New York City really does have the best metal scene in the world. Where else would you be able to see Yob and Black Cobra twice in a three day period? Clearly the Gods of Steel have decided to bless our fair city with a disproportionate amount of heavy metal goodness. The point being - last night at the Bell House we saw three of the finest bands on the scene right now come together to put on a night to remember. It was the kind of thing that proves that this music will never die and give us a chance to carry forward through the thorns.
Now - I had spun a couple Wizard Rifle tracks before - after all they are on Nanotear, which means they are doing something right. That being said - getting to check them out live was an incredible experience. Noisy, vicious, and full of an incredibly primal rock and roll energy Wizard Rifle eschew genre definitions and instead push forth with wonderfully violent music whose dominance is impossible to ignore. As the band finished their set - descending into a beautiful orgy of raw sound, the audience seemed totally rapt. Wizard Rifle had gotten up - broken all the rules, and created some simply stunning art.
I've been listening to Black Cobra at least since 2009's Chronomega, but I had never had the chance to check out these sludge lords live. I was very impressed with their intense delivery and pounding riffs that resonated with the listener - leaving you a slave to their incredible sonic musings. This is a band who are fully aware of their sonic majesty and deliver a sound that is as regal as it is gut-crushingly insane. This is a band that understand the pure aural atrocities that sludge metal can help deliver and give you a chance to face the darker side of your humanity even in the scope of a forty five minute set. These guys speak to the human condition in their own wonderfully demented way - something that will be hard to ever forget.
Then Yob came up and I cried for an hour and a half. I wish I was joking, but no other band represents pure bliss better than Yob. Last night they delivered all of 2005's The Unreal Never Lived and then capped the night off with Marrow, and it was utterly jaw dropping. Yob are fully aware of their own bombast - but that's only a part of what makes them so good. While the stage presence is totally on point - and watching them rage through classics like Kosmos is an utterly transcendent experience, there is something more to this band. Yob leave people shaking, unable to control themselves because the live experience is simply that powerful. You experience every emotion at once - you find yourself unable to breathe and unable to react because the all consuming magic of Yob validates every experience you have ever had. They may very well be the best live band in the world right now.
So the night came to a close. Friends were hugged, beers were finished, and we all disappeared into the darkness. And though my commute home ended up taking an hour and a half (Seriously - Fuck public transport) in a strange way I didn't mind. It gave me a chance to process all that I had just seen. After a bill like that, you find yourself emotionally drained - unable to escape the jarring magic of all that had been experienced. These are the nights that make metal worth doing - and these are the nights I will never forget.
Find the bands on Facebook!
Wizard Rifle: https://www.facebook.com/wizardrifle/?fref=ts
Black Cobra: https://www.facebook.com/blackcobramusic/?fref=ts
Yob: https://www.facebook.com/quantumyob/?fref=ts
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