Posted in Whathaveyou on May 1st, 2025 by JJ Koczan
As heavy as Ten Ton Slug‘s 2024 debut LP Colossal Oppressor (review here) sounds, it’s a testament to the vinyl format that the platter can hold the music at all. The Galway-based punishers o’ sludge metal are taking their show on the road this June, heading forth with Diggeth from the Netherlands on a round of dates that includes, wait for it, not one festival.
That’s right, not one. A tour happening in Europe this June, and instead of every third stop being a fest in some other country, they’re slogging it out like it’s the ’90s and the whole thing is still way more punk rock. It’s not the easy way, but it’s a worthy cause, to be sure. And as for all the fests they’re not playing, well, I’m sure intimidation is a factor there, but the album did well enough that they’re embarking on a new pressing, so Ten Ton Slug are very clearly doing something right.
From the PR wire. Note that all those event-page links by the tour dates should work:
Ten Ton Slug announce ‘Colossal Oppressor’ Vinyl 2nd pressing + European co-headline summer tour with Diggeth
Ten Ton Slug release the second vinyl pressing of their acclaimed ‘Colossal Oppressor’ LP on May 1st 2025, one year to the day from the album’s initial release. The initial pressing sold out early this year, with the limited Ooze green variant selling out within the first week of release.
‘Colossal Oppressor’ features guest vocals from Memoriam/Bolt Thrower frontman Karl Willetts on the track ‘Brutus’ and features original artwork from Adam Burke at Nightjar Illustration.
The second pressing comes in two variant colours:
– limited edition 180gm marble red (limited to 150 units) – 180gm black vinyl
The vinyl is available to order now through their bandcamp page (shipping from May 4th) at tentonslug.bandcamp.com, or at the merch stand on their European tour this summer.
Diggeth and Ten Ton Slug – “Slimin’ and Diggin’ Summer Tour 2025”
Ten Ton Slug have teamed up with Netherland’s finest purveyors of rock/metal/blues Diggeth for a summer European tour, embarking on a run of co-headline shows spanning 9 countries. They bring the energetic and powerful live performances that both bands have become known for to new territories in a mutual European riff assault.
The ‘Slimin and Diggin Europe 2025’ tour begins in the Netherlands at the end of May and finishes with a show in Paris on June 11th. Shows will feature local support, with the exception of Ljubljana where the bands are supporting Bewitcher, and Wiesbaden where Ten Ton Slug support Eyehategod.
The poster and merch artwork is a collaboration between longtime Slug artist and former bassist Eoghain Wynne (at Screwtape Designs) and Gert-Jan Aaltink (Cult Art Shop Nijverdal/Zwolle)
Ten Ton Slug play riff-laden sludge from the west of Ireland and have shared stages with Black Label Society, Corrosion of Conformity, Crowbar, Jinjer and many more, while Diggeth play a mix of metal, blues and rock from the Netherlands and have supported bands such as Soulfly, Black Label Society, Megadeth and Slayer to name but a few.
Ten Ton Slug: Rónán Ó hArrachtáin – Vocals Pavol Rosa – Bass Sean Sullivan – Guitars/Vocals Kelvin Doran – Drums* *All drums written and arranged by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin
By the time today is through — come hell or high water! — we will be at the halfway point of this two-week Quarterly Review. It hasn’t been difficult so far, though there are ups and downs always and I don’t think I’m giving away secrets when I tell you that in listening to 50 records some are going to be better than others.
Truth is that even outside the 100 LPs, EPs, etc., I have slated, there’s still a ton more. Even in something so massive, there’s an element of picking and choosing what goes in. Curation is the nice word for it, though it’s not quite that creatif in my head. Either way, I hope you’ve found something that connects this week. If not yet, then today. If not today, then maybe next week. As I’m prone to say on Fridays, we’re back at it on Monday.
Quarterly Review #41-50:
—
Pallbearer, Mind Burns Alive
While I won’t take away from the rawer energy and longing put into their earlier work, maturity suits Pallbearer. The Little Rock, Arkansas, four-piece of vocalist/guitarist Brett Campbell, guitarist/backing vocalist Devin Holt, bassist/synthesist/backing vocalist Joseph D. Rowland and drummer Mark Lierly have passed their 15th anniversary between 2020’s Forgotten Days (review here) and the self-recorded six tracks of Mind Burns Alive, and they sound poised harnessing new breadth and melodic clarity. They’ve talked about the album being stripped down, and maybe that’s true to some degree in the engrossing-anyhow opener “When the Light Fades,” but there’s still room for sax on the 10-minute “Endless Place,” and the quieter stretches of the penultimate “Daybreak” highlight harmonized vocals before the bass-weighted riff sweeps in after the three-minute mark. Campbell has never sounded stronger or more confident as a singer, and he’s able to carry the likewise subdued intro to “Signals” with apparent sincerity and style alike. The title-track flashes brighter hopes in its later guitar solo leads, but they hold both their most wistful drift and their most crushing plod for closer “With Disease,” because five records and countless tours (with more to come) later, Pallbearer very clearly know what the fuck they’re doing. I hope having their own studio leads to further exploration from here.
With its six pieces arranged so that side A works from its longest track to its shortest and side B mirrors by going shortest to longest, Denver‘s BleakHeart seem to prioritize immersion on their second full-length, Silver Pulse, as “All Hearts Desire” unfolds fluidly across nearly eight minutes, swelling to an initial lumbering roll that evaporates as they move into the more spacious verse and build back up around the vocals of Kiki GaNun (also synth) and Kelly Schilling (also bass, keys and more synth). Emotional resonance plays at least as much of a role throughout as the tonal weight intermittently wrought by JP Damron and Mark Chronister‘s guitars, and with Joshua Quinones on drums giving structure and movement to the meditations of “Where I’m Disease” before leaving the subsequent “Let Go” to its progression through piano, drone and a sit-in from a string quartet that leads directly into “Weeping Willow,” the spaces feel big and open but never let the listener get any more lost in them than is intended. This is the first LP from the five-piece incarnation of BleakHeart, which came together in 2022, and the balance of lushness and intensity as “Weeping Willow” hits its culmination and recedes into the subdued outset of “Falling Softly” and the doomed payoff that follows bodes well, but don’t take that as undercutting what’s already being accomplished here.
Austria’s Pryne — also stylized all-caps: PRYNE — threaten to derail their first album before it’s even really started with the angular midsection breakdown of “Can-‘Ka No Rey,” but that the opener holds its course and even brings that mosher riff back at the end is indicative of the boldness with which they bring together the progressive ends of metal and heavy rock throughout the 10-song/46-minute offering, soaring in the solo ahead of the slowdown in “Ramification,” giving the audience 49 seconds to catch its breath after that initial salvo with “Hollow Sea” before “Abordan” resumes the varied onslaught with due punch, shove and twist, building tension in the verse and releasing in the melodic chorus in a way that feels informed by turn-of-the-century metal but seeming to nod at Type O Negative in the first half bridge of “Cymboshia” and refusing flat-out to do any one thing for too long. Plotted and complex even as “The Terrible End of the Yogi” slams out its crescendo before the Baronessy verse of “Plaguebearer” moves toward a stately gang shout and squibbly guitar tremolo, they roll out “Enola” as a more straight-ahead realignment before the drone interlude “Shapeless Forms” bursts into the double-kick-underscored thrash of closer “Elder Things,” riding its massive groove to an expectedly driving end. You never quite know what’s coming next within the songs, but the overarching sense of movement becomes a uniting factor that serves the material well regardless of the aggression level in any given stretch.
Backed by looped percussive ticks and pops and the cello-esque melody of the gudok, Toronto experimental singer-songwriter Avi C. Engel is poised as they ask in the lyrics of “Breadcrumb Dance,” “How many gods used to run this place/Threw up their hands, went into real estate” near the center of the seven-song Too Many Souls LP. Never let it be said there wasn’t room for humor in melancholy. Engel isn’t new to exploring folkish intimacy in various contexts, and Too Many Souls feels all the more personal even in “Wooly Mammoth” or second cut “Ladybird, What’s Wrong?” which gets underway on its casual semi-ramble with the line, “One by one I watch them piss into the sun,” for the grounded perspective at root. An ongoing thread of introspection and Engel‘s voice at the center draw the songs together as these stories are told in metaphor — birds return in the album’s second half with “The Oven Bird’s Song” but there’s enough heart poured in that it doesn’t need to be leaned into as a theme — and before it moves into its dreamstate drone still with the acoustic guitar beneath, “Without Any Eyes” brings through its own kind of apex in Engel‘s layered delivery. Topped with a part-backmasked take on the traditional “Wayfaring Stranger” that’s unfortunately left as an instrumental, Too Many Souls finds Engel continuing their journey of craft with its own songs as companions for each other and the artist behind them.
The 13-minute single “Ultrawest” follows behind Aktopasa‘s late-2022 Argonauta Records debut, Journey to the Pink Planet (review here), and was reportedly composed to feature in a documentary of the same name about the reshaping of post-industrial towns in Colorado. It is duly spacious in its slow, linear, instrumentalist progression. The Venice, Italy, three-piece of guitarist Lorenzo Barutta, bassist Silvio Tozzato and drummer Marco Sebastiano Alessi are fluid as they maintain the spirit of the jam that likely birthed the song’s floating atmospherics, but there’s a plan at work as well as they bring the piece to fruition, with Alessi subtly growing more urgent around 10 minutes in to mark the shift into an ending that never quite bursts out and isn’t trying to, but feels like resolution just the same. A quick, hypnotic showcase of the heavy psychedelic promise the debut held, “Ultrawest” makes it easy to look forward to whatever might come next for them.
Right onto the list of 2024’s best debuts goes Guenna‘s Peak of Jin’Arrah, specifically for the nuance and range the young Swedish foursome bring to their center in heavy progressive fuzz riffing. One might look at a title like “Bongsai” or “Weedwacker” (video premiered here) and imagine played-to-genre stoner fare, but Guenna‘s take is more ambitious, as emphasized in the flute brought to “Bongsai” at the outset and the proclivity toward three-part harmonies that’s unveiled more in the nine-minute “Dimension X,” which follows. The folk influence toward which that flute hints comes forward on the mostly-acoustic closer “Guenna’s Lullaby,” which takes hold after the skronk-accompanied, full-bore push that caps “Wizery,” but by that point the context for such shifts has been smoothly laid out as being part of an encompassing and thoughtful songwriting process that in less capable hands would leave “Ordric Major” disjointed and likely overly aggressive. Even as they make room for the guest lead vocals of Elin Pålsson on “Dark Descent,” Guenna walk these balances smoothly and confidently, and if you don’t believe there’s a generational shift happening right now — at this very moment — in Scandinavia, Peak of Jin’Arrah stands ready to convince you otherwise. There’s a lot of work between here and there, but Guenna hold the potential to be a significant voice in that next-gen emergence.
The interplay of stoner-metal tonal density and languid vocal melody in “I Thought I Would Not” sets an atmospheric mood for Slow Green Thing on their fourth LP, Wetterwarte / Waltherstrasse, which the Dresden-based four-piece seem to have recorded in two sessions between 2020 and 2022. That span of time might account for some of the scope between the songs as “Thousand Deaths” holds out a hand into the void staring back at it and the subsequent “Whispering Voices” answers the proggy wash and fuzzed soloing of “Tombstones in My Eyes” with roll and meditative float alike, but I honestly don’t know what was recorded when and there’s no real lack of cohesion within the aural mists being conjured or the heft residing within it, so take that as you will. It’s perhaps less of a challenge to put temporal considerations aside since Slow Green Thing seem so at home in the flow that plays out across Wetterwarte / Waltherstrasse‘s six songs and 44 minutes, remaining in control despite veering into more aggressive passages and basing so much of what they do on entrancing and otherworldly vibe. And while the general superficialities of thickened tones and soundscaping, ‘gaze-type singing and nod will be familiar, the use made of them by Slow Green Thing offers a richer and deeper experience revealed and affirmed on repeat listens.
Don’t expect a lot of trickery in Ten Ton Slug‘s awaited first full-length record, Colossal Oppressor, which delivers its metallic sludge pummel with due transparency of purpose. That is to say, the Galway, Ireland, trio aren’t fucking around. Enough so that Bolt Thrower‘s Karl Willetts shows up on a couple of songs. Varied but largely growled or screamed vocals answer the furious chug and thud of “Balor,” and while “Ghosts of the Ooze” later on answers back to the brief acoustic parts bookending opener “The Ooze” ahead of “Mallacht an tSloda” arriving like a sledgehammer only to unfold its darkened thrash and nine-plus-minute closer “Mogore the Unkind” making good on its initial threat with the mosh-ready riffing in its second half, there’s no pretense in those or any of the other turns Colossal Oppressor makes, and there doesn’t need to be when the songs are so refreshingly crushing. These guys have been around for over a decade already, so it’s not a surprise necessarily to find them so committed to this punishing mission, but the cathartic bloodletting resonates regardless. Not for everyone, very much for some on the more extreme end of heavy.
Don’t let the outward Beatles-bouncing pop-psych friendly-acid traditionalism of “Goodbye Suzy” lull you into thinking San Francisco psych rockers Magic Fig‘s self-titled debut is solely concerned with vintage aesthetics. While accessible even in the organ-and-synth prog flourish of “PS1” — the keyboards alone seeming to span generations — and the more foreboding current of low end under the shuffle and soft vocals of “Obliteration,” the six-song/28-minute LP is no less effective in the rising cosmic expanse that builds into “Labyrinth” than the circa-’67 orange-sun lysergic folk-rock that rolls out from there — that darker edge comes back around, briefly, in a stop around the two-minute mark; it’s hard to know which side is imagining the other, but “Labyrinth” is no less fun for that — and “Distant Dream,” which follows, is duly transcendent and fluid. Given additional character via the Mellotron and birdsong-inclusive meditation that ends it and the album as a whole, “Departure” nonetheless feels intentional in its subtly synthy acoustic-and-voice folkish strum, and its intricacy highlights a reach one hopes Magic Fig will continue to nurture.
If you followed along with Dortmund, Germany’s Scorched Oak on their 2020 debut, Withering Earth (review here), as that album dug into classic heavy rock as a means of longer-form explorations, some of what they present in the 39 minutes of Perception might make more sense. There was plenty of dynamic then too in terms of shifts in rhythm and atmosphere, and certainly second-LP pieces like “Mirrors” and “Relief” come at least in part from a similar foundation — I’d say the same of the crescendo verse of “Oracle” near the finish — but the reportedly-recorded-live newer offering finds the band making a striking delve into harder and more metallic impacts on the whole. An interplay of gruff — gurgling, almost — and soulful melodic vocals is laid out as opener/longest track (immediate points) “Delusion” resolves the brooding toms of its verse with post-metal surges. Perhaps it’s obvious enough that it doesn’t need to be said, but Scorched Oak aren’t residing in a single feel or progression throughout, and the intensity and urgency of “Reflection” land with a directness that the closing “Oracle” complements in its outward spread. The element of surprise makes Perception feel somewhat like a second debut, but that they pull off such an impression is in itself a noteworthy achievement, never mind how much less predictable it makes them or the significant magnitude of these songs.
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 15th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
As is the case here, I often ask bands for quotes about songs, new albums, tours, whatever the news is, really. I think Ten Ton Slug might be the first outfit who’ve ever sent back a blurb about a new single and ended it with an all-caps “OUGH,” in the fine tradition of one Tom G. Warrior. Since the song the Irish burlbringers are unveiling from their upcoming Colossal Oppressor is the aggro-shoving “Ancient Ways,” this could hardly be more appropriate.
“Ancient Ways” brings five-plus minutes of overarching groove, layered growls, shouts and screams, and a largesse-bent approach that, if it was sloppier, you could probably call sludge, but that here stands astride your soon-to-be-hammer-smashed skull with poise in its own violence. It’s a big groove, big tone, big riffs, and the vibe is punishment, but almost certainly the kind of punishment inflicted on one’s neck after a night of headbanging, however ominous the threat of the album’s title.
Ten TonSlug journey to the US in June for Maryland Doom Fest, and they’ve got dates in Limerick and Dublin before they travel. More on that, the quote, and of course the song follow here, courtesy of the PR wire:
Ten Ton Slug on “Ancient Ways”:
The album ‘Colossal Oppressor’ concerns itself primarily on the theme of oppression in its many guises, and on the many ways it is inflicted on humanity by the world and by the Slug. ‘Ancient Ways’ is one of two tracks on the album (along with the Irish language track – ‘Mallacht an tSloda’) which deals with this theme not from the perspective of the oppressor, but instead from the perspective of those under the yoke of unbearable hardship. More specifically it reveals the mindset and determination needed to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, to face the monster and beat it to the earth, to ultimately summon your power, and move forward.
The track is blues inspired with a stoner feel, featuring big dirty riffs and colossal drums. OUGH.
Ten Ton Slug release the 2nd single from the upcoming album ‘Colossal Oppressor’ which releases everywhere on May 1st on Vinyl, CD and Digital
The song ‘Ancient Ways’ is more stoner/blues/melody driven than the previous single yet contains all the elements one has come to expect from the Slug and more. Huge riffs, pummelling drums and grooves and melodies that stick in your head.
Subjugation approaches.
Catch the Slug live in Ireland this May: May 3rd Dolans Limerick (ticket link) May 5th The Grand Social Dublin (ticket link)
And in the USA this June: June 23rd Maryland Doom Fest, Maryland, USA (ticket link)
Ten Ton Slug: Rónán Ó hArrachtáin – Vocals Pavol Rosa – Bass Sean Sullivan – Guitars/Vocals Kelvin Doran – Drums* *All drums written and arranged by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 6th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Preorders are up now for Ten Ton Slug‘s debut full-length, Colossal Oppressor, which the Galway, Ireland, burlbringers will self-release on May 1. To mark the announcement and presumably let listeners know the sort of bludgeoning they’re signing up for in preordering, the band has posted “Mindless and Blind” as the first single from the outing, and it quickly becomes clear they were not lacking self-awareness in their choice of album titles. Presented with a fervent groove and aggressive overarching feel, they take the metal angle on sludge metal and emerge likewise methodical and ferocious. It’s gonna be a heavy record, is what I’m telling you.
Heavy enough they got Karl Willetts from Bolt Thrower in for guest vocals and Adam Burke to do the cover, which, thankfully, features the giant slug you can see below. Crowbar and Sepultura duking it out sound about right? Could be. There’s more here than just that, but it’s a start at least. And it was seven years ago and at least in part a different lineup, but I did get to see these guys one time in Ireland (review here) and they smoked then as well. Relevant as they’ll be coming to the US to feature at Maryland Doom Fest 2024 in June, headlining what was the stage at Olde Mother Brewing but will now be a second stage at Cafe 611, for which there’s ample room. They play Friday, June 21, as per the timetable (posted here).
All other info and the preorder link follow, sourced fresh from the PR wire:
TEN TON SLUG – Colossal Oppressor – May 1
‘Colossal Oppressor’ , the highly-anticipated debut album by Ten Ton Slug, releases May 1st 2024 digitally on all major streaming platforms, and on CD and Vinyl pre-order through Bandcamp.
Following up previous EP releases ‘Brutal Gluttonous Beast’ and ‘Blood & Slime’ and clocking in at just over 40 minutes, ‘Colossal Oppressor’ is the bands first full-length release and represents a natural progression from previous releases with an increased focus on songwriting and dynamics, yet still featuring the trademark huge riffs and pummelling drums that have come to characterise the sound of the Slug.
Featuring guest vocals from Memoriam/Bolt Thrower frontman Karl Willetts on the track ‘Brutus’, Colossal Oppressor represents five years of work and riffs distilled into 8 tracks of unrelenting heaviness. First single stream and pre-orders open March 4th:http://tentonslug.bandcamp.com/
Tracklist: 1. The Ooze 2. Balor 3. Ancient Ways 4. Brutus* 5. Mindless and Blind 6. Ghosts of the Ooze 7. Mallacht an tSloda 8. Mogore the Unkind
*featuring guest vocals by Karl Willetts of Memoriam/ Bolt Thrower
Original hand-painted artwork (acrylic on wood) by Adam Burke at Nightjar Illustration Recorded at Ciaran Culhane Recording in Limerick. Mixed and mastered at Trackmix Recording Studio Dublin by Michael Richards. Produced by Sean Sullivan and Rónán Ó hArrachtáin. All songs written by Ten Ton Slug(Sean Sullivan, Rónán Ó hArrachtáin, Micheal O Suilleabhain, Pavol Rosa). This release was part funded by the Galway City Arts Office. Dedicated to the memory of Dessie Harrington.
Ten Ton Slug: Rónán Ó hArrachtáin – Vocals Pavol Rosa – Bass Sean Sullivan – Guitars/Vocals Kelvin Doran – Drums* *All drums written and arranged by Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2024 by JJ Koczan
Look at the blue text below and you know what you’re gonna see? Yes, a whole lot of skull emojis. Like a lot. But it happens that each individual one corresponds to a demonstration of the labor of love and community that is the Maryland Doom Festival. From Abel Blood through Zekiah, Maryland Doom Fest 2024 celebrates its 10th anniversary edition with its standard sans-bullshit glut of heavy. Once more the Frederick-based event looks your square in the eye, drops for absolutely immersive days on you and asks if you’re up for it. Well, are ya?
I’m not sure what my summer travel plans are yet — this and Freak Valley have overlapped the last couple years for me — but it’s been since 2019 that I was last down there and oh I’d be so eager to show up and have the three or four people who recognize me (and thus make it feel like an absolute family experience; love love love everywhere you go down there) quietly think to themselves I’ve gotten older and fatter en route to obliterating myself with volume for about 96 hours straight. Fuck. King. A.
Oh, and I hear Thunderbird Divine have new stuff in the works and it’s amazing. So that’s a thing too.
Social media had it like this:
We are super stoked to share with you the Maryland Doom Fest 2024 rosters, schedules, and lineups!!!
#4daysofdoom
THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024
✝️Thursday June 20
Cafe 611-
💀 Thunderhorse 1115-1230 💀 The Magpie 1010-1055 💀 Born of Plagues 905-950 💀 Stone Nomads 800-845 💀 Pyre Fyre 700-740 💀 Dirt Eater 600-640
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Spellbook 920-1000 💀 Strange Highways 820-900 💀 Bailjack 720-800 💀 Stone Brew 620-700 💀 Abel Blood 520-600
💀 Ten Ton Slug 915-1000 💀 Thousand Vision Mist 815-855 💀 Crowhunter 715-755 💀 Asthma Castle 615-655 💀 Bonded by Darkness 515-555
✝️Saturday June 22
Cafe 611-
💀 WHORES. 1150-115 💀 AGE/S 1040-1130 💀 Bloodshot 935-1020 💀 O ZORN! 830-915 💀 Double Planet 730-810 💀 Sun Years 630-710 💀 When the Deadbolt Breaks 530-610
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Black Water Rising 915-1000 💀 Switchblade Jesus 815-855 💀 Wyndrider 715-755 💀 Indus Valley Kings 615-655 💀 Vermillion Whiskey 515-555 💀 Doctor Smoke 415-455
✝️Sunday June 23
Cafe 611-
💀 Cirith Ungol 1200-110 💀 Mythosphere 1055-1140 💀 Conclave 955-1035 💀 Compression 855-935 💀 Sons of Arrakis 755-835 💀 Curse the Son 655-735 💀 Kulvera 555-635 💀 Old Blood 500-535 💀 Cloud Machine 405-440
Olde Mother Brewery-
💀 Thunderbird Divine 920-1000 💀 Black Manta 820-900 💀 High Noon Kahuna 720-800 💀 Unity Reggae 620-700 💀 King Bastard 520-600 💀 Zekiah 420-500
52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!! #4daysofdoom
Posted in Whathaveyou on November 1st, 2023 by JJ Koczan
With headlining performances slated from a soon-to-retire Cirith Ungol, noise crushers Whores., mostly-local melodic heavy proggers Mythosphere, Switchblade Jesus, Conclave, Ten Ton Slug (from Ireland; I got to see them one time; way burly; they’ll do well in Frederick), and plenty of other returning acts and newcomers alike, the lineup for Maryland Doom Fest 2024 could hardly be more appropriate a celebration of the annual Chesapeake gathering’s 10th anniversary. Based in Frederick, the four-day ultra-consuming sensory assault of volume will once again take place at Cafe 611 and Olde Mother Brewing, and if you’ve never been, I’ll tell you outright there’s nothing quite like it.
I mean that. Maryland Doom Fest goes harder than the average festival. A day might start at 1PM and not end until 2AM. And now more than ever, as the fest has grown with the two venues running alongside each other, the bill is packed. I think this year was 50 bands? Well, they’ve got 52 for 2024, and while next June is a while out, there’s a tradition to uphold of Halloween announcements, and festival honcho JB Matson (Bloodshot, War Injun, Outside Truth, etc.) pays tribute to his regulars — Shadow Witch, Bailjack, Thunderbird Divine, Thousand Vision Mist (congratulations to Danny Kenyon of Thousand Vision Mist on recently kicking cancer’s ass), among others here — while also giving showcase to outfits like Pyre Fyre, O Zorn! (whose very moniker heralds weirdness), WyndRider and more.
Congrats to Matson and all at Maryland Doom Fest on their 10th anniversary. To do something of this scope once is a lot. To do it across 10 years, well, aside from being fucking crazy, it’s also deeply admirable.
The aforementioned announcement — brief as ever; the poster lands heavy enough to cover any lack of verbiage — follows, courtesy of socials. Ticket link is there too:
WE ARE EXTREMELY PLEASED TO PRESENT TO YOU, THE MARYLAND DOOM FEST 2024 LINEUP!!!!! THIS WILL BE OUR 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION!! (#128128#)(#129304#)(#128128#)
52 bands over a 4 day weekend at 2 venues across the street from one another!! #4daysofdoom
Posted in Whathaveyou on June 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
By my count this is the fifth event to take place under the Crypt of the Riff banner, but I’ll readily admit that count could be off, factoring in various lockdowns, expansions and so on. In any case, the Belfast-based all-dayer boasts a range of regional-type acts, with Ten Ton Slug headlining and Soothsayer, Elder Druid, Nømadus and newcomers True Home rounding out.
I guess if you’re not in the area the likelihood of your making it out is probably minimal, but hey, so is mine. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing what’s happening in different places — it’s kind of notable that Ten Ton Slug headline, as far as I’m concerned — and Ireland and Northern Ireland’s heavy underground is emblematic of a lot of scenes around Europe and the US, self-contained and with an identity of its own, but constantly looking outward for inspiration as well. People off the gets-every-tour circuit making it happen for themselves.
Anyhow, that’s my rant. If you’re in Belfast in July, rock and roll. If not, rock and roll anyway, damnit.
From the internet:
TEN TON SLUG HEADLINE CRYPT OF THE RIFF
Galway’s riff-driven slimy sludgers Ten Ton Slug make their triumphant return to Belfast to headline Crypt of the Riff on Friday 1st July in Voodoo Belfast.
Support on the night includes the return of Cork’s atmospheric doom metal stalwarts Soothsayer, as well as occult-laced riff dealers Elder Druid, groove metallers Nømadus and the Belfast debut of drone metal duo True Home. Stacked bill of riffs & tone.
Friday 1st July 2022 Voodoo Belfast 11A Fountain St, Belfast, BT1 5EA Doors: 7pm Tickets: £12 adv // £15 on the door
Headliners Ten Ton Slug make their long-awaited return to Belfast armed with riff-driven sludge and slime. Ough!
TEN TON SLUG https://www.facebook.com/TenTonSlug SOOTHSAYER https://www.facebook.com/soothsayerdoom ELDER DRUID https://www.facebook.com/elderdruidband NOMADUS https://www.facebook.com/nomadusni TRUE HOME https://www.facebook.com/TrueHomeOfficial
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 6th, 2019 by JJ Koczan
In September, Irish bashers Ten Ton Slug will take stage as part of the considerable lineup for HRH Doom vs. Stoner in Sheffield, England, and that’s well worth anticipating. But rather than sit on their collective ass and wait, the band will also hit Slovenia — and reportedly elsewhere — this summer and this month do a quick run in the UK, three nights over four days, that will include a spot at Hammerfest in Wales. They’re also reportedly working on new material, which makes sense, and below, they offer the announcement officially welcoming bassist Pavol Rosa into the lineup. Clearly a busy time for them, but fortunately they’re heavy enough to live up to their name, so if they get stressed out or whatever, there’s an outlet for it. At least until they blow a fuse.
They put out a video for “Matriarch of Slime” — is it just me thinking of Futurama between that and the band’s name? Slurm, anyone? — last Fall and you’ll find that streaming below, under the info and dates. You know how we do.
Like this:
After a hectic 2018 which saw the band support Black Label Society, Corrosion of Conformity and Conan along with releasing a video for ‘Matriarch of Slime’ and playing Metaldays, Amplified and Manorfest 2018, Ten Ton Slug have announced a change in bassists. Eoghain Wynne has made the decision to step down from bass duties and Pavol Rosa (also of Soothsayer and Zhi Ren) has stepped up to complete the lineup for what looks to be a very busy 2019.
A statement released by the band:
“We are delighted to welcome Pavol Rosa (also of Soothsayer and Zhi Ren) as our new bass Slug.
He has spilled blood for the Slug already at the Siege of Limerick, he played MetalDays 2018 with us and did an incredible job, his work ethic is unreal and he can be powered for 3 days on one cup of sparkling water – Pavol was the only choice for us all as Eoghain’s successor on bass.
Tunes are up to speed, new tunes are ready to go and we’re looking forward to hitting the road together and seeing what 2019 brings!”
Hard at work on the follow-up to 2017’s “Blood and Slime”, Ten Ton Slug embark on a short run of UK shows in late March with shows in Edinburgh (Bannermans, March 20th), an appearance at Hammerfest in Wales (Friday March 22nd) and a London headline show in the Big Red in Holloway (March 23rd). The Slug has also been announced as one of the main stage opening bands at Metaldays 2019 in Slovenia in July and are currently working on securing European dates around this appearance. A prominent slot at HRH Doom vs Stoner in Sheffield in September has also been announced, with more festival slots secured but under wraps for the minute.
Expect to hear new material off the next release on the road from March as the Slug slowly treks across Ireland, the UK and Europe.
