Three unique acts in the world of underground rock & metal converge to commemorate Cirith Ungol’s final tour with a show at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco.

Despite the overabundance of hipsters and those who prostrate at the altar of false metal, there is still plenty of room for underground acts to gather the faithful for a night of headbanging in the city of San Francisco. Three bands representing different generations of the underground came together to show the scene how it’s done.

Owl is a rock band out of Oakland, California composed of the three Baechle brothers and their bass player. Their music seems to be a combination of classic metal as well as doom and stoner influences. Their sound hooks you from the first riff to the last and they are always a pleasure to see live. It’s easier for longer-form music to turn into self-indulgent navel-gazing but Owl avoids the traps with a dynamic performance backed up by hook-laden tunes.

The Lord Weird Slough Feg are legends of the San Francisco metal scene, refusing to bow or bend to movements or trends with a unique sound that makes them instantly identifiable. They’re known for their exciting live performances and this show was no different. Frontman Mike Scalzi always keeps the crowd engaged and makes full use of the stage space to do so. The setlist was a nice mix of new and old and it would be hard for a fan of the band to ask for anything more (other than playing all of Hardworlder live, but I’ll have to keep dreaming on that one!)

Now we come to the main event of the evening: true metal legends in the flesh, Cirith Ungol. They are one of those bands I discovered early into my ventures through the world of metal music you find off the beaten path. They were long broken up when I discovered them, and I always assumed I would never see them in person. By some cosmic miracle, the remaining members of the band reunited since then and I saw them at Hell’s Heroes IV just a week before this show. They only got to play for around 40 minutes or so at that festival. This time we got the full setlist and it was truly a monolith of classic, grimy, crushing, wailing underground power in full force.

Whether you were a longtime fan like myself, or someone who had never heard the band before, like one of my friends who was also in attendance, Cirith Ungol absolutely tore the house down. Classic bangers like Frost & Fire, Atom Smasher, and Black Machine fit seamlessly together deeper cuts like Chaos Descends and Forever Black. This was a more fitting sendoff for the underground titans. My only gripe with the show was that guitarist and founding member Greg Lindstrom was nowhere to be seen. He played at the Houston gig two weeks earlier. There was no mention of anything on social media. Was he sick? Were there travel or logistics issues? I guess we’ll never know. It just seemed odd but the show was great regardless.

Wrapping Up:

This show was fantastic from top to bottom. Three distinct generations of true underground heavy music put on a show that none in attendance would soon forget. Cirith Ungol will be missed at a time when the world needs metal heroes more than ever, but it’s better to ride off into the sunset on your own terms than to treacherously sail the seas of fate and let someone else dictate your end for you. It was also nice to see that San Francisco is still able to rock when the right combination of bands pack the house.

When it’s done right, heavy metal is still pretty good.