St. Elias @ Hi-Dive

Saturday night at the Hi-Dive showcased a party of local acts in honor of St. Elias' latest release, Altered Beast. Before the beast could be unleashed, however, Accordion Crimes and Ideal Fathers warmed up the crowd with some antics of their own.

Ideal Fathers front man Jesse Hunsaker could be heard by those standing inside and across the street from the venue, shrieking above the fast, hard-hitting music that accompanied his vocals. Fathers thrashed the hour away, transitioning the evening nicely into Accordion Crimes' similarly riotous act.

Crimes kept the performance unpredictable. With slow-paced sounds suddenly shifting into startling outbursts of noise, lo-fi vocal effects topped off the ranges of musical input nicely.

Just before midnight, the men of the hour began their set. St. Elias was greeted with bursting applause as the barely-illuminated stage shook with the set opener, "Welcome to Your Doom." The vocal-free track erupted in a deep, bass growl, echoing a shivering feedback. Progressive waves of accompanying guitar jolts and pounding drum rhythms washed over the audience.

As the vocals broke through in the second song, "Icarus II," the light and melodic tone that layered over the music incorporated a nice contrast. These lyrics left the impression of words added in as an afterthought to highlight the song, versus a saturation of mandatory, ill-fitting vocals.

Both the bassist and drummer took turns providing backing vocals throughout the set, with the former issuing husky, low-end melodies and the latter filling in the higher range.

The theme of the set seemed to be playing as loudly and commandingly as possible. Whether it was through extra-hard cymbal crashes or an upside-down bass being plucked while wavering centimeters in front of a large Mesa Boogie amp, the guys pulled it off.

Each song was full of resonating tone. The power of the performance gave off a sensation that there could've been six people on stage instead of just the trio.

The band rounded off the set with "Middle Kingdom," with short bass and drum solos at the end of the song before the final notes from the three-piece came crashing down to a close.

Audience members refused to let the night end on that note. Shouts of "Cooler Is Down!" bombarded St. Elias, and the group sheepishly asked the sound booth from the stage if they had time for just a few more. After pounding out a cover by indie rock band Shiner, St. Elias granted the fan and friend requests and "Cooler is Down" met the ears of the appeased audience, putting the satisfying night at the Hi-Dive to an end.