Christian Mistress
Saturday, December 14, 2014
Portland, OR – Rotture
Review by Ruben Mosqueda
There’s very few acts that excite me these days. When the word got out that Olympia, Washington’s Christian Mistress had risen from their self-imposed hibernation it caught my attention. Having witnessed the band three times before; Christian Mistress are a throwback to the 70s with their groove oriented songs and classic Sabbath vibe.
I made the trek to Rotture, a rundown, dumpy, fleabag club in the industrial area of Portland, Oregon. The Rotture is a place where you’re elbow to elbow with swamp–assed rivet heads, with stringy, greasy hair and who smell like they’ve lived in the clothes that they are wearing for the past 7 days. Christian Mistress are worth me going through such a disgusting ordeal.
I missed the first of three opening acts. The band was Usnea, not idea what they sound like I was a few blocks away at the time eating this delectable Macaroni and cheese with bacon and jalapeno at Le Bistro Montage. With a full gut I made my way back to the Rotture in time to catch the opening number from the Oakland, California’s Dimesland. The band’s name is horrific, the songs were ‘okay’, and the ‘vocalist’ left more to be desired. I found it interesting that the drummer in addition to being the youngest guy in the band was also the spokesman as he spoke throughout their set. Dimesland was quite forgettable. I think if they searched for a singer rather than having their bass player ‘bark’ out of necessity they would have potential.
The next act on the bill was Burials which again had chops. They utilized two people to handled the ‘vocals’ but neither could ‘sing.’ Their bass player who also ‘sang’ was an enormous, hairy beast that was probably the inspiration for local band Weresquatch’s moniker. He looked like the ‘God of Thunder’ sans the paint if he were an obese homeless man. Burial were pedestrian at best. I must point out that the audience at Rotture was extremely friendly, polite, and on their best behavior on this occasion and it was a fine smelling audience; probably the best that I have encountered at that venue to date. I still can’t believe it myself.
When Christian Mistress hit the stage it was close to 11 PM and the anticipation of their return to the live setting gave the audience a shot adrenaline. Christine Davis the gorgeous singer could be the second coming of Ozzy Osbourne circa 1970. She works the crowd by head banging, clapping to the rhythm in turn whipping the audience into a frenzy. Christian Mistress kicked things off with a blazing rendition of “Edge of Time” which set the tone for the rest of their set. Lead guitarist Oscar Sparbel strummed effortlessly on his polka dotted weathered Gibson Flying V throughout the night. Sparbel wore his trademark vintage 70s era KISS t-shirt fit the old school vibe of the evening. In my research leading up to the show on December 14th I found out that Christian Mistress had removed (drummer) Reuben Story from the band; a huge plus as not only has he misrepresented his role in the band and he’s a sloppy drummer to ‘boot.’ Pun intended. The new guy Aaron O’Neil is just what the doctor ordered–he sits there bashes away relentlessly and doesn’t try to play through the band like the other guy used to do.
If you didn’t know that Christian Mistress was formed in 2009 in Olympia, Washington you’d swear that they have been snatched right from The New Wave of British Heavy Metal. Christian Mistress included two tracks from their debut record ‘Agony & Opium’ the tracks “Black Vigil” and the fan favorite and signature track “Desert Rose.” Other highlights from their brief set were; “Pentagram and Crucifix,” “Possession,” and the set closer “Haunted Hunted.” Christian Mistress don’t do encores. They bang out their set and that’s what you get. There’s something really endearing about a band that does that—it’s old school. I will anxiously be awaiting their return.
Setlist:
Edge of Time, Over and Over, Pentagram and Crucifix, Possession, Black Vigil, Desert Rose, Black to Gold, All Abandon, Haunted Hunted
Thanks so much to my bastard brother Ruben Mosqueda for this awesome review. This was the first of what I hope will be many collaborations with Ruben so if you liked what you read, let him know in the comments!
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