Note: Their Myspace page lists Ryan Ball as the drummer, but their site shows Josh Florian, and also mentions auditioning for a drummer earlier this month. I wasn't clear as to who their drummer this night was, so I e-mailed them about this. Afzaal responded, "Charles, The drummer's name is Justin Arman. He's filling in until we find a more permanent replacement."
karyn crisis - Vocals
afzaal nasiruddeen - Guitar
Justin Arman - Drums
jwyanza hobson - guitar
gia chuan wang - bass
Crisis, a Metal/Experimental/Death Metal band that is based in LA, but started in New York, headlined the Crisis/Speed Razor/Of Graves and Gods show at Bombardier's on St. Patrick's Day. They have been in existence since 1993.
The first thing I noticed was that the lead singer, a young woman named Karyn Crisis, had blonde dreadlocks going all the way down to the tops of her shoes. Both guitar players, Nasiruddeen and Hobson, also sported dreadlocks, partially balanced by the USMC-style haircut of Gia Chuan Wang, the bassist.
What I really noticed about their set is that they screw with the timing a lot. On one particular song, they played in 6/8 time, with the down beats on 1, 5, and 6. Also, Karyn Crisis can really screech. Man, does she have lungs.
When I asked them after the show to take a photo, they were quite willing, but the different members were running all over the place. After waiting a while, I took a photo of Justin Arman and Gia.
Their web site is interesting. I specialize in alcohol, but I am sure that some stoner could get hours of entertainment running the mouse pointer back and forth over their menu (it makes a cool razor sound, and the cursor lags behind the mouse pointer).
On their web site, Josh Florian's early influences were Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Three Dog Night, America, the Carpenters, and the Monkees. Since he isn't with the band any more (see above), maybe this was the problem. I don't think the Carpenters' drum patterns would quite fit in with this band.
- Charles Hurley
