RAGINPIT MAGAZINE

This was the first time I had ever been to Club Retro. I had a heard a lot of good things about the place and I have to say that I was impressed. The club is on the same property as the Christian church next door and from what I hear, Club Retro used to be a church and is still run by the same people that own the church. It is one of Sacramento’s only all ages clubs, so there is no bar. The bands are also required not to curse during their set or even off stage. I know it sounds dumb to have a metal show at a former church and to not be able to swear, but it's well worth going to a show there.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time even with the lack of alcohol. The venue could pack at least a few hundred people and the stage is quite large. The sound and lights at the show were phenomenal compared to most local shows. As soon as I walked in the door, I had a very good feeling about seeing these bands play. I was already familiar with four out of the five bands scheduled to play on this night. That is why I chose to review this concert as this is my first review for Raginpit Magazine.

The first band to play, which started around 9PM, was Face of Brutality. They are a metal band out of Fairfield. I, unfortunately, was not able to obtain a set list before they played nor was I able to get to meet any of the members since they left the club as soon as their set was over. As soon as they started making noise, the crowd began piling inside. There were probably around 30 people there at that time. The crowd seemed to be pretty into the show right away, although a lot of people were scattered around the club and even some still outside as though they were there waiting for one of the other bands to come on. This is very common for the crowd during the first band of most local shows. It is also hard to draw people when the band is from out of town. They played a couple songs that I really didn’t get all that into, but I did not think they were bad. It got my head moving a little bit. Halfway through their set they played the oh-so-popular anthem of heavy metal, Slayer’s "Reign in Blood." This song really seemed to get the crowds' attention. I saw many kids rushing in the door as they heard Face of Brutality’s singer announce they were doing a Slayer cover. They played a good version of "Reign in Blood," guitar solos and all. This song created a small pit, the first pit of the night. They continued their set with a few more songs and again nothing else really caught my attention.

The second band to play was Malevolent. This is one of the more well known death metal bands in Sacramento. They are a four piece band in which all the members seem to be very young. I have seen Malevolent once before and wasn’t very impressed. I felt like they had potential to be a good band, but they needed to work on their songs a little more before doing live shows. This particular show completely turned my opinion of Malevolent around. They got my attention this time; their instruments seemed to blend together much better than they have in the past and their band seemed to be much tighter. It also helps when the club knows what they are doing with their sound. As Malevolent was getting ready to play, more people came inside waiting for them to start. The crowd moved up to the stage like they knew what they were waiting for. Malevolent only performed four songs (I am not really sure why), but I think that is all they may have needed to have a lasting impression on their audience. All the songs were very heavy - possibly the heaviest band of the night because they were the only band playing what I would consider death metal. There were a couple of short, melodic parts that were very slow and weird which I didn’t care for too much, but they are the kind that can grow on you. Their first song was called “Sex Panther” which started the set off well and the title shows they have a good sense of humor. Not to put any member in the spotlight, but most of my attention was on their front man Brian Curtis who plays guitar as well as vocals. As a guitarist myself, I can say it always impresses me to see singers playing guitar and I don’t see it that often in local metal, especially when they are ripping it up like Brian was. I can also say that each member of the band is talented with their instrument and seem to be an important role in creating their songs, especially because they are only a four piece. Their set ended with the song “Lord Torment” which encouraged their fans to start a pit as their last chance to show their respect for Malevolent. All in all I enjoyed their set and they left me wanting more of their show.

At this point in the night the amount of people inside Club Retro had at least doubled as the next band was starting to play. This was a band that I have seen play many times before called Damage Over Time. They are one of the more professional acts that I am familiar with in the local scene. They always seem to be very comfortable on stage and always make it a point that their fans have a good time. This band is very unique; I can’t even think of a band to compare their sound to. Again this is another band where all the members are very talented. Front man Derek Donato was great at sparking the interest of the audience usually saying a comment like, “I hope everyone is having a good time,” in between every couple songs. By the reaction of the crowd smiling and cheering, they definitely were. Jerry Steel on drums strikes me as being very talented and precise on his DW drumset and Vinnie Donato, the guitar player, has a very rich, clear guitar tone. His pinch harmonic filled guitar style flows with ease in a way which reminds me of Dimebag Darrell (Pantera/Damageplan guitarist). Damage Over Time has a very intense sound that almost makes you want to hurt somebody with song titles like “Thru the Violence” which is usually one of the fan favorites, but this particular night, I wasn’t digging the song as much. During this song someone came up on stage from the crowd to sing along with Derek. This was just too loud having two people scream into the microphone at the same time. It threw the volume off balance and the vocals were just too much for my taste. Then they did one of their newer songs called “Hurts Like Hell” which I noticed got a pretty good pit going. There were pits on and off through their whole set. This was a very good show for Damage Over Time and I give a lot of credit to the venue for the outcome. Their volume also seemed to be turned up louder than any of the other bands that played that night, which was good (it wasn’t too loud to where you couldn’t decipher the sounds).

The next band to play was Enemy Inside. This is also a band I have seen many times. They are a Sacramento band of six members. After Damage Over Time finished their set, it looked like some of the people had left, but it didn’t matter because the show was still going strong. The first song, “No Tolerance” started their set with a melodic, tranquil feel on guitar. It was a nice buildup to the rest of their songs which are very heavy and powerful. Gavin Wyantt on vocals always seems like he puts his heart into his live performances. They did great at getting the crowd involved in the show. At one point there were about six fans up on stage with the band and singing along (or just moving their mouths like people do when they don’t know the words to a song). The fans hung out on stage for at least a whole song. Later I saw Gavin run into the crowd and start a pit by pushing a couple guys into each other and the crowd took it from there. There were quite a few strong pits going on throughout their set, but each wasn’t to last very long. Maybe it was because this was a sober show and the pits just wouldn’t get as intense as they would if there were a bar. The whole band was very energetic and a lot was going on during their whole show. On a negative note there was some feedback coming out of the speakers during some portions of their songs, but it happens to everyone. The fan favorite might have been “Shadows” because the audience as a whole responsed the most when they started playing it. All their songs are actually very catchy and have a nice groove to them that makes one want to head bang real slow and push people.

Last but not least was the band Graven Image. A local band whose name is very fitting (once you see them you won’t forget what they look like). I have seen them a couple times before and they always seem to put a lot of effort into how they present themselves. It was about 1AM by the time they went on. Most of the crowd had left by then, but this is usual with local shows for so late at night. There were still about 30 people remaining at the show and in the front of the stage, some were very excited about Graven Image coming on. Their front man, Kainan, kept the show entertaining by having a presence that somewhat reminds me of Marilyn Manson (but not as feminine). Other members had face paint and masks that looked like specific members of the band Slipknot, but Graven Image’s sound did not reflect the music of these bands enough to say that Slipknot or Marilyn Manson could influence their songwriting. Their image was actually very distracting to me and took a lot of focus off of their music. Although I did think some of their songs were good like “Hands Around Your Neck." I liked the melodic back up vocals by their guitarist, Hectic, because they blended well with Kainan’s voice that at some points resembled Max Calavera (Soulfly/Sepultura vocalist). This song had the best crowd reaction and had a lot of people moving their heads and singing along. I actually started to get more into the music as the set went on (as did rest of the crowd). Graven Image’s sound was very good on this night. I think the best I have heard them, as well as the other bands. They carried themselves very professionally and had a lot of merchandise available, along with many fans sporting their T-shirts.

This show at Club Retro was different than most local shows I am used to in Sacramento and was also better than most recent shows. I think the high point of the night was during Damage Over Time’s set. They were the right band to play at the right time slot which caused them to have an audience of almost 100 people at one time. Enemy Inside kept most of the same crowd going and made it fun for everyone by including many of the audience as part of their show. Every band there sounded better than their usual performance. The venue was great and I honestly can’t think of anything bad about the place (except for the fact that they played emo and pop/punk music on the P.A. while bands were setting up). All five bands there gave a shout out to all the other bands during their set and I thought it was awesome to see local bands supporting each other. I also have to mention that this show was put on by Adrenaline Trigger Productions and I think they did a good job choosing what bands to be on the bill. This show felt like it was a small step in the right direction to bringing the Sacramento metal scene back to life.

For more info on the bands in this article, check out the links below:
http://www.myspace.com/faceofbrutality
http://www.myspace.com/malevolentmetal
http://www.myspace.com/damageovertime
http://www.myspace.com/enemyinsiderocks
http://www.myspace.com/gravenimagemusic