On a Friday evening, packs of Angeleno metalheads piled into the Lexington Bar in downtown Los Angeles for a good ol’, local Death Metal show.
Kicking the night off was MANGLED. Mangled made it very clear that they are here have share some heavy riffs and write songs that harken to the grotesque pastiche of all things gore. Tracks such as, “Cannibal Crabs,” help to tell a forewarning tale of flesh-eating pubic lice the likes of which can certainly bring about a tragic and painful demise to one’s life. Most of all, Mangled stood to be charming showmen in their modest ways of talking to and warming up the room.
Next in the lineup came ENTRENCHED. In following the very theme of their name, Entrenched writes quite a bit on the matters of the brutality of war. Their heavy, grooving riffs combined with their vocal stylings show a clear influence from Britain’s revered BOLT THROWER. Track after track of rolling-tank rhythms with screaming solos on top allowed for all concertgoers to enjoy headbanging along to the onslaught.
As a wildcard for the evening, and traveling 1,700+ miles from the Windy City of Chicago, there came MINDLOSS. Mindloss kicked off a three date, west coast mini tour at the Lexington. Though they journeyed far, they came out swinging with their own original take on the genre. Mindloss proved that they are not afraid to take risks with their sound; combining aspects of Death Metal, grindcore, and even hardcore stylings. The term, “true-to-form,” need not apply for this band for threw out subgenre priorities on day one.
And finally, topping the bill of the night, came ENCOFFINIZED. Virtually every track they played featured a foundation of drumming that slammed as a classic, heavy, jungle stomp. Their mustached and mulleted lead singer brought in the vocal stylings reminiscent of stomach gurgling motor oil and battery acid.
All in all, Encoffinized proved to be a safe bet for those that enjoy brutal underground Heavy Metal. They made it clear that they deserve their spot for headlining a night of well-rounded, Los Angeles death metal.