Sleeping beauty

Okay, "beauty" may be the wrong word to apply to hair doom rock trio Gates of Slumber. Peruse writings on the band and the words "Wino," "Iommi" and "biker" are likely to make a prominent appearance. These guys like their metal old school - old enough for mainman Karl Simon to admit to a major fondness for the old blues guys who lent a pentatonic past to Black Sabbath's sludgy remaking. If Conan the Barbarian listened to music, these guys would definitely be on the playlist.

Karl and his mighty moustache.



And the rest.



Drummer Bob Fouts.



Bassist Jason McCash.



Headbanging action!



Sometimes low light works best.



The view from up above.



More Bob!



More headbanging!



And a somewhat snappier shot.



That would have been your daily recommended dose of metal right there. Their new album Hymns of Blood and Thunder has been getting major props as well.

• Show reminder: Meadowlark 5, Ornaments and The Red Giants perform at Zaphod's; Elliott Brood, Old Crowns and Deep Dark Woods play Mavericks. Junior Boys, Woodhands and Noah are at Ritual; Capital Grass and The No Men, Devin Johnstone and Theresa Pasaluko rock the Elmdale House.

Out in worship

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, 2009

Up 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, 2009

My 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, 2009

Zoroaster 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, 2009

Good 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.

• Show reminder: Tonk and The Honkys, Tanya Janca and Ace Kinkaid play Zaphod Beeblebrox, accompanied by a display of some photographers' work.