Lists: Heavy Blog Is Heavy's Best Of Selections, Part 2

Here's a few more of my contributions to those "Best Of" Selections from Heavy Blog Is Heavy...

Heavy Blog Is Heavy's Best Of: Debut Albums

In January of 1970, appropriately on Friday 13th, a hitherto unknown group of musicians released a debut album that shook the world, inspiring millions for years to come. With vocalist Ozzy Osbourne and bassist Geezer Butler drawing inspiration for its dark lyrics from horror writers H.P. Lovecraft and Dennis Wheatley, and guitarist Tony Iommi latching on to Butler’s love for Gustav Holst’s ‘Mars’ to develop the riffs, in hindsight, it almost seems inevitable that it caused such a storm. The press reaction that followed only served to stir the pot – “We strongly advise those of a nervous disposition NOT, repeat NOT, to listen alone” screamed one. Staring at the washed-out cover art of gravestones, a watermill and a white-faced, cloaked woman staring back is fair warning enough.


Of course, within lies the harrowing. Rain. Thunder. A church bell. That dark tritone that constitutes the standout riff – the diminished fifth… the augmented fourth… diabolus in musica… the Devil’s Interval. Something infinitely bleak, menacing, unholy lurks within. Sinking deeper you’ll discover talk of a “figure in black”, “Lucifer”, “eyes of fire” and magical wizards walking our streets. The multi-part, multi-toned majesties of ‘Sleeping Village’ and the stop/start riff-reprising ‘Warning’ instantly teach us to expect the unexpected where the Sabbath is concerned. “Heavy metal”, yells Ozzy amidst the riotous rumble of ‘N.I.B.’ and lo, a genre is born. Has there ever been a finer debut?

Heavy Blog Is Heavy's Best Of: Final Albums

This qualifies on the tenuous fact that it was Jim Morrison’s final album before he died. Later albums were released containing recordings of his vocal, but those contained tracks that he never wanted to put out. With Ray Manzarek and Bobby Krieger completing all missing lead vocal tracks it comes as no surprise to discover that those albums didn’t exactly set the world on fire. A band without it’s heart or soul is no band at all.

Now I’ve been in love L.A. Woman for a long, long time. It’s not just their masterpiece ‘Riders On The Storm’ that swings it, it’s the laconic shading and stone cold groove that the album is wrapped in. There’s the laid-back driving nirvana of ‘Cars Hiss By My Window’ and the gentle sashaying of ‘Hyacinth House’ on through to the staccato hep of ‘Been Down So Long’ and the jinking groove of ‘Love Her Madly’. From the downbeat to the upbeat, the album flows through the full range of blue emotions better than any other. And if you’re looking for a song to fall in love with, then you can do a lot worse than Jim’s love letter to the seedy underbelly and bright lights of Los Angeles – the title-track itself. Here, the lithe rhythm, dramatic structure and gorgeous lyricism all underpin that rickety Hammond organ and rocking vibe. The album is no less then a complete and utter joy.

Heavy Blog Is Heavy's Best Of: Doom

Back in the late Noughties, the doom cognoscenti were thrown into a state of temporary disarray when the proposed formation of a supergroup containing Dale Crover (Melvins’ drummer/vocalist), Al Cisneros (Om’s bassist/vocalist), Scott Kelly (Neurosis’ guitarist/vocalist) and Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich (The Obsessed vocalist/guitarist), legends all, was rumoured. When Shrinebuilder finally formed and delivered their self-titled debut, their only album to date, there was nothing less than a volcanic eruption, literally (one actually blew it’s lid in Iceland and the fallout caused the cancellation of a European tour).

The Wino/Kelly mix of earth-shattering string dissonance and part-howl, part-croon gifted mighty tracks like the mighty ‘Pyramid Of The Moon’ and ‘The Architect’ with a thrilling taste of life inside a thresher. Crover must have almost annihilated his snare for the raging “Solar Benediction”, yet it was Cisneros grotty basslines that marked this record out as a cut above. It was his constants that allowed the music to drift into sequences of mystical noodling, providing the perfect platform for Wino to plug up any gaps in sound with wah, extravagant slide and morphing melody.
With it increasingly looking like the band will never reunite for a follow-up, this album has become an invaluable source of inspiration and enlightenment. No excuses then — buy, borrow or steal this gem and turn your brain into mush today.



Full selections online @ Heavy Blog Is Heavy.

Album Review: Premonition 13 - 13

Pepper Keenan (Down, Corrosion Of Conformity) once labelled lead vocalist/guitarist Wino as the “quintessential lifer.” It’s an odd analogy that makes him sound like his time in the music business has somehow imprisoned him. Surely it’s much the opposite – that making his music sets him free. He’s not exactly breaking rocks here, although many of his fans might make their own analogy from that sentence alone. You can see where the term comes from though. His biography certainly speaks like a who’s who of stoner rock with bands like The Obsessed, The Hidden Hand and Spirit Caravan to his name. But, look a little closer and you can see he stands at a crossroads of a number of genres – psych, doom, stoner and good old fashioned rock n’ roll. His more recent projects have seen him breaking out on his own as well as rubbing shoulders with the good and the great – artists like Dave Grohl, Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros, Dale Crover, Geezer Butler, Rob Halford, the list goes on. Now, he arrives at the point where he’s juggling Shrinebuilder and St. Vitus commitments, starting up his own solo career, and now he’s also decided to join forces with guitarist Jim “Sparky” Karow to stir up some of his more deep-seated passions with Premonition 13.

The juicily cryptic band and album titles, the artwork (an animal skull wrapped in a Native American head-dress), knowing that they recorded this under the hot sun of a desert studio and the fact that Premonition 13 is a project that was borne from the main protagonists bonding over a love of ancient cultures and “Mesoamerican stuff”, all suggest that the lyrics would be loaded with words regaling tales of sacred practices and/or the occult. That aspect is there in a couple of tracks but mostly the songs tend to cover subjects that instead relate to the troubled times of society today. “B.E.A.U.T.Y.” points out that the “the doors of Humankind are shutting on your fingers” and “Modern Man” simply warns “Mankind beware, you’ll reap what you seed.” There are also more personal messages like Wino’s cracked voice intoning the words we always expected him to say – “When it’s my time to go away / I wanna die sweatin’ on stage.” Attach onto the back of these lyrics, the fact that we’ve also got “Hard To Say” lurking on here, a cover of a Lethal Intent track, and you can see all may not be quite as it first appears.

It’s great that Ostinato drummer Matthew Clark and Meatjack bassist Brian Daniloski have helped beat two decades of jam sessions into shape. Lord knows how lengthy some of these tracks might have been without their input. Make sure you focus on how Karow and Wino’s guitar parts intertwine around each other, like they belong together, for the lingering opening to “Clay Pigeons”, or Clark’s tribal drums on “Peyote Road”, or the burbling bass grunt that lodges itself deep into sections of “B.E.A.U.T.Y.” – with so much space left around each instrument, there are moments of delightful tranquility and moments of true hammering power. There’s a large wedge of Black Sabbath drone ripping the heart of the music along and much of King Crimson’s blues-streaked majesty (both Wino’s suggestions) dragging the soul into play too. Then there are tracks like “Modern Man” and “Deranged Rock N’ Roller” that just plain rock; tracks that sound more like they come from the brain of fellow “lifer” Lemmy Kilmister; tracks that lie at the pivot-point between his work with Hawkwind and Motorhead.

Wino gets to use lots of his warm, wobbling E-bow throughout the album. The intro to “La Hechicera de la Jeringa” (that roughly translates as “The Sorceress Of The Syringe”) gets a large dose of it. This, and “Peyote Road” do fall into line with those original expectations, but it’s “Senses” that wins the day. Criminally short, but head-swimmingly psychedelic, it blossoms into life with an open chord that is left to echo while yawning bass notes are met by a floating, paper-thin lead solo. Over the top of it all, Wino’s gritty vocal is injected with enough reverb to cause it to split and scatter across several aural planes. It may only be three minutes long but every second of “Senses” puts you into yet a deeper state of relaxation.

In the main, there is a quite a healthy overlap with Wino’s other bands here (it’s kind of Shrinebuilder-lite to the point where you’re almost expecting Neurosis’ Scott Kelly’s mighty roar to burst forth) so, if you were down with any of his former bands, 13 comes highly recommended. If you’re new to Wino’s back catalogue, I’d stick to making sure you check out Shrinebuilder’s self-titled debut first – it’s debatably the finest work of his career. Whatever, you decide, know that this is the work of a legend. The man turns 50 this year. He’s been churning out music for 35 of them. He’s most definitely the quintessential lifer.

Also online (with samples) @ The New Review = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/premonition-13-13

Interview: Wino

Powerful handshake, body littered with timeworn tattoos and with a veritable sweep of gently whitening hair, there is no mistaking the legendary guitarist/vocalist Robert Scott Weinrich a.k.a. Wino. Slumped so deep into a sofa, he seems almost past the point of no return, yet he rouses enough of himself to reflect on his recent achievements, a mere scratch on the surface of his long association with what many would pigeon-hole as doom or stoner rock. The reality, as his latest slice of acoustic nostalgia is testament to, is something that is, on the face of it, impossible to define in such simple terms. So little time, so many questions. I managed to grab a few minutes before his Shrinebuilder show at the London Scala to ask just a few of them.

Are you enjoying your day so far?
Last day of the tour, it's been really fun. I've been on the road a long time before this tour so looking forward to a couple of days off.

Of course… supporting your solo album ‘Adrift’ in October?
Yeah, we did almost a two-month tour. Had about 10 days off back in L.A.

'Adrift' has just been released here. How much of yourself do you feel is in there?
Well it's a pretty personal record so I'd have to say a lot. The songs are my way of letting off steam a little bit. Also there a couple of songs on there that were written way back when I was, like, 16.

I love it but its acoustic bare-boned nature took me a little by surprise?
It's the first time I've done anything like that and it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. It turned out to be a real challenge. All kinds of things like the different gauge picks you use for more string attack when you're recording it - you use a heavier pick, you hear more of that "kkk-kkk". All these things. At the same time the engineer we used, who's a friend of mine, is also a little bit of a strange guy. He wanted to do a lot of proselytising when we were recording, which was really annoying. I want him to give me my space but… y'know. We agreed to disagree about a lot of things [laughs]. So it was a little bit of a trial but, at the end, I was happy with things.

Did you enjoy the different recording processes required as opposed to an album recorded with St. Vitus or Shrinebuilder?
It was very different. Now, I think I've learned from it, so it was cool. So, not only am I proud of the record but it was also a good learning experience.

Do you think you'll have another crack at recording in that way?
I'm definitely going to do another one and I think now I won't be quite so apprehensive. I'm definitely going to prepare a bit more lyrically, 'cos the arrangements and the lyrics were a little bit of a hold-up. Most always, there are a few little lines that don't get finished until you're standing in front of a mic. A lot of the songs, we never played them live before we recorded. The optimal thing to do is to write a song, take it out on the road and play it live before you record. Sometimes you just don't have that luxury.

It was great to hear ‘Iron Horse/Born to Lose’ again and the way you’ve managed to reveal the lyrical content makes it that much more powerful. What was the thinking behind covering that song particularly?
I've always done that song because I've always loved that song. That version, anyway. The "On Parole" version of that song is pretty fucking old; Larry Wallis was playing guitar. After that, they did the first Motörhead album where they do that song, but I don't like that version. It's a real bluesy version. So that earlier version always grabbed me when I heard it, and I bought that record having never heard Motörhead ever. I bought it 'cos of the picture on the front. It just looks so badass, I thought it can't be bad. So, it's an easy song to play and I like the theme - motorbikes and the lifestyle - it's the ultimate fucking bike song.

Have you had a chance to hear what Lemmy thinks of it yet?
I haven't spoken to Lemmy about it yet, but I would like to play it for him at some point.

Why did you choose this particular album title?
That's kind of how I feel. I was having some domestic issues; I'm kind of estranged from my children, so it matched how I was feeling.

So, the UK’s been waiting with baited breath for Shrinebuilder. What was it like being upstaged by a volcano?
It was pretty fucked actually. We kept trying and trying to get in [to Europe]. Al Cisneros' [bassist/vocals] original idea was that if we came in over Africa we could have made it in, but then we might have never made it out so, after the first couple of shows we knew we couldn't make it in - the first four shows was like a third of the whole tour budget. We really wanted to play so that was really cold. Something good did come out of it though because, as we can get together so rarely, we used the extra time to go into rehearsal where we fleshed out our next record. We've now got way more than enough material, so we're in good shape. I think we're going to do a couple of other releases first. We're going to release a live album first before we go in and record which might not be until next November.

How did Shrinebuilder actually come together to record an album in the first place?
Well, the idea had been around for a little while, and then me and Al decided to slip the idea to Chris [Hiatkus] on drums. Then when Chris left Om he said it wouldn't quite be right for him, so that left just me and and Al. About that time Al had asked me about bringing in Scott Kelly (guitar/vocals) and I thought that was a great idea. Then we needed a drummer and basically all of us agreed that if we could have our dream drummer it would be Dale [Crover] and when he said "yes", we were pretty blown away. I think we'd been together about 6-7 months. The interesting thing is we never actually played together until the night before we went in the studio. It was either me and Dale, or me and Dale and Al, or Al and Dale, and then, finally, me and Al and Scott. The first time we all got together was midnight on a Thursday night and the next day we went in the studio. Three days later, we'd recorded the record, so it was pretty rad.

Three days is a pretty short time. It seems incredible that the individual styles of writing managed to fit together so rapidly and so perfectly.
A lot of cool stuff happened, a lot of serendipitous stuff. I was struggling with the lyrics for this riff that I'd bought to the table and Scott happened to call me at that exact moment and said "Hey man, I got some lyrics that might help you finish that song" so it was pretty amazing. Then Al had a piece that he'd tapped out that fit just perfectly. So everything on that first record is written by all of us - everyone has written a little piece of each song.

So a lot of it was written over the phone?
A lot of computer files sent to each other. It actually forced me to get little bit more computer-literate. But it's getting easier and easier now.

Immediately the supergroup label was slapped on you. Did that add pressure?
You know everybody needs words to describe stuff. That's how stoner rock came about and that's how heavy metal came about. I don't focus on this kind of stuff because it's not what I need to be focussing on. It's nice to be accepted though.

It's possibly because you've got four big fanbases that are all interested in this one project.
I think it's interesting that you point that out because there was a bit of a firestorm - there was this thing where the stonerrock.com guys didn't like the sound of Scott's voice and then the Neurosis people who didn't like my voice. That's pretty interesting actually. (Laughs) The stoners were hating on Scott and vice versa. It was pretty funny. I’ve never been in a band before with that style of vocals, and I'm not just saying this 'cos he's in my band, but he's one of the few screamers where I actually like it. Maybe it's the timbre of his voice.

How often are you getting to practice as a band?
We really don't get a lot of time. We rehearsed two days before this tour. Probably two sets a day. We probably practiced the songs three or four times each, if that. But we're pretty good at it. The one thing in our favour is that everybody's been around the block, it's easier to do things; nobody's got ego problems. There's no real problems like you'd get with a new band. We respect each other. Not that there's competition between us. When I was little kid I asked myself "How can bands as good as The Beatles possibly have broken up?" It just seemed unfathomable. When you're young what you don't realise is that people come into play here. You could be the best player in the world but if you act like an asshole you're gonna have problems, right?

So you say the second album is now all but written?
The ideas are finished.

Do you have, say, song titles yet?
Let's see - I'm not sure if I should do this - ah, I can give you a couple. One song is called In The Wake Of Zeus, we talk about the volcano, and another is called The Concept Of Now.

Thanks for the tip-offs. You've certainly whet my appetite for the show now! Have a good one.
My pleasure.

Thanks to Rich@Rich-E and Lauren@RarelyUnable

Also online @ TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/12/tlobf-interview-wino/

Gig Review: Shrinebuilder + Wolves In The Throne Room - Scala, London 2/12/10

Ducking into the Scala to escape the capital freeze is a pointless exercise tonight as, be it deliberate or not, the band room is chilled to the point where their cloakroom becomes wholly redundant. It’s the perfect temperature for Wolves In The Throne Room though, who proceed to ramp up the emotion with a combination of gloom, jettisoned fog, etched banners and a protracted candle-lighting ceremony. With the stage fully anointed, their crushing gloop of malevolent black metal, crust and doom rings out, regularly dipping into a burbling, Neanderthal-paced melancholy before bursting out into a session of grating barks and power chords. Like creeping death, they wash over us sparking neither disgust, nor true passion. A few nodding heads and the odd round of gentle applause are all they can muster from those attending, although their fastidious lack of eye contact, rather than their music, is most likely the reason for this.

Nothing less than a volcanic eruption (remember those newsreaders trying to pronounce Eyjafjallajoekull?) could stop Shrinebuilder visiting these shores last Spring, so to finally hear the crowd roar as Dale Crover (Melvins’ drummer/vocalist), Al Cisneros (Om’s bassist/vocalist), Scott Kelly (Neurosis’ guitarist/vocalist) and Scott ‘Wino’ Weinrich (The Obsessed vocalist/guitarist), legends all, mount the stage is enough to cause several grown men’s lips to momentarily quiver. The lank-haired Crover and Cisneros, resplendent as the class clown in his woolly hat, immediately fire up the rhythm section; Dale beats the snare into submission with the minimum of effort whilst Al uses his grotty basslines to overwhelm as much of the room as possible. Kelly and Wino try hard to make headway into the deluge with dissonant guitar and a mixture of vocal howl and croon, but they seem to make little impression. Only a trip up to the Glass Room, where a vast pane dissolves the sound, can cure the problem and single their individual efforts out.

They mix the songs up nicely, firing up the mighty ‘Pyramid Of The Moon’ and ‘The Architect’ as an opening salvo and saving ‘Solar Benediction’ for a raging finish. The middle of the set wanders away from the punchier material to slip into a spot of almost mystical noodling – it marks a period where the now fervently headbanging crowd find space for mild introspection. The band also happily fit in a couple of less well-known tracks; ‘We Let The Hell Come’ shining out like a beacon. Kelly, looking like he’s been dragged through a hedge backwards and sporting a perma-stoned expression, is constantly impressive, digging out arse-clenching riffs and scowling vocal which Wino latches onto, plugging any gaps in sound with wah, extravagant slide and morphing melody. In fact it’s also Wino who adopts the role of ringmaster, legs spread, urging the audience to greater heights with a combination of vein-popping head jerks and fierce eyeballing.

There is really only one real spoiler to this brutal showing and it comes in the form of this evening’s stringent ‘no flash’ policy. One fan dares to forget to switch his off and suffers the indignity of having a roadie repeatedly pelt him with flying cups until he ceases. When you’ve got four of the world’s finest musicians before you, performing at the top of their game, turning your brain into mush, it seems the perfect excuse for a little lack of self-control.

All photographs by Rich Etteridge

Also online @ TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/12/shrinebuilder-scala-london-021210/

Album Review: Wino - Adrift

Scott ‘Wino‘ Weinrich has powered through the last four decades in a blaze of ear-bursting, buzzing psychedelics as he’s set about forging a successful career in the doom metal genre, fronting bands like Saint Vitus, The Obsessed, Spirit Caravan and, more recently, Shrinebuilder. To find him entering his fifth decade keen to switch off his amps and tone down his booming roar of a voice is a bit of a shock to the system. This latest solo album sees him detached from the melee, stripped down to the bones and bursting with a bluesy, emotion-soaked, rasp of a vocal backed up by little more than a swathe of delicately-layered, razor-sharp, acoustic strings...

Full review = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/10/wino-%E2%80%93-adrift/