Sunday Sesh: Let’s Do It Live
Ah, Summer. The time of the year when pasty metalheads crawl forth from the comfort of their parents’ basements to brave the harsh wilds of public interaction in order to see their favorite bands on the tour circuit. This post is for all you brave warriors riding forth into glory despite the glowering hordes of insects, UV rays, and normies that stand against you. What shows are you checking out?
By the time you read this, I’ll be dragging my exhausted lack of a butt into bed after a night of mystery and debauchery with the one and only Randall Thor. You see, I just moved to North Carolina, so it’s only right that I make a day trip to Charlotte to pay my respects to the self-styled King of True Carolingian Metuhl. Sweetening the deal is the fact that weird death stalwarts (and friends of the Toilet) Pyrrhon and Replicant are playing a set in Asheville, the Austin of NC, land of a thousand breweries, today (Saturday). The show starts at 9 pm (yuck), so Randall and I will have to drive back to Charlotte super late (double yuck), but it’s worth it to me to have one last adventure before the heat really starts getting laid on me at my new job. Plus, the other two bands on the bill, Veldtchasm and GnarlScar, are both super gnarly death-worshipers who will fit right in with the skronk. Check them out below and buy some stuff on Bandcamp!
But wait, there’s more.
Before leaving Texas, I got together with the Dallas Toilet crew and crashed a cozy dive bar to see NY death metal luminaries Internal Bleeding and the legendary, undeniable Vader. There were several other bands on the bill, but in all honesty, those two main acts were really the only ones that did much for me. However, it was great getting to see Internal Bleeding live for the first time; despite the tragic death of drummer Bill Tolley, the bringers of brutality have soldiered on, and their live set was injected with a triumphant sense of vigor and celebration for Tolley’s legacy. It was great to see the band paying homage to their fallen brother while inviting members of the crowd to get down to some ignorant blasts!
Vader, however, was a revelation. Watching the death metal mainstays live was a pure affirmation of their iconic status. I can’t recall the last time I saw a band play with that level of consistency and energy throughout an entire set. The band pulled no punches, ripping through furious track after track with no quarter given. Whether it was old classics like “Wings” or new bangers from 2016’s Empire, the band showedwith glorious savagery why they’ve been held in such high esteem for over 30 years now. And by the look of it, they could keep on ripping through killer cuts like “Kingdom” and manic covers like “Raining Blood” for the next 30 years. If you get a chance, go see Vader live.
I’m going to sleep for the next century now. Tell everyone else what bands you’ve been seeing and will be seeing in the comments below.
