The heat is hot. Don’t look for it to make sense, and don’t look for the live footage in Groan‘s new video to necessarily be in sync with the song. I guess it’s more about the vibe, which, incidentally, comes by the slice. Like I said: Don’t look for it to make sense.

They may have vibe by the slice, but they’ve got charm in bulk, and even when he’s got it wagging at the crowd, Groan vocalist Mazzereth‘s tongue still seems somehow to be in-cheek, so yeah, I’ll post another Groan video. I’ve yet to regret doing so, and as this one brings hints of a future European tour for Spring 2014 and features one of the catchiest tracks on their late-2013 EP, Ride the Snake (review here), alongside footage snagged while on the road supporting that EP, the good time is infectious.

Granted, I’m a pretty easy sell on Groan by now, but it’s good to know their mischief making will continue into 2014. What it might bring in terms of their sound, I don’t really know, but no matter where they’re headed, they always seem to be enjoying the crap out of it, which I guess is the whole point.

So have fun:

Groan, “Slice of that Vibe” official video

The UK’s premiere heavy metal boogie band Groan certainly pull all the stops when it comes to making hilarious videos and just about everything else. “Slice Of That Vibe,” the second video from Ride The Snake (streaming here), is no exception. Taken from live footage of their recent UK tour in support of the release of the EP, this video gives you a taste for the raucous, uninhibited, glam-stoner party that is a Groan show and the antics that go on behind the scenes.

Additionally, Groan are currently working on booking a spring 2014 European tour.

Groan on Thee Facebooks

Superhot Records

UK reefer metallers Groan don’t leave much room for ambivalence. With their new Superhot Records EP, Ride the Snake, as with their 2012 full-length, The Divine Right of Kings (review here), they demand declaration either of allegiance or antipathy over the course of five tracks, and if you haven’t climbed on board their debauched, medieval-themed fancy dress party boat yet, then chances are the chicanery on Ride the Snake cuts like “Women of Doom” and “Slice of that Vibe” isn’t going to win you over to their side. And if not, something tells me vocalist Andreas “Mazzereth” Maslen, bassist Leigh Jones, guitarists Mike Pilat and Jimmy Beedham and drummer Zel Kaute would keep doing what they’re doing anyway, since nothing seems to have slowed them down up to this point with tongue-in-cheek rockstar shenanigans, including a slew of lineup changes around Maslen and Jones, who are the sole founding members remaining from Groan‘s 2010 debut, The Sleeping Wizard (review here). That a band would shift members in their earlier going isn’t such a surprise — it happens more often than not — but Groan seem to have a steady turnover rate of people in and out on drums and guitar. Both Kaute and Beedham came in as replacements for Chris West, who first switched from drums to guitar and then left altogether — he serves as engineer on Ride the Snake, so take “altogether” for what it’s worth — and Pilat is also a recent-enough addition to not have played on The Divine Right of Kings. If Groan‘s intent with these songs was to feel out the dynamic of their new lineup (I’m not sure if Beedham was a member yet when they recorded, though it’s possible), then at very least they still sound like Groan. From the second Maslen opens his mouth on opener “Women of Doom” and tops the stoner groove with his higher-register bark, you would not likely mistake them for anyone else. No matter how you want to look at it, that works in their favor.

Maslen‘s seemingly indomitable persona is a big part of what gives Groan their identity at this point, and he’s front and center on Ride the Snake, a crotchal thrust timed to the riff-led “Women of Doom,” his voice high in a spacious mix. Though he makes an unlikely champion for the feminist cause in underground metal, and the chorus “Make room for the women of doom/Take heed or they’ll blow out your mind/Make room for the women of doom/Their beauty will smack you blind” a likewise unlikely anthem, it’s a catchy chorus, and one of several on the EP, as “Drug Lord” and “Slice of that Vibe” share a similar mindset, and even “Blessed is My Blade,” which leans less on its chorus, winds up in a memorable boogie as Pilat‘s leads and Maslen‘s vocals (with backing accompaniment) duke it out at the song’s apex. At times, Groan straddle the line of making you wonder whether or not they’re taking themselves seriously, and though they usually wind up on the “nope” side of that equation, eight-minute closer “Citadel of Chaos” is another such example of their toying with heavy metal grandiosity. Pilat, as a solo player, is a fair match with Maslen‘s over-the-top methods, and while he adds that appeal to “Drug Lord,” “Women of Doom” and “Slice of that Vibe” as well — those three being more verse/chorus in their construction — with “Citadel of Chaos,” it’s as much the guitars as the vocals stepping out front. Should Pilat remain in the band over a longer term, it could be interesting to hear how that dynamic develops over the course of writing for a full-length, but the roots of it are in these songs waiting to be explored, and with Jones and Kaute providing a solid rhythmic drive for that to play out, Groan as they are now could turn into an entirely different band than they were a year ago. Which, you know, they kind of already have.

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I’ve done a pretty lousy job in keeping the secret that I dig Groan. Though their lineup has seen some consistent shakeup over the last couple years and their sound has gone from fuzzed-out stoner idolatry to classic metal grandiosity, what’s remained at their core is a propensity for unabashed good times. That’s as true as ever on Ride the Snake, their latest EP and the follow-up to last year’s The Divine Right of Kings full-length (review here). I’ll have a review in the next couple weeks, but the EP is out today on Superhot Records and Groan will be supporting it on tour the next couple days (frontman Mazzereth is ready to go as you can see above), so it seemed only fair to mark the occasion, being a fan and all.

The PR wire has it like this:

Groan’s Ride The Snake EP is out now!

UK tour starts tomorrow!

Hope you’re all having a great week. Groan’s EP has officially been released on the Superhot Records Bandcamp page HERE and is available in digital download or CD. You’ll also find UK tour dates listed below.

After an incredible live show at London’s Desertfest 2013, the band returns with an all new lineup: founding members Mazzereth (vocals) and Leigh Jones (bass) are now joined by Mike Pilat (ex-Ocean Collective) and James Beedham on guitar with Zel Kaute (ex-Pettybone, Vodun) smashing the skins. The band self-produced, recorded and mixed a new five track EP named Ride the Snake with former drummer and guitarist Chris West that will be released on December 10th through Superhot Records, with a UK tour to follow that week, too.

UK TOUR DATES:
11th Dec – Manchester – Star & Garter w/ Ovvl, Ten Foot Wizard, Molly Bloom (Facebook Event)
12th Dec – London – The Windmill, Brixton w/ Sons of Merrick, XII Boar, Vodun (Facebook Event)
13th Dec – Birmingham – Scruffy Murphy’s w/ Iron Hearse, Mage (Facebook Event)
14th Dec – Edinburgh – Bannerman’s w/ Bacchus Baracus, Atragon, Isak (Facebook Event)

Links:
http://southerncrosspr.tumblr.com/groan
http:superhotrecords.bandcamp.com
http://groan.bandcamp.com
http://facebook.com/groanuk

Groan, Ride the Snake (2013)

Whoever you are and whatever you’re doing, chances are Groan are having a better time. The UK-based chicanery rockers are at it again on “Women of Doom,” the lead track from the forthcoming Ride the Snake EP, which is due out Dec. 10 on Superhot Records, pumping out a thick groove and ’80s metal gang shout hook and every bit living up to their stated “67% true doom” ethic. The clip itself follows a long-standing tradition from what’s evolved over the last couple years into a double-guitar five-piece — the photo above is already outdated; guitarist Chris West (who also recorded Ride the Snake) having been recently replaced by Jimmy Beedham — of snagging clips from cult ’70s horror flicks and putting them to songs. Video done.

And while I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of Elizabeth Taylor as a “woman of doom,” I’m no one to question Groan — vocalist Mazzereth, bassist Leigh Jones, guitarists Beedham and Mike Pilat and drummer Zel Kaute — on the subject, since they seem to have a clear idea what they’re going for. I doubt they’ll enter the canon of great feminist texts of our age with the chorus of, “Make room for the women of doom,” but given the context of what the band does, it’s encouraging to hear them continuing to have a good time amid all these Hammer Horror film pieces, for which I’m sure all the proper rights were secured. It must’ve been quite a legal process.

Keep an eye out for more on Groan‘s Ride the Snake EP as we get closer to the Dec. 10 release, but until then, “Women of Doom” gives a decent idea of where the band are headed coming off of their last full-length, The Divine Right of Kings (review here), which saw them depart their earlier, more stonerly fare in favor of the metal-rooted take they’re continuing to develop here.

Enjoy:

Groan, “Women of Doom” official video

Groan on Thee Facebooks

Superhot Records

Who knows what kind of chicanery might be in store when UK mischief metallers Groan unveil their new Ride the Snake EP? Well, they probably do. And I guess whoever else has heard it. But still — who knows???

Groan‘s last album, 2012’s The Divine Right of Kings (review here), pushed the band past their stoner rock beginnings and into a we-just-won-the-contest-for-not-taking-ourselves-too-seriously classic metal, enjoying the grandiose pretense in a way both tongue in cheek and intelligently dumb. When I ask who knows what’s to come on Ride the Snake, well, going from the title alone, the attitude seems to be in check, but with more lineup shuffles and an apparent tendency toward impulsiveness, I’m not even going to guess at where these songs might go.

They’ll be touring around the Dec. 10 Superhot Records release. Dates and info follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

English doom ‘n’ rollers GROAN announce new EP, Ride The Snake, out December 10th

The UK’s finest in reefer-based doom metal, the mighty GROAN, are proud to announce that they are releasing their new EP, Ride The Snake, via Superhot Records on December 10th. Much to the delight of each and every 67% TRUE DOOM fan who has awaited fresh thunder-boogie tunes since the critically-acclaimed, ego-inflating party-doom record The Divine Right of Kings of 2012, these new tracks will once again seal Groan’s position as the royalty of all doom ‘n’ roll.

After an incredible live show at London’s Desertfest 2013, the band returns with an all new lineup: founding members Mazzereth (vocals) and Leigh Jones (bass) are now joined by Mike Pilat (ex-Ocean Collective) and James Beedham on guitar with Zel Kaute (ex-Pettybone, Vodun) smashing the skins. The band self-produced, recorded and mixed a new five track EP named Ride the Snake with former drummer and guitarist Chris West that will be released on December 10th through Superhot Records, with a UK tour to follow that week, too.

As this is a highly anticipated EP, the band is available for interviews upon request and the album will be sent out for review soon.

Here are the details, including a video which depicts the deeply serious creation of Ride The Snake:

Ride The Snake Track Listing:

1. Women of Doom
2. Drug Lord
3. Slice of That Vibe
4. Blessed Is My Blade
5. Citadel of Chaos

Groan will also head out on a UK tour following the release of the EP:
November 29th – Hard Rock Hell – Pwllheli, North Wales
December 11th – Manchester – Star & Garter (w/ Ovvl (USA), Ten Foot Wizard)
December 12th – London – The Windmill, Brixton (w/ The Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell, Sons of Merrick)
December 13th – Birmingham – Scruffy Murphy’s (w/ Iron Hearse, Nukebox, +1 TBA)
December 14th – Edinburgh – Bannerman’s (w/ Bacchus Baracus + others TBA)

Groan, Ride the Snake EP Teaser