Locust Grove at Whiskey Nights in Oklahoma City, OK

Heavy metal fans gather with high spirits for a night of celebration with the release of Locust Grove’s new album The Battle of Locust.

The night’s lineup consists of all Oklahoma’s own local talent. First on the bill is Metallosis, a three-piece metal band consisting of brothers. Metallosis fired the crowd up the moment they took to the stage with plenty of heavy chuggy riffs, deep menacing vocals, and windmill headbanging. A notably heavy song from their set was “Metal in Your Veins,” which seems fitting since metallosis is a medical term for too much iron/metal in your bloodstream.

Rid Them All keeps up the momentum, delivering a brutal set with a vigor that gets the pit moving. Russ Pace’s aggressive vocals paired with Charlie Humbert’s thrash metal riffs are sure to get heads banging and horns in the air. During their set, they performed “Bloodshine”, a song about werewolves and moonshine. Drummer, Brain Nail, at the beginning of “Bloodshine” let out a wolf-like howl, adding some comic relief to the set. Rid Them All ended their set with a brand-new song “All or Nothing” and a cover of Pantera’s “A New Level”.

Like Before offered a change of pace by bringing the heaviness down a notch but keeping the energy up. Like Before is a band that you can tell really feels the music and has fun performing it live. Their stage presence was a delight to watch as they interacted with each other and the crowd. On stage were two pressure-sensitive boxes that would light up when Zach Robertson, vocals and guitar, and Brad Henderson, guitar, jumped on top of them for solo moments. These light boxes added a nice aesthetic as well as a platform to jump off from. Like Before’s catchy guitar melodies and soothing vocals had the fans in a state of bliss. A few notable songs from their set were “Sunset Dreams,” a newer song of theirs, and “Ocean Dreams,” one of their most popular songs.  Earlier this week Like Before received some exciting news that they have been added to the bill for Rocklahoma. Be sure to catch them there, alongside some of the biggest names in rock music.

Nevermind the Embers is a must-see live band. David Friess, guitar, and Andrew Yoon, bass, are wildly fun to watch from their animated facial expressions, jumps, kicks, and overall happiness while performing. Joey Mandigo of Locust Grove joins them on stage to play Djembe during their song “Leader of the Blind”. Steve McAnally’s mixture of clean and gritty vocals really stands out on “Leader of the Blind”. He is a highly skilled vocalist that utilizes his wide range and great tone control. Nevermind the Embers ended their set strong by bringing out Zain Smith of Locust Grove to join in on vocals for “Super Blood Moon.” Zain’s addition made the screams bone-shakingly heavy.

Kirra is up next as direct support for the mighty Locust Grove. The crowd doesn’t let up all night and really starts to come alive during Kirra’s set. Gabriel Parson, vocals, takes notice of the crowd’s participation and says that the crowd is on fire tonight. A crowd favorite was “Crutch.” Fans sang along to the chorus enthusiastically. Daxton Page’s guitar solo really stood out during “Crutch” and spoke to his technical skill.  Parson asks if the crowd is okay with a heavy one, and the groovy bassline to “Passageway” begins. This heavy song is very well received and gets the crowd ready for what is to come. Several times throughout the night, Parson lunges into the crowd to sing inches away from them, providing an up-close and personal experience. Kirra put on a great show and is a band to keep an eye out for.

Without further ado, fans are properly warmed up to welcome Locust Grove to the stage for the night’s main event. Before Locust Grove begins their set, Zain addresses the crowd and gives a heartfelt speech about the support from their friends in the local bands and his gratefulness to be able to share the release of their new album The Battle of Locust with everyone tonight. Locust Grove performed the album in its entirety. Locust Grove started the set off with “One Foot in the Grave” and their title track “The Battle of Locust”.  The video for their title track “The Battle of Locust” was released a month ago and it has already received an impressive 113k views on Youtube. During “Bluebird” Zain does more singing than screaming, showing off his versatility as a vocalist. After the new album has been performed, Zain says that they have something fun up next. Zain switches places with Drummer, Joey Mandigo, passing him the guitar and calling to the stage Russ Pace of Rid Them All to perform vocals on “Bury Me In Smoke” by DOWN. After this cover, Joey expresses that it was his first time playing guitar in front of an audience. Locust Grove switches back to their normal lineup and covers two more songs to close out the night. Those two songs are “Cowboys from Hell” by Pantera and “Master of Puppets” by Metallica. The night’s performance was a truly memorable experience and felt like a local band family reunion. 

KIRRA
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NEVERMIND THE EMBERS
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LIKE BEFORE
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RID THEM ALL
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METALLOSIS
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WHISKEY NIGHTS
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