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.

King Diamond Benefit Show

Date: Saturday, February 12, 2011
Venue: Mine Shaft Saloon, San Antonio TX
Bill: Plutonian Shore, Hexlust, Emperial Massacre, Exulcerate, The Oath

Back in November, everyone’s favorite falsetto King Diamond was hospitalized for what turned out to be some outrageously clogged arteries, prompting a triple-bypass open-heart surgery. Mr Diamond’s good friend Dave Martinez thought it would be a swell idea to raise some support money for King, so he teamed up with Hellbound Productions to set up a benefit show in San Antonio at Mine Shaft Saloon, located next to the Magic Time Machine restaurant.

“Magic Time Machine,” you enquire. “The hell’s that?” Well, imagine one of those goofy theme restaurants snuck out of Disney World and has been hiding out just off an expressway in San Antonio. Guests are served by waitstaff dressed and acting as kid-friendly TV/film characters and pop culture icons. While waiting on their food (horrifyingly overpriced, if reviews are to be believed), the hungry patrons can take in the sights of all sorts of novelty furniture and decorations, much of it pertaining to the “theme” of whatever area of the restaurant they’re in. Eye-popping fun for the whole family!

Unfortunately for any fun-having families still seated and eating around 10:30 pm, an infernal ruckus was being raised in the Mine Shaft Saloon, the “cocktail lounge” attached to the restaurant. And by “attached” I don’t mean there’s a big wall with a door; no sir, the restaurant just kind of segues into the bar without any hope of soundproofing whatsoever.

PLUTONIAN SHORE
When the first band of the evening, black metallers Plutonian Shore, took the stage, I was outside in the patio seating area, the only space in or out of the venue where I had room to set up my drum kit. Within minutes I saw families power-walking out of the restaurant, to-go boxes in hand and strained looks on the faces of the parents. I wondered how many children present that night would grow up to be metalheads based on that one time they got served a steak by Jack Sparrow and ended up being aurally assaulted by harsh music from people in scary facepaint.

The first things to jump out at me were the keyboard and the drums, the former giving the music an ethereal and even grandiose feel, the latter being fast, tight, and best of all powerful. It sounded like the guy was absolutely slamming his kit, a guess rendered truthful by a peek inside. I actually didn’t hear the guitar, bass, or even vocals much, and I was too busy warming up to spend any extended period inside, but according to those who watched the bassist was doing some spiffy fills and, being a southpaw, played a right-handed bass upside-down.

Due to Saturday evening closing hours for the Magic Time Machine, this five-band gig got started at 10:30 and was to be over by 2:00, so set lists were shortened and loading time took on a very rushed feel. We were the next band to play, second of the whole evening, and I had my entire drum kit with me tonight, including rotary toms. Thankfully I had the whole thing put together, so getting it onstage was simply a matter of taking the individual stands up there and then pulling the whole deal back together, like a huge puzzle. Stage space proved to be an issue, and the rest of the guys at first had a little trouble figuring out who would go where with their big amps. Tarzan was told he could plug directly into the PA, allowing him to stash his rig behind JT’s cab and have that problem done with. Judging by the number of songs that played through over the club stereo, setup and soundcheck time took about ten minutes. Not too shabby.

HEXLUST
We made it through the intro song feeling good. Normally this is where any inadequacies in warming up start to bear their bitter fruit, with cramping forearms for me or stiff fingers for Tarzan, but we went into FBF still feeling loose and limber. The audience response was very positive, a cause for smiles since we were nervous about starting the set off with a new tune, and we pulled it off with few or no mistakes. I even pulled off my Bonham-triplet drum vamp that leads into Tony’s guitar solo, and even in practices that’s very hit-or-miss.

“Toxic High” had problems before the count-off. Tarzan got confused and thought we were going to go into “Hellhammer,” so he switched his tone over to distortion; Tony announced Toxic and Tarzan had to take a few seconds (fucking eons in stage time) to scramble back across the stage to hit the switch again. Small potatoes, though, we launched into the song itself at top speed and were gearing up for a humdinger of a chorus. A sudden spout of crowd-pushing, however, send the mic into Tony’s face, knocking him into one of my cymbal stands and breaking a string on his guitar. I was cool, my stand had toppled but was supported by the floor tom, so the cymbals were still smashable. I was even able to continue playing without missing a beat.

Tony, however, was dazed and obviously unhappy with the sudden turn of events. I, Tarzan, and even a couple audience members admitted to being certain that he would throw his guitar down and walk offstage; not that we think him a wussbag, we just know that’s what we would have probably done. In a move that won him hellamuch cool points, Tony took a breath, got his wits about him, and set about replacing his guitar with a backup while we kept the song going. He picked back up just in time for his solo and we finished the tune strong.

“Hellhammer” held a few more problems. For me, it was simply dropping my stick before we were even a minute in. A minor setback, yes, but no matter how many times I do it I never feel any less clumsy doing empty kick-snare beats while reaching for another stick. I recovered and we soldiered on. In terms of how it affected the song, the next calamity was so slight I didn’t even notice it; JT bashed his forehead on Tony’s headstock while headbanging, resulting in a gnarly knot that was still there the next morning. He kept playing, God bless him, but I know he was fuming.

After we put a cork in that, Hexlust were not a happy group of campers. Each of us had experienced our own setbacks, big and small, and felt the sting of each other’s difficulties. Weirdest and most frustrating of all, the mic stand kept buckling or losing its grip on the mic, requiring constant audience vigilance to keep it straight and tall. When Hellbound Jeff told us that our next tune would have to be our last, we were more than happy to put this set to rest. The last song was, of course, “Tombs of the Blind Dead,” and we rocketed through that monster with such intensity that all the negativity melted and I felt like we were shining by the end stinger. I went through my finale drum solo, and we finished to huge applause.

In spite of the difficulties, this was actually one of our best performances in a good while. We all did an excellent job of warming up, maintained a high energy level, and screwed up rarely. Another significant factor was the audience, who cheered grandly after every song and kept our spirits high. Honestly, that helped more than all the warming up and headbanging could ever hope to; if we had started getting “polite claps” or even crickets after Tony’s tumble, I’m sure we would have quit before we even got offstage. I would have definitely cried. My mom would have taken a picture.

EMPERIAL MASSACRE and EXULCERATE
Unfortunately I spent both sets outside, breaking down my kit, getting it put away, and talking to folks about the performance. We also had shirts to sell, another distraction, and my parents, Tarzan and I helped a dude find his driver’s license. I promise, if we play with these guys again, I'll pay better attention, especially since I heard Exulerate were particularly awesome.

THE OATH
Something was wrong. It was 1:30, half hour til closing time, the whole crowd gathered inside in front of the stage, looking at half a band. The musicians looked impatient and the audience were no different; hell this is what we came to see, a King Diamond benefit show headlined by a King Diamond tribute band. What we had in front of us, however, were two guitarists, a drummer, no bassist, and worst of all, no King.

Hellbound Jeff found Tarzan and asked if his bass could be borrowed, which apparently was the root of The Oath’s problem. Two minutes later, The Oath’s singer, decked out in splendid Diamond fashion with awesome facepaint, strode through the door, bass in hand. I ran outside and made it to Tarzan just as he was walking back with his case; he kicked it over when I told him the news, though I think if he had made it back to the venue he would have bludgeoned someone to death with it. We all made it back inside and comfortably stageside just in time to watch… the band still soundchecking. It was 1:50.

Finally the singer said “Fuck it, let’s do this!” and they launched into “The Oath.” The long wait was well-rewarded, friends. The riffing was spot-on, the drum beats were very faithful, with little to no embellishments, and of course the King vocals were diamond quality (I know, HAR-DEE-HAR-FUCKING-HAR, I’m the kind of guy who can’t resist a juicy pun). Even the little whammy leads between lines of lyrics were just as I remembered them from Don’t Break the Oath. And of course, my favorite part and everyone else’s, the whole audience singing along with the “AH-ah, AH-ah, AH-AH-AH-AH-AH!” part, which felt almost as glorious as singing along to “Circle of the Tyrants” at Triptykon.

They followed that gem up with another Don’t Break… favorite, “Come to the Sabbath,” which kept us singing along and fist-pumping (NOT like champs) all the way through. Next up was “Halloween,” which I remember from Fatal Portrait but isn’t one of my favorites. Considering this set could be stopped cold at any moment, any song performed that I didn't absolutely love was a cause for worry. I was hoping against all hope that the venue manager was actually a King fan and would allow this to continue for at least another half hour so’s I could hear “Mansion in Darkness” or even “Desecration of Souls.”

Of course, after that song ended, it was announced that their next tune would be the last. I crossed my fingers and prayed for the widely-recognized “Welcome Home,” which, overplayed as it may be, would have been a fantastic way to end the evening. Instead, they went into some track off Abigail I don’t even remember. Not one for allowing myself to be disappointed, I spent the song hanging out by the very side of the stage, watching the drummer. They closed it out to wild applause, and promised that if we saw them again we would get to experience the full two-hour set. I for one am looking forward to that.

OUTRO
Overall, this was a fun gig. We all played fewer songs than expected, but this allowed us all to plow through our entire set lists at full power and come out of it still full o’ piss and vinegar. On the “benefit” side of the show, sources say that a whopping $900 was raised for King Diamond! Yep, we can definitely label this show a success, though a rickety, unstable one.

As for Hexlust, after all the goodbyes were said we retreated to JT’s apartment, where we munched on pizza rolls, took turns with his shower, and watched The Office until four a.m. We’ll be back in town later this week for the “Night of the Thrashing Dead” show at Zombie’s, here’s hoping we have the same performance proficiency, the same audience response, and fewer technical difficulties.

Bored-ed By Blood

Date: January 24, 2011
Venue: The Korova, San Antonio TX
Playing With: Sturmgewehr, Aggravator, Bonded By Blood

PRE-SHOW
After a year and a half of performing in San Antonio after which we had to make the long drive back to Killeen, we finally had a reliable place to stay overnight in our most frequently-played city! Yes folks, our JT had moved and settled into his new apartment, which, yes, meant that we don't get to practice with him as much anymore, but also means we have a central base of operations for our SA gigs, complete with a bathroom, a microwave, NetFlix, and within a close proximity to Taco Bell and Jack In The Box. We have a home away from home.

Following an hour or so of bro'ing it up and watching The Office, we loaded JT's vehicle with amps and guitars and set off for The Korova, a venue at which we had never played before but about which we had heard good things in the meantime. Boy, every one of those good things we heard spoke the truth! Although parking was horribly limited, the venue itself was very spacious, plenty of room for an audience and gear storage. It had a large stage, with a small staircase on each side, and a patient sound tech in possession of plenty of mic's and metal sound know-how. This was shaping up to be one hell of a gig.

STURMGEWEHR
First band up for the evening were local blackened punkers Sturmgewehr. Don't ask me how that's pronounced. According to those who had seen them before, tonight's performance was an improvement over their past shows, which was weird for me to hear because I was underwhelmed. Then again, I've never been much of a punk fan. One aspect of the band that was simultaneously intriguing and disturbing was the drummer, who was intriguing for staying on his crash/ride throughout the whole set, but disturbing for having a hi-hat set up which he almost never used, not even to stomp on for timekeeping purposes. Could be that he was making an artistic statement about how having and not needing is better than needing and not having, a very subtle stab at gun control maybe? Either way, I'm not a fan.

Tony loved the hell out of them, though, said he loved how the drummer reminded him of Mick Harris. I'm don't like Mick Harris; dude reminds me of someone's obnoxious younger brother, following the older kids around and being a nuisance. There was like a whole year Tony spent going around and quoting Mick, saying things were "chuffed" and "pinged" and "ready for rhino charge," a year I spent smiling politely and wishing I had more of a backbone. Good times.

I do want to take this moment to apologize to Sturmgewehr and anyone enjoying them. I was off to the side, warming up on my drum kit with practice pads on my drums and lightly clicking my hi-hats. Light as I was trying to be, my friends reported that they could hear my noise loud and clear throughout the set. I am sincerely sorry for seeming obnoxious at all, I really didn't intend to seem like such a dick.

AGGRAVATOR
Our friends in Aggravator took the stage, with what appeared to be a new addition to the lineup: another guitarist! This dude had one of the tightest picking techniques I've seen in the local metal scene, and could sweep like nobody's business. In fact, he was so good he almost seemed out of place, belonging more in a tech-death outfit than a raw thrash band. Of course, upon talking to the guys later, we found out that this dude, Jesse, has been a part of the lineup, and I guess he just happened to not be able to make it the last couple times we played with Aggravator..

Anyway, these guys were the first real kickstart to the heart of the show, bringing about the evening's first mosh pits and getting some very enthusiastic cheers. For good reason too! With two guitars, the always-catchy were much beefier, yet not so thick as to overshadow the well-placed bass runs and fills (which I hadn't noticed before, yet another pleasant surprise from Aggravator) and the brilliantly executed solos added to the frantic energy already laid down by Mike's drumming and Derek's vocals. In fact, they got such a great response, I honestly was scared that the audience would be too juiced up on technical solos and concise songwriting to sit patiently through our wacky structures and whammy-fuck solos.

HEXLUST
I needn't have worried. From the moment we started playing the intro we had a fantastic audience response, and there were quite a few mosh pits going on during "Toxic High." Things got slightly confusing during "Hellhammer" when Tarzan continued playing a riff after the rest of us had transitioned into another, but he recovered well and nobody in the audience seemed to notice. Our sophomore performance of "Fucked By Fire" went more smoothly than before, with Tony still messing up on lyrics but actually remembering to sing all the verses and choruses this time.

Following a smooth rendition of "Baphomet Dawn," we performed "Imminent Retardation" for the first time in a little over a year. This song is very love-and-hate for us; we adore it for its short running time, consistent speed, wacky riffs, and the many fills I play in it, not to mention the ending trade-off solos. However, it is exactly those reasons which make this song a mixed bag when performing it. On a good night with great sound, "I.R." is headbanging heaven, but if even one of us is having an "off" night that throws the dynamic off, and/or the venue's sound is muddy, the song comes across as incoherent and messy, just three minutes of goofy white noise. We are therefore rather selective with the instances in which we perform it, and tonight's gig, being basically a night of thrash worship, seemed like the perfect opportunity. Thankfully this was very much an "on" night for Hexlust, with a very capable sound tech at the helm, so this... just odd song of ours was given a worthy performance and reception.

After blasting through "Tombs" and doing our typical drawn-out stinger, we were ready to pack it in for the night. The audience, however, weren't having any of that, and one dude actually jumped onstage to get on the mic and demand that we "play some fuckin' Sodom!" After checking with those in charge that it was okay to do one more song (cuz we was raised right), we launched into "Agent Orange," which seems to be very quickly becoming our most preferred cover. Hey, not like we're complaining, that song is a blast to play and always gets fantastic crowd participation!

BONDED BY BLOOD
I honestly didn't get to see much of the evening's headlining act; packing up our gear took a little longer than expected, and JT was ready to leave not long after we were finished, having been up since four that morning or something. What little I did see, though, left me slightly disappointed. Not necessarily in the music, I've never been wowed by Exodus or Testament so I didn't expect to be by a band strongly influenced by them. I was more disappointed by their stage presence and attitude. Some of the members, particularly one of the guitarists and the bassist, looked positively bored, which I personally don't think I would be able to be if I were in one of if not the most popular band in the new wave of modern thrash.

Of course, I don't know the musicians personally. Hell, maybe those guys just have a Pat O'Brien-esque way of showing enthusiasm. I am also still very naive to the "rigors of the road," my band plays like one show a month so we've never really experienced anything along the lines of burnout. I'm sure they have a reason for putting on a "blah" face and only managing an occasional half-assed headbang while performing with excellent technique (I swear that guitarist's wrist never once moved) in a roaringly popular, headlining band. I just hope it's a damn good one.

I guess it doesn't matter anyway, most of the audience seemed bored as well. I specifically remember, as I was running back inside to make sure I had collected all the pieces of my kit, the lead vocalist enticing the audience members to put up their horns. Many in the crowd barely even put up their arms.

POST SHOW
We made it back to JT's place and settled in for bowls of Cripsy Rice, more episodes of "The Office," and the usual dick-and-fart-joke-laden buffoonery in which Hexlust heavily indulge in lieu of alcohol and women. Not that we'd argue with having a woman in the mix. Okay, multiple women; if there was just one, she'd most likely end up in JT's bedroom, a possibility enforced by the fact that he actually has a bedroom whereas the rest of us share a living room. Nothing says "sweet lovin'" like the friction-squeaking of Tony's air mattress, am I right?

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!