Mutants of the Monster metal fest roars into Little Rock's Vino's

For three nights, at three different venues, fans of some of the most extreme music being made today will gather in Little Rock for Mutants of the Monster V, the annual festival that celebrates the noisy, scary and exhilarating sounds of underground heavy metal.

The gathering begins Friday at Vino's, with Ether Coven, Hexxus, Terminal Nation, -16-, Racetraitor, Lingua Ignota, Thou and Crowhurst.

Saturday's lineup at The Rev Room includes Thirdface, Redbait, Reserving Dirtnaps featuring Tom Skeemask, Colour Design, Genocide Pact, Primitive Man and Full of Hell.

Sunday night at White Water Tavern will feature Crankbait, Sumokem, Suplecs and Jungle Juice.

"I just wanted to change up the atmosphere so the people are seeing something different," says promoter Christopher Terry of spreading the festival out over three clubs.

The performers include just about everything for the noise connoisseur, from the hardcore of Racetraitor, to Full of Hell's frightening yet artistic grindcore, the nightmare gothic sounds of Kristin Hayter of Lingua Ignota and the experimental black metal of New York-based Crowhurst.

The latter band will perform its latest album, III, during a Friday headlining set.

"That's going to be really neat," Terry says.

Memphis heavy music veterans Reserving Dirtnaps were at last year's festival and will return with rapper Tom Skeemask on Saturday.

"They're amazing. You listen to them and it's instant goosebumps," says Terry, who is the singer in Little Rock sludge metal outfit Rwake.

Full of Hell singer Dylan Walker is also a Dirtnaps fan.

"They're one of the best hardcore bands in the country, and that Tom Skeemask collab is crazy," he says.

Walker and his bandmates will headline Saturday night's Mutants lineup and have had a love affair with Little Rock since collaborating with The Body, the Portland, Ore.,-based group founded by Little Rock natives Chip King and Lee Buford.

"I was already friends with the Jungle Juice guys, but when we came through with The Body, they [introduced us around] and I realized that everybody there was so cool and nice and the bands are so good," he says. "I appreciated the scene, but seeing it through the eyes of two guys who lived there, I was really able to appreciate how special it is."

Full of Hell, formed in 2009, has just released its latest LP, Weeping Choir, the band's seventh studio album and first for Pennsylvania-based Relapse Records.

Walker, 29, grew up in a small town in central Pennsylvania and now lives in an even smaller community about an hour away. The rest of the band lives in the tourist town of Ocean, City, Md.

Walker joined the group after hitting it off with guitarist Spencer Hazard.

"When I joined, it kind of changed the power dynamic in the band," Walker says. "I always wanted to be in a grindcore band and play as fast as possible. I also love that wall of sound feel. Neither of us knew a lot of people willing to go that route and it was a great opportunity when Spencer and I found each other."

Talking about Full of Hell, Terry says: "Their last five or six shows here have been amazing. Every time Full of Hell comes, its a massive show."

There are local bands like Colour Design and Terminal Nation each night, but Sunday's offering is almost all Natural State heaviness, with the exception of New Orleans-based Suplecs.

It should be a night of headbanging nostalgia.

"Suplecs is one of those bands for the old-school crowd," says Terry, who hosts Tomorrow's Dream on community radio station KABF-FM. "And Crankbait has been around for 25 years. At the show, they will play their 1994 demo tape from start to finish. To hear that in back in 1994 in Arkansas was mind-blowing."

Jungle Juice, who will close the night, does occasional reunion shows, Terry says.

"They're a hardcore group with guys who are in numerous local bands, but this is their band from when they were teenagers. It's extremely special that they would choose to play this."

Weekend on 06/06/2019