The opening offering this Friday night at The Wise is a favorite of mine, the always killer WAR FOR YOUR MONEY and their deliciously sludgy psych/hard rock.
The drum-bass combo here gets me moving like a few others. Thick and funky bass riffs living in my brain, propelling my flails, and incredible drums full of exciting and tasty fills. A couple of new songs in the set; both hit the mark.
They have a few long, intense songs, really letting the music breathe and giving me a chance to stretch my legs on the open floor as it was a sparse crowd to start the night—so much head-banging and foot-stomping.
Next was a band visiting us from Seattle, WITCH RIPPER, keeping the genre going with their sludgy hard-proggy stoner rock, with a hard bend towards the metal with even some screaming vocals at times.
I loved the fucking killer name, and it fits the sound so perfectly. Big smashing drums had me flying everywhere, flailing like a fool. Executed perfect time changes on a dime, keeping me guessing where I was going next. Love when a band can pull that off.
Another absolute banger on this killer night; so much energy to have me flying to. I love having a vast open space for bands in this personal favorite genre.
Then we received DREADNOUGHT visiting us from Denver, bringing their melodic metal to my waiting earballs. They were the perfect follow-up to the openers.
Keyboard-heavy, giving a real psych vibe throughout. Vocals that were buried, though what I heard was killer. Especially when I got some screaming.
They are jazz-influenced, especially those drums, and a little classical. The big, soaring sounds carried by the drums were a fucking treat to flail too. Several songs had a tremendous droning sound that would build and reach a huge crescendo.
Still, a whole whack of floor space to fly around to, a rare treat, especially with these three killer bands. He was pleased with this evening’s offerings.