Brothers (and Sisters) of the Sonic Cloth Pummel a Packed Columbia City Theater

One thing we know for sure about Tad Doyle is that he brings a ferocious sound to his music, whether it is on tape or live on stage, and his Columbia City Theater performance on  Saturday night was no exception. There aren’t that many bands on the planet that can be that heavy. It’s one thing to be loud (everyone can do that), but decades of ripping faces off with sludgy, doom-y guitar have put Tad Doyle in a class almost alone. Tad’s latest band Brothers of the Sonic Cloth isn’t unlike the stuff Tad did back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when he was helping lay the groundwork for a music explosion that was sweeping the world. If you don’t know that much about the band Tad, but love northwest music, I’d suggest listening and doing some research to learn a bit more about just influential he was.

Saturday, April 18, 2015 was the first Seattle show in a year and a half for Brothers of the Sonic Cloth but there was no ring rust, they were tight as hell. But let’s get to the openers first.

Grenades started the loud night off with a bang. Grenades clobbered the crowd that had congregated closest to the stage with a set full of thrashing guitars and bass with a drummer that hammers like a madman. They are hardcore to the core with pissed-off guttural vocals and a great stage presence.

Next up was a band called Lesbian. On the Facebook page for the band they list the genre as “PsychoProgDoom”, which is a more fitting descriptor than anything we could conjure up. They’ve been around for over a decade now and their music isn’t for the faint of heart. Their songs are complicated thrill rides that cross over into many genres mixing the best elements of sludgy doom metal and hardcore black metal, but with a more technical slant. These musical mechanics are great at their craft and held the throttle wide open for the entire set, with only brief interruptions to engage with the crowd.

As the crowd meandered around a near-capacity Columbia City Theater, it was clear there was a buzz in the air for Tad Doyle and the band he’d be bringing to the stage. Before the show Doyle sat at the merch table, sold and signed albums, posed for photos and helped make the night even more special for his fans, whether they just discovered him or have been around since the beginning.

By the time Brothers of the Sonic Cloth took the stage – which by the way is now called “Brothers and Sisters of the Sonic Cloth” (by us), since the band playing last night was 50% female – the capacity crowd was ready for the sonic slaughtering that these legendary rockers were ready to lay on them. After Doyle had a few sips of tea, the band began the onslaught.

I stood next to the stage for the entire set, on Tad’s side, and the music was so fucking heavy I could feel the molecular structure of my internal organs rearranging. And although is it so loud that it consumes you, Tad’s brutal tone mastery makes it very listenable. It’s near-impossible for most people to turn it up to 14 without muddying up the sound but Tad is an evil scientist and has perfected this method.

The band brought their “A” game to the venue just a little bit south of Seattle. The set featured unapologetic songs from the much anticipated self-titled new album, Doyle’s first full length album in about 15 years. Although dubbed as a 3-piece, the band decided to add long-time friend Pamela Sternin to the live shows and she brought a fire and an intensity to her the side of the stage she shared with Peg Doyle, Tad’s wife and badass bass player. Dave French (The Anunnaki) completely annihilated the drumkit for close to an hour as well.

One thing that is a fact, Brothers (and Sisters) of the Sonic Cloth, led by a northwest icon, are not here to fuck around. They are here to assault your ear canals in the best possible way.