If you go to the STB Records Bandcamp merch page to check out the different editions of the forthcoming Orange release from Southern sludge upstarts Toke, you’ll notice it says they’re all sold out. In truth, the preorders haven’t started yet — they begin Dec. 9 — for the STB version of the Wilmington, North Carolina, trio’s second full-length, but you can pretty much take that “sold out” to the bank since that’s invariably how the limited-numbers platters will end up when all is said and done. Orange was originally issued on Jan. 1 by the band and by Emetic Records and this year has done nothing at all to slow the three-piece’s significant momentum, having found them on the road a couple times over bringing their inheritance of Weedeater‘s energy and Sourvein‘s grit to stages along the Eastern Seaboard and well beyond.

The new version of Orange comes with bonus covers of Cream and Motörhead, so all the better. Here’s a pretty picture of the Die Hard edition and the details from the PR wire:

STB Records Presents!! TOKE “Orange”

Pre-Order Starts 12noon Dec 9th EST
– STBrecords.bandcamp.com. .
Vinyl Release Info:

STB 28 – TOKE “Orange” – Repress comes with 2 new VINYL ONLY TRACKS
Sunshine of Your Love – Originally by Cream
Limb from Limb – Originally by Motorhead
Rick Contes from “Young And In The Way” did guest solos on limb from limb!

Test Pressing – 15 units – Comes hand numbered with a SUPER exclusive laser etched WOOD cover.

Die Hard -75 units – 180g vinyl – Half Transparent Orange / Half Clear – with black splatter in a heavy weight euro version jacket with two diff color foil stamping.. Comes with an exclusive TOKE “Orange” cast ring, a 4ft x 4ft TOKE “Orange” silk banner, and a TOKE “Orange” Back patch for your battle vest!

OBI Edition: – 100 units- Clear with a black center and orange splatter. Printed OBI Strip – Made to look like “Toke Brand” rolling papers. hand numbered. Jacket with – spot UV

Standard Edition – 125 units- Clear with black and orange splatter Jacket with – spot UV

Save your alarms and mark your calendars. These will go FAST!

Tracklisting:
1. Within The Sinister Void 03:58
2. Weight Of The World 03:43
3. Blackened 03:41
4. Weak Life (Feat. T-Roy of Sourvein) 03:17
5. Legalize Sin 03:53
6. Four Hours For Hours 05:05

Toke is:
Bass/Vocals – Bronco
Drums – Jeremy
Guitars – Tim

https://www.facebook.com/TokeDoom/
https://tokenc.bandcamp.com/
http://tokedoom.bigcartel.com/product/orange-cassettes
https://stbrecords.bandcamp.com/merch
http://www.stbrecords.bigcartel.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/STB-Records/471228012921184?

Toke, Orange (2017)

Never ones for sitting still too long, North Carolina sludgers Weedeater will head out in their relative back yard next month, stomping their way around the Southeastern US as they continue to support their 2015 Season of Mist label debut, Goliathan (review here). Their fifth album, it was a record that underscored the rolling, consuming riffs that have made Weedeater nothing less than an institution since their late-’90s inception, and the crusty edge they’ve been able to maintain in their approach while adding in more daring elements to their sound like melody, brooding bluegrass banjo, and so on.

You don’t need me to tell you to go see Weedeater if they’re coming through your town. It’s a given. They’ll be out with in the familiar company of ASG for a lot of these shows as well, so yeah. Dig in.

From the PR wire:

WEEDEATER announce US tour

Notorious southern metal outfit WEEDEATER have announced a US tour. The tour begins on March 14, and sees the band performing alongside ASG on select dates. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.

WEEDEATER are touring in support of their new album Goliathan’. The album is streaming here. ‘Goliathan’ is available across various CD and LP formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.

‘Goliathan’ once again features album art by Arik Roper (HIGH ON FIRE, SLEEP, THE BLACK CROWES) and will be available across multiple CD and Ltd. Ed. LP formats. WEEDEATER previously re-issued their first four albums, ‘Jason…the Dragon’, ‘Sixteen Tons’, ‘…And Justice for Y’all’, and ‘God Luck and Good Speed”. The long out of print albums are available as vinyl for the first time, as well as a CD and digitally at the Season of Mist E-shop and at Bandcamp.

WEEDEATER TOUR DATES
W/ ASG
Mar. 14 Atlanta, GA @ Basement*
Mar. 15 New Orleans, LA @ Siberia*
Mar. 17 Hattiesburg, MS @ The Tavern*
Mar. 18 Little Rock, AR @ Rev Room*
Mar. 19 St. Louis, MO @ Fubar*
Mar. 20 Memphis, TN @ Hi-Tone*
Mar. 21 Nashville, TN @ Exit / In
Mar. 22 Birmingham, AL @ Zydeco
Mar. 23 Pensacola, FL @ Vinyl Music Hall
Mar. 24 Tallahassee, FL @ Sidebar
Mar. 25 Gainesville, FL @ High Dive
Mar. 27 Orlando, FL @ Will’s Pub
Mar. 28 Miami, FL @ Gramps
Mar. 29 Lake Worth, FL @ Propaganda
Mar. 30 Savannah, GA @ The Jinx
Mar. 31 Spartanburg, SC @ Ground Zero*
Apr. 1 Charlotte, NC @ Rabbit Hole
* No ASG

https://www.facebook.com/weedmetal/
https://weedeater.bandcamp.com/album/goliathan

Weedeater, Goliathan (2015)

New Year, new riffs. North Carolina sludge specialists Toke could never be accused of being too obscure in their intentions, and their new album Orange (also written as a parenthetical) is no different. They sludge, sludge hard and sludge often. Big tones, big riffs, aggro stoner vibes. The new six-tracker follows a 2015 self-titled and a demo from 2014 (review here) that seems to have disappeared from the interwebs, and has been released as a limited-to-100-copies-and-already-mostly-gone cassette that will no doubt find favor with those seeking to start 2017 off with a fervent nod.

I had the pleasure of watching the Wilmington-based three-piece of bassist/vocalist Bronco, guitarist Tim and drummer Jeremy perform at last year’s Maryland Doom Fest (review here), and even in that riffiest of settings, they managed to stand out for the impact of their presentation. They’ve spent some time on the road since (they had before as well), and seem to be working on establishing momentum toward a larger underground impact. I’ve yet to hear of them doing anything up to this point that hasn’t turned heads in their direction, and seeing them live was an oh-okay-these-guys-are-for-real moment of clarity.

To listen to “Blackened” from Orange, or “Weak Life,” which brings in a guest appearance from Sourvein‘s T-Roy Medlin, I hear nothing to diminish that impression. They were pretty brief in their announcing the album’s arrival, but all the info that’s out there on the digital and cassette versions is below. Their debut is also getting a vinyl treatment from Goya‘s Opoponax Records imprint this month, so heads up on that.

Be informed:

New album is live! Go snag a digital copy then a cassette!

Limited to 100 cassettes and 70% are gone! Only 20 being sold online.

Find tracks on tokenc.bandcamp.com.

We will also email you a copy of the album within 48 hours!

Tracklisting:
1. Within The Sinister Void 03:58
2. Weight Of The World 03:43
3. Blackened 03:41
4. Weak Life (Feat. T-Roy of Sourvein) 03:17
5. Legalize Sin 03:53
6. Four Hours For Hours 05:05

Released January 1, 2017

Toke is:
Bass/Vocals – Bronco
Drums – Jeremy
Guitars – Tim

Recorded and mixed by – Rick Contes
Mastered by – Dennis Pleckham
Logo Art by – Nick Males
T-Roy of Sourvein appears courtesy of Metal Blade Records

https://www.facebook.com/TokeDoom/
https://tokenc.bandcamp.com/
http://tokedoom.bigcartel.com/product/orange-cassettes

Toke, Orange (2017)

The touring schedule of North Carolinian sludge mainstays Weedeater — who were into this shit before anyone was paying attention and will be around long after everyone else has gone, make no mistake — remains more than respectable. On Oct. 4, they began yet another run through Europe to support their 2015 album, Goliathan (review here), which was their fifth outing overall and first for Season of Mist.

And I don’t know when the last time you saw Weedeater was — you’ll forgive the assumption that you’ve seen them before, but let’s face it, you probably have — but they’re crushing it as always. It’s been a while for me, I’ll admit, but I can only recommend that you Euro-types haul your ass out to one of the gigs if you haven’t yet, because there’s nothing quite like Weedeater on stage to turn your blood into molasses… in a good way.

Dates and info follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

WEEDEATER embark on European tour

Notorious southern metal outfit WEEDEATER have kicked off their previously announced European fall tour. The band will travel through Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, France and more, before concluding at Desertfest in Belgium. Following the Desert Fest appearance, the band will continue through the UK with a headlining run. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.

WEEDEATER are touring in support of their new album Goliathan’. The album is streaming here. ‘Goliathan’ is available across various CD and LP formats at the Season of Mist E-Shop.

‘Goliathan’ once again features album art by Arik Roper (HIGH ON FIRE, SLEEP, THE BLACK CROWES) and will be available across multiple CD and Ltd. Ed. LP formats. WEEDEATER previously re-issued their first four albums, ‘Jason…the Dragon’, ‘Sixteen Tons’, ‘…And Justice for Y’all’, and ‘God Luck and Good Speed”. The long out of print albums are available as vinyl for the first time, as well as a CD and digitally at the Season of Mist E-shop and at Bandcamp.

WEEDEATER TOUR DATES
Oct 5 Dresden (DE) Scheune*
Oct 7 Wiesbaden (DE) Schlachthof*
Oct 8 Hamburg (DE) Hafenklang*
Oct 9 Arnhem (NL) Willemeen*
Oct 10 Hannover (DE) Cafe Glocksee*
Oct 11 Würzburg (DE) Immerhin*
Oct 12 Nantes (FR) Scene Michelet*
Oct 13 Bordeaux (FR) Le Fridge*
Oct 14 Roissy (FR) Pub ADK*
Oct 15 Antwerpen (BE) Desertfest*
Oct 16 Birmingham (UK) @ The Flapper+
Oct 17 Leeds (UK) @ The Brudenell Social Club+
Oct 18 Glasgow (UK) @ Cathouse+
Oct 19 London (UK) @ Underworld+
*w/ Arabrot + w/ Conjurer

https://www.facebook.com/weedmetal/
https://weedeater.bandcamp.com/album/goliathan

Weedeater, Goliathan (2015)

Weedeater are playing. What are you, not gonna show up? Of course you’re gonna show up, because savvy consumer that you are, you know damn well that on any given night, the North Carolinian sludge stalwarts are going to deliver not only more bang for your ticket-purchasing buck, but some of the heaviest sounds this side of just about anything you’d like to put next to them. Their fifth album, Goliathan (review here), was released last year on Season of Mist. But you already knew that. Because you’ll be at the show.

Tour starts in Atlanta on March 14 and heads west from there, stopping at SXSW, of course, before heading up the coast to Vancouver and back down across the Midwest. Support comes from Author & Punisher, Today is the Day and Lord Dying. The PR wire has details:

WEEDEATER announce new North American tour

Notorious southern metal outfit WEEDEATER have announced th e first leg of a two-part North American headlining tour. This first leg begins on March 14, and travels across the South and Western US. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.

WEEDEATER are touring in support of their new album Goliathan’.

WEEDEATER previously re-issued their first four albums, ‘Jason…the Dragon’, ‘Sixteen Tons’, ‘…And Justice for Y’all’, and ‘God Luck and Good Speed”. The long out of print albums are available as vinyl for the first time, as well as a CD and digitally at the Season of Mist E-shop and at Bandcamp.

WEEDEATER TOUR DATES
All dates with AUTHOR AND PUNISHER, TODAY IS THE DAY, LORD DYING
* No Lord Dying
** No Author & Punisher

Mar. 14 Atlanta GA @ EARL
Mar. 15 New Orleans LA @ Siberia
Mar. 16 Houston TX @ Fitzgeralds *
Mar. 17 San Antonio TX @ Korova
Mar. 18 Austin TX @ SXSW
Mar. 19 Ft Worth TX @ Tomcats West * *
Mar. 21 Albuquerque NM @ Sister
Mar. 22 Mesa AZ @ Club Red
Mar. 24 San Diego CA @ Brick By Brick
Mar. 25 Los Angeles CA @ Viper Room
Mar. 26 Oakland CA @ Oakland Opera House
Mar. 27 Portland OR @ Ash St Saloon
Mar. 28 Vancouver BC @ Rickshaw Theater
Mar. 29 Seattle WA @ Highline
Mar. 31 Denver CO @ 3 Kings Tavern
Apr. 1 Lawrence KS @ Granada Theater
Apr. 2 Iowa City IA @ Gabes
Apr. 3 Memphis TN @ Hi Tone

https://www.facebook.com/weedmetal/
http://www.weedmetal.com/
https://twitter.com/weedmetal
https://weedeater.bandcamp.com/
http://shopusa.season-of-mist.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=weedeater&mc_cid=f585e2785b&mc_eid=3f7c977228&mc_cid=6f0f7df1b4&mc_eid=3f7c977228

Weedeater, Goliathan (2015)

I’m not really sure what might prompt North Carolinian heavy rock four-piece ASG to make a new video now, more than two years after the release of their latest album, Blood Drive, also their debut on Relapse Records, but if I had to take a guess, they had the footage and decided to use it. Sad to say, I’m not familiar enough with the Wilmington area to know definitively where their newly-premiered clip for “Mourning of the Earth” was filmed, but if it’s Ziggy’s by the Sea, then it would be the same locale where the band captured “Scrappy’s Trip” from the same album, though that seems to have been set to the studio version of the song, whereas this is live video and audio.

Maybe ASG have a new record in the works and are looking to get a little momentum going and say goodbye to Blood Drive before they enter the release/touring cycle anew — and with them, there’s little doubt it’d be a substantial cycle indeed — but whatever it is, I’m little inclined to argue. The massive response Blood Drive garnered was neither happenstance nor the result of anything other than a quality songwriting process and years of hard work put in, and if “Mourning of the Earth” is their way of reminding people of that fact before they bring something new to the table next year, then right on. Hell, even if they haven’t been writing or recording, I don’t think they’ll meet with too many complaints, even this far out from the last release.

Rocka. Also rolla:

ASG, “Mourning of the Earth”

North Carolina stoner rockers ASG have shared a new music video via Vevo for their track “Mourning Of The Earth,” taken from the 2013 release Blood Drive. Directed by Jason Lynn, the video is taken from one of ASG’s recent live performances in their their hometown of Wilmington, NC earlier this year, and features the band tearing through the ripping, riff-laden stoner metal anthem.

In late 2011, Relapse Records announced the signing of North Carolina’s finest psychedelic, stoner-punks. ASG entered the studio in February 2012 to record their highly anticipated Relapse debut with producer Matt Hyde (Slayer, Children of Bodom, Fu Manchu). After a string of U.S. dates with Corrosion of Conformity and label-mates Royal Thunder in early 2013, the group delivered their fourth full length Blood Drive on May 28th, 2013. A 12-song collection of sun-soaked anthems full of groove heavy riffs that reference equally Torche and Queens of the Stone Age, Blood Drive has garnered near-universal critical acclaim since its release.

ASG on Thee Facebooks

ASG on Bandcamp

ASG at Relapse Records

For those who would be inclined to do so, there are really two ways to take on listening to Weedeater at this stage in their career. One can take a record like the 10-track/34-minute Goliathan, the fifth full-length of their 17-year tenure, first for Season of Mist and first with drummer Travis “T-Boogie” Owen, as a primer for the live experience. No doubt that’s where the hard-touring Wilmington, North Carolina, outfit has always made their primary impact both sonically and as a spectacle, guitarist Dave “Shep” Shepherd calmly oozing tone on one side of the and bassist/vocalist “Dixie” Dave Collins bugs out his eyes and lets loose both a wave of consuming low-end and a visceral rasp, stomping his foot, banging his head, pounding whiskey, and just maybe vomiting, all the while. One can listen to tracks like “Cain Enabler,” “Goliathan” and “Claw of the Sloth” and imagine the riots incited by the band, who’ve been on the road since long before anyone showed up to see them and have the presence to show for it, up to and including Owen‘s turned-sideways kit as part of the show. One can take Goliathan on that level and be stoked to see Weedeater the next time they roll through. I won’t argue against approaching the album that way. It works, it’s valid, and Steve Albini‘s production, as it did on 2011’s Jason… the Dragon (review here), rightly plays to the rawness of the band’s approach, obviously going for a “live” or at very least organic sound.

The other way to listen to Goliathan, however, is as the most forward-thinking album Weedeater have ever done. Yes, there’s a lot about it that remains intact from their past work. Collins still loves his puns, as “Battered and Fried,” “Cain Enabler” and the epilogue “Benaddiction” remind — the latter an answer to the introduction “Processional,” playing off the band’s Southern and/or Baptist roots — but there’s more going on than that and the expectation-meeting quota of swing (even with Owen in place of Keith Kirkum, this element remains) and vicious extremity of sludge. The opener and closer, for example. “Procession” leads the way into Goliathan with quiet keyboards and duly evangelical flourish of lap steel guitar, Collins adding a semi-spoken grunt of a verse to the mix, and while the progression itself, if it was transposed to full-blast guitar, bass and drums, would be right in Weedeater‘s familiar domain, the opener’s turn of arrangement sets up Goliathan‘s more adventurous approach. Jason… the Dragon had these turns as well, and much to its benefit, but Goliathan uses them more efficiently, and that goes for “Procession,” the spacey guitar minimalism of “Benaddiction,” “Battered and Fried”‘s swampy banjo twang. Even the penultimate “Reprise,” in revisiting the title-track’s steady roll, shows Weedeater with more of a clear head for songwriting and a full-album presentation than they’re often given credit for having, and add to that the speedy punkish weirdness of a song like “Bully,” of which the verses seem to be little more than taunts, and Goliathan becomes an even more nuanced experience.

That’s not to say there isn’t plenty of bludgeoning as well, nor that said bludgeoning isn’t as righteous as any Weedeater have presented before. The vocals on “Cain Enabler” are near-painful to the ear for the permanent damage one imagines they might’ve caused Collins‘ vocal cords, and as the longest track at 5:25, “Claw of the Sloth” seethes and writhes with a brutality all the more prevalent for how readily the band seems to wield it, and whether it’s a more upbeat progression like that one, a mid-paced stomper like “Joseph (All Talk)” or the densely toned lurch of “Goliathan” itself, the central vibe of rural strangeness and otherworldly threat remain — monsters covered in mud, no help for miles. Collins, Shepherd and Owen capture many of the aspects of Weedeater‘s sound that has made them the pivotal act within underground heavy they’ve become, but it also goes further than that and pushes not only beyond their earlier albums like their 2001 …And Justice for Y’All debut, 2002’s Sixteen Tons or their 2007 breakthrough, God Luck and Good Speed, but beyond what they accomplished on Jason… the Dragon as well. Perhaps most impressively of all, Goliathan reminds that when it comes to it, Weedeater are going to do whatever they want to do, as they did before their reputation came to precede them and as they no doubt would even if it didn’t. The record’s uncompromising nature just happens to find multiple modes of expression, and in that, the band deliver a work that, on whatever level one might want to take it on, proves worth the effort to do so.

Weedeater, “Cain Enabler”

Weedeater on Thee Facebooks

Season of Mist

The band’s original 1998 swansong, …At a Loss can be taken two ways when put in the context of Buzzov*en’s catalog as a whole. On the one hand, it’s the Wilmington, North Carolina, outfit’s most coherent offering in terms of songcraft, use of structure, and general self-awareness. By 1998, there may not have been nearly as many practitioners of it as there are today, but there was a set of sludge acts from across the US – Bongzilla and Eyehategod come to mind as contemporaries – and Buzzov*en were always intelligent enough to understand what was happening around them, as they were constantly on tour. So it’s a record with a place and a defined direction. On the other hand, with that, you necessarily lose the chaos of Buzzov*en’s earlier work in albums like To a Frown (1993) and Sore (1994), which had a fuck-all throwaway feel that simply can’t be replicated by anyone who knows what they’re doing without sounding contrived on some level. What’s certain in listening to …At a Loss is that Buzzov*en did pill-popping misanthropy like no one either in the American South or anywhere else. Even as what’s ostensibly their most accessible album, …At a Loss is a litmus test for how much aural hatred a person can withstand before pressing stop.

Given new life with a recent reissue thanks to Michigan imprint Emetic Records, every second of …At a Loss feels saturated with anger. It’s a humid, swampy sound to start with, and Buzzov*en revel in it across songs like the ultra-slow “Loricet,” the blastingly punkish “Flow,” which follows immediately, and the opening title-track, which begins the album with a sample of Robert Di Niro from Taxi Driver giving the “Someday a real rain’s gonna come…” monologue like it’s a mission statement for …At a Loss itself. The samples – an integral part of Buzzov*en’s assault – were handled at last by T-Roy Medlin, who had already by then formed Sourvein, and though that inevitably dates the record in the context of how overused sampling became in sludge, doom and stoner rock, it’s important to remember how pioneering Buzzov*en were in the method and that their doing so involved tapes and not laptops. I don’t know if that makes a difference in how most ears will hear …At a Loss 13 years after the fact, but the context is worth considering one way or the other.

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