After Black Breath’s first song, somebody yells, “Bellingham Youth Crew!” at them, to which singer Neil McAdams responds, “Straightedge, fuck you!” This sentiment is not surprising, as Black Breath’s riffs seem to be held together by beer and pot smoke. I mean that in a good way. They are thrashy and punchy and sound faster and tighter every time I catch the band live. If you’ve ever been around Crybaby studios, chances are you’ve probably seen these dudes hanging around down there, and it shows that they spend so much of their lives in their practice space. They’ve been putting in years of hard work, and it would appear they’re right on the edge of breaking through to the next level. They just recorded a new record in Massachusetts with Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, who is one of the best metal engineers alive, and they are talking to (but haven’t finalized a deal with) a prominent and exciting national metal label. Hard work pays off, these dudes are proof.

One example of how awesome Kurt Ballou can make a band sound is Trap Them, who, like the last few times they've been through town, are still totally pissed off about everything. They sound like Converge’s younger, angrier, less progressive brother who doesn’t have his shit together and probably never will. Their set was mostly cuts from their 2008 record Seizures in Barren Praise, which, unsurprisingly, is not getting any less brutal with time. I will continue to see this band every chance I get, they are never a disappointment.

Saviours led off their set with this reminder: “There are bands that make a lot of money doing this, and we’re not one of them.” This is an unfortunate truth, because if the music world were a just and noble one Saviours would be making a mint off their songs. This band seems to perfectly understand how to balance melody and technical proficiency in a riff, creating metal that is at all times interesting and evocative. Their music is aggressive but never angry, wildly adventurous but never crossing the threshold into cheesy fantasy. They played several new songs and all of them were intricately constructed, galloping war cries - masterful metal from a band that seems to be getting better with every song they write.

And then Skeleton Witch came on. I can’t dog on these guys for their musicianship, they were more than up to snuff. But after the first three bands (as well as just in general) their shtick seemed so uninspired, so unoriginal. They rock the big spiky leather arm bands and do the more aggressive Iron Maiden thing, but unless you’re doing that in a new and interesting way I’ve been down that road too many times now to care. I appreciated that the singer seemed tongue-in-cheek about it, and the crowd was lapping it up, but after four songs it became clear that this band was a less fun version of Three Inches of Blood, so I went home content from an otherwise excellent bill.