Monthly Archives: October 2012

VOS Interview: A Drummer Double Feature! Molasses Barge vs. Vulture!

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Hello folks, and a happy Friday to you! Just when it felt like it would never happen, the weekend’s finally here. I’ve got a feeling this is going to be an especially good one, because there’s a ton of amazing shows and events happening! I’ll have more on that later, so stay tuned.

One of them in particular stands out, though — tomorrow night at the 31st Street Pub is the first date on the joint headlining tour between Relapse Records artists 16 and Tombs. That by itself is reason enough to get excited, but opening the show will be two of my absolute favorite local bands, the heavy doom armada that is Molasses Barge and Steel City sludgelords Vulture!

I’ve only seen Molasses Barge once before (and it was over a year ago! — read more about that here), and (believe it or not) although I’ve been listening to Vulture for a long time, I’ve never had the chance to see them play live yet! So needless to say, I’m really looking forward to this show. I’ve already got my tickets (they can be ordered here) but if you don’t, it’s just twelve bucks when you show up at the door. More info on the show itself can be found here.

Anyway, in anticipation of this event, I decided to get a couple of interviews lined up. If you’ve been reading my reviews for a while, you may have picked up on the fact that I often tend to focus on drumming while listening to music. It’s just the way I hear things, I guess — and I don’t know if it’s because I play drums (occasionally) or if I chose to play that instrument because it’s something I pay a lot of attention to.

In either case, the drumming in each of these bands’ genres is one of the main things that attracts me to those particular styles. So, it only seemed natural for me to talk to the two bands’ drummers. Here, then, are the questions and answers from Molasses Barge’s Wayne Massey and Vulture’s Kelly Gabany…

 

 

 
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Kosher Komp Vol. 3 – FREE MUSIC!

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Good morning, folks! If you ever feel sluggish and unmotivated during the day, it’s probably because you didn’t start things out right — every morning routine should always start out with plenty of loud music to help the blood start flowing and the brain to start thinking.

Internet radio station Kosher Metal knows this is true, and so they’ve helpfully assembled another collection of some of the great underground music they play.

You might remember I told you about their second compilation earlier this year. That had some great stuff on it, and a few bands (Mouth of the Serpent, Sangre) that I ended up writing more about later.

Well, as of midnight last night, Kosher Komp Vol. 3 has been released and is now free for you to download!

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh Tonight (10 October 2012)

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls of All Ages, the Valley of Steel blog is pleased to present your OFFICIAL GUIDE to what’s happening in the city of Pittsburgh tonight!

Yeah, yeah, it’s Wednesday. Well, that’s just one of the reasons the Burgh is perpetually named among America’s most livable cities: there is such a vibrant night-life that there is something going on all the time!

Okay I might be exaggerating just a little bit, but there honestly are a few interesting shows happening tonight that you may like to check out. I’ve got all the relevant information for you right here.

 
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Wizard Smoke – The Tickler EP (Free Download / On Vinyl Soon)

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Wizard Smoke – The Tickler (self-released, 28 September 2012)

 
In a world that often feels overrun by generic stoner/psychedelic metal bands, where you can hardly turn around without running into another group of hirsute Big-Muff-pedal-stompers, who use more drug references per song than an entire Cheech and Chong movie that co-stars Bill Hicks, and who often get complimented on the cool fog machine effects during their shows when in fact they don’t even use one…

I think you get the idea. Anyway, in spite of all of that, Atlanta, Georgia’s Wizard Smoke have always stood out among the crowd, to me; their output easily meeting the standards set by some of their more famous fellow southern U.S. contemporaries, as well as that of any of the similarly-named bands you might think of, either across the country or across the pond.

My deep appreciation for this group began the very first time I heard one of their songs — that being the opening track from 2009’s Live Rock in Hell, the confusingly titled “II”. The rest of that album and the 2011 follow-up The Speed of Smoke both maintain a pretty consistently high quality of material, but “II” remains among my absolute favorites across the entire genre.

I guess the point I’m trying to drive home is, if you are a fan of all things fuzzy and sludgy, and you also enjoy harsh vocals that often veer into blackened territory, you really ought to be familiar with the Wizard Smoke catalog. Lucky for you, I’ll have some helpful links later on.

But first, I want to say a few words about The Tickler, the new EP they just made available about a week and a half ago. Like everything else the band has done so far, it’s good stuff — and also like everything else they’ve released, you can download it totally free!

 
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Another Mortal Music DR Coming Soon: Monsterworks

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Well holy shit, check this out.  It’s just like they say: speak of the devil and he appears at your elbow.

In this case, “the devil” is Mortal Music‘s Digital Releases — their little gift packages containing a few tracks at a time from a particular band, and made available for free download for a limited time, eventually leading up to a full-length album from that band.

Just this afternoon I was talking about the fact that Ion Vein is getting the details straightened out for their second DR, and I had literally just hit the “Publish” button on that article, when an email suddenly popped up in my in-box telling me that Monsterworks has announced details for the release of their second DR!

 
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Ion Vein: Another Digital Release is in Progress

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Hello again, good people who have subscribed to this blog or like it on Facebook and read my rambly words sometimes! I hope you all are having a pleasant Monday — except for whoever the fucker was that unliked my page today! That person probably won’t ever see this, but still, I hope they have the worst day ever, and then keep re-living it Groundhog Day style!

Haha, but not YOU, dear faithful reader who is currently reading this! In fact, to show my appreciation, I’ll let you in on a secret — for the second time today, I’ve got some information about a band we’ve talked about in the past, who plans on having some new material for us soon!

 
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Decaying: Currently Recording Their Next Album!

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Good morning!

I am pleased to pass along the news that Finnish deathstars Decaying are currently in the midst of recording tracks for their third album!

After their promising debut Devastate in early 2011, and the much-acclaimed Encirclement in January 2012 (reviewed here), this young trio is wasting no time putting together the follow-up, which they’ve titled The Last Days of War.

The record is set to feature eight tracks, expected to clock in at approximately 46 minutes, and will be due for release in early 2013 through Poland’s Hellthrasher Productions.

 
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What To Do In Pittsburgh TONIGHT (7 October, 2012)

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Hey sports fans! Here’s a real quick update, while it’s halftime, to let you know what’s going on out there after the football game ends…

Celebrate a Steelers victory by heading out to Garfield Artworks to enjoy an evening of live music — since this weekend has been sort of less eventful in Pittsburgh than most.

 
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Git Ahtta Tahn! (Your VOS Travel Guide for 5 October 2012)

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For those not native to the Pittsburgh area, or in general, for anyone who doesn’t speak fluent Pittsburghese — this article’s title can be literally translated into English as “Get Out of Town,” a phrase which has two different meanings in the local dialect.

The first is an idiomatic expression, used in response to someone who has said something surprising or unbelievable, equivalent to “are you serious?” or “no way!”; the second usage would be if you were actually telling somebody to leave the city.

In this context, I’m intending the second meaning: I’ve got a couple shows to tell you about, each of which features a Pittsburgh-area band, but either one would require a little bit of driving to attend (about 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours from here). 
 

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The Sword: Details for New Album & Pre-Order Bundles On Sale Now

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Hey, here’s another bit of good news for you — since you’ve all been good boys and girls (as far as I know!)…

Texan stoner metal ensemble The Sword — who saw their career really take off with the inclusion of one of their early singles as part of the Guitar Hero II video game (at least, that’s when they first popped onto my radar screen) — are now just a few weeks away from releasing their fourth full-length album!

Apocryphon will hit store shelves (as well as the iTunes equivalent of shelves, whatever that may be) on Monday, the 22nd of October. And I’ve got the cover art and tracklisting right here, in addition to a whole plethora of pre-order bundles you can choose from! Also, there will be some tour dates further down, if you keep on reading.
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