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Words and Photos: Sanguisugabogg / Frozen Soul / Vomit Forth / Inoculation at The Rino

Sanguisugabogg at The Rino. Photo by Aaron Rhodes.
Date: November 26, 2021

The Rino - North Kansas City, MO


The mood in the room had started to sour before Sanguisugabogg started its headlining set at its first Kansas City area gig this past November. A fight had broken out in the side room (which holds the bar and the merch tables) that resulted in the cops being called. Once that was straightened out, there was a technical problem with the band's gear. Fifty minutes after the conclusion of Frozen Soul's set, Sanguisugabogg was finally ready to get rolling. Vocalist Devin Swank still seemed to be in high spirits. Maybe it was the mushrooms he had just taken -- "You guys like it when we do drugs?" Swank inquired on mic. The set then began with him proclaiming something to the effect of: "Here's some music to fight to."


The Ohio death metal band's interest in psychedelics is fully apparent in the its visual imagery, and if you're listening closely enough, its music as well (the repetitive bits of chugging employed never wore out their welcome). In addition to featuring more blood and gore imagery than the average death metal act (which is almost always nonzero at the lowest), Sanguisugabogg is also more keen on sexual imagery than its peers. The band played its 2019 debut EP, Pornographic Seizures, in full with the lights shut off. In combination with the small, packed environment and an energetic crowd, this move gave the set the feeling of a true DIY gig, which I always enjoy encountering at a metal show. While it wasn't one of the several erotic-themed numbers, a friend and I agreed that the first minute of "Gored In The Chest" included a slow-and-low riff that one could most certainly fuck to. This was 40 minutes of psychedelic, pornographic death metal I would not soon give back.


Sanguisugabogg's Century Media labelmates Frozen Soul preceded them. I had seen the band previously in Dallas, Texas (the band is from Fort Worth) at a show with Skeleton and Skourge just before the pandemic, before I had ever heard of them. I walked out of that show a fan (they arguably stole the whole gig) and had been waiting for their Kansas City debut ever since. 

 

Just as I had hoped, the band brought its trademark stage prop: a "snow machine" that blew a frothy substance that was a little bit more bubbly than most snow (still a winning piece of production). Vocalist Chad Green made it snow on the first several rows before reaching for his custom-made wrought iron, chain-link mic stand which he would slam down on the stage with force several time throughout the band's half hour set. The band dedicated a song to all of the Texas metal and hardcore musicians they'd lost during the pandemic. I think the hair-swinging, double-pedal madness that followed would've made their departed loved ones proud.

 

Connecticut death metal act and Maggot Stomp signees (every band on the bill got its start on the red-hot independent death metal label founded in 2018) Vomit Forth was the second band to play. If my notes are correct, they only played for 15 minutes, but that was all they needed to win over myself and the a good chunk of the crowd. Though I'm not really partial to brutal death metal, Vomit Forth's take on the sound was more engaging than I anticipated. I'm not familiar with the band's members, but its possible that their short and sweet, no bullshit approach came from their hardcore fandom. A cover of Integrity's "Psychological Warfare" sent fans of the Cleveland outfit scrambling to arrive in the pit.


Despite the fact that I've enjoyed almost every release in Maggot Stomp's catalog thus far, Inoculation is one band that hasn't done the trick for me, live or recorded. Though all three members seemed to be quite skilled at their respective instruments, their style of playing was kind of the opposite of what I look for in an extreme metal band. While not quite intricate enough to be considered "prog" or "tech," the guitar player was doing a lot of flexing without executing any leads or solos that would make a listener think twice. The drummer was playing lightning fast, but hardly hitting the skins. I won't often rule a band out based on style alone, and I won't here, but this trio needs to better hone its songwriting before its next release.


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