Even before it started, Sept. 25 was more than one occasion. Principally, my eighth wedding anniversary. It was also the day Saint Fucking Vitus hit the bar that bears their name in Brooklyn, with Weedeater and Sourvein supporting. Saint Vitus at the Saint Vitus. And in the intertwining of these two events, I’ll say it will serve for years as an example of the long list of reasons I’m glad I’m married to The Patient Mrs. that the one did not preclude experiencing the other. Three bands — any one of whom on a given night I’d be happy to see as a headliner — in probably the smallest space at least Weedeater and Vitus will play this year. It was something special.

This week is also the U.N. General Assembly in Manhattan, and as I was anxiously waiting to depart and head to Brooklyn for the show, it was this foremost in my mind. All it takes is one diplomat deciding to go for a stroll down 34th St. and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel is pretty much inaccessible by car, so I made sure I had plenty of time to get to the Saint Vitus bar. Turned out I was early arriving, and at that point, things started to seem a little too easy. I’d made it there, made it there early, and I was about to watch Sourvein, Weedeater and Saint Vitus do a gig together about as far away from me as the keyboard on which I’m currently typing. I couldn’t help but look up to see if any pianos were about to fall on my head.

None did. And The Patient Mrs. was like, “you should go to this show,” and traffic was like, “you should go to this show,” and my brain was like, “dude I can’t fucking believe you’re going to this show,” and then I was at the show and then the show was happening and all threat of pianos was gone and everything that sucked was somewhere else and all the was was volume, riffs and fists in the air. Sourvein made a raucous opener, and the fact that since the last time I saw them vocalist T-Roy Medlin has surrounded himself with a new band — including former The Gates of Slumber drummer J. Clyde Paradis – only added to the sense of adventure.

Guitarist Joshua “JC” Fari – the band’s original bassist — donned a t-shirt with the logo for famed Manhattan venue the Limelight (the “rock ‘n’ roll church” as it once was) I guess to mark the evening, and bassist Todd Kiessling (Phobia/Dystopia) was of course locked in with Paradis on the band’s signature grooves. Hard to believe Sourvein will have existed in one form or another for 20 years in 2013, but if Medlin is the lone constant for all that time, he gave a good showing of why in Brooklyn. They weren’t through the opener for their set — the title-track to 2008′s Imperial Bastard EP — before Medlin had jumped off the stage. Granted it was crowded up there, with Paradis’ drums set up in front of the kit Henry Vasquez would later use for Saint Vitus‘ set, but still, for having been the driving force in Sourvein for nigh on two full decades, Medlin‘s energy was commendable.

More to the point, their sludge was fucking vicious. It was fascinating to see Sourvein and Weedeater back to back because of how closely the bands are related. Not just by blood either — Medlin and Weedeater‘s “Dixie” Dave Collins are cousins — but in general ethic and punk rock fuckall, there’s a definite link. I can’t imagine either band is particularly fond of playing New York, but Sourvein hit hard with a closing duo of “Fangs” from last year’s Black Fangs (review here) and “Dirty South” — their anthem — and split out in noisy fashion to a resounding reception from the growing crowd. It was early yet, just getting on 10PM, but the room was beginning to fill up.

I spent the vast majority of the night up front. Right up front, where someone of my size and stature really has no right to be. I didn’t want to miss taking pictures, yeah, but I didn’t want to miss the show, either, and I had memories of standing in the back bar as Pallbearer – the last too-big-for-the-room gig I saw at the Saint Vitus — doomed the living crap out of those in more immediate vicinity. So I stayed put in front of the stage, and as Weedeater got going by kicking into tracks from 2011′s Jason… the Dragon (review here) like “Hammerhandle,” “Mancoon” and “Turkey Warlock,” I was easily convinced I’d made the right choice.

Collins had a bottle of Evan Williams, drummer Keith “Keko” Kirkum and guitarist Dave Shepherd had PBR tallboys, so it was a party from the start. “Make noise,” was the bassist/vocalist’s urging to his bandmates before they started, and apparently they were listening. They kept the set mostly skewed to Jason… the Dragon and 2007′s God Luck and Good Speed, the volume giving no quarter behind him as Collins let loose his nastier-than-all rasp. Kicking his leg behind him, contorting to a wide array of faces, leaning on the wall and sitting on his amp case before getting up for another round, kneeling to play, drinking both from his bourbon and a bottle of what I could only assume was cough medicine taped to the side of his speaker cabinet — before they went on, he tried out two straws and clearly favored the longer — Collins was, as ever, a more entertaining frontman than the unfriendliness of Weedeater‘s music might initially have you believe. “I hope you fucking hate this song so much you cry from it,” he said at one point. To the best of my knowledge, nobody cried.

They wrapped with a full-lung toke off of “Weed Monkey” from God Luck and Good Speed, which was preceded by the Lynyrd Skynyrd cover, “Gimme back My Bullets” that appeared on the same album. Someone clever soul in the crowd shouted “Play some Skynyrd!” when they finished, to which Collins — fully absorbed in a stage process I don’t think anyone but him really understands — replied with a quick “we already did,” as though the words were bullets bouncing off him. There are very few bands who could follow Weedeater and hope to stand a chance of not having been blown off the stage. For this too, it was lucky that Saint Vitus were up next.

If one can say such a thing about a doom legend, Vitus guitarist and principle songwriter Dave Chandler seemed positively tickled to be playing a venue with the same name as his band. Both he and vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich thanked the bar several times, Wino noting that it was a dream come true for the owners and the band both. After setting up their gear — subdued bassist Mark Adams drinking a Budweiser while his rig was assembled — they very quickly hit some feedback and launched into “Blessed Night” from this year’s Lillie: F-65 (review here), the first song they wrote since embarking on this reunion in 2009.

Since then, I’ve seen Vitus four times that I can think of off the top of my head — Roadburn ’09, Brooklyn, Metalliance and last night; I might be missing one — and I may just have run out of appropriate hyperbole to convey the experience. I’ll argue tooth and nail that Saint Vitus are the single most important doom act America has ever produced, but more than that, they’re stripped down in a way no one else can quite manage to be. Seeing them live, it’s way less of a mystery to see why Black Flag‘s Greg Ginn recruited them for SST Records all those years ago in their initial run: they were basically doing the same thing Black Flag were doing, only they ran their brand of punk through a heady filter of Sabbath.

The government unfortunately doesn’t have a medal to give Chandler‘s guitar tone — though it should — but the guitarist roughed it out anyway, and I held my position up front for the first half of the Saint Vitus @ Saint Vitus set, Vasquez crashing out blood and thunder under the classic heft of the riffs while Wino seethed out the proto-drone of “I Bleed Black” and belted the more raging “War is Our Destiny.” They played all of Lillie: F-65 save for the acoustic interlude “Vertigo” and the feedbacker finale track “Withdrawal” — not that the set was at all lacking feedback — stacking them into the earlier portion of the show to finish up with the likes of “The Troll,” “Mystic Lady,” “Clear Windowpane,” “Saint Vitus,” and the inevitable closer, “Born too Late,” which Chandler – representing the old school even down to his EC F’N W t-shirt — shouted out to the crowd after Wino jokingly asked when the audience was born. “What? ’86?” he laughed, no doubt remembering that was the year the album Born too Late was released.

By then, I had moved to the back, and I feel like it’s worth mentioning why I did so. There had been some moshing during Weedeater, and I stuck that out well enough — took a couple shots to the back that have me sore today, etc., but ultimately survived and found it well worth the effort to do so — but when Saint Vitus got started, and as they really dug into the meat of their set, it was almost overwhelming. Not the crowd, or the push toward the stage, but just the whole thing. I mean, they were. Right. There. Even in the photo pit at Irving Plaza, I hadn’t been that close. After being up there all night, I probably could’ve stuck it out — and when they played “Saint Vitus,” I kicked myself for not — but I guess the bottom line of it was I felt like I wasn’t worthy of what I was witnessing, and after snapping off a quick 850 photos (yes, that’s a lot), I took a couple steps back, eventually winding up over by the soundboard in the back on the lefthand side of the room. I’ve seen a lot of shows in that spot at this point, and as Vitus said their last thanks and jammed out a noisy end — Chandler taking a page out of Medlin‘s book and jumping off the stage to solo in the crowd for a while — I felt lucky to be there at all, lucky to be alive, and where I was standing became at best a tertiary concern.

In the review he posted last night on the forum, SabbathJeff began with the line “Whoa, what just happened?” I was pretty sure of my surroundings when the show was over, but I’ll be damned if everything — up to and including the traffic on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel — didn’t look just a little extra awesome for what I’d just seen. I got back to the humble Rockaway River valley a little bit before 2AM, inhaled some late-night pasta, said goodnight to my wife and crashed in anticipation of a rough alarm this morning. And today hasn’t exactly been the most productive day I’ve ever had, but if you think I’m about to start bitching the day after seeing Saint Vitus so close up I thought Wino was going to punch me in the face, there’s a good chance you’ve missed the point.

An amazing night the likes of which are rare. Thanks to The Patient Mrs. for eight years of wedded understanding and acceptance, and to you for reading.

Many more pics after the jump.

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Not that I don’t get the immediate appeal of seeing Saint Vitus at the bar in Brooklyn that shares their name, but that’s gonna be one crowded-ass show. Nonetheless, dig into these tour dates, much as they’ve dug into my calendar:

Scion A/V Metal presents
The 2012 SAINT VITUS U.S. headlining tour
in support of Lillie: F-65
with special guests WEEDEATER & SOURVEIN
Tour Dates

9/14 Little Rock, AK @ Rev Room (also w/ RWAKE, YOB)
9/15 Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone Cafe
9/16 Nashville, TN @ Exit / In
9/18 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade
9/19 Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre
9/20 Richmond, VA @ Kingdom
9/21 Huntington, WV @ V Club
9/22 Lexington, KY @ Boomslang Festival
9/23 Pittsburgh, PA @ The Rex Theater
9/24 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
9/25 Brooklyn, NY @ Saint Vitus Bar
9/27 Washington, DC @ Black Cat
9/28 New York, NY @ Best Buy Theater (w/ DOWN, No WEEDEATER/SOURVEIN)
9/29 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop
9/30 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge
10/1 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
10/2 Lawrence, KS @ Granada Theater
10/3 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
10/4 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
10/5 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
10/6 Portland, OR @ Fall Into Darkness Festival
10/7 Seattle, WA @ The Highline
10/9 San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
10/10 Los Angeles, CA @ Bootleg Theater
10/11 Sacramento, CA @ Harlow’s
10/12 Santa Cruz, CA @ The Atrium at The Catalyst
10/13 Pomona, CA @ venue tbd (No WEEDEATER/ SOURVEIN)
10/14 Santa Ana, CA @ The Constellation Room
10/15 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater
10/16 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
10/18 Austin, TX @ Beauty Bar
10/19 San Antonio, TX Bond’s 007 Rock Bar

WATCH FOR ON SALE DATES SOON

Of course, if you read either the Ben Hogg interview or the Q&A with Sourvein‘s own T-Roy Medlin, you already knew the band was hitting the road in July starting at the Kung Fu Necktie in Philly on the sixth, but hey, I guess it’s nice to see all the dates in one place too. Here’s the PR wire info:

North Carolina sludge-slingers Sourvein will celebrate the release of their long-anticipated new full-length, Black Fangs, with a near-three-week US tour this July! The chaos will commence in Philadelphia with Jucifer on July 6 and steamroll its way through 16 more cities before coming to a close at Ground Zero in Spartanburg on July 23. The trek includes three shows with psychedelic black metal enigmas, Nachtmystium.

Comments vocalist T-Roy: “I’m so ready to unleash Black Fangs on the public in a live setting… it’s gonna be awesome! I’ve been waiting for this for a while; it’s gonna crush! King James, Kong Moen and I will be joined by The Misanthrope Project bassist Ahmasi O’Daniel, who also laid down the low-end on the album, for the tour. Sourvein from Cape Fear… dates coming all year!”

Sourvein July tour dates:
07/06 Kung Fu Necktie Philadelphia, PA w/ Jucifer
07/07 Heirloom Arts Danbury, CT w/ Jucifer
07/08 St. Vitus Brooklyn, NY
07/09 Popeye’s Peekskill, NY
07/10 Big Jar Rochester, NY
07/11 Sidebar Baltimore, MD
07/12 Now That’s Class Cleveland, OH w/ Nachtmystium
07/13 Mac’s Lansing, MI w/ Nachtmystium
07/14 31st St Pub Pittsburgh, PA
07/15 Ravari Room Columbus, OH
07/16 Volrath Indianapolis, IN
07/17 Pyramid Grand Rapids, MI
07/18 Frank’s Power Plant Milwaukee, WI
07/19 The Empty Bottle Chicago, IL w/ Nachtmystium
07/20 Fubar St. Louis, MO
07/21 TBA
07/22 The Hideaway Johnson City, TN
07/23 Ground Zero Spartanburg, SC

Crude, crusty and eternally sludged, 18 years into the band’s existence, Sourvein have rightfully amassed a reputation for bullshit-free heaviness the likes of which almost no one else could even begin to think about matching. Frontman, vocalist, founder and lone original member T-Roy Medlin offers a look at life that’s as intense as it is intimate, casting off the “songs about monsters” ethic in favor of a brutal honesty that’s won Sourvein loyal fans the world over. Raw expression is barred by neither language nor culture, and Sourvein‘s primal take is about as close to “real” as it gets when human beings are involved.

The North Carolinian outfit’s new full-length, Black Fangs (Candlelight), is their first long player since the beginning of the Bush era. In 2002, they released their sophomore outing, Will to Mangle, on Southern Lord and began to cement a legacy they’ve since backed by nearly a decade of constant touring and solid EP and split releases with the likes of Japanese mayhem bringers Church of Misery (twice) and now-defunct Israeli crushers Rabies Caste. Their trio of Sourvein-only EPs, Emerald Vulture (2005), Ghetto Angel (2008) and Imperial Bastard (also 2008), allowed them to keep on the road without taking too much time off to record, while still also maintaining a momentum of offerings going into the eventual next album.

And as that album emerges in 2011 in the form of Black Fangs, Sourvein find themselves with perhaps their most potent, gritty batch of songs yet. Medlin — joined in the band by guitarist “King” James Haun (Ol’ Scratch), bassist Ahmasi O’Daniel (Earthride’s Dave Sherman filled in on recent tours) and drummer Jeffrie “Kong” Moen — is scathing in his throat-ripping assertions, seeming to inflict physical and emotional pain in equal measure on himself and audience alike. That feeling comes straight out of Sourvein‘s live show, and captured on Black Fangs by Vince Burke of Beaten Back to Pure, it’s balanced perfectly with clarity of sound.

To be blunt, there was a lot to discuss with Medlin. From the time between albums to the origins of the material on Black Fangs itself, Roadburn, other upcoming tours and his appreciation of tragic Hollywood starlets (Theda Bara graces the cover of the latest record, and the band have had a years-long love affair with the memory of Sharon Tate), he was no less honest over the phone than he ever is in Sourvein, and it was exciting to hear him talk about taking the lessons he’s gleaned from his years in the band and using them to move forward into their next record and beyond.

Please find the complete 3,300-word Q&A after the jump, and please enjoy.

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As ever, I thank Walter and the Roadburn crew for their generosity in allowing me to host the links to the official streams from Roadburn 2011. As we Americans get ready to celebrate Memorial Day, I can think of few better complements for a barbecue than The Machine‘s Hendrixian take on heavy jamming, or, as the evening wears on, drinks are imbibed and fists are raised in triumph, Black Pyramid‘s doomy gallop. And, of course, just in case the universe comes to a crashing end (as my work email account just did), there’s Ufomammut playing Eve in its entirety for sonic complement. You can’t ask for more than that. From life. But there’s more anyway, so enjoy the aural hubris:

Black Pyramid
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772202#ondemand.44772202

Dragontears
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772206#ondemand.44772206

The Gates of Slumber
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772216#ondemand.44772216

Place of Skulls
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772220#ondemand.44772220

Sourvein
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772226#ondemand.44772226

Spindrift
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772231#ondemand.44772231

The Machine
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772239#ondemand.44772239

Ufomammut
http://3voor12.vpro.nl/speler/ondemand/44772244#ondemand.44772244

These and all Roadburn audio streams were recorded by the vigilant Spacejam team headed by Marcel van de Vondervoort (also of ass-kicking rockers Astrosoniq), so if you see him, please say thanks for all the hard work. Roadburn 2011 took place April 14-17 at the 013 Popcentrum in Tilburg, The Netherlands. If you’d like to read more than you could ever possibly want to read about it, click here.

If long-running North Carolinian sludge outfit Sourvein are anything, they’re uncompromising. Those familiar with their work know what’s coming, but that doesn’t make the impact of their music any less devastating or abrasive. Led by frontman T-Roy Medlin, they began in 1993 and have seen numerous lineup changes from members who’ve gone on to play in bands from Electric Wizard to Bongzilla to Saint Vitus. But Sourvein – closely related to Buzzov*en both ethically and through Medlin – has persisted nonetheless, and following a slew of EPs and splits since 2002’s Will to Mangle, nine years later finds them releasing Black Fangs (Candlelight), their third full-length. Medlin is joined for the album by guitarist “King James” Haun (Ol’ Scratch), bassist Ahmasi O’Daniel (Earthride’s Dave Sherman filled in on tour) and drummer Jeffrie Moen, and though the personnel in the band seems to be on a regular rotation, the mindset is the same as it’s ever been: Dirty sludge from the dirty South. Where their sonic and geographic countrymen in Weedeater peppered their latest offering with excursions into addled swamp psych and (eek!) brighter melodicism, Sourvein is all misery, all the time.

Were it not for the fact that anyone who’s going to hear it is likely already to have an opinion on Sourvein one way or the other, Black Fangs would be the kind of record you couldn’t put on for company. It begins with “Fangs,” which is among the riffiest tracks, with Haun’s guitar dominant in the mix and Medlin’s raw-throated screams buried underneath. This is to be the course for just about all of the album, but the rhythm section of O’Daniel and Moen isn’t to be counted out. Moen’s cymbals fill out the high end while O’Daniel drops the low like his arms just can’t hold it anymore, and a song like “Society’s Blood” – or really any of the tracks present – is that much stronger for their work. It’s amazing that Sourvein at this point should sound so potent as a lineup, since it’s been proven over and again that all the members around Medlin are interchangeable. Nonetheless, Sourvein in 2011 distinguishes itself simply by releasing a full-length album – four splits and an EP trilogy have marked the years since 2002 – and the dedicated fanbase that’s followed the band over that time will be much pleased with the feedback-soaked nastiness served up on these 10 cuts. For dank, hateful Southern sludge, Black Fangs is second to nobody.

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Sourvein don’t put out an album all that often, but when they do, you can pretty much bet they mean it. Black Fangs follows a trilogy of EPs and a host of splits with the likes of Church of Misery, Rabies Caste and Blood Island Raiders, and is the North Carolinian band’s first full-length since 2002′s Will to Mangle. After more lineup changes than I think anyone can count behind frontman T-Roy Medlin, Sourvein 2011 is a lethal sludge force imbued with all the recklessness of the Dirty South in which the band makes its home.

Joined on bass by Dave Sherman of Maryland doomers Earthride for the first time for the pre-release supporting tours (see comments below), Black Fangs is a feedback-caked melee of crusty aggression. Flooded with riffs and dirty groove, the band sounds more stoned and more pissed than ever, Medlin leading the charge from far back in the mix with his disenfranchised screams.

Candlelight Records, the label bold enough to unleash such a monster, and Earsplit PR were kind enough to allow me permission to premiere the song “Night Eyes” from Black Fangs, which you’ll find on the player below. Hope you dig it:

Sourvein is T-Roy Medlin (vocals), King James (guitar), Dave Sherman (bass) and Jeffrie “Kong” Moen (drums). Black Fang is out June 21, 2011, on Candlelight. More info at Sourvein‘s Facebook page.

1:46AM — Sunday Night/Monday Morning — Hotel Mercure, Tilburg

It’s over. I couldn’t even leave the building. I walked out of Sourvein more than three-quarters into their set, and still, it was another 15 minutes before I could actually bring myself to walk out of the 013 and head back to the hotel. I stopped along the way in Weirdo Canyon for fries, which, true to form, came buried under a heap of mayonnaise. Kind of a tradition at this point, though most of it I scooped off and sent down the sink in the bathroom here at the Mercure. Hot water on. Gross nonetheless.

Hard to know where to begin, really. When I got back to the venue, I hit up the Green Room to catch the start of The Machine, and of course it was packed. Amazing to see what a year’s done for them — although, granted, they weren’t on in the Bat Cave opposite Eyehategod like they were in 2010 — but I guess that’s part of it too. They sounded tighter, more mature, more together than they did when last I encountered them, but the material was no less vibrant and spontaneous for it. I was back and forth between them and Dead Meadow, who were on the main stage, and while they were a decent sonic complement for Sungrazer (a sort of new school European fuzz Green Room trilogy would be completed later in the evening as Samsara Blues Experiment closed out the night), they also did right in showing some of their own sonic personality, which they began to display on their recently-issued Elektrohasch debut, Drie.

Dead Meadow, on the other hand, brought out Sasquatch. Literally. There was a dude in a Sasquatch costume, and he came out during their set and stomped around the stage while they played. Clad in my Texas Bigfoot Research Conservancy t-shirt, I couldn’t have felt more appropriate. I’ve never seen Dead Meadow before, so I couldn’t say whether or not this is a regular thing, but either way, brilliant. Their music, sedate, meandering, cosmic, seemed to make a good impression on the furry beast, and everyone else there to see it (myself included), and with visual accompaniment from festival organizer Walter Hoeijmakers, who handled a video mixer of various psychedelic imagery, it was “a show” despite the lack of anyone losing their minds on stage.

Other than Sasquatch, of course. He seemed to be really enjoying Dead Meadow‘s set.

I stood and waited for Black Mountain to go on, thinking I’d catch their opening couple of songs and then head in for Black Pyramid, but before they even got on stage, I realized how dumb that was, that I’d never get a spot to watch Black Pyramid, and that Black Mountain‘s set was allotted enough time that I could see them after Black Pyramid were done anyway. So, without reason to stay in the main stage area, off I went to the Green Room, which was already mostly full — although nowhere near as full as it would be by the time they started playing — and set up shop there for the duration.

With their riffs of stone and language of doom, Black Pyramid inspire devotion. They played a couple new songs — “Stormbringer” from the 8″ vinyl of the same name — and when they were finished, the crowd wouldn’t let them go. True enough, they hadn’t yet seen their time-slot to its conclusion, but I don’t think they’d have been allowed to leave even if they’d wanted to, so they fired up the amps again and treated Roadburn to a new song from their upcoming second full-length. It was rough, but guitarist Andy Beresky was trying out some new things vocally, so it should be interesting to hear what they come up with on the next album. Everyone seems to go all-out for the fest anyway, but Black Pyramid really have become an excellent live act. I stayed for their whole set and regretted not a second of it.

And sure enough, when they were done, Black Mountain was still on the main stage. They’re one of those bands I keep hearing about, people recommending them and so forth, and good people, too, but although I have a copy of their latest CD, Wilderness Heart, I can’t say I’ve ever listened to it. I remember hearing them when they put out their first record and being unimpressed. Maybe I need to give them another shot. They were elaborate melodically, and probably not my thing on the whole, but decent enough for what they were doing. They sounded clean, which, with Sourvein following, was like wiping off the mirror before crushing up six vicodin and making an evening of it.

Don’t know when it happened, but at some point T-Roy Medlin from Sourvein adopted a kind of “Dirty South” affectation in his stage mannerisms, and that was in full force when they hit the main stage. Before they even started, he urged the crowd to “get ghetto.” I’d already by then been in and back from the Green Room to see Samsara Blues Experiment, who were killer, and had Black Mountain not just played opposite Black Pyramid, I’d have a hard time coming up with a time when two more sonically incongruous bands were on simultaneously. Samsara Blues Experiment: warm, sweetly toned, jammy, laid back. Sourvein: like being punched in the face with the broken glass of the mirror from the paragraph above. They do abrasive and it’s about all they do.

If the two bands had anything in common — and it just might be the only thing — it was energy. Samsara Blues Experiment did well in not getting too lost in their material, in keeping the audience engaged, and Sourvein, complete with Dave Sherman from Earthride on bass, were personality on parade. For not the first time in the evening, I was reminded of Eyehategod doing an Afterburner set last year, but Sourvein might be even more demented. They were ridiculous in their heaviness and completely over-the-top in their stage antics, Medlin managing at one point to call European beer weak while asking for a whiskey from the stage, which aside from not being true was not exactly going to win him friends among the Dommelsch-downing audience.

But then, if he was even slightly concerned with being accessible or friendly, he probably wouldn’t be in Sourvein. They’re good at being mean, only thicker with Sherman (now bearded) on bass, and considering the last time I saw them was playing to an empty Europa club in Brooklyn, the response they got from the main stage was enjoyable to watch. After a festival with acts as diverse as Wovenhand and Wardruna, Sourvein and Samsara Blues Experiment were as fitting a finale (who likes alliteration?) as Roadburn 2011 was going to get.

I’m not exactly ready to wrap up the festival reporting yet, and I’ll allow that maybe that’s me just not wanting it to end and/or being too exhausted tonight to finish it off once and for all, but I’ll have a post to round out this series tomorrow, so keep an eye out for that. In the meantime, thanks to everyone who’s been reading and commenting. That kind of feedback means a lot and is greatly appreciated.

More tomorrow, and more pics after the jump.

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Score one for the miserable bastards out there anytime Sourvein hits the road. The band, who’ve released numerous splits and EPs in their nearly 18 years together but only have two full-lengths under their belt (2000′s Salvation and 2002′s Will to Mangle) have had more lineup changes than anyone can count and have somehow still come out of it with a reputation as a must-see live act. Vocalist/founder T-Roy Medlin — long since the only original member left — is nonetheless leading the charge into a 2011 that will see them release a third LP and tour Europe with a stop at Roadburn‘s Afterburner show on April 17.

Before that, though, they’re doing a run of dates on some of which they’ll be joined by Jucifer. For those who would pick up what the PR wire’s putting down:

North Carolina doom metal heathens, Sourvein, will kick off a short US tour this March. Dubbed the “Disturbing the Peace Tour 2011,” the band will be joined by Jucifer on select dates. Said vocalist/guitarist T-Roy Medlin of the upcoming jaunt: “Can’t wait to hit the road with Jucifer, bring the doom and unleash some new songs’!”

Sourvein Disturbing the Peace Tour 2011:
03/01 Sonar Baltimore, MD
03/02 Volume 11 Raleigh, NC
03/03 Cadelonia Lounge Athens, GA
03/04 Wormhole Savannah, GA
03/05 Checkpoint Charlie’s New Orleans, LA
Jucifer joins tour:
03/06 Rouge Fayetteville, AR
03/07 Hi Tone Memphis, TN
03/08 Exit Inn Nashville, TN
03/09 JJ’s Chattanooga, TN
03/10 Soapbox Lounge Wilmington, NC
03/11 Tremont Charlotte, NC
03/12 Hideaway Johnson City, TN
03/13 Krug’s Place Frederick, MD w/ Iron Man (no Jucifer)

Sourvein are readying to release their third studio full-length, Black Fangs, this June via Candlelight Records [cover art above].

I’ve heard the word sludge used to classify bands from Pro-Pain to Neurosis to Grand Funk Railroad, so let’s be clear right off the bat that when I talk about sludge, I mean ultra-aggressive, screaming doom, played slow, played angry. It’s a term as nebulous as any other, but going from that specific definition, and considering the bands I’m about to recommend who play it, we should have a pretty good basis to work from.

There are some acts who take sludge to vicious extremes — see Fistula or Sollubi — blending in elements of black metal or SunnO))) style drone minimalism, but I’m not talking about them either. Where to start with sludge is the root of the subgenre, the key formative groups who’ve made it possible for a new generation to pull the sound in the multiple directions they have.

Because I couldn’t narrow it down to five, here are seven killer sludge bands to start with:

Crowbar: Their later material actually has little in common with what’s currently thought of as sludge, but 1991′s Obedience thru Suffering and 1993′s Crowbar are essential to understanding what the sound has become. The latter (recently reissued) is a better starting point for its more memorable songs.

Eyehategod: As much an influence in lifestyle and persona as for their music, the New Orleans gods of sonic fuck-all have nonetheless produced some of sludge’s most classic material. Just not in the last decade. At all. Start with 1993′s Take as Needed for Pain.

Negative Reaction: Their early stuff was more geared to sci-fi, which made the long-running Long Island outfit unique among their viscous peers. 2000′s endofyourerror saw them start to veer away from that into more personal lyrical territory, but it’s a stunningly abrasive listen nonetheless.

Buzzov*en: Dude. To a Frown. Dude.

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It’s humid as hell here in the valley, where I’ll be staying until Sunday when I head back up to Vermont until August 7. Something about this weather always makes me think of sludge. It’s the water in the air and the feeling like there’s no escaping its brutality. Sourvein would seem to emphasize that musically, so here’s Tom Denney‘s video for “Seamerchant.” Sourvein are slated to have a new album out this Fall.

This weekend the August podcast goes up. Don’t miss it.

Anyone who’s around, I’ll be at the Lo-Pan/Devil to Pay show tomorrow night at Ace of Clubs in NYC. Going to be a fantastic time, I’ve been looking forward to it all week. I’ve seen Lo-Pan twice now and both times they’ve killed it, and when last I caught Devil to Pay, I walked out having bought three of their albums. So there you go. Hope to see you there.

Whatever your plans, I hope you have a great and safe weekend.

Come to think of it, there were as many bands who were supposed to play Europa in Brooklyn last night who didn’t as there were who did. It’s a three-to-three tie! Outlaw Order, If He Dies He Dies and Pristina were nowhere to be found, but When the Deadbolt Breaks, Negative Reaction and Sourvein picked up the slack, and though we standing in the club held our breath awaiting the arrival of the latter, there was a collective exhale when frontman T-Roy Medlin walked in during Negative Reaction‘s set. They’d apparently gotten lost on the way and it had been back and forth as to whether or not they’d make it the whole night.

Driving from the valley to Brooklyn is a daunting task, and not just because of the traffic. With Manhattan between me and that most “Howya doin’?” of boroughs, it’s like climbing a mountain just to get there. When I showed up and saw the room largely empty save for a sampling of the NYC stoner rock faithful, I was glad I’d made the trip. In a town of eight million people and so few heads around, one is not only just as conspicuous by one’s absence as one’s presence, but also it’s just good to show up and support your friends’ bands.

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