0 SHOW PREVIEW: CHOICEFEST II, NIGHT 1: Skarp | Transient | Don Peyote

Click Here for Event Link

 

Last year's Choicefest allowed longtime promoter/superfan Adam Noble Bass to spread his thrusting, fist-pumping wing and fly like the jovial, gregarious eagle of the PNW heavy music scene that he is.  Due to the success that his promotion company, Ladies' Choice, saw last April with the “No All-Dude Bands” theme, it has now become an annual event – one WORTHY enough that SRG will devote a show preview to each of the three spectacular events he has lined up again for this coming weekend.

 

It all starts on Thursday with the resounding clang of some of the heaviest metal our fair region has to offer.  Four bands at the Highline on Cap Hill, and, sticking to the theme, each one will have at least one female member.  It will also serve as a benefit show for Theories vocalist, Rick Powell, who was shot while on break outside of his Crown Car in West Seattle earlier this month.  He is scheduled to make a full recovery, but not without missing a few months of work.  He’s one tough motherfucker!  If you come to the show, you’re helping him out as well as helping the entire scene to show how much we care about one another.  But also, you are helping yourself to a bunch of great metal and a kickass night.

 

Back in the day—before they had signed to Alternative Tentacles, before their live performances became a rare and special event—veteran crust ‘n’ grind quartet, Skarp, used to scare me a little.  Perhaps it was the sheer, palpable intensity they would exude in those small, dark rooms that the more extreme types of music were relegated to at the time.  Or maybe it was Joe Grindo’s (Book of Black Earth, Splatterhouse, etc.) maniacal drumming that made my heart begin to pump overtime, striving in vain to align itself in perfect syncopation with the endless blast beats and brick wall stops…  Whatever it was, I can’t wait to get another taste of it at the Highline. 

 

Portland’s Transient also bring the grind as well as anyone out there, with a similar level of intensity to the headliners described above.  It’s great fun to watch the diminutive vocalist, Krysta Martinez (recently back from an international tour with Landmine Marathon), as she transitions between a fire-breathing, growling, unholy dragon, with some of the greatest range and rage one could expect to find in extreme music from any era, to a grinning and gracious host as she takes a moment to catch her breath between songs.

 

The filthy and fantastic Don Peyote and relative new-comers Murder in the Wood are opening.  The former are always a blast to see, and really help make this solid bill even more impressive, while the latter are honestly new to me – but that is what makes these kinds of fests exciting, and it’s nice to get the chance to check out a Superfan-approved new band on the scene.  (UPDATE: Unfortunately, Murder in the Wood will be unable to make the show.  But, it's still an incredible three-band bill for a measly eight bucks!)

Check back tomorrow for more Choicefest II previews!

2 [LIVE REVIEW] Mastodon / Baroness / Between the Buried and Me / Valient Thorr @ The Knitting Factory (Spokane, WA)

Words, Photos, Videos by Nik Christofferson

The goal since March has been to hit up a show somewhere beside Seattle once a month, and damned if I haven't made that a reality thus far without really thinking about it. #1 was Red Fang in Portland, #2 was Pierced Arrows at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, and now #3 with Mastodon, Baroness, Between the Buried and Me, and Valient Thorr in Spokane, WA. The venue was The Knitting Factory, and even though the place is part of a corporate chain of venues it was super impressive. Huge stage, video screens, pro lighting, spacious main floor, large bar with excellent site lines, and a large upper balcony area. The Knitting Factory had to be designed by someone who has seen a lot of shows in underwhelming venues, because it was great place to see a big metal show.

Mastodon are currently in the depths of a secondary market swing across the US, and are still in the midst of their "Crack the Skye in its entirety” phase. Thus I got to experience it for the 3rd time, and needless to say it was still amazing! The band followed up the 2009 masterpiece with a slew of hits from previous records as they have been doing now for almost two years running. The kicker this time, was the inclusion of "Blood and Thunder" in the setlist, as it was left off the two previous visits to Seattle (Neumos, Wamu Theater). Mastodon plays their stuff so effortlessly and at such a high level it almost makes you sick between uncontrollable full body headbanging fits. These guys are consummate pros; looking, sounding, and playing like they were destroying Madison Square Garden instead of owning a stage in the armpit that is Eastern Washington.

As far as I'm concerned, Between the Buried and Me have lost credibility since the release of Alaska. That record as well as the preceding two were great, but I never did take to Colors nor have I given The Great Misdirect much of a listen either. Live the material droned a bit, and caused the Mastodon hungry crowd to turn half way through their set. The inclusion of "Sequel to the Prequel" and finale "Mordecai" saved the set for me personally, but that didn’t save them from the pitchfork wielding mass who didn’t take kindly to BTBAM's sometimes lengthy over-the-top prog metal and were extremely vocal about it.

This trip was all about Baroness. Period. I drove 600 miles in two days to see and hear Baroness own the "Blue Record" live. I'm very happy to report they one-upped all my expectations. From the opening acoustic interlude of "Bullhead's Psalm" into "The Sweetest Curse" and on down the line it was epic as fuck. It was also the John Baizley and Peter Adams show, as the duo put on a guitar clinic, while frequently hamming it up for some excellent photo-ops. When "A Horse Called Golgotha" came after another beautiful acoustic build-up, I pretty much lost my shit. I barreled into the pit, knocking at least three rednecks to the floor in one fellow swoop (I helped them up of course). I have since placed "The Blue Record" up on this divine album pedestal, where it will remain until someone decides to dethrone it. From start to finish Baroness has made a magnum opus, and the live show only enhanced that sentiment. Bonnaroo or bust. Baroness I'm coming for you again in June.

Stoner party boys Valient Thorr opened the evening at 6:30pm. In other words most metal heads hadn't woken up yet from the previous evening’s debauchery and so the venue was pretty empty. Spokane must have a curfew or something, because that was an early start by anyone’s standards. I caught the last couple songs, and while I’ve never been a fan of Valient Thorr for some reason I own two of their records on vinyl? When and how I acquired them, I have no idea? They are fun, nothing spectacular, though shirtless, and beer bellied frontman Valient Himself is a riot on stage. He alone makes the band a worthwhile live experience at least once, and they also recorded their most recent album with Jack Endino. So I guess there’s that as well.

The trip was a success, and I won't mention the part about somehow ending up in a gay bar playing Addams Family pinball in a real bad part of town. This is music blog after all, so I won’t bore you with the rest of the trip details. Here is a bunch of footage from the show enjoy it at your leisure.

3 [LIVE REVIEW] High on Fire / Priestess / Black Cobra @ Chop Suey

Words by Death Metal Dr. Gonzo

High on Fire, Priestess, Black Cobra
Chop Suey - May 4, 2010

Next to Mastodon’s gig at Nuemo’s last year and Shrinebuilder’s show earlier this year, I have a hard time thinking of any concert I have had greater anticipation for than the arrival of the mighty High on Fire for a headlining gig in Seattle. The RV parked outside Chop Suey had to be a mere decoy for the Viking warship I know the band rolled in on. I could smell hints of smoldering remains and mead around the entire 1300 block of Madison as Capt. Weirdbeard and I approached the venue.

Black Cobra, of San Francisco and Southern Lord Records, opened the show. The drum and “detuned so far it might as well not be a guitar but god damn that’s heavy” guitar duo laid down some real heavy breakdowns and precise post-thrash, clearly having fun beating the already-drunken metal mongrels in the crowd with gnarly volume.

Next, Montreal’s Priestess took the stage. I don’t have good things to say about Priestess, but I am going to say them anyway. First, Rush and Ion Dissonance soaked up all the metal potential from Canada – so Canadians: don’t try. Second, if you are going to harmonize guitars, play something interesting and be more ambitious than just doing a fifth over the other guitar the whole time. Third, if you are going to have clean vocals, then fucking sing in key. Shit. I have not been so under whelmed in some time. Priestess sound like a Blue Oyster Cult record from the late 70’s. Capt. Weirdbeard completely disappeared early in the set and I found myself looking at the time every few minutes and anxiously shaking my empty can of PBR.

Finally, the stage was cleared and a massive Emperor stack crowned with a Soldano SLO-100 was turned toward the crowd. More pieces fell into place and eventually Matt Pike, Des Kensel and Jeff Matz took the stage. At long last we were all in the same room as High on Fire, who wasted no time breaking into “Frost Hammer” from their new album ‘Snakes for the Divine’, playing the song at an even more frantic pace than on the record.

Christ, I wish this show would have been at Neumo’s. It was clear early on that Chop Suey’s P.A. had no business trying to handle the sonic girth of High on Fire. Matt Pike’s guitar was nearly washed out by the resonance from the kick drum (hello sound man – have you heard of a low pass filter?!) and the bass was clearly equalized more toward the g-funk shit that Chop Suey usually hosts, confirming the suspicion I had earlier while getting frisked by some Kevin Federline-looking bastard wearing Lugz and a ridiculous faux-fur hooded coat. Damnation!

Luckily, High on Fire were not deterred by the sonic inadequacies of the venue. They shredded through song after song from their impressively deep catalog, drawing quite a bit from 2002’s ‘Surrounded By Thieves’ and even a couple from ‘The Art of Self-Defense’. Jeff Matz filled the gaps between songs with fuzz bass of death, until Matt Pike would roar “RUMORS OF FUCKING WAR!!!” and the band would resume annihilating the disoriented, moshing, sweaty mess of a crowd. It goes without saying that the guitar solos were off the hook, but you don’t really (I mean, REALLY) realize how awesome Matt Pike is until you are ten feet from him committing unnatural acts on his nine-string. Most “guitar heroes” can’t handle a wimpy Stratocaster, and here’s Pike with an axe looking like it was pulled from the heart of a thousand year-old redwood. The guy kills.

The band shredded the title track from “Snakes for the Divine” and cleared the stage. The crowd barely had time to collect themselves before the band came back and played “Bastard Samurai” and “Fury Whip” for good measure. It’s a wonder anyone was capable of language after such a performance. I was heavily disoriented as I tried to remember where I parked, fuck it, what city was I in? Seattle endured the most severe assjacking of this decade, but it was just another night for High on Fire. I was tempted to follow the path of entrails to their next appearance.

1 [INTERVIEW] SRG Interview with The Dillinger Escape Plan

Interview and Words by Matt Abramson

The Dillinger Escape Plan does not need an introduction, nor am I that confident in my ability to produce one that does them justice, but I’m going to try anyhow. Dillinger is a band that defies genre and pushes music into unexplored regions while maintaining an uncompromising adherence to old-school DIY ethics and musicianship. With three classic albums to their credit and the blessing of legends like Mike Patton and Trent Reznor, DEP had to come out swinging on their most recent release or risk stalling the momentum they have spent years building. Fortunately, Option Paralysis is one hell of an ass kicking album (see my review for more details).

On a recent tour stop here in Seattle, guitarist Ben Weinman and vocalist Greg Puciato were nice enough to sit down and talk with me for a while before completely blowing the roof off of El Corazon. Here’s our talk:

Matt: Awesome to have you guys back in Seattle.

Greg: We're psyched. It seems like we were just here which I guess is really not the case.

Ben: It's been a while. It's been too long.

Matt: So, the new album - let's jump right in with that. The question I would have is it seems that starting with Miss Machine there was more of a focus on tunefulness, in particular because Greg is such a great singer, and then Ire Works stepped back a little from that but now it seems like this is - I don't know how to say it without sounding backhanded so don't take it as such, but this is how Miss Machine wanted to come out.

Ben: Yeah, I would probably say the same thing. Just coming from a songwriter, some of my favorite songs ever are on Miss Machine but it's definitely the record that I feel we didn't quite get it exactly where we wanted it, where as with Ire Works we were closer and with this one we're pretty much there.

Greg: We knew back when Miss Machine came out that we wanted to do these other things, we just weren't as good at them. That was like six years ago, and now we're way better at incorporating melody and we're better songwriters. We're more confident in our ability to be able to sing or have melody or take songs in different directions besides crazy and frantic all the time.

Matt: You've held your core production team the same since the beginning right? Are you using the same studio or bouncing around some?

Ben: Initially when we first started recording with Steve Evetts he was NJ based, as was the band. He was the guy doing killer records, he wasn't like a producer, there was a studio he worked at and done some records we really dug and kind of put our money together and made what ended up being our first EP and we've stuck with him ever since. He's grown and done a lot of things and left that studio and is an independent producer now. He has a project studio in California now, and so we did the last two records there. Miss Machine we actually did in our practice space, and Calcuating Infinity was in NJ. We've bounced around a bit but we've maintained Stevee Evetts as our producer.

Matt: You can always tell by the sound that it's Dillinger, aside from the fact that it's whacked-out and nobody is doing that and nobody can touch it.

Ben: There's definitely some things, nothing we do is that original as much as I think the combination of things give it our sound and whether that's from a songwriting standpoint or just from the sound itself. It's a combination of the production, the kind of chords we use, the fact we don't tune down and that all adds up to something that gives us an identity.

Matt: The one influence I really notice and since Calculating - which was the record that changed everything and blew me away - the jazz influence on that was insane. It was like, in high school you hated all the jazz musicians, they were just a bunch of blowhards who think they can play, and so you're like "Fuck you! Master of Puppets!" - but then you listen to something like Calculating and it's like "Whoa!" Were you formally trained for that?

Ben: "Were we nerds?" Is what you're saying.

Matt: Well, no... (laughs)

Ben: It was kind of the type of thing where we were coming from the scene and I felt the same way. I wasn't in band at school, I actually got kicked out of music class in high school. They said it wasn't for me, like "You should not be doing this, it's not your thing" because I couldn't sit there and look at charts and this and that. For some reason, I didn't take his advice and I stuck with it and the truth was that we love the underground. We love the vibe and the energy and the DIY ethic and the fact that you could play shows regardless of whether some jerk off in a club let you or not. You just did it, wherever - in a basement, in a VFW hall.

The scene itself was creating everything, whether it was putting out the records, writing the reviews in zines, putting on the shows. It was a great place for us, but at the same time it was the early to mid-90's when we were first getting started in that scene and the truth was that there was very little priority and emphasis put on the actual music, it was a lot more towards causes and being outspoken and things like that. There was a resurgence of religious bands, straightedge, veganism - a lot of that stuff, records sounding good and people knowing how to play their instrument, it really wasn't that important. So for us it was kind of hard, because we were into the scene and into the ethics around it and we were into what initially started it - bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Fugazi - but it seemed like a lot of the musicianship and the eclectic nature of things was going away. We definitely made a conscious effort to try to embrace the good things out of that scene and then try something new, try to push the music as well and not just the actual message.

Matt: Going back, Calculating Infinity is pretty much a ubiquitous record now. Anybody that says "technical" next to anything is going to put an asterisk and go there, and the stuff that's followed it has been the same kind of deal. You guys have also had the opportunity to go and play shows with Nine Inch Nails and a lot of the old guard. So it's weird because you're kind of in a transitional period between the bands that were super multi-platinum like Metallica and the newer bands that are completely DIY again. When you've met the guys who are the legends, how are they responding to the new scene?

Ben: I think the people who have taken notice of us and taken us under their wing a little bit, people like Mike Patton and Trent Reznor, I think those people just recognize that we're doing things our own way and we're not necessarily relying on the animal that was the negative side of their career. The things that these guys in these bands who have managed to maintain some level of success and have gone on to be in their forties making important music that's still pushing boundaries and has integrity, I think they appreciate the fact that we're doing that in our own world even if it's not as big or we don't sell as many records. They see a fire in us that's inspiring to them, and the fact is that we really wouldn't be here if it wasn't for some of those people so it comes full circle when they can recognize what we're doing and appreciate it.

Matt: You guys do a lot to reach out to your fan base with online stuff and things like making a different shirt for every song on Ire Works, which I'm sure is met with 95% percent enthusiasm and coolness. But what about the fuckers who hear the new record and hear a song like "Widower" and go "There's a piano..." or "Sellouts!" or whatever.

Greg: You know what? Those people can listen to other songs, they can listen to other bands, they can listen to Calculating Infinity over and over if they want to... This band is for us, it's not for them or anybody else, and we have to continue to establish that over and over again. It's cool for someone else to be into us, whether they're into it for a year or one record or every record or one song, it's still really valuable, it's what you're getting out of it. But we're doing it for us, so if we play a show probably 80% of the crowd likes everything, 10% of the crowd only likes the crazy stuff and one or two chicks only like "Black Bubblebum".

Ben: People have to realize that if we wanted to, it would be impossible for us to predict what they wanted to hear when we're writing a record. People that try to do that are out of their mind, where it's the same song over and over...

Greg: It's a very selfish mindset. We're the ones that have to play these songs every night, we're the ones that have been in the band for twelve years. Nothing sounds more miserable to me than writing music that you think everyone else will like that isn't intrisically stimulating to you and then you have to go on tour and play those songs over and over knowing that you wish you would have fucking written "Widower" and "Sunshine the Werewolf" but you didn't because you second guessed yourself and only wrote "Sugar Coated Sour" ripoffs over and over again and then you're miserable because you're thirty, you're trying to make yourself feel like you're twenty but you're not and you're a caricature of yourself. You will lose faster doing that then doing your own thing because you become a parody of yourself.

Ben: There's two things when people talk about this. We talked about Calculating Infinity, and I'm extremely proud of that record, a lot of crazy shit went down during that time and I can't even believe it was made. But Calulating Infinity was probably our worst reviewed record, ever. When that came out, people were like "This is noise. This makes no sense." Seriously, it took a very long time for someone to actually appreciate that record. We've toured for five years on that record before making another full length, just because people didn't get it. And the people that really liked that record when they first heard it are also the people that like our new record when they first hear it because they're like "This is different! This is crazy!"

It's not like people who jump on the bandwagon. The people who only like Calculating are mostly people who are pretty young who really have to quickly erase the fact that they were wearing an Offspring shirt a year ago, so they have to be extra cool now to try and get themselves into this new world. So it's like "You were fourteen when that came out. There's no way you only like Calculating, you didn't even know what Calculating was! You listened to the frickin' Spice Girls!" And that's the reality, so it just makes me laugh when I hear that kind of stuff.

Matt: It's like you take a mindset that is more music fan oriented, because Option Paralysis is the record I wanted to hear, it's among the ones that I count the days down waiting for. I think of the people that legitimately listen to and appreciate the music, you've tuned right into that as well. So what bands are out there that you're really digging right now?

Ben: Animal as Leaders, who has been opening up this tour for us, is really exciting. I don't like a lot of techy, metal stuff because it doesn't have a lot of soul to it. There's not any punk in it, it doesn't have the motion and energy in it. A lot of tech stuff is just riff after riff and it doesn't have any soul to it, it's very clinical. But Animals as Leaders, besides their guitar player being one of the most virtuostic players I've ever heard but I think they're doing something special and cool.

Matt: Let's see... Third drummer in three albums?

(Laughs)

Greg: That's funny, we just realized recently that we started 2007, 2008 and 2009 with a different drummer. We had Chris Pennie when we started 2007, we had Gil (Sharone) in 2008 and Billy (Rymer) in 2009. We have never had the same lineup twice on a consecutive release.

Ben: Well, two of my favorite bands are The Mars Volta and Spinal Tap, so we try to emulate their method of drummers.

Greg: We've lucked out, like on this tour the people who have seen us play and Darkest Hour, who we toured with like eight years ago, they've seen us with different drummers and they were like "I'm not just saying this to you - Billy is the guy that is the best in the band." Chris is amazing, obviously Billy wouldn't even be playing the kind of drums he plays if it wasn't for Chris because he defined it for that style and started it off. Gil was cool because he was a guy who has a more groovy, laid back kind of R&B style so it was kind of neat to see him play these songs and add a twist to them. But Billy is like if you took Chris, and Chris was a wind up toy and you wound him an extra quarter turn. Anything we would throw at him he would want to make it faster, crazier. And for some twenty-five year-old kid to come into our world where we thought we were going to fucking overwhelm him - for him to come in and be like "I think we should play that faster!" is absurd. It's neat to have him come in and not be afraid of us and push us back. He really wants to make his mark as a drummer. He's very aware of the shoes that he came in after, and he wants to shit on them and kick them out the door.

Matt: The electronics are really peeled back on this album. Was that intentional or is there more that I'm not hearing?

Ben: There's actually a pretty decent amount on there. Like the layering on "Parasitic Twins", I seriously spent months making clusters of strings and harmonies. It's definitely not peeled back, with the sound design and stuff, but the songwriting was based more on a traditional way of getting together and doing it. During Ire Works, there was a lot of problems - our drummer left, I had injuries and couldn't play guitar for a certain amount of months because I had surgery on my shoulder. So we were doing things a little differently and I think that actually led to opening some doors on Option Paralysis. There was songs that I was writing, doing electronics with one hand while my other one was up in some machine getting rehab and that inspired all the playing.

Matt: Who would win in a fight: Henry Rollins circa 1984 or Greg circa 2004?

Ben: Circa 2004? I would win. Definitely. No disrespect, Henry! I'd like to have him in a tag team against others, like if we were the Double Dragon twins walking through the city.

(Laughs)

Matt: As far as doing the electronics live, are you doing a click with a DAT?

Ben: Some of it, yeah. The piano stuff I'm just playing.

Greg: Jeff beatboxes a lot of it.

Jeff Tuttle (aside): I'm like that dude from Police Academy. Any noise you want, I can make it.

Ben: We do some samples and we're incorporating some piano, just make it happen. Some of the stuff we're doing with pedals now, Jeff has a monster mothership of a pedalboard.

Matt: Awesome, well thanks again for taking the time to sit down and chat.

Greg: Thank you.

Ben: Cool man, thanks.

0 [VIDEOS] Weedeater / Black Tusk / The Gates of Slumber @ Funhouse

Words and Videos by Nik Christofferson

There’s nothing like a killer metal show to start the week off right, as was the case with the Monday night Weedeater headlined sludge and doom fest which rolled into town back on March 29th. The Nine Toe Tour as it was humorously named following Weedeater bassist “Dixie” Dave Collins’ digit obliterating shotgun accident, also included a stellar supporting cast including Georgia swamp rats Black Tusk, Doom peddlers The Gates of Slumber, and brutalists Struck by Lightning.

Having blown it and showed up too late to catch Struck by Lightning, Indiana’s The Gates of Slumber were first up. The Gates of Slumber have certainly spent some considerable time studying at the Trouble institute of the doomed or perhaps Pentagram University as well. Gates’ many years of paying homage to doom metal’s pioneers have resulted in a text-book sound that in fact is no way shape or form repetitive or boring. Actually, “Hymns of Blood and Thunder” was one of the better metal records of 2009, and on this night the trio showed why.

With bands like Mastodon, Baroness, and Kylesa all hailing from the Peach State, standing out in the Georgian metal scene seems like an uphill battle. Power trio Black Tusk, while making their Seattle debut, seemed primed to stake their claim as a new Georgian force to be reckoned with in 2010. The new material builds on and crushes anything they have done in the past, and should turn some heads as soon as “Taste of Sin” hits streets May 25th.

Weedeater unfortunately lived up to their well deserved reputation of blowing fuses wherever they go. On this particular occasion they had blown their forth fuse right about the time 1am hit, meaning I couldn’t stick around any longer to see if they were even able to get off the ground. Bummer.

0 [TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT] Lesbian's "Rainbow Urine Snake Attack Tour"

One of Seattle's most dynamic metal powerhouses Lesbian, are about to embark on a 12 date West Coast tour entitled the "Rainbow Urine Snake Attak Tour". Last night they kicked it off in style up in Bellingham as part of a local metal dream bill consisting of Black Breath, Heiress, and Dog Shredder. Actually, I can't help feel a little jealous that not only did we not get that show here in town, but the fact that I had to be at work this morning instantly slammed the door shut on any pipe dreams of a trip north.

Good news though, Lesbian is playing the Funhouse this Saturday the 27th with Samothrace, Labyrinth and the Desert, and Anhedonist before making their way south to Oregon and Cali. Should be a doozy, so get out and support local metal.

Tour Dates:

Mar 25 2010 8:00P
Karma’s Place with Black Breath, Heiress, and Dog Shredder Bellingham, Washington
Mar 27 2010 9:00P
Funhouse with Samothrace, Labyrinth and the Desert, and Anhedonist Seattle, Washington
Mar 28 2010 7:00P
The Know - early show with The White Mice Portland, Oregon
Mar 29 2010 8:00P
Tube with The White Mice Portland, Oregon
Mar 30 2010 7:00P
Monstro’s Pizza with La Fin Du Monde, Guests (Early Show, All Ages!!) Chico, California
Mar 31 2010 9:00P
21 Grand with The White Mice Oakland, California
Apr 1 2010 8:00P
Hemlock Tavern with The White Mice San Francisco, California
Apr 2 2010 7:00P
Vacation Vinyl - early in-store Los Angeles, California
Apr 3 2010 8:00P
Mountain Bar with Black Math Horseman and the White Mice Los Angeles, California
Apr 4 2010 5:00P
The Knockout - Early Show with Grayceon and Hazzard’s Cure (featuring members of Walken) San Francisco, California
Apr 5 2010 8:00P
Jambalaya - with Snail Arcata, California
Apr 6 2010 8:00P
Oak Street Speakeasy with RYE WOLVES!! and H.C Minds Eugene, Oregon

2 [NW NOISE #1] REQUIN (Seattle)

NW Noise by Nik Christofferson

Much like the feeling of stumbling upon a rare gem while sifting through crates of used vinyl at your local indie record shop, brand new projects or not, the accidental discovery of a killer local band can give that exact same feeling of triumph. Therefore I am driven to share my finds with you in this brand new weekly SRG column deemed, "NW NOISE". This column will aim to champion and profile Seattle bands that you should know, and eventually branch off to hit upon bands that call our neighboring NW regions (i.e. PDX, Vancouver B.C.) home as well. Hope you dig!

REQUIN (pronounced "wreck-WAH") came to my attention by pure luck and by basically being in the right place at the right time. It turned out staying for the late night entertainment in the El Corazon lounge following the crushing Narrows performance back on January 22nd was an excellent decision. Yeah, REQUIN isn't a brand new project, and yes it's true they've been apart of a number of excellently billed shows around town in recent times. Even with this known quantity they are still currently residing in modest obscurity after two years as a band, and deserve your full attention.

I was immediately taken by REQUIN’s no-bullshit take on the time honored art of hardcore music. The band was no holds barred, undeniably musical, and with impunity and aggression pretty much lived up to the demeanor of their great white, razor toothed namesake ala Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”. It also didn't hurt that local jack-of-all-trades Aaron Edge was holding down bass duties either. The set was short but also punishing, as you will see from the video below.

This is a video from that El Corazon performance (1/22/10):

Many bands exist only to write and play the heavy, aggressive music that they want to hear, and according to vocalist Wolfgang "Erik" Ratzlaff-- REQUIN is just such a band. REQUIN make heavy music purely because they love it, and it just so happens they also do it very well.

Here is everything I dug up to help you become acquainted with this weeks spotlighted band-- REQUIN, and I highly recommend making it a point to check out their next Seattle show, March 16th at The Morgue in Georgetown.

Info:

Ex and current members of: Aphiskkyu-Bot, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, Grievous, Iamthethorn, the Mark Sparkles, Oops I Stepped in Some Christ, People We Hate, Shit Gets Smashed, Tsuga, 976-Murder

Members:

Wolfgang: throat & communication / Pamela: guitar & knocking things over / Ben: kit & other throat / Aaron: low end & art

History:

Wolfgang recounts the story of REQUIN's origins:

"The band started in April of 2008, and is a pretty typical incestuous Seattle band story. Pam and I previously played in a band called Aphiskkyu-Bot. After the band broke up we wanted to play with our old friend Ben (who was actually the original singer in Aphiskkyu-Bot). We knew we wanted to play similar music to what they had already been playing, (the technical kind of hardcore we grew up on), but wanted to streamline it a little and make it more direct and aggressive.

At the same time, Aaron Edge (Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, ex-IAMTHETHORN, ex-Grievous, ex-Himsa) asked me to start a recording project where he would play all the instruments and I was recruited to do vocals. As it went down, the night I went down to Aaron's practice space to listen to what he was working on, Pam and Ben were practicing 2 spaces down the hall, writing the 2 songs that would eventually be on the 7" (which is available now at REQUIN shows). As it goes I told Aaron I was heading down the hall, and he asked if he could come listen. He dug what he heard and asked if he could play bass, thus REQUIN was born. "

Discography:

REQUIN: "Deformities in the Key of D" CD:
This collection will include two tracks from our split 7", two from the "Oodles of Brutals" live cassette + three more goodies, currently unreleased! Out early 2010, we hope. It will be limited to only 100 hand-numbered copies.

REQUIN/Same-Sex Dictator split 7" :
Available at most Seattle-area record stores and on our merch tables. One massive beast of a song by them on the A-side, and two pissed off ragers by us on the B-side. Limited to 300 hand-numbered copies.

REQUIN: "Oodles of Brutals":

2-song live cassette. Available on our merch tables. Limited to 50 hand-numbered copies and almost gone!

Upcoming Shows:

Mar 5 2010 8:00pm CABIN TAVERN (21+) - Bellingham, Washington
Mar 16 2010 8:00pm MORGUE - Seattle, Washington
Apr 10 2010 8:00pm JOSEPHINE - Seattle, Washington
Apr 28 2010 8:00pm DUNES (21+) - Portland, Oregon

Links:

MySpace

0 [SHOW ALERT] Melvins Return To Seattle in July + Other Stuff

The Melvins have been in studio completing their next record, and are already preparing for a descent sized tour of the US. Much of the tour will see the mighty Melvins sharing a bill with the mighty Isis, unfortunately that's not the case for the newly announced Seattle show on July 6th at Showbox at the Market. Do we really need Isis to play with the Melvins for it to be an awesome show? Nah. Just a nice to have.

The Melvins have also been confirmed to be taking part in this years Bonnaroo festival in early June along with Isis. I will be sure to bring you coverage from that sweaty pit in Manchester, Tennessee as well. There is no way I'm not gonna go balls out apeshit on that farm. You might end up seeing me on the Internet as one of those crazed mud people covered in Gwar blood, we shall see.

Below is the show info, a funny video of the SNIVLEM fucking around in the studio, a link to a killer video interview with Buzz (must watch), and the info on a recently released 12" EP.

That should get you up to date. Boink.

Showbox presents:

Melvins
w/ Totimoshi

Day: Tue, Jul 6, 2010
Days until show: 127
Doors open: 8:00 PM
Ages: 21 & Over
On sale: Sat, Mar 6, 2010 10AM
Ticket Prices*: $18.00 ADV-$20.00 DOS

Fun in the studio with the Melvins:

From The Nursery, artist/writer Bob Nickas' new label has just released a new Melvins 12" EP(as far as I know the label has no website). - "A limited edition three-track 12-inch EP from MELVINS featuring a long version of “Dies Iraea” and a remix of “It Tastes Better Than The Truth” on the A-side (performed by the line-up of KING BUZZO, DALE CROVER, JARED WARREN and COADY WILLIS in 2008), and a 9-minute version of The Wipers’ “Youth of America” on the flip (featuring Buzz, Dale and KEVIN RUTMANIS, recorded by TIM GREEN at Louder in 2000). None of these tracks have appeared on vinyl prior. Limited to 2,000 copies (with 1,500 for distribution) pressed on silver/gray vinyl, with artwork by STEVEN PARRINO. Named “Record of the Month” in the February, 2010 issue of Vice Magazine." Best place to get it right now is Midheaven.

Tracklisting:

1.Dies Iraea (long version)
2.It Tastes Better Than The Truth (remix)
3.Youth Of America

Also you must check out this awesome video interview with Buzz!

1 [VIDEO] White Wizzard's "High Speed GTO"

This makes me smile.

0 [From the Crates #9] Burnt By The Sun - The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good (2004)

Review by Matt Abramson

Burnt By the Sun – The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good

(Relapse - 2004)

This one is high on the list of greatest album titles of all time. I suppose album titles really mean very little. I suppose you can have an awesome album title attached to a complete shit album (also known as ‘Ultra Beatdown’ by Dragonforce) or a really crappy title attached to a completely epic album (‘Blue Record’ by Baroness. I mean, come on. They should have called it ‘Cover the Walls as Your Head Shall Explode Now’), but when the two variables operate in tandem it’s just pure ass kickery overload. Case in point is BBTS’s 2004 masterwork. For those keeping score at home, the title comes from Voltaire.

I’m not a huge fan of categorizing shit. There are really only two genres: good music and crappy music. But the million other names for the million angles of those genres are a necessary evil to effectively talk about or describe anything. So get out your “metal subgenre” score sheet. I reckon we’ll place this album between grindcore and metalcore, but leaning very heavily toward grindcore. It’s seriously heavy, double-kick pummeling, screaming vocal type shit (which is why I love it), but BBTS incorporates chopped up samples and atmospherics, a grindcore thing for sure, and a heavy middle-Eastern modal bent on the riffs (which is why I love it more) that put it between these categories into its own little niche of awesome metal.

The idea of light and shade in music has been beaten into the ground, mostly because of The Pixies and “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, but it remains a key element in the albums that I find genuinely good. BBTS kicks a whole lot of ass when they set their phasers to ‘kill’, so to speak, but they also get that you need to put the listener into a different headspace and give him a second to gather the scattered remains of his skull after a serious bashing. To hear what I’m getting at, listen to how the second untitled interlude leads into “Spinner Dunn” – that’s about as well executed as it gets. Ever. Easily the high point of the album, which concludes with thirty-five minutes of a test signal tone followed by a final six minutes of edited media samples – a sonic picture of the smoldering remains left in its wake.

‘The Perfect Is the Enemy of the Good’. Words to live by. Perfection does not exist and is therefore irrelevant. True value only exists in imperfection. And grindcore fucking owns.

0 [VIDEO] Torche's King Beef

Another brand spanking new video, this one for "King Beef" taken from Torche’s upcoming split 10-inch with Boris, due out on Hydra Head in February.

0 [VIDEO] Pelican's Final Breath

Brand spanking new Pelican video for your viewing pleasure.

1 [KILLER SHOW ALERT] Down with The Melvins @ Showbox Sodo 8/11/09

How about this for a tour: The sludge all star team Down and the incomparable Melvins are teaming up for a summer tour and will share the same stage at Showbox Sodo on August 11th. This is an incredible bill, but also a strangely odd lineup as well. Being that Down usually attracts more of a mainstream metal crowd even though the band consists of underground sludge legends like Kirk Windstein of Crowbar, Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, and Pepper Keenan of COC. It’s the presence of Pantera singer Phil Anselmo and Bass player Rex Brown that really brings the old-school Pantera fans out of retirement. The Melvins on the other hand draw a quite different group of heavy music fans, I don’t want to pigeon hole anyone but it’ll surely be interesting to see how some of the old-school Anselmo fans react to the Melvins. Both bands are heavier than a heavy thing so it should be a great night regardless, especially with the PBR tall boys flowing.

In 2006 Down announced it was finally going to release a new record and tour again after a long hiatus. One of their first shows was at El Corazon in front of jam packed crowd, club felt way over capacity. They put up this metal barricade in front of the stage, mainly in response to former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell’s murder on stage in 2004. I saw Dimebag play on his last tour with Damage Plan at the same club, he was hanging in the El Corazon bar with the fans and it was awesome, but I’ll leave that for another post. The Down show was great, especially because everyone was wondering if Phil was going to be a mess. He proved he had cleaned up his act and Down tore the roof off. I‘ve seen Down 4 times now: Ozzfest 2002, El Corazon 2006, Vancouver 2007 with Megadeth and Heaven and Hell (worthy of another post as well), and Showbox Sodo in 2007.

The Melvins just celebrated their 25th anniversary give or take a few years at the Showbox at the Market with two shows on May 22nd and 23rd. These shows consisted of an early set by the Melvins of ’83 with original drummer Mike Dillard and Dale on bass. On the bill also was pre-grunge super group Green River, who reunited last summer at the SP20. Green River of course consists of Stone and Jeff of Pearl Jam, Mark and Steve of Mudhoney, Bruce of Mother Love Bone and Love Battery, and Alex Vincent on Drums. The Melvins then came out for a second set and played their seminal masterpiece “Houdini” in its entirety. I left at around 12:30 because I was leaving for Sasquatch the next morning and they were still playing. The Friday night Melvins show and the 3-day Sasquatch weekend was one for the ages, but again another post sometime down the road.

There is a lot of stuff I could talk between my experiences with these two bands, as I have seen the two bands not together a total of at least 12 times (Down 4, Melvins 8). This will be a kick ass show, very different crowds, and different vibes but two equally heavy bands to say the least. Presale on Now! I Got Mine!

Down with The Melvins
Day: Tue, Aug 11, 2009

Doors open: 8:30 PM

Presale code: showbox

Ticket Prices: $25.00 ADV-$30.00 DOS