Storm of doom: Saint Vitus reigns in Seattle

Dave Chandler of Saint Vitus in Seattle. (All Cat Rose photos)

By Andy and Cat

Seattleites were braced for Stormageddon. Batten down the hatches, mates, we’re gonna get blown to smithereens and yanked into the great unknown on a “Wizard of Oz”-like excursion, or something like that.

And then … a little wind and rain, that’s all we got. So we were safe for the night, right?

I call bullshit on that because doom kings Saint Vitus were in town along with ex-Trouble guys in The Skull, Witch Mountain and Ancient Warlocks, summoning us out of our abodes last Saturday evening for a gathering of all things heavy and righteous at El Corazon. It was as if magically, umbrellas were turned into sledgehammers and El Diablo was at the helm of the weather desk: Forecast — destruction of ears and melting of minds.

So, Ancient Warlocks and Witch Mountain properly ripped the skin away from the first layers of the evening, drawing blood with vicious riffs and searing vocals. Southpaw Rob Wrong notched bonus points for unveiling his guitaristry for both Witch Mountain and The Skull.

The Skull -- featuring former Troublers Eric Wagner on vocals and Ron Holzner on bass -- were a bit weak in spots, but picked up massive steam when the Trouble songs kicked into gear in the form of “Pray for the Dead,” "Assassin," "At the End of My Daze" and "The Tempter."

With original singer Scott Reagers back on board, Saint Vitus dug into some early classics like “War is Our Destiny,” “White Magic/Black Magic,” “White Stallions,” “Zombie Hunger” and much more. Reagers, whom I haven’t seen vigorously manning the stage since 1985 at Dancing Waters in San Pedro, CA, was in fine form and roared through each song with much more power than any wind outside.

Let's call the night Doomageddon.

Cat Rose photos:


SAINT VITUS

THE SKULL

WITCH MOUNTAIN

ANCIENT WARLOCKS