"This seems true for many Portlanders, who descended on Star Theater in their toughest black metal shirts, Carhartt work coats, and battle jackets-without a lick of color in sight-an expected aesthetic. Opening the night was the triple-threat of Portland/Centralia doom duo Defiant Body, Seattle-based quartet Guiltless, and Chinese-American avant-garde keyboardist Otay:onii, each of whom contributed greatly to the atmosphere of the evening."
"The one-two punch of Defiant Body and Guiltless set the vibes to dark-bleak during a night that would stick almost entirely to a harsh, monochromatic sound that ended up being an endurance test for some. Nobody moshed, nobody thrashed around. It was all scowls, heads bobbing in time with the lumbering drumwork of Billy Graves (Guiltless) and Eric Daniels (Defiant Body), mesmerized by the guttural vocals."
A Black Friday Primitive Man bill provided a fittingly bleak start to the late-autumn season, drawing a monochrome crowd in black metal shirts, Carhartt coats, and battle jackets. Defiant Body and Guiltless established a crushing, sludge/doom atmosphere with lumbering drums and guttural vocals that encouraged scowls and head-bobbing rather than moshing. The aesthetic and sonic consistency created a dark, cathartic endurance for the audience. Otay:onii acted as a pattern breaker, appearing in a crocheted shawl and alternating between Björk-like piano vocals and anguished wails, adding an avant-garde, destabilizing counterpoint to the predominantly heavy bill.
Read at Portland Mercury
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