There isn’t much about Sons of Tonatiuh you can’t see coming from miles away, but then again, I doubt “subtle” was what they were going for in the first place. The Atlanta, Georgia, group’s self-titled debut — originally pressed to vinyl by the band and now available on worthy upstart Hydro-Phonic Records – finds the double-guitar/double-vocal four-piece offering a solid 35 minutes of screamy sludge. It’s uncompromising in its visceral feel, and the eight tracks seem geared more toward abrasive musical ideologies than traditionally structured songwriting, helped by production between rough and natural-sounding.

It’s not a formula that’s never been encountered before, but Sons of Tonatiuh do much of the work of distinguishing themselves in the vocals. Guitarists Dan Caycedo (ex-Leechmilk) and Darby Wilson both contribute blood-curdling screams throughout Sons of Tonatiuh, playing especially well off each other on Side B cut “Oracle.” That’s not to take away from the effectiveness of their riffs, the bass playing of Mike Tunno or Tim Genius’ drumming, but frankly, that’s all stuff we’ve heard, whereas Wilson and Caycedo show the difference between quality screaming as a vocal technique and the “some dude yelling” technique employed by many bands. From the quick-moving start of the record on “To the Throne” to the later doomed plod of “From Ashes,” the two six-stringers take a large role in defining the sound of the band, and the album is all the heavier for it.

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Although this is the second album I’ve reviewed this week with the title MMX (here’s the first), Michigan sludge bashers Balboa MI use the Roman numerals not as a statement of intent or a beginning point, but the opposite, as a way of marking their end. MMX is a 16-track collection from Hydro-Phonic Records that serves as the final statement from Balboa MI, compiling their original 2007 demo with the blistering New Means to an End EP and a cover intended for the dead-in-the-water Buzzov*en tribute, Unfit to Consume. It’s probably as close to a definitive statement from Balboa MI as we’re ever going to get, and at 48 minutes, it says just about everything you need to know about the band: they were here, they were heavy, they’re gone now. Vocalist Jarrad Collard’s striking line drawing of a snarling dog that serves as MMX’s cover is emblematic of the overall mission of Balboa MI, and after seeing the band live in their home state on more than one occasion and making my way through these tracks, I can only say it’s too bad that mission got cut short.

The immediate reference point for Balboa MI during their time together was always EyeHateGod, and with tracks like “Cousin Fucker” (as opposed to “Sister Fucker”) and “Dixie Jam,” which opens the demo, it seems like they knew it. The difference between Balboa MI and the scores of others under the grip of Bower power, though, is that the double-guitar five-piece never lost sight of what really made EyeHateGod so influential in the first place: the intensity. Sure, the slow Southern riffs are great, but it was the unbridled and filthy hardcore punk that offset them that really helped make sludge what it is today, and Balboa MI are (were) masters of the form. “Acid Rain” (which appears twice on MMX as it was re-recorded for New Means to an End) and the aptly-titled “Hardcore Song” take the feedback-drenched churn of New Orleans sludge’s glory days and give it a flavor of Michigan’s post-economic devastation. Anger is universal, and it bleeds out of Balboa MI’s truncated discography as sincere and frightening as ever.

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Of the several surprises on Boston doomers Blue Aside’s debut EP, The Orange Tree (Hydro-Phonic Records), none struck me more than when I found out there were only three dudes in the band. The layering, specifically in the guitar, and the diversity of the vocal approaches – from death growls to Porcupine Tree-style soothing harmonies and space rock emanations in between – made me sure there were at least four parties involved, if not five. But no, Blue Aside is a trio, boasting ex-members of Palace in Thunderland (the same band from whom sprung Black Pyramid) and Aeolian Race, who came together with a mind toward combining sci-fi lyrics with diverse doom and heavy psychedelia. It’s not a formula that’s never been applied before, but to their credit, I can’t think of a single band out there that sounds like Blue Aside do on The Orange Tree, however genre-ingrained the EP might be.

The five-song, 36-minute EP (for what it’s worth, I probably would have called it a full-length; the fact that Blue Aside didn’t makes me think that when they get around to putting out an LP, it could very well wind up an hour or longer) kicks off with “The Traveler of Time and Space,” the opening riff of which sounds so much like Electric Wizard’s “Witchcult Today” that I was sure Blue Aside were going to turn out to be another in the growing class of occult metal clones – The Orange Tree quickly shifts into different territory. Guitarist Adam Abrams offers some lead lines, and then death metal vocals kick in – all three members of the band are listed as handling vocals, and not having seen them live, I don’t know who contributes which approach – sounding more like Brendan Small’s work in Dethklok than anything else. And that’s not the last time I’m going to make that comparison, either. In no time, though, the track shifts tempo into upbeat space rock to deliver its echoey, clean-sung title line and more soloing from Abrams, backed by the capable tom-work of drummer Matt Netto and the bottom end of Joe Twomey. The second Dethklok comparison comes in the guitars that start second track “Otis’ Sun” (most likely a titular nod at Toronto riff-lords Sons of Otis, whom Blue Aside cite as an influence), which run in multi-layered harmony not unlike the intro to “Go into the Water” from the cartoon outfit’s 2007 debut The Dethalbum, albeit over less active drumming. For what it’s worth, I don’t draw that line in order to poke fun at Blue Aside or anything like that, I’m just trying to give The Orange Tree some context, and certainly the sweetly melodic vocals that kick in on “Otis’ Sun” are all their own.

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It’s a bold band that tours in January, even if it’s just a run through the South. Nonetheless, Atlanta‘s Sons of Tonatiuh plan to boldly step forth and brave the elements for shows with some killer bands, and if you’re like me and by the middle of January you’re tired of being stuck in the house all the time, the PR wire has a plan it would like you to follow.

To wit:

Atlanta sludge merchants, Sons of Tonatiuh are about to embark upon a fourth US tour this January in support of their self-titled debut full-length. The mighty Hollow Leg from Jacksonville, Florida, will be joining the band for the first three shows. After that, the band will be tearing its way across through New Orleans and back around through Shreveport before winding down in Chattanooga, Tennessee with the likes of Hot Graves, Death Before Dying, Car on Fire, Cognitive Dissonance, Currents and Black Pussy among others.

“We’ll try and keep the church burning down to a minimum as we continually raise the dead of our ancestors through our witchcraft,” said the band in a collective statement. “So come out see what we’re all about and we’ll promise to deliver a good time.”

Sons of Tonatiuh January 2011 Tour
01/06 Stay True Tattoo – St. Augustine, FL w/ Hollow Leg
01/07 The Poorhouse – Ft. Lauderdale, FL w/ Shroud Eater, Hollow Leg
01/08 Will’s Pub – Orlando, FL w/ Hollow Leg
01/09 Common Grounds – Gainesville, FL w/ Hot Graves
01/10 C-Level presented by Kuhlcher Korner – Panama City Beach, FL w/ Death Before Dying, Car on Fire
01/10 Siberia – New Orleans, LA w/ Cognitive Dissonance, Mojo Spleens
01/12 Headhunters – Austin, TX w/ Rusty Vein
01/13 Dalzell House – Shreveport, LA w/ Currents
01/14 The Doom Room – Vicksburg, MS w/ Black Pussy, Currents
01/15 Sluggo’s North – Chattanooga, TN
01/28 529 – Atlanta, GA w/ Black Pussy, Demonaut, Wolves & Jackels

They’re young, and they have some work yet to do in refining their sound and figuring out what they want to accomplish as players, but Grand Rapids sludge trio Mountain Goat are off to a killer start. Their debut Hydro-Phonic Records 7″, Smoke Filled Land, and their recent split with Christian black metallers The Crowned Virgin (also from Grand Rapids; review here) show the outfit among the brightest and riffingest the next generation of sonic mudslinging has to offer.

Mountain Goat eschew a lot of the atmospheric pretense of modern sludge — I don’t need to list bands, you know what I’m talking about — and instead embrace the rudimentary elements of the genre: “What would Buzzov*en do?” Buzzov*en would get fucked up, play as loud as possible and occasionally throw a punch on a syndicated talk show. So be it.

The band is comprised of Monte Davis, Keith Ortiz and Derek Kasperlik. The former two took some time out to collectively answer the following six dumb questions:

1. Give me the secret origins of how you guys got together. How did you get started and how did you get hooked up with Hydro-Phonic Records?

Well, we (Monte and Keith) started Mountain Goat in our sophomore year of high school. We went through several lineup changes… those being drummer related. Everyone we tried out didn’t seem to get the simple, heavy drumming style we wanted. No one was familiar with the music. Eventually, Derek was called over for a jam practice and afterwards he was in the band as second guitar. We still had tons of drummer problems. After months of going nowhere, Derek decided he would play bass, and Keith would move to drums. We knew what sound we wanted. Why keep searching for someone to slow us down? It was the best decision we made. We’re really rolling on shit now, and it’s going great!

We eventually started playing around town. Someone told us about another Grand Rapids sludge band called Bullpig. We checked out their MySpace and couldn’t wait to check them out live because we really thought we were the only sludgy doom band in GR. We’ve now played numerous shows with them, and saw that they were on Hydro-Phonic Records. They told us to send a message to them and see if they were interested. Travis from HPRX came out to a show, and we talked afterwards. He really liked it. We played “Streetside” by The Obsessed, ha ha. We started hanging with him at his house talking classic horror movies and stoner rock in general. We eventually all decided on doing a 7” vinyl, and we also help with the label with new releases and help HPRX put everything together.

2. When did you first realize there was an indie band called The Mountain Goats? Did you ever think about changing your name?

After about six months of being a band, people would constantly remind us of The Mountain Goats. It eventually got to the point of annoyance that we decided to change our name and we did for one show. The name didn’t stick and everyone still knew us as Mountain Goat. At this point, we really don’t care.  Someone reviewed us a while ago and mentioned, “In the great words of Michael Bolton when being asked, ‘Why not go by Mike instead?’ ‘Why should I change if he’s the one who sucks?’” ha ha.

3. How do you know The Crowned Virgin? How did the split release come about?

The Crowned Virgin started six months before we did, so we’ve known them for a really long time. They are really good friends of ours and we’ve been talking about doing a split for about two years now.  That’s about all we really have to say about them. Pretty straight to the point. Good guys.

4. Talk about recording those tracks. Was it any different from doing the Smoke Filled Land 7”? What do you have planned for recording next?

These songs (from TCV split, and Smoke Filled Land 7”) were all recorded at Postman Dan’s — The Mailbox (or Malebox) — at the same time. We did them live, and it was a pretty straightforward recording.

Coming up next year we have a Split 10” with Sollubi, courtesy of HPRX. Other than that, we are just working on more songs during practice. Hopefully, we’ll see where that takes us with later releases.

5. Tell me about the rock scene out in Michigan. I know some killer bands from out that way, but what are the shows like? How has the response to Mountain Goat been?

There’s a pretty big hardcore/punk rock scene. We mostly play with punk rock acts more than we do metal acts. There’s only a couple of places to play in Grand Rapids that aren’t bars. The response we get is usually really good no matter what/where we play, or whom we play with. We really just put everything we can into our live show, and it definitely shows.

6. Will Mountain Goat tour? Any other closing words plans you want to mention?

Yes, we do have plans to tour, but with all three of us having jobs and dealing with school, it’s kind of hard at the moment to find the time, or funds to go out on the road. We are in talks right now of doing a few dates with our friends Blue Aside (from Massachusetts) in mid-July. Other than that, we are just working on new songs, and toying with the idea of putting out a full-length someday, but we are in no rush at the moment because we hate Rush. If anyone has any questions, feel free to message us on our MySpace or on our Facebook page. And if anyone wants to buy our 7”, or our split with The Crowned Virgin, do so on the Hydro-Phonic Records MySpace page or the many distributors that carry them.

Not to be confused with the ultra-hip Californian indie band The Mountain Goats, the Grand Rapids, Michigan, sludge outfit Mountain Goat offer aural cruelty and scraping madness on their Hydro-Phonic Records split with fellow hometown heroes, black metallers The Crowned Virgin. Even with both bands contributing a total of eight tracks, I’d still count it as an EP, since with just four cuts each and a total runtime of 29 minutes, the release gives more of a sampling from Mountain Goat and The Crowned Virgin than it expresses a complete idea from either, but in letting people know what they’re all about, it succeeds entirely. Between Mountain Goat’s (again, not The Mountain Goats) riotous doom maelstrom and the rasping primitivism of The Crowned Virgin, it’s not hard to get what both bands want out of the split. They want you, in pain.

The Mountain Goat formula is relatively simple, but remarkably effective. Feedback, riffs, crashes, screams; the makings of sludge modernity brought to life. But Mountain Goat, particularly from the placement of the vocals – which have a similar unsettling edge to their screams as the original leaders of American black metal or even some of Pig Destroyer’s earliest work – bring the established tropes of the genre into their own context. Their four songs (“Tuskin,” the faster “Necromatik,” “Slumber” and “Covenance Cauldron”) groove like undulating stoner metal, but the sounds are undeniably evil. With production rawer than that of the band’s prior Smoke Filled Land 7” (also on Hydro-Phonic), the meanness of the tracks comes through sounding live and brutal. The droning feedback that ends “Necromatik” more or less sets the atmosphere on its own, and that atmosphere carries across the other tracks to come. As the next wave of sludge rises with bands like Thou and Salome, it’s easy to see how Mountain Goat could fit in that echelon of disturbing sonics.

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