Inebriation, Evisceration and Daddy Long Legs!

As far as local gig lineup goes, it couldn’t have got much better for someone of my taste in music.  A young thrash band, a grunge/punk band and a two piece black metal band was always going to be an epic mix, and en excellent night at the Greyhound Hotel.

Two piece black metal band Evisceration started the night with a short, furious 25 minute set.  Rob, singer and guitarist (with his axe plugged into both a guitar and bass amp for a monstrous sound) shocked everyone with his sickeningly brilliant raspy vocals.  Tam, the drummer, looking more like a member of the Beatles, was hilariously quaint as he kept time with some fast and furious music.  The whole thing was a bit tongue in cheek, what with Rob’s over the top spiky arm bands and his devilish screams.  Standouts were the humerously titled ‘Killing God’ and the ten second song that Rob introduced as an ‘eight minute epic’.  With the set finished, the crowd was strangely quiet, as if in awe at the raw energy and overwhelming irony the band had presented so efficiently.  For the band’s first gig, it was nothing short of brilliant.

Punk band Daddy Long Legs’ front man Ryan set the measure straight from the beginning: ‘After Evisceration we’re a bit worried.  We suck and don’t play so good.’  Regardless of whether this was true, no sooner had the words left his mouth then the band launched into a set with barely any respite or pause to catch their breath.  A refreshing aspect of the band was their use of the entire stage.  Ryan, when not playing guitar, would run into the crowd, then run behind the drum kit, all the while his yells reverberated across the room.  Some tension between the punk/metal dynamic was vocalized by guitarist Sam when he declared: ‘we’re not cool enough to play thrash!’, which got both a frown and a crossing of the arms from the band about to go on stage.
Thrash band Inebriator are a refreshing change in a music genre that is often over run with overly ironic bands.  Inebriator are pure out thrash and are totally unapologetic about it.  Every member save the drummer, sported long hair, band tee shirt, tight jeans and the obligatory Nike high tops.  While some might dismiss this as cheesy, I found it to be invigorating.  No doubt the 80s bands we worship now would have been just as young and just as sincere back in the day.  The punks gone, and the black metal geeks scared away, the hairy Inebriator fans took to the floor and showed their appreciation of classic song titles such as Burn the Priest and Sentenced to Death.

It is good to see young bands of the punk and metal variety playing together.  MegaBrain records, brain child of Jo Levin, is on to a good thing with MegaBrain Wednesdays at Revolver, and now Thursdays at the Greyhound.  Despite the obvious stylistic differences, its important to remember that both music types came from the same roots.  These bands and fans alike should see it as a good opportunity to not only mingle with each other, but also to heckle outrageously.

Greyhound Hotel website