Phil Anselmo's Housecore Horror Festival settles its dark cloud over us Thursday, November 12 (which would be a great prequel title for the Friday the 13th series). The band listings are, truly, a Murderer's Row of some of the roughest, most aggressive, hell bent for hardcore, blistering bands in the genre, to say nothing of the macabre, hellish films they're running.
The festival officially begins at The Korova with local outfit Aggravator, whose 2014 release Populace Destructor is a thrash gem, followed by DFW's The Black Moriah and their "black thrash." The lineup is completed with Washington's hasher-heads Black Breath — who sound fucking pissed — and Idolatry.
Kicking shit off at the Aztec Theatre stage on Friday is Child Bite, a band equal parts slip-n-slide-slaughter band Daughters (R.I.P.), System of a Down and Jesus Lizard. The Big Easy's Eyehategod will heave their 300-pound corpse of a set into the eardrums of fans who want to hear the soundtrack to dragging a dead priest through the streets of New Orleans, followed by thrash legends Exodus, who, if your neck isn't broken yet, will be sure to have you reaching for the brace by the end of their speed-freak cacophany. King Diamond will round out the evening pummeling the audience with his barbed-wire-sharp screeches and cries befitting Hell's nativity scene.
Saturday starts off early at the Aztec with Gasmiasma. Dropdead filter the convictions of the Earth/Animal Liberation Front through breakneck tempos that speed you through a tunnel of righteous anger and radical politics, often in little over 30 seconds. Following Dropdead is Crowbar, another N'awlins group adroitly set to follow the arthritis-inspiring speed of Dropdead and bring the tempo back down to a decipherable pace — for the pissed stoners. Next in this ridiculous lineup of brutal beat-butchers are four bands that are legendary and who no amount of print could do justice to: Detroit hardcore-godfathers Negative Approach, Corrosion of Conformity, grindcore masters Agoraphobic Nosebleed and Suffocation!
Sunday's Aztec lineup will feature Tristan Shone's industrial noise tank Author & Punisher; Oregon doom metal maestros YOB; the masked and anonymous Ghoul who make a certain, also shrouded, melodic-metal band of a similar name sound like Lionel Richie; Zombi; tempo-manipulators Incantation and Dario Argento darling's Goblin.
The amount of eardrums that will be shredded would be tragic if the intent and purpose of HHF wasn't to lovingly punish with one of the most extreme and profound metal/horror fests in the world. Bring your mom and wear lots of bright colors.
Housecore Horror Festival
Korova Stage:
$10 (free for HHF ticketholders), Nov. 12-15, 107 E. Martin St., thekorova.com
Aztec Stage:
$50-$150, Nov. 13-15, 104 N. St. Mary's St., theaztectheatre.com
