Photos

Church of Misery, The Gates of Slumber, Wizard Eye Philly Gallery

By Blow The Scene Staff

Posted on June 3, 2012

We have a special Sunday edition photo gallery featuring Tokyo’s favorite sons of psychedelic doom rock, Church of Misery, as they continue on a trek across the US in the wake of Maryland Deathfest X. Last week’s performance at Philadelphia’s North Star venue also included Indianpolis doom metallers, The Gates of Slumber, and Philly’s own psych-tinged metal trio, Wizard Eye.

The intricate wood carvings that encompass the stage and surroundings at North Star set a perfect mood for this other-worldly mix of Sabbath-worship style rock show and gave our hardy Senior Staff Photographer, Dante Torrieri, some awesome visuals to work with. We could easily write a thesis report on Church of Misery‘s serial killer themed corpus of releases since the band’s fruition in the early 90s, but let it suffice to say, you’ll be doing yourself a favor by snagging a copy of the band’s most recent full-length, Houses of the Unholy (Metal Blade / Rise Records). Though the band’s influences undoubtedly bring elements of 70’s rock to the forefront, Church of Misery‘s unique use of multi-layered distortions and impecable control of guitar tones and melodic structures are far from dated. The vocals remain guttural and brutal across the board, giving the band a much darker presence than many of their neo-Sabbath contemporaries. Church of Misery have been picking up a lot of momentum recently, having seen a number of early works re-issued on some the world’s most prominent underground labels. Last week’s performance only reinforced why this band continues to make waves throughout metal circles around the globe with a set that all but mesmerized an enthusiastic gathering of supporters oceans away from the band’s home base.

The supporting acts also proved they were not be slept on as The Gates of Slumber continue to support its most recent full-length, The Wretch, which hit streets in 2011 via I Hate Records. In an age were many bands are shortening songs to quick one and two-minute bursts, The Gates of Slumber are not afraid to take listeners on musical journeys than span movements well over the 10-minute mark. Having seen numerous line-up alterations over the years, The Gates of Slumber forge forward in this latest chapter as sharp as ever.

Philly’s Wizard Eye rounded out the bill with its own blend of catchy and heavy riffin’ that quickly drew bodies to the stage and officially got the evening’s festivities under way. Setting forth a dense foundation of bass distortions and driving drums, allowing the guitar work to wander into several effect-laden territories, the accesible, rock-styled vocals bring it all together in the end.

We know you are here for the photos, so without further ado..

All pictures by Senior Staff Photographer, Dante Torrieri, of Useless Rebel Imaging.
Words by Joshua T. Cohen

Wizard Eye
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