I traveled up to one of my least favorite cities in America on Tuesday to check out a tasty double bill of retro-flavored metal bands. This was the second awesome pairing of bands in a span of four days for your intrepid reporter. So, life could be shittier at this point.
First up on tonight’s bill was Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. These guys were my main reason for traveling three hours both up and back to Dallas since this was my first time getting to see them live. And they did not disappoint. Even though they have a very retro feel to their sound, Uncle Acid is most definitely a prototypical metal band. Their live sound is just filled with explosive metal riffs and leads. Vocalist and lead guitarist Kevin Starrs has one of those interesting voices that sounds like it was created in the Mason-crazed late 60s. I don’t know how he comes up with it, but it is just this weird nasally sort of whine of a vocal style that is just somehow perfect for the music that it fronts. This is a serious force to be reckoned with in the metal world.
The bluesy, barroom rock of Graveyard finished out the evening. These guys are really feel like a band that you would find in some hole-in-the-wall dingy dive bar. Songs of loss, hard-livin’, hard women and the blue-collar struggle of life all delivered with a soulful croon and dirty distorted guitars. These guys bring the soul to metal. Seriously. There is an absolute R&B influence to their songs.
Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats-I See Through You
Graveyard-An Industry of Murder
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 