High On Fire/Pallbearer/Lucifer/Venomous Maximus
August 22, 2015
Atlanta, GA
The Masquerade (Heaven)
The stoner/doom/occult rock mega bill of High On Fire/Pallbearer/Lucifer/Venomous Maximus rolled into Atlanta recently and delivered one the most versatile evenings of music I’ve seen in a long time. The Masquerade was about 3/4 full this night of a fine mix of beardos, dirtbags, and your regular run of the mill metal heads. This crowd was about as versatile as the lineup which definitely set the tone for the evening. I was really looking forward to checking out all of the bands this night. The only band I was a fan of going into this was Lucifer so to see these other three bands for the first time was something I was looking forward to.
VENOMOUS MAXIUMS
Venomous Maximus kicked things off and I have to say that I was blown away by this band. I didn’t know anything about this band other than the fact that one of the Gypsyhawk dudes wore a Venomous Maxiumus shirt in the video for the song “Gypsyhawk.” The band kicked their 30 minute set off with the song “Moonchild” (no, not the Iron Maiden song) and this song blew my fucking mind. Lead vocalist/guitarist Gregg Higgins has all of charisma and energy of an arena metal front man which had the audience responding favorably and giving the band a lot of energy right back to them. Venomous Maximus gave nothing less than 110% and they are without a doubt a band not to be missed live. Their short but oh so sweet set was just enough to whet my pallet and make me want more. This set definitely made me a fan and this is a band that I will definitely be keeping an eye out for in the future.
LUCIFER
London/Berlin based occult rock masters Lucifer were up next and this was the moment I had been waiting a long time for. Since hearing her work with her former band The Oath, Johanna Sadonis has become one of my favorite singer/songwriters in the genre. When she announced that she was forming Lucifer with Andrew Prestidge of Angel Witch on drums and Gary “Gaz” Jennings of Cathedral on guitar I just knew that this was going to be a force to be reckoned with.
Lucifer kicked off their 40 minute set with “Anubis” and without even missing a beat slammed right into “Abracadabra” which completely blew my face clean off and also served to be the highlight of the set for me. With its mesmerizing, hypnotic groove and awesome changes, this song had Gaz Jennings ripping shit up with his signature guitar tone while drummer Andrew Prestidge and bassist Dino Gollnick laid down the perfect foundation for Sadonis sonically powerful vocals to fill the room. Sadonis really seems to have found a level of comfort and confidence on stage as she put out this mystical sort of Ozzy meets Stevie Nicks vibe that entranced and captivated the audience. Six songs just wasn’t enough but like any great band should do, Lucifer exited the stage and left us all wanting more. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, I’d say that it’s very safe to say that Lucifer picked up many new fans this night. One person even told me, “The next time Lucifer comes back here they need to be headliners.” I think that right there says it all if you ask me.
PALLBEARER
Pallbearer was up next and in all honesty they did absolutely nothing for me. I have quickly come to learn that I just don’t really like doom metal. It takes a certain type of person to really appreciate this kind of music and that person isn’t me. With their drone laden, sludgy, down tuned low end rumble, Pallbearer seemed to really be blowing everyone away. I can totally see why so many people like this band so much because while I didn’t like them, they are extremely talented players. I definitely didn’t dig their discordant singing and from what I heard from those around me, that was their least favorite part of their performance. Pallbearer definitely blew the crowd away and the reaction to them was extremely positive which just left me realizing that I was somewhat of an odd man out during their set.
HIGH ON FIRE
High on Fire was up next and let me just say this: Matt Pike has to be one of the single most disgusting individuals I have ever seen. As a matter of fact, it’s damn near horrifying. So much spitting. Really Mr. Pike? Is it really necessary to spit all over the fucking stage? Ok, that aside, let’s talk about High on Fire’s music. Here’s the deal. High on Fire just seemed to be a poor man’s Motorhead to me and the sheer, ear bleeding volume that they play at makes it absolutely impossible to really discern if they are really any good at all. Now don’t get me wrong, I found them all to be exceptional musicians but the songs just did absolutely nothing for me. I found their songs to lack any real melody and their performance is nothing more than a treble laden wall of noise, feedback, screaming, and spitting. I’m actually surprised I made it as long as I did but at the 3/4 mark I just couldn’t take anymore and found myself tapping out. These guys do have an insane following who seem to worship them and to that I say, “more power to you all.” I’ve also never seen a band with so much merch in my life. It’s just a shame that I didn’t like High on Fire’s music nearly as much as I liked their merch selection.
All in all, while I didn’t love the last two bands, I have to say that I appreciated the variety that this bill had to offer. I got to sample some bands that I had never sampled before only to learn that I would much rather leave room on my plate to indulge more on the bands that I really liked. Lucifer, without a doubt, were the MVPs of the night (yeah, ok, call me biased) and Venomous Maximus wins the award for the most pleasant surprise of the night. Even at its worst it was still a solid bill and a good time seemed to be had by all.
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