Sun Wheel, Motherplant, Black Tar Prophet, Holy Mountain Top Removers at Springwater (+Shroud Eater)

After a quite pregnant pause, it is time to give birth to some much-delayed show reviews! I think, for my own sake, I'm going to group the past shows I've seen by month (which means that May is going to end up the disproportionately large triplet due to that week of shows I attended.). Fuck it, I'll just do it one show at a time. It's easier to read and write this way. Enough with the weird birth jokes though, let's get these writeups going!

I considered not writing anything up the last show I saw in February due to the headlining band not really needing any press from me. The trio that is Shroud Eater has begun to blow up enough to be covered by legitimate metal news sites. I changed my mind when I heard their new release however. Everybody needs to hear it. If Matt Pike was secretly two women and a Scott Ian lookalike in disguise, that would be awesome. Also it would sound kind of like this.


ooh and I just learned about this "jump break" thing, I guess you have to click on the link headline if you want to read about the other shows in March the bands listed in the header. Unless you've already clicked. I'm not sure how it works yet.

Black Tar Prophet, Forest of Tygers, Gorgantherron, and the Holy Mountaintop Removers at The End 1/26

And here we are again, it's time for another installment of NashVile! This highly titillating entry takes place at one of the best sounding places in Nashville, The End.

First up was low end assailants Black Tar Prophet. Prior to this show, guitarist Mark Owen had said in a facebook post on the band page that he would be returning this year. I spoke to drummer turned bassist Greg Swinehart before the show and he told me that there was some strife, and that he'd just had enough of him, so Mark was out. Thus, the band remained a twosome. Playing a three-string bass, Greg belted out some gut-rearranging stoner doom grooves while drummer Erik Dever  banged away on drums, even throwing in a (still rather slow) blastbeat on a new song. Greg had some new cabs which had intense power. These guys are really going for the groove of Om and the crunch of Bongripper while trying to approach the volume levels of Sunn O))). Punishing to the uninitiated, these guys aim to make you feel their music as much as hear it. Listen to their split with Crawl from Atlanta:

Also, creepy x-ed out mannequin heads.

Second was Forest of Tygers. Brand new band, very first show! Featuring the talents of Jim Valosik of Nashville-native band Serotonin on guitar and vocals, his wife Rachel Valosik on drums, and Niki Carolan of Tijuana Goat Ride on noisy keyboard and vocals. Stylistically, they blew me away. The guitars were beautiful and flowing at times while violent and aggressive at others. A looping pedal was utilized some; at a few points, a riff was recorded and looped so that tasty licks could be played on top. The looper in conjunction with a pedal that sent differently effected signals to different amps really gave a lot of depth not usually found in trios. Supporting all of this depth was drummer Rachel. At first glance, I didn't notice much about her, aside from her Young and in the Way shirt, which should have been a tip-off because once she started playing my jaw hit the floor. These guys borrow a little from hardcore, black metal, post-hardcore, sludge, post-metal, and D-beat, and this girl can handle them all. Her runs and blastbeats had me impressed. Riding on top of all this are the vocals of Niki Carolan, whose screams rounded out the sound well. I wanted her to make use of the noisy keyboard, I could barely make it out, but that's my only complaint on an otherwise auspicious beginning. Check out the performance for yourself:





Third up was Gorgantherron. These guys are from Evansville, IN and play some pretty righteous stoner metal. According to their facebook description they're actually chimps sent into space in 1968 but after being evolved and trained in the ways of black and doom metal by the Andromedian race of Gorgantherrons, they returned to Earth to warn us of our selfish ways. You seriously need to read it, I laughed pretty hard. Sonically though, their sound is heavy but also nice and round and warm. It's got a great, lumbering-yet-groovy sound that's reminiscent of the greats like Sleep and Black Sabbath. The vocals were especially reminiscent of Sleep, namely on the mighty epic Dopesmoker. Great fuzzy riffs galore. Give 'em a listen, and make sure to see if you can find their photo of them in their astronaut suits:


Last up was newcomers Holy Mountaintop Removers. Borrowing members from local country-doom jammers Hellbender, this trio took jams to the next level. They started out playing as fast as they could, and nowhere near in sync. They came together for some bluesy fuzzed out rock, but at one point the drummer (who's actually a guitar player in Hellbender) was hitting cymbal with a maraca and tambourine. When not playing in free jazz mode, the bass kept time in pulsing fashion, but things got droney when the bassist switched to synthesizer. He mashed the keys as everyone else delved into chaos, but once retreating from madness, those same keys were put to good droning, melodic use. As for the guitars, that guy could shred with the best of them, but he also busted out some toe-tapping melodies when everyone's decided that yeah okay we can play together sometimes. Overall, these guys were a fantastic and even inspiring example of what free jazz and doom rock could sound like together, and I'm excited to see what they do next. I'd post some of their stuff here, but there's nothing to post! No links or nothing. Only thing left to do is get out and go to one of these shows. So do it!

Another show post come and gone. Look for my upcoming writeup of 3 post-hardcore bands and one black/doom band at a house show soon!

Black Tar Prophet, Crawl (GA), Brother Ares, Sovereign at Springwater 12/8/12

Alright, now that this semester's ass has been properly kicked (3.7 GPA for the term, bitches!), it's time to get back into the swing of things and actually post some updates.

First, a quick recap/apology. After venturing out to the Owl Farm on a Thursday and then going to Bobbaroo on the Saturday afterwards, I went to see Brother Ares, Clorange, Bell Witch, and Loss at The End the Monday after. I'm sorry I didn't get a full writeup done, but after seeing 14 bands/3 shows in 5 days, my brain was worn out. I told it to come up with something clever and interesting to write, and it came back with "meh." So here's a quick recap:
-Brother Ares ruled. More on these guys later.
-Clorange have a new lineup! Drummer Colin is now in an instrumental prog group Montezuma Fire Machine, whom you should definitely check out. I'm not sure what happened with the other guitarist or bassist, but things seem amicable between former and current band members from what I can tell. New bassist Brian Jones fits the bill nicely, and drummer Derek Martin (formerly of Whitechapel, interestingly enough) rounds out the sound. Stream their brand new album Instinct here, and be sure to pick up hard copy at a show. The artwork looks rad.
-Bell Witch are a pair of bros with the most ridiculous dreadlocks I have ever seen. The bassist's are ankle-length. The duo play some incredibly heavy doom metal, with the drummer growling into the mic while the bassist fingered his 6-string bass. Check out their brand new record here.
-Loss are local heavyweight death doomers. These guys are starting to blow up huge; they're even playing Maryland Deathfest next year. I know bassist Jon Anderson better as "Ichabod" from his days as a local DJ on his late-night metal radio show "Out Ov the Coffin." Guy has good taste, and though I'm not 100% sold on funeral doom, they killed it. Stream their stuff here.

Finally! Glad I got that off my chest. Now on to the reviews of the current show. First off, let me say for how shitty it is, Springwater can actually be kind of cozy. It's a bit smaller than a lot of venues, but I actually happen to like that about it, especially for doom: with a smaller area, you get more of a "crushing" effect from the low end. This is especially important for the first act of the night, Black Tar Prophet. These guys have had a bit of a shakeup as well. Erik from doomigos Archrduid was recruited to play drums in September, and guitarist Mark left the band midway through October, though he has recently posted online that he will be coming back in 2013. This left Greg on a (3-string) bass (complete with new pickups made by Alex from Clorange), Erik on drums, and an impressive speaker setup.

These guys are becoming a staple of Nashville doom. Despite musical chairs on who plays what, they've somehow managed to retain the same simple but effective grooving and crushing recipe for no frills, no bullshit doom metal. The rumble from the pair of shoulder-high was definitely palpable; I felt it in in my skin as much as my ears. They played slow and loose, sounding like Electric Wizard, Sleep, Om, and even High on Fire stripped down to the the most basic level. Elemental doom metal: doom in its quintessence. Doom straight, no chaser. Skeletal doom. If you're sick of reading these crappy descriptions, listen for yourself right here!


Crawl are newcomers from Atlanta, GA. And when I say "new" I mean they've been in other bands, but they just played their first show at the end of November. You wouldn't know it from their playing though, as these guys kick ass.

Bassist Tyler Akers made it hard to get a clear picture

HOLD STILL DAMMIT

Sonically, they hit you like a vat of warm gravy. Their sound oozes over you and you love every goopy minute of it. Eric Crowe's guitar sounds like chewing gravel, and Tyler's bass playing is the asphalt chaser, all while keeping the molasses-choked groove alive. Interesting story about the bass position, they were having trouble finding a someone to fill the spot. After not having much luck, they asked me, but I gratefully declined since I'm still working on my undergraduate degree and not ready to move to Atlanta. I'm not sure how many bass players they went through, I heard they at one point had an ex-member of Malevolent Creation (!!), they settled on Tyler Akers. What a good choice! This guy can not only play, but his bobbing and weaving and nearly hitting me in the face with his headstock adds a lot of stage presence to the band. Eric's main vocal style is similar to Mastodon's or Black Tusk's, and really fits the style. There were times that he went for a higher pitched scream that I thought sounded a bit pinched and maybe a little forced at first, but didn't bother me overly much. Their overall sound was fantastic, but I especially liked the two closer tunes "Pilldust" and "Nigredo." Pray to your doom gods that they record and release these, because they were fucking epic. These southern sludgeateers have a bright future ahead of them, especially the near future: their split with Black Tar Prophet is available for pre-order! In the meantime, stream their demo right here.

Third up was my friends Brother Ares. What can I say about these guys that I haven't said already? They rule. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. Prior to the show, a bouncer for the bar named Stefan (Stephan? Sorry for any misspellings!) was telling me about how much of a tone expert Blake is, and how these guys really aren't like anybody else in the area. I couldn't agree more. Whether its grunge, sludge, doom metal, or even noise, this two-piece (who are staunch on their two-piece-hood, so don't even try to join) do it like nobody else. If you're looking for doom with intrigue, atonal/feedacking solos, and lots of bird metaphors, then you'll love Brother Ares.

Check out their last release below, and look for an upcoming full-length release "The Aviary" as well as a split with Knoxvillers Billy Castro!


Last up was Sovereign from Murfreesboro. I met some old partiers from Kentucky when I went to see Hail!Hornet back in the spring, and one of the guys I met was Jimmy from the Kentucky Sovereign. Just to be clear, this Sovereign is not that Sovereign. That Sovereign covers Five Finger Death Punch. This Sovereign kicks ass.

Sovereign: brought to you by smoking!

End of set drum upending shenanigans!

Blake from Brother Ares nudged me during their set and said that these guys sounded like Kyuss worship at its finest. That definitely rings true, but these guys have a bit more of a sludge and even hardcore edge than Kyuss. This comes as no surprise, seeing as most if not all of the members live in one of the craziest houses in Murfreesboro, Avalon. In my only venture to the 'Boro, I went to Avalon at a friend's behest. I had no idea what I was getting into. That house show looked like something out of a music video. The place was packed, and everyone was getting their drink and their smoke on. The bands themselves were nuts, with names like Bottletosser, Actual Nuns, and Haldol. In the middle of one of Haldol song, all of a sudden the mosh pit just fucking swarmed this big muscular guy, and got him to leave the house. Someone was talking to him, I'm not sure what they said but the whole time the big guy's eyes were bugged out huge. The police eventually came by and just said to the guy that if all the people at the party wanted him to leave, that he'd better leave. It turns out that the guy had called singer and guitarist Renan Tormin from this band the N-word, which is silly considering isn't even black, he's South American. Anyway, sorry for the digression, I've just been looking for a reason to post that story for months.

In any case, these guys are rad. They draw inspiration from sonic titans such as Electric Wizard, Orange Goblin, and Weedeater, but it felt like they added a touch of skater punk into the mix to give the sound its own flavor. The vocals were mostly shouted and screams, but a few cleaner-voiced parts added some tasty variety to the mix. A lot of it was a bit more uptempo than I usually expect when this much fuzz is coming from the cabs, but these guys do it well, with madman Austin Kimpel banging away on drums, mostly while being egged on by bassist Josh Scott. Overall, really great stoner metal with hardcore influences. Would see again, in a heartbeat.
Check out their album released in August.

At last, blog post complete! Look for a "Best-of" list from some esteemed members of the local metal community coming in the next few weeks!

Billy Castro, Black Tar Prophet, and Brother Ares at Cafe Coco

Another show, another review. This time, instead of going back to Cafe Coco after a killer show at the End or Exit/In, the show was right there at the Cafe! Convenient. I can't remember the last time I had dinner and a show. I had a mushroom bacon burger and vanilla stout, and split a Godiva cheesecake with none other than the lovely and talented Ms. McKenzie Royster between acts. Delicious, but expensive. I'd give them an 8/10.

Anyway, first up was Billy Castro.
First impressions are important, and aside from noting how nice and chill these guys were, I noticed that Bryan Baker's guitar's had "Love", "Evol", and "I fucked your boyfriend" stickered onto them. That alone should make you curious enough to come out and see these guys next time they play anywhere near you. Beyond intriguing guitar stickerage, these guys were weird in the most awesome way. Vocals were all over the place! Both Becca Baker and Bryan Baker (Married? Family? I guess both is possible in Tennessee...;) spoke and screamed, but never together at the same time. If Bryan was speaking or screaming, then Becca was singing. If Becca was speaking, then Bryan was probably noodling or riffing on guitar. The vocals were sometimes arrhythmic, and the combinations were fantastic. I feel like with these guys, there are just these little parts where I just want to say "oh yeah, and then they did this! Oh, and then they did that! Shit was nuts!" Drummer Patrick Gallagher was nuts, Josh Cochran's basslines were groovy, and they even brought out a conga drum and Becca and Josh each drummed on it for a little while. And Becca even busted out the maracas!

The guitar was crunchy and distorted. I'm no guitar expert, but I want to say that some of Mr. Baker's chosen chords and riffs were unorthodox at the very least. They sounded weird, but in an absolutely cool way. The bass was funky and clean; I especially enjoyed the top string goodness of the last song of the set. The drums were plethoric. That Patrick Gallagher is a beast, moving his arms all kinds of crazy ways.  And the vocals... man. I can't say enough about how the vocals worked and meshed together. They were a little reminiscent of local legend Jesse Mowery's new band Nut Collector (though I admittedly have not heard enough of them by far).

Like I mentioned above, the last song (called "We Will Not Run Out of Bricks", from their upcoming release "Make Love Like War") started out with a spotlight on the top bass string, and built and built from there, finally ending in a closed-fist-pounding on guitar freakout. It was awesome, but I almost wish someone would have just screamed, or maybe all of them screamed in unison. Such an epic build-up deserved as big of an apex as possible! With amps echoing and lights dimming, these guys left me wanting more.

These guys are heavy, loud, distorted, and definitely metal. Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine.
8.5/10

Oh, and a word of advice. Make sure you add "knoxville" and/or "band" if you decide to google these guys. These crafty motherfuckers, I found while writing this in my very christian school's library, seemed to have named themselves after a FtM transexual pornstar. 

Streaming things!


Next up was Black Tar Prophet..
Mis Amigos! These guys are fun as hell. Though it wasn't quite as destructive as the last time I saw them, it was still a good show. They toned it down a little and only brought a pair of speakers this time though, and I definitely missed the effect that their fully constructed speaker wall brings. Thankfully, their groovy, heavy, hypnotic, cannabis-inspired riff worship was as powerful as ever. Despite a few mishaps and a knocked over stand or two, these guys were great, and so relaxed! Mark sat down at one point, and even laid down on stage til close to the end. Their subterranean level of fucks given translates almost perfectly through their music, and if you can move to the groove and get into it, you'll find that all of your troubles and worries will slowly start to slide further into your periphery, and that nothing really matters. I heard talk afterwards that they'd essentially played their set backwards, much to their vexation. I personally enjoyed it. It was like seeing a whole new setlist, almost. And if Led Zeppelin and others hide Satanic lyrics recorded backwards, what happens when BTP plays their shit backwards? Do they summon Jesus?

In any case, it was a fantastic, loose, and relaxed performance, complete with Sleep and Eyehategod moments throughout.
8.3/10

Album release party June23!

Headlining this one-show tour was the always amazing Brother Ares.

I need to stop smoking, if only to stop coming in late for shows. I walked in after a puff to find Blake and Gore jamming out a new tune called "Vestiges of the Crow King". I hadn't missed very much, and thank Lucifer: this song was fantastic! Blake is... singing? I think I'd probably put it closer to "shouting with a bit of melody" than real "singing". Awesome, delayed echoey-guitar midsection. After this, they played fan favorites such as "DoomEagle of the Apocalypse", "Already Dead", and one or two others. They closed with another one, called "Serpent's Twin: [something something]". I wish I'd taken more notes about it! My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think it was pretty fantastic. Hard to find an Ares Bros track that I don't thoroughly enjoy though. I'll definitely have to hear this one again in order to make any real judgment about it. Overall, a fantastic show, but definitely too short! Those dang Cafe Coco neo-con hatemongering hardasses must have said to cut it short. These guys deserved an encore.
8.6/10

Look for their upcoming EP "Devourer of Worlds" to be reviewed here as soon as it's released!

Black Tar Prophet, Bleeding Heart Blues, Clorange, and Ponykiller at The End

It was a dark and stormy night. I left early from a Passover feast, and was headed to this show at The End. As I was driving in the middle of the highway, a huge gust of wind attacked my car, and blew the hood up over my windshield! I couldn't see a thing! Somehow I was able to flick on the emergency lights, roll down my window and see if any cars were coming behind me, and pull of to the side of the road. I fished out a tiny tire iron from beneath my car's seats, whacked the hood latch until it came unstuck, and secured the hood until I was sure it wouldn't blow up again. Having successfully cheated death, I then proceeded to make it the rest of the way to the show without any further incident. And what a show it turned out to be!

First up was Black Tar Prophet.
Greg, the drummer was one of the few people that showed up to the Nashville HQ/Harpeth Garage show, so I was happy to return the favor by seeing him play. After hanging out and discussing the merits of Bongripper's different releases, the show began, and Black Tar Prophet went on stage. The guitar setup was a gorgeous freakish wall of assorted amp heads and cabs, including Kustom to Sunn cabs and heads. Their show was just one long song entitled "Note to Nod". An interesting beast, the sprawling song contained bits of drone, sludge, and doom metal. Fluid, groovy, loud, and plenty heavy. These guys rocked.

So great was their worship of the Riff that Mark sacrificed his guitar upon its altar.

The highlight of the show, at least for me, came at the very end of performance. Guitarist Mark, after a furiously twisting and turning the lowest string's tuning knob, began pressing his guitar against the tall Sunn cabinet. Suddenly, he began violently swinging his guitar violently and smashing it into the wall of speakers. Smash! Crunch! Crack! Pieces of it go flying. Mark knocks over the speakers, pulls out a cigarette, and walks off stage. Epic.
8.8/10

Video footage of the show!

Video courtesy of VintageQueen54 Videos!

Bandcamp shenanigans!


Next up was Bleeding Heart Blues.



These guys were interesting, but not in a "damn, this is really interesting" way, more of a "thats uh, hm, interesting" way. Reminiscent of Heart, but with quasi-Kyuss riffs. The girl singer caterwauled a bit. She had her moments, but overall I was not a huge fan. They could be pretty fun at some points, but they didn't ever really blow me away.
7.1/10






Third was Clorange.



This was my second time seeing Clorange. The first time, I was a little unsure of Carrie's smooth, soulful vocals' interplay with the doom metal guitar backing, but I think this time it really clicked for me. They play in a Traditional Doom metal style, but with more complicated riffs than I normally associate with traditional doom. I guess you could call them psychedelic female-fronted traditional doom metal? That's a mouthful. It's easier just to say that these guys are beautifully heavy. Carrie's vocals, as I mentioned above, were soaring and soothing, soulful and sincere. The riffs were heavy and the hooks were catchy. Just as good as the first time. Highly recommended.
8.6/10









Stream stream stream...




The last band of the night was Ponykiller.

Meeting cool people and even band members is one of my favorite parts about the little Nashville scene. Before any bands went on, I met some of the folks milling around, one of which was dead set on convincing me that Ponykiller wasn't metal. Singer/guitarist Collin Yeo, who I was lucky enough to meet before the show, confirmed this. I was immediately skeptical. Equine skulls adorn their shirts and album covers. They're on Phil Anselmo's label. Their name is Ponykiller for christ's sake. But lo and behold, when they took the stage and started to play, I was transformed into a believer.

I have in my notes "WTF". That seems to about cover it. This trio of NOLA guys are stylistically all over the place. The 5-string bass is fretless, the guitars go from crunchy to swirling to dreamy, and the vocals range from a few well-placed screams to emotional, even heartfelt clean singing. Singing! And this guy plays bass in Arson Anthem alongside Phil Anselmo, Mike Williams, and Hank Williams III! This man knows his music, and it comes through in his playing. Soft, loud, aggressive, tender, or a mix of all 4. If I had to label their style, I would call it "Post-post-metal". But thankfully I have to do no such thing, so I will not. If the dudes from Intronaut got together, decided to sing as seriously as While Heaven Wept, covered a few Spacemen 3 tunes, and then said "fuck all that, let's play whatever we want", it might sound vaguely similar to Ponykiller. But just barely: these guys defy explanation. All I can really say is to see them for yourself.
8.9/10

These guys really have to be seen live in order to get the full experience. Until you can, here's their bandcamp to tide you over!