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West Coast black metal comes to CT

Black metal has always had a history of the ‘I’m more underground than you’ mentality. Unfortunately for some bands their recognition did not lie in their musical abilities, but in what lengths they strove to in order to attempt to prove this ethos.   The tour party that hits Cherry Street Station in Wallingford, CT on June 17^th is no exception in certain respects. However unlike some of their predecessors these bands have the chops to back it all up.     

Headliners Bone Awl only releases their music in vinyl and cassette formats, snubbing the various digital formats popular with the kids these days including that grandfather of digital harmony the compact disc. Tour partners Ashdautus and Volahn belong to a group of obscure California-based black metal bands calling themselves the Black Twilight Circle. Preferring not to partake in any action that might be construed as mainstream these bands refuse to even maintain the prerequisite Myspace pages in lieu of paying for their own domain. Thankfully no church burnings or murders have been tied to any of the B.T.C.  However the level at which these bands maintain their antiestablishment vision sets a very intentional tone of danger and mystery nonetheless. In a sense these bands succeed in shifting the paradigm by promulgating evil through their non-actions.     

                So how does one describe a band or bands that are so ‘underground’ that they even eschew the conventional labels which best describes them? I suppose for the sake of ‘conformist’ writing such monikers are best put to use if for no other reason than as a reference point for unfamiliar readers. Despite the chagrin from fans posting on various metal boards about the use of the term ‘black metal’ when describing Bone Awl, Ashdautus, and Volahn there is no escaping its level of accuracy. Grim, often lo-fi, and filled with pure hatred for all humanity these bands hearken back to a time when man existed solely as some primordial state of being. This is a sound that is unabashed in its intent to musically send society reeling into an early apocalypse.   All three bands are recommended listens for anyone looking for something beyond the conventional boundaries of what is considered extreme.

                Opening the show is CT’s own Iron Hand and New York’s Castevet, the latter of which seems to sonically be a better fit with their Bloodlet meets early Darkthrone vibe. It’s not that Iron Hand can’t hold their own in a live venue. Certainly they are talented enough well beyond their years to be on a bill like this but musically they are in a very different place it would seem. I’m certainly no stranger to recommending shows to folks but for fans of the underworld this is truly a show that you probably shouldn’t miss.