Chris “Cheese Dog” Krovatin is the author of two young adult novels, Heavy Metal & You and Venomous. He is currently working on multiple new writing projects, as well as new material with his local New York metal band Flaming Tusk. He is a contributing writer for Revolver and generally comes off as a good-natured pain in everyone’s collective ass.
On June 3, I saw Marduk with Aura Noir, Black Anvil, Hod, Panzerfaust, and Natur at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in NYC. Here’s what I witnessed.
Number of hours spent being tattooed before the show: Three.- General feeling: Just…just a little woozy.
- General feeling about the tattoo: Hail!
- Easiest way to find the Williamsburg Music Hall: Follow the guy in the Nunslaughter T-shirt!
- Disheartening sight of the night: The sheer lack of Aura Noir merch available. I wanted an “Ugliest Band In Metal” shirt!
- Onstage when I arrive at Williamsburg Music Hall: Natur from Brooklyn.
- Sounds like: Blackened thrash with over-the-top power-metal moments. Pretty entertaining overall.
- Happy time fun fact: The cover of Natur’s Spider Baby EP is preeeetty fucking cool.
- Number of people in corpse paint present: So far only one, and his is pretty low key.
- Thoughts on this: Marduk is just a little too militant and nihilistic for people to dress up in full black-metal costume for.
- Unlike: When I saw Immortal in February: Half the crowd wore corpse paint.
- Next up: Panzerfaust from Ontario.
- Sounds like: Really raw, acidic black metal powered by thrashing rage and morbid chugs.
- Overall opinion: Any band that turns their mic stand into a chain-and-skull-covered inverted cross is OK by me.
- Rainbow puppy good time fact: The band’s name is taken either from the Darkthrone album of that title or a German anti-tank weapon whose name means “armor fist.”
- Hope for the night: That some corset-wearing black-metal chick will notice my awesome new tattoo and swoon over me.
- Only people who notice my awesome new tattoo: Two Mexican black-metal dudes, in the bathroom.
- Sustenance consumed: A cheese dog and a Lone Star over at the Levee on North 3rd Street.
- Now, we have: Hod from San Antonio, Texas.
- Sounds like: Unrelenting death-march black metal instilled with a weirdly American sense of groove and sweep.
- Number of leather/denim vests onstage: 4.
- Number of members in Hod: 4.
- Diagnosis: True.
- “Say No To Drugs” fact: Hod’s first demo is named Cry And Piss Yourself. You only wish you could come up with such an awesome title.
- Weirdest merch: Thin metal shields and blasphemous art prints by Remi from Light’s Eclipse Productions. (Check his shit out at remiart.carbonmade.com).
- Other random items sold: A whole bunch of rare patches, sold, I think, by the dudes from Warhemic in Flushing.
- Patches include: A Raped God 666 patch! Holy shit, I just got a Raped God 666 patch! MEXICAN METAL DEATH SQUAD ARISE!
- On that note: Black Anvil from Brooklyn.
- Sounds like: Shred-heavy thrash with holocaustic black-metal overtones and brilliantly dark lyrics.
- Favorite song of the evening: The cunt-punching declaration of “Angels To Dust.”
- Explanation: It’s not a song about cunt-punching; it just feels like some huge unholy necrospirit has uppercutted you clean in your cunt.
- Members of the Metal Press Class Of 2009 present: Two that I’ve run into—Henry Yuan and “Grim” Kim Kelly.
- Members of the local Brooklyn metal militia present: At least six, including Lucky 13’s Melody Henry, Ralph from Demilitia, and a slew of others.
- Shout outs: Done and done, son.
- Second to last: Aura Noir from Oslo, Norway.
- Sounds like: Furious black metal-inspired thrash putridity.
- Personal response: AURA FUCKING NOOOOOIR!
- Standout track of the night: “Unleash The Demon.” What lyrics.
- “Unleash the demon!”: “Come satisfy my need!”
- “Release the semen!”: ….uuuuh…
- Aura Noir songs to look up when you get home: “Death Mask,” “The Pest,” “Blood Unity,” “South American Death.”
- Physical state at this point: Semi-conscious.
- State of my tattoo: Officially starting to throb like a bastard.
- Finally: Marduk, from Norrkøping, Sweden.
- Sounds like: Steel-plated occult war brigade marching across a field of desecrated coffins and burnt church remains.
- Peace love and happiness fact: Marduk’s lead singer Mortuus studies Judo (I believe) and threw a drunken fan over his shoulder at a show.
- Performance observation: Man, these guys are killing it, much more so than the last time I saw them.
- Favorite track: “Burn My Coffin.”
- Wave of nausea and exhaustion: Sudden and jarring.
- Number of times I’ve missed “Panzer Division Marduk” encore: Twice, once due to excessive drunkenness, once due to tattoo-inspired blood loss.
- Diagnosis: False.
- But guess what: No one really gives a shit.
