SXSW 2007 Spotlight: Bloodhag

We're finishing up our featured SXSW artists with Bloodhag. Bloodhag is a favorite around here ever since we heard last year's Hellbent For Letters, and I was excited to get a chance to see them play, as they don't seem to make it to my side of the states.

From a musical standpoint, Bloodhag plays dark, death metal-infused thrash and sludge. From a philosophical standpoint, Bloodhag preaches literacy. The band travels around to libraries and schools, talking about their favorite science fiction writers, and playing biographical songs about them. Fast, heavy songs.

We caught Bloodhag as part of Jello Biafra's Alternative Tentacles showcase, and despite the odd location (a Cajun restaurant), and their non-threatening attire (the guys in Bloodhag all dress like librarians), they thoroughly manhandled their set.

They opened each song with a short history lesson on the writer whose song they were about to play, and then tore into the song. While their presentation may have been tongue-in-cheek, these boys believe in their message and they know how to play, and both come out in their set. They are tight and heavy and a lot of fun.

They played for an hour, including "Jack Womack", my favorite from Hellbent For Letters, and some new songs, including "Lewis Carrol" which will be included on an upcoming EP, if it ever gets made (which is in question, because as the band confessed, sales of their last record were not all that stellar).

As part of being literacy advocates, they give out books at their shows. As part of being a death-metal band, they don't hand them out - they hurl them into the crowd, often with deadly accuracy. I myself picked up one, a copy of Geo. Alec Effenger's What Entropy Means To Me, wrapped in a plastic sleeve declaring it to be an "Official Bloodhag Collector's Item Paperback, guaranteed to increase in value." Unfortunately it's not the copy that I most wanted, which was the book that made me burst out laughing when I watched it bounce off the head of a person dining with their back to the band (what can I say? I have low-brow sense of humor sometimes.), but at least I did get an official Bloodhag book.

It's pure genius, spreading the joys of literacy to young metalheads and thrashmongers. Hopefully some of these kids are paying attention, and taking time to read that book that just hit them between the eyes.

Photo (c) Nicole Lucas