Rising Portland metal band Hippie Death Cult returns to San Francisco
Heavyweight Portland power trio Hippie Death Cult returns to San Francisco to headline a show at the SF Eagle this Thursday with fellow stoner-rock powerhouse Hashtronaut and local favorites Floating Goat.
In the short space of five years, Portland, OR-based group Hippie Death Cult has become one of the leading lights of the Northwest's active heavy music scene. Multi-instrumentalist Eddie Brnabic had already made a name for himself playing with Los Angeles stoner-rock band Beggars Ball in the 2000s, releasing two albums playing guitar with the group during its brief three years in existence.
Brnabic would play in a number of other LA hard rock and psych bands (Blessid Electric, Moto-Shiner, the Brothership Connection with former Slash's Snakepit singer Rod Jackson) as well as recording heavy psych music both on his own -- releasing the solo effort Beatitude in 2010 -- and with the band Cosmic Fellowship before he eventually relocated to Oregon.
Once there, it didn't take long for Brnabic to start thinking about a new musical project. Initially based in Eugene, the guitarist began writing new material prior to the realization that he would find the collaborators and the supportive scene the new band Hippie Death Cult would need in Portland. He cycled through a number of different line-ups before bringing girlfriend Laura Phillips on to play bass, who in turn recommended powerhouse drummer Ryan Moore from her previous band experience. The addition of singer/keyboard player Ben Jackson rounded out the quartet that recorded HDC's debut album 111 for Danish metal imprint Cursed Tongue Records.
The 2019 album earned the band solid reviews, leading not only to them contributing a version of "Faeries Wear Boots" to the Magnetic Eye Records' Best of Black Sabbath covers compilation and a deal with US/Italian label Heavy Psych Sounds, who issued the band's split with fellow travelers and labelmates High Reaper (entitled Doom Sessions Vol. 5) and last year's acclaimed sophomore record Circle of Days, that found Hippie Death Cult hitting its stride with a mix of tuneful riffs, pulverizing grooves and compelling dynamics that recall classic '70s metal but still nod to modern heavyweights like Mastodon and fellow Portlanders Red Fang.
The band was dealt a blow when Jackson decided to leave the band only months after the album's release, but Hippie Death Cult has soldiered on admirably as a three piece with Phillips taking over as lead singer. A bracing set at the Heavy Psych Sounds Festival in San Francisco over Memorial Day weekend in 2022 proved to be one of the highlights of the two-day fest, showing that fans had nothing to worry about as far as Jackson's departure.
The power trio was busy last summer, releasing its first recording with the pared-down line-up (the digital single "Nice to Know You") before heading out on a nationwide tour in mid-July that brought the band to Ripplefest in Austin, TX, as well as the massive three-day metal blowout Psycho Las Vegas. While the band announced that Moore would be leaving the group, HPD welcomed Harry Silvers (Robots of the Ancient World, Blue Rumble) before recording their latest full-length album for Heavy Psych Sounds that was released last October. Helichrysum marks another quantum leap forward for the band.
On their current tour, Hippie Death Cult are joined by Denver-based stoner-rock outfit Hashtronaut. Formed in 2020 during the pandemic, the quartet bonded over a mutual love for Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy as they started crafting the band's lumbering, fuzz-laden odes smoking weed. Nodding to the modern doom merchants like Monolord and Windhand on their first self-released EP, the group established itself on the Denver metal scene and scored shows opening for the likes of Pallbearer, Bongzilla and High on Fire. Hashtronaut issued its debut album No Return via noted stoner/psych imprint Blues Funeral Recordings in March.
Opening the show is veteran San Francisco stoner-metal favorite Floating Goat, one of multiple long-running projects of guitarist Chris Corona (also a member of Hazzard's Cure and Molten). Founded back in 2001, the band most recently reissued its album Spawn of Poseidon and EP Suburban Anxiety as a double vinyl set. In addition to this RWS presents show at the SF Eagle on Thursday, Hippie Death Cult will play the Brentwood Emporium in the East Bay on May 22.
Hippie Death Cult with Hashtronaut and Floating Goat
Thursday, May 16, 9 p.m. $15-$18
SF Eagle