Well, hot shit. Looks like Hippie Death Cult‘s new drummer is the real deal. Stand back from your screen as you watch Harry Silvers‘ sticks fly during the cover of Black Sabbath‘s instrumental swingfest “Rat Salad” from Paranoid, lest one of those sticks breaks the fourth wall to poke you in the eye. It was only mid-January when the Portland, Oregon-based outfit welcomed Silvers to the fold, their lineup having been revamped around bassist Laura Phillips and guitarist Eddie Brnabic since the release of 2021’s Circle of Days (review here), paring down from four to three players, shifting Phillips to a dual role as lead vocalist (and bassist, duh) and seeing Silvers take over on drums.

Those aren’t minor changes, but they seem not to have slowed the band’s momentum in the slightest. Already since this clip was recorded earlier this month, the trio hit California to play Heavy Psych Sounds Fest in San Francisco and Joshua Tree, and they’ll be at RippleFest Texas later this year with more dates sure to coincide. When Silvers came on board, the band posted a quick clip of his playing, but as a proof-of-concept demonstration of instrumental chemistry, “Rat Salad” is a piece well chosen with its bluesy bounce, burner guitar solo, essential fountain of bass, and, in the original, Bill Ward‘s madcap hit-hard-jazz tumult. To this, Silvers does justice, and frankly that’s one of the nicest things I can think of to say about any drummer, anywhere, at any time. I think if you watch the video, you’ll find it’s not a compliment lightly given. Ain’t nobody half-assing, but the kid absolutely shreds the drum solo to the point that, when it’s done — and at under three minutes, it’s deceptively efficient — it feels a little like an injustice that they don’t segue immediately into “Fairies Wear Boots.”

And I’m not sure what the occasion is here beyond the video turned out awesome, but that’s certainly enough excuse when it comes to Hippie Death Cult as far as I’m concerned. Whether you’re gonna see them this year or not — I’m hoping I am at some point, though I’m not sure when — this is worth the couple minutes to see why maybe you should.

Enjoy:

Hippie Death Cult, “Rat Salad” live in Portland, OR, March 17, 2023

Clips of Hippie Death Cult performing Black Sabbath’s “Rat Salad” live at Dante’s in Portland, Oregon on 3/17/2023.

Footage:
Eddy Vazquez
Triangles Around Us
Shady Hallow Media

Edits & Audio Mix:
Spirit Eye Photography

HDC is:
Laura Phillips : Vocals/Bass
Eddie Brnabic : Guitar
Harry Silvers : Drums

Hippie Death Cult on Bandcamp

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Hippie Death Cult on Soundcloud

Hippie Death Cult website

Heavy Psych Sounds on Bandcamp

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Heavy Psych Sounds on Facebook

Tags: Heavy Psych Sounds, Hippie Death Cult, Oregon, Portland

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 29th, 2023 at 12:28 pm and is filed under Bootleg Theater. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.