Rotten Sound/ Early Graves/ D.I.S. @ The Joint, Los Angeles. 5/13/13.

It had been years since I last saw my favorite Finnish grinders in concert. 2008 to be exact. When Rotten Sound opened the Carcass reunion tour. Now they were headlining their own North American tour and sporting some killer opening acts as well.

Nothing like walking into a show and being greeted with some kick ass tunes (after scoring an amazing parking spot to boot). This is exactly what happened as we stepped foot inside The Joint. Semi local opening band P.O.O.R., aka Point of Our Resistance, were thoroughly grinding the stage to pieces by the time we arrived. This four piece from Ventura had their shit together. If they drove down hoping to win a bunch of jaded LA metal heads over, on a Monday night no less, well mission accomplished fellas. Their songs had everything I enjoy about this crazy type of noise I call music: urgency, conviction, and power. Speaking of power, their drummer was not fucking around. Dude was hitting hard and basically pummeled his kit all night. Props to P.O.O.R. for being the pleasant surprise of the evening.

Semtex Vest was next. These LA natives played a competent brand of death grind but just couldn't match P.O.O.R., or any of the other band's, intensity. They had some amusing stage banter though. Destroyed In Seconds (D.I.S.) followed immediately after and brought a spike in the room's energy levels with them.

Their blend of galloping d-beat punk + metal = good times. As much as I love this "crazy type of noise I call music," it's really easy to get burnt out on blast beats and 1000 bpm songs all night (old and jaded, remember?) so D.I.S.'s set was literally a breath of fresh air this evening. Heads were banging in the crowd and bartenders feared for their lives when D.I.S. frontman Jon escaped the confines of The Joint's less than spacious stage and jumped into the crowd and the accompanying bar table. Lot's of energy and lot's of riffs. D.I.S. did not disappoint.

After years of failed attempts, I was finally going to see Early Graves. I've been a fan of their records since We The Guillotine, but have somehow never managed to see them perform live. I was super bummed when their original vocalist Makh Daniels died in van accident while touring in 2010. I'll never know what that incarnation of the band was like, but Early Graves 2.0 put on a hell of a show this night that's for sure. Their new frontman is the dude from The Funeral Pyre, who is a certified screamer if there ever was one. His vocals are of the tortured black metal variety, but still meshed well with the band's hardcore/grind sound. I wasn't too keen on the production of their last album Red Horse, but am glad the songs ruled live. Again, Early Graves brought a nice chunk of variety to this show. Foot stomping grooves, thrash breaks, lumbering riffs, and their final song of the night "Quietus" was hands down the musical highlight of the evening. Early Graves rocked.

And then...there was Rotten Sound. This band has spent the past decade cranking out consistently awesome grindcore albums and for that, I am eternally grateful. They could have rolled into tonight's gig and played nothing but AC/DC covers (acoustically) and I'd still have bought my ticket out of respect/appreciation. The AC/DC reference holds some meaning for Rotten Sound, namely cause all their songs sound the same...but that's the best part! Blistering fast grind songs churned out one after another. The band does have a few other tricks up their sleeve though, they've incorporated a healthy amount of d-beats and sludge like grooves/breakdowns into their style over the years. It's a wonderful blend of the filthier elements of extreme metal I like to call Rotten Sound soup. It's damn nourishing if I say so myself.

They took the stage and the wall of sound commenced. Shit was loud even with my ear plugs. It's amazing that a band with only one guitarist could still churn out such mighty racket. Rotten Sound frontman Keijo was a polite and gracious host. I could understand his stage banter a bit better than when he toured The States with Nasum last year, but just barely. He thanked us for coming out on a weeknight and acknowledged the apparent "no mosh pit Monday" rule of thumb that was in full force this evening. When a hyped up fan made a few ill fated attempts at starting a pit during one of the songs, Keijo was kind enough to reward the dude with a free shirt for his troubles. Like I said before, a kind and gracious host. He mentioned that their visas won't expire until next year and suggested that Rotten Sound might return to the USA sometime again soon. One can only hope. That next free shirt, will be mine.


video lifted from: this dude.