Judgement Day: Metal With Strings

You read that right: STRING METAL. It’s metal… with strings!

The band: Judgement Day

From: San Francisco Bay Area

I first caught these guys at one of my favorite venues in SF: Great American Music Hall (musichallsf.com)—I was there with a friend and was privy to zero of the bands on that night’s billing. Though I can’t recall if they opened up the show or played second; I do recall being blown away. For a three-piece, their sound was huge—despite the fact that there were no actual electric guitars in this band.

The Fiddle player (also named “Anton”, I found out later when I approached him) punishes an electric violin, run through a myriad of effects-pedals, with the same voracity of a lead guitarist (showmanship included!). The Cello player lays down the rhythm; creating pounding tones that I was previously unaware the instrument was capable of producing (it even sounds like a down-tuned metal guitar). The drummer is evidently the keystone to how their sound developed to it’s current state: they were originally a two-piece street-performing band before adding the percussion—things seemed to have worked out nicely from there! I guess when you think about it: you can trace metal all the way back to classical music from the likes of Brahms or Strauss; there’s just no school quite like the old school.

It was certainly an inspirational and even sobering moment when the frontman took a moment between songs to tell the crowd that, just a year prior, they were playing right outside the doors of that venue; on the sidewalk as a two-piece. I wouldn’t be the least-bit surprised if their next step found them providing amazing film scores.

Check them out at: http://www.stringmetal.com (Currently on tour!)

(Watch the video for “Out of the Abyss” and witness as you instantly become a fan!)