Rustbelt Rock Review

By: Z.M. Delgado

Rustbeltrockreview.com

Volume #215: Burial Oath, Olathia, Vile Light & Wyld Timez

November 14th, 2025

No Class, 11213 Detroit Ave, Cleveland, OH

Good morning to you my Heavy Metal siblings. It is so very good to sit down with you again and to discuss with you my latest adventure in Rock N’ Roll. This week I had an exceptionally fun and somewhat silly time at No Class. As usual my evening began on the early side, with my homeboy Joha scooping my up around 5:30ish if memory serves me correctly. We jumped in the ride and headed west with all speed. Even though it was still hours until show time, I was in an excited hurry to get to the venue. You see on the evening in question, I was rendezvousing with my team and beginning the first steps into a new venture. Combining my writing and interview skills with the creative vision of Jimmy “The Dook” Fedor of Roxxxstarradio and the photographic eye of Jessica Mowrer from Stargazer Studios we have begun a new project we are calling Heavy on Cleveland. This video series will feature interviews, live footage and behind the scenes moments with Northeast Ohio’s best Hard Rock and Heavy Metal talent. The three of us took over No Class; making it our personal studio for the evening. With our lens focused on Olathia we followed the band and collected footage for our debut episode. Stay tuned for more on this as it develops. Despite all the excitement surrounding Heavy on Cleveland I still had my normal responsibilities to uphold, namely watching a Heavy Metal show and smoke copious amounts of ganja.

So after shooting a lot of footage and conducting an interview we found ourselves smoking a doobie when we heard the first notes of Wyld Timez ring out. We moved with all haste to the floor before the stage. Even as we did Wyld Timez was ripping and it sounded great. For those who don’t know, this is a three man act featuring Guitar/Vocals, Bass/Vocals and Drums. They play a blazing style of Rock N’ Roll that I would classify as Blackened Speed Metal. We were informed early in the set that the Drummer was filling in on extremely short notice. His double Bass prowess was excellent, and his tempos were driving. Despite one early miscue, this dude played an incredibly badass set and, had we not been told the whole story, I would have guess he was the full time player. The Guitarist’s Vocals were rough and vicious yet still surprisingly articulate. While the backing Vox from the Bass Player were a snarling Black Metal monstrosity that was just short of terrifying. The Guitar style was raw and cutting with powerful driving riffs and slick solo’s. All in all their sound was built around aggression and energy and I dug it from note one. Let me tell you something else, I wasn’t alone. The fans were loving what Wyld Timez was putting out. They screamed and cheered and banged their heads with glee as the band kicked out one Black Speed jam after another. On one song, with fists pumping in the air, the fans began chanting “Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!” during a most excellent breakdown. Eventually they closed out their time with a cover of the classic “Bite it, You Scum” by GG Allin and The Murder Junkies. No matter how you want to slice it, there is no doubt Wyld Timez fucking killed it. On brutal tracks like “Nefarious Instinct,” “Bloodsucker,” or my personal favorite “Lust and Leather,” they tore through No Class with absolute fury.

With Wyld Timez now finished we returned to the patio for another strategic doobie session. From there it was back inside for our second performance of the night. Taking to the stage was Akron’s Vile Light. This is a five piece band that I would categorize as something akin to Blackened Death Metal. They had some very slow and plodding songs, which made me maybe want to call them Death Doom, but honestly who cares. Whatever you want to call them, they were heavy ass shit. Their style was a driving din; a Metal storm, a constant wall of sound. Their Vocals were a mix of deep gutturals and high end snarls. They delivered churning, droning riffs. The Drum work was punishing, calamitous and powerful. All in all they had solid stage presence, with their singer and Guitarists all headbanging consistently, while their Bass player stood still with a disturbing dead eyed stare. All things considered, I thought they were a savage act. Packing in bestial Vocals, with aggressive riffs and machine gun Drum rolls Vile Light was truly something wicked. They packed in this sort of… violent energy. A dangerous vibration. It was something to behold. I believe they played a total of ten songs before they called it a set, leaving the crowd screaming for more. As Vile Light said farewell, we exited the room again and returned to the patio.

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

And then it was go time, so to speak. Olathia was up next and as such, the Heavy on Cleveland team had to be on point. Stoned to the bone, we descended onto the floor with our cameras, and of course my trusty notepad, in hand. The Dook filmed video, while Jessica captured photos and I of course frantically scribbled my notes. Now for those of you who are new to the RbRR, allow me to fill you in on the basics. Olathia is a four member, female fronted, Power Thrash band, made up of Vocals, Guitar, Bass/Backing Vocals and Drums. The band took up the stage and creepy sort of sound effects began to play. Soon enough the room exploded as they burst into “Snake Charmer.” The Vocals were on point as the notes soared from the leading lady Chris’s golden throat. Behind the kit was the Drum work was unrivaled. This was impressive as Olathia was also employing a stand in drummer, Grady, who was more than living up to the task at hand. Behind the six strings their hot shot Guitarist, Dylan, was melting faces left and right. His fingers danced and moved as they bent the notes to his will. The crowd was fired up, led by the charismatic Bass player, Terry Bull, who punched his Bass and hoisted his fist chanting “Ay! Ay! Ay! Ay!” The crowd joined him and soon the room echoed with the call. Olathia performed while delivering top tier stage presence; the entire band headbanging, rocking out and moving to the music. The crowd was lost in the sounds. Dancing and screaming, they sang along to every word, enthralled by the Metal madness. The band played a total of eight songs, closing out with a spot on cover of “Over the Mountain” by Ozzy. The legend lived on in No Class as they brought the classic jam to life with blazing intensity. It was a huge finish. The crowd went wild and I for one couldn’t have been more satisfied. However we couldn’t stand and relish in the after glow for too long. No, we still had work to do. We headed to the back patio and prepared of our next interview for Heavy on Cleveland. There we met up with Olathia for a second time and conducted a post show interview; having some great laughs. This dragged out into ridiculousness as we talked and joked for some time. Eventually the interview wound down and we made our way back inside to catch Burial Oath.

By the time we finally reached the club again, Burial Oath was already well underway. For those of you who are unaware, Burial Oath is a four member band made up of Vocals, Guitar, Bass and Drums. For what it is worth I consider them to be exceptional Black Metal, not just for our Scene, but pretty much anywhere. They are a phenomenal act, who has all the depth and terror of Black Metal music, with much more consumable riffs than many of their peers. They have excellent song writing, utilize melodies in ways that most Black Metal bands do not, and to put it simply, I just dig their sound. They also know how to present themselves to the crowd. They had a backdrop with two banners on stage, as well candelabra’s and their trademark bowl of smoldering incense. In addition to these on stage accouterments, they came wearing black vests and smudged black face paint. To put it plainly, these men looked scary. They performed with vigor as well, all members headbanging and rocking out as they played flawlessly. The Drums held a variety of crushing tempos, all supported by devastating double Bass and crashing cymbal work. The Bass was deep and throbbing; rumbling the floor beneath my feet. The riffs ripped and tore and produced crushing waves of abyssmal Rock. The Vocals were vicious, brutal and frightening in their own right. The crowd was definitely entranced by the spectacle. All around me people were losing their minds, headbanging and rocking out to the dark and twisted sounds. During this demonic display I notice something about Burial Oath. Namely, they had a lot of similarities in their line up to Wyld Timez. Basically, if you take Wyld Timez, mix up the positions and add a Vocalist to the mix, you get Burial Oath. From sick Black Speed to dominating Black Metal, these musicians showed talent, versatility and endurance by playing two sets in one night. When the final song came to it’s eventual conclusion, Burial Oath turned their backs to the crowd and let the amps fall silent. The set was over. The crowd roared in approval and just like that the show came to an end.

Lights came up. The house music came one. The crowd dissipated and moved towards the exits. I said good night to the team, the bands and the bar. I followed Joha out of the club and to the car. We headed east, with Burial Oath blasting on the stereo and with many things to discuss. It had been an epic evening. I got to see four great bands, and begin a new project with some incredible people. I had some great laughs and smoked a lot of joints. What more can a guy ask for? If you’re me, it turns out, not too much. I came home, grabbed some food and hit the sack. So here we are, there we were and that’s all there is to say. I want to thank you for reading, for Rocking and for supporting the Scene. That’s all for this week. Bang you heads, hoist your horns and always wear your ear plugs.

Until next time, Rock on, Rustbelt,

-Z.M. Delgado

Rustbelt Rock Review

Rustbeltrockreview.com

11/15-11/16/25

Links:

Burial Oath

https://www.facebook.com/burialoath/

Olathia

https://www.facebook.com/olathiametal/

Vile Light

https://www.facebook.com/vilelightoh/