Girl at the Rock Shows

Walking into a venue and seeing a bunch of familiar faces is always a sign that I picked the right show to spend my night at. There were a lot of options on Friday night and, unfortunately, it was all or nothing. None of the various shows happening were at places where I could hit more than one show, so I chose to spend my Friday night going back to my roots of the local metal scene at The Turf Club. I was already excited about the night because it had been a hot minute since I’ve seen a good local metal show, but that excitement was amplified as I walked in and was instantly greeted by faces from my prior life when this scene was really all I knew. It set the stage for what turned into a truly amazing (and brutal) Friday night.

New-to-me- RAHVN was first up on the small and intimate stage. A blackened death metal band from Saint Cloud, I feel like this band brought things back to basics in a way, while making sure to start the night off with a bang. When I say that this band brought it back to basics, I don’t mean that their sound was boring. I mean that they clearly know the roots of the music they play and pay homage to it by focusing on skill rather than trying to impress fans with speed. I mean, sure, their songs were fast, which made their opening set fly by, but there was just something about the talent that screamed louder than the guitars to me. Although I would absolutely agree with the description of RAHVN being a blackened death metal band, I feel like that really puts them in a constricting box that they are so much bigger than. RAHVN is for any kind of metalhead because, truthfully, there’s something for all metalheads in their sound.

Following RAHVN was a personal favorite of mine – Caustic Abyss. Although I’m a few steps removed from the local metal scene compared to what I was about ten years ago, this is a band that I always get excited to see. Not only is their sound intense and so perfectly tight and curated, but the creativity that this group brings to their dark sound is also nothing short of brilliant. Much like RAHVN, Caustic Abyss weaves in many different sub-genres of metal into their sound, but they also bring this almost groove-like beat to the mix, which sets them apart from other bands in the scene. Seeing this band play isn’t just hearing metal music through the speakers; it’s seeing metal music being created and the way different people bring a different flavor to bands, culminating in a larger-than-life kind of sound. All of these things, mixed with the tightness of this group, are all reasons why, although I have taken a step back from the local scene, I’ve never taken a step back from this band.

Silva, the next band to hit the stage, seemed to take that groove I mentioned that I got from Caustic Abyss and really lean into it. Don’t get me wrong, Silva was just as intense and just as brutal as the rest of the line-up on Friday night, but there was this almost proggy kind of influence in their song that seemed to highlight their sound so perfectly. Attached to that prog-leaning sound was this almost organic vibe. I don’t quite know how to explain it, but their sound felt like Minnesota. You could feel the cold, harsh winters in some of their songs, but just after that feeling, you got something a bit more free and spring-like, as if a renewal was happening. Maybe I’m reading into their sound a bit more than I should, but it was absolutely a set that not only caught my attention but also made me fall in love.

Closing out Friday night’s festivities was Lungs. I’ve been dying to see this band live. I feel like they are constantly playing across the Twin Cities, but my calendar just never lines up with what they have going on– until Friday. Lungs is a local post-metal band that is notorious for the sense of intensity that they bring to the stage. Honestly, the bar was set high just with all of the chatter that I’ve heard about this band, and I was worried that maybe they wouldn’t deliver. Per usual, I worry too much. Not only was Lungs perfectly intense and savage, but they also weren’t afraid to play with space and silence within this song. This brought a sense of ambiance to the night that wasn’t felt through the other bands. I’m not saying that this is a good or bad thing, but I liked how it showed just how diverse the local metal scene can be.

Watching Lungs play was as fascinating and multi-faceted as their sound. You could tell that the members of this band meant business. Every single note that any of the members played was perfectly placed and held for the perfect amount of time to add just the slightest sense of tension. That being said, you could also tell that this band just genuinely loves playing together. From chuckles shot across the stage between members to the way they shot smiles out into the audience, it was slowly turning into a slight mess of flying limbs. Lungs is just one of those bands where it’s very easy to see that this band is here for the long haul.

Friday was not just another Friday; it was a Friday the 13th. It just felt right to be at a local metal show to celebrate the holiday, and it just felt right to go back to my roots for the night.

Line Up:

RAHVN

Caustic Abyss

Silva

Lungs

Venue: Turf Club

Smell-O-Meter: Nothing Notable

Average Age of the Crowd: 37

Crowd Surfers- None spotted

Stage Divers- 0

Mosh-ability- 7 out of 10

Amount of Beer Spilled On Me While Walking Around- $0

Broken Bones- None Noticed

Spotted Flying Through The Air- Nothing

Fights- None

Pukers- 0

Passed Out People- 0

How Many Times I’ve Seen These Bands Before (or at least how many times I can remember)-

RAHVN – 0

Caustic Abyss – 2

Silva – 0

Lungs – 0

Show on Deck — Davina and the Vagabonds

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