I presented you Boneworm here last month - through a nice little interview, here's now another cool new band from Portland (Oregon) named MAMMOTH SALMON... if not as slow and bleak, this duo consisting in Paul Dudziak (guit/voc and bass for this recording) and Mitch Meidinger (drums) is almost as fuckin' heavy and raw as the lava wizards, which is yet in itself a real performance !!!
Check out immediately their "Internet EP 2" containing 3 songs of chugging Stoner/Doom (averagely of about 5 minutes), this name your price-affair is a real must-have if you enjoy your dowtuned stuff infectiously plodding, hypnotic and loud !
Gosh, I jealously imagine how a gig with BONEWORM and MAMMOTH SALMON shall be one of the most mindblowing Doom experiences actually imaginable on the West Coast... anyway, you'll read more on this band this summer in T.O.P. !
After their amazing debut album "Boued Tousek Hag Traou Mat All" released about one year and a half ago, psyched-out Breton druids STANGALA have crossed the path with the ultra heavy and stomping Stoner band STONEBIRDS - for a split-album entitled "Kreiz-Breizh Sessions" !!! Aleksey Evdokimov recently interviewed Steven and Tom to get to know more about this great new release, immediate and future plans...
Hi Steven! Hi Tom! How are you comrades? What’s new going on in forests of Brittany? Did you already gather a harvest of first mushrooms?
Steven: Hi Aleks! Everything is going pretty well indeed, as the last months were pretty exciting on our side. I was working a lot on the production of our new split album with StoneBirds and we are now preparing to go on a small tour in France (and one gig in the UK), to promote it. I also started writing material for a new album, and I really look forward to trying these new recipes!
Oh, that’s a good news! When do you plan to hit the road? I would like to ask you share more info about tour, you know – dates, cities, bands and, well, maybe few gigs in Russia?
Tom: The tour goes from the 23rd of May to the 2nd of June. I only remember the Breton part of it (Fanch from Stonebirds is in charge of the booking). So, here it is:
23/05: Lorient @ Le galion w/ Stangala and Burtul
24/05: Glomel @ Le korong w/ Stangala
25/05: Bressuire @ Anthems of doom w/ Stangala, Northwinds, Bottle doom lazy band and Children of doom
We’ll soon post a poster with all the information about the other shows! But as you see, we’ll meet up with friends from Bottle Doom Lazy Band. That’s great news! This show will definitely be a blast and a true doom celebration.About Russia... Maybe some day but this really needs to be interesting because it’s the kind of tour that leaves you damn exhausted! But hey, why not.
What kind of merch do you prepare for the tour and do you see any reason to spend a money onto it? And, okay, do you wear t-shirts or other relics of other bands? Which ones?
Steven: We don’t have plans for merchandising for the moment. And yes, we do like the idea of supporting a band by buying and wearing shirts from them if we like their music and attitude, but I really don’t think that it would be so interesting to give names here!
How does process of releasing of that promised split-album of Stangala and StoneBirds go?
Steven: At the moment, we are planning on releasing a “tour edition”, on CD, limited to 100 copies, but later on hopefully, a standard release on vinyl.
How many demos did you send to labels and were there any responses onto new stuff from some of them?
Steven: We contacted quite a few labels actually, and received a lot of encouraging answers but most are not willing to take the risk to release a split album. A single album from a single band would be apparently much easier to promote and sell!
New release is named “Kreiz-Breizh Sessions”, what is the story behind that title and art-work?
Steven: Kreiz-Breizh literally means Center-Brittany in Breton. Remember that we come from this particular region in the north west of France, where people feel closer to the Celtic culture than to the French one? Well we met these guys from a neighboring city and we came up with the idea of recording something together. We booked a studio in a small city called Guéméné-sur-Scorff, lost in the middle of nowhere in the so-called Kreiz-Breizh, next to StoneBirds’ hometown, and everything went incredibly well! We recorded 5 songs each, really took our time, drank a lot of whisky, slept in a farm, and the outcome of all this is this wonderful album that we are about to release.
Steven, of course I remember where you are from! Even though I’m right now under the weight of few portions of rum! You know – I always have an interest to bands lyrics, what are the lyrics themes onto new songs? Your vocal sounds sad and upset onto “Konk Kerne” song like if someone steals all mushrooms from your secret glade!
Steven: Haha! No one stole my mushrooms, no need to worry! Actually, the new lyrics deal mostly about anxiety, boredom and melancholy, mostly in the context of a withdrawal. Not that I mean to complain about my life like a spoiled western boy whose weed got confiscated by his dad, far from that. It is merely a simple set of feelings emanating from an utter social awkwardness. I guess I am meant to remain hidden in the forest.
Your bandcamp profile says that there’re 10 tracks are already prepared for “Kreiz-Breizh Sessions” but there’s only two of them were shared: StoneBirds’ “Game Over” and Stangala’s “Konk Kerne”. I see that you’re combining not only stoner and folk music in your new stuff but also few black-metal elements as it’s in your project Netra. Did you decide just gather all of your artistic ideas in one band?
Steven: It’s always a struggle for an artist to segment his inspiration! I myself feel more and more the need to somehow simplify all this. Although there will always be an indelible boundary between Netra and Stangala, I tend to be more open than I used to when it comes to choosing where my latest riff belongs.
What’s about other new songs of Stangala? How much do they differ from your previous work and can we make any conclusion about them considering only “Konk Kerne”?
Tom: Since Konk Kerne stands as a transition between our past and future musical experience, you can obviously draw some conclusions. The next songs will lean on the black metal side of doom music. Slow, dissonant chords and heavy drumming! But we’ll always keep the classic doom and Breton licks as a lead. Stangala is a place of experience and feeling: nothing should get in the way of that!
Tom, how did you and Alexandre accept new “black” ideas of Steven? Do you have a mutual point of view in Stangala or do you compose songs separately from each other?
Tom: Steven is the main composer of this project. His ideas are great and since we can’t jam often, we kind of leave the composition to him. That’s how things have always been working and I think we’re all glad of what blooms out of his hands! I personally have played in a few extreme metal bands so I’m not afraid at all to join the forces of evil for the next record (laughs).Steven knows I can follow him in any direction he decides to take so, this can turn out to be very interesting once again!
Will you support this release with another official video and didn’t you ever think to record a song together with StoneBirds? Guess it would be universal and good solution for any split-album…
Steven: We might release a new video indeed, but if we do so, it would be much simpler than the previous ones, that is without plot or anything like that. As for the idea of recording a song together with the birds, that is something that we actually talked about but did not have time to do, unfortunately. As a matter of fact, the bands kinda merged after our experience together, we needed a bass player, they needed a drummer, and now there are only the four of us for two bands! So I guess you can say that we are moving in the direction of recording some more stuff together for sure! I really hope that this split album is only the first step of a fruitful collaboration.
How was expensive those videos which you did record before? Do you see a reason to continue perform Stangala in visual way in a future? I’m meaning – did both of your previous videos help you in band’s promo or was it only a kind of outlet of artistic energy?
Steven: It certainly helped getting the band more exposure, but my primary motivation with producing these videos was to have fun. I managed basically every step of the production in both cases and the mission was accomplished: it was a lot of fun! We did both videos on a budget, of course and I am really glad of the result, many people liked it! You will definitely see more video material from Stangala in the future.
Hm, it’s just a curiosity – how much of your free time Stangala takes? And how does it help you in a daily life?
Steven: This is hard to assess. I could spend a whole week-end editing a song just as I could spend 3 months without doing anything related to the band. It sure takes an important part of my life, as my girlfriend tends to remind me sometimes, but it is important to me and I never see it as a constrain or anything like that. Everyone with at least bit of personality needs a channel to express oneself, otherwise one becomes crazy.
I don’t force you to tell you but what’s about new stuff? Do you have something certain on your mind after final release of “Kreiz-Breizh Sessions” or will you take a break for a while? What’s about Netra, Steven?
Steven: I already started to write a second album for Stangala. I am confident that it will take quite some time, so don’t expect anything soon. I think that it will be a logical successor to BTHTMA, maybe slightly darker. As for Netra, I have plans to release an EP later this year, which, I can already tell, will be an interesting blend of genres. But wait and see…
Thank you guys for this interview, it was really cool to chat with you about music and other stuff, but I really need to go to sleep – eyes are closing, rum is boiling, so have good dreams too! And don’t forget to let us know how about other news from Stangala! Oh, and send my best wishes to Alexandre for he’s absent today. Good night!
What applies to their label mates and neighbours The Heavy Eyes also goes for The Dirty Streets, the name of whose hometown (Soulsville close to Memphis) fits the music they make insofar as it mentions the gist of the trio's retro-sound: Thomas Storz' singing as well as the playful guitar work carry a lot of soul along otherwise rather unassuming compositions. In this way, The group resembles Jimi Hendrix' various outfits ("What Do You Know") or CCR in their heydays ("Native Son" indeed has a Southern tinge), for as simply as, say, "Cloud Of Strange" or the title track may sound, the devil lies in the details, namely the two components mentioned.
Although "Movements" is by no means an overt statement of virtuosity in the first place, its quality and eventual superiority over records of potential competitors (and there are many, for sure) lie in the protagonists' feeling and dexterity alike. "Fight You" extracts the best from early Rory Gallagher (do they even know the Irishman?), the driving "It's About Time" could well stem from Mother Tongue (ahead of their time and gone too early), and the title track somewhat incredibly reminds this listener of the fabulous "Thinkin'" by the sadly overlooked New Jersey act Banchee.
Having said that, the best thing about The Dirty Streets is the fact that they don't brashly quote their obvious heroes but only adapt their song structures and work with has always functioned when more or less young man gather to racket about. As a record buyer who can choose, please deign to expose yourselves to noise as it is heard on "Movements".
“Desagravio” is my first encounter with the Spanish three piece band “Lords of Bukkake”, although the band exists since 2003 and this is their third full length release (through Total Rust Music).
I put the CD into the player , listen to the intro of the opening track “Boca Ácida” and my first thought is: "This guitar won’t obey any rules”. When after about one and a half minutes the drums set in I think: “The drums won’t either.”
And then a lot of thoughts storm my poor brain containing ideas like this is going to be jammy, spacey, jazzy, proggy, sludgy, doomy: ….. Chaotic? Yes and no, or maybe it’s just me who can’t decide?
This sense of ambiguity accompanies me throughout the whole album. With its only four but lengthy tracks and an overall runtime of about 48 minutes, it keeps on creating new exciting tensions and surprises.
The entire affair is of utter depressing darkness, a heavily brooding mood of a menacing and constantly lurking danger that forces an alertness upon the listener (me) that is agonizing and enthralling at the same time.
Slow heavy depressive doom parts with riffs thick as ….( well very thick) mix up with noisy punk encrusted sludge, 70s psychedelic stoner vibes and jammy freaked out guitar solos. Each change promises relief from the torturing heaviness, but soon I realize there is no relief, only the instrument of torture changes and everything is just getting even more intense. The bleak and acerbic vocals don’t exactly offer any comfort either.
And yet I enjoy every heavy riff, every bleak caustic scream of the vocals, every twist and turn that just adds another strain that tears my soul into pieces instead of offering even the slightest lightening of the atmosphere.
What the hell is it that makes this agony worthwhile?
It’s the intensity on different levels. There’s the intensity of the direct nasty brutality and the intensity of the intricate jazzy structures that drench everything in a kind of jazz-doom mood that’s absolutely amazing. In addition “Lords of Bukkake” merge it all so unbelievably well into a cohesive, organic experience, yet they save the feel of chaotic anarchy, not least because of the insanely brilliant guitar solos with a huge amount of emotional impact that never fails to heal my torn soul.
“Desagravio” already belongs into the list of my favorite releases of 2013.
Evoke Thy Lords (Russia, Novosibirsk) gathered in 2002 and, at first, moved in the rut of many Russian Death/Doom bands playing in that unpopular genre for a few years. It took them a long time to record their first album 'Escape to the Dreamlands ', which was released in 2008 and consisted mostly of slightly Gothic Death/Doom with one specific feature – amidst all instruments there was flute which give some original touch to Evoke Thy Lords stuff. In 2009, the band released new but already overtimed stuff on the split album “Twofaced” with another project of multi-instrumentalist Lefthander - Riders On the Bones. The same year the band took part in another Doom-Art.ru compilation with a remarkable outstanding composition 'Cause Follows Effect'. It was an intellectual and deep psychedelic Sludge with some jazz savour and a great portion of experimental stuff. Now, that was unexpected and quite a pleasant surprise that set the wheels in motion...
And the motion was wasted for quite a long time. Recording for the new album of reborn Evoke Thy Lords was finished only in the fall of 2012, when I interviewedHERE in DoommantiaAleksey Kozlov (bass, vocals). After listening to the new pieces I really hoped that the band would soon find the way to release them. Indeed, shortly after our talk the album was released by Solitude Productions. Guess this label is the best choice for a Russian doom band.
Well, you may figure out some conclusions about the renewed sound of ETL by the album's cover. Although, it's a pity that the cover theme has no further expansion in the humble booklet, you may find the whole lot of new ideas in the CD content. This cosmic to the core, moderately heavy, melodic trance doom is unique not only for Russian scene. I bet, you won't find anything comparable in the whole huge doom world. To my joy, the band threw away all that rancid grandma's Doom/Death leaving from the old ETL only the flute and aimed at some extra heavy psychedelic Stoner Doom with a tint of Sludge.
'Drunken Tales' includes four new pieces and a bonus track - that very 'Cause Follows Effect' which has become the heaviest track on the album. The leading role now belongs to hypnotic acoustic passages accompanied by flute as the cyclic nature of the music and it's 'acidity' reminds me of My Sleeping Karma. Another leading element on the album is the solid groovy guitar riffing, relaxed yet heavy. In the new music of ETL, there is a place for some stoner and even for post-metal ('Down The Drain'); improvisation parts and flute remind of a certain jazz nature of some elements. But everything come with it's price, and now there is no too much place for vocals. The growl is intentionally placed in the background so that it couldn't distract you from the melody. Now it's only one of the instruments and plays rather a supporting role.
'Routine of Life', 'Dirty Game', 'Down The Drain', and 'Dregs' are overwhelmingly good. They engage my attention and hypnotize me with the tune. Rythm and pulse resonate with the entire body. But I have to admit, that it's hard to address an individual description to each track. First of all, all tracks sound so authentic that it's hard to classify them. Of course, you may call it a 'Sludge version of Jethro Tull', but that would be only because of the flute. Second of all, all tracks are great, but to the equal degree of greatness. It's not a flaw, but it makes it harder to describe the album in details. The only standing out track is 'Cause Follows Effect' which was recorded in 2009. It sounds heavier, more aggressive and greasy. Nevertheless, that's the only track where you may hear some female vocals. Damn… I was totally enchanted with the recurrent phrase 'something wicked this way comes..' It’s magic… Follow the tune, follow the flute… Follow the flute I say!
Although they cheeped out on the bonus track, Evoke Thy Lords have done a great job. 'Drunken tales' demonstrate original edgy and almost god-inspired music. Let the music flow from one track to another, and you'll get lost in the depths of improvisation. I like it and I want more of it. What's even more important, the band has found a generous place for creative experiments. I would expect further experiments with instrumental sound, vocals and other stuff. The only thing that I worry about is that we may have to wait too long for the next Evoke Thy Lords album, time shall tell…
The Civil Dead is a one man project by Chris Langer from Vancouver, Canada. It’s a genre bending mix of doom, drone, post-rock, shoegaze, cowboy western vibes and whatchamacallit. The Civil Dead’s debut release, ‘Bird Bones’ is a five track, 40 minute offering that can only be described as unique.
Drone fuzz sizzles on the western plain creating heat mirages of long dead lonesome cowboys whose souls and life patterns have been strewn recklessly across the face of eternity by “The Wild Wind (Death)”. This album opener breathes life into empty landscapes, evoking moods far older than man and time. Notes blaze through the speakers slower than the arc the sun makes across the immortal sky before finally passing on to give way to the next. All the while, an image is painted across ten minutes of time, which relies less on pattern of tone than on repetition of mood, to spring to life, an image formed of geological processes, glacial and spanning the course of aeons. It’s a tone setter, one that paves a slow rolling highway into timelessness.
One thing that keeps coming to mind as the record plays on is how different a musical vision of ambient drone and doom this project paints as compared to most other entries in the genre. The stringed instruments are downtuned and as fuzzy as the outline of dreams, but the musical choices that are made here are not made in respect to worshipping the past in any way. A clutch of outside the genre influences pierces the membrane of the purely audial to scrape harshly at the visual arts, to return with the genetic material of Ennio Morricone on a q-tip. Langer then enters the lab to create mutated freaks, as terrible to behold as the works of Ozymandias. ‘Bird Bones’ could be the soundtrack to a film no one but the songwriter himself has seen in his own mind’s eye. One picture that emerges over and over is that of dusky skies.
The vocals are mournful, nearly despairing at times, and Langer is able to juice every last drop of emotion from them. Again, the guitars are fuzzy, but surprisingly bright in tone, the drums add about as much pace to the affair as a dripping sink faucet.
As with most one man musical projects, the sounds contained herein are intrinsically individualistic. Sounds redundant, what is meant is that no one else could have made this music, nor could any collaborative effort have yielded the same results. Because of this, and the tonal quality, not to mention the molasses like tempo, the album as a whole takes on a delicate, almost sickly aspect, something that needs to be listened to as a whole, in the dark (with perhaps the dying embers of the sunset streaming through the window), and in total silence, to be fully appreciated. Though each of the five compositions here could stand on their own, they would have trouble doing so.
In the time since this album’s release, the Civil Dead has re-emerged with a one off collaboration with Delete the Son which resulted in a 15 minute track called “The Scold’s Lament” and bits and pieces of a new work in progress that carries the rather unwieldy title of “The Wilderness Is Gathering All Its Children Back Again”. As of yet ‘Bird Bones’ is the only Civil Dead release available for download on bandcamp. It’s available as a pay what you want deal.
With a number of Bandcamp-demos under their belt, in part recorded live on occasion, Tennessee's The Heavy Eyes succeed their two-track teaser (consisting of the flamboyant opener "Levantado" and the hook-laden "Lately") to "Maera" with the actual album, a display of old Rock values between the musicians' common garage and a small club stinking of cigarette smoke and sweat.
"Mind" with its positively dragging Bonzo-beat is probably the strongest reference to seventies Rock, but mind you: There's not really anything contemporary about the music of The Heavy Eyes, the more so if they get into a bluesy mode like in "Parado". The catchy "Goodnight" harks back to call-and-response principles between singer and instrumentalists before the chorus kicks in, and "The Times" makes you think about a dirty version of Lenny Kravitz, which might well apply as a general description for the group.
On the other hand, "Abbé Faria" calls to mind upstarts such as Rival Sons or Witchcraft, the forerunners of "vintage", in particular due to frontman Tripp's moaning vocals. A more refined vocal delivery as in "One Hand On The Buffalo" is something the band should consider for future songs, thoug, since it makes them more distinguishable from similar bands of their stripe, and originality is what they seriously lack. Apart from this smaller or bigger letdown (depending on what you expect from your music), "Aplomado", a repetitive exercise in relaxation for about ten minutes, is the only dispensable track on "Maera", although one could argue it serves as alonger outro to an overall solid to enthusing sonic retrospective on allegedly glorious times.
Next edition, in less than two months now, will be only its 3rd, but the DAYS OF THE DOOMED FEST is already a Major event in the actual Doom scene, gathering the very finest of American DOOM... Mercyful Mike Smith did once again a titanesque work to provide such an incredible line-up including Dream Death, Penance, In-Graved, T.G.O.S., Bellezefuzz, Iron Man, Orodruin Earthen Grave, King Giant, Kings Destroy, Pale Divine and so many other ripping bands ! Let's read what he has to say about this exciting edition, a naturally captivating expression... Hey Mike… The 3rd edition of DOTD Fest will take place in less than 2 months now, I guess there’s always tons of different things to do at the same time during all those months - but in which more precise phase of work are you actually in ?
Hey Stephane! Well, it is without a doubt “crunch time”, so right now, all advertising campaigns are being finalized and put into place. Artwork has been delivered to regional as well as national publications, and posters are being printed. I will also be starting a complete attack on social media sites. This is the point where I like to try and be as visible as possible- in your face if you will!
Just giving a look at the poster of this new edition give chills, not just the names but also the fact that a great part of them have new stuff that just came out (T.G.O.S., IN-GRAVED, DREAM DEATH…) or will come out in between or imminently right after (BEELZEFUZZ, KINGS DESTROY, KING GIANT…) , not forgetting PALE DIVINE, IRON MAN, EARTHEN GRAVE who released new material not so long ago… more than previously, the level of the line-up is really high, I think that in just 2 editions DOTD Fest became a major event in the US doom scene, is it the first benefits from your immense work on the two first editions that start to flourish or did you had to double your efforts to gather so many good bands on this week-end ?
Well, each year I try and regroup a bit and review what worked and what didn’t, then I go from there. So far, it seems I’ve been doing the right things because interest in the fest remains positive, and there is no shortage of bands that would like to take part. What I like to do is try and constantly “up the ante” from year to year; try to hold contests leading up to the fest, the “Raffle of Doom”, and things of that nature to keep people interested. Keep them involved with the fest. That also includes looking for sponsors that are willing to help the fest grow. I am beyond thrilled to be working with Scion A/V this year! It’s not very often that a corporate entity takes such pride in promoting underground acts and metal in general, so hats off to Scion A/V! It is truly a pleasure to be working with them.
How did you deal with DREAM DEATH and PENANCE ? Was your former proposition for both bands or did they propose you a special unexpected historic package ?!
Hahaha! Well, the idea of Penance came about during the scheduling of DOTD Fest II. As a promoter, one of the selfish perks is that you get to pick the bands that you want to see, and I had always wanted to see Penance in one form or another. So I did a tad bit of investigating and the feedback I got at the time wasn’t exactly great, so I let it go. Fast forward to around early October last year and a conversation I was having with Butch Balich. It was actually him that planted the seed for getting me to push for Penance at DOTD Fest III, specifically the “Parallel Corners” line up. At this point Dream Death was already confirmed, so I hit up Rich Freund and Mike Smail about the possibility of Penance performing at the fest. It basically came down to them saying, “If you can get Lee Smith over here, consider it done.” Well, as you can imagine, I got in touch with Lee right away and after a few weeks of discussions and negotiations, the planets lined up and we announced Penance would indeed be taking part in DOTD Fest III. So I have to give credit where credit is due: thanks, Butch! Having Dream Death and Penance on the same bill… I’m still in awe!
I presume that the running order of Saturday’s evening was not something easy to settle between the 3 last bands DREAM DEATH, IN-GRAVED and TGOS… ? Was there some cases of conscience hard to resolve ? Is it generally a hard task to put out a cohesive running-order which can also depend of some bands prerogatives ?
Putting together the running order for DOTD Fest is one of my least favorite things to do in all honesty. In my case, the running order of the “headliners” is fairly easy- they almost fall into place most of the time. Some bands ask for a certain spot ahead of time, and then it’s easy to work around that particular spot, and of course seniority also plays a role. The running order of the late afternoon/early evening bands is a nightmare for me because every one of those bands deserves a killer time slot. A lot of times it comes down to who’s been out on the road, who might have a new album out, and so on. It’s murder on my nerves because I never want to inadvertently “snub” anyone. I do my best, but sometimes I’ll toil over it for days on end!!!
You always give place to smaller bands, which is a great thing of course, this year GRAVE DIRT, MOON CURSE, WHALER and GORGANTHERRON are openers… except maybe the last, those are really obscure names for us Europeans, could you present those future headliners of the years 2020 ?!!!
Every single one of those bands you just mentioned has it in them to become a headliner in coming years. MOON CURSE is a local Milwaukee band that has an incredible buzz surrounding them right now. I really think they are going to take it up a notch very soon, so make sure all of you catch them at the fest this year! GRAVEDIRT is another new band from Milwaukee building great momentum, and Michigan’s WHALER caught me by surprise one night while surfing Facebook. Heavy!!! GORGANTHERRON are definitely on the rise, too! Monumental riffing, and a killer Kathy Reeves video is helping keep them in the public eye.
Beside the musical passion of everyone involved, the thing that comes to mind when thinking about your fest is the brotherhood between all bands, happy to meet each other, happy to see X or Y on stage as a young enthusiast fan… you guys form an incredible family in the northeast US Doom scene, something that I would feel hardly imaginable in Europe, not just because of language differences… such a festival in Europe would bring a lot more people and things would take another dimension, more barriers between people…
I think you hit it on the head with the word “family”. Time and time again I’ve heard people say that doom fests are like “family gatherings” because of the camaraderie between the fans and the bands. This is hardly anything DOTD Fest can take credit for- I’ve simply followed in the footsteps of McCash, Brenner, Hart, Gallo, and Levy, all of whom had established the “family gathering” atmosphere at their respective fests prior to mine. Although I have never been to one, it seems as though fests like Doom Shall Rise do a good job of bringing everyone together in the same fashion.
A great addition to the line-up (that wasn’t planed a few months ago, until they found the band) is SPILLAGE… another family in the family with members from Earthen Grave, Trouble and The Skull, and (almost ?) all good old friends of yours, will this be their 1st gig ?
Hahaha! Yes, all good friends! This will indeed be the debut show for SPILLAGE, and I really think they are going to turn some heads! The material is amazingly killer, and everyone involved is really putting in the time to maximize impact. While mainly Tony Spillman’s band, Spillage has been around since 2002, and thankfully 2013 will finally see the band hit its stride! Bruce Franklin will not only be playing/performing, but he’ll be producing the new album as well. Stay tuned!
Another rare band on stage that you can be proud of is CHOWDER, Josh Hart and John Brenner on the same stage, that’s something very special !
And let’s not forget Ronnie Kalimon! I remember talking to Josh Hart not long before “The Passion Rift” was going to be put out, and I mentioned how killer it would be to have CHOWDER at DOTD Fest III. At the time, it seemed like a bit of a long shot, but one rainy evening I got a text that said nothing more than “We’re in.” Then I got a follow up text of what the live line up for CHOWDER would be and I damn near lost my mind. There is quite the buzz surrounding CHOWDER’s appearance at the fest this year, so I would definitely make the effort to catch their set! Not sure how often this line up of Hart/Brenner/Kalimon may play out, so it’s well worth seeing them at the fest!!!
A little aside, still related to your incredible investment for the scene, Spillage is one of the first bands you recently caught in the roster of the newly-found Mercyful Mike Management and Productions… there’s 2 other bands Divinity Compromised (progressive metal) and Frosthelm (black/thrash)… were you thinking about that for a while or is it bands who asked you for this ? maybe you already naturally helped them and kind of officialized things ? Before being a Doomster, you’re a METALLER, this seems to be confirmed by the various styles of those bands, is the band’s attitude and project as important as their music to your eyes ?
The whole management/production idea had been floating around for a while, but I never really thought much about pursuing it. Outside of Days Of The Doomed Fest, I really only book other shows on occasion, most recently being Toronto’s CAULDRON. I kept getting a nudge from friends here and there about taking the management side of things more seriously, but it really wasn’t until the opportunity to manage SPILLAGE came around that I decided to take a serious look at it. Tony Spillman is my chief assistant in this endeavor, and his help has been invaluable. Since we launched the company, the number of bands inquiring has been nothing short of surprising! There is still a major learning curve for this company, so I am trying to take things at a slow pace- not loading up the roster with every band that comes knocking. DIVINITY COMPROMISED’s Lothar Keller approached me back in late February about handling their management, and things have been working out quite well! Their magnificent debut release “A World Torn” was released back on 3/19, and they have several live shows booked in support of it, including a stop at this year’s Pathfinder Fest. North Dakota’s FROSTHELM also contacted me not long after, and I am currently finishing up booking a late summer tour for them. They will be releasing a new full length soon as well. In regards to the musical styles of the bands I am representing, you are correct in saying that I am a METALLER first and foremost. Doom may be my favorite genre, but I love METAL no matter what, so whether your progressive or blackened thrash, it’s all good to me. The focus and drive that DIVINITY COMPROMISED and FROSTHELM have to take it to the next level is tremendous, and if I can help take them there, I am honored to do so.
The show of IN-GRAVED should be something very special too, their 1st in the States (and only planned for this year at this moment), I guess this is a kind of icing on the cake and very exciting perspective?
Oh man… Having IN-GRAVED at the fest this year is truly special. At the moment, it looks like this could very well be their debut US show as no other dates have been booked. Either way it will be exciting for all in attendance. I actually contacted Victor very early on about possibly bringing PLACE OF SKULLS to DOTD Fest III. It was already publicized that he would be leaving Pentagram, so I thought what a great opportunity to get not only a killer band, but put them back in the spotlight. So upon our first discussion, it was tentatively set that PLACE OF SKULLS would be playing DOTD Fest III. However, after a few more phone call conversations, in became apparent that Victor wanted something truly fresh, and that PLACE OF SKULLS was going to be shelved indefinitely. So literally through talking with Victor and watching the social media posts, IN-GRAVED basically unfolded before my eyes. Very exciting stuff from my point of view! The live lineup of Victor, Jeff “Oly “ Olson, Guy Pinhas, and “Minnesota” Pete Campbell is beyond top-notch; take a look at the YouTube footage from Roadburn and Desertfest! Those guys are firing on all cylinders and I expect to be completely blown away by IN-GRAVED this June. If you haven’t grabbed the new album, it’s a no-brainer. Grab it!
There’s certainly lots of others people to mention but Kathy Reeves is a precious help for you in terms of visual communication and live recordings of the festival sets (with Michael Lindenauer), must be comfortable to count on such competent and dedicated people ?
I have a mental list of quite a few people I am eternally grateful to, and Kathy Reeves is VERY high up on that list! She never ceases to amaze me with the promo ideas she comes up with, and all the footage she captures. I have really never given her any direction to follow when it comes to making DOTD Fest promo videos- she just takes the ball and runs with it. And as you can see from her creations, she scores big every single time. Her work has helped spread the word of the fest more than I could ever have imagined, and I am extremely thankful to have her helping me out. (Kathy- the Ruffles truck will be making a delivery soon… !) And major kudos the Michael Lindenauer (aka Lucifer Burns) as well! His taping throughout the years has not only helped garner attention for fests like mine, but also for the bands involved. Some of the coolest footage on YouTube belongs to Lucifer Burns, and I hope he continues to tape bands when he can. I also have to say that Michael was a source of great advice when DOTD Fest was in the formative stages, and I am thankful to have had Mike to bounce ideas off of!
In Europe, festivals like Roadburn and Heavy Days in Doomtown let more and more place to artists to expose their works in some kind of conceptual decors, is that something you can imagine for your festival or are you limited by lack of space ? Is there a merchandising corner available though ?
I would love to be able to have a bigger platform to present bands on in terms of stage décor. I love how Walter has the band’s logos backlit behind them, or is able to run old movie footage during sets. That kind of stuff to me is cool as hell, but unfortunately, I don’t see that happening at DOTD Fest anytime soon. Space is limited due to the fact that I use a smaller venue than those used in Europe. This is basically just because of the differences in crowd attendance- same old story. I could go on, but that’s an entirely separate conversation. We do have plenty of space for merch, and we keep 3-4 tables set up all weekend so every band performing has a chance to lay out their loot!
What are the most important improvements you’ve worked on concerning the organization for this edition ? Is there anything wrong which happened last year that really affected your personal enjoyment of the event ?
Hahaha! Well, last year I dealt with a change in venue, a change in dates, a change in CITY, and I lost some bands along the way! Take that into consideration and I gotta tell ya I am more than happy with the way DOTD Fest II turned out! Luckily, none of those problems arose in planning DOTD Fest III. The one thing I wanted to really focus on was sponsor support, and I am extremely pleased with how that turned out. As I mentioned earlier, DOTD Fest III will be a Scion A/V sponsored event this year, which is huge. I also will have the good people at mhxradio.com playing a major role in the fest, and if all goes well, we will be broadcasting the fest around the world.
A bit of geography for everyone now if you don’t mind ! If you had to transpose your festival in a special corner of the globe with bands from your choice living in the country selected and its bordering neighbours exclusively, what place and which bands would you choose if you had 10 names to point ?
Man… that is a hard question to answer just for the simple fact that there are so many amazing bands throughout Europe. I guess Germany would be a good central location, then we could draw bands from France, Italy, Spain, the UK, even Poland. I’d love to book Serpent Venom and Black Magician, and then obviously Kadavar! April Ethereal would be a killer addition as well!
What’s the particular interest of doing a pre-show on Thursday rather than adding a couple of bands on the 1st day (Friday) which is starting later than day 2 ? I notice that none of the 4 bands playing at this pre-show is really DOOM, is that consciously selected under that canon ?
The Thursday night pre-show was the idea of Jeff Bach, known better by his Infernal Rock Radio name “The Bachness Monster”. He broadcasts on Monday nights for IRR out of Madison, WI, and is huge underground doom supporter. Taking advantage of the fact that so many out of town people arrive in Milwaukee Thursday night, why not treat them to some “warm up” action before the fest kicks into gear? The bands that participate aren’t always straight doom, such as Chicago’s SPYDERBONE who are more traditional heavy metal, but I think that’s just fine. It helps to get the party going no matter what, and like we said earlier, we’re all METALLERS at heart, right? VEGA will rock us, WITCHDEN will doom & roll us, and AQUILONIAN will mesmerize what’s left of us! And to address why Friday starts later than Saturday- it’s to allow people to get out of work and have time to get to the fest without missing too much.
What about this year’s raffle of Doom ? This year you also propose some special deal for people who buy tickets, for example this month they can win the killer new Kings Destroy album… can you present this please ?
This year I’ve been trying to raise some extra funds once again by using The Raffle of Doom. As you may have seen, there are some KILLER items up for grabs, and more come in everyday. On top of that , many bands have been generous enough to include items for month long ticket deals, most recently being KINGS DESTROY, and before them THE GATES OF SLUMBER. Both of these bands gave away their new album just for buying a weekend pass during their special DOTD Fest deal. As we speak, I am working with VENOMOUS MAXIMUS to create a pretty sweet deal for one week in May. KING GIANT also held a contest we tied in with The Walking Dead that worked out really well. I can’t thank these bands enough helping promote the fest. It means more than you know.
What about the kids and family, not growing too fast ? Still have time for everyone or is it hard sometimes to do find the right balance between everything ?
My two boys are growing up at light speed. I wish I could hit the “pause button” once in a while to slow them down! I coach my youngest son’s little league baseball team, and spring training starts tonight, so that will keep us very busy throughout the summer. My oldest son has also taken an interest in golf, so we’ll be going from the ball diamond to the golf course! We all do our best to still make time for one another where it’s just family, and my wife is usually in charge of that. She’s the “equalizer” we all need.
Well Mike, maybe I forgot to ask you about something important, so do not hesitate to add anything you wish, maybe concerning accommodations, local beers, if Mr Bong should bring his weed with him or not, etc…hahaha !!! thanx mate, all the best to you !
I think we covered quite a bit!!! If anyone still needs info on how to make the most of their Days Of The Doomed Fest weekend, look no further than www.daysofthedoomed.com for everything you could possibly need from band schedules, to travel options and hotels. It’s all there! While at the fest, be sure to try one of many local brews and ciders at The Blue Pig! And I’m not sure if Mr. Bong will make it through the door, but Mr. Joint might be able to sneak by! Hahaha!!!
Thanks a TON for allowing me to ramble on, Stephane! It is always a pleasure to discuss all that is doom with you! All the best to you, and hails to TEMPLE OF PERDITION!!!
A few pics of BARABBAS set yesterday evening in Rennes at le Mondo Bizarro ! It's been really cool to get the chance to listen four new songs - which maybe still need more Live practising but gave concrete proofs that you gotta expect a fantastic Album - darker with more textures and diversity, for the end of the year...
Setlist :
HORIZON GOLGOTHA
LE MAL OMEGA
BARABBAS
LE COUTEAU OU L'ABIME
JUDAS EST UNE FEMME
LE SABBATH DANS LA CATHEDRALE
QUATRE CAVALIERS
This gig was celebrating the end of the radioshowTIME TO BLASTand at the time I'm writing this, several bands including VOIGHT KAMPFF, LAST BARONS and of course BARABBAS are recording some special acoustic sessions for tonight's last show !!! don't miss that, some unexpected covers from french doomsters should be good fun to listen to ...
NY's Heavy-Blues band GEEZER is back with a killer new EP !!! Know everything about it (and other great news...) through this nice little presentation by Pat Harrington (Guit/Voc) :
So the plan is to "release" it on May 1st. Initially it will only be available as part of a giveaway given to the first 50 tix sold for The Eye Of The Stoned Goat 3 at The Acheron, Brooklyn on July 27th, the poster is included in the "Bonus" part of the download. It will then be released to the public as a free download. (date TBD). The first song, Ancient Song, will also be available on the upcoming Grip Of Delusion Compilation, also set to be released on May 1st. (well, it looks like it's available as FREE download immediately for everyone...)
This excerpt from the interview I did with you regarding the new material is a great explanation, "Initially the idea was to do a new song for the upcoming Grip Of Delusion Compilation that is coming out later this month. We had a show last month and used the opportunity that day to do the recording. We ended up recording three new songs! Two of which we played for the first time on stage that night. I came into the session with a few basic riffs, one became the song, “Thorny”, which is a dark, quiet acoustic number. The other became “Ancient Song”, which is the song we are releasing on the compilation. The third song, “Ghost Rider Solar Plexus”, I had developed the idea a bit more, had a basic arrangement… but we still just jammed on it and let it rip! It was one of those days, when everyone was at the top of their game and played their asses off! Maybe it was just the right combination of weed and coffee. The fourth song, “Dude, It’s Molecular” is actually a live recording of an improvisational jam we did at a show last fall. The recording came out pretty good and we loved the jam, so we decided to release it as is. All the tunes are loosely based on the blues, but as I said before, we’re changing our approach a little bit, maybe a bit more psychedelic, maybe a little darker, maybe a little heavier, you’ll just have to wait and see."
In Addition... Geezer is proud to announce, we just signed a record deal with Blues Blvd. Records (Belgium) to release Handmade Heavy Blues in US, Canada & Europe! The album is set for (re)release in October.
Blues Blvd. Records is part of Music Avenue Group Of Labels out of Belgium, traditionally they are known for selling back catalogue stuff from established artists but are now shifting their efforts towards new music as well.
Of course, we are very excited! When we started the band, we didn't expect to make it out of the Hudson Valley, much less be distributed and heard throughout the world. We are very grateful to Alfie Falckenbach and the fine folks at Blues Blvd for giving us this opportunity!
Thanks again Steph! Please let me know if you need anything else from me or have a problem with the download,
I presented you Boneworm here last month - through a nice little interview, here's now another cool new band from Portland (Oregon) named MAMMOTH SALMON... if not as slow and bleak, this duo consisting in Paul Dudziak (guit/voc and bass for this recording) and Mitch Meidinger (drums) is almost as fuckin' heavy and raw as the lava wizards, which is yet in itself a real performance !!! 
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