On Saturday night, EARLY MAN plays their first LA show since the release of their first LP in 5 years, Death Potion.  So how does that record compare to their debut that caused many to describe them as the modern day WITCHFINDER GENERAL?  Here's one take on it:

 On Closing In, I kind of got Black Sabbath meets Kreator – but I don’t feel the Sabbath in their new record at all.  Death Potion is harder and thrashier than Early Man have ever been, with more of a Slayer meets Mercyful Fate feeling at this point in their career. They’ve toured with one of my favorite bands – 3 Inches of Blood – and 3 Inches fans should absolutely love this record as well. A song like “Fight” definitely has that same epic feel as a 3 Inches of Blood tune, but with angrier lyrics like “all right, so you wanna fight/my fists are sticks of dynamite/ fuck you if you’re talkin’ to me/my fuel goes quick like TNT” rather than “destroying orcs and dungeons and dragons” type material.

Throughout our history, we've been prone to experimentation.  So when Spaceland Productions offered us the unexpected opportunity to book some bluegrass bands for their alt country/americana festival, we jumped at it.  Headfirst.  How can you say no to something that seems to make so little sense?  But the truth is that it's not so far-fetched.  Modern bluegrass bands have at least two things in common with the metal counterparts:  they link to drink, and they like to shred.  As PANTERA put it,  "So now, this is the art; To shred... it's only emotion."  Very true.   And the bands we are presenting on the Hellbilly Stage this Saturday are chock full of it.  They are also influenced by a lot of the same metal and puvk we all grew up on, and that comes across in their music.  This is bluegrass that breaks all the rules with drums, amps, and attitude.  The weekend is shaping up to be a beaut, so come join us at twilight outside of the Echoplex and open up your minds.  There's plenty of metal later that night to soothe that part of your soul.  

And when our bands finish, we'll move inside to see Mississippi delta bluesman T MODEL FORD, who at 90 or so is still drinking whiskey and touring in support of his new record, the aptly titled The Ladies Man.  If you've never seen the John Lee Hooker, R. L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough's of the world play the devil's music, do yourself a favor and see T MODEL.  His kind has almost all left us, but will never be forgotten.

The entire festival spans three stages - the Echoplex, the Echo, and our Hellbilly Stage - and doors open at 3 PM.  You can get discounted advance tix for $12 by entering the code word "Roadhouse" when you order here.  And special thanks to Farron Loathing, who made this sweet ass poster before he hit the road with the mighty LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH.  Those who witnessed their Three Clubs set last week may have also seen Josh Homme emerge from the back door and declare that it was pretty damn awesome.        

 Here's the set times for our bands.  The whole lineup can be found here

LAST ROUND DOWN 6:35 pm - 7:15 pm         
OLD BULL  7:25 pm - 8:05 pm               
KILLING CASSANOVA 8:15 pm - 8:55 pm               

If anyone out there is into this shit like we are, we'd love to hear from you.  Not sure if this is all falling on deaf ears.  

Click Flyer To Buy Tix (by Farron Loathing)

We've three pairs of tickets to give away for this Saturday's BLACK MATH HORSEMAN show at Spaceland with CROOKED COWBOY, San Francisco's GIANT SQUID, and BROTHERS COLLATERAL (featuring ex-400 Blows drummer Ferdie).  Casual readers of this blog know we've been big supporters of BMH.  We've proudly presented them so many times this year that we wouldn't be surprised if they serve us with a restraining order.  Their past shows at this venue have always been something special, with their big sound making it feel like they might just elevate that low ceiling with only acoustic energy.  The band's recent blog post suggests that the attendees will be exposed to some new material:  

We've been focused on writing and working up new music/songs for the next record.  We're excited bout the new songs and look forward to playing some new music at our upcoming show/s.  This is our first local show in a while, and our only show of the summer. Hope you can join us. 

CROOKED COWBOY is another band we've been writing about but without the benefit of experiencing their live set.  That's always a potential dealbreaker for any looming love affair, and although we have a crazy Saturday in store that will require us to pull off a rare tripleheader, we'd like to finally break our maiden.  And be sure to get there in time to catch GIANT SQUID.  Their 2009 release The Ichthyologist was unappreciated by the masses, in part because there weren't that many copies to go around.  Doug Moore of Metal Review explains why you should make an effort to procure one.     

When people ask me why I like metal, I rarely know what to say. Often I give them an answer that’s true for a lot of the metal I enjoy: it’s basically fun, rock-out music. Many of my favorite metal acts are pretty silly, despite their badass riffage and sick drumming, so pointing to that silliness as part of metal’s appeal is both true and convenient. But, like any metal fan, I find some heavy bands deeply and genuinely affecting. Sure, any good metal act can make you bang your head, but a select few can reach you on a more fundamental, emotional level. Most outsiders find the idea of emotionally viable heavy metal hard to swallow, so I prefer to simply play bands that fall into that category for them and grin as their eyes bug out of their heads. Giant Squid is one of those bands.    

If you want to enter the contest, email us your full name to thecityofdevils@gmail.com or contact us here before noon on Thursday.

Click Flyer to Buy Tickets

We're back this Saturday at Three Clubs for another free night of metal featuring two of the rising black metal bands  from the City of Devils.  New York's LITURGY was supposed to headline this show, but illness forced them to cancel their tour, and we are fortunate to have LIGHTNING SWORDS OF DEATH step in before they circle the country beginning next week in support of JUNGLE ROT.  Their recent Metal Blade release, The Extradimensional Wound, is pure fury.  Invisible Oranges calls it a "minor classic", docking points for a production that doesn't quite do the band justice, but LSOD are far from the first black metal band to suffer that problem.  What's basically undisputed is that this band brings it live, causing even a man of inner conviction like Cosmo Lee to temporarily question his atheism.  They'll be joined by HARASSOR, another local band buillding quite a reputation for its performances.  There's absolutely nothing contrived about Pete Major's intensity as a frontman.  The lone out of town group is NERO ORDER, a quintessential San Francisco band that meldins a variety of influences with progressive overtones on their self-released and recorded to tape four part full-length debut, The Tower.  And be kind to the bartenders at the club.  They universally rule.