Clearly Northampton, Massachusetts, doom bringers Black Pyramid just didn’t learn their lesson after last time, because here they are again, debuting “The Cloud of Unknowing” from their new single Stormbringer (on Hydrophonic). The other track on the release, “Stormbringer,” is up on the band’s MySpace page, but this one’s all ours and all the sweeter for it. Stream it by pressing play below:

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Vocalist/guitarist Andy Beresky gives some background on the song:

“We had ‘Stormbringer’ done, and were working on the B-side. I had a bunch of riffs worked out, and it was a matter of getting them all to flow together. That’s really what we were going for, a song that didn’t really have a typical set structure, but just flowed from one part to the next, almost like a meditation. So the title, and the lyrics, they refer to a book on Western meditation, that takes an almost more Eastern approach to it.

“Obviously, it’s our own take on it, I took the religious aspects out and made it more about personal reflection and how we deal with the growing darkness and doubt within our lives, so that we may eventually overcome the concepts of good and evil altogether. Musically, I think it’s also ambitious, but because it retains that flowing, meditative nature throughout, it draws you inside the cloud, and once you’re there, totally obscured by it, everything somehow becomes clearer.”

It’s hard not to like a band like Fog Wizard. The double-guitar Boston five-piece play reckless sludge and couldn’t give a fuck one way or another about convention, accessibility, whatever. Even the layout of their MySpace page will give you a headache if you look at it long enough. Their demo, Enter the Fog, is available for listening in its entirety there for anyone who think their constitution can stand up to it.

How do I know Fog Wizard don’t give a fuck? Look at their stage names: Captain Motherfucker on vocals, Tan Vovan and Tone Gavone on guitar, Jimmy “Bug Bomb” Sizzlak on bass and Mr. Peebles on drums? Come on. If that’s not enough, one listen to “Fear the Kraken” is all it’ll take for convincing. It sounds like a rehearsal space recording with Captain Motherfucker‘s vocals added on top. You know how Boston has a reputation for being an angry kind of town? Well, yeah. There you go.

If your eyes can take it, make sure you read their hyper-sarcastic bio, which is not to be missed, and though I thought “Murder Train” might be a Dethklok cover, it was not. That’s the only song in their player not on Enter the Fog, and I don’t know where it comes from, but it rocks. Sometimes it’s just great to find a band that doesn’t take itself too seriously and just wanted to kick a little ass. Sludge on, brothers.

I don’t usually like to repost news from StonerRock.com, since I imagine there’s significant overlap between the people who visit this site and that one, but hey man, I like Cortez, and after listening to it for free on Bandcamp, I like their Demo 2009 three-song release, so I figure why not post the thing here for everyone else to enjoy too? Good stuff. Hope you dig it:

While Takashi Miike‘s Gozu, the Japanese film from which the Boston band take their name, has a reputation for being purposely confusing and thrusting its audience into a state of disorientation, those who experience Gozu or their Small Stone debut, Locust Season, will most likely find themselves right at home amidst the well-structured and composed riff rock. The songs are catchy and the riffs range from killer to more-killer, but Gozu also have a defined sense of melody that comes out across tracks like “Jan-Michael Vincent” or the album opener “Meth Cowboy,” and that winds up being one of their most memorable assets.

Gozu has only been together for two years, and Small Stone signed them on the strength of a two-song demo and a recommendation from Roadsaw‘s Craig Riggs. If it seems like they came out of nowhere, that’s not exactly the case, but it is awfully sudden. Nonetheless, Locust Season sounds firm in its aesthetic and fully realized, thanks in part to the production of Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios in Allston, but also because Gozu know what they’re doing and aren’t afraid to show it.

Discussing the album and Gozu‘s origins with guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffney only underscored my opinion of the natural feel of both the album and the band. Grotto‘s production is modern for sure, but Gaffney, fellow guitarist Doug Sherman, drummer Barry Spillberg and bassist Jay Cannava show a great deal of personality in their playing — something a more sterile album wouldn’t have let them do. In what’s already a banner year for Small Stone with releases by Sasquatch and The Brought Low, these newcomers serve only to make it even better.

After the jump, please find enclosed my Q&A with Gaffney, and enjoy.

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There are no credits included with Phantom Glue’s self-titled Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records debut. Just lyrics and artwork. Usually when a band does this kind of thing – the most prevalent example I can think of when it comes to willfully withholding information is Black Cobra, but lots of acts do it – you’re not missing much. Recorded by their friend in a basement, blah blah, thanks to the bands we play with, blah blah. In the case of Phantom Glue’s Phantom Glue, however, the Boston, Massachusetts, outfit recorded with Converge’s Kurt Ballou at Godcity Recording Studio in Salem, had the record mastered by Nick Zampiello, and guitarist/vocalist Matt Oates handled the disturbing album art himself. One would think they’d want this information out there. Why attach names of the caliber of Ballou and Zampiello to a project and then not tell anyone about it?

Craziness!

The chief audio comparison point for Phantom Glue is going to be High on Fire all the way. Oates and bassist N. Wolf (who also contributes vocals) are rougher in their delivery than latter-day Matt Pike, and the music sometimes launches into Sunlight Studios-style death metal guitar theatrics (as on “Brainbow”) with Oates and fellow guitarist M. Gowell duking out harmonics in the grand Entombed tradition. They also mark Electric Wizard as a comparison point, I think for the slower moments on the record, like the first half of closer “Scabman,” the title track, or perhaps most appropriately, “Blacktar,” which is legitimately centered around a riff that’s pure stoner doom despite the bombastic chaos happening around it.

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Being an entirely solo instrumental guitar venture, it’s clear right off the bat that Blackwolfgoat is never going to be for everyone, never going to be the band you put on to get the party going, not the drive fast, blast-it-out-your-window-on-an-open-highway American chronicle. Darryl Shepard, previously of notable Boston outfits like Milligram and Hackman (both also on Small Stone), helms and comprises Blackwolfgoat, and on his full-length debut, Dragonwizardsleeve, he reminds that loops, drones and noise aren’t necessarily relegated as tools only for hipster art students or freakout psychedelics. Somehow, this drone rocks.

Understand that’s a relative statement, but as Dragonwizardsleeve’s opening cut, “Risk and Return,” slowly fades itself out, one comes to understand in listening to it that the track does have structure, a gradual build, more like something off a King Crimson solo album than ambient drone. “Death of a Lifer” brings in distortion and a Neurosis Given to the Rising-type feel (the track I’m thinking of is “Origin”), but never seems settled on itself, even as the same riff cycles through the track with noises added on top of it. There’s an urgency here; a kind of hectic and unsettled feeling. The guitars (Shepard provides a couple) feel on-edge and are huge sonically where on any number of other ambient albums an understated minimalism seems to be the goal. Hearing the cabinet speakers rumble at the end of the track, that’s clearly not the goal for Blackwolfgoat.

The pun-titled “Tinnitus the Night” follows and keeps much the same atmosphere as “Death of a Lifer,” albeit with a somewhat busier execution. It is another distortion build that distorts even unto itself, and though the song is among the shorter on Dragonwizardsleeve at 4:18, it carries an atmosphere much heavier than its runtime. Notable that it fades on both ends, in and out, so that it seems to creep up on you as you listen. Blackwolfgoat is a sneaky project in that it injects complexity into these songs without seeming to do so, but some of the material itself also sneaks up on you.

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Immediately notable for their opening stint of tour dates with Clutch and their connections to ‘90s Boston outfit Tree – namely brothers Bryan and Bill Hinkley on guitar/vocals and drums – the two-guitar four-piece Never Got Caught bears some resemblance to Tree’s post-hardcore crunch, but is really more rock based, and their debut full-length, Creepshow (released through their own They Want More imprint), is possibly the smoothest-sounding record I’ve ever heard Andrew Schneider produce. Opener “Anyway” gives a mistaken impression of what’s to come with hip-sounding Wolfmother-style vocals over decidedly meh riffing, utilizing none of the Tim Sult-style start-stop groove that appears so much on the album. It’s under two minutes long, but it’s not doing any favors as a first look at what Never Got Caught have to offer.

Fortunately, “Allison” is there as the second track to give much more of an indication of Never Got Caught’s approach. Bill’s drumming runs smoothly across the toms of his kit during the verses and shortly, a change into more lively, start-stop riffing leads to a repeat of the memorable chorus. The interplay between Bryan and Dave Ward on guitar and vocals is seamless here and throughout, the Helmeted crunch of “Slippin’ Out,” on which Clutch frontman Neil Fallon guests on vocals. Yes, the Clutch links are many, both sonically and practically, but Never Got Caught do still come out of Creepshow as their own band. Even “Slippin’ Out” is more aggressive than anything Clutch has done in years, whatever other comparisons you’d want to make. “Saving it Up” puts bassist Paul Dallaire in the lead, with a funky lead line that drives the song forward into some unexpected turns.

“Charlotte I” is one of Creepshow’s most memorable and individual moments. Never Got Caught slow the pace from the upbeat rock they’ve been touting so far and close out side A with a slower feel that loses no tension thanks to staccato guitar notes thrown under the overdriven bass that forms the foundation of the track. Bill has no problem adjusting his playing, accenting the chunkier feel with crashes and some well-paced snare hits over the song’s break. As way is given to the acoustic-led “Parasite,” one is reminded both that Never Got Caught have more tricks up their sleeve than the standard riff-fest and that the Hinkley brothers cut their teeth in the ‘90s. Something about the arrangement and placement of the track fits almost too well – “contrived” is the word I’m looking for, minus the negative connotation – but if it’s well thought out, that’s not a bad thing. “Parasite” is hardly the high point of the album, but it serves its purpose well.

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Gozu, man. Seems like they came out of nowhere, and no, that’s not a slag on Boston. I just mean it seems like the four-piece formed in 2008 and got signed to Small Stone almost right off the bat. Now they’re finally giving the public a taste of their riffily metallic wares with Locust Season, offering a bit of East Coast aggressive crunch with the swaggering rock. It’s their first full-length, obviously, and as an introduction, it is driven with some surprisingly individual flourishes that add character to the songs and an overall nuanced feel only heightened by song titles like “Kam Fong as Chin Ho,” “Regal Beagle” and “Jan-Michael Vincent.”

They aren’t shy about toying with pop sounds and quirky guitar lines, and that has earned them comparisons to Queens of the Stone Age, but Gozu are far more heavily toned guitar-wise than the Josh Homme outfit, whatever similarities of playing style might crop up. The vocals of guitarist Marc Gaffney are a point of commonality, however, and huge part of what sets Gozu apart from the pack. He is both soulful and well-enunciated, not losing sight of the fact that early Locust Season cut “Mr. Riddle” is a rock song even as he adds a second accent layer of higher-pitched vocals behind his straight-up track. He’d done the same thing on the catchy but wordless chorus of opener “Meth Cowboy,” and it appears at several other intervals, but as each track on Locust Season seems to have something to distinguish it from the others, that’s what does it there.

“Jan-Michael Vincent” is perhaps the poppiest of the songs on Locust Season, at least in the radio-friendly sense of the word. It has some competition for catchiest track, especially from “Regal Beagle,” but at just under four minutes, the atmosphere is less weighty than in the chugging verses of that song, which is propelled almost frenetically forward by the rhythm section of bassist Jay Canava and drummer Barry Spillberg. “Kam Fong as Chin Ho” works some keys in with Gaffney’s and Doug Sherman’s guitars, perhaps appropriately evoking a television theme song while treading close on the edge of a misstep to derail the song and not quite crossing over. The organs on “Jan-Michael Vincent,” liberal ooohs and aaaahs throughout and spells of quirky bounce have already shown that Gozu can get away with plenty when they feel like veering from the norm.

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A little while back, former Hackman guitarist Darryl Shepard filled us in on some of his upcoming projects, and first among them was Blackwolfgoat. An entirely solo venture, Blackwolfgoat is just Shepard and his guitar running through ambient pieces that range from the more active to the eerily still. Blackwolfgoat‘s first album, Dragonwizardsleeve (I guess he’s got a thing for putting words together; who doesn’t?) is self-released and Shepard has just put some if not all of it up for streaming on MySpace.

What’s interesting in listening to a track like “Death of a Lifer” is the layering. It’s subtle, but Shepard is working with multiple tracks of guitar, the dip and pull of the notes he’s playing seems to undercut that, but it’s there, and like a lot of drone/ambient material, it does develop, albeit subtly. The cuts range from the 10-minute “Hotel Anhedonia” (anhedonia being a loss of the ability to experience pleasure), the basic riff of which could easily have been worked into a structured song, to the 2:46 arrhythmia of “Aspirin Forever,” which has an almost drum and bass feel to it, though one obviously still in development.

There’s a range of emotions and moods clearly on display here, which is refreshing given how much drone seems just an exercise for its own sake or a tryout of equipment. The distorted “Tinnitus the Night” is on the shorter end at 4:17, but nonetheless creates an unsettled atmosphere of worry, and the sweeter “Risk and Return” plays with light mathematics that seem to be trying to air positivity on top of light percussion. Shepard being a proven-capable guitarist and no stranger to working in instrumental settings, Blackwolfgoat can be engaged either on the level of audio wallpaper or active listening. Of course I’d recommend the second option, but either way you approach Dragonwizardsleeve, definitely be sure to keep Blackwolfgoat‘s MySpace page on your radar.

…And bless their hearts for that. I think more bands need to do live videos. I wholly support the motion currently on the floor. Make it so. Do it up. Fucking a — and other such generic votes of approval. Here’s Black Pyramid doing “Mirror Messiah” from last year’s Black Pyramid album, taped live:

There are numerous reactions I could have to the following announcement that Isis has broken up. Here is a sampler:

There’s the snide: “That’s about five years too late.”

There’s the sad: “Well that’s a bummer, they did some great work (and they did).”

The realistic: “See you in three years, guys.”

The observant: “Funny how they say they want the music to do the talking in the middle of one of the biggest paragraphs I’ve ever seen.”

The critical: “They must have gotten tired of always being second fiddle to Neurosis.”

And the fanboy: “Oh nooooooooooes!!!!111!!!!!1!!”

However you feel about them, there’s no denying that a couple Isis albums have had a huge influence on the metal that’s come since, and on that level, it’s too bad to hear they won’t be making music together anymore. On the other hand, this is by no means the saddest news I’ve heard this week, so perhaps I’m just taking it with levity because everything’s relative. Whatever the case, here’s the statement from the band via the PR wire:

ISIS has reached an end. It’s hard to try to say it in any delicate way, and it is a truth that is best spoken plainly. This end isn’t something that occurred overnight and it hasn’t been brought about by a single cataclysmic fracture in the band. Simply put, ISIS has done everything we wanted to do, said everything we wanted to say. In the interest of preserving the love we have of this band, for each other, for the music made and for all the people who have continually supported us, it is time to bring it to a close. We’ve seen too many bands push past the point of a dignified death and we all promised one another early on in the life of the band that we would do our best to ensure ISIS would never fall victim to that syndrome. We’ve had a much longer run than we ever expected we would and accomplished a great deal more than we ever imagined possible. We never set any specific goals when the band was founded other than to make the music we wanted to hear and to play (and to stay true to that ideal), so everything else that has come along the long and winding path has been an absolute gift. As with any momentous life-changing decision (which this certainly is for the five of us), we feel a very dynamic range of emotions about this and cannot express all of it within the space of a few sentences, and perhaps it’s best to do what we’ve always done and let our music speak for us. It is and has been the truest expression of who we are as a collective and in some ways who we are as individuals for the 13 years in which we’ve been together. The last and perhaps most important thing we might say in relation to all this is how grateful we are for the people that have supported us over the years. It is a lengthy list that would include those who put out our records, those that played on them and put them to tape, the many bands with whom we shared the stage, all of our family, friends and companions who supported us in our individual lives and thus made it possible for us to continue on in the band, and most importantly those who truly listened to our music whether in recorded form or by coming to out to our shows (or both). It is quite true that we would never have done what we have without those people, that is many of you who are reading this. Our words can never fully express what we feel, but we hope that our music and the efforts made to bring it into being can serve as a more proper expression of gratitude for this life and for everyone in it. Thank you.

In more immediate and practical terms the tour we are about to embark upon is indeed our last. We are hoping that these final live rituals can help us bring a close to the life of this band in a celebratory and reverent way, and also provide us with a chance to say goodbye to many of those that have supported us over the years. While there is a measure of sadness that comes with the passing of this band, we hope that the final days can be joyous ones during which any and all that wish to come and join us will do so. It seems fitting that the last show of the tour and of our active existence will take place in Montreal, the site of the very first ISIS show in 1997 (though that was an unintentional move when booking the show initially). After the tour we also plan to follow through with other projects set in motion some time ago — pursuing the completion of a final EP, compiling live audio and visual material for future releases, and generally doing whatever we can to make our music available for as long as there are people who wish to hear it.

Thanks again to any and all,

ISIS, May 18 2010

On this four-song Serpent Records split release, Massachusetts doomers Black Pyramid contend with Morehead, Kentucky duo Old One and show us as listeners two of the major developments in American doom over the last decade or so. Where the trio Black Pyramid go grand, constantly vying for the most epic riff, progression, sustained note, whatever, Old One opt for a grittier, nastier, sludgier sound that somehow holds on to a sense of ritualism without falling prey to ‘70s posturing or mere Electric Wizardry.

Black Pyramid are first, killing the Sagittarius all over their two tracks, “Illumination” and “Warswine.” “Illumination” makes for a quick 15 minutes, but shows marked sonic development from the band’s self-titled MeteorCity debut last year. The first six minutes or so rely on essentially the same riff, but the groove of the song and playing and singing of guitarist Andy “Dinger” Beresky is such that you lose yourself rather than lose interest. Black Pyramid’s rhythm section proves to be among the meatiest in the scene today, with bassist Gein’s rumblings providing a solid foundation for Beresky and the deft cymbal work of drummer Clay Neely.

There aren’t many structural differences between “Illumination” and the battle-ready “Warswine,” which is some seven minutes shorter at 7:57, but what Black Pyramid are showing with the track is their ability to apply more than one formula to their sound. Doubtless we’ll see more of this with their next release, whatever and whenever that might be, but what’s essential to understand until then is that Beresky, Gein and Neely are growing as players and as a unit. I was too busy thinking of Black Pyramid as a kickass album to think of it as a display of potential, but in the context of the years to come, that might have to be how it’s interpreted.

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…And you know, they’re fucking right. There isn’t shit happening in New Jersey for underground heavy music. I look at this itinerary and it’s good for them that they’re not coming anywhere near my home state. It’s a bummer that if I want to see them play I have to go to Brooklyn to do it, but what the fuck? They play a show in NJ and the five people with a fucking clue show up (myself included), it’s a waste of a night, the promoter probably dicks them out of money and they don’t even get free beer. Sometimes I think I really need to get the hell out of here. Maryland here I come.

By the way, here are those dates. They come courtesy of the PR wire:

Fast-rising doom rock trio Black Pyramid has announced additional May, 2010 US tour dates in support of their much-talked-about full-length debut Black Pyramid (MeteorCity). The power-driven band will launch a 16-city tour beginning May 5 in Wallingford, CT.

Black Pyramid tour dates:
(* All shows also include Let the Night Roar)
May 5   Wallingford CT Red Scroll Records (w/ Nightbitch [feat. members of Hour of 13])
May 6   Worcester MA Ralph’s Diner (* Metal Thursday Four Year Anniversary w/ Sexcrement and Abnormality)
May 7   Portland, ME Genos (w/ Sun Gods in Exile, Ocean)
May 8   Allston MA     O’Briens (w/ Blue Aside, Cortez)
May 9   Providence RI The 201 (w/ Desolate Wind, Wall)
May 10  Northampton MA The Elevens (w/ Elder, Overman, Magna Mater)
May 11  Keene NH      Armadillo’s (w/ Ponds, Black Norse)
May 12  Buffalo NY     Mohawk Place (w/ Sonorous Gale, Chylde)
May 13  Cleveland OH Now That’s Class (w/ Red Giant)
May 14  Grand Rapids MI Mulligans (w/ Greenthrone, Bullpig, Balboa MI, The Plague Years)
May 15  Chicago IL The Rockbox (w/ Blood of the Tyrant)
May 16  Indianapolis IN The Melody Inn (w/ Apostle of Solitude, Necropharmacon)
May 17  Cincinnati OH The Comet (w/ Saber)
May 18 Columbus OH    Cafe Bourbon Street (w/ Masters of Luxury)
May 20  Wilmington DE Mojo 13 (w/ Backwoods Payback, Pagan Wolf Ritual)

Ah, Roadsaw. Perfect summertime rock, and that’s about where it’s at today in the valley. Not that I’d know because I’ve been sitting inside in front of the computer all day, but it looks lovely out the window and all reports from the grand outside are in accord. Cool shit. And Roadsaw. This is “Who Do You Think You Are” filmed live at SXSW 2009. R.I.P. Room 710 in Austin.

What a week. Man, what a week. I don’t think I need to do a summary, but man, what a week. It’s good to be home, good to be getting back into the swing of things, good to eat Jersey pasta for dinner last night before crashing out. No complaints.

Stick around next week because I’ll have my interview with Keith Gibbs from Sasquatch posted, a butt-load of reviews (gotta make up for lost time) and hopefully some killer news about those Obelisk shirts I know we’ve all been waiting for. In any case, be well, enjoy your weekend wherever you are, and thanks, thanks, thanks for reading. I bow to you.

Universally-bearded Allston, Massachusetts outfit Black Thai have posted their first self-released demo for free download through their website. The demo, available as 320kbps MP3s (a band after my own heart – down with digital compression), holds about a 7” worth of material, just two songs, but nonetheless gives a readable impression of the band’s mission at least as it was in their beginnings, before replacing drummer Kyle Rasmussen with Roadsaw’s Jeremy Hemond, who also happens to play in Cortez with Black Thai founding guitarist Scotty Fuse.

Fuse gives a more riffingly metallic bent here than he does with Cortez, but it’s a change you really have to listen to hear. That is, if the six-stringer found himself having to pull double-duty at a show the two bands were playing together, he wouldn’t have to feel awkward because one band was so out of place sonically with the other. Still, with different heads involved in each band — vocalist/guitarist Jim Healey (We’re all Gonna Die) being a central departing factor, but bassist Cory Cocomazzi also having a style all his own — they’re never going to sound exactly the same. Nonetheless, Black Thai play grooving riff-centered stoner metal exclusively (anyone who gets the Emperor reference feel free to pat themselves on the back) and both “The Ladder” and “Satan’s Toolshed” get down to business with some righteous heaviosity, owing some of their crunch to the Massachusetts scene of the ‘90s – let’s namecheck Only Living Witness for good measure – but keeping things in stoner line by nodding at Kyuss’ “Asteroid” from Welcome to Sky Valley with the opening of “Satan’s Toolshed.”

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