Torture brought the pain to Schubas Tavern in Chicago IL, with a loaded cast of Hardcore bands, Payasa, Prevention, and Primitive Rage.
For those who haven’t heard, Torture are an up and coming slam band that hit the Hardcore seen hard after getting a last minute call to show up at Sound and Fury earlier this summer. What began as the brainchild/solo project of the drummer and vocalist known as K.K. found its way around online forums and Reddit after the release of the fourth album 4-“Enduring Freedom”. Torture brings a strong anti-war message that can be heard throughout each song with drums that resemble helicopters and machine guns, and mean, chuggy guitar riffs that turn the cruelties of war into an attack on the crowd. They have a truly unique sound characterized by rapidly changing time signatures and K.K.’s vocals, which have no words. It all comes together as an extremely thought-provoking and outwardly violent experience.
When the project gained steam K.K. brought on his best friends to take up the other parts in the band. All the band members are from the Chicagoland area so playing at Schubas was somewhat of a homecoming. They have been notorious for drawing energetic crowds with violent mosh pits and the crowd here did not disappoint. A constant assault of heavy breakdowns had limbs and bodies, flailing and trash cans and beers getting tossed around the small, dark venue.
Playing before Torture was another band from the Chicagoland area, Payasa. Payasa absolutely rips. After listening to their first two EPs they became an instant favorite of mine and after getting the opportunity to see them live I’ll make sure I’m in the crowd for every show they play in Chicago. Lead singer Brittany Lane’s vocals are just awesome. They range from high and shrill screams to low and guttural and just all around angry in the best way possible. It provides an excellent balance to the sound the band is going for. She mixes all that range into delivering highly relatable lyrics that focus heavily on anxiety and depression. Their sound is rounded out by slow, creepy guitar riffs and big, heavy breakdowns that makes their live experience so satisfying.
Prevention Showed up repping Springfield IL, Straight Edge hard. Prevention are fresh off of their recent split EP with Anklebiter. Vocalist Drew Kodrich has a voice that reminds me Bryan Garris of Knocked Loose which gives Prevention a sound that you don’t hear too often in Hardcore. The band asks a lot of questions of society and our place within it. Their song “Don’t You Want To Be Free?” , I envision, asks that question of us as society blindly falls into line with overreaching capitalistic greed and the constantly growing surveillance state.
Primitive Rage, a Springfield Missouri-based power violence band, got things going. As the first opener they brought the energy, paced by a gorgeous, poppy, tight-wound snare and ferocious, biting vocals that does the band’s name justice. The vocals come through shrill and biting with a touch of desperation. They have gone on record that they want their music to “scary and insane” and they nail that perfectly with their own hybrid of metalcore and death metal.
