Exlaim: Why was Violence from the Vault never released until now?
Fisher: Just never really tried to do anything with it and had honestly lost track of my master of it. I regained a decent copy of it and thought, “Why not see about getting it out?”

Buzzov*en

Exclaim: Arik Roper said once in an interview that you were his inspiration for his hillbilly characters that he’s now famous for. He used to do flyers and T-shirts for the band, and you introduced them to the guys in Sleep. What was it like working with Arik back then?
Fisher: Arik is a great guy. I met him at a party in Richmond, and we used to crash at his apartment in NY. He lived like right in the middle of a major dope spot back in the day, and he said when we were coming to town he would tell his roommates to hide their weed, etc. Arik has quite a career, and his music stuff started with the astronaut shirt he did for us. My only complaint is he’s always too busy to get to do anything anymore these days. I’m sure, though, if we do a new Buzzov*en record and give him enough notice, he would do it. I’m happy for him ’cause he’s an awesome artist.

Exclaim: What was the scene (or lack thereof) like in Charlotte when the band first started? I remember the days in the early ’90s of going to Tremont, the Milestone, Jeremiah’s, Heretics, and other clubs around Charlotte. I think more metal bands came back then than now!
Fisher: Yeah, there wasn’t much of a scene back then. I used to do shows at the Milestone Club, and that’s how I met a lot of the Bay Area bands that I’m still friends with to this day. We had a house over on Oakland Avenue in the Elizabeth neighbourhood, and we really kinda stayed there a lot ’cause if we didn’t ― well, if I didn’t ― I would tend to find or get into trouble. We weren’t exactly welcomed with open arms at all clubs around Charlotte. The scene was what it was. Antiseen was from here, too, but they were the same way: they kinda kept to their own unless they were playing a show. Me and Brian Hill drove up to a club in Hickory called Cadillacs and saw Alice in Chains once, and another time it was Pantera opening for Prong. Charlotte and the Carolinas will always love their ’80s hair metal bands like Dokken, Ratt, Poison, etc.

Continue reading: Exclaim Conversations: Buzzov*en

Harvey Milk - st

Lovingly pinched from StonerRock.com: I’ve gone over my history with Harvey Milk in greater detail before, but for context’s sake, the condensed version is thus: Once upon a time, I was a no-nothing mainstream metalhead who had grown tired of the crap I listened to. Then I discovered Harvey Milk and it was, more or less, a musical rebirth. I still don’t know a hell of a lot, but thanks to Harvey Milk, I know more than nothing.

I owe the band a debt of gratitude, one that I gladly repay a small portion of every time a new release of theirs hits my desk. Even when the material isn’t a game changer – like the good-but-not-great contribution to their recent split with Wildildlife – it deserves a mention, because, well, it’s Harvey Milk. It may be genius or it may fall short, but it’s still worth a listen.

That said, their s/t (something tells me that’s the actual title and not an abbreviation for “self titled”), also known as The Bob Weston Sessions, also know as “The Debut That Never Was,” is another essential Harvey Milk album. But in this case, the target audience is a little more precise, namely those already on board with the band. Why? Because you've heard it all before.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Harvey Milk – s/t.

Buzzov-en - Violence From The Vault

Praise for Buzzov-en’s Violence from the Vault from San Francisco’s Aquarius Records:  Not sure why we never reviewed anything by these pot fueled purveyors of crusty sludge, could be that all of their records predated the list, but we have shown much love to post Buzzov-en stoner sludge combo Weedeater, the thing is, everything we love about Weedeater, existed in Buzzov-en, even more.

Heavier, sludgier, stonier, crustier, filthier, these five songs were recorded right before the band disbanded in the mid nineties, and the band are on fire, lurching, churning, downtuned heaviness, KILLER riffs, caveman drum pound, vocals buried WAY down in the mix, from pounding dirge, the thrashing chaotic crunch, the band just sound relentless and fucking ultra intense here, could be that it was close to the end, could be the fact that the whole band was falling apart to problems with drugs, whatever it is, this stuff sounds fierce and violent and raw and on the edge. The sound is weirdly murky and muddy, blown out, but not super hot sounding, more blurred and buzzy, but it suits the mood big time.

There are of course goofy samples before most of the songs, which seems par for the stoner sludge course, and there’s the totally demented drugged out 16 minute ‘Nod’ which does in fact sound like the whole band nodding off mid song, captured on tape, a stumbling, abstract soundscape of guitar buzz, and weird voices, swirling effects, deconstructed riffage, total psychedelic sonic headfuck, which rules, but it’s the other 4 songs that put most of Buzzov-en’s contemporaries, past and present, to shame.

These tracks may have been recorded 15 years ago, but they still sound incredible, and anyone into the current crop of drug metal heavies, who somehow missed out on these guys back in the day, well, now is the time to make things right. The liner notes mention a possible new Buzzov-en record in 2010 as well, we can only hope…

Weedeater

Songtitles set to appear on the CD include ‘The Claw Of The Sloth’ and ‘The Darkening.’

Continue Reading BLABBERMOUTH.NET – WEEDEATER To Enter Studio This Month.

Cable - The Failed Convict

Lovingly pichced from Lambgoat:  Although there has been some life in the Cable camp over the last few years — the release of the retrospective Last Call, brief spurts of live shows, and the re-release of their first full-length — the Connecticut group still appeared to be relatively dormant for the past four or so years. But with a move to The End records and the recording of The Failed Convict, the year of renewed activity from an alliterated string of turn-of-the-century favorites continues to gain momentum. Coalesce, Cave In, and Cable are all operational again. These are wonderful times indeed.

With roughly a dozen members over the years and a discography that succeeded across a wide range of heavy genres, it was tough to pinpoint exactly where Cable was planning to head with the new release. In the end, it’s a staggering, burly beast of a rock record that touches on all of the places that they’ve been, but still tests the waters of a few different songwriting directions.

Continue reading: Cable – The Failed Convict // Albums and Reviews // Lambgoat.

Zoroaster - Voice of Saturn

Lovingly pinched from Stonerrock.com: The last time fans of all things heavy heard from Zoroaster was on the widely acclaimed Dog Magic, which showcased the Southern-friend sludge trio’s oppressive density, their occasional forays into the realm of experimentation, and an ability to lock into a nasty groove for prolonged periods of time without boring listeners to tears. For the most part, the far too brief follow up, Voice of Saturn, picks up where Dog Magic left off.

Standouts “Spirit Molecule” and “White Dwarf” are lumbering monsters that lock in early and are anchored by the monolithic drumming, chest rattling bass, menacing vocals and well-executed surprises that listeners have come to expect from Zoroaster.

Continue reading: StonerRock.com – Zoroaster – Voice of Saturn.

Black Cobra - Chronomega

Consisting of guitarist / vocalist Jason Landrian and drummer Rafael Martinez, Black Cobra may present a minimum of musicians (some groups only contain one member, but rarely play live), but the group plays with maximum energy and produces a gigantic sound.

Chronomega revisits the fast and fuzzy sound of their 2007 record Feather and Stone, but shows the group mature in many ways. First, Black Cobra used Billy Anderson to record the album. Having twiddled knobs for the likes of High on Fire, The Melvins and Eyehategod, Billy Anderson is a name synonymous with the doom / stoner / sludge scene, and his work here is no disappointment. Martinez’s drumming hits hard and clear, while Landrian’s guitar sounds as if it were recorded in a cement mixer.

Continue reading: Blistering.com Review: Black Cobra – Chronomega.

A two-minute trailer for the film, which is being helmed by Karim Khan of I’m Better Than Everyone Records and C.T. of Rwake, can be viewed below.

In a March 2009 interview with StonerRock.com, Khan stated about the documentary, “It’s going to be footage of bands and interviews. Everyone’s being asked the same types of questions, real general, open-ended stuff about what it’s like growing up in the South and their experiences.”

Continue reading: BLABBERMOUTH.NET – PHILIP ANSELMO, EYEHATEGOD Members Featured In ‘Slow Southern Steel’ Documentary.

Kongh – Shadows Of The Shapeless

Lovingly pinched from Sonic Dice: The Swedish sludge/doom trio, Kongh, are a conglomeration of individual musical passions which range from the laid-back cool of the blues to the full-bore visage-mashing hostility of grindcore.

There must have been some serious in-house fighting that preceded their compromise that they “wanted to play very loud and heavy and to have a good time”.

One great thing about such conflicting opinions is the melting pot of ideas that emerges and this follow-up to their debut album, Counting Heartbeats, in particular, is overflowing with them.

‘Unholy Water’, for instance, is the heavy-as-fuck combined turbulence of Oskar Rydén’s penetrating bass, Tomas Salonen’s tempestuous drums and David Johansson’s sludge-flinging guitar and vehement vocal which is the very driven wind itself, roaring in elongated blasts around your lugholes. At nine minutes the tornado collapses into a buzzing pile, around which a melodic riff drones before the vocal steps in to finish you off.

Continue reading: Sonic Dice | Album Review: Kongh – Shadows Of The Shapeless | Mp3: Kongh – Unholy Water

Please click here for the audio stream of Kongh live at Roadburn 2008

Moss -Tombs Of The Blind Drugged

Lovingly pinched from Doom Mantia: Last year’s Sub Templum was one of the most extreme exercises in monolithic Doom ever created and now they are back. A bit different this time around but no less punishing. Tombs of the Blind Drugged has shorter tracks than usual but it is no less devastating as they deliver 4 tracks of crushing subterranean Doom Sludge but yet its somewhat restrained.

One of the big changes is vocalist Olly Pearson is more on show here showcasing his trademark screams. Although this is a EP you still get 4o minutes of classic Moss starting with ‘Skeletal Keys’ a monster of a track that continues on where the last album finished off.

Please read the full review at:  Doom Mantia: Moss – Tombs of the Blind Drugged.