ORIGIN, ASERAPHYMN, BLOODLORD, SKEW

The Long Branch is one of the oldest venues on the University of TN campus in Knoxville. It has hosted shows for various punk and metal icons ranging from “The Murder Junkies” to “Malevolent Creation.” Tonight the venue’s mere 150 capacity was nearly reached by the time the first band was sound checking.

Opening the show was Knoxville’s “SKEW” with songs from their new debut, self-titled demo. Vocalist Matt Brewer surges from the back of the stage battering himself about the head to the sampled screams of “Oh my god..he put that f*$king gun in my mouth..” The cumulative of the distortion drenched (yet Les Claypoolesce) bass and sampling of Terence Gordon, intermittent jazz rudiment and double bass footwork of Wilbur Bradly and the simultaneous attack of guitarist Byron Minton coalesces their own brand of raw meat aggression. These guys are hard to nail to any specific genre of metal.. basically inventing a genre of metal that can only be called “murder metal.” Reminiscent to the early era horror core bands such as Pig Destroyer, Blood Duster and others but more specifically focused (lyrically) on serial killers. Their set included a satire charged cover of Tom Petty’s “Running Down at Dream” during which bassist Terence Gordon plays in a hamburglar costume. This band’s bipolar cycle between humors to unadulterated aggression maintained crowd response nothing short of rabid! This local quintet have acquired a strong, loyal following of skinheads of all varieties during their brief history who pitted non-stop through their set.

Next up was Knoxville melodic death bangers “Bloodlord.” This three-piece arpageoic assault lead by vocalist/bassist “Brutal” Bill Prichard are quickly carving a niche for themselves. The southeast U.S. underground has been very responsive to their original brand of old school, west coast-style, speed-thrash during the 8 months since their inception. Arising from the ashes of Knoxville’s “Terminal Plan,” (former guitarist) Andy Cummings’s first outing on drums is most impressive and bassist Bill Prichard steps up to the vocal helm with the conviction of a seasoned veteran. The rain of flailing fisted moshers continued to pick-up steam as the top floor of The Longbrach shook through the aural assault of Bloodlord’s set. The massive sound this band accomplishes with only 3 pieces pays tribute to the versatility and determination that is the very heart of the underground metal movement.

Closing the show was Relapse recording artists “ORIGIN” whose notoriety as deathmetal mechanics, despite this being their first Knoxville show, needed no introduction. The pit lurched into a frenzy as Kansas’s former “Sons of Vengeance” unleashed all hell upon a near capacity crowd. These guys are nothing short of enthralling live.. combining the machine like precision of their recordings with road hardened stage presence that made us all feel like amateurs. Bassist Mikey Florez’s mind boggling 4-finger tapping, string blasts and the blazing 32nd note footwork of drummer James King steamrolled beneath the unrelenting, dual guitar attack of guitarists Clint Appelhanz and Paul Ryan leaving every musician in the room with mouths agape. Vocalist James “Freight Train” Lee’s guttural roars and demonic shrieks hammered the course of this aural lambasting with a menace worthy of his namesake. ORIGIN railed through tracks from their most recent “Echoes of Decimation” as well as selected tracks from “Informas” and “Lethal Manipulation” until the wee hours of the morning closing with “Disease Called Man.” An exhausted crowd of bruised spectators filled out of the Longbranch with blood thirst quenched.

ORIGIN website: www.origin-site.com
ASERAPHYMN website: www.aseraphymn.com
SKEW website: http://myspace.com/skewu
BLOODLORD website: www.bloodlord.net

Photos from this live show available at METAL CENTRE -> GALLERY.