It seems I am forever writing about Chop Suey shows. I’d cut it out if they just stopped bringing in fantastic local and national acts on a regular basis, but as they’ve coupled with KEXP’s Seek and Destroy to schedule Atriarch, Occult SS and Same-Sex Dictator for Friday at 9pm (21+), clearly that’s not realistic.
If you don’t know Atriarch, now’s a great time to start: they’re touring in support of their newest record ‘An Unending Pathway’, out now on Relapse Records. It’s a mesmerizing mix of influences and styles that makes labeling Atriarch just another Portland doom band wildly inaccurate. Black metal, deathrock, and sitar-based drone fuse in the most natural sounding way, led by an equally well-done combination of vocal stylings – some of which, most notably in the opener “Entropy”, wouldn’t sound out of place in a Tibetan monastery.
With releases on Seventh Rule Recordings, 20 Buck Spin and Profound Lore, their Relapse debut is just the latest link in a fine pedigree, and they’re only getting more impressive.
Where Atriarch might lull you into an uneasy hypnosis, O.S.S. (short for Occult Secret Service) wants you alert and mobile while they rip through their new material, a 12″ split with likeminded local brethren Cross out on Trench Art Records. Occult’s blackened crust/hardcore is layered and raw, like exposed electrical cable – highly representative of the sort of thing you’ll find on other solid Seattle labels like Rust and Machine or Inimical. A great way to get your blood up before Atriarch freezes it again.
Don’t sleep on the opener, though. Same-Sex Dictator proved themselves a force when they played the Highline with The Body, Sandworm and He Whose Ox Is Gored. And hey, when you kick ass even compared to The Body, you’ve got something special. Same-Sex Dictator’s “psych-violence” is a vicious and unrestrained noise attack, and they nailed it on their record ‘Open the Coffin’ released in early October (Hanged Man Recordings). Plus they’re super nice.
Three bands with very distinctive sounds, complementing each other tremendously and eager to scream at you with all their new stuff. Another ace from Chop Suey.
Geoff Vincent / Defending Truffle Shuffle Champion / KXSU Heavy Music Director