Cortez at Radio

A hot, muggy Friday night in August. Perfect for a metal show. It felt like Hell, might as well go see a bunch of bands who play Beezelebub’s favorite type of music, right? The correct answer is “yes”. Vaporizer from Burlington, VT got the blood flowing with a loud, abrasive set of neo-thrash/death/kill metal. Their eight-foot tall singer looked like he might jump off the stage at any moment and rip apart some spectators, while Eli the drummer spun his head around, hair flying everywhere as he beat the shit out of his drums. The twin guitar attack, along with the pummeling bass, provided a wall of metal for the vocalist to scream his displeasure over. I don’t know what the hell is going on up in Vermont but these dudes definitely mean it.

Up-and-comers Rozamov kicked off their set with a blast of feedback and a Happy Birthday to Mr. James Hetfield, and that, along with the singer’s Gibson Flying V, set the tone for the set. Unrelenting straight-up metal, with a little stoner/doom thrown in, is what they’re about. The tempos weren’t too fast, mainly mid-tempo, with some slower, crawling passages here and there. More double guitar action here, with an axe slinger who not only can rip and has a great sound but is one of the cutest Goddamn guitar players around (No, not the shirtless dude with the V. Sorry, bro.). Is that sexist? What’s wrong with being sexy? Dual vocals from time to time, with the bass player throwing in his two cents every now and then, helped keep it interesting. Good stuff.

Stoner rock. There, I said it. Don’t like? Tough. It exists. Some bands play it right, and some bands play it very, very wrong. Like, make-you-hate-music-and-whoever-invented-it wrong. Summoner (formerly called Riff Cannon) play it very right. These dudes sound like they just stepped out of 1995, bong in hand, ready to play these riffs that just make heshers bang their heads until their necks are sore. For some reason I kept thinking of the band Core while watching them. Their songs are pretty long, some mellower, psychedelic parts strewn about, but then they’ll flatten you with some huge mountain-sized riff to remind you that the end is nigh. Again, twin guitars bobbed and weaved, playing some excellent harmonized lines when they weren’t laying down the sludge. They have an album out on Magnetic Eye Records, so if you dig classic stoner rock (there it is again) without any death metal, post metal, or any other kind of metal mixed in, then seek it out, you won’t be disappoined. I promise.

Cortez have been playing for a few years now, they’ve had various line-up changes, but they kept at it and they’ve been rewarded with a brand new double vinyl album and a set of strong, pretty much perfect heavy rock. Vocalist Matt can sing, let me tell you. Only vocalist I can really think of who he reminds me off in power and tone is John Garcia. If Kyuss Lives! or Unida ever needs another singer for whatever reason, Matt is the man for the job. Dude belts it out like nobody’s business. And he HAS to, what with all the racket being generated by Scott, Jeremy and Jay. Thick as shit riffs, hooks for days, actual SONGS with choruses that stick in your stupid head, yeah, they got all of it. Not to mention a smokin’ cover of “Evil” by Cactus that makes Monster Magnet’s version sound kind of feeble, to be quite honest. Plus two of the dudes were wearing Boston Red Sox caps in public, so you know they got balls of steel. Go check out their beautiful album on Bilocation Records. Again, you will not be disappointed. Awesome set. Beezlebub would be proud.