First Blood preview

First Blood
Champs, Burbank
Monday, January 29, 2007

The disparate worlds of bloodlust and veganism combine for First Blood, who mangle hardcore metal into a fist-pumping paradigm.

Bubbling over in a punctuating attack of System Of A Down-type halts, First Blood initially rally around a heaping stock of C-tuned riffage and blitzkrieg assault. But their self-restraint comes tempered by their tour plans: before arriving in Chicago, they make the six-hour drive from Lexington, Kentucky. And after here? Another six hours to Columbus, Ohio. That’s not dedication, friends — it’s self abuse (and a good reason to fire your tour manager). But the blistering seige laid by Killafornia promises no POWs in return. Its title might lose points for originality by banking on the usefulness of “California” (“Californication” the most recent example) but the conviction within should rile the bands for whom they open.

Death Before Dishonor, Bloodlined Caligraphy, and Dead Hearts also play.

— Steve Forstneger

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly