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VA Shows You Must See This Week: April 17 – April 23

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, April 20, 8 PM
Battlemaster (Photo by David Morton), Sinister Purpose, Horse Culture, Doll Baby, Shormey @ Gallery 5 – $6 in advance/$12 at the door (order tickets HERE)
This year 420 falls on a weekend, and for quite a few of y’all out there, that’s a particular cause for celebration. I may not choose to partake in the herbal sacraments, but I like music and munchies as much as the next girl, so I can certainly appreciate a good 420 party — and Gallery 5 is throwing a great one this Saturday. My old roommate, who handled all the booking back when I lived at a show house, has moved up in the world, and is booking at Gallery 5 these days (remember that the next time someone tells you you’re wasting your time with all this DIY crap and it’ll never amount to anything), and she’s pulled together a show that reminds me of the great holiday shows we used to throw in our living room, not so long ago. Boy, a lot can change in three years, huh?

At the top of the bill, heading up Gallery 5’s 420 festivities for the third year in a row, is the almighty Battlemaster. Richmond’s death-thrash terrors may not be the most active of bands — it’s been four years since the release of their last LP — but their onstage energy is nothing to scoff at. Rest assured, when these maniacs start dishing out the riffs, blastbeats, and tortured screams, you’re gonna be headbanging at full speed just like everyone else in the room. Rockin’ rollin’ hardcore maniacs Sinister Purpose, who somehow manage to sound like Motorhead, Negative Approach, and the New Bomb Turks at the same time, are equally prepared to lay you out with their fierce sounds.

Horse Culture are also on the bill, presenting their multi-layered take on blackened shoegaze sludge. But it’s not all heaviness — the show will also feature a set of heartfelt melody and passionate emotion from Richmond faves Doll Baby, and Tidewater favorite Shormey will be joining in with some gorgeous electro-indie sounds. Plus, in a move that takes me back to the house-show days, this event will feature a table full of munchies to ease your 420 cravings, along with a photo spot and some fun temporary tattoos! Gotta keep shows interesting, right? What’s more, I really must advise you to buy your tickets in advance — if you wait to pay at the door, the price doubles. If that’s not an incentive, I don’t know what is.

Wednesday, April 17, 7 PM
Delta Sleep, Bogues, Hikes, Venus Milo @ The Canal Club – $15 in advance/$17 day of show (order tickets HERE)
There are those who will tell you that UK band Delta Sleep are math-rock, but if you ask me, that’s a bit of a misnomer. While they do incorporate the sort of delicate melodic complexity that has become a hallmark of post-Y2K math rock (replacing the harsh atonal noise that was the genre’s signature in the 90s), this band demonstrates on last year’s Ghost City that what really matters to them is creating music that moves you. They pull that off with aplomb and panache on their latest LP, and they’re sure to do the same when they hit the stage at the Canal Club tonight.

Nashville’s Bogues join Delta Sleep on this trip to Richmond, and while they’ve got an excellent sound in their own right, there’s definitely some daylight between the two out-of-towners. A solo-oriented project that sometimes takes the form of frontman AJ Gruenewald strumming an electric guitar and singing his heart out, Bogues have a strong melodic feel and a definite emotional orientation that’s likely to remind you of Julien Baker or Into It. Over It. in solo form. Texas band Hikes, who have a bit of the twinkly emo revival about them but are by no means easily slotted into a simple flavor-of-the-month genre, will also be on the bill to delight fans of tangled guitar leads, while relatively new locals Venus Milo kick the whole thing off.

Thursday, April 18, 7 PM
LA Guns @ Beacon Theatre – $22-30 (order tickets HERE)
One of the classic Sunset Strip glam metal bands of that genre’s 80s heyday, LA Guns have quite a storied history. Early lineups featured everyone from a pre-Guns n’ Roses Axl Rose (indeed, that’s where the “guns” half of his signature group’s name came from) to Weirdos/Germs drummer Nickey Beat, while more recent years saw longtime singer Phil Lewis and founding guitarist Tracii Guns leading two different versions of the group on competing US tours. Eep. Thankfully, the two buried the hatchet several years ago, and now lead a unified version of LA Guns once again (…though apparently the band’s longtime drummer now has a competing version with a bunch of randos he hired. It never ends, apparently).

Guns and Lewis will be coming to Hopewell’s Beacon Theatre, a venue that has quietly become the most reliable place in Virginia at which to see still-touring glam metal greats of decades past. I don’t know about y’all, but I for one am IN. A chance to hear classics like “Sex Action,” “Never Enough,” and “Rip And Tear,” along with the immortal power ballad “The Ballad Of Jayne,” of course — who could pass that up? These guys may not be as young and gorgeous as they once were, but the riffs are still straight fire, and that’s what should really matter, right? Head down to Hopewell this Thursday night, and let’s rock.

Friday, April 19, 8 PM
Cris Jacobs, Landon Elliott, Tavernier @ The Broadberry – $15 (order tickets HERE)
Singer-songwriter Cris Jacobs might be a relatively new name to some of you, but he’s been around for quite a while, getting his start in the early 00s fronting a Baltimore band called The Bridge. He’s been a solo artist for a while now, and his brand new album, Color Where You Are, features Richmond musicians Todd Herrington (Big Payback/Mekong Xpress) and Dusty Ray Simmons (DJ Williams Projekt/Fear Of Music) making up the rhythm section. And anybody who can recruit local talents like these to make up the core of his backing band, not only in the studio but on tour as well, is assuredly worth paying attention to.

Jacobs does a great job of laying out his sound on Color Where You Are, an album he wrote in the few spare moments he could find between his day job as a touring musician and his home life as a husband and father. The result is full of the hum and buzz of day to day life, a heartfelt album featuring touches of country, folk, and heartland rock all mingling together in a classically American sound. It’s the opposite of a stressful listen, and hearing Jacobs and his band bring the album to life at The Broadberry this Friday night is sure to ease your mind and help you put your cares aside. Don’t let the work week wear you out — come have some fun this Friday night with Cris Jacobs and his band. You’ll never regret it.

Saturday, April 20, 9 PM
Toward Space, Snake Mountain Revival, High Voltage @ Wonderland – $5
In the days since Slaughterama went away, I’ve been less than completely aware of what the dirt bike scene is like around Richmond. But there’s one thing I know that hasn’t changed in the years since I was up on all that — dirt bike kids are crazy. They do insane things frequently; it’s their idea of fun. And while I’ve never been the type to join in that kind of high-stakes broken-bone-risk action, I’ve always known how fun it is to watch. So the fact that FBM Bikes and DIG BMX will be holding the latest installment of their DIY World Championships at semi-secret bike/skate spot the Lost Bowl this Saturday lets me know that lots of fun will be had.

I can’t tell you where the Lost Bowl is, so #askapunk, but I can tell you that everyone will be headed straight for the bottom for the afterparty. I speak of Shockoe Bottom, of course, and the punkest bar in town, Wonderland. There, sets from (post-)teenage garage punk maniacs Toward Space and Virginia Beach-based psych-noise trio Snake Mountain Revival are set to get everyone flipping out. Plus, the evening will start with a (you guessed it) AC/DC tribute set from High Voltage, who based on their name are sure to go heavy on the Bon Scott era — as one should. So whether you make it to the Lost Bowl to see the crazy dirt bike action or not, you’re well advised to coast your dirt bike downhill to the Bottom and rock out with the BMX kids. Because as many of us know by now, BMX kids throw some incredible parties.

Sunday, April 21, 9 PM
HotSpit, Beeline, The Do-Nothings, Strawberry Moon @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Y’all, is HotSpit one word or two? I’ve certainly written it as both, and looking around facebook, I see I’m not the only one. Right now I’m going with the one-word-featuring-mid-word-capital-letter thing, but I’m sure in a few months I’ll have a much better understanding of what is correct. For you see, while HotSpit are a relatively new local band without too much history to draw on, I’m sure we’ll all be hearing a lot more about them in the next few months. Their demo shows a promising shoegaze quartet with strong vocal melodies and ringing guitars flexing their muscles and launching a distinctive and memorable sound.

So yeah, certainly the kind of band worth taking a Sunday night flyer on. HotSpit will be joined at The Camel by a few other local up-and-comers, first and foremost of which is Beeline. I hadn’t even heard this band’s name before now, but I’m glad they’ve been brought to my attention, as their demo shows off a catchy 90s-style jangly indie-rock sound that has significant charms. I’m already looking forward to more from these guys. The Do-Nothings, yet another new-to-me band, feature members of Recluse Raccoon playing some weird, shambling rock n’ roll that’s straight out of a basement somewhere in town. It’s hard to get a handle on, but it has its charms — as, of course, does Strawberry Moon, probably the most seasoned indie-pop group here, kicking off a fine bill that’s sure to please you, assuming you like catchy songs — and I’m not ashamed to say I do.

Monday, April 22, 7 PM
Jeremy Enigk, Tomo Nakayama @ The Canal Club – $16 (order tickets HERE)
Jeremy Enigk is a tough guy to figure out. Were he not so incredibly talented, people might have just given up trying to figure out what he’s up to. But as the frontman and chief songwriter for Sunny Day Real Estate, Enigk crafted some truly classic albums, the first of which, 1993’s Diary, has sometimes been credited with launching the emo genre (it didn’t really, but its importance can’t really be overstated). However, Enigk has broken up Sunny Day Real Estate, and post-SDRE band The Fire Theft, at least three separate times. It seems he’s ultimately most comfortable in the solo environment, and it’s as a solo artist that he returns to Richmond this Monday night for the first time in quite a while.

Enigk is currently touring behind his crowdfunded 2017 album Ghosts, his first release in nearly a decade. Fans quickly realized that his long period out of the spotlight had in no way diminished his songwriting powers, and indeed, Ghosts finds Enigk at the top of his game, his acoustic solo chops just as powerful in their own way as his louder electric sound was at the head of SDRE. The melancholy introspection and angst-ridden beauty of Enigk’s classic solo debut, Return Of The Frog Queen, shows through in abundance on Ghosts. The subdued, mostly-acoustic backing band provides a perfect canvas for Enigk’s gorgeous vocals and incredibly powerful guitar melodies. Enigk will come to town with a full band backing him up, and it’s easy to imagine the sound of Ghosts filling The Canal Club with gorgeous, vibrant sound. But why imagine it when you can be there? Get your tickets yesterday.

Tuesday, April 23, 7 PM
Crumb, Corridor, Lance Bangs, Slump @ Gallery 5 – $12 in advance/$15 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Psychedelic indie-rockers Crumb first came to my attention through the attentions of Citrus City Records, who released the cassette version of their self-titled debut EP, so it’s no surprise that the show-promotion arm of Citrus City, Underground Orchard, brings them to RVA once again this Tuesday night. Crumb, who hail from NYC these days, are preparing for the release of their debut LP, Jinx, which based on advance singles certainly seems like a deeper delve into the groovy, soulful take on indie-psych bounce that Crumb have made their stock in trade from day one. That’s certainly an appealing prospect.

They’ll be joined on their latest passage through RVA by Francophone Montreal group Corridor, who’ve demonstrated a Television/Parquet Courts-like facility for guitar-driven rock/punk/indie songcraft on releases like their 2017 full-length, Supermercado. Their toe-tapping melodies and popwise song construction also makes me think of late 80s/early 90s UK indie-pop groups like The Dentists or Heavenly, but I might be showing my age with references like that (as usual). Regardless, this two-band package packs enough of a soul-pop-indie-psych punch to keep you smiling throughout — and local support from slack alt-rockers Lance Bangs and psych-noise-core freaks Slump is a significant bonus.

Elsewhere around the state:

Friday, April 19, 7 PM
Bantustans, Han Gan, Broken Beaches, From Overseas @ Toast (Norfolk) – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Things are gonna get interesting at Norfolk’s Toast this Friday night, and I don’t mean that in a Top Five sort of way either. For starters, dual-drummer quartet Bantustans is at the top of the bill, and when they’re in the house, it’s always gonna be an unusual situation. While the group hasn’t released anything officially since 2016, they’ve recently been playing material from an upcoming album due for release sometime this year. And as with previous material, they continue to interweave complex guitar lines with even more complex multi-layered percussion to create instrumentals so intense and dynamic they have absolutely no need of vocals.

DC’s Han Gan will provide all the vocals you need, though, as Norfolk hometown boy Brian Nicewander, of storied 90s Norfolk post-hardcore group Words A Game, comes to town at the head of an energetic, Fugazi-esque trio with political energy and musical power to spare. If the group’s excellent 2018 debut, The City Of Magnificent Intentions, is any indication, this will be a proud homecoming indeed. Tidewater hometowners Broken Beaches, who have a heavy-grunge shoegaze vibe about them, and ambient guitar solo project From Overseas open this one up to get y’all going.

Saturday, April 20, 8 PM
Earthling, Red Death, Brick @ The Golden Pony (Harrisonburg) – $7
Harrisonburg metal heroes Earthling are celebrating 10 years of existence this weekend at their hometown venue, the Golden Pony. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long, but then, that’s life, isn’t it? It’s already been two years since the last Earthling full-length, Spinning In The Void, launched forth from Richmond’s own Forcefield Records, full of epic brutality and blackened psychedelic rage, so the fact that this band released their first demo all the way back in 2009 isn’t that shocking in retrospect.

It is, however, a cause for celebration, and Earthling will be celebrating at the Golden Pony this Saturday night. They’ll be joined by the almighty Red Death, who have connections to both DC and RVA, and who just signed to Century Media records a couple months ago. Their 2017 LP, Formidable Darkness, has the crossover thrash-core chops to make such a signing eminently apropos, and it seems likely that you’ll be seeing Red Death in much bigger venues in another six months or so. So join them at The Golden Pony now, and thrash to your heart’s content before you’ve got to compete with 1000 other hessians for your floor space. Harrisonburg hardcore crew Brick kick this whole thing off, and they’re gonna kick it HARD. Show up on time to this one, and get ready to go off.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers -– this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

The Last Days Of Strange Matter

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This month, Richmond’s music scene felt the pain of saying goodbye to one of its central gathering places. For a decade now, Strange Matter has been the most reliable location for live music in Richmond. It set itself apart with a focus on local favorites and underground scenes. Strange Matter supported the grass-roots music scenes that have put Richmond on the musical map over the past decade, from indie rock and hip hop to doom metal and hardcore punk. How this town will cope with its departure is a mystery, and a subject for concern as we head into 2019.

Our full memorial to Strange Matter will hit the streets later this week in our new print issue, and we’ll have that story for you in digital form sometime after Christmas. But today, we bring you one last look at the magnificence that was Richmond’s most beloved club, shot by photographer Julie Ferguson over the last two weeks of Strange Matter’s existence. Keep the memories close to your heart.

Iron Reagan

Stagediving, headwalking like mad…

BAT

Unmaker

Windhand

Tomorrow, they know, may not come…

Negative Approach

Humungus

Black Tusk

There are no laws… in the pit.

Unmaker

Iron Reagan

Battlemaster

Words by Marilyn Drew Necci, Photos by Julie Ferguson. Top photo: Inter Arma

VA Shows You Must See This Week: November 28 – December 4

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FEATURED SHOW
Tuesday, December 4, 6 PM
Negative Approach, Battlemaster, Shadow Age, True Body, Slump, Unmaker, Serqet, Gumming, Loud Night @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
The holiday season is here, but for the Richmond music scene, it’s a sad time, as perhaps our most reliable mainstay for live music over the past decade is going away. However, while it’s hard to think of how we’ll get by without Strange Matter in 2019, the venue’s imminent closing seems to have created an absolute bonanza for people who love seeing awesome bands. Between now and their final closing on December 15, they’ve booked a whole passel of action-packed, star-studded farewell shows to close out their time on a high note.

Indeed, there are so many that I couldn’t possibly fit all of the worthy bills happening at Strange Matter this week into this show column without ignoring some really great shows happening around town elsewhere. But rest assured, if any of the following picks isn’t in your lane, there’s probably something amazing happening at Strange Matter that night — check out the full schedule from now til their last night over here.

All that being said, I couldn’t possibly avoid mentioning this show. It was already stacking up to feature an abundance of excellent local bands from a variety of genres… and then Negative Approach came calling. This legendary first-wave US hardcore band came roaring out of Detroit in the early 80s with an amazing treasure trove of hardcore bangers that made their debut EP and Tied Down LP classics of the era. These days, vocalist and human whirlwind of rage John Brannon keeps the band alive in the company of the band’s original drummer, plus former members of fellow hardcore legends The Necros and Easy Action on bass and guitar.

And believe me, when they hit the Strange Matter stage, they’re going to rip your fucking head off. And yes, I intend that as a very high compliment. If you haven’t seen the reunited Negative Approach on any of their previous trips through Richmond, this is the time to make it happen. After all, you’ll not only be getting to see John Brannon go wild up close and in person, you’ll be celebrating the past decade of greatness Strange Matter brought to us, and in the company of some of this town’s best local bands. Its brought Shadow Age back from their recent retirement to play their first-ever set as a quintet, the dynamic psychedelic-postpunk duo of True Body and Slump are both on the bill, Unmaker’s fresh off the release of their new album and ready to lay you flat with Killing Joke-style heaviness… and there’s a whole lot more. I’ve already taken up too much space saying even this much. Just go.

Wednesday, November 28, 6 PM
Broadside, With Confidence, Sleep On It, Small Talks @ The Canal Club – $15 in advance/$18 at the door (order tickets HERE)
Broadside have been at it for a long time here in Richmond, and they’ve been through a lot during their decade or so of existence as a band. In fact, no one we talked to for our first interview with Broadside back in 2011 is even still in the band — so that should give you an idea. However, since singer Ollie Baxxter joined the band in 2013, they’ve had a standout sound that sets them apart from the pop-punk pack and helped get them signed to Victory. Second LP Paradise showed them branching out in their sound, increasing the emphasis on melody as Ollie grew as a vocalist and showed off some teen-idol vocal chops.

But rest assured, this band still packs the sort of punch you’ll need to get you jumping and dancing even as you sing along to all those heartbreaking lyrics we’ve all memorized alone in our rooms late at night. And they’re coming to town with Australians With Confidence, who have a similarly sure-footed approach to melodic, emotional punk sounds, though these guys are more on the emo tip than Broadside’s whole post-easycore approach. New album Love And Loathing is an excellent listen, and the band will bring all those tunes to life in glorious Technicolor when they hit the Canal Club stage. Wear your basketball shoes for this one, because the club is gonna be jumping.

Thursday, November 29, 8 PM
Manatree, Stray Fossa, Bottled Up, missangelbird @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 at the door (order tickets HERE)
If you’d like a one-night crash course in what’s going on in the indie scene around VA, you can’t do much better than this show at the Camel. Your star attraction, as it’s been so many times, is Manatree, a group that started out as bouncy teenagers but have grown up, matured, and been through some lineup shifts in order to evolve into their current form. They’ve developed a new approach that moves away from the alt-rock and emo tinges they had on earlier material in favor of delicate, mathematically complex precision, which they showed off on Engines, the full-length they released this past summer. If you haven’t caught them live since 2016 or so, rest assured, a lot has changed — and in good ways.

To our west up 64, Stray Fossa has been putting together some excellence of their own of late, releasing debut EP Sleeper Strip earlier this fall to give us all a taste of their pensive UK-style tuneage. It borders on shoegaze, but the way frontman Nick Evans’ voice sits above the multi-layered guitars is so strong and assured that the end result is closer to pre-shoegaze UK guitar slingers like House Of Love and The Chameleons. DC’s Bottled Up let loose with a bit more distortion than the two previous bands we’ve discussed, but there’s a great deal of space in their sound nonetheless, and delicate, bouncy pop is ultimately the best way to describe their music. Recent EP BU2 is a lot of fun, and their performance at this show seems certain to be as well. Finally, Harrisonburg’s missangelbird, which grew from a series of quiet solo demos into a softly powerful indie-folk trio over the past few months, opens up, easing you into a night of lovely sounds from around the state. Don’t miss a moment.

Friday, November 30, 7 PM
Drug Church, Gouge Away, Seattle’s New Gods, Twin Drugs @ Strange Matter – $12 (order tickets HERE)
Just to show you a little bit about how the sausage is made: this double-headline bill was a major candidate for Featured Show this week. I couldn’t deny the outstanding nature of the Negative Approach show, but it in no way reduces the greatness this truly stacked lineup has to offer. Drug Church and Gouge Away have both released new albums this year, and both of them show some major growth. Drug Church’s third LP, Cheer, just came out and finds this crunching (post?) hardcore band dishing out their usual top-quality distorted midtempo riffs, only now with a slight undertone of minor-key melody that increases the emotional quotient even as lead vocalist Patrick Kindlon (also of Self Defense Family and the Axe To Grind podcast — yeah, you know this dude) is still blasting you with his usual acerbic wit and cutting insights into the darker sides of human character.

Drug Church have always had a lot to offer, and seeing them on this tour is sure to make that clear. But don’t get too excited about them and miss out on their touring partner — Gouge Away’s new LP, Burnt Sugar, is clearly the best thing this already shit-hot band has done. It finds them cleaning up their sound but continuing to lean into their driving, furious punk rock sound, with the end result landing somewhere between the excellent emotional hardcore of Xerxes circa Collision Blonde and White Lung at their career peak (that being the “Blow It South” single). Both of these bands are guaranteed to offer powerful live performances that you won’t soon forget, and openers Seattle’s New Gods and Twin Drugs only make this show even cooler and more interesting. Get there.

Saturday, December 1, 6 PM
Inter Arma, Black Tusk, Earthling, Humungus, Hoboknife, Buzzard Dust, Prayer Group, The Astral Void @ Strange Matter – $15
OK I can’t talk about ALL of the Strange Matter farewell shows, but some of them definitely need specific mention, and this is one of them. This one is for all the kids who wear old faded metal t-shirts with the sleeves cut off all summer, and denim vests covered in patches all winter. It’s the perfect evening for people who like the idea of doom metal, but prefer bands to be too creative to fall squarely within that genre’s rather narrow borders. That description perfectly fits headliners and local metal legends Inter Arma, who have shown us over their decade-plus career that they are equally skilled at all genres of metal, and are willing to fit pieces from the majority of them, as well as some completely uncategorizable elements, into any given song of theirs. And it always rules.

But there are a ton of other bands on this bill, and all of them deserve your attention, especially Black Tusk. This Savannah, GA band has persevered despite tragedy, returning this year with TCBT, their first album since the death of founding bassist Jonathan Athon. The album’s unrelenting heavyosity makes clear that these guys still have an immense amount of metal power running through their veins, and their set at Strange Matter should make it even clearer. Of course we’ll get a ton of other great metal from around the state on this bill, from Earthling’s blackened crust rage to Humungus’s power-metal triumph and the psychedelic noise of The Prayer Group. Plus more! Get that vest out and let’s rage.

Sunday, December 2, 3 PM
Doll Baby, American Television, Alex Jonestown Massacre @ Hardywood – Free!
It’s always fun to visit Hardywood on a Sunday afternoon when Handmade Holiday is in full swing. Tons of crafters, artists, and other local vendors will be on hand to offer you an artisanal alternative to the Christmas gifts the big-box stores are all pushing this year. And what makes this Sunday afternoon’s Handmade Holiday presentation even cooler is the presence of three excellent bands to liven up your afternoon and give you sounds to tap your foot to as you browse through the tents and get some holiday shopping done.

American Television are the out-of-towners, but they’re from just up the road in DC, and they’ve got a great sound that will find a home in RVA’s heart for sure. The “Death Defier” single they released this summer, which was sold in conjunction with a signature dark roast coffee if you can believe that, has the kind of caffeinated rush you’d expect from a melodic punk band with an addiction to the dark nectar of the bean. The signature roast is sold out, but they’ve still got plenty of killer tunes to deliver to you this Sunday afternoon, as do local favorites Doll Baby and up-and-coming young band Alex Jonestown Massacre. It’s free, it starts at 3 PM, there are food trucks where you can score a late brunch, and you can get all your gift-shopping done in one place. What more could you ask for?

Monday, December 3, 7 PM
WHY?, Lala Lala @ The Broadberry – $15 in advance/$20 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Remember when people used to talk about “backpacker hip hop”? It doesn’t get brought up as much now, but all that stuff released during the 00s on Anticon, Definitive Jux, and similar labels had a real effect on the culture and stretched the sounds and ideas of hip hop into new realms. Why?, a group formed by former cLOUDDEAD rapper and Anticon all-star Yoni Wolf in the mid-2000s, was a big part of that expansion. The project started as a de facto solo thing for Wolf, but soon evolved into a four-piece band that incorporated guitars, keyboards, and drums into a sound that was almost closer to indie than anything anyone would expect from a project associated with the hip hop genre.

But Wolf was still rapping over it all, and it created an intriguing fusion, one that Why? were largely responsible for creating, most prominently on their landmark 2008 album, Alopecia. You might hear about the fusion of rap and rock and think cringingly of Limp Bizkit, but Why?’s sound was about as far as you could get from that, accentuating Wolf’s thoughtful lyrical pensiveness with a quiet, contemplative indie sound that fit in well with groups like the Silver Jews — who Why? actually toured with back then. And they made their mark on a whole generation of music lovers, from hip hop heads to indie kids and everything in between. On this 10th anniversary tour for Alopecia, they’ll be bringing all those fans into the same room once again, and it’s sure to blow your mind whether you were there for the first go-round or you’re just discovering Yoni Wolf and his excellent band today. It’s something you need to see.

Tuesday, December 4, 8 PM
Ghost @ Dominion Energy Center – $39.50 – $79.50 in advance (order tickets HERE)
Nearly a decade after their formation, Sweden’s Ghost remain a very interesting band. Their theatrical Satanism, always exemplified by elaborate characters and onstage costumery, took a bit of a hit after legal action by former members of the group revealed the identity of mastermind Tobias Forge. Forge has actually been the band’s frontman throughout the many transferrences of the vocal position between different characters over the years, and he’s portraying yet another new character on the current Ghost tour — Cardinal Copia, a break from the Papa Emeritus lineage.

However, neither official character changes nor demystification has slowed Ghost down one bit. While their image might lead you to expect King Diamond/Cradle Of Filth-style theatrical thrash, their music has always hewed to a more classic proto-metal sound in line with late 60s-early 70s pioneers like Covenant, Bloodrock, or Blue Oyster Cult. That remains true on Prequelle, their latest offering, which carries their spooky, organ-fueled sound forward into a haunting, multi-layered extravaganza. It’s a bit late in the holiday season for Ghost’s current tour to arrive in Richmond — Halloween would have been much more appropriate — but with two full sets of excellent music and an incredible stage show, we’d be total grinches to complain.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Wednesday, November 28, 7 PM
Kaonashi, Cryptodira, Vatican, Accident Prone, Nhibitions, Split Wrist @ Charlie’s American Cafe – $10 in advance/$13 day of show (order tickets HERE)
It’s been nice to see a new generation of metallic hardcore kids who aren’t afraid to embrace the influence of nu-metal on their music. Because the fact is, the best of those bands had a lot to offer. When PA metalcore maniacs Kaonashi hit us with unabashed Slipknot and Mudvayne influences on their latest EP, Why Did You Do It?, it demonstrates clearly what sort of value can still be gained from those angst-ridden late-90s thrashers who loved tuning down and sporting eyeliner. Kaonashi songs like “My 5 Year Plan” and “You’ll Understand When You’re Older” mix the out-of-control moments of emotional meltdown that marked the best nu-metal into a recipe cobbled together from the best elements of deathcore’s downtuned thud and the gothic emo-prog of groups like Chiodos and Coheed And Cambria.

Kaonashi aren’t alone in following this thread to wherever it leads them — Sworn In has done quite a bit with it over the past few years, and Vein are certainly dipping a bit more than just a toe into the nu-metal pool on their new album. But Kaonashi’s new EP shows that they’re on the forefront of this musical territory, and they are sure to take it to another level entirely in the live arena — making attendance at this Charlie’s American Cafe show tonight all but mandatory (assuming you can make the drive). New Jersey’s Cryptodira are also on this bill, bringing an erudite take on progressive death-metalcore to the table, as showcased on 2017’s excellent The Devil’s Despair. Straight edge metalcore thrashers Vatican, who hail from Georgia, will also hit the stage with metalcore fury that harkens back to the genre’s 90s roots (so you know I’m stoked). All that plus three heavy-as-fuck local openers… gas up the Mustang, y’all. We’re going.

Thursday, November 29, 8 PM
Raven, Songe, Doomsday Lullaby @ Riffhouse Pub – $10
In a world where it seems musicians spend just as much time reinventing the wheel as they do building on the traditions of those that came before, it’s no surprise that some younger metal fans today don’t even remember the legends of the early 80s “New Wave of British Heavy Metal” scene. But that doesn’t make it any less vital, essential, and important to everything that followed. You might not know the name Raven as well as you do other legendary NWOBHM acts like Iron Maiden and Motorhead, but they’re every bit as good, and if you value the history of the music you love, you need to be paying attention.

Raven’s probably best known today for their mid-80s albums — 1983’s All For One featured a song called “Athletic Rock,” in which Raven named their own musical genre years before the “active rock” format was even a twinkle in a Clear Channel exec’s eye, while 1985’s Stay Hard produced their biggest hit, “On And On.” Three decades later, though, Raven’s founding Gallagher brothers, bassist John and guitarist Mark, are still going strong, and 2015’s ExtermiNation showed that they’ve still got the furious metal power they wielded at the height of their fame. So get a history lesson at Riffhouse Pub tomorrow night, and let Raven show you that metal was heavy as hell even before you were born.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

VA Shows You Must See This Week: October 31 – November 6

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FEATURED SHOW
Friday, November 2, 8 PM
Brian Wilson presents Pet Sounds: The Final Performances @ The Carpenter Theatre – $67-107 (order tickets HERE)
Richmond, we are in for a treat this Friday night — one that is both rare and unlikely to come again. I suppose there’s an outside chance you won’t recognize Brian Wilson’s name by itself like this, but you’re sure to know a great deal of his work as the bassist, vocalist, and chief creative mind behind the Beach Boys in their 60s heyday. Wilson wasn’t just an advocate for surf, sand, and killer falsetto harmonies, either; while songs like “I Get Around” and “Help Me Rhonda” are indisputable pop classics, it’s the material he created when he started growing up and getting more ambitious that has really made Brian Wilson a crucial figure in the last half-century of pop music.

The pinnacle of Wilson’s creative genius was Pet Sounds, a 1966 Beach Boys album that saw him skipping tours to stay home in the studio with legendary LA studio band The Wrecking Crew and create a towering masterpiece of symphonic pop. Wilson was known to refer to these elaborate creations as “teenage symphonies to God,” and that admittedly grandiose statement is fully borne out by the brilliant results he achieved. Pet Sounds featured several classic tunes that have been staples of the musical landscape ever since — “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “Sloop John B,” “God Only Knows,” and more — and went on to influence everyone from The Beatles to Animal Collective. Now, over 50 years after that classic album was released, Wilson is doing one last tour to commemorate Pet Sounds, after which he intends to retire the album from live performances.

Now, Brian Wilson is no spring chicken; he’s 76 years old, and actually had to reschedule this date from earlier this year due to health issues. Fortunately for us, after years of struggling with mental illness and being taken advantage of by unscrupulous managers, he’s been in top form for over a decade now, finally completing SMiLE, his long-abandoned follow-up to Pet Sounds, 15 years ago. He’s released two solo albums since then and, while not perfect, they are both far more enjoyable than what his cousin Mike Love did with the Beach Boys after Wilson left the group (“Kokomo,” anyone? Bleh). He’s accompanied on this tour by fellow original Beach Boy Al Jardine and early 70s Beach Boys bassist Blondie Chaplin, as well as a large complement of talented musicians who’ll reprise the fabulous work of The Wrecking Crew, all those years ago. God only knows, tickets are not cheap, but if you can wait a couple weeks to pay the power bill, you’ll get all the light you need to get you through the cold winter months ahead from this show. Highest possible recommendation.

Wednesday, October 31, 7 PM
Gallery 5’s Halloween Party, feat. Haircut, Unmaker, Alfred, Spooky Cool @ Gallery 5 – $5 in advance/$10 at the door (order tickets HERE)
We went through a solid week of Halloween-related shows last week, but the holiday still hasn’t finished yet, so let’s give it one more round before November begins with this wild night of underground sounds at Gallery 5. You’ll definitely find yourself in the perfect place to enjoy the spirit of the holiday, with spooky decorations everywhere, tons of glitter, and the always-enjoyable costume contest! So get dolled up, hit the Gallery, and get ready for the main attraction — which is, of course, the music. Gallery 5 has brought together several excellent musical acts from the local area with which to celebrate All Hallows Eve, spanning a wide variety of genres. And it’s gonna rule.

Haircut will bowl you over with a blast of angry, speedy punk, complete with bilingual lyrics and some relatable themes under all the vitriol. Unmaker have a goth-postpunk vibe that will appeal strongly to those who are bummed about Shadow Age going on hiatus, but will also connect with those who like the more metallic end of that whole thing (think Killing Joke). This show will constitute a release party for their new LP, Firmament, and where better for a goth band to have a release celebration than a Halloween party? The lineup’s rounded out by Alfred, a young rapper with a fresh approach to the weirder electronic end of that particular musical spectrum; and Spooky Cool, who recently made good on the promise of their years of local buzz with debut EP Every Thing Ever. No matter what flavor of the local scene you enjoy, you’re sure to get a taste of it here — and have an outstanding Halloween as well! Who can complain about that?

Thursday, November 1, 8 PM
The True Commonwealth, feat. Nickelus F, Michael Millions, Radio B, Cole Hicks, Sunny & Gabe @ Gallery 5 – $10
Nickelus F’s been one of the better rappers in this city — hell, this country — for over a decade now. Quite a few years over the past ten to fifteen have seemed like they were going to be his year, but somehow, it never seems to come to pass. 2018, though, seems like it might finally be the one. First he paired up with local punk rock label Vinyl Conflict for a vinyl release of his latest album, Stuck, which by the way is also a high-water mark in a career full of excellent releases. Then he got together with Richmond rap weirdo Lil Ugly Mane for a tour that took him across the country, playing to everyone from true-blue hip hop heads to moshpit-loving metalheads and punk maniacs. It feels like that whole punk rock-hip hop fusion that we all expected to happen after Rage Against The Machine and the Judgment Night soundtrack (instead we got Limp Bizkit. Ugh) is finally coming to pass.

So now, with this True Commonwealth show, Nickelus F stands at the top of a stacked bill featuring several of Richmond’s top hip hop talents. His compatriots in the AGM crew, Michael Millions and Radio B, have both demonstrated their styles and talents this year with new albums of their own — Hard To Be King and Jesus Never Wore A Suit, respectively. Taken in tandem with Stuck and Cole Hicks’s incredible coming-out party, May Day — also released in 2018, natch — the True Commonwealth showcase at Gallery 5 encompasses the top level of rap talent at work in RVA today. And that’s definitely something you’ll want to be part of, especially since the show will also feature a special guest performance from hot VA Beach duo Sunny and Gabe. They’ve got a 2018 album of their own, Peace Of Cake, and it shows off their wide-ranging sound just as they will do to get this party started tomorrow night. Don’t miss a moment.

Friday, November 2, 8 PM
Mothers, Mega Bog, Addy @ Strange Matter – $10 in advance/$12 day of show (order tickets HERE)
The indie kids should find a lot to enjoy at this show — but they aren’t the only ones. Mothers, who started in Athens, GA but moved to Philly last year, have a sound that definitely hints at the tension between beauty and darkness that marks the best music coming out of the indie scene these days. But they’ve got a good bit more going on, as they display on their sophomore album, Render Another Ugly Method, which just came out from Anti- Records. Its moments of languid torpor (“Beauty Routine”) hint at an uneasiness just under the surface, while the more energetic sounds found on the album (“Blame Kit”) function in lockstep, in a manner that almost sounds more like strained aural nervousness than painstakingly well-practiced tightness.

That is by no means a criticism, though — it’s this tone that suffuses throughout Mothers’ music that really makes them evocative, that brings the ideas the band is expressing through their somewhat abstract lyrics to solid, concrete life. Mothers will take you on an emotional journey, and if you’re not entirely comfortable with all the places you’ll go, you will at least be enjoying some excellent music on the trip. Mega Bog has a similar clearly-delineated wire-tight melodic indie-postpunk sound, but the emotional effect is very different, both brighter and deeper. Connect with both of these bands, and up-and-coming local opener Addy, and see where the night takes you. It’s sure to be an interesting trip.

Saturday, November 3, 8 PM
Abacus, Drones For Queens, Voarm, Hoboknife @ Strange Matter – $7 (order tickets HERE)
We’re heading rapidly toward the winter months, and now is the perfect time to get an increased dose of metal into your life. And rest assured, Strange Matter has the cure for what ails you, in the form of this tour package bringing together examples of brutal metal power from both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. Abacus hail from the South — South Carolina, to be specific — and have a thick, dark sound full of harsh guitars and roaring vocals that pummel you just as hard as the punishment their rhythm section deals out.

Drones For Queens, who come from the northward locale of Philadelphia (always a hotbed for music and meanness), are just as ready to inflict some serious metal punishment as Abacus. They’ve got a slightly faster and cleaner approach, which just means it’ll take you longer to realize that their harsh vocals and thrashing guitars have slit your throat. Protect your neck — you’ll need it for headbanging. These two bands are on tour in support of their just released split EP, so make sure you attack the merch table with vigor in order to secure yourself a copy — this is one slab of rage you’ll want by your side throughout the winter months. Local mainstays Voarm and Hoboknife will open this show with a flagrant display of intense heavyosity. Get ready.

Sunday, November 4, 7 PM
Omni, Majjin Boo, Black Plastic @ Gallery 5– $8 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
Atlanta’s Omni are back at Gallery 5 once again, thanks as always to their pals at Citrus City Records, and all you indie kids who love to dance are going to want to make sure you’re there for it. Omni’s definitely got a little of that tuneful guitar jangle that we’ve all come to know and love from Citrus City’s many releases, but they bring in a solid dose of Southern-style postpunk as well, drawing inspiration from Georgia underground legends Pylon as well as Wire and The Feelies. I know I’m losing my younger readers with these comparisons, but an obvious modern reference would be Parquet Courts, mixed with the nervous dancefloor shuffle of the Talking Heads and that one Franz Ferdinand song everyone knows (and a lot of their other songs too).

Majjin Boo is a well-paired local to act as support on this bill; they’ve definitely got that same sort of wire-tight guitar bit that permeates Omni’s music, though Majjin Boo seems to derive it far more from the lighter, twinklier take on math-rock that several local bands have done an excellent job with in the past. Are they the next Fight Cloud? We can only hope. Finally, we need to mention the fact that openers Black Plastic suffered a pretty devastating setback recently, in the form of a house fire that destroyed most of their equipment and left members in need of a lot of financial support to get back on their feet. Whether or not you can make it to this show, they’d certainly appreciate whatever you’re able to throw their way via GoFundMe. But they’re gonna appreciate y’all showing up on time and giving them a warm reception just as much — and believe me, their brand of catchy, twangy power-pop certainly merits exactly that. So please, show up on time and give them some love.

Monday, November 5, 7 PM
Yashira, Gillian Carter, Infant Island, In Wolves Clothing @ Strange Matter – $10 (order tickets HERE)
Oh hell yeah. Yashira coming to town is a very good thing, regardless of whether it’s happening on a Monday night. Look, I know you’ll be tired from the weekend, and you’re still coming down from your Halloween hangover or whatever, but I don’t care. You need to go see this band. Yashira are an incredibly heavy band who are incorporating the epic heaviness of bands like Neurosis and early Mastodon with the kind of epic grind-crust madness of Tragedy and His Hero Is Gone. Their latest LP, Shrine, is an excellent example of this sort of thing that gets through its six songs just quickly enough to leave you wanting more.

Of course, now they’ve followed it up with a split EP with none other than metalcore legends Zao, and they’ll be laying waste to Strange Matter this Monday night. What more could you want? It would be so cliched for me to say “you could want the other three excellent bands on this bill,” but when the bands are indeed this amazing, how can I avoid it? Florida’s Gillian Carter are a band with a lengthy history of excellence in the field of metallic screamo, or something like that (even to this day, I can’t type the term “screamo” without cringing). Their new LP, …This Earth Shaped Tomb, is full of the simultaneously heavy and passionately emotional riffage that has become this group’s stock in trade, and proves that regardless of how silly they act on stage, there is real, powerful music at the heart of their existence. VA openers Infant Island and In Wolves Clothing exemplify the next wave of Virginia screamo (ack) and do so in outstanding fashion, so be sure you catch every second of this one.

Tuesday, November 6, 7:30 PM
Scott Bradlee‘s Postmodern Jukebox @ The National – $25.50 in advance/$28 day of show (order tickets HERE)
OK, let’s get this out there from the start — Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox is hipster bait of the highest order. Covers of already-proven hits, redone to sound like different genres? Suburban goofballs have been gaga for this ever since the first time they heard the phrase “dynamite hack.” That said, I really can’t deny the talent at work here — nor the fact that jazz, unlike a lot of modern popular-music styles, was throughout its history far less about original composition than it was about putting your own stamp on tunes that might be your own… but might be well-loved standards that everyone knows. After all, it was this tradition that brought us John Coltrane’s take on “My Favorite Things,” and I certainly can’t hate on that.

So should you go see Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox on Tuesday night at the National? Well, probably not if you hate jazz and swing — but if you see merit in these classic American music forms, and would like to see one very talented pianist and quite a few of his equally talented friends update those styles for the 21st century by applying them to songs from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and Toto’s “Africa” to Katy Perry’s “Roar” and Miley Cyrus’s “We Can’t Stop,” well, this is the place for you. Feel free to wear your best three-piece suit or cocktail dress and dance it up on the floor. But on the other hand, if it’s a little too soon after Halloween for all that, you’re welcome to just come as you are. Even if you hate hipsters, you’re sure to enjoy yourself.

Bonus Hampton Roads Picks:

Thursday, November 1, 7 PM
Mortuary, Battlemaster, Vorator, Rotten, Hiss @ RiffHouse Pub – $10 in advance/$15 at the door (order tickets HERE)
You guys — Mortuary is coming! The true headbangers among you are already stoked, but for the rest of you who need an explanation, let’s discuss the power and brutality dished out by Mexico’s pioneering group, who made their name by bringing death metal to the masses from their support slots on some huge Slayer tours in the late 80s. Their 1990 album Blackened Images is a cult classic today, its primitive and overpowering sound serving to light a fire under all the incredible riffs that come flooding out of every song, backed by incredible drumming and some seriously unhinged vocal roars and screams.

Mortuary were doing their thing before the deep growl became de rigeur in death metal, and the raging howls of their vocalist add a lot to their already blazing sound, connecting the group with its thrash influences and pointing the way forward into the more extreme genres that rule the metal scene today. Some excellent VA-area bands will be demonstrating those sounds from their support slots on this bill, from local legends like Battlemaster and Vorator to up-and-comers like Rotten and Hiss. All of it’s gonna be outstanding, and if you can afford to show up late with a headache to work on Friday morning, the drive down to Chesapeake’s RiffHouse Pub is more than worth it for this opportunity. Make it happen, metalheads.

Friday, November 2, 9 PM
Bantustans, A Deer A Horse, From Overseas @ Taphouse Grill – $5
If you like your underground rock bands both heavy and progressive, you need to be paying attention to what’s going on at the Taphouse Grill in Norfolk this Friday night. Bantustans, a Norfolk-based dual-drummer quartet who don’t have time to mess with vocals, are all set to lay down some heavy instrumental grooves that’ll keep your head nodding and your brain engaged regardless of the lack of lyrics. The complex rhythm patterns laid down by the group’s two drummers are both consistently in step with each other and allow for far more variation and creativity than is typically the province of the percussion. Not to be outdone, guitarist Aaron Evans’s tangled melodies and intricate song construction use a single guitar to add multiple layers of intrigue to this group’s unusual, hypnotic sound palette. They’ll be bringing some new material to this one, too, so it’s sure to delight even the most ardent of fans.

Bantustans are joined on this bill by New York heavy rockers A Deer A Horse, who certainly present just as enticing a musical buffet for the interested showgoer as the hometown headliners do. Having been around for close to a decade now, A Deer A Horse still haven’t given us a full-length yet, but they’re hard at work on one, and if the advance single they released only a couple of weeks ago is any indication, this record is sure to fulfill the promise of this group’s many EPs, showering us with the kind of darkly powerful rock n’ roll that has been the province of NYC since the days of Unsane, Surgery, and Live Skull. Singer/bassist Angela Philips’s name totally deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Thalia Zedek’s, and if you’re tuned in, you know that’s high praise indeed. Norfolk openers From Overseas explore some ambient drone guitar experimentation, beginning this show with some strong atmospherics. It’ll only get more intense from there.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, there’s plenty more of my writing to read over at GayRVA — come say hey.]

Music Sponsored By Graduate Richmond

Mortuary Drape (Italy), Volahn, Battlemaster, Voarm at Strange Matter

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MORTUARY DRAPE (Italian black/death veterans)
http://www.mortuary13drape.com/
VOLAHN (California, Black Twilight/Crepusculo Negro)
https://crepusculonegro.bandcamp.com/
BATTLEMASTER (RVA)
https://battlemaster.bandcamp.com/
VOARM (RVA)
https://voarm1.bandcamp.com/

Tuesday June 26th, 2018 @ Strange Matter RVA
$15 Advance // 18+
Tickets: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1686812

Honored once again to host Italian death/black pioneers, the unholy MORTUARY DRAPE! For 32 years, central and founding member Wilderness Perversion has been cranking out essential slabs with a revolving cast of aptly named freaks such as Abysmal Wizard, Seeker of the Unknown, Arcane of Veiled Light, Left Hand Preacher, Old Necromancer, Without Name, Cruel Abbot, War Machine Helgast and even Emilio Cornaglia!

To have them back is a treat, especially with support from the mighty VOLAHN, the centerpiece behind Los Angeles’ Crepusculo Negro Records and Black Twilight Circle! For those who don’t already worship Black Twilight, it’s one of USBM’s finest micro-scenes led by Eduardo Ramirez (aka Volahn themself) featuring rulers such as Axeman, Ashdautas, Arizmenda, Shataan, Blue Hummingbird on the Left and even the d-beat/punk inspired Zoloa! For Ramirez, unlike other USBM, the BTC/CNR tribe serve as a conduit for spreading K’iche’ culture and Mayan ancestry. “Music was was part of every ritual my ancestors did, from going to war to having astrological ceremonies. Black metal is really harsh and ritualistic music, so it was perfect for me.” We also just added veteran Richmond horde BATTLEMASTER as well as the tour kickoff of RVA’s newest blackened cult, VOARM, get your tickets and prepare to be annihilated!!
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MORTUARY DRAPE (Translated from Italian): The MORTUARY DRAPE were born in 1986 for the intent of a central nucleus of three people of which only one (Wildness Perversion) is still part of the formation. The musical and inspirational directives in which the original components are oriented are ‘black metal’ animated by an esoteric-necromantic current both for the texts and for the scenographic impact: they baptize their style as ‘black-occult metal’

The following year, 1987, they published the first demo-tape, “Necromancy” whic collects excellent responses in the most intransigent underground environments, a demo that is destined to become in the following years an authentic cult-demo for lovers of the genre. In June 2009 the band underwent a sudden upheaval and Wildness Perversion remains the only member of the band, concentrating alone on the writing and arrangements of the successor of “Buried in Time.”

In May 2012 they were requested as a special guest at the Maryland Death Fest and have continued to dominate the United States. Stay tuned for news about the future of the band, 2016 Marked the 30 year anniversary of Drappo activity, they are working hard to ensure new concert and record surprises. In Spiritual, The 13 Drape
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VOLAHN:(Eduardo Ramirez aka VOLAHN’s teenage fandom was born out of the standard metal building blocks of Slayer and Metallica, then took a turn toward the darker-edged chaos of European black metal. But when it came time to create his own music, Ramirez took inspiration from a life-changing trip to Guatemala at the age of 17. His mother’s Guatemalan ancestry dates back to the K’iche’ Kingdom, which prior to Spanish colonization was one of the most powerful kingdoms of the Mayan civilization. Ramirez had visited his mother’s native land multiple times growing up, but this teenage trip was most profound.

“I was taken to the ruins of our actual tribe,” Ramirez says. “Our elders took me to the top of the temple there. As I stood atop the temple, I could see the whole valley where our people have lived for so many generations. It was a deep spiritual moment in my life, and it was where I came up with the name ‘Volahn’ for my music.” Through Volahn — a word he created and says means “ritual chaos” — Ramirez has created black-metal soundscapes that are both sprawling and caustic. He self-releases his records, along with those by other like-minded extreme-metal bands, through his label Crepúsculo Negro, also known as Black Twilight Circle.

Despite releasing albums as Volahn since 2008 and working with other bands on his Crepúsculo Negro label, Ramirez has only recently begun interacting with the rest of the local metal scene. He attributes his isolation not only to wanting to avoid outside influences on his music but also his desire to learn everything about the recording and distribution process. “We weren’t satisfied with the sound recording in other studios,” Ramirez says. “So we basically started from scratch, learning how to record ourselves. I think it helped all of our bands grow musically together. We keep focus by maintaining solidarity within our circle and keeping private and secretive.”

This focus has allowed Ramirez and fellow members of the Crepúsculo Negro roster to be some of the most prolific in today’s metal scene. Though a recent label compilation, Tliltic Tlapoyauak, features 16 different bands, the actual number of musicians is much smaller. Members of the Black Twilight Circle collective usually play in multiple bands, a byproduct of Ramirez keeping his musical endeavors close to home. His friendships within the collective often date back to his childhood years. Not all bands released through Crepúsculo Negro share Volahn’s focus on ancient civilizations, but at the core of the collective’s kinship is a shared admiration for their pre-Hispanic ancestries.

In addition to their studio output, Ramirez and Campos (of BHL) see their live performances as a deeply profound extension of their quest to honor their ancestors. “I feel like when we play live, it’s like a ritual,” Ramirez says. “When I play live, I feel like I’m in a meditative state. A big part of shamanism is meditation… extreme focus and having the feeling of other worlds beyond yourself. A show is not just us playing metal and headbanging. It’s a deeper meaning beyond just playing our guitars.”

Eventually, Ramirez wants to take his music to the land of his K’iche’ ancestors in Guatemala. “My ultimate goal would be to play at one of my ancestors’ ruins and do a generator show at a temple.”

RVA Shows You Must See This Week: June 20 – June 26

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FEATURED SHOW
Saturday, June 23, 6 PM
Rock N’ Roll Benefit for Daily Planet, feat. Toward Space, Ladygod, Long Arms, Venus Throw, Minimum Balance @ Sound Of Music – $10 donation
Music isn’t all fun and games. Often, it helps us get through our toughest moments, when we’re struggling with some of the most intense emotional experiences of our lives. That’s why, as often as live shows are a respite from our daily struggles, they also frequently help us tackle the most pressing issues affecting us as a community. Which brings us to this Saturday’s Rock N’ Roll Benefit for Daily Planet at Sound Of Music Studios. Put together by Toward Space bassist Seyla Hossaini, this show stands both as a memorial to a close friend and relative who passed away due to an overdose, and a benefit for the Daily Planet, which provides treatment options for those who struggle with substance abuse, including those with limited finances and no insurance.

Those who attend this show will be providing valuable support to this organization, which provides essential health care of the sort that too many of us may find ourselves needing at some point in the future. Those who attend this show will also get rocked to the heavens by a group of excellent rock n’ roll bands from the RVA area. Despite the seriousness of the show’s reason for being, there’s still going to be a lot of fun to be had. This all starts with Toward Space, the organizers and headliners of this whole shebang. This youthful garage-rock trio has been working on a full-length for quite a while now, most recently in the studio with Ladygod’s Skye Handler, and the limited amount of tunes they’ve already released are enough to knock this whole city on its ear. Suffice to say, they’re gonna rock your ass when they take the stage.

Speaking of Ladygod, this eclectic, psychedelic group of rock n’ roll troubadours will be on this show as well, giving us selections from their fascinatingly weird and bizarrely catchy 2017 debut LP, Rock N’ Roll Kaliphate. Long Arms will be here as well; James Menefee’s songwriting vehicle started off as an alt-country sort of thing, but by their 2017 LP Young Life had metamorphosed completely into a delivery system for Menefee’s killer Westerberg-esque rockin’ melodic tunes with a ton of heart. If you ask me, they’re better than ever. You really need to see all three of these bands, and for good measure, catch the sets from fellow RVA rockers Venus Throw and Minimum Balance as well. It’s for a good cause, and a great Saturday night out. What more could you ask for?

Wednesday, June 20, 9 PM
Debt Neglector, Park Sparrows, Talk Me Off @ Wonderland – $5
This one is gonna be a blast. Florida’s Debt Neglector might be a new name for RVA music fans, but when I tell you that members of this band used to be part of melodic punk mainstays New Mexican Disaster Squad, as well as Tony Foresta’s melodic punk side project, No Friends, it’s sure to perk your ears right up. And don’t worry, this band has not failed to bring the legacy of those past projects forward into 2018 — last year’s Atomicland full-length shows that their facility for melodic hooks, dirty guitars, and the sort of simultaneously catchy and gravelly vocals that make for the sweetest combination of acid and sugar has not faded in the slightest.

Debt Neglector are joined on this show by Park Sparrows, a local group with a similar sound and a similarly formidable pedigree — members of Landmines, Strike Anywhere, post-Avail group Freeman, and more. Park Sparrows just released a new EP, More Peace, and it is an excellent showcase of what these guys have to offer — a similar sort of melodic punk to that of Debt Neglector, but with both a more introspective feel and a witty, irreverent bite. It’s awesome, and they’ll surely be awesome live as well. Raging local hardcore punks Talk Me Off will kick off this short-and-sweet three-band bill, and it’s all happening at Wonderland, the perfect place to rock out on a Wednesday night with some catchy punk awesomeness. Don’t let the bike ride back from Shockoe Bottom dissuade you — this is gonna be worth it.

Thursday, June 21, 10 PM
PRIDE at Little Saint, feat. Result Of Choice, Deviant, Lipid @ Little Saint – Free!
It’s June, and while some of the more hetero-inclined among you may not take much notice, in the LGBTQ community, this is Pride Month, the time of year when we all stand up and let the rest of the world know that we’re here, we’re not going away, and we deserve the same respect and acceptance given to straight cisgender people. This show at Little Saint on Thursday night brings us a trio of hardcore bands doing exactly that, and the show is headlined by Florida’s Result Of Choice. Straight-up hardcore can sometimes get a little boring, but Result Of Choice do a lot to keep your attention, from their frantic riffing and speedy tempos to their vocalist’s intense  fury. They may be playing in a tiny restaurant, but this group is going to bring a huge dose of energy to their performance.

They’ll join two Richmond hardcore bands that wear their pride on their sleeve. Deviant have named themselves after the sort of things that LGBTQ people are often called by disapproving homophobes, and as someone who has always appreciated the way our community reclaimed the word “queer,” I approve. Deviant have a rougher, harsher sound than Result Of Choice, but a similar sort of driving energy and fury that feels angrier and darker. This promises to be intense. The show will begin with a set from Lipid, and I’ve learned more about this band since I last wrote about them. Featuring members of Kuni, Leather Daddy, and No Tomorrow, this band is proudly queer and punk as fuck, and should be a great way to kick off a concisely excellent show with an awesome theme and the perfect price over at Little Saint.

Friday, June 22, 9:30 PM
GELD, Terrorist, Fried Egg, Future Terror @ Flora – $8
Hardcore is apparently getting pretty insane in the land down under. GELD is a great example, hailing from Melbourne and featuring members of Kromosom and a couple other Aussie bands I don’t really know too well. I guess I’m missing out, though, because GELD are pure blistering mania and I want more. This band’s new EP on No Patience Records will rip your face off with riffs that sound like Negative Approach fed through a pile of noise and vocals that sound like a psychotic maniac in full-on meltdown. This band is hectic, and I’m sure they’ll be an imposing presence when they hit the Flora stage Friday night. You might wanna stand back.

GELD are joined on this bill by NYC hardcore crew Terrorist, who have a similarly harsh sound to GELD, though they do have a recognizably human vocalist. That’s not a strike against them, by the way. These guys hit hard and will knock you on your ass. As will Fried Egg, one of the more weirdly named hardcore bands to come out of Virginia — apparently there’s a limited-edition of their vinyl EP with a white and yellow pattern to make the record look like a literal fried egg. I approve. Anyway, these guys have a bizarre name, and their take on hardcore is kind of bizarre too, but it’s sure to draw you in, especially since they have such an energetic live attack. The whole thing will start out with some blown-out hardcore noise from local newcomers Future Terror — this one is sure to appeal to the Discharge fans among you. Kinda crazy to imagine all of this hectic noise happening in Flora’s back room, but it’s sure to be even crazier to see. You know what to do.

Saturday, June 23, 8 PM
McKinley Dixon & Friends, G.U.M.P., Contour, Shormey @ Strange Matter – $6 in advance/$10 day of show (order tickets HERE)
I don’t even have to tell you about McKinley Dixon at this point, do I? A young man with a new approach to the rap game, who spits powerful lyrics with a strong political undercurrent, and both performs and records with a killer live band but also has been known to rhyme over powerful hip hop production, as well as taking the DIY-or-die approach to touring and spreading the message that originated with underground punk — how can you not love this guy? This show is a release party for his new Citrus City cassette, The Importance Of Self-Belief, a sort of positive answer to his powerful 2016 debut, Who Taught You To Hate Yourself? It is absolutely essential if you still drive a beater with a cassette deck in the car (the best way to live, in my middle-aged opinion), that you grab yourself a copy of this one and bump it when you’re cruising around town.

It is also essential that you be at this show to score yourself a copy, as the set from McKinley and Friends, while absolutely the #1 reason to be there, is far from the only live musical joy you will experience at Strange Matter on this fine evening. A trio of fine acts from around the Mid-Atlantic region are also on this bill, starting with DC’s G.U.M.P, who capture a similar sort of vibe to that of McKinley and Friends, though there’s clearly a strong influence from heavier sounds running through their music as well — think Rage Against The Machine with a more contemplative vibe. South Carolina’s Contour take things in a jazzier, more psychedelic direction with their hazy, multi-layered music. And Tidewater-area musician Shormey takes a unique approach to singing and songwriting, with electronic sounds mingling with R&B and indie pop in a surprising manner (sometimes including Mac DeMarco covers). This whole show will be an excellent musical experience of the sort you won’t get anywhere else. You really need to come out.

Sunday, June 24, 8 PM
Warpark, Squid., Deli Kings, Black Plastic @ The Camel – $5 in advance/$7 day of show (order tickets HERE)
This is a pretty hardcore/metal-heavy week, but we’ve still got a few for the indie-rockers among you, and this appearance by NYC’s Warpark should certainly get your juices flowing. Reconstituting themselves late last year from the ashes of The Lounge Act, Warpark are still a pretty new thing — their “Early Onset Regret” single is all they’ve released thus far. However, that song has such a promising sound that one could be forgiven for getting a little excited about it. It’s incredibly well-played, with layered guitars and melodic vocals that sometimes mingle in a manner reminiscent of sunshine indie groups like Grizzly Bear. However, Warpark knows how to kick on the distortion and floor us with the heaviness as well, and that’s certainly a big part of their appeal. Based on this one song, seeing what more they have in store at The Camel this Sunday night seems like it’s the move.

Squid., from Chicago, are also on this bill, and their Watersports LP (“Not about pee!” reads a disclaimer on their bandcamp page) shows them exploring an emotionally-driven sound that traces roots to both the “emo revival” of half a decade or so ago and the mellower post-Y2K sound of math-rock. It tends to stay quiet a lot of the time, but they know how to give their emotional sound a powerful weight through occasional applications of distortion — something I wouldn’t be surprised if they learned from old shoegaze records. I definitely approve. Local garage rockers Deli Kings and somewhat mysterious psych-rockers Black Plastic open up for a night of varied, yet consistently excellent, sounds.

Monday, June 25, 9 PM
Body Void, Tel, Horse Culture @ Cary St. Cafe – $7
OK, y’all, prepare yourself for some serious, unrelenting doom. In fact, what Body Void delivers is somewhere beyond doom, hitting the realm of crushing, terrifying slowness that marked the best work of Corrupted and Khanate. Body Void’s new LP, I Live In A Burning House, finds the group exploring similar terrain of torturously extended metallic horror. Other than the intro, only one song on the album is under 15 minutes in length, and the slowly-developing epics that Body Void deliver here build an enormous atmosphere that looms over the listener like hurricane stormclouds approaching ominously across a long expanse of placid ocean.

Then, with a sudden shriek of feedback, the storm breaks, and you’re pummeled by waves of distorted chords, pounding drums, and monstrous, otherworldly screams. And it does. Not. Stop. At least not until you’ve slo-mo headbanged yourself into a trance that, were this a horror movie, would make you the perfect victim for the vampires you can totally imagine sneaking up behind you. Don’t worry, that’s just the bartender. Go ahead and order another drink — this isn’t stopping anytime soon. And you don’t want it to, either.

Tuesday, June 26, 8 PM
Mortuary Drape, Volahn, Battlemaster, Voarm @ Strange Matter – $15 (order tickets HERE)
This is one for the serious metal scholars. Mortuary Drape hail from Italy and trace their origins back to the mid-80s, when their brand of occult-influenced black/death metal was a new and groundbreaking sound for anyone to tackle. Their landmark debut full-length, All The Witches Dance, is up there with other mid-90s European metal classics, delivering nonstop brutality with a fascinating atmosphere incorporating spectral chanting and what certainly seem to be occult invocations. While the group today only retains one original member, vocalist Wildness Perversion, they have retained their incredible ability to flatten all comers with powerful black/death metal, as proven on 2014’s Spiritual Independence.

But if I’m to be real with y’all, I can’t deny that Volahn is the group I’m most excited about on this bill. Hailing from the American Southwest, Volahn are the founders of the Crepúsculo Negro (aka Black Twilight Circle) label. The bands on this label use their music to explore their roots in pre-colonial Latin America, and the native tribes that were ultimately overtaken by Spanish conquistadors. Volahn and other Crepúsculo Negro bands declare their independence from colonization through fierce European-inspired black metal, which incorporates tribal influences to take their sound to another level entirely.  You can hear the explosive results on Volahn’s 2015 LP, Aq’ab’al, which is certainly one of the better black metal releases of the last few years. And you can hear them more immediately by coming to Strange Matter on Tuesday night and letting Volahn work their magic upon you. Don’t miss it.

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Email me if you’ve got any tips for me about upcoming shows (that take place after the week this column covers–this week’s column has obviously already been written): [email protected] [and yeah, in case you’re wondering, more awesomeness from my cracked and bleeding fingertips is available at GayRVA — come say hey.]

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