Hard to argue with the lineup for the Portland-based Ceremony of Sludge IV. Not the least because it’s eight bands over two nights, which is killer. I wonder how long each band gets to play, if it’s full sets or like half an hour or what, but either way, it’s a manageable Friday and Saturday night, and it doesn’t look like there’s a clunker in the bunch in terms of who’s playing. Cool to see Ancient Warlocks making the trip from Seattle to play the first night and Serial Hawk doing the same for the second. Two cities with such vibrant rock traditions that are only about two hours apart, sometimes it feels like you hear way more about Portland and Seattle separately than you do the Pacific Northwest as a whole. I guess you could say the same of New York and Philadelphia, though. Fair enough.

Either way, some familiar faces in the likes of Diesto and Holy Grove and Disenchanter, and a newcomer or two like Old Lie, who’ve just recently finished tracking their debut EP.

Details and many, many links follow:

Ceremony of Sludge IV Comes to Tonic Lounge, Portland

CEREMONY OF SLUDGE IV
MARCH 20 and MARCH 21 at TONIC LOUNGE | Portland, OR
$7

Portland Heavy Seen and Soundcontrol PDX present Ceremony of Sludge IV, to be held March 20th and 21st at Tonic Lounge in Portland, Oregon. The annual mini-festival showcases some of the most crushing bands emerging from the heavy-music community here in the Pacific Northwest. The shows are 21+ and $7 at the door.

Ceremony of Sludge lineup:

March 20th
Holy Grove
Ancient Warlocks
Disenchanter
Old Lie

March 21st
Diesto
Serial Hawk
A Volcano
Tsepesch

Limited edition “Ceremony” prints by Epochal Void will be available for purchase, as well as T-shirts from Mr. Black. The bands’ performances will once again be filmed for the Portland Heavy Seen project, with audio recorded by Penumbra Sound Arts.

Ceremony of Sludge: https://www.facebook.com/ceremonyofsludge
Soundcontrol PDX: https://www.facebook.com/soundcontrolpdx
Portland Heavy Seen: https://www.facebook.com/portlandheavyseen

Holy Grove: https://www.facebook.com/holygroveband
Ancient Warlocks: https://www.facebook.com/AncientWarlocks
Disenchanter: https://www.facebook.com/DisenchanterPDX
Old Lie: https://www.facebook.com/oldlieband
Diesto: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Diesto/101968243187195
Serial Hawk: https://www.facebook.com/serialhawk
A Volcano: https://www.facebook.com/avolcanopdx
Tsepesch: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tsepesch/204890382882138

Epochal Void: https://www.facebook.com/epochal.void.5
Mr. Black: http://www.mrblackpedals.com/
Penumbra Sound Arts: https://www.facebook.com/PenumbraSoundArts

Serial Hawk, “Desolate” Live at Ceremony of Sludge 2014 in Portland, OR

Seattle trio Serial Hawk have a new album coming soon. Last year, before releasing their Lying in Wait 7″ in the fall, the three-piece made the trip to Portland, Oregon, to take part in the Ceremony of Sludge festival, along with Lamprey, Holy Grove, Blackwitch Pudding, Sioux, Disenchanter and others. Over the last couple months, parts of each act’s set have been premiered here. Serial Hawk played the first night of the fest, March 7, with Lamprey, Towers, and Beard of Bees at Club 21 in Portland, and the video was filmed by Cole Boggess and Justin Anderson with audio by Tim Burke.

The song is called “Desolate,” and it comes as a preview of what the new Serial Hawk LP holds in store in following up the 2014 single, 2012’s Buried in the Gray EP and the band’s first demo, released in 2011. Drummer Sean Bulkley, who was announced as the band’s drummer at the end of last Jan., does the honors in starting the song with a persistent tom rhythm that holds firm as the guitar and bass rumble to life. By 90 seconds in, a heavy foundation is established, and the rolling riffery that takes hold from there is both massive and open, guitarist Will Bassin topping the crash and distortion with raw shouts while bassist Adam Holbrook drives home a groove to which even the camera can’t seem to resist nodding.

A big slowdown brings about some choice feedback-laden deconstruction as Serial Hawk build the track up only to tear it apart again. Their appearance at Ceremony of Sludge was the first night of a West Coast tour that lasted two weeks (they did a full US tour in the Fall as well), and it seems pretty safe to say that run got off to a good start.

More on the new Serial Hawk album hopefully to come as we near the release. Enjoy “Desolate” in the meantime, with thanks to Justin Brown and Ceremony of Sludge:

Serial Hawk, “Desolate” Live at Ceremony of Sludge 2014 in Portland, OR

Serial Hawk on Thee Facebooks

Serial Hawk on Twitter

Serial Hawk on Instagram

Serial Hawk on Bandcamp

Ceremony of Sludge on Thee Facebooks

I haven’t posted about it yet, because when it comes to this kind of thing one can never really be sure something is going to happen until it’s already happened, but as you can see in the PR wire info below, pending disaster I’ll be hosting a series of videos following the 2014 Ceremony of Sludge in Portland, Oregon. While it would be nice to kick around the West Coast for an extra week after the Pentagram, Radio Moscow and Kings Destroy tour is over and actually attend the thing myself, I think I’d give poor The Patient Mrs. a coronary if I started lobbying for such a thing, so I’ll have to be content with the clips when they arrive.

The two-night fest is free as in “doesn’t cost any money to get in the door,” and set for March 7 and 8 at Club 21. With Lamprey, Holy Grove, Sioux, Serial Hawk, Blackwitch Pudding, Tsepesch, Disenchanter and Beard of Bees, the lineup is right on as well, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it all goes down.

Here are the preliminaries, followed by a couple track’s off Sioux‘s upcoming release, The One and the Many. Dig:

Third Annual Ceremony of Sludge Comes to Club 21, Portland

THIRD ANNUAL CEREMONY OF SLUDGE
MARCH 7 and MARCH 8 at CLUB 21 | Portland, OR
FREE

Portland Heavy Seen and Mr. Black present The Third Annual Ceremony of Sludge, to be held March 7th and 8th at Club 21 in Portland, Oregon. The annual mini-festival showcases some of the most crushing bands emerging from the heavy-music community here in the Pacific Northwest. The shows are 21+ and FREE.

Ceremony of Sludge lineup:

March 7
Lamprey
Serial Hawk
Tsepesch
Beard of Bees

March 8
Holy Grove
Sioux
Blackwitch Pudding
Disenchanter

The bands’ performances will be filmed by the Portland Heavy Seen project and released via TheObelisk.net to kick off their new video series.

Mr. Black, a Portland-based effects pedal company will provide Ceremony of Sludge T-shirts for $5, and offer discounts for their pedals.

Ceremony of Sludge: https://www.facebook.com/ceremonyofsludge
Mr. Black: https://www.facebook.com/mrblackpedals
Club 21: https://www.facebook.com/Club21PDX
Lamprey: https://www.facebook.com/lampreypdx
Serial Hawk: http://serialhawk.bandcamp.com/album/buried-in-the-gray-ep
Tsepesch: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tsepesch/204890382882138
Beard of Bees: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Beard-of-Bees/441345789233457
Holy Grove: https://www.facebook.com/holygroveband
Sioux: http://siouxtheband.bandcamp.com/
Blackwitch Pudding: https://www.facebook.com/blackwitchpudding
Disenchanter: https://www.facebook.com/DisenchanterPDX

Sioux, The One and the Many (2014)