The band’s original 1998 swansong, …At a Loss can be taken two ways when put in the context of Buzzov*en’s catalog as a whole. On the one hand, it’s the Wilmington, North Carolina, outfit’s most coherent offering in terms of songcraft, use of structure, and general self-awareness. By 1998, there may not have been nearly as many practitioners of it as there are today, but there was a set of sludge acts from across the US – Bongzilla and Eyehategod come to mind as contemporaries – and Buzzov*en were always intelligent enough to understand what was happening around them, as they were constantly on tour. So it’s a record with a place and a defined direction. On the other hand, with that, you necessarily lose the chaos of Buzzov*en’s earlier work in albums like To a Frown (1993) and Sore (1994), which had a fuck-all throwaway feel that simply can’t be replicated by anyone who knows what they’re doing without sounding contrived on some level. What’s certain in listening to …At a Loss is that Buzzov*en did pill-popping misanthropy like no one either in the American South or anywhere else. Even as what’s ostensibly their most accessible album, …At a Loss is a litmus test for how much aural hatred a person can withstand before pressing stop.

Given new life with a recent reissue thanks to Michigan imprint Emetic Records, every second of …At a Loss feels saturated with anger. It’s a humid, swampy sound to start with, and Buzzov*en revel in it across songs like the ultra-slow “Loricet,” the blastingly punkish “Flow,” which follows immediately, and the opening title-track, which begins the album with a sample of Robert Di Niro from Taxi Driver giving the “Someday a real rain’s gonna come…” monologue like it’s a mission statement for …At a Loss itself. The samples – an integral part of Buzzov*en’s assault – were handled at last by T-Roy Medlin, who had already by then formed Sourvein, and though that inevitably dates the record in the context of how overused sampling became in sludge, doom and stoner rock, it’s important to remember how pioneering Buzzov*en were in the method and that their doing so involved tapes and not laptops. I don’t know if that makes a difference in how most ears will hear …At a Loss 13 years after the fact, but the context is worth considering one way or the other.

Read more »

North Carolinian sludge innovators Buzzov*en have hit it pretty hard since getting back together earlier this year, and in addition to a confirmed appearance for next year’s Roadburn festival, they’ve just announced the below February tour with Virginian riff-worship upstarts Cough. It’s a pretty good pairing, you know, if you like stuff that’s ridiculously heavy and pissed off.

The PR wire has the scoop:

Continuing to devastate America one tour at a time, sludgemongers Buzzov•en today announce their third tour installment since reuniting early in the year. Hitting all new markets throughout the Southern and Southeastern US this time, the band will hit the old dusty trail again in early February with Virginia‘s sludgesters Cough providing direct support. Confirmed appearances on this newly-announced rampage are as follows:

Buzzov•en /Cough Winter 2011 Tour:
2/04 Ground Zero Spartanburg, SC
2/05 The Jinx Savannah, GA
2/07 Siberia New Orleans, LA
2/08 Walters on Washington Houston, TX
2/09 Trees Dallas, TX
2/10 Downtown Music Little Rock, AR
2/11 Hi Tone Memphis, TN
2/13 Southgate House Newport, KY
2/15 Canal Club Richmond, VA
2/16 Casbah Durham, NC

December is cold and shitty here in the Northeast. It used to snow, but now that holds off till January or February for the most part, and December is just wet, cold and gross. No fun at all. What would be fun is seeing Buzzov*en, but they’re playing it smart and heading to the West Coast of the US, where from what I understand life is nothing but bikinis and hoverboards 365 days a year. Congratulations on the wise decisionmaking.

The PR wire has the info:

Following a successful five-date tour this past October, which officially marked their first live performances in 12 years, North Carolina sludge merchants Buzzov*en will take their notoriously raw, crushing live act to the West Coast this December! Kicking off on December 13th, the band is dragging out an incredible set list from the arsenal of brooding, scathing recordings they’ve amassed over the years.

Buzzov*en Dec. 2010 West Coast Tour:
12/13 The Ruby Room – San Diego, CA
12/14 Ultra Violet – Los Angeles, CA
12/15 DNA Lounge – San Francisco, CA
12/16 Dante’s – Portland, OR
12/17 Funhouse – Seattle, WA
12/19 3 Kings Tavern – Denver, CO

As with the successful October tour dates, the band’s reunited 1998 At a Loss LP lineup of Kirk Fisher on guitar and vocals, “Dixie” Dave Collins (Weedeater) on bass and vocals, and Ramzi Ateyeh (Sourvein) on drums, now also includes Sleepy Floyd (also of Sourvein) on second guitar.

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.

Read more »

News to me they were reuniting at all, but Kirk Fisher of North Carolina sludgers Buzzov*en issued an update in April and there were recently some tour dates posted, so it’s on. Can a Buzzov*en reunion ever live up to the chaos and volatility that has by now become the legend of their shows? I suppose we’ll all have to find out together.

Here’s the news from Fisher (who these days goes by Kirk Lloyd) and the dates, as found on the Tone Deaf Touring site:

So as time flies by as it does so often these days we are coming closer to the preparation of the upcoming US tour this fall. Guitar player from the EP The Gospel According to… Craig Baker recently appeared after I had presumed him dead or lost for good and it’s possible he may be playing on the Fall gigs. At a Loss is almost ready to hit the shelves again but this time with the addition of vinyl. Emetic Records is reissuing it. And on another note Hydra Head Records is finally gonna officially release Revelation:Sick again hopefully by the time we do our first shows in September. Things are coming together and I will also be doing some k.lloyd shows during some of these outings with Buzzov*en so stay tuned as dates should be announced here very soon. Also new merch is coming under a new merch company run by us. This should be up and new designs available within the next month or so. Thanks to everyone for their support and I’m hoping to see all of you this fall out on the road. Later, Kirk Lloyd

09/25 Tremont Music Hall, Charlotte NC
09/29 Reggies Rock Club, Chicago IL
09/30 Rocks Off Concert Cruise Aboard the Temptress, New York NY
10/01 Ottobar, Baltimore MD
10/02 Emo’s, Austin TX

I’m willing to wager it’s not homemade chocolate chip cookies, or puppies, or a Thank You card that says “Just Because” on the inside of it. Whatever else they’ve got in their vault, we can only assume it’s ugly, drug-addled and given to physical altercations. Seems to be the way it went with these guys.

They were only together for about a decade, but the chaotic legacy of North Carolinian sludge bastards Buzzov*en endures even as no one since has been able to capture quite the same level of fuck you-itude that seemed to come so naturally from vocalist/guitarist Kirk Fisher and the sundry musicians with which he surrounded himself throughout the band’s tenure. With the new Relapse collection, Violence from the Vault (Alternative Tentacles released the career-spanning Welcome to Violence in 2005), there surfaces five tracks recorded with Billy Anderson in 1995 featuring the same lineup as was on the 1994 Sore full-length.

Some version of “Mainline” was previously released on the 1997 The Gospel According… II EP, and “Nod” appeared on a ’96 split with Sourvein, but “Paintake,” “Breed” and “I Never” seem to have been unearthed for the first time. The sound is raw, with plenty of cassette wobble in “Breed” and a general tin-can feeling throughout, but who ever listened to Buzzov*en for the pristine production value? When I’m waist deep in the nearly 16-minute noise/drone/slow-riff/screaming stretch of “Nod,” clarity of sound is the last thing on my mind. Making it out alive is much more of a primary focus.

Read more »