Posted in Whathaveyou on January 15th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
True to their word, it’s Jan. 15 and Psycho California 2015 has announced the headliners for what looks like the best American festival lineup I’ve seen since the days of Emissions from the Monolith. That’s not to take away from the hard work anyone else is doing, but just look at the list of bands. It’s unreal. You’d want to be everywhere at the same time to see all of it. Absolutely wild.
Sleep and Pentagram were pretty clear choices to headline. Not only for being legends in the heavy underground, but for also being just about two of the only bands left. Sweden’s Cult of Luna were something of a surprise, but for a festival already showing a European reach in bringing aboard the likes of Samsara Blues Experiment and Stoned Jesus, they make sense. Hell of a bill. Kudos to anyone who actually gets to go to the thing.
Announcement follows, courtesy of the PR wire:
PSYCHO CALIFORNIA ANNOUNCES HEADLINERS: SLEEP, PENTAGRAM AND CULT OF LUNA
WEST COAST METAL FESTIVAL HAPPENING MAY 15, 16 & 17 AT THE OBSERVATORY IN SANTA ANA
FIRST WAVE OF ARTISTS ANNOUNCED INCLUDED KYLESA, EARTH, OM AND RUSSIAN CIRCLES
Psycho California, the west coast’s first annual metal festival and a must see for fans of doom, heavy psych and sludge, has announced the headliners for this year’s event: Cult of Luna (May 15), Sleep (May 16) and Pentagram, who will perform First Daze Here in its entirety (May 17).
“2015 is going to be a slow year for Cult of Luna. However as much as we are musicians we are also fans,” said Cult of Luna’s Johannes Persson. “Evaluating if the offer to play Psycho California was worth dusting off our instruments was not hard after looking on the line-up. Being on the same bill as Pentagram, Sleep and a festival packed with the best bands around is a privilege in itself and we’ll try to live up to that honor.”
The lineup for Psycho California is: Sleep, Pentagram, Cult of Luna, Kylesa, OM, Earth, Russian Circles, Bedemon, Conan, Wrench, Eyehategod, Indian, Earthless, Pallbearer, Stoned Jesus, Old Man Gloom, Cave In, Acid Witch, Truckfighters, Tombs, Bang, Electric Citizen, Coffinworm, SubRosa, Eagle Twin, Mammatus, True Widow, Anciients, Bellwitch, Dead Meadow, Lord Dying, Death By Stereo, Radio Moscow, Ancient Altar, Samsara Blues Experiment, Atriarch, Elder, Mothership, The Well, Deathkings, Wo Fat, Rozamov, Destroyer of Light, Highlands, Bloodmoon, Slow Season, Goatsnake, Crypt Trip, Wrench, Lords of Beacon House, Tumbleweed Dealer, Sinister Haze, Blackout, Red Wizard, Banquet and Loom.
Festival interludes will be provided by Housecore Records’ artist Author & Punisher and vinyl DJ set from Bob Lugowe (Relapse Records) and Sean Pellet (Last Daze Here).
Previously announced early bird tickets sold out immediately. Tickets for the festival are on-sale this morning with both a 3-day pass ($149.50) and a 3-day VIP pass available ($256.66)
VIP packages include a 3-day festival pass, a signed screen print concert poster by David D’Andrea, express entry via artist check-in booth, access to artist VIP lounge, a limited edition Thief X Obey festival tee, a Psycho record bag and patch as well as access to a complimentary craft tequila bar, premium microbrews and artisan snacks.
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 7th, 2015 by JJ Koczan
Put into position headlining Saturday night April 25 along with Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, New Orleans sludge progenitors Eyehategod continue to reap acclaim — and, presumably, souls — from their long-awaited 2014 self-titled studio return. They’ll be in good company at Desertfest in London, along with Orange Goblin, the aforementioned Bjork, Sleep and Red Fang, all of whom prove worthy headliners for a fest of increasing diversity and prestige.
The announcement came through on GMT with verbiage by Tom Geddes:
EYEHATEGOD TO CO-HEADLINE SATURDAY NIGHT AT DESERTFEST 2015!!
ARE SLEEP NOT ENOUGH DOOMY SLUDGE FOR YOUR SET OF 2015 HEADLINERS? DIDN’T THINK SO.
That’s why DesertFest are ecstatic to announce that Eyehategod will be co-headlining the Saturday of this year’s festival, alongside Brant Bjork & The Low Desert Punk Band!
One of the cornerstones of the sludge scene since their formation in 1988, EHG have been front and centre ever since. Announcing their presence to the world with 1992?s ‘In the Name of Suffering’ and following sharply in the next year with the blistering ‘Take as Needed for Pain’, the riffs and groove of Sabbath were there, but with a colossal punch and a weight that were simply beyond heavy. Add into the mix Mike Williams’ signature snarls and EHG were always onto something special. ‘Dopesick’ and ‘Confederacy of Ruined Lives’ followed in 1996 and 2000 respectively and only added to the legendary catalogue of Eyehategod.
After a studio album drought of 14 years, last year saw the self-titled release of ‘Eyehategod’, which wasn’t so much a return to form as it was a raising of the bar. Full of power and forays into hardcore throughout without losing much of the slow, dirty sludge riffing; we may have had to wait, but this was anything but a Chinese Democracy-style disappointment.
A rare live treat over the last decade, with touring being sparse, Eyehategod are must see at DesertFest 2015. Miss this chance and you may be kicking yourself for a long, long time to come. Kind Words: Tom Geddes
Posted in Features on January 2nd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
It was close for a long time, but in the last week or so, one record pulled ahead to stake a definitive claim on the top spot. Even so, more than the 2013 poll, this was a fun one to watch, three albums duking it out, trading back and forth in the raw votes depending on who happened to submit a list at any given time. In the end, 355 people participated in this year’s poll, which is an average of over 11 per day — there was a significant push at the end — and up from 2013, which now that it’s 2015 will no doubt soon feel like ancient history.
To that end, Happy New Year and huge, huge thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute a list to the poll. Even if it was one or two records, the simple fact that you felt it was worth your time to type out the names of bands and albums and take part in this thing is unbelievably gratifying to me. I do a lot of the talking around here, apart from comments and the forum, so to have your participation in this really means a lot to me. It’s nice knowing you give enough of a crap to take part.
You’ll find two lists below. The first, measured in points, is the weighted tally. A 1-4 ranking is worth five points, 5-8 worth four, 9-12 worth three, 13-16 worth two and 17-20 worth one. After that comes the raw votes, a measure of what caught the most attention along the way.
After the jump, you’ll also find all the lists contributed to the poll — including my own, which seemed fair since I do a lot of reading on this site, mostly to experience shame at the typos and correct them hoping no one else noticed — presented in the order in which they were received. Thank you all again.
Top 20 of 2014 — Weighted Results
1. YOB, Clearing the Path to Ascend (560 points)
2. Wo Fat, The Conjuring (404)
3. Electric Wizard, Time to Die (367)
4. Pallbearer, Foundations of Burden (334)
5. Conan, Blood Eagle (275)
6. Orange Goblin, Back from the Abyss (254)
7. Greenleaf, Trails and Passes (240)
8. Truckfighters, Universe (237)
9. Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, Black Power Flower (235)
10. Earth, Primitive and Deadly (230)
11. Fu Manchu, Gigantoid (225)
12. Blues Pills, Blues Pills (211)
13. Lo-Pan, Colossus (202)
14. Eyehategod, Eyehategod (198)
15. Monolord, Empress Rising (190)
16. Mastodon, Once More ‘Round the Sun (188)
17. Mars Red Sky, Stranded in Arcadia (161)
18. John Garcia, John Garcia (156)
19. Bongripper, Miserable (141)
20. Radio Moscow, Magical Dirt (127)
Honorable mention to:
Goat, Commune (126)
Swans, To be Kind (117)
Monster Magnet, Milking the Stars (116)
Blood Farmers, Headless Eyes (105)
Floor, Oblation (104)
Mothership, II (104)
Stubb, Elephant Tree, Thou and plenty of others also did very well in the voting, but everything else I could find was less than 100 points. Again, it was close for a while between Wo Fat, Electric Wizard and YOB — and Pallbearer wasn’t so far behind them, either — but YOB pulled it out in the end and jumped way in front of everyone else. A lot of number-one votes for Clearing the Path to Ascend, which I can understand completely, since I happened to agree with the position.
On to the raw votes:
Top 20 of 2014 — Raw Votes
1. YOB, Clearing the Path to Ascend (138 votes)
2. Wo Fat, The Conjuring (111)
3. Electric Wizard, Time to Die (104)
4. Pallbearer, Foundations of Burden (89)
5. Orange Goblin, Back from the Abyss (78)
6. Conan, Blood Eagle (72)
7. Fu Manchu, Gigantoid (71)
8. Truckfighters, Universe (66)
9. Earth, Primitive and Deadly (65)
10. Greenleaf, Trails and Passes (64)
11. Blues Pills, Blues Pills (63)
12. Brant Bjork and the Low Desert Punk Band, Black Power Flower (60)
13. Lo-Pan, Colossus (58)
14. Eyehategod, Eyehategod (55)
15. Monolord, Empress Rising (52)
16. Mars Red Sky, Stranded in Arcadia (48)
16. Mastodon, Once More ‘Round the Sun (48)
17. John Garcia, John Garcia (47)
18. Bongripper, Miserable (41)
18. Radio Moscow, Magical Dirt (41)
19. Goat, Commune (37)
19. Mothership, II (37)
20. Swans, To be Kind (32)
And some honorable mentions:
Dwellers, Pagan Fruit (31)
Floor, Oblation (31)
Monster Magnet, Milking the Stars (31)
Mos Generator, Electric Mountain Majesty (30)
Thou, Heathen (30)
The Well, Samsara (30)
A couple ties here make the raw votes list a little more inclusive, and since it’s not like we’re giving out olympic medals, it didn’t seem fair to count out ties and sacrifice other numbers. The top 20 has 23 entries? Yeah, sounds about right. Again, not much mystery ultimately to who came out on top, but it was a more thrilling race than the final numbers might suggest. Cool to see some differences in placement emerge between the two lists as well, Greenleaf and Brant Bjork doing really well in the weighted results since they obviously inspire some strong support, and a couple of others working their way into the raw votes top 20. I’m not really a numbers guy, but it’s been cool putting this together.
—
About not being a numbers guy: All the lists that came in appear after the jump below. If you find some glaring error in my math, or something seems like it really got enough votes to be included in one or the other, it’s possible I just missed it. I hope you’ll point it out in the comments so that if there is a mistake, I can get on correcting it as soon as possible. Your vigilance is sincerely appreciated.
And thank you again so much for being a part of this readers poll. It’s been a really great experience and I look forward to doing it again come Dec. 2015.
Please find everybody’s list after the jump, and have fun browsing:
Posted in Whathaveyou on December 15th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
The list of bands, quite frankly, is astonishing, but even more astonishing is the fact that Thief Presents‘ Psycho California 2015 (formerly Psycho de Mayo) hasn’t announced its headliners yet, because these sure as shit look like headliners to me.
A three-day festival set to take place at The Observatory in Santa Ana, CA, Psycho California will feature the following acts:
Here’s that list again: Kylesa, Om, Earth, Russian Circles, Orange Goblin, Bedemon, Conan, Indian, Pallbearer, Cave In, Old Man Gloom, Tombs, Earthless, Truckfighters, Bang, Eyehategod, Crowbar, SubRosa, Lord Dying, Acid Witch, Electric Citizen, Coffinworm, Eagle Twin, Stoned Jesus, Mammatus, True Widow, Bell Witch, Death by Stereo, Radio Moscow, Samsara Blues Experiment, Anciients, Elder, Mothership, Ancient Altar, The Well, Deathkings, Wo Fat, Rozamov, Destroyer of Light, Highlands, Bloodmoon, Slow Season, Crypt Trip, Lords of Beacon House, Tumbleweed Dealer, Sinister Haze, Blackout, Red Wizard, Banquet, Loom.
Plus interludes by Author and Punisher.
God damn.
Not only does it cover both coasts, huge bands, legends and up and comers, but the reach is international. Take special note of Conan, since their appearance means that Maryland Deathfest won’t be their only US date, and also Samsara Blues Experiment and Stoned Jesus — two killer European bands that you don’t even go after unless you know what the fuck you’re doing. That also hugely extends the possibilities for headlining acts. It’s an assemblage that’s beyond impressive, and if you haven’t already looked up flights to Southern California, I don’t know what to tell you. As I write this it’s after one in the morning on Sunday night, and you know I wouldn’t be doing that if my mind wasn’t leaking out of my ears at the thought of experiencing this thing.
Stay tuned for more to come, since as the poster says, headliners will be announced on Jan. 15. I’ll be looking forward to finding out who else is in store.
Posted in Whathaveyou on October 14th, 2014 by JJ Koczan
It’s been hours, days even, since the last round of Roadburn 2015 lineup additions, so obviously we’re due. This time around, the venerable Netherlands-based fest adds two sets from volatile New Orleans sludge legends Eyehategod, proggers Focus, Brooklyn genre-twisters Tombs, their Relapse labelmates in Black Anvil and more in Death Hawks and Pekko Käppi and K:H:H:L, who are the kinds of acts who play Roadburn and then I hear them like two months later and really, really wish I’d gotten to see them. Happens every year. It’s part of the thing.
The Roadburn 2015 lineup, as you can see in the flyer above, is wildly diverse but masterfully concocted all the same, and tickets aren’t even on sale yet. The presale — during which they’ll sell out almost immediately, as they always do — starts on Thursday.
Info follows:
Nola’s Eyehategod To Inflict Double The Anguish And Pain On Roadburn 2015
Dutch prog rock legends Focus confirmed for Ivar Bjørnson’s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s Houses of the Holistic at Roadburn Festival 2015
Tombs, Black Anvil, Death Hawks and Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L have also been confirmed for Roadburn 2015.
We’re beyond excited to welcome seminal New Orleans, Louisana sluge-legends Eyehategod back to the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, with two sets of their unique, Southern hardcore-blues-sludge-and-doom on Thursday, April 9 at the main stage, and in Het Patronaat, Friday, April 10.
With its hateful, hopeless, anguished vocals set against extra-slow Iommi-inspired riffing, Eyehategod are credited with founding sludge-core, one of the most vital new genres of metal to emerge from the 1990’s. Countless bands have followed their footsteps, and after more than 20 years of creating some of the most corrosive, vile music known to man, Eyehategod still hasn’t lost the piss and vinegar, propaganda, and despair that fueled them back in 1988.
Over the years, Eyehategod have had more than their fair share of hardship, and recently suffered the tragic loss of drummer and founding member, Joey LaCaze. The new, self titled release from Eyehategod, the follow up to 2000’s Confederacy Of Ruined Lives, sees LaCaze’s drum tracks appear posthumously on this classic of the genre.
The album personifies desperation and addiction in the various backwaters of forgotten America, punctuated by the N’awlins sound of rebellion and pollution resulting in triumph over adversity. Come experience transcendence through malevolence as Eyehategod deface Roadburn 2015.
We’re equally excited to announce that Dutch prog rock legends Focus have been confirmed for Houses of the Holistic, Ivar Bjørnson‘s (Enslaved) and Wardruna’s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik‘s curated Roadburn event on Friday, April 10 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
With their unique brand of progressive rock, Focus established themselves at the start of the 70s as the most successful and appreciated of all the Dutch pop-rock exports. Fronted by founding member Thijs Van Leer, and best known for their hits “Hocus Pocus”, “House of The King” and “Sylvia”, as well as critically acclaimed albums Moving Waves, Focus 3 and Hamburger Concerto, Focus regrouped with a fantastic new line up in the early 2000s, which resulted in several well received albums, like Focus 9 / New Skin and Focus X.
Focus today consists of Thijs van Leer on vocals, flute and keyboards, and famed Focus drummer Pierre van der Linden, who joined the group on their second album Moving Waves in 1972. Internationally renowned for his rhythmic skills, Pierre remains a defining factor in the Focus sound. Bassist Bobby Jacobs, who comes from an acclaimed Dutch musical family and guitarist Menno Gootjes, who participated in Focus at an earlier stage, complete the band’s current line-up.
“If you know anything about prog beyond “old Genesis, not the new stuff”, you know Focus – an extremely influential band for any band in the progressive tradition that came after them; whether its progressive Metal like we try to fool around with, or purer retro-prog (a funny combination of concepts, by the way)”, says Enslaved’s Ivar Bjørnson. “Focus embodies everything that is true “Prog” for me: the incorporation of the classical elements, the tongue-in-cheek playfulness across times, genres and geography – and of course extraordinary musicianship. These highly vital legends has also shown amazing form live these days, so having freakin’ FOCUS accepting our invitation for our curated day. To put it simple, straight-forward and un-proggy: a dream come through!!!”
Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L and Death Hawks have also been confirmed for Ivar Bjørnson’s and Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik’s Houses of the Holistic on Friday, April 10.
As huge admirers of Tombs blackened ferocity, we simply couldn’t resist bringing this primordial killing machine back to the 20th edition of Roadburn on Saturday, April 11.
Straight from the filthy sewers of New York City, Black Anvil will hail death at Roadburn 2015 on Saturday, April 11.
In related news: Tickets for the 20th edition of Roadburn Festival, set for April 9 – 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands, will go on sale on Thursday, October 16, 2014.
Set your alarm and get ready to score your tickets at 21:00 CET! (20:00 UK | 22:00 Finland, Greece | 3pm East coast | 12pm West coast).
For everyone in the Netherlands and Belgium: we are aware that your local ticket outlets will not be open when pre-sales start, which is why we are throwing another pre-sales party at the 013 venue in Tilburg (NL). From 19:00 CET – 20:30 CET you will be able to purchase a maximum of four paper tickets for Roadburn Festival 2015. Guaranteed!
In addition to making it easy to get tickets, the pre-sales party is going to be a blast! This year, we have invited The Machine and Radar Men From The Moon to provide the soundtrack. More infoHERE.
Curated by Ivar Bjørnson (Enslaved) and Wardruna‘s Einar “Kvitrafn” Selvik, Roadburn Festival 2015 (including Fields of the Nephilim, Skuggsjá, Enslaved, Wardruna, Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin performing Dawn of The Dead and Susperia in its entirety, Zombi, Sólstafir, White Hills, Bongipper, Floor, Eyehategod and The Heads as Artist In Residence among others) will run for four days from Thursday, April 9 to Sunday, April 12 at the 013 venue in Tilburg, The Netherlands.
It was getting on two in the morning last night and I was yet again trying to figure out how to get the audio editing software I use to make podcasts to work on this laptop. Numerous failed downloads later, I decided screw it, I had nothing to lose, and I zipped up the directory containing the program on my old computer, WeTransfered it to myself, and unzipped it on the newer machine. Frickin’ worked. I couldn’t believe it. Proof that sometimes the stupidest solution of all is the way to go.
This is the first new podcast in a long time, I know. There’s been a lot of really cool stuff coming out in the last few months, but I wanted to still keep it as recent as possible. Some of this is out now and has been for a couple weeks, some of it isn’t out yet. I think it’s a good mix or I wouldn’t have uploaded it, and it gets pretty heavy for a while there, so watch yourself. Figured a good couple of rockers to open wouldn’t meet any complaints either, and hopefully that’s the case. Please enjoy.
First Hour:
Fu Manchu, “Radio Source Sagittarius” from Gigantoid (2014)
Radio Moscow, “Death of a Queen” from Magical Dirt (2014)
Abramis Brama, “Blåa Toner” from Enkel Biljett (2014)
The Ultra Electric Mega Galactic, “Spoonful” from Through the Dark Matter (2014)
Boris, “Heavy Rain” from Noise (2014)
Eyehategod, “Robitussin and Rejection” from Eyehategod (2014)
Serpentine Path, “House of Worship” from Emanations (2014)
Triptykon, “Boleskine House” from Melana Chasmata (2014)
Wovenhand, “Field of Hedon” from Refractory Obdurate (2014)
Been Obscene, “Memories of Salvation” from Unplugged (2014)
1000mods, “Reverb of the New World” from Vultures (2014)
Electric Citizen, “Light Years Beyond” from Ghost of Me b/w Light Years Beyond (2014)
Second Hour:
Mars Red Sky, “The Light Beyond” from Stranded in Arcadia (2014)
Salem’s Pot, “Creep Purple” from Lurar Ut Dig På Prärien (2014)
Black Bombaim, “Arabia” from Far Out (2014)
Dopelord, “Pass the Bong” from Black Arts, Riff Worship and Weed Cult (2014)
Holly Hunt, “Prometheus” from Prometheus (2014)
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 24th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Joe LaCaze, 1971-2013
He was the only drummer I ever saw snort something on stage. Word started coming through last night on Facebook of the passing of Eyehategod drummer Joe LaCaze. Details at this point are sketchy, and by that I mean nil, but tributes have begun pouring in for LaCaze, who had more than ably handled the task of solidifying the chaos of Eyehategod’s sonic malevolence since 1989, playing on their four studio full-lengths and sundry other releases and touring the world with the groundbreaking sludge five-piece.
Eyehategod just wrapped a 15-date UK and European stint in Toulouse, France, on Aug. 20 and were scheduled to play three special shows in September to mark their 25th anniversary as a band, including a return to the Rocks Off Concert Cruise in Manhattan and an appearance at Phil Anselmo’s Housecore Horror Film Fest in Austin, Texas. Word of a new album had also begun to spread again with the release last year of the new single “New Orleans is the New Vietnam,” which had been Eyehategod’s first non-compilation studio output since 2004. Their last full-length was 2000’s Confederacy of Ruined Lives.
Again, there is nothing really made public at this point about the circumstances of his passing or any official word from the band (I’ll update when I see some), but LaCaze — who also drummed in Eyehategod offshoots Outlaw Order and The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight — leaves behind a formidable presence within what’s inarguably sludge’s greatest influence. In his attitude and his style, he was the swinging rudder steering a tornado and across classic albums like 1992’s In the Name of Suffering, 1993’s Take as Needed for Pain, and 1996’s Dopesick, he solidified a legacy that few can match.
The Obelisk sends heartfelt condolences to the friends, family, bandmates and anyone else who knew LaCaze. He will be missed.
UPDATE 08.28.13
Eyehategod released this statement today:
Joseph M. LaCaze, New Orleans native and drummer for Eyehategod, Mystick Krewe of Clearlight and Outlaw Order passed away on Aug. 23rd in New Orleans after a very successful five week UK and European tour with EHG.
He also performed ceremonial voodoo drumming and in numerous solo experimental electronic projects. Doctors confirmed to family members the cause as respiratory failure. He also suffered from severe long term asthma.
An account is set up for the benefit of his daughter Lilith LaCaze. Checks can be made payable to the Lilith LaCaze or Joseph LaCaze donation fund at any Capital One Bank in any city.
Posted in Reviews on December 5th, 2011 by JJ Koczan
Coming down Rt. 3 East heading toward the Lincoln Tunnel, the clouds hung low over Manhattan and reflected the lights of Midtown back onto itself. I couldn’t help but think of this again later last night as I watched EyeHateGod reflect back to Brooklyn the rigors of societal ills largely ignored by art and mainstream politics: addiction, disaffection, nihilism, riffing. The list goes on.
I got to Europa in Brooklyn‘s traditionally Polish Greenpoint neighborhood just in time to see the blackthrash duo Knight Terror open the gig. I’d have pegged them for locals, but apparently they came all the way from Portland, Oregon, to be there (though I imagine there’s a wormhole that makes that trip easier). With lead-vocal/drums and guitar, they blasted through a set of Slayer riffs and blackened screaming — think Midnight or Toxic Holocaust — and did nothing to offend. They had the first pit of the evening, if that’s any example of how they were well received by the crowd who, like myself, was still basically just showing up while they played.
The bill was right on. A Sunday show is a daunting prospect, and you could see in the crowd right from the start who had to get up and go to work Monday morning and who didn’t. I’ll say at the outset I was mostly there to see Hull play new material from the Beyond the Lightless Sky album. Having missed them at their release show with Rwake owing to family concerns and having missed them with Naam at the recent Acheron benefit because I live under a rock, I wasn’t going to let 2011 end without seeing them play those songs. EyeHateGod is great, don’t get me wrong, but it was Hull that got me off my ass.
And no regrets. The three-guitar five-piece gave solid confirmation of why I’ve come to think of them as Brooklyn‘s most formidable and creative metal export in the wake of Beyond the Lightless Sky. Playing second in front of Doomriders and EyeHateGod, their set was about 45 minutes, and in that time, they played only stuff from the new album, which suited me just fine since that’s what I’d been hoping for to start with, and hit off immediately with the complex rhythmic mayhem of “Earth From Water,” which, like the rest of it, they nailed.
Guitarist Nick Palmirotto‘s delivery of the songs — his vocals are probably the most consistently present in the songs, but at any point in a Hull set, anyone but drummer Jeff Stieber could be singing, and there’s usually more than one at once — is among the most passionate I’ve seen in a long time, and just off a recent month-long US tour, Hull made the Europa stage look and sound too small. Palmirotto, fellow guitarists Drew Mack and Carmine Laietta and bassist Seanbryant Dunn traded parts back and forth, growls and screams and shouts comingling with cleaner singing that seemed to be drowning in its own massive tonality. For Stieber‘s part, every snare hit on Beyond the Lightless Sky sounds like a sentence ending, and that remained true for the live set as well, but watching him play, I was all the more impressed for the ghost notes and subtler hits he works into his timing amidst the massive fills.
There’s some of that on the album, listening back now, but the impression I got during their set was it’s even more than they captured in the studio, which is saying something. The only place Hull saw a dip in momentum was between the songs. After tearing through “Beyond the Lightless Sky” or “Fire Vein” before closing out with “False Priest,” they had to stop and tune after each cut. Obviously they’re busy while they’re playing the songs themselves, but I felt like with three guitars, the bass and the drums, there should be noise the whole time, something to keep that forward drive moving. On the record, their longer tracks are offset by ambient/instrumental pieces, and I wanted some of that side to show up in the live setting as well.
Of course, it was a homecoming show for them, basically, playing to a crowd who knows them and has known them for a while, so I think it’s safe to say they were playing it casual, and either way, they killed it. Each off-time hit, on-a-dime turn and tempo shift was powerful, and they hit it all hard enough to remind what a month solid on the road can really do in service to a band’s chemistry. Some of Laietta‘s leads came through low in the mix (it might have been where I was standing), but I didn’t envy Doomriders having to follow.
But then, I’ve never been a particularly huge fan of Doomriders, or at least not as big a fan of the music as I am of the band’s name, which is unfuckwithably cool. Guitarist/vocalist Nate Newton had “Property of Converge” spraypainted on the back of his Orange cabinets (he was also in Old Man Gloom), and the Boston foursome took a bit to get into the swing of their set, but handled the songs well once they did. The thing about Doomriders that’s always kind of gotten to me, especially seeing them live as I have a couple times over the years, is I feel like the riffs are purposefully dumbed down. There’s nothing wrong with a band trying to keep their approach simple, but somehow Doomriders seem to be winking while they’re playing as if to say, “Yeah, we know we’re smarter than this.”
It wouldn’t be anything near the felonies committed when EyeHateGod took the stage — stabbings, arson, police brutality, jury tampering — but there was some violence in honor of Doomriders‘ energetic riffing and Newton‘s Tom Araya-esque shouts. I stood in back for most of the set, and did the same for EyeHateGod, and the now-full room was more than glad to go along with what the band had on offer, bassist Jebb Riley and drummer Chris Bevalaqua working up a sweat keeping up with the trying pace of Chris Pupecki and Newton‘s guitars, which were very much at the fore.
They didn’t really have me hooked until their last song, the irresistible groove of which was as an appropriate a lead-in as EyeHateGod could ask for. Regarding the New Orleans sludge mainstays/progenitors/forebears, I’ll say this: I had previously sworn off seeing EyeHateGod. I had (and I’m sure they were really feeling the loss) done so because I felt like every time I went and saw EyeHateGod, I was just enabling them to further delay putting out a new album, and god dammit, it’s time for a new EyeHateGod album. It’s about six years past time for a new EyeHateGod album, actually, and you know what the band’s not doing when they’re popping up to New York for shows? They’re not putting out a new album. So I said I wasn’t going to see them anymore until they had a new record to support.
Didn’t work out, clearly, but I did manage to gain some hope that the next EyeHateGod album will be good. Hear me out. When I last interviewed Jimmy Bower, he subtly expressed some concern that part of the reason it had taken the band so long to record and release a new album was that he didn’t know if they could be as dirty, as gritty and as fucked up as they once were. And after watching last night’s EyeHateGod set in Brooklyn, I realized this: EyeHateGod are fuck ups. Through and through. And it wasn’t even watching drummer Joe LaCaze snort something before they started playing, and it wasn’t frontman Mike Williams‘ occasional professions of his desire to die, it was Bower himself.
Arguably, unless bassist Gary Mader or guitarist Brian Patton (also of Soilent Green) owns a small business or something like that, Jimmy Bower seems to be the dude in EyeHateGod who most has his shit together. He plays in Down, he’s usually the public face, and he seems all around like a down to earth kind of guy. But when he broke a string last night before the band even started playing — it was during their big feedback opening — and effectively derailed the set before it even began, I stepped back and said, “You know, things are gonna be okay for the next EyeHateGod.”
Because that’s not the kind of fuck up you actively make. No one’s setting out to do that. It just happens. It’s who you are. Believe me, I know. I once watched as my car keys swirled around in a toilet and then were gone. If Jimmy Bower is at all worried EyeHateGod wouldn’t be able to be what they once were, he need have no such concerns. Ultimately, you can’t fight what you are, and as I watched Patton set his guitar down (still feeding back) and go over to help Bower restring his own, I was utterly comforted in knowing that whenever the next EyeHateGod studio effort materializes, things will be just fine.
To that end, they did play two new songs they’ve been kicking around for a while: “Medicine Noose” and “New Orleans is the New Vietnam” amidst the host of noisy, groovy familiars. Their set was a wash of riffs, cigarette smoke, and crowd violence. People were on and off the stage the whole time, and the rush to the stage when they finally got going was immediate. My back still hurts. Brooklyn, it seemed, didn’t care that it’s seen this show before. The crowd — myself included — was happy to revel in the sonic “opting out” that has always been EyeHateGod‘s hallmark, though at around midnight, the room started to thin out, as the aforementioned “had to work today” portion split.
With some acknowledgement of the blasphemy, I’ll add that I didn’t stay to see them finish either. At 12:30, I looked at my watch, realized I wouldn’t be home until 2AM, and made my way out. I can only assume, since I haven’t heard otherwise, that the show is still going on, well into Monday afternoon, and that EyeHateGod are continuing to destroy Europa as they’ve done so many times in the past.
A bunch of extra pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.
