The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 90

Posted in Radio on August 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

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I don’t remember the last time I did three voice breaks on a show, and while I’m of the general opinion that the less the universe hears my voice the better off said universe will likely be for not having heard me invariably say something stupid, I did turn in three VTs for this episode. Truth is I’ve been pretty dug in as regards this show — music, music, music — and I think that’s a winning philosophy for life in general, if one that doesn’t necessarily take advantage of the full potentialities of radio as a format. Gimme Metal have been kind enough to let me do 90 episodes (so far!) of this show. Making some effort to meet that audience halfway seems like the least my contrarian ass can do.

Maybe that’s just me getting old. Whatever. I sucked at being young anyway.

Further to that “making an effort thing,” I’ve tried last episode and this one specifically to include a few staples of stoner/heavy/doom/psych/whatever that even if people don’t know hopefully they can latch onto. Last ep started with Acid King, this one leads with Goatsnake. There’s Black Sabbath, Stoned Jesus, Sungrazer along the way before the playlist really digs into new stuff. And even some of that — My Sleeping Karma, Abrams, Elephant Tree — is from known parties. I don’t know. I’m trying my best here. I was happy to include the Guhts song that premiered, and CB3 finally putting out “To Space and Away” from their new record is a gift. This won’t be the last time I play that song, I’m sure.

Thanks if you listen and thanks for reading.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 08.05.22 (VT = voice track)

Goatsnake What Love Remains I
Foehammer Recurring Grave Second Sight
VT
Elephant Tree Sails Track-by-Track
Abrams Like Hell In the Dark
Stoned Jesus I’m the Mountain Seven Thunders Roar
My Sleeping Karma Avatara Atma
Guhts Burn My Body Burn My Body
VT
Black Sabbath Into the Void Master of Reality
Sungrazer Goldstrike Mirador
Sons of Arrakis The Black Mirror Volume 1
All Souls I Dream Ghosts Among Us
Sleestak Northwoods Harbinger
Deadly Vipers Big Empty Low City Drone
CB3 To Space and Away Exploration
VT
Obscure Supersession Collective Auroral Purposes I Obscure Supersession Collective
(If needed) Psychlona El Tolvanera Palo Verde

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is Aug. 19 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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Goatsnake Debut Album I Vinyl Reissue Coming Aug. 29

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 24th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

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Reissue of Goatsnake‘s debut album? Fair enough. I’m not sure if 1999’s I (discussed here) should ever be allowed to drop out of print, but if it has, I’m definitely not about to blame Southern Lord for giving it another pressing. And t-shirts too for those who like to dress the part. Of doom.

The record itself is one you kind of have to throw up your hands with. Like, “well yeah, I guess is one of the best heavy rock albums ever made,” and sure enough, it is. Goatsnake came back to release Black Age Blues (review here) and didn’t get nearly the love they deserved for that one, which pretty much continues the thread of their entire career. They were always a cult band. Still are. They’re also on my see-live bucket list, as I’ve never had the pleasure.

But I’ll tell you, if I’m walking down the street, and you’re coming the other way wearing a Goatsnake t-shirt, I know we’re already friends. They’re that kind of band.

Info and preorder link from the PR wire:

goatsnake i

SOUTHERN LORD ANNOUNCES THE VINYL RELEASE OF GOATSNAKE’S DEBUT ALBUM, 1, AVAILABLE ON VINYL ON 29TH AUGUST

(ORIGINALLY RELEASED IN 1999 ON CD/LP BY MAN’S RUIN)

PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE ONLINE NOW: https://southernlordeurope.com/store/goatsnake-1/ and https://goatsnakesl.bandcamp.com/merch

Formed in 1996, Goatsnake was an ultra-heavy, blues-doom powerhouse consisting of guitarist Greg Anderson (Engine Kid), vocalist Pete Stahl (Scream, Wool) and the mega rhythm section of Greg Rogers (drums), Guy Pinhas (bass) from underground heavy legends The Obsessed. The band’s tenure has ebbed and flowed for over two decades, leaving behind a legacy of legendary live shows and classic albums and EP’s.

Goatsnake’s classic debut album— appropriately entitled 1 (one)— was originally released by Man’s Ruin Records in 1999 on CD and LP formats. The album featured 8 songs that gracefully combined monolithic, Sabbath-y riffs with soulful vocals to create a monumental introduction to the band, and a style that would be influential for years to come. Southern Lord went on to re-release 1 on double LP format with Goatsnake’s Dog Days EP + bonus tracks as its B-side in 2004, which is long out of print on vinyl (available on CD/Digital).

On August 29th, 2022, Southern Lord will release 1 as a standalone LP. Vinyl (colour + black formats) will feature the 8 original tracks as they initially appeared on CD as a permanent essential vinyl classic of the Southern Lord vinyl back catalogue.

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Goatsnake, I (2022 Reissue)

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 83

Posted in Radio on April 29th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

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This isn’t the first time I’ve done this — an all-request show — but I’m especially happy to have put word out for people to pick tunes in this instance, because look at that middle block of songs! It’s like a guided tour through classic stoner rock. Not Slomosa so much, though they certainly emphasize the enduring influence of ’90s and ’00s heavy rock on new bands — or Circle, who end that block in avant-sludge fashion, but the rest of it is right in there. Unida. Goatsnake, Astroqueen. Lowrider. Acrimony. I’ll say them again. Acrimony. Even newer Bitchwax. I could’ve put Spirit Caravan in there as well, I guess, but I like the way this one flows as is, and you can see, they all came by request.

Some were just bands — play Slomosa, etc. — but some were specific to the songs included here. Playing Tin House and Funkadelic back to back is my idea of a good time. See also Lowrider and Goatsnake. I was thinking I might do blurbs in the Gimme chat for these bands while the show’s on. The last episode was pretty dead — I think it was also Good Friday? so maybe that had something to do with it — but just to help people kind of understand some of the context here, because I’m guessing that the more headbangerly contingent is going to see stuff like 500 Ft. of Pipe and not know what the hell is going on. Fair enough.

I may do that, I may not have the energy later today. I’ll be around in any case. Come say hi.

Thanks if you listen, thanks if you’re reading. Thanks in general.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at: http://gimmemetal.com.

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 04.29.22

Blackfinger Waiting for the Sun (for Abraham Ram) When Colors Fade Away
Tenebra Moon Maiden (for Marco Gargiulo) Moongazer
Telekinetic Yeti Ancient Nug (for Matthew Parness) Primordial
Spirit Caravan Fang (for Tim Waits) Jug Fulla Sun
VT
Slomosa On and Beyond (for Steve Janiak) Slomosa
Lowrider Convoy V (for Rob Godfrey) Ode to Io
Goatsnake Black Cat Bone (for Sven Mueller) Trampled Under Hoof
Astroqueen Tidal Wave (for Max Mountain) The 2003 Sessions EP
Unida Wet Pussycat (for Rob Godfrey) The Best of Wayne-Gro
Acrimony Hymns to the Stone (for El Pez) Tumuli Shroomaroom
Sheavy Savannah (for Darryl Felstead) The Electric Sleep
500 Ft. of Pipe 77 Burnout (for El Pez) Dope Deal
The Atomic Bitchwax Easy Action (for Mark Richard) Scorpio
Circle Rakkauta al Dente (for Amy Johnson) Terminal
VT
Wartime Under Your Light (for Juan Lopez) Volumen II
King Woman Golgotha (for Caleb Dub) Celestial Blues
Achachak Celebration for the Desert (for Mile Mijac) Planet Hashish
Funkadelic Qualify and Satisfy (for Scott Hamilton) Funkadelic
Tin House Be Good and Be Kind (for Cheri Pi) Tin House

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is May 13 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal Playlist: Episode 58

Posted in Radio on April 30th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

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I’m trying to break my own rules a little bit. Every now and again, it’s a decent exercise to try to change things up. I kind of did the same last ep, by starting out with a bunch of classic doom. There’s still a lot of new music here — the Snail is out today, and that and The Black Heart Death Cult and Howling Giant are all new too, as well as the Conclave, PapirWitchrot and, relatively speaking, Dopelord. So yeah, plenty of new stuff there.

But there were a couple other things I wanted to talk about — PostWax is one, Maryland Doom Fest is another. So you get Dopelord for that, as they were recently announced for PostWax, and SubRosa, whose offshoot The Otolith will also feature in the vinyl subscription service. And in addition to Howling Giant, there’s the block that starts with Conclave you can see in the playlist — YatraMolasses BargeHorseburner and Sasquatch — all of whom have been confirmed for MDDF this Halloween weekend. Sadly not Papir, though that would also rule.

And between those, I guess I just had Goatsnake and Truckfighters on my mind and decided to throw them in. Who’s gonna argue? I suppose I’ll find out in the Gimme chat later on.

Thanks for listening and/or reading. As always, I hope you enjoy.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmemetal.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 04.30.21

Snail Draining White Fractal Altar
The Black Heart Death Cult Goodbye Gatwick Blues Sonic Mantras
Howling Giant Understudy Alteration
VT
Dopelord Dark Coils Reality Dagger
Goatsnake What Love Remains 1
Truckfighters Con of Man Mania
Witchrot Million Shattered Swords Hollow
SubRosa Despair is a Siren For This We Fought the Battle of Ages
VT
Conclave Haggard Dawn of Days
Yatra Blood Will Flow Blood of the Night
Molasses Barge Holding Patterns A Grayer Dawn
Horseburner The Oak The Thief
Sasquatch Just Couldn’t Stand the Weather Maneuvers
VT
Papir 01.20.2020 #3 Jams

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is May 14 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio Playlist: Episode 37

Posted in Radio on June 26th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

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So I guess this is the episode where I play Sleep‘s Dopesmoker in its entirety. I’ve wanted to play a full record for a while now, mostly because that’s how I like listening to stuff at home, so I figured if I’m going to do a thing, I might as well go completely over the top with it, which I’m pretty sure is also what Sleep said when they recorded that album in the first place. Works for me.

Some good new stuff in there too. I like Orsak:Oslo‘s new EP a lot, and that Empress track that premiered here kind of stuck with me. The Kairon: IRSE! is weird and I find that delightful, especially coming out of Slift and Rrrags, both of which have gotten far less coverage around here than they deserve. Kind of a fucked Spring/early Summer. Sorry. Doing my best. And I figured new-ish Goatsnake and new Brimstone Coven were good to lead off. Can’t really miss, right?

But anyway, “Dopesmoker.” It’s fucking “Dopesmoker.” I don’t know if I’ll play other full albums, make it a thing I do on the show, but it was fun this time and that’s good enough for one episode.

The Obelisk Show airs 5PM Eastern today on the Gimme app or at http://gimmeradio.com

Full playlist:

The Obelisk Show – 06.26.20

Goatsnake Breakfast with the King Breakfast with the King b/w Deathwish* 0:04:57
Brimstone Coven The Inferno The Woes of a Mortal World* 0:04:29
Orsak:Oslo 057 Passage Skimmer EP* 0:05:16
Empress Lion’s Blood Premonition* 0:09:39
VOICE TRACK
Rrrags Dark is the Day High Protein* 0:08:01
Slift Lions, Tigers & Bears Ummon* 0:13:18
Kairon: IRSE! An Bat None Polysomn* 0:06:04
VOICE TRACK
Sleep Dopesmoker Dopesmoker 1:03:31

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Metal airs every Friday 5PM Eastern, with replays Sunday at 7PM Eastern. Next new episode is July 9 (subject to change). Thanks for listening if you do.

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Goatsnake Release New Single Breakfast with the King b/w Deathwish

Posted in Whathaveyou on June 22nd, 2020 by JJ Koczan

Granted, I’m perpetually late with news, but while Juneteenth is already past, the money from Goatsnake‘s single, Breakfast with the King b/w Deathwish, still goes to Color of Change. Three dollars doesn’t seem like too much to ask, and yes, I say that as someone who just paid it in order to secure a download for what’s been presented as a limited-time-only release. Though they were previously issued on a special 2LP edition of Goatsnake‘s 2015 album, Black Age Blues (review here), and they come from those same studio sessions — if you were thinking they were brand new, I’m sorry to disappoint; I don’t think we’re getting new Goatsnake anytime soon, though I’d only be happy to be wrong about that — I hadn’t yet heard the hooky “Breakfast with the King” and its speedier counterpart “Deathwish,” so I’m glad for the chance to do so. Some bands, you take it however it comes.

You’ll note the cover art here is similar to Black Age Blues as well. I actually had that album on the other day, apropos of nothing so much as wanting to hear it as it had been a while. Yes, it’s held up to the subsequent half-decade, and yes, I’m still bumming about never having seen Goatsnake live. Like my saggy old-man-ass itself, it is a weight I carry everywhere I go.

With that, to the PR wire:

goatsnake breakfast with the king

GOATSNAKE Issues Two Unreleased Tracks From Black Age Blues Sessions To Benefit The Color Of Change Organization For Juneteenth 2020

Southern California’s GOATSNAKE has unveiled two rare tracks from the recording sessions of their Black Age Blues LP. The band has issued the tracks to raise money for the Color Of Change organization, in conjunction with Bandcamp’s no-fee charity day this week.

The two GOATSNAKE tracks, “Breakfast With the King” and “Deathwish,” are two burners from the Black Age Blues album sessions. They were previously only available as bonus tracks on the double vinyl version of Black Age Blues and have been introduced to the digital realm for the ongoing charity drives the band is supporting for Juneteenth 2020. The songs are only available at Bandcamp for a limited time.

The band writes, “Greetings Goat fiends! We hope all of you are keeping your heads up during these challenging times. We are making available two rare ‘Snake tracks that have not been available digitally until now! Proceeds will be donated to the Color Of Change organization to help further their absolutely vita work they do. Racial justice is an issue for everyone, and we all need to be proactive in working towards the goal of equal justice and fair treatment for everybody.”

Join GOATSNAKE in making a heavy donation to Color Of Change and check out “Breakfast With the King” and “Deathwish” at Bandcamp RIGHT HERE.

GOATSNAKE released their lauded Black Age Blues LP in June of 2015. Featuring guest contributions from David Pajo (Slint, Aerial M, Papa M) and soul vocal trio Dem Preacher’s Daughters and more, the LP was recorded and mixed at Rock Falcon Franklin, Tennessee by Nick Raskulinecz (Queens Of The Stone Age, Foo Fighters, Alice In Chains, Mastodon, Rush) and mastered by Brian Big Bass Gardner (N.W.A., Stevie Wonder, Parliament).

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Goatsnake, Breakfast with the King b/w Deathwish (2020)

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The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio Recap: Episode 09

Posted in Radio on February 4th, 2019 by JJ Koczan

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Good show. I had fun, anyway. I cut the voice breaks for this one while The Patient Mrs. and her mom took The Pecan out to the grocery store, but the breaks nonetheless worked out to be maybe a minute longer than usual and that gave me a little rant time. Right before I played Goatsnake, which was the “new classic” choice cut for this episode, I went off about doing my dishes as rock and roll. As usual with words coming out of my mouth, the idea was kind of half-represented, but what I was talking about was the notion that your love of music should be a part of your life, not something separate from the rest of it. If you love music, it shouldn’t be something you segregate from the rest of who you are — something you sneak off to a dive bar to partake of — it should be a part of your everyday. I cut radio voice breaks while running the dishwasher. It’s a part of who I am.

How fortunate I have this post to explain the half-formed notions I don’t have the wherewithal to properly express vocally. Huzzah.

Anyway, if you got to listen, I tried to set this one up with a good flow from front to back plus a couple stark contrasts in the second hour. The break is between Graven and SubRosa, contrary to what the playlist says, but I liked that transition anyhow, and I think you can see early on that the focus is on some boogie with a sense of atmosphere. I talk up the Green Lung record again, because, well, it’s worth talking up, and dig into a few other things that I think are killer, including that Mount Saturn EP, which is likewise right on. And then I dip back from new music to play SubRosa’s “The Mirror” from their SubDued: Live at Roadburn 2017 release, because it’s a song I sing to The Pecan when I put him down for naps and have just about every day since he was born some 15 months ago. Fun stuff.

If you missed the show, it airs again tomorrow at 9AM Eastern at http://gimmeradio.com

And if you dig this and want to hear more of The Obelisk Show, Gimme of course has their archive set up that you can sign on for at a reasonable price and dig into a bunch of various kinds of metallurgy.

Okay, here’s the playlist. Thanks to reading and/or listening:

The Obelisk Show Ep. 09 – 02.03.19

Straytones Dark Lord Beware, Dark Lord! Here Comes Bell-Man* 0:04:07
Green Lung Let the Devil In Woodland Rites* 0:05:02
BREAK
Geezer Spiral Fires Pt. 1 Spiral Fires* 0:05:50
Seedium Mist Haulers Seedium* 0:09:15
Crypt Trip Wordshot Haze County* 0:04:22
Cloud Catcher Beneath the Steel The Whip EP* 0:04:45
Heavy Feather Waited All My Life Debris & Rubble* 0:03:10
Mount Saturn Dwell Kiss the Ring* 0:07:08
BREAK
Goatsnake Mower I + Dog Days 0:06:05
The Black Heart Death Cult Davidian Beam Dream The Black Heart Death Cult 0:05:50
Crystal Spiders Tigerlily Demo* 0:05:37
Swallow the Sun When a Shadow is Forced into the Light When a Shadow is Forced into the Light* 0:07:26
Graven Backwards to Oblivion Heirs of Discord* 0:06:15
SubRosa The Mirror SubDued: Live at Roadburn 0:04:43
BREAK
Electric Octopus Mouseangelo Smile* 0:12:58
Tia Carrera Early Purple Visitors/Early Purple* 0:16:28

The Obelisk Show on Gimme Radio airs every other Sunday night at 7PM Eastern, with replays the following Tuesday at 9AM. Next show is Feb. 17. Thanks for listening if you do.

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Friday Full-Length: Goatsnake, Trampled Under Hoof

Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 20th, 2017 by JJ Koczan

Goatsnake, Trampled Under Hoof (2004)

There’s a lot to like about Goatsnake‘s 2004 EP, Trampled Under Hoof, right? It’s not like the idea of, ‘Hey, here are some Goatsnake tracks’ needs much salesmanship. They do a lot of that work themselves just by being what they are. But this release particularly, from its goatly Stephen O’Malley cover art to its release on Southern Lord to the fact that the CD refers to the earlier-recorded covers of Saint Vitus and Black Oak Arkansas as a “goat bonus” to the fact that founding the founding duo of vocalist Pete Stahl and guitarist Greg Anderson brought in Scott Reeder to play bass, holds a multifaceted appeal. One thing I’ve always particularly enjoyed about it is that it essentially tells the story of the band twice; once with its three original songs, and then again with the two aforementioned cover tracks. As much as one thinks of massive, roll-grooving bluesy riffs, tonal density and soul when one thinks of Goatsnake, efficiency rarely comes to mind as a central notion of how they functioned, yet Trampled Under Hoof — produced as ever by Matthias Schneeberger — is in and out in 31 minutes, and more than two of those are silence after the end of “Junior’s Jam,” so it turns out to be pretty neatly packed.

What I mean by telling the same story twice though is that if you listen to the three goat-riginals (just trying to keep the theme) in “Portraits of Pain,” “Black Cat Bone” and “Junior’s Jam,” they encapsulate an awful lot about what made the band’s two full-lengths, 1999’s I (discussed here) and 2000’s Flower of Disease (discussed here), so righteous. They take the stoner ideology of the Man’s Ruin Records era in which they arrived and were released as part of, and crush it into a mid-paced nod on the seven-minute opener, with Anderson‘s tone molasses-thick and Stahl‘s voice molasses-sweet atop the crashing cymbal work of drummer John-Robert Conners, then also of Cave In. Of course, having the bassist role previously held by Guy Pinhas (also Acid King, ex-The Obsessed) and G. Stuart Dahlquist (ex-Burning Witch) filled by Reeder, already worthy of legend at that point with stints in The ObsessedKyuss and Unida to his credit — he was pretty fresh off the latter when he got hooked up with Anderson and Stahl, if they weren’t still going — wasn’t going to hurt when it came to tone or performance either, but “Portraits of Pain” is pure Goatsnake as it lumbers and rumbles to its finish ahead of the 2:53 “Black Cat Bone,” a faster boogie blues no less for density than the track before it, but moving in a way that still shows the rock side of what Goatsnake were able to bring to bear in their sound. In other words, it wasn’t just all about nod — they could also let loose and fire off a track with a real sense of propulsion behind it.

This notion hits with immediate contrast in “Junior’s Jam,” which seems to start off referencing Black Sabbath‘s “The Wizard” with its echoing harmonica before unfurling its suitably Iommic doomly plod. Stahl‘s harmonica returns later to draw emphasis to a bluesy feel, but only after “Junior’s Jam” shifts fluidly from its slow start to a more uptempo hook, drawing from some of the same swinging impulse as “Black Cat Bone” before it, but even catchier as Stahl repeats the line “Which way world” and then shoves into a secondary chorus as a bridge before rounding out with one more hook and that harmonica return, which comes back and ends the song on a note of humor, sounding almost like a chicken as a dog barks in the background and the band laughs in the studio and someone says, “I like it.” One wonders if that’s the session that took place at Reeder‘s The Sanctuary studio, as the bassist also had a hand in recording vocals and mixing, but it’s hard to know either way without asking, and frankly, that seems like kind of a random and/or creepy question to drop on the band some 13 years after the fact. In either case, that track is the final original inclusion on Trampled Under Hoof and only paints a more complete portrait of the cross-subgenre appeal of the band between its doom, classic boogie, offbeat weirdness and thorough, defining sense of heft.

All of which show up again as Goatsnake take on Saint Vitus and Black Oak Arkansas in immediate succession. The covers, originally recorded in 1999, seem like a purposeful pairing for what they say about the band’s influences in classic doom and heavy rock, and the post-Sabbath edge Goatsnake give to “Burial at Sea,” with the whispers in the verse and Stahl‘s drawling lines, makes it all the more fitting, where the sample that starts out “Hot Rod,” talking about guitarist Shawn Lane joining the Southern rock outfit and telling a story that basically ends in a threat of a beating from some cops, pulls the listener all the more into Goatsnake‘s world. After that spoken immersion, the song itself is almost an afterthought, but like “Black Cat Bone,” “Junior’s Jam,” or indeed the post-tempo change charge of “Burial at Sea,” it highlights the rocking aspects of Goatsnake with clarity in its purpose and a bizarre vibe that, once again, efficiently captures a crucial piece of what made Goatsnake such a special band.

Aside from the I + Dog Days comp/reissue that Southern Lord also put out in 2004, Trampled Under Hoof was the last Goatsnake offering to be issued until the band’s 2015 Black Age Blues (review here) comeback full-length, manifested some five years after their reunion officially started and perhaps too late to give them the momentum they seemed to desire from it. I’ll still happily maintain that record was easily among 2015’s best, however, and of a quality easily worth consideration among its two predecessors in Goatsnake‘s LP catalog as well as Trampled Under Hoof before it. Just a killer, killer album. Strange to think of Goatsnake, who’ve influenced heavy rock bands across the planet for going on two decades, as winding up putting out an LP that could be thought of as underrated, but there you go. Somehow it’s just strange enough to be fitting for them. Nonetheless, like everything they’ve ever done, it was a beast. “Jimi’s Gone,” man. “House of the Moon.” “Grandpa Jones.” So right on. Guess I know what I’m putting on next.

Hope you enjoy Trampled Under Hoof. Thanks for reading.

I’ve been asked a couple times in the last 24-36 hours and nope, no baby yet. The Patient Mrs. is living up to her name, and it would seem The Pecan is exercising some free will early in setting his own schedule. Yesterday was my birthday (I’m 36 years old: wa. fucking. hoo.), so we kind of had our fingers crossed he’d show up and give me an excuse never to have to “celebrate” that again — which, rest assured, I’d relish, because I fucking hate my birthday; like I need a reminder of how utterly useless I’ve been over the passage of time — but no dice. Dude can make an appearance at his leisure at this point and it’s fine by me, though for the general morale level in the house, sooner might be better.

We’ll get there.

That’s pretty much what it’s been this week. Writing and waiting. Texts from my family: “Any update?” “Yeah, she had the kid on the can like those reality shows where the ladies don’t know they’re pregnant. We were gonna put it on Facebook, just haven’t gotten there yet — you know, placenta and all.”

That’s a lot to put in a text, so I’ve just gone with “nope.” Keep it simple.

Here’s what’s in store for next week, subject to change blah blah:

SOMETIME NEXT WEEK: Baby.
Mon.: Tuber review, video premiere for Weed Priest.
Tue.: Oresund Space Collective review, video premiere for Doomstress.
Wed.: Mirror Queen album stream/review.
Thu.: Monolord review.
Fri.: Cities of Mars review.

Built in some flex toward the end of the week there for obvious reasons, but that’s what I’m rolling with for now. We’ll see how it works out.

In the meantime, the plan for this weekend is to read, spend as little time as possible on social media, buy some coffee, watch the Yankees hopefully make their way into the World Series to face the Dodgers — I think they can take them; Kershaw’s due to choke — and try to get my head around to not being such a miserable bastard before this baby comes so that the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes isn’t my stupid, ugly, old, frowning useless fucking face.

Ugh. Obviously I have some work to do. Also, at the risk of telling you way more than I’m comfortable with about myself and how I operate, I haven’t eaten anything not made of protein powder in like two days and I’m not sure when I’m going to let myself do so again. While we’re being honest: Fuck everything. I hope my fucking organs shut down one by one. I want to be obliterated. So far it’s not working.

Piss piss piss.

Have a great and safe weekend. I’m gonna go read Star Trek books, listen to more Goatsnake, not eat and wait for baseball to come on. Because life.

Please don’t forget to check out the forum and radio stream.

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