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While Echo Park Rising was going down locally with the usual suspects, we went down a different path… a weird, dark, powerful, creative, and amazing path called Berserktown II!!  This year the 3-day event took place August 14th-16th at what has become the comfortable and sterile, Disney-esq version of a sweet venue (at least compared to where the event was last year, Los Globos) – The Observatory in Santa Ana.

We only made it to the final of three days, but we are confident this had to have been the best day of the three – Royal Trux playing a one and only reunion show after 14 years of silence and Dead Moon making what could be their final SoCal appearance…  Enough said.

SO on Sunday, Sergio and I rallied big time after a wild night, trekked down to Harbor Blvd, and walked into that which is Berserktown!!! We were NOT disappointed – the bands were all off-the-wall, unique artists that each and every time found us looking to one another to give the “fuck yes, this rules!” head nod.  Granted, we did accidentally sit next to a generator and get all wonky and fucked up for a bit, but we were able to chill it out in the VIP and see some friendly faces.  So here’s what we got:

White Lung

White Lung doing White Lung, as always.

Harasor

Blast beats mixed with a punk stop, pure thrash, and the good ol’ grindcore/cookie monster vocals made this bloodied act quite the party starter!

Screaming Females

Berserktown was just a spot on the map for New Jersey’s Screaming Females as they blast their way around the sates with their mesmerizing, high-energy punk rock.

Slaegt

These young Swedish dudes played some seriously good SPEED metal! \m/

 

Sheer Mag

Sheer Mag really got the crowd going wild!! So much energy from this bunch!

 

Hellvetron

Never thought I’d see something so unholy AND theatrical…. but it was tight.

Milk Music

Milk Music’s acid-washed, lo-fi fuzz rock filled the place with passion and soul.  We super dug ’em and the 90’s vibes!

 

Dead Moon

DEAD FUCKIN’ MOON! Never thought we would see the day. Legends.

Royal Trux

And finally, ROYAL TRUX!  They trudged through the dirt and grime of the blues with their sticky riffs led by Neil Hagerty and the soulful, drunken snarls of Jennifer Herrema.

+++ Photos by Sergio Estrada +++