If you’re not from Massachusetts or you’ve never lived there, you probably don’t know the difference between the North Shore and the South Shore. Well. As somebody who lived on the South Shore for nearly seven years, let me tell you, there’s a difference. You go north of Boston, it’s pretty nice up there. Salem — where Mother Iron Horse are from — is a cool town, and there’s some old-money-style New Englandy stuff to look at. South Shore? Yeah, it’s pretty much just whatever’s off the highway en route to Cape Cod.

So hey, congrats to North Shore denizens Mother Iron Horse on getting picked up for Blasko‘s curated series through Ripple Music. I saw this band one time, and they were pretty cool. Their first record came out through Electric Valley in 2019, and they’ll have their second, Under the Blood Moon out sometime later in 2021.

They join a swath of recent Ripple signees and keep the company of Holy Death Trio, Hail the Void and The Crooked Whispers in Blasko’s curated series. Dude would seem to have a particular affection for three-word bands. Either way, can’t argue with any of the picks at this point.

From the PR wire:

Salem occult sludge merchants MOTHER IRON HORSE sign to Ripple Music as part of special series curated by Blasko; watch “Old Man Satan” video now!

Ripple Music announces the signing of Salem, Massachusetts sleazy sludge rock cultists MOTHER IRON HORSE, for the release of their sophomore album “Under The Blood Moon” later this year. This comes as the fourth signing as part of Blasko’s special series on the Californian powerhouse.

Says the band: “Joining the Ripple family with some of the genres top artists is something we’re still wrapping our heads around! Working with Blasko and Ripple on our sophomore record has been an absolute honor and it’s pushed us to create our best work yet. We’re humbled and truly thankful for this opportunity. We look forward to hitting the road in both the US and abroad to celebrate this new partnership. With Blasko and Ripple backing us up, we truly feel unstoppable! Cheers!”

With a sound steeped in occult debauchery and esoteric rituals, MOTHER IRON HORSE stands out from the stoner rock pack by adding some sleazy grit and tongue-in-cheek blasphemy into the mix and adding a corrosive sludge punk twist that makes it all sound incredibly rousing and addictive. With years worth of touring canceled due to the pandemic, MOTHER IRON HORSE set out to create a fun video for their new single “Old Man Satan”, which will appear on their sophomore album and Ripple Music debut “Under The Blood Moon”.

MOTHER IRON HORSE was formed in 2018 by North Shore natives Adam Luca, Marco Medina, and Chris Kobialka. Shortly after forming, they found an old mill and began building their own recording studio, leading to the release of a 2-song demo on Halloween of 2018 (Hellmouth Records). Shortly afterward, the band was approached by Italy-based label Electric Valley Records, who released their debut album ‘The Lesser Key’ worldwide on May 17th, 2019. In support of the album, the band left for their first tour alongside Dutchguts up and down the American East Coast and throughout the Southern states in June 2019. After a summer of festivals and weekend shows, they hit the road again in September- with longtime friends and fellow Massachusetts natives Leather Lung. They played regionally throughout the rest of the year and appeared on the Boston-based TV show Heavy Leather Topless Dance Party.

2020 was shaping up to be their biggest year yet with a national tour booked around their appearance at Psycho SmokeOut in Los Angeles, followed by another summer of festivals leading up to a European tour in the fall. Unfortunately, the pandemic hit. Not one to waste time, MOTHER IRON HORSE began writing their second album ‘Under The Blood Moon’. The album’s debut single and video for “Old Man Satan” made an impression within the underground heavy scene and caught the attention of Blasko, who signed the band to Ripple Music for a 2021 release as part of his own curated series on the label.

https://www.facebook.com/MotherIronHorse
https://www.instagram.com/mother_iron_horse/
https://motherironhorse.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/theripplemusic/
https://www.instagram.com/ripplemusic/
https://ripplemusic.bandcamp.com/
http://www.ripple-music.com/

Mother Iron Horse, “Old Man Satan” official video

Hey Psycho Smokeout 2.0 — sick fuggin’ lineup. With one headliner still TBA next month Psycho Entertainment and RidingEasy Records pair up to present the likes of Weedeater, Acid King, The Obsessed, Cough, Mondo Drag, Heavy Temple, The Well, Holy Grove, Salem’s Bend, and on and on, all on one day — April 18, 2020. Considering there are 19 acts confirmed, let’s assume there will be multiple stages going. I don’t know what that’ll do to the schedule — certainly possible to alternate — but however it happens, it’s a badass assemblage and there’s more to come. Tickets are on sale now, because seriously, why the hell wait?

So yes. Why wait?

From the PR wire:

PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 To Take Place April 18th, 2020; Lineup Includes Weedeater, The Obsessed, Acid King, Cough, And More + Early Bird Tickets On Sale Now!

Behold! PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 will make its annual descent upon Los Angeles’ multi-level Catch One Riff Compound April 18th, 2020!

Brought to you by Psycho Entertainment and RidingEasy Records, this year’s day-long puffathon features performances from nearly two-dozen artists including North Caroline stoner metal goliaths Weedeater, Maryland doom icons The Obsessed, California stoner rock veterans Acid King, and Virginia sludge bringers Cough, with the final headliner to be unveiled later this fall. Spread across three stages, the glassy-eyed gala will include a massive vendor market and more surprises to be announced in the weeks to come.

Early bird tickets for PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 go on sale Thursday September 19th. The limited early bird tickets are a cool $39 plus fees and are expected to sellout within 48 hours of being announced. The next tier will be $49 plus fees. The final tier will be $59 plus fees. Don’t sleep on this!

Nab your tickets today at THIS LOCATION.

PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0 is a 420 friendly, 18 and over event.

Psycho Entertainment & RidingEasy Records Presents:
PSYCHO SMOKEOUT 2.0
April 18th, 2020
Catch One Riff Compound
Los Angeles, California

Lineup (in alphabetical order):
Acid King
Casket Raider
Cough
Deathchant
Great Electric Quest
Heavy Temple
Holy Grove
India Tigers In Texas
Leather Lung
Mondo Drag
Mother Iron Horse
Mountain Tamer
Pale Mare
Salem’s Bend
The Munsens
The Obsessed
The Well
Vaelmyst
Weedeater

http://www.vivapsycho.com/
http://www.ridingeasyrecs.com

Holy Grove, II (2018)

The third anniversary celebration of NYC-based curated show series Ode to Doom was a special occasion. The bands knew it, the venue knew it, and the people who showed up knew it. Everyone who played had new material and was excited to share. Everyone said thanks. The vibe was chill from before the show even started, and even as heavy and as raucous as things got as the bluesy opening Grandpa Jack delivered gave way to the noisier likes of Somnuri, Mother Iron Horse and Leather Lung, it stayed chill for the duration. For being what Somnuri guitarist/vocalist Justin Sherrell referred to as, “a school night” — can’t argue with facts — it was also a welcome escape from midweek blues; all parties involved seemed happy to shed the uphill slump from their shoulders, or maybe that’s just me projecting.

One way or the other, it was the best argument I’ve encountered in a while for sitting in workday-evening traffic. The air was crisp but not bitingly cold. When I signed on three years ago to have The Obelisk be among the presenters for Ode to Doom, which is run with clear dedication by Claudia Crespo at Arlene’s Grocery with input from indomitable entrepreneur Vadim Dyadyuk of Made in Brooklyn Silkscreeners, who’s done merch for this site and will again — new colors coming for the holiday season, plus did I hear you asking for Obelisk sweatpants? no? well they’re happening anyway — part of the appeal for me was nostalgic. I remembered great times at Precious Metal in the basement at Lit Lounge and other Manhattan-based shows. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that it’s all moved to Brooklyn over the last generation and now is headed to Queens, but someone keeping the flame of a Manhattan underground alive felt like an idea well worth preserving. Turns out I was right.

Suitably enough given my recent move, the unstated theme for the evening was NY-meets-MA, with Brooklyn’s Grandpa Jack and Somnuri getting started and Salem, Mass, heavybringers Mother Iron Horse and Boston’s Leather Lung closing the night. If you don’t know Grandpa Jack — and I’ll admit I didn’t hear their self-titled debut LP last year; my loss — give it time. You will. The three-piece turned classic heavy rock shades of doomly purple with vintage tone emanating from the finger-picked guitar of Johnny Strom, who also shared vocal duties with drummer Matt C. White while Jared Schapker provided warm and engrossing low end to suit their blues-infused spirit. Their periodic dips into melody on vocals were welcome and hopefully telling of things to come, and the languid pace of their material brought to mind Radio Moscow played at two-thirds speed, with jammy intent. They were a more than welcome start to the proceedings.

I hadn’t seen Somnuri yet, but was excited to. having so thoroughly dug their late-2017 self-titled debut (discussed here) and subsequent split with fellow purveyors-o’-noise Godmaker (review here). They’ve got a new album mastered as of earlier this month and will cover “Dirt” on Magnetic Eye‘s upcoming Alice in Chains redux (presumably that’s what the cover they posted a snippet of on social media is for, unless they’re just going rogue with it, which might be fun too), and the aforementioned Sherrell, bassist Philippe Arman (also of Tower) and drummer Phil SanGiacomo both brought and demolished the evening’s crowd. The new material had more melody in a post-grunge, still-volatile kind of way that made me really excited to hear it in recorded form, but there was plenty of crushing going on as well, and as wheelhouses go, that’s a good one to be in. I’ll go out on a limb and say that barring disaster this won’t be the last time I see them play, but knowing that and knowing there’s a new record in the offing only made me enjoy their set more. Until next time.

There was time for a quick walk around the block between bands, which beat staring at the baby monitor on my phone — did it? — so I walked out of the venue for a minute to get some air, made it back well in time for Mother Iron Horse, who released their debut, The Lesser Key, in May and who seem primed to get picked up by some label or another if they haven’t yet. Their energy built on what Somnuri had been doing, but their sound was more rock-based, and the double-guitar riffing was complemented by right-on classic-style lead work and excursions into more uproarious stretches. Comprised of Adam Luca, Marco Medina, Devin Fields and Chris Kobialka, they made it easy to get into what they were doing in cuts like “Gehenna” and “Scepter of Ice” from the album, and as they’re on tour with Leather Lung — they’ll play Montclair, NJ’s The Meatlocker tonight, of course with Dutchguts — they started off that run in top form with what was still a good crowd who stuck around after Somnuri‘s set. Another band I’d never seen before, another one I’ll try to see again. That’s three for three on the night so far at Ode to Doom.

By contrast, I had seen Leather Lung before, but it was upwards of four years ago in Boston and they’ve got a new record out through Magnetic Eye called Lonesome, On’ry and Evil that produced the set-highlight “Miscreant,” which perfectly summarized the band’s approach rooted in mosh-ready riffs and massive aggro-sludge tones. Coming out to the familiar strains of Waylon Jennings, frontman Mike Vickers had apparently busted his arm and had it in a sling. He left the audience to guess how he’d done it, so insert here whatever pulled-a-ligament hyperbole you’d like to about him lifting the riffs of guitarist Zach and lumbering bass of Jesse — whose backing vocals also added a sense of extremity throughout the set. Set to the crash of drummer Ben, Leather Lung‘s willfully lunkheaded sludge metal was nothing short of a hit on a Wednesday night in Manhattan, which if that doesn’t sound like an accomplishment absolutely was one. Dudes up front lost their mind, and even standing in the back, beat as I was, the groove was palpable. And by “palpable” I mean shaking the floor. They’re going to kill at Descendants of Crom this weekend in Pittsburgh.

So what did we learn? I hadn’t planned on sticking around through the entirety of Leather Lung‘s set, as I’d been up since 4AM and knew I still had the drive back to my ancestral homestead ahead of me, but I did, and so did a lot of others who no doubt had trains, Ubers, hoverboards or Citibikes to catch. And I won’t take away from what Leather Lung were doing, but the vibe of the whole night was a big part of what kept me there. It felt like I had showed up to a party three years late and still been welcomed. That’s a rare thing.

More pics after the jump. Thanks for reading.

Read more »

Massachusetts newcomers Mother Iron Horse have been a band for about seven months, give or take, but they’ve already got an initial two-songer out in the form of Fall 2018’s The Curse, and they’ve already announced work has begun on their debut full-length, which will be released through Electric Valley Records. One might call that a productive start and perhaps leave the understatement to speak for itself, but either way, the four-piece don’t have a set arrival date for the record or anything — “work has begun” could mean six months of writing followed by another six of recording, however contrary that would be to their initial intensity — but it’s in progress. In the meantime, the two tracks of The Curse are at the bottom of this post if you’d care to dig in, and we’ll file the rest neatly away under “more to come.”

The announcement from Electric Valley follows, courtesy of the PR wire:

Electric Valley Records – Mother Iron Horse

Electric Valley Records is proud to announce the signing of the american Stoner/Doom Band *** MOTHER IRON HORSE ***

Formed in 2018 in Salem, Ma, Mother Iron Horse is Adam Luca, Marco Medina, Chris Kobialka and Devin Fields.

Blending esoteric lyrics with roaring guitar riffs in a way that packs Doom Metal and Rock n Roll into one red eyed, beer soaked suitcase and kicks it down the stairs.

The band came to fruition over a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and the shared background of Boston’s heavy music scene. The band officially started in July 2018, but, due to set backs, didn’t get going until October 2018. The Salem band released a two-track EP on Halloween 2018 which garnered them some national exposure. In January of 2019 Mother Iron Horse signed to Electric Valley Records and began recording their debut full length album.

https://www.facebook.com/MotherIronHorse/
www.instagram.com/mother_iron_horse
motherironhorse.bandcamp.com
www.electricvalleyrecords.com
www.facebook.com/electricvalleyrecords
www.instagram.com/electricvalleyrecords
evrecords.bandcamp.com

Mother Iron Horse, The Curse EP