... O.S.M./BARABBAS/PILGRIM/WINDHAND - Paris, November 12th LIVE REPORT !!!

It's been quite a while since I came in Paris for the last time to attend a Stoner/Doom gig; it's not that it's rare to have great gigs in the capital - but most of the time for me, who needs to take the train and got about 4 hours of travelling to get there, it implies to take a day off from work, thus this needs reflection and often concerns bands that I get to see for the 1st time like Wo Fat earlier this year !!! Well, PILGRIM one of the most promising Trad' Doom bands coming out from the US -  playing in Paris with WINDHAND whose 'Soma' is unanimoulsy acclaimed and ice on the cake - my good friends of BARABBAS, this was a mandatory move towards fucking Paris city :) 

Le KLUB was pretty much packed (around 130 - 150 doomheads) and I guess for everyone the whole evening has been pretty memorable ! 

OKLAHOMA SWAMP MONSTER opened the hostilities with an energic set of a bit more than 30 minutes. The trio is young but yet presents serious abilities for a stomping Stoner Rock based on fatty grooves paying hommage to the greatest (Kyuss, Orange Goblin, Down)... but additionally, the guys infuse aptly some breaks of swampy haziness with a slight insidious outlaws flavour which anchors definitely the band's sound with the best US codes of Heavy music. I bought their 5 tracks debut and will probably tell you more about them soon !

setlist : 

Intro - Oklaoma Swamp Monster

One Man Riot

Whyskey Drinkin' Woman

Omega

Pallinghurst Morrow

Tactical High

Last of the Mohicans

Poppin Pills one Time Machine

The cellar scene downstairs (used for both opening french bands) is quite small, that's why BARABBAS couldn't play with their usual candles which fit so well with the religious theme of their redemption through riffs and sweat... But that's a detail in the end, cause the guys were ultra-motivated and have played here their best gig of the year. 

The set started with "Horizon Golgotha" and "Barabbas", two classic stonerized Doom pieces of the debut, tonight the buddies slay harsh and I quickly feel the thrill of those memorable moments shared with bloody friends which you remember years later !

Barabbas benefit from a very well-balanced sound, something not always mastered previously and wasn't serving vocals by Rodolphe; this time we can sing, shout, growl all together in harmony and notice definitely that Rod's vocal range is more varied than one can expect from such a molossus ! What better song than the new "Judas est une Femme" to prove it with a true sensibility, the frontman is always at ease and never hesitates to come in the audience, baptized new converted preachers with beer or spite some on others... but on this one (which means "Judas is a woman") the not so rough tattoed giant seduce a few girls with emotion, supported by saint Stephane and his soaring melodies. This is simply brilliant and if "Le Sabbat dans la Cathédrale" (another new song) brings you on another level of overwhelming enjoyment, it's more by its raging up-tempo and neckbreaking chords of crushing heaviness in the long bridge leading to another sonic attack to end the song in a memorable circlepit !!! 

The set ends in an ominous version of another classic "Les 4 Cavaliers", the band is utterly sharped tonight and probably gained more than a couple of new fans; even if they played only two new songs out of five, the guys are now clearly ready for the recording of the new album (starting in januray) which will contain 7 or 8 songs and hopefully should be a fantastic passport to wider horizons on the Live front !!! 

Setlist : 

- Horizon Golgotha

- Barabbas

- Judas est une Femme

- Le Sabbat dans la Cathédrale

- les 4 Cavaliers

Time for the solemn performance of PILGRIM upstairs (both them and Windhand will be playing on the main stage) with the presence of Brad (actually drummer in the almighty Ice Dragon!!!) to compensate the lack of bassist for the tour , after the sudden departure of Count Elric a few months ago... If, logically, Jon "The Wizard"  attracts most of the attention with its aura of grand master of ceremony, one can not forget the human and musical collusion between him and drummer Krolg Splinterfist...

After an excellent debut Album, domestic and Euro tours, Roadburn... the demo era seems very far now and the band gained in maturity, crafting their sound at their image, simple yet racy, crushing and full of misery yet engaging, soaring and infectiously driving !!! 

Considering the band had just recorded its new sophomore album, it was logical to expect new songs from Pilgrim but to have downright 3 new ones was incredible ! I'd say that "Master's Chamber' and "Void Worship" are pure classical PILGRIM Doom with an impressive enhancement on maximized slowification and crushing heaviness. Maybe not as up-beated as "The Adventurer" on the 1st album, "Paladin" sounded a bit different, more of a raging one with hints of northern epic blackness... nice little misdemeanor which remains cohesive in the overall, as the tone keeps always sinister and hauntingly infectious.

Not just for me apparently and again pretty logically, the highlight of the gig was the anthemic "Astaroth", you get time to sit with the track and let Rossi build an incredibly dragging atmosphere, it's not before half way that vocals soar with grace and despaired emotiveness... a fabulous song which in some way is very representative of the band's sound !!!  One can regret the relative short length of the performance which prevented the guys to play the song "Misery Wizard", but this set gave HIGH expectations towards this much-anticipated album due to be released in the 1st weeks of next spring. Much respect and big thanx to PILGRIM for being such awesome wizards of the truest form of DOOM, also much dedicated and appreciative to their fans !!! 

setlist : 

Master's Chamber

Paladin

Astaroth

Void Worship

Hard to not have a consistent break after both those brilliant performances revigorating at 300% the flamme of each doomsters present ! time for some discussions, drinks and spliffs before getting into the mesmerizing sounds of Richmond's wordly acclaimed WINDHAND... 
First, it's a good thing to see that guitarist Asechiah Bogdan is present and recovered from health problems that imposed the band to play as a quatuor on several dates the week before... Probably this fresh comeback played a little role in the massive sonic destruction the band delivered during this excellent set !? I know Steve Miller gave it a stunning and certainly well-deserved review here a couple of months ago but it's a fact that I didn't took enough time yet to make "Soma" a serious contender on the top of my end-of year list... things could change after their mindblowing performance which luckily for me included a good balance between old and new songs (2 from the debut, one from the split with Cough and 2 from "Soma") ! 

In the days before preceding the set, I had read a couple of somewhat disturbing comments about the vocals of Dorthia Cottrell in Live conditions - being apparently a bit weak, after all she wouldn't be the first to sound too different from the studio works, women as vocalists being sometimes drowned into too massive sounds and/or eventually suffering from thin physical resistance in sometimes hard touring conditions... !? Well, if her tone might have suffered in a few moments of accuracy - but honestly the sound of Windhand in studio is really particular and it's almost impossible to retranscribe such bewitching deepness Live,  I think she was pretty convincing and totally into her set which was not something easy for sure with such a crashing performance from her fellows !!! 

I knew what WINDHAND were capable of in terms of monolithic heaviness but was nicely surprised by the dramatic and tensed strenght they put in; sure this is extremely heavy and mesmerizing but beyond sonic considerations with dissonance and massive fuzziness, there's a palpable energy that keeps you in a delightful state of half transcendencal journey, half neckbreaking captivation !!! Definitely great and as I told them when leaving that's a very cool perspective to know I'll get to see those nice people again at next Heavy Days in Doomtown :)

setlist :
Winter Sun
Amaranth
Summon the Moon
Orchard
Cassock

An excellent gig on many points, the sound was very good for everyone, not too loud - just perfect;  I would just regret a pretty strange allotment of time-playing between the bands, PILGRIM playing almost 10 minutes shorter than the opening act O.M.S., that was a bit strange and disappointing 
Anyway, thanx to you all - bands, organizers, friends - for making it definitely a memorable evening of DOOM !!! 

... WINDHAND "Soma" (Album review)

With their highly anticipated second full-length Richmond, Virginia’s Windhand hold fast to the formula firmly established on their ‘Practice Space Demo’ and their self-titled debut, and continue their mission to envelop the listener in an impenetrable wall of distortion thus potentiating narcotic and psychotropic effects. Like its predecessors, ‘Soma’ roars with an earth-churning rumble of seismic proportions that is only partially kept in check by the percussive timing of Ryan Wolfe, Dorthia Cottrell’s wails from within the maelstrom, and occasional fluidic blasts of lead guitar. For the band’s first outing for Relapse Records they stick close to what they know and have released a worthy, if not similar album to their self-titled debut.

With only six tracks and a runtime of well over an hour ‘Soma’ is irrefutably a monster of an album. And while no track quite reaches the heights of self-titled album closer “Winter Sun” the band still manages to craft individual and unique tunes that undulate and writhe with an insufferable heaviness all their own. Though there are similarities to the band’s earlier work, particularly in heft and tone, it would be a mistake to simply label ‘Soma’ as “‘Windhand II’”.

 The band has taken a few detours and branched out enough to keep things both vital and interesting. The fourth track, “Evergreen”, is a somber, acoustic number that puts the spotlight completely on Cottrell who also plays guitar on this track. Though “Evergreen” is stylistically out place, it fits right in contextually and offers a brief respite before “Cassock” lays waste to everything in its path. Like a giant trudging its way across the earth, “Cassock” hasn’t a care for who it crushes underfoot by featuring the band’s heaviest, most sinister low-end riffs. The album closes with “Boleskine”, an epic, mesmerizing track that accounts for nearly half of the album’s runtime.

 Windhand have ultimately crafted an album on par with their excellent debut, though ‘Soma’ is colder, darker, and heavier. Fans of their earlier work will undoubtedly gravitate toward their newest release and for good reason—tidal waves of distortion, feedback harmonizing, acoustic guitars, and Cottrell’s vocals. ‘Soma’ is uncompromisingly heavy and Windhand have further developed their unique style of doom, albeit incrementally.

Words: Steve Miller

https://www.facebook.com/WindhandVA   

The time has come for sacrifice : COUGH / WINDHAND – ‘Reflection of the Negative’

Richmond, Virginia’s brethren in doom, Cough and Windhand—two likeminded yet distinct edges of a sacrificial blade—have joined forces to release one of this year’s most anticipated splits. Both bands invoke the spirits of doom from the deepest, darkest chasms through their unique down-tuned machinations. While both bands cast spells upon the listener through their distinct, earth-quaking low end rumbles, Cough delves deeper into the grimy, ritualistic side of doom whereas Windhand relies heavily on a pulsating, narcotic groove to lull the unwitting into a stupor. The simple act of committing tracks to a release from these titans of the underground metal scene has resulted in one of the most potent doom splits to be pressed on wax.‘Reflection of the Negative’ solidifies Cough’s dominion over the realm of caustic, esoteric doom and at the same time affirms that Windhand’s excellent, self-titled debut was just an inkling of things to come.

“Athame”, the lone track contributed by Cough, begins innocuously enough with slug-like drumming before being joined by some seriously sinister sounding organ. This begins the spiraling descent into a pit of loathing and despair. “Athame” uncoils past the 18 minute mark and is easily some of the best material the band has put out. Despite the length, the track doesn’t overstay its welcome, though the listener must be prepared in full for a punishing education in the dark arts. Midway through the track the listener is rendered helpless and, in stasis, is subjected to ritual incantations, and an unholy assault of wah pedal abuse and feedback. The entire track is an unwavering battery of contempt that sways and staggers with a wounded gait.

 
Windhand’s first contribution to the split is “Amaranth”, a track that was first unveiled in demo form for Rue Morgue’s Hymns from the House of Horror. A culminating wave of feedback kicks off “Amaranth” before the band launches into their signature low-end groove. Dorthia Cottrell’s vocals, like on their debut, is mixed perfectly and complements the music by seemingly crying out amidst the din. “Shepherd’s Crook” is warmer, slower, has a more soulful feel compared to the first track and includes a more expressive vocal performance from Cottrell. While neither“Amaranth” or “Shepherd’s Crook” have made the progressive leap that Cough has achieved with “Athame”, they are still killer tracks that could have easily have been produced by the same sessions that birthed the band’s debut.

 
‘Reflection of the Negative’ is one damn fine split album and both bands, despite their own unique approaches to doom, perfectly complement each other. Cough manages to drag the listener through a foul bog of profane, ritualistic licentiousness while Windhand provides a warmer, enveloping sound due to the band’s oscillating grooves and Cottrell’s vocals. Both bands have succeeded by crafting tunes that are worthy successors to their previous releases and have definitely built up anticipation for their forthcoming full-lengths.

 
Words: Steve Miller

 https://www.facebook.com/Cough666/info

http://cough.bandcamp.com/

http://cough.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Windhand/115952841804204?fref=ts

http://windhandva.bandcamp.com/

http://windhand.bigcartel.com/

 

 

http://www.relapse.com/coughwind

WINDHAND

What is amazing with the american doom scene is that you just have to look on a big festival's poster (like "doom in june", "days of the doomed"  or presently "stoner hands of doom") and you'll quickly discover at least a  semi-dozen of interesting new names ! Well, new is maybe not the most exact term as this five piece from Richmond (VA) formed in 2008, emerging and promising would fit better at the moment... Their "practice space" demo presents 3 songs (all listenable on their myspace) of some very interesting vintage doom with  noticeable  hints of sludge which contribute to make them sound pretty different from the current mass...
Female vocals performed by Dorthia Cottrell are naturally an essential element in their identity, not far the best of the genre in terms of quality and melody (Jex Thoth, Alia o'Brien...), they are sounding a bit different, sometimes close to a louder and gloomier adaptation of Lori's Acid King type of singing. While the mesmerising guitars create some very deep and spooky atmospheres, reminding me Cough at times, the massive rythmic is sometimes eying on sludge creating some more crude and sick feelings. Three songs is clearly not enough to fulfill the ritual, so more is expected quickly please ! Without any precise elements, their FB page says that first album should be out before the end of the year...

While waiting, some great live recordings can be heard on youtube, here's one from their most recent show (with Earthride) :

http://www.myspace.com/windhand