Uxia Setlist

Sunk
Follower
Prologue
Bones
Journey
Holm

BlurCurve Setlist

Circular Reasoning
Whores
Resist
Doubt
Initiation
Holy Alms

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■ BlurCurve
Scully used self-described “dad jokes” as banter early on and BlurCurve had those metal grunge guitars firing on all cylinders. Guitarist Kris Heuer got a chance on vocals on the third song, Initiation, and both his lead and backing vocals supported Scully well. Scully, who was constantly in motion, did a great job of bringing attention to their band mates as needed, while still being the center of gravity during the vocals.

As the weather pushed its way towards 80 degrees and every Minnesotan got themselves outside for at least a little bit to enjoy the pure balm, it didn’t stop the wide range of live music happening on a Saturday night in the Twin Cities. Though there were lots of choices out there, I went with a night of progressive metal and related genres over at Zhora Darling, with a four band local line up that had Death of the Heron headlining.

Taste of Vervain got things started. With the EP Until I Cease very recently released, the quartet (vocals/guitar, guitar/vocals, bass, and drums) started with a statement, “We’re to make you think about things…like Dracula”. The long instrumental introduction had our vocalist (in classic screamo mode) lose his hat before uttering the first lyrics. I loved the slow but inevitable audience moves from further back to being right near the stage and the head banging had begun. Even as a screamer, there was a bit of a sung style at moments, which gave a little variation over the straight flood of guitars. The intra-song syncopation and heavy distortion checked those prog metal boxes. There was just a bit of pre-recorded backing music that really filled the sound out and served as good transition between numbers. Our first mosh pit broke out and though fairly short-lived showed the energy of the crowd. An unexpected dance beat in the backing music was trod underfoot with vocals and guitar alike, and Taste of Vervain was playing some of their most complicated music of the set and it turned out to be the end of their impressive thirty minute set.

Before the next band, we got Tommy from Heart Support, a national non-profit organization supporting mental health in a variety of ways, and it was a kind moment, especially as the moment on stage seemed unplanned. Tommy manned his booth back with the merch the whole evening, but was also clearly enjoying the music.

We have reviewed BlurCurve before, most recently last August opening for Keith Wallen at Turf Club. Check their 2023 album Pluto and the Fool to get a sense of their sound. The quartet (vocals, guitar, bass, and drums) came out hard with Circular Reasoning, with vocalist Scully already off the stage and into the audience. Scully had been in the audience for the first band, but appeared onstage in a fullly different outfit, which was an impressively done quick change (Her only comment? “I sweat.”) That alto singing was perfect counter for this grunge metal mash up and the band was all in on that slight distortion, but music and vocals still clearly ringing through. On a new song, tentatively/temporarily titled Whores, Scully got into the crowd to start the moshing and I was impressed she could do that without losing her corded mic. Doubt let Scully fly high on vocals and during the intense instrumental section added a bit of a yoga routine. Initiation let guitarist Heuer get some vocal time in addition to his killer guitar work and Scully’s vocal growl to end it was fabulous. Closing out on Holy Alms, we got an excellent intro and some very complex music as BlurCurve put an exclamation point to a pretty tremendous set.

I spoke with Heuer and bassist Furniss between sets and I asked them about their fairly unique sound between grunge and metal. They commented that it comes from the mix of musical backgrounds and interests and the bands they described as favorites of the members was indeed varied. We also talked about the pros and cons of being between genres. They discussed the plus of being unique and the songs being identifiable as BlurCurve. The minus is that they can have difficulty finding other bands to line up with sonically, noting “we are often either the hardest band or the lightest one in a lineup”. No matter what, they are having a blast getting to perform and having new audiences hear them.

UXIA, who has a self-titled EP from 2025 came to the stage as a quintet (vocals, guitar/vocals, bass, keyboards, and drums). Prog metal tends to have one of two vocal styles. The first is the loud, gravelly screamer running you through apocalyptic hellfire, and the second is the (usually) baritone singer quietly bringing you to the edge of the River Styx. They both have their advantages for the genre, but UXIA cleverly asked the question “por que no los dos?”. And that it largely comes from the same vocalist? Holy cow. The first number, Sunk, saw singer Steve Marek move from sing to the scream in the latter part of the song, and that change up was impressive. Follower had dual vocal from guitarist Reed Reimer and the band was leaning in on the harder edged metal sound. This set had a bit more of the screamo than their EP. An introduction of part of the band was the prologue to Prologue (sorry, not sorry), which had a keys intro worthy of the genre and an extremely long musical outro. Journey to Begin was one the band’s original early singles and had a heavy drum intro and more of the singing vocals. Rolling into the last song, UXIA ranged from scream to spoken several times, inducing headbanging from the crowd and closing strong.

Death of the Heron was last up and the headliner came to stage as a quartet (vocals/guitar, guitar, bass/vocals, and drums). (Side note: Points to the band for supporting the other acts, as various members had been up close to the stage throughout the evening.) Similar to UXIA, Death to the Heron also approached to dual vocal approach, this time across vocalists, with the lead in singing mode and the bassist in wing the screamer. It was a rich sound and the band often played at the edges of the prog metal genre, while always straying back to the key elements. But those meanderings were fun and gave Death of the Heron some unexpected range, even when they doubled down on the harder edged metal work. A change of guitar and bass led to “a song about dying”, and the husky vocals on the front end were right on as the music took off. Throwing a slower (and shorter) song “to dance to”, the band continued to defy expectations, even as they came back home with screams and syncopation. But we also had a straight indie rock guitar solo, so the lines on genre were pretty weak. Death of the Heron both rocked through their set and were a great finish to the evening.