Church Of Misery/The Gates Of Slumber/Evoken
Cameo, Brooklyn, New York, 5/25/12
Tucked behind a nondescript bar on North 6th Street in Williamsburg, the Cameo Art Gallery is very small and sounds very, very good. A formless piece of “art”, which looks like a thousand long strands of cooked rice noodles, hangs over the miniscule stage. (This will come into play later.) $4 Miller High Lifes? Gods be praised. It’s starting to feel more like a basement show now. Members from all three bands mingle through the small crowd; they’re here to watch the show, too.
Evoken cram themselves onto the stage, with monolithic bassist David Wagner front and center. I’m shocked at the lackluster crowd response following each song. I know people were disappointed that Rwake had to cancel, but come on, nothing more than a few claps? This is Evoken from fucking Lyndhurst, New Jersey, and they’ve been playing the death/doom game since forever. Is this another case of “cranky old metal guy” syndrome? Judging by the attendees, it’s possible. The band could sense the crowd’s mood, but it didn’t deter them from ripping through an excellent set which included highlights “A Caress Of The Void” and a song off the imminent new album Atra Mors.
. . .
The drummer for Gates Of Slumber was pissed. Shit just wasn’t going his way, and he made sure everyone around him knew it, especially his kit. The rhythm just crushed us over the collective head, and with most GoS songs being extended riff fests, it was transcendent. Karl Simon’s Wino-esque voice floated through the room, sparingly, describing covens, bastards and other such classic doom staples. This must have been what it was like seeing Saint Vitus in 1987, or Pentagram in 1979; everyone here knows we are witnessing something special, and it belongs only to us. “The Ice Worm” closed out a damn-near-perfect set, and the foundation was laid for what was to come.
. . .
The Church Of Misery guys seemed like down to earth, normal dudes. They had bounced around the crowd, all smiles, probably excited about their first show in New York City. But it was all a head fake; once they took the stage and that first sweet wave of feedback washed over the room, Cameo became a sweaty, pulsating testament to the power of rock and roll. Frontman Hideki Fukasawa jerked and gyrated like a man possessed, a Japanese Robert Plant tripping his balls off. Only the last shred of self-control kept him in check to belt out “Blood Sucking Freak” and “Born To Raise Hell”. Every song became an instant classic; Tom Sutton made his Les Paul walk the walk as strobing greens and reds bounced off the hanging spaghetti art. The crowd sang along in unison to tales of serial killers and homicidal legends, not so disturbing after being filtered through CoM’s boogie blues stomp. This is the part where I say “underrated”, but this time it should stay that way. It’s a shame they can’t make it to the States more often, but in this day and age it’s nice to have a secret.
. . .
I got to see Church of Misery at Chaos in Tejas, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Those guys are fucking amazing live, hopefully they’ll be back to the US again and soon.
^ I saw them at Chaos in Tejas also and I agree, one of the best shows of the weekend. Hands-down.
I caught the Los Angeles leg of the tour, which had Hail!Hornet in the middle slot and no Evoken. Evoken would have ruled harder, but that’s life for you.
Highlights:
-Gates of Slumber seemed awfully damn tired by the time they hit the stage. It wasn’t the best I’ve seen them, but that vibe worked really well for the down and out jams off The Wretch.
-During Hail!Hornet, some grungy, crusty, barnacle of a woman decided to get creative and interact with both audience and band. She took her Pabst tallboy and flicked it directly at the singer, spraying beer in his face. He commented something to the effect of “I like you… you’re crazy.” (He would later hit on every female in the venue). But barnacle-woman needed more attention, so she took to whipping the tallboy in a circle over her head, spraying most of the audience with warm, syrupy piss-beer. I came home smelling like asshole and corn syrup.
-Church of Misery were volcanic. It was doom you could dance to, and everyone fucking danced. A guy a few feet away was literally convulsing to every note; when things got too hot and heavy he’d throw himself at the foot of the stage and flail in riff-ecstasy. It was one of those shows, and one of those sets, classic from the first note.
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Killer writeup, Chris; and killer photos, Greg!
Thanks Wash Jones! Glad you like the photos. Hails!
Saw COM in 2006 in glasgow in the basement of the 13th note. There’s barely a hint of a stage in that little sweat pit and the singer stood on my foot twice on forays into the crowd. Singer from sourvein swapped my buddy a 7 inch for a bottle of budvar.
They were back with cathedral at a bigger venue 2 years ago and had lost nothing, singer left and boomeranged back in time for another run through their japanese southern style doom.’I'd argue that japanese metal bands turn pastiche of classic styles into it’s own art form. Cf boris, coffins, unholy grave, sabbat, abigail. I believe this is true of japanese pop and rock artists also-creating facsimiles that sometimes surpass the quality of the originals.
i was at Cameo and although i don’t care much for Evoken or Gates, both were fine.
Church of Misery were as tight and face-melting as i’d hoped, and the sound in that little radiation bunker of a venue was surprisingly great. Williamsburg is such a hellscape of idiots now, though. Me and my pal had to walk quite a ways to find someplace quiet to smoke up prior to the CoM set.
COM’s MDF set was transcendant, though why the vocalist chose to wear a long-sleeve shirt (that he promptly sweat all the way through) in Baltimore in May was baffling.