On last year’s Sulfer and Semen they treated us to some “Brutal rape and constant drilling,” and now with The Hellpreacher, the deathly Southern metal supergroup Birds of Prey are — appropriately enough — taking to the underground. Marking the return of ubiquitous drummer Dave Witte (Burnt by the Sun, Municipal Waste, etc.), The Hellpreacher is the third Birds outing for Relapse, and unlike its two predecessors is a full-on narrative concept record.

Seems like a lot to chew for the band who offered up “Buttfucked with a Shotgun Barrel” on 2006′s debut Weight of the Wound, but with the triplet-heavy riffage of guitarists Erik Larson (Axehandle, Hail!Hornet, ex-Alabama Thunderpussy) and Bo Leslie (Throttlerod) and the gut-punting vocals and lyrical depravity of Ben Hogg (Beaten Back to Pure, Plague the Suffering), they pull it off and horrify and disgust in the process. As was likely intended.

The first person titular narrator of The Hellpreacher begins the album by discussing a childhood of rape and abuse, eventually leading to prison time, more rape and abuse, then a religious conversion that finds him cruelly leading a militaristic death cult underground, blinding all his followers, killing at will and ultimately destroying himself and everything he’s built. As rife with senseless violence and sadism as anything Birds of Prey has produced in the past, even the protagonist’s getting born again is tainted by memories of beatings and bloody underwear.

Read more »

Listening to monstrous German psyche-doomers Mills of God‘s Modus Operandi debut, Call of the Eastern Moon (reviewed here), the trenchant pace with which its two tracks unfold is as much a part of the music as the notes that comprise it. The instrumental trio of bassist Kai Peifer, guitarist Moritz Czerny and drummer Patrick Alt induces a Yob/Ufomammut-style hypnosis without ever copycatting and over the course of the two new tracks on the record exercise a sonic lethargy that grooves on arterial doom and pulled strings.

It’s as though they asked Max Ludwig, who recorded Call of the Eastern Moon, “How much tape do you have?” and then without waiting for the answer, said, “We’ll take it.” It’s a rare band that works with a format as distinct as “20-minute doom epics only,” but Mills of God present an encompassing crush that draws you in for a listen and dismisses you only after the marrow is gone.

They first appeared with “The Seed,” in 2005. The song makes an appearance as track three of three on the CD version (the vinyl is just the two new songs) and is less set in its mission than its companion cuts — perhaps replacing then-drummer Christoph Salzmann with Alt had something to do with that — but the growth is nonetheless evident in even the most superficial listen. A Bob Weston (Shellac) mastering job makes Call of the Eastern Moon sound sharp and mean and loud, and it’s abundantly clear that this trip is just beginning.

After the jump, Peifer checks in with the band’s ambitions and processes, including how they got started, whether or not they’d ever add a vocalist to the mix, how slow is too slow, and when we might expect another installment of their thickly riffed madness.

Read more »

I’m not even sure what to say about this one other than I was damn sure glad I got to the Roadburn merch area early on. First disc I pick up is Trouble‘s Simple Mind Condition, which I’ve been needling around buying since it was released in Europe and not the US back in 2007. I could go on and on about each of these records, but I figure the list says enough in itself. After the “Read more” link is the list plus some commentary where I feel it’s needed…

Read more »

Coming back from having my mind scraped out of my head via my nostrils this weekend in Holland, it seems an especially appropriate time to take a second look at 4, by my fellow Garden Staters, The Atomic Bitchwax. It originally came out in a limited edition of 1,000 last year via MeteorCity, but Tee Pee has a version for 2009 with new, octopus-centric artwork, a revised track list and a Paul Gold mastering job, and since it was just this past friday that I saw the trio have their way with a full room at the 013 Popcentrum in Tilburg as part of the Roadburn festival, the songs are still stuck in my head — which, given the amount of music with which I was assaulted at that festival, says something right off the bat about just how damn catchy this band is.

When 4 was first released, I think it caught a lot of longtime Bitchwax fans, myself included, off guard. Not only did the inclusion of Monster Magnet drummer Bob Pantella as a replacement for the one way or another departed Keith Ackerman (who has since joined seminal Jersey doomers Solace) significantly change the character of the trio, but the overall sound of the album took the smoother approach the band first hinted at with 2005′s 3 and veered from with the Jack Endino-produced studio tracks on 2006′s Boxriff and put it central to the album’s aesthetic. The Atomic Bitchwax, with a pop sheen? Really?

What remained constant with 4 then, and what holds up on this new Tee Pee release more than anything, is the quality of the songwriting. Bassist/vocalist Chris Kosnik has a natural talent for pop structures that over the course of the Bitchwax‘s decade-plus existence he’s been able to refine to a point where a song like “Daisy Chain,” while ultimately not one of the album’s most memorable tracks, is an immediate reminder of itself when listened to again. More mature cuts like “Revival” — which moves from track five of 11 to the leadoff spot — turn out to be some of the strongest material present. “Wreck You,” the original closer here preceding “Pawn Shop” (which only works as an intro or outro and with “Revival” opening really has nowhere else to go) hardly tackles deep world issues lyrically, but musically and in terms of presentation and construction is as suitable a piece of quality traditional pop rock as could be found anywhere.

Read more »

I took a late-night train after Wino‘s set last night to get out of Tilburg and head back to Amsterdam, where I am now. Today is a tourist day (Van Gogh Museum, etc.) and then I fly out and back to real life tomorrow. I’ll do a proper wrap of Roadburn sometime this week — I anticipate what’s left of tomorrow when I get back to Jersey will probably be dedicated to sleeping — things were just crazy in Tilburg and I wound up with a lot less writing time than I thought I’d have. Obviously there are ups and downs to that.

It’s cloudy here and I need a shower. It’s about half past noon and I probably could sleep for another four hours. Jet lag hit hard, plus four nights of some of the most amazing live shows I’ve ever seen, plus drinking (though last night, I’m happy to report, I stayed completely sober, which was the right choice). Brooklyn Vegan has still been posting the daily updates, and I’ll have one more for them about yesterday later on this afternoon, so if you get a chance and happen to see this before you see that, please check it out. Thanks to Fred over there for letting me contribute. I feel cooler already. Should have called this site Fat Jersey Meateater. Live and learn.

Alright, cleanliness calls. Thanks for reading.

It’s Friday at 3:07pm. I slept until about 2pm, but woke up just long enough around 10 to write up a review of yesterday for the kind folks at Brooklyn Vegan, who will be publishing it, thus justifying my being here. To be honest, it wasn’t much of a review, but I wasn’t much of a conscious human being when I wrote it, so it is what it is.

Today is Church of Misery, Colour Haze, Cathedral and Saint Vitus. The reason I’m here. The show goes until 2am. It’s a late one, and I think Orange Goblin — who blew everyone else off the stage yesterday — are doing some kind of DJ thing afterwards at a bar. I keep hearing the words “metal disco.” Life is full of adventure.

Leaving the Hotel Ibis in a couple minutes to get over to 013 where the festival is happening. At some point I will post a Buried Treasure of all the records I bought. It will probably be as long an entry as the Heaven and Hell review was. I’ll check back in probably tomorrow, if I wake up on time, with more. Till then, cheers from Holland and Roadburn.

It’s Tuesday now, but by the time my flight gets into Amsterdam it’ll be Wednesday morning. As such, I’m pretty much marking today down as a travel day as I make my way out to Tilburg for Roadburn, from which I hope to have extensive coverage later on. In the meantime, enjoy your week and if anyone else is going to be at the festival, look for me. I’ll be the fat American guy with the long hair and beard in a black t-shirt. Yeah, good luck singling me out, ha ha.

Alright y’all, there’s about a ton more shit I wanted to get up this week (IOU one Buried Treasure about the finds from last weekend in Connecticut), but I’ll just have to take the next couple days to revel in my failure. I’m due in Memphis for a wedding on Friday, and that’s a hell of a drive from the valley, so I gotta hit the road. Before I go, I leave you with this Acid Bath video for “Toubabo Koomi” from 1994′s When the Kite String Pops. For anyone disgruntled at doing taxes and whatever other bullshit you’ve got to deal with till the weekend, this should help relieve the stress.

The last time I saw long-running Brooklynites Type O Negative was at New Jersey‘s Starland Ballroom last year. They were headlining a Jagermeister show with a bunch of crappy bands opening; by the time they went on I had wished I?d stayed in my car to listen to the Yankees game. I sat in a chair on the side of the venue, up in the back by the bar, and watched the evening unfold, and when Type O finally took the stage, it looked like bassist/vocalist Peter Steele was just about on his last legs as far as the band was concerned. An on stage exchange between he and guitarist/vocalist Kenny Hickey concluded like this:

Kenny: ??Yeah but you got all the money.?
Peter: ?I put it all up my nose. I?ve snorted a mansion.?

Everyone laughed, but as the show wore on and Steele snarled and yelled unintelligible syllables instead of lyrics, it was clear from the faces on Hickey, keyboardist Josh Silver and drummer Johnny Kelly that the antics had worn thin. Of course, people have been counting Type O Negative out for a decade and the ?00s have produced some of the best songs of their career, but it wouldn?t surprise me at all if that show winds up being the last time I ever see them.

Whether or not that?s the case, Hickey and Kelly have formed Seventh Void with guitarist Matt Brown and bassist Hank Hell, and their first album, Heaven is Gone (released through Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul‘s Big Vin Records), is doom by default. That is, I doubt any of the members would call it a doom record, let alone stoner, but with a strong influence from the likes of Black Sabbath and Trouble, there?s really no getting around it. Even ?Descent,? which sounds more like Dirt-era Alice in Chains than anything else (at least as regards the music) is a doom song. That?s just the way it goes.

Read more »

Congratulations to Brooklyn psych rockers Naam for signing with Tee Pee Records. Dig this PR news from the label:

We are pleased to announce that Brooklyn, NY heavy psych trio Naam have signed with Tee Pee Records and will release their debut album with the label this Fall.

In advance of the full length release Naam will be releasing the Kingdom EP this Spring available digitally and on limited edition vinyl.

Good news from Richmond, VA‘s Throttlerod, whose new album I’ve been waiting to hear since they released Nail in 2006. Hopefully it’s out before the end of the year. Here’s the update from the band:

We are very happy to announce that we are putting the final touches on the new record. Listening to these songs next to Hell and High Water and Nail, it is clear that this is the biggest sounding record we’ve done! There is no release date yet but we should know something fairly soon.

In other news, we are playing shows in May, including one with Clutch. These will be the first shows we’ve done since October, so we`re really looking forward to getting back on stage.

5/21: Norfolk, VA - The Norva, with Clutch, Wino and Maylene & the Sons of Disaster
5/22: Columbia, SC - New Brookland Tavern
5/23: Charlotte, NC - Snug Harbor
5/24: Greenville, SC - The Handlebar

The second among the ranks of this year’s goofily-titled releases by legendary doom acts (the other two being Heaven and Hell‘s The Devil You Know and Trouble‘s The Dark Riff), Swedish gods Candlemass present their sophomore full-length in their incarnation fronted by Robert Lowe of Solitude Aeturnus, Death Magic Doom. Considering the vivacious sound the band had on 2007′s King of the Grey Islands — despite the fact that Lowe joined the band just shortly before it was recorded and all the material had long since been penned by bassist Leif Edling — Death Magic Doom has a lot to live up to, but with tales of demons and death, they present eight solid tracks in their trademark classic style.

Ideally, I’d like to construct a narrative about how these songs were written differently with Edling considering the power of Lowe‘s voice specifically as regards the vocal melodies, but I just don’t think that’s the way it went down. Rather, I think Lowe was picked as a replacement for Messiah Marcolin precisely because his voice already fit what Candlemass was doing; there was no adjustment necessary. On that level, Death Magic Doom continues their already well-suited coupling. After some time on the road together, Lowe does sound assured and confident of his role in the band, but it’s not like King of the Grey Islands was unsure vocally. It’s just a good match.

Read more »

“Infernal” Keith Bergman — drummer/vocalist of The PB Army, former editor of InfernalCombustion.com (Wiffley Snidegarb!), contributor to Blabbermouth and numerous other outlets and regular feature in the stoner rock scene — has opened an eBay shop called Exile Toledo. While perusing the tubuwebs recently I came upon an original Man’s Ruin promo copy of 1999′s The Art of Self Defense by High on Fire, not even knowing it was Keith selling it, and it was simply too cool to not buy.

Yes, I know it seems like a long time ago, but before they were the overlords of beast metal, blessing black wings and communing with Death himself (or herself if you read Saramago), High on Fire were just the nascent offshoot of stoner kings Sleep. They were just getting going, and the promo for The Art of Self Defense was the first exposure a lot of people had to them. There may have been press releases beforehand with their self-titled EP, maybe a live track on Napster or something, but remember, there was no Facebook or MySpace, and if you were a member of the media, unless you were really searching it out, you’d be hearing “Blood from Zion,” “10,000 Years” and “Fireface” for the first time. How fucking awesome is that?

Needless to say, thanks to Keith for the listing and prompt shipping (positive feedback ahoy) and I’m happy to share with anyone who feels free to click the “Read More” link the bio that came in the back cover of High on Fire‘s first record.

Read more »

As time rolls on and the extreme by necessity has to become more extreme and, in doom, the frequencies get lower and slower and the use of synth noise to flesh out songs is increasingly commonplace, it’s possible for a duo like Saint Augustine, Florida‘s Dark Castle to be a full band. The songs are thick and rich, viscous, heavy and — as much as I know several bassists who won’t want to hear it — don’t sound like they’re missing anything, despite the character and diversity that another instrument can bring to a given track or movement. Of course, with studio technology one person can make an entire record alone (Sweden‘s Forest of Shadows comes to mind as an example of it in the doom world, though of course there are a ton of one-man black metal acts), but those albums rarely feel complete and are often on the other side of the line between brilliance and self-indulgence.

Whereas, as in the case of Dark Castle‘s full-length debut, Spirited Migration (At a Loss), guitarist/vocalist Stevie and drummer/vocalist Rob, who also handles synth, the band achieves an entirely developed atmosphere that borders on prog ambience with instrumental centerpiece “Weather the Storm,” while maintaining a stripped-down aesthetic that confidently snarls in the direction of Oceanic-era Isis and younger, rawer Crowbar. Their demo, Flight of Pegasus (still available for purchase on their MySpace page) feels underdeveloped in comparison to the album, which given the amount of touring the duo has done since its release is exactly the way it should be. Stevie and Rob are a solid unit writing solid songs, even if the title of their album reminds me of “Spirit Journey Formation Anniversary” from Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Read more »

Holy crap. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this yet, but I’m going to Roadburn next week, and the reason I’m going is because Saint Vitus are playing. Seeing this set list for the show they did on Saturday in New Orleans, I’m even happier to have booked that flight.

01. The War Starter
02. Living Backwards
03. I Bleed Black
04. Look Behind You
05. The Lost Feeling
06. Clear Windowpane
07. The Troll (guitar solo & drum solo)
08. Mystic Lady (extended)
First Encore:
09. Saint Vitus
10. Dying Inside
Second Encore:
11. Born Too Late

God damn, this is going to rule. For anyone interested, Blabbermouth has a link to some pictures, and I’d post them, but seems kind of scummy considering I don’t even know who took them to give credit. Apparently Phil Anselmo, Pepper Keenan and Jimmy Bower joined the band on stage. Not too shabby.