Posted in Bootleg Theater on November 11th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Even unto the very name of the band, drone heavy Connecticut outfit When the Deadbolt Breaks have always done exceedingly well in creating a sense of mire and an atmosphere of threat. Put those two together and what you wind up with is a feeling of impending violence — one that pays off periodically with bursts of grindcore from out of the droning morass — from which there’s no escape. Led by guitarist/vocalist/engineer Aaron Lewis, the band released their latest outing, Drifting toward the Edge of the Earth, last month on Ear One Productions, and basked in the challenge they laid out for their audience over the course of the album’s two discs, an entire one of which they dedicated to the 51-minute exploration, “My Coffin is Loaded with Sand and Fire.”
Rest assured then that the sonics of their lurching, sneaking Godflesh-derived plodding “Sleeps in Burning Hills” are duly fucked. And rest doubly assured that the video for the song, which was directed and edited by Lewis himself (that’s him with the cigar in the image above) and Charlie Winthal, is likewise. Culminating in quick, vague jumpcuts that give way to eerily peaceful footage of forest sunset, there’s a sense the whole time that something vile will happen, is happening, has happened. Lewis doubles as a photographer and is no stranger to fetish-based work, and it’s precisely that air of sexualized violence/violent sexuality that comes through across “Sleeps in Burning Hills.” I won’t spoil the narrative thread, but things hardly seem to turn out well for the lady in the white dress. Take that, purity.
If you think you’re up to the sensory assault that Deadbolt bring to bear across “Sleeps in Burning Hills,” then yeah, you’re probably not. When the Deadbolt Breaks harness a very particular brand of the aurally deranged, and that they’d match it with visuals so fitting here only speaks to an expansion of their disturbing aesthetic. Like an escalating serial killer.
Enjoy:
When the Deadbolt Breaks, “Sleeps in Burning Hills” official video
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 23rd, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Two discs of churning, brooding, grinding doomed malevo-violence — the second of which is comprised solely of the 51-minute five-parter “My Coffin is Loaded with Sand and Fire” — the new Drifting towards the Edge of the Earth from Connecticut bringers-of-darkness When the Deadbolt Breaks is as affecting psychologically as it is sonically. The three-piece outfit’s fourth record will be released on Oct. 1 through Ear One Records, and sure enough, it’s a monster. Challenging and brutal whether raging or creeping in ambient threat,When the Deadbolt Breakshave always promised consumingly bleak fare, and the latest is no exception.
The PR wire has release info for the daring:
WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS: Connecticut Doom Unit Prepares For Release Of Massive Fourth Album
Connecticut’s long-running doom outfit, WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS, is preparing to unload the most massive and expansive recording in their now eight year existence, as their mighty fourth full-length release, aptly entitled Drifting Towards The Edge Of The Earth, nears release.
Formed in 2005 by ex-Cable guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis, alongside bassist/vocalist Mike Parkyn and drummer Rich Kalinowski, WTDB signed with EarOne Productions early this year, and set out to capture their most ambitious work yet. Painstakingly recorded this past Spring at Room SevenZeroEight, mastered by Chris Tobias and Mike Livingston at Ear One Studios, on Drifting Towards The Edge Of The Earth WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS is undoubtedly at their finest and most explorative hour. The nearly two-hour-long 2xCD takes the listener on an extensive and extremely lengthy, yet completely engulfing and never lagging voyage through the cosmos and through the annals of sludge/doom. Devastating amplification boasts everything the talented members can create; mournful segues, booming classic rock ballad riffs, mystical and melodic interludes and straightforward, thunderous riffage coalesce into an exceptionally diverse album fans of Sleep, YOB, Ufomammut, Samothrace, Ramesses, Cable and the like will indisputably benefit from experiencing.
With an official street date for Towards The Edge Of The Earth confirmed for October 1st, WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS will host a CD release show this Friday, September 27th in Wallingford, Connecticut with support from Pristina and Rozamov. Admission is only $10 and includes a copy of the band’s new 2xCD ahead of street date. At this show the band will be doing a long set playing almost their entire Drifting Towards The Edge Of The Earth opus to their local fans and friends.
Stay tuned for more music from the album to be released in the coming days.
WHEN THE DEADBOLT BREAKS Live: 9/27/2013 Cherry Street Station – Wallingford, CT w/ Pristina, Rozamov
Posted in Whathaveyou on August 7th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
I haven’t gotten the lab results back yet, but I’m pretty sure two solid hours of exposure to the tornado of aural malevolence that When the Deadbolt Breaks conjures could have lasting psychological effects. The Connecticut trio have announced that their fourth album, the no-less-cumbersomely-named Drifting Toward the Edge of the Earth, is available now for pre-order through Ear One Records and that it will ship out as a 2CD digipak later this month. Goodness gracious that’s a lot of doom.
Here’s the info:
When the Deadbolt Breaks is releasing our 4th full length record with Ear One Productions. This record is close to 2 hours long on 2 cds. This record is our heart and soul, while we are currently writing for a new record yet again, we pushed ourselves with “Drifting Toward the Edge of the Earth”. Its dark, eclectic and honest.
After a ton of work, we are really psyched to have landed When The Deadbolt Breaks a record deal w/ Ear One Records… (Just in case you didn’t know When The Deadbolt Breaks is Aaron Lewis, Mike Parkyn and Rich Kalinowski). The record label is doing a really cool pre order special where you get the CD (it’s a double CD!) for $10… ($13 w/ shipping). If you’re able to swing ordering the CD, we would be hugely great full for the show of support. So, just throwing it out there… If you have the $13 to spare, we would really appreciate you doing a pre order.
“Drifting Towards The Edge Of The Earth” the new double album from CT’s When The Deadbolt Breaks A nearly two-hour-long diverse, debilitating doom/sludge metamorphosis taking place, the mammoth album is available as a limited edition double CD digipak.
This is a pre-order. Digipaks are expected to start shipping on or around Aug. 27, 2013
Posted in Whathaveyou on April 11th, 2013 by JJ Koczan
Comprising what’s sure to be a weekend full of riffs, fuzz and grooving stomp, the inaugural Moving the Earth festival is set to roll out at The Windup Space in scenic (if you like stoner rock, anyway) Baltimore, Maryland. It shares a weekend with Days of the Doomed III out in Wisconsin, but for anyone on the East Coast lamenting not being able to make the trip to the Midwest, the lineup below certainly makes a compelling argument in its own favor, with The Flying Eyes assuming a headliner position among stalwart Marylanders like War Injun and Weed is Weed while out-of-towners like When the Deadbolt Breaks and Borracho add variety to the still-quite-heavy mix.
Here’s to the first of many:
Moving the Earth Fest, June 22-23 at The Windup Space, Baltimore, MD
You can hear the low rumble in the distance getting deafeningly louder with every closing second… Plumes of diesel smoke, fire, and dust billow upwards to block out the sun… An army of sonic bulldozers are coming together to lay waste to the Mid Atlantic region’s musical landscape…….
The MOVING THE EARTH FEST, a two day celebration of all that is Heavy/ Stoner-Rock / Psych/ and Doom will take place at The Windup Space in Baltimore MD Saturday/ Sunday June 22nd and 23rd…….
MOVING THE EARTH FEST DAY 1
Saturday June 22nd The Flying Eyes -(Baltimore psych rock heavyweights/ headliner) Foghound – (ex Sixty Watt Shaman/ Halfway To Gone) Weed is Weed – (ex Spirit Caravan / Earthride) War Injun -(MD Doom legends) When the Deadbolt Breaks -(NY/CT experimental, psychedelic, doom) Wasted Theory – (Philly/ Del Stoner Rawk) The Deserts of Maine -(ex Wooly Mammoth) The Walking Ghost – (Aaron from W.t.d.b.- solo accoustic opener)
MOVING THE EARTH FEST DAY 2
Sunday June 23rd 2013 Bastards of Reality (AllStar KickAss Black Sabbath tribute/ headliner) The Convocation – (ex-Moss Icon, Universal Order of Armageddon, & Born Against) The 91’s -(PA Stoner Fuzz) Borracho -(DC Stoner rock bulldozers) Lazlo Lee and the Motherless Children – (manic garage/psych/ blues) We are Blackbirds – (“heavy wood” prog/stonerrock) Balors Eye -(inspired prog /tech metal w/ crushing grooves) Ophidian – (bleak sludge/ doom)
Venue: the Windup Space 12 W. North Avenue, Baltimore, MD. (410) 244-8855
Five bands, five states. Well, NYC has never been anything if it hasn’t been a melting pot, so when Black Thai (from Massachusetts), Infernal Overdrive (New Jersey), When the Deadbolt Breaks (Connecticut), John Wilkes Booth (Long Island, NY) and Wasted Theory (Delaware) converge on Tobacco Road in Manhattan on April 6, at least it’ll be in the borough’s long-standing tradition. If you’re on Thee Facebooks, the event page is here, and I thought I’d share the poster for the show, since it’s awesome.
Behold:
Five bands for $7 is a pretty heavy deal, if you’re into bargain-hunting.
Posted in Whathaveyou on September 19th, 2012 by JJ Koczan
If you haven’t yet, head over to Doommantia and donate some cash to help Ed Barnard, the owner of that site, get back on his feet. Anyone who’s ever spoken to him, myself included, will tell you Ed‘s a great dude, and a huge supporter of this weird underground community, and it’s times like this that the community needs to come together for one of its own.
Back at the end of July, Ed suffered a heart attack and as a result of not being able to pay the ensuing nightmarish medical bills, is homeless and living in a tent. It’s pretty bleak times, and as an admirer of Ed‘s work and his dedication, I encourage you to please, please take a couple seconds and throw a couple bucks his way. I didn’t realize it at the time, but he’s apparently also giving away Wizardrone CDs to anyone who donates $20 or more.
But seriously, don’t do it for the free CD. Do it because this is a small community as compared to the outside world, and if we don’t take care of each other when we need to, we suck just as much as everyone else.
On Oct. 13, at Lallo’s in Knoxville, Maryland, they’ll be throwing a Doommantia Bash to help out Ed‘s cause. Bands are still being confirmed, but so far on the bill are War Injun, Against Nature, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Fire Faithful, Foghound, Ghutt, Akris, and Balam, with more to come.
Posted in Features on August 31st, 2012 by JJ Koczan
I’m not sure how long my laptop battery is going to last, or what I’m going to do when it dies, but the idea for tonight is to write as much as I can while I’m actually at the El ‘n’ Gee in New London for the second night of Stoner Hands of Doom XII. Tomorrow starts earlier, so I don’t know when else I’ll have time to write.
In other words, I basically said “Fuck it, I’ll do it live.”
What you see in the photo above is the view from the couch I’m sitting on in the corner of the bar area. There are no plugs in the walls save for one that’s otherwise occupied. Tonight’s lineup is seven bands, which is one more than yesterday. Connecticut natives When the Deadbolt Breaks are setting up their gear behind me on the stage, and they’ll be followed in turn by Wizard Eye from Philadelphia, Long Island’s own John Wilkes Booth, Massachusetts’ Faces of Bayon, CT’s Lord Fowl, Maryland doomers Revelation. Rhode Island upstarts Pilgrim will close out the night. They’re here already wandering around, as are the Wizard Eye dudes.
Gonna be a good time no matter what else goes down, I’ve got no doubt. It’s also fest organizer Rob Levey‘s birthday tonight, so to Rob, happy birthday from the couch.
Night two of SHoD XII gets underway in about an hour, give or take. I’ll hopefully have updates as we go along, added to this post.
When the Deadbolt Breaks
UPDATE 7:43PM: As ever, Connecticut natives When the Deadbolt Breaks dipped their audience in a distortion caked coating of the truly deranged. They’ve gotten a new bassist since I last saw them, guitarist/vocalist Aaron Lewis perpetually chasing a rhythm section that can keep pace with him, both in tempo and tone. And by “keep pace,” I mean play slow as fuck. Reportedly, the second platter of Deadbolt‘s forthcoming 2LP release is one 60-minute-long song. That’s probably a solid format for the band to work in, as Lewis‘ songs have always tended to wander into these sort of pits of ambient quicksand. When he spaces out thusly, the atmospherics are almost always hypnotic, such as 10 minutes ago, when John Wilkes Booth vocalist Kerry Merkle had to rouse me back to conscious before handing me a couple stickers. The crux of Deadbolt‘s approach though is playing those sections off the droning doom that follows and metering them with sections of mournful, Danzig-style clean singing. There still isn’t a subgenre designation for what they do, but maybe sooner or later someone will come up with something. In any case, with all the lights turned low and a projector going, they were a suitably menacing start to tonight’s diverse roster of acts.
Wizard Eye
UPDATE 8:41PM: Guitarist/vocalist Erik from Philly trio Wizard Eye looked the part of the wizard manning his theremin, his dreadlocks dragging on the floor of the stage behind him, impossibly long. Long like you think of roads as being long. The three-piece blended Weedeater sludge with Fu Manchu stonerisms, had some Sabbath in there of course, but did not short either on aggression. Erik does guest leads on the new Clamfight CD and he showed off a bit of that prowess as well, in between bursts of dual-vocals with bassist Dave while Scott slammed away behind. They’ve got a CD for sale that I’ll pick up before the night is through, I’ve no doubt. This despite the incense on the stage behind Erik, which has now made the front of the El ‘n’ Gee smell like a teenager’s bedroom. Part of the package, I guess, and if it’s to be a total sensory experience, I suppose I shouldn’t complain. They were — what’s the word again? — heavy. Some familiar elements, but put to good use, and the theremin went a long way in adding to the overall wash of noise. Stone and tone: It’s not exactly the new math when it comes to this kind of thing, but Wizard Eye did well with it. The balance of the vocal mics was a little off coming through the house, but I get the sense in a smaller room, they’d be absolutely crushing. Philly’s Kung Fu Necktie, perhaps, or some basement where the soundwaves have no place to go and no choice but to cleave your skull.
John Wilkes Booth
UPDATE 9:33PM: I’ve known these dudes for years. Played shows with them, seen them come into their own as a band. It’d been a while though, and in the interim, John Wilkes Booth — as bands will do — wrote a shitload of new material. Also, apparently at some point Kerry Merkle‘s megaphone had babies and grew an entire family of effects pedals for the vocalist. Well done, proud papa. It’s been over three years since they released their Sic Semper Tyrannisfull-length (review here), so maybe they’re due for a new record as well. In any case, their crunching ’90s riffs — not quite stoner, not quite noise, but definitely heavy and skirting the line between the two — did not fail to satisfy, and Merkle‘s effects added complexity to what, admittedly, I used to enjoy the rawness of, without necessarily distracting from what bassist Harry, drummer Christian and subdued guitarist Jason were doing. Solid heavy rock band, as ever, and it’ll be interesting to hear how the vocal extras factor into a new recording. Actually, I guess I’d just like to hear a new recording, however the pedals may or may not play into it. These guys pretty obviously just do it because they love to do it, and that’s always welcome on any stage I happen to be in front of.
Faces of Bayon
UPDATE 10:25PM: If the next wave of stuff people decide to give a shit about was to be doom riffing mixed with old school death metal, I’d be happy to watch Massachusetts’ own Faces of Bayon lead the charge. Before the set even started, the charm was evident, as guitarist/vocalist Matt Smith asked the crowd in a low growl if they liked stoner doom. Later, after his amp cut out in the middle of one of the tracks from their Heart of the Fire LP — which, pros to the last, bassist Ron Miles and drummer Mike Brown kept going — Smith apologized to the crowd with a simple, “Sorry,” before resuming his tale of the fall of Lucifer in a low, throaty whisper. No substitute for that kind of charm, and to go with it, Faces of Bayon were crushingly heavy, Miles playing a six-string in the deathly tradition. I don’t think the winds of trend will ever blow in their favor, but I also don’t think they give a shit. They closed with a new song from an upcoming album which Smith said would be recorded this fall, and I guess someone needs to tell these dudes Labor Day’s on Monday so they can get on it. That last album got a huge response, so I’ll look forward to seeing how the next one comes out. If their closer was anything to go by, you can bet on slow, heavy and evil, with more than just a dash of stoner.
Lord Fowl
UPDATE 11:11PM: Double kudos to Connecticut’s Lord Fowl for not only rocking the house, but for rocking the house after the ultra-doom bestowed upon it by Faces of Bayon. I had wondered how the transition would go from Faces of Bayon‘s downer moodiness and morose heavy to Lord Fowl‘s upbeat arena-ready hooks, but the latter more than pulled it off. Their record, being the last one I reviewed before leaving to come up here on Thursday, was still pretty fresh in my head, but even those who didn’t know the songs were hooked by the time the four-piece were through album and set opener “Moon Queen” and its follow-up “Touch that Groove.” Another transition straight off the Moon Queen album that worked really well was “Streets of Evermore” into “Dirty Driving,” guitarist/vocalists Vechel Jaynes and Mike Pellegrino trading off lead spots in the process. I don’t know how much of the audience knew the songs going into the set, but Lord Fowl’s brand of rock is basically undeniable if you’ve ever had a ’70s chorus stuck in your head. They were unafraid to smile on stage, and everywhere they went, they made sure the crowd came with them. It was a lot of fun, and I still think there’s a lot more potential to them even than they showed tonight, though they showed plenty.
Revelation
UPDATE 12:17AM: Of the handful of times I’ve seen Maryland doom stalwarts Revelation, this was easily the best. If you want to think of this weekend as one huge tone-off, then John Brenner and Bert Hall are the dudes who sneak in just at the last minute totally unsuspecting and walk away with the prize. They didn’t play anything new — as Brenner said on stage, they don’t know the songs — but their set was tighter and more energetic than I’ve ever seen from them. They weren’t jumping around the stage by any means, not thrashing about, but they delivered all the same. Brenner’s Laney sounded gorgeous, Hall played a bass that had an axe built into the body — one assumes it’s in case he has to chop wood in the middle of the set — and drummer Steve Branagan held down both quiet and loud with ease. Like several of the acts tonight — When the Deadbolt Breaks, John Wilkes Booth, Faces of Bayon — they’ve got new material in the works (as a recent audio stream will attest), but as the penultimate band of the night, they did well bridging a sizable gap in modus between Lord Fowl and Pilgrim still to come. The room has mostly cleared out and it’s getting late, but the people still here are glad to be, alternating between partying outside in the fenced patio area of the El ‘n’ Gee and just getting drunk(er) at the bar. Either way.
Pilgrim
UPDATE 1:14AM: That picture above of Pilgrim was taken before the show started. Much to the credit of the hot-as-hell Rhode Island trio, they were here the whole show, and didn’t leave so far as I know as so many who played did. Maybe they went and got a bite to eat or something like that — to be fair, I wasn’t keeping tabs on them all night. Before their set started, they asked specifically to play in the dark, and the request was granted, so I was doubly glad to have snapped a few shots outside of them on the couch outside on the sidewalk. They’re the first band to play this fest that everyone in the place went right to the front of the stage to see. I stood back, and I think doing so helped me to see what it is about them that has the hype rolling so hard. To share: They’re young, and they’re frighteningly cohesive. They play off familiar elements — slow riffs, emotional anguish — but do so with strong performances and an air of sincerity. If you wanted to paint a picture of an exciting young act in the genre, that picture would probably look a lot like Pilgrim, and whatever excitement they have around them, they do well to justify it with the promise they show both on stage and in their recorded work. They were a great cap for the night and had a tremendous response. No complaints from my end. The only x-factor is if they can keep it together, but pending that, they’re most definitely on the right track. If nothing else, they’ve proven they’re a band worth pulling for.
UPDATE 2:25AM: Blue moon indeed. It’s full and up there and hard to argue with, and I’m down by the shoreline of the Long Island Sound outside with the laptop and I’m tired but things have been far worse. The trip back from New London to here was uneventful, at least in comparison to the evening preceding. Tomorrow I’m going to have to figure out a way to see every band play and also provide myself with some basic kind of nutrition. There’s a grease truck in the public parking lot across the street from the El ‘n’ Gee. The last two nights in a row I’ve been tempted to get a cheeseburger for the ride and both times I’ve chickened out and just gotten a bottle of water. Maybe tomorrow will be my day.
Akris are slated to open the gig at noon. I doubt they’ll actually start on time, but that’s what’s slated to go down, so I’m going to try to be there before then. I’ll crash out in a couple minutes, but not just yet.
Posted in Whathaveyou on March 1st, 2012 by JJ Koczan
I’ve long been a fan of Connecticut’s When the Deadbolt Breaks, and as I’ve been lucky enough to hear their forthcoming album, Drifting Towards the End of the Earth, I can safely say it’s a monster. The new songs continue their malevolent, grim ultra-doom and still work in enough melody to make you hear bleeding-out echoes. There’s something about them that sounds like shattered glass to me.
The band’s management sent word of their new bassist down the PR wire, so here goes:
Psychedelic doom cult, When the Deadbolt Breaks is pleased to announce the addition of new bassist, Mike Parkyn. Being a long time friend of When the Deadbolt Breaks main man, Aaron Lewis, helped make for a quick and natural transition bringing Mike into the fold. “I’ve known Mike for well over 20 years and have always considered him one of the best musicians I’ve known. When I heard that he was interested in working with When the Deadbolt Breaks, I jumped at the chance to get him down here to jam. It’s obvious that he’s going to add a lot to the over all vibe of what we do. We both share a lust for vintage gear and heavy as hell music, I consider this to be When the Deadbolt Breaks‘ natural progression, and we welcome Mike and his talents on board.”
The band has been hulled up in Room SevenZeroEight Studios working on their highly anticipated upcoming release, Drifting Towards the End of the Earth, months have been spent experimenting and developing what promises to be their heaviest and most dynamic release to date. With recording sessions wrapped up in early 2012, the band commissioned Andrew Devlin to handle the album art.
In related news, When the Deadbolt Breaks, has also recently resigned with 313 Inc.Artist Management, also home to Sixty Watt Shaman, Hour of 13, KingGiant, Order of the Owl and Borracho.
