Black Elk returns to Portland

Formerly local sludge machine Black Elk is returning to Branx with a cast of fellow ear-splitters for its first Portland show since December 2009. Best of all, it’s free.

There was a time, according to Portland musical lore, that the words “Black Elk” were on everyone’s tongue. The band played several high-profile metal shows, signed to Crucial Blast and put out a record. It felt like Black Elk was everywhere in Portland. The band seemed to be playing with every sludgy doom metal band that passed through town.

And then they vanished. Black Elk fled southward to L.A. and ceased to exist in the Portland scene after their last show at East End.

But Black Elk knows you haven’t forgotten them. To prove it, the band is throwing a welcome back show at Branx Friday, Jan. 20, and the cream of Portland’s alternative metal crop is surfacing to bring Black Elk back into their blackened fold. The lineup, which (no surprise) kicks ass, consists of Black Elk, Nether Regions, Rabbits and Wizard Rifle.

Did I mention it’s free?

Wizard Rifle is arguably one of Portland’s best new metal bands, and it is a delight to see them getting bigger shows. Usually, they play with such bands as Danava and Yob, the latter being the biggest band they’ve ever played with (unless you count Black Cobra). Wizard Rifle’s style is all over the place, as the band employs time and mood changes frequently to capture their signature sound. This stop-start style of songwriting is best compared to bigger bands like Porcupine Tree and early King Crimson, and local bands such as Billions and Billions.

Like Black Elk, Rabbits needs no introduction. The band plays filthy, slimy, pared-down percussion-heavy doom metal. If you need a comparison, think early Prank or Prosthetic records-era Kylesa. Unlike most metal bands, Rabbits create a dense, inhospitable fog that engulfs its music and creeps into the lungs. Just bearing witness to Rabbits’ live performances and recorded output makes the listener cough and choke while attempting to parse the mess.

This is exactly what the band sets out to accomplish—music that makes you feel the need to shower immediately afterward. A change of clothes is advised if you plan to stay for Rabbits.

Of all the band sets on this bill, Nether Regions is perhaps the next most important, for the show marks the release of their new record (on vinyl, of course). It’s a great mix of the styles presented by the rest of the bands—throwback metal vocals and heavy, chunky riffs envelope exceptional songwriting. Their approach to music is decidedly old school: classic song structures and throaty guitars with occasional solos, while the vocalist reminds the listener of a young Lemmy Kilmister.

An incredible amount of technical prowess is found all over Nether Regions’ already existing material. The percussion is nice and chewy and provides a wonderful backdrop for all the guitar harmonies that fill half the songs.

If you don’t know Black Elk or haven’t lived in Portland for more than two years, here’s a short primer: They perform grimy, disgusting music. The production sounds dirty on purpose. No, it doesn’t quite equal Rabbits’ nausea-inducing (in a good way) music, but the sound is very calculated—and very gross. Dense soundscapes perforate the listener’s eardrums with buzz saw-like dis-harmonic stabs. The band exudes such a chaotic and energetic sound that it propels them to a rare echelon of band, one that you can tell brings down the house wherever it plays.

Granted, metal is not everyone’s cup of tea. But when it comes to live music, there’s nary a soul that can’t appreciate when a band pours out its collective heart all over the stage. Black Elk and its cohorts are that type of band.

To behold a spectacle such as this would normally set one back a pretty penny, but this time it’s on the house. Relish it.