“I’ve been trying to get Possessed for a while so I’m super happy it finally happened,” said Christian Larson, and it takes a moment of brain recalibration to realize he’s not speaking of the devilish spiritual condition but of a band, the top billed act at this year’s Hell’s Heroes Fest.
Over a relatively short time, the two-day metal music fest has become one of the premier events of its kind in the United States. The music festival’s 2023 installment is slated for White Oak Music Hall Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25. It’ll be surrounded by some peripheral events and marked by one major change.
“This year’s different than the other years because we moved the main stage to the outside. The original setup inside sold out in less than a week,” said Larson, the event’s organizer and a member of Necrofier and Night Cobra, which will both play festival sets. “I was kind of planning to move it outside, but I wanted to see if it worked, I mean just to see the response to the lineup.
“It’ll be bigger than it’s ever been,” he added. “I’m pretty stoked to see it.”
So are legions of metal fans, who will trek to the city from parts abroad for the festival, which is packed with renowned international and national acts and some solid locals. In addition to Possessed, which formed 40 years ago this year and has been dubbed death metal’s first band by some, Swiss metalists Triptykon, Liege Lord, and Canada’s Razor and Exciter are all headliners, a small but impressive sample of more than three dozen metal bands playing the festival and it’s pre-party and afterparty shows.
Larson kicked the fest off in 2018 as a single-day event, but growing interest meant expanding to two days and moving the fun into the open air of White Oak’s lawn.
“Also, I moved it to the last weekend in March because the weather’s notoriously a lot better than in April. Less rain. That’s the main problem with Houston and outdoor shows,” Larson said.
It doesn’t seem even Houston’s infamous downpours could drench the hell fires of the festival. Larson selected a few acts that should burn brightly.
“Tom G. Warrior and Triptykon doing Celtic Frost, like the first two records, this will be the first time they’ve done it too, so it’s a special set, it should be super rad,” he said. “There’s a band called Danava, they’re more rock-based than they are heavy metal, but they still have some heavy metal stuff, from Portland. They’re playing, I love ‘em. Other than that, Visigoth, it’s like classic, traditional heavy metal, from Salt Lake. Really good shit. Riot City, they kind of sound like Judas Priest, they’re from Canada. I’m pretty excited about that, too.
“There’s a band called Hallas and it’s kind of like a classic rock band,” Larson continued. “They haven’t played the States before. I’ve been wanting to get them for a while.”
Larson, who’s enjoyed a long metal career, handpicks the festival’s acts. By and large he’s looking for the true “heroes” of the genre, groups like the headliners, which have literally hundreds of years of music experience among them. His selections have proven to be winning combinations. In its first five years as a fest – including two COVID-hiatus years – the buzz has been good enough to move everything from the smaller, indoor capacity rooms at White Oak to its spacious outdoor venue.
“There have to be certain bands that are on certain levels of what people want, draws and things like that, so I kind of have to sort that, but most of the stuff, even the bigger things, are just stuff I want to happen,” Larson said.
That includes having his own bands in the mix.
“Night Cobra’s playing on the fest and then Necrofier’s playing on the pre-party,” he reported. “Pre-party’s going to be downstairs and upstairs, kind of like the old way it was, on Thursday. Tom G.’s other thing, Triumph of Death, the Hellhammer tribute, is headlining it and Destruction’s playing, Necrofier, Spectral Wound, which is probably one of my newer favorite black metal bands. Fugitive, which is some dudes from Power Trip, is playing. It’s gonna be good.”
The festival has been a chance to grow his bands’ reputations but also grow the city’s interest in all things metal. He sees the annual event as a good barometer for local interest in the genre.
“Night Cobra sold out like three shows last year in Houston, so I guess people are into it. Necrofier, all the shows we’ve done have been super good. It seems like the Houston scene’s going great,” he said. “There are a bunch of newer bands and people doing well.
“I see a decent amount of Hell’s Heroes shirts when I go out for shows and things like that,” he added. “I would like to think it (grows interest) just because I know there’s dudes that always hit me up whenever I announce the lineup that are like, ‘I haven’t heard of half these bands, so I’m stoked to check ‘em out.’
“I feel like the general Houston metal community, I would think they know about the fest just because I feel like it’s done that well,” he continued. “The crowd mix is all over, the age range is anywhere from like your teens to some dudes in their sixties and seventies at the show.”
Hell’s Heroes has become a destination festival, arguably Houston’s best.
“There’s still some smaller fests that kind of do this in the states but they’re kind of like club festivals,” Larson noted. “Those are super cool except that this is on a different scale.”
Because it brings people to Houston, Larson felt compelled to add extra days and events to the roster. In addition to the pre-party show at White Oak on Thursday, March 23, there are after show events at White Oak, Black Magic Social Club and Raven Tower, showcasing acts like Helstar, Hellfury, Black Jackal and Void.
“I feel like two days works. One day’s not enough to get everything I want to get in and also if people are traveling I feel like two days is more worth their time,” Larson said. “There’s all the older bands that people know and then there’s like a whole new spree of bands in that world. It’s like combining the two, I think that’s what really makes it work.”
Hell’s Heroes V, Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25, at White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main. The fest’s March 23 pre-party event is nearly sold out. $40 to $400.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
