Hoping for more ‘Doom’ rockers

It registered right at the base of the spine, like a little jolt of electricity, a shock of full-body rock 'n' roll.

It was half past 9 p.m. on Saturday, and the Cheyenne Saloon was buzzing like a cheap TV at the hands of three dudes up onstage powering through some fuzzed out, torque-heavy psychedelia that vibrated in sternums.

The band was Radio Moscow, a throwback power trio from Iowa with a bassist in bell bottoms and a singer/guitarist who attacked his instrument like he had just caught it breaking into his house.

It was seven hours into the first of what I hope will be many "June In Doom" hard rock marathons. Radio Moscow was the 10th band up, and they were a reinvigorating presence during what was a long day and night of riff-heavy jams.

Despite its title, "Doom In June" didn't really cater all that much to the doom genre, save for maybe supersized metal brutes Gates of Slumber, whose sound was just as beefy as they were, with a frontman, Karl Simon, whose mournful vocals were almost as emotive as his guitar playing, forming monolith, doleful and ultimately crushing dirges.

When the band played the epic, freighter-heavy "The Awakening," it felt like boulders were tumbling down from the rafters.

Like Gates of Slumber, every band on the bill relied on monster riffs to power their tunes, albeit in different ways.

Boogie rock standouts Sasquatch came with a bluesy, soulful swing; another formidable power trio, House of Broken Promises, grooved hard enough to make up for the fact that they ended their set with a Billy Squier cover.

There were traditional metal fetishists, such as Slough Feg, who energized the evening with some twin guitar fireworks led by frontman Mike Scalzi, who spent as much time offstage as on it, soloing atop bar tables and the railing surrounding the main floor, eyes as wide as hubcaps.

With the emphasis on head bobbing, guitar-driven rock, one band, abrasive, business-minded duo Black Cobra, most forcefully broke from the ranks with a scalding, short-and-not-so-sweet set of raw-lunged, foul-tempered noise rock that approached thrash metal velocities.

And then it was back to form, with coed Los Angeles rockers Fireball Ministry ending the evening with some refreshingly melodic two-part harmonies brightening the proceedings.

They played well into Sunday morning in front of a handful of die-hard, punch drunk onlookers.

Sure, the crowd could have been a little bigger, but the same certainly could not have been said of the power chords.

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.