Red Fang Close Out 2016 With Triumphant Hometown Performance (SHOW REVIEW)

Heavy rock outfit Red Fang have long been one of Portland’s most respected and notable exports, so it was fitting that they chose the Wonder Ballroom to close out their tour on Saturday, December 17. The sold out crowd only proved to make it an even more fitting tour stop. With the release of their fourth studio LP Only Ghosts earlier this year, Red Fang have been steadily building upon an already loyal following. The same can be said for their tour mates, Whores and Torche, both of whom released widely praised albums this year.

The trio known as Whores kicked off the evening’s festivities with a quick-fire set that demonstrated a propensity for crushing riffs as much as melodic songs. Guitarist and singer Christian Lembach has a voice that is vaguely reminiscent of Kurt Cobain’s grungy growl, and in the live setting it coupled well with abrasive yet strangely catchy songs that often veered into the realm of sludge, death metal, and punk. As a trio Whores are capable of making a lot of noise, and their set felt sharp and aggressive in all the right ways.

Florida’s Torche were a bit underwhelming. Frontman Steve Brooks definitely possesses charisma, but his vocals were turned way down, making them hard to distinguish. The band tapped into a swirling mélange of droning sludginess that was closer to industrial rock than metal, and was always swelling towards something larger. Though Torche’s energetic stage presence was difficult to ignore, many of their songs tended to blend together, but part of this could have been blamed on the sound.

Red Fang hit the stage all smiles, wasting no time before slicing into a cascade of punishing riffs. The band’s sound is close to stoner metal, but also shimmers with rock and roll bravado with strong hooks. Their 90-minute set put a strong focus on Only Ghosts but also gave fair billing to songs from their other albums. Binding the set was the band’s ability to keep a constant speed going, rarely letting up and always shredding hard. Guitarist Bryan Giles swapped vocal duties throughout the set with bassist Aaron Beam, with Giles’ gritty vocals bringing to mind High On Fire and Sleep’s Matt Pike and Beam falling closer to more straightforward rockers like Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Homme.

The beauty of catching Red Fang live is watching two different yet equally talented vocalists perform alongside one another. Meanwhile, guitarist David Sullivan bit into one heavy riff after another, backed by the mammoth percussive blasts of drummer John Sherman. Together, the members of Red Fang showed an adoring hometown audience what makes their band chemistry so strong. In the process, they also capped off an epic year that has seen them emerge as one of the most exciting, heavy forces in rock music.

 

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter