All We Hex Is Lust! Birth Holes!

Date: Friday, October 7, 2011
Venue: Headhunters, Austin TX
Bill: Aggravator, Morgengrau, Hexlust, Birth A.D., Whore of Bethlehem

A note on the title: I've had it in mind since the day we announced this show. If you're Facebook friends with members of Morgengrau, Birth A.D., or Hexlust, you'll recognize the wacky little quotes I'm toying with here. Of course, now that I look at it, "birth holes" seems like an odd choice of words, haha.

PRE-SHOW
It's amazing how quickly something as simple as gear load-in can dissolve into chaos when already limited space starts running out. When we in Hexlust arrived at Headhunters, the early-evening singer-songwriter show was still going on, so we didn't feel the need to unload yet. After grabbing some pizza next door and catching up, we went back to Headhunters and chatted with the members of Morgengrau. They went about bringing their gear in, and the question was then raised if we should unload as well. As much as I'm all for getting things set up as early as possible, I insisted that we wait; we were going on third, so it would make more sense to load in just before Morgengrau's set than to take up room in the tiny club hours in advance.

Then I saw another amp being wheeled into the club, piloted by somebody I didn't recognize. This could only be stuff from Whore of Bethlehem, who were the evening's headliners. Aggravator and Birth A.D. hadn't even arrived yet, and already things were getting crowded. A hasty decision was made, and twenty minutes later, about half of the audience floor was taken up with assorted amps, bass rigs, and guitar cases. Not one thread of organization was applied to this, where maybe we'd have Morgangrau's stuff closer to the stage, then our stuff, then Whore's. Nope, it was a big hodge-podgey rat's nest, from which one band's equipment would have to be extracted by shuffling everyone else's crap around.

Jeff A.D. showed up, took a look at the steaming batch of equipment jambalaya we'd made, and asked me if that was all our stuff. I gave him a huge smile and said it was everyone's stuff, and wasn't it fantastic! He gave me a look that brought to mind Kurt Russell in Tombstone going "Ahh, hell," and went back outside, presumably to vent his frustration into a ninety-nine-percenter's face with his boot. (Not too big a stretch, there was supposedly an Occupy-Everywhere thing going on in Austin that weekend, so they were around!)

AGGRAVATOR
My parents, who were in town to catch the show, really liked Aggravator. My dad in particular noted how catchy their songs were, and how there was a large emphasis placed on rhythm, from the drum beats to the memorable riffs that were played even as Jesse was ripping out a lead. I shared my dad's appreciation for their talents, but noticed that the band looked rather tired, and less spirited than usual. I later found out that they were double-booked over at the Dirty Dog on 6th Street, so they were probably conserving energy for a later performance.

I stuck around for a couple tunes, then retreated to the second floor of Headhunters' patio area where I warmed up for our performance and talked to Njord from Humut Tabal. I eventually realized that time had gotten away from me, and retreated back into the club proper, expecting to find Morgengrau already performing, or at least soundchecking. Instead, they were just now getting their gear onstage, which I later found out was due to Aggravator finishing their set and then I guess just going somewhere, leaving their drum kit onstage and in Morgengrau's way. Sorry guys, that's what we call a technical foul.


MORGENGRAU
Morgengrau's set was off to a shaky start before they even played one song. They had to hurry their gear onstage to prevent more time being eaten away, shuffle things around to fit everything onto the tiny, oddly-shaped space, and grit their teeth through a long soundcheck which ended with vocalist Erika hampered by a scratchy guitar sound, possibly due to a faulty cord. I've been through plenty of those frustrating pre-performances, where we would finish the soundcheck stressed out and feeling like the gig's already gone straight to hell. More than half the time, that's exactly where it would go, and I started to feel a sympathy headache coming on. Morgengrau don't believe in self-fulfilling prophecies, however, and through the power of their Christmas guitars turned in one hell of a performance that lifted the spirits and ensured that this was going to be a fine evening indeed!

CHRISTMAS GUITARS!

Erika, known more locally for her soaring clean vocals in Iron Maiden tribute act Drifter, impressed everyone with the ferocity of her death metal growl, employed most impressively in the band's covers of Asphyx's "Apshyx (Forgotten War)" and Pestilence's "Chronic Infection." (Van Drunen fan, much? Hehe.) From what I saw she stuck with rhythm guitar duties, leaving the leads in Nick's very capable hands, and they both employed a very precise picking style, wrists rooted firmly in place, the hands themselves hardly seeming to move at all. Extremely impressive, especially when one is singing while doing so.

At the set's beginning the audience's reaction was rather subdued, but they started getting more into it after the covers had warmed them up, moshing hard during such fantastic originals as "Grave of Lies" and "Extrinsic Pathway,' and throwing their horns or fists up after every tune. As a quick closer, Morgengrau pulled out yet another cover, this time allowing bassist Jake to take the mic for a raging rendition of Exhorder's "Anal Lust." I'm not sure how he or drummer Reba still had the energy, between his seemingly perpetual headbanging and her endless thrash beats and double-bassery they were both in constant motion since the first tune. Plus I know very well how hot it gets on that stage! Kudos to them and the rest of Morgengrau for putting their all into giving their audience a showcase in old school death metal, we all loved it and are looking eagerly forward to the next gig!


HEXLUST
Not only did we kick undisputed ass after having not had all four of us standing in the same room together, much less playing as a full band, since our last gig in August; not only did we near flawlessly play almost all of our originals, including the tricky "Imminent Retardation" but excluding "Hellhammer" due to time constraints; and not only did JT still headbang like the bastard he is after having had to recently chop his metal-god mane down to a Dwight-Schrute cut to appease the crotchety old fucks in charge of his higher education, but we did it all without the time-keeping assistance of my hi-hat pedal!

To understand just why that's significant, you should know that since our earliest practices I insisted that everybody follow me. I'm the timekeeper and I take that role very seriously. One of my favorite tricks to use is stomping the hi-hat pedal, bringing those two cymbals together to provide that chik-chik-chik sound that keeps us in time when, say, Tony starts a riff on his own. Sometimes my insistence on being the focus of time bites me in the ass, like when something malfunctions in my hi-hat stand and renders it useless. Before, whenever this happened, it tended to set everyone adrift, especially when sub-par sound didn't allow us to hear the guitars that well, so when the rest of us came in together it was with all the precision of blustery wind chimes.

Tonight, however, we pulled out the best results in the worst time-keeping circumstance: not halfway into our first song, I smacked the wingnut holding the top hi-hat cymbal straight off the stand and into the black abyss of the stage floor. The cymbals fell together and stayed that way through the whole set, the stand's pedal now all but useless. I gave a heavy internal sigh, figuring I'd have to actually hit the cymbals during a break in the song, or maybe even substitute the chiks with a kick drum thump. When the time came to do either of those, though, I got caught up in the moment and forgot, stomping that useless pedal like the happy idiot I am. Something awesome happened, though: we all still came in together! I'm sure it helped that the small stage allowed us to hear the guitars a little better, but at the same time it was something more than that. It didn't feel like the guys were having to stop, listen for the guitar, and react from there; we all just simply knew when to go. It was a fantastic feeling, being able to let go of that responsibility and trust that we would all come in on time.

I told that long story that had a lot to do with me for two reasons: 1) I'm the author, so deal with it, suckas! 2) I was super-proud of the fact that, after over three years of playing live with this lineup, we seem to have finally developed a group-sense of being able to stay on time with each other without an explicit guide. I'll be sticking with my hi-hat stomping anyway, due to force of habit, the sneaking suspicion that this could have been a fluke, and just feeling like the chiks are a part of the music itself, as they are in the old Sodom records. Yay Hexlust, becoming more of a competent band with every gig!

The Drummer Stays in the Picture

Set List:
Fucked By Fire
Toxic
Conjure
Baphomet
Imminent Retardation
Meganecropolis
Tombs

BIRTH A.D.
How did we go on after these guys once upon a time? I mull that question over in my thinkin' brain every time I see Birth A.D. in action, thinking back to that show in August 2009 where their set preceded ours. How did that audience put up with our buffoonery after witnessing these guys set up, kick ass, and tear down like the seasoned professionals they are? Though the band itself has only been around for a few short years, the members of Birth A.D. have been playing in Austin-area metal acts since the early '90s. The benefit of their experience showed in the way they fit all their equipment onto the stage with seemingly few issues, blew through their whole set with nary a technical difficulty, and held the loyal audience's attention the entire time with Jeff's vitriolic between-song rants and humorous banter with drummer Mark. Inspirational.

I have come into possession of a copy of their "Stillbirth of a Nation" EP since we last played with them in February, so I was now ready for Birth A.D.'s assault on my senses, having memorized most of the lyrics and the time changes (as in, "fast" to "mid-paced). Of course, the glorious thing about this band is that their choruses are so catchy and simple that even an uninitiated newblet will be singing along and pumping their fist by the last go 'round of each tune, but knowing the songs beforehand allows for less listening and more doing. I sang along to every tune and loved every second of it, finally able to feel like one of the cool kids who really knows the tunes.

As I threw my fist in the air and ravaged my voice to their music, the true beauty of Birth A.D.'s hooks really hit me. Sure, they were choruses designed to be memorable, what music artist doesn't create something like that? What really matters is the intent behind the catchiness. Others make their hooks irresistible for the plain and naked sake of popularity, but Birth A.D. do it for the sake of spreading their messages. They want you to come away from a show having it in your head that you need to Cause Problems, Kill Everybody, and Bring Back the Draft, because we're living in a Failed State, with Equal Opportunity for losers in the job environment, and most of all, because This Scene Sucks!


WHORE OF BETHLEHEM/ POST-SHOW
A small, devoted crowd stuck around for Whore of Bethlehem's doom-influenced take on blackened death metal, but this audience did not include me. Tony was setting off on his long journey back to Belton, my parents were leaving for the hotel room I would be sharing with them tonight, and members of Birth A.D. and Morgengrau were finally getting around to packing their stuff up in their vehicles. All my friends were outside, so outside I went, engaging in those glorious long goodbyes where an utterance of "well, see ya later" was followed right up by, "Oh by the way dude, have you listened to [awesome band/recording] yet? Let's have another five-minute conversation about that!"

I finally tore myself away at a little after 2, as I had to grab a few precious hours of sleep and be back in Killeen for work at 8:30 the next morning. It was really hard for me to leave, I appreciate every second spent talking to our awesome metal friends in the Central Texas metal scene, commiserating on life subjects and swapping awesome stories. Makes me glad that we hopefully get to do it some more when we share the stage with Birth A.D. again, opening for Exhorder the day after Thanksgiving!

For those of you wondering what's been up with the lack of studio blogs, recording was put on hold for a little while so we could perform a change of location for the studio. Work is set to resume this Sunday, so I'll try my best to post that night or the very next day and keep you all up to date on what's going on with our first album. Until then, remember to THRASH TIL ALZHEIMER'S!

The Faptrabulous Riffoonery of Tone-Deaf and Jar-Tard

Just got home from Walter's house, where Tony and I were given the opportunity to listen to what's been recorded so far for Hexlust's first album (meaning all drums, bass, and rhythm guitars). After giving five of the songs a listen, on quality speakers instead of the grainy floor monitors in the studio space, it pleases me to report to you folks that so far I am quite the happy camper!

See, our true purpose was to troubleshoot the tracks to see if there were any horrifying mistakes that may have escaped us up to this point. From what we listened to tonight there are just a few sloppy hammer-ons or painful dead notes from the guitars, so Tony and JT will both have a little extra rhythm work to do when they go in for the leads next week. Granted, we know that little mistakes add "character" to a recording, give it that "human element" and whatnot, and we accounted for that; what we were searching for tonight were the extra bad flubs that could reach out and slap us in the face after it's too late to do anything about it.

As for the recording of the rhythm tracks themselves, I was present for one day of recording for each guitarist. Tony's was an inspiring but rather frustrating day, his last of maybe three sessions. At one point he was having trouble with a riff where, when recording drums, I had suddenly and inexplicably slowed down (oops), which threw his concentration off and badly affected his playing. Walter tried omitting my drums, then tried phasing out Tarzan's bass, even tried telling Tony to just continue playing in spite of what he was hearing, all to no avail.

Finally, it was suggested that Tony simplify his picking style for that section, which did the trick stupendously. He was now able to just go with the flow, and the best part was that him matching my sudden slow-down made it sound deliberate and even gave the whole thing a kind of eerie feel. It's truly amazing what magic can happen when creativity is applied to a mistake!

As for the J-Tizzle, the one day I was there turned out to be the only day that mattered. How so? Because this fool somehow pumped out all his rhythm tracks in one seven-hour session! Were we letting him get away with first takes and sloppy runs? Hells to the no, JT was very good about policing himself but we also let him know when we spotted something he needed to do over again. It got a little tense in some places, and at one point he even asked that Tony and I leave on account of how scrutinizing we were. He got it done, though, and so far it all sounds great.

I also just want to say real quick that I love the sound of two different guitars from two different players. It may not be as perfect as the time-honored method of having one player track all the rhythms, but what matters is that the parts mesh well and they get the point of the song across. As long as that goal is attained, then it's a lot of fun listening in for the little stylistic ticks and foibles that distinguish each contributor. Some good examples of this are Cannibal Corpse's first two albums, before it was decided that Jack Owen would record all the rhythms for "Tomb of the Mutilated." I think Megadeth's early albums are the same way, though I have no proof of this and am surprised those dudes got anything done considering how constantly blitzed they were.

Thrash Til Death at the Dirty Dog!

Date: Friday, August 12, 2011
Venue: Dirty Dog, Austin TX
Bill: Hexlust, Numb Skull, Legion, Warbeast, Blunt Force Trauma

PRE-SHOW
Ahh, Sixth Street. That legendary haven of hedonism in downtown Austin, where Texans can pretend they have their own Sunset Strip, on which the venue hosting this evening's shenanigans rests. Sure the sidewalks are crowded, the traffic's perpetually congested, and one can't help but feel like they're choking in a miasma of empty-headed party-hardy escapism mixed with a particularly delusional brand of holier-than-thou snootiness seemingly exclusive to the "live music capital of the world." (*Inhale*) On the plus side, though... Umm... Hmmm...

...

Yeah, fuck Sixth Street.

Since Tarzan now also lives in San Antonio, he and JT had already arrived and loaded in by the time Tony and I got there. We parked in an alley out behind the Dirty Dog and loaded in through the back door, which was insanely preferable to the option before us merely ten minutes prior: Park the truck in the sketchy lot on Red River and then take forever lugging all the drums and stands a little bit at a time two blocks away to the club.

The venue itself impressed me; considering its downtown location and the fact that it's not Emo's, I came into this prepared for a small club with a tiny stage, barebones sound equipment, and almost nowhere to set up gear. Looking at its front exterior, about as long across as an average house, I figured it would be a little bigger than expected, but not much. However, the Dirty Dog surprised me with its interior that, deeper than it is wide, stretched far back enough to allow space for two full bars, a comfortable audience floor, an area by the back door for gear storage, and a comfortably-sized stage with a full P.A. system (my hi-hats got mic'd; that has never happened, ever).

As I've mentioned in previous posts, being the first band of the evening has the awesome perk of being able to load directly onto the stage and take a little more time setting up and getting comfortable. It also allows for more time to deal with small issues, like Tony forgetting his foot switch that changes his tone from rhythm to lead, and JT discovering a short in his own pedal. Normally something like this creates tense apprehension for the performance ahead, but the mood was eased with the sudden (first ever) presence of Tony's flashlight headband, which awarded him a high-five from Tarzan "for just not giving a fuck!"

HEXLUST
In honor of our twenty-five minutes of actual play time, a leaner and meaner set list was devised for this evening. We stripped away such excesses as the intro and our lumbering groove-hemoth "Baphomet Dawn," and emphasized our faster, more concise songs, including the re-entry of "Toxic High." This would have been another perfect night to bring back "Imminent Retardation" but, alas, the lack of full-band rehearsal. Also, I'm still wrestling with the fear that playing that song and "Meganecropolis" back-to-back at "live speed" may kill me. Soon, though, I promise!

I must say, for this having been the first time all four of us have been playing our instruments at the same time in one place since our show in June, we did pretty damn well. Still as vicious and off-the-wall as usual! Just a couple hiccups on our behalf: Tony broke a string in the middle of "Fucked By Fire" (the first song), but had his back-up guitar plugged in and ready to go by the time he had to sing again; and my remote kick pedal came disconnected from the main one right before the big double-bass part in "Meganecropolis." It didn't drastically affect the tune itself, I was able to soldier on single-footed and then reconnect the pedal after the song was over, simply making sure to super-tighten the screw on the connector rod.

We got a sweet audience response, too, considering it was nine o'clock and there was nobody present except for friends, other musicians, and a handful of early birds. This show was taking place the same evening that Macabre were destroying San Antonio, so we were surprised and very grateful to have even that many people there at such an early hour. Nobody really noticed our small blunders, and everyone was full of enthusiastic praise. Particularly remembered are the words of Jeff A.D., who offered that our sound this evening was much fuller than when he saw us a month ago at Headhunters, which made a huge difference in the impact of our songs. Grateful are we to the Dirty Dog's awesome sound equipment and the guy running it, who was patient and clearly-spoken during our sound check.

Setlist:
FBF
Toxic
Conjure
Meganecropolis
Tombs

NUMB SKULL
D.R.I. worship fronted by a vocalist who looks (and performs) like Phil Anselmo circa 1990. Not my bag musically but a group of really nice guys who play with big smiles on their faces, and I can always be won over by a band who are clearly having a good time doing what they do. I especially enjoyed watching their drummer from off to the side of the stage; he uses a very unorthodox style in which he sometimes leads off with his left foot despite playing right-handed, and for certain passages eschews riding the hi-hat or ride cymbal in favor of just punching the accented notes on the crashes. Overall a decent performance, one that was not captured on video (at least none posted online), so I give you a vid shot at one of their more recent gigs.



LEGION
Since our last show with these guys, the third Night of the Thrashing Dead back in February, Legion have been doing a good job of playing as often as possible in as many places as they can, really "getting their name out" and building up a reputation wherever they play. They have also said goodbye to that one guitarist who looked more bro-sy than thrashy and picked up a shredder who looks like one of the former guitarists for Bonded By Blood, the short one who never smiled. Hell, for all I know it's the same guy, Legion's Facebook profile doesn't list the name of their newest member. [EDIT: I recently found out the dude's name is John.]

I was more impressed with their playing than I was last time, as they have gotten tighter and faster, leaving out some of those breakdowns that raised so many eyebrows in favor of more "traditional" mid-paced sections. That or they have a rotation system on their set list to cater to particular crowds, either way it really works. Vocalist/guitarist Drew played fewer leads than last time, limiting himself to tunes which required trade-offs or multiple solos. Their new guitarist John, bearer of the lion's share of the lead work, pulled out a decent selection of tasteful shred solos, notable for Hammett-esque wah-pedal manipulation.

The highlight of the show was their well-known cover of Slayer's legendary "Angel of Death," to which the audience responded with loud enthusiasm. The best part of this performance, though, was watching from the side of the stage as drummer Brian dropped one of his sticks right before that famous initial scream. Having to go into that section with only his snare-hand going, he looked confused for a second and then looked at us off to the side for help. My initial thought was "Well, grab your spare, dude!" before seeing that he had no spares available. Yikes. I actually turned to go grab one of my sticks for him, trying to remember what size he played and hoping it wasn't something like super-light 5A that would contrast heavily with my own thicker 5Bs, but one of Warbeast's crew beat me to the punch and had a stick in Brian's hand before I could take a step.

Even better: dude dropped a stick again before the song was over! Not that I'm ever one to make light of another musician's faults, it's just one of those things I'm able to laugh at because I've been there myself. Talking to him after their set, he expressed dismay at his slippery grip, as he had been playing a whole string of shows lately without ever dropping wood, and then it happened twice tonight. I knew exactly how he felt; just a month ago at the Music Vault I was having a frustrating time dealing with my own sudden onset of butter fingers. Just one of them inexplicable freak flukes that comes with being a musician.

Oh, and as if me talking about it wasn't bad enough, here's a video of that very song, thanks to Victor "Montopolis Thrasher"!


WARBEAST
After loading the guitar gear up and saying goodbye to JT and Tarzan, Tony and I went back into the Dirty Dog to catch the evening's most anticipated band in action: Warbeast, a crushing super-group comprised of Texas metal veterans from such acts as Gammacide and Rigor Mortis. So no, this is not "TEXAS FUCKIN' METAL," that abomination of a phrase I hear shouted out at too many Killeen shows that makes me want to tear out my eyelashes in shame, used in reference to acts like Hellyeah and Texas Hippie Coalition (or just anything with an overly strong Pantera influence). This is some truly heavy headbanging material, played through ginormous amps which, even without the assistance of the P.A., had this music rumbling in my tummy and pulsing in my brain.

I've never listened to Rigor Mortis and am not a big fan of Gammacide, but I really dug this act. The tunes were quite catchy and expertly played, singer Bruce Corbitt strode all over the stage (as a vocalist with no instrument should) and struck a variety of picture-worthy stances while screaming into his mic, and the drumming was tight yet frenzied, with a huge emphasis on "linear" fills involving interplay between the toms and kick drums. Best part were the guitar solos, though. Each guitarist put in an equal share of leads, all of which were lengthy and well-developed, with a lot of wah pedal use and even some much-appreciated whammy-bar abuse. A huge hit with the audience, which filled the whole dance floor with headbangers and moshers, definitely an act I would consider seeing again, after taking some time to become more familiar with their music and the work of their "original" bands.

This, the only video I could find of tonight's performance, doesn't really capture the immensity of the band's sound, but you can really get a feel for how the crowd reacts to them.

"Tonight, Hexlust! ...Hexlust, right?" I un-sarcastically loved that.

BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA
We didn't stick around for the entirety of Blunt Force Trauma's set. Tony and I were both pretty tuckered out by this point, ready to load up our gear and get out of Austin, so he left to get his truck while I stuck around to catch a couple songs. Very impressive straight-up thrash, with a large lyrical emphasis on social and political issues, backed by hands down my favorite drummer of the whole evening. This man played high-speed beats and fills with an assured ease, and though he possessed a double pedal, he demonstrated an ability to pull off many double-kick patterns with just one foot. My only regret of this evening is that I didn't take more time to say hi and talk to him, maybe dissect his brain for some useful advice, but these guys got to the venue kinda late, and I didn't want to interrupt his process of setting up his kit and warming up. Hopefully we get another opportunity to play with these guys.

It's a shame that they didn't have more of an audience. A goodly-sized chunk of the crowd left after Warbeast, who undoubtedly were the true headliners of the evening, relegating BFT to being more of a "cool-down" act to entertain their own fans and those of the audience who didn't feel like leaving yet. As this video of this evening's performance demonstrates, they are a truly relentless band, hardly taking a break between songs and keeping their momentum going for long periods of time.



POST-SHOW
As if trying to load into any club in downtown Austin isn't annoying enough, matters get further complicated as later in the evening Sixth Street is closed off from those parallel to it, turning traffic into one long line with no hope of cutting in or out. When loading the amps and guitars into Tarzan's Jeep, he was able to park on Fifth Street and we simply took a couple trips to wheel the shit down the block, no problem. For the drums, however, we wanted to be as close to the venue as possible. Thankfully Tony found a way into the back alley we used at load-in, which was also being used by Legion's vehicles.

The process was going smooth until some meathead showed up and chastised us for our parking situation, doling out a "hey, you guys can't park back here!" Rather than argue that we were given permission to use the alley, or tell him that he was more than welcome to gripe as long as he was willing to help lug this shit back to a distant lot (and pitch in eight dollars for the parking fee), we simply told him we were working as efficiently as we could and focused on our task at hand. Between the two of us we had everything strapped in and were taking off just as his vehicle pulled back into the alley.

He didn't announce any affiliation with any club or seem to have any official authority at all. Not that it mattered; if this guy really was a designated enforcer rather than just some douche who wanted to use the alley as his own through-way, then it just adds to my belief that this lauded entertainment district in the "live music capital" actually hates musicians. Get your shit together, Austin; things like this are the reason my buttcheeks clench when we get booked in your city, whereas I sport a big goofy grin when we get a gig in San Antonio.

AFTERTHOUGHTS
Thanks to: Tristan Spears, who set up a great show, was super-friendly, and did his best to scrounge up whatever money he could to pay us; Jeff and Erika, for not only the constant support but also the willingness to hold extended conversations with us and make us feel cool; Victor, sans Tony this evening for the first time that I've seen, for always being around and always documenting shows. Many of the videos I post in this blog are from his YouTube channel, go check it out for more awesome videos!

PROGRESS!

The month of August begins with all drum and bass tracks and half of Tony's rhythm guitar tracks completed for Hexlust's first album. There were a couple casualties along the way, the most obvious being "Sodomy and Lust." Though it was decided beforehand that we would lay down both our Sodom covers as bonus tracks or possible compilation material, I was so focused on rehearsing our originals that I put absolutely zero practice into "S&L". The result was a take so sloppy that we decided to just scrap the song entirely. Interestingly, it wasn't so horrible that Tarzan couldn't lay down a bass track.

Not long after this photo was taken, we also lost "Agent Orange" to accidental deletion. Not that I care too much, it was just an extra cover, nothing worth dragging my whole kit all the way back up to Temple (thank the gods). My only heartache comes from the fact that I put so many takes into "Agent Orange," the most for any song in these sessions, which admittedly is due to my own lack of preparedness for these covers, but still! Just about all of my fourth and final recording session was devoted to laying down both of those covers, and the fact that they're gone for good makes that whole day feel like so much dead effort. Thankfully I still had time to do a re-take of "FBF," as I wasn't satisfied with what I had laid down during my first session.

I was there for the recording of a few of Tarzan's bass tracks: smooth, fluid, and with an awesome tone! Walter set it up to where Tarzan's effects pedal/pre-amp thingy (I don't know things good...) was plugged directly into the computer, and also had a microphone positioned in front of his amp. The pedal result was like miking a bass drum's batter head, with a very "attack-based" sound, more high-end, where you could actually hear his fingers plucking the strings; the amp sound brought out the qualities of miking the resonant head, pure low-end "boom." By combining the two sources into one result, we got a bass sound that was sharp, yet punchy, able to be heard through the guitars while still providing the deep bulk for their frequencies.

Due to work schedules and Tarzan moving to San Antonio, nobody has been able to shoot footage of Tony as he lays down his guitar parts, so I'll try to get in there with him sometime soon to capture some of the action. While I'm at it I'll probably have Walter demonstrate Tarzan's bass sound, with the two parts separated and then together, which hopefully translates to the camera well. Speaking of which, I should have Tony post his footage of Tarzan's sessions to Facebook so I can slap it on this blog.

Hexhibition Bout

Videos from the second day of drum recording, Friday July 8, 2011.



Flubbed take of "They Conjure," one of the more interesting tracks I play. Drumming-wise, it is a fairly straightforward song book-ended by:

• A two-part intro, part one consisting of triplet double-bassing and part two having an odd time signature (0:00 to 0:44)
• An outro featuring some of the busiest, most fill-happy drumming I do in our set. It would have been captured in this video but I didn't make it that far before I messed up.
  

The fact that the latter involves so much "heavy lifting" for me is the main reason I spend most of the tune keeping a steady kick-snare-kick-snare thrash beat, with a few flourishes here and there. Things pick up with the double-bass section after the first chorus, but it never really gets more intense than that. That way I store up enough energy to really slam into the long fills I do at the start of the outro.



Right at the start of the up-tempo middle section of "Baphomet Dawn." This was obviously one of the unrecorded "dry runs" we do to warm up on a tune before actually setting it in stone; otherwise Walter surely wouldn't be playing Chess and would be doing actual engineering. (Right? Right???) As you can see, we had been at this for a while by now and cameraman Tarzan was pretty bored. Not that he's a particularly... "focused" cameraman all the time; he shot most of the videos I've posted so far, and you can see it's pretty hard for him not to make his short attention span evident. We say nothing about it because it almost always produces amusing results.

The Loss and Curse of Hexcellence

Videos from Hexlust's studio work, laying down drum tracks. All three took place on the first session, Wednesday, July 6, 2011.

Studio tour


Recording drum tracks (and everything else) for Hexlust's as-yet-untitled debut full-length took place in a sort of loft office over an old auto garage. Every day we recorded we get to the garage in the afternoon, with temperatures inside peaking at 110 F. The studio room itself was the only place in the joint that had precious air conditioning and a ceiling fan, both of which had to be turned off so as not to have the noise bleeding into the mics. The irony was not lost on us.

Competence


Of the nine songs to be included on this album, eight of them were recorded with Tony laying down a "scratch" guitar track along with my "official" drum tracks. What he would do was plug directly into the computer through an effects processor and have the sound sent out to us through our headphones, so as not to have amp noise bleed into my drum mics. The only tune I recorded with Tarzan playing along was "Meganecropolis," which was written, and therefore easier to follow, on bass. This was a pretty solid run of "Fucked By Fire," interrupted by a pesky stick flying right out of my hand.

Mercyful Banjo


As usual, we in Hexlust offset our devotion to efficiency and diligence with a horrifying penchant for buffoonery. Here, Tony attempts to play the beginning lead part from Mercyful Fate's "Into the Coven" (not "Duelling Banjos") on a four-string banjo (with one string broken) that was among the wall of guitars in the studio room. Fun fact: Tarzan cut the video right after Tony demonstrates the "typical" black metal riff. What you folks miss out on is Tony following that up with Averse Sefira-style dissonant chords, which sound oddly awesome on that instrument.

A Night of Surprises at the Music Vault

Date: Saturday, July 16, 2011
Venue: Music Vault, Killeen TX
Bill: The Final Burial (didnt play), Of Ruins (didnt play), Hexlust

PRE-SHOW/OPENING BAND
Notice something about the band listing up there? Yeah, SURPRISE, two bands dropped out at the last minute. To their credit, Of Ruins let us know that they were having van troubles and wouldn't be able to make it. The Final Burial... well, no one's sure what happened to those guys. I think they were on tour with Of Ruins, so maybe van trouble for one meant van trouble for the other. Anyway, this brings me to a valuable lesson for bands: exchange phone numbers if you get an opportunity!

See, Randy from Of Ruins (and formerly of A Devoured Deception) had sent me a message on Facebook that day asking me if the show was still on for that evening. I told him that as far as I knew, yes it was, that the Music Vault are fantastic about not just quietly canceling gigs out of nowhere. It then dawned on me, for a fleeting second, to give the guy my number and tell him to shoot me a text if any problems came up. Then came the thought "Balderdash, all he needed was reassurance, I'm sure everything will be ok!"

Yeah.

So of course I'm feeling like a jackass come nine o'clock, when it's just Hexlust at the Vault with some other band who I guess were added at the last minute (and whose name, unfortunately, escapes me). I called my roommate and asked her to check my Facebook for me, and sure enough there was the message letting us know of the vehicular issues. To this day I'm kicking myself for having not given the guy my digits, it would have saved us and the Vault staff an hour of confusion.

It was then decided that this other band would go on at ten, and we would follow at eleven. I think the Vault wanted to stretch this gig out for as long as possible, and also to see if more people would show up in the meantime. Compared to the usual crowd we play to, there was hardly anybody there: a couple guys I had never seen before, a few bar regulars, a handful of friends of ours, but that was about it. I felt a little guilty; we didn't have time to promote as strongly as we usually do since we had just been added on to this bill a week before, and at that time we were still in the midst of laying down my drum tracks for our recording and preparing for the Headhunters show two days ago. Also, again owing to the last-minute nature of the gig, our usual group of strong supporters (including my parents and all their friends) already had plans for the evening.

Gotta say, that first band went on like professionals. I don't think I ever once heard them complain about the circumstances of the show, and, watching them from the backstage area as I warmed up, I saw them headbanging, smiling, and having fun. They were a "-core" type group comprised of two guitarists, a bassist, keyboardist, drummer, and a female vocalist. Thankfully, this chick wasn't an annoying Iwrestledabearonce clone; she kept her vocals clean, without being too Amy Lee about it. In fact, they were often very bouncy and whimsical, reminding me of the singer from Morningwood. Kudos to them.

HEXLUST
Once again, we were without the git-box services of Mr JT Bass, since he insists on devoting himself to such trifling fancies as education and employment. On this, our third outing as a trio, we were better than we were at Headhunters, tighter and more energized, without the emotional burdens of equipment issues. What helped immensely was the crowd; though only consisting of like fifteen people (including the opening band), they were actually very responsive and had a lot of fun thrashing along with us! These folks headbanged to every song, sang along to our catchier choruses, busted out some rave-style chem lights, and even played along when Tony implored them to do the "Candlemass stomp" during the slower parts of "Baphomet Dawn."

"Candlemass stomp" at 5:50

Taking advantage of our headlining status (and the fact that it was still very early) we pulled out all the stops in our setlist, bringing back "Hellhammer" and doing a double encore of "Agent Orange" and "Troops of Doom." If JT had been here, I'm sure we would have also thrown in "Toxic High," although "Imminent Retardation" would have stayed off the set as we haven't rehearsed it in a good while. Even as it was, though, tonight has got to be the most songs we've performed at one time since possibly 2008! I didn't even know we had such stamina and was pleasantly surprised.

In spite of the gloriously lengthy set, the lively crowd, and the invigorated playing of my bandmates, I was having a rather embarrassing evening as I could not for the life of me keep a stick in my right hand. I'm almost positive I set a pesonal all-time record, dropping a face-palming total of five. The exact reason eludes me, as I was perfectly warmed up, experienced no tightness or muscle pain throughout our performance, and actually haven't dropped a stick at a show in a while. I guess if I had to blame it on anything, it would be that I set my kit up with everything in a little closer than usual, since on more than one occasion I came out of a fill on the floor tom to unexpectedly smack the underside of the ride cymbal. I play with a pretty relaxed grip so's to avoid horrifying joint problems, so things like that take the stick out of my hand every time.

Set List:
Intro
FBF
Hellhammer
Conjure
Baphomet
Meganecropolis
Tombs
Encore 1: Agent Orange
Encore 2: Troops of Doom

POST-SHOW
Our limited crowd may have been the most fun audience we've played to in a while, but that didn't erase the fact that there was still hardly any of 'em. After tallying up the door money and paying the sound tech, the Music Vault had no money for the bands, and we ourselves sold zero T-shirts. This makes the second show in a row from which we brought in no dough, which wouldn't be as disheartening if not for the fact that we have costly studio time coming up. Hopefully our next gig, which at this point is at the Dirty Dog in Austin, will yield a more substantial (read: any) profit.

CLOSING THOUGHTS
Thanks again to the Music Vault, for once again providing us a local venue in which to play fast music and act like dorks under bright likes for forty minutes or more. Particular thanks to B Rich and Pete, for always being fair, professional, and best of all supportive. [Edit from the future] Not long after this show, the Music Vault announced it would be closing down, I guess due to all the not-populated shows lately. Which makes me wonder: were we the gig that broke the camel's back? Anyhow, they have since decided to simply re-model the place as a dance club with live music on Fridays. So far it seems to be very successful, with a full house on their special "theme" nights, so Hexlust may in fact still have a quality place to play in the future! Until next time!

Omelette Table

Date: Thursday, July 14, 2011
Venue: Headhunters, Austin TX
Bill: Trench Wrench, Feral Rex, Hexlust, Humut Tabal

PRE-SHOW
I love surprises. One time while I was at work, my dad took my car using his copy of my key, had some repair done that it needed, filled up the tank, and had the interior cleaned. He also turned down the dial that controls how bright my headlights and display lights are, and deposited the car back in the parking lot, one row back and two spots over. All without even letting me know he was going to take the car in the first place. I had never felt more fucked with. SURPRISE!

So we get to Headhunters and SURPRISE, there's an imminent cluster-fuck going on in the lineup. Apparently one of the opening bands had dropped out due to their drummer breaking his arm, but he ended up saying fuggit and deciding to play the show anyway. In the meantime, a Facebook post went up asking if any band could fill in; according to Humut Tabal members, one band just showed up without confirming, leading to some confusion when it turned out the original band was playing after all. Complicating matters further, later word came that somebody in charge of the show had offered the opening slot to a whole 'nother band, who I think also showed up. I'm not sure if that actually happened, or who went about fixing this mess; all I know is that after a tense, confused hour, the club finally put up a list of bands on their front door:


SOME BAND? / TRENCH WRENCH / FERAL REX
The chalkboard in that picture up there says the band Terror Eyes went on first, but according to the blog post of Humut Tabal's Prokingu, the first act to take the stage was actually Parasitic Reign. I'm not sure who they were, all I know is that they played a Pantera cover. We in Hexlust spent the majority of their and Trench Wrench's sets in either the pizza parlor next door, talking to members of Humut Tabal, or on the outside back patio area chatting it up with Jeff A.D. When I was in the club proper during Trench Wrench's performance, I saw that they had quite a decent-sized crowd even at this early point in the evening. I had never heard of them before this show but apparently Austin metalheads have been shown a good time by this band on prior occasions.

Feral Rex's set was spent running gear into the club from the parking lot across the street, assisted by the ever-supportive Michael B. I had wanted to set up my drumkit stands in the little area by the front door, but the drummer from one of the previous bands had just left his gear there instead of breaking it down (thanks buddy) so I ended up doing that in front of the sound booth, right up against the back of the audience. Thankfully, though the crowd was sizable, they weren't particularly rowdy, so I was able to set things up in peace.

HEXLUST
Well folks, we had to play as a three-piece this evening. After our performance as a trio last year, we've been trying to avoid having to do it again due to how awkward it feels, but JT's academic commitments forced us to become the Hex-Trio once again. The good news is that since JT's been living in San Antonio for almost a year now and therefore not able to make as many practices, we've since gotten more comfortable playing without him in terms of stage presence and song structuring.

Not that this was an evening without its setbacks. Right off the bat as we were setting up, Tony discovered some frustrating amp issues, made all the more aggravating for him by the fact that he had just that week shelled out good money to have his amp head fixed. He was still able to play, but the frustration brought out a side of his personality which rarely emerges but always leaves me with mixed feelings. Sure he was loud, confident, and energized, but he was also cynical and a little derisive toward the audience, at one point openly mocking them after a weak cheer. Thankfully nobody seemed offended and everyone still had a good time. Guess that's the great thing about extreme metal audiences; you have people like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher telling the crowd he's gonna rip off their heads and shit down their throats, and folks'll just be like "Yeah! SHIT DOWN OUR THROATS!"

Tarzan also admitted to having issues with his own playing, with a few notes missed and some parts just messed up entirely. He offered that he was just having an off night, though, nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little more diligent practice. I myself spent our set struggling with my hi-hat stand. For some reason the little bastard kept sliding away from me, often being beyond my reach by the mid-point of a song. After "Baphomet Dawn," I grabbed Tarzan's bass case and braced it against the hat stand. Since the case was empty it didn't do a perfect job, but it at least kept the cymbals within my reach for a whole tune.

Beyond those issues, however, we had ourselves a good set, one which came with a little surprise for the audience. After "Meganecropolis," Tony called Prokingu onto the stage to provide vocals for "Troops of Doom," a song we use as a warm-up at almost every rehearsal but haven't performed live in I can't remember how long. A little bit of awkwardness preceded the song, though, as we had worked out everything about Prokingu's participation except how to announce "Troops." See, when he gets into stage mode, he prefers to keep human interaction to a minimum, barely speaking at all. So he gets onstage and just fucking stands there, and of course we're just standing there, listening to crickets chirp. Finally, Tony grabbed the mic and announced the song, and we ripped into that Sepultura favorite full speed ahead, an absolutely ripping performance that had the audience headbanging and fist-pumping (not like champs!)

We finished up with "Tombs" and called it a night. Or so we thought. The audience weren't ready to let us go yet, and called for one more song. An awkward situation we've experienced before. On one hand, YAY they think we're cool! One the other, we're not the headlining act, there's still a whole 'nother band set to go onstage after us, and the last thing we want to do is be that dick band that eats into everyone else's set time by playing an encore. The sound guy assured us that we had time, though, so we gave the crowd what they wanted: a toxic dose of Agent Orange! The performance almost killed me, I had forgotten to bring water on stage and was going through the whole set with just one swig from Tony's bottle, but it was well worth it to hear those cheers.

Favorite audience interaction
Jeff AD: "Play someone else's songs!"
Tony: "Whoa, sounds like somebody's a fan of the new Morbid Angel album!"

Set List:
Intro
FBF
Conjure
Baphomet
Mega
Troops
Tombs
Encore: Agent Orange

HUMUT TABAL
Through some miracle of metal science, we had all our stuff packed up and squared away in our vehicles in time to catch the majority of Humut Tabal's set. Mystical black metal which I'll take a stab and say is influenced by a mixture of high-concept black metal, such as Emperor and Averse Sefira, and thrashier BM like Absu and early-to-mid Immortal. Drummer Njord is an off-the-wall ball of energy, constantly blasting away on his hats or pulling off some long fill on his many toms. Although I had jammed with Prokingu before in a different musical context, this evening was when I really got to see what an able bassist he is, able to hold a steady under-rhythm at such high speeds while occasionally throwing in a fitting fill. Hravan and vocalist Grimzaar have excellent guitar chemistry, with many harmonized parts. I just wish Hravan would play more solos, I don't know how one could have a guitar that awesome and not rip out some leads.

In the midst of this fantastic performance, a point of awkwardness arose in the form of an enthusiastic audience member. This large, bearded man heckled the Humut Tabal guys between songs, with such utterances as "Play some FUCKING EVIL SHIT, goddammit!" Sure, in retrospect we can all easily say he was doing it affectionately, but at the time nobody was really sure if the dude was seriously getting pissed or not, and I could see it made the band members a little uncomfortable.

By their set's end, it was almost two in the morning, and the Humut Tabal guys were ready to pack it in. The audience, however, had been served a scrumptious helping of metal-thrashing evil and wanted them some dessert, bombarding the band with requests for one more tune. The guys were initially resistant, none more so than Njord, who looked like he didn't feel well. I know from experience that when the drummer doesn't feel up to it, the band should just quit while they're ahead. I also know from experience that that sentiment is utter horseshit, and we should just pick up our sticks and man up, because these fine people want more and deep down we really do want them to go home happy. Oh, and fuck you, drummer, that's why! Sure enough, Humut Tabal turned their amps back on and blasted the audience with "Misanthrope ov the Barren Waste," which the crowd received with many cheers and much headbangery. Joke was on them, however; that song is like two minutes long.

Favorite audience interaction
Audience member: "Play one more song!"
Hravan: "No."

POST-SHOW
After lending a hand in taking Njord's drum kit apart, I joined my bandmates in saying goodbye to our friends and hitting that dusty trail. No T-shirts were sold tonight, but I think at this point people are more excited about the full-length we just started recording (drum tracks finished earlier this week!) than anything else. Tarzan goes in to start plugging his bass tracks this coming week, and until then we have another show at the Music Vault on Saturday with San Antonio friends Of Ruins. Although we'll be a trio again, it'll be great to show off our new tunes for our family and friends, and hopefully sell some shirts to help pay for studio time.

Dehydration

Date: Saturday, June 25, 2011
Venue: Ten Eleven, San Antonio TX
Bill: Aggravator, Hexlust, Machinage, Death Rites 666, Hod

PRE-SHOW
Originally, this was set to be another small thrash show at the Parlor, with Death Rites 666 headlining this time since we did at Ana's birthday bash, and Aggravator opening. However, the Parlor announced that it was set to close three days before the date of the show (to change locations, not shut down for good) so Tony R. had to scramble to find a new venue. What ended up happening was a venue change to the Ten Eleven and an adding-on of two additional bands, Hod and Brazilian touring act Machinage.

AGGRAVATOR
We've played after Aggravator so many times, their music has almost become my background noise of choice for setting up my drum kit, much like how Absu's self-titled album is my grocery shopping music and Opeth's "Lamentations" DVD is the soundtrack to cleaning my room. I used almost their whole set to piece my kit together, taking my time since this was the first time since February that I was performing with the whole shebang, rotary toms and all. From what I could hear, they were really killing 'em in there, getting the small early crowd ready for some serious face-bashing coming their way from the later acts.

"Sacred Disease" and "Power Surge," with its "Agent Orange"/"In My Darkest Hour"-ish intro, are by far my favorite Aggravator songs.

HEXLUST
After a speedy stage setup and a hiccup-free soundcheck, we tore into our set, hoping that playing on familiar ground would give us enough confidence and focus to deliver a more worthy show than we had been with our last two San Antonio outings. For the most part, I feel we really succeeded this evening! I dropped no sticks and kept it together on the fills; Tony maintained his confidence at a high level; Tarzan's bass playing was on point and he performed his vocal parts to a T; and JT showed that he has been no slug while living apart from the band, his claims to have been practicing daily ringing true in his high picking speed and always-ripping solos.

In fact, we had all been practicing much more lately, in preparation for finally recording our first album. Drum fills and guitar solos have been planned out in advance, and riff cohesion between bass and guitars (and even between the guitars themselves) have been more closely scrutinized. Our reward for our more focused efforts was a set with which we ourselves were satisfied and which audience members told us was by far our fastest, most intense, and overall best set yet, with particular attention paid to our mid-set melding of "They Conjure" into "Baphomet Dawn."

I feel the only area in which we could have improved was onstage water-drinking. I had two bottles in my backpack which I kept with me behind my kit, and I'm sure the others had their own water with them, but I can't vouch for how often they drank or how hydrated they were before our performance. JT reported almost fainting towards the end of the set, and Tony, usually one for being more vigilant in these matters, said he almost threw up at one point while singing. I guess they sweated out more than they could take in!

Taking our gear apart offstage, we were reunited with former Hod bassist Derek, whom we haven't seen in I can't tell you how long. He reported having been responding very well to his cancer treatment lately, which pleased us very much to hear, then he and Tony engaged in discussing Weird Al albums and performances. One of many reminders I get on a regular basis that true "metalheads" are nerds, an observation I swear by proudly.

Set list:
Intro
FBF
Conjure
Baphomet
Mega
Tombs

MACHINAGE/DEATH RITES 666/HOD
You'll have to forgive me; it must really seem like I'm "phoning it in" with this post, the way I'm consolidating categories and all. The truth is, after we packed our gear away, I hardly set foot in the Ten Eleven again, intrigued though I was to see a touring band from Brazil (Machinage) and to watch our friends in DR666 and Hod play again. I chose instead to spend time with friends and bandmates, particularly JT. We got to his apartment earlier that evening with maybe half an hour to spare before we all had to leave for the show, and he had work the next morning at ten a.m., so this was really the only time we had to hang out and catch up with him.


Unfortunately, no footage of Machinage's set was shot or just not uploaded, so for the sake of getting exposure to this awesome band of very nice guys, here is a video of another show recent enough to be representative of how they performed.

MORE MACHINAGE / POST-SHOW
As the show drew to a close, members of Hexlust could be found outside the Ten Eleven, talking with friends and acquaintances old and new. Tony in particular held down a lengthy conversation with the members of Machinage, which focused largely on comparisons between the US and Brazil in matters such as currency value, coffee quality, breakfast preparation, and the popularity and cultural relevance of metal music. According to Tony, they feel Hexlust would be a huge hit down there. Wooh! This made me wish that members of Averse Sefira had been present so they could toss in their own accounts of playing in Brazil.

After wishing our new friends well and catching up with old ones, we headed off to JT's apartment for some rest, finally able to pat ourselves on the back and say that, with the exception of a few dehydration difficulties, we had ourselves a fine show that makes up for our recent hiccups. Hopefully the rest of this year finds us meeting and excelling this new standard!

Divergence

Date: Saturday, May 21, 2011
Venue: Mineshaft Saloon, San Antonio TX
Bill: Hexlust, Exculterate, PLF, Hod

PRE-SHOW
In our previous outing at the Mineshaft Saloon, we arrived at the venue to find a full parking lot and a still-populated attached restaurant. The former wasn't too bad, we just had to pull up to the front, drop gear off, and then park much further away then we're entirely comfortable with our vehicles being. The latter, however, pushed the show's start time back drastically, cutting into everyone's set times and resulting in The Oath only playing like four songs. When we were asked to play at the Mineshaft again, we were understandably apprehensive, as rushing onstage to play a reduced set at an unpredictable time (for no pay) is nobody's idea of self-shitting fun. However, we're always down to play with Hod, and we were all excited to see P.L.F., so we agreed.

Steeling our nerves, we pulled into the Mineshaft parking lot to find it... empty. We parked right up front, just across from the entrance, and took a look around. Nobody who was actually a part of the show seemed to have arrived yet, and the restaurant itself was sparsely populated. Guess it was a slow Saturday night. Fantastic! One of the guys from Exulcerate arrived soon after, who I guess was providing the sound equipment for this evening, so we were given the green light to load onto the stage.

Frustration from the get-go on Tony's behalf; the positioning of his amp put him out of range of any kind of electrical plug-in, potentially setting us to shuffling the whole stage setup around just so he could get some power. Or we have him just act as a stand-alone vocalist while JT handles all the guitar parts, which I would find amusing but didn't want to put past him at the time. Thankfully, an extender was found that Tony could plug into, but even that was kind of stretched, so Jake was asked to take up a post by the plug to make sure no stray moshers knocked it out.

HEXLUST
Remember how, one sentence ago, I hinted at the possibility that some overly zealous moshers might cause problems for us? Well, I may have been overestimating the audience situation quite a bit. The reality was that we had a rather small and subdued group of attendees this evening, even with our regular supporters of Tony R, Victor, Hellpreacher Johnny, Derek from Aggravator, and Jake. This could really just be chalked up to the fact that we were the very first act of the evening, and this show would have still been a winner if everything else had gone well.

Unfortunately, there was frustration coming from two sources: Tarzan's vocals and my drumming. Tarzan's vocalizing itself was just fine, but his mic was low, or cutting off altogether. We went through both his verses in "They Conjure" and his middle verse in "Baphomet Dawn" barely able to hear him at all. We were premiering "Meganecropolis" this evening (bringing us to a set list comprised of 50% new material) and Tarzan not only wrote that tune, but has yet another stand-alone verse, so having his vocals in the mix was imperative for the big debut. Unfortunately, the sound guy's diagnosis was that the mic may be non-functioning altogether. Severely frustrated, we went into "Meganecropolis" anyway, and thankfully the issue was all fixed by Tarzan's verse, his vocals cutting through very well.

Now, when I cite my drums as a source of frustration, I'm not actually admitting to having a problem. Our performance this evening is hotly contested amongst the members of Hexlust in that everyone else insists that my playing was quite under par, whereas I feel I put in a solid performance. Not a single one of the hornets' nest of issues I was having at our last show popped up; I dropped no sticks, had absolutely no pedal issues, my drums stayed upright, and my hands remained splinter-free. Additionally, I had put in some practice in the month since to ensure that I could more comfortably perform my fills on a once-again-downsized drum kit.

Talking to the other guys, however, one gets the impression that I abandoned all sense of rhythm and cohesion as, I dunno, some kind of sick joke, trying to lead them through some of our most technical and dynamic material with monkey-screaming fuckery. It's all very vague, though, no one can seem to give me any specifics beyond my having "played a fill for half a beat too long in one song."

It was all very headache-inducing, and the worst part was trying to figure out who to believe. I know myself and my abilities better than anybody, but I also have complete trust in my bandmates in terms of assessing my work. If all three of them found my performance lacking while I insist it was solid, where does the truth really lie? Could I have been blinding myself and overestimating my abilities, or were they venting their frustrations with the subdued audience and technical difficulties onto me? There was no video footage shot for the show, and audience members, while admitting that this wasn't our tightest outing, provided no headway in the direction of solving our argument. As I write this a week later, all I can say for sure is that we have agreed this gig is a non-winner, shall continue to practice and improve, and look forward to our next chance to prove ourselves, to our audience and to each other.

Set List:
Intro
FBF
Conjure
Baphomet
Mega
Tombs

EXULCERATE
Exulcerate are the very models of airtight musicianship in technical death metal, with their Immolation-inspired riffs and melodies, off-the-wall drumming, and their bassist/vocalist who growls out the lyrics while alternating between traditional finger-picking and percussive slap-popping. Unfortunately, their brand of death metal doesn't hold my attention for very long. While I did spend a few songs admiring the drummer, I eventually found myself in a conversation with Hod's Trans Am (that's his name, he's the bassist) about his enviable participation in the early 90s Florida death metal scene.

PLF
Back in the spring of 08 or so, Tony and I attended a death/grind show at Emo's in Austin. Among the evening's successes (headliners Kill the Client) and letdowns (some opening act whose guitarists soundchecked with amazing sweep-picking and whammy dives and then did absolutely none of that in their actual set) were a high-energy duo from Houston called PLF (Pretty Little Flower). This is the band that stuck with me long after that show, my interest piqued by their oddly catchy tunes, unrestrained sense of humor, and crushingly thick sound achieved with just one guitar and a drummer.

Fast-forward three years, and here we were opening for the act that came out of nowhere and showed me that yes, I did have it in me to genuinely appreciate a grind act. I would have liked to have stood and watched them, but my right knee had started to hurt, so I opted to guard the merch table while Tony and Tarzan went to watch the performance. Of course, since PLF had to be up on stage, I actually ended up watching over two tables. Good thing nobody bought anything, I had no idea how much anything cost and didn't even want to mess with their change box. The band itself was just as high-energy as the first time Tony and I saw them, and still had their unbelievably thick sound. The audience certainly dug them, throwing out plenty of loud cheers and slamming into the evening's first mosh pits.

HOD / CLOSING THOUGHTS
Hod took the stage as the all-obliterating final act of the evening, amazing me with not only their consistently high-quality black/death ass-kickery, but also their ability to fit all their equipment and all the members (except Beer) onto the Mineshaft Saloon's tiny stage. Their performance was on par with the last time we saw them, complete with Lord Necron's awesome whammy solos that make me want to punch the nearest waitress! (Out of sheer happiness, mind you.)

The only disheartening aspect of Hod's set had nothing to do with the band itself, but with the size of the audience. Although they were headbanging, moshing, and cheering enthusiastically, there was no denying that even this late into the evening the attendance had only picked up to maybe double what it was when we played. A far cry from the packed house at our last Mineshaft gig, or even any typical Hod gig. There was, however, a pretty big show at Zombie's the night before featuring Wings of Abbadon, and another much-publicized show going on this very night in Austin for Evil United.

With that in mind, it's safe to say that this evening's attendance owed more to attrition and competition than the drawing power of the show itself, which, considering it was also free, I thought would have folks crushed up against the walls. Oh well, such is the seemingly random nature of live gigging, and ya know, those who did show seemed to have a good time, which is all that really matters in the end. Personally, as an audience member, I love attending less-populated gigs. The Triptykon show from last year is a perfect example; from a performer's perspective, the attendance at Emo's was a let-down, but for me, since I was solely there to watch, it was heaven. I got an up-close look at Mr Tom G Warrior himself (and the vision that is Vanja Slajh) and didnt have to worry about getting kicked in the head or crushed between sweaty drunks.

Opening for AxCx is Gay

Date: Sunday, April 10, 2011
Venue: The Korova, San Antonio TX
Bill: Plutonian Shore (didn't play), Scumacide, VBT, Hexlust, Hod, Anal Cunt

PRE-SHOW
The notorious Anal Cunt (aka A.C. or AxCx) had re-formed and were touring again, taking their anti-music loaded with Seth Putnam's comically offensive lyrics across America. For the San Antonio stop, Aaron Goregrowler put together an opening package consisting of the loudest, craziest bands the scene had to offer, and Hexlust are proud to say that we were included in such an off-the-wall grouping.

Unfortunately, upon arrival at the Korova, we found out that Plutonian Shore would in fact not be participating in this evening's festivities, due to some drama within the lineup or something. This was rather disappointing news, we were looking forward to playing and chilling with them after the good times we had at the King Diamond Benefit back in February. Well, hope they get everything sorted out soon!

SCUMACIDE
After getting our gear set up and stored away, we sat ourselves down on one of the Korova's comfy couches with Jake and a couple of his friends to watch the opening acts. Scumacide were up first, a local grind act that have been around for at least as long as Hexlust have been playing shows (the only video of them on YouTube dates back to 2007). The lineup was intriguing in that it included no bassist and two luchador guitarists.

To my ears the music was nothing too special, it was fast and it was heavy and it was occasionally slow. One of the guitarists did play solos, which will always earn any band some points in my book. After their last song, the vocalist pulled out a bicycle and rode out of the club, which I think would be awesome if they worked that into the set itself! Like, have the band go into a long stinger at the end of the last song during which that guy hops on his bike and leaves the venue. Maybe he'd also be waving sparklers or something, I dunno.

VBT
Bringing their highly death metal-influenced approach to grindcore (and one MASSIVE bass rig) to the stage next were Vaginal Bear Trap, a name I find oddly ambiguous. Is it a bear trap for the vagina, or a vagina with the qualities of a bear trap? Not that it mattered, VBT were entertaining, with witty between-song banter from guitarist/vocalist Shane and each song announced as a short burst of guttural throat noise. They were also quite dynamic, throwing many different tempos in their songs, which ranged in length from two minutes to even as long as six. One of them felt like it was that long anyway. Either way, VBT put on a great show and should be checked out by anybody who likes some kick-ass grind with a humorous twist. A great place to start would be Jake's interview with them.

HEXLUST
The set started off optimistically, with a large crowd gathering before the stage as we went into our intro song. This was a major confidence-booster, because up to this point there hadn't been much of an audience, but then as we started playing most of the people who had been sitting down, talking near the bar, or standing outside came up to witness the 'Lust in action.

Unfortunately, this was kind of a weird set for us, compared to the knock-down-drag-out WIN fest that was our last Korova gig. There weren't any blatant mistakes made, but I was having some very frustrating difficulties with my drum kit that my bandmates picked up on, which caused them to be more on their toes than a truly comfortable performance allows. Rather than go through each song and tell you what happened when, I'll just list the issues I came across, sometimes simultaneously.

• Floor tom falling over, grinding against my thigh during almost all of "Toxic High".
  
• Pin slipping out of pedal again, much faster than usual.
• Multiple dropped sticks.
• Splinter in my left palm from picking up a stick by its frayed end. This was probably the most annoying problem, as it made playing very uncomfortable, but Tony, with his earplugs in, couldn't hear me yelling at him to hold off on announcing the next song so I could pull it out.
• General discomfort of playing on a smaller kit and having to go against muscle memory to adjust fills accordingly. This gig was originally announced as taking place in the Korova's basement area, so I nixed the rotaries and smallest toms to reduce the crap I would have had to lug down and back up a staircase.

JT was also having a difficult evening, going up against a particularly horrible case of sweaty hands that resulted in some sloppy playing, and also completely unplugging his guitar by stepping on his cable. The weirdest part of all, though, was the compliments we received. I mean, these weren't just half-assed "Hey, nice set man," that anybody could hear at any gig. These folks were telling us that this was the best set we've played yet! I was dumbfounded, but I guess it shows how hard we work to be prepared for difficulties so we can push through them and still deliver an entertaining performance.

Set List:
Intro
FBF
Toxic
Conjure
Baphomet
Tombs

HOD
Up to now, it was pretty much an acknowledged fact that if Hexlust opened up for Hod, then we would go on before them and miss most of the performance thanks to time spent putting gear away, talking about our performance, and just wanting to be out of the noise for a while. On this night, however, we managed to have our shit squared away and be back inside by the second or third song. Good thing, because this was one hell of a performance by a group of top-notch black/deathers.

Hod played mostly new material, in fact I think the only song off the "Serpent" album was "Demoralizer." While I was very unfamiliar with the songs, they were easy to get a hold of and appreciate, much less meandering and more concise than their old material. Also, what did I say earlier was a good way to get positive points from me? GUITAR SOLOS, son! Not just any ol' leads either, Lord Necron made that whammy bar his bitch in a way that was blaring and chaotic, yet oddly tasteful, possibly due to how well it blended with riffs he chose to solo over.

AxCx
After Hod closed out their set, and then played an encore at the vehement behest of the crowd (I think the tune was "Beneath the Mountain of Scorpions" but don't hold me to that), it was time for the legendary Anal Cunt to take the stage and for me to leave. This show took place on a Sunday night, during the school year, and Tarzan had a quiz the next morning. This affected me in the sense that he was my ride to San Antonio, and my drums are stored in his vehice. If he goes, I go, so back to Killeen we went.

Accounts of A.C.'s performance varied madly. JT and Tony reported that it was a terrible set, so disappointing that they left after two songs. According to them, the sound was terrible, Seth looked like he was dying on his feet and just wasn't giving a good performance, constantly sampling the alcoholic beverages lined up in front of him. Jake, however, thought the show was amazing, the highlight of which was an oi! version of "Staying Alive." JT was so crushed that he promptly deleted all the A.C. he had off his computer; Jake bought a t-shirt from Seth himself and swore to wear it to a concert he'll be attending later in the week.

I guess this is one of those rare instances in which, whether you loved the band or hated them, nobody's really surprised by the reaction.

Night of the Thrashing Dead 3!

Date: Friday, February 18, 2011
Venue: Zombies, San Antonio TX
Bill: Army of Drunks, Aggravator, Legion, The Ruined Few, Hexlust, Birth A.D.

Anybody who's ever been to any live music performance knows that things rarely start on time. The "why" is unknown to me as I've never worked at a venue and I'm too shy to ask, but it happens. Of course, if things begin late you have everything else being pushed back later, or you have bands playing shorter sets. When it was announced that Hexlust would be the second-to-last band to take the stage at Zombies on February 18, I reacted with elation and unease. Elation, because SECOND TO LAST BAND, BUDDY! Unease, however, because with as many bands as there were on this bill, we stood a very good chance of soundchecking at 12:30 with maybe half the audience left in attendance and rapidly depleting. Headliners at such gigs feel like opening bands, playing to five people who may or may not be giving their undivided attention. We've seen it happen, we've even experienced it.

Thankfully, the good people at Zombies really have their shit together, and had this show up and running right on time, if not a little ahead of schedule. We in Hexlust thought we were pretty hot shit arriving at the venue at 8:30, thinking we would get there just as the doors were opening so we could get a good parking spot, only to join that program already in progress! In fact, Army of Drunks were almost done with their set by the time we walked up to the front doors, so I have almost no impression of their music whatsoever. Thankfully, the San Antonio Heavy Metal Examiner was there in time, and as usual you can read about the things I missed in his report.

By the way, bringing the focus back to us, Jeff A.D. was kind in helping us secure a table right next to his where we could hawk our new T-shirts, allowing us to reach a new phase in our bandhood: merch sellers! Yes sir, feeling more and more like a real band with every gig! Gone are the days of shrugging and saying "Nope, no shirts... no CD either... not even a sticker. If you want, you can have this table napkin on which Dart sketched our logo while he was bored at work." Granted, we were peddling shirts at last week's show, but that was more just carrying a box around and telling whoever passed by that we had them. This time we had a permanent selling station, with a sample duct-taped to the wall with a "$10" sign up next to it! Bigger and better things, friends!

AGGRAVATOR
Aggravator have been getting better every time I've seen them. Whereas a year ago all I could really say about them was that they had great energy and a charismatic frontman, now I can honestly say that they are a tight, pulverizing outfit who have talent that matches their raw energy. In fact, after four or five times of seeing them live, I'm also starting to recognize songs, which just makes things even more enjoyable. The audience shared my sentiment, folks were headbanging and starting mosh pits, and this was just the second band of the evening! This coupled with the fact that the venue was already starting to fill up was the sign of a very special evening, these people were here to thrash and they were not going to wait until three or four bands in to start doing so!

One thing I especially enjoy about Aggravator is the chemistry between vocalist/guitarist Derek and guitarist Jesse, it really reminds me of early Megadeth. Derek is Dave Mustaine, not only in hair color and stage presence, but also in his raw, shredder style of soloing, while Jesse is undoubtedly the Chris Poland of the band, the more technical soloist. Unfortunately, there was only one song, maybe two in which the beauty of these contrasting styles was shown off, as Jesse soloed for the majority of the tunes. I think Derek should take some more leads as Aggravator write more songs, that's a dynamic you don't find often and even then doesn't often work. Usually the "raw" guitarist just plumb sucks and the "technician" is eye-goungingly boring.



LEGION (It's time for thrasharoo!)
Bastardwolf recently dissolved, leaving a vacant spot in this evening's roster. Aaron Goregrowler quickly found a replacement in the young Houston band, Legion. This isn't an oddity in the live music world, but for some reason, on this particular evening, this situation reminded me of Mr. Derp from South Park, prompting me to spend the rest of the night quoting him to my bandmates. Also, whenever someone said "Legion," I would mentally follow it up with Mr. Derp's two-note theme song and laugh to myself.

Anywho, this group played some hella thrashy stuff and even a cover of "Angel of Death." My only issue was the breakdowns present in quite a few of their songs, but I guess that's what happens when you mix old and new influences. Not that it sounded bad, it was just rather unexpected and certainly raised an eyebrow or two. Admittedly this band didn't have my undivided attention, as I was distracted by a conversation with Doug's cousin. He's in the Army and was stationed at Ft Hood, so we were sharing opinions on things we hate about the Killeen area.

THE RUINED FEW
As Legion were de-staging and The Ruined Few were getting their stuff set up, we in Hexlust started bringing our gear out and setting it up outside the back door (if there's one thing I've come to highly appreciate in Hexlust's short history of gigging, it's a venue with a separate door right by the stage). Listening to them as I was warming up on my kit, I found I didn't much care for The Ruined Few. I could hear a strong Obituary influence in their playing and song arrangements, but I felt it was overpowered by a Pantera feel that rendered them sounding too "Killeen" for my comfort, especially on a thrash-oriented bill. But hey, the people really seemed to dig em, so who am I, right?



HEXLUST
Loading in and soundchecking was a breeze. The stage itself was huge, with room for all my drums, the amps, and for the guys to move around during the songs. The sound guy was friendly and accomodating, and was relieved that I didn't throw a cymbal at him for not having enough mics for every one of my drums (apparently there are other skin-bashers out there who are total drama queens about this). The only thing I regret is that during our soundcheck we forgot to make monitor requests; we're used to not having them at all, so it completely slipped our minds. With the stage (and venue) being as large as it was, this would come back to haunt us.

It wasn't a problem during the intro song. That tune never gets fast or technical, so it was easy for us all to hear each other. "Fucked By Fire," though, turned out to be a slight problem. Going into the hella fast riff after my first big drum fill, I realized I couldn't actually hear the guitars at all, only a buzzing cacophony from which notes or chords were not discernible. I gritted my teeth, concentrated on my mental metronome, and prayed the guys could at least hear me so we could come together on all the right parts. We pulled it off, and the response was massive. People really seem to be digging FBF, which makes the two years it took to write that beast all the more worth it.

The rest of the set continued pretty much in that vein. Play fast, can't hear anybody, focus on time-keeping and cymbal crashing so everybody knows where they are, and no flashy fills so's to minimize the chances of stick-dropping. For anybody who thinks we may have been playing slower or more subdued than usual (I certainly felt a decrease in speed), this is why.

After making it through "Toxic High" and "Hellhammer," we premiered "They Conjure" to decent success. First-time jitters ensured that it was not going to be a particularly tight performance and I know we came close to derailing a few times, but we held it together and pulled it off without any major errors. After a particularly staggering (in a good way) "Baphomet Dawn," we got the notice that we had time for one more song, so we ripped right through "Tombs" and wasted little time with the stinger.



BIRTH A.D.
We're starting to get better at unpacking and re-packing our gear. We had almost everything stowed away when Birth A.D. started their set, so I had only missed a few songs by the time I made it back inside. Instead of packing up against the front of the stage where all the moshing and squishing was, I took up a position on the side, where I could not only see all the action without people running into me but also not have to rely as heavily on earplugs, since I was behind the PA speakers.

One glowing advantage to my position was a close-up view of everything Mark was doing on the drums, including the pedal work of both feet. That man is an absolute monster, with his blinding tom work, his on-a-dime flipping between thrash beats and blast beats, the fact that he plays, with one foot, patterns which require both of my feet to pull off at those speeds. He does this while singing on occasion, and makes it all look effortless. Oh and he plays with some pretty thick sticks too, but then he is a big guy. Have any of you readers ever seen the sticks Gene Hoglan, Fred Leblanc, or John Bonham played with? Tree trunks in their fingertips, being twirled as easily as twigs.

I also noticed Mark not having to take a swig of water between songs. In fact, I noticed every member of the band having full water bottles nearby which went pretty much completely unused! Here we are in Hexlust scrambling for nourishment during applause, sometimes holding up the start of songs in the process, and these guys are playing faster than us, virtually nonstop, with little or no water breaks. A true testament to how long and how hard they've been doing this thrash thing.

Oh and the TUNES. I just recently gave tracks off "Stillbirth of a Nation" a decent listen, and I thought they couldn't get any faster. This performance proved that the guys were actually holding out on the recordings, saving the real speed for the stage. I barely had time to put my fist down from shouting "Parasites DIE!!!" or "This scene SUCKS!!!" before it was time to put it back up again. A performance so slamtacular the audience wasn't about to let them off the stage without one last hurrah. Jeff said that if we wanted one more song it would have to be one they already played (I wanted to yell "YOU'RE NOT TRIPTYKON" but decided against it) and they satisfied us with a repeat offense of "Cause Problems."

WHITE PEOPLE AND THEIR LONG GOODBYES
The show was over and it was just a minute past one o'clock. Definitely one of the better shows I've ever attended or been a part of, not only for the bands but for the punctuality as well. Five bands, done in five hours. A rare occurrence indeed. We hoisted our box of shirts (down to only nine out of thirty-six in just two shows! Wooh!) collected our money, and said our goodbyes. Our long, multiple goodbyes. We said adieu to Legion twice, an encore convo getting started up again by Tarzan needing a reminder of their names.

And if Jeff A.D. thought he only had to do one encore this evening he was dead wrong. In a colloquial sense we treated him like Led Zeppelin, bringing him back for second, third, even fourth conversations long after the initial bid farewell. Sometimes he would think of something else to say; other times it was Tarzan or JT (once it was me, and boy did I kick myself), but at least it never stopped being fun. I just wish we could have been doing that at midnight instead of almost two a.m. I needed a shower, a bowl of Crispy Rice and slumber. All of which later took place at JT's epic bachelor pad.

In conclusion: Doug is "Drunk Jeff," Tarzan is "Little Sideburnless Jeff." I need to get a picture of those three together.