GRIZZLOR,The Vultures, Spectral Fangs at Cafe Nine Thursday

Crazy show on Thursday @ Cafe Nine. Grizzlor, The Vultures and Spectral Fangs are gonna rip it up something NASTY!

Sea of Bones - The Earth Wants Us Dead

New Haven atmospheric sludge trio Sea of Bones has written a doom metal masterpiece - The Earth Wants Us Dead - that will send you plodding through a geas of shadow, wondering where your soul went.

Interview with Dave Lutz of Tomb and Thirst

Tomb and Thirst hails from New Haven and has been taking the Elm City on a ride through the world of Metal, doom, sludge, and grindcore. Releasing a self-titled CD late last year they are on their way to becoming one of the premier bands to see in the area. Check out an interview with guitarist Dave Lutz.

Bedroom Rehab Corporation Interview

Bedroom Rehab Corporation are a duo from New London who are tough to classify. They are parts metal, doom, punk, and garage. They are loud and ferocious. They have recorded and released a tremendous album earlier this year titled “Red Over Red” and are constantly playing all over the Northeast. Check out BRC at Café 9 (250 State St) in New Haven on the February 23^rd as Ct.com presents Royal Thunder, Ancient Wisdom, Stone Titan, and BedroomRehab Corporation. But first read a quick interview Meghan and Adam did with us here.

New Stone Titan Preview Track

Stone Titan are putting the finishing touches on their new LP "Scratch N Sniff" for Safety Meeting Records. Here is a taste of the new LP, an unmastered track called "I Wish I Was Fucking Dead".

Enjoy!

Shark / Old Man Lady Luck @ ELM BAR 9/8

Old Man Lady Luck and Shark are playing New Haven's Elm Bar, so get on your helmets and mouth guards and get ready to swing those arms!

Mares Of Thrace bring their beatifully noisy racket to Cherry Street on May 17

uncredited - from the Mares of Thrace fb page

Calgary-based Mares Of Thrace are a wicked noise/doom duo that turns it up and kicks it out on a regular basis. What may you say they turn up and kick out? Well, they turn up their amps and then kick out a loud noisy sound that wouldn't be too out of place on the Amphetamine Reptile label in the mid-1990's. Guitarist vocalist Therese Lanz along with co-conspirator, drummer Stefani MacKichan, have been turning heads and blowing speakers since the release of their debut record, "The Moulting" on the Sonic Unyon Metal label in 2010.

Iron Hand, Stone Titan, Elder and Gowl this Saturday in Wallingford

There is another awesome show going on this weekend somewhere in Wallingford, with a bunch of great bands, who are listed below. As always, you will be meeting at Redscroll Records and then taken to the secret place. So if any of the bands listed below are your cup of filth, then head on down. The show is relatively cheap and the bands are really good. So there you have it.

Don't Call It "Stoner" Rock: Weedeater Get Ready To Smoke Cherry Street

Hardcore punk and metal has been mixing for quite a while now, especially in the South, where an antagonistic, slowed down take on this mutant hybrid called sludge, has made quite a home in ol' Dixie. In fact, you can say it's one the region's biggest heavy musical exports.

Howl Brings The Heavy To Milford on November 17

Rhode Island’s Howl, deal in the type of filthy, down tuned riff worship that makes any fan of the loud and noisy stuff, grin from ear to ear. Over the course of one EP, and one critically lauded debut album, “Full Of Hell” (both on Relapse), the band has proven they have what it takes to make interesting and exciting heavy music. After getting the debut out of the way, the band is now getting ready to prep album number two, which according to drummer Timmy St. Amour is a very important one in a band’s career.

“There is definitely pressure because the second record is usually known as a make-or-break record. We’re just excited about the new material and we’re looking to show people how far we’ve progressed as a band. We can’t wait for this to come out,” said drummer Timmy St. Amour.
After playing an exhilarating gig at the first annual, Metalsucks.net, Suck Fest last week in New York City, the band is in writing mode, as they get ready to work on more new material for the record and do a string of headlining live dates.

So far, they have 8 songs ready for the record with about another 7 that need a little work. The plan is to have more songs than they need, so when they enter the studio in February or March of next year, they can pick and choose what works best for them. They plan on having the record out in late spring or early summer.

As far as the new material goes, St. Amour says that the new material is a little more straightforward and faster, belying some black metal and speed metal influences, but it’s still plenty heavy and filthy. It’s still Howl, through and through.

To help them out, new member, guitarist Josh Durocher-Jones, has flown in from his home in Cleveland to partake in the live activities and writing process. He is staying at St. Amour’s house.

While it might seem odd that while the rest the band, including guitarist/vocalist Vincent Hausman and bassist Rob Icaza make their homes in Rhode Island, their new member lives in the Midwest. Durocher-Jones came highly recommended from ex-touring mates (and metal warriors in their own right) Skeletonwitch, and has proved his mettle on the road for the band and will make his recorded debut with the band on the new record. St. Amour said it really is no big deal, because Durocher-Jones just flies in whenever they need him to write, record or tour.
They also recently completed and released a video for the “Full Of Hell” track, “Heavenless”, which is a gory and over the top rendering of the song full of bad table manners, fight scenes and pseudo-Victorian clothing. It’s a fun, yet slightly goofy introduction to the band.

St. Amour said it was fun to do, but next time they will exude a little more creative control and make the video a little more serious.

As noted from higher up in this article, Howl are from Rhode Island and so are a bunch of other great loud and heavy bands. For a state its size it seems to turn out a lot of great bands, almost more than should be expected and Howl are proud to come from such a rich scene.
“It’s a really unique music scene. The foundation was laid down by heavy noise bands like Lightning Bolt and the warehouse scene, but that goes back about 10 years. There is also Dropdead and the whole Armageddon record label and store, too. It’s a mixing pot, where kids from the noise scene will go see metal, and people from other scenes will go to another scene’s show. There are no weird competitions. It’s been breeding outside the box for quite some time,” said St. Amour.

(It will be noted that this writer has heard from several Connecticut residents who go to shows in state, that if they could afford it, they would go to Providence for shows. For me, I wish there was less competition between the scenes and maybe some co-operation, but I know that’s a pipe dream.)

But all griping aside, this looks to be fine bill with Howl headlining over a bunch of bands that are all excellent in their own right. Judging by the description on the Manic Productions web site, Worms In Women And Cattle look to bring it, while Sea Of Bones and Red Blade look to represent Connecticut metal in a good way. So why not? It’s a solid bill from top to bottom.


Manic Productions Presents:

Howl
Worms In Women And Cattle
Sea Of Bones
Red Blade

Thursday, November 17
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street
Milford, CT

8pm - $10 – 21+ BUY TICKETS NOW or pick them up at Redscroll Records.

Harvey Milk hits Daniel Street with The Body (part 2)

Mike White

Check out part 1, on The Body, here!

Also, check out Jason's Ferocious Fucking Teeth release review here!

In this day and age of five minute careers and bands that are forgotten quicker than a person can click delete on their mouse button, the career trajectory of Athens based loud rockers Harvey Milk is kind of an anomaly. They originally formed in the early 1990’s released a bunch of really good, yet sometimes hard to find albums, and then called it a day in 1998.

But they didn’t stay dead, they reformed in 2005, and were given a heroes welcome by a bunch of underground rockers who had kept their legend through word of mouth and the internet. Yes, this is one case where the internet, actually helped extend a bands career instead of speed its demise.

“It’s something that has grown over the past 4 or 5 years. We have fun doing it, so that’s why we do it. We feel very lucky that people still care enough about us to come out and see us,” said drummer Kyle Spence. “We know really good bands that can’t even tour for two weeks.”

The band, which also, includes singer/guitarist Creston Spiers and bassist Stephen Tanner, has seen an up tick in the amount of people that have shown interest in the band. The internet has kept the band’s name alive so that people could still hear the albums they made in the 90’s before they broke up.

He also sees other things good things that came about because of the internet. Booking has become easier, even though downloading has had its effect, it hasn’t had enough of an effect to change the way they operate. It will be noted that each member of the band has day jobs and lives outside of the band.

“Let me put it this way, honestly for a band like us, it hasn’t taken that much money out of our pockets,” said Spence.

Even though Spence is a big fan of CDs, he knows those are on the way out. In fact, the band has gone the vinyl route, putting a lot of their money into making vinyl to sell at their shows. This whole thing of vinyl being on the upswing is no joke, because Spence said that people do buy it at the shows.

But before we talk too much about the economics of a touring band, let’s just say that none of this would be possible if it wasn’t for the incredible music the band puts out. Sometimes called a sludge band because of their use of slow speeds and down turned riffs, the band actually has a wide variety of influences that include noise, experimental and classic rock.

But if you talk to Spence, he’ll even have a more streamlined description of the band’s sound.

“We’re basically a blues rock band, a blues rock trio, in a way like Cream, but with a music major writing the songs,” said Spence.

That blues tag is actually quite apt, because when Spiers starts moaning, you can definitely tell he has something deep down inside of him that he needs to get out, and the bands riffs draw on the classic sounds of that genre, though dipped in tar and slowed down a bit. But that is just only one part of their, as evidence by 1997’s “The Pleaser” the band can turn it up and boogies like the best of them.

Spence said that record was a response to what was happening at the time it was released.

No where has the band’s love of the slow and low is more evident on the band’s newest release “A Small Turn Of Human Kindness”, where the band takes it love of slowing things down to the extreme, trimming all the fat off this sound. In fact, according to Spence, the band has kind of fucked itself, because they’ve taken it as far as it can go on this one, it’s like the closing of a chapter.

And who knows maybe they might even close a chapter on another aspect of their musical lives. You might want to come down to the show because you never know when they will stop doing this. Spence has this to say

“We haven’t thought it out past the next few weeks. Who knows this could be everyone’s last chance to see us. We’ll do what we feel,” said Spence.

Manic Productions Presents:

Harvey Milk
The Body
Ferocious Fucking Teeth

Tuesday, July 12
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street, Milford, CT
8:00 pm – 21+ - $12 ($10 advance)

Rhode Island Rocks: The Body bring their crushing sound to Connecticut

Photo by Richard Rankin

There is a loud and destructive force that has called Providence, Rhode Island home for the past 11 years. It includes the crushing weight of downtuned guitars and the pounding of drums. For the most part, the locals are quite proud with this force, and it seems like a lot of metal and loud rock fans are picking up on the Body’s destructive frequencies. So now, it’s time for Connecticut to submit to their will.

The Body, which is comprised of Chip King on guitars and vocals and Lee Buford, on drums, has been blowing eardrums and minds and ears. Their sound is one of the world coming down, the apocalypse brought to life, and it all started humbly enough for these two Arkansas transplants.

“Chip moved to Philly and I moved to Boston to go to school for a year. I ended up not liking Boston so I moved down to Providence where I seemed to like more of what was going on there way more than Boston. Eventually, Chip moved out of Philly and ended up in Providence, too,” said Buford.

You would think trading in those two major cities thriving loud rock scenes for Providence would hamper the duo’s creative opportunities, but, in fact, the Rhode Island capital has a thriving underground rock scene that seems to turn out edgy and wonderful loud rock bands at an alarming frequency. (Anyone remember the now unfortunately defunct Daughters and the current prog-sludge upcomers Howl, to just name two) So, it was a perfect fit for these two dudes.

“I think it’s a pretty small scene so there’s no division in terms of musical genres. We have a lot friend that play really great music that isn’t easy to classify and I think people kind of feed off of each other, too,” said Buford.

And the band’s ethos gels perfectly with the scene’s ethos.

“I think we fit in pretty well, we have a ton of Providence musicians on the record and we’re lucky to have really great friends here that are doing like minded things, maybe not musically, but thematically,” said Buford.

The record that Buford mentions in the above quote is called “All The Waters Of The Earth Turn To Blood”, and is the band’s latest and greatest. Released on the At A Loss label last year, it has garnered the band raves from such non-metal publications as Pitchfork, NPR and the New York Times. But there is truth in the title as the music contained on this disc is dark, heavy and scary, brimming with hymns for the end times.

It also features a bunch of Providence musicians and various other instruments, but the biggest contribution comes from the Assembly Of Light Choir, which is a full-fledged female choir whose voices are used to great effect on the record.

“Chrissy Wolpert, who started the choir up, is a great friend of ours and has been on other records of ours in the past. She was getting the choir going around the same time we started recording, so we both evolved in unison. I love the way the choir pieces worked out. We just went on a tour with them and seeing them every night was unreal,” said Buford.

In fact, the first seven minutes of the CD are taken up by the Choir’s angelic voices, before Chip and Lee weigh with their drums and guitars on the song “A Body”. But that isn’t the total highlight of disc. On the last track, “Lathspell I Name You”, Chip and Lee lay down a bludgeoning sound right before the choir kicks in at the half way point of this 14 minute song and totally takes it an epic sounding direction. It’s quite a way to end an already excellent CD.

It’s also interesting to note that the band’s live show differs from their recorded output. Live, it is all about the volume, while the studio is more a place to experiment for the duo. Buford affirms this thought.

“We can’t achieve the feeling of a live show as far as volume, so we have to come up with other ways to come up with the same feeling without relying on our equipment,” he said.

Right now, the band has a few other projects they will be working on, including a collaborative record with Braveyoung, that will see light in the fall, as well record another record with a friend named Steve, who plays with them sometimes on tour and Neill from Krieg for a record that will be released on their own Aum War label. So look out for those. It doesn’t look these two will be slowing down any time soon.

“We’re best friends so it’s pretty easy to keep going. I don’t know what we’d do, if we didn’t do this,” said Buford.

So get down to Daniel Street early, not only to catch great local opener Ferocious Fucking Teeth, but also to catch this crazy duo when they take the stage before headliners Harvey Milk. You will be glad you did.

Manic Productions Presents:

Harvey Milk
The Body
Ferocious Fucking Teeth

Tuesday, July 12
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street, Milford, CT
8:00 pm – 21+ - $12 ($10 advance)

Across Tundras with Sea of Bones

Friday, May 27, 2011:

Location:
Elm Bar
372 Elm St
New Haven, CT

9:00PM - $3.00 cover - 21+


Across Tundras play heavy American frontier metal, managing to be classic and progressive, dark, and sprawling all once.



The monolithic Sea of Bones open. Imagine three of the Moai statues on Easter Island waking up pissed off and starting a doom band.




Across Tundras tour:

Th May 26, 2011 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool w/ Ominous Black, Yorba Linda
Fr May 27, 2011 - New Haven, CT - Elm's w/ Sea of Bones
Sa May 28, 2011 - York, PA - The Depot w/ Wrath of Typhon
Su May 29, 2011 - Syracuse, NY - Badlands w/ Sparhawk, Rust Empire, The Making
Mo May 30, 2011 - Buffalo, NY - Mohawk Place w/ Sonorous Gale, Dirt Eyes
Tu May 31, 2011 - Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Artworks
We June 1, 2011 - Columbus, OH - Carabar w/ Main Street Gospel
Th June 2, 2011 - Chicago, IL - Memories Bar w/ Angel Eyes, Sunsplitter
Fr June 3, 2011 - Cincinnati, OH - Mayday Northside w/ Beneath Oblivion, Valley of the Sun
Sa June 4, 2011 - Louisville, KY - The Green Lantern w/ Below, Stampede

Jucifer, Old Man Lady Luck, Gloominous Doom, Electric Bucket

Tuesday, June 29 2010, Manic Productions presents:



Location:
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street
Milford CT

$8 - 8:00PM - 21+

Directions

Buy tickets now or pick them up at Redscroll Records

Jucifer, founded in Georgia in 1993, are pioneers of the sludge/doom metal two piece. They are notorious for their use of massive amplification, and for their entirely nomadic lifestyle since moving into their tour vehicle a decade ago. Early on, Jucifer shared stages with many underground legends, including Lubricated Goat, Bloodloss (Mark Arm/Mudhoney), Melt Banana, Melvins and Eyehategod. Years based in Athens, Georgia from 1991 until 2001 were pivotal both for Jucifer and the Southern scene itself, which has evolved to strongly reflect bands such as Jucifer and contemporaries Harvey Milk. Relapse Records

Old Man Lady Luck:
New Haven supergroup featuring members of The Vultures, Humanoid, The Black Noise Scam, Murdervan, Bloarzeyd, and Atrina.

Gloominous Doom’s metal thrashing reggae madness first reared its ugly head in late 2005, when Jeremiah Stoyer (drums), Chris Bewley (guitar), Austin Ernst (bass/vocals) and Floyd “Bone” Rhodes (guitar/vocals) inducted Jeff Kruppenbach into their doomed cult to man the mic (and play a mean cowbell!). Born of booze, blood, and Black Sabbath.

Electric Bucket:
Punk/noise/garage rock band from Milford, CT. The quartet features 3/4 of New Haven's infamous Carlos Projeckt with lead vocalist/wildcat Steph Brown! The bucket's unique sound features barbarian spazz drums, fuzzed-out psycho bass lines, bird warrior guitar attacks and girl-on-guy screaming!

High on Fire, Black Cobra, and more!

Thursday, April 8, 2010, Manic Productions presents:


Location:
Daniel Street
21 Daniel Street
Milford CT

$15 ($13 adv) - 7:00PM - 21+

Directions: Click

Tickets: Click or pick them up at Redscroll Records to dodge the service charge.


High On Fire
With a heavy-handed approach and a sound that crashes like thunder, HIGH ON FIRE has put the power back in 'power-trio'. Less a band than a supersonic exercise in conquest by volume and sheer heaviness, the band has burned the metal rulebook and forged a new archetype. HIGH ON FIRE was formed by guitarist Matt Pike in late summer 1998. Formed out of the need to simply play guitar again, Pike jammed with and settled on a line-up of powerhouse drummer Des Kensel and longtime guitarist friend George Rice, who made the switch to bass to round out the trio. In the summer of 2004, HIGH ON FIRE was joined by bassist Joe Preston (THRONES / ex-MELVINS). Preston replaced Rice, and made his live debut on a 14 city U.S. trek that concluded in Chicago, IL where the band entered Electrical Audio Studios with engineer Steve Albini to record Blessed Black Wings. Blessed Black Wings exploded onto the scene. From the start the band hit the road and traveled the world, playing esteemed festivals such as All Tomorrows Party (at the request of The Mars Volta), Dour (Belgium), Quart (Norway), Intonation (Chicago), Hellfest (France), as well as the inaugural Sounds of the Underground Tour. Additionally, the band headlined internationally with the likes of MASTODON, CLUTCH, GWAR, and many more. Preston was replaced toward the end of the touring cycle by former ZEKE bassist Jeff Matz.
E1 Music



Priestess is a Canadian rock band formed, in Montreal, Quebec in 2003 by Mikey Heppner (vocals/guitar), Mike Dyball (bass), Vince Nudo (vocals/drums), and Dan Watchorn (vocals/guitar). Mike Heppner was playing with The Dropouts at the time when three of its members headed to New York to form The Stills. Left on his own, Heppner formed a new band: Priestess. In 2005, the band released their debut album, Hello Master. The release was issued via Indica in Canada and on Ace Fu in the U.S. A major-label recording contract with RCA followed in January 2006.North American tour dates opening for Dinosaur Jr. followed that spring. Priestess toured with The Sword, Early Man, Diamond Nights, Black Label Society, Black Stone Cherry, Converge, Mastodon and thrash metal pioneers Megadeth as a part of their “Tour Of Duty” tour in June of 2007.

Black Cobra is a doom metal and sludge band from Los Angeles, California. The band was formed in 2001 by Jason Landrian and Rafael Martinez (who is also the current bassist for Acid King).
Southern Lord



Bison B.C.
When Bison took its first step amps were scorched and drums were smashed. Born of the ashes of seminal Vancouver skate-thrash band S.T.R.E.E.T.S., Bison are every head banger’s dream. Their riffs are colossal and flow like a mighty river into a sea of fuzzed out shredding. Their message is punk rock angst and revolution, with the occasional nod to white wizards, the king of swine and a mythical beast called the “Stokasaurus”.
Metal Blade

Cable w/ Black Pyramid and Brothers & Sisters

Rockville, CT natives Cable formed way back in the early 90s and are back together with a vengence. I honestly thought they were still broken up, but not only are they not, but they also just released their brutal new album The Failed Convict. They've gone through a bunch of sonic changes over the years, but this is a sludgy, noisy release and sounds like the musical equivalent of a severe brain aneurism. I can't wait to see these songs live.

Also playing are Northampton's Black Pyramid. It's impossible not to mention Sleep, Sabbath and Earthride when you're listening to these guys, but they also manage to blend it all in a sonic explosion that rises above the sum of it's parts. If they keep making music, they're going to be huge.

They haven't been around long, but just listening to their "Victor" demo, you can already tell that Brothers & Sisters are going to be legendary in CT. The demo sounds like an old Pearl Jam tape you'd stumble across moldering away in someone's basement, but buried under all the fuzz and hiss you'll find killer hooks and fantastic over-gained 60s-styled backing vocals.

This show's going to be intense. Wear brown pants.

Manic Productions Presents:

Cable
Black Pyramid
Brothers & Sisters

Cafe Nine - Saturday, Jan. 16th
$8, 9PM, 21+
Tickets at Redscroll