8/11 - Fuck it, I'll just use my hands.

We woke up feeling comfortable and refreshed at the days inn about 1 hour north of the San Francisco metro area. Once again, we owe a HUGE thank you to Yegor from Engraved and Archaic Decapitator for helping us out. After some painstaking sleeptalking insults and noctambulance toward Joe, we finally pulled ourselves out of bed to take full advantage of the free pancake breakfast! Fortunately there were about 25 minutes to spare when we reached the restaurant. The pancakes were soft and fluffy, with some whipped butter on top. Dear fuck it was delicious!

"Fuck it, I guess I'll just use my hands" - Seamus

Renewed our crippling addiction to sunflower seeds

After breakfast, we packed up in our room and got ready to move! Headed to an area that we have heard lots of good things about: Arcata, CA.  The drive up was beautiful! US route 101 is a glorious road that winds through the mountains and down into the valleys with lakes and rivers flowing regularly. It was about a 5 hour drive, but we certainly made it count! A few hours away from Arcata, we stopped off the freeway to pop open some beans and eat up. We happened upon a strange place called Lake Mendocino. Leading up to it, there were countless government facility signs indicating that it’s a U.S. military engineers research center. We headed up the road to a place that said “overlook.” When we got over the crest, there was some nature porn to be seen.

Indigo waters of Mendocino

Wolfpack brothers go swimmin'!

Lake Mendocino is a beautiful lake, surrounded by amber grass, strange red trees, and azure waters. After a can of beans and a swig of Gatorade, Karl Seamus, Joby, and I made the short trek down to the water, and jumped in despite not having bathingsuits on. The water was so tempting that we just lept into it in boxers. After a crisp and refreshing swim, we regrouped with Dave and Buster and took off towards Arcata feeling cooled down. The home stretch to Arcata was really beautiful. Humboldt bay cooled the air down and made a nice backdrop.

Is that a dog?

He's begging for it

The town of Arcata is really cool. There are a bunch of little shops, bars, and restaurants that just make the whole place really charming. One thing that all of us immediately noticed was the presence of weed. North California is of course famous for this; we saw drum circles left and right, and people stoned all over the place. A culture shock, no doubt. We wandered around town for awhile checking out bookstores and record shops, but eventually ended up at The Alibi (the bar we played). What a cool place it was. Americana lined the walls (tastefully), and the people there were very nice. They treated us like kings! Usually, they give bands the option to order their food for half price. Unfortunately, they had just finished doing renovations on their kitchen, and they weren’t cooking that night. To make up for it, the owner of the bar, Ian, called in two large pizzas for us! They were delicious too!

Don't turn your back on the wolfpack

Cappy pasta

Pre-pizza at the Alibi

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The show started at about 11, so we had plenty of time to get our shit moved in. We were leisurely about moving in. That seems to be the way Arcata operates: leisurely as fuck. There were only two bands booked for the night, and we opened the night. The turnout was really good. Arcata doesn’t have a big metal scene, so when bands come out to play there, every man, woman, child, and insect who listens to metal will come out. We took the stage first, and did our thing. Arcata received us well, and we made some new fans and friends. Next up was Shattered Skvll, featuring members of the bands Servile Sect and Ash Borer. They had the crowd captivated with their style of noisy, psychedelic black metal, punctuated by periods of ambient drone. After the gig, the Alibi was filled with . Plenty of people stayed around to smoke, drink, and have a good time together. After things winded down, we drove down US-199 until we found a place to sleep on the side of the highway. Next day, we’re headed to Portland, OR!!!!

Shattered Skvll