Secrets She Kept

Date: Saturday, September 26, 2015
Venue: Lost Well, Austin TX
Bands: Nosferion, Hexlust, Skan, Secrets She Kept, Plutonian Shore

After eight years of playing drums onstage, I still get a decent dose of stage fright before gigs, and still get apprehensive the day of a show. 

"Maybe everyone associated with the venue will spontaneously combust," I'll fantasize as I try to will myself out of bed that afternoon, "and I can just stay home and not have to do stuff."

Don't get me wrong, I love playing live. I love seeing my metal friends, both musicians and supporters. I love setting up my drums and taking a proud second to admire how pretty they are before I smash the unholy fuck out of them. Among all this joy, though, there remains my little checklist - places to go, tasks to complete, things to keep an eye on - that never stops cycling through my noggin. Completed items are crossed out, tasks still to be done are highlighted in an ever-boldening shade of red. On gig days, I'm often withdrawn, distracted, even a little grumpy, depending on how bold any of those red items are.

Not this day, though! Somehow I just woke up knowing this was going to be a great gig. I had used our full-band practice the week before to troubleshoot my drum kit, so all my gimcracks and doodads were in working order, broken down, and ready for load-up. I knew exactly where the Lost Well was and how loading in worked, having performed there with Morgengrau back in December. Load-in wasn't until 21:00, so I spent most of the day relaxing and lightly warming up on my practice pad. Everything in my brain's to-do list was looking to be easily crossed off at a casual rate, practically taking care of themselves.

Of course, I had Jake to do all my worrying for me. When the person who was actually in charge of the show wasn't able to make it, Mr. Holmes stepped into the role of promoter as well as stage manager - charged with communicating with all the musicians and making sure everybody was aware of their stage times - while also performing in one of the bands! I knew he was feeling the pressure, but I had zero doubts as to whether he'd pull it off. He's well known in the central Texas metal scene and has great rapport with many musicians, plus he just plain gives a shit. 

The good vibes continued as Hexlust took the stage. We had a numerous, energetic crowd, which was really saying something considering there had been some higher-profile, well-hyped shows going on in the Austin/San Antonio area since Thursday. Our playing was smooth and confident, and once again Tony displayed amazing presence and crowd control, although he did have one minor issue I'll get to in a minute. Our stage sound was fantastic, provided by a soundman who was actually on his first night employed at the Lost Well. He scared me a bit when we were setting up, telling me that this was his first night as he clipped a mic onto my floor tom. I must have given him a look, because he quickly followed up, "As in, here! I used to work at Red 7, but I recently left." Can't do that to me, dude.

Without the frustration and stress we had at our last show, we weren't playing with the same fire and fury this evening, but we were a well-practiced, finely-tuned thrashing machine nonetheless. Well, there were a few moments of mild concern:

-Right before the set JT thought he wasn't getting a signal to his amp, and had to futz around with some newly-purchased cables he had just then unpacked. He managed to resolve both issues, but still. That's a paddling for bad pre-show prep, Mr Avakuma.

-My hi-hat clutch slipped just a bit (I might have hit it once or twice while playing), to where the cymbals had a fist-sized gap between them and sloshed horribly no matter how hard I mashed the pedal. Annoying, as well as distracting, but the show must go on. Then, despite all the prepwork I did on my kit before our set, my double pedal managed to become discombobulated and revert to a single pedal during "Baphomet Dawn," WHICH, by the way, we weren't even going to play this evening! We had planned on skipping it entirely to save on time, but I was so distracted by my sloshy-ass hats I counted it off out of reflex.

-After Baphomet, I had to call a break to get myself situated, leaving Tony to entertain the crowd in the interum. Here, we rediscovered one of his biggest weaknesses in his otherwise stellar stage presence: improvisation. After all the leaps and bounds he's made in his charisma and confidence, Tony still can not work a crowd on the fly, and I heard some instances of "uh" and "like" slipping into his word-vomit. He even admits that his confidence dips when he has to improvise, which can probably be alleviated if he were to keep a skeleton of a speech tucked away in the back of his mind that he can fill in with details on the moment.

Those concerns certainly didn't detract from the evening's merriment! This was actually a very social show for us, chatting it up with regular metal-scene friends as well as some longtime cronies who came to see us. There was Eric B (we know a lot of Erics, so it's important to make the distinction), an old friend who barista'd with JT for a while, jammed with us on occasion, and even came to our shows, who I haven't seen since the Immolation show in San Antonio back in 2011. Christ, time flies too quickly! Also there were Russell and Amber; Russell used to head I Misery, one of the very very few legitimate death metal bands to come out of the Killeen/Cove area, as well as Special Guest Satan, which also featured our very own Tony on guitar for a while. Adding a slightly surreal touch to the revelry was the presence of Mr. Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith, who was related to somebody associated with this show and is actually an ardent supporter of underground metal. I neglected to get a picture with him, but did have the privelege of carrying on a pleasant conversation for a good while!

Of course, I don't mean to imply that the evening's entertainment was uninteresting, and I did manage to catch at least a little bit of most of the performances. Nosferion employed a soundscape-y approach to bleak black metal which I enjoyed as much as Tarzan assured me I would. Can't wait to see what they sound like with both their guitarists! The Wolves of Skan presented a confident, intimidating stage presence and featured atmospheric segues between blackly esoteric meditations on death and a Slayer cover with Jake's vocal assistance. I missed out on Secrets She Kept, a black metal act on a national tour who were added to this bill after another show they were attached to got cancelled, but from what I saw they got a decent crowd.

Tony, Tarzan, and I were carrying on with Jeff A.D. when I heard Plutonian Shore start up. Of course, I actually wanted to watch their set, after I missed a good 90% of their performance at our last show in Dallas, and Tony wanted to head home, so we started our goodbyes... and they kind of lasted for a while, as our goodbyes tend to... basically I missed a little more than half of Plutonian's set. Whoopsies. I got right up front and added as much falsetto might as my range would allow for their "Highland Tyrant Attack" cover, and headbanged with Eric B for the rest of the songs. There are still a few months left of 2015, so there's room for surprises, but their Sphere of Geburah album is shaping up to be album of the year in my humble opinion, and it's still a blast seeing those songs in the live environment. In fact, I have a Morgengrau gig in December with Plutonian on the bill, so this time, this time, I'll catch their whole set. 


POST-SHOW THOUGHTS
I don't have the brightest opinion of band promo pictures, which is largely why the majority of the photos you find online of Hexlust are live shots. We haven't even attempted a photoshoot since 2008, and we used live shots in the booklet for our album. Those turned out great, so I don't see us changing that policy anytime soon. 

However, an even compromise does exist in the concept of pro-shot live pics, and after this show, I think we know who we'll be using. In fact, the footage taken by Mr. Erik Bredthauer of NecroBlanca Photography this very evening was close to perfect; some killer angles, a tasteful use of black and white, and the best postures and facial expressions captured by his finely-calibrated shutter finger. I'm including four of my favorite examples from his business Facebook page, but if you visit his website, you can see the shots he got of all this evening's acts! That link should take you directly to this evening's folder.

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!

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!

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.

Ana's Birthday Thrashacre!

Date: November 20, 2010
Venue: The Parlor, Austin TX
Bands: Black Thorn Halo, Death Rites 666, Hexlust

PRE-SHOW
Mr Tony Rivera, one of Hexlust's top supporters, was throwing a birthday bash for his daughter Ana, and chose Hexlust as the main act! We were of course happy to show some love to the man who dragged himself all the way to Killeen from his home in San Antonio just to watch us play, and we were looking forward to playing at the Parlor for the first time since one of our first Austin shows in the summer of '08.

Tonight was also a special occasion in that we were set to debut "Fucked By Fire." This was a song that first took form in the spring of 2008 and spent two and a half years getting re-structured, re-written, argued over, shelved, forgotten about, re-visited, shelved again, and finally brought to satisfactory completion this fall. It is a very dynamic song with a very strong hook, so we were eagerly anticipating the audience's reaction.

BLACK THORN HALO
Admittedly, we spent the majority of Black Thorn Halo's set outside, catching up with friends and getting advice for band-related matters like t-shirt making and acquiring gear for home demo recordings. We did go inside to catch a song or two, though. They had quite a setup going on in there, the kind of gear you'd expect to find on a "full stage," such as floor monitors, floor lights, and a fog machine, set up on the floor of the Parlor right there by the front door. The music itself was well-executed, with everyone in the band obviously being an experienced, very able musician, but not really my cup of tea.

DEATH RITES 666
Dedicated to "public mockery of all that is holy," Death Rites 666 kicked the extremity level up a notch as we unloaded our gear onto the sidewalk outside of The Parlor. Usually, setting up gear means I don't get a good earful of a band playing at the time, but places like the Parlor and the Ten Eleven, with the stage right by the front door, consistently allow me to listen to a performance while still being able to focus on getting my kit together. Ingesting the riffs and analyzing the influences, I heard two bands in DR666's sound: Kreator, and Slayer.

Before you jump on me, please know that I'm well aware that Slayer is a metal-influence cliche, cited by bands who are looking for a more "extreme" name to counteract their obvious Sevendust jackoffery and by "reviewers" who haven't listened to enough metal to know the difference between a riff played by Scott Ian and one played by Andreas Kisser. I seriously hear inspiration from the best moments of "Hell Awaits" and "South of Heaven" in their music, fantastic rhythmic riffing and blistering solos, thick meaty drum beats seasoned with tastefully-placed fills. Come on, watch this video and tell me you don't hear that!

HEXLUST
Thankfully, the guys from Death Rites 666 were also super cool, allowing me to use their drum throne since I neglected to bring my own. Setting up in the Parlor felt just like it did two and a half years ago: HOT. The place isn't that big, so no matter where you are, you're pissin' distance from the ovens. Bottled water was a necessity in our packing today. I'd have to say the funniest part of setting up was when the sound guy/manager asked us where we were from. When we told him Killeen, he revealed that he went to Killeen High and was close friends with our buddy Frank, whom you readers may remember from a long ago post as the drummer for Robots Are Evil. Small world.

The intro song, "Toxic High," and "Hellhammer" went as smooth as to be expected, considering how long we've been playing them. "FBF" made its debut in our usual first-time-live style: stiff and awkward! Also, while it's pretty much a rule in Hexlust that Tony's gonna mess up the lyrics to any song we're playing for the first time, he took it even further this time by brain-farting on the entire second verse and chorus. I saw more than a few heads bobbing during the chorus, though, and full-on headbanging during the fast middle section, so I'd say this premiere was a relative success.

After a clean run-through of "Baphomet Dawn," it was time for the evening's special surprise: Having Jeff A.D. come up and provide vocals for our cover of Sodom's "Agent Orange"! We felt quite honored to be joined by a man who's been a contributing member of the Texas metal scene since the early 90s and has traveled the world playing in or tech'ing for so many awesome bands, and sporting such an awesome Sodom shirt too! We made sure to bring our A game.

That whole "A game" shit lasted til about halfway through the song. If you listen to the video closely, you can hear the precise moment during the big double-bassing part where the pin completely slips out of my kick pedal, a problem that has become commonplace in our rehearsals since August. Usually I remember to take a quick second to push the sucker back into place between songs, but this evening I was too caught up in the moment to remember such a thing. I paid for it with an embarrassingly long silence during that held-chord moment where Jeff comes back in, during which I leaned down to slide the pin back in, slipped and completely fell over backwards, righted myself, and finished fixing the pedal. I counted us in and finished the song, wondering if, under the dim lights, anyone could see how bright red my face was.

After finishing "Tombs of the Blind Dead," we put on our serious faces about starting to pack it in, since we knew the Parlor only stayed open so late and we were pushing the time limit as it was. The audience, particularly Tony, was adamant about hearing one more song though, so after a second of deliberation we threw out "Sodomy and Lust," a tune we've rehearsed about as many times as I've tuned my drums (as in, "on a whim"). So objectively the performance was dodgy at best, but the crowd dug it and that's what matters.

POST-SHOW / CLOSING THOUGHTS
First on our list of thanks and shout-outs for this evening is the birthday girl herself. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANA! Sorry we couldn't get the Possessed songs down in time. Nailing those suckers is harder than it seems. Thanks to Tony and Victor, for putting on this show and being such fervent supporters of all that we do; to the good people at the Parlor, for the free pizza and for patiently allowing us to continue playing past closing ours (sorry about that); Jeff and Erika, for taking time out of their busy schedules to support a band of dorky thrash novices; Michael Barton, for bringing us to the Parlor the first time as a part of Boogdish and coming back to support us as an audience member and impromptu roadie; to Death Rites 666, for the drum throne I may or may not have damaged when I took my tumble; and to everyone in that audience, for cramming themselves into that place to watch us thrash around for 40 minutes. Until next time!

Parasites Derp!

Date: February 19, 2010
Venue: Headhunters, Austin TX
Bands: Birth A.D., Sarcolytic (replaced by Disfigured), Rotting Corpse

PRE-SHOW
I still cannot believe how awesome it was seeing our name on a marquee. Sure our logo’s been on flyers, our name’s been on a hastily typed sheet of paper taped to the wall behind the stage showing what time we went on, marquees have shown “METAL NIGHT WITH [not us] PLUS OTHERS!” when we played. To see our name, in thin plastic letters, behind a glass shield, with LIGHTS surrounding it, though, was really something else. I was so ecstatic I took a picture of it and sent it to my parents! Then Tony’s girlfriend took a group photo of us commemorating this very special moment.

Being that we were the first band this evening, we got to kind of take our time loading our gear onto the stage, with nobody in our way. I re-introduced myself to Billy Milano (whom I initially didn’t recognize on account of he had shaved) and he gave me advice on how to angle my drum kit to best be captured by the stage’s one overhead mic. I shall treasure that moment always.

After everyone had their gear squared away onstage, we went through a sound check, which was actually rather embarrassing. Billy told us to go through a song right quick; we settled on the chorus to “Toxic High.” Problem was that Tarzan and I think even JT were lost on what part of that song was the “chorus” (we rarely discuss such things) so we came off sounding like Snakes n Barrels at their first reunion rehearsal. Yeah, embarrassing. Billy encouraged us to try again, “Play a song you guys actually know!” I think we went with “Hellhammer,” my brain was numb with humiliation by that point.

HEXLUST
Yep, this was definitely gonna be a different show than the one we played at this club almost two years prior. The most siginificant difference being that there were actually people here this evening! A goodly-sized crowd had gathered at this early stage of the show, so we had a lot of eyes on us when I counted off the first song. And guess what? No, I didn’t drop a stick. Even better! I forgot to take the practice pad off my snare before I counted off the intro song. I went to started slamming away on my snare and was hitting soundless gum rubber. Whoops. Thankfully, watching the video footage, it sounds as if I was deliberately withholding the snare for the first four bars and came in with it at a strategic point, so I lost no cool points.

Hexlust were truly a band on fire this evening. We came flying out of the gate with “Toxic High,” slamming through those first repetitions of the riff faster and harder than we ever had before! The best part was that it was fast, hard, and accurate. This truly was the best we had played in a good while, and it felt great. The awesomeness continued through Hellhammer, until some point into the second verse when I realized something was missing. I couldn’t place my finger on it, but our sound suddenly got very thin. The thickness returned just as quickly and I realized that Tarzan’s bass was cutting in and out. I made him aware of this after we finished “Hellhammer”; he surmised that it was a faulty cord and made a quick change.

Minor problems continued during “Baphomet Dawn” and “Open Casket.” We still hadn’t worked out all the bugs in our seven-minute-plus behemoth; we lost a bit of the tightness going into the fast middle part, Tony’s solo was sloppy, and I flubbed fills here and there. We fared a little better in our Death cover, though, with slight groove loss during the double-bass and bad counting-off on my part being the only points against us.

Whatever little mishaps occurred didn’t dent our confidence, though, and we ended the main set with "Tombs of the Blind Dead.” Similar to the high points of our performance thus far, we blasted through this tune with speed and precision, resulting in what I must say was a perfect rendition of this song.

When I said “main set” earlier, it’s because we got a chance for an encore this evening, which, being the opening band, we definitely weren’t expecting. However, after we finished “Tombs,” we were told that we actually had time for one more song. So we ripped through “Sodomy and Lust,” going so fast we almost fell apart in a few places. With that tune, however, the threat of derailment actually works to its advantage.

BIRTH A.D.
Gear re-loading took a little while, especially considering we were parked across the street and a little up the block from the venue, but we were back inside in time to catch Birth A.D.'s set in full swing. Man was I missing out on having not caught their performance the first time we played with them, this was a band that was fast, aggressive, and best of all fun. Bassist/vocalist Jeff seemed to be smiling even as he was vocalizing his lament over the sorry state of our world, and entertained the audience between songs with sharp sarcasm.

Even though I had missed their performance before and had never listened to their songs, songs such as "Parasites Die" and "This Scene Sucks" were easy enough to catch ahold of (in that the phrases "parasites die!" and "this scene sucks!" were shouted many times in each tune) that even I was singing aloud, providing no excuse for anybody not to be putting their fist in the air and shouting along.

DISFIGURED
We took a break and grabbed a slice at the pizza joint next door (only in Austin have I found a pizzeria that "proudly serves Teese," a brand of vegan cheese), and decided it was about time for us to ship out. Some would stay behind to watch Disfigured, because we liked them and they were so enthusiastic for our set. Nobody was particularly excited about Rotting Corpse, and a few people were disillusioned by their lack of interaction, how they seemed to prefer staying in their bus decorated with one of those stupid MMA-clothing brands. I found it funny how I was looking forward to playing an out-of-town show so I could get away from the shitty Tapout shirts so popular among Killeenites, and look what was staring me in the face, parked right outside the venue.

Until next time, thrash til Alzheimer's!