You ever dream about getting CTE from a random roundhouse kick in a warehouse for fun?
If you were at Ground Zero Studios last week, you wouldn't have to dream.
California and Arizona powerviolence bands came together for an evening of sheer aggression as TENSION, REGRESSION, and BLOOD STAINED CONCRETE shook the DIY Phonecian venue alongside grindcore four-piece AFTERMATH, grind-violence powerhouse GROIN, and AZ powerviolence veterans MAGNUM FORCE.
The audial shellshock of AFTERMATH’s opening convinced me that they should create the soundtrack to an ICBM getting dropped when World War III starts. Crushing guitar riffs, pummeling drums, and vocals that sound like a mutant on a homicidal rampage makes me imagine a wasteland being created from Satan II missiles. GROIN followed suit whilst rapidly changing the beats-per-minute mid-song to keep the audience on their feet as they were flailing them around. The loud, pummeling anger from REGRESSION was the audio equipment of getting hit with a Cybertruck at 90 mph, with a guy who looked like he asked his barber for a cut that a “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” villain would have (he had short hair with stars painted on) that ended up getting carried on his friend’s shoulders in the middle of the pit.
TENSION made it very clear from the get-go that their message of inclusion didn’t include bootlickers or warmongers as they began their set with “Capital & Disease.” The ensuing chaos made me feel like someone grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me violently for 30 minutes as the crowd continued to fling their limbs around drunken possessed goblins. BLOOD STAINED CONCRETE makes the music I would play when Christmas carolling, if Christmas carolling was a “Jackass” segment. I feared that I would get kicked in the head if I came within four feet of the pit of any of the bands that played, especially MAGNUM FORCE.
That same guy with the shaved head with stars on it called for a wall of death in the middle of the MAGNUM FORCE set. Fans gathered around the microphone all shouting in unison as people were still moving around like GENE KELLY doing pinwheel moves, if GENE KELLY downed a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon. MAGNUM FORCE ended their set reminding the crowd to be excellent to each other, or something to that extent. The message was definitely needed after witnessing all of the moshing that happened.
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