Posted in Whathaveyou on April 22nd, 2021 by JJ Koczan
Maryland Doom Fest 2021 is set for Halloween Weekend, Oct. 28-31, in Frederick, Maryland. Some of the acts on the newly announced bill are carryovers from the first-delayed-then-canceled 2020 edition — among them Sasquatch, Worshipper, and so on — but it’s worth noting that among those and others, the likes of The Age of Truth will have a new record out by this Fall, and pre-pandemic, Boozewa didn’t even exist. So yes, things have changed.
For further proof of the festival’s stylistic branching out — and with this many bands, they’d just have have to — you’ll note the departure in the poster art from the fest-standard purple toward a greater range of color. The music they’re pushing is likewise broader in palette, and to think of seeing the likes of Howling Giant and Revvnant alongside Arduini/Balich, Omen Stones, and Place of Skulls is an encouraging thought indeed. This even was much-missed last year.
Expect a time-table sooner than later, as organizer JB Matson doesn’t screw around when it comes to that kind of thing. The lineup announcement — short and sweet, as ever — is further proof of same.
I don’t know what the world’s gonna look like come Halloween, but I know damn well this is one reason I’m glad I got that vaccine.
[UPDATE 04/30: Black Road and Vessel of Light can’t make it. Lo-Pan and When the Deadbolt Breaks have been added. If there are any further changes, I’ll probably just make a new post.]
To wit:
Here is the Md Doom Fest 2021 roster folks!!! Halloween weekend – Oct 28-31, 2021 WE CANNOT WAIT TO DOOM WITH YOU!!
Lineup:
Poobah, Sasquatch, Place of Skulls, Lo-Pan, Lost Breed, Cavern, Horseburner, Spiral Grave, The Age of Truth, Mangog, Wrath of Typhon, Helgamite, Almost Honest, Indus Valley Kings, VRSA, Monster God, Et Mors, Astral Void, Worshipper, Boozewa, Admiral Browning, Omen Stones, Formula 400, Molasses Barge, Arduini/Balich, Dirt Eater, Dyerwolf, Ol’ Time Moonshine, Shadow Witch, Revvnant, Bloodshot, Ritual Earth, Gardens of Nocturne, Conclave, Crow Hunter, Bailjack, Warmask, Akris, Alms, Thunderbird Divine, Strange Highways, Howling Giant, Yatra, Jaketehhawk, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Grave Huffer, Dust Prophet, Plague Wielder, Weed Coughin, Morganthus, Tines
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 31st, 2019 by JJ Koczan
In the immortal words of one Peter Steele: Happy Halloween, baby. Those playing along at home know that today means one thing to the realms of doom, and it’s that it’s time for Maryland Doom Fest to unveil next year’s lineup. Maryland Doom Fest 2020 has some significant shoes to fill in following up this year’s, which of course was held in June in Frederick, Maryland, and they’ve lined up a full four-dayer onslaught to make a go of it.
Headlining sets from Cirith Ungol, Blood Ceremony, Speedealer and Mondo Generator, with direct killage from The Skull, Victor Griffin‘s Death Row Assembly (this will be incredible, especially there), Witch Mountain and Sorcerer, the fest is pretty much blowing its own prior reach out of the water. I’ll especially look forward to Arduini/Balich and hope that this performance accompanies a new album, but return appearances from The Age of Truth, Bailjack, Earthride (yes!), Shadow Witch, Spiral Grave, Knoxxville and Helgamite will be awesome as well, and I’ve no doubt the likes of Vessel of Light, Galactic Cross (with Dave Sherman of Earthride), Yatra, Black Lung, Plainride, Cavern, Molasses Barge, Admiral Browning, Black Road, Poobah, Omen Stones and Crystal Spiders will be made to feel welcome into the MDDF family vibe, at least those who aren’t already a part of it. I guess particularly in the case of Admiral Browning, it’s more like family reunion.
Keeping with the festival’s no-dragged-out-staggered-announcements spirit, I’ll be up front about this: it’s gonna be a good ‘un. You should do whatever you need to do to make it happen.
The Maryland Doom Fest celebrates its 6th anniversary next June and today brings you its confirmed roster of over 50 of today’s heaviest bands to hit its stages in 2020.
Maryland Doom Fest brings both U.S. and international artists from all over the map into Frederick, MD for a full four days of mayhem, featuring the legendary Cirith Ungol and Blood Ceremony, to Speedealer and Mondo Generator set to headline the four nights of top shelf doom metal and heavy underground sounds! This year includes more than fifty bands to cover every dark and dank corner of metal subgenres across every inch of the stage from start to finish each night.
A few words from JB Matson, founder and organizer of The Maryland Doom Fest:
“I simply could not be more excited about the fifty-plus band roster for the Maryland Doom Fest’s 6th annual show in 2020!! This will be a splendid #4daysofdoom!!!”
We invite all to become part of the family at the Maryland Doom Fest 2020 weekend events! Please support the Doom and Heavy Music scene and come share in this epic event with us. We will see you at #4daysofdoom!!
THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2020
CIRITH UNGOL + BLOOD CEREMONY + SPEEDEALER + MONDO GENERATOR
THE SKULL + SORCERER + DEATH ROW ASSEMBLY + WITCH MOUNTAIN
Ol’ Time Moonshine + Arduini/Balich + Dirt Eater + Switchblade Jesus Doperider + Condenados + Cultic + Yatra + Bailjack + Poobah Earthride + Black Lung + Jake The Hawk + Black Road + Warmask Admiral Browning + Sourpuss + Molasses Barge + Thunderbird Divine Dust Prophet + Wolftooth + Vessel Of Light + Wrath Of Typhon + Spiral Grave Plainride + Mangog + Cavern + Galactic Cross + Shadow Witch + Burgan Akris + Plague Wielder + The Age Of Truth + Knoxxville + The Astral Void Serpents Of Secrecy + Omen Stones + Crystal Spiders + Helgamite VRSA + Conclave + Et Mors + Strange Highways + Alms + Dyerwulf
It was a hell of a ride, and by that I mean I sat in traffic from about 8:30 in the morning until I walked into Cafe 611 in Frederick, Maryland, just in time for the start of the first band at 5:15PM. I soon found that my plan to not wear the supportive boot for my continuing ankle pain was, let’s say, ambitious. Basically I couldn’t stand up for more than like five minutes at a time. Fortunately the boot was in the car. Then my camera broke.
This is the part where normally I’d say “some you win, some you lose,” but the quality of the first night of Maryland Doom Fest 2016 — the second edition of the festival put on by JB Matson and Mark Cruikshank; still kicking myself for missing it last year — was such that I couldn’t really feel too down about any of the above, except perhaps the camera, which served me well for half a decade and hopefully I’ll be able to have fixed in the near term, no doubt at significant cost. Not for this weekend, though. Bummer.
Well. Now that I think I’ve gotten all or at least most of the bitching out of the way, we can get down to business. Like I said, I watched from the first band on, as much as I was able, and got pictures on my phone after the camera went down. I did the best I could.
Alright, here goes:
Black Urn
Clearly a trial by fire for the room. Some fests might try to ease the audience into the event; Maryland Doom Fest 2016 not so much. Philadelphia’s Black Urn would wind up being the most extreme band of the night, digging their way into vicious sludge metal topped by growls and screams exclusively, proffered through two guitars finding balance in the mix with bass that seemed utterly dominant at first but soon enough evened out. That kind of stuff runs the risk of coming across as samey when you don’t know the songs — they have a 2015 demo and a 2016 EP, The Pangs of Our Covenant, out, but this was my first exposure to them — but Black Urn knew when to change the pace up, and their faster parts had a heavy rock edge to them that set well alongside the grueling brutalities they fostered otherwise. Plus vocalist John Jones wore an Iron Monkey t-shirt, and that’s just about always going to earn some extra points in my book.
Atala
The Californian heavy atmospheric doom rockers were a treat for anyone who showed up early, playing through a considerable investment portfolio of amplification, fresh-looking Oranges and Sunn for the guitar of Kyle Stratton and the bass of John Chavarria, while drummer Jeff Tedtaotao punctuated the massive rolling grooves elicited from them. They’d been on tour for about a week supporting the recently-released, Billy Anderson-produced Shaman’s Path of the Serpent (stream here; review here), and “Gravity” was a highlight of the set, which rightly focused on the new album and its ambient largesse, in which one can hear shades of anything from YOB to Neurosis to Deftones in Stratton‘s vocals to Tool in some of their quiet, winding parts. It’s a varied blend, and they can make it move as well when they want, but they were impressively fluid front to back, and seemed most at home with the three of them locked into any number of lumbering progressions, of which they offered plenty.
Admiral Browning
I’ve been watching Admiral Browning play shows for more than a decade. I say this not to brag about having seen the band a bunch of times, but to emphasize the point that when they take a given stage, I still don’t know what to expect. Oh, you can be sure that guitarist Matt LeGrow, bassist Ron “Fezz” McGinnis and drummer Tim Otis will offer dizzying technicality and frenetic groove, but just where they might take that is perpetually up in the air. Their 2015 tape EP, Corvette Summer (review here), found them experimenting further with incorporating vocals into their long-instrumentally-focused sound, and it worked. At Maryland Doom Fest 2016, it wasn’t a question. Both LeGrow and McGinnis had mics and used them liberally. I’ll admit it was a somewhat jarring sight — as I said, they were strictly instrumental for a long time — but they’ve developed relentlessly over their years together, and that process obviously continues unabated. Nothing new to say I’m looking forward to what they do next, but it’s true all the same. Way underappreciated band.
Demon Eye
Probably should’ve seen these cats by now. Led by guitarist/vocalist Erik Sugg, North Carolina’s Demon Eye have been tearing it up on the Eastern Seaboard for the last couple years, also journeying west this past April to tour alongside Disenchanter in support of their second record, 2015’s Tempora Infernalia (review here), and after hearing such encouraging things about their stage presence, yeah, it felt overdue. Sugg was indeed very much in the lead position, bantering with the crowd between songs, headbanging and stomping in classic rock style, backed by drummer Bill Egan on vocals and lead guitarist Larry Burlison while Paul Walz‘s Rickenbacker tied it all together in the low end. They opened with “End of Days” and closed with “Sons of Man,” both from the new record, but “From Beyond” from 2014’s Leave the Light (review here) was a highlight as well, their songs upbeat. In my notes, it just says “ace songwriting,” so we’ll leave it at that, and while I’ll admit some of their cult themes leave me a little cold, both their craft and the energy of their performance are absolutely undeniable.
Pale Divine
With guitarist/vocalist Greg Diener and drummer Darin McCloskey both now in Beelzefuzz and bassist/backing vocalist Ron “Fezz” McGinnis sharing his time with Admiral Browning and several other projects, Pale Divine has kind of become a part-time institution, but in all the years I’ve seen them — I think the first time was in Philly with The Hidden Hand, circa ’04 — they’ve never failed to deliver on their particular kind of woeful traditional doom. Though they’re not actually from the state, they were a perfect centerpiece for Maryland Doom Fest 2016’s first night, and the assembled crowd, younger and older, showed their appreciation duly. As I was dealing with my just-busted camera, I’ll admit my attention was somewhat divided, but Pale Divine don’t screw around on stage, and they closed their set playing something they’ve never played before. Diener gave the title but of course I missed it, in the back fumbling with the camera battery and lens as I was, sadly to no avail. The doom felt perhaps even more appropriate in such a context.
Ruby the Hatchet
Philly-region five-piece Ruby the Hatchet are on something of a mini-tour this week, up the Northeast in the formidable company of Black Mountain. Not at all their first run in support of last year’s way-right-on Valley of the Snake (review here), but they’ve also reissued their first record, Ouroboros, on vinyl through Tee Pee Records, and I’d imagine when the chance to do shows with a group like Black Mountain crops up, or to, say, play Maryland Doom Fest 2016 on the night The Obsessed are headlining, it’s a thing you do your best to make happen. Starting off their set with the memorable “Heavy Blanket” from Valley of the Snake, they jammed profusely and featured what I think might be the weekend’s only on-stage organ, so bonus points there. Vocalist Jillian Taylor was in firm command on stage, her vocals run through a close delay for a live-doubletracking effect that only made their cultistry seem more resonant. Taylor, together with bassist Lake Muir, guitarist John Scarperia, drummer Owen Stewart and organist Sean Hur, have pretty clearly mastered the post-Uncle Acid blend of hooks and bounce, and set about reshaping them to suit their own melodic purposes. One expects that will be a process that plays out over the next several years/albums, but they were impressively tight and for my first time seeing them, I was glad I finally did.
Castle
Speaking of bands I should’ve seen before — as I realize I have a couple times at this point — fucking Castle. The hard-touring San Francisco outfit sounded so much like a group used to being on the road. Some bands just develop that thing. They show up in a room, assess the place, the people, the sound, say, “Okay, we can kick ass here,” and then do. That’s exactly what Castle did. They’re the kind of band who could make you believe in heavy metal. A lot of what they played was new — they’re touring to herald the arrival of their new album, Welcome to the Graveyard, which is out July 12 on Ván Records — and their righteously individualized blend of thrash, traditional metal, doom, heavy rock and roll, etc., speaks to some mystical bygone era when metal was about not compromising, putting a fist in the air against expectation and going on tour forever. Castle were so deep into what they were doing that I think they could’ve been anywhere and it would’ve been the same, that trance taking hold early on as they locked in and holding sway for the duration of their set, which seemed short when it was over. They’ve made themselves pretty available for in-person experience over the years, and now I understand why. I don’t think it’s really possible to get them until you see them live. I’m late to the party on that one, I know, but they didn’t seem to care if it was somebody’s first time, fifth time, or however-manyeth time seeing them. Everyone got their ass handed to them equally.
Internal Void
Not to toot my own horn, but I said not too long ago that if you get the chance to see Internal Void, you should do it, and their hour-long set at Cafe 611 only affirmed the truth of that. The four-piece of vocalist J.D. Williams, guitarist Kelly Carmichael, bassist Adam Heinzmann and drummer Brian Goad packed out the room shoulder to shoulder and were clearly as glad to see the hometown crowd as the hometown crowd was to see them, even before Carmichael started shredding out solos, before Williams widened his eyes and loosed his gravely sneer, and before they brought out original drummer Eric Little to play a couple cuts from 1993’s Standing on the Sun, marking the first time that album’s full lineup had shared the stage in 23 years. With their own banner behind them, Internal Void epitomized Maryland doom. Their workingman’s grooves, classic edge and sans-bullshit delivery spoke to everything that has allowed the scene in and around Frederick to flourish for the last three decades to where it is now and where it’s headed in the future. Last time I saw Internal Void was at the Afterburner for Roadburn 2012, and several others remarked that it had been several years since they last played, so that might well have been their most recent show. Either way, they brought it hard for the Maryland Doom Fest 2016 crowd and were a joy to watch. If you get the chance to see them, do it. Don’t hesitate.
The Obsessed
I’m not sure anyone would’ve been a better fit to headline Maryland Doom Fest than The Obsessed. I mean that wholeheartedly. Their legacy as a band — only more so now that guitarist/vocalist Scott “Wino” Weinrich has brought in his Spirit Caravan bandmate Dave Sherman (recent interview here) on bass/backing vocals, alongside new drummer Brian Costantino — is so tied to that of Maryland doom that you just don’t have the one without the other. Their set might be considered a victory lap for the month-long tour they just did with Karma to Burn (who also play this weekend) as much as a precursor to their hitting the studio with Frank “The Punisher” Marchand in a couple weeks to record their first album since 1994. In addition to The Obsessed staples “Neatz Brigade,” “Streamlined,” “Protect and Serve” and “Blind Lightning,” they worked in a couple Spirit Caravan cuts, among them “Retroman” and the ultra-rolling “Sea Legs.” It was late, and the room began to thin out some as they made their way toward the close of the evening with “Freedom,” but in giving a look at some newer material with the speedy “Be the Night” and the more expansive “Sacred” (which has been kicking around Spirit Caravan sets for a few years now and has older roots), The Obsessed looked ahead in addition to celebrating their legacy, and that seemed no less appropriate. Even after Internal Void, they held the room wrapt, and there was zero doubt to whom the night ultimately belonged.
—
Next show starts in a little over an hour, so I gotta get moving. No extra pics on account of the broken camera, but thanks for reading anyway.
Posted in Reviews on October 21st, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Not familiar with the 1978 film from which Admiral Browning‘s Corvette Summer takes its name? Don’t sweat it. I don’t think the band could hold it against you. Corvette Summer stars a post-Star Wars, pre-EmpireMark Hamill as a recent high school grad whose sportscar gets stolen and he spends the entire summer trying to track down the jerks who took it. Yup, that’s the movie. On the tape version of Admiral Browning‘s latest EP, you even get to hear the audio from the trailer. How the Maryland three-piece came into awareness of its existence, I don’t know, but for an outfit who’ve always specialized in doing things just a little weird, just a little their own way, to release a hand-signed red metallic four-song limited tape EP (five if you grab the download) with two studio tracks on side one and two live tracks on side two, housed in a classic red case with their logo in a blazing late-’70s font at the top makes a fitting kind of sense. It’s better not to ask questions, in other words. Just roll with it.
It’s been two years since Admiral Browning‘s fifth album, Give No Quarter (review here), was released. A change in geographic situation — i.e. one of them moved — can be blamed for a relative lack of activity, but Corvette Summer was put together to coincide with a recent week-plus on the road, and they’ve embarked on a series of digital, expanded reissues for their past albums, so guitarist Matt LeGrow, bassist Ron “Fez” McGinnis and drummer Tim Otis are by no means done.
And in addition to sitting on the merch table at shows, Corvette Summer serves the further purpose of pushing the long-instrumental outfit’s continuing experiment with vocals even further than did the last album, LeGrow and McGinnis harmonizing on the side one studio cuts “Human Dilemma” and “The Devil’s in the Details” to an effective degree that enhances the bizarro-prog sensibility that has long been in their songcraft while also grounding the material in a way that supports their blazing turns of rhythm rather than detracting from them. Particularly the latter, “The Devil’s in the Details,” is delivered with a focus on hook that, when Admiral Browning released Battle Stations (review here) in 2011 probably would’ve been inconceivable for them. That’s not to critique their progression one way or another, just noting that in addition to their grooves, sometimes the nature of the band itself is given to unexpected shifts.
That also suits Admiral Browning well, and if Corvette Summer is meant to be an experiment in realizing the next stage of the band, they deliver a comprehensive glimpse at where they might be headed between sides one and two. Recorded in March at Cafe 611 in Frederick, MD, at a gig which also hosted local luminaries Righteous Bloom, Nagato and Faith in Jane, both cuts on the tape — “Corvette Summer” itself and “Spanish Trampoline” — are instrumental, but the download also gives a live version of “Human Dilemma” as a bonus track that finds LeGrow and McGinnis working through the vocal arrangement smoothly on stage while Otis pushes through his standard-operating-procedure cardiovascular drumming method behind.
The core of Admiral Browning‘s approach has always been the trio’s ability to remain heavy in the face of technical intricacy and to groove while fulfilling frenetic pacing and unrepentant nuance. That has not changed, but their melodic conceptualization has, and ultimately makes them a stronger, more versatile act. I wouldn’t necessarily expect Admiral Browningafter Corvette Summer to go all-out, vocals-every-song, verse-into-chorus-into-verse on every release from here on out, but the simple fact that they have another tool in their arsenal — two, if you count the contributions of both singers — only broadens their reach as they move forward.
Hopefully they do move forward. Corvette Summer plays a distinct role as a stopgap in demonstrating the trio’s commitment despite living apart — the tour does likewise — but the question remains as to what their process might be for putting together a full-length follow-up to Give No Quarter while essentially having to work around an all-in-the-same-room approach or otherwise jam out in limited or intermittent stretches. Whatever they do next, the progression they continue to show in everything they do is plainly evident in “Human Dilemma” and “The Devil’s in the Details,” and while the tape is short, it finds them undaunted in their considerable task. If this is how Admiral Browning can keep growing, then so be it. They still sound like a band who needs to be making this music, and they deliver here with a clarity that highlights how underrated they truly are.
Admiral Browning, “The Devil’s in the Details” Live in MD, 2013
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 5th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
The 2016 edition of the Maryland Doom Fest will take place June 24, 25 and 26 at Cafe 611 in Frederick, MD. You might recall late in 2014, when the initial word surfaced about the festival’s inaugural billing, it was a complete lineup announced, date, and place, all done straightforward in the tradition of the style being celebrated. In that regard, 2016 will be no different. Festival organizers JB Matson (also of War Injun) and Mark Cruikshank have unveiled the complete Maryland Doom Fest 2016 lineup, and while the core remains very much in the region’s sphere of heavy downer riffs, the palette has clearly expanded as well.
A broader reach pulls in the likes of Mos Generator, Ruby the Hatchet and Hollow Leg, and while headliners Spirit Caravan are a returning act from the 2015 fest, they’ll be joined by classic heavy rockers Bang and Asylum (Unorthodox by their original name), ensuring that even as the Maryland Doom Fest 2016 reveres its finest exports, it pays strict attention to the lineage from where it all comes and the hometown crowd too. All told, it’s a wide-ranging but universally heavy grouping of bands, from the epic classic metal of Argus to the cult rock of Demon Eye, and while realistically there will probably be a shift or two in the lineup between now and next June — things fall through, people get added, and so on — it looks like it’s going to be a hell of a weekend. If and when I hear of changes, I’ll let you know.
Tickets are on sale today, and I’m honored to have my logo on the poster. Full lineup and links follow:
The second edition of a weekend of doom in its purest form.
We are stoked about the second installment of The Maryland Doom Fest with 25 kickass bands!
Spirit Caravan BANG Asylum (Unorthodox) Argus War Injun Orodruin Blackfinger Kelly Carmichael (Internal Void) New Project Earthen Grave Black Urn Doperider Mos Generator Hollow Leg Ruby The Hatchet Admiral Browning Pale Divine Toke Flummox Demon Eye Wicked Inquisition Seasick Gladiator Karma to Burn Eternal Black King Giant Spillage Wasted Theory
Posted in Reviews on August 12th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Now more than a decade on since getting together in the formidable Maryland heavy underground that now regards them as stalwarts, mostly-instrumental trio Admiral Browning arrive at their most progressive space yet with their fifth album overall, Give No Quarter. The album is something of an enigma, because with it, the band depart the relative comforts of the visual and musical narrative they put to such effective use on 2011’s Battle Stations (review here), opting instead for a collection of seven individual pieces less tied together than last time out, while at the same time, the individual complexity and personality of the tracks themselves is much more varied and individualized. Invariably, they touch on some of the seaward thematics they’ve brought out in the past — the title comes from a quote attributed to the pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Teach: “Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters… or take any from you” — but musically, with elements of progressive rock, jazz, flamenco and psychedelic jamming, they’re far less tied to one aesthetic than they’ve ever been. That’s not to mention that Give No Quarteralso marks the first time an Admiral Browning long-player features the vocals ofguitarist Matt LeGrow, who’s joined in the trio by bassist Ron “Fez” McGinnis and drummer Tim Otis, with the track “Zee Birds” providing an early and unexpected curve. Helena Goldberg of fellow Marylander outfit Akris also guests on vocals alongside McGinnis for the following centerpiece, “Malachai’s Lament,” so from whatever angle you want to approach it, Give No Quarterpresents a more textured and complex Admiral Browning than has been heard on any of the band’s prior outings, be it Battle Stations, 2009’s Magic Elixir(review here) or 2007’s Dead Pets. Seems unlikely that the fact that Give No Quarteris also the first album they recorded completely by themselves would be a coincidence, but in concert with that, the sonic boldness that much of the record shows is easy to read as a signal overall of the band having simply decided to do what they want and said screw it to the rest.
That would seem to imply some level of settling in terms of their sound, but again, Give No Quarterin no way feels still. Beginning with some post-tuning guitar drums and a quick six-count, “Theme for Evil” shows with an immediate rush that Admiral Browning are continuing to refine their balance of technical intricacy and overarching groove. They are initially and remain unpretentious for the duration, and though it was recorded as they note in the CD liner in Otis‘ garage, the production throughout is no less tight and crisp than the band themselves, who’ve always walked a line between sonic dirt and delve-into-it mathematics. The real miracle of Give No Quarter(though perhaps “miracle” is strong since they’ve been at it for over a decade; man, time flies) is that even as the album rounds out with the captured-live exploration “Rogue Planet,” there’s never much sense that LeGrow, McGinnis and Otis are wholly indulging themselves rather than composing a song. Don’t get me wrong, “Theme for Evil” rounds out with some prog-noodle guitar leads met with bass-fill righteousness underneath — Otis being a steady hand in holding the string section together — and instrumental music by its nature is bound to have some indulgent elements, but Admiral Browning are never out of control either of their own play or of the course of the album’s 41 minutes, and on “Leeroy Jenkins” — which includes a gang shout of the titular name that’s every bit as countrified as you could hope — the impression is more that they’re having fun than they’re showing off. “Leeroy Jenkins” is the shortest of the collection at a blink-and-you-missed it 2:48, but efficient for its quick course, launching with a rush of fast riffing and fleet turns made smooth by consistency in the guitar. Just before a minute in, there’s a stop and the aforementioned shout, McGinnis‘ bass signaling the return, soon joined by LeGrow and Otis as the rush rebuilds, somewhat different but headed in roughly the same direction. They build it to a fitting cacophony before returning to the opening progression to bookend and cap with suitable intensity to lead via feedback to the somewhat more foreboding opening of “Zee Birds.” The intro is the slowest thing yet on the album — it still moves — and some coinciding Korg weirdness from Otis provides a hint of the different approach still to come once the speedily-delivered vocals get underway. The Korg continues behind the vocals in a kind of semi-siren sound, almost Theremin-esque, to add to to the unepxectedness of the track itself, and underneath, McGinnis delivers more jaw-dropping runs on bass while LeGrow‘s guitar fleshes out thick and memorable riffage and Otis proffers a controlled chaos on drums that underscores just how lethal Admiral Browning have become.
Posted in Whathaveyou on July 9th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
There’s nothing not to like about this latest update from Maryland-based progressive mostly-instrumentalists Admiral Browning. Between the fact that they’re hitting the road and the stream they’ve put up of their new album, Give No Quarter, I’ve been over it and over it, and I have no response here but to think it’s resoundingly awesome. I hope you’ll take a listen to the record and agree.
You’ll note in the tour dates that they’re headed to — among other places, obviously — Mt. Sinai, New York, to play at Kreators Bar. Maybe you’ve heard of it, maybe not, but the joint is owned by Ken-E Bones of sludgy stalwarts Negative Reaction (who are also playing that show), and if you happen to live in that part of the world, both the place and the bands are worth your time and effort to support.
Behold the newsliness:
You can find Admiral Browning’s new album “Give No Quarter” streaming now at SoundCloud this month.
We will be hitting the road with it in hand come August and November. Upcoming dates are as follows:
Jul 14 Knoxville MD Lallo’s Pizza (w/Romanov) and Black Blizzard) Aug 1 Knoxville MD Lallo’s Pizza CD RELEASE AND TOUR KICKOFF PARTY!! (w/Black Blizzard, Moontooth and Waste Down Rebels) Aug 2 Philadelphia PA The M-Room (w/Kouhotek) Aug 3 Mount Sinai NY Kreators Bar (w/Moontooth and Negative Reaction) Aug 4 Portland ME Gino’s (w/Hessian) Aug 5 Leominster MA Captains Lounge (w/ Pathogenic) Aug 6 Rochester/TBA (need some help!) Aug 7 Cleveland OH Now That’s Class Aug 8 Columbus OH Cafe Bourbon St. Aug 9 Pittsburgh PA Gooski’s (w/Molasses Barge) Aug 10 Morgantown WV 123 Pleasant St. (w/Hovel and West By God) Aug 20 Baltimore MD Sidebar (w/Pathogenic) Aug 21 Frederick MD TBA
The second leg is still being finalized as we speak. Some dates are already on lockdown:
Nov 4 Harrisonburg VA TBA Nov 5 Asheville NC TBA Nov 6 Nashville TN Springwater (w/Elder Skull and Black Tar Prophets) Nov 7 Atlanta GA TBA Nov 8 Charlotte NC The Milestone (w/Musket King and Irata) Nov 9 Richmond VA Strange Matter SHoD XIII
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 10th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Unparalleled in its support for underground heavy, the Stoner Hands of Doom fest has begun to unveil the lineup and other info for the 2013 edition, SHoD XIII. The traveling fest, which in 2012 took place at the El n Gee in New London, CT, heads south this year, to Richmond, Virginia, where it will take over Strange Matter on Nov. 7-10.
I’ve never been to Richmond that I can recall, and this seems like a pretty good occasion to go. Fest organizer Rob Levey has begun the preliminary announcements of things like the above dates and locale and a basic list of bands that should give some idea of where SHoD is headed musically. Dig it:
We are almost there we have secured a place for SHoD XIII it will be held Veterans Day weekend Nov 7th – 10th the location is a mid atlantic city in the south but not the deep south. There will be some limitations this year on time so won’t be able to have as many bands as usual.
Wow I tell you our supporters are awesome anyway the club we are doing this year’s SHoD is called Strange Matter in Richmond Virginia here are the list so far either definite or very close.
Admiral Browning Beelzefuzz Fire Faithful Pike Possum Wizard Eye Backwoods Payback Demonaut Stone Magnum Wasted Theory Planetoid Deadweight Second Grave
Be around 20 more when we are done talk to you soon.
