11 IS ONE LOUDER: Vermilion Whiskey debut "Come Find Me" video & choose their Top 5 Stoner albums

We don’t have to tell you that Vermilion Whiskey are from South Louisiana – it’s plain enough from the booze-and-blues soaked riffing of their latest release, ‘Spirit Of Tradition’ released on 17^th February 2017.  What you get is six slices of southern fried hard-rock, executed with the kind of honest bar-rock conviction you’d expect to find from a self-confessed ‘working man’s band’.  Steeped in whiskey fueled Rock-N-Roll tradition, their musical roots run deep like river veins stretched across their beloved home state & beyond. VW live and dedicate themselves to the thrill of the stage, no matter the crowd size, you will find 101 proof Vermilion Whiskey.

Today we have a double helping of Vermilion Whiskey, with the premiere of their new lyric video for their track “Come Find Me” and we have also invited 3/5 of the band namely

Ross, Carl and Thaddeus to talk us through their top 5 stoner albums, so prepare to worship at the altar of volume, as we take our weekly trip into the extreme and turn the volume all the way up to 11.  Why do we go to 11,  because “It’s one louder, isn’t it?

Choosing our top 5 ‘Stoner’ albums is absolutely impossible. We could have probably picked our top 100 albums easier. The ‘Stoner’ tag is a broad spectrum of music evolving from grunge, punk, heavy metal, sludge, desert, psychedelic, acid rock, etc…!!! At its core, what defines the genre is the groove and emphasis on guitar riffs. For Vermilion Whiskey we have more of a whiskey fuelled hard driving sound, so naturally most of our favourite stoner albums tend to be on the thrashier and heavier side and is surely evident in the music we write. Pour another shot….

Down – “NOLA”

Being from South Louisiana, this album hits home and is probably the biggest influence on most of my song writing and guitar style. This album is a true classic and powerhouse collective of some the best rockers around. This album never gets old. – Ross Brown

Black Sabbath – “Master of Reality”

This is probably my favorite Sabbath album, classic songs that are just as good today as they were written 46 years ago!!  Iommi amazes me, every time I listen to his playing I hear some little nuance that I hadn't heard before. – Carl Stevens

Electric Wizard - “Dopethrone”

Really having found their sound with their second album “Come My Fanatics”, they took it to the next level with my personal favorite, “Dopethrone”, further proving that they are not from this planet, and are one of the heaviest bands in the fucking universe. – Thaddeus Riordan

Trouble  – “Trouble”

True pioneers to the stoner genre and totally under rated in the US although they are a US band. Trouble is dual guitar shredding at its finest. Their latest album, “Distortion Field”, features Louisiana’s finest Kyle Thomas on vocals and is an instant classic. – Ross Brown

Sleep – “Holy Mountain”

Heavy, clean, crisp riffs put this one in the top five easily. There's a great energy to this album despite the slow grooves. – Carl Stevens

Band info: facebook || bandcamp

ALBUM REVIEW: Vermilion Whiskey - "Spirit of Tradition"

By: Jay Hampshire

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 17/02/2017

Label: 10 South Productions

“Spirit of Tradition” CD//DD track listing:

1). Road King

2). The Past Is Dead

3). Come Find Me

4). Monolith

5). One Night

6). Loaded Up

The Review:

We don’t have to tell you that Vermilion Whiskey are from South Louisiana – it’s plain enough from the booze-and-blues soaked riffing of their latest release, ‘Spirit Of Tradition’. Six slices of southern fried hard-rock, executed with the kind of honest bar-rock conviction you’d expect to find from a self-confessed ‘working man’s band’.

‘Road King’ grabs you by the collar of your denim jacket and shoves your face right into the bargain CD bin of every hard-rock cliché imaginable. Rote lyrics, overly dramatic guitar gymnastics and slightly mumbling, crooning vocals let you know exactly what you’re in store for. ‘The Past Is Dead’ kicks off promisingly enough with an urgent, muted guitar riff, but that’s quickly nixed when all the tempo is bled out of it like a stuck pig. It winds down into a template mid-tempo groover, before a stilted galloping section and cringe worthy spoken-word vocals bloat things out so the track more than overstays its’ welcome.

‘Come Find Me’ features some decent throaty bass rumbles and steadily building toms, but the records lacklustre production job sees the low end buried under sloppy layers of slightly tinny guitars. A little more punch on the bass and drums could have done the band a lot of dynamic favours. The moody ‘Monolith’ builds slowly, with jangling guitars, lush cymbals and decent layering, but seems to want to rush too quickly into upbeat, riffier waters, rather than letting things breathe and develop.

‘One Night’ stops and starts before winding up to a Black Stone Cherry-esque mid-tempo roll that contains the lyrics, shit you not, “I drink whiskey and I cry”. Closer ‘Loaded Up’ is movement heavy, with lots of ascending and descending runs among the scratchy riffs, speeding up frantically before ending hard, and being immediately forgotten.

If you caught Vermilion Whiskey in their natural surroundings, namely a slightly scuzzy, nameless bar somewhere in the Southern USA, they’d provide an evening of worthy entertainment. Their musicianship is solid, if derivative, and there’s a sense of honesty about it – no pretence or high art here. Taken out of this context, however, they are template at best, boring at worst, doing nothing to challenge neither the listener nor the trappings of 70’s bluesy hard rock. According to ‘Road King’, “momma used to say turn that music down”. It might not be ‘rock ‘n’ roll’, but we wish they’d listened to her.

“Spirit of Tradition” is available here

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

TRACK PREMIERE: Louisiana based stoner metal band Vermilion Whiskey debut "The Past is Dead"

 

Louisiana-based stoner metal band Vermilion Whiskey will return with their new album “Spirit of Tradition” on February 17 2017. The band's blend of metal with southern and classic rock is refreshing in a sea of groove/Pantera clones. “Spirit of Tradition” was mixed by Kent Stump of Wo Fat and mastered by Tony Reed of Mos Generator.

Hailing from South Louisiana, Vermilion Whiskey is a working man's band, steeped in whiskey fueled Rock-N-Roll tradition. Their musical roots run deep like river veins stretched across their beloved home state & beyond. VW live and dedicate themselves to the thrill of the stage, no matter the crowd size, you will find 101 proof Vermilion Whiskey. Where the good times roll, they can be found, sharing their own brand of hard-nosed rhythms with any and all who live to have a good time! Long live the riff!  Taking cues from Corrosion of Conformity, Down, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, will undoubtedly create quite the stir upon its release and today, you can get your first taste of this superb album with the premiere of “The Past is Dead” which you can check out below.  Preorder are available now via their bandcamp page. 

“Spirit of Tradition” track listing:

1. Road King

2. The Past is Dead

3. Come Find Me

4. Monolith

5. One Night

6. Loaded up

Band info: facebook || bandcamp