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This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
The record can most certainly be filed amongst Witch
Mountain's best and will slot right into the collections of doom heads
alongside The Wounded Kings, Electric Wizard, Cathedral, Castle and so on. This
is slow and bluesy doom of the finest vintage with a vocalist who is fantastic.
“WitchMountain” CD//DD//LP
track listing:
1). Midnight
2). Mechanical World
3). Burn You Down
4). Hellfire
5). Nighthawk
The Review:
A
doom institution of the last twenty years, WitchMountain are back with their
first full length post Uta Plotkin's departure. Kayla Dixon has stepped up to
the mic and she absolutely delivers a vocal tour de force on this low, slow
record. The bass is as deep as a mine shaft (supplied by another new addition
to the line up- Justin Brown) and the whole sound consists of self assured
performances alongside a very big sound.
Whether
you will like this album depends entirely on your liking of doom; if you like Sabbath,
you will probably like this. Likewise, if you like Sleep... ditto. Hell, even those
at the more sludge end of the doom spectrum will find much to enjoy here. Dixon
employs a ferocious growl at times to go with her crystal clear soulful vocals
(double tracked for effect at times) which should appeal to all sides of the
doom coin.
It's
not perfect- the pace is uniformly slow and the fact that there are only five
tracks here might irk some listeners- even if track five edges towards the
fifteen minute mark! Opener “Midnight”
tells you much of what youneed to know
about the new record; it's weighty and atmospheric in equal measure, while
utilising a lot of what is best about the genre in terms of sound and themes.
From there, “Mechanical World”
successfully captures the right mood and the record is starting to take firm
form.
The
sound is darker for “Burn You Down”
and the pace is no quicker. “Hellfire”
offers up a two and a half minute interlude of acoustic and folksy melancholy
which acts as the perfect bridge to what is the grand finale.
Clearly,
the closing “Nighthawk” is the heavy
artillery here; a sprawling epic of huge proportions- but the rest of the album
fits together perfectly and the five tracks absolutely work as a whole piece.
The record can most certainly be filed amongst Witch Mountain's best and will
slot right into the collections of doom heads alongside The Wounded Kings, Electric Wizard,
Cathedral,
Castle
and so on. This is slow and bluesy doom of the finest vintage with a vocalist
who is fantastic.
This is a lengthy and worthy collection
from one of the unsung bands of British doom- from an era when doom was not in
anyway commonplace.This is an essential
and extensive release, which will fit nicely onto the shelf right next to your Sabbath
and Cathedral albums.
“Doomography 1993-2002” CD//DD track listing:
1). Red Dawn
2). Where Winds Whisper My Cry
3). Lost Horizons
4). Circle of Misery
5). Wasted (Rehearsal ’99)
6). Bleeder
7). Black Hole
8). Two Time Loser
9). Crawl
10). Jezebel
11). Before My Eyes (Rehearsal ’99)
12). Spiritual Solitude
The Review:
Blessed
Realm
hailed from Northern England, emerging as a doom band in a time when doom bands
numbered in single figures in the UK. Going for the classic doom
line-up (you know the one) of Sabbath, Vitus et. al. This compilation brings together
all the band's studio recordings from their nine years of existence.
As
a document of British doom in that time, it is as genuine as it gets. This is a
band that never made the big leagues and remained underground, but with a keen
influence on the genre (much like, say, Unsilence from the North West) and other bands who sprang up in
their wake. Naturally, as this is a compilation of demos from a time when Pro
Tools was not the standard recording methodology, the sound quality here is
varied. The “Redemption” demo of 1995
has plenty of hiss for all you old schoolers who remember it on tape from
twenty years ago not to mention epic song lengths which would become standard
for the genre.
“The Chasing The Dragon” Demo of 1996 features a
drum machine- the material is worthy, but the feel is lost for me as the
mechanical element of using a machine takes some of the life out of the songs-
for me, anyway. That said, the performances of the rest of the band are strong
and the programming is solid- particularly for its time.
“The Return To Zero” demo of 1998 is a step
forward for the band and features live drums once again with strong songs such
as the sinister “Bleeder” and the
punchy “Two Time Loser”. “The Crawl Demo” of 2000 is the strongest
selection here forme- I note that it
may be a little further from their pure doom roots, but this takes in an almost
Iron
Man/Trouble sound along with the dark moods of earlier material.
Alongside
the official demos there is a sprinkling of rehearsal tracks from different
eras and the superb finisher “Spiritual
Solitude” from 2001. This is a lengthy and worthy collection from one of
the unsung bands of British doom- from an era when doom was not in anyway
commonplace (remember the snide comments Cathedral used to get for playing slow and
“looking 70s”?!).
This
is an essential and extensive release, packaged in a luxurious digipack with
photos and liner notes, which will fit nicely onto the shelf right next to your
Sabbath
and Cathedral
albums.
Cheshire based 1968
have only been together a short three years. Having released a self-titled EP
in 2015, they now return with a second EP before the release of their debut
album later in the year. Having been added to the impressive roster at Black Bow
Recordings, “Fortuna Havana” is a more than solid
addition to the bands discography.
Throughout
the four tracks on “Fortuna Havana”,
any questions about the name of the band are answered. Homage to Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple,
Mountain and Black Sabbath
is duly paid, but there are plenty of nods to the more stoner alumni such as Sleep,
as well as hard rocking blues legend Rory Gallagher.
“Vorpal” opens up the EP in
towering fashion. The band fly out of the traps with mountains of stoner groove
and swagger before building towards some superb solo work to finish off the
track. “War Dogs” immediately starts as the opener end and the band
veer down a doomier path before exploding in a fury of Thin Lizzy like dual guitars.
The
second half of the EP uses the already utilised formula, but “Duchess”
really sees the band step up their game. A rolling bass introduction leads to a
torrential storm of fuzzy riffs that are held together with terrific drumming.
The vocals sneer throughout the track before it shifts towards a highly
psychedelic cacophony.This is the
absolute high point of the release and one where the band take their influences
and really make the sound their own. The psychedelia continues in the opening
of title track to close out the EP. If “Duchess” is the undoubted highpoint
of the EP, then the title track is undoubtedly the heaviest piece here. Fuzz
riffs and pounding drums drive the track, to bring the EP home.
As
bonus to this exclusive stream we hooked with to discuss their top 5 doom
albums of all time and here is what they came up with.As we take our
weekly trip to the extreme, by cranking it to 11.Why do we go to 11,because “It’s one louder, isn’t it?”
Writing a
list that is titled the Top 5 Doom albums of all time is a bold statement to
make, after
all, music is completely contextual and more opinion-heavy than any
other
subject. Heavy music especially, is one of the more opinionated genres out
there
and the old
saying applies that one man’s treasure is in another man’s record box
heading to
Oxfam. So, with a bong-full of salt, I present to you, the top 5 Doom albums
of all
time...or at least in my opinion.
5.
Black Sabbath – “Master of Reality”
This record is the
beginning, I mean, out of the first 4 Sabbath records, this one is, to me, the
pioneering Doom record; the overall vibe of it is just slightly darker than the
other three. The first album; obviously is timeless and hinted at Doom but also
had more of a ‘rock’ feel which is understandable as Messrs Iommi, Butler, Ward
and Osbourne would have taken off where the late 60’s left off.
“Master of
Reality”’s heaviness can potentially
be attributed to its overall production. The guitars are tuned to C# standard,
which, back then was completely unchartered territory. As many fans know, the
slacker the string, the more vibration, the more vibration the longer sustain.
When coupled with a late 60’s Laney Supergroup 100w amp, you’re forging the
sound for generations to come.
The record itself also
flows better to stoned ears too, Iommi’s cough at the beginning of ”Sweet Leaf” is like an air raid siren
that there’s a plethora of riffs about to land, with brute force.
The cover needs a mention
too, the basic black front with grey and purple couldn’t be more doom if it
tried, black and purple being the colours of mourning and grey being a colour
that’s grim and often associated with death. Nice.
My favourite Sabbath
record is “Vol. 4”, yet it doesn’t
have anywhere near the same vibe throughout as “Master of Reality”, that in part could be down to FX being nonsense
and “Changes” being massacred in the
early 2000’s by Kelly Osbourne. “Master
of Reality” is the one record that no fan of Doom or any Doom band can
speak negatively about.“Master of Reality” is the beginning;
they started Doom, Stoner and many other sub genres of Heavy Metal. This record
is like a horrible old man that watches everything released under the bracket
of heavy, and laughs at it...then coughs up a lung.
4.
Electric Wizard – “Come My Fanatics”
Moving onto the horrible
bastard sons (and now daughter) of Sabbath, Electric Wizard from Dorset.
Chances are if you’re reading this, you own this. Electric Wizard have been a huge
part of doom for the past two and a bit decades, you could literally pick
anything from their back catalogue and still have a solid addition to this
list. (However it does seem like the Electric Wizard freight train is being
overtaken by bands such as YOB and Conan in terms of integrity and excellent
releases).
Anyway, “Come My Fanatics” is my choice for this
list, mainly based on the eternally crushing “Return Trip”, this nigh on 10 minute slab of excruciatingly brutal
wall of fuzz, bleak vocal, lyrics filled with pure hatred and lumbering rhythm
make this record for me.I’ve spent
hours of my life walking around places, driving, reading, people watching with
this slamming into my ears and feeling the hatred flow into me from the Wizard.
It has always been a beautiful noise.
The overall tone of this
record is just nothing but pure doom and also features the bands penchant for
adding sound clips from B-movies of the 70’s, cover art is also terrifying,
it’s a screen shot of Anton Levay in a satanic sermon doctored by Hugh Gilmour.
If you’ve not heard/got this, you need to re-assess your doom collection. There
are very few slower and heavier in the field that retain a disgusting groove.
3.
YOB – “The
Unreal Never Lived”
This wasn’t an easy
decision to make; it was a tossup between this and Acid King - “III”. I love them both, but this for
me, is great example of doom boundaries being pushed.From start to finish, this record just
batters you with relentless doom riffs, like, ones that make you think where
did this record even come from.There
aren’t many records out there with 21 minute tracks that don’t get boring like “Mental Tyrant”. Overall this record
just slays, its song writing is solid, the rhythms used and phrasing of the guitar
parts are second to none.
The whole record has a
great feel to it that can’t actually be bettered. My favourite track is “Quantum Mystic” mainly as it
incorporates a somewhat psychedelic trip that has gone completely wrong;
swirling guitars, vocals that sound like Dio drowning in a cauldron of bleach
and battery acid; just banging.I’m not
saying it’s the future of doom but if more bands followed suit with releases
like this, progression within doom would be very well received.
2.
Church of Misery
- “Houses
of the Unholy”
This record, man, I bought
this after hearing their split on Leaf Hound with Acrimony back in 2008, I was
floored by both bands on that record but Church of Misery had something that I couldn’t
quite get over. I guess the riffs on that release were what gripped me like one
of the Boston
Strangler’s victims.When “Houses of the Unholy” came out, I
bought it, without hearing, knowing that if that band produced gold on the
split, then this was going to be badass. Their back catalogue hadn’t been
released at that time so it wasn’t easy to get Church Of Misery records or
CD’s.
The record features all of
the usual traits, all songs about serial killers, huge riffs, swinging drums
and vocals that just slay. I watched them play Manchester
shortly after the release of this record with Cathedral and Gates of
Slumber and there was no dispute in the entire crowd that Church of Misery
had levelled the place and should have headlined.
Every track from this
record has its own charm, from Black Flag style breakouts to pure Sabbath
worship. I did wonder whether or not the inclusion of Tom Sutton on guitar had
an impact and by the nature of the rest of their releases since, it definitely
did.I have tried many times to score
this on vinyl and have failed every time as the price is always too much for
me, if that doesn’t tell you that this album is badass beyond words...I don’t
know what does.
1.
Slomatics/Agent of the Morai - Split
This one, released on Calculon Records
is my number one doom release, I bought this on CD after witnessing Agent of the
Morai deafen half of the Northwest region many moons ago. They
filled the entire stage with Matamp, Orange
and Marshall
gear...only to plug in, the least ‘doom’ guitar, A 52’ reissue Fender
Telecaster. There was a certain Chris Fielding playing guitar,
Andrew Swift on drums and a singer who has a name I always forget.
I stood and watched them
or rather felt my blood vibrate in front of them and afterwards bought as much
merch as I could, including this. They
shared the release with Slomatics from Belfast who are also number one
here for me, the pair of bands both provide throbbing walls of sound that are
just relentless, the riffs from both bands almost seamlessly blend into one.
I have heard some seriously
heavy bands in my time but none of them tick boxes for cult status, thickness
of tone, bludgeoning riffs, solid rhythms and above all else, ridiculous
volume. This release literally makes most other doom bands sound like amateurs
to me.
The CD of this is long out
of print and is only available on the Slomatics bandcamp page, it is well worth
checking out and downloading for a fresh fix of (now aging gracefully) doom. Agent of the
Morai called it quits a few years back now, Fielding went on to later
join Conan
and give the world ‘Caveman Battle
Doom’.Slomatics continue to push out
killer records whilst retaining their title of Belfast’s heaviest.You can’t go wrong with anything that Slomatics
put their name to.Doom. On.
“Fortuna Havana” by 1968will be available hereand for more information on the band check the links below
As
we may have mentioned before, Iron Void
are one the UK's
leading exponents of traditional doom: doom with singing, doom with riffs, doom
with... songs?! A few weeks back Iron Void
bassist, Jonathan “Sealey” Seale chose his top five trad doom records in the
first of a two article feature.Today we
present part two of this double header with Iron
Void, guitarist/vocalist, Steven Wilson choosing his own top five
trad doom albums, so turn the dial all the way to up because “11 is one
louder”
Black
Sabbath
– “Black Sabbath”
The
album that started it all! As soon as you hear the rain and thunder with the
church bell tolling in the distance, you know you're in something heavy. It
could be argued that they've done better albums since, but the first one
captures the sinister essence of Black Sabbath while keeping the blues and jazz
part of their sound. Songs from this and the “Paranoid” album were the first Sabbath riffs I learned to play, and I learned
a lot about how the drums, guitar and bass can work together. Each instrument
is really clearly defined and easy to make out. I don't always agree with
everything Ozzy Osbourne says, but I think he could be right about this being
his best vocal performance on record. This is a simpler sounding band, but just
as heavy as their later albums. This record sounds good at any volume level.
It's heavy and powerful, loud and relaxing and melodic if you turn it down.
Cathedral – “The
Carnival Bizarre”
“Hopkins – The Witchfinder
General”is a very cheesy song, and I'm sure we're all sick of it now. It did get
me into Cathedral
and made me check out their albums though, so it served its purpose in that
respect. I think this was the first or second Cathedral album I ever heard.
It's the first one without Adam Lehan (Gaz Jennings plays all the guitar on it)
and that seems to give it a different character. Gaz was able to do whatever he
wanted and it seems to be a bit more focused for it. It's the perfect mix of
heavy doom metal and psychedelia. I don't know if Lee Dorian's vocals have aged
that well, but it really opened my eyes to simple songwriting and how much you
could do with a couple of riffs. It's worth mentioning that the track 'Utopian Blaster' features a guest solo
by none other than Tony Iommi himself! It's worth checking out just for that
fact alone. I've still got the double 10” vinyl somewhere in my collection and
it's not likely to be sold any time soon!
Iron Man – “Generation
Void”
Like
the other albums on my list, “Generation Void” is mainly made
up of simple riffs and well timed vocals, backed up by a tight rhythm section.
That's all you need to be honest! Al Morris III comes up with riffs to rival
even Black Sabbath
on this album. I heard it years ago but I only bought a copy on CD
about ten years ago. It just always seems to have been there. Someone must have
taped it for me at some point because I remember listening to it a lot. This is
probably the first 'Maryland doom' band that I heard, and the simple song writing
mixed with melodic vocals have stayed with me into my songwriting for Iron Void.
The riffs from 'Final Resting Place'
(from “Spell of Ruin”) are directly inspired by Al Morris' guitar
playing style.
Spirit
Caravan
– “Jug Fulla Sun”
After
Iron Man,
Spirit
Caravan are the next logical step forward. I met up with Murray (who
I would later find out was in year Zero) and a mate of his a couple of times
with the intention of starting a band. It never came to be, but one of them
suggested I listen to this record. I remember thinking the name sounded daft,
but it stuck in my memory. I think I bought the “Dreamwheel” EP
before this, but this was the first full album of Wino's music that I ever got
hold of. From here, I moved on to Saint Vitus and The Obsessed, as well as The Hidden Hand,
Place of
Skulls, you name it. I couldn't believe that I'd never heard of Wino
before 1999/2000. I knew about Iron Man but I'd never heard any Pentagram,
Saint Vitus
or anything like that. I really like simple riffs and powerful clean vocals,
and Wino is the master of that! His influence can be heard in everything we've
done so far, especially my approach to playing guitar and singing at the same
time when playing live. He's not really doing anything unique, but the way he
plays really struck a chord with me. Having Gary Isom and Dave Sherman as the
rhythm section couldn't have done any harm either! Spirit Caravan's music taught me
that it's OK to write simple songs on purpose. They were a master class in how
to put together a power trio.
Pagan Altar – “Judgement
of the Dead”
Another
band that I didn't get to hear until I got online. I think I first heard this
album around 2003 or 2004, when it was out on CD as “Volume 1”. I got
the vinyl reissue entitled “Judgement of the Dead” a few
years later, and it was worth every penny. Their music is a mix of NWOBHM,
classic rock and what we would now call Doom Metal. Simple heavy rock
arrangements with bluesy guitar but dark, sinister and honest vocals and
lyrics. This is their debut album, and it's a bit rough production-wise. I tend
to like these the best though, because it's the first incarnation of a band.
Everything is new and the enthusiasm is still there. Pagan Altar reformed with a new
drummer and bass player a few years ago after a resurgence of interest in the
band. We were lucky enough to gig with them a few times and it was a pleasure
to see and hear them play live, even though Terry was obviously a lot older
than he looked on the album cover! He is sorely missed and unfortunately there
are still a lot of doom and metal fans out there who have no idea who he was or
what the band might have sounded like.
Iron Void plays “Hammer of Doom” fest this
Saturday.Check the poster below for
more details.
Album
Type:
Full Length Date
Released: 30/09/2016 Label:
Riding
Easy Records
All
in all, “Temples”
is a great record.Holy Serpent nailed
it.The songs are well crafted,
well-structured, the vocals are right on and the music is perfect parts psych,
doom, sludge and out right heaviness.Don’t hesitate, buy “Temples”
immediately.
“Temples” CD//DD//LP track
listing:
1. Purification By Fire
2. Bury Me Standing
3. Toward The Sands
4. The Black Stone
5. Sativan Harvest
The
Review:
The snake is writhing; the storm is brewing from beginning to
end with “Temples.” Clocking in at 43:19 seconds, Holy Serpent
delivers five songs the way music was meant to sound – heavy, psychedelic,
fuzzed out sludge. And the Serpent, on this their second record, have
seemingly perfected their sound.I point
this out because it usually takes most bands several records, maybe three or
four, to truly dig deep within themselves and pinpoint their musical identity
and really work that out on a sonic level.Holy
Serpent managed to do just that right here.
The band is re-inventing the wheel with this record, they’re
making said wheel much more efficient and effective.Its better parts Cathedral and Sleep,
fused together, performed as only Holy Serpent can.The bass and guitars drive this record.Heavy wah-wah, down tuned, low end, that
dance and play around a wall of distortion, mapping song routes and musical
direction for singer Scott Penberthy’s
hypnotic, almost dream-like vocals that define and carry each song.“Temples” isn’t
doom or sludge for the sake of such.The
songs are well done, well structured, that speak to you on visceral levels,
stimulating cortex and neurotransmitters.They’re easy to connect with and stay connected with.
“Purification by Fire”
opens the record with a somewhat sinister, ominous vibe, building and prodding
along, laying the foundation of what to expect with “Temples.”Slow, methodical and dirge-like at times, is
a great way to describe second song “Toward
the Sands,” however, there’s a buried gem at the 6:25 mark with an up tempo
Sabbath
meets Cathedral
boogie-groove type section, which quite frankly, I’d like to have heard more
of, but, what a cool way to cap off the end of this song, I really dug it, it
fit perfectly.
“Bury Me Standing,”
track three, reminds me a lot of Sleep but changes tempo and goes full on Serpent.The guitar parts on this song are remarkable,
they really guide this track from start to finish.“Sativan
Harvest,” like “Toward the Sands,”
hits that melancholy, dirge like vibe again, but harder, slower, allowing Holy Serpent
to showcase that sheer wall of sound technique they’ve been developing
throughout this record.
Capping off “Temples” is “The Black Stone,” a dreamy, psychedelic
slab of distortion laden goodness that properly ends the record.All in all, “Temples”
is a great record.Holy Serpent nailed it.The songs are well crafted, well-structured,
the vocals are right on and the music is perfect parts psych, doom, sludge and
out right heaviness.Don’t hesitate, buy
“Temples”
immediately.
Wolf Counsel came into existence in
2014 when two veteran musicians merged their enthusiasm for monumental
low-tuned music and a great appreciation of heavy riffs into a new band.
Primarily rooted in the style of late 70s and 80s prototype doom, sludge and metal,
their sound quickly developed a unique signature drawing influences from
everything that's heavy and slow.
In
January 2015 their debut album "Vol.
I - Wolf Counsel" was released digitally, on vinyl and CD by CounselRecords/DeadCenter Productions.
A
mere twelve months has passed and Wolf Counsel’s
second album "Ironclad" was
written -recorded, mixed and mastered at Little Creek Studio and was a released
on 23rd September 2016 by Czar Of Crickets Productions.
Wolf Counsel’s music has been called “authentic,
and elegantly classic“by various print and online magazines with
comparisons to a “nonstop evoking riffage summoning forth an experimental urge to
slaughter a herd of sheep with razor sharp groove and bludgeoning vocal
girth."
Take
it from us; if you’re fans of Black Sabbath, St. Vitus, Orange
Goblin, Goatsnake and Cathedral, you’re going to want to check out
this band.Today we are keeping it heavy
and slow, with the debut of the Wolf Counsel video for “Pure As The Driven Snow” which you can viewed below and “Ironclad”
is available here
Today's guests released one of the albums of the year
in 2014 with the brilliant “12 Areas”, indeed
Colchester-based instrumental sludge/post-metal band Telepathy are one of
the underground's best kept secrets.
They play unique and ambitious music, not so much songs, rather complex compositions,
music to get
lost in, the perfect juxtaposition of beautifully mellow and hideously brutal
passages which they execute with a remarkable intelligence. Telepathy are musical
conjurors, employing masterful tricks within the construct of their music,
which they deploy in unpredictable ways throughout their art and that is indeed
what they create, art in the truest sense, you never know what’s coming around
the corner but you can’t wait to find out.
With their demo EP "Fracture" and 2014 debut album "12 Areas" (Devouter Records/Tartarus Records)
receiving rave reviews, the band are on the cusp of creating their masterpiece
and their dedication to do things DIY, subscribing to their own rules, the band
are in a unique position of being embraced by fans of post-metal, hardcore,
sludge and progressive music alike, which is testament to the bands imaginative,
off-kilter and ambitious musical expressionism.
With Telepathy having
begun recording their second album and with a short European Tour set to kick off
next week, as we enter the final quarter of 2016, the band are confident that
they’re sonically better and in the throes of some much needed momentum than will
catapult their unquestionable talent to become one of the biggest and best
talents the UK has produced. Let us get
Amped & Doomed with the instrumental transcendents that are Telepathy.
SL: Can you give us an insight
into how you started playing music, leading up to the formation of Telepathy
Rich
(Guitars): I began playing music back when I was around 12/13,
I remember vividly my mother gifting me with a boxset of the first 8 Black Sabbath albums
for doing my 11+ (British school exam) and wanting to do nothing else but learn
to play the guitar and write music after that!
From there I learnt to play, and went through the
usual high school bands playing Kyuss covers and some formative original material. My first
semi-serious band was playing local shows and recorded a two track demo whilst
I was studying music technology at college, but ended soon after. That’s when
three of us in Telepathy
met and began working towards something more experimental, and representative
of our collective taste in music.
Piotr
(Guitars): Myself and everyone in the band, were always
interested in and inspired by all sorts of music. From classical, electronic
and dance to the heaviest metal. I
believe it took specific characters to meet and start creating the music that
this band plays. We all definitely have a love of instruments and sound, from
guitar to the synthesiser and of course, the belief that there is no such thing
as impossible.
Ted (Bass): I’ve been
interested in performing since I was very young. I used to write plays and
perform them for my parents; I sang in the school choir and also took acting
classes for several years. I actually started playing guitar when I was around
11 years old. My step-grandfather had a room full of vintage Fenders that I was
fascinated with. It was a jingle on a kid’s after school TV show that inspired
me to ask him to teach me. The jingle was just someone ripping a rad bluesy
solo and I thought it was so cool. I actually hadn’t played bass guitar in a
band at all until I joined Telepathy.
SL: Can you remember who or what inspired you to pick up
the guitar, bass? Are there any bands, guitarists, bassists currently on the
scene that continue to inspire you and push you to try new things?
Ted: I’m not necessarily impressed by a player’s technical prowess, what
matters to me most is how hard the player throws down. I caught Slabdragger at Red Sun Festival in
Cardiff a couple of weeks ago and Yusuf’s performance blew me away. I play
pretty hard but he’s on another level. Glenn from Grand Collapse is probably one of the best
drummers in the UK right now for me; that man can shred.
Piotr: It was
simply the love of the sound of heavy guitars and epic melodies. Since I was a little kid it has always grabbed
my attention. Guitar wasn’t my first choice, it was thanks to my parents and
older brother who introduced me to playing guitar, and the fact that people
around me listened to good music. During
that period I heard many bands and artists for the first time like Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Pantera.
Rich:Sabbath,
Soundgarden, Kyuss and the Melvins were my
earliest inspirations to play guitar and write music. Out of the current active
bands, we’re of course inspired by the bands we get to share the stage with,
recently we’ve really enjoyed Svalbard and Conjurer, always tight and giving 100% each time. I’m also
really loving SubRosa
and JK Flesh
at the moment.
SL: Whilst we’re
on the subject of inspiration or heroes for example, do you have 5 records that stand out as favourites, what influence did
they have upon you and what is it about those records that particular resonates
amongst others?
Rich: Here’s a few favourites and one new discovery. The list is always expanding.
Mamiffer: “Mare Decendri”
I had the
good fortune to catch Mamiffer
along with JK Flesh
and Sumac in
London recently and they really stole the show for me. This album is a masterpiece: beautiful
arrangements, a deep and rich sound and a haunting atmosphere.
Beach
Boys:
“Pet Sounds”
The
density of the arrangements and how experimental the song structures are still
amazes me and continues to be an influence on how I craft songs. It’s an
eye-opening album for me, in the sense that music can be so inventive, dynamic
and compositionally experimental and still pack a huge emotional punch.
The
Cure:
“Pornography”
An
incredible album. Darkness permeates through every song, it could have only
contained “One Hundred Years” and it would still be one of my all-time
favourite records. Robert Smith is one of the most under-rated guitar players
of all time for me.
Botch: “We are the
Romans”
A classic.
“C Thomas Howell as the Soul Man” is one of the best hardcore songs
ever. Hydrahead Records
in particular has been, and continues to be, a big inspiration for me.
Fall
of Efrafa:
“Owsla”
A genius
first chapter in a conceptual discography. This record opened up a whole world
of underground crust and post-metal for me, along with the DIY subculture it
was birthed out of.
Piotr: It’s hard to choose only five, so I’ll only name rock albums.
Metallica -
“...and Justice For All“,
A big
inspiration on song structure
Pink
Floyd
- “Dark side of the moon“
Without a
doubt, amazing melodies.
Tool - “Lateralus“
Just
genius, isn’i it?!
Deftones - “White pony“
Atmospheric,
great drum beats, it is what I would call romantic metal, if that makes sense.
Micheal
Jackson
- “Bad“
Because it
needs to be mentioned as one of my first musical influences.
Ted: There are too many albums that I could list in my top 5. These are just
a few that spring to my mind immediately.
Pentagram- “First Daze
Here”
Led
Zeppelin-
“IV”
Black
Sabbath-
“Sabbath Bloody Sabbath”
Fleetwood
Mac-
“Rumours”
Converge- “Jane Doe”
SL: Can remember your first
electric guitar, bass?
Piotr: Yes, and it’s still on my bedroom wall, an Epiphone Les Paul.
Ted: Yes, It was an old Encore
Strat copy that my Dad bought for me I think. Pretty standard but it
did the job for a few years.
Rich: Yes. It was
a Stagg, in that old ZZ Top shape. Truly a
terrible guitar, The neck broke within a couple of months!
SL: What guitar(s) bass (s) are
you using today and how did you gravitate towards the guitar you currently use?
Rich
& Piotr: We both use Ltd Ec1000’s. We both really love Les Pauls and humbuckers, and the
Ltd’s are great, hold low tunings really well and are fairly light for Les Paul style guitars.
You can also pick them up at a reasonable price second-hand which is a massive
plus. In all honestly we are both continually expanding our sound, and for sure
there will come a time for different guitars and pickups
Ted: In Telepathy I use an Epiphone Explorer bass.
SL: What do you like about the
guitars you currently use and has there been any specific modifications to
it?
Rich
& Piotr: No modifications currently other than a basic
set-up to allow us keep our low tuned strings stable. We’re both toying with
idea of adding a single coil pickup though at the moment.
Ted: I love it because I’ve never seen anyone else use one and it’s just a
massive, gnarly lump of wood that looks rad when slung nice and low. I’m going
to have to change the pickups in it at some point because it runs so hot that
you get a lot of feedback if you play too close to your rig, so playing on a
small stage can be problematic.
SL: What amps and pedals do you
currently use? Do you use a combination of
amps, or a full half stack? Talk us through your set up both in the studio and
in the live environment?
These are all in a constant state of flux, but here
are our current set-ups..
Rich:
Guitar > Tuner - Vox Delaylab - Maxon od808 - Empress Heavy – Little Big Muff - Boss RV-5 > Orange Rockerverb 100
and Orange PPC412
cabinet
Piotr:
Guitar > Tuner – Digitech Whammy – Empress Heavy – EHX Micro Synth – EHX B9 Organ Machine – MXR Analog Delay – TC Electronic Flashback Delay
(mini) – EHX
Super Ego > Fender
MH Head and Cab.
In the studio, we’ve been tracking with Jaime Gomez
at Orgone Studios
who has a wealth of vintage gear. We’ve tracking with an 80’s Marshall JCM800 and Peavey 5150 blended for
heavy guitars and a silver
face Fender Twin Reverb for cleans. We’ve used our own boards and
guitars, except for some clean passages on which we’ve used a hybrid super
strat Gomez has knocking about. We’ve also used an old EPIPHONE acoustic Ted
has which sounds amazing. For bass we used a vintage Ampeg SVT and Fender P Bass.
SL: What one pedal could not live
without and why?
Ted: My Boss TU-2
Chromatic Tuner. Can’t go wrong with it.
Rich: Aside from a tuner, my Empress Heavy. It has two great, responsive gain channels
and has added in a lot of the low end that my Rockerverb was missing on its gain channel,
via its brilliant weight control. It’s also been great to EQ to different rooms
with.
Piotr: Tough one... I guess it must be
my Mxr Analog Delay
– it’s just too good!
SL: What are your amp/ pedal settings?
Rich:Orange
clean channel, bass about 2 o’clock, mids and treble around 12 (dependent on
what room we’re playing). Very loud. I use the Heavy Empress for both a crunch channel and
distorted channel
Piotr:As of this moment I’m using
my Fender MH
amp, my settings are around 12 o’clock for clean gain, with a lot of bass,
little treble and about half on the mid channel. When it comes to pedals, it is
the Heavy Empress
that adds all the heaviness, with similar settings to the amps just with less
bass and more gain.
SL: What tunings do you use and
why, and as a result is there a specific brand / gauge of string you prefer ?
We tune to BEDGBE for guitars. Ted tunes toBEAD, it’s like standard 5 string tuning but without
the high G. He prefers that tuning because it allows him the freedom to move
through the scales without having to worry about any dropped strings. We all use
Ernie Ball strings generally.
Piotr:Ernie Ball
Heavy top Slinky Bottom
Rich: I use Power
Slinky’s but exchange the two lowest strings with a .42 and .54
Ted: I recently switched to Ernie Ball Power Slinky, they’re 110’s and I was using
130’s before. They’re just a lot better to play than the heavier ones SL: Do you have any
advice for up and coming guitars players, bands?
Practice, do whatever the hell you want musically
and most importantly play from the heart.
SL: Do feel
there are deeply held misconceptions about being in a band?
I’m sure there are many, most of which are based on
70’s excess and the boom years of the industry.
SL: Moving on a little then, what
can you tell us about any of your current projects, tours, cds, etc and anything
else band related we should know about?
We can tell you our next record is nearing
completion. We have been recording periodically throughout the year with Jaime
Gomez Arellano (Cathedral,
Paradise Lost,
With the Dead,
Sunn O)))
& Ulver,
etc)
We’re about to hit the road in Europe and have some
great off-shows coming up around the UK, including Noizfest in Manchester in October.
SL: What springs to mind when you think about the completion of your upcoming
record and how is the mood in the camp at present?
Well, currently we’re
demo-ing overdubs and textures to add when we return to the studio on 23rd
August. We’re all incredibly proud of this new work, and the mood in camp has
never been better, especially after the addition of Ted on bass. We’re
currently buzzing to get back on the road in Europe for some headline shows and
a performance at Incubate
2016 in Tilburg.
SL: Who are some your favourite bands you have toured with and what have been
your proudest moments and/or performance of your playing career?
It’s tough to name just a few moments or shows, but
playing Desertfest
this year was pretty insane, there was a queue out to the street to catch our
set at the Black Heart
which was pretty crazy.
Incubate in 2014 was a similar situation, we ended up headlining our stage due to
a cancellation, and playing to packed room in Tilburg at such a prestigious
festival was an honour.
More recently, it’s been rad playing shows with Rosetta, Svalbard, Conjurer, Grand Collapse (two
words: water) and Latitudes.
However,
the thing we take most pride in is that everything we’ve achieved up until this
point has been 100% our own work, and we have never compromised our vision in
any way.
SL: What can
fans look forward to from you over the
next 12 months? How is your schedule
shaping up?
The release of a new record and A LOT of live shows.
Watch this space.
SL:Finally, do you have any final comments/word of wisdom you’d like to bestow upon
us?
A big thanks to The Sludgelord for the continued support!
