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.

As one of the foremost originators in American doom, a huge supporter of Texas heavy metal and the dude who’s going to put out the record on his Brainticket Records label, it’s maybe not so much of a surprise that John Perez would show up on Sine Qua Non, the new album from Dallas‘ Elliott’s Keep. Nonetheless, it’s happy news, and as Elliott’s Keep guitarist Jonathan Bates informs, progress on the album is moving right along.

He sends along the following:

John Perez, doom lord of Solitude Aeturnus, has recorded a guitar solo for the new Elliott’s Keep album, Sine Qua Non. Sunday, John joined us at Nomad Studios, where we have been tracking the new record, to lay down a solo on the song “Shades of Disgrace.”

As an update about the recording of Sine Qua Non, with the completion of the bass tracking Sunday, all of the music has been recorded. Vocal tracking will get underway in a series of sessions which should commence in a week or so.

May 31 is Memorial Day, and there’s no better time for Dallas doomers Elliott’s Keep to commence the recording of their new album. After all, the band is named in honor of fallen comrade Glenn Riley Elliott, and their particular brand of doom is certainly in homage to the riffers of yore, so while it’s not exactly the jingoism the US government had in mind when they gave everyone that Monday off, it still works.

Guitarist Jonathan sent a note via the rarely-used ObeliskSpace to give the following update:

Just sending a shout out to update you regarding our band. We are headed back to Nomad Studios to record our next album, Sine Qua Non. The title is Latin again and translates to “Without this, Nothing,” as in — without this part of my life the rest would be meaningless. The album will include eight songs and should come in just over 60 minutes.

We will begin recording drums Memorial Day weekend and the entire process will likely be spread across three-to-four months because of work commitments and the like. We are working with JT Longoria again. I can’t say enough good things about him.

We were very fired up to see you mention us in a recent entry about Texas bands that should have been playing the Austin festival. That was very cool for us — thanks much!

Next up for us is the Dallas Doom Daze 3 festival [April 16-18 -- ed.] and we are excited to be playing again this year. Should be great fun.

Always, always, always read the liner notes. That’s the message to take from Brainticket’s reissue of Last Chapter’s The Living Waters, which was originally released by the label in 1997. Not only by doing so will you find out that the band almost broke up before putting out their debut album, but you’ll learn a valuable life-lesson that could save you time, money and a lot of frustration down the line.

That lesson? Never have Robert Lowe sing on your demo and expect to find someone that good again.

Last Chapter, based in Arlington, TX, did indeed employ the Solitude Aeturnus vocalist for their original four-track outing in 1993, and it would be another three to four years before they realized that no one else would rate and asked him, with the help of Brainticket head and Solitude Aeturnus guitarist John Perez, to come back and sing on what would become The Living Waters. The way drummer Jason Spradlin tells it in the liner notes, Last Chapter almost broke up from the disappointment of trying to find someone to fill those shoes after the demo. Well of course they did! Basically if you’re not calling up Ronnie James Dio circa 1983 and telling him to come on over, Robert Lowe is as good a metal singer as you’re going to find. In the lineup roster, it lists him as “Honored Guest Vocals.” Damn right.

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As the follow-up to 1998’s Ringmaster, Dusk (Brainticket/Metal Rising), the 2009 offering from San Antonio, Texas, doom bashers Las Cruces, is something of a surprise. Mostly because, since the band more or less called it quits after self-releasing the The Lowest End EP in 2001, there was a good chance we’d have never heard from them again. If for no other reason than because two out of the first three tracks on Dusk have the word “wizard” in their title, that would have been a damn shame.

But not only is Dusk a long time coming in the sense of it being a long time since the band put out their last release, but considering they got back together in 2004 and recorded the album between 2006-2007, it’s been a while on that scale as well. We can only wonder what caused the probably numerous delays that held it back from seeing official release, but finally holding a finished copy of the record, Las Cruces don’t seem to have missed a beat.

Dusk is dudely riffer’s doom. Mark Zamarron, who sings lead vocals on the album (since out of the band) isn’t afraid to let a little classic metal misogyny fly, as “Banished” and “Cocaine Wizard Woman” will attest, but there are souls being burned, Christians being slaughtered and no shortage of blood being spilled otherwise, so I don’t think it’s something particularly against women — they’re just also on the list. If you’ve ever felt like you need a how-to guide for penning heavy metal lyrics, a quick perusal of the Dusk liner notes will do you well.

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Aside from being closest to the valley, Sound Exchange in Wayne on Rt. 23 is one of the few genuine small mom and pop stores left around these parts. I can’t even think of another in North Jersey — maybe that one in Passaic County I can never remember the name of. There used to be Mr. Muck’s right down the road, but that closed a couple years back. And even CD World (owned by FYE) and Coconuts (I think also owned by FYE) on 46 have gone and are going out of business. So really, Sound Exchange is it.

And it’s a record shopper’s store. CDs, vinyl, cassettes, used and new, with some t-shirts and books for good measure. It’s crowded, expertly organized (side-projects next to main outlets; Brant Bjork in with Kyuss, for example), and usually being perused by one or more of the local record store types. You know the type. Anywhere else in the world, they just don’t fit, but flipping the racks, they’re right at home.

Over the years I’ve accrued more buried treasure from Sound Exchange than perhaps any other single physical store, and this time, in addition to the latest Satyricon, I was happy to find used a copy of the 1996 debut full-length from Texas doomers Las Cruces, S.O.L. When last I heard from the band (last year at around this time, actually), they were looking to hook up a release for a new LP, Dusk, through Brainticket. That may not have happened yet, but that doesn’t make S.O.L. any less enjoyable on its own.

Las Cruces was a trio in ’96, consisting of Mark Zammaron on bass and vocals, Michael Hosman on drums and Mark Lopez on guitar. None of them are in the band since the 2005 reunion, and the sonic differences even between S.O.L. and 1998′s Ringmaster are palpable. Ringmaster may have been thicker sounding, but S.O.L. puts an unmistakable Trouble influence to excellent use on straightforward doom cuts “Sophia,” “Valley of Unrest” and “Shotgun.” Lopez‘s guitar is often double-tracked, and though it’s somewhat simplistic, the album is more than welcome to doom its way into my collection. For $6.98, you can’t really go wrong.

Bellowing viscous slabs of meaty stoner riffs and psychedelic itineraries, Dallas trio Wo Fat have little in common with the sly Hawaii 5-0 villain from whom they take their name. Nonetheless, the Brainticketed brainchild of songwriter, guitarist, vocalist and engineer Kent Stump sees the countdown through to zero and blasts strings first into ’70s space like something out of a Monster Magnet video on their second full-length, the aptly journeying Psychedelonaut, turning cuts like “Analog Man” and “Two the Hard Way” into bloozy (we all know which words combine to make that one) anthems of nonconformity and defiance. Floating helpless into the depths of “The Spheres Beyond,” no one can hear you scream for more.

They began their waltz down the riff-hand path with The Gathering Dark, but Psychedelonaut is a next-level effort the dynamism of which is slow to reveal itself and willingly reverential of the lords of both classic guitar muscle-building and any and all waves of stoner rock. You got your Fus all Manchued and your Goblins are all Orange. Amps too on that last one.

Stump‘s adjoining rhythm section, bassist Tim Wilson and drummer Michael Walter, propel the huge side B jam of “Not of this Earth,” making their presence fully known among the blues-becued licks, but it was the guitarist himself who was kind enough to answer some questions via email about the inspirations behind Wo Fat‘s psych turn, whether or not they’re stoner rock and what can be expected from them in the future (hint: it involves vinyl). Interview and some listening music are after the jump.

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If you can?t tell what kind of chicanery Dallas fuzz worshippers Wo Fat are getting up to by the art above and track names like ?The Spheres Beyond? and ?El Culto de la Avaricia,? please check your Kyuss CDs at the door. The Orange amped, moss-covered stoner jams start and don?t stop on their Brainticket debut (second LP overall), Psychedelonaut, a record that begs for the warmth of vinyl like a neglected dog needs water.

The trio make haste with the Captain Beyondisms on the opening title track and offer no let up when it comes to blues riffs and lard-ass grooves. The tones will ring familiar to anyone who?s been around the genre for a while, but growing ever rarer are the American bands playing tried and true stoner music with little pretense of being anything else. It?s hard to hold the simplicity of their sound against them when they perform with such earnestness and dedication to what they do. From ?Enter the Riffian? and the drive down Fu Manchu?s highway on ?Analog Man? — which is literally an ? la Grand Funk proclamation of guitarist/vocalist/principle songwriter/recording engineer Kent Stump?s love of 2? tape — to the us vs. them, Hammond on rye last stand of ?Two the Hard Way,? Wo Fat are crystalline in their drive to make classic, thickly cut, riff-driven rock.

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Elliott’s Keep may not play the most innovative kind of doom, but you have to at very least acknowledge why they’re doing it. The Dallas trio of Ken Aubrey (bass/vocals), Jonathan Briar (guitar) and Joel Oloren (drums) were once part of doom stompers Marauder with Glenn Riley Elliott. When Elliott died in 2004, the three surviving members of Marauder — long since broken up by then — formed Elliott’s Keep in his honor and released their debut, In Medias Res, on John Perez of Solitude Aeturnus‘ Brainticket Records late last year.

Stylistically, they offer bloodied-axe medieval themes and ’90s-esque dark sounds?, throwing the occasional heavier element (like a Sepultura breakdown six minutes into “Iter!”) or growled, snarling vocal into a mostly traditional doom context. They’re not hip and they know it, but they’re not trying to be either, so it works for the duration of the six tracks on In Medias Res. It’s roots doom, but with some more metallic tendencies.

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