By ÆRæder
Venue
https://clubunderground.net/ – 355 Monroe St NE, Minneapolis, MN 55413
Another consistent advocate and host of local metal and heavy music in the Twin Cities. Some of the best ambience for an extreme metal show you can find. The menu upstairs at the Spring Street Tavern is pretty good. Parking options in the lot and nearby streets have never been a pain to find.
Sound
I came away fairly satisfied, but I’ve got a mixed take here. On the one hand, this was probably the thickest, most well balanced, room saturating show I’ve attended at Club Underground. Maybe not the most intestine quivering experience on the low end, but it came close. I could definitely feel the music. Every mic and instrument could be distinguished and appreciated. Early on there were some issues with balance, mics cutting out, etc., but staff worked hard to rectify these. Some feedback that popped up from time to time. Not sure how harshly this impacted performers on stage, but it got a bit distracting at times in the crowd. Overall, unless you were attempting to write a review and were paying attention & noting good, bad, and ugly, this wasn’t a big deal. Each band’s sound came across potently and seemed to capture their sounds quite well.
Crowd
A dozen or two people that weren’t in the bands were present for each act, from my rough estimates. Club Underground has a lounge feel, with a bunch of low and high top tables lined in the middle of the room. This can tend to minimize movement and keep folks away from the stage. Not necessarily a bunch of mosh pit music this time, so the chill feel among those attendees wasn’t too much of a vibe killer. Some ebb and flow between bands, but overall most folks stayed for the duration or a good chunk of it.
Band Mix and Performance Flow
This was Red Vinter’s release show for their album Lumbering Menace. Centering on that theme, these bands complimented one another well. Overall the bill had some bands that touched on some heavy vintage sounds (I don’t really want to say classic rock), with enough thrash and death to keep it metal. Dead Soul Symphony ( death, thrash, trash metal – https://deadsoulsymphony.bandcamp.com/track/human-disease ) was originally billed, but had to pull out a week or so before and was replaced by Junkyard Hooligans. This was a pretty reasonable switch up and fit well to bridge opener Bonefire to Red Vinter.
Turnover between bands flowed fairly smoothly, aside from some issues with getting mics on some amps and quelling feedback. Still, this show went late again, and we weren’t out of there until around 12:30. I didn’t sit and count, but glancing at the printed lists the bands had on the stage floor, they look like fairly long set lists. Each band got a chance to play plenty of tunes. I’m guessing this is what accounted for the late run, but I’d rather see bands get a chance to go at 45 minutes of play time than 20-25. It just gives them time to warm up and get into it. These styles aren’t necessarily all up front in your face attack mode, though. Some breathing space and a chance to build and get into it with the longer set time felt appropriate.
Bonefire
- – https://bonefireact2.bandcamp.com/
- MN
- 5 Piece: Vox, guitar, guitar, bass, drums
- Tags: punk, d-beat, goth, gothic metal, gothic punk, heavy metal, horror punk, post-punk, punk metal, punk rock, rap metal, soundscape, stoner metal, Minneapolis
Lots of punk references in their hashtag list. They threw down some extremely heavy and fast riffs with a sort of simmering rage. The female vox compliment this with a mix of clean singing and growls, and really make for a lot of sonic potential. Live on stage = thrashed out Blondie, maybe, to my ears.
Junkyard Hooligans
- – https://www.facebook.com/thejunkyardhooligans
- MN
- 3 Piece: Vox/guitar, vox/bass, drums
- “The dirtiest fastest punk rock band out of the Milaca/St. Cloud area.”
Junkyard Hooligans don’t have much of an online presence, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, outside of vocalist Tom from Rust Bucket playing bass. Briefly talking with the band, it sounds like some recordings have happened, but nothing has really come together from this. They ID as punk on facebook, but definitely have a thrashy old school heavy metal vibe. They played a full set list, too, and seem to have plenty of tunes on hand; get some of that material put together and released!
Red Vinter
- – https://redvinter.bandcamp.com/music
- St. Paul
- 4 piece: Vox/Bass, Guitar, Guitar, Drums
- Tags: deathdoom, metal, osdm, death metal, doom metal, space metal, stoner doom, sludge metal, industrial metal
I recently wrote up something on their new album, Lumbering Menace, ( for a review, see https://mnbleedsmetal.com/21-spins-red-vinter-lumbering-menace/ ), as well their EP released only back in March 2025 ( https://mnbleedsmetal.com/21-spins-red-vinter-ep-into-the-deep-by-aeraeder/ ). Check those out for my more detailed take on the band & their sound. Regarding this show, the control they demonstrate in pounding out riffs and lyrics to these mid/slow tempo tunes is impressive. The tunes live on stage come across as dark and ominous as intended on their albums.
Rust Bucket
- – https://rustbucket2.bandcamp.com/album/rust-bucket
- St. Cloud, MN
- 5 Piece (Vox, guitar, guitar, bass, drums)
- Tags: rock, doom metal, fuzz rock, stoner rock, St. Cloud
The pinnacle of the sound saturation came during Rust Bucket’s set. Issues with feedback seemed to be taken care of, and just the thick, fuzzed up tone of this band filled the room. This group was fun, and has enough range in style and musical compositions to connect with a much wider audience than most bands I typically pay attention to. The Allman Bro’s first album, Alice in Chains, White Zombie? Take those comparisons with a grain of salt. Bottom line is they take blues, add doom and stoner/groove metal vibes, and create their own distinct style that can stand strong on a metal bill.
Highlights
I’ve mixed in some of the positives with sound and band mix above. After that, the frequent heavy, bluesy guitar work and cowbell action that Rust Bucket produced.
Shade
See above – Feedback and some squeals. Sometimes shit happens.
Summary
Hopefully some of these bands do some networking and work to join up on some more shows together. On one bill, they were great. Separately or in pairs, they all have sounds that could connect subgenres of metal for a fair amount of diverse show bills in the future. Shoutout to Josh Kellerman of Kellerman Presents for pulling together such a diverse, yet cohesive bill.