The Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte North Carolina hosted one of the heaviest shows I could imagine on December 2nd, 2010. NOLA legends Crowbar and Eyehategod are both on tour at the moment and their paths converged for one night of sludge destruction. Supporting this crusher of a dual headliner were Phobia, grindcore legends from California and Black Tusk, a sludge-esque band very much in keeping with their Georgia brothers in Mastodon, Kylesa, and Baroness.Phobia got the proceedings underway with a wall of grindcore insanity that lived up to their promise of "grinding your fucking head in". I'm not sure what the deal was but the guitar player and the drummer both seemed to be filling-in and not full time members but they sure as hell knew what they were doing and were tight as shit. Lead singer Shane The Pain Mclachlan barked and screamed his way through jams from just about all their albums but ones I could make out were from Cruel, 22 Acts of Random Violence, Get Up and Kill, and their new EP Unrelenting. I'm a big fan of their crust punk influenced grind and I wasn't disappointed by their set.
Black Tusk were up next and I have to admit that they were the disappointment of the night. I have their newest full-length Taste the Sin and I did recognize a lot of the songs but when it comes to Georgian sludge I would rather listen to Baroness or Kylesa. Not too into their set, I left with my buddy so he could have a smoke and when we came back they definitely seemed to have won over the crowd as the place had filled up considerably. They weren't terrible and I appreciated the fact that they were a three-piece and they all contributed vocals, but they were the weak point in a very solid line-up.
Up next was the mighty Crowbar. This was the band I had set out to see when the tour dates were announced and it was just an added bonus that EHG was also on the bill. Kirk Windstein has had his band through uncountable line-up changes, but he is undoubtedly the main attraction here. The set list consisted of classics from the self-titled, Broken Glass, Sonic Excess in it's Purest Form, Lifesblood for the Downtrodden, and Odd Fellow's Rest. Unfortunately they weren't able to get any of the new songs that they been playing recently into the set but I was very satisfied with set nonetheless. Can't wait for that new album. Kirk was in rare form, playing mainly to the right side of the stage and calling out the breakdowns with a grunted "Here it comes!". The crowd didn't disappoint either as each breakdown brought a stage rush, furious headbanging and people air guitaring the colossal riffs. This was my first time seeing Crowbar and it lived up to my own hype in every way and could have only been better if they had played longer.
Being a fan of the NOLA scene, I was of course excited to see Eyehategod. They are legends in the sludge scene and recorded what I consider just about as perfect of a record as you can get with Take as Needed for Pain. Once they made their way onto the stage they proceeded to drown the entire venue in wave of their trademark feedback for what seemed like an eternity before kicking into the monster of an opening riff of the classic Bland. To say the place went crazy is an understatement. Eyehategod definitely have a huge cross-section of fans from the punk and metal genres and I would have to say the craziest of both were in attendance that night. Stage diving and moshing started en masse and rarely slowed down as the boys pummeled through songs from the aforementioned TANFP, Dopesick, and In the Name of Suffering. The legend that is Mike Williams looked on approvingly when not screeching his way through the tortured poetry that is his lyrics or shouting "I'm from High Point North Carolina so FUCK YOU!". As their set continued I really couldn't even believe just how heavy it was. If you like their records you really owe it to yourself to try to see them live, it was almost unbelievable.
This was my first time at the Tremont Music Hall, but if they can live up to the brutality and solidness of this show, I would love to go back.
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