In today’s world of bubble gum chart pop and identikit Indie bands, it was with some excitement that I snapped up the opportunity to go see some actual metal and hard rock at Crash Mansion, a bar and live music venue in New York’s Lower East Side. Admittedly, given that the last live act I had seen was the mighty Judas Priest at Jones Beach arena, it was always going to be hard for these lesser known bands on the bill to shine. “They don’t make them like they used to” has always been my approach to metal produced this decade, but armed with a couple of free rum and cokes (yes, free bar from 9-10!) I prepared myself for the night’s entertainments. The crowd was a mix of rockers (one guy literally looked like something from This Is Spinal Tap, which, coincidentally, was playing on the TV screens), “metal moms” (like “hockey moms” but harder drinking) and miscellaneous abusers of the free bar.

The first band of the night was Beyond Hope Lies, a powerpop “screamo” outfit originating from New York. As an ardent opposer to any band resembling My Chemical Romance, I wasn’t holding out too much hope, but in the end the performance was tight and energetic. My feet got tapping on more than one occasion and some of the guitar solos were impressive. I can forsee these lads being a hit with the younger “tweenager” crowd.

White Knuckle Battery

Having caught a few glimpses of them on YouTube, I was definitely more in the mood to see the second band on the bill, White Knuckle Battery, whose influences are in keeping with my own personal tastes; Pantera, Anthrax, Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. I got chatting to their lead guitarist, Ed Savoy, downing rums at the bar, and he gave me an impressive run through of the band’s credentials, including the fact that they had played with the legendary Heaven and Hell on one of their tours. So I was prepared for something special, reinforced when I got accosted by the mum of the lead singer, Joey Mauceri, who delicately told me that the band would “literally burst my ear drums”. The performance was definitely loud and brash, with some immense shredding from Savoy, and the riffs were suitably pounding. The only thing to sour the mood was some anti-gay comments from Mauceri, which did nothing to dispel the myth of metal as a sexist, anticuated genre dominated by meat heads. Perhaps he was just acting the angry, uneducated homophobe? Nevertheless, I rocked out to my heart’s content and could already predict a sore neck in the morning. Look out for the band’s debut album, tentatively titled “Of Higher Power”, penciled in for release this summer.

After grabbing a quick beer, I set myself up for King Hell, the final band of the night and from what I could see on MySpace, by far the most theatrical. Picture a cross between The Darkness, ZZ Top and AC/DC and you’ll get an idea of what King Hell is all about. Catchily titled songs such as “Assmaster” and “What the Fuck” also give a good idea of the band’s generally debauched musical direction.  Part band, part stage freak show, the group’s MySpace site announced their motto as being very simple: “it’s the hooks, stupid”. And hooks there were aplenty, and prancing devils and oversized afros, plus an excellent cover version of Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like The Wolf”. The crowd demanded entertainment and that is what it got. King Hell is definitely a gimmicky troupe of misfits, but they had good songs and kept the energy levels cranked up throughout. They should go far. The bands’ self-titled debut album is out now.