Smock harnesses the darkest corners of retro rock, riding on surf guitar lines, fuzzed out bass, tight as fuck drum fills, and the often sweet but occasionally sinister vocals of Jenne Benicaso.
“Interstellar Nobody” DD track listing
1. Interstellar Nobody
2. Weird One
3. High Life
4. Bleach
The Review:
Maybe it’s the heat. Maybe it’s the relentless humidity. Maybe it’s that godawful haze that hangs over the industrial skyline. But for me, this summer has been punctuated by tripped out psychedelic, punky, metallic garage rock weirdness. In the same way that black metal treks through frozen tundra feels most effective after the truly bitter January chill has set in, the slick, sweaty, kind of nauseating midsummer swelter makes me feel like around every corner there could be a freakish Robert Crumb caricature or a roving pack of S. Clay Wilson pirate-bikers primed to bash my face with a bottle. And there are few records as appropriate for these paranoid delusions as “Interstellar Nobody”, the debut EP by NJ’s own Smock.
A lot of neo-psych lays the flower power bullshit on thick, missing the speed-addled discomfort inherent in a lot of the best shit that influenced a generation of Pebbles and Nuggets listeners. I mean, sure, the blissful Eastern mystic stuff has its place, but does it rock? Not hardly. Thankfully, Smock harnesses the darkest corners of retro rock, riding on surf guitar lines, fuzzed out bass, tight as fuck drum fills, and the often sweet but occasionally sinister vocals of Jenne Benicaso. When, on closer “Bleach”, he croons “You know it. / I’ll wait, I’ll wait / I’m still waiting for you…” there’s something a bit unsavory, especially layered with reverb and over a krautrock progression their forebears from Neu! would be proud of.
The title track on is a sweet slice of doomy stoner rock that reminded me of the most promising tracks by Uncle Acid, but unlike the steadily midtempo jams of the English post-Wizard class, Smocklaunches into faster garage punk on “Weird One”. The warbling, trebly high end guitar work of Benicaso and Zach Inkley is deftly balanced by Cameron Smith’s hefty bass tones, and the steady rhythms (courtesy of Dee Morris) makes “Weird One” the type of banger someone could (gasp!) maybe bop along to. “High Life”, the fastest song on the EP, is also the most neurotic. Benicaso’s hallucinatory narrations – “Sun becomes the sky / The Mud turns into the clay / The kingdom crumbles down / Are you listening” – are eerie but strangely beautiful.
“Bleach”, the aforementioned krautrock-indebted closer, is really a marvel and a testament to how promising this quartet is. The opening buildup feels like the classic live-in-studio cuts of the garage greats Smock draws from, but organic, in this case, doesn’t mean low quality. Both guitars are balanced in the mix, the bass has a solid presence, and Benicaso’s vocals maintain that distance in the mix that more rock bands need to aspire to. The guitar harmonies are really lovely too, and manage to sound heavy without sounding like atonal noise. It’s the rare record that drew me in more the further I went, and left me aching for the next (hopefully full length) release. And while it’s the perfect jam for my summer, I’d be happy to spin these tracks any time of year.
Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling. Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.
“Drop Out” DD track listing
1. Initiation
2. WarWagon
3. The King Tide
4. Let Go
5. EYEZZ
The Review:
My media libraries seem to be inundated with odes to psychedelic explorations – the complete Zap Comix line my shelves next to the midnight movies of Alejandro Jodorowsky abutting mind melting genre writers and the discographies of prolific drug takers too numerous to mention. But I have to admit up front that for all my rhapsodizing about stoner riffs and psychedelic freakouts, and a less than saintly life in 33 years, I’ve never taken the plunge into LSD. I’m cripplingly neurotic on my best days and convinced I’ll step into a nightmare vision out of a Beksinski painting the moment I drop acid. But after listening to the warped, fuzzy, oddly beautiful tunes on “Drop Out”, the church of the Acid Priest may find new lysergic converts.
It’s all about the riffs for these punky metal rockers. There’s a warm current of Thin Lizzy running through all five tracks of their debut EP, but intro track “Initiation” is like a harmonic blast of golden 70s hard rock. Guitarist Zakk Mild’s riff is so finely crafted, in fact, that it feels a bit wasted on an intro. No matter, since there are stellar riffs to spare in the four remaining bangers. “WarWagon”hinges on a gallop that recalls the early days of NWOHBM – when it still retained a strong crossover appeal to punkers and heshers alike. Bassist and lead vocalist Spliff Burton doesn’t reinvent the wheel of classic metal bass playing – he lays it out solid and thick, with few frills. His unique cadence as a vocalist is really something – belting out some snarling lines on this one and sliding into a gothy croon on “Let Go” and “EYEZZ” that feels like some desert rock cranked to 11. The doomy, stoner outro of “WarWagon”manages to pull of pyrotechnic shreds and ignorant riffs – not an easy feat for seasoned veterans, let alone guys cranking out a debut. The “King Tide” is steeped in Cali hardcore but way more headbanging than half that shit could aspire to. Loaded with hooks and equipped with a memorable, shouted chorus, it’s no wonder that this was the band’s first single.
“Let Go” shifts gears from sheer aggression to weirder, sinister tones. Between Burton’s smoothed out vocals and the reverb-laden guitar lines of the verses make recalls the golden era of stoner metal. The shuffling rhythms here are key; Steve Kunzel’s drumming is jazzy punked out metal precision that would make Bill Ward proud, and make plenty of modern metal drummers blush from embarrassment at their own double kick monotony. When the mellow sheen drops, the chaos lurks beneath, and it’s largely because of this percussive dynamic. The eerie, spacey ending, complete with spoken word poetry, makes it a memorable and oddly affecting track. The closer “EYEZZ” is another total left field freakout. Layered with sinister organ playing, monastic chanting, and gothy whispers, I found myself recalling the bizarre Euro-metal outliers of 80s metal, especially Italian creep-doomsters Black Hole, before a hardcore break, followed by some evil prog like the bastard spawn of Deep Purple and “Red” era King Crimson.
If the genre shifts, tempo changeups, and mashup of clean and shouted vocals sound overwhelming… well that’s because it is! But in a remarkably cohesive, rocking way. There’s no gimmick at the heart of this trio, just strait up headbanging rock indebted to the classics while not playing the boring game of nostalgia-fueled pastiche. Like the best psychedelic art they explore the bizarre, the beautiful, the sinister and the sensual all at once and leave your mind reeling. Strap in, drop out, and follow the Acid Priest to stoner salvation.
For over twenty years, Pig Destroyer have been one of the most recognizable, venerated acts in grindcore and the larger metal community. Whether weaving complex, conceptual albums like “Terrifyer”, stripped down hardcore-influenced ragers on “Book Burner”, or long form experimental pieces like “Natasha” and “Mass & Volume”, Pig Destroyer make waves with every split, collaboration, and full-length release. En route to the Obnoxious Noise Fest in Long Island, NY, the legendary act played the rare non-festival show at Crossroads Live in Garwood, New Jersey. JR Hayes (vocals), Blake Harrison (electronics), and, briefly, Scott Hull (guitar) sat down for an in-depth chat with THE SLUDGELORD before their February 23 gig with Sunrot and Chained to the Dead to talk about their upcoming sixth full-length record, the appeal of playing offbeat venues, and the creative balance they’ve maintained while still working full-time jobs.
SLUDGELORD: What’s the status for the next release right now?
JR: I’m pretty sure everything has been recorded, so we’re in the mixing/mastering stage now.
Blake: Very close. Actually, Scott’s at the hotel KIND OF working on some of it now. I’d say, conservatively, the next week or two we’ll be done.
SLUDGELORD: Whether the deluxe version of “Book Burner” or the “Terrifyer” DVD, you’ve had some extra bells and whistles in the past. Do you plan that out early on? Are there any “special bonus” plans for this next album?
JR: I’ve found that stuff that Pig Destroyer plans early on doesn’t ever come to pass.
Blake: I would agree with that.
JR: We got into this record, we did the record, and there wasn’t any time to do any extra material. It would have been nice to do extra stuff but we didn’t really have a chance.
Blake: There’s never “extra” material. This one will be more stripped down.
JR: It does gonna be 11 songs, somewhere between 30 to 35 minutes with all the noise pieces.
Blake: Even with the “Mass and Volume” EP, we just had extra studio time. So while [JR] was doing his vocals we kinda put that together. It was never like a “planned” thing.
JR: It just kinda happens. Not that we don’t make plans, but with everybody’s schedules and the way things work, we just go with our guts.
SLUDGELORD: With John Jarvis on bass now, has the writing process changed at all? Is there more “jamming out” songs or collaboration? Or is Scott laying out everything?
JR: Scott pretty much lays out the foundation of the songs. Since he programs drums we have to translate the drums for human arms. Obviously people are allowed to put in their own personal flourishes. For the most part the music comes from Scott.
Blake: Same thing with my noise – JR and I have demos we’ve been working on forever but Scott may have other ideas.
JR: Ultimately everything runs through Scott –
Blake: But it’s collaborative!
SLUDGELORD: Speaking of the noise and samples, how do you gather that kind of archive? Is it just constant accumulation? Blake, do you go in search of something once you have JR’s lyrics?
Blake: I actually didn’t have the lyrics when I was doing my stuff. I’ll know where the lyrics are falling so I don’t have a burst of static over vocals. But yeah I’m just always watching movies, at work or wherever, and keep notes and timestamp everything. I will maybe have 3 pages of notes running on my phone at any given time, which is a lot!
JR: We’ll have a lot of time between records but it’s not like we’re partying for 4 years between albums. Some of these lyrics I was working on during “Book Burner”. Because I’ve been in a band with Scott for such a long time, I never know when he’s going to be inspired. And when he’s inspired he cranks out things really fast, so I want a bunch of shit ready. With this record I had three full notebooks of lyrics ready.
Blake: The same thing happened with “Phantom Limb” – he’d bring us to a practice with one song ready. Another month would go by and there’d be another song. And then the next time there were six!
SLUDGELORD: JR, was there any art or literature you were absorbing in anticipation of writing this record?
JR: I think – I hate to use the term “artist” because it sounds pretentious – but if you’re going to be an artist, being an artist is all about the moment, and it’s about emotion. Making an album is a document of where the band is. “Book Burner” was a document of where the band was in 2012, and at that time I was really into religious arguments, I was studying religion, I was absorbing all kinds of philosophical thought so that’s where those lyrics came from. On the new record it’s kind of the same thing but there’s none of THAT particular stuff. I feel like the next record is a reaction to where the previous record came from. I wanted the songs to be about all different things – variety and that sort of thing.
Blake: I’ll also show JR my writing because he’s one of the best lyricists. There was an idea we were tossing around of using my lyrics at some point.
JR: Which we’re gonna do.
SLUDGELORD: Any music in heavy rotation?
JR: The best record I’ve heard in the last five years is the new Cobalt. I’ve been obsessed with that.
Blake: Set.
JR: Set is awesome. I’ve been listening to a lot of old death metal.
Blake: Newer stuff for me has been Full of Hell, Genocide Pact, I’ve been getting into a lot of Alice Cooper lately, who was never a big influence on me growing up. I feel disconnected talking to people who never listened before or they’ve been listening forever.
JR: I just discovered the band Nomeansno! I went down a YouTube rabbit hole one day.
Blake: I’ve known JR for 22 years and I never would have thought you’d like that. I love that band! METZ from Canada – I don’t know if we can say it but we MAY be doing a split with them.
JR: Let’s not get too crazy *laughs*
Blake: Sunrot, who we’re playing with tonight. I’m not really a big doom fan but I really like that band. It’s NOT doom, it’s different.
SLUDGELORD: Would you say there’s a unifying concept this time around?
JR: I like the IDEA of concept records, but with this record I tried to make each song its own song. I told myself if I had a story I’d write a story. But I don’t like to force things. I like to go with what I’m feeling. Luckily the things I had lined up with the songs Scott had written.
Blake: I’d say this is less conceptual than any other record we’ve ever made.
JR: It’s kind of the same feeling I had with “Phantom Limb”. With “Terrifyer” I was like “God I wrote too much shit.” I think it works for that record but with the next one I just focused on each song. I didn’t feel the need for a concept this time.
SLUDGELORD: Do you think there will be a short story this time around, like “The Atheist” in “Book Burner”?
JR: Maybe with the next record. I’ve been working on my novel, too, so I didn’t have story stuff to put into this one. I’ve been working on it at least seven years. This is my third draft.
Blake: I finally started reading it.
JR: Now that I have an editor I changed it around. And I think for the better. You lose perspective on something when you make it for too long.
SLUDGELORD: At this point we were joined by guitarist Scott Hull.
Blake: And we actually got someone else to mix this record. We still tracked it and Scott tracked it. He mixed “Phantom Limb” and “Book Burner” and did a great job, but sometimes you can get too close to a project. This time Scott wanted to have someone else mix it, we need a different sound.
Scott: I just wanted to take myself out of that process a little bit more. The process of writing the music took so long. Not that it’s any sort of super complicated grouping of songs, but I think these songs are way more mature than any group of songs going into a record. And I’m happy with everything we’ve committed to… hard disk. Not tape anymore.
JR: Somebody out there is still using tape! Steve Albini is still using tape.
Blake: “Phantom Limb” and “Book Burner”, when Scott was mixing after, he would call me and I’d hear his hair falling out.
Scott: It’s just torturous and I wanted to take myself out of the loop on that and focus on the music. Being a guitar player in a band.
JR: But it’s hard to trust someone else. I mean I’m nervous about it honestly because we’ve never handed one of our records over to someone else.
Blake: There were four or five names we talked about mixing the record. The three of us just stopped nonstop about it. We’ll get there!
SLUDGELORD: And how are you all still balancing full-time jobs at the same time?
JR: Scott has a family too! I don’t know how you balance it.
Blake: [Drummer] Adam [Jarvis] is going into the studio with Misery Indextoo! He didn’t have to just learn our stuff, he’s learning that stuff too.
JR: That’s just life nowadays. Everybody’s doing a million things.
Blake: I have to explain, “I’m not in a band where I get to sleep in and do nothing.”
Scott: I don’t think those exist anymore.
SLUDGELORD: What made you schedule a show in New Jersey when the most obvious spots are often Philadelphia or somewhere like Saint Vitus in Brooklyn?
Blake: I’ve known [Crossroads promoter] Andy Diamond for years. We had an offer for this big show out on Long Island, so it made sense physically, geographically, and money wise to do this with Andy.
JR: And any time we’ve played Jersey the response has been great. We’ve always had great shows in New York.
Blake: These are great shows we’re juiced about. I mean out on Long Island we’re with Chepang and Outer Heaven and Internal Bleeding.
JR: The big thing with us is: “Who are we playing with?” We can just go out and play a show but we’d rather play with Iron Lung or some band we really like!
Blake: Because we don’t do it a lot. These bands tonight – Sunrot and Chained to the dead– I picked.
SLUDGELORD: That’s really great to hear because the people in these bands were pretty essential in making a modern vital scene in this area.
JR: People don’t realize sometimes all you need to create a great music scene is just one person who is willing to book shows and finds a good venue. It doesn’t take much, but something really cool can happen. I wouldn’t even be in bands if someone hadn’t done that in my hometown.
Blake: Playing with bands we like is way more important to us because we get to experience it. Some band came up to us and said, “I can’t believe you watched us.” I said, “I LOVE you guys.”
"Force Field" is an album that punches you in the face from the moment is starts, and keeps up its unrelenting force until the album’s grand finale. The songs are short, they’re fast, and each one hits its chorus within 30 seconds. There are no frills, no bullshit, just straight up rock n’roll with attitude.
“Force Field” CD//DD//LP track listing:
01. Hippie Speedball 02. Earth Shaker (Which Doobie U Be) 03. Alaskan Thunder Fuck 04. Shocker 05. Crazy 06. Fried Dyed And Layin To The Side 07. Shell of a Man 08. Houndstooth 09. Tits and Bones 10. Humble Brag 11. Super Highway 12. Liv A Little
The Review:
When The Atomic Bitchwax got their start in the 90’s, they offered up the flip side of the coin to the West Coast’s Fu Manchu. Like the Fu, The Atomic Bitchwax also had punk roots, dirty guitars, hard drumming and a link to rock royalty. What sets these bands apart is mostly the themes in the lyrics. Fu Manchu sings about babes and cars, The Atomic Bitchwax spits lyrics about drugs and flying through space. Sure, this is a pretty blunt summation of both bands, but the bottom line is, The Atomic Bitchwaxappeals to the space-punkers. Their music is for those who want their Monster Magnet faster and their Fu Manchumore psychedelic. The Atomic Bitchwaxfills that void perfectly.
In layman’s terms, The Atomic Bitchwax is a stoner rock band. But as Monster Magnet continues their way back to their psychedelic beginnings and Fu Manchu gets heavier, The Atomic Bitchwax once again fills the void between these two and does so by dropping the “stoner” tag. The word “rock” is what remains, and that’s just what we need in these times of pigeonholing bands into genres that are so specific that there’s no fun left in the music.
On December 8, The Atomic Bitchwax are going to drop a belter of an album. It goes by the name “Force Field” and its one helluva rock album. It’s one that punches you in the face from the moment is starts, and keeps up its unrelenting force until the album’s grand finale. The songs are short, they’re fast, and each one hits its chorus within 30 seconds. There are no frills, no bullshit, just straight up rock n’roll with attitude.
Opener “Hippie Speedball” is a quick two-and-a-half minute glimpse of what the band is here to do; rock. Follow-up “Earth Shaker” does the same, and the increasing speed and intensity in the third song “Alaskan Thunder Fuck” nails down the band’s mission statement. The cuts are teeming with vocal harmonies, polished beyond belief but no less sharp and mean. And when Pantella pounds on his drums, you can hear him grinning with satisfaction. Kosnik and Finn are also grinning, no doubt about that, and this adds to the album’s presentation. The band is smug, they know they’re kicking ass and they know their licks are second nature. This is rock n' roll.
“Force Field”confirms the direction The Atomic Bitchwaxtook on 2015’s “Gravitron.” On “Force Field,” the New Jersey three-piece don’t do much more than open the flood gates and barrage the listener with hard-ass riffing and tight-ass rhythms. This happened in 2015 and it’s happening again now. Therefore, the simple conclusion is, if you dug “Gravitron,” you’ll love “Force Field.”
New Jersey’s Vantafrost is an old school black metal quartet, riding a fine line between first wave primalism and second wave speed crust. Time will tell whether they reach the insane heights of Celtic Frost or Darkthrone, but on their debut they manage to meld their ancestor worship with some genuine originality, and blast out some killer metal along the way.
“Dispossessed” CD//DD track listing
1. Nazgul
2. Dark Hammer
3. Demon’s Breath
4. Lead Pumper
The Review:
In the States, black metal continues to entrance newcomers and seasoned metal heads alike, especially in various hybrid forms and blackened amalgamations. A lot of this stuff is really interesting and challenging, and occasionally, it actually rips. New Jersey’s Vantafrost is an old school black metal quartet, riding a fine line between first wave primalism and second wave speed crust. On their debut EP, “Dispossessed”, they eschew too much experimentalism and instead offer a lo-fi homage that occasionally betrays compelling musical influences (beyond their beloved Tom Warrior).
Few topics are as ripe for black metal adaptation as J.R.R. Tolkien’s blighted denizens of Mordor. Whether orcs, trolls, or the dark lord himself, the demonic entities of Lord of the Rings are practically embedded in the DNA of black metal. Vantafrost’s “Nazgul”is a thoroughly menacing, literal retelling of the story of the ringwraiths, propelled by crusty drumming, Hellhammer-reminiscent riffs, and subtle guitar harmonies. Sun King’s strange cadence, sometimes reminiscent of Attila Csihar, clutters and spreads over the verses – a weird enjambment of syllables that is memorable, if an acquired flavor it takes several listens to fully absorb.
“Dark Hammer” has some solid first wave riffing, occasionally stuttering over idiosyncratic rhythms, but coalesces around a switch to 6/8 time and a solid outro. “Demon’s Breath” is practically a hardcore number, with a particularly smashing bass tone. There is an insane, warped effect on the vocal that can be unpleasantly or pleasantly disorienting – you may find yourself wondering if you’re on the verge of an aneurysm. Closer “Lead Pumper”, however, is a righteous finale, soaring on some brutally catchy progressions and snarling vocals. Another pop culture homage (this time to the classic demonic first person shooter DOOM), “Lead Pumper”manages to slip some personal anguish into an ass kicking track, lending some emotional heft that should be explored more on their next release.
Vantafrost isn’t reinventing the wheel, but they manage to infuse some life into the skeleton conjured by Hellhammer and their lo fi cohort. Like the Swiss pioneers, their EP is a warts and all affair. Time will tell whether they reach the insane heights of Celtic Frostor Darkthrone, but on their debut they manage to meld their ancestor worship with some genuine originality, and blast out some killer metal along the way.
Welcome to THE SLUDGELORD’s November installment of the 666 Pack Review! As the weather continues to cool, we’re turning up the heat every passing month with 6 more victims….errrr…newish bands to review. Each and every month we handpick 6review submissions and critique them by only using 6 words, then we rate them on a scale from 1to 666! Check out our awesome holiday foods inspired rating scale below:
1– Do you know what Lutefisk is? Well, I liken this band to it. It stinks and it’s intolerable…
2- Fruitcake. It’s almost ok to eat. This band? It’s almost ok to listen to.
3– No matter how you slice it (no pun intended), this band is average, just like turkey.
4– It’s not the pumpkin pie that does it for me, it’s the whipped cream. Yes, this band is sweet.
5– Green bean casserole with toasted onions and mashed potatoes with gravy….mmmm…mmmmm! You see where I’m going with this???
666! – THE SLUDGELORD loves the tasty riffing, the sweet drumming so much that he’s going back for seconds!
The 666 Pack Reviewis meant to offer humorous criticism and is not meant to hurt feelings, however, there are no safe spaces here. THE SLUDGELORD is a picky listener…and doesn’t care what you think of his opinions….
River Black’s self-titled release picks up right where Burnt by the Sun’s “Heart of Darkness” left off, the riffs and instrumentation are crushing, as well as vocalist Mike Olender being the best he has ever been, For anyone who enjoys Metal and hardcore at its finest will find this record to be of their choosing.
“River Black” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Jaws 2. Honor 3. Low 4. Shipwreck 5. River Black 6. South x South 7. Boat 8. Move 9. #Victim 10. Haunt 11. Sink 12. Everywhere
The Review:
River Black’s self-titled release picks up right where Burnt by the Sun’s “Heart of Darkness” left off in ways that are both impressive and terrifying. The positives are that the riffs and instrumentation are crushing, as well as vocalist Mike Olenderbeing the best he has ever been. The terrifying element is that the lyrical continuity between “Heart of Darkness”and “River Black” indicates the human condition has only grown worse in the band’s absence. Fans of Burnt by the Sunwill not only welcome this new record, but also be blown away by the progression of River Black’ssound.
The album gets off to a pummelling start from the get-go with “Jaws” and “Low” are riff-oriented tracks very reminiscent of the “Soundtrack to the Personal Evolution” era of Burnt by the Sun. The album takes a turn in the middle with the self titled track and “South x South”.These songs show a more matured band exercising restraint and understanding the best qualities of their sound. It is the little things that make such an impact; particularly with the double kick pattern and the string arrangements on “South x South”, you see the growth still capable within this band. As mentioned previously, Mike Olender’s vocals are nothing short of spectacular. With “River Black”, the listener really gets the sense of a man who has had many life experiences between his studio albums. Particularly with songs like “Haunt”and “#Victim”, you get the sense Mike is not only a seasoned lyricist, but has completely mastered his craft as a metal vocalist.
For anyone who enjoys Metal and hardcore at its finest will find this record to be of their choosing.
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