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February 18, 2001

Cactus Club -- In what would eventually settle into a solid five band night of mostly death driven metal, this particular Cactus Sunday show on February 18th, 2001 held some uncertainty going into the show with many band names thrown around as possible performers. When all was said and done, the line-up stuck at Becoming, Demion, Mucus Membrane, San Resina, and Breach, and actually turned in a solid to above average Sunday crowd and ultimately a solid to impressive showing. With three of these bands appearing on these reviewed pages for the first time and having the ability to check in with two other solid bands, this night produced a good one, albeit a late one due to some initial confusion as to who was performing which translated to about an hour and a half late start.

One of the definite highlights of the night came in the form of Mucus Membrane as the two Psypheria defectors Tom Persons and Rob Lumbre showed off their new band and chops. Couple that with the solid, blasted metal around them and this night turned in a winner.

Guitarist / Vocalist Jay Hardouin and guitarist Jimmy VanDerostyne live at the Cactus Club

The first band to step to the stage was the South Bay thrash/death act Becoming as they continue their general onslaught in support of their available disc "Regeneration" with plenty of shows out in the scene. Featuring drummer Ryan Vinn, bassist Jerry Miller, guitarist/vocalist Jay Hardouin, and guitarist Jimmy VanDerostyne, Becoming brings with them a quick pulsed, heavy thrash, death tinged sound that offers plenty of straight ahead metal mixed with some off the base melody at times to produce their entire sound. Above all else, Becoming produces a tight, well-executed blast of no holds barred metal complete with solos, double kick drums and throaty scream/bark vocals from Hardouin.

For this show, the band paced through their base live set staples including the rising riff of "Fading Away", "See Through You", "Oblivion", the tripped intro to the title track of their aforementioned disc, and "Karma".

This particular showing was a good one from Becoming, albeit seemingly disjointed at a few instances, with nothing major preventing their performance. Still, this band, with the strong guitar work from both Hardouin and VanDerostyne continually produce the type of metal that no true metal fan will ever be able to pass up with their aggressive style and heavy handed approach.

Guitarist / vocalist Chris Sveinsson and drummer Ron Olivas live at the Cactus Club

The second band to jump on stage for this Cactus Sunday showing was the quick, brutally fast and sick laced sound of Demion who brought their no excuses death metal sound straight to the crowd. This three piece, consisting of guitarist / vocalist Chris Sveinsson, drummer Ron Olivas, and bassist Ron Crockett, simply opened this show up into a death fest for their set and the following band as performed their brand of somewhat technical, deep guttural growl, blasted, double kick drum, strong death metal. Above all else, Demion does the death metal thing quite well with some memorable riffing and song structures.

On stage, the band blasted through a small collection of songs including "The Conception of Christ" which offers a quick drum roll feel to open, "Daemonio" which opened with a strong bass line into some brutal riffing, and "Through Her Bowels We Made Love" which, despite the disgusting imagery of the song title, was quite possibly their strongest work with a rising guitar riff to open coupled with a double kick drum.

Demion, through all the banter and chatter, actually provide a strong death metal sound that would appeal to almost every fan of the genre as Sveinsson delivers solid vocals and, along with his band mates, deliver the standard death metal headbang stage presence to complete the picture. These guys have talent and will probably continue an upward ascent in the death metal underground.

Mucus Membrane live at the Cactus Club

The third band to hit the Cactus stage was the recently surfaced death act Mucus Membrane which had been in the pipeline for quite some time but has finally reached a point where the two "founders" so to speak, guitarist / vocalist Tom Persons and drummer Rob Lumbre, have finally found themselves with a full forward motion into this project. With guitarist Nick Avlonitis and bassist Jeff Hughell in tow as well, Mucus Membrane pumped through this particular show with a very full, more streamlined, straight ahead death sound that was very impressive and drove a stripped down style quite well. With vocal duties being handled by all three of the front men, Mucus Membrane attracted quite easily the largest crowd of the night and certainly provided one of the strongest sets as well.

On stage, the band performed a small collection of songs including "Curse of the Immortal", "Living Creatures" which offered a bass accented opening, "Ovarian Pulverizer", a dead on Morbid Angel cover of "Dawn of the Angry" which provided a strong Persons solo, "Ritual Disembowelment" which featured a heavy roll to open and held a cool break riff at mid-song, and "Defiled The Weak" which was easily one of their top tunes of the set.

Mucus Membrane is, in reality, still at the very beginning stages of their live show progression, even though Persons and Lumbre have been working with this project for the better half of two years. With a base level sound, plenty of full tones and guttural vocal styles, Mucus Membrane delivered just about as well as could be expected with the talent assembled on stage, with an extra spark from time to time to complete this over the top showing. For Lumbre, this show represents the complete circle as fans of the South Bay metal scene will have seen him as the guitarist for the popular cult favorite Osmium, the bass player for Psypheria, and now as the drummer for Mucus Membrane, exhibiting his complete talent as a musician. This band is already very good and should only get better.

Bassist / vocalist Frank Rentaria live at the Cactus Club

The fourth band of the night came in the form of San Resina who brought their interesting blended sound to the Cactus stage and still respectably sized crowd. Featuring vocalist / bassist Frank Rentaria, guitarist Alex Phillips, guitarist Paul Renslo and drummer Louie Flores, San Resina utilizes a sound altogether different as they combine elements of death metal with elements of the hardcore style to create what is seemingly something unique. While the guitar / drum work walk along the death metal style quite often, keeping quick to a path of aggression, Rentaria's vocals are more of the hardcore school, conjuring the piss, spit, blood approach to the lyrics.

On stage the band pumped through a small collection of tunes including "I Am" and "Soldier" which offered a blasted chorus and the trademark in-your-face San Resina bark grunt vocal attack.

At the very base level, San Resina is a straight ahead, extremely angry, genuinely pissed off bunch of musicians who deliver their sound, which ultimately is a tad rough around the edges, in an extremely convincing style with no holding back in their stage presence. This is a band straight from the street who have captured their angst into their sound well and translate it over to the audience. San Resina holds no musical surprises, but these guys pack a wallop of power and as a result this band is definitely recommended to check out in the near future.

Vocalist Josh Hoover live at the Cactus Club

Finally, almost five hours after the time this show was intended to start, the South Bay/Tracy based act Breach hit the stage to deliver their usually strong showing of heavy handed sound complete with plenty of melody and effects to bring it all together into one tight succinct package. Breach, which features vocalist Josh Hoover, guitarist Jeremy Epp, bassist Chad Murphy, and drummer Joe Tobin, were a late addition to this show and hence did not have a whole lot of time to advertise or prepare for this night, yet still retained enough of a crowd to keep it interesting. These guys, show in and show out, consistently provide a strong showing of vocal melody mixed with the growl style complemented by a strong backbone of guitar/bass/drums.

On stage, the band performed a collection of songs from their currently available full length disc "The Still Point" including the popular "Feel", "Focused", the twisting intro to the trademark sound of "Caustic Inject", and "SIck Off The Medicine". Breach also opened with a newer tune entitled "The Neverending" which offers a straight ahead riff cycle.

Breach, led by the incredibly talented guitarist Epp and his full range of effects and ability, are one of the stronger bands in the Underground scene that don't always receive their due recognition. With rather unique individual songs, Hoover's distinct dual ranging vocals, and Tobin's strong drum work (with Murphy adding to the package), Breach always do it well on stage. This band always comes recommended.

Bottom Line: With the newer Mucus Membrane performing and having the chance to check out both San Resina and Demion for the first time, this show held plenty of interest even if it started much later than the advertised time. Still, with the following day being a holiday for most of the working world, this was about the best way to spend a Sunday evening in the metal world.