We already knew Desertfest wasn’t fucking around, but goodness gracious. To add Sourvein, Graves at Sea, Kongh, Grime, Pombagira, Lifer and War Wolf all at once is ridiculous. It’s like you took two already-quite-heavy fests and smashed them into each other. The Human Disease Promo/When Planets Collide stage is aptly named, if nothing else, because with acts this heavy tossed in, it adds an entirely different dimension to London Desertfest 2014 and makes its roster of bands all the more enviable.

I won’t waste time with a long intro since there’s a lot to wade through here. The following comes courtesy of the Desertfest website, with words by Staggerin’ Matt and Gareth Kelly. Dig it:

Welcome To The HDP / WPC Stage @ Desertfest 2014

Back for the third year running, human_disease_promo / when planet’s collide are teaming up once again to curate a stage of smoked-out heavy rumblings at DesertFest 2014.

Anyone who caught the crushing slab of decibel meter smashing doom that radiated from their stage earlier this year will know to expect the heaviest, loudest, most tripped out, underground sludge / doom from around the globe when The Underworld gets taken over on the final day of the festival again in April. This year will see them bringing as many variations of the theme as are out there to forge a dynamic stage including elements of pysch, prog, dark metal and crust, as well as the traditional dirty sludge and weedy doom riffs. Bring your earplugs and lose your mind as hdp / wpc draw out the festival in swampy, distorted style.

DESERTFEST DROWNS IN GRIEF WITH GRAVES AT SEA

Purveyors of the finest crust-doom nihilism Arizona’s Graves At Sea will be landing in the middle of the eye of the storm at The Underworld to bring forth a cargo laden with wretched snarls of bile and horror.

With relatively little in the way of released material G.A.S. built up a slew of interest due to the sheer grief / woe ridden intensity of the sound that they spewed forth. 2 tracks on a split with Asunder in 2005 showed the band to also possess a quality of strong dynamic ability, although it is the sheer overall nastiness of the bands squalid down-tuned sound that make their status as one of the most sought after underground dark sludge offerings fully justified. Few bands could hope to possess such varying and well laid down exorcisms (at times reminiscent of the vocal stylings of the likes of Corrupted, Burning Witch, Noothgrush, and occasionally even through to Autopsy / Abscess), draped over smoke enriched fuzzed licks and long low bass rumbles.

Many of us were disappointed when, following a long hiatus, the bands recent euro stint alongside New Zealand’s Methdrinker didn’t reach the UK mainland, so we’re totally stoked to play host to them on the human_disease_promo / when planet’s collide stage at the next installment of the festival. Get ready for a slow twisting vortex of ravenous filth throughout!

KONGH TAKE DESERTFEST THROUGH THE PORTAL

Sweden’s driving wall of darkened heaviness Kongh have been taking sludge and doomed post-metal to the next level for the best part of a decade now, destroying stages and minds worldwide with their own unforgiving barrage of dynamic noise and they are set to blast into The Underworld’s hdp / wpc curated stage for a UK exclusive show in April.

The band’s 2006 demo and the recently re-released 2007?s debut LP “Counting Heartbeats” were maelstroms of storming riffs, combining chugging sludge with other worldly ambiences to create a mesmorisingly crushing sound. Since then the trio have never looked back. Pushing forward with 2 more albums and a handfull of splits of intense grandiose tripped-out sludge noise, 2013?s Sole Creation is an accomplishment of gigantic proportions, projecting the band onto a trajectory of altering perceptions of what is possible within the realms of heavy music. Epic and monstrous guitar work layered up with pounding drums and vocals varying from trad-doom warbling to soaring harmonised melodys to crushing death-sludge roars and blackened rasps, all of this gelling together into a head-banging, brain-devouring force, it’s easy to forget sometimes that this huge sound is coming from only 3 members.

Kongh have been busy since they last hit these shores with YOB / Dark Castle in Oct 2011. As well as the album, a slew of European dates and a recent outing supporting heavyweights Meshuggah across Scandinavia have landed the band in a place ready to destroy the senses of all who can squeeze into the Underworld to catch them. Get ready to work those necks, throw claws, pound fists, and yet still be taken to a place far outside of this reality in the same process… Kongh are hitting DesertFest to liquidise your friggin’ minds!

SOURVEIN OFFER UP THE DIRGE WINE AT DESERTFEST 2014

North Carolina’s legendary dirt-sludge outfit, led by T-Roy the revered reverend of the dirty south, are set to land back on these shores to spread the gospel of hard times, turbulent troubles and violent struggles of life that they have been laying down since way back in 1993.

There are those bands that create a swamp of dirge so thick that you feel the possibility there may actually be no escape or mental resolve before the final end-time. Sourvein are not just one of those bands, they are the goddam masters! Oozing a southern drawl and nomadic mysticism that invokes images in the mind of horror and fright, and that uncertain feeling of teetering on the very edge of sanity. It’s akin to full engulfment in a THC cloud from the opening bars right through a distorted mire of torment, and whisky fueled loathing, to the bitter lasting feedback of the destructive climax. Basically Sourvein don’t fuck around, they do away with the pleasantries and get straight to the fucking point.

Following from the past appearances and incantations of the band at The Underworld on the “No Sleep Til Halloween” tour of 2006 (alongside fellow DesertFest favourites Church Of Misery), and again in 2008 with Orange Goblin, we are proud to once again welcome back T-Roy and his current outfit of NoCal’s finest filthmonger’s to this fair city of ours. Catch the sludge veterans on the human_disease_promo / when planet’s stage, preferably near the peak of your intoxication limits… and get ready to Bangleaf mother fuckers!

GRIME BRING THE FILTH TO DESERTFEST 2014

The Adriatic coast of Italy isn’t one of first places that springs to mind when thinking of the nastiest kind of down-tuned, spite-filled, blackened sludge… but that’s exactly what Trieste’s Grime bring to the table in droves.

Whether it’s the bloody history of Northern Italy’s past, or possibly the isolation of their hometown region? It’s left to be guessed, but Grime produce a sound that is most certainly dragged from the depths of despair, suffering and antipathy, crawling with venomous snarls and screeching, this is dark and heavy music at it’s best! That is not to say however that 2013’s crushing (Billy Anderson mixed) LP “Deteriorate” is lacking in soul. Far from it. In fact the band’s second offering is rich in warm tone and offers finely crafted riffmanship within interspersed chunks of head nodding weedy vibes. The overall feel of this band is a slow, brooding type of heavy that has initiated the band into doom / sludge circles with an instantly high regard. A European tour last year with Cough and shows with Steven O’Malley, Ufomammut and a Russian stint with Suma have cemented the trio as being a strongly anticipated soundtrack to a slice of post-smoke negativity when they make their UK debut on the human_disease_promo / when planet’s collide stage at DesertFest in April next year.

We can’t wait… let the bad times roll on!!

POMBAGIRA TO AMP UP SPELLBINDING SEAS OF DOOM

Few bands are capable of delivering the palpable blow to the senses than the UK’s loudest duo Pete and Carolyn Hamilton-Giles drive with sheer ease.

Huge waves of riff repetition of early releases earned the originally London based two-piece a reputation for a one-of-kind uncompromising volume experience with their live shows across the UK and Europe over the course of the last 7 years, plus a short stint on the US north west coast. A more recent move to a rural base has given rise to the massive 60 / 70’s influenced opus of 2013’s Maleficia Lamiah, the opening title track of which is currently being streamed for free on their own Black Axis Records website. With artwork by Vic Singh (also responsible for Pink Floyd’s Piper At The Gates Of Dawn cover art) Pombagira have conjured up a unique journey of modern doom-psych fusion, and this latest offering has yet to be experienced in a live setting in the capital… Until now! Expect their full backline of vintage hardware to drive home the heavy tide of a new found acid-doom drenched sound over the audience in a thick veil of hypnotic low end magnificence.

War Wolf To Howl In Camden

Hailing from England’s South coast WAR WOLF are a beastily heavy 3-piece whose credentials speak firmly for themselves, (being two-thirds ex-Dopefight, one third Sea Bastard / ex-Jovian).

This year’s debut 8 track EP “Riding With Demons” destroyed minds across the board and gave birth to a much needed balls-out band on the UK scene. Vehemently anti-Thatcher and outspoken against hypocritical catholic dogma / neo-fascism and economic plight, War Wolf blast a concentrated stream of criticism and spite into their music. But… this band also has riffs! Big gnarly riffs mixed with a giant distorted tone. Yet perfectly disjointed and stabbingly sharp to the point, owing as much to their raw talent as a general distain for all conformist ideals.

Overall, War Wolf are a blistering D.I.Y. punk-sludge force, reminiscent at times of the likes of early Cavity. Naturally in-your-face but addictively watchable, duo-vocaled , ripping riff heavy, and a welcome breath of fresh air from the mundane. A killer 3 tracks on their side of a recent split with Sob Story (self-released through drummer Ant Cole’s own Headless Guru Records label) hint towards the immanent new full length as being an important and highly anticipated record. One that will most likely carry both the unexpected as well as another leap forward into a solid standing as a modern UK export with a giant middle finger to the hypocrisy around them, echoing the crust heavyweights of yesteryear, yet with a hardcore / doom fusion that ensures their ability to remain up there with some of the heaviest bands around today.

Definitely a kick to the head not to be missed on the Human_Disease_Promo / When Planet’s Collide stage at DesertFest 2014.

LIFER TO OPEN AT DESERTFEST 2014

Coming in somewhere between Sick Of It All and the mighty Down these Welsh masters of the raging riff (ft ex-axeman of UK stoner heroes Acrimony) are due to set off the Human_Disease_Promo / When Planets Collide stage at this year’s festival.

Having played triumphant sets at the likes of Hammerfest and Bloodstock (appearing not once but twice, playing to a strong crowd on their second stage in 2013), the band have also played storming shows supporting many fellow “Lifer’s” like Viking Skull and Orange Goblin. Their debut Album ‘Curse them Out’ was released to rave reviews and with 2014 seeing them disappear back in to the studio once again we hope that this year’s appearance at DesertFest may be a good chance for them to air some brand new material too. These boys are coming from the valleys to crush your tiny minds. Do not miss out!

http://www.thedesertfest.com/
https://www.facebook.com/humandiseasepromo
https://www.facebook.com/DesertfestLondon

Sourvein, “Dirty South” Live

While I’m not sure I’d position Los Angeles-based rockers Bigelf as progressive — at least in the modern rock sense — I’m not sure I can come up with anywhere they’d fit better, and certainly having former Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy in the lineup isn’t about to hurt their cred in that regard. Founded by oft-chapeaued frontman Damon Fox a long, long time ago, Bigelf‘s last album was 2008’s Cheat the Gallows, and to herald the March 4 arrival of Into the Maelstrom as their first LP in half a decade, they’ll be taking part in the Progressive Nation at Sea cruise/fest in February, which will see them perform alongside the likes of Devin Townsend and Adrian Belew. So, you know, very proggy there as well.

Interested to hear how all this proggy-prog-prog manifests on Into the Maelstrom and if Bigelf keep some of the classic psychedelia of their past efforts intact, but I guess we’ll have to wait until the New Year.

Till then, the PR wire has this:

Bigelf announce release of new studio album ‘Into The Maelstrom’ for March 2014

It’s been a long time coming, but Bigelf are at long last pleased to announce that they will release their brand new fourth studio album entitled ‘Into The Maelstrom’ on the 4th of March 2014 throughout North America. Frontman and mastermind Damon Fox had this to say:
“I think ITM is the best Bigelf record yet and I believe it is a real game changer for the band. It’s gonna put us over the top! Psychedelic cinematic landscapes and melodic prog-doom set the stage for the new album, I cannot wait for fans (old and new) to experience all of its apocalyptic color.”

‘Into The Maelstrom’ marks the recording debut of Mike Portnoy (Transatlantic, The Winery Dogs) with Bigelf, whose Progressive Nation At Sea Cruise the band will perform on from the 18th – 22nd February 2014, playing alongside bands such as Transatlantic, Devin Townsend Project, Riverside & Adrian Belew Power Trio. Tickets are available now from www.progressivenationatsea.com

Look out for more information in the coming weeks!

BIGELF online:
http://www.bigelf.com
http://www.facebook.com/bigelfmusic
http://www.twitter.com/bigelf

Bigelf, “Superstar” official video

Following their 2013 double-EP, Papa Zen and Meet the Creature, and 2012’s The Banjo full-length debut, Danish heavy rock trio Pet the Preacher will release their second album, The Cave and the Sunlight in 2014, getting dirty in a mound of distortion-fueled riffs and grooves bordering on morbidly obese. Their past releases, save for Meet the Creature when it was initially released in 2011, came out on Bilocation Records, and in the new video for the song “Let Your Dragon Fly,” Pet the Preacher continue to root into well-tempered stoner rock burl, not giving up a catchy hook in favor of a burly sound, but striking a balance that seems to make the most of both.

Where they end up sonically is in a similar next-gen stoner heavy mindset not unlike that of UK troublemakers Steak, though obviously the dynamic is different in Pet the Preacher with Christian Hede Madsen handling both vocals and guitar. Joined in the band by bassist/backing vocalist Torben Wæver Pedersen and drummer Christian Von Larsen, Madsen shows a push toward even weightier fare near the end of “Let Your Dragon Fly” — it’s a dragon as opposed to a freak flag, one assumes — and the production of former Hatesphere vocalist Jacob Bredahl only brings that more forward. The video, which is their first and which Madsen also helmed, follows suit with a strikingly dark thematic and gritty look.

It’s a DIY job, as the guitarist explains below, but comes out with a professional look all the same. em>The Cave and the Sunlight was recorded live and will be out next year. Enjoy “Let Your Dragon Fly” below:

Pet the Preacher, “Let Your Dragon Fly” official video

Christian Hede Madsen on “Let Your Dragon Fly”

The film is a tribute to old, avant garde films. The black/white shots, the blurred images and classic symbolism are inspired by the likes of Man Ray and Bunuel. I shot the film on an iPhone, and then asked a good friend and my uncle to shoot something for the project as well. Everything is shot on either phones or small, cheap cameras. Editing was done on an iPad.

My main goal with the music-video, was making something that felt real. Something that had layers, and didn’t just please the viewers, but challenged them a little bit. That is how we make our music in Pet The Preacher, and how our new album, The Cave & The Sunlight, is; an ideal of making something that matters. We are a rock ‘n’ roll trio, no doubt, but I am not ashamed to say that we aim for art.

Pet the Preacher on Thee Facebooks

Pet the Preacher on Twitter

Bilocation Records

So, uh, am I crazy, or did we already know that UK doomers Alunah were going to be working with Napalm Records for their next album? And I don’t mean like they-announced-it-on-Thee-Facebooks-three-days-ago-and-the-PR-wire-just-caught-up “already know,” I mean it as in months ago. Help me out here.

Because I’ll tell you, I’ve been saying their next record was coming on Napalm since June, and while this certainly wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong about something for six solid months, at least in theory I like to get it right when I can. This news came in this morning and I kind of spent the afternoon wondering if I should even bother posting it and then I was like, “Yeah screw it because you can put White Hoarhound on again,” and that’s what I did. Any excuse.

Thinking about Top 20 lists, Alunah should’ve been in mine for 2012. All the more reason to look forward to their next release, which hey guess what? It’s coming out on Napalm Records. Official confirmation awaits:

ALUNAH SIGN WORLDWIDE RECORD DEAL WITH NAPALM RECORDS!

Birmingham based psych doom band Alunah are proud to announce that they have signed a worldwide album deal with Napalm Records!

Alunah worked with them previously on a limited vinyl release of the band’s last record “White Hoarhound”, and after demo-ing some new tracks entered talks with Napalm Records regarding a full worldwide recording and publishing contract.

Napalm Records will release a limited edition digi-pack and gatefold LP; and Michael Cowell will illustrate the full packaging.

“Alunah are incredibly happy to have signed a worldwide album deal with the world renowned label Napalm Records. We already have a strong working relationship from when they released a vinyl version of our second album “White Hoarhound”, and we are proud to have been asked to join the Napalm family on a more long-term basis. We have a hard working ethic, are constantly evolving and appreciate everything given to us. We are joining a roster which boasts some of the best bands in the industry, and we’re confident that this new phase in our relationship is a mutually beneficial one.” – Vocalist & guitarist Sophie Day

Alunah will be working once again with Sound of Liberation regarding the band’s 2014 European tour, and will be embarking on a UK tour in May/June.

https://www.facebook.com/alunah.doom
https://www.facebook.com/napalmrecords

Alunah, White Hoarhound (2012)

Not much by way of details at this point, but I figured any news about a new Wolves in the Throne Room album would probably be better than none. Reportedly more info is coming next month on the Washington outfit’s fifth album and the follow-up to 2011’s Celestial Lineage, but as a preliminary, the PR wire sent initial word that writing is almost completed. Groovy.

So maybe a spring or summer release? I don’t know. Either way, it’s good news:

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM: Recordings Penned For 2014 Release

Barring the recent release of their BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini live 12″, WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM have been keeping a low profile since the conclusion of the world-spanning tour that supported their most recent LP, Celestial Lineage. Now, word comes that the band, along with producer Randall Dunn, has been quietly cultivating the next chapter in their ongoing musical evolution. While little else is known of the impending recordings as of now, the brothers Weaver have confirmed that, the music is currently in the final stages, being prepared for release in the first quarter of 2014. An official communiqué on WITTR’s impending 2014 actions will be announced very early in the New Year.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM’s BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini was released in late November, once again via Southern Lord Recordings, who also unveiled the act’s acclaimed second LP, Two Hunters (2007), the Malevolent Grain EP and Black Cascade LP (2009), and most recently the triumphant Celestial Lineage LP (2011). The BBC 12″ contains the massive “Prayer of Transformation” and “Thuja Magus Imperium” — pieces culled from Celestial Lineage and recorded live at the BBC’s storied Maida Vale Studios while WITTR was in the midst of a tour of the UK. While far from a full length LP, BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini served to tide anxious fans over, while new production was still being organized.

Immediately after their 2004 inception, Olympia, Washington’s WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM have been leaders in the forward advancement of American metal, and have since been a worldwide force in pushing the boundaries of the black metal genus into new realms. The band’s trance-inducing delivery of their anthems has been witnessed by fans internationally in the live setting, as WITTR has trekked across most of the habitable continents over the past decade. While they’ve performed at massive festivals including Roadburn, Hell Fest and Roskilde, the band also veers far from the well-trod paths, booking shows at unconventional venues and art spaces in addition to performing in barns, on beaches and in forests, bringing their wholly underground and uncompromising ethos to fruition with their fans.

http://www.wittr.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wolves-In-The-Throne-Room/48294546133

Wolves in the Throne Room, BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini (2013)

It’s a release home-recorded entirely with instrumental acoustic guitar, so yeah, it should probably go without saying that Michael Wohl‘s Eight Pieces for Solo Guitar has an intimate vibe. Nonetheless, Wohl, who also serves as guitarist/vocalist in Seattle rockers Mystery Ship — their EP II (review here) was one of my favorite short releases this year — manages to explore a range of emotional expressions within the decidedly minimal atmosphere, from the toe-tapper “No Ticket Blues” to the open-spaced folk of “Lonesome No More.”

Calling it primitive feels like underselling it, but fortunately there’s very little of the cloying-at-authenticity in what Wohl does that one often finds in neo-Americana folk. And it’s not simple by any means. Each of the titular eight pieces has a concept at work, as Wohl himself elucidates in a track-by-track accompanying the digital release even as he gives the tuning info:

Eight instrumental acoustic guitar songs recorded in my apartment between January 2012 and May 2013. Remastered July 2013.

1. Sheepmanblues: drone blues with a nod to Murakami, played in CGCGCE tuning. The SHEEPMAN is ever-present and cryptic in his instruction & aim.

2. No Ticket Blues: Played in DADF#AD. An original composition, indebted to Mississippi John Hurt, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and Skip James. Ain’t got no Ticket, ain‘t got no ride.

3. Moonfeeder: nocturne played in DADFAD

4. Poor Boy Long Ways From Home: adapted from an arrangement from John Fahey who I think adapted primarily from Barbecue Bob and Booker White. This is one of the oldest songs. No one wrote it but it floats in the firmament of American music. Rev. Robert Wilkins secular song “That’s No Way to Get Along” became “Prodigal Son” when he took up the cloth and this song bears much similarity. Adapted by the Stones on the Beggar’s Banquet album.

5. Melatonin Blues / Fever Dream: I stayed up for way too long and improvised this arrangement of a couple ideas and figures I had been playing for a while.

6. Rainin’ Sideways: came up with on the couch while visiting my home, played in Open C. Recorded in Seattle on one of the ugliest days in history.

7. Long After We Are Dead: one of the first instrumental songs I wrote. It came together after visiting Antietam, Gettysburg, and other Civil War sites.

8. Lonesome No More: In E Standard tuning, capo’d 2nd fret. A foray into spatial composition…echo & distance.

Naturally, having a direct discussion from Wohl on the intent and meaning behind the songs gives the 27-minute album a different context, but even without it, it’s easy to get a sense of where the divide in “Melatonin Blues/Fever Dream” lies, the former staying somewhat in line with the rootsy style of “Sheepmanblues” and the latter wandering into more intricate changes, still keeping a down-home twang, but come into a folkier place.

The overall spirit of the songs is humble — a far cry from some of the swagger Wohl shows in Mystery Ship — and deeply personal, and in some cases, immediately and unconsciously familiar. The take on “Poor Boy Long Way from Home” gives a bare-bones look at where Masters of Reality picked up some of the melody for “John Brown,” and “Rainin’ Sideways” takes even more appeal from the fact that it seems like it’s about to come apart at any given moment.

Wohl has a tape version of Eight Pieces for Solo Guitar out and a 7″ coming that’s also set to feature “Moonfeeder,” but because it’s something that might catch people off guard in listening, I thought it would be perfect as well for The Obelisk Radio. You can hear it there now as part of the regular streaming rotation and check it out on the Bandcamp player below. Enjoy:

Michael Wohl, Eight Pieces for Solo Guitar (2013)

Michael Wohl on Thee Facebooks

Michael Wohl on Bandcamp

Oh California, you already have my envy for more than just the climate in the southern part of your state and your rampant availability of hoverboards, must you take Weedeater too? After a quickie warm-up show in Georgia on Jan. 14, North Carolinian sludge experts Weedeater are headed west for a run of shows in CA, running from Sacramento south to San Diego and then back up a bit to finish in Los Angeles. The tour comes on the heels of a digital reissue of the band’s catalog through Season of Mist ahead of physical pressings and reportedly a new album in 2014.

The PR wire sent along the following info, and you’ll notice that Travis Owens, who’d come in on drums to replace Keith Kirkum, isn’t listed in the lineup with “Dixie” Dave Collins and Dave Sheperd. Not sure if that means he’s out of the band, and if so, not sure who’s playing on the tour, but I’d be interested to find out.

Here’s the latest:

WEEDEATER Announce West Coast Tour Dates

Legendary sludge outfit WEEDEATER (“Dixie” Dave Collins – Bass, Vocals; Dave Sheperd – Guitar, Vocals) have announced a January West Coast tour. The trek, which starts on January14th in Atlanta, will see the band playing a string of shows in select territories before ending in LA on the 26th. A full list of confirmed dates can be found below.

The North Carolina-based band is writing new material for their first Season of Mist recording, slated for a release in 2014.

WEEDEATER was formed by front-man/bassist “Dixie” Dave Collins. Following the release of their 2001 debut ‘…And Justice For Y’All’, WEEDEATER immediately established themselves as a force in the U.S. tour circuit and quickly gained notoriety in the American metal scene. In the time since, the band have released three critically-acclaimed albums: ‘Sixteen Tons’ (2002), ‘God Luck And Good Speed’ (2007), and ‘Jason… The Dragon’ (2011), and toured around the world with the likes of DOWN, SAINT VITUS, HIGH ON FIRE, and THE MELVINS, HANK III, EARTH, SUNN O))) and more. The band has played prestigious festivals such as Maryland Deathfest, Hopscotch Festival, Stoned From The Underground, Asymmetry Festival, Roadburn Festival, Hellfest, and many more.

WEEDEATER’s four full-lengths will see a digital re-release on Dec. 10 worldwide, and will be followed by the release of physical formats in 2014.

Regarding the signing, WEEDEATER said, “When we heard we would be working with Season of Mist we almost wrecked our pants. Can’t wait for y’all to check out this sh*t.”

For more WEEDEATER news and tour information, please visit the Season of Mist website, and the WEEDEATER website and Facebook page.

WEEDEATER Tour Dates
1/14 Atlanta, GA @ The Earl
1/16 Sacramento, CA @ Harlows
1/17 San Franciso, CA @ Thee Darkside
1/18 Oakland, CA @ Opera House
1/19 Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
1/20 San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
1/21 Fresno, CA @ Strummers
1/26 Los Angeles, CA @ The Satellite

http://season-of-mist.com/
https://www.facebook.com/weedmetal/
http://www.weedmetal.com/

Weedeater, “Long Gone” from Jason… the Dragon

UK reefer metallers Groan don’t leave much room for ambivalence. With their new Superhot Records EP, Ride the Snake, as with their 2012 full-length, The Divine Right of Kings (review here), they demand declaration either of allegiance or antipathy over the course of five tracks, and if you haven’t climbed on board their debauched, medieval-themed fancy dress party boat yet, then chances are the chicanery on Ride the Snake cuts like “Women of Doom” and “Slice of that Vibe” isn’t going to win you over to their side. And if not, something tells me vocalist Andreas “Mazzereth” Maslen, bassist Leigh Jones, guitarists Mike Pilat and Jimmy Beedham and drummer Zel Kaute would keep doing what they’re doing anyway, since nothing seems to have slowed them down up to this point with tongue-in-cheek rockstar shenanigans, including a slew of lineup changes around Maslen and Jones, who are the sole founding members remaining from Groan‘s 2010 debut, The Sleeping Wizard (review here). That a band would shift members in their earlier going isn’t such a surprise — it happens more often than not — but Groan seem to have a steady turnover rate of people in and out on drums and guitar. Both Kaute and Beedham came in as replacements for Chris West, who first switched from drums to guitar and then left altogether — he serves as engineer on Ride the Snake, so take “altogether” for what it’s worth — and Pilat is also a recent-enough addition to not have played on The Divine Right of Kings. If Groan‘s intent with these songs was to feel out the dynamic of their new lineup (I’m not sure if Beedham was a member yet when they recorded, though it’s possible), then at very least they still sound like Groan. From the second Maslen opens his mouth on opener “Women of Doom” and tops the stoner groove with his higher-register bark, you would not likely mistake them for anyone else. No matter how you want to look at it, that works in their favor.

Maslen‘s seemingly indomitable persona is a big part of what gives Groan their identity at this point, and he’s front and center on Ride the Snake, a crotchal thrust timed to the riff-led “Women of Doom,” his voice high in a spacious mix. Though he makes an unlikely champion for the feminist cause in underground metal, and the chorus “Make room for the women of doom/Take heed or they’ll blow out your mind/Make room for the women of doom/Their beauty will smack you blind” a likewise unlikely anthem, it’s a catchy chorus, and one of several on the EP, as “Drug Lord” and “Slice of that Vibe” share a similar mindset, and even “Blessed is My Blade,” which leans less on its chorus, winds up in a memorable boogie as Pilat‘s leads and Maslen‘s vocals (with backing accompaniment) duke it out at the song’s apex. At times, Groan straddle the line of making you wonder whether or not they’re taking themselves seriously, and though they usually wind up on the “nope” side of that equation, eight-minute closer “Citadel of Chaos” is another such example of their toying with heavy metal grandiosity. Pilat, as a solo player, is a fair match with Maslen‘s over-the-top methods, and while he adds that appeal to “Drug Lord,” “Women of Doom” and “Slice of that Vibe” as well — those three being more verse/chorus in their construction — with “Citadel of Chaos,” it’s as much the guitars as the vocals stepping out front. Should Pilat remain in the band over a longer term, it could be interesting to hear how that dynamic develops over the course of writing for a full-length, but the roots of it are in these songs waiting to be explored, and with Jones and Kaute providing a solid rhythmic drive for that to play out, Groan as they are now could turn into an entirely different band than they were a year ago. Which, you know, they kind of already have.

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