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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Bryan Reed of Doomsday Profit

Posted in Questionnaire on October 25th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Mr. Reed. Thank you for the individual picture.

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: Bryan Reed of Doomsday Profit

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

In the context of Doomsday Profit, I’m a guitarist and vocalist. It still feels strange to use words like “guitarist,” “vocalist,” or “musician,” though, since I’ve spent the vast majority of my life interacting with music as a fan and critic rather than a performer.

I started writing about music for my college newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel, in probably 2005 or so. By the time I graduated, I’d moved on to freelancing reviews and profiles as much as I could manage. But beyond dabbling with some friends in high school, I’d never really been in a band of my own.

I don’t buy into the notion that “those who can’t do, criticize.” Writing and criticism are their own skills, and don’t seem to be affected all that much by whether you have experience on the other side of the process. But for me, playing was something I’d always wanted to do, so as I approached my mid-30s, I decided to give it another shot. I picked up guitar with more focused intent than I ever had, took some online lessons and started jamming with Ryan Sweeney (Doomsday’s bassist). Soon enough, we’d come up with a few riff ideas that we wanted to try to build upon. That’s where Tradd Yancey (drummer) and Kevin See (lead guitarist) entered the picture.

The other guys are all more experienced and skilled than I am, but we found a chemistry that seems to work for us, and we all like hanging out and playing together, so that’s what we’ve been doing and what we plan to keep on doing.

Describe your first musical memory.

Apart from, like, Disney sing-along video tapes and the James Taylor and Carole King tapes my parents played in the car growing up, I came to music kind of late. I was well into high school before I started discovering the punk bands that would reshape my mind as it relates to music. All the usual suspects: Minor Threat, Misfits, Ramones, The Clash. That stuff opened a whole world of possibility, and I more or less disappeared into the music-nerd wormhole from there.

In terms of first, though, I’ll have to go with the first CD I ever bought for myself: Seal’s self-titled album — the one with “Kiss From A Rose.” I was in probably fourth grade, and loved Batman Forever. That song stuck with me so I had to hear more. I think I bought that album and the Space Jam soundtrack (which also ruled, and which also has a Seal song) at roughly the same time.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

So much of my life has been spent in the thrall of records and shows, it’s honestly hard to pinpoint any one memory. A lot of them blur together, and there are still too many standouts. Some moments stand out just for being amazing, intense shows, like seeing Pig Destroyer at Gwar-B-Q. Some are hazy in detail, but vivid in recalling the bonds forged between certain friends and myself, like the first few Hopscotch Music Festivals in Raleigh. Discovering bands like Boris as a student and having my mind reshaped, yet again, by experiencing new sounds. These are all cherished memories.
As a band member, though, it’s much clearer. The first taste of validation for what Doomsday Profit would become was after one of our first practice sessions. Tradd, Ryan and I stopped off at the local brewery, Hugger Mugger, for a couple pints after jamming, and Tradd introduced us as “musicians.” As I said before, it’s still a label that feels awkward to use, but to hear it come from the mouth of someone I respect so much was immensely flattering.

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

I don’t know about a single incident, but I feel like my whole coming-of-age was hugely affected by disillusionment with all of the major social institutions and organizations that we’re all taught to believe in. In my lifetime, I’ve seen endless war under dubious pretenses, utterly vile abuse and cover-ups committed by churches and academic institutions, and the absolute failure of our leaders to do anything to address persistent issues like gun violence, policing, drugs, and the climate crisis. All of the “generally accepted” beliefs that I’d love to have have been broken by the many betrayals committed by those figures of power.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

Hopefully artistic progression leads to some sort of self-improvement. I don’t mean that in an esoteric way. In the most literal sense, developing skills and techniques is artistic progression, so it should lead to more dexterity or a bigger arsenal of techniques to employ. For me, that’s a big part of it, but the skill is really in service of being able to articulate my ideas. I would imagine a lot of artists view their progression as a journey to better capture the sounds or visions that live in their heads.

How do you define success?

Success is having the freedom to operate on your own terms. There’s certainly a material component to that, but it’s a much broader concept for me. When I imagine what success looks like, it’s more about having the time to pursue my interests than in accumulating wealth. But, I mean, the bills still gotta get paid.

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

On a road trip when I was 15, I was staring idly out of the backseat window when we passed the scene of either an accident or worse. Beyond the yellow tape and through the splashes of red and blue light, a dead and mangled body slumped against a tree on the side of the highway. It was only a moment as we passed, but I’ve never been able to forget it.

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

We’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a goofy concept album, all based on a pun. It’s about beer, but because it’s Doomsday Profit, it’s also about the apocalypse. And now that I’ve put it in print, I guess we’re going to have to follow through on it.

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

Communication. And especially communication that transcends words. Whether it’s a political message, or an emotional expression, or even something designed purely for entertainment and escapism, when art is effective, it’s communicating something. Even the most escapist, superficial art is creating a shared fantasy with its audience. As artists, we’re trying to express ideas that we can’t otherwise express. And as fans, we’re always looking for art that resonates on a personal level. It’s a bit of alchemy that is absolutely one of the best things about being human.

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

I recently started skateboarding again after about 15 years away from it, and it’s been very humbling trying to relearn everything. So I’m looking forward to getting my ollie back, hopefully.

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Doomsday Profit, “Consume the Remains” video

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Doomsday Profit Premiere “Consume the Remains” Video From In Idle Orbit out Nov. 12

Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on October 21st, 2021 by JJ Koczan

doomsday profit

North Carolina sludge metallers Doomsday Profit release In Idle Orbit on Nov. 12. Somewhere along the line, the idea got into my head that the six-song/35-minute offering was an EP. Listening to it, I don’t think it is. Just because it spends its last 10 minutes embroiled in dark ambience with “Bring Out Your Dead,” that’s no less a part of the entirety than the rub-dirt-in-your-eyes sludge-as-half-speed-grindcore that is “Crown of Flies” and “Scryers of the Smoke” earlier on. It breaks down into two 12″ sides, three tracks per, with choice leads interwoven amid the death-stench filth of the riffs and the Carcass-style slit-throat-snarl vocals.

Stoner? Yeah, there’s some of that, and one might accordingly be tempted to put Doomsday Profit in the Bongzilla/Dopethrone school of nihilist weedian sludge. And of course North Carolina hasn’t hurt for sludge since the days of Buzzov*enWeedeaterSourvein, etc. If that helps them sell records — CDs, tapes, DLs, whatever — then fine I guess, but to my ears the four-piece seem up to something grimmer in its purpose.

The lurch of “Cestoda” — named for a kind of tapeworm (thanks, internet) — and the echo accompanying the vocals, speaks to the more extreme-metal-borndoomsday profit in idle orbit style that marks Doomsday Profit out from the bunch. More Yatra than Toke. That song, as well as “Scryers of the Smoke” before it, appeared on the band’s 2020 Abandon Hope demo, and even compared to just a year ago, In Idle Orbit establishes a cross-release flow that finds an encouraging middle ground in the tempo of “Consume the Remains” to coincide with its largesse — a big, oozing, body-odor-smelling thing, that nonetheless nears psychedelia in its lead guitar sound — and sets “Destroy the Myths” to a march that seems militaristic at first but turns out to be bombed, not bombing.

They space out again toward the finish of “Destroy the Myths,” some slower Iommic solo idolatry serving as an endpoint as the song comes apart like a rotten limb falling off, and maybe it’s that touch of atmosphere throughout that makes the rumble and drone and far-back lead of “Bring Out Your Dead” feel so in-place. If so, all the more kudos to Doomsday Profit for working multiple angles, killing low, building high. Maybe killing high? I don’t know. Definitely those two things. High, and murderous.

Current mood: On a fucking slab. Fluorescent light overhead shines on methodically separated viscera, open eyes staring upward while Doomsday Profit — either in scrubs or not, because does it really matter? — give precious little concern for the mess they’ve made. No big deal, there’ll be plenty of bleach left over to wash it all out after my body’s been bubbled away and the bones turned white ahead of some inevitably ritualized powdering. Play in blood in the meantime.

Nothing means anything. Everything is permitted. Drink plague and piss riffs.

Enjoy:

Doomsday Profit, “Consume the Remains” video premiere

Doomsday Profit unveil their music video for “Consume the Remains,” from the forthcoming album, “In Idle Orbit,” out November 12, 2021.

With “Consume the Remains,” Doomsday Profit merges desert-rock groove with death ‘n’ roll bile. Piling onto the song’s foundational riff and deep groove, the band cakes on with tar-thick sludge before launching it into a dark, psychedelic abyss.

Available on CD/Cassette/Digital @ https://doomsdayprofit.bandcamp.com/

Video by Dark Sprite Videos.

Tracklisting:
1. Crown of Flies
2. Scryers of the Smoke
3. Cestoda
4. Consume the Remains
5. Destroy the Myths
6. Bring Out Your Dead

Doomsday Profit live:
Friday, Nov. 12 – Duluth, GA at Sweetwater Bar & Grill
(with Cosmic Reaper, Dopegoat, Big Oaf)
Saturday, Nov. 13 – Asheville, NC at Static Age Records
(with Cosmic Reaper, TBD)
Sunday, Nov. 14 – Raleigh, NC at The Pour House
(with Cosmic Reaper, WitchTit, Kult Ikon, Nora Rogers, Makhnovist)

Doomsday Profit is:
Pestilence: guitar / vocals
War: lead guitar
Famine: bass / synth / samples
Death: drums / production

Doomsday Profit on Facebook

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Doomsday Profit website

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Doomsday Profit to Release In Idle Orbit EP Nov. 12

Posted in Whathaveyou on September 15th, 2021 by JJ Koczan

doomsday profit

If I was to tell you that Doomsday Profit are getting ready to ‘do the nasty,’ there’s no way you’d possibly misinterpret that as meaning something other than that they’ve announced the release of their sludged-out, ratty-as-hell debut EP? Of course not. The Raleigh, North Carolina, four-piece will issue In Idle Orbit — which, indeed, is ‘the nasty’ — on Nov. 12 as a follow-up to their 2020 demo, Abandon Hope, which was comprised of live and rehearsal tracks.

They’ve got tapes and CDs in the works, and downloads to boot, and they’ll have preorders up on next Bandcamp Friday, which I guess is a thing that’s happening again. Nobody tells me anything, except I suppose that something like this is happening. And probably I have another email about Bandcamp Friday somewhere. Let’s get down to it. I suck at email. I keep waiting for email to go away and it doesn’t. Ever. It just sits there. Festering. So yeah. I probably knew Bandcamp Friday was happening again. You got me.

Feel good? Great. If you want to cure that, Doomsday Profit are here to wipe the slate clean as only flesh-peeling sludge can hope to do. Dig the stage names, too.

Have at you:

doomsday profit in idle orbit

Doomsday Profit release ‘In Idle Orbit’ Nov. 12

On Nov. 12, the Raleigh, N.C. psych-sludge quartet, Doomsday Profit will release their debut, In Idle Orbit. A meditation in anger, the debut EP floods its dystopian visions with snarling psychedelic grit and deep-dredged sludge riffs that calls to mind the relentless pummeling of Conan, as well as the cosmic excursions of Earthless; the bad-trip acid-rock of Church of Misery, as well as the scuzzy blues of Dopethrone.

In Idle Orbit will be independently released on CD, cassette, and digital formats. Digital pre-orders will go live on Oct. 1, coinciding with Bandcamp Friday.

Slowly, but surely, conditions are improving. Bars in North Carolina are open, with restrictions. Some venues are even starting to legally host live music with strict safety protocols in place. And people in NC have started getting vaccinated. More than a year since we played our last show, we’re getting back to work.

Doomsday Profit is:
Pestilence: guitar / vocals
War: lead guitar
Famine: bass / synth / samples
Death: drums / production

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https://doomsdayprofit.bandcamp.com/
https://www.doomsdayprofit.com/

Doomsday Profit, Abandon Hope (2020)

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