The Metal Column – March 2011
So we're in March already – the Jäeger-fuelled juggernaut is picking up, but long before a slew of northern thrashers make the annual pilgrimage to far-flung, toilet-strewn fields to get their heads crushed in by the mightiest of summer headliners (Big Four, anyone?), the home-grown scene flourishes as the salt of metal pulses through the veins of these next few weeks.
Kicking off a month that looks to bridge any and all generational gaps, The Cathouse gets Glasgow off to a banging start with the steamrolling power-metal of Black Spiders and Viking Skull (2 Mar) going back to back with the welcome return of US stoner rock kings Fu Manchu (3 Mar). Suitable support for the latter comes from Auld Reekie’s ever-dependable Melvins-lovin’ Lords Of Bastard, who also head up their own show in Edinburgh on 26 Mar (Sneaky Pete's).
Grinding Holy Roar Records stalwarts Pariso team up with Hush (featuring members of United Fruit, Hey Vampires and Corpses) for an intimate night of brazen riff-driven hardcore (Aberdeen’s Tunnels, 4 Mar; Glasgow’s Bloc, 5 Mar; Edinburgh’s Banshee Labyrinth, 6 Mar) while Devin Townsend (Strapping Young Lad, Steve Vai), having reluctantly parted with trademark dungeon master mullet, brings his new 'Devin Townsend Project' to Glasgow: expect nothing short of brain-melting exhilaration from this Canadian industrial-metal wizard (Garage, 7 Mar).
A few inevitable clashes await with perhaps the most significant being shit-kicking LA riff-merchants My Ruin battling a bountiful offering from the nu-metal Gods in the form of Ill Niño and Gibraltan metallers, Breed 77 – can anyone say 'guilty pleasure'? Classic Grand and King Tut's respectively, 15 Mar.
Over in the capital, Welsh screamo stalwarts Funeral For A Friend hit The Bongo Club for a surprisingly downsized performance (19 Mar) then hitting up the equally modest King Tut's in Glasgow on the 20th for a rare treat. For those who like it a little rougher, behold the pulverising percussive terror of Black Sun Drum Corps in Glasgow (Classic Grand, 25 Mar), while Bannerman's bring the pain with a night of locally-sourced extreme metal featuring Damngod, Bonesaw and Agonised Deformity (28 Mar).
As we creep into April, the riffage continues to come thick and fast, headed up by a triple threat of triumphant returns. This salvo of should-be illegal proportions sees Finnish death-metallers Children Of Bodom (O2 ABC, 3 Apr) piled up against partially reformed Palm Desert stoners, Kyuss (Kyuss Lives, O2 ABC, 4 Apr) and all-out doom legends – and Skinny cover stars – Earth (Stereo, 5 Apr). To be continued...