A sweaty, sludgy, LOUD night in Lakewood, OH… this is what makes life worth living.

So first of all, shout out to the Birdhouse in Lakewood. For the uninitiated: the Birdhouse is a truly DIY house venue run by Quinn, who is possibly the most central figure in the Cleveland DIY heavy music scene. It’s actually shocking how much influence and importance the Birdhouse holds in the CLE when it is, in reality, an unfinished basement with a couple of powered speakers. It goes to show how the people in a music scene are far more important than the gear.

I rolled up to this show alone, which is always a sort of religious experience for me. The majority of my music-related time is spent in the company of my friends and collaborators , which is incredible, but I also cherish my individuality when it comes to my creation and consumption of the artform. There’s something magical about experiencing an incredible performance and then running to your friends to tell them about it.

The night kicked off with local group Locktender, a trio with as much atmosphere as “I’ll punch you in the throat” hardcore energy. These guys were HEEEEEAAAAAAVVVVYYYY. In my incredibly humble opinion post-metal is at its best when it fully embraces its dynamics, exploring the moments of slience and solitude while keeping some thick-ass riff in the back pocket, ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. I look forward to catching these fine folks again soon.

And the show ended there. Weird, right?

No, my ears were begging for more assaults from cranked half-stack 6505 amps, and Hunden was there to fill that need. With a solid mixture of drop B sludge and some tunes that were, more or less, straight-up stoner rock, these fellas kept me guessing as they pummeled through their set. To be honest, a lot of stoner-tangent bands sort of just recycle the same Sabbath-ripoff riff (riff-off?) for 40 minutes. Hunden managed to break the formula and offer variety in their sounds. Novel concept, right?

Oh boy, now we get to Edhochuli… I discovered these guys by randomly buying the vinyl of their album “Dream Warriors” at My Mind’s Eye records because I thought the artwork looked cool. If you have a sweet dragon-themed album cover and a $15 price tag, then there’s a solid chance that I’m going to buy your album. I took it home, spun it, and thought “oh wow, I’m actually digging this. Solid find!” Then I gave it a few more listens and realized “oh shit, I think I’ve been looking for this band for quite some time.” Thrashing, relentless sludgy hardcore with beautiful dual-guitar, neoclassical-ish leads? Sign me up!

So I knew about the dual guitar factor, but, upon seeing these guys in the flesh, I learned about the dual DRUMMERS as well. Good god were they loud, immense, and awesome. Normally I see the whole “hey we have two drummers how wacky is that” thing in the jam band scene. Edhochuli utilized them more in terms of double-tracking guitar, in that they really thickened up the rhythm section rather than going for some sort of syncopated groove or endless back-and-forth tom fills.

By the end of the night my ears were officially murdered, but the killers were many in number: post-metal, hardcore, sludge, twins of both the drummer and shredder variety… it was certainly a group effort. I commend each of the bands for finding variety and innovation in their sounds instead of running back to the same old “hey, you know that song Dopesmoker?” monotony that has plagued local heavy scenes for decades. And, of course, thank you Quinn for so selflessly cultivating creative community in the CLE via the Birdhouse!