Certainly, in the topsy-turvy world of heavy rock, having a good solid piece of wood in your hand is often useful.

Okay, I'll come out and say it even though it may force Randal to bitch-slap me into tomorrow: I don't like death metal very much.

Even though I feel cut a pretty broad swath of musical interest, I just can't get into death metal no matter how hard I try. I'd like to believe that at it's heart this stems from the fact that I'm really not that angry of a person. I guess it comes down to different strokes, or in this case different guttural screaming, for different folks. One man's amazing shredding on the guitar is another man's bleeding ears.

So you'll understand my dilemma when I heard that a local radio station was having a promotion to win a pair of tickets to a an advanced screening of the new Star Trek movie that I've been itching to see with the only catch being you had to sit through a free concert by the Klingon death metal band Stovokor.

These guys--

Since it was literally just a few blocks from my workplace I decided to swallow hard and head off to the concert. So I tossed on an a red shirt after work and bopped up to the show.

I'm really glad I did. A persistent theme in my life has been me fighting through my reluctance to do something to be rewarded by finding out I enjoyed the hell out of whatever that thing was. This stretches from listening to new types of music, to trying new foods to sex.

I'm not saying I'm now a death metal fan but there was something about these guys loopy personalities and their on stage Klingon characters (which they never break) that was incredibly appealling. The guys in this band were having fun and this came through in the music, as angry and guttural as it sounded to those of us who don't speak Klingon. Yes; they sing every song in Klingon.

There was also something great about watching a room full of people in Star Trek costumes head-banging in time to the Klingon musical assault taking place up on stage. There was a Trek highlight reel playing behind them that showed scenes all the way from the original show to the movies spoofs from shows like Robot Chicken.

In between songs the band members would mock the crowd, promising us that we would have the honor of working in the mines once the Klingons took over the planet. A guy behind me shouting something about Praxis (an inside Trek comment) and the band immediately went into a faux memorial thing.

Bottom line: I had a great time last night. Stovokor is a fun band well worth seeing if you get the chance. Here's a couple of pix I took with the cell phone. Sorry they're a bit blurry.

UPDATE- Wil in the comments has another take on last night's show as well as some fantastic photos he took of the band.

(The tickets to the movie? Yep. I got 'em. I'm seeing it a week before it opens. Moohahaha!)