Cortez burns the boats at Deep Cuts on Friday, 22 November 2024.
Worshipper and Curse The Son open the triplestack bill.
“The Dregs” liquid lightshow in the house.
Three bands, three new albums.
The five-piece Cortez reclaimed the night as their own with a headlining set that was big on theatrics. You know, the kind of drama that requires a dedicated vocalist to pull off onstage; someone who can roam around with the mic, unencumbered with instrumental duties, who can just bury themselves completely into selling the music to the crowd.
It’s kind of a lost art, but there’s still a strong tradition of the dedicated vocalist within certain strands of the metal lineage. Add in hot licks, hot solos, cannonade percussion, and the occasional deep, medium tempo, instrumental growler grind to square off the metal fundamentals on a night given over to the devil horns.
Check out Cortez’s latest album, Thieves and Charlatans, which may or may not be oblique commentary on Trump’s cabinet member nominations.
