Bison Machine have inked a deal to release their second album on Small Stone Records. The Michigan-based four-piece will hit Rustbelt Studios this summer to record the follow-up to 2015’s Hoarfrost (review here), and on June 3, they’ll host the Burnin’ Turf II fest with BoneHawk, Wild Savages, Dead Feathers and others at the Parisville Saloon in Ruth, MI. That event (more info here) is also presented by The Obelisk, and ticket presales are on now if you’re so inclined. It looks like a damn good time, what with all the motorcycle silliness and the rock and roll and whatnot.

Even if both entities weren’t Michigan natives, the pairing of Bison Machine and Small Stone strikes me as especially fitting given the band’s propensity for bringing a modern edge to classic boogie and the label being essentially the place where that method has been pioneered in the US over the last 15-plus years. Very much looking forward to the next Bison Machine album. Maybe a Fall release if they’re recording in the summer? I’ll take it whenever.

I wrote this press release, but you and I can just pretend it came through circled back from the PR wire. Our secret:

Bison Machine Sign to Small Stone; New Album Coming Soon; Burnin’ Turf II Fest to be Held June 3

Michigan heavy rockers Bison Machine have signed to American heavy rock institution Small Stone Records. The Hamtramck-based volume dealers have been on a this-time-it’s-personal quest to hand-deliver their riffs across the country since the 2015 release of their debut album, Hoarfrost, on Kozmik Artifactz, and with tours of the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, North, South and in between under their belt, they’re ready to take their game to the next level.

Bison Machine are currently preparing a new album for release later this year as their Small Stone debut. They will enter Rustbelt Studios (Five Horse Johnson, Halfway to Gone, Novadriver) later this Summer to record.

“It’s amazing!” enthuses Bison Machine bassist Anthony Franchina about the signing. “Small Stone has released some of my favorite records, from Sasquatch to Greenleaf to Lo-Pan, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Scott [Hamilton] on our next record, which is going to completely blow away everything we’ve done before. We’ll be hitting the road too, so keep an eye out!”

In addition to working on their next LP, the members of Bison Machine are involved in organizing the Burnin’ Turf festival, which is set for June 3 at the Parisville Saloon in Ruth, MI, with a lineup featuring Bison Machine, Wild Savages, Dead Feathers, BoneHawk, Red Stone Souls, Rip VanRipper, and Gear Jammer, as well as chopper games, raffle prizes, van and tank lettering by Zak Warmann of Detroit Sign Painters, camping, DJ Smoak (Loy Smoak Jr.) all the way from San Antonio, bonfires, and of course, plenty of beer. Ticket presales are available AT THIS LOCATION: http://burninturf2.brownpapertickets.com

“I can’t wait to hear what Bison Machine bring to this next record,” says Scott Hamilton of Small Stone Records. “They’ve been unstoppable on tour for the last couple years and I’m thrilled to welcome them into the Small Stone fold representing the next generation of great American heavy rock and roll.”

Bison Machine released their latest single, “Cloak and Bones,” last year. A video for the track is streaming now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mcL_NF1CO8

Stay tuned for more on Bison Machine, Burnin Turf II, and the new album in the months ahead.

Bison Machine is:
Casey O’Ryan – Guitar
Breck Crandell – Drums
Tom Stec – Vocals
Anthony Franchina – Bass

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https://www.instagram.com/bisonmachine/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
bisonmachine.bandcamp.com
http://bisonmachine.bigcartel.com/
http://burninturf2.brownpapertickets.com
https://smallstone.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/smallstonerecords/
http://smallstone.com/

Bison Machine, “Cloak and Bones” official video

Michigan four-piece Bison Machine will head out once again this Spring, following up on their Fall 2016 tour supporting the 2015 Kozmik Artifactz release of their debut album, Hoarfrost (review here) as well as their early-2016 split with Wild Savages and SLO (review here). When the last run was announced, the band sent word along with it that they’d soon hit the studio for their second long-player, and in the update below, they note the writing process is finishing up.

Accordingly, I’d expect a good deal of new songs to be in the set as they head south toward Texas and around the Midwest, keeping good company with Denver’s Cloud Catcher on several of the dates. Speaking of bands who should put out a split together. Where’s Ripple‘s Second Coming of Heavy series?

Looking forward to whatever Bison Machine do next, including the second edition of their Burnin’ Turf fest, which is set for June 3 and for which the lineup is yet to be announced. I’ll hope to have more on that as we get closer to the summer.

Till then, here’s the latest:

New year, new van. Taking it on the road in 2017 and heading to Texas!

Excited to share the first four days of the tour with our buds from Denver in Cloud Catcher. We are currently finishing up writing the new album and will be working to hopefully get it out before the end of the year.

We have a lot on our plate this year and are stoked to announce we will also be reincarnating our Burnin’ Turf party this year, line-up coming soon!

BISON MACHINE – Sufficiently Van-Less Tour:
March 10th – Toledo OH – Ottawa Tavern
March 23rd – Fort Wayne IN – Brass Rail ^
March 24th – Detroit MI – Small’s ^
March 25th – Chicago IL – LiveWire Lounge ^
March 26th – Milwaukee WI – Riverwest Public House ^
March 27th – Minneapolis MN – Memory Lanes
March 29th – Kansas City MO – miniBar
March 30th – Denver CO – The Squire
March 31st – Oklahoma City OK – The Blue Note
April 1st – Arlington TX – Division Brewing
April 2nd – Houston TX – Rudyard’s
April 3rd – Austin TX – The Grand
April 4th – San Antonio TX – Hi-Tones
April 8th – Dayton OH – Jimmie’s Ladder 11 w/ Electric Citizen
June 3rd – Parisville MI – Burnin’ Turf II
^ with Cloud Catcher

Poster by Austin Zink out of Fort Wayne, IN.

https://www.facebook.com/bisonmachinedetroit/
https://www.instagram.com/bisonmachine/
https://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Bison Machine, “Cloak and Bones” official video

Michigan heavy rockers Bison Machine are reportedly — and it’s their report, so, you’d have to figure they know what they’re talking about — getting ready to hit the studio to record their second full-length. Before they go, the four-piece, who recently welcomed back guitarist Dusty Jones, who had gone on to play with SLO, with whom Bison Machine also released a split (review here) early this year, will complete one final round of Midwestern tour dates, hitting Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin, Chicago and Detroit next month.

I don’t have any title or recording info on the new album yet, but I’ll be keeping an eye and an ear out for sure, having dug their debut full-length, Hoarfrost (review here), which Kozmik Artifactz released in 2015, and the teaser for new material they gave in their video for “Cloak and Bones” (posted here) over this past summer.

In addition to the tour, which launches on Nov. 11, Bison Machine will join Mondo Drag and Crypt Trip in Detroit on Oct. 9. Info on all of the above and a tour trailer follow, courtesy of the PR wire:

Bison Machine – November tour

Bison Machine will be hitting the midwest one last time before they hunker down to work on the follow up LP to ‘Hoarfrost’. The band will also be introducing back into their lineup Dusty Jones of SLO as a second guitarist. There are some serious touring plans for early next year including a full run out West.

Bison Machine have one show before hitting the road in November.

Oct 9th at El Club in Detroit with Mondo Drag, The Well and Crypt Trip.

The night also includes DJs Heavy and Beyond as well as Tarot readings.

Stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram (@bisonmachine) pages for new tour news and a special announcement regarding our end-of-tour hometown show on Nov. 25th.

November Tour Dates
11/11 – Ann Arbor MI – 3rd Death Star
11/12 – Toledo OH – Culture Clash Records
11/13 – Logansport IN – The Record Farm
11/14 – Chicago IL – TBA
11/15 – Chicago IL – Live Wire Lounge
11/17 – Green Bay WI – Lyric Room w/ US Bastards and Against the Grain
11/18 – Milwaukee WI – Cactus Club w/ label mates Moon Curse, also with ATTALLA
11/19 – Fort Wayne IN – The Brass Rail w/ US Bastards and Against the Grain
11/25 – Detroit MI – Loving Touch

https://www.facebook.com/americanbison
https://www.instagram.com/bisonmachine/
https://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Bison Machine show trailer

“Cloak and Bones” is the first song to be made public from Bison Machine‘s impending sophomore LP. The album doesn’t yet have a name, but apparently it’s at least partially recorded. Whenever it comes out, it will serve as the follow-up to 2015’s debut full-length, Hoarfrost (review here), initially self-released and subsequently picked up by Kozmik Artifactz for physical issue. They also had two tracks out earlier this year on a split with Wild Savages and SLO called Sweet Leaves! Volume One (review here), but the new record will be the first album put together since guitarist Casey O’Ryan (also Wild Savages) joined the band.

I wouldn’t expect “Cloak and Bones” to represent the entirety of Bison Machine‘s second long-player, but there are a few things we can clean from listening to it, most of all that the band has continued to progress since Hoarfrost was released. “Cloak and Bones” feels less directly influenced by heavy ’70s-style rock, but still benefits from an undercurrent of boogie behind its quick pace. A shuffle in fast-forward — not quite Motörheadian, but not far off from The Atomic Bitchwax-style winding — the song moves through six minutes without losing its momentum, and O’Ryan, vocalist Tom Stec, bassist Anthony Franchina and drummer Breck Crandell sound duly locked into the rhythm while still offering a hook along their speedy way.

The video shows the band getting raucous in a variety of settings, including their own Burnin’ Turf fest/gathering in their native Michigan, held last month with a 2017 edition already brewing. And speaking of brewing — master of the segue! — there’s also a Bison Machine beer in the works from Oliver Brewing Co. for those of a drinkly persuasion, which will be available at their July 30 show with Castle and Brimstone Coven, and about which you can read more following the video below.

Please enjoy:

Bison Machine, “Cloak and Bones” official video

Bison Machine is proud to debut the video for their new single ‘Cloak & Bones’, This is the first track released off of their yet to be titled second album. Bison Machine has acquired a new guitarist since the release of ‘Hoarfrost’. Casey O’Ryan (Wild Savages, Blue Snaggletooth) has added a new dynamic to the band and they have hit the ground running with multiple Midwest tours and plans on heading out further in the near future.

While currently working on their second album, Bison Machine has also been busy promoting and organizing ‘Burnin Turf’, a Chopper/Vanner gathering in the northern tip of “the thumb” in Ruth MI. This first year brought bands from around Michigan and beyond. Bonehawk from Kalamazoo MI, Grand Mammoth from Dayton Ohio and Wild Savages from Ypsilanti MI joined the Bison dudes for what turned into a night of cycle savagery and heavy vannin’. Next year’s event looks to expand on an already perfect formula of Midwestern riffs and rust. Footage from this year’s event was included in the music video.

In addition to the video, Bison Machine is also pleased to announce that they have teamed up with Stephen Jones at Oliver Brewing Company in Baltimore for the release of a Russian Imperial Stout that Oliver Brewing Co was gracious enough to name after our track, “Speed of Darkness” While this brew is limited to OBC’s distribution channels, the band will have a number of bottles available at their next hometown show with Castle (SF), Brimstone Coven (OH) and Detroit shredders, Anguish.

Expect a November tour announcement in the near future…

Bison Machine on Bandcamp

Bison Machine on Thee Facebooks

Hamtramck, Michigan’s Bison Machine issued their Hoarfrost (review here) full-length through Kozmik Artifactz earlier this year and have already toured considerably to support its arrival, but it’s looking like they’re ready to move forward as well. The New Year will bring a new split offering with Detroiters SLO and Wild Savages, a tape limited to 150 copies that will mark the first new music from Bison Machine since the LP, and just prior to the cassette’s release, a quick tour alongside speedfreaks Against the Grain that will no doubt find both bands getting their feet under them as they plan out a vigorous 2016 filled with road time and recording.

Bison Machine have a Sabbath-reference shirt on offer and the cover art for the new split and poster for the tour can be found below. Click any and all to enlarge:

Bison Machine and fellow Michigan speed rockers, Against The Grain, hit the blustery winter road for a string of dates sure to heat up the tundra that is the northern Midwest. Both bands are still touring on their 2015 releases and Bison Machine is preparing to release a new offering as soon as they return from the road, a split album with two other of Detroit’s finest rock and rollers, Wild Savages and SLO. The album will be self-released, January 23rd, on tape limited to 150 copies and will feature previously recorded material that has never been released by Bison Machine as well as brand new tracks recorded by Wild Savages and SLO. Entitled, “Sweet Leaves!”, the album is sure to be a mind pleaser. Check out the album art and track listing exclusively on The Obelisk!

Bison Machine are also taking tour fundraising orders for a one-off shirt based on the “super fan” shirts in the Black Sabbath Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert footage. If you’re interested in helping with their tour fund you can order a shirt for $15 shipped, by including your shirt size and address in a paypal gift sent to anthonyfranchina@gmail.com. You will also receive a free small gift with your order as a thank you! Sorry only sales in the USA will be accepted.

SWEET LEAVES Track Listing
Hawk on the Wind – Bison Machine
Soul Seeker – Bison Machine
Queen Bee – Wild Savages
Stage Fright – Wild Savages
The Darkness – SLO
Shield Maidens – SLO

Against The Grain / Bison Machine Winter Tour
“Mid x Midwest”
1/13 Green Bay WI @ The Lyric Room
1/14 Milwaukee WI @ The Cactus Club
1/15 Fort Wayne IN @ Skeletunes w/ River Bottom Nightmare
1/16 Lafayette IN @ The Doom Room w/ Mound Builders
1/17 Grand Rapids MI @ Tip Top w/ Bonehawk (matinee show. Doors 2pm)

https://www.facebook.com/americanbison
https://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Bison Machine, Hoarfrost (2015)

Michigan four-piece Bison Machine recently welcomed new guitarist Casey O’Ryan into the fold. The Hamtramck natives released their debut LP, Hoarfrost (review here), earlier this year on Kozmik Artifactz, and have been basking in the warmth ever since. O’Ryan coming aboard alongside bassist Anthony Franchina, vocalist Tom Stec and drummer Breck Crandell is no minor change for such a riff-driven band, so it should be interesting to hear when they get around to whatever they wind up putting out next (an introductory 7″, maybe?) how the dynamic of the group has shifted or if fuzz still holds the day as firmly as on the first record.

Intrigue, intrigue. While you revisit Hoarfrost via the Bandcamp stream below and think it over, feel free as well to peruse the dates of Bison Machine‘s newly-announced Oct. tour with Grand Mammoth:

Bison Machine Fall Tour

Burning bright with lysergic energy Bison Machine’s Hoarfrost – the band’s debut album originally self-released to notable acclaim among the stoner rock community earlier this year – had an official release this July through Germany’s Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Europe’s leading purveyor of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock.

Worshippers of volume, Bison Machine have gained a reputation for their frenzied, high velocity live shows, welding Graveyard and Pentagram influenced shuffles onto the back of 70s Motor City rock and 90s stoner grooves. If you’re a fan of pounding, colossal blues and heavy Zep-driven riffs then the Hamtramck four-piece’s gnarled and muscular guitar and vocal work on tracks like ‘Cosmic Ark’, ‘Gamekeeper’s Thumb’ and ‘Viking Hand’ will leave you floored, broken and bloodied.

Hoarfrost by Bison Machine was released on CD and limited, high performance 180g vinyl on 10th July via Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records.

HARVEST MOON TOUR
w/ Bison Machine and Grand Mammoth
Oct 15th – Dayton, OH @Blind Bob’s
Oct 16th – Covington, KY @The Backstage (Bison Machine only)
Oct 16th – Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn (Grand Mammoth only)
Oct 17th – Fort Wayne, IN @ Skeletunes w/ Beast in the Field
Oct 18th – Chicago, IL @ Livewire w/ Dead Feathers
Oct 19th – Detroit, MI @Corktown Tavern

https://www.facebook.com/americanbison
https://bisonmachine.bandcamp.com/
https://twitter.com/bisonmachine
http://shop.bilocationrecords.com/

Bison Machine, Hoarfrost (2015)

We’re getting closer to the July 10 release date for Michigan four-piece Bison Machine‘s debut LP for Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Hoarfrost (review here). That album, initially a digital self-release, will get its first physical pressing from the German imprints — when will they finally join forces as Kozmik Location Records? — and the Hamtramck outfit have already been on the road to herald its coming; in May, they were out alongside New Yorkers Geezer for a run of shows on the Eastern Seaboard. Given that and the obvious drive to spread the word about what they’re doing, maybe a new video isn’t such a surprise, but it’s a welcome arrival anyway, as it gives more of a look at what Bison Machine are all about.

To that end: Guns, motorcycle riding through scenes of urban decay, antlers on drums, bone-handle hunting knives, wah pedals, weirdly opaque and murderous woodland rituals, fuzz and memorable songwriting. I mean, there’s probably more there, but between the live footage from Smalls in Detroit and the sort of atmospheric visuals set against it, the band present a sense of mood that’s perhaps severe next to the song “Viking Hand” itself, but not necessarily out of place. It gets awfully cold in Michigan, after all. Seems likely that one way or another somebody would wind up with a knife in their back after running into a shrouded tree-worshiper someplace deep in the forest. Oh, and did I mention antlers on drums? Because that’s particularly awesome.

Video is below for the in-digging. Hope you enjoy:

Bison Machine, “Viking Hand” official video

Stream and share the official video for ‘Viking Hand’ by Michigan’s Bison Machine | Debut album Hoarfrost released 10th July

Burning bright with lysergic energy Bison Machine’s Hoarfrost – the band’s debut album originally self-released to notable acclaim among the stoner rock community earlier this year – will get an official release this July through Germany’s Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Europe’s leading purveyor of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock.

Worshippers of volume, Bison Machine have gained a reputation for their frenzied, high velocity live shows, welding Graveyard and Pentagram influenced shuffles onto the back of 70s Motor City rock and 90s stoner grooves. If you’re a fan of pounding, colossal blues and heavy Zep-driven riffs then the Hamtramck four-piece’s gnarled and muscular guitar and vocal work on tracks like ‘Cosmic Ark’, ‘Gamekeeper’s Thumb’ and ‘Viking Hand’ will leave you floored, broken and bloodied.

Hoarfrost by Bison Machine will be released on CD and limited, high performance 180g vinyl on 10th July via Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records
Bison Machine:

John deVries – Guitar
Breck Crandell – Drums
Tom Stec – Vocals
Anthony Franchina – Bass

Bison Machine on Thee Facebooks

Kozmik Artifactz

This past weekend, Michigan four-piece Bison Machine wrapped up their “Mind over Mountain” tour with New York blues rockers Geezer, supporting their debut full-length release, Hoarfrost. Following up a 2013 self-titled EP, Hoarfrost was initially released in Jan. 2015 digitally and has been picked up for a vinyl issue on Bilocation Records/Kozmik Artifactz next month. That it would be a European imprint(s) picking up the release makes particular sense given the Hamtramck outfit’s breadth of sound, which is as classically-minded as it is modern, ultimately, but more in line with a Euro-style focus on tone and shuffle, post-Graveyard boogie delivered with post-Queens of the Stone Age fuzz. It makes for an engaging blend over the course of Hoarfrost‘s 36 minute/six tracks, but ultimately it’s the band’s vitality that sells it.

Without that, songs like “Speed of Darkness” and “Cosmic Ark” might still have their motoring side, but no way it would carry over as well as it does. Vocalist Tom Stec moves smoothly between a croon and falsetto in easy-sounding command from the start, and guitarist John de Vries, bassist Anthony Franchina and drummer Breck Crandell tie together full-toned fuzz and rhythmic shifts either as beds for chorus hooks or, on longer cuts, explorations of their own. “Old Moon,” the second of the three songs on side A, has a bit of both working — perhaps more than “Speed of Darkness,” which is its side B counterpart — but each half of Hoarfrost caps with a longer cut and it’s clearly the intent of the album that one side should be in conversation with the other.

And so they are. “Cosmic Ark” and “Old Moon” set the stage for “Gamekeeper’s Thumb,” and “Viking Hand” and “Speed of Darkness” do likewise for “Giant’s Coffin.” The two finales are the most extended pieces on Bison Machine have on offer, and while neither is an all-out jam to the exclusion of structure, they both certainly carry that sensibility in their root. “Gamekeeper’s Thumb” moves from an initial bass intro to the album’s most satisfying heavy psych roll, while “Giant’s Coffin” develops its progressions into a balance between push and sprawl, managing to offer plenty of both and, in summarizing the record as whole, remains catchy and focused even as it plunges into the solo-topped reaches of its second half.

It’s the closer that I have the pleasure of streaming today ahead of Hoarfrost‘s release on Bilocation/Kozmik Artifactz. Please find it on the player below, followed by some PR wire background on Bison Machine, dig in and enjoy:

Burning bright with lysergic energy Bison Machine’s Hoarfrost – the band’s debut album originally self-released to notable acclaim among the stoner rock community earlier this year – will get an official release this July through Germany’s Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records, Europe’s leading purveyor of heavy psych, blues and stoner rock.

Worshippers of volume, Bison Machine have gained a reputation for their frenzied, high velocity live shows, welding Graveyard and Pentagram influenced shuffles onto the back of 70s Motor City rock and 90s stoner grooves. If you’re a fan of pounding, colossal blues and heavy Zep-driven riffs then the Hamtramck four-piece’s gnarled and muscular guitar and vocal work on tracks like ‘Cosmic Ark’, ‘Gamekeeper’s Thumb’ and ‘Viking Hand’ will leave you floored, broken and bloodied.

Hoarfrost by Bison Machine will be released on CD and limited, high performance 180g vinyl on 10th July via Kozmik Artifactz/Bilocation Records.

Vocals: Tom Stec
Guitar: John deVries
Bass: Anthony Franchina
Drums: Breck Crandell

Bison Machine on Thee Facebooks

Bison Machine on Twitter

Bison Machine on Bandcamp

Kozmik Artifactz