Tag Archives: Argus

AMATEUR CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY HOUR: DREAM DEATH/ARGUS @ 31st St Pub, Pittsburgh, April 21, 2012

Posted by gruesomegreg on

It’s a good thing I took the band’s advice and bought my ticket in advance.  When I arrived at the 31st St Pub, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh’s Strip District (thing an elongated Kensington Market), the sign on the door said SOLD OUT tickets only, or something to that effect.  The bar is sort of a double-wide Bovine, albeit with its stage at the back of the room.  They had a big cupboard full of skulls, and the ceiling and back wall were decorated by drum heads, cymbals and guitars from the likes of High on Fire, Weedeater and Antiseen.  Also behind the bar was a G.G. Allin clock along with his obit and a ticker that said Fuck (pretty much every other venue in the city).  Classy joint.

The opening band was some sorta Pantera/Hatebreed hybrid, and since I noticed the low battery indicator flashing on my camera, I decided not to waste any juice on them.  As a result, I didn’t get too many pictures of Argus, either.  But lemme tell ya, they put on a great set.  One of my favourite epic doom bands going, they busted out material from their two studio albums, with affable frontman Butch Balich noting “This is definitely the biggest crowd we’ve played to in Pittsburgh–and also the ugliest!”  (I suppose I was partially responsible for that remark, being up front and all…)

As you can see, the force of Butch’s headbanging knocked my camera out of focus!

As Dream Death took an awfully long time to set up, you could feel the anticipation building, along with the urge to urinate–but hey, I was NOT giving up my spot for this.  It was, after all, their first gig in 24 years!  But the band sounded as good as ever, hell, better than some of the dodgy demos and bootlegs in their discography.  The live sound added bite to those lost classic tracks offa Journey Into Mystery, while they also included stuff from some of their demos (compiled under the Back from the Dead comp) in their 75-minute set and even busted out a brand-new tune.  Twas truly an evening to remember…  These pics hardly do it justice!

(Turns out I had plenty of battery life left, after all!)

About these ads

Pittsburgh’s not exactly a dream destination, but… Dream Death!

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Looking back at the past few years, this is usually around the time I head down to the States for a gig or two.  While we don’t have too many tours coming through Canada in the wintertime, not all bands avoid touring the US this time of year.  Hey, I’ve been to Cleveland in January (2010) and Buffalo in February (2009), and it’s not any warmer there than it would be north of the border, but I digress.  This year, I’ll be making my first visit to America at the end of April, and heading a bit further south than usual–to the new hippest city in the states, Pittsburgh, PA.

What’s the occasion, you ask?  Well, the World Champion St. Louis Cardinals are in town, winners of that exciting October series last year.  I actually do have tickets for the Sunday matinee, but without Pujols I don’t expect the Cards to contend, though they should still be able to beat the Pirates.  That said, I’m not heading down strictly for the game, nor for some tour date either, but rather a special one-off reunion gig from native sons Dream Death.  Dream Whaaa?

These guys only released one official album some 25 years ago, but they were to sludge metal what Venom was to black and Possessed to death, in that they actually coined the term.  In the liner notes of their posthumous collection of demos, Back from the Dead, frontman Brian Lawrence explains that he came up with it as a teenager when a friend was trying to describe his hatred of Black Sabbath(!?).  Not sure how it came to be applied to a buncha bands from New Orleans a few years later, but there you go.  Dream Death’s early demos were released on their own Sludge Judge Records, and a live bootleg of theirs later appeared with the title Pittsburgh Sludge Metal.  It might not be what we’d consider sludge today, but Possessed didn’t really play death metal, either. ;)

Mind you, Dream Death does have a couple things in common with those early sludge bands who welded the vitriol of hardcore onto downtuned doom.  In their case, they leaned more heavily towards thrash, but with some devastatingly slow riffs dropped in for good measure.  Their Journey Into Mystery LP goes for about 100 bucks online nowadays, while a more recent CD reissue, itself limited to 500 copies, can easily fetch 50-75.  Suffice to say it’s somewhat of a collector’s item.  After calling it a day, members of Dream Death would resurface as Pittsburgh doomsters Penance in the early 90′s, while drummer Mike Smail would also go on to play on Cathedral’s Forest of Equilibrium and Pentagram’s Show Em How albums.  The reunited lineup features Lawrence, Smail, guitarist Terry Weston and bassist Richie Freund, who played on their final Ode to Sorrow demo.

The icing on this treat is that Argus, one of my favourite epic doom bands going, is the main supporting act.  Incidentally, their frontman Butch Balich also sang in Penance, albeit in a different era than most of the Dream Death dudes.  Still pretty sweet, though.  Saw these guys in Cleveland a couple years back, and they put on a good show.

Alas, while it’s still a couple months away, I’ll be counting down the days till this one, that’s for sure.

Dream Death, Argus, Closer to Hell @ 31st St Pub, Pittsburgh, PA, Saturday, April 21st.

GRUESOME GREG’S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2011

Posted by gruesomegreg on

Well, 2011 went out with a bang for me, what with that intimate Kyuss Lives gig at Cherry Cola’s.  Oowatanite!  More on that later, though.  I already listed my Top 10 concerts of the year yesterday, so now it’s time to give you my Top 10 albums of 2011.

10. Denizen – Whispering Wild Stories

An independently-released album from a band outta France, this is probably the greatest record you never heard last year.  Denizen doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but they mix stoner grooves and sludge barks with equal aplomb for an enjoyable 30-minute ride.

CHOICE WORDS: “I can picture Fu Manchu fronted by Mike IX Williams on tunes like “Casino Royale” and “Under a Dress”, where stoner grooves meet pissed off hardcore vocals.  It actually sounds pretty bitchin’.” (THTGIR (RIP) review)

9. Gypsy Chief Goliath – It’s a Walk in the Mist

Although this is officially a 2012 release on Swedish label Black Vulture Records, I’ve been listening to it since the summertime, and thus, I wouldn’t hesitate to put it on my year-end 2011 list.  A relatively-new outfit that’s nevertheless long in the tooth, fronted by Al “Yeti” Bones (Mister Bones, The Mighty Nimbus), this Gypsy is one of the bands keeping the home fires burning with its heavy rock tuneage.

CHOICE WORDS: “One of the things that distinguishes GCG from any other local heavy rock band I know is that they have a dedicated harmonica player, which suits their heavy, blues-based grooves just fine.  On the other hand, “We Are the Devil’s Thieves” makes use of banjo (or is that lap-steel?) in its chorus, adding an extra dose of southern soul salt to the mixture, which simmers nicely.” (THTGIR (RIP) review)

8. Rwake – Rest

Twas a long time coming for these Arkansas post-sludge miscreants, their first album in about four years.  Rest isn’t merely an imitation of some of the more well-known bands (NeurIsis) in the genre, however, as there are enough unique twists and turns to keep this one interesting.

CHOICE WORDS: “You know, I could probably eat dinner in the time it takes to listen to “The Culling,” the album’s centerpiece that clocks in at 16:33. The first several minutes are just classical-style guitar with what almost sounds like a Theremin in the background, until it eventually builds into a crescendo, winding prog-metal riffs woven around a cool drum fill. Oh, and the guitar solo at the three-quarter mark is pure Iron Maiden.” (Hellbound.ca review, August 31st)

7. YOB – Atma

The most critically acclaimed album on this list, Atma even ended up on SPIN Magazine’s year-end Top 50.  Not only their Top 50 metal albums, mind you–Top 50 albums, period.  A fine return to form from Mike Scheidt and co, I find this one far superior to their comeback effort, The Great Cessation, and it seems I’m not alone, either.

CHOICE WORDS: “After a few minutes, a solid riff comes crashing in like a 12-foot wave—still no vocals at this point, not until Scheidt announces his presence with a mighty roar. This is probably the coolest tune on the record, ending on a high tide, erm, high note…” (Hellbound.ca review, July 6th)

6. Blood Ceremony – Living with the Ancients

You know how there are certain bands that you discover before anyone else, and thus, have a lasting connection to said artist?  Blood Ceremony is one of those bands for me.  I first saw them, completely by accident, in August 2006 (here’s my retelling of that story), and have been a fan ever since.  I must say that their second album didn’t have the initial impact of their debut effort, but it has certainly grown on me over the past eight months.

CHOICE WORDS: “It seems at this point that they’ve largely abandoned the restrictive “doom metal” label for something more original, more progressive—but not entirely, as the crushing intro to “My Demon Brother” shows.  Sean Kennedy can still play pentatonics with the best of them.” (THTGIR (RIP) review)

5. The Gates of Slumber – The Wretch

One of the founding fathers of the Circle of True Doom, TGOS put out a new record last year that places them at the head of the table, a more Vitusean effort that still contains traces of their Conan-metal past.  They also toured with Wino’s outfit Premonition 13 in the fall, cementing their road-warrior status.  Too bad that one didn’t come to Canada–or even Buffalo, for that matter…

CHOICE WORDS: ““Castle of the Devil” one-ups its predecessor in terms of epicness, going from a quiet, mellow verse with minimal instrumentation to a heavy, head-banging, first-raising chorus. The title track, another slow slice of Vitusean doom, leads into “Iron and Fire,” the stark coldness of which almost resembles blackened doom—to say nothing of the Bathory-esque song title…” (Hellbound.ca review, May 23rd)

4. Macabre – Grim Scary Tales

Although I rarely listen to anything above 80 bpm nowadays, there’s still a soft spot in my blackened heart for Chicagoan murder-metal masters Macabre, who finally released their fifth full-length after an eight-year absence.  These guys twist tales of real-life serial killers and mass murderers around blistering, punky grindcore and nursery-rhymey singalongs.  My favourite death metal band, without a doubt.

CHOICE WORDS: “As previously mentioned, “The Big Bad Wolf” is awesome. I know I’d buy an album of Macabre singing children’s campfire songs—oh wait, they’ve already done that…” (Hellbound.ca review, February 3rd)

3. Argus – Boldly Strides the Doomed

Proudly flying the epic doom flag for the past few years, Argus put out another fine platter of power doom metal with their aptly titled sophomore release.  If you like a little Dio with your Candlemass, then this is the band for you.  Nuff said.

CHOICE WORDS: “After a brief acoustic intro, the band gets right into it with a pair of driving, mid-paced numbers that reference Maiden and Dio just as much as Candlemass, though one can’t help but succumb to the slithering, snake-like riffs that held you captive as frontman Butch Balich begs for mercy on “Wolves of Dusk,” ushering a change of pace that brings the number down to a devastating crawl.” (Hellbound.ca review, April 7th)

2. Crowbar – Sever the Wicked Hand

My Comeback Album of the Year goes to Crowbar, forefathers of the NOLA sound, who put out their first full-length album since ’05′s Lifesblood for the Downtrodden.  These guys used to be good for a new album every year or two, up until the turn of the century, but I hear that Kirk Windstein’s kinda busy with Down nowadays.  In any case, he rallies the troops here for an awesome effort that just oozes toxic sludge outta every pore.  Personally, I’d take Crowbar over Down, any day!

CHOICE WORDS: “That Windstein signature tone sounds just as evil as ever on this record, and compliments his hoarse vocals perfectly. “Liquid Sky and Cold Black Earth” features both prominently; three songs in, and I’m not complaining…” (Hellbound.ca review, February 14th)

*drumroll please*

…

…

1. Witch Mountain – South of Salem

Though not nearly as underground as Denizen, there’s still a pretty decent chance that you might not have heard this record.  Well I’m here to tell ya that you should, especially if you’re the type who would hop on a plane to see Sleep play Portland (guilty as charged!).  These Oregon stoomsters hadn’t done anything in about a decade, until some recent life changes led them to get the band back together.  (You might say they’re on a mission from YOB!)  But the biggest addition to the new direction was the recruitment of frontwoman Uta Plotkin, a classically-trained soulful singer who spits fire all over these tracks.  If Sabbath was fronted by Janis Joplin, it might not even sound this stunning!

CHOICE WORDS: “After the opening salvo, “Plastic Cage” begins with a tasty bass lick, before a guitar riff takes over with a tone stolen from Matt Pike’s effects board, circa ’93. Plotkin’s plaintive, emotive, yet detached vocals add another layer of misery to this dirty concoction—before they get weirded out by some creepy effects, albeit briefly. The killer riff that sees this tune through to its conclusion has me headbanging like Beavis and Butthead, albeit in half time.” (Hellbound.ca review, May 26th)

…

P.S.: Does this list make you wanna dwell with Denizen or climb Witch Mountain?  If so, I’ll be spinning some tunes from all of the aforementioned albums on my podcast, Gruesome Tunes, this evening from 6 to 8 pm (Eastern Time) on Grip of Delusion Radio.  I’ll also be putting it up for download within the next coupla days, so keep your third eye open. ;)