Although I’ve only ever been to the Courthouse twice, both times were great gigs.  YOB, Dark Castle and OTIS last year, and this one last nite.  The place just has this eerie medieval vibe that lends itself well to doom metal.

After a solid set by local openers Kosmograd, we were treated to another performance by semi-local doomsters Castle.  I last saw ‘em setting the stage for Blood Ceremony and Witch Mountain some six weeks ago, but this time, the impressive backdrop added another element to their setup–and I felt they stepped it up on stage accordingly.

I’d also seen The Gates of Slumber not so long ago, though it seems in the interim they’d undergone a lineup change.  Apparently, Cool Clyde couldn’t cross the border, so they brought back the mighty Iron Bob Fouts behind the kit.  I can’t say I was too disappointed.  The set also seemed to focus more on older material than their last tour did, with the epic, bass-wah enhanced title track to Suffer No Guilt featuring prominently.  Like I said before, if he’s not the most technically-proficient player, Jason McCash is definitely the best head-banging bassist in doom!

Whereas TGOS is your traditional doom-metal power trio, the Hammers of Misfortune, on the other hand, are a sextet.  Though more common in power metal and arena rock I suppose, you don’t often see a six-piece band on such a (relatively) small stage.  There was a lot going on here, two guitars, three singers.  I just tried to capture some of the madness–most of the shots I took didn’t turn out this good.