The Sludgelord News : A STORM OF LIGHT: New York Metal Alchemists Announce Long-Anticipated Live Dates!

The sound manipulators of New York's favorite metal alchemists, A STORM OF LIGHT, are very pleased to announce a long-anticipated run of live excursions beginning with a string of US shows next month. Slated to commence on February 25th in York, Pennsylvania, A STORM OF LIGHT will bring their foreboding soundscapes to Columbus, Chicago, Erie and Brooklyn alongside shoegaze metallers, Junius. Come April/May, the band will head overseas to storm Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and the UK in addition to stops at the illustrious Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands and Inferno Festival in Norway! Additional A STORM OF LIGHT live rituals, both stateside and abroad, will be disclosed in the weeks to come.

A STORM OF LIGHT

2/25/2014 The Depot - York, PA w/ Junius

2/26/2014 Kobo - Columbus, OH w/ Junius

2/27/2014 Reggie's - Chicago, IL w/ Junius

2/28/2014 The Crooked I - Erie, PA w/ Junius

3/01/2014 Brooklyn Night Bazaar - Brooklyn, NY

4/07/2014 Bingo - Kiev, UA

4/08/2014 Re:public - Minsk, BY

4/09/2014 Plan B - Moscow, RU

4/10/2014 Roadburn Festival @ 013 - Tilburg, NL

4/10/2014 Mod - St. Petersburg, RU

4/16/2014 Inferno Festival - Oslo, NO

5/02/2014 Motion - Bristol, UK

A STORM OF LIGHT will be touring in support of their critically-adored Nations To Flames full-length released last year via Southern Lord Recordings. Featuring Soundgarden's Kim Thayil and Indian's Will Lindsay on select tracks, A STORM OF LIGHT's Nations to Flames centers itself on the apex of human failure and bears witness to the fall of all governments, all nations, and all religions. Called, "the strongest STORM album to date," by Metal Injection and, "the soundtrack to our damnation," in a near perfect review by About.com, who further boasts, "... A STORM OF LIGHT have an intensity that burns with the fire of creativity and artfulness while still relaying the message of how seriously doomed mankind is," Nations to Flames finds the band at their creative apex both musically and conceptually.

In an 8.5/10 rating, Blabbermouth relays, "Reflective more of industrial and splatterpunk than the dirge modes that have characterized A STORM OF LIGHT's more recent works, Nations to Flames is still joined at the hip by those core values of punched-up doom and explorative embellishments. We may be inevitably fucked as a world, but at least we have bands like this to give us fierce empathy straight to the bitter end." Music Emissions shared the sentiment, "...dark themes of drowning, destruction and despair are perfectly suited to A STORM OF LIGHT's impressively pressurized sound... the group's haunting harmonic drone meshing guitar, vocals and subtle keyboard layers gives listeners a sense of slow suffocation in waves of noise rather than straightforward pummeling," Exclaim crowned the record "their best release to date," while Ghost Cult elaborates, "Neurosis and early Mastodon are the clearest reference points, but there are plenty of other influences that can be felt through; the sludge of Crowbar or The Melvins ('Fall,' 'You Are The Hunted'), High On Fire's relentless pummeling ('The Fire Sermon') and even Killing Joke's industrial-tinged aggression ('Dead Flags,' 'Omen')."

Nations to Flames was recorded with Travis Kammeyer (OCOAI, Generation Of Vipers) at Fahrenheit Studios in Johnson City, Tennessee, mixed with Matt Bayles (Isis, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Botch, Mastodon) at Red Room Recording in Seattle, Washington and mastered by Brad Boatright (Sleep, From Ashes Rise, Nails) at Audiosiege in Portland, Oregon.

Nations to Flames is out now via Southern Lord Recordings. Order your copy HERE.

For more information : 

http://astormoflight.com
http://astormoflightsl.bandcamp.com/album/nations-to-flames
http://www.southernlord.com
http://southernlord.bandcamp.com
http://www.facebook.com/SLadmin
http://twitter.com/twatterlord

Source : EarSplit PR

Tigon - 'Infinite Teeth' (Album Review)

By: Aaron Pickford

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released:  11/08/2012

Label: The Ghost Is Clear Records

‘Descender’ brings this disorderly commotion to a close and having been subjected to feelings of violent agitation for the best part of 40 minutes, I am left feeling gobsmacked and amazed by the furious disturbance Tigon have caused.  Despite this great noise of confusion, I can’t help break into tumultuous applause and congratulate Tigon for this truly tyrannous and awe-inspiring album.  I too am left beaming with an Infinite Grin!

‘Infinite Teeth CD//DD//LP track listing

1) The Archivist (3:48)

2) The Great Machine (4:05)

3) Whale Maker (2:34)

4) Infinite Grin (1:44)

5) Tortoise Goes To Burning Man (5:52)

6) Infinite Grin (4:44)

7) Plague Apparatus (2:09)

8) Prophetess (7:53)

9) Descender (5:29)

Tigon is:

Brian | Guitar

Jon | Guitar

Joe | Drums

Doc | Bass

Clint | Vocals

The Review:

It has been said that Noise rock is an outgrowth or offshoot of punk, as Thurston Moore of legendary band, Sonic Youth said ‘Noise has taken the place of punk rock. People who play noise have no real aspirations to being part of the mainstream culture’. http://www.spin.com/#articles/art-noise This is the vibe that I get from Tigon, a band who seem to abandon all the clichés and unanimity of the stereotypical iconography of rock, instead playing a unique blend of malevolent dissonant music which I take a huge amount of pleasure in presenting  to you, here at The Sludgelord. 

Tigon opens things up with ‘The Archivist’, a song with a loop of 4 notes repeated by guitar, the feedback kicks in and we're met with a huge bass sound.   This is wonderfully abrasive noise rock, discordant and angry, with duelling guitars and fantastic drumming holding it all together.  Think Part Chimp, with it’s off kilter time changes, however the song has so much variety packed into one song and vocally it’s amazing too.  Tigon slow things down with arpeggiated guitar notes and a trade mark killer noise rock bass line, a la Shellac.  Then we’re hit with a thunderous sludgy riff, sounding like the best Post Metal band you never heard, ‘The Archivist’ is certainly a song that has enduring value and is the perfect way to kick off the album.  ‘The Great Machine’ is all about a driving bass, with the guitars creating a discordant noise, producing a natural harmonic tone which rings out, this is used to good effect and adds to the din they’re obviously trying to create, again in this song, there is just so much going on.  Tigon are indeed a great machine because with the live sounding vibe to the album, they sound note perfect.  Again perhaps without the intention, I’m sure? There are nods to the sound of Shellac.  Whilst this track is not as heavy at ‘The Archivist’ in terms of riffs, the shouted backing vocals add weight to the track and there are moments when the band crank it up and this is towards the end of the track.  Vocally, Clint is a monster and he has one of those voices who sounds familiar and yet, you can’t place him.  Atonality or dissonance would be a perfect description of what we are presented with, it is unconventional music, however it still does feel hooky, absorbing and engages you as the listener.

‘Whale Maker’ incorporates distorted bass and an opening clean guitar sound which seems to deliberately add a lack of harmony or flow; however it builds tension, as the two sounds clash from the duelling disharmonious elements of bass and guitar.  Then the penny drops, whilst the vocalist isn’t a sound like, the swagger and balls of the performance feels like David Yow of The Jesus Lizard, as he asks us, “Do you feel safe? Do you fit in? Do you believe? Do you fit in? Do you believe?”   It’s like Clint is toying with us.   Guitars play with reckless abandonment, with intricate neat little flourishes of hammer on and pull offs, until the ferocious blast of sludge riffs smash you in the pit of your stomach and then we’re back to the dense cacophony or maelstrom of the opening, with the distorted bass and ponderous disharmony.  Holy crap this song is just brilliant, it’s furious and ugly and the lack of agreement or consistency within the elements of the music, gives it a jarring audible harshness which is just devastating.  ‘Infinite Grin’ with its natural harmonics in a repeated phrase with bass, feels like a brief interval or interlude, but continues with the unmelodious feel of the album.

‘Tortoise Goes to Burning Man’ is off kilter, unconventional and off beat, seemingly using demented arpeggios and riffs to invoke a left of centre feel.   The track is lacking in order and is just abhorrent to methodical arrangement, the track induces a feeling of motion sickness, and it’s like poison infecting you or a conflict between your senses that will have you reaching for the Ipecac in order to remedy the feelings of dizziness, fatigue and nausea.  There seems to be a strong influence of much underrated and oft over looked band Theory of Ruin, a band led by Alex Newport also of Fudge Tunnel, however it remain totally original, accentuated by the harmonious female vocal.  When you think of this track, you think Amphetamine Reptile and just about any artist they have released music by over the years. ‘Infinite Teeth’ I would go so far as to say that this track sounds a lot like ‘Strap It On’ era Helmet or the underappreciated New York band Barkmarket (check them out)  but remains deeply ingrained in the noise rock vain, with minimalist sound based around repetitive driving rhythms’ of the bass and guitar.  This track is probably as close to conventional as you’re going to get and yet Tigon accentuate the song with subtle nuances to give a quirky, sudden sharp turn or twist to remind you that this band are the masters of the unconventional. Nonconformist and idiosyncratic in their desire to produce fresh unusual and innovative music.  ‘Plague Apparatus’ with its fantastic burst of drums is a 2 minute din of crude loud, confused noise, continuing the tumultuous noisy clamour.  This is a fast and frenetic song which is just insanely awe inspiring

 All I can say about ‘Prophetess’ is that it is a magnificently epic, think the grandness of your favourite Post Metal Sludge band, think Old Man’s Gloom or A Storm of Light, man this is titanic!  The riffs are monstrous and this is the longest and most spine chillingly heavy song of the record.  Everything on this track sounds huge, a colossus beast, it is mouth watering, with elements of blackened screams that twists like a knife, inflicting untold pain.  It’s as if the band has thrown out the rule book of everything which encapsulated the first 2/3rds of the album, with wanton abandonment.  They slow things right down with atmospheric tones and this appears to be the band at their most reflective with the spoken vocals giving it an emotional and introspective flavour.  This for me is easily the coupe de grace of the album and exhibits that Tigon incorporate many influences to their music and this is the thing that excites me about this band, they truly are a brilliant and with this song they have written one of, if not the best song of the year.  As the title suggests, this band are sending a message of divine inspiration and if there truly is a god, this album should propel them into the big leagues.  

‘Descender’ brings this disorderly commotion to a close and having been subjected to feelings of violent agitation for the best part of 40 minutes, I am left feeling gobsmacked and amazed by the furious disturbance Tigon have caused.  Despite this great noise of confusion, I can’t help break into tumultuous applause and congratulate Tigon for this truly tyrannous and awe-inspiring album.  I too am left beaming with an Infinite Grin!

You can order the album here. 

Band info: Official Site | Bandcamp | Facebook

Mendozza - 'Mendozza' (Album Review)

By: Aaron Pickford

Album Type:  Full-length

Release date:  01/01/2012

Label: Self-Released

‘Within 30 seconds of listening to this album, there is an immediate pay off and certainly you’re rewarded for purchasing this album.  The riffs on this album are used as a means of binding this album together, like a ligature binding your hands or feet together, making it impossible to escape or for you to press ‘stop’, and why would you want too?  This album is a fantastic!’

‘Mendozza’ CD//DD track listing:

1. Ligature 5.48

2. Avahuasca 3.48

3. Spirit Horse 8.43

4. Bifrost (Instrumental) 6.10

5. The Undertaking 5:40

6. Born With A Black Tongue 2.39

7. Wishful Drinking 8.57

Mendozza is

The Judge | Bass

Masterbeater | Drums

Deuce  | Vocals & Guitar

The Review:

I first became aware of Mendozza following my exposure to their 2010 album, ‘CABRA NOCHE’, having been turned on to them due to comparisons with High on Fire and Melvins, and whether that was justified or not, I was immediately intrigued.  Indeed the band described ‘CABRA NOCHE’ on their website as ‘The heaving breath of low end bass and guitars, combined with the Bina’s “laid back percussive artillery” of the drums, pound like the waves of the pacific, eroding the shoreline. Deuce’s vocals have been described “like he’s delivering his vox through a cloud of dopesmoke from beyond.”

Immediately I was hooked, and if that wasn't enough to convince me, the fact that the legendary knob twiddler Billy Anderson, (Neurosis/Eyehategod/Mr. Bungle) produced their record made me immediately buy it and I was not disappointed.  The order of the day with ‘Mendozza’ (the album), are gargantuan riffs and that is the common theme throughout this album. Indeed, as soon as ‘Ligature’ begins, you’re met with a crunching riff, that knocks the breathe out of you and subtle arpeggios and trills serve to accentuate the opening track. Within 30 seconds of listening to this album, there is an immediate pay off and certainly you’re rewarded for purchasing this album.  The riffs on this album are used as a means of binding this album together, like a ligature binding your hands or feet together, making it impossible to escape or for you to press ‘stop’, and why would you want too?  This album is a fantastic! 

What is striking about this record is that you can hear everything, the drums sound massive, with Master Beater intent on causing seismic movement and the low end of the bass, courtesy of The Judge, rumbling like a dormant volcano intent on erupting.  Mendozza, which was mixed by Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis) gives the album a crisp snappy sound, and at times sounds like the Austin, Texas band, The Sword (Matt Bayles has also produced), which believe me is no band thing. 

Mendozza appear to have gone for a stripped back approach to this album, producing an album that sounds like it was meant to be played live back to back.  None of that pro-tools processed nonsense, just slow songs consisting of monstrous riffs and a sound that encapsulates all the best elements of sludge/doom/stoner metal.  ‘Ligature’ is wholeheartedly a highlight of the album, with Deuce’s vocal style shifting from subtlety to brutality, often struggling to be heard over the tumultuous din.  The barbaric onslaught of riffs is an ungodly cacophony of noise, however as I mentioned, there is subtlety there too.  “Ayahuasca” is a  faster song in comparison, with the tight chugging intro, followed by a series of hammer off and pull on’s to another chugging bar chord.   This track is classic stoner/doom at its best and provides fans with their first taste of great solo work, with the use of wah to great effect.  Despite the change of pace on this tune, Mendozza remain crushingly heavy.

“Spirit Horse” sounds monstrous, starting with a slow chord progression building into a kinda post metal sludge riff with what sounds like very minor bends offering a dark and also demonic sound to it.  Think A Storm Of Light meets Melvins.  At 8.43, this is the second longest track but don’t let that put you off, because just when you think it’s ending, the track strays back into a stoner metal vibe, sounding like an improvised desert session, getting louder and louder exhibiting the flair of the band, but also the wide variety of their influences.  ‘Bifrost’ the only instrumental on the album, sees the band playing at an almost hypnotic pace, drawing comparisons to the tone and vibe of ‘Dopes to Infinity’ era, Monster Magnet.  The track has Master Beater and The Judge keeping things at a slow pace and it left me feeling that I was being drawn into a psychedelic world. Deuce is at his best, showing off his repertoire of subtle yet effective lead work, keeping things strangely ambient, with Master Beater keeping things tight with the droning bass sound of The Judge putting you in a trance like state

Following the psychedelia, “The Undertaking” and “Born with a Black Tongue” brings back the pain and both these tracks evoke a vibe of grandeur, with yet more outstanding solo work from Deuce but characterised by a classic doom sound, the latter being more uptempo with a fantastic one two note swap and slide which makes you sick with glee.  ‘Mendozza’ the album shows off the undoubted talent of this band and with the final track “Wishful Drinking” it is a wicked end to an amazing record.  I wanted them to finish with a flurry however as ‘Mendozza ‘comes to it’s inevitable conclusion.  My first thought is that I can’t wait for their next batch of skull crushing heaviness.  Go buy it!

‘Mendozza’ is available via their bandcamp page

Band info: Mendozza | Bandcamp