On the Radar: Pinkzilla
I’m gonna be honest, I don’t even know why I still call this category “On the Radar.” I should’ve changed the name to “Portland Likes Guitars” a long time ago, since that pretty much seems to be the scope of the thing lately. To wit, the trad metal of upstart trio Pinkzilla, who’ve got not only the most charming cover art I’ve seen from a self-releasing Oregonian band since the Witchasaurus Hex demo, but a sound that takes the rough cassette-ready production of Celtic Frost‘s glory days and melds it to the current groove aesthetic of their home base. That is: No matter how out front the guitar might be and is, bass matters.
And it’s hard not to admire that, especially when you consider that Pinkzilla‘s root of influence is from a time in metal when low end was basically 
an afterthought. One listen to “Bela Lugosi” from their 2011 self-titled EP, however, and you know they’re not just riffing out. The three-piece might have some of their modus in common with Portland exports Red Fang, and I guess one might argue the vocals on “Planet Caveman” share some echoing commonalities with the first Red Fang, but the guitar tone brings to mind Bathory and Megadeth more than anything so recent, and the bass backing the solo work is right out of your mom’s garage, which is where your hypothetical thrash band practiced in 1985 for the purposes of this analogy. So there.
As it’s been a while at this point since it was released (not that I didn’t love 2011 at the time, but I’m behind enough on 2012 that I don’t need to go even further back), but as the chugging charm of “Dark Eyes” and Pinkzilla‘s Pinkzilla in general piqued my headbanger’s interest, I thought I’d post the tracks from their Bandcamp for streaming and see if maybe they did the same for you. Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts one way or another, or check in with the band on their Thee Facebooks and see what’s up. Right on:
Tags: Oregon, Pinkzilla, Portland, Unsigned bands
Hmm I remember these guys. Cool band, good sound, but kinda freaky. Like, I seem to recall that there was this like rumor that the drummer’s legs got severed a few summers back in some kind of really nasty tractor accident out in Spokane, or so they said. Yet how could he still be playing drums with no legs? It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. So that must’ve not been true i guess. That was actually right before the singer was at some BBQ down in Medford and he was standing too close to a propane tank when it overheated and blew up. Got a chunk of a railroad tie right through his skull just over the left eye. Is what they said, at least. I figured you would die from something like that. Guess not though. And what’s weirder is, I actually used to live across the street from the Bass Player when i was living in Yakima and I remember he was really into all this weird shit, like wicca or some shit, always out in his yard at night with like little torches and drawing big circles in the yard and spreading things out in the circles he drew. Super crazy eyes on that guy. Eventually that house actually burned down, and he and his family kinda just disappeared, like we all assumed they must have been OK cause we never heard that anyone got hurt but then again we also never heard that anyone DIDN’T get hurt….seems like they just vanished and nobody ever really said anything about it. Also I remember hearing that in maybe 2008 or so their van went over the edge of a ravine out in Kelso on their way back from a show and they had all died in the crash from the impact or fire or whatever….like people definitely remember that, and yet lo and behold I see their name all the time on a flyers and stuff and it’s weird man. There’s just something creepy i can’t put my finger on about these dudes….just kind a this weird vibe. I dunno maybe it’s just me