Credit: Photo by Sandy Carson

Mammoth Grinder

Waterloo Park, Nov. 8

Nearly imperceptible, the secret high sign may have, in fact, come directly from the stage, where Mammoth Grinder shuddered and shook like prehistoric quarry caught in the death throes of premature fossilization. Regardless, one U18 with a large “X” on his fist nodded to another, and on the local trio’s second song early on Saturday, the merry-go-mosh circled the wagons all elbows and testosterone stomp. Onstage, guitarist Chris Ulsh nodded approvingly, his hardcore vocal scrot blistering the mic as bassist Chris Camp’s blue eyes glinted a Mona Lisa smile and drum engineer Brian Boeckman drove Mammoth Grinder with relentless, two-ton kick-drum footfalls. Austin metal flourishes up and down Red River, but Mammoth Grinder actually summoned the ghosts of two 1990s Texas institutions, tight as early Toadies and as corrosive as Brutal Juice, yet all Rage and Ruin, the threesome’s recent debut LP. The group’s upcoming 7-inch got a live plug, the two Chrises’ dual vocal exhaust feeding the set-ending dirgy ooze that matched Mammoth Grinder’s metallic blitz with earthshaking ecstasy.

This article appears in November 14 • 2008.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US

San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.