Pentagram – Last Rites

Crack is a helluva drug. Pentagram mainman Bobby Liebling was hooked on the stuff for a long, long time and saw many bands he’s influenced crawl past him in the doom metal sweepstakes. After decades years of fluctuating line ups, shady record deals and spotty releases he seems to have gotten himself straightened out and is back with a good new album, Last Rites on Metal Blade Records. I was on the fence about picking this up but knowing that long suffering guitarist Victor Griffin had rejoined Pentagram again was a big selling point.

Right off the bat, Pentagram comes out swinging hard on opening song “Treat Me Right.” For a band considered one of the pioneers of doom metal they throw down a Motorhead worthy scorcher. Victor’s tone is hella-huge as he fires up a killer speedy riff and the band kicks in. Bobby’s voice sounds stronger than it has in a long time and you can just see his Marty Feldman bug eyes popping as he spits out the lyrics. We’re off to a good start!

“Call The Man” returns to more familiar doomy Pentagram material and lets the stomping rhythm section of Greg Turley (bass) and Tim Tomaselli (drums) shine on this one. Tim and Greg have done time in Victor’s band Place Of Skulls and it’s obvious those 3 have a great musical rapport. The proof is in the groove. “8” starts off moody and tribal before shifting gears into a psychedelic headbanger. Hopefully they have some strobe lights and fog machines when they play this one live. Victor takes lead vocals on “American Dream” and unsurprisingly it sounds a lot like a Place Of Skulls song. The only song I’m not in love with on the album is “Windmills and Chimes.” For some reason when they go into the chorus “Baby I Love Your Way” pops into my head. It doesn’t really sound like the Frampton song but it bothers me enough that I have to skip past it every time.

Pentagram has a huge backlog of songs that were written throughout the 1970’s and Bobby usually revisits a few on each album. “Everything’s Turning To Night” and “Walk In The Blue Light” are on the First Daze collections that Relapse has put out. The arrangements are a little different and the fidelity is much improved on the originals. “Into The Ground” and “Nothing Left” go back to Bobby’s pre-Pentagram band Stone Bunny. I’ve never heard the originals of either of these but they’re both heavy doom mongers. “Into The Ground” has a 70’s Judas Priest feel with some nice Glenn Tipton melodic lead playing.

Last Rites is a solid metal album and hopefully Bobby will stay away from the pipe so he can keep his kick ass band. Even better news is that Pentagram will be touring and the Bobby Liebling documentary (also titled Last Rites) will be released later this year.

-- Woody

Buy here: Last Rites
Buy here mp3: Last Rites

http://www.metalblade.com/pentagram/

Ghost - Opus Eponymous

These days you gotta have a gimmick. And Ghost, a new band from Sweden, has a lot of them. They wear robes, pope hats and face paint (even the drummer when they play live). Their lyrics are Satanic but sound like they picked up most of their occult knowledge from King Diamond interviews. There are rumors that under the costumes there are well known musicians from other metal bands. They’ve also received negative attention because there’s already a long-running Japanese band with the same band name. All of this has resulted in strong opinions in the metal world about this band. Some say it’s all hype, others say Ghost are the best new band in years. Like most cases where opinions are so polarized there’s a bit of truth on both sides.

Whoever is in the band or not, Ghost’s debut album Opus Eponymous is a nice change of pace in the heavy music world. Most underground bands are either working the doom Black Sabbath angle or are part of the speed/thrash/grind brigade. Ghost’s sound is about 60% Blue Oyster Cult (especially Agents Of Fortune), 20% Mercyful Fate and 20% other ingredients (mainly 70’s Priest/Scorps/UFO and Angelwitch).

The funeral organ instrumental “Deus Culpa” starts the album off on a somber tone before being taken over by the fast “Con Clavi Con Dio.” The verses are fast and sinister but the chorus is very melodic and would probably get some commercial radio play if it wasn’t praising Lucifer. The single “Ritual” really sounds like if BOC time traveled from 1976 to 1984 to steal some riffs from Mercyful Fate’s “A Dangerous Meeting” to use in “Don’t Fear The Reaper.”

“Elizabeth” is full on Mercyful Fate “Melissa” worship, down to the Herman Rarebell/Les Binks metal oompah beat. The vocalist (no names credited in the liner notes) bears a resemblance to Buck Dharma and occasionally drifts into Queen Rhinestone territory but doesn’t resort to screeching for vengeance. The presence of keyboards add some nice texture and are rarely overbearing. The guitars sound like they might even be in standard tuning and have crunch but not full on metal distortion. “Stand By Him” is another strongly BOC influenced moody song with a Thin Lizzy-ish guitar solo (“Thunder and Lighning?”) in the middle.

“Prime Mover” has some nice bass fills and good Stained Class style chugga-chugga riffs. Album closing “Genesis” brings the keyboards to the front and sounds more like The Alan Parsons Project than Genesis and has an acoustic guitar interlude. Back in the 70’s rock radio stations used to love songs like these as background music while reading the local concert calendar. Get your local paper and try it out yourself.

Despite the hype I really like this album. The Satanic lyrics and costumes are a little corny but the music is solid.


--Woody


Buy here: Opus Eponymous



www.myspace.com/thebandghost

 

Ripple News - Tommy Iommi, Ian Gillan and Friends - Who Cares Benefit single to be released

Ok Sabbath fans! Just got the previews of the WHO CARES benefit from Ian Gillan & Tony Iommi for the rebuilding of a music school in Gyumri, Armenia. The digital 2 song/single comes out next week. Here's a sneak peak. If you like this sort of up-to-the minute music news, friend us over at the Ripple Effect. You've been forewarned!

WHO CARES — the renewed musical union between legendary DEEP PURPLE singer Ian Gillan and none other than BLACK SABBATH's Tony Iommi: the undisputed master of heavy guitar riffs — will release its debut digital single will be release May 6th via Eagle Rock Entertainment. The physical cd/dvd single will be made available in Europe on May 24 through earMUSIC and June 27th in North America via Eagle Rock Entertainment.

The single features two brand new studio tracks "Out Of My Mind" and "Holy Water", which will raise funds for the rebuilding of a music school in Gyumri, Armenia. The 2 Song - CD single will also contain the video clip of "Out Of My Mind" and a 40-minute documentary that shows Gillan's and Iommi's involvement with the Armenia cause over the years.

The collaboration of Gillan and Iommi, who have worked together before on the SABBATH album "Born Again", is in itself an incredible news for all rock and metal fans and will be the best of surprises to get to know who is completing the band: None other than Jon Lord ("Mr. Hammond", partner with Gillan on all the DEEP PURPLE classics), IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain, ex-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted and HIM guitarist player Mikko "Linde" Lindström are also featured on the two new songs.

Groan – The Sleeping Wizard

This is what happens when unsupervised youth is allowed to fester in a basement of cheap beer, dirt weed and Cathedral tapes. Groan are a 4 piece doom metal outfit with members spread out across the UK but close enough to Stonehenge absorb some of its triptych wicked powers. The Sleeping Wizard is their debut. 7 songs in 26 minutes makes it either a short album or a long EP, take your pick.

Musically, Groan is in the tradition of Black Sabbath influenced bands like Candlemass, Electric Wizard, etc but include a bit more Hawkwind than usual and some straight up classic rock, too. They also have great stage names. Thor’s Hammer pounds the drums, The Riff Wizard is obviously the guitarist, Mazzareth is the singer and the bassist is The Forest-Dwelling Fuzz Creature. The production is low budget, but suits the band well. The songs are bashed out with gusto and Mazzareth’s vocals are swathed in a “Planet Caravan” gauze for an outer space effect. I was hoping he would yell “take me to your leader” in one song, but there’s always next time.

All 7 songs are very solid doom metal jams, but “Witchy Woman” is probably my favorite. Sounds like someone replaced Master of Reality on the stereo with Burn and it opened a new avenue for these guys. David Coverdale wishes he wrote “she rides the Pegasus, she makes the priest forget about Jesus” on his new album. Other highlights are the anti-work “Psychedelic Demons” and the rampaging “Sleeping Wizard.” “Ride Of The Antichrist” sounds like something Raven might have come up with in 1981 after a heavy dose of cough syrup. Most of the songs are pretty fast, but album closer “Ancient Space (Master Of Time)” moves at a Sleep-y snails pace.

If doom is your bag, then give these kids some support. Just think of the jams they’ll come up with if they can get better quality weeeeed. Get in on the ground floor and Groan.

--Woody

Buy here: Sleeping Wizard

http://www.myspace.com/groanuk

Ripple News - GEEZER BUTLER STATEMENT ON RUMORS OF BLACK SABBATH REUNION

In today at the Ripple office, some news for all Sabbath fans.

Responding to ongoing rumors surrounding a possible Black Sabbath reunion, Geezer Butler has issued the following statement:

"I would like to make it clear, because of mounting speculation and rumours, that there will be definitely no reunion of all four original members of Black Sabbath, whether to record an album or to tour."

Butler's most recent musical outing was with Heaven & Hell, a four piece featuring Black Sabbath band mate Tony Iommi as well as one time Black Sabbath members Ronnie James Dio and Vinny Appice.  The band released Neon Nights: 30 Years of Heaven & Hell in November of 2010.

www.geezerbutler.com

Electric Wizard – Black Masses

There are many (too many, in fact) doom metal bands out there but I will always make time for Electric Wizard. Black Masses is the Dorset, England band’s 7th album and is pretty much business as usual but there are a few different audio elements to keep things from getting too redundant. The Black Sabbath/Pentagram foundation remains as well as NWOBHM creeps like Venom and Witchfinder General but there’s a stronger psychedelic feel than on some of their previous records. It also sounds a bit like the influence of fuzz-guitar maestro Davie Allan is in the mix, too. Not surprising since Electric Wizard love all the violent 60’s biker movies that Allan did music for just as much as the horror/cult films they sometimes sample.

The twin axe attack of singer Justin Oborn and wife Elizabeth Buckingham is very thick, fuzzed out and layered with trippy effects. Justin’s vocals pop in and out of the mix to bleat his bleak views and call upon Satan to help him navigate this wicked world. Shaun Rutter’s drums plod and thud accordingly in a most Master Of Reality way and blend well with new “necrobassist” Tas Danazoglou. It’s worth noting that Tas has some really intimidating facial tattoos.

For a band so heavy and negative, the songs are surprisingly catchy. “Black Mass” will have everyone yelling “hear me Lucifer” loud and strong at the live show. “Venus In Furs” is not a cover of the Velvet Underground classic (although I’d like to hear them tackle it) but does share the S&M subject matter. Clocking in at 8 minutes, my favorite song might be “The Nightchild” just because of the strong Witchfinder General feel.

The entire album is solid and flows together really well. The tempos are never too fast, and they really excel at the real snail crawlers like “Satyr IX.” There’s even an instrumental dirge called “Crypt Of Drugula” with some very cool atmospherics that’s cooler than anything Eno’s ever done. This is a great one to play late at night in a car full of people you don’t know very well. They’d really freak! Unless they’re already freaks, then they’d love it.

-- Woody

Buy here: Black Masses
Buy vinyl: Black Masses

Buy from All that is Heavy here

http://www.myspace.com/electricwizarddorsetdoom

Black Sun - Twilight of the Gods

Have you ever taken a punch? Not the kind of punch in the shoulder you might get from your wife after making an inappropriate comment about her sister’s boobs, I mean a full on haymaker to the temple that sends a shooting pain through your head and literally forces you to see a flash of light!!! When this latest offering from Black Sun kicks in with the opening bars of “Code Black” it is the musical equivalent of that one punch. There’s no messing around with intros, scene setting or any of that bullshit. This kicks straight into a monster verse with a demolition ball of a riff and a full blooded obnoxious roaring vocal. From this point on there is no let up, Black Sun are out for blood and you can either give it up willingly or they will take it by force…and to be honest, even if you’re prepared to give it up willingly they’ll still take it by force!!!

Pigeonholing Black Sun is a thankless task. They fall loosely into the doom field but this isn’t the patchouli and flare wearing doom of Cathedral with a copy of Masters of Reality in one hand and a spliff in the other. Instead this is a nasty, dead eyed doom with a blackened crust, a bottle of PCP in one hand and a rusty blade in the other. From start to finish Black Sun fill every available space with monstrous huge riffs that range from a Melvins like dissonance to a St Vitus style pummel. “Crawling Saviour” comes across like early Cathedral being fisted by Satan himself as the dual vocal attack spreads from a belligerent bellow to a throat shredding shriek that has more than one foot in the black metal camp. “Terminal Velocity” however does manage to temper the barrage of grime with some subtle beauty that is vaguely choral and transcendental. Black Sun seem to understand that pure filth is more effective when you can see the occasional clean spot in the mire. “Gethsemane” raises its hands to Heaven with near religious fervour as the riffs spit and twist around a might central vocal figure whereas “Tabula Rasa” jerks spasmodically like the last dying twitches of a man beaten into final and fatal submission. The undercurrent of insanity never seems far away from the Black Sun sound…like an inmate finger painting with his own feces in a padded cell whilst listening to Slayer jamming with Voivod on 33 and a 3rd!!!!

Black Sun also know how to vary the levels of intensity. “Transcending the Mire” shows a level of restraint not seen so far in its psychedelic guitar drawl but the repeated vocal refrain of “Can’t take anymore” still seems to belch from the darkest corners of a tortured mind. At times listening to Black Sun is an emotionally harrowing experience that threatens to build pressure behind your eyes and make them bleed. Very few bands seem to attain this level of sheer intensity. Many try but invariably come across sounding like a cartoon version of pain and anger…maybe coming from Glasgow has certain benefits for tormented artists.

By contrast “Black Angel” seems almost perky…if it can be considered perky to have your balls kicked repeatedly by steel toe-capped boots. “The Soldier’s Prayer” also seems reasonably upbeat and approaches something similar to a groove but slits its own throat by delving back into Black Sun’s trick bag of psychotic doom to play out the song. Just as you think you’re beginning to get some sort of handle on the Black Sun sound they unleash “Baby Don’t Cry”. Here they pull Oxbow’s Eugene Robinson from his mother’s breast and throw him screaming, clad only in a soiled nappy to the middle of an empty room to vent whatever vile demons are plaguing his fevered mind. In many ways this is the standout track on the album. Not because of the musical content, which compared to the rest of the songs on offer is fairly weak; a collection of meandering discordant doom laden chords, rather it is Robinson’s schizophrenic delivery which ranges from a childlike cry to a full roar. “Because the hurt does not care” he shouts in the ultimate nihilistic statement of despair…there is no escape from pain. This is the sound of a man going through some major psychological cold turkey…utterly compelling but bordering on unlistenable in a voyeuristic kind of way, should we really be standing by and watching this happen?

Thank fuck then for “Warhead”, a pretty straight up belter of a song that rides on a kicking riff and a four to the floor rhythm. Not that this is a straight up rock and roll song by any means…no siree, Black Sun don’t play such games!!! This is still an abrasive slice of caustic rifferama and won’t see them breaking through to the mainstream any time soon!!! By this point we have one last test of musical endurance to go. The title track starts with a cleaner passage that is reminiscent of some the Amebix’s more delicate moments before delving into the pit of despair once more and delivering us to the land of the mighty riff to close the album in style.

Comparisons are far from easy. There is an air of Amebix throughout in the despairing nihilistic overtones, a touch of Melvins in the sheers down tuned heaviness, a little Voivod in the dissonant, jarring riffs, obviously a touch of Sabbath (isn’t there always?) in the fractured and changeable structures and maybe even a little early 90’s Quicksand meets Helmet for good measure...if they were black metal bands!!! It’s not an easy listen and the vocals may be an acquired taste for some but there is no denying that Black Sun have created an album full of brutal, monolithic power and painful emotional depth. Sometimes music needn’t be about beer and chicks, sometimes it’s a catharsis and not many albums succeed in purging the soul like this one. For a first release Head Of Crom Records have landed firmly on their feet here. Seek this out then play loud and scare your neighbours!!!


--Ollie

Buy here: Black Sun

www.myspace.com/legionofblacksun

Doom On - Featuring Leather Nun America and Sanctus Bellum

With Ripple Music’s signing of Cleveland’s destructive Doom Gods, Venomin James, I just couldn’t resist the urge to plunge myself headlong into some serious doom metal.  Sinking down to the depths of darkness, I emerged safely, if not subtly twisted with these two doom-alicious nuggets.

Leather Nun America – Absence of Light

Not to be confused with that other Leather Nun from Sweden, or the classic underground comic by the same name, Leather Nun America sum up just about everything that I love in doom.  Ferocious riffs, massively absurd bottom end, and lyrics that search for that evasive ray of light amongst the darkness.  Coming to us on the fiercely independent underground metal label, psycheDoomelic, Leather Nun America is a surprisingly easy listen for the genre.  Vocals are roughened, but clean, not growled, gurgled or vomited, which is always a major plus for me.  The riffs, while intense and devastatingly heavy, move with a nice inherent groove, not sludgy or moribund.  And the guys actually know how to play, not hiding behind senseless walls of feedback noise.  They’re out there, right in front riffing right along.  And I like that.

Now, none of that is to say this shit isn’t heavy.  One listen to the opening of “Portcullis,” and you’d better be prepared.  The wall of despair hits you like a sledgehammer to the testicles.  Wave after wave of impossibly low-end riffs blast away, liquefying any internal organs in their path.   All the requisite influences are there, Motorhead, Spirit Caravan, Obsessed, Crowbar, and the tip of the crown to Lord and Master Sabbath.  But what Leather Nun America does with these influences is what draws me to them.  Rather than try and out doom the world, slowing things down to the absurdly slow pace of Sleep or the unwieldy (in my mind unlistenable) drone of Cough, Leather Nun America aren’t afraid to simply rock.  Check out the opening riff to “Ly Loa.”  Damn, that’s tough.  Throw in some electric soloing, searing through that monster of a groove and we really got something.  Loud?  You bet.  Dark and heavy enough to scare mother’s of small children?  Oh, yeah.  If it didn’t we wouldn’t listen to it.  But damn, besides all that, it just freaking grooves.

“Below Zero,” attacks me right out of the speakers with a Motorhead frenzy.  “Emblem” is a seven-plus minute doom epic that never loses its focus or my attention.  “Some Might Grow,” is a stunningly beautiful acoustic passage to match the best of Iommi’s classic interludes.  “Tools of the New Church” just assaults with its monolithic glory.  Beautifully done.

The album isn’t new.   Their third long player, it was originally released in 2008.  But for doom fans who like their music to move with an actual heartbeat, this one shouldn’t be missed.

http://www.myspace.com/leathernunamerica

Sanctus Bellum – Return to Dust

Man, I don’t know what’s drifting in the bayou’s down Houston way, but damn if they aren’t churning out some seriously heavy bands.  Recently, Pope touted the weighty wares of Project Armageddon, and now we got another monster of a doom band to bally about; Sanctus Bellum.   Return to Dust is their 6 song debut and if this indestructible platter is any indication, we got a monster doom player on our hands.

Recently, I’d been watching the history channel, and have become fascinated with ancient civilizations and their monolithic structures like Puma Punko, with their 800 ton ruins.  Images of those megalithic structures raced through my ravaged brain as “Shoggoth’s Ascent” erupted out of the speakers.  Truly epic in its scope, this is the music of an ancient, timeless race.  And let me tell you, those multi-ton slabs of granite at Puma Punko got nothing on the weight of the riffs here.  Small nations could collapse under their mass. Dense and impenetrable.   Sanctus Bellum lay it on thick and massive. 

Now, if the vocals sound familiar, it’s because they belong to long time Ripple favorite Mr Plow’s singer Justin Waggoner, and his vocals work perfectly here, particularly on a track like the blazing epic “Dagon’s Bride.”  Waggoner’s not afraid to gruff up his voice or leave it clean and soaring when the part calls for it.  Either way, the dude can actually sing which in my mind is always a plus for any band.

As for where Santus Bellum comes from.  Of course we got the requisite Sabbath, but they bring in more of the post-grunge riffery to them than simply lose themselves in the 70’s.  Trouble is here, so is some post-Alice in Chains, as are others.  They even bring in some tasty classic metal harmony guitar riffs which just blare out all fiery and mean.   Lyrically and thematically, each song on the self-released Return to Dust references H.P. Lovecraft, but you don’t have to be a fan of that demented author to get into the metal meal these cats lay out.  Just embrace the neck-breaking riffery of “Curwen,” or the massive epic, and monstrous refrain of “God’s Own Warrior.”  Imagine yourself at that ancient granite ruin of Puma Punko as “The Reddening West,” blares from the stereo.  See the ancient people, the warriors, the sacrifice.   Or simply lose yourself in the twilight groove of “White Cat.”  Heavy and inspiring.  Dense and moving.  Sanctus Bellum are one to watch.


--Racer

http://www.myspace.com/sanctusbellum

Dopefight - Buds

Wow, was this CD created especially for me? How can I not love a band called Dopefight and an album called Buds? The cover art is nothing but pictures of giant buds and the back cover displays a small feast of low budget Chinese food. Even if it sounded like Celine Dion singing for Puddle Of Mudd I would have to support them. Luckily that’s not the case.

Dopefight are bunch of creeps from the UK hell bent on making a lot of noise and smoking a lot of pot. From the sounds of it they are successful on both counts. The 12 songs are mainly doomed out instrumental stoner metal. It’s obvious these guys love Black Sabbath and all of the other worshippers of Sabbath like Electric Wizard, Sleep, etc. They do play a little faster than most of those bands so maybe they’re into the Cro-Mags, too. When the vocals do appear their pissed off screams, mainly about wanting more weed

The song titles are great. It’s impossible to resist the joys of “Jock Witch,” “Bogtrotter” and the super angry “Brighton Town Is A Fuckin Whore.” I just wish there was more vocals. The lyrics are very entertaining, even if you have to strain a bit to make them out. Otherwise, the production is top notch. Guitar sound is bulldozing, bass thuds hard in the guts and the drums pulverize.

Support your local Dopefight. Society blows, Buds rocks.

--Woody

Buy here: Dopefight

http://www.myspace.com/fightdopefight

The Sword - Warp Riders

Album number three from Austin, TX band The Sword finds them downplaying the heavy Sabbath influence of their first two and adding a lot more classic rock to their sound. The new direction definitely works in their favor. Debut album Age of Winters was a very solid entry into the Sabbath worship sweepstakes but the follow up Gods Of The Earth seemed to stretch their creativity a bit thin. Despite accusations of “hipster metal,” The Sword is a good band it’s always worthwhile to check out what their up to.

First off, the production on Warp Riders is much improved. Producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, Pearl Jam) gives their sound much more clarity. The guitars are still tuned low but the tones are never mushy or lack definition. The other big improvement is with the vocals. J.D. Croncise has never had a great voice and his vocals were always buried in the mix on previous albums. His voice is still not very strong but his singing has gotten better and it sounds like they worked really hard on getting him to sound good.

 “Acheron/Unearthing The Orb” follows in the tradition of Iron Maiden influenced instrumentals that open Sword albums. The single “Tres Brujas” follows and sets the tone for the rest of the album. With a nod to ZZ Top in the title and a riff pinching their classic “Precious and Grace,” The Sword have a chance to win over classic rock fans who aren’t really into metal. “Lawless Lands” and “The Chronomancer I: Hubris” are further Texas boogie stompers.

The other big discernable influence on Warp Riders is Thin Lizzy. “Night City” has some trademark Lizzy guitar harmonies and arrangement flourishes that would sound great on classic rock radio. Fans of the heavier side of Thin Lizzy like “Thunder and Lightning” and “Warriors” will love the songs “Arrows In The Dark” and the title song.

Warp Riders is some sort of sci-fi concept album involving a planet locked in perpetual darkness. Honestly, this type of thing is not my cup of tea, but the music and vocal melodies are strong enough to ignore the sword and sorcery role playing. Fans of ultra heavy doom should skip this one but those who aren’t afraid of a little Foghat boogie in their metal should definitely check this out. They’re touring the US with Karma To Burn and Mount Carmel in October.

--Woody

Buy here:  Warp Riders
mp3: Warp Riders
vinyl: Warp Riders

http://www.swordofdoom.com/

Quartz - Stand Up and Fight

Back in high school, Brett and I were brothers in arms.  Rock and roll arms that is.  A tad more seasoned than I was, Brett burst my musical cherry by taking me to my first big-time rock concert; AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, and Boston.  Or was it Journey headlining?  Hell, with all the acrid smoke wafting in and around my virginal nostrils that day, I’ll never remember. 

But I do know that Brett also introduced me to the endless hours of joy that became known as the bargain bin dig, and opened up my ears to crazy new sounds in metal, like UFO.  Influential in my life, hell yeah!  It’s safe to say that The Ripple Effect would not exist in many ways, if not for Brett.  A while back I wrote of “big brother” Danny shaping my musical childhood, well Brett was responsible for my much louder heavy metal adolescence.

And with a brother like that in the late seventies to early eighties, you better believe we launched headlong into the NWOBHM and launched hard.   Seemed like we were on a quest to constantly outdo each other, being the first to turn the other guy onto a new band.  For every Tygers of Pan Tang, Girl School, Bitches Sin, Praying Mantis and Witchfynde that Brett found, I pulled out an Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Saxon, Vardis, and Motorhead.  He popped out an AIIZ and I whipped out an Angelwitch.  Wild Horses, Raven . . it didn’t matter.  We were there.

Then how in the hell did we miss Quartz?

Perhaps it was because Quartz were just a bit ahead of our time, their debut album being recorded in 1976 and 1977.  But that shouldn’t of mattered.  This rambunctious platter I now hold in my hot and steamy hands, Metal Mind's just released reissue of Quartz’s second album, Stand Up and Fight, was originally put out in 1980.  That was our time.  And further, Quartz were originally championed by Tony Iommi and his management group.  He produced their first album and Quartz Geoff Nicholls left the band to join Black Sabbath in 1979.  And we were definitely huge Sabbath fans.  So how this record escaped the attention of two pimply-faced, metal mad teenage boys with a ’66 Mustang remains a mystery never to be solved.

But thank God it’s been rectified, because Stand Up and Fight is one helluva blitzkrieg of riff-mad NWOBHM.  A molten cauldron of screaming guitar licks, trodding bass lines and bone-shattering drums.  An album chock-full of one pounding primal metal fest after another.  An album not to be missed.

Mike Taylor was a singer for the ages, with a voice gruff enough to stand out against all the fey pretty boys of the day, but still sweet enough to scale the heights and bring the passion to the songs.  The closest similarity I can find to his voice is Daryl Braithwaite from the latter Aussie band, The Sherbs; but that reference is probably too obscure, so let’s go with a husky Geddy Lee with a case of laryngitis.  Guitarist Mick Hopkins could shred and rip with the best of them, laying down wailing solos or tearing through grinding gears of riffs.   And the rhythm section of Malcom Cope and Derek Arnold were steadfast in their dedication to rock. 

And boy, could they rock.  Ignoring the sole misstep of “Can’t Say No To You,” a timid American-aimed rocker that sounds suspiciously like Foreigner's “Feels Like the First Time,” the rest of the album and the one extra bonus track “Circles” are the true essence of the NWOBHM. 

I’m not going to go into each track here, because I’m gonna run out of adjectives way to soon.  There’s just no way to sum up the raging riff drag race of “Charlie Snow" and it’s cocaine reference.  It’s impossible to describe the bullish metal assault of “Rock ‘n’ Roll Child,” or the angry power wrapped up in powerchords and wailing solos of “Revenge.”  I don’t have the words to lay down how I feel about the mad rockers, “Wildfire,” “Circles,” or “Stoking Up the Fires of Hell.”  Let’s just simply say that Stand Up and Fight is simply . . . simply fantastic.  Raw and primitive, riff-mad metal.   An album that absolutely shouldn’t be missed.

Brett, brother, have I got one for you!

--Racer

Buy here:  Stand Up & Fight

Project Armageddon – Departure

Project Armageddon has mastered the science of quantum physics, and here’s my reasoning behind said assessment. You put on their record, Departure, and you suddenly find yourself at the end of it. No, no. It’s not a glitch with my system . . . the disc doesn’t just magically skip over the content and pick up with the final droning notes. No . . . I’ve heard every note on this album several times, so I know the content is there. Time simply gets lost when this sucker is spinning in its tray. Project Armageddon has managed to make forty-five minutes of music feel like five. The good thing about this? I always want to hear more!

This Houston, Texas trio delivers a pummeling brand of doom metal, at times reminding me of Black Sabbath, especially when they take the more psychedelic roads with the music. These guys do a great job of balancing the all out destructive and cutting guitar tones with the more ambient and ethereal moments. Departure is the kind of album that works best with no external distractions. Lock yourself in a darkened room with a few candles or a lava lamp . . . maybe a black light . . . get comfy in your bean bag chair and take a few leisurely rips from your four foot bong. As the music swirls around you like the smoke from your bong, notice the intricate weave of tones and notes that Project Armageddon layer across your mind. Close your eyes and just follow the music. Let it teleport you to a land far, far away from your daily concerns.

The opening salvo from Departure is a tune called “Plague For Shattered Man” and the guitars are of that sludge-y, stoner variety . . . akin to Deliverance-era C.O.C. and just as devastating. With a riff this heavy, one might expect the rest of the band to drop in and carry the tune in high energy fashion, full tilt rock n’ boogie . . . but nay, Project Armageddon take the tune in a slower direction, almost plodding. Interestingly enough, though, the song doesn’t lack in energy due to the snail crawling through molasses tempo. This song is balls and the musicianship is freaking killer, specifically in the way of the guitars. Love the tones, love the Middle Eastern vibe to the solo, love the drums, love the bass. Seriously, there’s nothing to not like on this song. The vocals may be a bit difficult for some to digest as they tend to be sung in a higher register than would seem natural for the detuned sludgery of the music, but y’know . . . Ozzy got away with it for all that time with Sabbath, so get past it, folks.

Speaking of Sabbath, “Psyko-Sonic” reminds me of that classic Sabbath sound . . . a little bit of “Planet Caravan,” some parts of “Electric Funeral,” maybe some portions of “Black Sabbath.” Just cool and surreal sounding stuff, the kind of music that you can lose yourself in, and the BAM! The guys drop in with fully amplified, fully distorted guitars, and shake you back to your senses. The one aspect I keep keying into on this track is the clean guitars in the droned out mellow portions and how this subtlest of applications gives the mesmerizing portions that extra special texture. It’s the nuance, baby! Music with the subtle twists and turns are always the most interesting listens.

The band then go on a prog-tastic adventure in doom-y musicianship and dedicate the next twenty minutes and four songs to the story of a Nazi bred superhuman race called The Sonnekonige, which was part of the story line to a James Rollins novel called The Black Order (fun read if you get the chance . . . in fact, the whole series is pretty good escapist fun.) The piece opens with an acoustic guitar led, rhythmic track entitled “The Reckoning of Ages, Pt.1,” and acts as the lead into, you guessed it, “The Reckoning of Ages, Pt. 2.” The second chapter of the saga builds and builds and builds in classic sludge-y fashion, droning power chords over sporadic drum and cymbal crashes, before the grooving stoner riffery of “Steward of Shame” kicks in. This third chapter is where we first hear vocals about the tale of the superhuman Sonnekonige, but in truth, the music tells the tale just as well. The thundering stomp of the rhythm almost gives the impression of a legion of soldiers marching towards the world’s destruction. The tones of the guitars are massive and it feels like the weight of all existence is planted squarely on our shoulders.

The title tracks wraps up the album and opens with a classic riff coming straight from the vaults of Sabbath. Check this bad boy out . . . I’m loving their use of breaks to highlight the various instruments. A little bass lick here, a little guitar fill there, and the whole song comes together real well. Despite these short musical breaks, the song has a great flow to it and always feels like it’s moving forward. It also benefits from having a bit of a more up tempo feel than most of the other tracks. Point that spotlight over to the bassist as he drops in a pretty cool solo over that ever so cool guitar riff. Great way to put the close on a bitchin’ disc!

Project Armageddon will appeal to, obviously, the Black Sabbath fans out there, but also to the new generation of doom metal fans . . . people who dig Venomin James or Ogre should pay close attention to these guys. Departure is quite simply a brutally heavy album that touches on some of the fantastic elements of “What if . . . ?” The Sonnekonige epic is a perfect example of the imagination running wild with the concept of a specially bred superhuman, designed solely to do it’s masters bidding. Then, as always happens, the master loses control of his subject and all hell breaks loose. I dig it! Let the music take your mind places that it doesn’t normally go! Laced within all of the fantastic concepts are the warnings of what could be if we give a party absolute power. The collapse of social order, the loss of life, the destruction of our host organism, Mother Earth . . . when the fantasy stands on the brink of reality, the scenarios become horrifying. Thanks for the mind fuck, guys . . . Project Armageddon, ladies and gentlemen!  

--  Pope

Ripple News - History Repeats Itself: Poobah and JPT Scare Band Together Again on the Same Record Label and on the Air at WFMU

In the early 1990’s a small record label broke out of San Antonio, Monster Records, specializing in limited release/collector’s vinyl from underground 1970’s hard rock bands.  For several years, Monster churned out an impressive array of steaming protometal, adding such bands as Poobah, JPT Scare Band, Truth and Janey, Hawkwind, and Manilla Road to their roster.  But as so often happens in the music business, time passed, tastes changed and Monster Records ceased to exist.

Fast forward 20 years, and the sands of the hourglass churn backwards in time.  Suddenly metal legends, Youngstown Ohio’s Poobah, and Kansas City’s JPT Scare Band, find themselves as popular as ever and stunningly, back on the same record label.  This time it’s Ripple Music filling the void, providing the world with the tasty underground protometal that they crave.

Within a span of two months, both JPT Scare Band and Poobah released classic works with Ripple Music, JPT Scare Band’s Acid Blues is the White Man’s Burden, and Poobah’s 1972 seminal debut, Let Me In.  Both releases hit the world in eye-opening, two-tone double LP packages with gatefold covers as well as CD formats.  Both packed with rare pictures, notes, and bonus tracks.

Jim Gustafson, the mastermind behind Poobah, sums it up. “It’s cool that Poobah ended up with JPT again on the same label, only better this time. I saved these tapes for decades, looking for the right time and place to do this, and now it has happened.”

And 40 years after originally forming, both bands find themselves cranking out their music to a legion of fans new and old.  WFMU in New York has both bands on frequent rotation, spreading the protometal, acid rock gospel to hungry, waiting ears.

“It’s a wonderful bit of synchronicity,” says JPT Scare Band drummer, Jeff Littrell, “that when we finally get back on a label again, the moguls at Ripple Music have also signed our old label mates, Poobah.  Déjà vu all over again!  JPT Scare Band and Poobah ripping faces off on the same label in the 21st Century.”

Ripple Music plans to keep bringing on the ballsy retro-metal with future releases by Scottish protometal icons, Iron Claw, as well as modern purveyors following the raw, sonic blueprint, Stone Axe, Mos Generator, Grifter, Mighty High, and Venomin James.

As Ripple founders Todd Severin and John Rancik say, “Ripple Music exists to bring the guts back to rock and roll!”

buy here:  Poobah   JPT Scare Band

Ripple Theater - Black Sabbath - Paranoid Classic Albums DVD

Oh baby! I couldn’t wait to get my greasy mittens on this one. I love these Classic Album DVD’s and will gladly watch one even when it’s a band I’m not crazy about, but when it’s one of my all time favorites – look out! This is Black Sabbath were talking about and one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time, 1970’s Paranoid. 

Longtime Sabbath freaks may find the beginning a bit dull, as it tells the story of how the band came together, how guitarist Tony Iommi lost the tips of his fingers in an accident, how they came up with the band name, etc, etc. We may know all this stuff already, but there are future generations and new converts to consider. Once we get into the main part of the program it’s a rock fan’s delight. You get to hear straight from Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill how they came up with the songs and the inside stories behind the lyrics while recording engineer Tom Allom gives us some technical info. It’s incredible to think that all 4 original members are still with us to tell the tale. It’s been documented that the song “War Pigs” was originally called "Walpurgis" and contained some stronger Satanic themed lyrics, but I bet you didn’t know that after hearing one of Tony’s huge riffs Ozzy said it sounded like an “Iron Bloke.”

Hearing the band members talk about the songwriting process is fascinating. They all agree that each member was absolutely essential. Tony would usually kick things off with a riff but then Geezer and Bill might take it in another direction. It was up to Ozzy to try and find holes in the music to find a place for the vocals and come up with a melody line on the spot. While Geezer wrote most of the lyrics, Ozzy had to bring them to life.

As great as it is to get the inside scoop on classics like “Paranoid,” “Hand Of Doom,” and “Fairies Wear Boots” you also get some outside perspective from Henry Rollins, a long time Sabbath fanatic if there ever was one. As mentioned before, engineer Tom Allom offers lots of great information. I had the great pleasure of working with Mr. Allom about 15 years ago and got to hear many of these stories directly from him. He confirms that the entire album was recorded and mixed in less than a week. The band was so tight that hardly any of the songs required more than 3 takes and very few overdubs. Back then that was normal, but is completely unheard of now.

The main program is about 45 minutes and then there’s about the same amount of bonus material. If the main program doesn’t offer you too many insights, then the other footage will. You get to watch Tony demonstrate many of the riffs, as well as get to see Geezer show how he would bend his bass strings to make Tony’s riff sound even bigger. Bill talks about his love of swing era drummers and gives free lessons behind the kit. There’s even an interview with a Warner Brothers Records executive talking about how they would sell boat loads of Sabbath records in America and never get any returns from retailers.

Do yourself a favor – if you have ANY interest in heavy metal or hard rock get this as soon as you can. Get some party supplies and have the Classic Album DVD’s of Machine Head, Ace Of Spades and British Steel handy and have yourself a great night.  -- Woody

Buy here: DVD Classic Albums: Paranoid (Ws Sub Dol)
                Blu-ray: Black Sabbath: Paranoid [Blu-ray]