Maybe not a week. We'll see. I needed a distraction, though, and this worked!

Ufomammut - Eve (live, excerpt) Roadburn 2011 from Drunken Monkey

Not so great sound but that's to be expected that close to the stage. Still, it gives you an idea of how loud it was... Excellent. I might fix to do some Ufomammut live sightings myself... if they ever come here.

Love.

I'm going to be absent from the blog for a few days (a week?) so hopefully this will hold you guys over.

I hear a rockier YOB.

Trap Them typically collide with different genres, but this song (and the one following on the same album - Darker Handcraft) sounds like it belongs on a doom album.

I've been listening to this song a lot, to the point that I wonder if I'm still infested with Scion germs or if I'm going through another phase that'll clear up as soon as I hear something unquestionably better. Or maybe a year from now I'll have heard and liked this entire album. We shall see.

Edit: Youtube censorship sucks sometimes. Here's another version of the same song.

Graveyard likes the blues, apparently.

It's nice that "real", fairly simple-sounding music is known and celebrated in particular circles. Black, experimental, progressive gets exhausting after a while, and I'll be okay if I never hear another "new" (pfft) stoner rock-doom metal band.

I'd probably be less bored by Graveyard if I could connect to their lyrics and/or vocalist's style, though. Wail away, little bird...

This is the vocalist from Between The Buried and Me. Good news, if you hate BTB+M you won't necessarily dislike this. It's not really "metal" and not "core" at all, and has prog epicness going for it. If I were younger, I'd probably like this a lot (more?).

The album's called Pulse; it's already out. Most of the songs on it are indie/downer/college student friendly, but hey... This song isn't bad.

Just in case you forgot or you missed my posts about them the first time (three years ago...), Oaks is awesome. Their music is classified as stoner rock but with a Melvins-inspired background, so it's not quite the lazy you might expect. They play in the same genre as Red Fang with less focus on wide-appealing simplicity and more focus on simply being heavy.

You'd have to be dead inside not to at least appreciate their only album Bravo!, so if you find it, get it. All That is Heavy still sells copies of Bravo! for $6.99, so if you do compact discs, I suggest you go that route. ATiH is currently running a sale you are probably also going to be interested in...

In the meantime, here's Oaks performing two of their songs in a row - "Kix 4 Free" and "Deerhead". The familiar part of "Deerhead" starts right about 7 minutes in case you want to skip ahead. Sorry, vocals apparently didn't translate well on the video, but otherwise it's a good one.

If you do know who Oaks is, you may have also missed that they uploaded something new a while ago... "Grim Grim". It's not really a "song" per se, but if you're a fan, hey, it's worth a sample.

This guy is really into his job.

[112] Wizard Rifle, Rabbits, Nether Regions, Witch Mountain (2011)

I've been trying to think of a fresh or original thing to say about these bands for the last three days and I can't come up with anything. I have seen them, at minimum, five times each. I've written about them all extensively in some form or another. Do I really need to sit here and say "this show was good" again? Of course it was. I've seen them all repeatedly - that alone should say that I like what they do.

So,

Wizard Rifle just came back from touring for a month. They were tight. Who knew?

Rabbits is Rabbits. Here's something new: they quoted me (again). I like their sense of humor about themselves and us shitty writers.

Nether Regions have fans now. Ta-dah! The guy who does Toadhouse Studios and does bass for White Orange was taking care of their sound.

Witch Mountain played their new album aside from "South Sugar" and then did "Veil of the Forgotten" to wrap up the night. Billy Anderson was responsible for their acoustics.

The sound was decent all around, and I was worried it wouldn't be. Hired sound people in the room probably made a huge difference.

The crowd was consistently good. It looked like most of the people there were for Rabbits or Nether Regions as I noticed a drop in crowd for Witch Mountain. I didn't notice any jerks or people there simply to pose and talk to their friends. It felt like a family atmosphere even though I didn't know most of the kids in the room.

There was a giant tree branch over the stage covered in hanging gray moss... It was SO appropriate for the bands, especially Witch Mountain. Apparently it was already set up from a previous event. Good timing.

The show started at 8:30 and was done before 12:30. Fucking great. I had ample time to consider what my next step was and didn't once remember that Death Angel was probably still playing down the road at Dantes. It was like that.

I came home, once again, satisfied.

My next relevant show should be Floor. That'll be new! Sorta.

Song: "Generation"
Artist: Liturgy
Album: Aesthetica (2011)

This song is repetitive like Moon Duo, heavy like Meshuggah, and somehow comes off sounding like a metal version of Battles. It's all tension and build, no fall. (Enter pervy comment about those who play repetitive music here.)

The rest of the album is blacker in style overall, but this is as good a place as any to start.

May 10th.

If you're anything like me, you've been waiting at least since the announcement in January 2010 that Witch Mountain was recording to hear this album.

Even if you haven't been sitting at your computer for the last year constantly refreshing google for news on the album, certainly you'll have heard about it by now. Witch Mountain has been talking about doing South of Salem for years, had a song on the Metal Swim comp last summer, has done a few notable shows performing all new material (with the likes of YOB, Saint Vitus, Agalloch, Thrones, Black Cobra, and Rabbits to name a few from the last year), and this past week has been getting some sparkling press in advance of, finally, their album release.

It may go without saying if you're a long-time SeeingtheDark.com visitor, but I've been listening to this album for a while and it was one of my favorite, most played albums for 2010. If you like metal (classic or current), and especially anything slow and doomy and soulful over aggressive, I think you'll be able to find some merit with South of Salem. Even if "metal" isn't your thing, give Witch Mountain a listen just for the above-average vocals and lyrics coming from songs like "End Game".

South of Salem is officially released on the 9th so more URLs for listening and buying are yet to come - keep an eye out, you may see them before me - but in the meantime you can buy the album at CD Baby and have a gander at one of their recent live shows, playing "Plastic Cage" at SXSW.

I'll update this post in the next few days with more links, so check back.

 
Edit: Here's one song! "Wing of the Lord".

 
Edit: And here's the album. Name your own price for the mp3s: South of Salem.

If you ever need a pick-me-up, this should do the trick.

Song: "Shadows"
Artist: Atriarch
Album: ?? (2011)

Best song performance on the Fall Into Darkness 2009 DVD is also just a decent song by itself. If you're anything like me, you will enjoy the bass and then the contrast in sounds towards the end of the track.

Atriarch officially releases a CD soon which you will probably be able to get via Seventh Rule sometime in the near future.

If you've never heard Sleep played on a ukulele before, now is the best time to start. This video is strangely captivating.

And if you've never heard Sleep before, now is BEYOND the time to start.

You'll like this if you like Converge.

You will also enjoy it if you like Unsane, Deftones, Talking Heads, Metallica, Intronaut, Godflesh, The Smiths, The Jesus Lizard, Tool, Morbid Angel, Sepultura, Faith No More, Cave In, Rage Against The Machine, Slayer, Radiohead, Fugazi, The Blood Brothers, Between The Buried and Me, Dillinger Escape Plan, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Meshuggah, Blondie, Zombi, Immortal, Genghis Tron, Knut, and/or a variety of other bands.

janeCDoe from Jack Gundersen

[111] The Atlas Moth, Howl, Red Fang, Kylesa, Crowbar, Saint Vitus, Helmet (2011)

Quickie version: The Atlas Moth - okay. Howl - better than last time. Red Fang - MORE PLS. Kylesa & Crowbar - snore. Saint Vitus - freakin' nice. Helmet - whatever.

Out of the seven, this was my first time seeing four of the bands: The Atlas Moth, Kylesa, Crowbar, and Helmet. Out of those four, I was truly interested in seeing none of them live. I've been curious about Kylesa, but at this point I didn't really care if I saw them or not. Howl I've seen but wasn't into. So, for all the bands, I was really just there for Red Fang - making this the 12th time I've seen them - and Saint Vitus.

I'm not sure how it worked out that I made it to this show on time. From far out I'd have guessed I wouldn't have walked in until after Howl, but in learning about the short sets of the first three bands, I wanted to at least attend for sampling and awareness. I can't be a well-rounded supporter of music if I don't at least try not to be a fucking hypocrite and/or hipster.

Three songs was a nice, quick introduction to The Atlas Moth and I liked them better than the other bands I hadn't seen yet. Something about their tone or guitar sound reminded me of a slowed down Black Cobra; they were sludgy, but slower and developing like Isis. SRG said they were "slightly generic" and I have to agree. I liked one of their guitarists' Russian Circles-esque fretboard playing style, but overall they weren't really my cup of tea. Still, I'll give them another, proper chance later as I've never really listened to them before this date.

Something about Howl made me all kinds of irritated the last time I saw them live. I wanted to try again, and I was somewhat happy to see that they had a different guitarist, but it didn't really make a difference aside from making them more visually cohesive. They sounded a little better, but I still felt annoyed by them. I think it's the vocalist, maybe it's just their style. Who knows. I did like the guy's shoes, though.

What this tour should have done is considered the fact that Red Fang is local and switched their times with Kylesa. I don't know the logic behind this bill at all, but to me that makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, Red Fang still only had a small opener set.

They played:
- Reverse Thunder
- Sharks
- Painted Parade
- Wires
- Suicide
- Prehistoric Dog

In any case, Bryan apparently had a sore throat/was sick, so he wasn't doing much singing - Aaron took over. It didn't make a difference since they've switched vocals for songs in the past but I did notice I wanted to look at Bryan at times and he wouldn't be at the mic.

When Wino (from Saint Vitus) came out on stage right after "Wires", a smile instantly hit my face, and hearing the beginning of "Suicide" made my day. As far as my memory and notes say (and I don't have setlists for EVERY show), I have never heard them play that song live. 12 shows, no "Suicide". Having Wino guest sing made it seem all the more sweet. Fucking love it.

Now, I don't care for Kylesa much as-is. I like a few of their songs but I don't think what they do overall is what I need. They kind of fall under the same problem I have with Baroness - it's close but no dice, I can't get into it. I hoped the live experience would help with their sound/material. But, ultimately, I should have walked out after I realized they were going to take fucking forever to set up. I don't know if it was them or the venue or both, but they sounded washed out and dull. As I noted in my phone, they put the "meh" in "meh-taliance".

Crowbar, though a different genre and an entirely different demographic (free steroids! get yer free steroids here!), was more of the same. Blah blah blah, who cares, get the fuck off the stage already. In remembering how I know who Kirk is, the atmosphere and crowd and my resulting boredom was fully explained.

Between those two my mood was ruined. I assumed no hope.

But the douchebags cleared the room and Saint Vitus hit the stage. Oh Em Gee-zus. They didn't totally sound like the giant, all-compassing wall of HOLYFUCKILOVEBASS that they had last summer, but it was as close as you can get with the Roseland. The bass & drums were hitting me right in the throat and took some time getting used to. Watching them all was great, especially between Wino and Dave "Hey look at this face I can make!" Chandler. (First face I noticed and snickered about was a "guitar = screaming" mimic.)

Everything about them was uplifting, lightening. Kind of ironic considering their lyrics about shooting up and hating society and being so "dark" and heavy... but yeah. Good metal, it's like that.

I didn't keep a setlist of them but I got "Clear Windowpane", a new song teaser that sounded like it might be called "blessed night" in the end, "White Stallions", "Born Too Late"... There were a few others. I wanted to hear "Look Behind You" something awful but they didn't do it. May they return to Portland soon.

Helmet... not interested. I haven't been interested for two decades. "Unsung" is right. I knew this show wasn't going to do shit for my relationship with them. I'm also still mad that someone told me 12 years ago that they sounded like Tool. No they don't, fuck you, and you're not a real Tool fan. Either way, I ended up leaving early.

As I so easily guessed from far out, I really could have done with just Red Fang and Saint Vitus for this show. After Red Fang I was progressively getting more tired and achy - seven bands was, indeed, too many. Unfortunately for the blatant, often intentional ignorance of the masses, that tour would never make any money.

Anyway, the crowd was terrible for the first band and a half; there was hardly anyone there. I said 20 people but it could have been more. Red Fang had a decent crowd considering the hour (7:30?). Kylesa did even better. Crowbar's was full of meat. From my angle, Saint Vitus appeared to have lost some folks that apparently all came back for Helmet. I heard that people were leaving in advance of Helmet elsewhere, but this was definitely not the case for this date. I was surprised and found it a little blasphemous. I don't think this show sold out since there was still room to maneuver but it was at least 2/3 full by the end.

Oh yeah, and some of the boys were arguing/fighting in general proximity to Crowbar's set. They were kept under control unlike the last time I saw Down.

I wore a new costume to this, and three of the guys from the same band walked by me at different points. I got a weighted glance from their drummer which made me laugh. I, however, was not original. I saw the shirt on another, and I saw someone wearing the same hoodie as me as well as the same corresponding shirt design on another guy. I guess birds of a feather...?

Socially I ended up having to talk to some drunk guy who wanted to tell me I looked like some girl he knew. Well, good for you. I look like a lot of human beings. None of them are me.

For the "Suicide" cover and Saint Vitus being as amazing live as they are, this show experience was worth it, and now I know I don't need to stress when some of these other bands come to town. But, can we promoters/bookers/label folk please remember that seven bands over six hours is fucking cruel, both to the crowd and the bands themselves? Thank you.

[110] Nether Regions, Zoroaster, Weedeater (2011)

I had one day off between Scion and this show. Considering how that went, the one day break was not enough. Waking up for this show, I still felt like I'd just gotten home. Everything felt weird. I normally need a couple of days to properly recover from concerts, but I don't usually have problems with "reality" after sleeping. Here, I was still dizzy, my home still felt like a clone of what it should be, I was sad and felt like I was going to break down at any moment, and my neck fucking hurt. I needed and wanted to go someplace familiar, someplace neutral, to get my bearings again.

Rotture's not my favorite place to go, but it's okay and it would have to do. After all, there is no fucking way I'd miss Weedeater live at this point. They're "at the top of their game", so to speak, with a heavy touring background and a well-honed, Weedeater-unique sound and stage presence. While ironic given that they're known for their love of inebriation, they would be just what I needed to help me with my reality issues and low mood.

Now, originally, this show was listed as Ancient Age, Kvelertak, Zoroaster, and Weedeater. Ancient Age had "scheduling issues". In other words, Danava and Red Fang were both busy (they were a day or two each from leaving on tour). I haven't seen them since 2008 because they always seem to drop out or play a show when I've got another so this was a bummer. Kvelertak, though, ended up having their passports/visas stolen on their way to America so they had to cancel the first few dates of their tour here... I don't have history with the band and they don't perfectly align to my favorite styles, so I didn't feel the sting of that one (except at Scion... fuck).

I found out two days beforehand that Nether Regions had been added in place of both instead. Now, I love Ancient Age (as far as I can remember, anyway), but I'll take it! Yeah, I've seen them a thousand times now, the concept is getting uninteresting, and I talk about them too much as-is, but I can stand to see them live another time. A hundred more times, preferably.

Wanting to get the fuck out of the house already and similarly wanting to support everyone's new favorite High On Fire clone, I left to this show way early. Despite screwing around, I still ended up getting to the venue close to an hour before the show started. It was cold and rainy out and the door person was missing to tell me that doors hadn't actually opened yet, so I walked in and sat down. It wasn't one of the shows where I am allowed to do that, but I try to go by an "act like you know what you're doing" policy; besides, everyone in the room had seen me before and it's not like I was going to actively disturb the band. Eventually the door person noticed me and told me I had to surrender my ID until doors actually opened.

Nether Regions were doing soundcheck, and I was soon treated to some "Spanish Werewolves". I was amused for some reason, I "forget" why. Maybe it was just so nice to hear a good, familiar, well-known song live after all the novelty from ChristMiss (aka Scion). Maybe - probably - it's just one of those songs. But it could have been because I was reading about evolution and I have a terrible sense of humor.

The monkeys were let in the room and I was given back my ID shortly after Nether Regions left the stage. I had thought this show might sell out, but even under that condition I don't really expect much of the crowd until past 11pm. Instead, Nether Regions had a decent-sized crowd. Each band did. It was never sold out conditions but, considering it was a rainy Tuesday at a hidden venue that doesn't have any indication that live music happens there on the building, it was pretty nice to see.

Now, I tried to get a setlist together of Nether Regions but I am pretty sure I fucked it up. I guess it was my existing state of mind but I may have just entered in a title before I was certain the title was the correct one (my usual method is using lyrics, not titles, so I can fact-check just in case). Anyway, this is what I decided on after noticing I fucked up. Again, I could be wrong, don't quote me.

Do You Live
Into the Breach
Spanish Werewolves
Blood Ritual
Pale Faced God
Alpha/Omega
Outrun The Sun

From my soundcheck experience they sounded okay - I made a comment about the guitars being quiet on one side, and it wasn't loud enough in general for me, but that's Rotture for ya. I decided to go to the side of the room with the louder guitars, taking me away from crowd-facing speakers, and that made everything even more quiet for my tastes. These songs are all familiar enough now to where shit like that shouldn't matter, and I know Rotture sounds like shit when it's "too loud", and it's not like I'm going to bother going to the center of the room anyway (fuck those guys), so... whatever.

Even with my lazy perfectionism offended as usual, seeing and hearing them again elevated my mood and cleared my head a bit. Watching their new drummer Ryan change the drum solo bits to his own style of playing was worth my early attendance. As usual, I enjoyed the final song the most.

Zoroaster was loud and loud enough. Unfortunately, they sounded washed out, especially at first. I had a similar impression when I saw them live last year but just assumed it was the venue doing them harm... Now, I don't know. Maybe they want to sound like that. I'm curious what they might sound like at Berbati's (RIP) or even Hawthorne which usually caters to a louder, busier metal sound. Either way, they're much clearer on record, and I found I wasn't that into their set to the same degree that I'm into their album work.

Brent was temporarily replaced for the tour by the drummer from the band Whores (playing bass, that is), resulting in all vocal duties going to the guitarist. That also added to some "WTF?" moments where I expected to hear a different sound. Still, mister Whores made shit interesting - that guy has enthusiasm.

I checked out Whores around August of last year and didn't care for them on first impression - yet, days later, I was back to listening to them again out of curiosity. I ended up ripping their myspace tracks which I've been stuck with since. They're not 100% exactly my sort of metal/heavy rock these days, but I get the sense that I would have been really into them a few years ago and they're easy on the ears for some vague familiarity to some band I can't seem to identify. I wanted to hear more, and I was hoping the Whores guy would bring along some Whores merch on the Zoroaster tour. Sure enough, I saw a Whores CD on the Zoroaster table. MINE.

I didn't keep any sort of Zoroaster setlist, but they played an even mixture of old and new material... Pretty much what you'd expect.

Fun fact: a few songs into their set, Dan lost a stick and it came flying at my head. I had milliseconds to react and I wasn't in a reactive mood. I was knocked right in the center of my head. Guess what? It hurt. I hope whichever person who grabbed the drumstick off the floor behind me enjoys their story.

"Hi, we're Weedeater, and we suck."

For the last while, whenever I've mentioned Weedeater, I've said Dixie Dave is my "hero". I'm being facetious. The guy's on-stage shtick is 180 degrees from what I normally represent. He acts dumb and drunk and dirty - I have this thing about being sober and trying to be intelligent most of the time, and I tend to socially project a youthful pseudo-innocence, assuming the fact that I'm a germaphobe doesn't count. Saying a person like himself is my "hero" is sort of like when I used to say "Prison Sex" was my favorite song. If I can like that weird and mildly offensive little tune, you can, too. If I can find endearing and somehow charming qualities in Dixie, you should be able to, too. So, he's not my hero (nobody is) but, god damn, he's an interesting little fucker. Even if I didn't like Weedeater much, I think I'd go to their shows just to watch him.

I started smiling a little before Weedeater started playing, going on through several songs til the pot fairy dropped by and days of abuse caught up with me, making me incredibly sleepy. My mood stayed elevated - the new songs they played sounded pretty good, and the old stuff was about as great as ever. I made a point of standing next to and in front of a floor speaker so as to get the full affect and hear everything, and I kind of wish I would have done the same for the others.

Dixie made the night "interesting" by blowing snot on stage several times, once missing and landing in his mustache. It stayed in the general location for a few songs, slowly moving its way to his mouth. As I'm sure you are, I was fucking grossed out. Better than those rumors of vomit, though - can't handle that, thanks for keeping it in.

I commented that the last show I saw them do had significantly less stomping than before, but it seems his foot has healed enough now. Something that I didn't notice at other shows was him leaning down to the stage - product of the new songs, or the foot? Either way, the chemistry between him and Keko is still there, and they all sounded great.

As for setlist, I didn't keep one - they did, however, play at least half of their new album, a block from God Luck And Good Speed, and one song probably from a previous album that I didn't recognize. The best song of the lot was "Jason... The Dragon". I was kind of hoping for some banjo or Barstul material but, alas, "Jason" was worth the show all by itself.

The crowd was pretty much what you'd expect for the bands - mostly hoodie-wearing sub-genre metal types. Everyone was pretty civil with each other, even at the cramped front. I really like that I can go to a metal show and not be in fear for my lack of health insurance and even spend most of the time concentrated on the stage or the music.

I left a pretty happy customer. May Weedeater return soon.

This was my last show for about three weeks - the next 'view I write will be current.