Usually I like to keep my posts nice and neat, all separated and put into their unique classifications, then along comes the recently On the Radar-ed Roareth, screwing it all up. This is the first post in the year-plus The Obelisk has been active to be in not one, not two, but three separate categories. They’ve just put up a video for the song “Act I,” on their MySpace. Okay, so it’s an On the Radar update, it’s Whathaveyou because it’s news, and it’s Bootleg Theater because it’s a video. I don’t know about you, friends, but my mind is blown.

And that’s before I even watched the damn thing:

The tip-off on Roareth came via our friends at StonerRock.com, and it’s notable not only because it’s a new band and, from the track posted on their MySpace, they sound pretty huge and doomed out, but also because the project involves biking/coffee enthusiast and sometimes Obelisk attendee Aaron D.C. Edge, known for his work in a plethora of bands, including Grievous, Iamthethorn, and most recently, Tad Doyle‘s Brothers of the Sonic Cloth.

Aaron‘s playing guitar in Roareth, having vacated his drummer position in the aforementioned Brothers of the Sonic Cloth for reasons I don’t know and so won’t speculate on — Tad recorded the Roareth demo, so I’ll venture to assume there’s little or no animosity there — but ever the journeyman, Edge is right at home in the newborn four-piece. “Act I,” the only track they’ve so far posted, is modern sludge heavy, featuring far off screamed vocals from drummer Ben McIsaac that manage to cut through the distorted molasses riffs, and it’s hard to tell from the still photos if either Pam Sternin or Rachel Lynch is playing a bass, but if not, their three-guitar attack is by no means short on low end.

I think I hear bass on there though. Maybe that’s just me.

In any case, Roareth are definitely worth keeping an eye on, for their sounds as much as their personnel, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the next act takes them. One can only hope that, like “Act I,” it’s to the land of feedback, cracked ride cymbals and sore throats. Right on.