Weekly Worth It 5-9-16
By Jake McCune
Tuesday, May 10th.
ADAM FEST feat. LESBIAN / DUST MOTH / POWER SKELETON
Superfans are a rare type: the folks that you see at every show, who know everybody, and who will listen to (pretty much) everything. Seattle is blessed to have its very own superfan son, Adam Noble Bass and he is celebrating his ‘35th Solar Revolution’ with a fine spread of local heavy flavors. Headlining are Seattle prog/doom titans Lesbian, who have been around for the better part of the decade but have yet to release any recorded material with newly fronted vocalist Brad Mowen. Come witness the band’s next step into the fifth dimension. Power Skeleton are a gnarly psych gang whose internet presence includes a live EP of heavy riff-based songs and a soundcloud of improvisational noise tracks. Here’s hoping for a mix of both in a live setting. Dust Moth haven’t taken the stage in quite a while, to my knowledge, so it’s nice to see the band return to dish out more heavy rock jams.
$6 // 9pm // 21+ // Highline Bar // 210 Broadway E
https://www.facebook.com/events/1075857315800228/
Wednesday, May 11th.
ARABROT / HELEN MONEY / INSECT ARK / TOKUL
Arabrot frontman and mastermind, Kjetil Nernes, has won a Norwegian Grammy for the album Solar Anus, beaten throat cancer, and released a stunning new record for his band, The Gospel. Wednesday, the Norwegian noise-rock crew are kicking off their tour with extreme cellist Helen Money and NYC drone duo Insect Ark. None of these acts sound similar, per se, but they have united in their shared space of ethereal weirdness and defying of genre conventions to take down the West Coast. Local blackened noise duo Tokul will open for what is easily the most diverse bill in this write up. Our Highest Recommendation for the week.
$14 // 9pm // 21+ // Highline Bar // 210 Broadway E
https://www.facebook.com/events/477222982481016/
Thursday, May 12th.
SO HIDEOUS / BOSSE DE NAGE / A GOD OR AN OTHER / LO’ THERE / ORCHARDS
These co-headliners have never played Seattle before this night so fans of weird, cross-genre black metal should take note. New York act So Hideous combine symphonic instrumentation and dynamics with raging black metal better than any band using “symphonic black metal” as a genre tag. California weirdos Bosse de Nage are best known for their sexually deviant and abstract lyrics, but the band’s music is compelling, once again taking the form of black metal and turning it on its head with outside influences stemming from the post-hardcore movement. A trio of openers feature a mix of “post-” influenced sounds, be sure to show up early and support.
$12 // 7pm // All Ages // The Funhouse // 109 Eastlake Ave E https://www.facebook.com/events/221013351597693/
SKELETOR / HEXENGEIST / BLAME THE WIZARDS
If experimental black metal at the Funhouse isn’t your cup of tea, you may find something to dig down at the Central Saloon with local thrashers Skeletor. The band has been moving heads for more than 15 years now and pretty much define an entire sect of our city’s lovingly woven-together metal music scene. Hexengeist fall right into line with the desired head-banging crowd but inject soulfully sung vocals into the formula. I believe this is only the second show for new metal sons Blame the Wizards. Here is what I know: the band is theatrical as all get-out, you will see dudes wearing skulls, and you will get rocked.
$8 // 9pm // 21+ // Central Saloon // 207 1st Ave S
https://www.facebook.com/events/1099500843405912/
Friday, May 13th
PALLBEARER / NORSKA / WOUNDED GIANT / SCRIPTURES / NOX VELUM
Big weekend here, it is the Anniversary of one of our most sacred gathering spaces. Highline turns six, and they’ve brought out Arkansas’ Pallbearer to mark the occasion. The doom titans haven’t made much noise since 2014’s excellent Foundations of Burden, but last time they played here they sold out Barboza. Punishing sludge-makers Norska are making their way up from Portland to join in the riff worship, while locals Wounded Giant and Nox Velum round out this mini doom-fest to assure that you will regret forgetting your earplugs. Notably different on this bill is Seattle group Scriptures. I will admit to little familiarity with them, but they seem to approach loud noises and drones by way of Ennio Morricone, weaving a dusty, post-apocalyptic tinge into their sounds that I look forward to seeing live.
$12 // 8pm // 21+ // Highline Bar // 210 Broadway E
https://www.facebook.com/events/1043384555723866/
Saturday, May 14th
DROPDEAD / MAGRUDERGRIND / YAUTJA / THE DRIP
Night two of the Highline 6th Anniversary Extravaganza is tonally the exact opposite of night one, in case you were worried about being too doomed out. Road Island hardcore veterans Dropdead are headlining this stacked bill, bringing along two bands that are indebted to the group’s sonics in one way or another. Magrudergrind have been making politically inclined, hyperfast, hardcore music for more than a decade. Their latest record, II, provides some excellent material for either literally or metaphorically breaking shit. Yautja are a band named after the alien race from “The Predator” film series. Honestly, that is all I should have to tell you, but the band plays a monstrous blend of hardcore/death-metal/sludge/punk dynamics that truly should be heard rather than described. Local grinders and Relapse representatives The Drip open things up, so come out early and hopefully we will get a glimpse of what the band is working on for their label debut.
$12 // 9pm // 21+ // Highline Bar // 210 Broadway E
https://www.facebook.com/events/102122420180722/
