The show at the Static Bar in Topeka, Ks. on April 21 could have been an epic soundtrack to the world’s largest Star-Wars sized zombie film. Think George Romero’s original plans for Dawn of the Dead, only with wizards and robots.

But it was not. Though it was still a landmark night for metal in Topeka. Although the sound was strangely shoddy in the large club, the five extreme groups who came together and inflicted doom and destruction upon patrons of the Static Bar.

First up is Topeka’s own DreamsCrape. They play an interesting blend of old school death, black and modern metal. Robert Duff’s black metal vocals fall somewhere between Chuck Schuldiner and Satyr, which is a nice offset to the wall of sound put up by the rest of the band. Unfortunately, it is difficult to hear live, and overall their performance was lacking. Timing was off in several places. On recording, guitarist Justin Gibson’s leads are clean, whereas live at Static, the guitar sounded muddy. Drew Inman’s bass was simply monotonous. This made for a soupy sound, which was topped off by the difficult-to-understand alternating low growl and high rasp of Duff. Duff needs to work on unifying the group with a commanding stage presence. Overall, it was not a terrible performance, but not DreamScrape’s best. Their live sound does not yet do them the justice the recorded sound does.

Next to take the stage is Obsidian Shore. These guys are no strangers to the darkened stage and immediately gained control of the audience with a quick blast wave of grind. The switches between slower grooves and finger-flying madness in their music are unanticipated but welcomed. Comparisons to Cephalic Carnage cannot be avoided. Vocalist Devon Ferrara stalked the stage, swaying from side to side and creepily contorting his body. Guitarists Jeremy Bruenn and Clay Morales did a fine job of keeping time with Joe Hare’s nimble feet and hands, their fingers dominating the lengths of their fretboards. They even offered a soothing melodic break in one of their songs, which came as a shock to the senses following the chaos of the rest of the song. Obsidian Shore’s performance was definitely one of the highlights of the night.

On third is Diskreet. With a sound similar to Obsidian Shore, it was an easy musical transition from one band to the next. Diskreet has a strong following in Wichita and Kansas City, and until recently, did not play Topeka often. The sound was fuzzy, but that did not keep listeners from hearing the intricacies in their playing. Drummer Andy Taylor - who will be touring with California band The Faceless this summer - is more than familiar with the mechanics of the set, even a massive kit like the one he uses for in Diskreet. His machine gun blasts are rapid and tight. Vocalist James Copeland’s guttural growl was often complemented by bass player Victor Polanco’s high-pitched shrieking, which added a whole new dimension to the band’s sound. Guitarist Scott McPherson said the band had not practiced in a week, which is difficult to fathom, since the set was tight and there were no noticeable mistakes or timing issues. Overall, it was a solid performance.

Kansas City favorites Moiré came next. Voted Best Metal Band of 2005 by Heavy Frequency’s readers, this band has labored endlessly to hone their sound. Anyone who sees them live knows about the thickness their sound puts into the air is like Arkansas humidity. In the case of Moiré, the club’s sludgy sound was not an enemy, but an ally that helped set the crawling-through-the-mud atmosphere that the band thrives on. The constant, chugging groove produced by guitarists Ryan Clark, J.D. Cantrell and bassist Ryan Albright provided relief for the confused headbangers in the crowd who had been doing nothing but toe-tapping to the math metal and grindcore of some of the night’s previous bands. Adam Lichtenauer’s drumming was more the backbone of the band’s groove than its focal point. The focal point was actually new vocalist and former sampler Paul Kelley, who was very obviously inebriated, which provided humor for some and worry for others who thought he might fall off the stage. Despite this impairment, he still managed put on a quality performance with commanding vocals.

Headlining the show was Unmerciful from Topeka, an incredibly brutal yet technical death metal group consisting of former members of Origin and Cannibal Corpse. Their sound is a bitter concoction of Nile, Origin and Necrophagist. Guitarists Clint Appelhanz and Jeremy Turner shredded like madmen, but unfortunately they were playing so fast that it was difficult to discern the note-jumping from general noise caused by all of the instruments firing at once. Drummer “King” James King was really the spectacle of the set, displaying his ability to play faster than a drum machine but still make it sound sort of human. He had a look of severe pain and concentration on his face while playing, but he continued to fire blast beat after blast beat without losing tempo. Vocalist Tony Reust barked lyrics like orders. All of this combined to launched the crowd into a frenzy, with people insanely bashing into each other, falling over, and spilling drinks everywhere. The crowd was fortunate enough to hear tracks such as “Masochistic Rampage,” with its blistering intro, from the band’s forthcoming album Unmercifully Beaten that will be released in June.

Overall the night was a success. Everyone who came to get their faces blasted, livers ruined and necks braced did so effectively. It was a huge step up for metal shows in Topeka. The Static Bar is decidedly the new heavy metal haven in town. With the addition of a few more places like it we could be looking at great opportunities for Topeka bands that have had to travel to different cities to get response to their music. On the extreme music scene in Topeka, Jeremy Turner of Unmerciful said, “We’ve got to try and get the word out, and tonight was a pretty good sign.”