UNEARTHLY TRANCE, BURIED AT SEA, DOPETHRONE And Others To Perform At Midnite Communion Art / Doom Metal Event

When heavy metal promoter Ryan Avery talks about his upcoming Midnite Communion event, the phrase “depressing yet beautiful” tumbles from his mouth. That phrase is a very accurate summation of the bevy of dark graphic art and doom metal that will be on display this Friday, November 13th and Saturday, November 14th at the Breakers Hotel in Long Beach. On both evenings, artists from all over the world will converge with hand-crafted expressions of darkness to complement loud, gloomy doom-metal from headlining acts such as New York’s Unearthly Trance (pictured above) and Boston sludge purveyors Morne.

Avery’s third annual Midnite Communion event is an extension of metal shows he has promoted since 2009, first under the name Ear/Splitters and more recently as Midnite Collective. Avery had been inspired by metal scenes in other cities and wanted to revive a sense of community among metal bands in Los Angeles.

“There’s a Portland scene, a New York scene; there’s tons of these bands in other scenes out there and a lot of times those bands will go on tour elsewhere together,” Avery says. “I wanted something like that here in L.A. I would go to these killer shows at places like the Relax Bar and there’d be two or three other people in the crowd besides the bartenders and the bands that were playing.”

Taking his cues from the early days of prominent heavy metal record labels such as Relapse, Neurot, and now-dormant Hydra Head, Avery began cultivating a burgeoning Los Angeles doom metal scene that has fostered rising bands such as Yidhra, Deathkings and Ancient Altar. He regularly promotes live shows throughout the Los Angeles and Long Beach areas, but it’s the annual Midnite Communion events that have become his calling card.

Expanding to a two-night celebration this year, Midnite Communion aims not only to bombard attendees with the haunting sounds of apocalyptic doom-metal, but to also batter additional senses with art galleries and installations that complement the sounds rumbling from the stage. For Avery — a graphic designer by trade — it’s only natural that music and visual art be presented together.