Halmos' Full-Length LP "Exist" Review

Between the Boston bombing and West, Texas explosion, we're living in rather tumultuous times. When things get chaotic, it's nice to have some consistency, some familiar things, and things that are comfortable. The strong and still growing doom metal scene in Atlanta is full of sounds to help you calm down, slow down, and chill out, and Halmos' new album is a definite example of this. Their new album Exist delivers a solid, consistent, and plenty heavy effort that builds and expands upon their first EP, Vicious Cycle (which was one of my first reviews.)
Since the EP was released, the former duo has expanded into a quartet, adding Melanie Maher on bass and Casey Yarbrough on guitar number two. Both new members partake in vocal duties as well, meaning that everybody in Halmos gets to have his or her say at some point.

The vocals on songs that were brought over from the Vicious Cycle EP still focus on guitarist Corey Briley's straightforward speak-shout style for a good bit. However, the explosion of variety in the vocal styles since the EP serves as a testament to how important interesting vocals are, and how they can add a lot of intrigue and even depth to a band's sound. The clean singing in tracks "Outcry" and "Datura" stand out to me, and sometimes can get stuck in my head for hours. They just fit their underlying groove so well, and contrast nicely with the spoken and rougher vocals. The rougher vocals feel stronger in this release as well, and add yet another vocal variety.

Beneath the vocals thrums the heart of a doom metal beast. What Vicious Cycle hinted at has been realized in the form of fully fleshed out riffs. These Georgians worship at the same riff-hewn altar as doom behemoths Sleep, Conan, Acid King, Electric Wizard, and Black Sabbath. Everything is drenched in fuzz and distortion afforded by the ridiculous amount of Orange amps these guys have. The addition of Melanie Maher's bass playing adds much needed low-end support, and Casey Yarborough injects a freshness and versatility that sets the tracks new for the LP apart. The pacing is good, and shifts to fit the context of each song; nothing feels overly fast or slow. I could see myself jamming Exist while cruising down the highway with the windows down on an 80° summer day, while pumping my fist in time with the anthemic stylings.

This picture of their amps alone should

tell you how rad this album is

All together, Halmos plays slow and heavy, with a lot of groove and a lot to say. In their interview with Sludgelord, Corey talks about how the album is broken down into 3 parts, based on the givens of existence. Tracks 1-3 are about "Meaninglessness and Existential Isolation", 4-6 touch on "Freedom and Its Attendant Responsibility", and 7-9 focus on "The Inevitability of Death." Substantial topics in doom and stoner metal? I guess it's more likely than you think. This only adds to the intrigue of the album, and elevates it to a thought-provoking level not normally associated with this sort of music.

Although it is still somewhat constrained by sticking to music that was created as a two-piece, Halmos' style has become much fuller, fleshed-out, and maybe even more fully realized on this album. The addition of the new vocals adds welcomed contrast to the original style, and the added bass and guitar give this record the thump that Halmos deserved. As I see it though, these guys and girl are on the upswing: this album is just an appetizer for what I think Halmos can do. If they're headed where I think they're headed, their next album will fucking blow doors down. Not that this album is a slouch by any means, it's a damn good stoner anthem worth your time and money. But Halmos, they're just getting started.
8.3/10

The biggest noticeable change is Travis Anderson's hair. What was once a pinhead afro has transformed into an intimidating yet glorious peacock's mane as fuzzy as their sound. Awesome.

To see for yourself, stream it here while you still can!

Up next, look for the regular allotment of show reviews, but especially look for some Black Tar Prophet reviews that have been way, way overdue.

Brother Ares' "Devourer of Worlds" debut EP review

I've been meaning to review this album for at least a month. Apologies to everyone involved, I've had a great many things on my plate this last month, from attending weddings to battling bouts of depression and bad sunburns. Without further ado, let's get to the EP!

The album opens with pounding percussion and feedbacking guitar. Another guitar comes in, and both begin to play around in antithesis of any parallel ideas. The guitars battle over top of the continuing plodding drums. The guitars meander and mosey, but never really reach a focal point. It's an interesting effect, but one that leaves me wondering what the point is.

The drums transition nicely into the next song, "Hands like Salt". The guitar comes in softly, hintingly, and then gives you the overdrive that it makes you want. Excellent grooving riff at this point. Delightfully distilled doom. Then- hark! Are those screams I hear? The vocals come in nicely, albeit buried beneath the burly guitar tone. Then, back to the groove, and the drums become more elaborate. Man, that tone is great. More buried vocals! What I can hear is great, but dammit I wish I could hear them better. Everything falls away except for the guitar. Then Bam! Even more guitar crunch is added, and the drums explode back into the sound as well. Ooh! A tasty litle, almost acoustic-sounding guitar break, and then right back into the fury. Brazen drums, thundrous guitars, and screams. Love it. That riff. That fucking riff. As repetitive as it is, I don't think I could ever get tired of it. And now a delayed guitar foray? Dig it, though it does feel a tad overlong, until it echoes out. Very nicely done.

Song three, "Brother Ares" starts with a hi-hat, a little feedback, and then down comes the riffs. Heavy stuff. Then suddenly, the guitar is muted, and the drummer begins to scream! Almost a whisper at first, it grows until a full shout until the riffs return. These vocals are somewhat buried too. These guys must really worship the Riff; they surely don't let their vocals get in the way of it. Crush crush crush, and then everything stops. Wait, is this the next song? Nope, my mistake. The break here is enough to make you think otherwise, and the change in tone only adds to that notion. After the small silence, the guitars come in very softly and understated, almost deceptively, for after a few bars, down comes a slice of some quite crushing doom. And then back to the same riff as before, almost triumphantly, as though Brother Ares has laid his foe to waste, and his dirging battle march continues on. Delightfully droning outro here. Feedback is had, and drums are beat seemingly at random.

And then, it goes right into "Already Dead" without even a blink. The riffs here feel the most menacing out of any song, and the vocals too. Now everyone is screaming! This song is a powerhouse. And way too short! They definitely leave you hanging.

Overall, pretty damn good album. Great doom, good vocals, and great fucking riffs. My only complaint is that the first song feels too meandersome and unfocused. Otherwise, I'd highly recommend it if you're a fan of doom metal.
8.5 out of 10

Footnote: After comparing the version on their bandcamp, it appears the vocals aren't as buried as I thought. Either the CD sounds different, or my new headphones are to blame. You should buy the CD and then listen to their bandcamp below to see for yourself.

Hellbender, Haarp, and Black Tusk at the End

What a night this night was. There were shows galore this night, from The Darkness playing somewhere nearby, to The Body and Sky Burial, to Ascent of Everest at the High Watt. And then of course, there was the show I went to: Hellbender, Haarp, and Black Tusk at the End. I think I chose right, what a fantastic star-studded evening of zazz this turned out to be! I arrived on the scene at what I thought was a few minutes late for the beginning of the show, only to find that not only was it not for another hour, but Hank III, his son C4, Jimmy Bower of Eyehategod, Kirk from Crowbar and a few others were hanging out on the curb. Hanging out with these guys, drinking beers, smoking cigs, and hearing stories about how Wino of Saint Vitus/The Obsessed was a crazy speedfreak motherfucker with a different girl every night felt like a privilege. But these guys were so cool that they'd probably scoff at such notions. After a good bit of shit was shot, the first band began to play, and everybody went inside.

First up was Hellbender.

If you've known me very well over the past three months or so, then you'll know that I bitch and moan about missing Hellbender each time they come to town, despite having owned and reviewed their full-length LP "Cosmolux" (scroll down a few posts to see for yourself.). I had initially planned on seeing Sky Burial and The Body tonight, but as soon as I heard that Hellbender was filling in for Lung at this show, I knew I couldn't miss them again. Boy was I right!

These guys were unbelievable. Groovy, psychedelic, and doomsome. It was beautiful. They really know how to start from something simple, like a nice bass or guitar riff, and jam it all the way up to its fullest extent. Everyone was completely in sync with everyone else, like a giant lysergic heartbeat. And guitarist Joey's fingers, good lord! They never stopped moving! No wonder that guitar string broke, no way that thing could take so much stress! It was restrung in a heartbeat, however, and the show went on beautifully. If you can't tell already, I am overwhelmingly glad I went and saw these guys, as they may have made some of the best live music I've ever heard.
9.5/10, easily.

Check out the badass 7" I picked up!



Next up was New Orleans' bangers Haarp.

Wow. These guys make music for your guts. By that I mean if you just put on some dinky headphones and listen to them, you'll probably go "meh, these guys aren't so great". These guys aren't headphone music. This is cranked up all the way in your car, huge stereo, seven-subwoofer slamtastic shit. Fuck your head, fuck your ears, fuck your mind. This is music for your guts. These guys rumble up from the core of your being and shake you all the way back down. This shit is almost death sludge, like a dying Argentinosarus' last cries while being sucked under a tar pit swamp. These guys start and don't stop the pummeling punishment until they've had their fill.

Look who showed up to party!

Their vocalist Shaun Emmons got down into the audience and stayed there for most of the set, roaring at all of us like he wanted to make sure that each and every one of us heard him, and felt his presence. What a voice this man has! Sometimes he would scream and sometimes he would growl, and all of it was with his whole body. And who else would shout lyrics into the mic along with him? None other than Phil Anselmo! Haarp is signed to Phil's label Housecore Records, and I think I heard somebody say that Down had just played close by recently and was off that night, so he, Jimmy, Kirk, and the other guys from Down must have decided to swing by in support of Haarp. It's hard for me not to sound like a squealing schoolgirl here, but goddamn was it cool to see Phil Anselmo in person.

Anyway, the guitar/bass riffs were sick. My only real complaint is that I wish these guys would have been a bit more dynamic. They threw in a few tasty odd time signature stanzas to keep things interesting, but perhaps a quiet section here or there might have increased the heavy parts by contrast. But, that's not really my call to make.
8.5/10

I wish they had a bandcamp, but I guess reverbnation is cool...


The last band of the night was Black Tusk out of Savannah, Georgia.

Getting a good picture of these guys was ridiculously difficult.
They never stopped moving.

I need to confess something. I have a bit of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to Savannah sludge. Kylesa and Baroness, though pretty cool in their own right, really don't do too much for me. It's just really not heavy or doomy enough for me. It's plenty cool, just not... you get the picture. With that said, Black Tusk is probably the best Savannah sludge group I've heard. They play heavy, groovy stoner riffs at a midtempo pace with head-bobbing hardcore aesthetic. And did I mention everybody sings? Everyone in this band fucking sings. I haven't made up my mind fully about this facet, but I'm leaning more towards the "that's pretty cool" end of the spectrum. The best part is, each of their voices adds something a little different to the mix. Guitarist Andrew Fidler's shouts are high, bassist Jonathan Athon's are low, and drummer Jamie May's are somewhere in the middle. So when one member is playing a difficult passage, another might be on vocal duties. It keeps you on your toes in a fun way.

These guys were a whole lot fun. They might not be punchiest, the slowest, the doomiest, or the heaviest band, but boy were they fun. These guys were having a blast on stage, and it translates pretty well to the audience. You can feel their energy as they shred out a swampy punky riff in unison, or when Jamie beats the skins while yelling, or when Andrew lifts the guitar high above his head and smacks it a few times for some good feedback. I'd say go see these guys life if you can; a lot of their records can't truly capture how much fun they are live.
8.3/10

Stream their shit here:


Keep reading Nashvile! If I can ever get my shit together, I should have a review of Brother Ares', Billy Castro's, and maybe even Sky Burial's latest releases soon!

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!