Down in the valley where I live, we have a saying. Okay, it’s only me that has the saying, but still. It goes like this: “You’ve got seven billion people in this world, but there’s only one Ken-E Bones.” And it’s true. More than almost anyone I’ve ever met, the man is unique unto himself. His persona, his unremitting will and his oddball sense of humor are neither for this world nor of it — and as a friend and someone who (at least I think) has some grip on what he thinks of “this world,” I mean that in the best way possible.

He’ll argue the point (and he does in the interview that follows), but Bones is Negative Reaction. You simply can’t have one without the other. The guitarist/vocalist founded the band at the tender age of 18, and more than 20 years later, he’s a legend of East Coast sludge. As much as names like Grief and Buzzov*en have become synonymous with the growth of the genre, so too has Negative Reaction been pivotal in its spread, and unlike those and many others, they’ve never seen a lick of cred for it either.

Negative Reaction‘s latest full-length is Frequencies From Montauk, and the album does a lot of work in bringing Bones‘ personality to the recordings. Most notable to anyone familiar perhaps with their 1996 Endofyourerror debut or 2003′s Everything You Need for Galactic Battle Adventures, the new record plays up the more stoner rock side of Bones‘ influence. He sings clean for the most part, and the focus on the riff is plain to hear in “Angels and Demons” and “Shattered Reflection.”

That shift in approach isn’t entirely unexpected. Over the band’s last two outings, Under the Ancient Penalty (2006) and Tales From the Insomniac (2008), a tide of less screaming has slowly crept into the vocal methodology, and though Bones is quick to make it known that nothing is scripted as regards Negative Reaction compositions, a clear, natural progression is evident amidst the base of New York hardcore that shows up in the centerpiece “Thicker than Blood.”

Taken in combination with the reintroduction of sci-fi and particularly Star Wars-based elements in the lyrics, that was more than enough for me to want to ring up Bones for a phoner. In the interview below, he talks about the changes the band has undergone in the last few years, both stylistically and in terms of personnel — longtime drummer John “Ol’ Mac” MacDonald left, only to be replaced by Joe Wood of Long Island mainstays Borgo Pass and Bones‘ own Mynok side-project, and former bassist Damon Limpy returned to the fold for  Frequencies From Montauk — the development of the band as a whole, his variety of influence, and much more.

Among the many things Bones is — and like all of us, he is many things — he is uncompromisingly honest, and I hope that comes through more than anything else in the Q&A, which you’ll find after the jump below. Please enjoy.

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There is a physical difference that coincides with the sonic one between singing and screaming. They come from different places in the throat and the diaphragm, use different muscles, hurt differently, and when a vocalist switches from one technique to the other, no matter how natural it sounds, there’s a conscious decision (or at least a physical act, the way moving your left arm is still a conscious decision without the thought being put into it, “Move left arm now”) being undertaken. I bring it up because although the last couple Negative Reaction records – 2006’s Under the Ancient Penalty and 2008’s Tales From the Insomniac – have seen guitarist/vocalist Ken-E Bones experiment increasingly with cleaner singing, there nonetheless must have been a point at which he made the choice to make the technique the crux of what’s used on their latest PsycheDOOMelic outing, Frequencies From Montauk. Bones’ vocals have always been a distinguishing – and often divisive – factor in Negative Reaction’s music. The only remaining founding member of the band, the Long Island, New York, native is joined on Frequencies From Montauk by longtime drummer John “Old” MacDonald and former/once-again bassist Damon Limpy, and though both players in the rhythm section make their presences felt, Negative Reaction is Ken-E Bones’ show and the material follows his direction.

In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve known Bones personally and have considered him a friend for a decade at this point, if not longer. We have a formative collaboration together and speak regularly about a range of topics both personal and/or related to music. Before I knew him as closely as I now do, however, I was a fan of the band, so when it comes to reviewing, I feel comfortable being honest in my appraisal of Negative Reaction’s work, and if at the end of writing this review I’m not ready to stand behind it as having the appropriate critical distance, I won’t post it. Simple as that.

That said, anyone who hasn’t kept up with Negative Reaction in their post-Game Two Records era (2003 and on) will be immediately surprised by the tone of Frequencies From Montauk, which is more heavy riff rock than based on the abrasive sludge of their past. Bones’ guitar comes through with Orange-hued distortion, and Limpy’s bass, while clean toned and not as prevalent as it might otherwise be in the mix, is a major signifier nonetheless that although they’ve maintained some of their New York hardcore edge, they’re simply a different band than that which put out the debut endofyourerror in 1996. The shift in sound on these 11 tracks (plus a bonus) isn’t outlandish as compares especially to Tales From the Insomniac, but the difference is that record felt transitional and Frequencies From Montauk comes off more assured of its place. Cuts like opener “Day After Yesterday,” the upbeat “Shattered Reflection” and the penultimate “Angels & Demons” are more straightforward stoner rock than either sludge or doom, Bones’ riffing prevalent and the songs less musically depressive than some of the other material in the band’s recent history. A start-stop toward the end of “Shattered Reflection” (an album highlight) in which each player sounds off on his instrument, is downright playful.

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Entries were closed as of Friday, and just a few minutes ago, I printed up the names and addresses, cut them out individually, crumpled them up and stuck them in the plastic cup as you can see above. Then I went around my office and had five winners chosen by my coworkers. Thanks again to everyone who entered (50 people on the dot), and congrats to the following:

Luca in Italy
Dan in California
Mikko in Finland
Erik in Colorado
Eric in Michigan

There you have it. I need to pick up some bigger envelopes and do it up with bubble-wrap and whatnot (can’t take any chances with vinyl, quality pressing though it is), and I should be able to get these out in the next day or two, so if you see your name above — there were a couple Californian Dans, but I don’t want to give out anyone’s last name, so I’ll drop an email — keep an eye out. They should be there shortly.

Thanks again to Play the Assassin Records (Facebook here, Bandcamp here) for donating the picture discs to the cause, and to Moth Eater and Black Thai for putting together a killer split. Congratulations again to the winners and hopefully we’ll be able to do more of this kind of thing in the future, so stay tuned.

Play the Assassin Records was kind enough a while back to give me five copies of the Lowering the Doom split between Long Island metallers Moth Eater and Boston‘s Black Thai. All you have to do to win one is enter with your name, email and address below. That’s it. You send that over, I email to let you know you’ve won and send you a killer, free, limited edition 10″ vinyl with demo tracks from two awesome bands, and everyone goes home happy. Pretty simple stuff. Enter here:

[NOTE: This contest is now closed. Thanks to all who entered.]

Contest runs until the end of this week. All are welcome to enter. Please note that I have neither interest in sharing your personal information with anyone, nor anyone to share it with if I did, nor the know-how to go about actually doing so. If you trust in nothing else, trust in my utter incompetence and suckdom-at-life. Either way, your privacy is your privacy. Special thanks to Play the Assassin (‘Like’ them on Thee Facebooks here) for the support. The original release info goes a little like this:

Finally, Boston and New York can agree on something.

Black Thai, from Massachusetts, released a split with New York’s doomly rockers Moth Eater on April 26, 2011, via Play the Assassin Records. Moth Eater, which features members of Dirty Rig (Escapi Music) and Scar Culture (Century Media), included two tracks from their devastatingly heavy Thunder God of Monster Island EP, and Black Thai, whose lineup boasts members of Roadsaw, Cortez and We’re all Gonna Die, answered back with two cuts from their Blood From on High EP, released late last year.

The split is limited to 250 copies and pressed onto a 10” picture disc vinyl with a free download card included. Six additional bonus tracks not on the record will appear in the download. Full songs are available for streaming and download now at playtheassassin.bandcamp.com. The vinyl can be ordered at playtheassassin.com.

Lowering the Doom vinyl track list:
1. Moth Eater, “Aftermath”
2. Moth Eater, “Our Time”
3. Black Thai, “Blood Dust”
4. Black Thai, “Satan’s Toolshed”
(digital only bonus tracks 5-10)
5. Moth Eater, “When Bruises Leave Scars”
6. Moth Eater, “Rocking is my Business”
7. Moth Eater, “Smashing Saturns”
8. Moth Eater, “Moths @ the Round Table”
9. Black Thai, “The Ladder”
10. Black Thai, “333”

Some bands you just dig, and I dig the hell out of Long Island dirt rockers John Wilkes Booth. The Lincoln-obsessives’ last full-length, Sic Semper Tyrannis, came out early in 2009 and was among the first reviews I did for this site. It had been a while since I heard from them, but it seems they’ve been plenty busy writing and recording, as the three new tracks below will demonstrate.

The first, “Hold Still it Said,” is an original, but the other two are both covers. They do “Green Machine,” by Kyuss and — just in case you thought they were about to take themselves seriously — “I Can Feel Your Heartbeat” by The Partridge Family. I didn’t remember the latter song by title from my youth of Nick at Nite viewership, but once they got to the chorus it came back soon enough. Kudos to The Booth, as they’re affectionately known, for throwing in something unexpected.

Here are the three tracks, hopefully with news on a new release to come:

You can check out John Wilkes Booth‘s website here. They’re also on Thee Facebooks, if that’s more your thing. The track “Hold Still it Said” comes from the 118 Miles compilation of Long Island bands put out by 118 Media, who encourages free downloads thusly.

Has it really been six years since Borgo Pass released their last album? Nervosa, which came out in 2005, saw the band refine the harder Southern take of the 2002 Slightly Damaged EP, itself the follow-up to 1999’s excellent Powered by Sludge, and now in kind, the long-running Long Island outfit issue their next installment in the 50-minute Deadwater. Like all their albums, it’s self-released, and though the band claims to be “looking for a label home” on their sundry web-presences, I can’t imagine how they wouldn’t have been picked up by now had they really wanted to. They’ve never been a touring act to the best of my recollection, but to think of the slew of East Coast hard rock and metal acts who managed to find labels, it’s hard to believe they didn’t have offers at some point in the last 15-plus years. Shit, if E-Town Concrete can sign to Razor & Tie, surely Borgo Pass could’ve been picked up by someone.

That’s not a sonic comparison, by the way, just thinking of another act of formidable presence in its own region not really known outside of it. And at this point, Borgo Pass are the kings of Long Island. They can always be relied upon to draw a crowd – an eager crowd at that – and they never fail to proffer solid, melodically-aware, guitar-led metal that’s accessible and catchy well beyond the point of commercial viability, but that nonetheless retains some edge of underground-mindedness. On Deadwater, their radio-friendly heaviness comes to full boar. Vocalist James Tamarazzo never screams outright, but clearly puts his whole stomach into his approach nonetheless, and dual guitarists Tom Crane and Paul Rosado lead the rhythm section of bassist Thomas J. Karcher and drummer Joe Wood through 10 tracks (and a bonus Black Sabbath cover, “Tomorrow’s Dream”) of straightforward American metal structures. There are some ears for which Deadwater is going to simply sound too commercial – including, at points, my own – but there’s little on the album to argue against Borgo Pass having long since mastered their craft.

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There are several disparate elements working together in surprising unison for Long Island outfit, Dogs of Karma. The Patchogue four-piece fuse punk, hardcore, metal and stoner/Southern influences on their All Grassed Over (Last Resort Entertainment) debut full-length, and though it works as an overall aesthetic – that is, nothing clashes so much as to sound outlandish or ridiculous in a way unintended by the band – there are moments of incongruity brought out by All Grassed Over’s production that are inevitably going to hold some listeners back from being able to fully appreciate it.

Chief among the issues with All Grassed Over is that it is a staggering 77 minutes long. In listening, I basically approached the single-CD release as two albums on one disc, with tracks one through eight comprising one 32-minute record and nine through 16 (!) a second, 44-minute full-length. The split there seems natural owing to the placement of the “Doobinterlude”-esque “Johnny Mushroom,” which provides an instrumental break from the stoner punk-metal before. That’s not the only aspect of All Grassed Over that Dogs of Karma harness from a Down influence. Some of guitarist Chris Norris’ riffs bounce like a sped-up Pepper Keenan’s, and vocalist Dave Bonessi’s yowl isn’t as blatantly derivative, but his scream on a track like “Choke the Truth” or the more purely metallic “The Phantom Being” comes from a similar place in the stomach as Phil Anselmo’s did in his Pantera days. That Dogs of Karma couple this aggressive side of their sound with some blues and (again) punk influence – I’ll be damned if drummer John Papayani doesn’t sound like he was in a Long Island hardcore band at some point in his life – offsets the Down-er aspects, but it’s there for anyone with an ear to hear it nonetheless.

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I’ve heard the word sludge used to classify bands from Pro-Pain to Neurosis to Grand Funk Railroad, so let’s be clear right off the bat that when I talk about sludge, I mean ultra-aggressive, screaming doom, played slow, played angry. It’s a term as nebulous as any other, but going from that specific definition, and considering the bands I’m about to recommend who play it, we should have a pretty good basis to work from.

There are some acts who take sludge to vicious extremes — see Fistula or Sollubi — blending in elements of black metal or SunnO))) style drone minimalism, but I’m not talking about them either. Where to start with sludge is the root of the subgenre, the key formative groups who’ve made it possible for a new generation to pull the sound in the multiple directions they have.

Because I couldn’t narrow it down to five, here are seven killer sludge bands to start with:

Crowbar: Their later material actually has little in common with what’s currently thought of as sludge, but 1991′s Obedience thru Suffering and 1993′s Crowbar are essential to understanding what the sound has become. The latter (recently reissued) is a better starting point for its more memorable songs.

Eyehategod: As much an influence in lifestyle and persona as for their music, the New Orleans gods of sonic fuck-all have nonetheless produced some of sludge’s most classic material. Just not in the last decade. At all. Start with 1993′s Take as Needed for Pain.

Negative Reaction: Their early stuff was more geared to sci-fi, which made the long-running Long Island outfit unique among their viscous peers. 2000′s endofyourerror saw them start to veer away from that into more personal lyrical territory, but it’s a stunningly abrasive listen nonetheless.

Buzzov*en: Dude. To a Frown. Dude.

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Today is the day Moth Eater‘s new EP, The Thunder God of Monster Island (Giddy Up! Records) goes live for sale on something called… iTunes(?). I’m not sure what that is, but I hear tell it’s all the rage amongst the children, and if there’s one thing that’s good for the children, it’s killer doomed sludge of the kind Moth Eater play. Mothers will be shocked, fathers will disapprove, rock and roll shall reign.

To celebrate the iTune-ification of The Thunder God of Monster Island, Moth Eater have generously granted me permission to host the track “The Aftermath,” which you can stream below. Enjoy.

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Purchase The Thunder God of Monster Island on iTunes

In honor of two comments adding Cactus to the list of where to start with the heavy ’70s, I thought we’d end the week with some. This is their version of Mose Allison‘s “Parchman Farm,” live audio from 1971. Pretty dern killer if you ask me. Hope you like harmonica.

It was kind of a crazy week, and though you might not see it on the site (in part because the internet here is so shitty it’s caused a major slowdown in productivity), I’m actually getting a lot of work done, which was the reason for the whole Vermont trip in the first place.

If you’ve bought a Roareth CD, thank you so, so, so much. I have a batch waiting to go to the post office to go out tomorrow, but even if you haven’t heard from me, please know that yours is on its way. They’re going quick, so if you haven’t gotten one yet, I suggest you do so. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.

With my third beer in hand, I wish you a long, safe and enjoyable weekend. We’ll see you back here on Monday.

Long Island heavy metallers Moth Eater would like it to be known they’ve signed to Giddy Up! Records, which just happens to be the label helmed by bassist/all-around-good-dude Steve “Buckshot” Seabury. But here’s the thing. It’s not like Giddy Up! is just some dick-around label name made so the band could release their own stuff. He’s got real bands and very real distribution, so I’m sure the decision to add Moth Eater to the roster was not made lightly.

Here’s the news off PR wire:

Moth Eater, the Beers Village, New York-based doom/metal band featuring guitarist John Conley of Scar Culture, Dave Ardolina and Steve “Buckshot” Seabury of Dirty Rig, and vocalist John Alaia, have just signed a deal with start-up metal label Giddy Up! Records. Giddy Up! Records will release the band’s debut mini-record, The Thunder God of Monster Island on July 27. The band’s music was produced, recorded and mixed at Gain Studios in New York City.

Moth Eater have posted the new track “Aftermath” on their MySpace page. The track features world renowned Hurdy Gurdy player and composer Geoff Kooris who adds to the band’s already intense sound. “When I listen to our music, I get the sudden urge to smash someone’s face in with a shovel. Then I become grief stricken and sob uncontrollably for a few hours, drink a beer, then I repeat the process.” states John Alaia about the band’s music and upcoming release.

The band will perform and host The Thunder God of Monster Island release party in New York City starting at 9PM on August 6th at Ace of Clubs.

As someone who enjoys watching bands grow, it’s been a pleasure to follow the progression of Long Island destroyers Moth Eater. I’m sure their first EP, due out this summer, is going to be a powerful showcase of metallic punishment, and in the meantime, they’ve posted a new track and announced that bassist Steve “Buckshot” Seabury has landed a book deal with Simon and Schuster, which, if you didn’t know, is a damn good book deal to land. Here’s the latest:

Moth Eater, the Beers Village, New York-based metal/doom band featuring guitarist John Conley of Scar Culture, Dave Ardolina and Steve ‘Buckshot’ Seabury of Dirty Rig, and vocalist John Alaia, have just posted a new track titled “Aftermath” on their MySpace page. The track features world renowned Hurdy Gurdy player Geoff Kooris who adds to the bands already intense sound. The band will be releasing an EP this coming summer titled Thunder Gods of Monster Island.

Click here for the band’s MySpace page.

The song “Aftermath” will also be featured on a new video game titled Shredmaster which will be released later this year.

While the band have been working in the studio, Buckshot just finalized a book deal with Simon & Schuster. “I have been working on this book for almost five years now and I am super excited to finally be putting it out on such a great publishing company,” states Buckshot. His first book will be released on November 30, 2010.

Upcoming Shows:

April 16th – Mr. Beery’s – Bethpage, Long Island, NY

For those who’ve never been to Clifton, New Jersey‘s Dingbatz venue, it’s probably safe to say you have someplace like it near where you are. It is North Jersey‘s metal bar. Not to be confused with the sundry rock bars, sports bars or nudie bars. There are certainly plenty of those around, and there’s even a punk bar, but there’s only one metal bar, and that’s Dingbatz.

Their regular roster of bands generally includes a host of locals, C-level touring acts and bands who’ve been around long enough to know better but keep playing shows anyway. The clientele are cliquey but harmless leather jacket types who like to drink and rock out. Like the bands and even the Dingbatz staff, they’re not hurting anyone. Since the last time I was there, they started crafting the ‘Batz Brew, which wasn’t terrible.

Also on the bill were Piston Driven, Black Water Rising and Brand New Sin, but I was there for Moth Eater and true to my northeast dickery, I stayed while they played and was splitsville shortly thereafter. Not that I wasn’t interested in learning about the other bands — I knew the deal — but had an early morning Saturday to consider. In-law birthdays trump recycled Black Label Society riffs. It’s a fact of life.

But Moth Eater, whom I’ve not seen since a show with Negative Reaction on their native Long Island, NY, did not disappoint. Their singer, John Alaia, who was playing his first gig with the band last time, was far more integrated and far more comfortable in the lineup, to the point of clowning around on stage with bassist Steve “Buckshot” Seabury while guitarist John Conley kicked out a heavily wah’ed solo.

Conley cut his teeth in New York mayhem-makers Scar Culture, and some of the technicality required to play that style of heavy/grinding metal comes out in his solo work, but Moth Eater is more about the overall feel of the songs than the wizardry that may or may not go into making them. The work of drummer/backing vocalist Dave Ardolina (who, like Seabury, comes formerly of rockers Dirty Rig) helps greatly to ground the riffs and keep the material accessible to the crowd, which at Dingbatz, grew steadily as the set progressed.

Other than “Motha Chunga” and “The Aftermath,” the former which I remembered because of its name and the latter because it’s the first demo with vocals Moth Eater have put on their MySpace (and because it’s quite catchy), I don’t know song titles, but suffice it to say each didn’t sound precisely like the one before it, and it’s probably safe to assume that between their experience in bands and in the industry, when these guys decide to do some recording in earnest — either for an EP, full-length or whathaveyou — they’ll be working from a solid foundation established at these shows. Dingbatz isn’t The Ritz by any means, but it is a great place for a band to figure out who they want to be on stage. The more I see them, the more it seems Moth Eater have the issue worked out.

It’s looking like what’s really gone forever from this site crashing are the two live reviews from this past week, namely Negative Reaction and Moth Eater out on Long Island at Fin’s Pub and The Atomic Bitchwax and Shovelhead in New Jersey at the Brighton Bar. Kind of a pisser to see them go, since I thought they were pretty good, but if there’s one thing that happens, in the immortal words of Chris Goss, “It’s shit.”

Instead of trying to recreate the moment or fake the reviews again — which I could probably get away with since I doubt anyone’s paying attention — I’ve decided to play the hand I’m dealt and just do a quick chronological rundown of the bands and what went down during their sets. Here goes:

Negative Reaction: These guys usually kill and they killed. Had a projector set up showing scenes from space, adding a little psych to the sludge mayhem. Long set, but they played well. Was that a new song I heard?

Moth Eater: First I’d seen them, but it was only their second show. Their singer sounds like the dude from Lamb of God, but the riffs are cool and the vibes are upbeat, so it’s a good time anyway. Sounded scarily tight for it being their second show.

Shovelhead: Reports are they have a new album coming out not soon enough. Best rock band in Jersey. Missed most of their set, but caught Mike Scott‘s drum solo. For a dude who just had back surgery (and basically in general), he kicked ass and so did the rest of the band.

The Atomic Bitchwax: Were heavier than at Roadburn, definitely in their element at the Brighton. Sizable crowd for them, Bob Pantella held it down. Finn Ryan looks really happy to be alive when he’s playing guitar. Threw “Shitkicker” and “Hope You Die” in the set. No complaints about that.

And that’s not just their first NYC show, it’s their first show ever, which just happens to be in NYC. If you missed it, Moth Eater were interviewed here a little while back. They’ve since gotten a singer and have begun the grand process of playing out. Good stuff, here’s the info:

MOTH EATER
THE FIRST SHOW
June 5
ACE OF CLUBS
Great Jones Street
New York Rock City
10:00 PM
$10 To Enter
21 & Over (Get A Fake ID)
Bring Your Drinking Shoes — It’s Going To Be? A Party

Exclusive Merch — ONLY 50 Shirts Made To Celebrate This Event

www.myspace.com/motheater667