Against Nature - Beelzefuzz - Wizard Eye - Lucertola - M Room - Philadelphia - April 6, 2013 After a little more than a two hour drive I arrived in a section of Philadelphia known as Fishtown. Fishtown is a working class community to the northeast of the city’s center, bordered by the Delaware River. After struggling a bit to find parking…ok the parking situation sucked…I found the club the M Room.
The M Room was divided into two parts. The bar area was welcoming with a pool table, drinks and standard bar fare on the menu. The music room was dark and narrow with a small stage at the front by the door. The reason I was there was to show support for four doom bands from the East Coast; Against Nature, Beelzefuzz, Wizard Eye and Lucertola. Small, dark, narrow venue, that has a good variety of beers, not overrun by hipsters in a blue collar neighborhood, the perfect place for a doom show.
Oddly, Against Nature, the act that I thought would headline the show, took the stage first. There were rumors that Bert the bass player had to get up for work early on Sunday morning. In 2004, the members of Revelation that recorded Salvation’s Answer for Rise Above Records, united as Against Nature. Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of Against Nature is the diversity of their musical style. Their style ranges from Doom to Heavy/Hard Rock to Blues. Bert Hall Jr., John Branagan and Steve Brenner were fronted by Ron McGinnis (Bassist for Admiral Browning) on vocals and tore through a set of blues influenced heavy rock that has since inspired me to break out my old Humble Pie albums.
Wizard Eye took the stage next. This was a hometown show for them as they hail from Philadelphia. Erik, Scott and Dave have been making music and evolving as a band since 2010. I listened to a bunch of their music online before seeing them and I will tell you that despite the raw, spacey production on their release Orbital Rites, the recording cannot seem to capture the magic that they create live. Their electrified heavy stoner rock was loud as hell and brought to mind the bastard child of Sleep and Clutch, smoking up under black light posters. Erik, any person that can carry that large a head of dreads and play tripped out guitar and theremin, has my complete respect.
Lucertola were third on the bill. This band has been a slow culmination of creativity for guitarist Tad Leger (formerly of Toxik) for several years. Several lineup changes later, including the most recent departure of collaborator and friend Josh Christian (Toxik), Lucertola has become a cohesive unit. Their sound has elements of traditional doom, NWOBHM and thrash. Leger rhythm playing combined with Ben Policello’s drumming creates an unshakable foundation for Zack Breiman, Kenny Schechter and new comer Mark Giuliano to work from. Giuliano’s vocals are a departure from Christian’s higher register and are more like a gritty, bluesy version of the Cult’s Ian Asterbury. Lucertola closed out their set with a rousing rendition of Burning the Sinner from Witchfinder General.
Beelzefuzz closed out the evening and for those of us that were fortunate to stick around, Dana McCloskey, Dana Ortt and Pug Kirby do not disappoint. As a power trio, they are genre-defying. There are elements of progressive metal, psychedelic music, doom and heavy rock. Beelzefuzz hails from the northeastern part of Maryland and were recently signed to The Church Within Records. They creates a unique atmosphere to immerse you in swirling melodies, hard hitting drums and unstoppable intricate guitar and bass work. It is almost incomprehensible how much sound they create. Very talented people. I will steal a line from Ron McGinnis’s facebook page here, “stage at head level and loud.. very front with arms on monitors. Good night! That's the way to um "submerge" yourself in some fuzz!” Enough said.
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