What's New is New... (Again)

by Russell Holbrook  

     Growing up in the Atlanta Hardcore and Metal scene of the early / mid '90's, I was privileged to see some truly amazing bands. I'll never forget seeing Act of Faith, Quadiliacha and Crisis Under Control at the Somber Reptile (R.I.P.), or watching Cerebral Hemorrhage at the Wreck Room. Those were amazing times and amazing bands; talented, prolific, LOCAL bands, who now sadly reside in the "I wonder whatever happened to them" section of most of our memories. As people say; that was then, this is now, and, thankfully, now is a fucking great place to be, especially if you're into heavy music. Our wonderful, eclectic city is blessed to call herself the hometown of some of the greatest heavy bands around nowadays. Let's give thanks to the thunder gods for the likes of Mastodon, Zoroaster, Withered, Sadistic Ritual, Death of Kings, Royal Thunder, and many, many others, who are thriving and helping to create, or, recreate, a vibrant, exciting local scene, even if some of them are away on tour a great deal of the time.
    One local band who always seem to be in another city is Attila, Atlanta's self-proclaimed "party metal" band. About a year and a half ago my fifteen year old son introduced me to them. He said they were coming to town with some touring hardcore bands and that we should go check them out. He was already an Attila fan and he said he thought I'd like them. So, in the spirit of giving new bands a chance, and wanting to hear what's going on outside of what I'd normally listen to, I agreed.  To be honest, I'd go watch a tree grow if it meant getting to hang out with my son.  Plus, how many parents have a kid who turns them on to new heavy bands? How cool is that?! So, anyway... We went to the show and Attila killed it. Absolutely. Since then we have seen them a total of three times and every time we see them they wipe the stage with whoever has the misfortune of having Attila open for them. Their latest victims were Chelsea Grin, who Attila made look like a parody of a cliche' of a "metal" band.
    While I'm not a big fan of metal core, or death core, or any of the "cores" that came out any later than 1990 something, I really do enjoy Attila, and to my own sincere surprise. I went in a sceptic and they won me over. If you've never heard Attila, I'm hard pressed to give a short, simple description. Their sound is a blend of  traditional metal, thrash, metal core and hardcore. There are breakdowns, but not to the point of monotony. The vocals are a mix of insane screeching, guttural growling, and screaming. When they play live, they go nuts and the audience goes insane with them. It's so fun to see hundreds of people screaming "Suck my dick!" in unison as the vocalist leads everyone in the mad ritual. It's ridiculous! In addition to the hilarious vulgarity and the spastic, over the top antics, this band can really play. The guitarists play more than one chord, actually, they play several, and, they do solos! The drummer and the bassist never lose time and the vocalist, Fronz, ties it all together like a gift that tells you to fuck yourself when you open it. Brilliant. I'm still surprised that I'm writing this in a public forum. Many Metal fans do not consider the genre that Attila is associated with as "real metal", but, maybe it's just something new. I didn't consider it to be real Metal either, at least not initially. However, after seeing Attila live on several occasions, I have been converted. It's refreshing to see the new generation of local bands doing something new. At least it's new to me, and, what's old is over, and what's new is new. If you enjoy heavy riffs, vulgar gesturing, and gratuitous profanity, you can't go wrong with an Attila show. The shit is seriously fun, I'm not kidding, and fuck, I'm OLD!!  I love metal and I love our wonderful city. Fuck yeah!! See you at the show! 
    

GO SEE LOCAL METAL!!!! (Or whatever local music you enjoy!!)