Sceneazine.com
The grooving metal of Robot Plant
By John Huiett
Robot Plant bassist Quincy Mckagan has a message for
the world: “Robot Plant is one of the best f***ing bands
out there. And no one can stop us.”
hose are pretty cocky words from a member of a band whose average age is not even
20. But once the Columbia groove metal band takes
the stage at Ground Zero in Spartanburg on August 15, it’s obvious that Mckagan is on to something.
Lead vocalist Brik stalks the stage – and the floor below
it – like he owns the place. And for Plant’s 30-minue set,
he does. Combining guttural screams and soaring melodies, Brik propels the band through a set that punches you in the face and leaves you craving another right
hook. Rhythm section Mckagan and drummer Justin
Collins pound the bruising backbeat. Guitarist Cody
Kirtan crunches thick riffs and thrashes his long blonde
locks, creating a headbanging cascade of hair and precision. At stage left, guitarist Alex Johnson’s fluid solos
provide a perfect complement to the controlled chaos
around him.
Plant opens with the grind of “Amazing Disgrace” before leaping into the more up-tempo, double-kick-driven “Dysfunction.” Then they surprise the
enthusiastic crowd with a cover of Rage Against The
T
Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of.” Brik’s
melodic screams make the song Plant’s own,
while he spits out the words of the chantalong chorus with all the venom of the original. He
then announces
that they are going to, “soften it
up a little bit” as
Johnson strums
the
ominous
opening chords
to “Fear.” But
the
“softness”
doesn’t last long.
A pulsing, heavy
groove kicks in,
with screamed
verses and a
smooth, bittersweet
chorus.
The syncopated
power of “Hear
The Echo” is
next, before the
band closes with
a spot-on cover of “End of Heartache” by Killswitch Engage.
Offstage,
Brik has an affable charm
and almost constant
smile. The sharp silver
studs poking up from the
shoulders of his tattered
denim vest seem to match
the mischievous glint in
his eyes. Combined with
his commanding stage
presence, Brik seems like
the kind of guy who could
give you a severe beat
down and then buy you a
beer afterwards (once he
turns 21, of course).
“A lot of
front guys want to be hard
all the time, but they’re
not badass offstage,” Brik
says. “Why you gotta be a
different person?”
At stage
right, Kirtan’s ripping
rhythms help anchor
the onstage momentum.
And while Plant sounds
undoubtedly
modern,
Kirtan’s Gibson SG and
Marshall half stack give
the band a bit of an old-
school vibe.
“I like to keep it classic,” Kirtan says. “Simple,
if you will.”
Also keeping it simple is Collins, who can
bring huge beats
from a small
kit. He is known
within the band
as the “breakdown enthusiast” for powering
traditional metal
breakdowns, and
also for his penchant for anxiety attacks in
the band’s earlier
days. But there’s
no anxiety this
night. He puffs
on a cigarette,
leading Mckagan to scream
a warning that
smoking will kill
him. Collins shrugs it off and returns to the business
at hand. “Playing a smaller kit helps me get into the
groove,” he says.
And keeping it in the groove is what Robot
Plant is all about. But that wasn’t always the case. According to Johnson, the band’s sound has changed significantly since their 2011 inception.
“We recorded an entire CD, but the band’s
sound changed so much by the time we were done, we
didn’t put it out,” Johnson says. What’s most important
now, he adds, is “being accessible, but not being cheesy.
We want it to be something that everybody listens to,
but still be really heavy.”
And while the band plans to record again soon,
a busy show schedule might postpone that. Currently,
they are slated to play August 22 at the Chop Shop in
Charlotte with SkinKage, A Light Divided, Auxilla and
Fall Of Corruption. August 31, it’s back to Columbia
at New Brookland Tavern with Invoking The Abstract,
VOROV and Burnt Books. Then it’s The House in
Greenville on September 13 with Edge of Eternity, before being back at Ground Zero on September 24 with
The Illumination, It Lies Within, The Party Foul, and
From Gallows To Graves.
When I asked him to describe Robot Plant in
one word, Johnson pauses for a few seconds, then says,
“Unpredictable.” However, I think it’s safe to predict you
are going to be hearing a lot more about Robot Plant.
reverbnation.com/robotplant
facebook.com/robotplant
Twitter: @OFCLRobotPlant
Page 7