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Red River Family Fest 2018 in Review

Background

I’ve been seriously into metal for at least 4 to 5 years now - longer if you include my forays into melodic death metal and power metal back in high school, but this is the first festival I’ve been to. I’d always imagined my first festival to be something like Wacken, Hellfest or Roadburn (where I thought I would come by the funds necessary to travel and stay in Europe I have no idea), but I’m glad things happened the way that they did.

This year’s Red River Family Fest happened the weekend of the 28th of September at Barracuda, a live music venue in Austin, Texas. It was hosted by the eponymous Red River Family Records, a label specializing in releasing black metal cassettes, and included a lineup of mostly North American bands.

A regional scene that seemed well-represented in the lineup was the Vrasubatlat bands of Portland, Oregon. The label was responsible for several under-the-radar fan favorite releases this year, including Serum Dreg’s Lustful Vengeance, Dagger Lust’s Siege Bondage Averse to the Godhead, and my personal favorite, Adzalaan’s Into Vermillion Mirrors, which I ended up snagging a tape of. Though they didn’t release this year, Triumvir Foul did play at the festival, to much fanfare.

Other names I was actively following prior to attending the fest included the following: FIN, who had released the fantastic Arrows of a Dying Age last year; Uada, who had burst onto the scene with the stunning debut Devoid of Light back in 2016 and followed up with the lackluster Cult of a Dying Sun earlier this year; Imperial Triumphant, who recently made waves with their jazzy, experimental take on black metal and outlandish aesthetics; Panegyrist with their avant-garde debut album Hierurgy; and Vilkacis, who sadly cancelled their appearance last minute. The latter released both the full-length album Beyond the Mortal Gate and a split with former labelmates Turia this year, both of which I recommend without reservation.

The venue itself was split up into an indoor stage, with a bar and merch section, and an outdoor stage. The setup was pretty ingenious; once the night got into full swing with the most popular bands playing, a band would set up outside while another performed inside, and vice versa. The result? Back-to-back sets, and upwards of 20 bands squeezed into the space of two nights.

Friday Highlights

Panegyrist. By god, these guys can sing and play. The aesthetics weren’t half bad, either. The band sets itself apart from the rest of the genre with two clean vocalists and heavy use of keyboards, all situated within a ritualistic, melodic atmosphere. This set was a breath of fresh air.

Tempestarii stands out as being the most immersive performance of the festival. In medieval lore, the band’s namesake were weather magicians who could raise storms at will. If I were to describe the experience of their set briefly, I’d say that it felt like being in the center of a raging storm. Thick, heavy, thunderlike chords were interspersed with trembling whispers of wind in an all-encompassing whirlwind of sound and vibrating air around me. A fitting name, indeed.

If you were listening to FIN on record, you wouldn’t realise it was just two guys playing. With that said, they had no problem leading the (very exhausted) crowd through an entire set of fast-paced, triumphant, baroque-influenced black metal. This was a very enjoyable set, and I promptly purchased the 2017 release Arrows of a Dying Age at the end of the night.

Crawl is a sight to behold. This one-man project plays grating, sludgy noise on a contraption that looks a deconstructed bass guitar set atop a drum set, all held together by the vertebrae of some ancient serpentine monster.

Saturday Highlights

Imperial Triumphant shot to fame earlier in 2018 with their jazzy, disorienting release Vile Luxury. Embodying the grotesque luxury and rotten underbelly of the metropolis New York City, the band impressed with both their frantic, unnerving sound and stage getup, featuring the three members in expressionless gold masks and long, black hooded cloaks.

Panzerfaust was the best live act that played at the festival. I’d heard of them in passing, but the catchy riffs and technical chops of the band members really shone in a live performance. Add to that the fantastic theatrics of their performance, and this ranks as one of my favorite performances from the festival.

Uada was one of the most eagerly awaited acts of the night, and they allowed the excitement in the audience to mount. Finally emerging from amidst the fog from many smoke machines and bathed in an eerie purple light, the band launched directly into songs from both their old and new albums. Even though my fondness for the band has been dampened by their underwhelming new album, I can’t deny that they put on a good show, especially when playing old favorites.

I tried to record as many of the performances as possible and posted them to my Instagram. Find my video clips here.

See the post tags (beginnning #litany of ruinous entities/#lore) for the full lineup.