4/20 Bringing the U.P. Heavy!

4/20…

…um, okay…

…4/19 is bringin’ the heavy to music fans in the central U.P. – Part I: Resinator

In celebration of cannabis (and beer) and heavy rock, as Marquette’s Kognisjon Bryggeri brings back Resinator ‘fest for it’s 2nd Annual Appearance (there is no First Annual! damn it!) and down in Escanaba the Deflt once again paired with Ghidora, one of the hardest working heavy music bands in the Midwest, for their 2nd Annual Invasion of 4/20.

Both shows feature badass heavy rock and metal from around the U.P., Lower Michigan and Wisconsin; and both shows are guaranteed not to disappoint.

First up, though I won’t be in attendance this year, we’re going to talk about the Marquette festivities.  A FREE! Heavy Rock and Metal show in Marquette, last years was one of the most packed nights the Kog has seen, and this year could easily be no different.

Firing the show off is a band we tried to late-book onto the show last year, things just couldn’t line up, but the scene vets that make up Caving Ground jumped at the opportunity this year, and if you’ve had the chance to catch their version of Extreme Death/Sludge/Crust influenced Hardcore you know that necks will be wrecking right off the start.  Sure, I’ll call this crossover, but don’t expect nice rockin’ rhythms like DRI, this is dirty, nasty modern Metallic Hardcore bound to rip your fucking face right off. A versed metalhead can tell these cats have been all over the place in their history and they wear those influences right on their sleeves.  Yes, its unequivocally Hardcore, but if you “hardcore dance” in one of their pits someone in a battle jacket is most likely going to put you on your ass.

Next up is LaCrossee, WI doomsters (post-rock whatever the fuck you wanna call it) The Grey Area. I admit I was only able to jam “A Slow Burn and Many Cancelations” once, but it didn’t disappoint or surprise me.  It’s spacy, stonery riffage ala rockier Neurosis or modern Earth.  If you like to just zone out, this will be a band for you to smoke a doob (i assume Higher Love will be running specials, but don’t smoke it at the Kog) lay back and get lost in doomy soundscapes.

Swampy local Experimental Sludgsters The Hard.return to Resinator next, with their eclectic hard hitting mix of rock, sludge, doom, death, thrash, and hardcore.  You can always expect wrecked necks, crowd participation, mosh pits and apparently these days Andy telling us he’s (and we’re by default) old.  If you haven’t caught this three piece before be ready to be pummeled by a dual vocal attack between Andy and the versatile demonic music vixen Jaki, Andy’s riffs channeled from all styles of heavy, and one of the most solid rhythm backbones in the region: the aforementioned Jaki’s crunchy bass riffs and the ultimate dad rocker drummer in the U.P. Dave Swartz.(seriously Dave will wreck you while you try to keep up).

Continuing the tradition of bringing bands from below the bridge, Lansing’s Room 101 comes to Marquette bringing a style of Death/Doom that this area rarely if ever sees. Traditional Death/Doom leaning on the Doom side showing influences from the likes of early Thergothen & My Dying Bride however, I’d say that the gothic influence is replaced by a more droning psychedelic influence, with a mix of harsh and clean vox.  These guys will appeal to a wide variety of heavy music fans as long as they’re cool with harsh vox.

Headlining this year’s Resinator Release Party is longtime Cognition/Kognisjon (they go back to the old location) collaborator, and a band maybe even swampier than The Hard, Ludington, MI’s Stoner/Doom titans Bog Wizard.   These cats are definite Wizards in the world of Stoner/Doom continuing a Michigan tradition laid out by cats like Beast in the Field, Buffalo Witch, and one could even drop an Acid Witch on there.  Expect smokey Satbbath-esque riffage sometimes slowed down to an extreme drone, tempo changes from the ultra slow to mid-paced, and a mix of clean and harsh vox.  I mean, if you’re fans of Stoner/Doom and don’t like these cats I don’t know what to say.  I will say that without a doubt I’ll be bummed to miss them, but if this is the Central U.P. Heavy show you choose you are definitely in for another special night.

Next up, in Part II (tomorrow) we’ll talk about the aforementioned 420 invasion happening at the Delft. 4/20 is bringing U.P. Heavy!!!  We’re driving down and we couldn’t be more pumped!