Along with tour mates and fellow Chicagoans Mute Duo, and local support from stoner doom heavyweights Hashtronaut and Shepherd, space doom outfit REZN made a headlining Tuesday night stop at Denver’s Hi-Dive. The quartet is in the thick of a North American tour in support of their recently released and highly praised latest studio album, Burden. Tuesday nights are tough, but Denver’s metal scene showed up, packing the room early for our local openers, and staying through REZN’s headlining set.
Following thundering opening sets from Shepherd and Hashtronaut, the unique instrumental two-piece Mute Duo, featuring Sam Wagster on pedal steel and Skyler Rowe on drums and percussion, brought a completely different type of energy to the room. Wagster’s pedal steel work provided slow-building soundscapes fortified by Rowe’s tight and technical percussion work. A pleasant surprise that I hope to catch again soon.
With low light and a steady stream of fog filling the stage, REZN delivered a mesmerizing 9-song set that featured songs from four different albums, and leaned heavily on their latest, Burden and 2023 companion album Solace. From the serene, slow-building opener “Possession” to the crushing riffs of set closer “Relax”, the band was able to recreate and build upon the studio versions with precision and an added intensity. Spencer Ouellette created atmospheric soundscapes through a customized synthesizer wired up to a Sony game controller (forgot to ask him about that!), and his saxophone work throughout the set intertwined with their songs perfectly. Rob McWilliams etherial vocals and tight guitar playing was certainly a highlight, and Phil Cangelosi and Patrick Dunn provided a powerful backbone.
I’ve missed these guys a number of times on their stops through Denver, so I’m so glad I finally got to catch up with them. After a string of fancy, big venue shows lately, it was great to get back to the stripped down rawness of a metal show at a dive bar. And this is one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. REZN is at the top of their game, a must-see for anyone into heavy underground music.
REZN, Aug 13, 2024, Hi-Dive, Denver, CO Setlist
Possession, Chasm, Optic Echo, Instinct, Faded and Fleeting, Stasis, Indigo, Scarab, Relax
Mute Duo
Hashtronaut
Upcoming REZN tour dates can be found at their official web site. Head over to the REZN Bandcamp page to purchase and download their albums.
Visit Mute Duo on Bandcamp.
Get high with Hashtronaut over on Bandcamp.
Catch up with Shepherd on Bandcamp.
All photos by Mitch Kline.