Perhaps more than any other Maryland doom band before or since, Iron Man are born of pure Sabbath worship. Guitarist and founder “Iron” Al Morris III is a pivotal figure in American traditional doom maybe not so much for the direct influence he’s had on other players – though certainly that’s a factor as well – but in terms of the loyalist ethic with which he approaches his craft. He’s seen lineup changes enough for three bands, but no matter who he’s playing with for any given release, the core Sabbathian plod remains intact, and that’s true on the newly self-released Dominance EP as well. Dominance, which follows 2009’s righteous I Have Returned LP, is a more rudimentary outing; a true EP in the sense of giving a sampling of what a band is about more than expressing a complete idea musically as a full-length album might. And if Morris feels he needs to get a grasp on the band’s sound again and work it out through these songs, he’s got good reason. Vocalist Joe Donnelly split with the band in 2010 and has since been replaced by “Screaming” Dee Calhoun (who also fronted Land of Doom, from whence guitarist Russ Strahan was plucked to join Pentagram), and Dex Dexter also either left or was fired and Mike Rix brought in to fill the void on drums for this release. Rix, in turn, is already gone, leaving Morris, Calhoun and bassist Louis Strachan without a drummer as of this writing. Having been through at least six throughout the band’s existence, something tells me they’ll survive.

The biggest change, though, is Calhoun, whose approach varies from the unabashed Ozzy-isms of Donnelly and draws more from Judas Priest-type patterns and Rob Halford’s signature and classically metal vibrato. On Dominance, the three songs that comprise most of the EP’s 16-minute runtime – there’s a Morris solo interlude as well – are relatively uptempo, and so Calhoun is more than suited to handle the riffs being thrown his way. It’s a rough production, but clear enough to give some idea of what the band wanted, which I think actually is what the band wanted. Throughout “Ruler of Ruin,” “The Final Straw” and “Grown,” the idea seems to be more about Iron Man (read: Morris) getting their footing as a new lineup on a recording and making that public than trying to expand on their creative formula. The minute-plus interlude “Eternal Sleep” is pleasant as a change of pace between “The Final Straw” and “Grown,” working in the tradition of Tony Iommi’s “A Bit of Finger” to provide listeners a moment’s respite. “Eternal Sleep” also works as a fitting complement to the heavy, straightforward metal of “Ruler of Ruin,” which launches Dominance in fashion well-suited to the EP’s title and offers no letup in its just under five minutes. Calhoun proves a powerful presence alongside Morris’ lead work, and Strachan’s bass comes through the mix in fills between the lines of the verse along with Rix, with whom he makes a noteworthy contribution in the rhythm section, but he did that with Dexter as well, so although Rix’s performance here is capable and enjoyable, Strachan has already shown he’s adaptable to working with different drummers and still enriching the sound of the band. Probably fortunate, given how they come and go.

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They’re among the original harbingers of Maryland doom, and Baltimorian four-piece Iron Man have seen ‘em come, and seen ‘em go. The band’s last full-length, I Have Returned, came out in 2009 (review here), and in the time since then, they’ve been through I don’t even know how many drummers — at least two — and frontman Joe Donnelly has also departed, leaving “Iron” Al Morris III on guitar alongside bassist Louis Strachan, drummer Mike Rix (since out of the band), and newfound singer Dee Calhoun for the new Dominance EP. If we were doing SAT analogies, I might say that Calhoun : Rob Halford as Donnelly : Ozzy Osbourne, minus the physical mimicry of onstage persona. His voice fits well over the four tracks of Dominance, of which I’ll have a review in the next week or two.

In case you missed it, Iron Man aren’t the only ones who premiered a new video today. Pagan Altar, who already had a new track up this week, posted a brand new video from their forthcoming album, Never Quite Dead, for the song “Dance of the Vampires.” That video is on the forum here, and I’d recommend it if you’d like to get your doom fix a little bit more when you’re done with “Ruler of Ruin” above. Right on.

Tomorrow night I’ll be in Philly to check out Earthride, C.O.C. and Clutch at the Trocadero, which I’m confident is going to be a complete blast. While I’m posting links to new videos on the forum, Mike H. shot a yet-unreleased Clutch song Wednesday night in Maine, and embedded it here. Thanks as always to him for his diligence. Anyway, if you’re gonna be at the show tomorrow, I’m the fat guy with the long hair, beard and the brown messenger-type camera bag, singing along to the chorus, “The party’s over/You all got to go/The wolfman is coming out.” I imagine it’ll be the bag that most distinguishes me.

This week, aside from that probable Iron Man review, I’ll have a writeup on tomorrow’s show, as well as the new Cherry Choke album, and — if it kills me — I will get Skype to record on my laptop and hook up that Grifter interview. I’ll also have the December numbers (I have no idea how they are), and since it’ll be 2012, at some point in the week I’ll do a preview of the year to come, most likely in the spirit of last year’s two-parter of records I’ve heard and ones I haven’t yet.

And as we learned today, there will be some albums I won’t hear at all, and for that, I apologize profusely.

I wish you a safe, insanely happy and healthy New Year, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing. I hope your 2012 is overflowing with joy and personal fulfillment, large cash settlements and whatever else it is that will make you glad to be on this planet. Raise a toast to the killer records to come and we’ll see you back here Monday for more adventures in adjectival phrasing.

It was going to take a bastard of a bill to make me crawl out from the rock I’ve been hiding under and go see a show at the Acheron in Brooklyn, but Friday night, that’s just what I got. The show began two nights in a row of Earthride, and boasted hometown ultra-doomers Archon and the similarly-minded ambient evil deeds of Connecticut‘s When the Deadbolt Breaks in the support slots. After sitting in traffic for approximately four hours to get from Central Jersey to the gig, I was in just the right mindset for Archon‘s screaming dirges.

I had four dollars to my name and spent them promptly on a can of High Life. Archon were already loaded in and ready to roll. The room — longer than it is wide, black-painted cinderblock or brick with drywall and cement floor, small stage and high ceiling — wasn’t full, but the turnout was decent given the probably five or six other shows happening down the block in Williamsburg. The dreadlocked/male contingent of Archon‘s vocalizing duo, Chris Dialogue, bassist Nikhil Kamineni and drummer Rajah Marcelo are all also members of Alkahest (album review here), so with vocalist Rachel Brown and guitarist Andrew Jude the only parties unaccounted for in that band, it was kind of like the two acts had merged on stage. Heavy as hell, either way.

Jude, who as I understand it writes most of the material, always seems to have one foot planted in Dopesmoker no matter the project he’s involved in — and that’s not a critique, since anyone who’s heard Archon‘s death/doom plod will tell you he’s doing more than merely aping the influence. Dialogue set up down in front of the stage on which the other four members of the band played and did the kind of thrashing around I’ve come to expect from his performances, his low growls and high screams sounding no less vicious for the physical exertion. His vocals and Brown‘s — mostly melodic, but with some screams in there as well — played off each other well, and though the bass seemed to be lost in the room through much of the night, there was sufficient low end to stand up to the multi-pronged assault.

That was true as well for When the Deadbolt Breaks. Like Archon, they’re a band I consider friends more than a group I’d be able to really review with total impartiality (which, as a concept, is a farce anyway), but I was glad to see them anyhow and hear Aaron Lewis‘ violent levels of volume. He and bassist Roman Garbacick shared screaming duties and, together with new drummer Rich Kalinowski, crafted a sound as foreboding as the band’s name. Kalinowski‘s china cymbal kept getting stuck up next to Lewis‘ Sunn rig, but he worked with it and it was far and away the best drumming When the Deadbolt Breaks has ever had. Lewis has been through a few rhythm sections and singers over the years, but with Garbacick and Kalinowski (sounds a little like a law firm), he has two presences in the band to complement his own.

One of my favorite aspects of Deadbolt‘s sound has always been the creepy parts. Lewis has always been patient in steering the band through these sections of malevolent ambience, and though the Acheron wasn’t ideal for Garbacick‘s heavy bass or Kalinowski‘s china, the black walls and forced-in sound did work with the psychologically disturbing elements of their approach. Of course, they contrast those stretches with hurtful sludge, so you have to take it with the context surrounding as well. At this point, I’ve seen and done shows with them so many times over the years I’d be hard-pressed to pick a favorite, but this might be the most together lineup When the Deadbolt Breaks have put together yet. Here’s hoping it sticks.

And it’s funny to think of it, but in a way, Earthride were the odd men out on their own bill. Archon and When the Deadbolt Breaks — whom Earthride vocalist Dave Sherman referred to as “Acheron” (the name of the venue) and “When the Deadbolt Strikes,” respectively — had enough similarities of approach between them to be cohesive, but throw in Earthride‘s more stonerly-directed riffing, laid back doom groove and always-charming (no sarcasm; see previous sentence) stage antics, and it was a whole different kind of heavy. Bassist Josh Hart and drummer Eric Little were even more in the pocket than at SHoD, and guitarist Kyle Van Steinberg, also of War Injun, busted into a few freakishly good solos. I’m not 100 percent, but I think they might also all have been stoned.

They opened with “Fighting the Devils Inside of You” from 2005′s Vampire Circus and moved into a few cuts from last year’s Something Wicked album, starting with the righteously grooving title-track and “Hacksaw Eyeball,” which Sherman noted was about the band’s hometown in Frederick, Maryland, and which underscored the point of how much Southern Lord missed the boat on not putting out that record. “Hacksaw Eyeball” might have been Sherman‘s best performance, taking the blown-out screams and cleaner choruses of the album version and bringing them to life, but I wouldn’t discount the riff-riding the frontman broke out for “Earthride,” arms stretched out in front of him, steering an invisible stoner rock chopper down I-95 to some freedom most of us will never see.

When they were finished, the crowd demanded another song, and with some discussion, they acquiesced. The place never really packed out, but it was clear that those who showed up knew why they were there. I left soon enough after they were done and headed back through Manhattan to pick up The Patient Mrs., who’d spent the evening among the ranks “occupying” Wall Street — and if you ever want a convenient metaphor for what our relationship is like, that’s it.

Like I alluded to earlier, it was the first of two nights in a row I’d be seeing Earthride. The second was at Asbury Lanes in the surprisingly built-up Asbury Park, NJ, where they were on the bill for (former) Solace guitarist Tommy Southard‘s wedding reception. I’d write about that too, but it seems tacky somehow to review someone’s nuptial celebrations, however much Shiner Bock I may have imbibed. Suffice it to say a good time was had by all (again), and Earthride delivered the doom as increasingly they seem to be the only ones able to do.

Many more pics after the jump.

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Among the various Wino projects, The Hidden Hand is bound to be overlooked. Pairing Scott Weinrich‘s guitar and vocals with the bass, vocals and production of Bruce Falkinburg and an assortment of drummers, the band had the profile of neither Spirit Caravan, which preceded, nor the Wino band and Shrinebuilder, which followed. The context of the four years since the band’s last album — the wandering but still underrated The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote — has left the trio with an in-between place in Wino lore.

Nonetheless, The Hidden Hand resulted in three varied and enjoyable full-lengths, from the straightforward drive of 2003′s Divine Propaganda onward through 2004′s well-balanced political firestorm, Mother Teacher Destroyer, and the sprawling finale already mentioned. For devotees of Wino, they’re an immediate must.

The clip below was shot in 2004 at the much-missed Emissions From the Monolith festival at the Nyabinghi in Youngstown, Ohio. The song is “Welcome to Sunshine” from the Night Letters split with D.C. doomers Wooly Mammoth, released that same year.

It was a good one.

I thought it was strange that they played “Forever My Queen” second. They always seem to give that one away too early. “20 Buck Spin” is a great song, but kick off that last section of the show with “Forever My Queen,” then push it into “Pentagram (Sign of the Wolf)” and close with “When the Screams Come,” and man, it’s gonna take people a while to recover from that one. Anyway, Pentagram rules and this is what they played at Roadburn on April 14, 2011.

No sense in delaying this one, the headline pretty much says it all. The Last Rites, the new album from doom legends Pentagram, is due out April 12 on Metal Blade.

The PR wire speaks:

Pentagram, who has been churning out widely admired hard rock/doom metal for over four decades, has just revealed the tracklisting and artwork to their highly anticipated full-length album, Last Rites. Last Rites, out on April 12 via Metal Blade Records, contains 11 new tracks of behemoth tunes that fans have been clamoring for since the last Liebling/Griffin masterpiece was released in 1994 (Be Forewarned).

Last Rites tracklisting:
1. Treat Me Right
2. Call the Man
3. Into the Ground
4. 8
5. Everything’s Turning to Night
6. Windmills and Chimes
7. American Dream
8. Walk in Blue Light
9. Horseman
10. Death in 1st Person
11. Nothing Left

Cover art for Last Rites was handled by Mo Moussa (website here) who is best known for his work with Marvel & DC Comics. Mo Moussa‘s other credentials include New Line Cinema, Nickelodeon as well as the four major TV networks. A Philly native and a huge fan of underground music, his work also graces the covers of several of his favorite local bands including Total Fucking Destruction.

As I dove across two lanes of traffic to get to what turned out to be the wrong entrance to the southbound Garden State Parkway, I couldn’t help but be reminded of what happened the last time I tried to see doom mega-legends Pentagram in New York and failed viciously. “Going south to go east?” you ask? Typical.

I rolled into Europa on Meserole Ave. in Brooklyn at maybe 8:30. Bezoar had already played, but that left Judas Priestess, Hull and Pentagram still to go, in that order. Judas Priestess took their time setting up and went on after nine. I knew already it was going to be a late night. A late Thursday is a romantic idea. It’s the ultra-metro NYC myth of “nobody goes out on Friday anymore,” as though no one in the audience had to get up the next day and go to work. For what it’s worth, I didn’t make it to the office today.

Once they got going, Judas Priestess kicked off to a solid start. Everything you need to know about them but their pedigree (members of Van Helsing’s Curse and Angel Rot), the name says. They are, indeed, an all-female Judas Priest cover band. Lots of very elaborate hair, lots of leather, lots of “hey, let’s rock it!” attitude and I had to wonder how many members of decent original bands were in the audience who’d kill to open for Pentagram while Judas Priestess ran their way through a too-fast version of “Metal Gods.” I can’t count myself anymore, but still.

They played “Deep Freeze” from Rocka Rolla in an effort to throw the doom crowd a bone, and it was appreciated. By the time they left the stage, Europa was so crowded that I could barely move. I stood by the bar in the corner and watched as patron after patron came over thinking the bathrooms were down the hallway. They weren’t, and I disappointed several dudes in telling them they had to go all the way around the claustrophobic clusterfuck of humanity to get to the other side of the bar. Too bad.

Hull were good. I like Hull. I’ve known those guys for years in a hand-shaking, “Hi, how are ya?” kind of way, and I’ve watched them grow over the course of however many of their shows I’ve seen into a real force on stage. They were heavy and loud, and they closed with the epic “Viking Funeral,” which might have been a bit much, but was still cool. They’re supposed to have a new album in the works. I look forward to hearing it.

The draw to Pentagram this time around — aside from the fact that they have a new album and thus new songs to play — is that recent Obelisk interviewee Victor Griffin is back on guitar. He had some amp problems before their set, meaning more delays, and they finally got started after 12:30 or so. Not that you need me to say it, but it was late.

Griffin‘s tone was dead on, and he wore the Pentagram songs like a well-fitting shoe on stage. It’s so rare to see a person so obviously born to do what they’re doing, but watching Victor Griffin play doom, that was the feeling I got. Vocalist Bobby Liebling‘s well-reputed stage antics were relatively subdued compared to other times I’ve seen the band, but technical problems are a momentum-killer and as I’ve already said, it was late, so it’s understandable. He still sounded pretty good, and the rhythm section of bassist Greg Turley and drummer Tim Tomaselli (both imported from Griffin‘s other band, Place of Skulls) were in the pocket the whole time.

Even with all the people who’ve been in and out of Pentagram over the years, it’s kind of strange to see Liebling fronting what’s basically Griffin‘s band. Hard not to get a feeling that history is repeating itself, remembering that it was the Griffin-led Death Row that became Pentagram‘s most classic lineup in the ’80s when Liebling joined on vocals. I didn’t get the chance to bring up the parallel to Victor Griffin, or to anyone else, for that matter, because I was too miserable, crushed in by the bar.

The new songs sounded fittingly riffy, and I expect that when Last Rites hits, it’ll be well received, at least by doom heads. Liebling‘s well-publicized sobriety has really given the band new life, and although I was worn out by the end of the show, I don’t think he was. They closed with “Pentagram (Sign of the Wolf)” and threw most of what you’d expect into the set among the new cuts. “Forever My Queen” is always a highlight.

The crowd had thinned out some by the end of the set, so I was able to make my way over to the main area of the venue to watch them finish. It’s astounding, the love that’s behind this band. I know they got paid to be there, but given how late it was, they had every right to cut the show short, or to half-ass it, and they absolutely didn’t. And when Bobby Liebling thanked the crowd at the end and said he loved New York, I didn’t think I was being paid rock-star lip service. He meant it. That’s the difference.

I got back to the valley at 3:45AM, lucky to be alive. I haven’t slept like that behind the wheel in a long time, and if I-287 hadn’t been a ghost town on my way back North (my route was circuitous and affected by my company for the show; would take a longer time to explain than is necessary), I have no doubt it could have been very unpleasant. Last thing I did before head hit pillow was email work and tell them I’d be late this morning. You can see above how that turned out.

Legendary American doom guitarist Victor Griffin — of Death Row, Place of Skulls and Pentagram — and I spoke over the course of two consecutive nights. When I called the first night for the interview, he was in the car, listening to an early mix of Last Rites, the new album by Pentagram — whom he rejoined earlier this year — and though that wasn’t the intended topic of the discussion, it was bound to take up some of the time.

What instigated the conversation was the newest record by Place of Skulls — Griffin‘s priority band. Dubbed As a Dog Returns, the album is unquestionably a reboot for the trio of Griffin, bassist Lee Abney (also of Death Row, who reunited for this year’s Roadburn festival in The Netherlands) and drummer Tim Tomaselli. In addition to getting back to their doomed roots, As a Dog Returns also revitalizes Griffin‘s lyrical explorations of his Christian faith, songs like “Breath of Life” and “He’s God” as open and honest in their subject matter as I found Griffin to be in our talk.

The second night of the interview, Griffin was in his studio working on some solo overdubs for Last Rites, and as we moved from Place of Skulls and his beliefs to his return to Pentagram and working once again with vocalist Bobby Liebling, whose sobriety has been discussed here in the past, Griffin took a step back to take a look at both bands’ overall place in doom, and his as well, opining on why in its 30-plus years as a genre, doom has never really hit the mainstream in the way of some other styles, and whether or not he’d even want it to.

Fact of the matter is this: I could go on and on about what Victor Griffin said or whatever, but what it rounds out to is this is one of the best interviews I’ve ever done. For The Obelisk or any other outlet. Victor Griffin was more sincere in his answering my questions than I could have possibly asked, and at the end of the second phone call, I felt like I genuinely knew more about his perspectives on life, music, and God. I hope that as you read through the 7,400-word exchange (with a centered photo to differentiate between the two days), that comes across more than anything else.

Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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They go quick. Here we are at number 16 and it’s Earthride‘s first album in half a decade, Something Wicked. Released through their own Earth Brain Records, Something Wicked had no pretense about it, made no grand claims about what it was trying to accomplish. It came in, rocked solid for its 52 minutes, and then was gone again. Charismatic frontman Dave Sherman was in top form, introducing more clean singing to his approach, and the band behind him grooved in the key of Orange like few acts can.

The title track was a highlight, thanks in no small part to the hairy thickness of Kyle Van Steinburg‘s guitar, and cuts like “Wake up Your Mind” and the speedier “Grip the Wheel of Death” made Something Wicked an album I went back to time and again throughout the year. I mean, seriously, “Hacksaw Eyeball?” I’ll take it, and while you’re at it, throw in the Wino guest appearance on “Supernatural Illusion.” Can’t go wrong.

It was doom for doomers to the nth degree, and asked little other than for your attention while it put its sizable boot up your ass. With the recent news that bassist Rob Hampshire (also of Nitroseed) has been replaced by Josh Hart, one hopes that Something Wicked will spawn a new era of productivity for Earthride, but whatever happens, they delivered a kickass album in 2010.

Among the favorite four-letter words of doom and stoner heads out there, “Wino” has to be high on the list. For almost 30 years, Scott “Wino” Weinrich has built a legacy unequaled in underground rock and metal. Just because it’s fun to run down the list: The Obsessed, Saint Vitus, The Obsessed (again), Spirit Caravan, The Hidden Hand, and most recently his own Wino solo band with J.P. Gaster of Clutch and the now-departed Jon Blank, the doom dream-team supergroup, Shrinebuilder, and his new jam project Premonition. He’s nothing if not prolific, and on Adrift (Exile on Mainstream), which he issues under the Wino banner, he presents his fans with his first acoustic album ever. Needless to say, if you’re a fan of Wino in any incarnation of his playing, Adrift is required reading.

Drum-less, bass-less and featuring only sporadic electric guitar, this is the raw Wino, and Weinrich’s songwriting is at the fore. The opener “Adrift” sets the tone for the record with a deeply personal, intimate vibe and classic feel, fulfilling both the function of opener and title track in embodying the mission of the album and starting it off in a way that provides listeners with an instant context for what follows. A folk ballad, it’s just one of the several song structures Weinrich works within on Adrift, and he follows it with the 12-bar blues of “I Don’t Care.” His voice, long a trademark in the sundry bands he’s fronted, is tenser than a lot of the kind throwaway Appalachian or Delta blues players, but he handles it well and the album’s first electric guitar solo, which fades the track out at the end, covers a lot of ground.

“Hold on Love” was an advance track on MySpace and a good choice by whoever picked it, either Weinrich or Exile on Mainstream, because after only listening to it once online and putting on the album for the first time, I immediately recognized it and remembered the double-tracked vocals of the chorus. Another storytelling song, it’s one of the most complete tracks on Adrift, and where some of the ultra-bare arrangements on the album feel like they could have been fleshed out or at very least would have been were this not Weinrich’s first exploration of the medium, “Hold on Love” is complete in every sense, soulful and sincere. Another, more mournful electric solo keeps the energy established in “I Don’t Care” alive as “Mala Suerte” comes on with what are probably the “heaviest” sonics Adrift has to offer.

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When I called Earthride vocalist and bonafide American doom icon Dave Sherman for this interview, he reported that he was on his way to practice for a side-project with his former Spirit Caravan bandmate Gary Isom and recent ex-Pentagram guitarist Russ Strahan called Weed is Weed. What else can you possibly say to that besides “fan-fucking-tastic?”

Five years in the making, Earthride‘s latest album, Something Wicked (released by the band through Earth Brain Records) follows 2005′s Vampire Circus and continues the group’s veneration of the doomly forms. Reverence for classic acts like Pentagram, Saint Vitus and of course the almighty Sabbath comes out through Kyle Van Steinburg‘s riffs and Sherman‘s lyrical tales of hard times and self-destruction while the thick rumble of bassist/NASA engineer Rob Hampshire (Nitroseed) thickens the sound and Eric Little‘s drums add an inimitable classic groove. It is, as the kids say, a winner.

Anyone who’s ever met the man or spoken with him for more than 15 seconds will tell you correctly that Sherman — “Sherm” for short — is a character like none other, and that certainly proved to be the case as we discussed Something Wicked, his relationships with Pentagram‘s Bobby Liebling and members of Fugazi, Earthride‘s recent tour with Valkyrie and more. There’s only one Sherman, and The Obelisk is proud to bring you this conversation with him.

Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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What makes it even better is that it’s not just Pentagram, meaning Bobby Liebling and whoever he could hand a guitar to that week, it’s Pentagram with Victor Griffin riffing out, which is pretty much as good as Pentagram gets.

Also announced for the festival of festivals are Soilent Green, French post-black metal enigmas Alcest, Blood Ceremony, Ghost (not the Japanese experimental outfit, but a Swedish black metal band on Rise Above), and In Solitude. Of course, there’s plenty more to come, but here’s the Penta-news from the PR wire:

Long-running D.C. doom legends Pentagram, with riff-meister Victor Griffin back in the fold, have been confirmed for the Thursday Roadburn date, Thursday, April 14th, 2011.

Pentagram had an inestimable impact on today’s burgeoning doom metal and stoner rock scene. Indeed, we at Roadburn Festival feel that Pentagram is on par with more widely-recognized pioneers such as Black Sabbath and Blue Cheer!

Come celebrate over three decades of primordial American doom with Pentagram at Roadburn Festival 2011.

Sponsored by Terrorizer and Germany’s Rock Hard, Roadburn Festival 2011, including SunnO)))’s special event, will run for three days from Thursday April 14 to Saturday April 16 at the 013 venue and Midi Theatre in Tilburg, Holland. There will be an additional afterburner event on Sunday April 17, 2011.

Much as I love the city of Philadelphia — and I do; it’s the Wesley Snipes to NYC‘s Stephen Dorff — it’s a long way away. Nonetheless, for a lineup like Las Cruces and Iron Man, the trip is well worth it. And hey, I didn’t drive as far as Las Cruces, who are from San Antonio, and thus know what salsa should taste like. So it could be worse.

I was in no hurry to get to the Millcreek Tavern, since it was just the two bands on the bill and I knew the show would be running late. Las Cruces went on first, playing tracks off of their latest, Dusk, as well as older material and a new song called “Egypt” that I shouted from the crowd was a keeper. And it was. There wasn’t much of an audience — apparently some fest was happening down the street — but the loyal few enjoyed what the four-piece had to offer, myself included, and when they played “Wizard” and “Cocaine Wizard Woman” back-to-back, I felt like life was doing me a personal favor. Two songs with “wizard” in the title — in a row! Doesn’t get more doomed than that, folks.

In general I consider myself a fan of a singing drummer, and Paul DeLeon of Las Cruces didn’t disappoint. While guitarists George Trevino and Mando Tovar (Pillcrusher) poured out killer riffs and solos and bassist Jimmy Bell windmilled a breeze enough to feel it from in front of the stage, DeLeon held down the rhythm and the melody of material both old and new. Dusk is the band’s first full-length in 12 years, but the band and the songs sounded fresh and they put on a righteous show despite the fact that there weren’t too many people in the crowd to see it.

A chicken cheese steak was enjoyed in between sets — no onions — and I had plenty of time to eat, as Iron Man took their time getting going. Vocalist Joe Donnelly must have been running late, or else waiting outside to make his grand entrance, since he came in just before the set started. Bassist Louis Strachan and new drummer Mike Rix (who has about four more toms in his rack-mounted kit than he needs for doom) make for a killer rhythm section, and Donnelly‘s Ozzy-style antics are well documented and always good for a laugh, but the essential component in Iron Man is Al Morris III, whose sheer presence while he plays guitar makes the whole set. I managed to get video of the opener, “I Have Returned,” which you can see below. Watch his solo and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Amazing.

Iron Man played a new song as well. I didn’t catch the name of it, but it’s good to know they’re working on material for a follow-up to I Have Returned. They were selling the recent Shadow Kingdom reissues of Generation Void, Black Night and The Passage as well, though I don’t know how many people were there who didn’t already have them. They played an 11-song set, which seemed like a bit much, but although it’s three days later and my sleep pattern is still thrown off, I’m not going to say it wasn’t worth the time or effort to get to the show. It was all the more special because of the sparse attendance, and with Las Cruces having come so far, and Iron Man having made the trip from Maryland, it seemed the least I could do to show up. I guarantee whatever else was going on in town that night wasn’t as doomed out as this show was.

Adding to the argument in favor of attendance was not knowing when Las Cruces would be back this way. Iron Man is killer, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve already seen them this year and worse comes to worst, Maryland is only three hours away. San Antonio is a little farther out from Jersey, and since I enjoyed Dusk so much (even the tracks not about wizards of any shape or form), I wanted to be there to support the band. I don’t know if it did them any good in terms of getting gas money to get to the next show, but there you go. Should have been a couple local acts on the bill to round it out and fill up the place, should have been more people there, but it was a killer gig and easily justified the ride down. No complaints out of me.

With Earthride, those who know already know what they’re going to get. Hell, it’s the bands slogan: “Pure Maryland doom for the brotherhood of music,” and if there’s a more accurate for the style in which the four-piece traffics, I’ve yet to hear it. On their third album in eight years, Something Wicked (released through their own Earth Brain Records), Earthride reaffirms their status as one of the most positively toxic stoner doom bands the US has to offer. Led by charismatic frontman Dave Sherman (ex-Spirit Caravan, Wretched), they leave a mark that is unmistakably their own, as though the songs were branding a backpatch onto your forehead.

Groove is central on Something Wicked. In many ways it’s the whole core of Earthride’s sound. Guitarist Kyle Van Steinburg has a tone so Orange you can’t rhyme with it, and the rhythm section of drummer Eric Little and bassist Rob Hampshire (Nitroseed) do an excellent job rounding out the material and evoking an even thicker, more viscous sound on tracks like opener “Something Wicked” and “Hacksaw Eyeball.” This is nothing new, but not everything is business as usual for Earthride, as Something Wicked finds Sherman trying out some new approaches vocally – growling occasionally and seeming to collapse into a melodic kind of yowl not too distant from Wino or Phil Anselmo’s on the last Down album, but frankly, more suited to what Earthride are doing song-wise.

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Guitarist/vocalist John Brenner of Maryland outfits Against Nature and Revelation has probably the “healthiest” work ethic I’ve ever encountered when it comes to recording, and by “healthy,” I mean obsessive. Since 2005, Against Nature has put out no fewer than 14 records, and it always feels like the next one isn’t far off — because it isn’t. A little while ago, I reviewed Chasing Eagles, only to find out that Cross Street would be arriving shortly, with Stone over Stone due up thereafter.

They’re a lot to keep up with for sure. Releasing albums through their own Bland Hand Records imprint with art by Brenner himself, Against Nature is the vehicle by which Brenner, bassist Bert Hall, Jr. and drummer Steve Branagan explore their more rocking influences, from the early prog of Rush to the swaggering boogie of Humble Pie. When it comes time to doom out, the same lineup performs as Revelation, which has been active in one incarnation or another since 1986, and in the last two years put out albums through labels such as Japan‘s Leaf Hound, Germany‘s The Church Within, and Pittsburgh‘s Shadow Kingdom.

If two constantly expanding discographies wasn’t enough, Brenner is also partially responsible for the Born to be Doomed festival, which this year featured Revelation alongside acts like Apostle of Solitude, Black Pyramid and Blood Farmers on July 2 and 3, with Against Nature headlining a warm-up show the night before. It was on the first day of the festival that I called for the following interview, and found Brenner, unsurprisingly, to be moving quickly from one thing to the next.

In the conversation after the jump, John Brenner discusses the differences between Revelation and Against Nature, how one band grew out of the other, his writing methods and how he is able to maintain such a prolific level of output. I found him to be friendly, engaging and completely unpretentious. I hope you enjoy our conversation as much as I did. Read more »