All HELL Breaks Loose! CVLT Nation Captures Behexen + Much More

Text and Photos: Adam Murray

Funeral Smoke (missed ’em)/Harassor/Behexen/Demoncy 6.1.17

It was a misty night in Silverlake. The Los Globos neons blazed thru the dew above Sunset Blvd. Dudes were holding down the door like it was LAX on amber alert. This huge guy is literally standing there with his arms extended like ain’t NOBODY coming in this motherfucker. There was a line of at least 100 people outside and FUNERAL SMOKE had already played. There was also a dance club upstairs, and the dancers were interspersed with the heshers in line. I had a major issue because I was on the press list yet didn’t seem to be allowed in with my camera, lol (news flash – everyone has a camera). It was comical. I eventually just slimed in when no one was looking. Not surprisingly, the show was at roughly half capacity. The other half was outside! Then, to add insult to injury, everyone is greeted with a bright sign at the bar:

“Drink Special! Bud Lite $7”

Los Globos sucks, haha. It’s old news (but still relevant) that L.A. has a tough time with medium-level venues, especially those catering to punk/metal/goth/industrial/etc/etc various subversive types of live music and entertainment. They reminded us of that once again just recently when they shut down the Complex (yes, technically that was Glendale, but they employed the same mafia tactics), seemingly out of the blue, although it’s never much of a surprise. I like to pretend the city can do better for us – I also know that they don’t care to, so we’re on our own. They (the city) actually do much worse all the time by way of shutting down venues, strong-arming small businesses for money they don’t have, and creating permit conundrums that can only be surmounted by thousands of dollars. If you don’t believe me, just give it a google. I’m not just talking about punk and metal venues, I’m talking about restaurants, mom-n-pops, food trucks, other ventures that don’t have a giant budget margin because DUH maintaining that shit is HARD and rent is fucking HIGH. That’s why other cities cut slack to small businesses. They know that ultimately they will grow and prosper and contribute revenue (and culture) further down the road. Even the corporate juggernauts in L.A. get usurped by bigger corporate juggernauts. House Of Blues got done in by luxury condo developers. Universal Amphitheatre (aka Gibson) got trashed by Harry Potter.

Anyway, I digress. I get it – you guys come here for METAL GODDAMMIT… It’s no secret that HARASSOR, these savage warriors of the dark arts, is within my top 3 L.A. bands, maybe top 1? I’ve never drawn out the list. They were maybe the first metal band I ever took a picture of and I was swoonin’ hard let me tell you. They did us no wrong on this night. Tones, ‘tude, sweat, spittle, riffs and rumbles!! Check the side projects – DARGAR, VORPAL SWORD, LORD FOUL, LORD TIME, ACTUARY to name just a few! Order tapes from Rising Beast! Get off your ass!!

HARASSOR

DEMONCY from NorCal had van problems on the way down, so they had to switch set times with headliners BEHEXEN, which meant it was go-time for them. One could ominously smell the Finnish crusaders before they took the stage, and wondered how up close and personal we’d be getting with whichever rotting morsels they brought with them on their journey. No slouches for Satan, they brought a fierce and stinging set, complete with pigs’ blood and the stench of death upon them. The tremolo picking buzzed with electricity, shooting black lightning straight into the heavens!

BEHEXEN

DEMONCY managed to show up just in time to close out the night. The gear onstage was mostly backlined so there was little set up time between bands, which was nice. Their brand of black metal was less straightforward than Behexen’s, downtuned and coming across as cavernous and gloomy. The singer had a sort of Bobby-Liebling-as-a-satanic-lizard thing goin on, squirming and hissing his gutter whispers into the microphone. While HARASSOR and BEHEXEN were there to pump us up and get the fires burnin’, DEMONCY managed to pull our energy down like a serpentine succubus.

DEMONCY

Ultimately a good time had by all, save for a few awkward hiccups. Thanks to the bands and Hatewar Productions for keeping L.A. supplied with the good shit!!