I can only think of one kind of person who wouldn’t be excited at the prospect of new material forthcoming from Miami two-piece Holly Hunt, and that kind of person is a straight-up jive turkey. For the rest of us, word of a new single pressed to a 12″ platter is nothing but good news, to be sure. The instrumentalist duo had a glut of releases a couple years back and it was easy to get spoiled, but it’s been a while as we move deeper into 2017, so the arrival of preorders for The Wait / Bowling Green — even at just about seven minutes between them — is fine by me. It’s not an album, but, you know, it’s not nothing either. And it’s been nothing for a while now, so don’t be a jive turkey about it.

Jive turkey.

The May 18 release of The Wait / Bowling Green coincides with the May 20 start of a run up the Eastern Seaboard that Holly Hunt will undertake alongside Crud as the latter make their way to and through Maryland Deathfest 2017 at the end of this month. Dates follow the release info below:

Holly Hunt – S/T 12”

May 18, 2017, Holly Hunt return with a new two-song, self-titled 12” single released by Sonic Titan. Both songs were recorded, mixed and mastered by Rat Bastard at Dan Hosker Studio in Miami Beach. A side, “The Wait” (4:00) is a melodic, melancholic song, and the B side is a heavy rager called “Bowling Green” (3:09). The record will be available through the band’s Bandcamp page, select record stores, as well as on their upcoming tour with Crud May 20th – May 31st.

Drummer Beatriz Monteavaro and guitarist Gavin Perry capture the meditative power of repetition; the ecstatic joy of tempered variation; infinitely undulating riffage; psychedelic drone paired with rock n’ roll rhythm in full splendor. Though stripped down to the most bare essentials, Holly Hunt produces a sound and style far beyond rudimentary tags like “heavy,” “hard,” or “brutal.”

Preorder now at hollyhunt.bandcamp.com
Photo credit: Walter Wlodarczyk.
Front cover illustration by Beatriz Monteavaro.

CRUD and Holly Hunt will be greasing through the East Coast in May. Catch the filth in your city.

5/20 Savannah, GA at The Jinx w/ Gaul
5/21 Raleigh, NC at Slims w/ Gaul*
5/22 Richmond, VA at McCormacks Irish Pub
5/23 Brooklyn, NY at Lucky 13
5/24 Philadelphia, PA at Century Bar
5/25 Baltimore, MD at Maryland Deathfest*
5/26 Columbus, OH at The Summit
5/27 Lexington, KY at The Green Lantern Bar
5/28 Murfreesboro, TN at Autograph Studios
5/29 Asheville, NC at Static Age Records
5/30 Atlanta, GA at The Earl w/ Junior Bruce
5/31 Gainesville, FL The Atlantic w/ Junior Bruce
*CRUD only

https://www.facebook.com/HOLLYHUNT.LTD/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1245418958872759/
https://twitter.com/HollyHunt666
hollyhunt.bandcamp.com

Holly Hunt, “Bill Ward”

Far be it from me to tell you your business, but if you’re not listening to the heaviest thing possible right now, you might want to put on some Holly Hunt. The instrumental Miami two-piece of guitarist Gavin Perry and drummer Beatriz Monteavaro took a minute to confirm upcoming tours with To Live and Shave in LA and Mono, one almost right into the next, and that’s really all the excuse I’ve needed this afternoon to run through their Bandcamp and revel in the crash and tonal overload they proffer like some kind of forklift for riffs.

To wit, their 2014 split with likeminded onslaught specialists Slomatics, which you can hear below. You’re probably well hip to these cats, and that’s cool, but sometimes a reminder is just the thing, and this is hitting the spot for me, so hopefully your experience is similar. Dates, links and audio follow:

To Live And Shave In LA / Holly Hunt – tour 2015
Sat May 23rd – Atlanta @ 529
Sun May 24th – Nashville @ Betty’s
Mon May 25th – Dayton @ Canal Public House
Tue May 26th – Chicago @ CLVBRECTVM
Wed May 27th – Detroit @ Trinosophes
Thu May 28th – Cleveland @ Now Thats Class
Fri May 29th – Rochester @ Monty’s Crown
Sat May 30th – Boston @ Deep Thoughts
Sun May 31st – NYC @ Palisades
Mon Jun 1st – Philadelphia @ Vat
Tue Jun 2nd – Baltimore @ The Bank
Wed Jun 3rd – Richmond @ Auxiliary
Thu Jun 4th – Chapel Hill @ Nightlight

https://www.facebook.com/events/601600923307164/

Mono / Holly Hunt – North American Tour 2015
Jun 9, 2015 | Rock & Roll Hotel | Washington, DC
Jun 10, 2015 | Johnny Brenda’s | Philadelphia, PA
Jun 11, 2015 | The Ballroom at The Outer Space | Hamden, CT
Jun 12, 2015 | LPR – Le Poisson Rouge | New York, NY
Jun 13, 2015 | Middle East Downstairs | Cambridge, MA
Jun 14, 2015 | La Tulipe | Montreal, QC
Jun 15, 2015 | Ritual Nightclub | Ottawa, ON
Jun 16, 2015 | Lee’s Palace | Toronto, ON
Jun 17, 2015 | Majestic Cafe | Detroit, MI
Jun 18, 2015 | Bottom Lounge | Chicago, IL
Jun 19, 2015 | The Rave Bar | Milwaukee, WI
Jun 20, 2015 | Cedar Cultural Center | Minneapolis, MN
Jun 23, 2015 | Wonder Ballroom | Portland, OR
Jun 24, 2015 | Neumos | Seattle, WA
Jun 26, 2015 | The Independent | San Francisco, CA
Jun 27, 2015 | Troubadour | Los Angeles, CA
Jun 28, 2015 | Casbah | San Diego, CA
Jun 29, 2015 | The Crescent Ballroom | Phoenix, AZ
Jul 1, 2015 | Club Dada | Dallas, TX
Jul 2, 2015 | Red 7 | Austin, TX

www.facebook.com/events/1586169138320206/

https://www.facebook.com/HOLLYHUNT.LTD
http://hollyhunt.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/HollyHunt666

Holly Hunt & Slomatics, Split (2014)

I mean, duh, right? This one’s an absolute no brainer. You’ve got Floridian duo Holly Hunt and Northern Irish three-piece Slomatics — both of whom utterly destroy — packed together on a split 7″? AND Holly Hunt‘s song is called “Bill Ward?” It’s like the easiest sell in the world. What more could you possibly ask of heaviness than that?

Fucking Slomatics, man. Every time I hear that band, it’s just a reminder of how much more I need to hear that band. I’m still kicking myself for not having the cash to shell out and purchase a proper CD copy of their Feb. 2014 full-length, Estron — though it’s audible on Bandcamp here — let alone reviewing it. And Holly Hunt released their Prometheus EP this summer on Other Electricities and like everything they’ve done up to now, it just crushes. Good bands pairing up to do cool shit. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Other Electricities will have the split out on Dec. 2 in the US. Black Bow Records — the imprint helmed by Conan guitarist/vocalist Jon Davis — is handling the UK/EU release as well. All parties worthy of support.

Info and audio previews follow. Fucking a:

Slomatics/Holly Hunt – Split 7”

Two sides of heavy from two parts the world! Holly Hunt’s “Bill Ward” on the A side – an authentic testimonial to the duo’s live sound and energy. Slomatics’ “Ulysses, My Father” on the flip – a sludgy sonic tale. Miami meets Belfast, all take cover! Mastered by James Plotkin. Out Dec 2nd via Other Electricities / Sonic TITAN (US) and Black Bow (UK/EU).

Audio previews/artwork:
Holly Hunt – “Bill Ward”
Slomatics – “Ulysses, My Father”

Formed in Belfast late 2004, Slomatics aim to reduce riffs to a primal state of heaviness, to produce music which whilst imploding under its own weight, creates a joyous and euphoric state of wellbeing which can only be obtained with a slew of vintage amplifiers, fuzz pedals, analog synths and an alarming array of percussion instruments. This has endured through UK tours, gigs in Europe, four albums and a mountain of split/vinyl/cassette releases. Showing no signs of slowing down, the band will bring 2014 to a close with a seismic split release with Miami bruisers Holly Hunt. The band’s new lastest album, Estron, was released February 2014 to universal praise, including the Quietus best of 2014 and was nominated for the Northern Ireland Music Prize 2014.

Drummer Beatriz Monteavaro (ex Floor/Cavity) and guitarist Gavin Perry have demonstrated themselves as a loud and lumbering giant of the Miami music scene. The visceral impact of sound – the raising heart rate, neck chills, the warmth spreading throughout your torso – this is Holly Hunt’s raison d’être. Holly Hunt champions heavy metal’s potential to transcend genre and become a physical experience. Though stripped down to the most bare essentials, the duo’s innate technical chops, strong dialogue, and incredibly deep relationship to their gear produces a sound and style far beyond rudimentary tags like “heavy,” “hard,” or “brutal.”

http://hollyhunt.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/HOLLYHUNT.LTD
http://slomatics.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Slomatics/196382747053529
http://other-electricities.com/album/oe040
http://blackbowrecords.bigcartel.com/

Slomatics, “Ulysses, My Father” Preview

Holly Hunt, “Bill Ward” Preview

Click Here to Download

[mp3player width=480 height=150 config=fmp_jw_widget_config.xml playlist=aot36.xml]

It was getting on two in the morning last night and I was yet again trying to figure out how to get the audio editing software I use to make podcasts to work on this laptop. Numerous failed downloads later, I decided screw it, I had nothing to lose, and I zipped up the directory containing the program on my old computer, WeTransfered it to myself, and unzipped it on the newer machine. Frickin’ worked. I couldn’t believe it. Proof that sometimes the stupidest solution of all is the way to go.

This is the first new podcast in a long time, I know. There’s been a lot of really cool stuff coming out in the last few months, but I wanted to still keep it as recent as possible. Some of this is out now and has been for a couple weeks, some of it isn’t out yet. I think it’s a good mix or I wouldn’t have uploaded it, and it gets pretty heavy for a while there, so watch yourself. Figured a good couple of rockers to open wouldn’t meet any complaints either, and hopefully that’s the case. Please enjoy.

First Hour:
Fu Manchu, “Radio Source Sagittarius” from Gigantoid (2014)
Radio Moscow, “Death of a Queen” from Magical Dirt (2014)
Abramis Brama, “Blåa Toner” from Enkel Biljett (2014)
The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic, “Spoonful” from Through the Dark Matter (2014)
Boris, “Heavy Rain” from Noise (2014)
Eyehategod, “Robitussin and Rejection” from Eyehategod (2014)
Serpentine Path, “House of Worship” from Emanations (2014)
Triptykon, “Boleskine House” from Melana Chasmata (2014)
Wovenhand, “Field of Hedon” from Refractory Obdurate (2014)
Been Obscene, “Memories of Salvation” from Unplugged (2014)
1000mods, “Reverb of the New World” from Vultures (2014)
Electric Citizen, “Light Years Beyond” from Ghost of Me b/w Light Years Beyond (2014)

Second Hour:
Mars Red Sky, “The Light Beyond” from Stranded in Arcadia (2014)
Salem’s Pot, “Creep Purple” from Lurar Ut Dig På Prärien (2014)
Black Bombaim, “Arabia” from Far Out (2014)
Dopelord, “Pass the Bong” from Black Arts, Riff Worship and Weed Cult (2014)
Holly Hunt, “Prometheus” from Prometheus (2014)

Total running time: 2:01:21

Thank you for listening.

Download audiObelisk Transmission 036

Having recently had the pleasure of seeing Florida’s Holly Hunt live, their upcoming EP, Prometheus, will arrive all the more anticipated. The Miami-based duo of guitarist Gavin Perry and drummer Beatriz Monteavaro made their intent clear on their Year One debut, embroiled in a sonic demolition of big riffs and big stomp that hopefully continues its tide of destruction on the new release. I’m looking forward to checking it out.

Time and the PR wire shall tell:

Holly Hunt – Prometheus (Other Electricities/Sonic TITAN) Out April 29, 2014

Following their highly lauded full-length album Year One, Holly Hunt returns with a 3-song, 12’’ EP, Prometheus. Recorded by Jonathan Nuñez of Torche and mastered by New Alliance East, the record builds on the two-piece’s reputation for metal that’s crafted with the heaviest alloys, and a most magisterial patterning – the type that drones vehemently and drowns in the blues.

Drummer Beatriz Monteavaro (Floor, Cavity) and guitarist Gavin Perry have demonstrated themselves as a loud and lumbering giant of the Miami music scene. The visceral impact of sound – the raising heart rate, neck chills, the warmth spreading throughout your torso – this is Holly Hunt’s raison d’être. Prometheus manages to transmit an almost perfect rendering, delivering listeners to a heightened physical (and mental and spiritual) state. The record conjures the image of an approaching behemoth, striking paranoia and fear until the final, exhilarating sweep of humanity’s total destruction.

Where Year One established the bedrock of Holly Hunt’s punishing sound, Prometheus thunders with the clarity of a crack of lighting. It establishes a supremely balanced, critical distance between amp worship and riff devotion, rising and falling with ecstatic highs and sublime lows. And while Year One represented the genesis of the band’s existence; Prometheus stands as a churning, threatening hint of things to come.

https://www.facebook.com/HOLLYHUNT.LTD
https://www.facebook.com/SonicTITAN.ltd
http://other-electricities.com/

Holly Hunt, “Meano” from Prometheus (2013)

I have yet to see a show at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston and regret having shown up. At this point, that’s a pretty good track record, since I’ve far and away spent more time in that room than anywhere else since moving north last year. Last night was Holly Hunt and Hollow Leg on tour from Florida, joined by Newport, Rhode Island’s Balam and Boston’s own Ichabod for a persistently heavy but still varied four-band bill of doom and sludge. I’d had no coffee owing to a dentist appointment in the afternoon and have no problem admitting that I’m still reeling from being laid off last week from my last remaining income-providing job, but I was ready to see a show, and I got what I went for, Balam starting off with their well-honed take on doom.

Vocalist Alexander Carellas mentioned on stage that he and a couple others in the double-guitar five-piece were sick, but the band sounded no worse for the wear up to and including his own voice, which had also impressed when I saw them last summer with Olde Growth and Keefshovel (review here). They were starting off a week-long stint of shows around the Northeast — Boston, Providence, Portland, Burlington, Poughkeepsie, New Bedford, Providence again — and fresh from a gig at Dusk in Providence with Magic Circle, playing songs from an upcoming full-length for which the recording is reportedly in progress, so it wasn’t really a surprise they were tight, but it made for a solid start to the evening nonetheless, their riffs adding trad doom edge that the sludgier Hollow Leg would contradict almost immediately upon stepping on stage.

My desire to see Hollow Leg was twofold. First (spoiler alert) they’re good. Second, they seem to be in a state of transition. Their 2013 full-length, Abysmal (review here), followed in the muck-caked Southern sludgy footsteps of its predecessor, 2010’s Instinct, albeit with more of a focus on songwriting than the debut. Their 2014 single, “God-Eater,” on the other hand, came with word of seeking out a new direction “sonically, visually and lyrically,” so I was curious to find out how that played next to Hollow Leg‘s ultra-aggressive prior approach. Sure enough, “God-Eater” was pretty easy to pick out as the second song of their set, but it wasn’t necessarily incongruous with what surrounded.

Maybe hearing it once through in a set isn’t the best way to get a feel overall, but from what I heard, the new song worked well next to “8 Dead (in a Mobile Home)” from Abysmal, though I imagine the context of Hollow Leg‘s next studio output will make the shift more obvious. I look forward to finding out, and wasn’t sorry to hear their abusive crunch in the meantime, somewhat cleaner than Sourvein but definitely of that ilk. Last I saw them was before Abysmal was released, and they had a commanding presence then, but they got on stage and clicked immediately, which was only fitting for being five shows deep into the tour. The duo Holly Hunt, also from Florida and whom I hadn’t seen previously, would soon follow suit.

Holly Hunt also had new material from an EP called Prometheus that’s set to release next month as the follow-up to the Miami-based instrumental two-piece’s 2012 Year One full-length debut. They’re one of those bands that I’ve heard from several reliable sources that “you gotta see.” Sure enough, as heavy as their recorded stuff is, it does little justice to the volume emanating from guitarist Gavin Perry‘s dual Hiwatt heads or the distinct crash of Beatriz Monteavaro, who celebrated her birthday in lumbering style. Sound-wise, they are as elemental as you’re likely to hear — elephantine riffs cycled through in vicious nod, played very, very loud. On paper it’s a simple formula, standing in front it’s enough to shake your ribcage. At one point I heard a crackle and was convinced the O’Brien’s P.A. wasn’t long for this world, but fortunately it held out under the tonnage of tonal heft Holly Hunt supplied.

Given the unromantic duty of closing out a four-bander on a Tuesday night, two-guitar fivesome Ichabod answered Holly Hunt‘s demolition with their own brand thereof, frontman John Fadden shifting with intimidating ease between clean vocals and sit-tight-because-I-can-do-this-all-night screaming, lending the set a sense of drama to go with the alternately rocking and crushing riffs of Dave Iverson and Jason Adam, the steady and inventive bass of Greg Dallaria and the drums of Phil MacKay, which somehow prove to be the uniting force between the band’s space-rock push and their seething, malevolent sludge. Their psycho-delia was fluid through two new cuts from their upcoming LP, Merrimack, as well as favorites “Baba Yaga,” “Huckleberry” and “Hollow God” from 2012’s Dreamscapes from Dead Space, the latter of which closed out the evening on perhaps its angriest note — no small accomplishment considering the company Ichabod were keeping.

With the evening-long assault of volume as a comparison point, Allston seemed especially quiet on my way out of the venue. Holly Hunt and Hollow Leg roll into Brooklyn tonight, March 26, to share a bill at St. Vitus with The Scimitar, Kings Destroy and Clamfight as a benefit show for Aaron Edge of Lumbar to help with medical bills in his continued fight with MS. Info on that gig is here, and no doubt it’ll be one for the ages. Me, I’ll take what I can get, and was glad I got to see these acts at all, let alone on a show that was so dead on, front to back. No complaints.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

Read more »

God. Damn. Quite a lineup, quite a poster. I’ll give credit to Hollow Leg‘s Brent Lynch who first brought my attention to the poster for his band’s March 26 gig at St. Vitus Bar in Brooklyn. The evening, on which Kings Destroy (fresh off their West Coast tour) headlines with Hollow Leg, Holly Hunt, Clamfight and The Scimitar supporting, is a benefit for Aaron Edge, the Seattle-based graphic designer and former Roareth (etc.) guitarist, whose struggle with multiple sclerosis led to the creation last year of Lumbar‘s The First and Last Days of Unwelcome (review here) and whose medical bills continue to accumulate.

True to oblivious form, I actually wasn’t aware The Obelisk was sponsoring the show or I’d have been plugging it much sooner. There were some discussions earlier on and I had thought it just kind of petered out as these things sometimes do, but I’m honored to have the name of this site associated with such a lineup, with War Crime Recordings who released Kings Destroy‘s A Time of Hunting last year, and of course with St. Vitus Bar, whose reputation at this point spreads well beyond the bounds of Brooklyn. I won’t be sorry to catch Hollow Leg and Holly Hunt when they come through Boston with Ichabod and Balam, but no doubt this is something special, and the poster, by Searing Limb‘s Connor Anderson, certainly lives up to the occasion.

Behold:

Click the image to enlarge for a more detailed look (click it again to remove). For more on the Anderson‘s work, this show, the Holly Hunt/Hollow Leg tour dates and how you can contribute to Edge‘s continuing fight, check the links below.

Searing Limb on Thee Facebooks

Kings Destroy on Thee Facebooks

Lumbar on Thee Facebooks

Hollow Leg/Holly Hunt tour

Next month, Floridian compatriots Holly Hunt and Hollow Leg will embark on an East Coast run together. For Hollow Leg, they’ll be out supporting the Argonauta Records reissue of 2010’s Instinct (info here) as well as their Summer 2013 full-length, Abysmal (review here), while Holly Hunt will arrive fresh off appearances at the International Noise Conference (video below), and gigs alongside Jucifer and Darsombra while toting copies of their 2010 2LP, Year One.

Both bands were kind enough to offer some comments on the tour, and you’ll find those with the tour dates below:

Says Hollow Leg:

Hollow Leg have been fortunate to be comrades with the Unholy Miami Trinity of Volume — Shroud Eater, Orbweaver, Holly Hunt — and the upcoming dates of live sonic excess will further solidify our bond with one of the Masters. Holly Hunt exercise the power of guitar and drums that was the same foundation at the inception of Hollow Leg and both bands love nothing more than to crush all into a blissful nothing. This tour is a further testament to all that is heavy from Florida as we creep up the East Coast: good friends, good tunes, and good fun.

Says Holly Hunt:

We’ve loved Hollow Leg since the very first time we saw them at Churchill’s playing with our friends Shroud Eater. Their brutal heaviness combined with excellent song writing make them a absolute must see band. We’ve been able to get to know them and hang out with them often in the last few years. We are thrilled to be able to go raging with them up the East Coast and back… we cannot wait!

March 21-29 Hollow Leg/Holly Hunt tour:
03/21 Mars Pub, Gainesville, FL w/ Gaul, Thunderclap
03/22 Hippo Records, Greensboro NC w/ Irata
03/23 The Dougout, Washington D.C. w/ Public Suicide, Paranoid Minds
03/24 Kung Fu Necktie, Philadelphia, PA w/ Clamfight, Sunburster
03/25 O’Brien’s Pub, Allston, MA w/ Ichabod, Balam
03/26 St. Vitus Bar, Brooklyn, NY w/ Clamfight, Kings Destroy, The Scimitar
03/27 Rogers, Va Beach VA w/ The Pestilence Choir, Kombat Wombat
03/28 Reggie’s, Wilmington, NC w/ Hadea, Kohmats, Toke
03/29 529, Atlanta, GA w/ Dasher, Motherfucker, Roman Gabriel Todd

Hollow Leg, “Abysmal” Live at House of Blues, Jan. 27, 2014

Holly Hunt, Live in Miami, 2014

Hollow Leg on Thee Facebooks

Holly Hunt on Thee Facebooks

Hollow Leg/Holly Hunt tour event page