Underground Classic - Acrimony 'Tumuli Shroomaroom'(1997, Peaceville)

In the pantheon of great unsung doom/stoner acts, Acrimony are perhaps one of the best examples of a truly genius outfit that were sadly overlooked at the time, but are enjoying somewhat of a cult revival of late thanks to the magic of  the internet, and various stoner/doom/psyche related Facebook fan groups and a plethora of excellent stoner rock blogs(see the sidebar for starters).

Hailing from Swansea , Wales,also the hometown of BAN faves Taint , and comprising members of other seminal UK doom/stoner acts like Iron Monkey and Dukes Of Nothing, Acrimony's approach was a deceptively odd, eclectic one, a heady brew of what the band called 'shroom doom', a sound comprising of walls of Sabbath inspired riffing with odd detours through Hawkwind -esque space rock territory, and which is enscapulated perfectly in their penultimate full length effort, 'Tumuli Shroomaroom' .

Opening with the  grinding doom  of  'Hymns to the Stone', the album is that rare thing, a 'drug' influenced album that perfectly captures that feeling of lost summers spent getting high and lazing in long grass or, in my case, behind the local mini supermarket.Groovy, warm but also loaded with a menace and intent that adds weight to the fuzzed up riffola on offer.Indeed, just witness the monged  synth sounds that pepper the  gloomy march  that ends 'Hymns' , or the spacey, blissed out beauty of 'The Bud Song' to see that this was a band who clearly enjoyed an hallucinogenic or ten.The band's sound also delved into grungier territory at times, with the instantly infectious 'Million Year Summer' a definite radio hit that should have been, singer Dorian Walters's broken glass and fag ash voice surely a Brit counterpoint to John Garcia's sandblasted missives.

And when the band do choose to go a voyaging, or a picking rather in their case, as in the ten minute slow building monster 'Heavy Feather', or the closing 'stomp of 'Firedance', they do so in a way that is never less than immediately accessible, and the album  'Tumuli Shroomaroom 'mostly recalls, especially in the aforementioned 'Firedance' 's voodoo boogie, is Sabbath's immortal VOL 4, the point where  they really began to push the boat out and explore somewhat more psychedelic waters, and this is the perfect reference point for Acrimony's startling, red eyed explorations in sonic bombast .Sound wise as well , it's a perfect distillation of all that is good about stoner rock , the warmth of analogue equipment and Orange amps , and gain controls  pushed just a little too hard, but most of all the feel of a band genuinely enjoying what they do.

Of course they might be gone, but their legacy remains(yeah yeah we know, STONE 'ENGE  and all that) , in bands like the excellent whiskey soaked rock of SIGIRIYA , and the wonderfully  filthy crust tinged heaviness  of Lifer. Just proof that there are those out there who still prize the power of the riff above all else . . .

For fans of: Black Sabbath, Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin, Wizards Of Firetop Mountain, Sleep
Stephen O' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com

Underground Classic -Opeth 'Blackwater Park'(Music For Nations, 2001)

What with the oncoming winter weather, darker , longer evenings, and the fact they have a new album due out in a little over a week, it seems appropriate to take a wander back through Swedish metal legends Opeth 's gleaming back catalogue , and take a look at what may still be one of their finest albums, 'Blackwater Park'. Now, I know what you're thinking, Opeth?Not that underground mate.But there was a time , before Roadrunner Records, festival headlining spots, and Scuzz Tv when these prog kings were a little less recognised in the metal world.Indeed, one can look at 'Blackwater Park' as the beginnings of the band breaking out of the extreme metal underground , and indeed forging their(well deserved) reputation as one of the best bands in the world.

Their fifth album, and their first time working with Porcupine Tree mainman Steven Wilson as a producer, 'Blackwater Park' was, as Eduardo Riviera of Allmusic put it, the band's "coming of age" album, an eight song collection incorporating a dizzying array of styles and moods, everything from harsh symphonic death metal, to     folky, psychedelia tinged wanderings, to good old fashioned heavy metal.Opener , and live favourite 'The Leper Affinity' is a monster, all bombastic riffing , and frontman Mikael Akerfeldt's guttural roars, morphing suddenly into  Akerfeldt's angelic croon and backed by elegant, elegaic guitar picking.'Bleak' is all blissed out riffing from Peter Lindgren(since departed)that undperins Akerfeldt's  grisly lamentations,  then at it's mid section ,it tapers off into a section of ghostly beauty, and eventually spazzing out into demented , Emperor style cosmic unease.

'Harvest' follows, a soaring, heartfelt, strongly folk influenced ballad ,that, if Wikipedia is to be believed, Akerfeldt claims to have stolen wholesale from an obscure band called Camel, though knowing the Swedish shredder's penchant for deadpan tomfoolery, especially where the press is concerned , this might be taking the piss.Fourth track 'The Drapery Falls', later released as a single, is , as ex- Kerrang! journo Dom Lawson put it, simply "the best ten minutes of music ever put to tape", and he may just be right.Emotive, heavy, epically structured, it's what all good heavy metal should be, and, on a personal note, when aired at Rock Am Ring 2008 in front of this young blogger, caused a little more than a few tears to be shed, such is the power the song holds over ahem, SOME Opeth fans ..  But moving swiftly on. . . .

'Dirge For November' is a masterwork of restrained songwriting and seventies prog sounds that provides a moment of , let's not call it relief, but shelter, before it segues into an extended passage of  funereal death metal.'The Funeral Portrait' is  one of the band's trademark stompers, with a central riff that Iommi would be proud of.'Patterns In The Ivy' is a short slice of instrumental nirvana, with some delicately pitched piano that provides another moment of respite before the monstrous title track, and it's thunderous swaggering groove brings the album to an earth rattling close, with possibly one of THE BEST FUCKING RIFFS EVER, Akerfeldt and Lindgren showing what  a  guitar can and should sound like, a growling, menacing beast of a tone that doesn't so much go for the ears as the base of the spine, a primal stimulation of your lizard brain that sits in the cerebellum for weeks . . . .

What makes 'Blackwater Park' such a great album though is a  tremendous sense of atmosphere, something Opeth excel at .There is a genuine sense of wintery, shadowy foreboding, and also ethereal beauty to the eight  offerings here, a feeling that, even though Blackwater Park as a place might not be the most welcoming place in the world, you'll still want to visit it again and again, digging a little deeper each time.

The band are at present about to release what is, on advance evidence, another masterwork of heavy music in ' Heritage' on September the 20th.Before then though,if you haven't already before now,  take a little trip  back through this fantastic band's body of work, and revel in the work of what may eventually become known as the most important band of our time.

For fans of ::Emperor,  Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd,Death

Underground Classic -Akercocke ' Choronzon ' (2003, Earache)

Ask anyone you know who's not a metal fan what 's the first thing they think of when they hear the term 'heavy metal' , and chances are, in among responses like 'hairy bastards drinking buckfast' and 'noisy cunts' will be the term 'Devil Worshipping Music' .Now, as we all know ,the auld horned lad likes himself a bit of heavy tuneage from time to time, and the feeling tends to be mutual, be it the censor/law baiting antics of the black metal hordes, or Bon Scott proclaiming his allegiance to the ways of the Big Bad Dude with 'Highway To Hell' . However, generally , it's all quite tongue in cheek(I obviously don't mean the church burning) , with a few cheeky devils horns thrown up every now and then to sate the Dark Lord.However, one band from London was taking it very seriously , very seriously indeed.Yes boys and girls, it's AKERCOCKE!

Formed in 1997 by guitarist/vocalist Jason Mendonca and drummer David Gray (no, not that one), and later joined by guitarist Paul Scanlan and bassist Peter Thoebalds.The band released their debut 'Rape Of The Bastard Nazarene' in 1999, followed by their Earache debut 'The Goat Of Mendes'  in 2001.The two records were well received in extreme metal circles, with the band's devotion to their (apparent) Satanic faith and a fondness for lyrical imagery of a , shall we say, less than salubrious nature, shone through to give their progressive blackened death metal a more sinister and intelligent  edge on the identikit black clad hordes windmilling in the shadow of HEWHOSHALLNOTBENAMED. But it was with the release , in 2003, of the band's remarkable third album ' Choronzon', that marked them out as true originals in the extreme metal scene, and certainly one of the most innovative, and it is this album we shall be prodding for some Underground Classic fun today.

Now when one hears the term 'Satanic Death Metal' , in some cases it can lead to rolled eyes, and sneers of 'well, that's original'.However what made Akercocke unique was their commitment to creating an atmosphere of sheer horror and demonic allure , with as much of an emphasis on moments of eerie disquiet as flaying a listener with a sheer wall of blastbeats and riffs, though there is that too.And although it is fair to say that on first impressions , the band can be said to sound much the same as many similar bands, dig deeper into 'Choronzon'  , and one can be surprised by the vast array of influences evident in the band's maelstrom of sound, everything from the soaring progressive mastery of Rush through to the atmospheric guitar sounds of bands like Killing Joke and Godflesh, to the rhythmic subversion favoured by bands like Voivod , and even, as evidenced by the opening of the epic 'Son Of The Morning',, bizarrely,  a love of new wave synth pop , singer Mendonca as much a master of  a devilish croon as he is able to grunt and scream like someone in the throes of a serious bout of demonic possession.Witness, for example, the symphonic blast of  'Becoming The Adversary', and it's detours into moments of twisted electronica, or the ending of key track 'Leviathan', and it's soaring string section and stunning, emotive vocal performance from Mendonca..And just when you 're getting sucked into the sonic whirlwind, and bombast, delicate  closer 'Goddess Flesh' arrives to soothe the senses, a track astonishing in  it's melodic beauty, and a welcome oasis after the sheer devilry that precedes it , with a brilliant string arrangement that is almost cinematic in it's scope , along with another wonderful performance from Mendonca.

The band's subsequent albums would take the band' s sonic progressions and sound and push them further, and further away from the black/death metal genre, however, for the best and most satisfying distillation of the band's heady witches brew, 'Choronzon' is as good a reference point as any, and in this writer's humble opinion, it is one of the lesser celebrated underground metal classic albums. So draw the curtains, pour yourself a glass of finely aged Port, and delve into the hellish delights of this criminally underrated band.

For fans of : Emperor, Morbid Angel, Aborym

Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com

Underground Classic - El-P ' I'll Sleep When You're Dead' - Definitive Jux , 2007

Regular visitors to this blog will know that BAN mainly deals with the heavier side of the musical landscape, with our bread and butter being riffs, riffs, grooves, and more riffs, and we're proud of it.So it might be a surprise then to some to see our latest Underground Classic is a record with only tenuous links to the world of rock , indeed , today , we 're going to venture into slightly different territory, and have a look at ,what is in my opinion , one of the finest hip-hop albums ever made, El-P's 'I'll Sleep When You're Dead'.

No ordinary rapper/producer, Brooklyn based EL-P (real name Jamie Meline) had previously only released one solo record, 2002's caustic, gritty 'Fantastic Damage', itself a  hip-hop classic, and had busied himself otherwise with various collaborations, producing gigs and also running his own alt hip-hop label, Definitive Jux, home to such underground luminaries as Aesop Rock and Cage.So when 'I'll Sleep . . ' dropped in 2007, no one knew what to expect from the Brooklyn maestro , other than a sound and lyrical content as confrontational and forward thinking as his debut, with it's tales of alcoholic, wife beating androids(Stepfather Factory), and modern day urban alienation (Deep Space 9mm), and on this front at least, the record doesn't disappoint.Sonically however, this may just be one of the most unique albums of any genre, a dark, absorbing , and at times grimly hilarious journey through an industrial/hip hop netherworld that is at turns compelling, addictive, and exciting.

The album opens with the seven minute odyssey 'Tasmanian Pain Coaster' , which begins with Meline's stark , nasal tones rhyming over a blend of skewed beats, and spacey, sinister synths, builds through a lurching, panicked mid section and climaxes then, bizarrely but brilliantly,  in a dazzling bit of prog rock pyrotechnics, with Cedric Bixler and Omar Lopez of  The Mars Volta providing, respectively,  the vocal histrionics and guitar fireworks.'Smithereens' follows, urgent, angry, and insistent, EL-P's fluid , sardonic and at times baffling wordplay clashing with stuttering ,monolithic beats ,and locking down a groove that is just enormous.'Up All Night's is a demented catchy call to arms, while 'Flyentology', featuring guest vocals and production from none other than Trent Reznor, is a work of crossover genius, EL-P's sarcastic , imagined prayer from a dying atheist alternately poignant and funny, while 'Run The Numbers', featuring long standing collaborator Aesop Rock, is simply a work of pure genius, Rock's cryptic lyrics ("Ask me about the specials, I'd go for the razor chicken/ hope his delivery radius fly to Gracy Mansion") and the pair's seamless interplay and energy putting to shame pretty much every shitty rap team up in history.

But perhaps the best recommendation one can make of the album , or indeed EL-P's work in general , is the refusal to dumb down, or provide a radio  hit to try and buoy the album above the currents of the underground , Meline's subject matter vividly invoked, and  at all times  , the vibe of the record is one of articulate confrontation lyrically, and sonically, pushing the envelope of  alternative hip-hop to incorporate industrial , jazz, new wave and even psychedelia, but all the while keeping a solid framework of thoughtful, subtle and cleverly  constructed hip-hop  beats.And if one is indeed in any doubt about the true rebel nature of this Brooklyn native, then point those peepers to his controversial video for 'Smithereens' , below, which depicts the man himself being tortured by water boarding and beatings  in the manner of Guantanamo inmates.Shocking, provocative, and at times hard to watch, it sums up quite succinctly the EL-P attitude, and indeed the reason to listen to this fantastic album, namely that in  a a world of posers, bullshitters, and general idiocy, there is still artists willing to take risks and say things that need to be said, and that is why I have deemed 'I'll Sleep When your Dead' an Underground Classic.

For fans of : Saul Williams, Sage Francis, Aesop Rock
Stephen O ' Connor, for Born Again Nihilist
bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com

Underground Classics, Blue Cheer - 'What Doesn't Kill You'

“Meet at 4.20 ‘cause that’s where I live,

Look for a place to throw stones…”

Blue Cheer: named after LSD, too loud to be recorded in the studio, and only now being recognised as one of the key proto-stoner bands. However, I’m not going to get caught up too much with their legacy, this piece is about their last stand, the 2007 record, ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’. It’s tragic (in the true sense of the word) that the final album that long-time bassist and front man, Dickie Peterson, would make would be such a tremendous return to form after many dodgy years and a few equally dodgy albums. ‘What Doesn’t Kill You’ saw the band cut the crap and get back to the meat and potatoes; loud fuckin’ fuzzed out fuckin’ riffs. A fitting end to a life in music for the late Dickie.

As I write this I have reason to celebrate this type of thing, as I have just been watching the BBC documentary ‘Secrets of the Pop Song’, which, while educational, features the slimiest of producers searching for the fabled gold in the land of Generica. Depressing stuff from anything but a pure business point of view. Anyway, on with the point!

The record opens up with ‘Rollin’ Dem Bones’, a celebration of pot in every respect, underpinned by ZZ Top style distorted slease. Dickie’s voice is clearly not what it was in 1969 but it makes his performance all the more impressive since he doesn’t shy away from going for those high notes and yelps.

The band’s ‘golden years’ from 66 to 69 saw them record covers of several blues oldies and so they did here with their take on ‘Born Under A Bad Sign’. Guitarist Andrew ‘Duck’ MacDonald, approaches his parts like a metal player who is also a true musician; trying his hand at a myriad of different styles to see what works. Check the choppy funk laid down on ‘Piece o’ the Pie’, the slide guitar on 'Rollin' Dem Bones', or the early Van Halen style tremolo bar tricks on ‘Gypsy Rider’. Gypsy is one of the heavier moments on the record, not unlike Black Label Society in its dark chugging simplicity.

Drums on the record are shared by golden years member Paul Whaley and former Pentagram drummer Joe Hasselvander. Neither show their age as the whole record has an excellent driving feel, heavy on the kicker in that Ginger Baker, solid-yet-loose kind of way. The energy is only let up on the ballad ‘Young Lions in Paradise’, a forlorn song of youth and better days that features the most sparkly clean guitar tones you’ve yet heard. And the band continue to move through various rock stylings as we move through the tracks. ‘Maladjusted Child’ brings out more funk and lo-fi fuzz to go with it; an unlikely pairing. Think Funkadelic collaborating with Kyuss era Josh Homme.

Dickie sadly succumbed to cancer in October 2009 just before a planned Blue Cheer tour. As I said at the outset, this last album, being such a return to form, was an all too appropriate end to the life of a musician. Joe Hasselvander wrote a goodbye to the late Dickie Peterson on his blog, see the link below but it is quite a sad read, I have to say.


http://joehasselvander.blogspot.com/2009/11/dickie-peterson-gone-but-not-forgotten.html

“…You bring your stash,

I’ll bring my own,

You bring the bong,

and I’ll keep on rollin’ dem bones!”

By Edward Gerard Brophy

For Born Again Nihilist 2011

Underground Classic - Iron Monkey 'Our Problem' -Earache 1997

Formed in Nottingham in 1994 , and named after a seminal Kung Fu flick, Iron Monkey  , although only having a short , and somewhat troubled five year run as a band proper, are a band nevertheless deserving of their place in sludge/doom history.Apart from the member's pedigree and accomplishments since the split ,with various members of the band going on to play in bands such as Electric Wizard and Capricorns, during their short existence the band managed to make a couple of cracking albums, and it's their 1997 Earache release, 'Our Problem', that gets the Underground Classic treatment today.

The band's key sound mainly lay in the sludge rock  that bands such as Electric Wizard and Eyehategod did and do continute to propagate, with a notable Sabbath influence, evidenced particularly  by the band's homage to 'Hole In The Sky' 's muffled yell on album opener 'Bad Year'.However, Iron Monkey were as much about rocking out  as they were doomy drones, and in tracks like 'Boss Keloid' and 'House Anxiety', the band's love of old school english hardcore bands such as Discharge and Crass shines through , along with a sense of groove that recalls some of Motorhead's more fired up early  moments.'I .R.M.S' meanwhile  is an exploration of pure molten evil , the band locked into a killer swampy death groove that nags at the cerebellum long after you've hit stop.'Golden Rules' is  all Cathedral esque guitar pomp, while closer 'Joint Spiritual Whip' rivals anything off Electric Wizard's seminal 'Dopethrone' record for sheer , monged out nod along stoner metal riffing.All the while, late, great singer Johnny Morrow grunts and howls like a man going to hell in a handbasket, as the band create an irrestible wall of noise around him.

What perhaps sets 'Our Problem ' apart from other albums in a similar vein however is the production.Put simply, it's excellent, the guitars clear and rich, with a tone that Iommi himself would be proud of, ,not   to mention an excellent drum sound,  and  I would dare say it's a joy to listen to even if it's not your taste in music, just to hear how a doom record SHOULD sound.Add to this the band's clear talent as songwriters, and the fact that not one moment , even during the epic 20 minute blast of 'Joint Spiritual Whip',  feels wasted or thrown in, and you have a true sludge classic, no bullshit, just dope jams to soundtrack a few cans of cheap cider and a sneaky soapbar spliff.

Morrow's passing in 2002 after suffering a heart attack sadly spelled the end to any hope of a proper reunion, so unfortunately it's all about the band's recorded output these days.So out of respect for the man , light up a three skin, crank the fucking bass, and be blown away by the sound of Iron Monkey.

Lost Classics -Neurosis 'Enemy Of The Sun' (Neurot/Alternative Tentacles, 1993)

With the very welcome news that Oakland, California legends  Neurosis are once again to visit Irish shores in just a couple of week's time, it seems like now is the right time for a look back on one particular gem in the band's glittering back catalogue , 'Enemy Of The Sun' .

The fourth studio effort from the band, 'Enemy Of The Sun' opens with a chilling sample from the film ;The Sheltering Sky', a simple three words: "Are you lost?,".The reply? "Yes". What follows is 'Lost' , possibly the most astonishing opener to an album ever, the band sampling, as they do throughout the album, seminal Vietnam doc 'In the year of the pig', as well as the late , great Brandon Lee, with said samples underpinning  possibly the most menacing doom riff ever written. Frontmen Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till's eerie, chanted vocals, which become something akin to the howls of the damned by the end of the song, are perfectly pitched, raw and roaring. It's quite simply one of the finest songs ever written, starting with an agonisingly drawn out , prowling bass line, and ending in a demented fury of white noise and clipped, distorted sampling.

What follows is an album that is in equal parts soundtrack to apocalypse, but also , bizarrely,  life affirming in it's own way. Witness the  haunting choral strains that open 'Raze The Stray', that give way to a riff that sounds like tectonic plates shifting, or the evil, , monotonous, overdriven groove of 'Lexicon', , which, with it's samples of monks' holy  chanting, reveals  a twisted irony given the demonic din they are part of.

Let's be honest. 'Enemy Of The Sun' is not for the faint hearted. A head crushingly loud, and at times terrifying journey into an abyss that few would dare tread, it is also the quintessential Neurosis album, combining the band's mastery of atmospheric textures, with some of the best doom riffs ever written. It is also one of the few albums , in my humble opinion, that deserves the term 'cinematic'. Epic in it's scope, and it's sound, 'EOTS' is comfortably up there with some of the best heavy albums ever made, and a true 'lost classic', nay lost masterpiece. Let's just hope that when they grace our fair isle on July 25th , they see fit to air a few from this behemoth of a record. See ya at the bar!

Stephen O' Connor for Born Again Nihilist

bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com

                                           

Lost Classics - Clutch 'The Elephant Riders' (1998 , Columbia Records)

                                                    
What comes to mind when one thinks of elephants?
SIZE, that’s right!
And what comes to mind when one thinks of Clutch?
Also Size! Very good!
Let’s talk a bit about that wonderful occasion in 1998 when the two had a chance to meet.

Unlike their earlier hardcore orientated outings, this was the pivotal third album that saw Clutch, now enjoying major label backing from Columbia Records, indulge their southern rock influences to the fullest extent yet. Add to this, a fascinating chilled-but-heavy record production and we begin to see the Clutch that we know and love ever-so-much today. That’s not to say they abandoned what they knew and at which they were good; third track, ‘Eight Times Over Miss October’ is constructed with a selection of riffs that Greg Ginn in the later days of Black Flag wouldn’t say no to.

Neil Fallon, our favourite lyrical mad-scientist, is in absolute top form throughout this sonic adventure. As if challenging some sort of punk rock taboo, Mr. Fallon decides to take us through a labyrinth of oddly mundane and earthy lyrical content. Songs about such down-to-earth topics as recycling and being a model neighbour such as that of track seven ‘Green Buckets’ for example: “I would like to love ya, I sure would treat you right, we could take the trash out every Thursday night.” Listening to which I can picture in my mind’s eye, Fallon sitting at a kitchen table in the late morning, with a cup of tea and a writing pad, calmly penning out a few lines.

Vocally Fallon takes his already powerhouse voice to the limit of its range on this record. Want proof? Take a few minutes to listen to the record’s opening track up until its ten ton chorus! A man shouting “EL-A-PHANT riders to the North” hasn’t sounded quite as menacing since Hannibal was spotted by some luckless Italian chap in 218 BCE.

Similar to Fallon’s choice of lyrics, Guitarist Tim Sult lathers the sound of this record with guitar tones that fool the ear and brain into thinking they are heavier than they really are. Think early Sabbath records, or any heavy records of that era on which the guitars are surprisingly low gain by today’s standards but still come across weighty as swollen bollix (‘balls’, for our non Ireland and Britain readers). That potent mix of Les Paul guitars (tomatoes!) with P-90 pickups (bacon!), for good mix throw in an old school Wah sound (toast!) and give the audience all manner of Hendrixesque tricks and tones (marmalade!), send the whole lot through some vacuum tube driven amplifiers flooded with electricity (THE GRILL!!!), the result is a Full Irish Breakfast of Moorish Rock ‘n’ Roll nutrition that keeps the belly full and the spirits high for the rest of the day! Sound tasty or wha’? Sult proclaims his love for the Wah effect all over this record and uses it in all the right places, on rhythm as well as lead parts. The verse of ‘The Yeti’ would not be the same without it.

A much more traditional aspect to the sound of this record is the bass sound courtesy of Dan Maines. It is low and thumpy and nicely high in the mix, often times equaling or occasionally overtaking the guitar in the mix. It makes me think of the tones used by Motown bass players in the mid 60’s who knew that they were the steam behind the Soul train. Muchos Veses features a cool overdriven bass sound, complimented by tongue-in-cheek lyrics and a horn interlude much in the style of The Melvins in their funnier moods.

Drummer Jean Paul Gaster takes a curious backseat on this outing. Keep things nice and chilled and forever funky, only letting rip with the heaviness when the situation demands. Perhaps he was stoned? Who knows? That’s not for me to speculate. But make no mistake; his playing is as inventive and impressive as it is on any other Clutch record. An interesting amount of playing around with time signatures is going on here, I am not certain if I should attribute this to Gaster but he is the drummer after all. The verse of the aforementioned ‘Eight Times Over Miss October’ being in 5/4 time by my humble count.

Despite this laidback approach taken throughout the bulk of the record, Clutch maintain their unpredictable edge with closing track ‘Dragonfly’, a thorough bruiser weighing in at the very end of the record (I understand some versions contain hidden tracks but for the sake of simplicity I’ll call Dragonfly the last track of the album). It’s lighthearted, wah wahing intro on a single, non-threatening guitar is instantly blown away by the entire band bursting out with a signature riff followed by the unnerving chorus, and itself followed by some brief but ghostly slide guitar. The whole lot together becomes one gargantuan voice and says; “Yeah, it has all been pretty chilled but don’t get to comfortable mate…”

And my favourite word of this review has been: chilled. Oh, and don’t forget to listen to Elephant Riders too, that’s kinda been the point of this thing.

Edward Gerard Brophy
For Bornagainnihilist 2011

Lost Classics - Clutch 'Blast Tyrant'

Ye true music fans, you few in number and beautiful in spirit minority that appreciate music for what it is, you know it and love it like art should be known and loved, to you wonderful folks I ask you this; how many records in your possession can you honestly say are solid gold (metaphorically) from start to finish? Records that are as damn near perfection as can be without becoming imperfect because of it (Raymond Deane knows what I mean by that!) and just leave you happier by listening to it? If you are indeed one of the honest few to whom I wish to appeal, you'll admit that such records are few and far between. However, in this review I wish to bring one such record into the glorious light of appreciation, the pride of 2004, Clutch's 'Blast Tyrant'.

Drummers take note; riffcentric white guy rock in 4/4 timing can be as groovy as those photos of your dad in 1977 looking like Hyde from 'That 70's Show'! Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster excels himself in the sheer funkiness of his playing on this record, like nothing else I've heard from the band since. It is the perfect compliment to guitarist Tim Sult's seemingly endless collection of riffs and tasty Wah soaked lead breaks, all making their way ferociously to the listener's ear by way of hot P-90 pick-ups and fiery Orange Amps!

One interesting thing about this record compared to most bands and indeed some other Clutch records is thing: most bands in the studio will tend to accentuate their strengths and bury their weaknesses in the final mix. Blast Tyrant does no such thing, everything is load and proud! Guitars, Bass, Drums, Organ, Vocals and Lyrics are way out in front at all times. What do I mean when I say 'vocals and lyrics'? Well many singers may like the sound of their voice but not their lyrical content, or vice versa, but super-cryptic lyric master Mr. Neil Fallon always seems to make a point of singing as coherently as someone with such a weighty voice can. (If you haven't felt the weight for yourself, see Mastodon's 'Blood and Thunder', the “Split your lungs in blood and thunder, when you see the white whale!” breakdown from 2004's 'Leviathan'). Indeed some of the tongue-in-cheek highlights of the album are from Fallon's strange sense of humour, including the title of this article:
“Please allow me to adjust my pants,
So that I may dance the good time dance,
And put the onlookers and innocent bystanders into a trance.”

Such is the opening of track 3, 'Mob Goes Wild', the least hackneyed anti-Bush song ever to come out of the term of his presidency. Neither System of a Down nor Green Day never saw the beautiful simplicity that Clutch advocated:
“Everybody move to Canada and smoke lots of pot.
Everybody move to Canada right now. Here's how we do it:
Bum rush the border guard before he and his dog ever knew it.”

I will say no more in way of the details of this record. Get it, Play it Sufficiently loud, and Fuckin' ENJOY!!!

For Bornagainnihlist,
By Edward Gerard Brophy, 2011

Lost Classics Eyehategod-'Confederacy of Ruined Lives' 2000

In this work a day world , we are always being told  by those suppsedly  in the know to stay 'positive' , and to  maintain a healthy outlook on life, with the result that one can be quite disoriented by a constant barrage of  feel good imagery and anodine self help platitudes.Thank fuck then ,  for bands like New Orleans's Eyehategod, possibly the band most likely to simultaneously ruin your day and make you feel like life's just that little bit more worthwhile.

Bluesier and more subtle in it's songwriting than previous efforts 'Take As Needed For Pain' , 'In The Name Of Suffering' and 'Dopesick, 'Confederacy Of Ruined Lives' is nevertheless an at times overpowering cocktail of swampy ,downtuned sludge , music that Sabbath might make if suffering from serious delirious tremens and deprived of any love as children.From stomping opener 'Revelation/Revolution ' , right through to the final agonized throes of closer 'Corruption Scheme' ,'Confederacy' rarely lets up in its ferocity, yet there is a welcome sense of warmth  and restraint here that was missing from earlier efforts , and a of a band finally coming into their own as musicians ,evidenced by tunes like the irrestible sludge- and- roll racket  of  almost-hit of 'Jackass In The Will Of God',  and the old school doom riffola of '99 Miles Of Road' .Singer Mike Williams' vocals meanwhile betray a sense of a man very much riding a handcart to hell and loving every second , sounding as  lovably pissed off , and pissed up, as ever

With the very welcome news that this year the band will finally unveil a follow up , 'Whiskey Drink'  , it's a very warm welcome back to these sludge-metal psychos , and it's actually quite a nice feeling to know that sometime in the near future, a whole new wave of pissed off  neighbours and outraged parents are to be introduced to the pure sonic might of one of the stoner underground's finest.For now , here's a little something to keep you going.

Ste
bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com

Lost Classic- Big Business 'Here Come The Waterworks'

The name Big Business may be familiar to those of you who are Melvins fans( and if you're not, why not?) , given that the bass loving duo have collaborated with the legendary grunge outfit on several occasions , most notably on the excellent 'A Senile Animal' . Indeed the fact that the two bands share such a kinship is unsurprising, given the propensity of both bands towards not only various illicit substances , but also fuzzed out , grungy shit-kicking rock and roll.

The band started as a duo , composed of sticksman Jared Warren of the band Karp and Coady Willis of Murder City Devils. Together with guitarist David Scott Stone, they unleashed their second full length , 'Here Come The Waterworks' in 2007  , and promptly scared the shit out of  us all with one of the evillest soundest albums in living memory. From opener 'Just As The Day Was Dawning' onwards , the band proceeded to try and shake the foundations out from under you , with a frantic low end rumble that could conceivably level whole  buildings if left unchecked. Underpinned by Warren's Animal -from-the- muppets-on-crack drumming , Willis' bass takes the fore , ploughing the songs onwards through a subterranean groove that is wholly addictive.

However what marks out 'Here Comes The Waterworks' from any one of the assorted sludge/grunge/doom bands out there is the sense of a band who just want to rock out.Just listen to the rousing 'Hands Up' , or the Kiss on downers grooveathon that is  'Grounds For Divorce', with it's brilliantly sarky "That's A Lie!"'refrain , for proof  of that , and when the slower,more reflective moments do come , such as on the fuzzed out  beauty of closer 'Another Beautiful Day In The Pacific Northwest' , they are all the more devastating.

Still a fully functioning band , the band have since replaced Stone with another longterm Melvin's collaborator , Toshi Kasai , and made the equally excellent 'Mind The Drift' , proof that , while pop may be where the big bucks are , rock is still ahem . . . .Big Business . . . ..
Sorry, had to.
Check em out , and any comments or feedback , or if you fancy contributing to BAN , simply mail us on
bornagainnihilist@gmail(dot)com
Peace and Doom
Ste

Lost Classics- CKY 'Infiltrate Destroy Rebuild'

This record pretty much defined my 16th year, and like many of those records you love during your formative years, this one stayed with me, becoming the background noise of my implicit memory.

This strikes me as a record that could have really changed the game in heavy music. It's radically different guitar tones, approach to riff writing and production were like nothing I had heard before and nothing I have heard since. Yet perhaps it is something precious because of the fact that it has not (yet) changed the game. Mainstream success would have over played it to the point of complacent over-familiarity, thus cheapening it and it's impact. So maybe this will be one of those records that musicians will cite as influential in years to come rather than now, a slow burner.

The first thing one hears when putting on this record (after happening across it for a bargain in the late 'Music City' in Dun Laoghaire in 2006) is the TITANIC opening riff of 'Escape From Hellview'. Now this is a proper monster of a riff, a finger twister to play if you too are a guitarer (yes I did mean to spell it that way). This heavy sack beating soon gives way to a minimalist verse made cold by frontman and evil genius Deron Miller's reverberating voice. Then an intimidating link, “turn back, the silence is deafening”, before the reprise of the ELEPHANT-WITH-A-TRUNK-FULL-OF-COKE-RIFF!!! I adore that riff just in-case you can't tell. As a matter of interest, this track is part of an ongoing theme in Cky records: Hellview being a fictional town in which the events of 'Escape From Hellview' and '96 Quite Bitter Beings' from the previous record take place.

I've noticed a loose pattern in heavy records lately. A good few seem to do this: open the record with a heavy bruiser track to grab the listener's attention then follow it with a more subtle 2nd track. I can't quite tell if that was done on this record and that brings me to this point, all ten tracks on I.D.R are of equal quality, no lapses anywhere. Even the joke track 'Plastic Plan' is still perfectly listen-able. The second track in question was 'Flesh Into Gear'. A great  , great  track all round, every bit as complex as the preceding Hellview but with an altogether different feel and sound. I think this one would be well known relative to the rest of the album, there was a fair bit of exposure for the video around the time of release. I will speak more on videos later!

At track 4 we have 'Attached at the Hip', a bizarre effects laden Lars-Ulrich-learns-a-funk-beat sort of affair with equally bizarre lyrical content. This is another moment of  the album to which I was hooked from the first listen, always a good sign! Synth sounds feature all over this track, lending it a unique sound even on this already unique record.

As usual I will limit myself to writing about 3 stand-out tracks and leave the rest for the reader to discover. However I will mention this, the band not only made a ten track album but also made a DVD featuring a music video for every track! And each one different and equally well thought-out (with the exception of 'Flesh Into Gear' I think it is fair to mention).

Check out this record if you want something that cannot be easily defined, its the best kind of blend of unique and accessible and has not been bettered by the band since.

“Work the parts responsibly
Piece them biologically
Release them incomplete and
Barely will they think or breathe...”

Edward Gerard Brophy.

Lost Classic - Wooly Mammoth 'The Temporary Nature'

It is one of the frustrating things in the world  as a music fan, when presented with various polished turds/ summer dance anthems/dubstep remixes of the Thomas the tank engine theme to see a truly great band, who by rights should be outselling Bieber and  his satanic cohorts ten to one , languishing in the depths of obscurity.Sadly , this is is how it is with Washington DC stoner rock troubadors par excellence Wooly Mammoth , whose non ascension to fame and riches is one of the greatest crimes in recent music history.

The band's sole full length effort in nearly eleven years , 'The Temporary Nature' takes all the best bits of heavy music of the last forty years and boils them down to their key parts , no bullshit, just lean, intelligently crafted rock anthems. From the irresistible ,swaggering opening salvo of 'Head Full Of Collision' , to the almost unbearably catchy 'Black Spider,Red Spider' , to the prowling menace and primeval stomp of the title track   , 'The Temporary Nature' is a hands down , stone cold rock classic. Forget stoner and doom rock cliches, and the lingering scent of posers like Wolfmother and Priestess , this is the real deal .The band in fact have more in common with godafathers of grunge like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains  than any of the aforementioned spliff toting wannabes .It would be hard to imagine  Andrew Stockdale, for instance,give the raw impassioned , warm performance that WM frontman Zac Eller tears from his skinny frame throughout the album.

The band have since toured America numerous times with kindred spirits such as Stinking Lizaveta and Weedeater , but have so far failed to deliver a follow up to 'TTN'  , although some formative tracks have appeared online, and on their myspace page , and have shown the band in fine, stomping, creative form. Hopefully , when and if a follow up does arrive , this great band finally gets the recognition they deserve.

Play Loud- Ste

Lost Classic- Cult Of Luna 'The Beyond'

The term 'heavy' is bandied around lots in the metal world , and applied sometimes to music that is distinctively un -heavy , both in terms of tone and sound .Indeed , one can sometimes become lost when trying to apply the term to a lot of modern music , for instance, is Aphex Twin , an electronic act with a focus on queasy , unnerving ambeince and mood less 'heavy' than say Killswitch Engage , whose songs may contain a heavy production and metallic guitars but are otherwise basically pop songs?However , every so often a band appears who can be described as 'heavy' in every sense , and Sweden's Cult Of Luna are definitely one of those bands.

When the band's sophomore release 'The Beyond' appeared in 2003 , the term post-metal was already old hat, and it's key exponents , namely Isis and Neurosis , were already exploring new territory , particularly with the former's brilliant 'Oceanic' . 'The Beyond'  however was a different beast , and although similar in style to the aforementioned bands , it cut it's own niche in the post-metal genre .Heavy as a ton of bull elepahants tumbling down a flight of stairs , but also imbued with a sense of genuine emotion and weight , 'The Beyond' was  , and is , a truly crushing experience.

From the second the eerie , oppressive intro of 'Inside Fort Meade' kicks in , we are aware that this isn't going to be a picnic , and we are proved right when the swirling ,vicious riffage of 'Receiver' kicks in ,all topped off with the tormented , anguished yowl of singer Klas Rydberg, a man who throughout the album, sounds as if he's going to hell in handbasket . A pleasingly clear and sharp production by Pelle Henricsson lets the band's brutal riffola breathe and flow , and when the band do turn the volume down, as on the delicate almost Pink-Floyd esque guitar flourishes that open 'Circle ' ,or the stunning ,violin -led breakdown in 'The Watchtower'  , it's no less devastating.

The band have since grown in popularity , and amassed a respectable cult( if you'll pardon the pun) following with subsequent albums 'Salvation' , 'Somewhere Along The Highway' and 'Eternal Kingdom'  , but none have really equalled the thrilling gut punch of 'The Beyond' . And indeed after listening even once to it, to paraphrase the narrator in Chuck Palahniuk's 'Fight Club' , everything else seems like the volume has been turned down a bit.So ,  as the hoary old  rock cliche goes, play loud.

Stephen O ' Connor
bornagainnihilist@gmail.com