Whether it’s just a big tax write-off, some sort of heavy metal promotion campaign or part of a much grander scheme, I could care less why car-manufacturer Scion and Vice Magazine decided to fly out thirty bands to Atlanta, Georgia for a free festival last February. I hear a lot of noise about corporate companies infiltrating the underground scene (come on now, B9), but whoever can throw around that kind of cash and spends it on names like Mastodon, High On Fire, Boris, Converge, Neurosis, and Baroness is pretty okay in my book. We can talk about politics some other time, though.

After mingling with a horde of gorgeous SuicideGirls in Las Vegas for a week to shoot an upcoming DVD, I traveled down south to witness the destruction that was about to go down at Scion Rock Fest. California ragers Trash Talk were set to play a warehouse show in the ATL the night I arrived, so after the chaos that went on there and a stop at a sketchy liquor store the party was definitely on in room 1918 at the Renaissance.

Upon arrival at the Masquerade the next day, the queue outside was insane. Thousands of metalheads had been waiting outside the venue all morning to get into the fest that had everyone talking for the past couple of months. While Trash Talk set up their gear at the Heaven stage (the other two indoor rooms being Purgatory and Hell), I decide to go outside and check out Kylesa. While I dig their records, the Savannah-based sludge metal band isn’t doing it for me today, just as the sound does nothing for Laura’s vocals. However, some of the tracks off their upcoming release Static Tensions are still haunting me in the best way possible.

Back in Heaven, it’s not the first and won’t be the last time I’ll see blood spilled at a Trash Talk show. Even though their line-up this weekend is incomplete (singer Lee is MIA due to a fractured kneecap), the Sacramento hardcore band is solid and as violent as one can only hope for. They are without a doubt the black sheep among this array of doom, sludge and stoner metal, but a fifteen-minute set is all they need to convince their largely unfamiliar audience. I hurry to catch the last song or two of Torche, who have been growing on me for a while now and seem to get better every time I see them on stage. The song Healer is as catchy as a stoner band can get.

One of the bands I have been dying to see today is Baroness, fronted by John Baizley (known for his iconic artwork gracing record sleeves and T-shirts of bands like Cursed, Daughters, Darkest Hour, and Pig Destroyer). The four-piece is sounding heavier and more colossal than ever, I don’t know if their riffs could get any more epic. I kind of want their amps to go to eleven. The same goes for Boris, which is enough reason for the Japanese experimental rock trio to have reached cult-status over the years. Named after a Melvins song, Boris is absolutely one of the most impressive live bands to play at the Masquerade today. Their droning sound is downright hypnotic, largely attributed to guitarist Wata, who by the way is without contest the cutest girl here.

Although I don’t get to see much of Richmond grind thrashers Pig Destroyer, they shred harder than I remembered and sound about as evil as last Summer’s Carcass reunion. Not so diabolical but worshiped by stoners worldwide for the past decade, High On Fire proves to still be unparalleled. Matt Pike (previously of the hugely influential stoner/doom formation Sleep) has an unreal throat that seems to have been created for the sole purpose of fronting this fucking epic band.



Opening with one of my favorite (and most recognizable) songs, Plagues, Boston hardcore band Converge is in excellent shape tonight. With crushing riffs, bone-chilling vocals and ear-shattering percussion, their setlist has been perfected to shut up even the most critical of Converge fans by including Concubine and The Broken Vow, as well as earlier work such as Locust Reign. Creating a sound that has been imitated by many but mastered by few, Converge have yet to fail me.



After witnessing the blood and sweat shed in Heaven, I join the masses outside to a darker and colder space where Neurosis are set to perform. Being the second to last band, they take the main stage to assault my senses with a wall of sound for a solid 90 minutes. The six-headed Oakland outfit effortlessly integrates doom metal with industrial influences to create a truly unique and macabre ambiance. Formed in 1985(!), Neurosis has continually raised the bar in its genre and tonight proves to be no exception.

There is no denying that Mastodon has become one of metal’s leading American heavy metal bands since the release of their 2002 debut Remission, and the Grammy nomination wasn’t a coincidence either. While the Atlanta natives aren’t typically my metallic cup of tea, they conjure an intensity that cuts through flesh and bone and the majority of their peers can only dream of. With three records under their belt and a highly anticipated LP due on March 24, Mastodon is in good company when Neurosis guitarist and vocalist Scott Kelly joins the band to perform Crystal Skull. After nearly two hours of pure fucking metal, Scion Rock fest has officially come to an end and blown my mind from start to finish.