Heavy Metal: Yob @ Poisson Rouge New York

(Drivebycuriosity) - I am a connoisseur of heavy metal. I really enjoy atmospheric rock music with very heavy riffs. Fortunately my wife shares this taste. Yesterday we went to Poisson Rouge on Manhattan´s Bleecker Street to enjoy a performance of  Yob (yobislove). I liked the intimate place better than similar rock venues in Brooklyn: Saint Vitus for instance, hosts most of the metal bands, but feels like a trap, and Warsaw & Brooklyn Steel which are big and industrial.

We knew Yob already. We had enjoyed their performance @ last year`s Psycho Las Vegas festival (driveby ). Frontman Mike Scheidt and his band (Aaron Rieseberg – bass guitar & Travis Foster – drums ) perform pure magic. Mike is a virtuoso on the guitar and he puts his audience under the spell  of massive and violent riffs blended with melodic and almost symphonic elements - amplified by his excellent colleagues. Yesterday Yob delivered again virtuous & almost unbelievable heavy sound waves, but what the band makes outstanding is Mike´s voice. He performs the genre usual aggressive growls & roars but sometimes his voice changes into a melodic mode.  Like a singer in a bizarre opera he mesmerizes with a hypnotic voice. Yesterday`s gig was a very intense experience, beautiful and wild -  pure bliss.

I also liked the opener: Heavy Temple, three women who demonstrated that girls can perform doom metal at least as well as their male colleagues. The trio shook the hall with massive riffs and growled and roared furiously. After them Bell Witch followed: Dylan Desmond, singer and bassist, who was accompanied by a percussionist. The duo seemed to perform just one piece in about 60 minutes, a series of very slow deep & stretched chords, which invited meditation. I believe this kind of music is called drone metal (wikipedia). I enjoyed their concert for a while but I got tired after about 30 minutes. I would enjoy this kind of metal more in a dark room sitting on a bench, I don´t believe it does function so well in a concert. Maybe this performance was meant to give the audience a catch of breath between the Heavy Temple & the Yob shows.

But anyway. We had much fun last evening. Thank you so much Yob, Heavy Temple & Bell Witch.