Richmond, the bar has been raised. It has been a long time since I’ve seen a local metal band (other than the usual big three) with so much talent. In the past several years we’ve seen the scene flooded with an array of stoner metal, doom metal, a bunch of cross-over punk acts and some pretty great death metal. What we've lacked is a crop of highly technical power thrash with the chops to actually pull it off. Volture has popped up in the last year or so, but with that kind of line up (members of Municipal Waste, Immortal Avenger, and more), we knew how good they were gonna be. What have the young guns been up to?
Meet Humungus.
I don’t know why I always doubt the talent of younger bands--by which I usually mean younger than me. Metal has always been a game of paying your dues, serving time, proving you know more or can do more. You always look up to the guys who took the stage when you were still popping pimples, the guys who got covered in tattoos before you were 18, and the dudes who could finally afford that Made In USA custom shop shredder. Subsequently, you look at the younger kids and tend to not give them a chance. They've got to prove themselves, right? I’m not paying to see your band! Gimme all yer beer!
But finally, the word starts to spread. “Dude, they’re actually really fucking killer, the singer sounds just like Joey Belladonna.” That’s the first thing I heard about Humungus. This, coming from the mouths of some of my more stubborn metal friends. I had to check them out. And I finally did so on Saturday, January 28 at Strange Matter.
I walked in to hear Humungus warming up to some Van Halen and Kiss tunes. I was beyond stoked. These guys draw influences from all the right places, and all over the 80’s hard rock and metal map. Add in dual shredder metal guitars, a super tight rhythm section, and a frontman that not only looks the part, but can out-sing most dudes in this area, and you’ve got a really exciting show. A million smoke machines and fans to blow the hair all over the stage? That too. These guys hold nothing back, and are totally relentless. By 1:48 a.m. the crowd had naturally thinned out, but that didn’t stop everyone from yelling for one more. And Humungus delivered.
Humungus sounds every bit as awesome as the Bay Area power thrash style that they embody, but you’ll hear little bits of NWOBHM, power metal, and some early American hard rock all over the place. I’m a stubborn, picky, angry little metal dipshit most of the time, but I truly think these guys set the bar really fuckin’ high as far as metal goes in this town. Everyone should be stoked!
Triple sorries to Hessian, The Day of the Beast, and Earthling, who were also on the bill. I arrived just before Humungus was to finish the night.