Black Fast

Black Fast is a group of proficient, schooled musicians who has chosen to use its collective talent for evil rather than good. The local shred heads play by-the-book metal, oblivious to the genre's misguided sidesteps but above the lowbrow stumbling blocks of irony and revivalism. Think Iron Maiden waking from a twenty-year hibernation and wailing away on Mastodon's gear. The fact that the band has already received props from extreme ends of the St. Louis metal spectrum — thrash-punks Cross Examination and gothic industrialists Murder Happens are both fans — speaks highly of its surprising accessibility. And with only a handful of shows under its belt and nary a hint of an Internet presence, Black Fast's impressive wave-making is a testament to its visceral sweetness.