Howling Giant/ Restless Spirit/ Bone Church/ & Earthlore Live 4/18/25
Live at The Widowmaker Brewery in Braintree, Massachusetts USA *April 18th 2025*
Last night I went to an excellent show at the Widowmaker Brewery in Braintree, Massachusetts. It takes roughly an hour and forty minutes to get there. The last show I attended at the Widowmaker was last September when Dozer/ Gozu/ Legions Of Doom/ and High Desert Queen (review here) played. It was the best show I went to last year and I really like going to the Widowmaker to see live music. There’s good parking and the drive is pretty straightforward. The Friday night show was part of the Hopsmokerfest that is taking place there all weekend. There was Thursday/ Friday/ and Saturday night shows. I decided to just go to the Friday one based on the killer lineup. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay to watch Castle Rat. I was having to get up at 3:00am for work the next day. I got to the venue just before 5:00 pm. It was an early start for a show, the first band was scheduled to start at 5:30 or something. Anyways, I was mostly excited to see Bone Church and Howling Giant but was blown away by Restless Spirit and Earthlore. The vibe at the club was amazing and everyone was there for the same reason, to see some of the best hard rock music from the heavy underground. The Hopsmokerfest is a fairly new festival. I believe it started last year and it is still a very lean operation. They had a special beer made for this specific event and posters and T-shirts were also available. I thought everything ran very smoothly and the bands were on time and delivering, big time! The overall energy and vibe at the brewery was great and friendly. This scene attracts some of the coolest people that I meet, who are just very passionate fans, like myself. The stacked lineup was about to begin.
EARTHLORE
It is rare for a fifty year old man like myself, would get to see the same band play back to back weeks. Not only did it happen with Earthlore, it expanded my appreciation for the band. Earthlore, from the Boston area, opened a show last week (April 9th) for Hashtronaut and Worhipper at the Middle East (review here). So for this being the second time in just over a week seeing this band, what could really be so different? Well, quite a bit actually. The energy in the room was great despite not being tons of people there at that time. The band performed confidently and I connected more to their sound this time. I thought Earthlore crushed it! I wish I was more familiar with their music but they sound fantastic! The band features Ricky Kraby on bass, Troy Welling on drums, Gabe Haydar on guitars, and Drew Pelrine on guitars and vocals. The sound quality was very good and I enjoyed the songs more this time. They played a fairly short but solid set that sounded tight. They are definitely a band to keep an eye out for in the future.
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BONE CHURCH
I have been a fan of Connecticut’s Bone Church for only a few years now, but I love their sound! The music has a heavy riff rock foundation with soaring vocals. I guess heavy metal could also describe their music. I was very excited to see Bone Church play live and witness the power of their music. They absolutely killed last night! The music was hammering heavy with beautiful melodies, and it was super tight. The band consists of Pat Good on bass, Rob Sickinger on drums, Dan Sefcik on guitars, Nick Firine on guitars, and Jack Rune on vocals. The five-piece is a live band wrecking machine! They were so impressive and magnificent! They opened up with a newer song called “Electric Execution” that totally lit the place up! It’s a heavy driving song that is full throttle rock n’ roll goodness. Jack Ruin’s vocals are so powerful and immersive that it amplifies the band’s overall sound, for sure. This band is everything that is right with hard driving heavy rock. I wish I remembered more of the other songs that Bone Church played but I was totally captivated in their wonderful set. “If They Float” and “Bone Church Blues” from 2020’s Acid Communion was on the list, that I remember. The band really brought it and it was so wonderful to finally see them. I am very excited too that they recently got added on to The Planet Desert Rock Festival early next year. That’s killer! I really love the Bone Church 2017 EP also. I can’t wait to hear what the new record will sound like. Later on in the night, I had a great conversation with Jack about the band and musical styles. He’s such a cool person and the whole band were friendly too. This is definitely one of my most anticipated albums to be released later this year. Go see Bone Church live and put some energy back into your life.
https://bonechurch1.bandcamp.com
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RESTLESS SPIRIT
Restless Spirit was definitely the biggest surprise for me in terms of bands, kicking my ass. They reside in Long Island, New York have been together for over a decade now. I have never heard much from them and I was super curious about this band. Their releases includes: 2015’s Tardus Mortem, 2016’s Harvest EP, 2017’s 1922 EP, 2019’s Lord of the New Depression, 2020’s Clarity EP, 2021’s Blood of the Old Gods, 2023’s Afterimage, and 2024’s The Doomed And The Dead… Live. The band members are Paul Aloisio on vocals and guitar, Marc Morello on bass, and Jon Gusman on drums. Despite not being familiar with Restless Spirit, they were fantastic live! The hard pounding drumming led the trio on a hard rocking rampage. They play a metal mix of doom and bombastic heavy rock with good sounding vocals. I was pleasantly surprised with how great they sounded! I will definitely be checking out more of their music.
https://restlessspirit.bandcamp.com
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HOWLING GIANT
Howling Giant is a band that keeps getting better every time I listen to them. I saw the band for the first time live this past December (review here) at the Middle East in Cambridge. They were incredible and I was completely blown away by their performance. It was the anniversary of the Self Titled EP (review here). I really became hooked from that show and have since become a huge fan of their music and recordings. Howling Giant added a second guitarist to their solid three-piece foundation of Sebastian Baltes on bass, Tom Polzine on guitars and vocals, and Zach Wheeler on drums and vocals. Their sound was that much more fuller and expansive. Howling Giant might be one of the best live rock bands today. They absolutely crushed it! They played about nine songs, opening with the ripper, “Siren Song” from 2023’s Glass Future. “Hawk In The Hurricane” and “Tempest, And The Liars Gateway” were next, also off the masterful, Glass Future album. The next batch of tunes were brand new, I believe. Everything sounded massive- very heavy and melodic and full on energy. The band played “Comet Rider” from their 2019 The Space Between Worlds album which is a great thing. The icing on the cake was them closing the set with the classic “Whale Lord” from the original EP. They never sounded better and being directly in the front of the stage is the best. Howling Giant is not the type of band that you would want to have to follow after their ridiculously killer set. I didn’t feel bad about leaving after them because they just destroyed me. It did give me the proper jolt of energy to make it home safely though. I also got to talk with Sebastian Baltes earlier, and he was super friendly and cool. I really love that when he’s rocking the bass live, he has a huge smile on his face and enjoying every moment. The whole band is amazing and chill. This is another highly anticipated album drop that should happen later on in the year. It’s a great time to be alive and soak in all the sounds of the amazing heavy underground rock music scene.
