Abiotic is not like a needle in your ass

'Twas a very metal night before Christmas, when down on Sixth street
All the metal heads were stirring, they were all ready to meet
The bands W.o.B, Bury the Rod, and Abiotic
Damn straight, things were about to get hella Chaotic!

Okay, that has got to be some of the funniest shit I have written to date. But I like it.

Lucky me, Metal Blade records was hosting a show at my favorite bar ON 6th St. That's right. The Dirty Dog (https://dirtydogbar.com/). It's nice to know if there is a place you go to watch a show or get a beer, the staff there believes in and supports what their place of employment is about. What I am trying to say is this, I was at another metal show at a different venue earlier in the week (http://livemusicinaustin.blogspot.com/2013/12/old-metal-heads-dont-die.html) and saw several of the bar staff from The Dirty Dog. So they don't just work at an Extreme sports bar with an attitude, they believe it.

Beyond the staff being pretty damn awesome (and if they give you attitude, look around at where you're at. If you have a problem with that, go to some martini bar and have a drink with your pinky finger up. I am sure the staff will give you the middle finger up as you leave) the venue is bigger than you think.

A large seating area street side, a pole for those brave souls who want to entertain, and the start of a very large "U" shaped bar. The bar wraps around to the stage side of the venue. The bathrooms are located behind the stage and there is a second bar stage left.

Bury the Rod (http://site.burytherod.com/) was on stage when I walked in. Surprisingly decent crowd for a Sunday night down town and Bury the Rod was making the most out of it. It wasn't til 3 songs in and I realized there was no drummer. WTF? It could be from the activity in the crowd, swirling in the pit to the bands blistering sound, or the bassist and guitarist thrashing on stage, but when I snapped to, it did crack me up a little bit. Just seemed out of sorts for a post hardcore, death metal band to do their thing sans a drummer. Don't matter. It worked and the crowd ate it up. You know it is a balls out crowd, ready for an ear bleeding evening when the most active person in the pit is wearing a cute panda ear muff hat. Very dangerous and no one fucked with him. I wouldn't have....you? Check out Bury the Rod on FB.

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Whore of Bethlehem (https://www.facebook.com/wobethlehem) mounted the stage next. Unleashing their style of metal on the crowd was a pretty crazy thing to bear witness to. The lead singer was in every ones face down in front and they loved it. Seeming to scream out the lyrics as if he was calling you to hell with him, it was pretty damn intense! With the dual vocals, it is easy to see why these guys kept the crowd right where they wanted. Down in front and in the circle pit. The crowd picked up on this and started to throw their voices up to match the band. Louder and faster is how the Whore of Bethlehem moaned tonight.

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Abiotic (https://www.facebook.com/Abioticfl) thanks to me over hearing a conversation one of their guitarist had with a fan after the gig, BAM, there is the name of this blog post. Hailing from Miami, FL and leaving a trail of deafened fans across the U.S.A We were proud that Abiotic made Austin their Halfway point. At first I thought it was interesting that the bar was starting to fill up with LOTS of women. my thought was 'Great! A band with pretty guys that aren't worth a shit.' Listen to me, I was stunned, mouth dropped wide open, and pulse racing when I heard these guys start to warm up.

It was as stunning as it was awe inspiring. My initial reaction is the two guitarists and the bassist have had training and are well schooled as Progressive Jazz musicians. W R O N G !!!! All three of these guys are just technically and insanely a trio of phenoms! Some guys have flashy guitars and amazing rigs that make you say wow and then aren't worth a shit to hear. These three fellas have gear that they know how to use beyond what your ears thought possible and what your eyes can't believe.












Oh yeah....and then they started playing! Yeah. Take that amazing Progressive Jazz musician, throw him into a blender, add some meth to whip it into a frenzy, and then pour it onto a red hot cast iron skillet. Yup! It was tough to be down in front shooting pictures. It was loud, the band was super intense, and the crowd was pushing, shoving and non forgiving. It was everything that crowd had been waiting on all night, unleashed into a searing metal ice pick...right through your ears. This is the type of metal that is so technically flawless and the type of performance that has so much going on, it would induce blindness. Happily and numbly I interviewed one of the guitarist (audio interview to follow) and went home this Sunday night in my car quietly, with me ears ringing and grinning....ear to bleeding ear.

Special thanks to Carine from Metal Blade Records and from Anthony with Come and Take It Productions!


















Laters