Rustbelt Rock Review

By: Z.M. Delgado

Rustbeltrockreview.com

Volume #193: Psycho Plantation Album Release Party feat. Iron Bison, Inducing Panic & After the Apocalypse

June 13th 2025

No Class, 11213 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, Ohio

Good evening, my friend. May I take a moment to welcome you back to the Rustbelt Rock Review. It is with great pleasure that I sit down once again to share with you my most recent adventure into Cleveland Rock N’ Roll. It all went down Friday night. Joha swung by to pick me up around 6:30. I greeted him with a bowl of blueberry tart topped with a healthy portion of kief. We blazed that bad boy down, then headed out to the highways. We arrived at No Class shortly after doors had opened. We walked into find the club already buzzing with activity. In the corner I found Jimmy “The Dook” Fedor. He had his whole setup in front of him, doing a live broadcast for Roxxxstarradio. We ran into Eddie of After the Apocalypse as well as Dennis from Bittersweet Revenge. Alongside them, Chris Lowe of Freekshow Radio turned up. Soon enough we decided it was time for the required trip outside. With The Dook and Freekshow with us, we adjourned to the rear of the building to burn.

Once we’d smoked ourselves stupid, we headed back inside. It was time for our first musical offering of the evening. Kicking off the event was the reigning champs... The CMA elected “Best Metal Band” in Cleveland, After the Apocalypse. For those of you who don’t know, After the Apocalypse or ATA is a four piece band made up of Vocals, Bass, Guitar and Drums. Upon entering the room I was immediately floored to see how many people had turned up for the gig. It was still early and we already had a nice crowd in place. After a brief introduction from The Dook the show began. Opening up with a gut wrenching scream, After the Apocalypse threw open the doors on their set and they did so with fire! Launching into “Meddler” they began the set in a frenzy. They displayed great stage presence; the whole band rocking out and their frontman throwing down hard. Here I made notes about the hard hitting power of the drums, as well as the quality of the vocal performance, likening it to “Sandpaper and Steel.” Sometime during “Pale Horse” the crowd began to wake up. All around me people were headbanging and Rocking out; some even began to dance.

Meanwhile the Guitarist delivered cutting riffs from behind a blood stained ax. On “AAA” we got an intense Vocal performance served up by a wild eyed madman. Next to him the Bassist produced slick slides up the neck of his Guitar. “Used” was a brutal auditory assault dished out by Rockers in top form. Next was “Gag Order.” This song featured a T-shirt toss as well as special guest vocals by Tommy of HAMS. Tommy ripped it up side by side with ATA inciting the crowd into a significant roar. “Pet” has a bitchin’ Bass line, a sort of spoken word verse and a heavy ass chorus. On “Enemy Mine” the cymbals crashed and people were headbanging from the front to the back of the club. Finally closing out the set they dropped a new one: “Goliath.” This song had a dope riff, strong Drum work and it even summoned some light moshing. Some more T-shirts were thrown out and the crowd gave up a mighty cheer to send After the Apocalypse off in style. With ATA complete we returned to the rear of the building to refresh our highs.

Stoned again we arrived back at the stage, ready to check out Inducing Panic. This is a three man band made up of Guitar/Vocals, Bass/Backing Vocals and Drums/Backing Vocals. Again The Dook introduced the band and they began to play. Almost immediately I noticed that there Drummer was none other than Eric, who had just finished playing with After the Apocalypse. Pulling double duty is no small feat, especially behind the Drum kit. This however didn’t slow him down one beat, as Inducing Panic dove in with reckless abandon. They opened up Rockin’ and quick. They then broke into a song which may have been called “Barking.” This was a Death Metal sounding track, complete with guttural Vocals, delivered with crushing heaviness. The Bass player exhibited stellar stage presence as he Rocked out hard. On “I don’t care about Jazz I don’t care” they served up some smooth and slick lounge core action. This grooved along for a time before exploding into hard fast Rock. A moshpit developed as the Drums slammed and the Cymbals crashed. On “Quality of Life” things got quite Punky. The Bass player threw down as people below danced. After that came “Loser” followed by “Different” which showed off some wicked Bass work, a funky verse and Punk Chorus.

After that we had a break: a mid set beer chugging contest. They assembled a team of participants from the crowd and distributed beers to them. Then on the signal they began to chug. Once the beers were gone, the band showered the contestants with fake money. The winner was then awarded a cash prize: 7 dollars. The last place participant got a trophy and then was told “Go fuck yourself!” Starting the music up again we got a sloppy, slurring rendition of “I Will Survive.” This transformed into a groovy Bass line. “Shut Up” had a stomping sound and some killer drum work. The band continued to hand out free beers to the crowd and encouraged the recipients to do an old fashioned “Butt Chug.” People were dancing and getting down to “9 to 5,” and the energy continued into “Everybody’s Making it Big.” The crowd swung, spun and shook to the music, moving to the tornado of Drums. Inducing Panic began to taunt the crowd, jokingly telling us all to “get fucked” and that we should all “feel bad about ourselves.” Closing out with “Shad Song” they served up a healthy dose of high energy Punk Rock with some heavy ass breakdowns. The crowd gave up a huge cheer letting Inducing Panic know exactly how hard they had rocked. During the set our friend Laura of the Blunts arrived and joined our posse. With Inducing Panic now done we adjourned to the patio yet again, where miraculously Laura produced one of her trademark blunts and smoked us silly.

Eric Stevenson: The Official Tattoo Artist of the Rustbelt Rock Review

Back into the club and down in front, I was ready for some new music. Up next was a band I have been wanting to check out for a while: Iron Bison. They are a three piece maelstrom of dirty Rock N’ Roll, made up of Guitar/Vocals, Bass/Vocals and Drums. Their setlist was written in some sort of cryptic cipher that I could not discern, so we’re gonna have to get through this review without the song titles at our disposal. The Dook conducted his introductions, They opened up and I was completely floored. It was pure energy, pure power, pure fire. They were heavy and noisy and ripping fast with crushing breakdowns. Their vocals were shouted aggressively in a vicious animalistic way. Their stage presence was great. Even though they were all locked behind their instruments, all three members found a way to Rock out hard. On their second song, their Guitarist flailed with such violence that he took out his own mic stand mid-song. Their third track was introduced as a “song about drugs.” It was hard charged with slamming aggression and immediately summoned a moshpit. This song had incredible back and forth vocals forming an auditory hellscape. On their fourth track, “Dipshit,” the mic stand failed again, and was held in place by Dennis of Bittersweet Revenge.

Despite this Iron Bison was absolutely killing it. The Drums hammered, the Vocals raged and the Guitarist pulled out a ripping solo. Their fifth song produced a stomping pit, and their sixth was pure pounding savagery. From somewhere in the crowd, bubbles began to flood the air. It was weird, watching through my stoney eyes, as thousands of bubbles swirled through the churning moshpit. Empty beer cans flew around the room, many landing on the stage. It was bedlam. Iron Bison utterly dominated the room. Their music was like a sledgehammer unbridled wrath. Their stage presence was the very epitome of fury; headbanging, highkicking and whipping about in fits of Rock madness. That is until the fearsome beast of technical difficulties reared its ugly head. Some sort of issue arose with the Guitar amps and the set was put on pause. While the Guitarist and sound tech worked on the amp, the Bass player and Drummer kicked out a jam to keep the fans entertained. After a painfully long break, or so it felt, the Guitar was back and Iron Bison returned with a vengeance. The Drums rumbled, the Vocals roared and immediately the moshpit started up again. For three more songs Iron Bison rampaged through No Class without mercy. Playing a total of eleven songs, they absolutely crushed it. The crowd roared, myself included, as the band finished strong. I was flattened. It had been an incredible set. Needing time to reflect we returned to the patio and settled down to smoke and wait for our final set of the evening.

Closing out the evening, and celebrating the release of their album “Intrusive Thoughts,” was Psycho Plantation. They are a four man operation made of Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Drums. With The Dook once again conducting an introduction, the final set of the night began. Following a quick Drum strike, the band erupted with the pure heat of “Crucible of Death.” The Vocals were snarling, hard edged and vicious. With excellent stage presence the band attacked their performance and the crowd fed off it immediately. The singer was… intense. He had an air of violence all around him as he menaced the fans. The Bass player was also in constant motion, looming like Frankenstein's monster. Everywhere around me people were headbanging and Rocking out. On “Dog Fed” they delivered rip saw riffs and the Bass was a blur of five string fury. “Psocko” had some incredible Double Kick action which easily summoned a moshpit. “It’s a Beast” had a funky, grooving Bass line. The verses were sort of Rapped while the chorus was a slamming and heavy affair. On “Hoffa Garden” they were joined by a guest vocalist who Rapped and shouted along with the Lead singers screams. This guest stayed on for “War and Ash” as well, but then departed.

The band was joined by a second guest vocalist for “Terminator” and then a third for “We the Bullet.” (At this point there were seven people on stage: The band, two guest vocalist and one extremely intoxicated, shirtless cameraman.) “We the Bullet” had some call and response action between the band and the crowd, which had many voices raised. “Black Phillip” had a smooth Bass line, and was another Rap heavy track. It was bolstered with an angry chorus. “Bird,” a Metal cover of “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen was… well, exactly what it sounds like. “Dead Eye Lotus” was all slamming heaviness. Meanwhile that drunken cameraman was losing his shit, ceasing to film the band and rather moving to the front of the stage singing along. The singer left the stage and began to stomp around the moshpit, stirring the people with is trademark aggression. Closing out the set they dropped “Blood Laid in Slave.” The pit went wild as the fans all engaged in one final and glorious act of violence. The bubble gun began to fire again, filling the room with shimmering spheres. One guy attempted to crowd surf, getting ferried around the room atop his friends shoulders; not really crowd surfing, but not getting dropped either. The fans went wild, the pit raged and the band went off! In the midst of the madness on the stage the drunk cameraman went down hard. He laid on his ass as Psycho Plantation brought their colossal set to a close in catastrophic fashion. The fans screamed, roared, cheered and huzzahed in a most triumphant manner. The lights came up, and the crowd dispersed. Joha and I said our goodbyes and headed to the door.

Off into the night we escaped, headed to all points east. Along the way, of course, we talked about the excellent night we had just experienced. After the Apocalypse was phenomenal. How often do you get to see Cleveland’s Best Metal Band open a show? With that kind of fire power kicking things off… well you know you’re gonna have a great evening ahead of you. Inducing Panic was about as entertaining as a band gets. They always have an angle on a good time. (This time it was a beer chugging contest.) They are and will remain one of the most entertaining bands on the North Coast. Iron Bison was amazing. They absolutely impressed me and utterly stole the show. I will definitely check them out again. Finally, Psycho Plantation launched their new record with style and brutality. They bring fire and brimstone every time they play, and this past Friday was certainly no exception. So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed this little read through. I certainly enjoyed reliving these moments for you. On that not I will bring this edition to a close. Bang you heads, hoist your horns and always wear your earplugs. Thanks for reading.

Until next time, Rock on, Rustbelt,

-Z.M. Delgado

Rustbelt Rock Review

Rustbeltrockreview.com

6/15/25

Links:

Psycho Plantation

https://www.facebook.com/psychoplantation/

Iron Bison

https://www.facebook.com/IronBison666/

Inducing Panic

https://inducingpanicband.com/home

After The Apocalypse

https://www.facebook.com/AfterTheApocalypseBand/

Vol #193: Psycho Plantation Album Release Party

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