Doomriders, Unearthly Trance @ Europa
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On June 14, Club Europa hosted the BrooklynVegan-BBG Showcase, curated by brooklynvegan.com’s Black Bubblegum. It should have been called Sludge Fest. The lineup featured Doomriders, Clouds, Sourvein, Unearthly Trance (replacing the injured Zoroaster), Javelina, Cough, Howl, Wetnurse, and Liturgy. I arrived during Howl‘s set. They justified their recent signing to Relapse with big riff after big riff. Some have groused about the label’s move towards “beard metal” away from death metal and grindcore. Really, though, Relapse is so big now that it houses loads of all of the above.
Doomriders – The Long WalkUnearthly Trance – In the Red
Europa has two floors, which meant running up and down stairs to catch overlapping sets. After Howl, I went downstairs to find Cough killing it. Just one guitarist — and with the no-stage, band-on-the-floor setup, I glimpsed him just once — but he sounded massive. It was total Eyehategod worship; it felt so good to feel bad. The bottom floor sounded much better than the top floor main stage.
I could only catch a few minutes of Cough, though, as Javelina began on the main stage. They unveiled new material that showed growth with proggier structures and more complex guitars. In Howl and Javelina, it was charming to hear a sound much like Mastodon’s beginnings — sludge with metallic accents (guitar harmonies, etc.). While those bands can’t write songs like Mastodon, they have remained true to the riff, and thus remain more viscerally satisfying.
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Clouds annoyed me even in soundcheck, so I escaped downstairs. There, Unearthly Trance were moving mountains and torching oceans. I saw them recently at Cake Shop, in a competent but chilly performance. This time, they were on fire. The tones were huge, the room was hot, and the band was “on.” Unearthly Trance depend on factors beyond mere notes — noise, feedback, timing. Tonight they had complete control, switching sound on and off like a giant noise gate. Ryan Lipynsky howled as if impaled; Darren Verni cracked his snare like an enemy skull. Finale “In the Red” heaved with drums, screams, and sweat. The set required time to recover afterwards.
Doomriders finished off the night. They weren’t at their best — I once saw them tear down the Pound in SF, shooting Motörhead and Thin Lizzy licks over the heads of hardcore kids — but they were professionals, and they did their job. Despite technical problems (broken string, broken strap), the band worked through new and old material to the visible delight of many. Ben Koller, frontman Nate Newton’s bandmate in Converge, was watching. It was strange to see him sipping drinks and not committing domestic violence on drums. Such beatings this time came from Cave In’s JR Conners. Most know Nate Newton as bassist for Converge, but tonight we glimpsed his other side: reincarnating the MC5 with much, much dirtier sound. The night covered us in filth, and we were glad.
