Concert Review: Cardinal, Phantasmal Abyss, Varulf at The Caravan Lounge

    Downtown San Jose was buzzing last night with all the people in attendance for GalaxyCon along with the massive swarm of mini motorcycle riders tearing down S Market Street as if they were trying to recreate a scene from the iconic 1953 movie The Wild One starring Marlon Brando. However, the premier event was taking place at The Caravan Lounge featuring three ruthless and profanely savage bands. The line-up consisted of Cardinal, Phantasmal Abyss and Varulf, three Bay Area underground bands that know how to deliver some punishing cuts of sadistic brutality. 

     I was definitely looking forward to seeing Cardinal again after attending the show they played in Belmont with the mighty Empty Chalice from Canada. Actually, Varulf also played that show and I do remember the band putting on one intense set. Last night would be my first time seeing Phantasmal Abyss live, however I had heard some of their tracks before and looked forwarded to watching them unleash their vicious style of blackened death thrash. In regards to the venue, The Caravan Lounge is without question an iconic dive bar in Downtown San Jose that has been putting on underground music shows for years, which is definitely important given the limited amount of places for metal/punk bands to play these days. I will say that in terms of space, there is not a lot of room to move around, but you do get to experience that very intimate setting where you can be right up front getting your ears decimated by some utterly decimating riffs. 

Varulf 

    Opening up the show was the local black metal horde Varulf, and I must say that they were an optimal choice for the opening act. The energy that Varulf is able to conjure up is truly amazing to witness as the band plays with tremendous aggression and undeniable passion. Their drummer is perfectly locked in when laying down a cataclysmic beat that allows for the bassist and two guitar players to then hammer out some utterly catastrophic riffs. The vocalist is another key factor in adding to the band’s hellish sound and just like when I saw them performing in Belmont, he once again gave every ounce of energy he could muster up and unleashed these monstrous growls of pure pestilent disgust over the blackened abysmal sounding onslaught. Varulf really got the crowd into their performance and because of that they perfectly set the tone for the rest of the night. 

Phantasmal Abyss 

    After Varulf finished their set to a thunderous applause from the audience, Phantasmal Abyss started getting prepared for their set. I have to say before I start talking about their performance, I was really impressed by their professionalism as the band had their merch laid out and seemed to offer people a variety of items including beer koozies and tote bags. This trio from the East Bay offers up some utterly crushing riffs and can then transition into a more headbanging blackened thrash style. The band’s singer/guitarist Dara Santhai would scream into the mic with a fearsome look on her face while she conjured up some devastating riffs. Bassist Rafael Martinez played with great passion throughout the their set and his bass tone added a bombastically doomy touch to the overall mix. Towards the end the band’s set they had to restart a song, but the audience seemed to be forgiving and the band was able to not let it slow their momentum down. Then again, some of the people in the audience probably didn’t even notice as they were three sheets to the wind with a couple of them drunkenly bumping into me throughout the band's set. I had to breathe and count to ten a few times otherwise I might have gone full Jim Cornette at the Dairy Queen drive-thru mad (If you do not get the reference I recommend searching on Youtube as the video is epic...). 

Cardinal 

    The final band performing for the evening was Cardinal and let me tell you something, if you are a fan of raw and savage black metal with haunting atmospheres, then you need to check this band out right away. Cardinal is not just another generic black metal band putting on the corpse paint and playing cheap ass sounding tremolo style picking riffs to an audience full of apathetic metal hipsters wearing artisan beanies. They have such a strong malevolent sounding energy, and their songs really do remind me of the music from European black metal acts like Abigor, Nokturnal Mortum and Emperor. During their set I did feel that the band was working with less space than the last time I saw them before in Belmont, but they were able to make it work to where there was enough room to fit the keyboard, amps and drum kit. The band’s keyboardist provided a captivatingly spectral contrast to the harshly distorted riffs and fiendish drumming. I like how the band arranges their songs as the dynamic compositions really do keep you fully engaged and can instantly transition from a very dark slow tempo to a more intense sounding burst of bestial destruction. The audience was really into their music as well and you had plenty of people in the front banging their heads to the sinister riffs. Overall, I thought they played a really solid set and I am looking forward to them making a full-length album. 

    In the end, all of those in attendance for this diabolical gathering were dealt a might dose of blackened brutality from all three of these talented bands. If you have a chance to see them live I would highly recommend going without any hesitation. And to all those drunk people who kept bumping into me, I hope that you made it home safe and did not get run over by a gang of mini motorcycle riders, nor were harassed by some furries from GalaxyCon. You may think that you’re tough and kvlt, but those furries in numbers can be extremely dangerous. 

Cardinal Bandcamp:

https://c666.bandcamp.com/album/demonstration-2025

Phantasmal Abyss Bandcamp:

https://phantasmalabyss.bandcamp.com/music

Varulf "Fresh Blades for an Old Enemy (Single) 2024"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzSDnIml9JI

Matt Lasserre “Jungian House Dream”

    The architect behind Pale Cremation, Matt Lasserre, invites listeners on a unforgettable dreamlike exploration through various post-punk/new wave, avant-garde and progressive rock arrangements on his solo release titled, “Jungian House Dream.” Once again, Matt demonstrates his diverse artistic mindset while traversing across these vivid sounding musical landscapes with such keen attention to detail. 

    Over the years that I have come to know Matt, I have witnessed him really expand upon his musical ideas with vigorous fascination, thus allowing him to compose some unbelievably creative sounding releases. “Jungian House Dream,” is definitely one of his most ambitious and out off this world creations to date, which is why I was instantly drawn to the release after hearing a preview track. The post-punk and new wave elements conjure up some very dreamy and space like atmospheres, while the progressive rock arrangements add a dynamic flare to the overall sound. 

    From the very start, the album dives deep into the world of dreams and human psyche with a strong emphasis on progressive rock ethos driving the creation of a lot of the instrumental arrangements. The opening song, “Love Pill Theme,” is very new wave sounding from the opening electronic noises to the mesmerizing layers of synth. Along with the synths Matt throws in some post-punk influenced guitar work, and the notes vividly ring out in such a hypnotic fashion. Compared to work in Pale Cremation, I felt as thought there was more emphasis was placed on the how he was able to bring together all these different sounding elements, especially since the music feels almost cinematic at times. The second track off of the album, “Couloirs De Terreur Et De Decadence,” continued to build-up the opening song's heavy synth emphasis, but also added some progressive/avant-garde rock guitar lead touches towards the end. 

    Of course, Matt does incorporate song heavier elements into the album and on the song, “Architectural Model of the Psyche,” he conjures up more of an old school Sabbath like sound, which I thought really stood out and happened to be one of my favorite pieces of music off of the album. The song’s main riff sounded truly monumental with its Iommi-esque sonically devastating sound that instantly captures your attention. On the song, “Visitation,” you can hear a more industrial/thrash metal edge featuring more adrenaline pumping distorted riffs of high octane aggression that slightly reminded me of Matt’s time in the band Scrape the Earth. Eventually the music mellows out and transitions into a more calming almost transcendental direction, which ties into the experimental synth arrangements that tend to be guiding the listener throughout the release at various points. 

    Throughout the album you are constantly enthralled by the various arrangements and different audio clips detailing human consciousness and the power of dreams.  “Jungian House Dream,” is an album that I find comes from years of unyielding passion and an individual’s desire to bring out musical concepts that they have fondly amassed over years of being a open minded artist. Matt really took his time crafting this album by making sure each guitar riff, bass line, and synth made a distinct impact, so in the end listeners can experience a release that does not sound like a lot of what you are hearing from the rock/metal world today. I would highly recommend people give this album a listen, especially if you are open to progressive rock music infused with some post-punk, synthwave, new/wave, as well as some metal touches from one creative individual. 

Listen to the entire album via Doom Zone Productions Youtube channel :

Matt's Bandcamp:

https://mattlasserre.bandcamp.com/album/jungian-house-dream