Sludge-metal greats top four-band bill at Great Northern
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Influential New Orleans sludge-metal icons Eyehategod brings its current West Coast tour to Great Northern in SF Thursday night with LA power violence crew ACxDC, and metal bands Savage Master and Molten.
Formed over 33 years ago in the Big Easy by guitarist Jimmy Bower and drummer Joey LaCaze, the group drew on the downtuned sonic mudslide of the Melvins as well as a mix of important metal (Black Sabbath, Celtic Frost, Saint Vitus) and punk (Black Flag, Corrosion of Conformity) bands to craft it's caustic, oppressive sound. Cycling through a number of players to fill out the group, Bower and LaCaze eventually found second guitarist Brian Patton and singer/lyricist Mike Williams, whose howling, angst-ridden delivery became a key component to Eyehategod's identity.
The group recorded a couple of demos and issued its raw-edged debut In the Name of Suffering in 1990 through small French imprint Intellectual Convulsion, but the label would fold after only issuing 2,000 copies of the album. It would eventually be reissued two years later after the band signed to Century Media. It would follow with Take as Needed for Pain in 1993 which better captured the quintet's desperate amalgam of lumbering doom, southern-fried metal and feedback-drenched punk.
By the time the band recorded it's most successful effort Dopesick with noted metal producer Billy Anderson and COC guitarist Pepper Keenan in 1996, Eyehategod had firmly established itself as a force on the underground scene and had even begun tour with more mainstream metal acts like White Zombie and Pantera (whose singer Phil Anselmo would collaborate with both Bower and Williams on future projects).
The band would go on an unofficial hiatus for several years, eventually reconvening in 2000 for Confederacy of Ruined Lives, but the musicians would spend much of the next decade focused on other band projects (most notably Bower working with Anselmo in Down and Superjoint Ritual) and personal issues including battles with heroin addiction and Williams being incarcerated on drug charges after losing his home in Hurricane Katrina. But the band still managed to reunite for various festival appearances and a hometown show for its 20th anniversary in 2008.
Eyehategod released it's first album in 14 years with it's self-titled effort on Anselmo's Housecore, but sadly it would be their last with drummer LaCaze who died in August of 2013. The band has soldiered on with new drummer Aaron Hill, even when Williams was forced to miss a number of live shows in 2016 that found Anselmo and Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe filling in (Williams would receive a liver transplant later that year).
The band began work on its next album in 2018, but progress was significantly slowed by the pandemic. The effort -- entitled A History of Nomadic Behavior, a nod to the group's relentless touring schedule --was completed in 2020 and saw release the following year. While sounding surprisingly polished for an Eyehategod recording, the songs on the collection still featured the band's trademarks: corrosive, down-tuned riffs from Bowers and unhinged lyrical vitriol of Williams. The group also contributed a song to a Motörhead tribute album released by the new imprint established by Psycho Entertainment, the promoters behind the annual Psycho Las Vegas metal festival.
The band has been making up for lost touring time from the pandemic, playing a string of its own headlining shows in the U.S. and Europe as well as dates with Venom, Inc. and Clutch. Fresh from an appearance at Monolith on the Mesa last weekend, the band brings its current West Coast tour back to the Bay Area for this show at Great Northern in San Francisco Thursday night.
In addition to celebrated power violence crew ACxDC and Kentucky occult metal outfit Savage Master, the show will feature local metal heroes Molten opening. The all-star quintet features a murderer's row of scene veterans including guitarists Chris Corona (Floating Goat, Hazzard's Cure, and Wild Eyes among others), Gary Goudreau (East Coast band End-time Illusion), drummer Damon Lockaby (Banquet) and former Hell Fire bassist Bandala playing bass as well as keys and classical guitar (singer Brandon Bristol rounds out the band).
The band quickly gained a following with its brutal mix of thrash and death metal influences, garnering national press coverage just on the strength of their demo. Early in 2021, Molten self-released its punishing debut full-length Dystopian Syndrome to wide praise.
Eyehategod
Thursday, Sept. 22, 8 p.m., $22-$25
Great Northern
