By Jillian Locke

Great Scott is a great location for any show, but packing truck loads of sweaty, smelly punk/hardcore/metal kids in to the tiny venue for a night of an ear-splitting shred-a-thon makes it even greater. What better way to enjoy the face-punching sounds of the Death Comes Ripping Tour than to plunge yourself into the very thick of it?

And that we did, on August 11. The night opened with local Motorhead enthusiasts Panzerbastard, who were closing their set with a song from “the greatest band in the world” when we arrived. Clad in jean jackets, Motorhead patches and bullet belts, the four gritty bastards (Keith Panzer ~ bass/vocals, Andrew Bastard ~ guitar/vocals, Hollywood Bobby ~ guitar, Slarcus ~ drum) opened the metallic hardcore portal for the vicious ripping we were all about to receive.

Next up was New Lows, the Boston punk/hardcore/sludge masters who haven’t played an official tour in three years. Their seething, grinding, low-tuned riffage brings new depth and meaning to the name they’ve so aptly adopted; it defines their sound and their presence, but it mostly certainly does not describe their ranking on the masterfully abrasive totem pole. For 20 or so glorious minutes, New Lows regaled the crowd and reminded us of everything we’ve been missing since their last tour.

Bitter End brought some Texas muscle to the stage, emanating energy akin to hardcore New York heavy weights Madball. They hustled through a pummeling, fine-tuned set of thick-skinned, hard-headed anthems that stirred the already shaken crowd, bringing everyone into a closer, more intimate circle, positioning the crowd to welcome in the first of the two co-headliners.

Welcome California madmen Nails. You want fresh, brutal, unadulterated, stripped-down and murderous hardcore? Nails is it. This savage grind-meets-hardcore threesome do nothing but dominate ~ spitting, nefarious vocal delivery, wicked curling bass riffs emitted from a writhing, twitching player, and who can forget the possessed, machine-like man-turned-drum-machine, staring straight over the heads of the unbelieving sea of eyes, focusing on some invisible focal point at the back of the room as he drives his furious doomtastic beats home? Nails is more than a sight to behold ~ they’re a maniacal phenomena of blood-curdling, heart-racing, intense hardcore melodrama.

And what better way to set the stage for the final, perhaps most anticipated act of the night. Behold ~ RINGWORM RETURNS! The legendary Cleveland, OH metalheads-who-OWN-hardcore horde took the Allston stage before a crowd who’d been primed and slicked with the heat and sweat of four previous pulverizers. We were ready ~ this was the moment we had been waiting for ~ and the second these veterans struck the first chord, the floor blew up. People came bombing from all directions, with vocalist Human Furnace shooting his lyrical flames above our heads; the scene was one of an almost controlled chaos. The hardcore heathens, who carry a very distinctive punk/metal vibe, crippled the room with their unrelenting brand of hardcore, one that incorporates thrash, screaming solos, punishing rhythms, and a straight up hardcore/punk f*ck you mentality. Currently promoting their 2011 Victory Records release Scars, Ringworm is touring to a national audience teaming with intense anticipation, delivering nothing but 100% satisfaction.

Wrapping up at 1am, this intimate evening proved to be an intensely gratifying night, thanks to some of the scene’s best, most unyielding, completely brutal kings of grind/shred/thrash/hardcore/punk/metal debauchery. THANK YOU for doing what you do, and for putting on shows that are completely worth four hours of sleep! ROCK!

www.myspace.com/ringworm13
www.streetcleanerrecords.com/unsilentdeath/
www.myspace.com/newlows
www.facebook.com/panzerbastardboston; panzerbastard.bandcamp.com/track/gods-thugs-madmen