Northwestern heavy rockers Red Fang play the Chapel
Popular Portland, OR-based quartet Red Fang returns to the Bay Area for this headlining show at the Chapel in San Francisco's Mission District Sunday night.
Over the course of nearly two decades, the band has established itself to be one of the most talented, hard-working bands in heavy rock. Formed in 2005, the band came to wider recognition with the release of their eponymous Sergeant House Records debut in 2009 -- and the viral Dungeons-and-Dragons inspired video for "Prehistoric Dog" that featured the beer-shotgunning band clad in 12-pack armor battling wizards (it's been viewed over 8 million times on YouTube) -- Red Fang has earned a sizable international fan base with its relentless touring schedule.
The band's subsequent albums -- 2011's Murder the Mountains, their first for noted metal imprint Relapse Records, and the follow-up effort Whales and Leeches in 2013 -- further solidified the quartet's reputation, though their continued partnership with "Prehistoric Dog" video director Whitey McConnaughy on a run of hilarious clips didn't hurt. The recordings showed the band refining their compelling mix of sledgehammer riffs and hook-laden tag-team vocals of bassist Aaron Beam and guitarist Bryan Giles (second guitarist David Sullivan and drummer John Sherman round out the band).
In 2015, the group convened to record outside of Portland for the first time, traveling to Ventura in Southern California to work with renowned producer Ross Robinson -- who has helped track albums for everyone from Korn, Limp Bizkit and Slipknot to At The Drive In, Sepultura and the Cure. The resulting album Only Ghosts came out the following year and found Red Fang pushing it's sound in experimental new directions while still pounding out the band's signature blend of heavy riffs and indelible melodies.
Red Fang maintained their relentless touring schedule in the years that followed, as well as putting out occasional new songs -- including a brilliant cover of Gary Numan's Tubeway Army-era classic "Listen to the Sirens" as a digital single in 2018 that showed off yet another side to the band.
The quartet was preparing to finally announce its long-awaited fifth album and accompanying tours in 2020 when the coronavirus pandemic put the group on an involuntary hiatus. Instead of crossing their fingers and hoping the album would sell well without shows promoting the release, Red Fang decided to hold off, waiting to announce Arrows until the spring of 2021 after the success of the COVID vaccine brought a safe return to the road closer to reality.
Pushing the band's sound into some previously unexplored territory, Arrows throws some sonic curve balls into the mix with the quartet's usual combination corrosive ragers, pummeling, melodic stoner anthems and dark dirges. The album also saw Red Fang reuniting with producer and fellow Portland music scene mainstay Chris Funk, a member of indie rock outfit the Decemberists who has recorded Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks and Langhorne Slim among others. While the rise of the delta variant hampered touring for Arrows when it was released on Relapse Records in June 2021, the band was eventually able to return to the road, visiting Latin America as headliners and joining Clutch and Dinosaur Jr. on tour in 2023. Earlier this year, they did a run of shows with Pallbearer and appeared at several U.S. metal festivals. For this return to the Chapel, the band is joined by NorCal noise-metal outfit Will Haven.
A veteran heavy music act that rose to fame from the same Sacramento scene that produced such influential groups as the Deftones and Far, Will Haven was founded in 2005 by guitarist Jeff Irwin and vitriolic vocalist Grady Avenell, coming together after a short-lived project Sock involving Far guitarist Shaun Lopez dissolved. By the next year, the quartet had released a self-titled EP to solid feedback. While the band's sound touched on the heaviness of the Deftones and the cathartic post-hardcore sound of Far, the group explored a much more dissonant and metallic groove that recalled the hectic intensity of NYC noise-punk icons Unsane and Max Cavalera's post-Sepultura band Soulfly.
Will Haven would build their fan base with tours supporting friends the Deftones, Soulfly and Limp Bizkit in addition to garnering more positive reviews with releases like El Diablo, WHVN and early career highlight Carpe Diem in 2001. But despite the critical praise and commercial success, Will Haven suddenly announced it's plan to break up after Avenell decided to step away from the band to focus on family and college, even going so far as to release a DVD featuring footage from what was announced as their last ever show in Sacramento in January of 2003 along with video from other recent tours.
The split did not last long. Less than three years later in the fall of 2005, Will Haven announced a reunion with Avenell. While the now group initially planned to just record an EP, writing sessions went so well that they decided to record their first full-length effort in six years. However, Avenell would again depart prior to the recording, with band friend Jeff Jaworski stepping in as Will Haven's new lead singer for The Heirophant.
Avenell eventually ended up rejoining Will Haven after sharing the stage with the band for a couple of benefit concerts to help Deftones bassist Chi Cheng (who was seriously injured and in a coma after a Santa Clara car crash in 2008), once again becoming a full-time member for their fifth album and first to feature Avenell's vocals in a decade, Voir Dire. The album was universally acclaimed by critics and once again established the band as one of the leading lights in experimental metal.
Will Haven has become more sporadic with its activity since then, but the group still regularly resurfaces with new recordings and live dates. A follow-up to its 2015 EP release Open the Mind to Discomfort, in 2018 the outfit unleashed its latest collection of songs -- and first for Minus Head Records -- Muerte. As compelling a mix of sinister ambient soundscapes and crushing guitar riffs as the band has produced, the album features guest spots from YOB leader Mike Scheidt (on "No Hope") and Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter (on the sprawling closer "No Sol").
Red Fang with Will Haven
Sunday, July 7, 7 p.m. $32-$36
The Chapel