Yeah, it’s kind of a surprise to hear Bangalore, India-based sludgers Shepherd are hanging it up, considering it was just a month ago they announced a split with Death by Fungi that’s actually out today, Aug. 15. That, obviously, will mark their swansong, and the trio played their last show this past weekend at The Humming Tree in their hometown. It seems like their calling it quits is owed more to the life situation of the three players involved rather than any kind of consuming malice between them, and that’s always a preferred scenario — at least if the alternative is “we fucking hate each other,” which it sometimes can be — and whether or not Shepherd ever wind up getting together to do anything else, at least they go out with a few marked accomplishments to their collective credit.

Chief among those has to be their 2015 debut album, Stereolithic Riffalocalypse (review here). The band signed a deal that same year to issue a vinyl edition through Helmet Lady Records and though that didn’t materialize — not that it’s in any way too late for it to do so — the songs stand up in their heft and in the memorable impression their sludgely ways left behind. Complementary offerings like the demo collection Demolithic Riffalocalypse in 2016 and Garden of Hate: Live Riffalocalypse in 2017 only reaffirmed the impact of the full-length on both the band and their still-growing base of listeners.

The band’s announcement was short and sweet, and I followed up with them to get some further comment on the end of Shepherd and what might come next. Both follow here:

SHEPHERD (2011-2017): REST IN RIFFS

Unfortunately, the time has come to lay this old thing to rest once and for all. We’ve done a lot more than we ever thought we would when we started this band. It wouldn’t have been possible without all your support, THANK YOU!

Shepherd on their breakup:

It’s sad that we had to put Shepherd to rest, but right now, it seemed like the best thing to do. The three of us are soon going to be on 3 different continents, and even though it’s not impossible to continue as a studio only project, we figured it was the best time to call it quits. Dee and Namit are pretty much the driving force behind the band and the only remaining original members. When I moved to Sweden, it was not too hard to find some amazing musicians to stand in, but with Namit moving Stateside, it felt that it would be better to just to get the split out and bow out.

We’ve had an amazing experience so far and it’s still a bit of a shocker what we’ve managed to pull off, and it wouldn’t have been possible without everyone’s support. So thank You!

The only thing we regret is not being able to get Stereolithic Riffalocalypse out on vinyl, especially when it was so close to happening. So yeah, apologies to everyone who was waiting to get their hands on it. We were as bummed out as you were when the label deal fell through.

Regarding what the future holds, I’m sure individually, we will all be involved in some musical projects. Dee’s already put out an album with his solo project, The Earth Below, and he’s already busy working on new material, plus he’s got a bunch of other side-projects.

Shepherd was:
Deepak Raghu (Drums/Vocals)
Namit Chauhan (Guitars/Vocals)
Abhishek Michael (Bass/Vocals)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shepherd/144878495627033
https://twitter.com/ShepherdSludge
https://instagram.com/shepherd.sludge/
https://shepherdrock.bandcamp.com/album/shep-dbf-split

Shepherd, “Agents of Nihil” official video

Just how did Nashville’s Greywoods extend their track “Insignificance” to go as a digital bonus for the vinyl release of their debut album, Infinite Nothing? I think maybe they slowed it down. Listening to the two versions back to back, that’s kind of what it sounds like. If that’s true — or, you know, if it’s not — then right on. Helmet Lady Records will have the vinyl out later this year, and the four-piece Greywoods — who also released Infinite Nothing on CD in June via Meltface Records — will play this very weekend at the Sludgefest in Murfreesboro, TN, where they’ll join Mangog, Iron Man and many others, including Sheep Shifter, with whom Greywoods also have a new split.

The PR wire brings details:

Nashville’s Greywoods announces vinyl release for Infinite Nothing

Helmet Lady Records has revealed plans to release Greywoods’ debut album Infinite Nothing on vinyl including custom deluxe diehard, ruination and tour only versions slated for late 2015.

Greywoods is Nashville’s grooviest, dirtiest and certainly most jawdropping metal band.

We have worked closely with the guys to bring you their incredibly intense music on vinyl, so on Saturday July 11th, we will make some of their new 7? split release with Sheep Shifter available for sale.

Limited to 300, these contain some amazing etchings beneath the labels and come with a download code for both the vinyl version of Insignificance and the extended extra-doomy cut.

Greywoods is a dark and furious metal band from Nashville, TN, that captures the tormented lamentation of black metal, the crushing weight of doom metal, and the down and out melancholy spirit of early shoegaze and post rock. Formed in early 2014, Greywoods features Corey Taylor and Chris Click (members of the Ascent of Everest and Evil Bebos), Derek Martin (Argentinum Astrum), and Sra Waldron (I Am The Tower). Greywoods Debut LP, recorded and mastered by Mikey Allred in late winter 2014, will be released through Meltface Music Faction June, 1 2015. They have also recently recorded a split 7” w/ Sheep Shifter, to be released in Summer 2015.

https://www.facebook.com/greywoodstn
http://helmetladyrecords.com/
http://meltfacerecords.bandcamp.com/album/infinite-nothing

Greywoods, “Insignificance (Extended Version)”

Cool news from the nascent Helmet Lady Records, who have just picked up Bangalore, India, three-piece Shepherd for not one, but two vinyl releases, the first an official issue of their Demonstration 2 2012 demo and the second an LP edition of their well-received Stereolithic Riffalocalypse (review here) full-length debut. The label, whose ears have proven to be on the ground in choice other pickups like Saturndust, 1886 and Hawkeyes, will welcome Shepherd with the first release this summer as the band’s reputation continues to grow internationally.

The announcement came down the PR wire, as announcements do:

Helmet Lady Records News- Signing Announcement!

Helmet Lady Records is damn ecstatic to announce the signing of crushing, India-based doom band, Shepherd. Our small family has grown quickly in 2015 and Shepherd serves as an important cornerstone in the development of the label as a nirvana of beautifully heavy music on vinyl.

Such big plans we have for these tunes!!

First off, Demonstration 2 is set to be released this Summer as #1 in the new HLR Ruination series as a newly mastered uber-limited, hot mixed, custom colored vinyl limited to only 111 copies featuring artwork by the band and four raw, powerful tracks that set the doom meter aflame. No phasers remained set on “stun” for this one, I can assure you!

Next, HLR will delve into the amazing full length debut album, Stereolithic Riffalocalypse, which is scheduled to be released very late Summer or early fall with limited, boutique versions available including a die hard that includes a custom, deluxe art print and a unique band only custom version.

Bludgeoning, menacing and brash, the album is a bold production that delivers the heavy in a huge way, and will leave you begging for more!

Both releases will be available on vinyl and digitally at www.helmetladyrecords.com

Shepherd is probably the only Bangalore-based sludge/heavy rock band from India. The band has been making waves in the underground, drawing Influence from the guitar-driven sounds of early 90’s hard rock (Soundgarden, The Melvins, Eyehategod) and the aural assault of 80’s hardcore punk (Black Flag,Discharge, Fear), the band has built a reputation for itself as an ever-evolving and unpredictable heavy rock entity. You don’t need more proof of that than just one listen to the eight tracks that feature on Stereolithic Riffalocalypse, which was recorded at Bangalore’s Area 51 Studio and mixed by Rahul Ranganath and mastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, who has previously worked with the likes of YOB, Obituary, Sourvein and Old Man Gloom.

Despite a setlist that keeps growing with every gig under its belt, the band takes it a step further by introducing improvisational elements into their music – sort of a rarity in heavy music. Shepherd being the only band of its kind in India has been slowly building a reputation as one of the loudest, heaviest three-piece band to watch out for, ready to take on the rest of the country, and the world.

Shepherd is:
Deepak Raghu – drums/vocals
Namit Chauhan – guitars/vocals
Abhishek Michael – bass/vocals

https://www.facebook.com/shepherdrock
https://shepherdrock.bandcamp.com/
http://www.helmetladyrecords.com
https://www.facebook.com/helmetladyrecords

Shepherd, “Five”

You’ll get no argument from me against the kind of heavy psych blues rock Barcelona’s 1886 conjure on their debut full-length, Before the Fog Covers the Mount. In a sea of heavy ’70s worship, they work a chance element of Clutch into “The Seed of Feed” and veer into jammy sway on “The Path through the Green Forest.” The band released Before the Fog Covers the Mount on their own in January, and Helmet Lady Records has announced its intention to issue the album on vinyl later this year.

I’m not sure exactly what is behind the band’s choice of moniker, whether it’s just a year evocative of the past or if 1886 are trying to convey something else. Could be 100 years before any one of them was born, but they look younger. The only thing I could find Spain having done in the year 1886 was abolishing slavery in Cuba, though I’ll admit my exhaustive search consisted of Wikipedia. If you’re curious, it was also the year field hockey was invented and the year of the first orange shipment out of Los Angeles on the Transcontinental Railroad.

No doubt 1886 are interested in some Orange, but I think it’s more to do with cabinets than citrus fruit. A mystery for the ages. Here’s the news from Helmet Lady:

HLR Welcomes 1886 To The Family!

Helmet Lady Records announced today that hard psych outfit 1886 has joined the roster for 2015!

Before The Fog Covers The Mount will see a limited vinyl release later this year, featuring 8 tracks of stunning retro psychedelia and groovage. Heavy, yet elaborate and complex, this album begs you take a wanderlust trip through a forgotten time and place off fuzzed, gypsy riffs and towering canopies of Barcelonian culture and history.

Release details are forthcoming and we hope you are as excited as we are!

Pau Bassedas – Guitar and vocals.
Pol Gómez – Guitar and chorus.
Pol Ventura – Bass and chorus.
Marc Fàbregas – Drums.

1886 is on its way!!!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/1886/148038955353625
https://1886band.bandcamp.com/
http://helmetladyrecords.com/

1886, Before the Fog Covers the Mount (2015)

Well that didn’t take long. Brazilian trio Saturndust released their self-titled debut album on Jan. 26 — the song “Realm of Nothing” was included in the latest podcast — and today word came down that the São Paulo unit have signed a deal with Nashville newcomer Helmet Lady Records to release it on vinyl. Pretty indicative of a good reception when your record gets snagged for a physical pressing in about two weeks’ time. Cheers to Saturndust, who recorded at Estudio Superfuzz, which was where Mars Red Sky also did last year’s Stranded in Arcadia, and to Helmet Lady on the cool pickup.

If you haven’t heard the record yet, the full stream from Saturndust‘s Bandcamp is below:

HLR Announces Signing of Saturndust

We are extremely excited that Brazilian space/stoner/doom trio Saturndust has joined the HLR family!

This is an album we fell in love with right away and knew we wanted to get out on vinyl in a special, limited release. The album is full of nasty, crushing doom coupled expertly around a backdrop of space psych and cosmic tone. It’s a stunning embodiment of what Helmet Lady Records cherishes in the heavy music and art realm, and we know that you will love it, too!

Keep your eyes peeled for release particulars and pressing information, but until then, please head over to the Saturndust bandcamp and enjoy the heck out of these wonderful tracks.

Bio:

This year, Saturndust enters the void to give life to the first full-length. After months of a negative phase, they are ready to drop their self-titled album, until now the deepest experience.

‘Saturndust’ transmutes the weight of the asteroids into the magnitude of the riffs, explosive grooves, and bleak vocals that absorbs you to unknown realms of the deep space and in your mind. The 6 tracks show how the human is weak and small, closer to it’s own discoveries and the infinity of the cosmos.

With a different perspective than the previous work, ‘Gravitation Of A Hollow Body’ opens the album with an astonishing doom-heaviness, ‘All Transmissions Have Been Lost’ ascends calmly between it’s parts, until decay in bitterness. The side-B begins with ‘Hyperion’ which explores the melodies and more crushing cadenced riffage. There is no god in this journey to beyond.

https://www.facebook.com/saturndustofficial
http://saturndust.bandcamp.com/album/saturndust
http://helmetladyrecords.com/

Saturndust, Saturndust (2015)