Totally — especially when that wink is accompanied by the sophisticated yet brutal attack that is Ramming Speed's signature. Livingston, guitarists Kallen Bliss and Blake Chuffskin (the latter ex of the legendary Boston metal-punks Bones Brigade), and bassist Ben Banogen pummel with punk abandon and layer complex guitar architecture on top, blending all sorts of metal and punk varietels into a crazy mixture that never turns to sonic mush.
"We've always mixed it up," Livingston says, "like we'll be on a D-beat kick and then we'll be all about death metal, or I'll be on a '90s hardcore thing and that will all wind up in our stuff. One of our guitarists went to Berklee so he has that whole guitar wizardry thing going on, so when we start doing the whole crusty hardcore thing, he can come at it with this technical metal perspective."
When it's topped off with the apoplectic abandon of Peter Gallagher's trademark vocal frenzy, it's a metal-punk meltdown in the most glorious sense. "On our new album, we've started working in these wild Van Halen-esque guitar harmonies. I mean, we're not some, like, you know, black-metal band writing black-metal songs. We come at our music from a number of angles, and it really gives the music a weird feel that we love."
RAMMING SPEED + REVOCATION + CANNABIS CORPSE | Great Scott, 1222 Comm Ave, Boston | April 19 @ 9 pm | | 18+ | $10 | 617.566.9014
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