The Christian Mistress Bows Before The Thrones

Joe Preston returns tomorrow night at Spaceland with his one man musical project, THRONES.  Mr. Preston's resume speaks for itself.  He doesn't need us singing his praises.  But we are interested in whose praises he's singing.  And we're pretty intrigued that he has selected true metal band CHRISTIAN MISTRESS to support him on this tour.  We first heard of CHRISTIAN MISTRESS from HUNTRESS drummer Sean Ford (headlining a free Three Clubs show Saturday night), who shared this digital copy of their demo cassette release on his blog, Illogical Contraption, that has a knack for digging up the good shit.  In a series of posts about the incestuous metal scene in Olympia, Washington (aka Oly-metal), Sean gave us the story behind the formation of CHRISTIAN MISTRESS:

The wailing female singer of Buried Blood hooked up with the young punks of Funerot to start an incredible traditional metal band called Christian Mistress. Now we get to the point of this whole post (finally). CHRISTIAN FUCKING MISTRESS. No myspace, no twitter account, just tape trading. My buddy Rubin plays drums in this band and he sent me this tape in the mail 2 years ago. It warms my heart every time I put it on, I cant even tell you.       

A few months later NPR (WTF?) dug on their 7":

With twin lead guitars and a raspy female vocalist, Christian Mistress unleashed a faithful genre exercise on its debut 7" from 2009. "Mother of Mercy" is so true to the style, you'd swear fingerless gloves were employed in those guitar solos. The band and vocalist Christine Davis could almost be dead ringers for our German witch hunters in Warlock, but there's a bit more punk snarl to this A-side. After a few sets of one-handed push-ups, you'll cry "Mother of Mercy," too, and beg for the B-side.  

And now their coming to town on the heels of releasing their first full-length via 20 Buck Spin, Agony and Opium.  By then, CHRISTIAN MISTRESS was getting love from another reliable source of goodness, Aquarius Records:

The debut from Olympia's Christian Mistress, actually looks more crusty punk than heavy metal, and comes out on a label better known for doom and sludge than "True" heavy metal. Yet this is true all right. Not only boasting shredding twin guitars, but melodies and SONGS, and a singer, Christine Davis, who not only can sing but has a "VOICE". Sorry for the all caps, and quotes, but we're excited. What we mean is, she's got a voice that is unique and memorable, as well as being able to carry a tune. Pretty special in this day and age. We'd probably have to compare her, among female metal vocalists, to Kate De Lombaert from '80s Belgian band Acid, not that we expect everybody to know who that is... Davis could also appeal to fans of Hammers Of Misfortune, and Jex Thoth, though she doesn't sound like those female singers, her voice much more raw, deeper, with a slight rasp in fact. But sweet enough for us! It's powerful yet melancholic character goes well with her lyrics, serious ones about such subjects as love and (we think) addiction, she stays away from trite metal cliches. Meanwhile, musically, the band shows itself to be steeped in the "old ways", dedicated students of Judas Priest and early Iron Maiden, the NWOBHM, Metallica, Megadeth, etc... plugging into the timelessness of the best traditional metal, while still sounding fresh and vital. Exciting, and emotional.

But even with all these accolades for its recorded music, those in the know tell us that full appreciation is not realized until you've been to a live show.  Your opportunity for that is tomorrow, but here is a beautifully raw practice session to whet your appetite.    

And we've got tickets for you.  To be in the running, enter by tomorrow at noon with your full name by contacting us here or emailing thecityofdevils@gmail.com.  The good ol' boys (and frog leg eating maniacs) from GYPSYHAWK open up the show in what will be the debut LA performance for drummer Ian Brown.    

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