MAGIC LANTERN @ echo

Mammatus || Listen || Watch

Mammatus was next, a metal trio out of Corralitos. I loved Nicholas Emmert’s (guitar/vocals) use of the word “dudesses,” as in, “Good evening, dudes and dudesses!” That’s what got me up out of the rickshaw on the second floor where I’d been napping between sets. (You know the one–it’s tucked back there in the left corner of the balcony.) After this brief salutation, Mammatus flew straightaway into what was pretty much an epic-metal assault (is epic-metal a viable genre?), and as much as it pains me to admit this (I spent many a formative hour in the back of a busted Mazda MPV listening to Rift, Junta, and crackly-ass Fillmore bootlegs), Nicholas Emmert makes Trey Anastasio look like a Sophomore. He’s got great taste for licks, excellent timing, and gets the most of a somewhat limited vocal range by keeping things simple: long, sonorous lines that overlay all the fits, starts, and paralytic crashes. Freels provides some terrific harmonies on the bass, making his way up and down the neck adroitly, while the other Emmert, Aaron, does much more than just hold things together, splashing and crashing like a contemptuous gremlin whipping a semi down the Great Everdark Highway in the rain, fueled by diesel and trucker speed–angry, yes, and slippery, but on time. During their last number, Nicholas Emmert returned the crowd’s enthusiasm by climbing to the top of the stacks and wailing away at his axe-thrash finale. A fine send-off, really. – The Bay Bridged

with:
Wildildlife
Magic Lantern