Posts Tagged ‘the metal files’
Concert Review – Hirax – Austin, TX – 08/29/09
It was 1986 and Metal Blade Records was practically the greatest metal label on the scene. They consistently released 
great compilations like the Metal Massacre and Best of Metal Blade series. Best of Metal Blade Volume 1 (1986) included Call Of The Gods by Hirax. I always loved that song but for no logical reason whatsoever did I never check them out any further. I also liked Bombs of Death from Metal Massacre 6. There’s really no explanation as to why I didn’t follow through on these guys, and after last night I feel like I missed out on some additional great metal in the last 23 years.
So about a month or so ago I read in the local show listings that Hirax was coming to Red 7. Even though I was not even remotely familiar with any of their material beyond the 2 aforementioned songs, I definitely wanted to see this show. Through the years I’ve always seen Hirax playing the Euro festivals and have read interviews with Katon W. DePena and have always respected his attitude about music. The guys has proudly been flying the flag of metal since day 1.
So I get to the club a little early to get MM6 and Best of Metal Blade 1 signed as well as my copy of “Headbangers: Worldwide Megabook of Heavy Metal” (Mark Hale, 1993). I know the club owner pretty well and he let me go in to the green room to meet Katon and the band. I was looking forward to this for a few reasons. One to meet Katon, who really is a true metal legend. The other reason was to meet Glenn Rogers, former guitar player of Deliverance. I dug those guys back in the day. When I went into the room, Katon was in there with his lovely wife, his bassist and guitarist Lance and Steve Harrison and some other guy that I didn’t know. Glenn was out and about with a friend so I would catch up with him later.
Katon invited me over and we talked for a bit just about music and such and Katon asked about my book. As he’s flipping through it reading about his band and tons of other obscure bands that are listed in the book. He signed it and my 2 CD covers and said, “Is DRI in here? The guy beside me if Felix from DRI.” Felix thought they wouldn’t be in there but I knew they were. Much to everyone’s pleasure, there was even a picture of band during the era that Felix was in it (85-90). I hung out for a bit and asked Katon if he ever had any interactions with Billy Milano, which he had. So I asked if he wanted to walk over to the club that Billy works in to say hello. We popped over there for a bit and they shook hands and caught up for a few minutes then I took them over to another club so Katon could catch up with an old friend who unfortunately wasn’t there at the time. Back to Red 7. It was great seeing the respect this guy was getting from people in the club, some of who came from Houston and I think a few from Mexico to see this show.
I really expected a much larger crowd, especially with this being on a Saturday. Typically the San Antonio crew would come up for a show like this but I only saw a few folks from that crowd there. The Sword was playing up the street for the 2nd night in a row and I can’t imagine they stole much of the crowd from this show. The club booked 4 grindcore bands to open up which I thought was a bad pairing. I didn’t go in to check out the other bands as I’m not really a fan of the grind stuff in general. While the grind bands were playing I got to talk to Glenn Rogers who let me know that Deliverance was going to do one more album with the original lineup sans the drummer.
But then it was time for Hirax. It was already around 1 or 1:10 AM but the crowd had increased. I’m guessing there were about 90 people in there. Cover charge was $15. Well worth it for me. Hirax kicked in and just kicked ass. Katon is a great frontman, reminds me a lot of Jason McMaster. Knows to to work a crowd and keep them interested during guitar tunings and such.
I have to say that I was truly blown away and really felt a bit guilty about not having checked them out deeper. But there’s no time like the present, right? Their set was cut short due to time restraints and I must say I was a little let down that Call of the Gods wasn’t on the set at all. But it didn’t matter, they were great and I hope they make their way back to Austin again.
Setlist as I remember it:
- El Dia De Los Muertos
- 100,000 Strong
- Blind Faith
- New Age of Terror
- Chaos and Brutality
- Hate, Fear and Power
- Broken Neck
- Bombs of Death
- El Diablo Negro
- Walk With Death
- Mouth Sewn Shut?
I am not so sure about the ones after El Diablo Negro.
Katon W. De Pena (Hirax), fat dude (me), Felix Griffin (DRI)
Skullview – Legends of Valor (1997)
A song from this was on one of the many compilation tapes that Kelz sent me over the years. It was the song Blood on 
the Blade from Skullview‘s debut CD. I bought this CD and the followup and have enjoyed them both over the years but there was always something missing and I still can’t put my fingers on it. They vocals were fine, the riffs were fine…these guys were a good traditional American metal band but something always seemed to be lacking. I always thought the drummer was a bit boring and a tad sloppy. I don’t know. But nonetheless, this album is certainly worth putting ears to a few times.
They did play one of the Keep It True fests and I am sure some of the other US metal festivals. I used to correspond with the guitarist quite a bit in the days of the old usenet metal forums. Great dude, fine guitarist. Wonder what he’s up to these days?
I guess I could compare them to Armored Saint and Early Jag Panzer…a little anyway.
You know as I sit here and listen to this album again, I blame it on the drummer. He definitely had some meter problems which translated to the rest of the band.
Purgatory – Tied To The Trax (1986)
Not sure who I first heard this through and it really doesn’t matter. I do know that they weren’t my discovery within 
my circle of friends but it was one of those albums that everyone seemed to love. It was really too bad that they didn’t do a follow-up to this one. I was happy to finally get a CD copy from Sentinel Steel Records about 15 years ago.
This is 80s speed/thrash metal at its finest. It’s a great album front to back and was only officially released on CD via SPV/Steamhammer forever and a day ago. Bill at Auburn Reocrds has said that he wants to re-release it but to date it hasn’t happened. Auburn Records had a few good bands on it like Shok Paris, Breaker, Purgatory and Black Death. Pity their bands pretty much wavered around in the underground.
But as I was saying, there’s not a bad song on this album. The singer, Jeff Hatrix, ended up in Mushroomhead as J.Man I believe. Shame, the dude had a phenomenal metal voice.
I highly recommend that you download and listen to it…over and over.
Lord – Second Coming (1988)
This is one that I only picked up within the last year or so off of eBay. When I saw that it had Bloodlust’s singer I had to 
check it out. How did I not know about this one before? WTF? But here we are…Lord’s Second Coming CD rereleased (aka bootlegged) on HOT METAL RECORDS. This label put out a bunch of obscure stuff like Hammeron, Satan’s Host, Killen, SA Slayer…but of course all as bootlegs and they sound like they were recorded straight from the vinyl. But I kind of like that on some things. Takes me back to the old days of listening to metal in my bedroom on my POS record player.
This is a good metal find though and oddly enough this is the first CD I ever loaded into my iTunes that it didn’t recognize. I am a bit surprised.
Second Coming starts out a bit odd in that there’s a ballad as the opening track. You do hear a side of Guy Lord’s voice that you don’t hear so much on Bloodlust’s Guilty As Sin LP. It picks up from here on the song Burnin’ but in more of a NWOBHM style. His vocals are clean and the riffs and well crafted IMHO. I’ve probably spun this 20 times since I picked it up last year. Some of the stuff has a 70s hard rock feel ala Pentagram’s more upbeat early stuff. There’s a variation of different hard rock/metal styles on here. I’m not much of a fan of The Doors but they do a pretty cool cover of The End.
So if you liked the vocals on Bloodlust’s Guilty As Sin, I recommend that you download this. It’s worth a few spins for some old metal listening.
Goodbye Room 710
I’ll never forget the very first time I walked in there. Jasmine was behind the bar and Mercyful Fate was playing on the jukebox. I repeat…MERCYFUL FATE WAS PLAYING ON THE JUKEBOX! I knew that I had found a home. I had just moved to Austin from Virginia and was checking out some of the places on Red River St. It was early in the evening so there really wasn’t anyone else in there. So I had a few beers, talked with Jasmine and commandeered the jukebox with 2 or 3 dollars. Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Celtic Frost, Thin Lizzy. Judas Priest, Mercyful Fate etc etc.
I love that place. They staff was always the best in town. No matter if a band was playing there that I liked or not, if I was downtown, I would always stop in for a drink.
They had some great shows there from all of the local rockers (including both of my bands) to some national and international acts. I got to see Vicious Rumors and Witchcraft there. Both great shows for me.
The new owner apparently owns One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans. I’ve heard good things about that place. I’ve also heard that they will remodel Room 710. Probably not a bad idea but I hope that they can retain the Red River vibe and even more importantly I hope they can retain some of the staff.
That place is special…to me anyways. So thanks to Room 710. I have a lot of great memories and even some fuzzy ones.
This is from the first show I played there:
The Metal Files 
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