The Facts:
There was a show at the Bourbon Theatre’s front room on Sunday, January 19th. Bruja, Garoted, and Ramming Speed played. I was there.
The Opinion:
Bruja opened up the night. The four-piece from Omaha brought their own brand of super (SUPER!) LOUD doom. Big loud bass, big loud (although not super distorted) guitar, and big loud drums. The drums were made a little less loud when the drummer ripped his kick head, but Bruja kept on going. Their set was short–only two songs–but I like that. I’m definitely a fan of brevity, short albums, short songs (sometimes), and this was a cool way to see a local band I hadn’t seen before, get in, show us what they’re about, and get out.
Next up was Lincoln’s own Garoted. Holy Sh*t. I can’t believe I hadn’t seen these guys before. Straight up evil, brutal, kickass death metal played at breakneck speeds. Drummer Nolan Weber is a f**king beast, delivering blast beats, crazy fast double bass, and he circle headbangs and sings some backups while he’s doing it! This is not to discount the musicianship of the rest of the band though. I was really amazed. A lot of times when you get bands with insane tempos and lots of blast beats, the guitars slouch. Not so in Garoted, they have a ton of awesomely frantic riffs that take their fretting hands on a high-speed joyride up and down their fretboards in a flurry. F**king great.
Then to top it all off, Ramming Speed. This quintet, originally from Boston, released an album this summer called “Doomed to Destroy, Destined to Die” and it’s f**king killer. But I have to say that after seeing Ramming Speed play, I love them more than I ever thought I would. These guys deliver an infectious blend of thrash, punk, and grind. Singer Peter Gallagher is hyperactively explosive on stage, storming back and forth on the edge of the stage, headbanging, making huge gestures with his hands, just going nuts. Everybody in Ramming Speed seems to be having a great time while playing and that sort of thing really endears me to a band. The absolutely kickass guitar and bass work doesn’t hurt either. The band was super tight! I had a stupid sh*t-eating grin across my face their entire set.
So go get your own sh*t-eating grin and…
Get out and pay some cover charges, f**kers!!
