Will of the West 2022 Tour:  Helsótt and Cave Bastard co-headline a Superb Metal Party in San Diego

June 24th, 2022

          Fresh off their latest record released just a month ago, Will and the Witch, Helsótt would reach the last date of their West Coast mini tour, a stop in San Diego.  Inspired by the movie Young Guns, Helsótt invokes a magical Metal perspective of Billy the Kid’s journey, to become the fastest gunslinger who had ever lived.  With Malphas on this tour with Helsótt, as well as Cave Bastard making a special appearance co-headlining with them, alongside some Black Metal to join in on the festive Friday fun, tonight would be just the occasion to see it unfold.    

Forming only a year ago, Druide started off the evening with some old-school sounding Black Metal.  From 3-beat blast beats, tremolo picking galore, and some despondent sounding atmospheric chords, Druide’s playing style reminded of the early renditions of European Black Metal.  It was only until the later parts of their set, that the riffs could be heard more clearly, as their drummer, “It”, my personal favourite aspect of Druide, played furiously loud, with clean technique and a booming presence that at times, felt it exceeded some of the standard-sounding riffs from guitarist/vocalist, “Erebus.”  A few of the beginning songs were instrumental, but as their set progressed, I preferred their mid-tempo, chord-based riffs that were played on the last couple of tracks.  Personally, I enjoy Black Metal that’s ‘riff-y’, not much for the early 90s Black Metal, and the later portion of Druide’s set, I felt further engaged in the frost-like waves the chord progressions journeyed to. 

Druide is still quite new to the scene and performing live, with the band only having a couple of demos released thus far.  The crowd overall enjoyed their set, and with some experience and reps, I’d like to see where Druide sounds at that point, for better assessment on their sound.     

Hearing waves of joy, recognition, and promise for Mythraeum, I learned that they won the Wacken Metal Battle USA contest, and after hearing them tonight for the first time, it’s easy to understand why.  Absolute amount of energy, melodic riffs, and a colourful palette of ascending Black Metal.  Leading the charge, the frantic windmilling and movement from vocalist “Plague”, had the first moshpit of the night in chaotic form.  I don’t know why there are fans who do this, but the front of the stage was quite packed for their set, and seeing some leave after they played?  I understand supporting a band you believe in, but unless there were proper plans and engagements after Mythraeum’s set, I don’t see seeing 2 bands, and not watching the other 3.

The glistening riff progressions and charming harmonies from both “Wraith” and “Algiz”, reminded me of Immortal’s prime:  Excellent melody, large amount of riffs, and still keeping true to that grim-sounding backdrop of atmosphere.  As a compliment to the Mythraeum, you could mistake them for being from Europe, and if that’s a goal they want to aspire to, mission accomplished.  Even with the darkened, head-nod speed of the music, the immense sonic-boom could be felt crystal clear.  There’s a variation of Black Metal extremes, and with so many to choose from, it can difficult at times to pick the best one for you.  The more extreme limits Black Metal pushes, at least for me, the better I usually enjoy that band.  Mythraeum’s beaming presence of blistering speed, tremendous body language from all on-stage, as well as a keen sense of quality sorrowful riffing in the vein of the greats, Wacken Open Air 2022, will be honoured having them.     

1. Terrestrial Despair

2. Harbinger’s Chant

3. Archoggoni

4. Where Roots Refuse to Cling

5. Through the Nether

Traveling all the way from Philadelphia, Malphas had quite the task to match the energy and overall crowd excitement previous from Mythraeum.  From fury-blurring speed solos, a strong vocal presence, and a more than capable drummer, the overall sounding riffs from Malphas were powerful in their Death Metal execution, yet the tempos in say the verse riffs, also simulated the droning-like Black Metal wave, of atmosphere.  I felt both aspects allowed the listener to be entrenched with the precision, yet have a vast amount of space to wander around the various musical outlines.  Front man Paul DeSanctis’s confident stance, while performing the buzzing tremolo and fretboard jumping riffs with Damian DiFrancesco, gave the mid-level range of his rasping vocals these frostbitten elements.  The symphonic backtrack included, gave Malphas this ‘Black Metal bite’, if you will.

  The technical soloing of Damian was sensational, and either matching the changing rhythm intensity of DeSanctis, or countering the faster picking elements of the solo, Eric Dunleavy’s blasting capabilities and swirling technique, marveled this elated Friday crowd.  Up to this point in the show, Malphas had by far the most dynamic sound of the bands, and we’re quite thankful they made their way over to the West Coast.     

            On the last day of their Will in the West 2022 Tour, Helsótt’s whimsical amount of energy, speed, and headbanging musical festivities, would be some of the quality highlights from their set.  Eric Dow announced on-stage that he suffered through Covid, on the beginning of this tour, indicating he nearly lost his voice and still recovering from it.  You can tell his lower growls were simply not there and able, but what was surprising is the amount of screams and high-barking vocals he was able to perform with.  “Will and the Witch” felt faster than on record, due to the quicker nature of the higher-pitched growls, and considering the circumstances, major props for attempting and singing the entire set.  The Western attire he wore, as well as a fancy cowboy hat, fit the concept of their latest record, and gave the visual sense of the story-telling, an extended reality.

            It can tricky to capture the essence of a specific record, to a live setting.  The musical and lyrical concepts of Will and the Witch, range from Thrash, beer-jigging in a saloon, to some strong arrangements on the band’s longer material.  Given “Spit Bucket Brawl”, that sing-along chorus will certainly catch on live, especially with how the band members sang it backup.  Guitarist Mark Dow and bassist Melanie Sisneros not only gave spirited performances constantly moving to every corner, and on the backing catchy one-liner lyrics, but I could feel both alongside Eric, singing in the form of the various characters in the Will and the Witch.  Not low in the mix live either, the justice for the unique vocal aspects on the record, I felt were reached here.

            I was told earlier in the interview I had with Helsótt, that they wanted to give more time to the other bands, and to accommodate Eric’s voice, so although a co-headliner with Cave Bastard, the songs presented were more of the shorter, catchy, made for live song format.  “Babylon: Scarlett’s Saloon” only had one rule, “Drink, Mother Fucker, Drink!”  The crowd ate that part of the set, and happily obliged, cheering others in the audience all-throughout the song.  Understanding the reasons for a shorter set, I still felt you couldn’t fully appreciate Helsótt tonight, if you had heard Will and the Witch, as the longer, often progressive tracks such as “Skin Out” and “Navajo Crow”, also show the detailed areas of their collaborative songwriting and use of different instruments.  Nevertheless, Helsótt’s set was a jarring Metal time, and hopefully could perform that record in full, to fully display the strength of the band’s talents.                   

1. I’ll Make Ya Famous

2. Will and the Witch

3. Independent Night

4. Spit Bucket Brawl

5. Babylon: Scarlett’s Saloon

6. Honour Thy Valkyrie

            Last, and most certainly not least, Cave Bastard’s dissonant road of a unique and different Extreme Musical journey, would enrich this still crowded and rambunctious folk.  Opening solely for the San Diego date on Cattle Decapitation’s most recent North American tour, Cave Bastard’s fantastic sense of emotional riffing, blended and mixed with a jaunting level of sophisticated note placement, and topping it off with crisp technicality.  You can hear each piece of the songwriting so clearly, yet feel bombarded by the level changes in tempo, aggression, and motion.

            Playing from all the main tracks off their latest album, Wrath of the Bastard, was a genuine surprise.  The sheer quality and enraging Death Metal elements on the record, came to life more so than even the previous performance, having a 2nd guitarist on the stage.  The different fluxes and rhythm playing were present here, and made a walloping difference.  Certain bands out there, need 2 guitar players, I believe Cave Bastard to be on that list.  A somber passage around the end of “Chaos Unearthed”, could be heard furthermore from Edgar Figueroa, backing up Adolfo Acuna’s devilish open-picked chords to the equally bleak solo.  That emptiness on the other side of the musical plane, was non-existent tonight, and it made a tremendous difference in how to appreciate and listen to Cave Bastard live.

            The music, with another guitarist, was quite heavy and booming, that volume level of Steve Pearce’s vocals, could have been turned up a smidge higher.  Not that his vocals were low in the mix, that’s just speaking to the new weight and volume of the set added.  By around “Wrath of the Bastard”, you can hear him a lot better.  It’s important that he’s heard, with that eagle yell soaring on their pray-like extended piercing screams, the narration with his vocals, hands, body language, and the passionate nature throughout every note performed, he’s become absolute must-see/hear live.  Conducting “The Kreist” through the beautiful two-note picking in 4/4 timing portion of the bridge section, Steve’s astounding vocals, fit the delicate and most tornado speeds, in Cave Bastard generally.  The narration between the twisted distorted notes, as well as the somber, apocalyptic lyrical aspects, make each song something to be fully present for.

            Cave Bastard, to this joyous bunch on the floor, asked if we wanted another song, and a new song, at that.  “Unholy Strength” had more downpicked single-note transitions than the majority of the previous tracks, as well as a prominent mid-section of this 3-note twin harmony from Adolfo and Edgar, changing over different variations at least 4-5 times.  Attempting to try all forms of Extreme music through the Cave Bastard lense, the new song sounded promising.  The best sound, and biggest punch of the night.        

1. Anti-Vaxxtermination

2. Chaos Unearthed

3. Fools of Enslavement

4. Wrath of the Bastard

5. The Kreist

6. Futility En Masse

7. Unholy Strength (new song)