4/20 Brings the U.P. Heavy Part II
Yes, we’re Marquette Music Scene, but we really love to see other towns in the U.P. kicking musical ass, and since re-opening as a BYOB/C establishment a couple of years ago Escanaba’s historic “The Delft” has been really bringing it on the musical front across the board, but this is the second year they’ve worked with RezDog Promotions for a 4/20 heavy show. Now I’m just going to assume RezDog is another Lexie/Jason Keshick, of Ghidora, project, and we’ll get to them later.
I guess I’m going to preface this by saying I couldn’t find any music by Electromag (looks like rockers from the powerhouse WI stoner/doom scene), and only limited music by Gallows Grove. I also don’t have a running order so I’m just going to start with the Grove.
What I did hear sounded like some pretty straight up Metallic Hardcore, and it definitely didn’t turn me off. I was talking with Caving Grounds Alex Wickstrom and he said, “They’re my favorite Esky band right now” they’re “somewhat metalcore, somewhat nu-metal and somewhat djent and they just blend it well.” He was also very high on Jocelyn’s vox. Though to be 100% transparent this doesn’t sound like it’s going to be my cup of tea, but if Alex is big on them they’re definitely worth checking out. Also, sounds like they’re good folk who like to give back to their communities so that always gains major points with me.
Goin’ down the list lets take a qui9ck look at Wisconsin Djent juggernauts Heavy lies the Crown. Again, I have to be completely honest and say that other than thinking “Oh, this is interesting” when I first heard Meshuggah’s 1998 full length “Chaosphere” djent just has never interested me. However, if you are into it, these guys oughta get your juices flowing. Heavy groovy riffage with wild tempo and time changes, in your face vox and pounding drums. There is no doubt that djent has solidified itself as a permanent sound in metal, and Heavy Lies the Crown seems poised to dominate the midwest.
I caught As Bullets Baptize at last year’s Booney Bash at Michhistrigan Campgrounds on US2 (they’re playin’ Friday night again this year). They play a style of thrashcore that will appeal to all kinds of rock and metal fans.Rippin’ thrash riffs from across the thrash spectrum, moshable breakdowns, fun solos, killer groove and solid tough guy gruff vox that should get your neck rockin’. For fans of Bay Area thrash, Thrashcore like Devildriver or (lets go old school) Superjoint Ritual, and there’s a lot here nu-metal fans would enjoy as well. The -core elements may turn some folks off, but these guys are a real party on (and off the) stage. They’re the first band of the “He Has Resin” tour which is closing a three day run at the Delft.
This brings us to Phase Meridian who are in the Archives as “Progressive Sludge.” Well, I guess that’s what we can call the style, you know the style that put Mastodon in Arenas after starting out a wacky grindcore band. There is going to ba A LOT of appeal to these cats, they’re gonna come at you from all angles with crunchy swamp riffs, to bouncy groovy -core/thrash, clear death metal influences, and more. I will admit that his is the style that sort of turned me away from Mastodon, but live these bands tend to bring it. Starting as Red\\Shift in 2011 they didn’t have too much output until closer to 202, but two of these cats were busy in the now defunct but totally prolific Oak Pantheon. They’ve really been putting in the effort post pandemic with multiple singles, and it sounds like there’s a new full length in the works. I’m very curious to see these cats live, but I fully expect the crowd to be going absolutely wild.
Rounding out the “He Has Resin” grouping is Stoner/Doom (soon to be) titans Thundergoat. As I mentioned before the Wisconsin Stoner/Doom scene is pretty off the charts and these guys fit the bill completely Covering the Stoner/Doom spectrum the way many doo from mid to fast paced, almost High on Fire thrashers, to almost SUNN0))) droning Thundergoat keeps you guessing and your neck wreckin’. Their humor definitely plays into the game as well with track titles like “Chunker Bunker,” “Killer Bong, dude” and “Jake The Stoner Snake Roberts.” This is the kind of band that I use to bring heavy classic rock fans over to the darker world of underground metal and I can’t wait to have them try to blast my already weathered ear drums.
This brings us to the band I will in now way try to hide my excitement to see. A couple of weeks agoI was doing my usual bi-weekly Midwestern demo check in the Archives and I found Cröven had dropped one completely under the radar. After talking with them it was so under the radar taht “We didb’t’ even really mean for people to hear it” to which I said “WHY THE FUCK NOT?” It’s been a LOOOONG time since I’ve been this blown away by a demo.Cröven captures the vibes of the early 80’s underground in a rarified manner, they are wearing their influences of Mercyful Fate, Cirith Ungol, Manilla Road, Venom, Angelwitch and so much more directly on their sleeves. Vocalist/Axeman Corey Anderson’s sneer is right there with the likes of Chronos, but still very much his own, and his axe work on this demo is superb (though I will say he needs a bit of work on those solos, chaos is okay, but sometimes they just are slightly off, but that’s to an elitist nitpicker). I can’t wait to see if these guys can bring it live the way it sure looks like they do on video. If they can, they need to have this demo pushed the furthest reaching corners of the traditional metal scene because someone besides me (and former WUPX/LA Weekly/Century Media cat Clint “The Crippler” Mayher) and these guys have a great chance to be “huge in Europe” (iykyk) in 10 years. I could also see these guys picking up some nasty covers and mixing their awesome originals and maybe even throw something wild and “new” at the rural bar scene.
Finally, we come to Ghidora. I called these guys “one of the hardest working bands north of Chicago” last year and they’ve definitely continued to run with it. Once again, full transparency, these guys ARE NOT my style, but they are good folks, a family band, hard workers, and amazing community stewards and I will help them in any way I can. Musically what can you expect? Well, honestly, I hear Slipknot IOWA Part II. they are definitely one of those bands in this nu-metal revival that rides the fence between new metal and metalcore, but they simply sum it up in a glorious way “Rez Metal.” as all members of the band, I already mentioned as family, are members of the Hannahville Indian Community. Ghiidora is all about Lexie/Jason Keshick & Sheldon King groove over some extremely tight drumming from Jose McKitrick. Seriously, if anything impressed me musically with Ghidora its definitely Jose. Vocalist Carissa Keshick brings a fun varied approach and I believe she’s really coming into her own. After much lobbying from many of us, Ghidora will be playing Milwaukee Metalfest in a couple weeks, and they’ll also be on the same night as the aforementioned As Bullets Baptize on the ‘25 Booney Bash.
So there ya have it. If you’re of the HEAVY, if you aren’t either at Kognisjon in Marquette or The Delft in Escanaba on Saturday are you really heavy or are you just someones brother?
Get out and wreck your neck this weekend (oh, I will give you a pass if you’re of the heavy, but still want to catch May Erlewine’s special album release shows in Marquette because her new “rockinest album ever” is pretty damn rockin’).
Leave a Reply