It’s a rather formidable group of bands playing Stoner Hands of Doom XIII, and I won’t lie, part of the reason I wanted to do this “10 Days of SHoD XIII” series was because of the drama that surrounds this year’s fest. Early last month, founder and promoter Rob Levey bowed out of Stoner Hands of Doom XIII, saying simply that his heart wasn’t in it anymore. Understandable. Levey‘s work at the head of SHoD has gone unnoticed and underappreciated for more than a decade; some measure of burnout is not only expected but damn near mandatory. It was the timing of it, with bands and venue booked, tours in place and all systems go about a month before the event itself, that created such a stir. If Levey had said in May he didn’t want to do it anymore, I don’t think anyone would have been able to argue he should keep going in what for years has been a passion-driven endeavor.

Neither is this the first time Stoner Hands of Doom has called it quits. Between 2010 and 2012, it looked like the festival — which over the years has taken place in Ohio, Arizona, Germany, Oregon, Maryland, and so on — was done for. Last year’s fest in New London, Connecticut, was killer but poorly attended. Richmond, Virginia, where SHoD XIII will take place at Strange Matter from Nov. 7-10, is home to a slew of creative heavy acts, from Valkyrie to Lord and many more on the bill, and I assume it was Levey‘s hope that by delving into the local scene, the festival would be able to capitalize on a grassroots, word-of-mouth kind of promotion from the bands. Whether or not that happened, I don’t know. I don’t have numbers on ticket sales, but the fact of the matter is I think SHoD, both with its history and its impending lineup for this coming weekend, is a cause worth supporting in any way I can. Obviously Brendan Burns of The Eye of the Stoned Goat, who stepped in to take Levey‘s place as the promoter, felt similarly. However things turn out, his efforts are to be commended.

I won’t be traveling to Virginia this weekend, contrary to my initial plans, and we close out the series tomorrow with an interview with Beelzefuzz guitarist/vocalist Dana Ortt, but I just wanted to get one more plug in for what I feel is a perfect example of some of the best in doom’s motivations. If this is or isn’t the final installment of Stoner Hands of Doom, it will have lived and died as a festival put on out of love for music and the community of people making it. Long live SHoD.

See the lineup card with set times here.

Stoner Hands of Doom XIII promo video

Stoner Hands of Doom XIII

Richmond natives Gritter have been banging around abrasive sludge metal since they started out as Rube with the Angry at the Missus EP in 2009 (review here). That record worked within some engaging-if-familiar sludge methods, but it was clear Gritter had outgrown even a year later when they switched monikers and put out the Vince Burke-recorded Sour Mash and Spanish Moss LP (review here). Likewise, it seems their 2013 six-song EP, Welcome to the Sinkhole, put to tape by Kevin Willoughby, is another jump in approach, if not in the band’s actual name, taking cues less from underground sludge and more in the modern Southern metal of Lamb of God on songs like “Black Teeth” and “Welcome to the Sinkhole” itself. If it seems like a fine line, there are times where it is, but because most of Welcome to the Sinkhole keeps an upbeat push to its chugging riffs and because vocalist Ryan Kent has dialed back some of his Phil Anselmo-isms, Gritter emerge from their latest outing sounding their most individualized yet. Also metal. Very, very metal.

I have yet to post something about this band — Kent on vocals, Adam Kravitz on guitar, Justin Wolz on bass and Kevin White on drums — and not have someone they’ve rubbed the wrong way chime in about it (you can check the comments on past reviews for proof if you’d like), but I think there’s something to be said for an act who elicit a strong response one way or another, and it’s hard not to have an opinion listening to Welcome to the Sinkhole. Superficially, the elements at work are familiar, but to dig below the surface of a song like “Sayonara” is to reveal something not only ably structured in terms of its verse and chorus progression, but a thick, professionally-presented groove. Kent‘s balance of screams and cleaner singing adds drive to the arrangements throughout, whether it’s propelling the adrenaline of “Bowie” or adding just a touch of melody to the early verses in “Sayonara,” and the music behind him is no less thoughtfully constructed. I’m not sure where the animosity comes from, but there are a whole lot of bands out there working from a similar base of influence as Gritter on Welcome to the Sinkhole who don’t put as much of themselves into their songs as these guys seem to do.

The penultimate instrumental “Sea of Trees” makes a well-placed change of pace after four pummelers in a row, and a linear build not only showcases the foursome’s ability to work in more than verse/chorus songwriting, but provides a lead-in to the resurgent aggression of closer “Drunk Tank,” also the longest song on Welcome to the Sinkhole at 5:51, the extra time dedicated to a stretch of this-is-the-mosh-part riffing and a final slowdown that only makes the chugging more vicious and which Kent can’t seem to help himself from topping with like-minded screams and venomous spitting. Can’t say I blame him. Gritter‘s sound is less burly than some, but lacks nothing for chestbeating, and with the crisp production and clear intent toward Southern metal brutality, they’re just about asking for every scream they get. After three years since their last release, they’re almost frighteningly mature on Welcome to the Sinkhole, and whatever attention they’re able to glean from it is attention earned more or less by a punch in the face. Something tells me these guys are alright with pissing people off.

Gritter play Stoner Hands of Doom XIII on Thursday, Nov. 7, at Strange Matter in Richmond, Virginia, sharing the bill that night with Clamfight, Druglord, Compel, Pillbuster and more. Welcome to the Sinkhole was released in July in a variety of vinyl editions — black and red swirl, white with black swirl, lavender with black swirl — as well as on CD and download, all of which (except for some of the vinyl, which is sold out) are available from the band via Bandcamp, from whence I also nabbed the player with the album below:

Gritter, Welcome to the Sinkhole (2013)

Gritter on Thee Facebooks

Gritter on Bandcamp

For most who will play and/or attend Stoner Hands of Doom XIII next week (Nov. 7-10) at Strange Matter in Richmond, Virginia, the trip is something that starts next week, but for Oklahoma natives Oberon and Grel, it’s SHoD season already. The two groups have teamed up for what they’ve dubbed the “Star Stuff” tour — they even had laminates made of the Adam Burke poster art — and they’ll begin tonight at the Railhead Saloon in their native state, gradually making their way to Virginia over the course of the next week to play on Saturday, Nov. 9, with Beelzefuzz, Backwoods Payback, Valkyrie, Admiral Browning and many more.

Rivaled only by Kin of Ettins, who are coming from Dallas, Oberon and Grel will be making the longest trek to get to Strange Matter. I posted the dates here when they were first announced, and Grel were written up earlier this year for their 2012 Red Sun God EP following their name change from Deadweight, but considering the extra mile(s) the two bands are going to in order to play SHoD, it only seemed fitting to highlight their material again for anyone who may not have encountered them yet.

Oberon

“Progressive stoner” is a hard one to pull off. While heavy rock has its technical side, that mostly comes in drum fills and solos, and those who’d push structural bounds usually come face to face with a defiance of the traditional adherence to classic methods that rests at the genre’s core. That concern seems to hold little sway for the double-guitar foursome Oberon, who released their debut EP, Through Space, We Ride, last year on Crew Dawg Records. And rather than fall in with the post-Mastodon multitudes, they harness a more metallic end of prog on centerpiece “Phobos,” with guitarist/vocalist DJ Bryant establishing a distinct singing approach as the song plays out.

Oberon, “Phobos”

—

Grel

With keyboards adding melody to their two-guitar approach, Grel come across as basking in many of the heavy rock classicisms that Oberon seem to be purposefully avoiding on their Red Sun God EP. Rife with bluesy groove, strong rhythms and flourishes of psychedelia, the Lawton five-piece stay grounded and don’t lose themselves either in earthy punch or cosmic indulgence, but find a balance between the two that takes a garage-rock Deep Purple and gives a modern edge. They’re reportedly got new material in the works, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they threw a more recent song or two in the set with “Stone Frog” and “Lady” from Red Sun God.

Grel, Red Sun God EP (2012)

Oberon and Grel on tour:
11/1 Lawton, OK @ Railhead Saloon w/ Juju Beans
11/2 Kansas City, MO @ Daveys Uptown w/ Hossferatu & Merlin
11/3 Chicago, IL @ Livewire Lounge w/ Marmora
11/4 Colombus, OH @ The Trees Bar
11/5 Northampton, MA @ The Elevens w/ Titanis & Scimitar
11/6 Boston, MA @ PA’s Lounge
11/7 Philadelphia, PA @ JR’s Bar
11/9 Richmond, VA Stoner Hands of Doom XIII

Grel: https://www.facebook.com/grelrocks
Oberon: https://www.facebook.com/OberonOK

Part of the appeal of attending any festival worthy of the name is getting introduced to bands you might not have heard or encountered before, and when it comes to the lineup for this year’s Stoner Hands of Doom, which is set to run from Nov. 7-10 at Strange Matter in Richmond, Virginia, the riffy four-piece Doctor Smoke immediately caught my eye. I can’t help it. Not one week goes by that I don’t still wind up with the chorus to the closing track of Swedish trio Asteroid‘s first album stuck in my head: “Doctor Smoke… Doctor Smoke/Life is but a joke to Doctor Smoke.” Seriously, that album came out in 2007. I’m kind of surprised it took so long for a band to take the name.

Doctor Smoke play Friday night, Nov. 8, at SHoD XIII, sharing the evening’s bill with It’s Not Night: It’s Space, Gozu, Weed is Weed, Order of the Owl, Freedom Hawk and others. It’s a considerable evening to play, and Doctor Smoke have an admirable slot on the strength of their debut four-track demo, aptly-titled Demo 2013, which was released at the end of August. Sure enough, Demo 2013 makes an impression, and the four-piece of guitarist/vocalist Matt Tluchowski, lead guitarist Steve Lehocky, bassist Cody Cooke and drummer Dave Trikones offer a surprisingly cohesive, nigh-on-slick take on modern stoner metal, nodding at cult rock but never really taking it past “we watch horror movies” level, which is likely for the best.

Certainly it serves the material well. The swaggering opener “The Willow” darkens up heavy ’70s riffage, and the drive is modern, with Tluchowski‘s wizard doom vocals adding a modern edge somewhere between Kyle Thomas on the first Witch record and, on “Blood and Whiskey,” Billy Corgan‘s mid-’90s snarl. The dynamic between his and Lehocky‘s guitars accounts for a lot of the immediacy in Doctor Smoke‘s material — tradeoffs between leads and riffs are traditional, but well done — though Cooke and Trikones make their presence felt both on the slower “The Seeker” and the Pentagram cover, “Sign of the Wolf,” which closes Demo 2013 in appropriate and chugging fashion.

As they also prepare for Stoner Hands of Doom XIII, Doctor Smoke are looking past the demo as well and have plans to start recording their debut full-length completely analog at The Bombshelter Studio in Nashville (not to be confused with Truckfighters‘ Studio Bombshelter). In order to help with the cost of going to tape, the foursome have started an Indiegogo campaign and are past the halfway mark on their goal of $3,000. It’s a pretty bold move for a band without a record out to hit up fans like that, but considering they’ve already got four takers on the $200 “We’ll write a special song just for you” contribution, obviously they inspire a good deal of loyalty in their listeners. At this rate, they might have enough material for a sophomore outing before they’ve even finished their debut.

Doctor Smoke, Demo 2013

Stoner Hands of Doom XIII

Doctor Smoke Indiegogo campaign

Doctor Smoke on Thee Facebooks

Doctor Smoke on Bandcamp

For the next 10 days I’m going to take a look at just a sampling of the killer acts playing this year’s Stoner Hands of Doom festival in Virginia from Nov. 7-10 at Strange Matter, and I couldn’t think of a better place to start than with the unhinged Southern sludge aggression of Lord. A band whose history is filled with underappreciation, makeups, breakups, lineup changes and whatever else you can think of, Lord has nonetheless served over the years as a proving ground for those who’s also make a stamp in Fredericksburg and Richmond bands from Ol’ Scratch and Ancient Astronaught to Akris and The Might Could. What’s been consistent for them over all this time is the intensity of their sludge, which they most recently demonstrated on the 2011 full-length, Chief (review here), which was alternately violent and brooding, a torrent of chaos that mirrors the band itself.

Of course, that being the case, there’s a kind of permanent X-factor around the band. Since the days of their 2006 long-play debut, Built Lord Tough, you’ve never known quite what you’re going to get with Lord, who’s going to be there and what kind of madness is going to be unleashed. They played Stoner Hands of Doom two years ago at Krug’s Place in Maryland (review here) along with Cough, Earthling, Fire Faithful and others, and what seemed to be becoming an annual gig at the festival was cut short in 2012 when vocalist Steven “Kerch” Kerchner announced they had called it quits:

Lord will unfortunately not be playing SHOD this year. Lord has officially disbanded. We had a blast rocking while we did and appreciate the love and support everyone has given us over the years!! Everyone is still jamming in other projects – definitely check them out: Bourne of Ash, Lacy, House Size Giant, Akris, Palkoski. There are still a limited number copies of Chief available from the members of Lord and it can still be downloaded from iTunes and so on. Love you guys – Kerch

As someone who’s been a fan of the band since the long, long ago, in the beforetimes, naturally it was a bummer to hear they were done, but though the members were busy in the projects listed by Kerch above — Akris have a new record out now (stream it here), and Palkoski never seem too far removed from another challenging slab of noise — apparently the split didn’t take, and they’ve once again joined SHoD and are set to bring their melee to Richmond this year. Not only that, but the band’s lineup of Kerchner, guitarist Willy Rivera, bassist Helena Goldberg and drummer Stephen Sullivan are also reportedly at work writing a new full-length, which they’ll record sometime after the appearance at Stoner Hands of Doom XIII.

How that will come together remains to be seen, but if Lord are working on something at all, you won’t hear me complain. They play SHoD on Sunday, Nov. 10, and share the bill with Devil to Pay, Black Thai, Wizard Eye and others. Check out “Zoh K Zo Kay” from Chief and find more details below:

Lord, “Zoh K Zo Kay” from Chief (2011)

Stoner Hands of Doom XIII

Lord on Thee Facebooks

Heavy Hound Records

Engagingly naturalist heavy rockers Grel have partnered with fellow Oklahoman outfit Oberon for a tour that will take them through the Midwest and down the East Coast en route to Stoner Hands of Doom 2013 in Richmond, Virginia. Grel, who changed their name from Deadweight after the release of 2012’s The Red Sun God EP (discussed here), are reportedly trying out and tightening up new songs on the road for the eight-day run, and they’ve hooked up with some cool acts on the way to the fest.

Details came joined by the Adam Burke poster for the tour down the PR wire:

Grel Announce Star Stuff Tour

Grel and Oberon will be embarking on tour this November. The route will take them through New England on their way to Stoner Hands of Doom.

The tour, named the Star Stuff Tour, will be the first national tour for both bands. Grel will be truly introducing itself to the world, following their name change from Deadweight. The two bands will be road-testing new material in preparation for new releases in the future as well as supporting their previous releases on the road (Grel’s “Red Sun God EP” and Oberon’s “Through Space, We Ride”). The tour will feature local support in each city, such as The Scimitar, Hössferatu, and Titanis.

When asked about the tour, three members of Grel simply said “what?” and another put sun screen on. Bentley Smith, had this to say, “yeah, it’ll be a fun time, especially with these Oberon guys, they all smell great.”

11/1 Lawton, OK @ Railhead Saloon w/ Juju Beans
11/2 Kansas City, MO @ Daveys Uptown w/ Hossferatu & Merlin
11/3 Chicago, IL @ Livewire Lounge w/ Marmora
11/4 Colombus, OH @ The Trees Bar
11/5 Northampton, MA @ The Elevens w/ Titanis & Scimitar
11/6 Boston, MA @ TBA
11/7 Philadelphia, PA @ JR’s Bar
11/9 Richmond, VA Stoner Hands of Doom

Grel: https://www.facebook.com/grelrocks
Oberon: https://www.facebook.com/OberonOK

Grel, The Red Sun God EP (2012)

I’ve heard rumors of Serpents of Secrecy‘s existence for a while. Vague murmurings that former Alabama Thunderpussy frontman Johnny Throckmorton had a new band with Aaron Lewis from When the Deadbolt Breaks, stories of the involvement of a mysterious second guitarist, drummers, and so on. Even at Stoner Hands of Doom last year, already word was kicking around, and it seems that in November, the formidable lineup of Throckmorton, Lewis, Rev. Jim Forrester (bass; Sixty Watt Shaman), Chuck Dukehart III (drums; Sixty Watt Shaman) and Todd Ingram (guitar; King Giant) will premiere at Stoner Hands of Doom XIII in November.

That fest, the lineup for which is becoming more and more substantial with each passing week (Lo-Pan, a Lord reunion, Gozu, Order of the Owl, etc.) , is to be held in Richmond, Virginia, at Strange Matter the weekend of Nov. 7-10. Here’s more info about Serpents of Secrecy:

313 INC Artist Management Announce New Signing – SERPENTS OF SECRECY

(Feat. members of Sixty Watt Shaman, Alabama Thunderpussy, King Giant, When The Deadbolt Breaks)

Something’s got to give, you can feel it. The Universe is about to bring you a crushing gift of sonic excellence. The five elements of this musical current were called forth by The Great Brotherhood of the Heavy, 313 INC, specifically for this task. The rock solid rhythm section of Reverend Jim Forrester (Sixty Watt Shaman) on bass and Chuck Dukehart III on drums (Sixty Watt Shaman, Fog Hound) combined with the gut punching wall of guitars of Aaron Lewis (When the Deadbolt Breaks) and Todd Ingram (King Giant) that all together provide the perfect foundation for the explosive and soulful vocals of Johnny Throckmorton (Alabama Thunderpussy, Darkitect).

Right from the first jam sessions the chemistry was undeniable. Within a few hours of convening, three mammoth songs were delivered from a higher plane…with ease. And with a band line up like this, simply put, you KNOW it’s going to rule. Serpents Of Secrecy continue to write and craft what will be their first release. This almighty union is truly the stoner and doom rawk Illuminati.

So, while you’re waiting for the album to be completed, don’t sleep on getting your tickets for Stoner Hands of Doom 2013. Serpents Of Secrecy will deliver their debut U.S. performance during this legendary event scheduled to be held in Richmond, Virginia at the cities premier venue, Strange Matter.

Be sure to check out Serpents Of Secrecy online @
www.SerpentsOfSecrecy.com
www.facebook.com/SerpentsOfSecrecy