Days of Lore

THE “METUUULL ISSUUUUE!!!” That’s it. Since we have a story featuring Chico’s oldest metal band (See Chip Tankgirl’s intriguing interview with Fallon), and since I’m going to take up space in this column talking about said genre, I herby declare that this issue of the CN&R be dubbed the “Metal Issue.” But, for the full effect, say it like this: “Metuuull Issuuuue!!!” Try it, it’s fun!

What else will you find in the “Metuuull Issuuuue!!!?” A profile on our new city manager Greg Jones (Let’s see, he’s 43 years old; he probably used to bump Judas Priest in his Trans Am back in the day). And our Out There column about taking a bike ride out on River Road? If that’s not metal, I don’t know what is. Not to mention the column’s author. Jordan Wittman (who never misses a Mother Hips show), is actually a closet metalhead.

It all fits, you see. So sit back, read on and behold the brutal power of the “Metuuull Issuuuue!!!”

ONE OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS It’s amazing with the number of metal bands we have in this town that the kiddies still come out in droves to see Floater play back-to-back shows year after year. I don’t need to tell you how I feel about The Makai—I mean I sing their praises week after week in this column. But it wouldn’t be the “Metuuull Issuuuue!!!” if I didn’t sing their praises here, now would it? The Abominable Iron Sloth is another amazing band. And Red With Envy? Well, in the spirit of The Cammies, I won’t go there. Let’s just say they have their place.

Speaking of the Iron Sloth, they have a new video out for the song, “Hats Made of Veal and That New Car Scent.” Catchy title, eh? It’s the stuff metal is made of—a scantily clad video vixen, a mighty sloth with six-inch steel claws and badass vocalist/guitarist Justin Godfrey screaming and banging his head under a flickering light.

I talked to Justin the other night at Aubrey D.’s tour kickoff show (Aubrey, coincidentally, was sporting an Iron Sloth shirt, and has covered a Sloth song—very metuuull!!!), and he said the debut full-length is already out in England and should be released here in the States in the next couple of weeks on the band’s new label, Undergroove Records.

To get more info on the new record and to check out the video, go here: www.undergroove.co.uk/band.aspx?Id=34.

MORE METUUULL!!! It just so happens The Cammies Metal Showcase is tonight (April 6) at Off Limits, 9:30 p.m. I recommend you check it out, as it may be the first and last time you see The Makai, Iron Sloth, Reverse Order and Vext Intent on the same bill. And while you’re there, be sure to check out Vext Intent’s kick drum. Wink, wink.

THE ROOF, THE ROOF, THE ROOF IS ON FIRE Keeping with the metal theme (this is, after all, the “Metuuull Issuuuue!!!!”), CN&R film critic Craig Blamer brought in an interesting ad for the May 13 show at Win River Casino in Redding featuring old-school butt-rockers Great White, Warrant and FireHouse. First, it’s ridiculous that these bands are still performing, but the real coup de grâce is considering who Great White is performing with: “FireHouse” and “Warrant.” Remember the trouble Great White got into back in 2003 when a pyrotechnics snafu resulted in a club burning to the ground in Rhode Island? The news made it all the way to the front page of Madrid’s paper, El Diario. Now that’s metuuull!!!