Posted in Whathaveyou on February 5th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
It’s time to talk about the real potential of the New England Stoner and Doom Fest. No, I don’t mean the lineup. That’s awesome. You know it and I know it. I’m talking about the acronym. That’s always huge for a festival. How is it abbreviated? Think MDDF or SHoD or any of the DFs spread around the universe. These things matter.
I’ve seen NESDF tossed around for New England Stoner and Doom Fest, and that’s cool, but it’s missing the opportunity. You could have a festival abbreviated NES! Who the hell wouldn’t buy that t-shirt? I hereby cast my vote in the imaginary referendum on festival abbreviations for New England Stoner and Doom Fest to henceforth and forthwith and withhence be known as NES fest. Second the motion?
There’s reportedly one more band to be added and reportedly several in the running for that slot, so this might not be the final update before May 3-5 gets here and NES fest kicks off (see me using the acronym already?), and the lineup for a pre-party at 33 Golden St. in New London has been announced as well, which will be headlined by Fox 45, so, you know, more of a good thing and all that.
The full lineup as has been revealed follows. Note the Wretch reunion. NES fest!
New England Stoner & Doom Fest II
The New England Stoner and Doom Festival will make its return in 2019 on May 3,4, and 5 at Altones in Jewett City, CT.
Earthride Brimstone Coven Wretch Kings Destroy +1 TBA Foghound Pale Divine Vessel of Light Spiral Grave Solace Black Road Curse the Son Shadow Witch Hell Camino Clamfight Eternal Black Thunderbird Divine Stonecutters When the Deadbolt Breaks Mourn the Light Entierro Bone Church Buzzard Canyon The Age of Truth Void King Horseburner Scuzzy Yeti Witchkiss Cortez Benthic Realm Faith in Jane Conclave Set Fire 3 Parts Dead Insano Vision Old Earth Analog Pinto Graham The Stone Eye Sentinel Hell
Pre-party @ 33 Golden St.: Fox 45 VRSA Dark Ritual Owl Maker Feed the Beast
Posted in Bootleg Theater on October 24th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
In the great annals of the underrated, there has to be a special place reserved for When the Deadbolt Breaks. True, the Connecticut-based doomers haven’t exactly toured the pants off the Eastern Seaboard, but even so, the simple fact that they’ll so willingly move from grueling, lurching riffs into what’s essentially grindcore before dropping to a minimalism crawl of guitar and maybe some drum thud is astounding in itself, let alone the smoothness with which they execute those turns and the mangled grace with which they build back up afterward. I’ve been listening to this band for over a decade, and I still can’t think of anyone else who conjures the same kind of atmospheric malevolence, live or on record. Yeah, they’re kind of underproduced, but this is doom — everybody’s underproduced! This site is underproduced. Seriously. I’ve had the same theme since 2009! The point I’m making is that for a band whose first album dropped in 2006 and whose guitarist, vocalist and principal songwriter Aaron Lewis (also a noted fetish photographer) has seen lineups come and go — currently working with Mike Parkyn and Randy Dumas as he has for a couple years — they don’t even have a proper bio on their Thee Facebooks page.
Well, I’m gonna fix that.
I don’t know if Deadbolt will use it or not, but it’s here and at least I can say I tried. Lewis, with whom I’ve been in touch a long, long time, and I have not talked about this prior, but it’s something I’m doing and if he wants it, fine, and if not, fine. Not gonna hurt my feelings either way.
The original point of this post was 13-minute album opener and longest track (immediate points) “Centering Through Isolation,” the legit-disturbing video for which you can see premiering below. It’s made in honor of the vinyl release of their ellipse-laden latest album, Angels are Weeping… God Has Abandoned…, through Desert Records. A CD version is also available through Sliptrick Records. Okay, here we go with the bio:
For more than a decade, When the Deadbolt Breaks have carved a niche for themselves within the interplay of extreme genres. They are no less at home in grind than they are in pummeling sludge or ambient soundscaping, casting forth triumphant riffs or proffering murder-dirge nods at a volume level that can only be considered violent. Led by guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis, their four to-date full-lengths read as a chronicle of threat that even unto the Connecticut-based outfit’s moniker tells of some lurking danger in the dark. Whether spanning a massive sprawl on 2016’s 2CD, Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth, or casting a grim psychedelia on album number four, Angels are Weeping… God Has Abandoned…, When the Deadbolt Breaks are immediately recognizable in style and malice, and they continue to push forward into a filth and emotional disaffection of their own making.
Joined on Angels are Weeping… God Has Abandoned… by bassist/backing vocalist Mike Parkyn and drummer Randall Dumas, Lewis brings the three-piece through a cacophony of wretched cinematography. In the dug-in growls of “Sky Will Fall” or the victorious push of “Bloodborn,” Deadbolt make their home in a bleak, murky space that is as much atmosphere as it is impact. In the stretches of “Floyd’s Machine” or the deranged epilogue of closer “Color the Sun,” they expand on the scope set out at the beginning of the record on “Centering Through Isolation,” and the question isn’t so much how are you going to listen, but whether or not your turntable is going to survive the vibrating low end when you do.
As the latest installment of When the Deadbolt Breaks’ ongoing narrative, Angels are Weeping… God Has Abandoned… takes them to new depths and new heights, but by no means does it sound like they’re finished or relying on past laurels. Instead, expect them to keep growing and changing, because like that threat somewhere out in the woods at night, their shape is only ever what serves to terrify most at the moment.
Or something like that. Enjoy the video:
When the Deadbolt Breaks, “Centering Through Isolation” official video premiere
Aaron Lewis on “Centering Through Isolation”:
The song was inspired by some old school horror flicks I was watching. It’s pretty much a song about horror. A story about being chased down, not knowing what’s gonna come next, being trapped in the woods in the middle of the night with somebody stalking you. That’s why the pulsing bass is there. Like the old-school movies, where somebody’s trapped in the woods, it’s too dark to see, but as the viewer, all you hear is that pulsing bass and you can just sense their panic. writing the video part it was easy. The ideas seem to fit perfectly together with the song and the actors were spot on. It’s the third video that I’ve written and directed. But this is the first time that I did most of the cinematography as well as editing myself. Charlie Sad-Eyes filmed all of the live shots, and I filmed the story part of it.
When the Deadbolt Breaks live: Nov 17 33 Golden New London CT Dec 1 The Rough Draft Hamden CT
When The Deadbolt Breaks are: Aaron Lewis – Guitars/Vocals | Mike Parkyn – Bass/Backing vocals | Randall Dumas – Drums
When the Deadbolt Breaks, Angels are Weeping… God Has Abandoned… (2018)
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 20th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
After hooking up with Sliptrick Records earlier this year in order to issue their latest album, the well-ellipsed Angels are Weeping… God Has Abandoned…, on ye olde compact(e) disc, Connecticut-based dark-psych doomers When the Deadbolt Breaks have inked a deal with Desert Records to press the outing to vinyl. It’s the first LP release in a 14-year tenure for When the Deadbolt Breaks, so by no means a minor occasion to consider. Founding guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis — who also toured this past Spring playing bass for Earthride — mentions the CD as being imminent, and I don’t have an exact release date for the vinyl, which I expect will also drop one of the five 10-plus-minute tracks that comprise the record (though anything’s possible in this horrifying age of wonders), but Desert Records says it’ll be the soundtrack to your winter, so I’ll assume it’s not that far off.
Good news in bleak sounds, whenever it arrives. The album is also streaming in full at the bottom of this post. If you’re up for a little twist of your psyche, have at it:
When the Deadbolt Breaks – Desert Records
Desert Records would like to welcome When The Deadbolt Breaks to the family. This album brings you Psychedelic at its most beautiful, with Doom at its most darkest and crushing. Angels are Weeping will be your soundtrack for the coming winter.
Says the band, “We are very excited to sign with Desert Records for the vinyl release of our new album, “Angels are weeping… God has abandoned…”. We feel that this is going to be a great partnership and look forward to what the future will bring.
“The album is currently available digitally (and CD as soon as customs releases them to us) through our bandcamp, and is scheduled to be released on CD and digital worldwide via SlipTrick Records this month.
“We have wanted to do a vinyl release for some time, and feel that this is the perfect release to do that with. Thanks to Desert Records, it will happen.”
When The Deadbolt Breaks are: Aaron Lewis – Guitars/Vocals | Mike Parkyn – Bass/Backing vocals | Randall Dumas – Drums
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 27th, 2018 by JJ Koczan
Connecticut’s leading purveyors of lurching sonic malevolence When the Deadbolt Breaks have announced a deal to release their next album through Sliptrick Records sometime in 2018. The long-player has been given the ellipsis-inclusive title Angels are Weeping… God has Abandoned… and finds founding guitarist/vocalist/fetish photographer Aaron Lewis joined by bassist/backing vocalist Mike Parkyn and drummer Randall Dumas. The band’s last full-length was early 2015’s double-album Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth (discussed here), which had been years in the making, and I’d assume the situation with Angels are Weeping… God has Abandoned…. Good nightmares take time.
I’ve been a Deadbolt fan for a long time and always think of them as being persistently underrated for their drone, atmosphere, tonal weight and intensity. Will this be the record that finally gets them their due recognition? I guess we’ll find out when we get there.
Sliptrick Records announced the signing thusly via the PR wire:
Sliptrick Welcome Psychedelic Doom Rockers WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS
Joining the ranks at Sliptrick Records this week are US group When The Deadbolt Breaks. Of special note, the band played The New England Stoner & Doom Festival this weekend which is an absolute must for fans of the genre.
Established in the winter of 2004, When The Deadbolt Breaks is a psychedelic doom band from the backwoods of eastern Connecticut. The music they produce invokes the feeling of fearful suspense brought on by an intense horror film… begging the question, what happens when the deadbolt breaks?? Aaron Lewis, Mike Parkyn, and Randall Dumas create a psychedelic, down-tuned, fuzzed-out wall of doom-laden riffs that transport the listener to another space.
14 years and 5 albums later, When The Deadbolt Breaks is set to release their 6th record on Sliptrick Records later in 2018.
Angels Are Weeping… God Has Abandoned… | Released TBA, 2018 on Sliptrick Records
When The Deadbolt Breaks are: Aaron Lewis – Guitars/Vocals | Mike Parkyn – Bass/Backing vocals | Randall Dumas – Drums
[TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post with your email address in the form. You’ll be contacted at that address if you win.]
My pleasure today to partner up with Salt of the Earth Records for a nine-album prize pack giveaway that includes releases from Cortez, Scissorfight, Buzzard Canyon, Ol’ Time Moonshine, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Atala, Oxblood Forge and Shadow Witch.
The occasion is the June 16 release of Cortez‘s new album, The Depths Below, and to mark it, the label is giving away CD copies of its entire catalog and then some out of its online distro, plus buttons and stickers and presumably any other whatnot they might have laying around the office. You never know with this kind of thing. “Here’s a stapler just for the hell of it!,” and so on.
Please note: I don’t think you’ll actually get a stapler. You will get plenty of killer releases though, which Salt of the Earth details below. Leave a comment on this post to enter. Winner is chosen one week from today, on June 8. Good luck to all:
To celebrate the much anticipated release of CORTEZ “The Depths Below”, we would like to hook a lucky The Obelisk reader up with a killer collection of heavy ass tunes!
The whole damn complete SALT OF THE EARTH RECORDS catalog!!!
CORTEZ – “The Depths Below” (not pictured, but you still get it!) SCISSORFIGHT – “Chaos County” BUZZARD CANYON – “Hellfire & Whiskey” OL’ TIME MOONSHINE -“The Apocalypse Trilogies” WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS – “Until It All Collides”
Plus from the gems from the SALT OF THE EARTH RECORDS distro vaults…
CORTEZ – “Thunder In A Forgotten Town” ATALA -“S/T” OXBLOOD FORGE – “S/T” SHADOW WITCH – “Sun Killer”
And of course we will also throw in some badass Stickers and Buttons too!
Remember: The Obelisk does not keep, sell or otherwise use any personal info submitted. Email addresses are gathered simply so the winner can be notified. The end. Thanks.
[TO ENTER GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment on this post with your email address in the form. You’ll be contacted at that address if you win.]
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 26th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
Connecticut creepers When the Deadbolt Breaks have signed to Salt of the Earth Records for the release of a new limited EP titled Until it all Collides that finds them taking their malevolent drone and despairing doom on the road for a handful of shows. The band, who were last heard from with 2013’s Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth full-length, are past the decade mark in their tenure, but they remain thoroughly undervalued in my estimation. I’ve never known anyone who’s seen them live consider them anything less than devastating, one way or another.
On record and certainly in videos like those for “The Woods are Full of Killers” (posted here) and “Sleeps in Burning Hills” (review here), that devastation is complemented by a threatening aesthetic, a looming sense of violence beneath the music and imagery of their material. Seems only fair to think the same applies to Until it all Collides going by the fetish cover art and the promo video for the release, which you can see below. Dark impulses all over the place.
The PR wire sent over the following if you’d like to curdle some blood, either your own or that of those around you. Dig it:
When the Deadbolt Breaks follows no one. They seek nothing from above. They only wish to trample under foot the masses as they march hand in hand over the falls…
If you are weak, don’t bother.
Salt of the Earth Records is proud to announce the signing of CT doom heavyweights When the Deadbolt Breaks!!!
Today we release the band’s fifth endeavor: Until it all Collides.
This is a limited run, special tour edition EP.
Order yours now while supplies last!
When the Deadbolt Breaks & Buzzard Canyon: The Great Highway Run 08.26 B Side Ballroom Oneonta NY 08.27 Hard Luck Bar Toronto ON – Doom Over T.O. w/ Mars Red Sky, Kings Destroy, Foghound, Castle and more 08.28 CroBar Montreal QC 08.29 Battery Street Jeans Burlington VT 10.01 Spanky’s Dive Bar Springfield VT 10.07 33 Golden New London CT
When the Deadbolt Breaks is: Aaron Lewis Mike Parkyn Randy Dumas
I don’t know much of anything about anything, but if you’re out in the woods and you see the above aviator-plague-beak-robe-guy hanging out with a couple cronies, some in, some out of gas masks, you have just entered the wrong woods. But then again, Connecticut trio When the Deadbolt Breaks could probably write a song about a laundromat and make it horrifying. Some bands just have a gift.
It’s midnight, and tonight is the release party for When the Deadbolt Breaks‘ video, “The Woods are Full of Killers,” which is the second clip from 2013’s Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth. It’s a special night, with guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis pulling a sort of triple-duty in the malevolent drone-doomers Deadbolt and the more rock-minded Buzzard Canyon while also showing not only this video but a selection of his photography as well at The Reserve in Meriden, CT, which I’m not familiar with but surely isn’t prepared for the onslaught of volume it will have received by the time this goes live. The show also marks the live debut of new drummer Dumas, who’ll be entering the studio with Lewis and bassist Mike Parkyn later this year to record their next full-length.
“The Woods are Full of Killers” itself is a monster. A 13-minute onslaught of jet-black psychedelic drones and visceral sludge, it takes its time to unfold as one might expect, and works at a grueling pace to craft a threatening, chaotic swirl. The video switches back and forth between a narrative — bondage ritual in the woods, featuring our friend above — and performance footage, but the whole thing is made for lights-off horror, and whether you’re talking about the song or the video that accompanies, black and white save for bizarre washes of color, the whole affair is pretty warped.
Clearly somebody went into the wrong woods.
Details about the production and tonight’s release show — happening right now! — are below, and more stills will be arriving shortly at Lewis‘ photography website, Lounge708.com.
Enjoy:
When the Deadbolt Breaks, “The Woods are Full of Killers”
On January 2 When the Deadbolt Breaks will be releasing our 2nd video for from our 2013 album, “Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth” for the “the woods are full of killers “. The concept behind this video came from a photo shoot idea I (Lounge SevenZeroEight Photography.www.lounge708.com), had been developing for quite some time. While we were shooting a video I also did a photo shoot with all the girls involved.
January 2 will also be a gallery showing as well as the live video viewing at The Reserve in Meriden CT. This gallery will include 3 large shoots that I’ve done over the past couple years but nobody has seen yet. I was waiting for the right time. The Blood Angel shoot, The Dark Deception shoot, and the shoot that coincides with the video.
“Woods Are Full Of Killers” the second video from CT’s When The Deadbolt Breaks; takes you on a mind bending journeydouble album “Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth” debilitating doom/sludge metamorphosis by When the Deadbolt Breaks from the Ear One Productions CD release.
Written by Aaron Lewis. Directed by Aaron Lewis and Charlie Winthal. Edited by Aaron Lewis and Charlie Winthal. Visual Effects by Charlie Winthal.
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 10th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
Supporting their massive 2013 release, Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth, Connecticut doomers When the Deadbolt Breaks will have a new video out next month for the song “The Woods are Full of Killers” — if the band has a theme, it’s “threat” — and they’ve booked a release party to mark the occasion. They seem to have undergone another shift in lineup as well, as will happen, around guitarist, vocalist and founding songwriter Aaron Lewis, whose photography will be on show at the Jan. 2 show at The Reserve in Meriden, CT, at which Buzzard Canyon, another of his projects, will also play. Does that count as triple duty? Double duty with bands and a photo gallery? I think it might.
While we debate the finer points of what does or doesn’t qualify as “duty,” you can check out the info for the show below, as well as the song “The Woods are Full of Killers” itself, which is all droney and mindwarpy and creepy in that special way that When the Deadbolt Breaks do so well:
On January 2 When the Deadbolt Breaks will be releasing our 2nd video for from our 2013 album, “Drifting Towards the Edge of the Earth” for the “the woods are full of killers “. The concept behind this video came from a photo shoot idea I (Lounge SevenZeroEight Photography.www.lounge708.com), had been developing for quite some time. While we were shooting a video I also did a photo shoot with all the girls involved.
January 2 will also be a gallery showing as well as the live video viewing at The Reserve in Meriden CT. This gallery will include 3 large shoots that I’ve done over the past couple years but nobody has seen yet. I was waiting for the right time. The Blood Angel shoot, The Dark Deception shoot, and the shoot that coincides with the video. After January 2, EarSplit Promotions, Ear One Productions and 313 Inc Artist Management Will release the video worldwide.
