Black Elk w/ Fucking Orange: 15th St Tavern, 10 PM, $6 - Filthy, misanthropic and utterly fucked, Portland's Black Elk generates the kind of gutteral ugliness not celebrated on a widespread level since the heyday of Amphetamine Reptile. With garbled grunts that sound more like a byproduct of the group's bleak, toxic riffs than the uttering of a human larynx, the foursome's sound will be captured on a full-length for Crucial Blast this fall.
Then Black Elk came one with a ferocious attack with a punk/metal hybrid sound. They have short angry songs. I love their riffs and and the low end. Their singer is quite entertaining and their guitarist is comfortable enough with his own sexuality to use pink cables.
by:uncut20 | |original review page | 6/24/2006
Black Elk started the show and they were amazing! They're a combination of metal, math rock and punk rock. They're like The Jesus Lizard meets Slayer. They are super heavy with lots of slow-burn changes with a steady drumbeat backdrop. The singer, Tom who's also in Lopez, is crazy good with tons of screaming and jumping around and is strangely charismatic. The drummer puts the hammer down with some of the best drumming I've witnessed and the bass and guitar play off of each other like they've been doing it forever. Oh yeah, they were in Wadsworth together...
by: BS - PDX ROCK-N-ROLL
Heavy and weird, like an odd pairing of your favorite metal and post-punk sensibilities, Black Elk?s music isn?t straightforward ? at all. One minute they?re a big screaming mess of lowly yelped vocals, the next a giant metal pain in the ass with agonized vocalizations. While no one can be truly original in this day and age, Black Elk are making a go at it. At this point their influences shine through occasionally, but they soldier on. See Black Elk on May 5 at the Ash Street Saloon.
by: Ed Johnson of "The Daily Vangaurd" - Apr 29, 2006
[original article]
and Black Elk was face-ripping killer. ...more energy than I`ve seen from anybody in quite a while...awesome songs, tons of sludge, all kinds of throat-tearing screaming, and lotsa punk-sludge energy a la Eyehategod/Cable.
...I`d be happy just to have seen Diesto and Black Elk and walked away. I think either one should find their way to the Nyabinghi stage this spring. ...cannot say enough good stuff about either one
by: more-feedback | posted 12/6/2005 | original review page
(Fez, 316 SW 11th) For the Jesus Lizard fan that can palate a bit more screaming and heavy metal crunch in their diet comes the cleverly named Black Elk. Wadsworth guitar hero Erik Trammell and bassist Donnie aren't nearly done pummeling Portland with math and muscle-bound riffage. With bald, brash Knight Badger singer Tom Glose and a powerful rock drummer supporting, this fearsome foursome bash out hard party anthems that meld Black Flag attitude with Melvins sheer tonnage.
by: NATHAN CARSON of The Portland Mercury
[original article]