“Monoliths and Dimensions” is a strong contender for album of the year, naysayers be damned. In addition, Skull saw Sunn O))) a month earlier in Chicago and stated that they drew heavily from the album for their live performance. Naturally, I had to find out for myself, so I skipped the competing Heaven And Hell concert and made my way to the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts in Eagle Rock (a L.A. neighborhood) along with about 250 or so other people. Opening up would be semi-legendary crossover band The Accused (originally from the Eagle Rock area), and Gentry Densley’s latest project, Eagle Twin.
The Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, originally a Carnegie Institution Library, is an early 20th century structure in the Spanish Mission style of architecture. The building is used today for all manner of art exhibitions, classes, and whatnot. The centerpiece of the structure is the former library hall that becomes an intimate setting as a concert venue, albeit with a tiny, barely raised a foot off the ground, stage. The Center is the perfect place to serve as a cavernous space for Sunn O))), albeit in tight quarters with the rest of the crowd.
Arriving early, there was plenty of Southern Lord merchandise for sale, as well as cheap beer with the proceeds assisting the Center’s activities. First up were Eagle Twin, a duo from Utah featuring Gentry Densley on baritone guitar. I gave their debut full-length, “The Unkindness of Crows”, a positive review a few weeks back, and I enjoyed their set. Taking a couple of tracks from the full-length, Densley and drummer Tyler Smith smashed through a short set that was appreciated by the rapidly filling crowd.

Last year’s Summer Slaughter was a debacle. This year’s tour also had the makings of a debacle, as well, but was saved by a couple of death metal heavyweights anchoring the lineup. In all, 50% of the bands in the lineup interested me, and I decided to wade through all of the prepubescent mallcore/ emo kids that would show up for the other 50% of the show such that I could see the mighty Suffocation perform new songs off of their latest opus, “Blood Oath”. The other bands of interest to me were Decrepit Birth, Origin, Dying Fetus, Ensiferum, and Necrophagist as the main headliners playing above Suffocation. Except for Darkest Hour, I ignored the rest.
From the standpoint of an examination of heavy metal sub-culture, this was a bit of a strange show with an obvious division in the crowd. Half of the crowd consisted of metalcore/ slam fans, all hovering around 15 years old or so, and the other half consisted of death metal fans ranging from young to old. In between bands, it’s almost as if the crowd would switch as the genres were basically alternated throughout the day. One half of the crowd would be inside with their genre of choice on stage, and the other half would be aimlessly walking around the parking lot, as I did throughout the day. I also alternated between the bar, the bathroom, and the merchandise area, even though I didn’t end up buying anything (no t-shirt haul). After the last act of interest to the metalcore crowd was finished (Darkest Hour), those fans all left the venue for good. Adding another weird feel to the mix was that about 25% of the remainder of the fans left after Suffocation and did not stick around for Necrophagist.