Fuck the Facts, Magrudergrind, Defeatist, Attake - August 7th - Cake Shop, NYC

I've only heard complaints about Cake Shop as a venue, but my first visit turned out to be a raging good time. In the pantheon of basement venues around New York City, the joint is fairly well decked out. It has an actual stage (albeit only several inches tall), a soundboard and a decent PA system. Sure, the floor slopes strangely down towards the stage. And yes, it's nearly impossible to see the band unless you're in the front. And of course it was a blazing inferno, but what do you expect? I think Cake Shop is what you make of it. I made cake.

My wife made a rare metal-show appearance on this night, if only to surveil the wares in the upstairs café (she's a baker by profession). I descended into the music space as Attake went on, and I quickly realized I'd have to get sneaky if I wanted to see the band (or take any pictures). Attake were quite entertaining, benefiting from a better sound mix than they had at Europa, where I saw them last. The band's meat and potatoes metal assault is great for limbering up the neck. If you were still feeling squeamish at this point, a good spray of sweat from Chloe Puke's hair should have got you in the metal mood.

I snuck underneath the PA system as Attake finished, trying to grab a decent spot for Defeatist. I've been wanting to see these guys for a good while. I couldn't repress giddy fanboy glee as Joel Stallings set up his drums. Even thought I missed the boat on Anodyne, I did feel a certain privilege in being able to witness their rhythm section in action. This was the second week in a row I'd seen Josh Scott play, and his bass rig was still set on 11.


Defeatist ripped through tracks off their new album, Sixth Extinction, as well as an assortment from the various splits and EPs that made up Sharp Blades Sink Deep Into Dull Minds. Aaron Nichols belched out vocals with a genuinely pained expression while slamming out rapid fire riffs from his drop-tuned guitar. Joel Stallings stole the show. The drum sound was incredible, approaching the pulverizing perfection that came though on the bands' early recordings. The Sixth Extinction tracks benefited from the bright snare attack they lacked in the studio. I would have loved to have shot some video, but my position was precarious as the crowd seesawed across the room in sweaty waves. People kept screaming requests for the the band to play faster, but that seemed an absurd proposition.


After a series of unfortunate events, this would be my first time seeing Magrudergrind live. I scooted over to the other side of the stage in between sets, grabbing a spot in front of a pole guarded by familiar faces. This pole proved to be a live-saver in the madness that would ensue.


I totally dig Magrudergrind's self titled LP from last year, and we got a good helping of those tunes. People pretty much went ape-shit bonkers for the band. Tracks like “Bridge Burners,” “Excommunicated” and “Heretics” got a rabid response. Folks somehow managed to crowd surf over the top of the audience without getting killed. Cake Shop's basement was now filled with the parboiled stench of punk sweat. My neck got an excellent workout, but I was saved from the worst of the pit by the aforementioned pole.


The mix for Magrudergrind wasn't quite as articulate as it was for Defeatist, and the guitar sound was a lot more blunt than on the recorded tracks. That Sunlight Studio vibe was mostly absent, but it didn't stop these songs from crushing. Avi Kulawy regaled us with frightening tales of over the top crowd participation at their last Cake Shop show (which I sadly missed). Only once during this set did I see a crowd member tear the microphone from Avi's hand to scream along. Good times.


I only got into Fuck the Facts quite recently. I've checked out their music before, but was never pulled in. The band released a short, free compilation album for Saint-Jean-Baptiste day this year, and that is what eventually hooked me. I started working back from there and finally discovered the glory of Disgorge Mexico. With all of that fresh in my mind, I was particularly excited for this performance.

The band took quite a while to get it together. As far as grind bands go, Topon Das has an almost unreasonably complicated guitar set-up. But then again, Fuck the Facts aren't your average grind band. As they started their set, I was surprised at the excellent sound. The band is absurdly proficient at punctuating raging blastbeats with melodic interludes, and that dichotomy was perfectly articulate in person.


The packed crowd was every bit as wild as it was for Magrudergrind, if only a tad more sparse. Mel Mongeon let loose her maniacal vocals on us while managing to stay deftly disentangled from the crowd. By this point I had no choice but to surrender to the stifling heat and the metal, letting my head bang with abandon. Technical difficulties only slightly marred the end of the set, but otherwise this was a tightly wound and potent performance. This night was a perfect end to a long streak of excellent shows for me.

Now bring on the Wormrot.


There are some excellent pictures of the show (including some appearances of myself) over here and here.

Comments

  1. amazing gig, and write up, why cant we have such gigs in the uk

    ReplyDelete
  2. So sad I missed this show. I love Fuck The Facts so much. That St. Jean Baptiste sampler is awesome...

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Orthodoxyn - Thanks sir. I wish only the grindiest of grind gigs to be bestowed upon you in the U.K.

    @Chris - Honestly, I have no idea why it took me so long to click with Fuck the Facts, but it happened and I've fallen hard for their music. It's all just hitting the spot for me right now. This show made it official. Sign me up for the FTF fanclub.
    Sorry you missed the show.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @Chris - do you have any advice on FTF's pre-2008 full-lengths? Their back catalog is daunting, to say the least.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Looks like it was a pretty fucking sick show. It's been too long since I've been ground into a sweaty, filthy pile of quivering, pulpy eardrums.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I only like the post-2002 albums with Mel on vox. So pre-2008 that would be Backstabber Etiquette and Stigmata High-Five. Both are excellent.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Labels

3 Inches of Blood1 7 Degrees Records1 A Storm of Light1 Abbath2 Absu1 Abyssal Vacuum1 Acephalix2 aftermath music1 Agalloch1 Agrath1 Altar of Plagues4 ambient1 Amon Amarth4 Amorphis1 Anarkhon1 Ancient Wound1 Ancst1 Anhedonist1 Animals as Leaders1 Aosoth2 Apostasy Records1 Arsis1 Assück2 astrogrind1 At The Gates1 Atakke2 Ataraxy1 Augury1 Aural Music1 Australia1 Autopsy2 Avantgarde Music1 Backslider1 Bandcamp4 Bandit1 Baroness5 Barren Earth1 Basilysk1 Batillus2 Be'lakor2 Beansidhe2 Beaten To Death3 Belgium1 Berlin1 Bindrune Recordings3 Black Anvil10 Black Cobra1 Black Metal72 Blender Theater3 Blood Harvest4 Blood Incantation1 Blood Music1 Bloody Panda1 Blue Bedroom Records1 Blue Record1 Blut aus Nord2 Bolt Thrower2 Bosse-de-Nage1 Botanist1 Bowery Ballroom1 Buckshot Facelift1 Burning World1 Burst4 Cake Shop2 Canada1 Candlelight1 Cannibal Corpse2 Captain Cleanoff1 Carcariass1 Carcass4 Castevet8 cats1 Century Media1 Chepang1 Chronicles of Chaos1 Chuck Schuldiner1 Cicada the Burrower1 claustrum1 Cloud Rat2 Cobalt2 Code6661 Coffinworm1 Concussion1 Coney Island High2 Converge1 Convulse1 Convulsing1 Creator-Destructor Records1 Crom Dubh1 Crucifist1 crust4 Cryptic Shift1 Curandera2 Cynd1 Cynic1 d-beat1 Dååth1 Dark Descent Records6 Dark Tranquillity1 Darkane1 Darkthrone2 Deafest5 Death2 Death Angel1 death metal78 Death Toll 80K1 Deathspell Omega1 Debemur Morti2 Decibel2 Decrepit Birth2 Defeated Sanity1 Defeatist8 Demilich1 Denmark2 Dephosphorus2 Desecresy1 Disappearer1 Discordance Axis1 diSEMBOWELMENT1 Disma3 Disrotted1 Dissection2 Don't Give a Fuck1 doom32 Down2 Dream Theater2 drone1 Drown1 Drugs of Faith1 Dry Cough1 Dunkelheit Produktionen1 Duplicate Records1 Dying Fetus1 Dystrophy1 Earache4 Eight Bells1 Eluveitie1 Emperor1 Enslaved3 Entombed2 Epoch2 Europa3 Exhumed2 Explosions In The Sky1 Falls of Rauros1 Fen4 FLAC1 Flaming Tusk4 Flourishing6 flowing downwards1 folk1 folk metal2 France1 From Exile1 Fuck the Facts5 funeral doom6 Funeral Moth2 Fuoco Fatuo1 Gattaca1 Gaza1 Germany1 GetOverHere1 Gigan1 Gilead Media4 God Dethroned2 Gojira5 Google Music1 Google music beta1 Gorephilia1 Gorguts3 Gorod2 Gramercy Theater2 Grand Ballroom1 Grave Miasma1 Graveyard Hill Records1 Grind and Punishment1 grindcore35 Grindcore Karaoke1 Guns N' Roses1 Gustavo Santaolalla1 Gwynbleidd1 Gygax1 Haftvad Records1 Halo of Flies1 Handshake Inc.1 hardcore11 Heaving Earth2 heavy metal2 Heavydeath1 Hells Headbangers2 Hellthrasher Productions2 High Command1 High Water Media1 Highline Ballroom1 Hivelords1 Holy Grail1 Hooded Menace2 Horrendous3 Horror Pain Gore Death Productions2 Howls of Ebb2 Hreilia1 Human Remains1 Humanity Falls2 Hybreed Chaos1 I1 I Abhor1 I Voidhanger Records2 Ill Omen1 Imbroglio2 Immolation8 Immortal4 Impiety1 In Flames2 Incantation4 industrial2 Inexorum1 Infernal Stronghold1 Infestus1 Ingrowing1 Inquisition2 Interviews1 Intronaut2 Inverloch1 Invertia1 Invictus Productions2 Ipsissimus2 Irkallian Oracle1 Iron Bonehead1 Iron Bonehead Productions1 Iron Maiden4 Irving Plaza4 Isis1 Katatonia3 Khthoniik Cerviiks3 King Giant1 Krallice10 Kreator4 Krypts4 Kylesa4 Lamb of God2 Landmine Marathon4 Last Rites1 Laster1 Latitudes1 Lavadome productions2 Lay Down Rotten2 Legion1 Lifeforce Records1 Listenable Records1 Lit Lounge1 Ludicra4 Lychgate2 Madison1 Madison Square Garden1 Magrudergrind2 Man's Gin1 Manipulator1 Marduk1 Mare Cognitum1 Marty Friedman1 Martyrdöd1 Maruta1 Maryland Deathfest2 Mas-Kina Recordings2 Masonic Temple1 Mass Grave1 Massachusetts1 Mastodon6 Megadeth1 melodic death metal5 Melvins2 Metal Bandcamp7 Metallica1 Mikael Åkerfeldt1 Milwaukee Metalfest1 Mind Mold1 Mirovia1 Misery's Omen1 Mithras2 Mitochondrion1 Moksha1 Mollusk1 Mono2 Moonsorrow1 Morbid Angel1 Morbus Chron1 Mortal Incarnation1 Mortician1 Mortiferum1 Motörhead1 Mournful Congregation1 Music Hall of Williamsburgh1 Mutant Supremacy5 Mutiny Within1 My Dying Bride4 Nachtreich2 Naisian1 Napalm Death5 Nasum1 Necrophobic1 Necrosemen1 Necrot2 Necrowretch1 neo-classical1 Nephelium1 Nerve Altar2 Neuraxis3 Neurisis1 New Zealand1 Nile2 Nirvana1 No Fashion Records1 noise3 Nokia Theater1 Nordvis2 Nuclear Blast3 Nuclear War Now!1 Nucleus2 NWOBHM2 obituary1 Obscura4 Obsequiae2 Ogg Vorbis1 Olympia1 Opeth5 Order of Orias1 Osmose Productions1 Owen Hart1 P.L.F.1 Pact Ink Records2 Pagan Records1 Pallbearer1 Pantera1 Paroxsihzem2 Peaceville4 Pelican6 Phantom Glue1 Pharmacist1 Phil Anselmo1 Pinnacle of Bedlam1 pirate metal1 Plebeian Grandstand2 Poland1 Polluted Inheritance1 Portal1 post-metal2 post-rock2 PRC music1 Priapus1 Prisoner of War1 Profound Lore10 prog11 Prosthetic2 Psychic Limb3 Pulverised Records1 punk1 Qrixkuor2 Quorthon1 Radiation Blackbody1 random playlist3 Red Album1 reissue1 Relapse8 Revocation5 Ritual Chamber1 Robert Johnson1 Ruins of Beverast1 Sabre1 Saint Vitus Bar1 Sarcasm1 Sarpanitum1 Satan1 Scion1 Scrotum Jus Records1 Selfmadegod Records1 Sentient Ruin1 Seraphic Entombment1 Sesecresy1 Setentia2 Seventh Rule1 Severnaya1 Shadow Kingdom Records1 Shea Stadium1 Siberian Hell Sounds1 Skeletonwitch6 Slough Feg1 Sludge20 Slugdge1 Social Distortion1 Soilwork3 Solar Asceticists Productions1 Soulseller Records1 Southern Lord3 Spectral Lore3 speed metal1 StarGazer1 Stockholm1 Streetwalker1 Suffering Hour1 Suffocation5 Sulaco1 Summer Slaughter1 surf1 Swallow the Sun2 Swashbuckle3 Sweden1 Swedish Death Metal1 Swimming1 Swords of Chaos1 Sydney1 Symphony X1 Taake1 technical death metal7 Temple of Abandonment1 Temple of Void1 Thantifaxath1 The Absence1 The Acheron3 The Ajna Offensive1 The Binary Code1 The Bowery Electric2 The Chance4 The Charleston2 The Communion1 The Faceless4 The Fucking Champs2 The Knitting Factory3 The Ominous Circle1 The Path Less Traveled Records7 The Rolling Stones1 The Ruins of Beverast1 The Secret2 The Studio at Webster Hall5 Thou1 thrash13 Thrawsunblat1 Throatruiner Records1 Throne Records1 Tiger Flowers3 Toad's Place1 Tombs6 Triptykon1 Union Pool2 Unmen1 Unrest Records1 Unspeakable Axe Records1 Urfaust1 Vancouver1 Velnias1 Vendetta Records1 Vex1 Via Nocturna1 Vic records1 viking2 Vile Creature1 Vit1 Vitriol Records1 Vore1 W.T.C Productions1 Wadge1 Wake2 Warbringer2 Washington1 Weakling3 Weapon1 Weedeater1 What We All Come To Need1 Willowtip4 Wisconsin1 Withered5 WITTR1 Woe3 Wolves In The Throne Room5 Woods of Ypres4 Wormrot9 Writhing Mass1 Xaddax1 Xantam1 Xenoblight1 Xibalba1 Year of the Knife1 year-end list9 year-end-list1 Yellow Eyes1 YHDARL1 Yith1 Zhrine1 Zosimus1
Show more