Imperfect though it may be, "Vol. 1" is a fascinating introduction to Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats' bold vision
"Vol. 1” CD//DD//LP track listing
1. Crystal Spiders
2. WitchesGarden
3. Dead Eyes of London
4. Lonely and Strange
5. Vampire Circus
6. Do What Your Love Tells You
7. I Don’t Know
8. Wind Up Toys
The Review:
Psychedelic band Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats has gained somewhat of a cult status over the years. However, it is the best kind of cult status imaginable. The group has at once achieved notoriety while not gaining a level of household name currency. Such presence is a sweet spot for musicians: people know you, but not their moms, and not being played at the mall is absolutely not for lack of skills. Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats' style of stoner rock with old-school heavy metal burnish has flashes of panache that bands like Electric Wizard have in abundance. Over its releases, the Kevin Starrs-fronted group has supplemented that with pulpy themes in its music and as such their music is truly fun to listen to, and the band's music has received well-deserved acclaim for it.
If you have been following Uncle Acid over its young career – from 2011's “Blood Lust”, 2013’s “Mind Control” or “The Night Creeper”, the 2015 entry – chances are the group hooked you with its fuzzed out freaky tales that always came across as more Dusk to Dawn than Leatherface. It is a catchy and creative mix that draws comparisons to some of the genre's all-stars, not to mention progressive acts like Pink Floyd. Among the stories that have circulated was how the celebrated band's story began on a 2010 debut, which originally made the rounds via CD-R. However, that recording has been elusive to most fans, save Youtube downloads and live shows. That is, until its longtime label, Rise Above Records, stepped in to reissue the out-of-print first recording.
With "Vol. 1," fans of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats finally get a glimpse at the band's formative work. Perhaps it is no surprise that it is not the best the crew has performed, but it is among the most original.
"Crystal Spiders" begins the album, and it is filled with the energetic guitar work and the sticky rhythms you know of Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats. The back story to "Vol. 1" is that it is truly a do-it-yourself endeavor. It was reportedly self-recorded. This hardscrabble tale proves readily apparent as you tune in for the duration. A little too much volume and some loose production are evident. With "WitchesGarden," the vocals are a bit more washed out by the rest of the arrangement than usual. However, it, just as with the next song "Dead Eyes of London," is a priceless look at a performer building a sound it is today loved for making. Its cornerstones – that classic rock 'n' roll feel, a lyricism that weaves a mystical tale into the music – are gestating on its debut. On "Lonely and Strange," the bass and drums take a more prominent role, just like they do in later releases and are a hallmark of this vibe. Imperfect though it may be, "Vol. 1" is a fascinating introduction to Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats' bold vision.
Starrs has been quoted as saying he wanted to oversee remixing and ensuring the new record met the standard he expected for fans. He does an admirable job in touching up the base material. "Do What Your Love Tells You" in the original telling, available online, gets its retro doom amped up on "Vol. 1." Similarly, the closer, "Wind Up Toys," is markedly improved from the original.
If you are a fan and caught "Vol. 1" online, the reissue is a treat you will not want to miss. And if you are curious about this burgeoning UK phenomenon, "Vol. 1" may help you understand how it all began.
In a time where doom is flourishing in all directions and manners, Southern Lord exhumed the sole full-length from Massachusetts' Warhorse. Long out of print, rabidly sought after, and unconditionally vital in foreshadowing the plethora of current acts who partake in long form, recklessly downtuned sound voyages, 2001's ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ was reissued on double LP and digital formats on February 24th, 2015 combined with their final 7" EP, I Am Dying.
Formed in 1996 and lasting the best part of a decade, Warhorsewallow deep down, grooving at the kind of frequency usually associated with imminent natural disaster. But in addition to their intricate delivery, Warhorse possesses an experimental, verging on psychedelic streak which gave rise to gritty and memorable riffs, and saw them sharing stages with the iconic likes of Electric Wizard, Khanate, Acid King, High On Fire and Unearthly Trance.
‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’and ‘I Am Dying’ are sinister demonstrations of ultra-heavy riffs as a weapon, and with Southern Lorddelivered a stellear rerelease, doom fans worldwide will need to start saving pennies for the subwoofer damage they are sure to inflict. Today we are rewinding the riffs back a mere 2 years in order present “As Heaven Turns To Ash’.So if you missed it the first time or even following its reissue in 2015, be sure to remedy your error by checking out our review in full below.
By: Daniel Jackson
Album Type: Full-Length
Date Released: 29/09/2001
(24/02/2015 for the reissue)
Label: Southern Lord
Were ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ to be released in 2017 for the first time, it would be in a league with 2014 standouts Conan and Ommadon and the reason, much like ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ itself is simple: execution. Especially for its time, but even now; Warhorse knew how to craft a deep fucking tone. If you told me that the guitars were tuned to a previously non-existent z flat and played through a baritone guitar, I’d believe you.
‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ DLP//DD track listing:
1. Dusk
2. Doom's Bride
3. Black Acid Prophecy
4. Amber Vial
5. Every Flower Dies No Matter The Thorns (Whither)
6. Lysergic Communion
7. Dawn
8. Scrape
9. And The Angels Begin To Weep
I Am Dying EP:
1. I Am Dying
2. Horizons Burn Red
The Review:
Warhorse may not sound all that unique by today’s standards, but in 2001 ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ just wasn’t something you heard every day. It’s pretty easy to figure out from which wells Warhorse drew their inspiration: Black Sabbath, Sleep, and Eyehategod. In 2017, you’re going to look at that list and think “So? There are hundreds if not thousands of bands in that camp, and I’ve gotten my fill of it over the last 10 years”. That’s a fair point. It’s hard to argue that as of this writing, doom with stoner tendencies is a well-worn style and bands have needed to add more and more into the mix to come up with a fresh approach. There have been a few that have made stripped-down, basic doom in the Sleep and Eyehategod traditions work, though they’re often the exception rather than the rule.
Were ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ to be released in 2017 for the first time, it would succeed in that same way, with the added benefit of a much larger audience for their style. It would be in a league with 2014 standouts Conan and Ommadon and the reason, much like ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’ itself is simple: execution. Especially for its time, but even now; Warhorse knew how to craft a deep fucking tone. If you told me that the guitars were tuned to a previously non-existent z flat and played through a baritone guitar, I’d believe you. The drums are given plenty of weight in both performance and in production. In a way, this album should serve as the bar which all bands in a similar style should strive to meet, at least production-wise.
The song writing here is strong, despite being deeply indebted to its influences. It also helps that whenever it sounds like the album might be stuck in a groove or idea for too long, the band knows when to include a softer dynamic break or change the emotional tone enough to keep things from getting stale. There are several softer instrumental pieces throughout the album, and along with the subtle diversions sprinkled in throughout the bulk of the album, they manage to avoid letting the bloom fall off the rose.
I’m not entirely certain what ended Warhorse after just one full length and a few EPs. I’d certainly speculate that it’s possible they just had the one album in them. The two songs from the ‘I Am Dying’ EP that came out the following year (also included in this reissue as bonus tracks) suggest that Warhorse were kinda running in place. Even on ‘As Heaven Turns To Ash’, nearly twenty minutes of the album had been recorded in demo form around three years earlier. It would be safe to say that even considering the brief window of time they were together; Warhorsewasn’t a terribly prolific band. They came together and created one great album’s worth of material and moved on. You’d have to try pretty damned hard not to respect that.
It's a very engaging listen, 33 years on and is an absolute must have for any fan of doom- or anyone looking at how the genre started to really form into something (along with the work of Vitus, Trouble et al). An essential album and a worthy reissue. Enrich your record collection and your life by buying it!
“King of the Dead”(Ultimate Edition) CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Atom Smasher 2. Black Machine 3. Master of the Pit 4. King of the Dead 5. Death of the Sun 6. Finger of Scorn 7. Toccata in Dm 8. Cirith Ungol 9. Last Laugh (Live) 10. Death of the Sun (Alternate Mix) 11. Master of the Pit (Live) 12. King of the Dead (Live) 13. Cirith Ungol (Live)
The Review
Cirith Ungoloccupy a strange place in the book of heavy metal; a true cult band that mixed sword and sorcery themes with classic rock, traditional metal and true doom, all punctuated by Tim Baker's unique (the best word for it) voice. “Frost and Fire” was a good debut- with one foot in the 70s. “King of the Dead”, meanwhile, is regarded by many as their best album, being as it was self produced which gave the band a certain amount of freedom to do what they wanted. The band now occupy a similar space to Manilla Road- cult, underground, quirky and worshipped by their true disciples.
This ultimate edition of the revered album gives a new remastered sheen to the main album and adds on some live tracks and alternate mixes. The album itself sounds... pretty great, actually! This is a well produced record with an unusual sound. The lead work reminds me of Iommi (in tone as well as content), the bass is prominent (as per the debut) and the drums still pack a forceful percussive sound.
Let's be honest, the album is a classic; it's weighty, but never over the top in terms of heaviosity . The songs are there- “Atom Smasher” and “Black Machine” are a fearsome opening twosome. “Master of The Pit” is a doom classic, straying into epic territory- as does the title track. There is some quicker stuff on here (“Death of the Sun”), more melancholy fare (“Finger of Scorn”), an instrumental (“Toccata in Dm”) and the band's theme song. It's a very engaging listen, 33 years on and is an absolute must have for any fan of doom- or anyone looking at how the genre started to really form into something (along with the work of Vitus, Troubleet al).
The ultimate edition comes with the aforementioned bonus tracks- live versions (some very recent, some contemporaneous), alternate mixes and what have you- but as usual, all you really need is the original album- particularly in this superior audio form. The remaster is great and made my old CD sound very wooly indeed. An essential album and a worthy reissue. Enrich your record collection and your life by buying it!
“King of the Dead”(Ultimate Edition) is available here
6. Korgüll the Exterminator, 7. Technocratic Manipulators, 8. Macrosolutions to Megaproblems,
9. War and Pain Medley, 10. Brain Scan, 11. Psychic Vacuum, 12. Order of the Blackguards
13. Holiday in Cambodia, 14. Batman
The Review
For at least a decade, since the remastered re-release of 1984’s debut album “War and Pain”, Voivod fans have clamored for the long-promised follow-up reissues/expansions of the key “Noise Records Era” triumvirate of thrash-speed-prog-punk-industrial madness from Quebec’s cornerstone quartet of metal.This desire to “plumb the vaults”, as it were, was only exacerbated by the untimely death of guitar wizard Denis D’Amour in 2005.D’Amour, better known as Piggy, left enough material to cut twoadditional albums: “Katorz” (2006) and “Infini”(2009).Remarkably, the band has continued to perform and produce new albums, though not at D’Amour’s breakneck pace.In that time, performers as disparate as Dave Grohl, Vektor, and Ryan Adams have espoused the legacy of Voivod, arguably raising the profile far beyond what D’Amour would have expected in his lifetime.
As for the records themselves, what else can be said for Voivod’s early output in 2017?For one, this is the sound, the feel, the overall aesthetic of a band enmeshed in creative unity.In the lengthy essays accompanying each album, D’Amour’s surviving band mates explain their remarkable commitment to collaboration: Away took a year off to hone his drumming ability before the recording of “War and Pain”, while developing the visual elements of band.Snake, presented with Away’s artwork and Piggy’s compositions, crafted lyrics that distinguished Voivod’s unique brand of obliquely political, dystopic storytelling.Blacky, meanwhile, worked extensively with Piggy to create complimentary riffs that, especially when reviewing the live tracks and videos, illustrate the remarkable sonic fullness of the band, despite lacking a live rhythm guitarist.With these four elements operating at the top of their respective games, it’s still remarkable that in the span of three years, Voivodcreated a trio of albums that thrash harder than 90% of thrash acts today.
“RRRÖÖÖAAARRR”, the “pure” thrash record, is a step up from their Metal Blade debut production wise, though the band laments the subpar bass tracking, due to a last minute robbery of the recording space.This may be a case of artistic perfectionism, as the dynamics on display are as crisp as any I’ve heard recently.Thankfully, none of these reissues suffer from the massive compression of some others from the same era, eschewing the excessive volume tinkering and allowing the original recording to mostly stand on its own merits.And over the course of its nine tracks, “RRRÖÖÖAAARRR”proves why it won over early skeptics – from the first minute, it just fucking rips.Sure, Snake’s vocal attack is idiosyncratic at times, but as a veteran performance artist, he sells every verse with a punk’s intensity.Away may still be imitating Motörhead, but the propulsive energy is undeniable.And Piggy’s chaotic riffs on homemade guitars and effects pedals stand up to any of his contemporaries’ technical precision.
If “RRRÖÖÖAAARRR” was the reiteration of Voivod’splace among the cutting edge of thrash, “Killing Technology” is the anarcho-punk speed metal hybrid that cemented their reputation as genre defying tech wizards.Now a road hardened machine, the band was expanding their musical tastes, and it shows: while the metal spirit remains, there are definitely more hardcore and punk influences on display.Piggy’s riffs are sometimes minimalist, creating tonal soundscapes before erupting into technical acrobatics.Away continues to hammer out double-bass marathons, but also shifts on a dime throughout, verging on jazz polyrhythms in classics like “Tornado”, “Order of the Blackguards”, and the explosive title track.Snake sounds even better, embracing production to slide into different characters.And ok, the bass really does sound better than on “RRRÖÖÖAAARRR”.
“Dimension Hatröss” is, without a doubt, a full on prog metal masterpiece.While the earlier albums were arguably conceptually unified, for the first time Voivodcrafted a true concept album around their band “mascot”, Korgüll, who travels through a universe created by a particle accelerator.With their avatar charting new territories, Voivodwas spiritually freed – incorporating industrial elements, fusing thrash shredding with propulsive hardcore riffs, and all the while Snake blossomed into the singer/storyteller/actor he’d always verged on becoming in the earlier records.Perhaps the most remarkable element of “Hatröss” is the relative economy of songwriting; each song hovers around 5 minutes, but doles out concentrated prog power that most bands can’t equal in multi-part “epics”.Plus, they’re actually catchy!“Chaosmongers”would feel at home in a punk compilation, albeit with the most technically skilled punkers you’d ever encountered.Like a perfect short story collection, each track is stellar on its own, but together spells out a terrifying vision of extradimensional nightmare exploration that’s as exhilarating as you can imagine.Plus, the Batman cover really rips.
Along with the original albums, these Noise Records deluxe 2 CD/1 DVD editions of “RRRÖÖÖAAARRR”, “Killing Technology”, and “Dimension Hatröss” include hours of supplementary tracks, video, and bonus materials.All the live video content is, not surprisingly, very raw stuff, mostly captured on camcorder, while the live CD audio varies between competent and pretty good bootleg quality.In all, each DVD contains at least 5 hours of video footage, culled from each album’s respective tour, plus live demos that most diehards have already traded with other Voivod completists.Perhaps the most interesting “bonus content,” for a visual obsessive like me, are the slideshows of Langevin’s artwork, a key component to this era of the band.It’s easy to see how the disturbing, Heavy Metal inspired pieces Langevin was producing could help Snake craft such evocative lyrics, and inspire Piggy and Blacky’s discordant, broken tech songwriting.
At the purely musical level, the bonus discs increased my admiration for Blacky’s bass-as-rhythm-guitar style, and Piggy’s ability to balance both rhythm and impeccable lead, nearly simultaneously.As a testament of a version of Voivod that many of us have never seen, however, these archives are invaluable.There’s undeniable exuberance and showmanship even in the dingiest punk clubs (some remarkably sparsely attended), while the increasing ferocity of the band’s following is evident from tour to tour; Voivod was infectious in a way few can comprehend, relying largely on word of mouth and a relentless pace of output and live performance.In what can be seen now as a disastrous precursor, the band was sidelined after “Dimension Hatröss”, as D’Amour has his first terrifying encounter with cancer, from which he would eventually recover. They would go on to push the genre even further with the major label releases “Nothingface” and “Angel Rat”(which could use the same type of loving reissues), but still mostly headline the club and theater circuit, perhaps too abstract for the metal masses of the early 90s, but also victims of bad luck.Blacky would leave the band and they would hopscotch among indie labels before D’Amour’s death from colon cancer at the age of 45 – which would spell certain doom for 99% of other bands.And yet, here we are, with Voivod touring, still receiving raves for their current output, and we’ve been presented an embarrassment of riches that serve as testament to a band and a guitarist whose statures only seem to increase with each passing decade.That is, perhaps, the most unlikely triumph of this trio of albums: exceptional dedication, artistic integrity, and solidarity are timeless.Dimensional displacement, war, apathy, cancer – all are subsumed in the power of undeniable artistic triumph.Voivod cannot be killed.Now crank it up or Fuck Off and Die!
Each new Mouth of the Architect release is my new soundtrack to oblivion, but revisiting “Time and Withering” is definitely worth your effort. It has held up over time and is still as big and bold as it was 13 years ago.
“Time and Withering” DD//LP track listing:
1). A Vivid Chaos
2). Soil to Stone
3). Heart Eaters
4). The Worm
The Review:
After 13 years, 5 full length LP’s and numerous line up changes, Mouth of the Architect have survived to remaster and re-issue their first album, “Time and Withering”, for a vinyl treatment. I’m not sure why they chose the 13th anniversary for this auspicious occasion, but given their current “three year per album” rate of production, this reissue is a welcome windfall coming only 8 months after their previous effort, “Path of Eight.” It also provides a great opportunity to see where MotA have come from and examine the threads that hold their entire catalogue together.
There have always been areas of overlap throughout their body of work. The way they carefully build and layer a song together, each new layer drawing on another emotion, sometimes destroying itself in release, sometimes taking the listener hostage. “Time and Withering” is where that body of work begins, with four massive tracks of gloomy sludgy post metal. Describing the ins and outs of tracks like “A Vivid Chaos” and “The Worm” don’t do the work justice because there are just so many ins and outs per track. Each MotAproduction evokes a mood that takes the listener on various twists and turns. The mood of “Time and Withering” drifts between somber and fragile to hugely aggressive and furious. The vocals throughout, when they are present, are a shredded and tortured blend of dark whispers and all out rage, much in the classic Neurosis style, lulling you to an uneasy slumber before eviscerating that fragile niche they had carefully carved out.
In contrast, MotAdefinitely throttled back on the sludge and aggression with “Path of Eight” leaning more toward a pensive and progressive sound throughout, along with mostly clean singing. The beast still slips the leash on tracks like “Sever the Soul” and “Stretching Out”. That isn’t to say that those moments can’t be found on “Time and Withering”, but that the whole feel throughout is just more foreboding and brutal. Not knowing exactly when the caustic pot is going to boil over may be what ties everything MotAhas ever done together. They may choose to grab a riff for 6 to 10 minutes, while building a Russian Circles worthy soundscape around it, just to let the tension build. Maybe it dissolves without a whimper or maybe it goes full berserker, until you’re sure they have nothing left to give. Then they create a whole new tapestry. Each new Mouth of the Architect release is my new soundtrack to oblivion, but revisiting “Time and Withering” is definitely worth your effort. It has held up over time and is still as big and bold as it was 13 years ago.
“Time and Withering” is available here(Digital) and here(Vinyl)
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