Back in 1995, I inadvertently irked someone by wearing a metal shirt to a punk concert at the Daily Grind (long-defunct Midtown all-ages club, which operated near the more recently defunct Grand Emporium). A crusty teen with a slight limp, a stink eye and a ripe odor shambled up to me, lowered his disgusted gaze from my Mohawk to the Anthrax logo on my chest, and spat on the grinning image of that band's mascot. Advertising metal allegiances at punk shows in that era wouldn't get you bludgeoned like it might have in the '80s, but the hygienic threat was real.
I first embraced metal a few years before that incident, and I had punk to thank. I followed a trail of "what can you give me that sounds like this, only heavier?" recommendations from Bad Religion and NOFX to Minor Threat and D.R.I. to Slayer and Anthrax. The Mohawk consensus at the time seemed to be that big-time metal musicians of that ilk were sellouts for playing amphitheaters, recording for major labels, and generally not being down for the cause, but eventually the indie-or-die ideology mattered less to me than the fact that thrash groups played faster and louder than the hardcore punk acts I sought primarily for their speed and volume.
Kansas City's Shred Scare also used punk as a gateway genre. "Because of bands like DRI, Jerry's Kids and especially Suicidal Tendencies, we discovered the sweet sounds of thrash metal," says The Shred, who chooses to submit collective statements using that moniker. "We've all gotten better at our instruments over the years, and we'll continue to progress as a thrash act, but the heart of our band still lies in the pure aggression and frustration of punk."
Meatshank, which plays with Shred Scare at the Riot Room on Wednesday, April 8, boasts a suitably beefier sound, with half-time breakdowns, chugging grooves and throaty vocals. The K.C. trio, which has existed in some incarnation since 2003, plays self-described "angry, aggressive, in-your-face music that makes you want to hit people and bang your head 'til your neck is sore for a week." That's what Meatshank calls REAL metal. As for false metal, bassist Murry says that's "anything that you have to question if it's metal or not." No one need question the metallic content of these Meatshank lyrics:
"Kill everyone, Kill everyone
I won't be done, 'til I've killed everyone"
"This virgin in life
Will be my whore in death...
I am a necro-devirginizer"
As for the non-local part of that April 8 lineup, headliner Exmortus is completely fucking nuts, combining high-velocity backbeats, ferocious growled vocals, and tech-death guitar harmonies and solos. Bonded by Blood (members' average age: 18) perfectly recreate the late-'80s sound, including a dramatic, high-pitched old-school howler of a vocalist. Witchaven plays a dingier, bleaker variation of speed metal neatly summarized by the song title "Black Thrash Assault." This bill achieves variety without any jarring changes of pace: Each act rages relentlessly in its own way. These chaotic approaches are all complementary, all metal. No loogies necessary.
Shred Scare's singer Chris Seymour and bassist Jason Schelp both hail from the group Skate-O Masochists, while drummer Scott Livingston started maximizing his beats-per-minute count in Idiot Box. These performance clips (both recorded at El Torreon) provide evidence of those acts' ferocity. The quality might be rough, but as "Topekadiyver2" writes in one of the few YouTube comments that hasn't made me long for humanity's extinction, "There is 'no such thing as a crappy video' when it comes to live bands, especially local ones. It is ALWAYS good when there is ANY kind of documentation of bands and shows, so the 'quality' is almost irrelevant."
D.R.I. earned a reputation for brutal efficiency by stuffing scores of ultra-fast hardcore punk rants into early sets. Here are four songs in four minutes from 1984, right before the group started incorporating metal influences and becoming a self-proclaimed "crossover" group.
Popularly known for wanting just one Pepsi and producing a future Metallica member, Suicidal Tendencies ranks as one of the most influential thrash-metal hybrids. Here's footage of the band playing "Fascist Pig" in 1985. Note the limber-armed gawkiness of vintage hardcore dancing.
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The punk / metal thing always tended to disappear when you brought up Motorhead or Suicidal Tendencies. I blame "Heavy metal Parking Lot" for everything else.
Maybe it was cosmic payback -- I do remember being a dick about some guy in a Silverchair shirt at an earlier Daily Grind show. Anyway, Meatshank and Shred Scare reported that punk vs. metal conflicts are basically nonexistent these days, which was good to hear. (I think both genres re-focused their wrath at emo.)
I've always found the punk v. metal stuff baffling. Getting spit on for an Anthrax shirt? It's not like you were wearing Candlebox gear or something.
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