The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Aaron Lewis of When the Deadbolt Breaks

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How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

Musically, I used to consider what I or we (When the Deadbolt Breaks), does as experimental, psychedelic doom, but now I feel it has evolved into so much more, that I have a hard time classifying it.  Which, I thoroughly enjoy.  Music and art is subjective and means something different to everyone, so to categorize it and tell someone what it is seems self-defeating.   We started doing this band 15 years ago.  I wrote the first riff to the first When the Deadbolt Breaks song while I was co-DJ’ing at a local radio station, and I tried to incorporate it into a few bands over the year or two, and it didn’t work.  It was too slow, and oddball for what those bands were doing. Eventually, I decided to write a record based around the entire feeling of that one riff.    A drummer and myself started recording ideas, and they kept getting more and more unique, heavy and spacey.  That eventually became our first record, “In the Ruins, No Light Shall Shine”.   We’ve kept at it.

Describe your first musical memory.

This is maybe not my first, but certainly one of the best.  I remember being in 3rd grade, and I had a small handheld tape recorder that I brought with me everywhere.  It was one of those blue and white ones with the huge buttons, and my friend had stolen the first Black Sabbath cassette from his brother.  So we decided to listen to it at lunch on the playground.  I remember hearing the song Black Sabbath for the first time that day.  I had no idea what the hell was happening.  It was a bright sunny day out, but when the intro to that tune began, it was like the clouds rolled in and something evil were coming.   It was an amazing feeling and that feeling has never left. It made a huge impression on me and helped to mold my musical tastes.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Playing Stoner Hands of Doom Fest in Youngstown Ohio at Nyabinghi & The Kennefit at CBGB’s while I was playing guitar for Cable are easily two of the most amazing shows I have ever played.  I am sure there are plenty more to come, but the opportunity to play with Cable and do those shows came at the right time, and I will always be grateful for that.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

Lately, this seems to happen a lot.  I am not a religious person at all, in fact, I despise organized religion, but I do believe in being good to those who deserve it, and just not being a prick in general.   But the more time goes on, the more I realize that this is not an easy thing to ask from people.   But, I roll with the flow, and avoid what needs to be avoided in order to keep my head up.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

It’s a gateway drug for sure.  With my photography and music, if I don’t take chances I fear that I will become stagnant and boring.  Trying new things, stepping out of that comfort zone, only lends itself to strengthening a vision and opening the door for new possibilities that may not have otherwise been found.   If that makes sense at all…

How do you define success?

Happiness.  I am not rich by any means, but I am doing the job that I dreamed of as a kid, I play in bands that I love and enjoy working with, and both my music and photography have introduced me to some amazing experiences and people.  I consider that to be a great success.

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I remember when I was younger, my friends and I were tripping on LSD, and the girl I was with had gotten sick, and threw up everywhere… I can’t say that I wish I hadn’t seen it, but that’s a lot to work with when you’re on a trip.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

As for musically, When the Deadbolt Breaks has already started with an idea for our 10th record, and it is going to be something really unique when we get it all down. But, as a bondage photographer I am working on plans for a pretty crazy shoot.  I don’t want to get into details here, but it will be a weird accomplishment if I can make it happen.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Personally I know that art is subjective, but I feel like the essential function is to evoke emotion. No matter if that emotion is to just relax and be calm, get excited and throw shit, art is here for us to feel… or not feel.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

Work-wise, I have had a great opportunity to begin working with a new client that could be the beginning of something I have been trying to obtain for a long time.  I am very much looking forward to where this is all going to go.

https://www.facebook.com/WhentheDeadboltBreaks/
https://whenthedeadboltbreaks.bandcamp.com/
www.argonautarecords.com
www.facebook.com/argonautarecords
https://www.facebook.com/TalonRecordsUSA/
https://talonrecordsusa.bandcamp.com/
https://www.electrictalonrecords.com/

When The Deadbolt Breaks, As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy (2021)

Psychache is the kind of record that makes everything else seem needlessly complicated. That’s not to say it’s dumbed down. It isn’t. The melodies are broad, structures are skillfully applied, the overarching flow between the songs is well considered, and I’m sorry, but nothing with Michael Petrucci drumming on it is dumb. The end result of Curse the Son‘s intention, however, strikes right to the heart of what stoner metal is and can be. Riffs, groove, melody, hooks, thick and full sound, sometimes oozing, sometimes shoving, but always righteous in the going.

First released by the band in 2012, Psychache (review here) was the follow-up to the Hamden, Connecticut, trio’s 2011 offering, Klonopain (review here), and for the purposes of narrative ease we’ll call it their third full-length. They’d issue it digitally and on CD in 2013 before seeing it picked up for a deluxe vinyl treatment through STB Records in 2014. In the interest of honesty, I’m kind of murky at this point on the actual release date. I tend to associate the album with the band’s performance in New London, CT, at day three of the Stoner Hands of Doom XII fest (review here). Founding guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore handed me a CD at that show, and after a long day of bands — of which Curse the Son had been a highlight — I put it on for the car ride back to where I was staying and, even having spent all day being assaulted by distortion and riffs, found myself blasting it full volume for its 31-minute duration on that trip. Call it love at first riff, but Psychache has held a special place in my heart ever since, whatever one might consider the day it actually came out.

The band at the time was Vanacore and his former Sufferghost bandmate, bassist Richard “Cheech” Weeden, and Petrucci, and they made Psychache at Underground Sound in East Haven, mixing as well at Higher Rock. The lack of pretense remains staggering. If you pull back and look at it, there are really four full songs included, with the title-track an instrumental — albeit a crucial one — and “Valium For?” (get it?) a noisy minute-long interlude, but on vinyl, the total six split into an even three tracks per side, and the bookending effect of its two longest pieces in leadoff “Goodbye Henry Anslinger” (6:21) and finale “The Negative Ion” (7:22) isn’t to be understated when it comes to immersing the listener in the tone and groove that are so, so, so central to the entire proceedings. Again, this isn’t a dumb record. It is willful, however, in its primitivism.

Imagine a complex circuit with wires all over the place. You don’t know what the wires do, but there are a lot of them and they’re all different colors. You start ripping out wires at random and you find that the circuit still functions as it should, so you keep going. You pull and you pull and maybe even the circuit starts to function more efficiently for your efforts. And after however long repeating this process, you see the circuit doing exactly the thing it’s supposed to do and you find yourself looking at all the wires on the floor and wondering why in the first place you thought needed all this bullshit? Psychache is that. It has everything it needs and nothing it doesn’t, and even through the haze of its tone and the lumbering nod of “Somatizator,” it’s a moment of clarity.

Side A builds through the midtempo chug of “Goodbye Henry Anslinger” — named for the man who banned marijuana use; it’s worth noting that weed was made legal in Connecticut this year for adult recreational use — and the slower highlight “Spider Stole the Weed” en route to “Psychache” itself, which starts with Weeden‘s bass and moves into a shuffle that carries through most of its first half changes its central riff in the second. All groove, but a speedier pace that adds to the reach of the album overall in subtle fashion, which “Valium For?” answers with its there-and-gone moment of weirdness ahead of the closing duo “Somatizator” and “The Negative Ion,” the former of which mirrors “Spider Stole the Weed” in its memorable chorus while pushing the vocals into a lower register instead of a higher one, and the latter, which meanders for about two minutes before suddenly kicking in at full volume.

There’s a bit of feedback at the end, but the bass is ultimately the last thing to fade out, and fair enough for what Weeden has by that point added in terms of thickness to the procession. By then, if you’re left wanting, it’s your own fault. In 31 minutes, Curse the Son crush and compact the pivotal aspects of their style into a collection that makes its own depth feel simple and that has continued to make the band undervalued in my mind ever since.

They’ve done two albums after this, with 2016’s Isolator (review here) coming out through Ripple Music and The Company and beginning a collaboration with producer Eric Lichter at Dirt Floor Studios that continued onto 2020’s Excruciation (review here), also on Ripple. In the meantime, between the two records, Vanacore would see an entire swap-out of the rhythm section, with Robert Ives taking over on drums for the 2020 outing and Brendan Keefe donning the bass for Isolator and pulling that duty as well as adding vocals to the darker-in-mood Excruciation, building on Curse the Son‘s melodic growth and pushing their songwriting in new, exciting and still-footprint-on-skull-heavy directions.

But Psychache remains a one-of-a-kind outing. If Curse the Son had moved forward and said they were going to do the same thing twice, it wouldn’t have been the same as the moment they captured here, in these songs. I won’t decry the work they’ve done since. They’re a better band now. What makes Psychache such a standout, though, is how much it offers and how casually it does so, how easy it makes it all sound, and how it has managed to shift into a kind of timelessness that one expects will endure precisely as a result of the aesthetic truths it tells.

Thanks for reading. As always, I hope you enjoy.

—

I got a call earlier this week from the school nurse to tell me The Pecan had been falling asleep in class. Unheard of. He’d had boogers for a few days, but that kind of fatigue from him is a firm ‘never’. He got home about a half-hour later, was way out of it and feverish. You know where this is going: To the doctor for a Covid test.

We spent the better part of Wednesday and yesterday sweating it out before at about 6:30 this morning — right after I finished the above — I refreshed the page where his test results would appear and they were at last there and negative. He was better yesterday and — more alert, more of a pain in the ass — but still nice to have the assurance. He also yesterday had a 45-minute nosebleed in the morning, first thing. Compared to that, wrestling him into an outfit for school today was a walk in the park.

We are much relieved, though both The Patient Mrs. and I were also already in the midst of making kid-has-plague-antibodies travel plans for if he did have it and came through without serious complications — she to a conference, I to Maryland Doom Fest — but I’m prepared to call it a fair enough trade for him to not be seriously ill in the first place.

Off to school with you.

Obviously a fair amount was hanging on that precarious balance, all joking aside. The anxiety level was high in the house yesterday and since I couldn’t really take him anywhere and it was raining, we were stuck reminiscent of early lockdown. The Patient Mrs. went to a work meeting in the early afternoon, which I understand on multiple levels. Neither he nor I was easy to be around at that point.

So I guess today’s after-school activities will involve going to places and breathing on stuff. Sounds like fun, right? Should be a blast.

Whatever you’re up to this weekend, I wish you the best. Next week starts the Quarterly Review, so that’ll be fun. I’ve got seven days’ worth of stuff and I very purposefully scheduled a premiere after that so I couldn’t go any longer. Because I would, you know.

Great and safe couple days. Have fun. Hydrate. Watch your head.

FRM.

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Back in May, long-running Connecticut atmospheric/extreme doomers When the Deadbolt Breaks announced they’d release their next full-length, As Hope Valley Burns, through Argonauta Records. I’m still not sure when that’s actually coming out, but the band, along with Electric Talon Records, have set an Oct. 31 arrival for As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy, a companion-piece/continuation to the album itself. So. It’s entirely possible As Hope Valley Burns will be out by the time As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy is issued. Definitely possible. But you might also be getting what they call ‘part two’ before ‘part one’ arrives.

This is very much in the vein of Deadbolt. For over a decade and a half and amid a rotating cast around founding gutiarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis, the band have explored the darker recesses of doom — sometimes they’re downright creepy — and have refused any and all compromise or attempt to inhibit that mission. Their years have brought them into alignment with labels like Salt of the Earth, Sliptrick, Spare Change, FuzzTown and Ear One, and the expanses they’ve created have no doubt alienated as many as they’ve swallowed whole. That’s just how they do.

You can stream “I Live in the Dirt” on the player at the bottom of the post. PR wire info follows:

WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS to Release As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy

Connecticut psychedelic doom band WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS have joined forces with Electric Talon Records for the release of their 9th album, As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy. Featuring four original tracks and a mind-bending cover of THE DOORS’ “Not to Touch the Earth,” As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy ushers in a new era of doom.

Stream album track “I Live In The Dirt” at https://talonrecordsusa.bandcamp.com/track/i-live-in-dirt

Electric Talon Records will release As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy on digital, CD and vinyl formats on October 31.

As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy is the second chapter of a story that starts with As Hope Valley Burns (to be released in late 2021 by Argonauta Records). The band comments on the dual releases:

“’As Hope Valley Burns’ and ‘As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy,’ are unique albums for WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS. We have pushed our boundaries sonically. Originally recorded with the intention of a 10-song record, we found that the length of the songs did not fit the time frame of a single release. The decision was made to split the songs up, and release it as essentially, part one and part two. The heavy is heavier, and the mellow, spacial parts are even more so. Akin to our first few records, we have returned to more aggressive drumming, and psychedelic spaces, yet this record has a certain depth and maturity to it that was missing in the past.”

The album was written and recorded during the early part of the pandemic, sonically reflects uncertainty and hopelessness with massive volume. With gorgeous artwork crafted by Leanne Peters, and layout by the infamous Bill Kole, this album is a monstrous sculpture of beauty, angst and despair.

Music for As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy was recorded and produced at Room SevenZeroEight. Drums were recorded and produced at Project 7:06 by Rob Birkbeck. The album was mastered by Juno-Six.

TRACK LISTING:
1) I Live In The Dirt
2) Cleanse the Death
3) Gods Eyes
4) Forever in the Fire
5) Not to Touch the Earth

Recorded by: Aaron Lewis at Project 7:06 HQ (except drums)
Engineered and mixed by: Aaron Lewis at Room Sevenzeroeight
Mastered by: Juno-Six
Cover Image by: Leanne Peters
CD Layout by: Bill Kole

Personnel:
Aaron Lewis: Guitar & Vocals
Charlie Platteborze: Bass & Vocals
Rob Birkbeck: Drums
Steve Wieda: Synth/Soundscapes
Ambler Leigh: Additional Vocals

https://www.facebook.com/WhentheDeadboltBreaks/
https://whenthedeadboltbreaks.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/TalonRecordsUSA/
https://talonrecordsusa.bandcamp.com/
https://www.electrictalonrecords.com/

When The Deadbolt Breaks, As Hope Valley Burns: Eulogy (2021)

Give it up for Turkey Vulture having the capacity to both reproduce and rock and roll. The idea, of course that the two are mutually exclusive is and has always been a fallacy as every successive generation of artists and musicians has shown, but as anyone who’s ever encountered one can tell you, babies can be time consuming. Following up on a topical single “Tummy Time” earlier this year, the married Connecticut duo announce now they’ll answer back this Fall with a new short release called Twist the Knife. I only look forward to finding out the lyrical origins of their use of the phrase, should there be any.

Jessie May and Jim Clegg both also have outside projects, from her running Alternative Control and overseeing money management for headbangers to his design and video work. They are, in short, a one-stop DIY shop. Busyness, it would seem, suits them.

The EP announcement, sans finer details, came down the PR wire:

TURKEY VULTURE TO RELEASE NEW EP

Connecticut heavy music duo TURKEY VULTURE is on their way to putting out their third EP, Twist the Knife.  Once again recorded by “Black Metal” Dave Kaminsky, the release is expected in late 2021 or early 2022.

Frontwoman Jessie May and drummer Jim Clegg met in 2008, playing together in a local rock band called PINK MISSLE.  In the decade and a half since then, they’ve played in several different bands together with their collaboration as musicians becoming stronger each passing year.

But more recently, their relationship has taken on a new identity: husband, wife, and parents.  Twist the Knife plays on those roles, as well as weaving TURKEY VULTURE’s gritty Americana with a creeping horror punk influence.

Follow TURKEY VULTUREs YouTube channel for an upcoming “making-of” documentary produced by Jim Clegg.

Lineup:
Jessie May — guitar, bass, vocals
Jim Clegg — drums, artwork/design/photography

https://www.facebook.com/turkeyvultureband/
https://www.instagram.com/turkeyvultureband/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuQghjwDCIA
https://turkeyvulture.bandcamp.com/

Turkey Vulture, Tummy Time (2021)

Good bill here. I assure you, I’m just about the last person you want to ask concerning anything to do with craft beer — even when I drank I was never that cool — but band-wise, you’ve got a lineup for Doom and Brews III that spans a decent portion of the Eastern Seaboard from the Mid-Atlantic up into New England and beyond. Indianapolis’ Void King will travel the farthest, while Yatra, from Maryland, and Book of Wyrms, from Richmond, Virginia, are set to headline, and alongisde Connecticut natives Curse the Son, Pinto Graham, Afghan Haze, Entierro, Bone Church and Mourn the Light, Clamfight, Thunderbird Divine, The Age of Truth and Almost Honest will be up from PA and Mother Iron Horse and Conclave come south from Massachusetts. Mark it a win.

Goes without saying that everything in existence is tentative, but here’s hoping this one happens. If you’ve been sitting on tickets for the affiliated New England Stoner & Doom Fest 3, you get in free here as well, so, you know, bonus.

Tickets on sale Aug. 6. Here’s info:

SCENE PRODUCTIONS and SALT OF THE EARTH RECORDS are extremely excited to announce the full lineup for DOOM & BREWS III

Altones Music Hall (Jewett City, CT)

November 12 & 13 marks the return of the infamous New England tradition DOOM & BREWS, a gathering of heavy riffs and amazing craft beers… this is an event not to be missed!

2 Days of some of the Best Doom bands in the Northeast & some of the Best Beer New England has to offer!

ATTENTION NESDF3 TICKETHOLDERS!!!!!!

If you purchased tickets to NESDF3 before 2021, you will be on guest list at the door as a thank you for your support and patience.

LINEUP:
Friday, Nov. 12:
Yatra, Bone Church, Mother Iron Horse, Entierro, Thunderbird Divine, Mourn the Light, Almost Honest

Saturday, Nov. 13:
Book of Wyrms, Curse the Son, Conclave, Clamfight, The Age of Truth, Void King, Pinto Graham, Afghan Haze

Tickets go on sale Aug 6th
https://www.newenglandstoneranddoomfest.com/buy-tickets

https://www.facebook.com/events/altones-music-hall/doom-brews-iii/843747549822354/
https://www.facebook.com/Altonesmusichall
https://www.newenglandstoneranddoomfest.com/

Yatra, All is Lost (2020)

Hey guess what? Here’s a thing that was announced in Spring 2020 and the plan changed! Please, I beg you, try to contain your surprise.

When word first came down of Buzzard Canyon‘s cumbersomely-titled second album, Drunken Tales of an Underachiever… The Saga Continues, it was set to release through Salt of the Earth Records, presumably sometime before the end of the year. Now, the Connecticut-based heavy rock troupe have signed to Argonauta and I can’t imagine it’ll be out before the end of 2021, given pressing plant delays, surging variants and all the rest of it.

But a record exists and will be out sooner or later, so the news, ultimately, is good, if not uncomplicated. I’ll hope to have more on it before release. PR wire has the signing announcement:

BUZZARD CANYON Signs To Argonauta Records For Release Of Brand New Album!

The sixty cycle hum of tube amplifiers meets hard driving rhythms and bombastic beats while bluesy, swirling dual male and female lead vocals guide the listener through a rawkus off road journey of down and dirty rock and roll! Connecticut’s BUZZARD CANYON have announced their worldwide signing with Italy’s powerhouse label Argonauta Records for the release of the band’s sophomore album, entitled Drunken Tales Of An Underachiever…The Saga Continues.

“It took us a while to start and finish this record, and at the end.. we weren’t sure it would see the light of day,“ says vocalist/guitarist Aaron Lewis. “But, with great thanks to Gero and Argonauta Records, Drunken Tales of an Underachiever will hit the shelves! We are honored to be on the label and ready to rock!“

BUZZARD CANYON began their journey as a band in 2013. The inspiration was simple: “To play some in your face rock n’ roll and most of all, have fun while doing it!” The term “Camaro Rock” was quickly adopted and sums up their style just perfectly: Picture yourself with a jean jacket, mullet, driving an early 80’s Camaro, pumping your fist as you roar down a desert road with the radio at full volume. The band have been amassing a loyal following by delivering massive riffs and gigging tirelessly. BUZZARD CANYON has performed on notable stoner and doom fests throughout the U.S. and Canada and played direct support slots for multiple national acts.

October 2016 saw the band’s critically acclaimed debut release Hellfire & Whiskey on Salt Of The Earth Records. After spending the next few years performing live in support of the release, the band started to write and demo new material, but due being in isolation with the rest of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic, they were forced to sit tight on their second full- length. Recorded once again at Studio SevenZeroEight with Aaron Lewis at the production and engineering helm, Drunken Tales Of An Underachiever…The Saga Continues will see worldwide release through Italy’s Argonauta Records soon. Watch out for many more details and first tunes to follow in the weeks ahead, as BUZZARD CANYON stands poised to unleash their low down greasy, grimy brand of rock n’ roll mayhem upon the world!

Buzzard Canyon is:
Amber Leigh: vocals & percussion
Aaron Lewis: vocals & guitar
Mike Parkyn: guitar
Matt Raftery: drums
Rob Birkbeck: bass

https://www.facebook.com/BuzzardCanyon/
https://buzzardcanyon.bandcamp.com/
www.instagram.com/buzzard_canyon_band
www.argonautarecords.com

Buzzard Canyon, “Ashes” official video

Entierro release their new EP, El Camazotz, on June 18. At this point, I’ve covered the Connecticut-based metallers for the better part of seven years, going back to the cassette (or k7, if you prefer) of their self-titled EP in 2014, and to be perfectly honest with you, I’ve never really felt like they were a “fit” with the site. Even on El Camazotz, you can hear in the title-track, the riffs are sharp-edged, turning at angles with purpose between the verse and chorus, aggressive. Linear. Adversarial. They back that up with a Judas Priest cover, by the way. So yeah, it’s heavy metal. Heavy metal enough that both Christopher Begnal and Victor Arduini (the latter also of Arduini/Balich) are listed as lead guitarists, and even heavy metal enough that it’s true.

But while “heavy metal” has never really been what this site’s been about, I guess I’m just a sucker for it sometimes, and Entierro fit that bill. El Camazotz, before it gets to that take on “Call for the Priest,” brings four originals in “The Penance,” “The Tower” and “The Past,” the latter of which you can hear premiering in a lyric video below. It’s the centerpiece, the shortest cut at just under five minutes — everything else is a bit over that line, totaling six tracks/26 minutes for the EP — and the catchiest of the bunch, and though there’s a certain letting-loose happening in the cover tune, “The Past” brings into emphasis the band’s own songwriting prowess, with guitar solos used in classic dramatic fashion atop choice riffs, vocalist/bassist Christopher Beaudette (who’s apparently also in Jasta? oh, Connecticut underground, you’re so weird) smoothing out some of the gruffer style in his voice as compares to “The Penance,” which jabs its central riff in an opening aggro showcase. It’s classic hook-’em-and-hold-’em fare either way, and Entierro do it well, propelled by the gallop of Dave Parmelee‘s drums all the while.

The title-track follows the three “The…” cuts, and I suppose is another one if you put it through translation. The title refers to the human/bat creature out of Mesoamerican mythology that has been the subject of many, many clickbait pieces claiming to have unearthed the secret origins of Batman. Yes, we know. And Superman is a Golem. No shit. In Entierro‘s hands, the subject is granted more substance, as well as a mid-tempo chug that’s nothing if not a suitable lead-in for the cover that rounds out as well as a reinforcement of the EP’s intentions in renewing the aggression of the “The Penance” and “The Tower” behind it. It is a short release, but Entierro clearly put thought into its construction, and in following 2018’s self-titled full-length (discussed here), the band’s wholehearted embrace of their roots filters smoothly through their own craft methodology and only suits them. If you’ve ever raised horns in earnest, they’d like to have a word.

Video follows here. Please enjoy:

Entierro, “The Past” lyric video premiere

Pre-order
https://entierro.bandcamp.com/album/el-camazotz

Lyric Video from their 2021 ep “El Camazotz.”

Connecticut’s Entierro release their long awaited follow-up to their 2018 Self-titled full length on June 18th. Entitled El Camazotz, after the Mayan bat god associated with night, death and sacrifice, the five song EP represents a new chapter in the story of the band. Recorded just prior to the pandemic at Studio Wormwood in Northeastern Connecticut under the engineering mastery of Dave Kaminsky, the songs harken back to the NWOBHM and traditional heavy metal bands that they grew up listening to. This also marks the first truly collaborative effort with former Fates Warning guitarist Victor Arduini, who had joined the band just prior to the recording of their 2018 full length.

On this release, he was an integral part of the writing process working alongside vocalist/bassist Christopher Beaudette (Jasta, NightBitch,) drummer Dave Parmelee (One Master) and second guitarist Christopher Begnal making it a much more definitive presentation of their creative vision. Together, Entierro is solidifying their ability to create songs that manifest the crushing sound that they hope metalheads can continually find inspiration in.

Track Listing
1. The Penance
2. The Tower
3. The Past
4. El Camazotz
5. Call for the Priest [Judas Priest cover]

Album Credits: Mixed and Engineered by Dave Kaminsky at Wormwood Studios, Mansfield, CT. Album Artwork by Maxwell Aston Art. Mastered by Nick Zampiello of New Alliance East Mastering.

Entierro are:
Christopher Beaudette – Vocals/Bass
Christopher Begnal – Lead Guitar
Victor Arduini – Lead Guitar
Dave Parmelee – Drums

Entierro on Thee Facebooks

Entierro on Instagram

Entierro on Bandcamp

Connecticut metallurgical specialists Mourn the Light will release their debut album, Suffer, Then We’re Gone, later this year through Argonauta Records. Preorders start today from the label, and below you can see the video premiere of “When the Fear Subsides,” chosen as the first single from the record. Like the band itself, it is refreshingly without pretense. It features the five-piece on stage — at Altone’s Music Hall in Jewett City, CT, which also happens to host the New England Stoner and Doom Fest, which was co-founded by Mourn the Light guitarist/backing vocalist Dwayne Eldredge — diligently delivering the track as they might on any given evening in an alternate reality where such things happened. “When the Fear Subsides” was in fact posted by Mourn the Light as a single last Fall, and fair enough since the record was tracked last summer and isn’t coming out until at least this one. A year’s a long time for a band to sit on a debut release when they can’t play shows. The track “Blink of an Eye,” which appears on Suffer, Then We’re Gone, also showed up earlier in 2020.

As for the album, it runs a working-man’s 54 minutes (bonus track included), and filters classic metal of varying eras — there’s NWOBHM shred in “Take Your Pain Away,” but I’d be deeply surprised to find out that no one in the lineup of Eldredge, vocalist, Andrew Stachelek, guitarist Kieran Beaty, bassist Bill Herrick and drummer/video-director Kyle Hebner is a Life of Agony fan — and as the opening track, “When the Fear Subsides” sets the tone thematically as well as sonically for the rest of what follows, full and crisp in its sound, but duly thick to be strung through a doomier filter, but not shy about throwing in the odd acoustic part or keyboard flourish — neither is out of place in the leadoff. “I Bare the Scars” and “Take Your Pain Away” answer back with due vitality and Suffer, Then We’re Gone redoes the opener of the band’s 2018 EP, Weight of the World, in “End of Times (2020 Version)” before digging into the broader-reaching centerpiece “Suffer, Then You’re Gone,” a gentler start referring back to the more subdued stretches of “When the Fear Subsides,” before slower tempos and harsh screaming vocals take hold and play back and forth with a more chugging progression.

Another subdued stretch bookends and “Refuse to Fall” kicks in with what might be the most purely classic metal riff on the album, worthy of its determined, fist-in-the-air lyric, where “Progeny of Pain” brings its own Priestism to a jabbing resolution that feels like it’s about to fall of the rails before turning back to the more forward gallop. “Wisdom Bestowed” is more epic in structure — acoustics and keys return — and there’s a vocal interplay happening as it heads toward the midsection that’s a standout as they push the dynamic into back-and-forths before capping with due vigor, letting the bonus track serve as an epilogue whose melodic richness is its own excuse for the inclusion, despite pulling back from the structure of Suffer, Then We’re Gone in the sense of how Mourn the Light have organized the album with “When the Fear Subsides,” “Suffer, Then You’re Gone,” and “Wisdom Bestowed” as landmarks. One way or the other, they are not lacking for impact, be it in melody or otherwise, on this initial full-length offering.

But, since “When the Fear Subsides” is the first of those landmarks, it makes all the more sense that it should be the first impression of Suffer, Then We’re Gone to hit public consciousness. Accordingly, here’s the video.

Enjoy:

Mourn the Light, “When the Fear Subsides” official video premiere

The first track from the 2021 full length album “Suffer, Then We’re Gone” by Mourn the Light on Argonauta Records.

Video directed by Kyle Hebner and Dwayne Eldredge
Video shot by Kyle Hebner and Daniel Jackson
Video Editing by Kyle Hebner
Filmed at Altone’s Music Hall in Jewett City, CT

When the Fear Subsides was recorded at Studio Wormwood in Mansfield, CT
Produced, Mixed, and Engineered by Dave Kaminsky
Mastered by Ryan Williams at Augmented Audio in LA

Guest Appearance on Keyboards by Alex Newton (Dzo-nga, Wake of Sirens)

Mourn the Light is:
Andrew Stachelek – Vocals
Dwayne Eldredge – Guitars
Kieran Beaty – Guitars
Bill Herrick – Bass
Kyle Hebner – Drums

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Mourn the Light website

Argonauta Records website