Back when I heard that
Zoroaster,
Gates of Slumber and
Serpent Cult were coming to town I pegged it as one of those shows with a relatively small chance of actually occurring (and I wasn't the only one). I booked yesterday off just in case the metal gods smiled upon Bytown and lo and behold the international convoy of volume dealers did indeed make it up (and over, in the case of Serpentcult).
Local opener duties went to The Unavowed, who played a fine set of their grind and punk-influenced metal, featuring of course their cover of
I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive.
The Unavowed, The Rainbow, August 4, 2009Up next were Belgium's Serpentcult. Once upon a time there was a band in Ghent called The Plague of Gentleman. They broke up a while back and the various members recruited the lovely and talented Michelle Nocon to sing lead. She's got a good clean vocal style that stands in stark relief among the vast legion of Cookie Monster imitators.
Serpentcult, The Rainbow, August 4, 2009My favourite band of the evening was Indianapolis' Gates of Slumber: Three heavyset guys who look like they rode into town on Harley Davidsons. You don't need bassist Jason McCash's
Mournful Cries T-shirt to tell you these guys have a heavy Wino influence (or share influences with the doom metal legend). I love all things Wino so their tunes really hit the spot with me. Alas they turned down a request to sing
God Wills It - "That would be our whole set!"
Gates of Slumber, The Rainbow, August 4, 2009Zoroaster finished things off by pummeling the crowd with a massive pile of Sunn and Orange amplification. I had flashbacks to the Torche/Nachtmystium Boris show at Babylon, and not just because the guitarist's microphone stopped working properly. They also brought their own lighting gear which added some extra atmosphere.
Zoroaster, The Rainbow, August 4, 2009Good stuff all around: I emptied my wallet buying CDs (two of which had giant sea creatures on the cover - I think squid is the new bat in heavy metal) and T-shirts.
