Posted in Whathaveyou on May 5th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I consider myself pretty fortunate to have seen Crippled Black Phoenix last month at Roadburn 2017, and all the more so as the long-running UK gloom merchants were there supporting their latest full-length, Bronze (review here), which crosses genre lines as easily as it moves from measure to measure within its tracks. Also the band’s first long-player to be delivered via Season of Mist, it’ll get further live representation throughout the next couple months as Crippled Black Phoenix take part in another slew of festivals, including Hellfest in France and Night of the Prog in Germany. Looks like they’ve got a couple club shows besides, so they should be plenty busy, and as we head into July and August, I wouldn’t be surprised if more shows were forthcoming as well. Always a busy Fall fest season to consider.
For now, here’s the latest from the PR wire:
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX announce European summer tour
International dark rock collective CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have announced a European summer festival tour. The band will kick off their tour at Hellfest in France on June 18, and continue through select dates in June, July, and August. A full list of confirmed tour dates can be found below.
Regarding the tour, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX founding member and vocalist Justin Greaves comments: “Hello rockers! We are stoked to bring a fine selection of our songs to you this summer. Make sure to catch our shows this time round; we are not the most touring band. See you in the sun!”
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX are touring in support of their new album, ‘Bronze’. ‘Bronze’, a slow-burning mix of unique and soaring post-rock, is streaming here. ‘Bronze’ is available at the Season of Mist E-Shop.
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have released an animated music video for the track “Scared and Alone”, off their recently released full-length, ‘Bronze’. The video was animated by Costin Chioreanu (GHOST, OPETH).
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX Jun. 18 Clisson (FR) @ Hellfest Jun. 19 Liege (BE) @ La Zone (+Trap Them) Jun. 20 Wiesbaden (DE) @ Schlachthof (+Trap Them) Jun. 21 Segrate (IT) @ SoloMacello Fest Jun. 23 Aarau (CH) @ Kiff (+Trap Them +Ghost Bath) Jun. 24 München (DE) @ Saint Helena Festival Jul. 14 Sankt Goarshausen (DE) @ Night of the Prog Aug. 4 Raversbeuren (DE) @ Lott-Festival
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 8th, 2017 by JJ Koczan
I’m going to make the narrow-minded assumption there’s some relation between Dead Sea Apes‘ upcoming fourth album, Sixth Side of the Pentagon, and their prior 2015 outing, Spectral Domain (review here), the 11-minute closer of which bore the same title. Does that necessarily mean it has anything in common with what seems to be a four-parter semi-title-track here? Nope, because this is psychedelia and sometimes shit gets really weird, but it’s worth pointing out as a starting point either way.
If you’d like something a little more concrete to go on — and fair enough if you would — the band are streaming the track “Tentacles (The Machine Rolls On)” as we speak, and you can check that out at the bottom of this very post, under the info below from the PR wire.
Dig it:
Dead Sea Apes – Sixth Side Of The Pentagon
Dead Sea Apes release their fourth studio album Sixth Side Of The Pentagon through Cardinal Fuzz and Sky Lantern Records.
Since their inception in 2009, Manchester trio Dead Sea Apes have ploughed a decidedly psychedelic furrow regarding their penchant for consciousness-altering guitar/bass/drums workouts. Yet they have always been decidedly nonconformist and experimental too, never easily fitting into a “psychedelic scene” like so many of their contemporaries. New album Sixth Side Of The Pentagon sees this bent towards experimentation further examined and explored.
Taking concepts from the track of the same name on their previous album, Sixth Side Of The Pentagon grows these ideas into fully formed dub cultures. Possibly reflecting recent political and economic events, the mood has darkened further like a carbon-stained post-industrial skyline: basslines bubble over with a dub-frenzy of fluid proficiency, alienated shards of guitar sear into your cortex and disorientating notes of insectoid electronics float in and out of the mix amid haunting echoes. Think Metal Box-era PIL and hints of early Cabaret Voltaire fused with the rolling liquid sound that Dead Sea Apes have made their own, while spoken word contributions by the artist and writer Adam Stone add a new dimension of theoretical engagement.
Sixth Side Of The Pentagon is released by Cardinal Fuzz in the UK and Sky Lantern Records in the US on vinyl, CD, cassette and download.
Tracklisting: 1. The Map Is Not The Territory 2. The Sixth Side version I 3. Low Resolution 4. The Sixth Side version II 5. Pale Anxieties 6. Nerve Centre 7. The Sixth Side version III 8. Lo Res 9. Tentacles (The Machine Rolls On) 10. The Sixth Side version IV 11. Rectifier
releases April 3, 2017
Music by Savage/Harris/Hardman Words by Adam Stone (tks 5 & 9) Vocals by Hannah Grasskamp (tk 6) Produced by Dead Sea Apes Recorded, mixed and mastered by Chris Hardman
Posted in Bootleg Theater on December 13th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
UK progressive atmospheric rockers Crippled Black Phoenix are currently embroiled in a European tour supporting their new album and Season of Mist full-length debut, Bronze. I’ll admit I’ve been somewhat hesitant to dig fully into the record, both because it’s been a while since I really engaged with the band — despite being way into their debut, A Love of Shared Disasters (now 10 years old), and subsequent offerings, 2009’s 200 Tons of Bad Luck (discussed here) and 2010’s I, Vigilante (discussed here), I’ve basically missed the boat on everything they’ve done since; something I hope to correct at the Roadburn 2017 merch table unless the dollar exchange tanks against the euro — and because Bronze has not at all seemed like it requires a significant emotional investment on the part of the listener.
To wit, the depression chronicle “Scared and Alone,” a nine-minute cut that appears later in the album and has a new video put together by respected Romanian animator/designer Costin Chioreanu. In its atmospheric depth and melodic current, the song works in direct defiance of any genre sensibility, for which it’s to be commended, but the overarching melancholic spirit is as affecting as it is sonically rich. This is not in itself a negative. One thinks of acts in the depressive tradition — labelmates Sólstafir, the middle-period work of Crippled Black Phoenix‘s UK countrymen Anathema, and so on — and the breadth that “Scared and Alone” conjures seems duly lush and patient, moody in all the right ways. That doesn’t mean, however, that the song isn’t perhaps putting the listener in a position to confront aspects of their self that, when not ignored, make the day harder to get through.
My own emotional cowardice notwithstanding, both song and video are gorgeous, the lyrics and vocals of Belinda Kordic and instrumental arrangement from Justin Greaves coming together to create a genuine sense of place over the course of the nine-minute run, which Chioreanu is bold enough to tackle head-on. If you’re also feeling so brave, you’ll find the clip followed by some comment from Greaves and the band’s tour dates below.
Enjoy:
Crippled Black Phoenix, “Scared and Alone” official video
International dark rock collective CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX have released an animated music video for the track “Scared and Alone”, off their recently released full-length, ‘Bronze’. The video was animated by Costin Chioreanu (GHOST, OPETH).
Regarding the video, CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX founder Justin Greaves comments, “Costin Chioreanu has created an amazing clip. His animation fits so very well that this can only come from someone, who truly understands the feeling behind this song. It is not an easy thing to connect with so I have nothing but respect and praise for Costin. ‘Scared and Alone’ speaks volumes about being cut off from the outside world and other people when the ‘Black Dog’ bites. Depression, anxiety and mental health are becoming bigger issues and when someone speaks up, it opens a door for other people to get things off their mind. Belinda wrote the lyrics as well as doing the vocals for ‘Scared and Alone’ and she did not need to be given any direction. As always, she took the title and the music and shaped the most real and heartfelt words into a very poetic form. I am deeply satisfied with the way everything turned out, both sonically and visually.”
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX w/PUBLICIST UK, THE DEVIL’S TRADE Dec. 13 Zürich (CH) @ Werk 21 Dec. 14 München (DE) @ Feierwerk, Kranhalle Dec. 15 Budapest (HU) @ Dürer Kert Dec. 16 Wien (AT) @ Arena Dec. 17 Tübingen (DE) @ Sudhaus Dec. 18 Dresden (DE) @ Scheune Dec. 19 Warszawa (PL) @ Progresja Dec. 20 Berlin (DE) @ Lido Dec. 21 Köln (DE) @ Underground
CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX at Roadburn Apr. 20 Tilburg (NL) @ O13
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 25th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
With five dates, it’s more than a weekender — one even tends to think of a long-weekender as three or four shows — but still under the full-week tour, but Nomad and Mower will head out together either way from their home-base in Manchester, England, playing in London, Nottingham, Coventry and Sheffield as well as finishing with a gig in their native city. Both go supporting EP releases — Nomad‘s latest having come out last year and Mower‘s debut earlier in 2016 — and both promise one thing for which the UK scene is becoming increasingly known: Riffs. It’s a pretty riffy time over there. Bands gots riffs. Only fair to spread that love around a bit.
Also, this is the press release that taught me the word “Mancunian,” which apparently means “of or related to the city of Manchester, England.” I’ve had plenty of conversations about Manchester — Lee from The Sleeping Shaman comes from there — and never heard that word before. Thanks, the PR wire. I learned something today.
Dig it:
Sludgers Nomad announce UK tour with fellow Mancunians Mower
Mancunian underground heroes Nomad have announced a UK tour for this September and are taking relative newcomers Mower with them. Since forming in 2012, Mancunian sludge four-piece Nomad have shared stages with the likes of EyeHateGod, Conan and Bongripper. Metalheads in the north west of England are under no illusions as to the ferocity of their live shows.
Frontman Drian Nash is known for tempering his confrontational performances with a self-deprecating Manc sense of humour, firmly establishing Nomad at the heart of Manchester’s burgeoning stoner/doom scene. This tour will be an opportunity for rifflovers from across the UK to see how Nomad have achieved their unrivalled reputation within such a competitive scene in England’s north west.
Their debut EP (released in 2014 by renowned underground label When Planets Collide) was followed by a split EP with Wort released by Red Valley Records the following year. Nomad frontman Drian: “It’s always a blast playing with the Mower guys so this tour should have enough planet-sized riffs and carnage to be lasting us. We are sharing the stage with some of our favourite bands along the way? Elephant tree, Iron Swan and Kurokuma. Also Stoked to get to finish it all off with a huge party in our hometown. That’s if we don’t crash into a mountain in a big ball of fire blasting Toto and sipping cocktails.”
Relative newcomers Mower are a doom/noise trio from nearby Wigan whose debut EP “Meathead”, released at the start of this year, is already turning heads. As a live presence they’ll be known by attendees of MammothFest, Tombstones all-dayer and RiffFest as a band not to miss on what will be their first gigs in a number of cities outside of Manchester.
Vocalist Jay says of the tour: “This will be our first tour, and what a way to pop the cherry, making this fine pilgrimage around the U.K, with Nomad! We’re all buzzin’ to go make some Mower-flavoured noise in other parts of the country. We also get to play some new venues with some other amazing bands, a proper privilege indeed. We shall be providing the White Russians and obscene sexual favours as thanks. Riffs await.”
With such a strong stoner/doom scene in Manchester, this tour will be an opportunity for rifflovers from across the UK to see how this scene’s stalwarts have achieved their unrivalled reputation alongside with one of the area’s most exciting new prospects.
14th September The Unicorn London 15th September The Chameleon Arts Cafe Nottingham 16th September The Phoenix Coventry 17th September Mulberry Underground Sheffield 18th September Rebellion Manchester
Posted in Reviews on October 2nd, 2015 by JJ Koczan
One thing I’ve noticed over the now-several times I’ve done this is that people have a tendency to apply some value to the ordering. It’s true that I try to lead off with a bigger release sometimes (as with today), but beyond that, there’s really no statement being made in how the albums appear. It usually has way more to do with time, when something came in and when it was added to the list, than with the quality or profile of a given outing. Just that final note that probably should’ve been said on Monday. Whoops.
Before we wrap up, I just wanted to say thank you again for checking any of it out if you did this week. It’s not a minor undertaking to do these, but it’s been completely worth it and I very much appreciate your being a part of it. Thank you. As always.
Fall 2015 Quarterly Review #41-50:
My Dying Bride, Feel the Misery
Led by founding guitarist Andrew Craighan and vocalist Aaron Stainthorpe, UK doom magnates My Dying Bride mark their 25th year with Feel the Misery, their 13th full-length and one that finds them right in their element practicing the melancholic death-doom style they helped forge on pivotal early works like As the Flower Withers (1992) and Turn Loose the Swans (1993). “And My Father Left Forever” starts Feel the Misery on a particularly deathly note, but it’s not too long before the 10-minute “To Shiver in Empty Halls” and the subsequent “A Cold New Curse” are mired in the grueling, poetic, beauty-in-darkness emotionality that is My Dying Bride’s hallmark. The album’s title-track is a chugging bit of extremity, but the record’s strongest impact winds up being made by the penultimate “I Almost Loved You,” a piano, string and e-bow (sounding) ballad that pushes further than “A Thorn of Wisdom” by daring not to get heavy and rests well between the lumbering “I Celebrate Your Skin” and the 11-minute closer, “Within a Sleeping Forest,” which fits well, but more reinforces the point than offers something new on its own. A quarter-century later, they remain an institution. One wonders how they’ve managed to stay so depressed for so long.
If French mostly-instrumentalists Glowsun are feeling pressed for time these days – and with the theme of Beyond the Wall of Time (out via Napalm Records) that shows itself in the ticking clocks that launch opener “Arrow of Time” and the like-minded titles “Last Watchmaker’s Grave,” “Against the Clock” and “Endless Caravan” – the material itself doesn’t show it. Opening with two nine-minute cuts, Glowsun’s third outing and the follow-up to 2012’s Eternal Season (discussed here) unrolls itself patiently across its seven-track span, leading one to wonder if maybe Beyond the Wall of Time isn’t intended as another means of expressing something outside of it, the expanse of tones and grooves created by guitarist/vocalist Johan Jaccob (also graphic art), bassist Ronan Chiron and drummer Fabrice Cornille on “Shadow of Dreams” and the centerpiece “Flower of Mist” intended to last after some eternal now has passed. I wouldn’t want to guess, but it’s noteworthy that the trio’s output is evocative enough to lead toward such speculations.
As with their 2012 debut, Someday You Will be Proven Correct, Washington D.C.-based trio Caustic Casanova recorded their sophomore long-player, Breaks, with J. Robbins at The Magpie Cage in Baltimore. They’re also releasing the album through Kylesa’s Retro Futurist Records imprint, so they come nothing if not well-endorsed. With bassist Francis Beringer and drummer Stefanie Zaenker sharing vocal duties throughout – the trio is completed by Andrew Yonki on guitar – they run and bounce through a gamut of upbeat post-hardcore noise rock, thick in tone but not so much as to get up and move around, tempo-wise. Yonki brings some post-rock airiness to the early going of the nine-minute “Elect My Best Friend for a Better World,” but the album on the whole feels more about impact than atmosphere, and Caustic Casanova work up considerable momentum by the time they get around to paying off the 12-minute finale, “The Painted Desert.” Its melodies open up more on repeat listens, but not at the expense of the push so well enacted throughout.
An outwardly familiar conceptual framework – instrumental space/psychedelic rock – does little to convey how much of themselves Manchester, UK, trio Dead Sea Apes put into their new full-length, Spectral Domain. Released by Cardinal Fuzz in conjunction with Sunrise Ocean Bender, it’s the band’s sixth or seventh LP, depending on what counts as such, and bookends two north-of-10-minute explorations around three shorter pieces (though not much shorter in the case of the 9:50 “True Believers”) varied in color but uniformly galaxial in intent. “Brought to Light” rings out with a wash of drumless echo and swirl, seemingly in response to the tension of centerpiece “The Unclosing Eye,” and the whole album seems to take a theme from things seen and unseen, between “Universal Interrogator” and closer “Sixth Side of the Pentagon,” a vibe persisting in some conspiracy theory exposed as blissful and immersive truth with something darker lurking just underneath. Thick but not pretentious, Spectral Domain seems to run as deep as the listener wants to go.
A ritualistic spirit arrives early on Italian heavy psych rockers Bantoriak’s debut LP, Weedooism, and does not depart for the duration of the Argonauta Records release’s six tracks, which prove spacious, psychedelic and heavy in kind, playing out with alternating flourishes of melody and noise. “Try to Sleep” seems to be talking more about the band than the act, but from “Entering the Temple” through the rumbling closer “Chant of the Stone,” Bantoriak leave an individualized stamp on their heavy vibes, and that song is no exception. If Weedooism is the dogma they’re championing on the smooth-rolling “Smoke the Magma,” they’re doing so convincingly and immersively, and while they seem to have undergone a lineup shift (?) at some point since the record was done, hopefully that means Weedooism will have a follow-up to its liquefied grooves and weedian heft before too long. In an increasingly crowded Italian heavy psych/stoner scene, Bantoriak stand out already with their first album.
Though somewhat counterintuitive for a band playing their style of doom to start with, Ahab have only been met with a rising profile over their decade-plus together, and their fourth album for Napalm Records, The Boats of the Glen Carrig, answers three years of anticipation with an expanded sonic palette over its five tracks that is afraid neither of melodic sweetness nor the seafaring tonal heft and creature-from-the-deep growling that has become their hallmark. Their extremity is intact, in other words, but they’re also clearly growing as a band. I don’t know if The Boats of the Glen Carrig is quite as colorful musically as its Sebastian Jerke cover art – inevitably one of the best covers I’ve seen this year – but whether it’s the 15-minute sprawl of “The Weedmen,” which at its crescendo sounds like peak-era Mastodon at quarter-speed or the (relatively) speedy centerpiece “Red Foam (The Great Storm),” Ahab are as expansive in atmosphere as they are relentlessly heavy, and they’re certainly plenty of that.
One would hardly know it from the discouraging title, but all-caps UK progressive metallers ZARK do manage to catch one off-guard on their debut full-length, Tales of the Expected. Duly melodic and duly complex, the eight tracks rely on straightforward components to set deceptively lush vibes, the guitar work of Sean “Bindy” Phillips and Josh Tedd leading the way through tight rhythmic turns alongside bassist Andy “Bready” Kelley and drummer Simon Spiers’ crisp grooves. Vocalist Stuart Lister carries across the aggression of “LV-426” and hopefulness of “The Robber” with equal class, and while ZARK’s first outing carries a pretty ambitious spirit, the Evesham five-piece reach the high marks they set for themselves, and in so doing set new goals for their next outing, reportedly already in progress. A strong debut from a band who sound like they’re only going to get more assured as they move forward. More “pleasant surprise” than “expected.”
Paired up by style almost as much as by geography, Alicante, Spain, acts Pyramidal and Domo picked the right title for their Jams from the Sun split – a bright, go-ahead-and-get-hypnotized psychedelic space vibe taking hold early on the Lay Bare Recordings release and not letting go as one side gives way to the other or as the noisy post-Hawkwindery of “Uróboros” closes out. Pyramidal, who made their debut in 2012 (review here), offer “Motormind” and “Hypnotic Psychotic,” two 10-minute mostly-instrumental jams that progress with liquid flow toward and through apexes in constant search for the farther-out that presumably they find at the end and that’s why they bother stopping at all, and Domo, who made their debut in 2011 (review here), counter with three cuts of their own, “Viajero del Cosmos,” “Mantra Astral” and the aforementioned “Uróboros,” switching up the mood a little between them but not so much as to interrupt the trance overarching the release as whole. I remain a sucker for a quality space jam, and Jams from the Sun has 45 minutes’ worth.
After releasing a couple internet EPs (review here) and 2013’s Call of the Mammoth EP as the duo of guitarist/vocalist/bassist Paul Dudziak and drummer Mitch Meidinger, Portland, Oregon’s Mammoth Salmon enlist bassist Alex Bateman and drummer Steve Lyons for their first full-length, the Adam Pike-produced Last Vestige of Humanity, which rolls out plus-sized Melvinsery across six amp-blowing tracks of sludgy riffing and nodding, lumbering weight. The title-track, which ends what would and probably will at some point be side A of the vinyl version, picks up the tempo in its second half, and “Memoriam” teases the same in Lyons’ drums at the start, but of course goes on to unfold the slowest progression here ahead of “Shattered Existence”’s toying with playing barely-there minimalism off full-on crush and the 10-minute “Believe Nothing” rounding out with appropriately elephantine march. Sustainable in their approach and viciously heavy, Mammoth Salmon seem to have hit reset and given themselves a new start with this lineup, and it works to their advantage on this promising debut.
“Karma is a bitch that will definitely hunt you down for what you have done,” would seem to be the standout message of “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife,” the third and longest (at 6:34) of the four inclusions on Molior Superum’s new EP, Electric Escapism. The non-retro Swedish heavy rockers fire up righteous heft to put them in league with countrymen Skånska Mord, but ultimately have more in common with Stubb out of the UK in the loose-sounding swing of “Försummad,” despite the different language. I had the same opinion about their full-length debut, Into the Sun (review here), and last year’s The Inconclusive Portrait 7” (review here) as well. Can’t seem to shake it, but Molior Superum’s ability to switch it up linguistics – they open and close in Swedish, with the two middle cuts in English – is an immediately distinguishing factor, and whichever they choose for a given song, they kill it here.
Somehow, this one felt like it was for all the marbles. Over the course of the six nights prior, I’d been to three shows — Clutch (review here), Ufomammut (review here) and Conan (review here) — and with the addition of this one, it would be four shows in three different states. I don’t mind telling you I was dragging ass after driving from Brooklyn to Connecticut after the Conan show the night before, and tacking a drive home to Massachusetts onto that and then another 90 minutes north to Manchester, New Hampshire’s The Shaskeen Pub had some pretty stiff competition from, well, the couch, but ultimately the “gotta go” impulse won out. It had been an obscenely long time since I last caught Gozu — one full year and three days, to be exact — and I was likewise eager to check out newcomers Shatner, who feature two-thirds of We’re all Gonna Die in their lineup, as if the moniker wasn’t enough of a sell.
Put together with New Hampshire’s own Thunderhawk and American Burn, it was a four-band Saturday at the Shaskeen that easily warranted attendance. My first time at the Irish-style pub, I found it inviting for more than its lack of a cover charge. Bands played on a stage in the back room, which had its own bar for those inclined to imbibe — there were plenty of them around — and stools strewn about the place even aside from a dedicated merch area. Up front played hits from the ’90s and I guess in the back it was the metal version of the same idea, with your Panteras, Sepulturas, Megadeths, and so on. It was after 9:30 when the show got going, so I knew it would be a late one, but screw it. This was the final stage of my week-long blowout before starting a new job after Memorial Day, and if you can’t get up for that, you might as well already be at the office in your business casual.
Here’s how it went down:
Shatner
My first time seeing the Boston trio felt overdue, though as guitarist/vocalist Jim Healey pointed out from the stage, it was only their third show, so I guess not that overdue. It will be a sad day for Beantown heavy rock and roll if Healey ever loses that chip on his shoulder — the aggressive edge he brings to his songwriting and delivery is a typifying staple of the city’s specific style. He and bassist/backing vocalist Jesse Sherman are veterans of We’re all Gonna Die, but Shatner are less metal on the whole, such that when they broke into a cover of Thin Lizzy‘s “Bad Reputation” amid a slew of yet-unfamiliar originals — their first recording session took place this past Feb. at Amps vs. Ohms in Cambridge, but the results have yet to hit public ears — the transition was natural and unforced. Their time was relatively brief and the set offered some symmetry in opening with “Dead in Your Eyes” and closing with “Death Reheated,” perhaps working on a theme, but the latter made a particularly resonant impression, Healey out front in a catchy, building chorus propelled forward by Cocked ‘n’ Loaded drummer Rob Davol. They’re experienced players searching out a new dynamic, but the songwriting seemed to be there, and the first impression was a positive one. I’m sure it won’t be the last time I see them and that’s completely cool by me.
American Burn
I was surprised to find out that American Burn, who seemed to be no strangers to The Shaskeen, had only formed in 2013. They’ve obviously made an impression in that time with their dudely dual-guitar groove, rooted in metal but grown to border on heavy rock — the transition in influence from Pantera to Down, if you want to trace it so specifically. Not really my thing, but they were tighter than their two years would lead one to believe, and they absolutely packed the room out with the biggest crowd of the night. I didn’t do a head count, but if you told me it was upwards of 100 people, I wouldn’t argue. There was barely space to move in that back room while they played, and those who came out not only showed up, but were legitimately into it, singing along, headbanging and so on. Credit to the locals for filling the place up. I don’t know how much touring they’ll do or how they’d pull outside Manchester at this point, but seems safe to say they’ve got their hometown conquered, or at least they did this night.
Thunderhawk
Also native to Manchester, double-guitar four-piece Thunderhawk (also stylized with a capitalized second ‘h’) released their Do or Die debut full-length last October. Their style was less metal than American Burn‘s, more Easy Rider than Sons of Anarchy, and laced with a solid dose of modern stoner push, like The Sword if they’d binged on Motörhead or, if you prefer, High on Fire at their most rolling. Lead guitarist Logan Larocque was a quiet presence on the right side of the stage compared to guitarist/vocalist Bryan McCarthy, bassist/vocalist Christopher Shelton and drummer Jon Kirsch, but seemed content to let his leads to the talking, and that turned out to be fair enough. Shelton and McCarthy, the latter in an American flag t-shirt with the slogan “the best things in life are free,” kicked out weighted groove with punker’s abandon, and for a bonus round a the end of their set, they brought up Ichabod vocalist John Fadden — apparently local to the area — for a cover of Black Sabbath‘s “War Pigs.” It seemed they’d done it before, but either way, it was a bit of fun for the crowd to sing-along to (myself included), and did well to show Thunderhawk could both nail their own material while fostering swinging grooves and let loose and have a good time. I knew nothing about them going into the performance and came out on the other side feeling like I needed to check out that album.
Gozu
Like I said, it had simply been too damn long since the last time I saw Gozu. The four-piece would be playing New Hampshire two weekends in a row, and the next week doing a tribute to Scissorfight on the occasion of Smuttynose Brewing‘s beer in homage to the Granite State Destroyers. That would’ve been cool to see, but even more than that, I was hoping to catch Gozu — the now-solidified lineup of guitarist/vocalist Marc Gaffney, guitarist/backing vocalist Doug Sherman, bassist Joe Grotto and drummer Mike Hubbard — playing something new, and along with the familiar swagger of “Disco Related Injury,” the thrust of “Meat Charger” and the mega-hook in “Ghost Wipe,” the band threw in two recent pieces. Titled “Bubble Time” and “Lorenzo Lamas” in their tradition of putting silly names onto killer tracks, both had a somewhat moodier vibe than, say, “Mr. Riddle” or the aforementioned “Ghost Wipe” — however grim the lyrical themes of either of those might be — but being the first to emerge from this incarnation of the band and more directly this rhythm section, they fit well in the set along with some of the faster, older songs. I know better than to try to suppose anything about the next Gozu record after one airing of two songs live, but nothing I heard sounded like a step backward. Informed they had 10 minutes left, they kicked into the eight-minute “Alone,” its peaks and valleys executed without any rush whatsoever, and then snuck in “Bald Bull” right after, giving the night a more raucous sendoff. How I let it go quite so long from one gig to the next, I’m not really sure, but as they continue to put ideas together for their next record, I’ll have my eye out to catch them again sooner than later. Maybe not this weekend, but soon.
—
I guess the Shaskeen had come pretty close to curfew by the time Gozu were done, because the lights came on quickly and those still hanging around were told in no uncertain terms to finish drinks, close tabs and get out. Fair enough. The ride back down south on I-93 was uneventful enough if one didn’t mind avoiding swerving drivers who’d started their holiday early, and I got home a couple minutes before 3AM, same as the night before, carried largely by the adrenaline at having pulled off this monumental week of travel and shows. I’d have called it a mini-tour if there were maybe one or two other gigs involved, but there was enough road-time even without, and I’m glad to say that in this case as in the others, it was well worth getting there and getting back.
