Rude, Unpassing, Mortal
- Hectic
- 10 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Heshers Pizza & Taproom
Oakland, CA
August 29, 2026
What decade is it? One of the best death metal shows I’ve been to in years (and I’ve been to a lot) was at a pizza place last night.
Not the legendary Pony Express Pizza in Redwood City (before my time living in the Bay Area), where I’ve heard tales of many thrash and punk bands that played gigs there in the 1980s, but Hesher’s Pizza in 2026 no less.
If you haven’t been to Hesher’s, you really must go. Their formula for success are things we all like, heavy metal, pizza and beers/ciders on tap. It’s on Broadway in Oakland, across the street from the Elbo Room and about 3 blocks from the 12th street BART.
“Remember kids, the only "style" of pizza is good pizza” their saying goes, and boy do they have good pizza. Their signature pizzas offer lots of interesting combinations and some great heavy metal names.
The place got packed with people for a stacked 3 band bill on a Saturday night. I was ready for the action, having come directly from the Lagunitas Trooper Fest where I caught Blind Illusion’s set and drank many fine beers.
With all the tables, the crowd, and the band set up on the floor (there’s no stage), there was no room for a pit, which was fine by me.
Up first was San Jose’s Mortal, death metallers who have a raw, old school feel to them. I’d seen them a couple of times before, but it had been almost a year. Great set to start the night off, intense and evil sounding. Some t-shirts on the merch table that would get you kicked out of church (and more) for sure.
Unpassing from Oakland was up second. I first saw them live back in January, but I don’t think they had played a show recently as bass player Zach was on tour with Death Angel as Will’s drum tech for the 8 week US tour in May/June, followed by the 6 week European tour.
Unpassing played a fantastic set as well. Intense death metal, it reminds me a bit of Demolition Hammer or similarly all-out attack, blast beats, angry death metal. Between them and Mortal, we really were treated to two of the best newer death metal bands in the Bay Area these days.
As if that weren’t enough, the headliner was the band that many people were there to see, Rude. I wasn’t familiar with them before, but apparently this was their first show in 10 years, and the crowd was excited to welcome them back.
That seemed odd since they were selling a 2021 record I picked up, but apparently they recently reformed and recorded a new album, maybe they didn’t play to support the last record. Not sure how many members were original from their earlier run, the drummer looked a little young and was fantastic, but the band was founded in 2008 so that’s not such a long time ago.
Anyway, Rude was really tight old school death metal, like Autopsy or Possessed with a bit of rock n’ roll influence at times (or maybe I was just having too good a time). Lots of great riffs and speed changes, just like I like my death metal. They closed with a Morbid Angel cover. Rude returned in great form, and the crowd ate it up.
What a night, 3 fantastic death metal bands in a pizza place. And there were other good shows the same evening, including a black metal show at thee Stork Club, and a great punk & roll bill at the Knockout. Bay Area live music!
–Hectic
