Friday night is metal night at Peabodys’ Cleveland 100 festival, a weekend-long showcase of 150 bands from Northeast Ohio. The headliners are 13 Faces and Law of Destruction, two different metal groups that share a guitarist in John Comprix, a righteous shredder with hair that scrapes the floor when he headbangs.
The neo-thrash/power-metal Law of Destruction also features the players from Beyond Fear, with Odious Sanction singer Scott Bryant on vocals instead of former Judas Priest singer Tim “Ripper” Owens. The group is about to record its first LP, and Comprix says to expect an eight-song set that will include the four songs from the band’s excellent demo.
13 Faces were the city’s best chance to enter the metalcore goldrush, but the group stalled after 2003’s excellent These Bloody Hands, their one and only release. The band has continued playinig occasional one-off reunion shows, with LOD/BF drummer Eric Elkins on drums. The sets are always well-received, and the band can still stir up a pretty violent pit.
“I have to be honest with you,” says Comprix, speaking about the Faces set. “We’ve only rehearsed twice, so we’re probably playing the entire album — which we’ve never done before — and maybe one new song.”
But it’ll be a crusher. — D.X. Ferris
This article appears in Apr 4-10, 2007.