0 Kylesa, Red Fang, Iron Lung @ Chop Suey

Monday Oct. 5th 2009 - Kylesa, Red Fang, Iron Lung

Another bunch of stellar metal bands clashed at Chop Suey on Monday. Headliner Kylesa was joined by Iron Lung, Bison BC, and my recent favorite, Portland’s Red Fang. Finally…finally I got my chance to see Red Fang live, and I was a very happy metal fan when they took the stage. The band has eluded me thus far, and I was pumped to bang my head along to their awesome brand of stoner metal. They did not let me down, playing a bunch of songs from their self-titled debut record on Sargent House. PDX’s current best metal export are a breath of fresh air. Their riff heavy music is nothing complex but instead a ton of fisting pumping fun. Bands like Drunk Horse or Priestess come to mind as possible equivalents. The set was great and featured favorites like “Good to Die”, “Bird on Fire”, and of course ended with “Prehistoric Dog”. Their set left a giant smile on my face, and even conjured a scuffle between a few rowdy assholes and a couple other more mild mannered show goers. The Fang mentioned they are working on their new record, which is great news. For now you must pick up “Red Fang”, as it should be a welcome addition to anyone’s beer drinking and head banging playlist.

Headlining was Georgia’s forever touring sludge band Kylesa, who’s hard to classify relentlessly heavy delivery has earned them support slots with the likes of fellow Georgia natives Mastodon. I like Kylesa a lot, they have a couple things going for them; first two drummers. They were doing the two full time drummer thing well before the Melvins added Coady Willis. Second; singer/guitarist Laura Pleasents, yes they have a female singer who screams like a demon and shows pretty descent chops in the lead guitarist role. Third, their sound is instantly recognizable. Kylesa have been able to separate themselves from many other cookie cutter sludge bands by adding elements of hardcore, psych, stoner and experimental metal. The set consisted of many songs off their most recent release “Static Tensions”, as well as some of the strongest from “Time Will Fuse Its Worth” as far as I can remember. “Static Tensions” is one of the few releases from the first half of the year that has made the cut and is still in heavy rotation in my life. I think you have some records to pick up-- Red Fang – “Red Fang” and Kylesa – “Static Tensions”.

I unfortunately showed up a little late to catch sludge band Bison B.C., though I have enjoyed their newest record quite a bit. So first up on the evening was Seattle’s power violence duo Iron Lung. This was my first Iron Lung show though I am familiar with the band. The set was quick and dirty, as guitarist/vocalist Jon Kortland and drummer/vocalist Jensen Ward bludgeoned the audience over the head with a blunt object. Iron Lung songs are short and contain bursts of extreme anger in the form of Jensen Ward barking into a mic while pounding his drum kit like a caveman. It was great! Check out my videos and slideshow from the nights festivities. Cheers!