Always sucks to see a good band go. British post-metallurgists Wiht released their impressive debut, The Harrowing of the North (review here), last year, and here we are just months later and they’ve announced their final show for March. If you missed it, guitarist Chris Wayper and bassist Joe Hall were kind enough to answer Six Dumb Questions back in November, and I was looking forward to hearing what they did next. So it goes.

All the best to Wayper, Hall and drummer Rick Contini in their future endeavors, musical and otherwise. Here’s the post from the band’s Thee Facebooks page:

WIHT – March ’09 – March ’12

It is with sadness and a great sense of pride, that we have decided to call it a day. This is a completely amicable decision and has been made in the best interests of the band. It has come to a point where we are no longer able to progress and take the band further, we feel this band deserves more respect than just to fade away. This simply is an issue of lack of time and funds; two of the three of us now have families and time has become a lot more precious. To progress as a band we need to dedicate a certain amount of time to write and record, let alone gigging and touring. This is why we have decided to call it a day at a point where we feel this is something to be proud of.

To have played and made music in a band comprised of three oldest and best mates for three years has been an absolute pleasure. We feel incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the limited time and resources that we have had. We are not for one moment suggesting this is something exclusive to our band, many bands manage to write, record and tour with limited funds and with children, unfortunately it hasn’t worked for us. 

We would like to thank the following bands and people for your huge support and influence over the years, it wouldn’t have been possible without you. Ross at Ghosttown Studios, Neil Best Edward, Dan at Desertscene Rock, Dave at Future Noise, Chris at Witch Hunter Records, Matthew Lee, Charlie Barnes, Elles, all our friends and family Ceara, Lorna, Bekki, Sydney, Vincent & Oscar. 

Huge shout to the bands we have played with and that have helped us out, Khuda; Wizards Beard, Tree of Sores, A Forest of Stars, Haar, Undersmile, Desert Storm, Conan, Slabdragger, Dead Existence, Lords of Bastard & everyone else that we have had the pleasure of sharing the stage with. 

But don’t fret, we have a killer finale for you. Lineup including Khuda, band Tree of Sores on 30th March at Royal Park Cellars, it would be amazing if you could come and send us off Leeds style! 

But before that we will be helping Wizards Beard celebrate their album launch at the same venue on 18th February with some killer bands from around the UK. 

Hails and Ales.

Wiht.

UPDATE: The band has confirmed that their last show will take place as part of the Desertfest in London. The festival’s website had this:

It’s with a mixture of happiness and sadness confirming the mighty Wiht. Clearly we are very happy to have the instrumental three-piece playing at Desertfest, but sadness that this will be their last ever gig. The three-piece grew up together in Kirkstall, Leeds (UK), and out of many a jamming session Wiht was born. If you haven’t listened to these guys before, your in for a treat never sticking to one genre moving around from stoner to psych and even some gloomy doom. They have released a self-titled EP and more recently their debut album, The Harrowing of The North. So DO NOT MISS OUT! on what will be the last time to hear the riffing instrumental wonderment that is Wiht.

Stole this news right from Blabbermouth, and I expect I’m not the only person to do so this afternoon. Wishes for a complete recovery go without saying, and I know that headbangers, riffers and all the other miscreants around the world who’ve been touched by Tony Iommi and Black Sabbath‘s work over the years have the man in their thoughts today.

Legendary Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphocytes, a type of cell that forms part of the immune system.

Iommi, 63, is currently working with his doctors to establish the best treatment plan and remains upbeat and determined to make a full and successful recovery.

This comes as Black Sabbath — Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Bill Ward (drums) — are writing and recording their first album in 33 years in Los Angeles (still set for release this fall) with producer Rick Rubin. They will now go to the UK to continue to work with Tony.

Sorry for the lack of posts today. Last night I got a text informing me of the death of my friend and the most faithful of the NYC faithful, Rock and Roll Gina Brooks. Gina was someone who I met when I was still in college, doing a stoner rock show on college radio. She came to my gigs, she called me while I was on the air. When I started at the Aquarian the first time, she read that. She commented to me about my Metal Maniacs articles, and my reviews here. We hung out at shows. She was one of the most loyal and supportive people I’ve ever met. I gave her absolutely no reason to, and yet she always had faith in me.

This morning was the service, and not wanting to make a show of my grief, I’ll just say that I wasn’t in the headspace for writing and anything I did manage to type up wouldn’t have been focused or fair to whatever I was writing about. Over the weekend, I’ll get my head together and get that Elder interview finally posted, and the November numbers, and maybe one or two news stories that have come in since last night. I don’t even really know, to be honest with you.

And next week we’ll pick back up with reviews. I’ll be at Hull/Eyehategod on Sunday in Brooklyn. I should hopefully have words and pics from that come Monday, and I’ve got a new CD from Aussie heavy psych mavens Looking Glass that’s just begging for a writeup, so that’ll be fit in one way or another. There’s other stuff too, and if I can, I’ll have my interview with Ken-E Bones of Negative Reaction posted. That dude’s always got something to say, so you know it’ll be interesting.

Audio to come as well from a cool sound installation called Sun Boxes, and there always seems to be much more than I can handle going on, but I’ll do my best with it, as always. The semester is winding down now and things are relatively quiet at work, so I hope to be able to have more of a grip on everything. Just not today.

Wherever you are, a great and safe weekend, please. See you on the forum and back here over the next couple days. Until then, the Monster Magnet is for Gina.

It was two years ago today, Oct. 12, that Blue Cheer‘s Dickie Peterson succumbed to liver cancer. I’m not going to write anything grand about the man’s legacy — it speaks for itself — I just thought the occasion was worth marking.

Every time something like this happens, I say the same damn thing: It’s a special kind of asshole who steals shit from a band’s van. Even more so, it’s an even more special asshole who steals the van altogether. Come on, you can’t even carry their stuff off as you take it? You’ve got to get the whole vehicle too? It’s a fucking travesty. The complete inventory of everything taken is here.

My best hopes to recently On the Radar-ized Philly smashers Sadgiqacea that they get their equipment, merch and vehicle back, and that whoever stole it is apprehended and brought to justice. Here’s the news and contact info in case anyone can help, even by sending the band your support or helping spread the word:

Achtung metal legions – we need your help!

Yesterday, Philly doomhaulers Sadgiqacea had their tour van parked on 13th and Carpenter in South Philadelphia when it was stolen around the hours of 12-7PM. Everything they owned was in the van, including all of their merch and gear. Total estimated loss of gear and merch is about $8,500. This duo is one of the hardest-working bands to ever come out of the (215), and are amazingly talented musicians on top of being genuinely sweet, good-hearted guys. This couldn’t have happened to two less deserving people. If you’re located in or around the Tri-State area (PA/NJ/DE and NY) please keep your eyes peeled, and get in touch if you hear or see anything.

Contact email is
sadgiqacea@yahoo.com

Facebook
http://facebook.com/sadjuhkaysha

Solace died as they lived: Drunk.

After releasing the best album I heard in 2010, the long-awaited A.D., my favorite Garden State doom rockers have decided to pack it in. They were slated to share a bill this coming Saturday at the Double Door in Chicago with Buried at Sea, Bible of the Devil and their longtime compatriots in Orange Goblin, but now not only is that off, but the band seems to be officially defunct.

Guitarist Tommy Southard was succinct in confirming the news on the forum this morning. He had this to say:

shitty….

solace has never “broken up” before…. been inactive, yes. it’s been a bumpy ride. no doubt.

thanks to those that supported us over the last 15 years. all others can fuck off…

Likewise, the band’s Thee Facebook page simply stated:

Solace is closed for business. We may or may not re-open…

Thanks for all your support!

In this age of breakups and reunions, that they’d leave the possibility of doing more as Solace open is encouraging (and more honest than most), but even if this is it for the band, their 15-year run speaks for itself. Three quality records in the shape of 2000′s Further, 2003′s 13 and 2010′s A.D., numerous EPs and DVDs and, most importantly, the ability to blow just about everyone they played with right off the stage. I don’t even know how many nights they were the highlight of for me, but yeah, they’ll be missed.

Ronnie James Dio, July 10, 1942-May 16, 2010

Rockin’ this again today in your honor. Hard to believe a year went so quick, but I guess that’s what years do.

…And we’re back. Forums up up and running again: http://theobelisk.net/forum

PLEASE NOTE: The forums have reverted to what was there this past Tuesday. That was the last working backup Yahoo could restore. If you’re one of the 30 or so people who signed up in the meantime, I’m sorry, and I humbly ask that you re-register. I hope you will.

I’ve been asked how do I know this won’t happen again. I’m taking steps to see that it doesn’t. I’ll be investigating switching hosts for the site this week. I don’t think it was hacked. After going through all the errors and everything, it seems like it’s just your basic internet bullshit.

Thanks as always to Slevin for his help in putting everything back together. We may include some upgrades to the boards (I’m pulling for a live chat room) as well, but we wanted to get everything back up and running first, and it looks like that’s been done. Your patience is appreciated.

As someone who has continually used StonerRock.com not just as a place to put reviews and promote this site, but also as a way of finding new bands and discovering things I may have missed, learning more about this genre, the news today that the site is down for good hits almost too hard to put into words. Thank you to Dan and Melanie for your years of service to the community and, hell, for being the community. There is a huge void left in the wake of the site, and it’s going to be a long time before anything can take its place.

Amidst the splinter cells of blogs out there (this one included), StonerRock.com was the central location that had the power to bring everyone together. It unified the scene and gave an outlet to both bands and fans that, now, simply doesn’t exist.

Dan and Melanie posted a statement on the site this morning, and it’s with a heavy heart that I reproduce it here:

StonerRock.com R.I.P.
December 15, 1999 – November 29, 2010

On November 29, 2010, the StonerRock.com website was suddenly sucked into the void. We did everything we could do, but it was not possible to save it.

We would like to extend our heartfelt appreciation to the community supporters, forums administrators and content contributors. You can give yourselves a high five for keeping StonerRock.com online for an extra year. Thank you!

We are not revealing any details about what happened because we don’t want to give the perpetrators any satisfaction or notoriety.

From now on we will be 100 percent devoted to our other websites, All That is Heavy and MeteorCity. We hope that you will continue to support us in our continued efforts to bring the rock to the people.

This is our final statement with regards to StonerRock.com and this very difficult situation. Our heads are spinning. We are devastated.

Sincerely and regretfully,
Dan & Melanie

Blabbermouth.net is reporting a statement from Saint Vitus on the passing of original drummer Armando Acosta, who joined the band in 1979 and has had to sit out much of this latest reunion owing to health issues. Acosta, 58, was replaced by Blood of the Sun‘s Henry Vasquez in 2009, and passed away on Thanksgiving, Nov. 25. The band’s statement is reproduced below:

It is with great regret that we announce a great loss to the world of heavy metal with the passing of former Saint Vitus drummer Armando Acosta.

Armando‘s last show with Saint Vitus was April 29, 2009 in Stuttgart, Germany.

Armando had been struggling with health issues over the years but came back into the Vitus fold for one last hurrah by headlining Roadburn in 2009 and playing a handful of European dates directly after the festival.

Henry Vasquez replaced Armando Acosta in 2009, making his debut on the main stage at Hellfest.

The December 2010 Saint Vitus tour will be dedicated to our old friend, Armando Acosta.

R.I.P., brother!!!

The Obelisk sends heartfelt condolences to Acosta‘s friends and family, and to doomers the world over, who know the magnitude of his contribution to heavy metal. He will be missed.

NOTE: This post is going to stay here for a little bit. New ones will appear underneath.

Look. I didn’t know what else to do. I’ll still have a regular May podcast either this week or next, but in honor of the life and career of Ronnie James Dio, I made this too. I didn’t number it because it’s not a regular podcast, and I just thought maybe some of you would get some comfort in listening. It’s 25 songs, two hours long. You can get the file here, click the image above, or stream it below:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

There are some cuts you don’t get on the “greatest hits” stuff that I hope other fans will dig as much as I do. I know this isn’t the kind of thing The Obelisk usually covers, but Dio‘s work meant a lot to me over the years, and if you’re complaining, you’re an asshole.

Apologies for the downtime today and yesterday. Yahoo is fucked, but everything should be back to normal now (if not, please let me know). I’ll do my best to pick up with regular posting tomorrow, but no promises.

Track list for the Dio-cast is after the jump. I hope you enjoy it.

Read more »

There were rumors floating around some last night, but Wendy Dio has now confirmed via Blabbermouth that her husband, LEGENDARY metal vocalist Ronnie James Dio has died of the stomach cancer he’d been battling since winter. As a longtime fan of Dio‘s work, I on behalf of this dinkly little website The Obelisk send condolences to Wendy and others who knew Ronnie in either a personal or professional capacity.

I don’t know what to think and I’d feel dirty editorializing. He was my hero. We knew he was sick and we could extrapolate if we wanted to that it wasn’t going well when Heaven and Hell canceled their touring plans. I didn’t want to extrapolate. I wanted to think he’d beat cancer like it was a giant rubber dragon in 1983 and be back putting out Magica II and III in no time.

Mourning later. Music now.

Just one month after it was announced that frontman Ben Ward was leaving Ravens Creed, in a statement directed solely to me, UK thunderdoomers Orange Goblin said the following:

“Oye! I bet you’d like us to go ahead and put out a bloody new album so you could review it and talk about how fucking awesome we are. Well, fuck off, mate. We’re not gonna put out a fucking record this year. In fact, we might not ever put out a new album at all. What about that, eh? Ah, bugger off, you bloody tosser…” [At this point the statement devolved into a long series of specifically British insults that it would be pointless for me to print since no one would understand them.]

Yes. That definitely happened. Or, they said this:

With everybody’s commitments to work, family and other things, we have decided that it is best that we do not commit to any deadline for the next album as we wouldn’t want to rush and deliver a record that we are not 100 percent happy with. Songwriting will continue as and when we can, but we honestly couldn’t say when we will be ready to go into the studio to record again. It will definitely NOT be in 2010. Please rest assured that it will happen, but sometimes it is better to stop and think of what is best for Orange Goblin as a band!

I’ll leave it up to you to decide which one’s more plausible. Any way you slice it you don’t get an Orange Goblin record, so knock yourself out.

…Just because I have. Yet again I’ve fucking failed to grab the code to stream a song from Spin and put it on this site. This time it’s the title track to the new High on Fire record, Snakes for the Divine. Pleh. Download it here, along with some nifty Jay Reatard and MC Frontalot, whoever the hell they are.

Not much for obits, but let’s give this a shot:

Yes, we all rejoiced seeing him stroll down the lane each year at the Academy Awards, the Grammys and sometimes even those pesky Golden Globes, but alas, author J.D. Salinger, who so loved the limelight, is dead today at 91. Much like after the 2009 passing of Michael Jackson, his fans have lined the streets of Los Angeles in poorly-printed bootleg t-shirts bearing his image, and there seems to be no end to the public grieving in sight.

In all seriousness, I’ll say this for the guy: J.D. Salinger totally hated your guts. He didn’t even know you. In fact, in all likelihood he hated you before you were born, and he hated your parents too. And he meant it. A genuine American misanthrope in the 20th Century; the age of ever-increasing access and he wouldn’t have it. I guess that’s admirable. Much as anything, anyhow.

And where would we all have been without his most famous work, 1951’s The Catcher in the Rye, to validate all our directionless teenage angst and ennui? To tell us who “the phonies” were and who were the real people? Certainly we were all made real by Holden Caulfield, and you can be sure that had the book never existed and someone actually come along to tell us that, at 15 years old, we weren’t the center of the universe and that whatever trivial emotional turbulences we were experiencing amounted to less than nothing on the scale of human suffering, we wouldn’t have believed them anyway. With Catcher in the Rye, we didn’t even have to pretend to buy it. We really were the center of the universe.

Salinger so loved and understood teenagers, in fact, that at 35 he married one. In strict defiance of the “half your age plus seven” rule and in what can only be called his “living the dream” phase, he rejected the fame and literary praise being heaped on him, took a 19-year-old bride and lived as a recluse for the rest of his days (not that the marriage lasted that long). A quick question: would you ever leave the house if you were 35 and newly wedded to someone 16 years your junior? Seclusion seems an immediately more logical option.

The good news in all of this is now his offspring can plunder through the reported 15 completed manuscripts he left behind and sell the movie rights for his life at top dollar to Paramount (I think Ben Affleck would be perfect for the role, don’t you?), pissing all over his legacy, yes, but breathing much needed new life into freshman high school curricula everywhere. Jerome David Salinger: you will be missed?