I was late getting to The Outer Space, sort of co-located with the Hamden Ballroom in Hamden, Connecticut, which is tucked far enough off the beaten path to seem at night to be out of purview of Yale University in nearby New Haven, but probably isn’t by day. The parking lot looked to be shared with a couple commercial or light industrial concerns, but being slightly down a hill gave it a tucked-away sensibility, and the high quality of the venue itself played into a well-kept-secret vibe. A separate bar up front and the venue proper in back with a large stage, high ceiling, pro sound, pro lights, it had a spacious feel, but wasn’t by any means empty.

I’d missed Wasted Theory, the Delaware-based Southern heavy rockers who’d played just a couple weeks ago at Vultures of Volume II in MD (review here). They’d had to go on first because, much like myself, New Hampshire’s American Burn had hit traffic coming south for the show, so it was American Burn wrapping up when I got there. From what I caught, the five-piece’s burly, Down-influenced heavy riffing seemed intact from when I caught them opening for Gozu in May (review here) — I also noted that vocalist Lee had a Gozu shirt on he acquired at that same gig, sans its original sleeves — and though I only saw a little bit of it, they seemed to get a good response from the crowd as well.

New York trio Geezer were on next, out on a weekender alongside Wasted Theory that would take them the next night to Allston, Massachusetts, where they’d meet up with Kind and Mos Generator, the latter fresh off their run with The Atomic Bitchwax. The heavy blues specialists were down drummer Chris Turco and had Charles Ruggiero filling in alongside bassist Richie Touseull and guitarist/vocalist Pat Harrington, seeming a natural fit in the group for having been a former bandmate of Harrington‘s in aughts hard rockers Slunt. This also marked my first time seeing Geezer since Touseull stepped in on bass, and fittingly, they opened with “Long Dull Knife,” the May 2015 single that was their first studio outing with him in the band.

Harrington‘s slide ever at the ready, it was impossible not to notice how molten Geezer‘s blues has become and how, without directly invoking psychedelia, the Kingston, NY, outfit have managed to bring about a laid back, earthy, jammy vibe. Liquid fuzz. I’ve been fortunate enough to see Geezer a handful of times by now, and even without Turco‘s drums, the progression they’ve made in presence and sound was evident, Harrington in an “STB Family” shirt as a finger-plucking blues frontman, his gravelly voice calling out the changes on stage and turning to the mic to inform the crowd that they’d indeed hit into the “Full Tilt Boogie.” And so they have.

Just last week, Geezer announced they’d inked a deal with the Paris-based bookers Total Volume, signaling clearly an intent to tour Europe, and watching them roll through “Ancient Song” and “Ghost Rider Solar Plexus,” both highlights of their 2014 STB Records full-length, Gage (review here), they looked and sounded ready for export, and while Ruggiero was just sitting in, he brought a sense of tension to the drums that fit well. Clearly the right person for the job, even if it’s a temp job. They finished with another jam-heavy groover (maybe new?) that was right on to the point where I didn’t even miss “Pony,” and were suitably lauded for their efforts. Because their material is so easy-rolling, it’s easy to lose sight of just how quickly they’ve come so far, but Geezer have worked deceptively fast, and so in addition to having an eye out for EU dates, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a new album in 2016.

Homegrown riffers Curse the Son had been pushing for a release even earlier than that, but I’ve no specifics to report on when or how their follow-up to 2012’s Psychache (review here) might arrive. They’re due, though, and seeing them for the first time in more than a year — actually, last I caught both Geezer and Curse the Son individually, they were also sharing a bill, at The Eye of the Stoned Goat IV in Worcester, MA (review here); funny how that works — was all the more intriguing because, like Geezer, the Hamden-based band have also swapped out bassists, with Brendan Keefe taking the role formerly occupied by Richard “Cheech” Weeden. Much to my delight, they also had new material to share.

I was enough of a fan of Psychache‘s plus-sized fuzz riffing and spacious vibes to be palpably stoked when STB picked it up for a giving-it-its-due vinyl release (review here) last year, but I’ve been looking forward to new Curse the Son for a while, so a live taste was welcome. There were two new songs played and neither had a final title, but both took some of the roll-happy spirit of the last album and seemed to build on it with more of a sense of bounce and chug. Having Keefe wielding his low-slung bass in the band also signaled a clear change in dynamic because he had a microphone in front of him and added his backing vocals to bechapeaued guitarist Ron Vanacore‘s own (and while I’m making a theme out of frontman t-shirt choices, Vanacore had the Iommi-as-god shirt, which seems about right), giving Curse the Son‘s live performance something it didn’t previously have, but that at the same time was truer to the layering on Psychache and presumably the next record as well.

Case in point, “Spider Stole the Weed.” First, if there was any doubt Curse the Son were the hometown act, it was cast aside quickly by the audience’s familiarity with the track. Second, Vanacore got a good laugh afterward when he told the true story on which the song was based — there was a spider, it stole the weed. Third, having Keefe‘s vocals added only highlighted the hook even further on stage, and it made me hope they’ve continued to explore the two-singer approach in the studio, at least on some cursory level. Not that he and Vanacore need to be harmonizing necessarily — though they came close once or twice — but just continuing to refine their sound and make it a richer listening experience on the whole. Weedian Psychache opener “Goodbye Henry Anslinger” was similarly enhanced.

They had another, quicker new one worked in, drummer Michael Petrucci (also Lord Fowl, etc.) adding snare flourish during the builds and finding tension in each fill, and closed out with “Pulsotar Bringer” from 2011’s debut LP, Klonopain (review here), the full-on nod brought to its natural boiling point, and the point underscored that, like Geezer, Curse the Son have taken significant steps forward since their first album. As they move ahead with the lineup of Vanacore, Petrucci and Keefe, I’ll still look forward to what comes next, whenever it happens to show up, be it in 2015 or the New Year.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

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Two more adds to Eye of the Stoned Goat 5 this afternoon, and they expand the festival’s reach just about as far as it can go and still be in the continental US. The fest, which is set for June 12 and 13 in Amityville, Long Island, has just announced that Seattle’s Wounded Giant will make their first appearance and that Connecticut’s Curse the Son will return for their second time to the Eye of the Stoned Goat‘s migratory stage after taking part in Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 last May in Worcester, Massachusetts (review here).

What the bands have in common — besides riffs — is an allegiance with New Jersey-based STB Records. The label oversaw a long-awaited vinyl issue of Curse the Son‘s spectacularly stoned 2012 outing, Psychache (review here), last year, and a second pressing is already in the works for Wounded Giant‘s newly-released-and-gone split with Goya (review here) through STB, which as ever is giving the heavy due treatment in an assortment of limited pressings and special editions.

Wounded Giant will so far be traveling the farthest to attend Eye of the Stoned Goat 5, the lineup of which also features East Coast acts like Lord Fowl, White Dynomite, John Wilkes Booth, Weed is Weed, Gozu, Kingsnake and It’s Not Night: It’s Space, but I wouldn’t be surprised if fest organizer Brendan Burns has a couple tricks up his sleeve still to come for the two-day event. We’ll see what comes, I guess.

Announcements came through thusly:

You people ready for some more heavy hitters..?

Of course you are…

It’s a honor to have with us on this years fest, the blistering monstrous sounds of Seattle Washington’s very own Wounded Giant!!! Also on board for their second ‘Stoned Goat is Connecticut’s own, and STB Records stalwarts Curse the Son!!!

https://www.facebook.com/TheEyeOfTheStonedGoat
https://www.facebook.com/cursetheson
http://cursetheson.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wounded-Giant/156290301123402
http://woundedgiant.bandcamp.com/

Wounded Giant, Lightning Medicine (2013)

Curse the Son, Psychache (2012)

It was a pretty right on 2014 for Connecticut three-piece Curse the Son, who saw a vinyl issue of their 2012 full-length, Psychache (review here) through New Jersey’s STB Records. I was fortunate enough to catch them at The Eye of the Stoned Goat 4 and they suitably killed it, so it’s something of a surprise to hear guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore and drummer Michael Petrucci parting ways with bass player Richard “Cheech” Weeden.

The band elucidates the situation below — no bad feelings and such — and announces their bringing on board Brendan Keefe to fill the low end role. In addition, they also note they’ve started writing for the follow-up to Psychache, which will be their third album overall, and hope to have a new release ready to go for this summer.

More on that to come, I’m sure. Till then:

It is with deep regret that Curse the Son and Richard “Cheech” Weeden have agreed to part ways. This is a completely AMICABLE split. Cheech has decided to move on to bigger and brighter adventures in his life, but he will always be a close friend. Ron and Cheech started playing together in 1985 and have been in 7 different bands together over that time! We wish Cheech nothing but the best.

Brendan Keefe has taken over the bass duties for Curse the Son. Brendan is an old friend and a monster player, whose abilities will most certainly push the bands music to even greater heights. We would like you all to welcome Brendan to the family and send Cheech your well wishes.

The recording for the new record will begin in a few months and we hope to release it by July. We have been very busy writing the new songs and can’t wait to share them with all of you. Thanks to you all for your continued support. Happy 2015!

Ron Vanacore – Guitars & Vocals
Michael Petrucci – Drums
Brendan Keefe – Bass

https://www.facebook.com/cursetheson
http://cursetheson.bandcamp.com/

Curse the Son, Psychache (2012)

Nearly two years on from its initial self-issued CD version, Curse the Son‘s Psychache has gotten the release it deserves. In the capable hands of STB Records, the Connecticut trio’s Psychache (review here) has been pressed in three separate editions — a standard of 125 copies in gatefold with tri-color vinyl, an OBI strip edition limited to 100 with clear/black vinyl and a blood red splatter, a die hard edition limited to 75 with both the bone-grey and clear/black vinyl and the splatter, and a test press version — and as ever for the NJ-based imprint, the focus seems to be on reverence. Reverence for the music, for the form and, in this case, for an album that feels a long time in arriving.

From the opening riffs of “Goodbye Henry Anslinger,” Curse the Son‘s weedian roll finds a stylistic match in many other acts in all but quality. Guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore leads the charge with molasses tone — my stereo system never seems to have enough low end; Psychache is cavernous and warrants all it can get — and bassist Richard “Cheech” Weeden and drummer Mike Petrucci (now also of Lord Fowl) enact a stonerly nod that remains one of the best the last couple years have seen. As a reissue, I’m glad to have the chance to experience the album again, but as the first vinyl pressing, I also feel like I’m finally hearing Psychache the way the band intended, with the side split coming after the title-track and before the interlude “Valium For?,” creating a side A comprised of massive, catchy hooks in “Goodbye Henry Anslinger,” “Spider Stole the Weed” and “Psychache” and a side B that immediately delves further into the lysergic with “Valium For?” before slipping into the slower “Somatizator” and closing out with “The Negative Ion,” which opens ambient and then explodes into a thunderously plodding finish, Vanacore‘s voice a Sabbathian echo over the doomly churning.

At Stoner Hands of Doom XII in Sept. 2012 (review here), Vanacore handed me a CD in a plastic clamshell case of the mastered version of Psychache. I remember putting it on that night on my way back to where I was staying in Connecticut, and I’ve done the same many late nights since. Also afternoons, and pretty much whenever. This is an album I’ve lived with for two years, and aside from being gratified to see it get its due, I’m glad to have a new form in which to experience it. It’s one thing to know a record has two halves and another to actually have to get up and flip it over. That changes the personality of the listening experience, and after putting Psychache on so many times either with that CD or the digital version — they’ve intermittently made it available as a free download on Bandcamp — it’s somewhat jarring to have the raucous end of the title-track not give way immediately to “Valium For?,” but it works. The languid shuffle of “Spider Stole the Weed” finds a counterpoint in the more severe declension of “Somatizator,” and “Goodbye Henry Anslinger” and “The Negative Ion” feel even more complementary as the bookends between which the course of the release takes place, the righteous stomp of the closer coming across that much sweeter with the needle returning afterwards, as if there’s nothing more to say.

For some who picked up or who will pick it up, the vinyl version is their first experience of Psychache, and that seems like an advantage, since clearly this is how Curse the Son have wanted it to be heard all along. From my perspective, I’ll say that there aren’t a lot of records that, two years later, I’m still going to have such appreciation for seeing them show up again — opening the gatefold and seeing the live shot of the band, it looks like a classic — but Psychache was something special that first night I put it on and it remains something special now. My only hope is that, with this out, Vanacore, Weeden and Petrucci can get to work on their third album and be able to capitalize on what can only be considered the unmitigated success of Psychache. They remain an underrated band, but obviously the word is spreading, and if you’re fortunate enough to get a copy of the STB vinyl before it’s completely sold out, you’re likely to find it an endeavor worth revisiting.

Curse the Son, “Spider Stole the Weed” official video

Curse the Son on Thee Facebooks

Curse the Son on Bandcamp

STB Records webstore

STB Records on Thee Facebooks

An album that legitimately deserves to be heard by as much of its target audience as possible, Curse the Son‘s sophomore outing, Psychache (review here), has been brewing since this past winter in terms of actually getting a physical release. The Hamden, Connecticut, trio has busted its collective ass in an effort to give it a fitting home, and with the announcement today that STB Records will do a limited vinyl version of the album, it seems their work has finally paid off.

Remains to be seen when STB will release Psychache, and indeed whether or not the vinyl format can stand up to the formidable rumble the band brings to their sound, but for today, it’s good to see Curse the Son — guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore, bassist Cheech Weeden, and drummer Michael Petrucci — finding an outlet for what’s really one of the year’s most satisfying unabashed stoner doom records. STB previously released Doctor Doom‘s DoomO (review here) in a limited, glow-in-the-dark LP, and have worked with Dopethrone, Spelljammer, Druglord and others.

Says the label:

BIG NEWS!! STB Records and Curse The Son have joined forces to release the brand new record “Psychache”.. I can not be more please[d] and pumped to do this album for them!

Says the band:

All you folks that have been asking for vinyl……It is HAPPENING! STB Records is going to be putting out a limited edition of ‘Psychache’ on vinyl. More details to come soon.

That settles it. Good news from a cool band. Congrats to Curse the Son and here’s looking forward to the Psychache release date and where they go from there. For now, the album is still also available as a pay-what-you-want download through Bandcamp, so if you’re yet unacquainted, there’s time. Time which will inevitably slow down once you start listening.

Curse the Son, Psychache (2013)

Whether or not you take the band’s advice on smoking “a fatty” before you listen, Curse the Son‘s second offering, Psychache (review here), is definitely worth the cranking that the free download they’ve made available is allowing for. The Hamden, Connecticut, trio are proving to be yet-unsung masters of tone, and even as they give Psychache unto the ether that is the downloadable doomsphere, the really good news in their announcement below is that the three-piece — guitarist/vocalist Ron Vanacore, bassist Richard “Cheech” Weeden and drummer Michael Petrucci — have started working on a follow-up, which they’ll look to record in the fall.

Also fortunate is that the good tidings give me an excuse to revisit the album, which I’ve been wanting to do. Find the stream with the news below:

Curse the Son’s 2nd album “Psychache” is FINALLY available for HIGH quality digital download!

If you dug “Klonopain”, you are sure to love this batch of tunes.

Name your price, or if you’re broke…grab it for free, just make sure you share it with some buds. We still have some physical copies left if anyone is interested, as well as 1 sided T-Shirts and stickers.

We have begun work on our 3rd album and hope to begin recording in the fall.

Download it, smoke a fatty and CRANK IT!!!
Enjoy……..

http://cursetheson.bandcamp.com/album/psychache

Curse the Son, Psychache (2013)

A long-awaited debut after several EPs, demos, a single and a split, Vestal Claret’s Bloodbath was released on vinyl through Cyclopean Records late in 2011. The album, a double-LP, found the Connecticut band’s lineup of vocalist Phil Swanson, guitarist/bassist Simon Tuozzoli and drummer Michael Petrucci joined by a range of guest guitarists and vocalists, including members of Forsaken, NightBitch and Black Pyramid (among many others), as they ran through more than an hour’s worth of dark, classic metal, touching on doom here and there but adherent to atmosphere more than to genre. The story of how Vestal Claret even got to that point is a winding one, with the band starting up in 2005 concurrent to Swanson’s fronting Upwards of Endtime before joining Hour of 13 and Tuozzoli recording initial Vestal Claret demos at his UP Recording Studio (where Bloodbath was also put to tape), and the band eventually bringing in Petrucci for drums, who now also plays in Tuozzoli’s heavy rock outfit King of Salem as well as fuzz-deliverers Curse the Son in addition to being a professional, touring percussionist for the Blue Man Group. But even through all of that and more – Swanson in and out of Hour of 13, Seamount, etc. – Vestal Claret managed to get a record out, and a different version now shows up on CD through the upstart label, Nine Records. What’s different? The guest appearances are gone, which leaves Tuozzoli, Swanson and Petrucci on their own as a trio for Bloodbath’s 71-minute duration, and the tracklisting has changed, giving the CD a different flow than the LP edition, with parts recorded following the first Bloodbath release. So basically, Bloodbath is two albums, with mostly the same songs, and this CD is the second of the two. The “band version.” I told you it was complicated.

I didn’t hear the original Bloodbath, so I won’t endeavor to compare the two, but it’s immediately commendable that the 12 tracks are they’re presented on the CD sound neither incomplete nor like there would even be much room to add more to them. Sure, the arrangements are fairly straightforward – guitar, bass, drums, vocals – but Vestal Claret sound like a cohesive unit across the album’s course and whether it’s on the catchy chorus of “Tales to Those Forgotten” or the dark, disturbing narrative of “Missing Girl,” they seem more than capable of getting their point across on their own. Opener “Hex of Harm” and the penultimate “Allowance of Sin” previously appeared on the Virgin Blood single (review here), and like that release and the band’s work elsewhere, they skirt a line between cultish devil worship and indecent, graphic lyrical description, Swanson’s lyrics pushing an envelope of Satanic psychosis particularly on “Missing Girl,” where cuts like “Ritual of Revival” and “Hex of Harm” (who knew black magic was so alliterative?) find him casting spells in his trademark vibrato, hit voice perfectly suited for Tuozzoli’s classic metal guitar work. “Hex of Harm” is the longest track on Bloodbath at 9:27 (immediate points for opening with it), and balances well the driving rhythm, strong hook and darkened atmospheres that follow, each piece leaning toward one or more such aspects of the band’s sound, like the more rocking “Devil’s Daughters” or the fuller build of “The Correlation,” which follow, as the album plays out its bleak course. Tuozzoli and Petrucci work exceedingly well together on faster tracks like “Blood Oath” and the slower vibing of the intro to “Submissive to Evil,” and though the music rarely veers into doomed territory, that feeling is never far off, particularly with the drama Swanson works into his delivery on “Missing Girl,” taking on a touch of a British accent for the verses over the chugging riff that gives way to a bridge that winds up as a secondary instrumental chorus. How many times Satan is evoked throughout these cuts, I don’t even know, but the best line comes from “Missing Girl”: “It’s always said the devil has his due/He’ll be paid in full before the day is through,” and though the song’s thematic is disquieting, its intro verses actually creepy as opposed to just creepy-sounding, it’s actually one of the best, most creatively expansive songs on Bloodbath. But wow, that’s creepy.

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Polish imprint Nine Records sends over word of the long-awaited CD release of Bloodbath, the first full-length outing by Connecticut-based doom trio Vestal Claret. Thee Claret‘s lineup is an impressive assemblage, with frontman Phil Swanson (Hour of 13, Seamount, Upwards of Endtime, etc.) joined by guitarist Simon Tuozzoli (King of Salem) and drummer Michael Petrucci (Curse the Son), and their last release was the Virgin Blood 7″ in 2011 (review here).

Both tracks from that release — opener “Hex of Harm” and the penultimate “Allowance of Sin” — show up on Bloodbath as well, which according to the info below was recorded back in 2006. Long-awaited indeed. The band must be relieved to get it out. Text, links and music follow:

While this release stands in many ways as Vestal Claret’s official debut, Vestal Claret have in fact been releasing EPs, splits and demos as early on as 2006 with its actual formation in 2005 predating just about everything being heard in the current “occult” fashion genre at this time. There is no influence or inspiration from anything of the past two decades that provoked this release or its ideas and concepts. The material on this album was all written in 2006, but with contract in hand Vestal Claret was unable to release these recordings until now.

Most of you have probably already heard this stuff on the vinyl version released in 2011 by Cyclopean Records. Vinyl contains a “Bloodbath’s” guest-version, but here you are dealing with a “Bloodbath’s” band-version. It’s over 70 minutes of classic heavy metal. Meet the Beast himself!

1. Hex of Harm
2. Devil’s Daughters
3. The Correlation
4. Ritual of Revival
5. Missing Girl
6. Blood Oath
7. The Templar’s Idol
8. Tales to Those Forgotten
9. Endurement to the Heirs of Shame
10. Submissive to Evil
11. Allowance of Sin
12. A Call to Satan

http://ninerecords.bigcartel.com/product/vestal-claret-bloodbath
http://ninerecords.bandcamp.com/