While some sixty-thousand metalheads were flooding Los Angeles for Metallica this Friday evening, there was a crowd of headbangers occupying The Glass House 40 miles away. Melvins and Boris have just begun their trek across North America for their Twins of Evil tour with support from Mr. Phylzzz. Each band is playing career highlight albums with Melvins performing their third album, Bullhead, which had the band starting to find their groove, and Boris, who took their name from the same Melvins record, is playing Heavy Rocks. Uh, not the one released last year... or the one released in 2011, but the first of the trilogy originally released back in 2002. Over 20 years later the album is finally getting a wider release with its first ever vinyl pressing as well as hitting streaming services for the first time recently.
The openers, Mr. Phylzzz, very quickly left an impression from the moment they walked out. I didn't know what to expect. I'd been completely unaware of this band until this tour. I didn't even know "Phylzzz" was pronounced "flies." I'd been calling them "Mister Fils" up until tonight. The frontman, Clinton Jacob, walked out looking like Donald Sutherland in Invasion of the Body Snatchers. When bantering with the crowd, he had a small, high-pitched voice, as if he were a fly. He was backed by drummer, Danny Sein. Together, the duo produced an explosive sound. Sometimes it was heavy. Sometimes it was fast. It was always aggressive. They were like if The Blood Brothers tried to be The Locust with just two members.
Next up were the mighty Melvins. The band is currently celebrating 40 years. Unfortunately, the longest-running member next to Buzz had to sit this one out. Not long before the band was about to head out for the tour, longtime drummer, Dale Crover, had to drop out to undergo emergency spinal surgery. Melvins decided to push on, dedicating the tour to Crover. Filling in is Murder City Devils' Coady Willis, who played with The Melvins when he and his Big Business band partner, Jared Warren, were asked to join the band in 2006.
While Melvins are playing through Bullhead, the band is trying to keep the setlist somewhat surprising. Rather than playing the album front-to-back, like most commonly done when the artist plays a full album, they're sprinkling in the tracks out-of-order throughout the night while they run through a few other songs from their early discography. With the exception of a track from 2006's (A) Senile Animal, Melvins kept it to the 90s, with "Night Goat" and "Honey Bucket" from Houdini and "Revolve" from Stoner Witch. Bassist, Steven McDonald, clamored across the stage looking like Jesus, as he delivered delicious deep and sludgy bass tones. It's weird to think that this guy produced The Format's, Dog Problems -- a power-pop masterpiece. Meanwhile, Buzz is across the stage losing himself in his riffs with his iconic hair billowing in the air. When the crowd wasn't headbanging, they were starting circle pits for the faster tracks like "Zodiac." The band closed their set with Osborne holding down the stage by himself as he played through "Boris." After 40 years of performing, Buzz's voice sounds as strong as ever.
Boris took to the stage to close out the show. Boris have more records than one can count on all their appendages, but rather than focus on their storied career, the band opted to play all of their 2002 release, Heavy Rocks. Unlike Melvins, they did play the album's newly re-released track order, which now includes the track, "Dronevil." After 20 years, the band has had time to get better and improve their sound, and it showed during their performance. I can't speak for how those songs sounded live back then, but the 20 years of experience shined through those old songs. A live version could easily replace the studio recordings. The sound was heavier and more full. The only downside to their set was the more sparse audience. It was clear that many had showed up for Melvins, with many leaving before Boris took the stage. Boris even played a cover of Melvins' "Boris" as a set closer with drummer Atsuo delivering a grimy exaggerated vocal performance. That's a compliment by the way.
The entire lineup for this tour is great. Fans of noisy drone metal would be fools to miss it. You can catch them in major cities across America through until mid-October. Check below for dates and a gallery of photos from the show.
