Scattered Hamlet: Hard Rock with a Southern Twist

Scattered Hamlet has filled the void since Four Locos were banned from virtually all sane establishments in America. The rowdy, intoxicating, energetic vibe that was illegalized to drink is now accessible from concerts, such as that which took place on November 19^th at the El Rey. The show promised to crank it even louder than 11, and Scattered Hamlet fulfilled expectations. Not that I’ve ever read any cheesy romance novels, but you know the diamond-in-the-rough stable boy with whom the Southern Belle always has an affair? The rugged scoundrel who inexplicably becomes a babe magnet? That’s pretty  much each member of the band.

 Hillbilly high-jinks  combined with Metal mischief  makes for a rambunctious live show with wide appeal. Shotguns, mosh-pits, and deer-skull pentagrams are a great transition from the rut most Metal has fallen into, without straying too far from our Hard-Rock comfort zone. It’s how Hellyeah would be if the songs were catchier and the musicians were less ugly. 

(I shall now digress to an anecdote of awesomeness. When a mosh crossed the line from slam-dance to oh-shit-where-is-my-mace, the lead singer forsook the stage to give Security a hand. Meanwhile, the rest of the band kept playing like it was another day in the life. Given evidence for their sheer bad-assery, it probably was.)

Scattered Hamlet is a taste of good ol’ Metal injected with some rarely seen Southern intensity, a gimmick which sets them apart from the masses. Another deviation from the Metal norm is the fact that these dudes were totally hot, whereas, as the fictional Strongbad so eloquently stated, the gift of Death-Metal does not smile on the good-looking.