Over the last 5 years or so, the South has proven itself  fertile ground for young, immensely talented, and innovative metal bands. While the styles of metal run the gamut from molasses-thick sludge (Little Rock, AK’s RWAKE) to thunderpop (Miami, FL’s TORCHE), the common thread is that these bands have a very distinctive heavy tone. A few years ago, I had spoken briefly with BARONESS bassist Summer Welch, and when asked about why there were all these amazing heavy bands coming out of the South, Welch had the following to say:

“I think the climate and the scenery of the South have a big impact on bands both consciously and subconsciously. It’s hot and heavy. It’s beautiful and dismal at the same time.”

The beauty and melancholy of the South are indeed apparent in the music of many metal bands from the South, and none moreso than MASTODON and KYLESA. While MASTODON have been exporing realms beyond cosmos for a while now, KYLESA’s roots are still firmly planted in the mossy greens of the South, and these contrasts were evident at the DC stop of their US tour. [More after the jump]

After INTRONAUT opened the show (couldn’t catch them in time), KYLESA were up next. The Savannah sludge-punks have been hitting the road in support of their fantastic new album Static Tensions, so it was no surprise that the bulk of their short set was comprised of tracks from that album. KYLESA are usually a pretty intense live experience, but I think the second-class treatment the 9:30 Club sound engineers often give to opening bands and the larger venue threw the band off. Tracks like Static opener “Scapegoat” and Time Will Fuse Its Worth centerpiece ”Hollow Severer” lost their oomph, which is especially unfortunate given how much of an adrenaline rush each of those tracks are. Despite that, it was readily apparent that KYLESA are firing on all pistons as a band now. Guitarist Laura Pleasants’ abilities have been growing steadily over the years, and she is quickly turning into a top-flight guitarist -among both sexes. The tapping licks at the beginning of the song “Only One” and the tasty, SABBATH-style solo in “Perception” were all faithfully executed by Pleasants along with her trademark hair flips. Furthermore, KYLESA’s two drummers have integrated quite well with the rest of the band. It was the dual-drummer attack that was easily the highlight of the set, as they managed to shake awake the crowd with a blistering drum solo before launching into the next song. Though KYLEA was the highlight of the evening and they warmed the crowd up well for MASTODON, the crowd was cheated from the full roar of the band due to poor sound programming on the part of the venue.

MASTODON, on the other hand, had no such problems, but that’s to be expected as the headliner of a ridiculous tour where you play your ENTIRE new album in order, plus selections from your back catalogue. As I alluded to, MASTODON have been out on the road in support of their new album Crack The Skye, the Tsarist Russian astral projection adventure. If that concept sounds goofy to you, it’s because it is. But the underlying music is actually really good. While the music nerd community is split in opinions over this album, I fall into the camp that argues that it is one of their stronger albums, certainly moreso than their major label debut Blood Mountain. That album was heady in concept as well, but was too long and lacked the cohesiveness which Crack The Skye has. As a result, watching the band play the entire new album in front of a backdrop of old Russian movie footage and assorted astronomy videos was actually a surprisingly entertaining experience. It goes without saying that MASTODON are an immensely talented and tight live band, so I was not surprised that every song from Skye was note-for-note perfect. Furthermore, guitarist Brent Hinds ripped each solo with aplomb and inspired numerous horns being thrown up by the crowd. The material from the new album itself actually lends itself quite well to a large venue, especially songs like “The Czar” or album closer “The Last Baron” — songs which have so many different parts to utilize every aspect of the 9:30 Club’s sound system. Eventually, when the band was ready to move on to their back catalogue, they also appeared to get more comfortable as they were playing songs that they’ve been playing for years. Unfortunately, the songs from Blood Mountain just bore me (with the exception of “The Wolf Is Loose”), both live and on record, so no amount of relentless energy could breathe new life into those tracks. Yet, any song from Leviathan will inspire a reaction of “STOKED!” in me, and the carefully selected tracks of “Megalodon”, “Seabeast”, and “Iron Tusk” did just that. Combine those tracks with brutally heavy set closer “March Of The Fire Ants” from the band’s first album Remission, and no one can argue that the band did not close out the set in style.

Though it was a wholly entertaining evening, this tour does not rank up there as an all-time favorite show. It seemed as though the bands wanted to play it safe, most likely in favor of technical proficiency as the 9:30 Club is a pretty prominent venue for both KYLESA and MASTODON. While MASTODON may be more comfortable with larger venues, KYLESA are still making their way up through the ranks and it is better to be known as a tight-yet-mildly tame band versus sloppy-but-wild on stage. Next time, go see KYLESA at a small venue and look up MASTODON’s live videos on YouTube. You’ll probably have a better seat for the latter anyway.

KYLESA and MASTODON photos © Brandon Wu 2009. All Rights Reserved. For more of Brandon’s photography, visit www.bwuphoto.com.