Tribulation at Elsewhere 10/12/18

Elsewhere has been one of the new hot venues in Brooklyn! From having awesome acts such as Russian Circles and Powertrip play there, it has lately been favored by many bands and show goers. On Friday 10/12, We had Tribulation and New York City’s own, Black Anvil play which is easily considered one of the first Black Metal show to be at this venue. I always love it when Im outside a new venue and security asks the fans if we can be expecting moshpits and crowkilling. The look of relieve on their faces when I told them they have nothing to worry about was all part of the entertainment of this show.

Upon entering the venue, you see a great crowd of dedicated fans securing their spots at the front of the stage. Being that Elsewhere has no barrier between the stage and the audience, there is nothing holding back the interaction and the experience. While its fair to say that 9 times out of 10, most people are at a show to see the headliner, that concept did not apply this night because the opening band was Black Anvil. Black Anvil has definitely secured their name in the realm of New York City Metal. Playing with so many black metal legends such as Dimmu Bogir and Mayhem, playing a show with Tribulation was a piece of cake. Both Black Anvil and Tribulation have crossover elements in their music to appeal to the Burzum fans as well as be a gateway drug to anyone just getting into this style of music. When the hometown heroes hit the stage, you saw many of their loyal fans going nuts like they always do. Their sound was spectacular as always. Having Nick from Mutoid Man work sound for them is always an advantage. After their set, it was like a typical family reunion with all of us hanging at the bar having beers. However, one person in Black Anvil’s shift was not over once their set was done. Guitarist Travis Bacon, still in corpsepaint and blood ran right of the stage and sat behind the mixer doing sound for Tribulation. Yes, the show was so “Kvlt” that even the crew had to be in corpsepaint. That is what you call dedication.

Finally we get the headliner. Tribulation. The minute that those lights dimmed, the crowd went absolutely nuts. With amazing production and tight playing, Tribulation was able to play their old stuff and new stuff without the audience blinking an eye. It was the first time New Yorkers were seeing them with former Deathstars drummer Oscar Leander behind the kit. One thing that caught my eye was having a front man also playing bass, and having green lights through the majority of their set, I saw an uncanny resemblance to Type O Negative. Whether they did it just for us New Yorkers or I am just completely overanalyzing their production, it was awesome. While every band brought their A game, the simplicity of the night is also what made it so great. Two awesome bands back to back, and the show was over by 10 pm. Early ending show in Brooklyn yes. Reading this you are probably assuming we all went to Duffs that night afterwards right. While maybe some of the band ended up there by 3 am, we actually all ended up at Hard Times, bar just around the corner. What a relief to not have to haul ass across town just to have a couple of after show beers, shots ect. Members of Black Anvil and Tribulation, fans, industry people and more had a great time turning this already kick ass bar into the most kvlt bar in the city that night. Nothing like scaring a bunch of hipsters right!!? (sorry had to include that) Just hoping to God (or Satan in this case) that they made it to the next show ok! This show was a 10/10. Nothing but good metal vibes the entire night.

Tribulation’s new album Down Below is out via Century Media records.

Black Anvil’s latest record As Was came out 2017 via Relapse Records and have some new things in the works.