2-5-05 at Ash Street Saloon in Portland, OR
Inflikt, PaylFace & Mindcell
By Robin Steeley
A typical night at the Ash Street, the crowd arrives quietly and in batches, seems like the last few shows everyone has been fashionably late and tonight is no exception, although before the beginning of the show the room would fill up and some serious metal would commence.
First onstage is Portland locals Inflikt. What can I say about this band? They are in my top three Portland bands, I go see them as often as I can for the aggressive release their music gives me, and I played their demo CD so constantly that I literally wore it out. Intense, crushing mayhem they bust out song after song full of rage and melody. My favorites are the steady and punishing “No Vow”, the adrenaline pumping “I Let Go”, their infamous “Bloodstains” and heart ripping “So Render”. Tonight they played something fresh and I would have to say my new favorite is their latest shredder “Sharded” which is pure metal with no bullshit. This band gives a fierce performance that is amazing every time. I think they need to get on the road and spread the sickness that is INFLIkT to the rest of the world.
Next up was Jager band PaylFace, described as head stomping metal, this Boise, Idaho quartet knew how to bring it when they came to Portland. The songs are heavy and energetic and the crowd seemed to get into the music as their set continued. The bass player blew me away when I saw that he not only owned but impressively played a six string fretless bass. Overall, their sound was tight and thrashing and worth a repeated listen if they come back through town.
Closing out the night is local thrashers Mindcell. Tonight was a special event for me since Mindcell is also one of my top three favorite local bands. Recently plagued with line up changes, the band is back after a hiatus that gave them a chance to regroup, write, and become an even tighter unit then ever before. Tonight usual Frontman Travis will be playing drums as well as belting out a tirade of gut wrenching songs from behind the kit. I was completely amazed by his energy and precision on the skins while never missing a beat in the vocals. The band is super tight instrumentally with a layered guitar sound and a sick low end bass. It was obvious the local crowd was happy to see them live as they responded violently to songs like "Nothing Left", and the dynamic force of "Never" as well as my favorite, the bone crushing "Took It All Away". It's impressive to me that no matter how many times I hear this song, live or recorded, it reverberates through my brain relentlessly for the next 24 hours. Nothing I can do will stop it; I swear the chorus was echoing in my mind when I opened my eyes this morning. Another highlight is when tonight's Birthday boy, Nikk from local band Jahai took the stage along with Stephen and LB from Inflikt to assist Mindcell in a superb Deftones cover.
Overall, a dream lineup and an adrenaline filled night of good music. I do have to mention tonight's testament to real friendship. Inflikt Frontman LB William appeared on stage with fresh ink in the form of bold red numbers 1111 followed by the zodiac symbol for Scorpio. The tattoo is a tribute to the friendship of Inflikt guitarist Stephen, whose birthday is November 11th, (1111) and whose sign is Scorpio. On another even stranger note, every single time I have ever photographed Stephen, and it has been MANY times, in every single shot, his eyes are devilishly red. Operator error, or evil guitarist? We may never know.
