I will have forever whiffed on The Dillinger Escape Plan. When the New Jersey outfit were precision-chopping metal into tiny frenetic chunks of aggression and throwing them in the faces of audiences at basement shows in New Brunswick circa ’98-’99 for the Under the Running Board EP and Calculating Infinity, where was I? Up north in Morris Plains, working the second best job I ever had at KB Toys store #1051 at Rt. 10 and 202, missing it. I caught up in college and was working at The Aquarian Weekly in 2004 when they released their breakthrough second album, Miss Machine, but yeah. Given prime opportunity to check out one of their generation’s most influential and scorching metal bands in their earliest days wrecking basements and VFWs, and I just didn’t know. The internet was not what it is today, but they were on WSOU and guitarist Ben Weinman grew up like three-quarters of a mile from me. Few excuses to be made.

So I guess I always feel a little lame listening to The Dillinger Escape Plan, a little Johnny-comelately because I didn’t go to their first show or whatever, but hopefully these 25 years later my being a total poseur — maybe a dilettante? — can be forgiven. One of Us is the Killer was released in 2013 through Sumerian Records. For their early years they were a quintessential Relapse band, but that era had come to a close with Ire Works in 2007 and they’d begun their own imprint, Party Smasher, Inc., for 2010’s Option Paralysis, and worked with Season of Mist as well. Miss Machine crushed — it still crushes — but I fell off with Ire Works and probably in part because I feel bad about myself when I hear them, I never really got back on board. Add to that an awkward lunch one time with Weinman and then-frontman Greg Puciato for a Metal Maniacs feature, and yeah. Resigned, perhaps. I was never that cool and I never had enough friends to be hardcore.

They got tagged math metal all the time, and not unreasonably for the frenetic assault of which they were capable as a group, and fair enough for the gauntlet they seemed to be throwing down at every turn, challenging both the crowd and every other band in the room. But at the same time, after Puciato joined for Miss Machine, the palette they were working with grew immensely. I’ve always thought they were closer to jazz-metal, but that doesn’t sound cool so nobody would call it that. A lot of metal in the aughts was about the tradeoff between screaming and clean singing — that still exists in metal today, extrapolated from turn of the century metalcore, what was for five whole minutes called the ‘New Wave of American Heavy Metal’ in bands like Killswitch Engage, Lamb of God, who came out around that time — but The Dillinger Escape Plan did it differently and more interestingly than just verse/chorus trades, and though the innovation had been made by the time they released One of Us is the Killer, the sense of the band pushing themselves physically and creatively remains fervent.

“Prancer” starts the record with jabs and screams and a big riff and seconds later they’re going full blast and rush, charge, twist, pummel; it’s all there. Songs like “When I Lost My Bet,” “Hero of the Soviet Union,” “Magic That I Held You Prisoner,” the instrumental “CH 375 268 277 ARS” and the duly furious apex of the five-minute epic “Crossburner” go to the root of The Dillinger Escape Plan in their plotted chaos. It’s not that the band aren’t under control — the rhythm section of bassist Liam Wilson and drummer Billy Rymer are here, then they’re there, then they’ve just dug into your eyeballs and you didn’t even know; congratulations! — but that their style was so much their own thing that it sounded that way anyhow. They weren’t the only killer technically minded band of the era, as Psyopus and Colin Marston‘s Behold!… The Arctopus hit around the same time, but short of Meshuggah or Neurosis, there aren’t many who’ve had the kind of genre-making impact.

And that’s all well and good, but it was the title-track of One of Us is the Killer that got me. I remain a sucker for an awesome hook, and “One of Us is the Killer” is unabashedly that. It’s not the only one on the record. Hell, “Paranoia Shields” is practically pop-punk, but “Nothing’s Funny” has lyrics that kind of sound like something an incel would put in a soon-to-be-banned subreddit, so let’s say it hasn’t aged well. Li’l toxic, maybe. But Puciato‘s range — you’ll recall in recent years he’s toured doing vocals alongside Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains — comes into play in the divergent character of these songs, taking cues from Mike Patton and Trent Reznor and mixing it with a nasal sneer that, being here, I can only think of as being North Jersey in its origins. The build and release of tension is there, different and more accessible than the dug-in scribbly sound of “Understanding Decay” and less drastic than the quiet/loud trades of closer “The Threat Posed by Nuclear Weapons,” and though “One of Us is the Killer” and “Nothing’s Funny” weren’t their first flirtations with pop and outside-genre elements, the band’s maturity and Steve Evetts‘ production/mix (Weinman also did some recording) assure a vibrant sweep in the listening experience. Then you get punched. And maybe kicked.

The Dillinger Escape Plan called it quits in 2017, but Weinman, Wilson and Rymer got back together last year with original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis and guitarist James Love to do reunion shows celebrating their earliest work, and they have festival dates listed through the summer. I have to wonder what a new album with Minakakis fronting would bring in terms of style and songs, but I haven’t heard and wouldn’t hear any murmurings of the band recording, and honestly, given that I’ve still never really dug into Option Paralysis or their last album, 2016’s Dissociation, there’s still more catching up for me to do. At least I’m consistent.

As always, I hope you enjoy. Thanks for reading.

—

Well, The Pecan hasn’t punched anybody at school in I think three days now, so I’m going to call the week a win? I don’t know. It’s been a weird time. The Patient Mrs. has been working a lot, the kid’s been having trouble with a couple boys in her class being shitty to her, name-calling and such, and she’s got first-grade drama with some of the girls she’s friends with, so it’s a lot on her medicated, still-seven-years-old brain. Last week she jumped on the back of her lunch aide and needed to be picked up early. I kept her home last Friday. Sent her for a half-day Monday. She’s got a dentist appointment this morning, so she’ll go in late. Next week is Spring Break and that’ll be good for her, and The Patient Mrs. and I have a ‘team meeting’ at the school this afternoon to try and figure out what the fuck the situation is and how we can keep the momentum of the last few days going in a positive direction after the break. We’ll see.

That’s been very much on my mind, though. Lost sleep has been suitably mourned. I got up at 4AM today.

I remember doing that on purpose in Massachusetts when she was a baby. I’d be sitting at the square table against the kitchen wall in the condo, my head on the table, three-quarters asleep typing about some record or other, hopefully in some coherent fashion. Try to bang out as much as I could before she or The Patient Mrs. woke up; clear my head for the day to come while at the same time completely torpedoing my ability to cope by frazzling my tired brain. I’m a shitty parent and I feel like garbage all the time. This is more than narrative, and I’m not fishing for comments.

Next week is also Roadburn, which will be a welcome interruption to the routine and hopefully as rejuvenating as well as a tiring experience. I’ll see Kylesa, and it’s been a long time, so that’ll be good. I’m more excited to see friends, to be completely honest, but I’ll have the camera and will be covering wherever I end up. I haven’t looked at the day splits/schedule yet in any serious capacity. Might just wing it this year, which would be an experience in itself.

I fly out Tuesday, get into Tilburg on Wednesday, hopefully see Temple Fang that night and then it’s fest-fest-fest. Until then, Monday and Tuesday continue and conclude the Quarterly Review. April’s one thing right into the next, and I’ll tell you honestly that after I get back from Roadburn, the remainder of the month is already completely slated with reviews and premieres and such, so yeah. Thanks if you keep an eye.

And again, thanks for reading as always. I hope you have a great and safe weekend. Don’t forget to hydrate and buy Obelisk merch.

FRM.

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I don’t have a ton to say here. If you know who Tim Cronin is, either because you’re in New Jersey or because you’re just hip like that, you’ve probably already donated. If not, let this be your urging. Give Tim Cronin your fucking money.

I could go on about how ridiculous it is that we have to pay each other’s medical bills when medical bills shouldn’t exist in the first place, but it’s not the time. The donate button is below. In the parlance of our age, smash it. I’ve cut and pasted the original info on the GoFundMe page in blue below.

Dear friends, family, and supporters –

You may know Tim Cronin as the keeper of musical knowledge at Jack’s Music Shop in Red Bank for nearly 4 decades, the lead singer of local NJ legends The Ribeye Brothers, his years touring around the world with Monster Magnet as master of lights, or his prolific podcast appearances. If you do then you know that he is one of the kindest, funniest, and most genuine people you will ever be lucky enough to meet. He would love nothing more than to spend the rest of his years performing music, grilling for friends and family at his legendary bbqs, and walking the beach with the love of his life, his wife Carrie.

But devastatingly for Tim, he has been diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), a progressive and incurable neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, paralysis, and eventual respiratory system failure. It has already begun robbing him of his independence and the things that he loves to do. To say this has been shattering for Tim’s beloved wife, stepdaughter, and the many people who love him is an understatement. It’s not in Tim’s nature to ask for help, as he is the guy who helps others – but it’s our turn to help him now.

While there is no cure, there are care options and accommodations that can have a profound impact on his quality of life. Unfortunately, they are significantly expensive. ALS has been called “the bankruptcy disease” due to the significant and ever increasing financial burden it places on families. We are asking for your support to help ease the cost of this cruel and unfeeling disease and give Tim the comfort and dignity that he deserves.

You donations will go directly towards:
* In-home assistance
* Wheelchair ramp
* Mobility aids
* Medical treatments and therapies
* Assistive devices
* Transportation to doctors appointments

If you’re unable to donate, please consider sharing on all your social media platforms. We can’t ever express our gratitude for the kind words and love we’ve already received.

From Germany’s Rock im Wald and Blue Moon Festival through SonicBlast Fest in Portugal and Down the Hill in Belgium, plus a UK stretch where they’ll meet up to support King Buffalo, New Jersey’s favored sons The Atomic Bitchwax are making the most of their upcoming summer European/UK touring stretch. The trio just released a vinyl edition of a new version of 2011’s instrumental piece, The Local Fuzz (review here), with newly-recorded drums from Bob Pantella and an artwork refresh. Honestly, I didn’t even know that was happening. I can’t find it streaming anywhere, but if you can cop one off the merch table, it goes without saying that’s a worthy endeavour.

The Atomic Bitchwax were out Stateside this past Fall with Royal Thunder, and they previously hit Europe pretty hard in 2022-2023 as they set out supporting 2020’s Scorpio (review here), which remains their latest full-length. I’m hardly impartial, but they’re a no-brainer to see live if you can in my mind. By which I mean I shouldn’t need to sell it. They never fail to deliver a scorching groove and they’re fun on stage besides. If that’s not enough, their show posters are Star Trek. To frickin’ wit this Pike-y masterpiece:

The Atomic Bitchwax – Summer Europe/UK tour dates!!!

24 7 GER MICHELAU ROCK IM WALD
25 7 GER COTTBUS BLUE MOON
26 7 AT LINZ KAPU
27 7 GER MUNCHEN BACKSTAGE
29 7 SLO LJUBJANA GALA HALA
30 7 CROATIA ZAGREB VINTAGE CLUB
31 7 AT SALZBURG ROCKHOUSE BAR
1 8 ITL UDINE PIETRA SONICA
2 8 ITL MILAN MAGNOLIA STONE
3 8 CH EMMENBRUCKE CLUB SEDEL
5 8 GER KARLSRUHE ALTE HACKEREI
6 8 GER WEINHEIM CAFE CENTRAL
7 8 GER MAGDEBURG FLOWERPOWER
8 8 GER BERLIN WILD AT HEART
9 8 POR ANCORA SONIC BLAST FESTIVAL
11 8 UK NOTTINCHAM RESCUE ROOMS
12 8 UK GLASGOW CLASSIC GRAND
8 13 UK MANCHESTER GORILLA
14 8 UK BRISTOL THEKLA
15 8 UK LONDON THE GARAGE
16 8 GER PLAIDT PELLENZER OPEN AIR
17 8 GER DUSSELDORF PITCHER
19 8 GER HAMBURG HAFENKLANG
20 8 GER MUNSTER RARE GUITAR
21 8 NL ROTTERDAM ROODKAPJE
22 8 BEL RILLAAR BELGIUM DOWN THE HILL FESTIVAL

The Atomic Bitchwax are:
Chris Kosnik – Bass
Bob Pantella – Drums
Garrett Sweeny – Guitar

http://www.theatomicbitchwax.com/
https://www.facebook.com/The-Atomic-Bitchwax-86002001659/

http://teepeerecords.com/
https://www.facebook.com/teepeerecords/

The Atomic Bitchwax, Scorpio (2020)

This was a band that could, and regularly did, put on a hell of a show. Didn’t matter that you were in The Saint or the Brighton at 10PM on some Wednesday or other in 2003 — Lord Sterling were about to rip a hole in the cosmos. The band were based in Long Branch and had a connection to Monster Magnet through bassist Jim Baglino, who also held down low end for the Garden State heavy forerunners at the time, but were their own thing through and through. Frontman Robert Ryan, shouting and madcap in “This Time it’s for Real” or “Tough Times for the Troubadours” but mellow and Floydian in the repetitions of “Thread Will Be Torn” from the band’s third and final LP, 2004’s Today’s Song for Tomorrow, defined no small part of their onstage persona, but guitarist Mike Schweigert (also Moog), Baglino (also also Moog) and drummer Jason Silverio explored psychedelic textures and classic blowout heavy rock in a way that was prescient of a generation of spacey stylizations and managed to do so from a foundation of influence in hardcore and post-hardcore. So it’s been over 20 years and I still don’t know where the organ in “Password” or the ultra-Hawkwindian push of “Hidden Flame” — which feels prescient of Ecstatic Vision to such a degree that I’d advocate the Philly band covering the song because (1:) it’s good and (2:) they could make it their own without it being too obvious — come from, but I do know that Lord Sterling delivered range without pretense, were not afraid of scope, and never harnessed that to the sacrifice of raw energy.

Lord Sterling had two records before Today’s Song for Tomorrow, which rivals Nebula in its out-the-airlock spacey vibe and caps with an of-its-era take on Pink Floyd‘s “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” which feels at half a solar system’s remove from the barroom rock of “Poison Lips” or the punk it seems to lead toward in the second half of “Evaporate” and “Tough Times for the Troubadours” before the title-track is over everything in a way that feels very Sonic Youth but that could just be the East Coast talking. Along the way, whether it’s the Stooges garage sway into the noisy finish of “Poison Lips” or “Hidden Flame” with Ryan‘s sitar setting the central rhythm, the punking-up of Monster Magnet that coincides with the title line being shouted into the cacophony, the pointedly mellow twist that “Thread Will Be Torn” offers — if we’re talking prescience and “Hidden Flame” anticipates Ecstatic Vision, I would cite “Thread Will Be Torn” as a heads up on Tau and the Drones of Praise for some of its cross-source worldly spirit and the fuzzy drift that winds through its subdued flow, but if you want to say the band called it on neo-psych becoming a thing more generally, I wouldn’t argue — they answer impulses toward structure and freakout in kind. Additional drumming by Keith Ackerman (The Atomic Bitchwax, ex-Solace) and Hammond, piano and strings from Shane M. Green helped flesh out arrangements that already demonstrated the flexibility to withstand them.

I guess maybe Lord Sterling were subject to the perils of being a band somewhat between different styles. New York at the time had a pretty clear divide between who was playing hipster classic garage indie and who wasn’t. Lord Sterling — certainly in either of their first two records, 1997’s Your Ghost Will Walk or the more arc-defining 2002 follow-up, Weapon of Truth, which came out on the Tee Pee-adjacent Rubric Records, run (I believe) by at least some of the crew behind Manhattan’s the Knitting Factory when that was a thing — could veer between the brash and the aggressive, and they weren’t shy about either when they got there. I saw them a bunch during this period and won’t feign impartiality. But of Today’s Song for Tomorrow‘s tracks, cuts like “Pivotal Plane,” “This Time it’s for Real” and “Evaporate” stand out from remembering the band bringing them to life on stage. Since it’s been more than two decades, that feels notable, even if it has little to do with how someone listening for the first time will hear them.

If you are new to Lord Sterling though — if, say, you’re not from New Jersey, which is enough in itself to make you weird where I come from, which is New Jersey — as you take on Today’s Song for Tomorrow there are a couple things to keep in mind. One, this record came out 21 years ago. I’m not saying it’s sounds cutting edge, but if “Password” showed up as a single in my inbox I certainly wouldn’t call it dated. Two, no matter where they go, it’s punk-based. They’re ’90s hardcore kids. That’s true of the tantric psych mediation of “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun,” and the grungey shrugoff in “Today’s Song for Tomorrow” itself, and the charged psychedelic rock wrought by “Hidden Flame.” Everywhere Lord Sterling go, they depart from the same place. That will help unite the songs in your mind, but Ryan‘s vocals — like a not-shitty Jim Morrison — play a role there too, wanting nothing for depth or expressive force in mood.

I don’t know what these guys are up to. Ryan, who I think had the nickname Bing (?), was tattooing. Like 15 years ago, I saw Schweigert in his more aggro next band, The Ominous Order of Filthy Mongrels, but I’m not sure if anything ever came of that or what, because life happens and so on. The good news is this record’s still out there. I know CDs of all three Lord Sterling full-lengths still exist, certainly the latter two, but in a time when turn-of-the-century heavy is getting another look, their take feels like it’s communing with a whole bunch of stuff that’s come out since while remaining firm in its own perspective. Maybe recent events have me feeling nostalgic for this era of NJ heavy. Brighton Bar, and such. That’s fine. You could do a lot worse than to listen to something because you like it.

Thanks for reading.

—

It snowed here last Sunday night. There was no school Monday, which was also the presidential inauguration, because of MLK Day. We went sledding with two other families from The Pecan’s first grade class, folks we know from school pickup and being around the school generally, blah blah. Normal suburban bourgeois shit. You get the picture.

We were there for maybe an hour and got some good sledding in before The Pecan took a borrowed sled face-first into a metal fencepole, opening a gash in her forehead wide enough that her skull could be seen by anyone who managed to bring themselves to look. I ran down the hill and picked her up — no loss of consciousness or responsiveness; we’ve done head trauma in the past, remember; you look immediately for these things — and her face was of course covered in blood because it’s a headwound. There were a bunch of families on the sledding hill behind the high school, and it turned out that included two moms who were RNs. Fucking women, man. Dudes are clueless. Do you know how wrecked society would be if men actually ran it? I mean, how wrecked it is anyway?

Anyhow, these moms were great and got my kid in a useful position and started to clean her up, ask her questions, tell me what to do, while we waited for the ambulance to come. The cop came first, obviously. Not like he was doing anything. Another dumb boy to get in the way of Competent Moms sorting shit out. Mom #2 had a roll of paper towels, for crying out loud. Officer Mehoff could never hope to compete with that.

The EMT worker in the back of the ambulance, it turned out, liked Zelda, so we chatted about Echoes of Wisdom on the way to the emergency room, which was good for keeping The Pecan (and me, in the interest of honesty), calm. Once we saw the cleaned up wound — featuring, again, her actual fucking skull — we knew the tenor of the day had changed. The Patient Mrs. showed up at the ER, having run home to grab clothes and such (my pants were still wet from sitting on the ground, kid was covered in blood, and so on) and we sat for about an hour and waited in the pediatric ER. A nurse had come through and stuck some gauze in the hole in her forehead, wrapped it up, and she watched Zelda fan-theory YouTube videos on my phone while we waited. The Patient Mrs. read on her iPad. I nodded off in the chair.

A couple rounds of talking to the doctor and like two earth hours later, we ended up driving east on Rt. 80 — The Patient Mrs. drove there, I drove home; a little unnerving being in the car with a major open wound on board — to the office of every plastic surgeon you’ve ever seen in a movie, who would finally close her up and send us on our way for ice cream, confident the dent in her face wasn’t permanent and that, indeed, all would be well by his next teetime, surely within 24 hours. Place was a riot, unless you thought of it as an example of the horrors that stem from mixing capital and medicine. But what fun is that? Or use?

To that end, it was almost fortunate that my seven-year-old daughter broke open her face early in the sunny afternoon, because it offered an excellent chance to not watch, or listen to, or read about, the inauguration. Something better to focus on? Much appreciated, even if the ‘something’ in question is a different kind of terrible.

But she’s doing well, is this Pecan. Both the ER doctor and the plastic surgeon assured The Patient Mrs. and I of her toughness, both saying “I don’t always say this, but…” and then I guess telling us she should go try out for Jackass: TNG or something. Yeah, she’s tough. I know. Try sharing a house.

I don’t know how much of a scar she’ll have. When I was six, I cut my leg open and, like her, it was deep enough to need stitches inside (for muscle) and outside (for the fleshy flesh). I have a six-inch scar on the inside of my right thigh that’s been there calling me stupid for basically my entire life. I’d prefer she have neither the scar nor the self-blame.

We’ve been gooping her head with Neosporin every couple hours, and she’s got antibiotics that are disgusting but that she’s taking anyway, because tough, and “limiting her activity” basically just means The Patient Mrs. and I get stressed out when she runs across the living room furniture, so apart from that — because usually we don’t care — it’s business as usual. She’ll heal up and we’ll be onto the next thing before you know it. What I wonder is whether she’ll remember this long-term. She doesn’t at this point remember falling down the basement stairs and cracking her skull in March 2021 — and fair enough, she was three — but that was a worse trauma than this. For everybody. It’s funny to think this might end up as some defining moment in her life and both her mother and I are like, “Meh, we’ve seen worse. Suck it up, stitchy!”

In any case, if there’s a parenting decision, really any kind of decision about any kind of thing, I’m sure I’m fucking it up. Turns out that the magic someday-I’ll-be-a-grown-up-with-my-shit-together day that I always dreamed was on the horizon is in fact a myth perpetuated to sell hair growth formula and pricey shirts. I’m 43 years old, and given my family history, lifestyle and demographics, there’s just about no feasible way my life isn’t more than halfway over. Some part of me is always going to be that same kid who sat on a glass fishbowl and sliced a hole in his leg big enough to stick your arm through.

My father, hateful and disdainful though he was, applied so much pressure on my bleeding-out leg that I had bruises for weeks after. The doctor said he saved my life, and I believe he did. We didn’t even like each other, ever, and he was for sure no paragon of having his shit together, but that was a thing he did for me. I could barely make it up the sledding hill with my kid without falling down. What a wreck.

And it’s sad, and I know it’s sad, but there’s also a certain kind of freedom in letting go of the expectation that it’s ever going to get better. That there will come a point at which it will all click and I’ll always know where my phone is, or I’ll finally be caught up on vacuuming, or I’ll get in shape in some kind of “once and for all” permanent way that doesn’t even exist in the first place.

I’m not that guy. I never could be. Maybe I’m a loser. Fine. I look around at who’s winning these days and I think maybe I’m better off not.

Thanks for reading and have a great and safe weekend. I’m back Monday with more and I’m in Vegas next week to cover Planet Desert Rock Weekend, which will be a hoot. Much appreciated if you keep up.

FRM.

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No strangers to rollercoasters, last week, Solace lost their original frontman Jason. Next week, they’ll embark on a tour headed westward to appear at Planet Desert Rock Weekend in Las Vegas, playing Virginia, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and Arizona with a parade of killer supporting acts. I guess that makes this week the time to announce the band has signed to Magnetic Eye Records and will reissue their debut album, 2000’s Further (discussed here), in honor of its 25th anniversary, as well as hit the studio to record a follow-up to late-2019’s The Brink (review here) for release later this year.

That’s the plan, I guess. Plans change, but the prospect of new music from Solace is enticing, even as the band are mourning their recent loss. And for a holdover, a revisit to the first record is nothing to complain about. I’m stoked to see these guys in Vegas. It’s been too long. And this announcement might amount to paperwork since Solace released their last album on Blues Funeral Recordings and the first two through MeteorCity and so have worked with Jadd Shickler on releases for their entire career through different labels, but I’m happy for the excuse to put Further on again and remind you that the band uploaded all their records to YouTube (not the EPs/live stuff yet, so far as I know) for your streaming enjoyment. The Brink is at the bottom of the post as well, just to cover all sides.

A quarter-century on from Solace‘s first LP, here’s looking forward:

SOLACE sign with Magnetic Eye Records!

American metal stalwarts SOLACE have signed a multi-album contract with Magnetic Eye Records. The five-piece originally from Asbury Park, New Jersey will issue an expanded edition of their debut album “Further” in celebration of its 25th anniversary this summer, along with their upcoming fifth full-length also via the label in the last quarter of 2025.

SOLACE have already announced US live dates for early 2025. The roadtrip through the South and Southwest kicks off on January 23 at Bandito’s in Richmond, VA. Please see below for all currently confirmed shows.

SOLACE comment: “Solace are happy to announce our signing to Magnetic Eye Records, a label we respect and more importantly who respects us”, guitarist Justin Daniels writes on behalf of the band. “We’re looking forward to an awesome partnership that lets us get more of our dirt metal out to the world.”

Daniels continues: “This announcement is bittersweet in coming just a week after the passing of our original singer Jason. If nothing else, Solace perseveres as long as we can lift guitars and switch on amps. We move through sadness and look forward to honoring Jason’s legacy and our own with this newest chapter of the band.”

Jadd Shickler adds: “I had the privilege to sign Solace in 1999”, the Magnetic Eye director adds. “They were the best band my first label ever signed, and they still are. Through different incarnations and numerous line-ups, I’ve dedicated countless years to making sure as many people as possible saw and heard their greatness, and I’m more than ready for Magnetic Eye Records to ram Solace’s music down throats for countless more years to come.”

SOLACE Live 2025:
1/23 Richmond, VA – Bandito’s w/ Book of Wyrms + Hagstone
1/24 Atlanta, GA – Star Bar w/ Hot Ram + Brood of Mockers
1/25 New Orleans, LA – Siberia w/ Wizard Dick, So Awful + Burial Gift
1/27 Houston, TX – Black Magic Social Club w/ Grim Trophies + Mr Plow
1/28 Arlington, TX – Growl Records w/ Sons of Gulliver + King Otter
1/29 Austin, TX – Valhalla w/ Crimson Devils + Ungrieved
1/30 Tempe, AZ – Yucca Tap Room w/ Jupiter Cyclops + Weapon of Pride
2/1 Las Vegas, NV – The Usual Place, Planet Desert Rock Weekend

Tour event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/606276371903208/

SOLACE are celebrated veterans of the American metal scene. Hailing from Asbury Park, New Jersey at the windswept shore of the Western Atlantic, the band was founded in 1996. Built on a solid foundation of classic metal, early doom and punk ethic, the original four-piece infused a healthy dose of hardcore fury into grooving, grinding sludge.

Debut full-length “Further” garnered immediate attention for SOLACE on both sides of the Atlantic at the turn of the millennia. Three years later, the sophomore album “13” (2003) witnessed the Americans expanding and solidifying their style by highlighting the epic side of their songwriting. In the wake of this album, the band was invited twice to perform at the prestigious Roadburn Festival in 2006 and 2009, which further endeared them to an international audience.

Following a string of singles and EPs, the shoremen returned with acclaimed third album “A.D.” in 2010. Although the release was again well received, a hiatus followed during which SOLACE implemented some changes in their line-up. This maneuver got the heavy ship afloat again, and the remarkable full-length number four, “The Brink” made landfall in 2019. This album has been described as a glorious trek through churning riffage, weighty doom power and drunken sea shanties, while the massive use of NWOBHM dual-guitar attack was also gladly noted.

SOLACE call their amalgamation of doom and heavy metal with hardcore elements dirt metal, while elsewhere it has been somewhat tongue-in-cheekly dubbed shorecore. Others file the New Jersey five-piece under stoner metal – and in truth, all these descriptions fit to an extent.

SOLACE aim to release their upcoming fifth full-length via Magnetic Eye Records by the end of 2025.

P.S.: In January 2025, original SOLACE singer Jason L. sadly passed away, just as the band prepare to honour their classic debut album (and the first to feature Jason’s vocals) as an expanded new edition this summer. Raise a glass to his legacy and everything he brought to the band during his formative years as their tortured and brilliant frontman.

Line-up:
Justin Daniels – guitar
Justin Goins – keyboard, vocals
Tim Schoenleber – drums
Mike Sica – bass
Tommy Southard – guitar

https://www.facebook.com/SolaceBand/
https://diedrunk.bandcamp.com/
https://solace-merch.printify.me/products

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Solace, The Brink (2019)

Solace, Further (2000)

For some reason, I don’t usually put music with an obituary or a remembrance for someone who’s passed away. In this case, that’s extra ridiculous. So much of what you ever knew about Jason — and it was only Jason; his last name was Limpantsis, but you never saw it printed on their records, promo materials or anything else, and if you asked, they’d give you the runaround; he was just Jason — was his voice. When I read last night that he’d died, this song immediately started to play in my head:

A tear, listening to the arrival of that culmination. That scream, gutted out and no put-on from the throat. His whole body is in it. “From Below” closes Solace’s 2010 third album, A.D. (review here), and is both the most elaborate/grandiose and the most heartwrenchingly raw vocal arrangement I ever heard Jason record. There are six or more layers blasting at you full intensity and it still carries even more weight in the emotional expression than in the impact of the song itself — this was a person with an exceedingly rare gift, a sweet heart and a deep shadow.

I don’t remember when I met Jason for the first time — Brighton Bar? some show? — but the last time I saw him socially (I would see him on stage again) was at Solace guitarist Tommy Southard’s wedding in Oct. 2011. Dave Sherman (R.I.P. 2022) was there too. Solace played as I recall and we were all as drunken gods. The revelry. It was Asbury Lanes, so also, bowling. Anyhow, I’d been writing about the band at that point for the better part of a decade and had done shows opening for them in the band I was in, and at one point in the evening, a markedly intoxicated Jason came up to wherever I was sitting, kind of cornered me, and let me have it.

Dude went on. Mostly about the writing. How much he appreciated what I’d said about him, especially about A.D., for which I retain the softest of soft spots, and that he’d been affected by the work I’d done related to Solace. It was a humbling experience. I won’t go too much into it, but in the social pecking order, nobody’s holding up music journo-types as paragons. Nobody remembers who wrote the review that inspired them to hear an album. They remember the album, and reasonably so. Same with me. So you get somewhat used to people talking smack about lazy reviewers or people getting things wrong, being on a low rung of the social pecking order, whatever. This was the opposite of that, and though liquid courage was an element in making it happen in the first place — because even semi-sober Jason would’ve been far too reserved for that kind of thing — he wasn’t any sloppier than all of us at the time, and it was his quiet sincerity that hit me hardest.

Somehow the same is true of “From Below.”

But with no reason to beyond the fact that he could, Jason took time to be kind. He was famously inconsistent, and I’d imagine at times infuriating to be in a band with. Stories abound of his unreliability, and by all accounts much of the reason Solace took eight years to make A.D. after their debut, 1999’s Further (discussed here), and their 2002 follow-up, 13 (discussed here), was attributable to his taking so long to finish the vocals. I’m not saying this to air dirty laundry at all; it was part of who he was. But when he got on stage and opened his mouth, you stopped and you listened. He had the look, charisma, the voice — of all the frontmen I shared a stage with, I envied his voice most — and the depth of soul behind it.

I know he struggled. As forceful as he could be singing, he was wounded, somehow. Like he felt smaller in himself than he was. We hadn’t spoken since that night when Tommy married Jenn, and he wasn’t the type to keep in touch after his time with the band was done. The last words he said to me were kind. I think he was often alone, I’m sad he’s gone, and I’ll treasure his work all the more for the rest of my days for having known him for the time I did. Rest in peace.

—

Thank you for reading. This is going to be it to close out the week, i.e. no Friday Full-Length. Follow one of the links above and listen to Solace instead. That’s always why I put them there, but more so in this case. Either way, have a great and safe weekend. Tell someone you love them.

After releasing their Visioning (review here), Dan Lorenzo (Hades, etc.) and Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, etc.) return with a covers EP taking on tracks from the divergent likes of Motörhead, Peter Gabriel, Twisted Sister, Led Zeppelin and KISS. Invariably there’s some homage to influences in the proceedings across Covered in Black — you might say that’s at least part of the idea with covers generally — and as the band unveils the lead cut taking on Twisted Sister‘s chug-happy “Destroyer” with no less than Kyle Thomas (Exhorder, Alabama Thunderpussy, Trouble) sitting in on vocals, the pacing puts a lurching emphasis on the cyclical verses. They doom it out, in other words.

Fair enough. Perhaps for those picking up Covered in Black as an introduction to the band, they include “My Veneration,” the title-track from their 2023 album (review here) at the finish, which puts in light what Patriarchs in Black have done with all the input resulting from a lifelong love of classic metal and doom. I was wondering if they might have re-recorded it — they have a lot of guests, maybe it’s different personnel? — but it seems to just be the song itself. Plenty heavy regardless.

The EP is out Dec. 15 through Brutal Planet Records. Info follows from the PR wire:

PATRIARCHS IN BLACK – Covered in Black (CD Release by Brutal Planet Records)

RELEASE DATE: December 15th, 2024

Preorder link: https://boonesoverstock.com/products/patriarchs-in-black-covered-in-black-cd-2024-brutal-planet-hades-sing-typ-o-negative-drummer-doomy-metal

Brutal Planet Records unveils Covered in Black, an EP by PATRIARCHS IN BLACK that redefines six classic tracks with a dark, riff-heavy twist. Limited to just 500 CDs, this release features five unique covers and one original song, blending doom, metal, and a touch of stoner rock to put a fresh, heavy spin on familiar favorites. With covers of Kiss’s “Rock Bottom,” Twisted Sister’s “Destroyer,” Peter Gabriel’s “Games Without Frontiers,” Motörhead’s “The Chase is Better than the Catch,” and Led Zeppelin’s “Friends,” each track brings the spirit of the original while immersing it in PATRIARCHS IN BLACK’s signature sound.

Founding members Dan Lorenzo (Hades, Non-Fiction) and Johnny Kelly (Type O Negative, Danzig, Quiet Riot) lead this project, with Lorenzo previously collaborating with Bobby Blitz on The Cursed. The EP’s lineup is rounded out by guest vocalists and bassists on each track, adding diverse and dynamic interpretations to the mix. An original song, “My Veneration,” offers a taste of PATRIARCHS IN BLACK’s own sonic vision, built on heavy riffage and dark atmospheres. Housed in a six-panel booklet jewel case, this EP is a must-have for fans of Black Sabbath, Hades and Type O Negative.

Covered in Black celebrates the power of reinvention, pulling these classics into new depths with grit, heaviness, and an unwavering respect for the originals.

TRACKS
Destroyer (Twisted Sister) Featuring Kyle Thomas Exhorder/Trouble
Games Without Frontiers (Peter Gabriel) Featuring Mark Sunshine Unida
Rock Bottom (Kiss)
The Chase is Better than the Catch (Motorhead)
Friends (Led Zeppelin) Featuring Militia Vox
My Veneration (Original / Patriarchs in Black)

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https://patriarchsinblack.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/p/Brutal-Planet-Records-100063583793977/
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Patriarchs in Black, “Destroyer”

Look. I’m not gonna fart around here. This is Solace we’re talking about. It’s not just another oh-hey-band-who-tours-all-the-time-is-announcing-a-tour sort of announcement. This is a different thing. The New Jersey stalwarts, in defiance of science, any and all gods, and general common sense, will in January embark on a rare-these-days stretch of dates outside the Garden State, making their way to Las Vegas to leave a bruise on Planet Desert Rock Weekend V alongside the likes of Mos Generator, Sergeant Thunderhoof, Unida, and so on. I’ll be honest, I’m looking at flights for it. I don’t know that it’s something I can make happen — finding a place to crash will be a crucial determining factor — but if I end up going, Solace will be a big part of why.

The tour launches Jan. 24 in Richmond, Virginia, after a Jan. 3 show in Atlantic City celebrating the birthday of one of the two members in the band named Justin, and if you’ll notice, there are still a couple TBD dates as they make their way through Texas and into the Southwest. They’ve got Dallas, Austin and Phoenix listed, so if you’re in any of those places and can help out, do. Not only is it good karma sure to be repaid by the universe in some manner, but you’re also bound to reap a sick payday from the insurance when Solace blow the roof off whatever room you put them in. Book the gig and get ready to make a claim. I’ve seen them any number of times in any number of situations and they have never, ever, ever, not delivered.

Bonus that they’ll have new material to work out on the road. Their last record was 2019’s The Brink (review here) on Blues Funeral, and 2025 would be as good a time as any for a foll0w-up. But Solace don’t owe anyone anything, so whatever they do and whenever they do it, it’s a thing to be treasured.

From the PR wire:

SOLACE will be hitting the road January 2025 on our way out to Vegas for Planet Desert Rock Fest.

We are thrilled that we’re finally going to play a few cities that we haven’t had the chance to visit.

Right now we’re polishing up new material and plan to get into the studio next spring for the follow-up to The Brink. We’ll be playing some of this on the road for sure as well as a few “classics” from our earlier years.

Solace live:
-Fri Jan. 3rd Atlantic City, NJ @ Anchor Rock Club, Justin’s Birthday Bash w/ Michael Rudolph Cummings & Johnny Pipe, Featuring “Master of Ceremonies” BRIAN O’HALLORAN
-Thurs Jan. 23rd Richmond, VA @ Bandito’s w/ Book of Wyrms
-Fri Jan. 24th Atlanta, GA @ Star Bar w/ Hot Ram
-Sat Jan. 25th New Orleans, LA @ Siberia
-Mon Jan. 27th Houston, TX @ Black Magic Social Club
-Tues Jan. 28th TBD, Dallas
-Wed Jan. 29th TBD, Austin
-Fri Jan. 31st TBD, Phoenix
-Sat Feb. 1st Las Vegas, NV @ Planet Desert Rock Fest
-Fri March 28 Baltimore, MD @ The Depot
-Sat March 29 Columbus, OH @ Ace Of Cups

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Solace, The Brink (2019)