members who have been in other bands such as Lighting Swords Of Death and it must be said that it certainly isn’t treated like a side project nor does it come across to the audience that way. I enjoyed it from start to finish and these death rockers excel at how to bring the whole nine yards to you properly in one sitting. Very appropriate and fun keyboard work that mixed in very well with the rocking fret work and had an industrial but not too industrial flavor. They of course still remained my favorite act of the night and if you aren’t familiar with them check them out because you won’t be disappointed.
Complex and Church Of The 8th Day is known for not just rebooking the same five bands in a different order over and over like a few bookers in Los Angeles, and not only that but they actually do their research on genres to find quality bands that fit well together and the chances of you finding a new band to worship is at a fairly high success rate. The moral of this story is that the year 2016 still has at least a giant’s hand basket full of undiscovered rock and metal that you just have to attend a metal show or two to discover. Now is that really so much to ask?
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