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The Company Band Interview with James A. Rota: Making a Killer Wager

Posted in Features on October 29th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Beers at the ready, gentlemen!The Company Band, the debut full-length from the supergroup of the same name, is an album of strong personalities. Whether it’s the prominent vocals of Clutch‘s Neil Fallon, the bass of Fu Manchu‘s Brad Davis, the guitars of Dave Bone and Fireball Ministry‘s James A. Rota or the drums of CKY‘s Jess Margera, there is little in the output that can’t be tracked back to one source or another within the band itself. “That sounds like Fireball,” or “Man, that’s a Clutch part,” etc.

The success of the album and the band as a whole, then, hinges on being able to combine these personalities into something wholly new. I’ve already reviewed the album, so I’ll spare the evaluations, but suffice it to say that The Company Band is an entity unique among its components.

In the phone interview Rota was kind enough to grant The Obelisk from his Los Angeles home, the guitarist discusses the makings of The Company Band and the album of the same name, touching on the future of Fireball Ministry and the current climate in general for musicians and artists looking to be heard. Thanks to Rota for his candor and to you for reading.

Interview is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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The Skies Grow Darker for Swallow the Sun

Posted in Reviews on October 29th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Nice.The progression Finland?s Swallow the Sun have taken over the course of their now-four full-lengths seems to be one of abandoning many of the lush flourishes their songs contained in their earlier work — keeping the melody — in favor of tighter songwriting and more straightforward songs. Their last album, 2007?s Hope, was a leap in this direction from 2005?s Ghosts of Loss (they apparently like to work on the evens; see you in 2011, boys), and the latest output from the Jyv?skyl? six-pack, New Moon (Spinefarm), confirms the shift that seemed so sudden last time around.

Of course, there are still melodic/melancholic/melodancholic parts. It wouldn?t be Swallow the Sun without them, but as heard on opener ?These Woods Breathe Evil,? it?s much more about the structure of the song, and in this case the catchy chorus, than trading off between heaviness and atmospheric. The atmospheres have become part of the songs, to put it another way. We hear that in the Katatonia-esque ?Falling World,? and later in the title track, where vocalist Mikko Kotam?ki gives what might be his most accomplished performance yet, showing a melodic range and dynamism with his deathly growls that only speaks to the growth he?s undergone as a performer since the band started out.

What?s happening more than anything else on New Moon is that Swallow the Sun are coming into their own. They?ve toured Europe and the US, they?ve been around the world, they?re coming up on their first decade as a band, and they?re in a position where more and more people know who they are. For melodic death/doom, they might be the top name out of Europe today that hasn?t already been around for 20 years. Are they this generation?s My Dying Bride? Maybe, if you take away some of the gothic drama and consider the fact that while the seminal UK doom act had a full scene supporting them, with bands like Paradise Lost, Katatonia and Anathema to accompany, Swallow the Sun are pretty much doing this with zero companionship on their level. In a way, that makes it all the more admirable.

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New Dali’s Llama Record Out Now

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Palm Springs desert rockers Dali’s Llama have their new album, Raw is Real, for sale on their label’s website now. The follow-up to Full on Dunes, Raw is Real is Dali’s Llama‘s eighth album and was produced by Scott Reeder, who also plays drums on the video for the title track below. The band says it is their “hardest and darkest sounding yet.” Good times.

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Stare at this Flier for a While, Then Go to the Show it’s Promoting

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

The following flier was handed to me at the Eyehategod show the other night at Europa in Brooklyn, and it’s too cool not to post. I figured since the show depicted is tomorrow night, better to get it up now than not at all. Check out the painted van:

Dude, I'd totally drive that van.

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Cathedral Guess it’s Time to Record Their New Album…

Posted in Whathaveyou on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

…And I couldn’t agree more! Hell, it’s been four years since The Garden of Unearthly Delights. Time to get this thing moving. Blabbermouth has it that long-running UK doom lords Cathedral are shortly to enter the studio with Warren Riker to record their second album for Nuclear Blast. In the meantime, Earache has been on a tear reissuing old albums, the latest of which is The Ethereal Mirror, reviewed here. Here art the informations:

Utopia is coffin-shaped.Veteran British doom/stoner band Cathedral will enter Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire, UK in November to record its ninth full-length album and second for the Nuclear Blast label. Titled The Guessing Game, the new CD will once again be produced by Warren Riker (Down, Crowbar) and sport stunning new artwork from band collaborator Dave Patchett. Song titles set to appear on the CD (among others) include:

Journeys into Jade
The Casket Chasers
Funeral of Dreams
Death of an Anarchist
La Noche del Buque Maldito (a.k.a. Ghost Ship of the Blind Dead)
Open Mind Surgery

The Guessing Game is scheduled for a March/April 2010 release.

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On the Radar: Electric Horsemen

Posted in On the Radar on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Nice logo, guys.Sure to delight the Amish countywide, Lancaster, PA, sludge outfit Electric Horsemen have been one of those bands I’ve been meaning to check out for a while, seeing their names on fliers for this that or the other in my usual stalkings of bands like Ol’ Scratch, Valkyrie and others whose albums I’d put out if I had the startup costs to get a record label going. Now that I’ve finally heard what I’ve been missing, I’ve got no choice but to boot myself in the ass yet again for hesitating.

In a way, discovering new kickass bands is a hassle, because there’s so much good stuff out there, you’re bound to run out of patience for it. I’m not saying Electric Horsemen are the second coming of Buzzov*en, but they’ve got some killer grooves, some nasty screams and riffs I wouldn’t mind hearing emanate every once in a while from a small plastic disc. Their recently-released split with Count Von Count, for example, would do nicely.

Those in the York area — I happen to know for a fact this site is huge in York, PA (that’s not true) — be sure to catch them at The Depot with Backwoods Payback on Nov. 14. For those of us stuck in the valley, we’ll just have to wait till they head up this way, which if they’re smart will be never.

Dig Electric Horsemen‘s MySpaceifications here.

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And Now for Something Completely Different: Diablo Swing Orchestra, Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious

Posted in Reviews on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Ah, the scary kids.The title should be your first clue that Stockholm?s Diablo Swing Orchestra have a playful side, albeit a creepy one, as the wide-mouthed smiles on the cover of their second full-length, Sing Along Songs for the Damned and Delirious shows. One could look at the Peter Bergting illustration with either joy or horror, maybe a queasiness in the gut similar to that evoked by Angels of Light?s We are Him art, and doubtless that was the Swedish six-piece?s intent.

It?s a relatively simple pitch: Here?s a band that makes death metal swing. I don?t care if you like death metal, or if you like swing, or if you like neither, there?s at least some part of you that?s going to be interested. If someone said to me, ?Hey, there?s a guy who does gangsta rap polka,? I?d check it out regardless of my relative non-fandom for either genre. A novelty, a curiosity — call it what you will, you?re still hooked.

And in a way, that?s the greatest success of Diablo Swing Orchestra: their hook. I came into the record with an already pretty solid conception of what death metal swing might sound like, having garnered same from Devin Townsend?s ?Bad Devil? on 1998?s Infinity solo album. Being a fan of that execution, the idea of Diablo Swing Orchestra had its appeal, and from the first bum-ba-dum drums of opener ?A Tap Dancer?s Dilemma,? I found my expectations well met by the horns, distorted guitars, male/female vocals, upwardly-directed beats and chopped rhythms and changes. I won?t lie, there were moments in listening that had me wanting to dance like John Turturro in Barton Fink.

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Hey Man, They’re Like Wizards, Who Smoke

Posted in Reviews on October 28th, 2009 by JJ Koczan

Not Tenacious D.Whether or not Wizard Smoke got their moniker from the Stoner Rock Band Name Generator, I don?t know, but the Atlanta-based five-piece has their first offering in the form of the self-released Live Rock in Hell, and in the true sprit of demo promotion, they?re giving it away for free. The zip file I downloaded contained high quality mp3s (no 128k for these doomers) as well as front and back artwork for the disc. It?s not everybody?s bag, giving away their hard work, but it should be.

For their part, Wizard Smoke, who boast former/current members of Maserati and Dust Rabbit, pull down their fly and let loose a stream of screamy doom that smells like fried chicken and leaves a stain on the rug. Their five tracks (not counting the bonus cut) are Roman numerals, not names, and they?re not in the order you might think, starting with ?II? instead of ?I? before going into ?III,? ?IV? and ending with ?I (Reprise),? You could call Live Rock in Hell an EP if you felt like it, since it?s under half an hour, but it could just as easily pass for a full-length. Suit yourself either way. I doubt the band gives a shit.

Likely, they?re too busy riffing out on something born of C.O.C. and Sleep and jamming drunkenly through their tunes as they do on their debut. The production is meh in the tradition of meh production, which will only further the requisite Eyehategod comparisons that seem to be heaped upon everything sludgy these days, but you can still get a sense of what Wizard Smoke are trying to achieve with Live Rock in Hell. And unless I?m wrong, they?re trying to fuck you up with sound.

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