The Ridglea Theater rock venue in Fort Worth, Texas played host on this ‘Metal Underground’ evening to headlining Bangladesh from Austin and a slew of other hot regional Texas talents, including: Skard Soul, Lug, Debri & Suicide Opera.
Of the sets from the opening lineup, I have chosen only to review the most impressive act of the four that I saw. I feel that Debri from Mineral Wells had their A-game in place from the very first explosive note. Thrashing with monster metallic riffs in pit swirling-inducers such as “U Turn” and “30 Stones”, carried by the throat-growling vocal performance of Brian McCoy, it was easy to see that these young bruisers meant business. Debri is certainly another one of those extremely rare Pantera-influenced likes that somehow manages to write good enough songs that stand on their own and expand on the entiire mosh/groove approach that the good ole Cowboys From Hell were infamously known for throughout the world during their supreme reign in the 1990’s. Debri performed other cuts from their 2007 self-released ‘The Life Of Death’ EP, namely ‘Carter’, which was my personal favorite from their setlist on this night.
However, the event was simply owned by headliner Bangladesh, who came on shortly after the midnight hour. Led by one of the more spirited and all-out engaging musical attacks I have witnessed in a long time, thanks to the literal jumping jack Jay Childress. If Debri seemed like an un-caged animal, Bangladesh was the rogue Lion that reered its giant head back, letting out a tremendous roar of gutteral ferocity, leaving noone in the crowd spared from their progressive hardcore metal onslaught that demanded your attention and were damn proud of it. This true rock n roll zeal is what I feel is so sorely missing from even well known national acts on the scene today. “Faked It” and “Tainted Democracy” from the group’s 2006 “Running With Bulls” EP were stellar standouts during the roughly forty-five minute performance that had everyone observing Childress jumping onto the stage like a flying madman from ten foot high stage speakers the music possessed him as if a high-voltage of electricity would if mainlined directly into his veins. Very reminiscent of Dry Kill Logic’s capable mixture of strong guitar hooks, ultimate double-bass drumming, steady bass and killer melodic parts, Bangladesh, who has already begun to appear on national act bills with top underground names like In This Moment and Silent Civilian, displayed sheer love for what they are doing on the stage. Combine this with the flatout fact that these guys have an unflinching arsenal of simply dead tight, ass-kicking songs, this is one unsigned act that seems absolutely poised for much bigger things to come in the world of heavy music.
http://www.myspace.com/bangladesh5
http://www.myspace.com/debri06
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