Well, that’s how you do it. You play some shows, you write some songs, then you make a record and you hit the road to get behind it. Kudos to Allston, Massachusetts rockers Black Thai, who feature in their ranks guitarist Scotty Fuse and drummer Jeremy Hemond from Cortez (the latter also of Roadsaw) and vocalist Jim Healey of We’re all Gonna Die, for getting their debut EP together and promptly booking a week’s worth of killer shows, including a free one with Righteous Fool (Mike Dean and Reed Mullin of C.O.C.). If you can help them with the TBA dates listed, hit them up at the email address below.

From the band:

Black Thai is heading out on the road to celebrate the release of our debut EP Blood from on High. We’re kicking it off with a CD release show followed by a week’s run down the East Coast.

12/04 Great Scott – Allston, MA CD Release show w/Black Pyramid, Riff Cannon, Livver
12/06 The M Room – Philadelphia, PA w/Backwoods Payback
12/07 TBA
12/08 TBA
12/09 Velvet Lounge – Washington DC w/Borracho, El Grande
12/10 DIVEbar – Raleigh, NC w/Righteous Fool
12/11 37th and Zen – Norfolk, VA

If anyone can help us out with 12/07 or 12/08, email us at blackthai (at) ymail.com.

Universally-bearded Allston, Massachusetts outfit Black Thai have posted their first self-released demo for free download through their website. The demo, available as 320kbps MP3s (a band after my own heart – down with digital compression), holds about a 7” worth of material, just two songs, but nonetheless gives a readable impression of the band’s mission at least as it was in their beginnings, before replacing drummer Kyle Rasmussen with Roadsaw’s Jeremy Hemond, who also happens to play in Cortez with Black Thai founding guitarist Scotty Fuse.

Fuse gives a more riffingly metallic bent here than he does with Cortez, but it’s a change you really have to listen to hear. That is, if the six-stringer found himself having to pull double-duty at a show the two bands were playing together, he wouldn’t have to feel awkward because one band was so out of place sonically with the other. Still, with different heads involved in each band — vocalist/guitarist Jim Healey (We’re all Gonna Die) being a central departing factor, but bassist Cory Cocomazzi also having a style all his own — they’re never going to sound exactly the same. Nonetheless, Black Thai play grooving riff-centered stoner metal exclusively (anyone who gets the Emperor reference feel free to pat themselves on the back) and both “The Ladder” and “Satan’s Toolshed” get down to business with some righteous heaviosity, owing some of their crunch to the Massachusetts scene of the ‘90s – let’s namecheck Only Living Witness for good measure – but keeping things in stoner line by nodding at Kyuss’ “Asteroid” from Welcome to Sky Valley with the opening of “Satan’s Toolshed.”

Read more »

Allston, MA, rockers Black Thai, who came on the radar a little bit ago, have finished recording three new songs at the fabled New Alliance Audio studio. I emailed guitarist Scott Fuse (also of Cortez) and asked him to give the lowdown on the process and how it all came out. Here’s what he had to say:

Monday, November 30th

We all met at New Alliance Audio in Cambridge, MA at 10AM. After loading all of the gear into the freight elevator we moved it into the studio and began setting up. Once the drums were set up engineer extraordinaire Ethan Dussault (Caspian, Tides, We’re all Gonna Die) began mic-ing the drum kit to get sounds. Once we got the drums sounding sufficiently thunderous we spent some time working on guitar and bass sounds.

We decided to record the song “Saturation Point” first. We did three takes and listened to the playback. The first take had a much better feel and that’s the one we went with. We worked on “Sinking Ships” next which ended up being a bit of a tough one to capture due to a few drum issues, including a broken snare. We ended up getting a great take after all of the effort, so it worked out in the end. The last song to be recorded was “333” and this went fairly smoothly, with only a few takes necessary.

Tuesday, December 1st

Jim (vocals, guitar) and I (guitar) came in on Tuesday to record some more guitars. We added some extra rhythm guitars to “Sinking Ships” and “333.” Guitar solos were also recorded. On “Sinking Ships” I used a really cool sounding Bass Synthesizer pedal which gave the solo an awesome effect.

Wednesday, December 23rd

Jim and I returned to New Alliance to lay down the vocals. We decided to have Jim add a guitar solo to “Sinking Ships” which came out awesome, especially following the angular-sounding lead that I did with the Bass Synth. His solo sounds like a swarm of angry wasps. So good. The vocal recording went smoothly, Jim banged out “Saturation Point” and “333” saving “Sinking Ships” for last as it is a screamer and we knew he would probably have no voice left by the time it was done.

We still need to do final mixes in the near future. These three songs in conjunction with “The Ladder” and “Satan’s Toolshed” which we recorded earlier this year will probably end up on an EP release down the road.

–Scott

Sometimes these things just fall into your lap. My first encounter with Allston, MA‘s Black Thai came via the news that they’re recording a new three-song demo at the famed New Alliance East Studios. After seeing they were from Allston, I figured a safe bet was that at least one member of Cortez current or former was involved with Black Thai, and wouldn’t you know, guitarist Scotty Fuse is right in there along with We’re all Gonna Die vocalist/guitarist Jim Healy.

The four-piece is rounded out by bassist Cory Cocomazzi and drummer Kyle Rasmussen, and they play riff-led Southern rock/metal that’s more or less unpretentious stoner with a heavier edge. Judging by the two tracks on their MySpace (presented in fancypants widget form below), Black Thai are starting at a pretty good point when it comes to developing their sound. “Satan’s Toolshed,” at a hefty 7:42, doesn’t get boring or lose its edge, which is an accomplishment for a new band even if one made up of experienced players.

If River City Revival-era Alabama Thunderpussy had been from Massachusetts, they might sound something like Black Thai. Healy‘s vocals could probably come down a notch in their next mixing session (I’m a fan of low-mixed vocals in general and will allow this affects my judgment of such things), but if “Satan’s Toolshed” and “The Ladder” are anything to go by, these dudes are well worth keeping on the radar for when that next demo shows up.

Eat widget: