Metal – Page 2 – 7th Level Music

Just in time for Halloween, Motörhead to release “We Take No Prisoners” singles collection on October 25, 2024.

Back in the golden era of the single of the 1970’s and 80’s, Motörhead would regularly assault the ears of chart listeners on a Sunday afternoon with a string of hit smashes in the rock charts of the time. The single as a format may have been less prominent from the 90’s onwards due to the dawn of the CD, but that didn’t diminish the calibre of the singles and promos that Motörhead continued to release. These mostly CD singles are now rare and highly collectable, so it only feels fitting for this era of the band’s bullet belt full of hits to be reappraised and released on the format that singles were born for, 7” vinyl.

We Take No Prisoners is a collection of the bands singles spanning 1995 to 2006, and available as a nine 7” single box set and expanded double CD and digital editions. From crowd pleasers like the pummeling ‘Sacrifice’, through their unique cover of Sex Pistols, ‘God Save The Queen’ to the semi-acoustic roots vibes of ‘Whorehouse Blues’, no one could deny their song writing prowess was still second to none. With a selection of rare live and radio edits thrown in for good measure and a long lost promo interview with Lemmy and Mikkey Dee from 2004, this is a definitive collection of this era of the band and the songs that drove the success of the albums they were lifted from.

See below for full details of the We Take No Prisoners releases and be sure to visit www.iMotorhead.com for news and updates!

7” BOX SET TRACKLISTING

DISC ONE

A – Sacrifice

B – Over Your Shoulder (Live)”

DISC TWO

A – I Don’t Believe A Word

(Single Edit)*

B – Overnight Sensation (Live)”

DISC THREE

A – Love For Sale

B – Take The Blame

DISC FOUR

A – God Save The Queen

B – One More Fucking Time

DISC FIVE

A – Shut Your Mouth

B – See Me Burning

DISC SIX

A – Whorehouse Blues

B – Killers

DISC SEVEN

A – God Was Never On Your Side

B – Trigger

DISC EIGHT

A – R.A.M.O.N.E.S.

(2006 version)

B – R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Live)”

DISC NINE

A/B: Inferno Interview – Bel Age Hotel, California, April 2004”

(w/ Mikkey Dee and Lemmy)
CD EDITION TRACKLISTING
DISC ONE

1. Sacrifice
2. Order / Fade to Black
3. Over Your Shoulder (Live)
4. I Don’t Believe a Word (Single Edit)
5. Overnight Sensation (Live)
6. Love for Sale
7. Take the Blame
8. God Save the Queen
9. One More Fucking Time

DISC TWO

1. Shut Your Mouth (Single Edit)
2. See Me Burning
3. Whorehouse Blues
4. Killers
5. God Was Never on Your Side
6. Trigger
7. R.A.M.O.N.E.S.
8. Devil I Know
9. R.A.M.O.N.E.S. (Live)
10. ‘Inferno’ Interview
11. ‘Inferno’ Interview – Bel Age Hotel, California, April 2004”
(w/ Mikkey Dee and Lemmy)

Pre-order here: https://motorhead.lnk.to/prisonersWE

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR!]

Review: Acid King – Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere (2024 reissue)

First, how awesome is that cover?

Acid King‘s 2015 album, Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere was their first album in nine years and would be their last until eight years later when the newest version of Acid King (with Rafael “Rafa” Martinez on bass and Bill Bowman on drums) would emerge with Beyond Vision.

Vocalist and guitarist Lori S. still had longtime Acid King drummer Joey Osbourne on drums for Middle of Nowhere, Center of Everywhere, and bassist Mark Lamb had been with the band for seven years by this point. All three were clicking and grooving and leveling everything in earshot. They wanted to create something massive for their first album in nearly a decade, and they certainly did it.

In case you’re wondering how big this album is, the “Intro” is almost four minutes long, and it sounds like something you’d hear from a distant star as you were orbiting the moon. Lori S.’s guitar on “Silent Pictures” grows like the rising sun bursting up over a desert mesa and drops you into a different mind state as Lamb’s bass groove moves like an adder across a dune.

“Coming Down from Outer Space” is wonderfully heavy and has Lori S. dropping a slick, downtempo guitar solo right in the middle of crushing riffs. It flows into “Laser Headlights” well, with Lori S.’s guitars sending you almost relentless waves of fuzz. “Red River” is solid desert rock with Osbourne’s drum work on it being some of the best of the album, and Lamb’s bass hitting even harder than Lori S.’s guitar.

If, for some reason, you think the album isn’t heavy enough, Acid King then unleashes “Infinite Skies,” which crushes you from the first notes. “Center of Everywhere” levitates off the desert sands and straight into the stars where you drift toward something that might be a black hole (“Nothing to be found in the center of everywhere.”) or a gate to another plane. The album ends on an instrumental “Outro” that might as well be titled “Outro of Gravity’s Effect on You.”

This was a great return for Acid King, and the 2024 reissue from Blues Funeral Recordings sounds excellent. Get it and get your mind altered.

Keep your mind open.

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Live: Mac Sabbath and Tejon Street Corner Thieves – Bell’s Eccentric Café – Kalamazoo, MI – August 27, 2024

This was the first time Mac Sabbath played in Kalamazoo, Michigan, so many people there only had a vague idea of what to expect (My girlfriend among them.).

Thanks to road construction and a detour that took us at least five miles out of the way, we missed the first opening act, Spaceman Bob, but did get there in time to see the second band – Tejon Street Corner Thieves.

They played a fun set of dark country, alt-folk, and psychobilly about subjects like drinking whiskey, unprotected sex, and curses upon enemies.

The buzz for Mac Sabbath was strong by the time they came on stage in tuxedos to celebrate their tenth anniversary as a band.

They soon shed the tuxedos and proceeded to shred through a fun set of “drive-thru metal” including songs like “Chicken for the Slaves” and “Organic Funeral.”

The crowd was instantly in on the jokes (“We’re not going to play anything by Pantera Bread.” / “There is some other drive-thru metal we like. International Bauhaus of Pancakes. They have a song called ‘Taco Bela Lugosi’s Dead.’ It’s pretty good.”) and the rock. I don’t know how many others got the Roy Orbison / Blue Velvet reference, but I love it every time they do it, as well as the Catburglar‘s time to step down from the drum set and sing “Bread” – a riff on KISS‘ “Beth.”

In dreams, Ronny Osborne walks with you.

“I haven’t laughed this hard since I first saw Gwar,” said a man behind me. A lot of people were like him, loving the gags and the constant jokes about Cake. Another fun, new bit was them playing an “Iron Maidenny’s” song about a fish sandwich called “The Grouper” that included lead singer Ronny Osborne having a sword fight with a man in a military uniform and fish mask.

They ended with the powerhouse duo of “Pair-a-Buns” and “Frying Pan,” getting a rousing send-off from the crowd.

Mac Sabbath’s Employee of the Month catches a giant straw after pouring Ronny a (Gasp!) Heineken!

Mac Sabbath’s fun stage show makes it easy to overlook how good they are as musicians. Slayer McCheese can shred a guitar and make it look easy, while Grimalice puts down bass licks that can rumble an entire building.

There’s rumor that Mac Sabbath might be retiring after this tour, so don’t miss out on seeing them while you have the chance.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Annie at Adrenaline PR for the press pass!]

Human Impact say that sometimes we have to “Destroy to Rebuild” on their new single.

Human Impact, the laser-precision noise-rock alliance of Unsane frontman Chris Spencer, Cop Shoot Cop‘s squall-maker Jim Coleman, Made Out of Babies‘ Eric Cooper and Daughters‘ Jon Syverson, release Gone Dark, the band’s second full-length album, on Oct. 4 via Ipecac Recordings.

A preview of the nine-song album arrives today with the release of “Destroy to Rebuild” (https://youtu.be/J1ABKh6fUtc), a gnashing ode to cleaning the slate and starting anew. Spencer explains: “There are times when, as frustrating as it may be, it’s best to completely tear everything down and start fresh from a new beginning.”

Gone Dark is a fiercer, tighter upgrade of their taut grooves, brittle guitar shards, impassioned shouts and clouds of dystopian noise. Not a cry from the darkness but a shout through the darkness, a robust proclamation of resilience and opposition in the face of impending apocalypse.

It follows their self-titled debut, which was released on the eve that the world stood still, and was followed by a slew of singles which culminated in the the release of EP01 in 2021 and touring in 2022. The band graced the cover of New Noise Magazine (France) and were featured in a New York Times article amongst other recognition.

“We were all looking to go with something more raw and aggressive than the previous releases.” adds Spencer. “There was a real desire to capture more of what the live performances had been like. With this one, we had plenty of time to develop a full, cohesive album joining songs together with interstitial pieces more like a live performance would be. With Gone Dark we have arrived at a place where we fully understand who we are as a band, so it’s a bit more focused and relentless.”

The Human Impact arsenal is more formidable than ever thanks to the addition of bassist Eric Cooper (Made Out of Babies, Bad Powers) and drummer Jon Syverson (Daughters). Spencer had spent the 2020 Covid lockdown working on a cabin in the East Texas woods and would travel into Austin for informal jam sessions with the pair in the bass player’s garage. Friendly blasts through vintage Unsane songs ultimately resulted in the rhythm section being fully absorbed into the Unsane and Human Impact lineups for their 2022 European tours.

Gone Dark was recorded with co-producer Andrew Schneider (Ken Mode, Cave In) in Austin’s Cedar Creek Studio. The collection is available on CD, Digital, black vinyl and a limited webstore exclusive blue vinyl. Pre-orders can be found here: https://humanimpact.lnk.to/gonedark.

Tour dates will be announced soon.

Keep your mind open.

[You’ll have an impact on me if you subscribe.]

[Thanks to Monica at Speakeasy PR.]

Heavy Chicago metal festival returns November 01 – 03, 2024.

Last Rites, Live Wire Lounge and Pabst Blue Ribbon are excited to bring back Heavy Chicago this year for its “Second Edition.”

Heavy Chicago II November 1, 2 and 3 at Avondale Music Hall, which Time Out says is located in one of the buzziest neighborhoods in the world.

There are three levels of 3 day ticketing, a limit of 50 tickets at each level. When the first level $99 all in pricing tickets sell out, the next level tickets kicks in. The second level 3 day ticketing price is $109 and when that sells out, the third level price of $125 kicks in. Take advantage of the advance purchase discount and get your tickets early.

First level for 3 day tickets are $99 all fees and taxes included.
2 day tickets start at $89 all fees and taxes included.
Single day tickets: Friday $40 plus fees – Saturday & Sunday $50 plus fees

Get Tickets Here: https://www.seetickets.us/event/heavy-chicago-ii/613473

Sean Duffy, owner of Last Rites Promotions and Management companies says “Our inaugural edition last year was a great success! Once again we are in the hip hood of Avondale, which Time Out says is one of the buzziest neighborhoods in the world. We are over the moon to welcome our headliners this year: Friday night is Chicago doom band Bongripper with a co-headline by a local band that will be unveiled on September 8th! Support comes from Wraith (record in the Billboard top 200), Avernus (first show in nine years and a new record) and Motherless (Atlas Moth).

Saturday’s headline rips with the almighty Earth Crisis with special guests Jasta & Legions Of Doom, Grindcore supergroup, EarthBurner, plus The Crosses will be doing a special all “Die Kreuzen” set with the incredible Dan Kubinski on vocals (the only act we brought back from last year), a must see! Usurper are playing their first show in five years!

Sunday finishes strong with Cynic making their long awaited return for Chicago with special guests Toxic Holocaust! I promoted Cynic’s first several Chicago show’s back in the 90’s. It has come full circle for us. Black metal masters, Profanatica, play a rare set in the city. In October we will unveil a special guest that is buzzing right now and becoming local heroes! The Skull also return with a rare appearance and a special set for Trouble fans!

Dave Hornyak and I are the poster guys for “indie” people in the industry. ..the antithesis of Live Nation/AEG/JAM…two indie guys doing it for the passion and fun and to support the metal community. I started 40 years ago doing shows under Last Rites. This is the beginning of my 40th year. Over 4,700 shows booked and promoted here! Indie guy the whole time!! First Nirvana show, first six White Zombie shows, first five Pantera shows, first two Stone Temple Pilot shows, first three Type O Negative shows, Ministry, Machine Head, Helmet, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide, Candlemass, plus shows with Anthrax, Misfits, Testament, Exodus, Dark Angel and many, many more. Dave Hornyak, creator of Live Wire Lounge, has been involved in the metal scene for 30+ years as both a drummer in numerous metal bands as well as hosting countless local and national acts at Live Wire since 2011. Over 70 years combined for the two of us!”

+ Don’t Miss The After Show Party at Live Wire Lounge 3394 N. Milwaukee Avenue!

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Mac Sabbath announces 10th anniversary tour.

Fast food rockers Mac Sabbath have announced a tenth anniversary tour!

“10 years? I guess you better come out and see this one! Sounds like the beginning of THE END!” – Mac Sabbath

Mac Sabbath with Special Guests Tejon Street Corner Thieves & Spaceman Bob

August 23 – Gatlinburg, TN – Gatlinburg Convention Center – 234 Historic Nature Trail

August 24 – South Nashville, TN – Eastside Bowl – 1508A Gallatin Pike

August 25 – Cincinatti, OH – Woodward Theater – 1404 Main Street

August 27 – Kalamazoo, MI – Bell’s Eccentric Cafe – 355 East Kalamazoo Avenue

August 28 – Chicago, IL – Reggies Music Joint – 2109 South State Street

August 29 – Bloomington, IL – The Castle Theatre – 209 East Washington Street

August 30 – Lawrence, KS – The Granada – 1020 Massachusetts Street

August 31 – Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room – 6212 Maple Street

Mac Sabbath Run with New Rotating Appetizer Menu

September 6 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues – 1055 Fifth Avenue

(with The Dickies, The Creepy Creeps and Peelander -Z)

September 7 – Garden Grove, CA – Orange County Garden Amp – 12762 Main Street

(with The Dickies and Peelander-Z)

September 8 – Palmdale, CA – Transplants Brewing Company – 40242 La Quinta Lane

(with Peelander-Z and Sapphic Musk)

September 15 – Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom – 308 N 2nd Avenue

September 18 – Katy, TX – Wildcatter Saloon – 26913 Katy Freeway

September 20 – Austin, TX – Meanwhile Brewing – 3901 Promontory Point Drive

September 21 – Dallas, TX – Trees – 2709 Elm Street

Don’t miss them. It’s a fun time.

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Maria at Adrenaline PR.]

Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol announces new tour dates with King Buffalo.

Austin trio Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol today announce even more US tour dates to close out 2024, adding December shows with King Buffalo. The band continues domestic dates this Fall supporting their new album BIG DUMB RIFFS ahead of their performances at Austin City Limits‘ prestigious ACL Fest and Levitation 2024 with The Sword and Pentagram. See all dates below.

Ticket pre-sales start tomorrow, August 7th at 10am local time (password: MAMMOTH) All tickets on sale Friday, August 9th HERE.

The band has also recently joined the roster of Doomstar Bookings for EU & UK touring beginning in Spring 2025.

BIG DUMB RIFFS is available on digital, LP and cassette, released May 10th, 2024. Order/stream the album on all formats HERE.

The band-curated second annual Rickshaw Billie’s BIG DUMB FEST in Austin, TX on June 1st SOLD OUT at Mohawk Austin. This follows a string of sold out dates throughout Texas, Denver, Los Angeles, Brooklyn and more.

“Our catalog has never been short on big dumb riffs, but the idea on this record was to really turn the screw,” says RBBP bassist Aaron Metzdorf. On Big Dumb Riffs, that screw is cranked incredibly tight.

“We just wanted ‘the part’: The opening of Pantera’s ‘Primal Concrete Sledge’, the breakdown in Primus‘ ‘Pudding Time’ — the shit that makes you move and lose your mind. Just that part the whole time.”

Across 11 concise, taut songs — most clocking in around 2 minutes or less — Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol demonstrates their skillful ability to blend the merciless low end of Leo Lydon’s 8-string guitar, Aaron Metzdorf’s masterful chordwork on the bass, and Sean St.Germain’s driving drumming.

Hot on the heels of their breakout 5th studio release Doom Wop (2023), Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol returns with Big Dumb Riffs: A whole new variant of the fuzzed out, overdriven, melodic, groovy music they have been making since 2016. While Big Dumb Riffs is decidedly more aggressive and rhythmic, it still retains the overtly melodic feel of Doom Wop. But Leo Lydon’s vocals are considerably more angry and negative (song titles like “1-800-EAT-SHIT” and “Body Bag” should be a clue).

“The whole writing process was, ‘what if we just played two notes the whole song’,” Metzdorf says. “‘What if we tuned down to almost unusable string tension?’, ‘what if we write a record that will make everyone say ‘wow that is dumb’? Leo and I really move around on stage a lot. Being a dingus is crucial to the groove. All these riffs were designed to allow us to act bigger and dumber on stage.”

Big Dumb Riffs is available on vinyl LP, cassette, download and streaming, released on May 10, 2024. Orders are available HERE.

RICKSHAW BILLIE’S BURGER PATROL LIVE 2024:

09/14 Martindale, TX – Duett’s

09/21 Denton, TX – Dan’s Silver Leaf – Burnouts Custom Motorcycle Show

09/25 Lafayette, LA – Freetown Boom Boom Room

09/26 New Orleans, LA – Siberia

09/27 Birmingham, AL – WorkPlay Canteen

09/28 Asheville, NC – Static Age

09/29 Raleigh, NC – Kings Barcade

10/01 Columbus, OH – The Summit

10/02 Cincinnati, OH – MOTR Pub

10/03 Indianapolis, IN – Black Circle

10/04 Davenport, IA – Raccoon Motel

10/05 Whitewater, WI – Strange LaGrange

10/06 Louisville, KY – Portal

10/07 Chattanooga, TN – JJ’s Bohemia

10/09 Little Rock, AR – Whitewater Tavern

10/13 Austin, TX – Austin City Limits’ ACL Fest

11/03 Austin, TX – Stubb’s – w/ The Sword, Pentagram

12/04 Omaha, NE – Slowdown Front Room *

12/06 Colorado Springs, CO – Black Sheep *

12/07 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre *

12/08 Santa Fe, NM – Tumbleroot Brewery *

12/10 Tucson, AZ – 191 Toole *

12/11 Las Vegas, NV – Swan Dive *

12/12 San Diego, CA – The Casbah *

12/13 Santa Ana, CA – Constellation Room *

12/14 Pioneertown, CA – Pappy & Harriet’s *

12/17 Fort Worth, TX – Tulips *

12/18 Oklahoma City, OK – Resonant Head *

12/19 Kansas City, MO – recordBar *

12/20 St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway *

* w/ King Buffalo

Keep your mind open.

[Don’t forget to subscribe before you go.]

[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]

Chat Pile declare “I Am Dog Now” on first single from upcoming album, “Cool World,” due October 11, 2024.

Oklahoma City noise rock quartet Chat Pile have returned with their follow up to 2022’s breakout album God’s Country with Cool World, the new 10-song LP set for release on October 11th via The Flenser [pre-order].

Besides being the name of a largely forgotten (and panned) 90s film, Cool World makes for an apt title of Chat Pile’s sophomore full-length record. In the context of a Chat Pile record, the words are steeped in a grim double entendre that not only evokes imagery of a dying planet but a progression from the band’s previous work, moving the scope of its depiction of modern malaise from just “God’s Country” to the entirety of humankind. “’Cool World‘ covers similar themes to our last album, except now exploded from a micro to macro scale, with thoughts specifically about disasters abroad, at home, and how they affect one another,” says vocalist Raygun Busch. “If I had to describe the album in one sentence,” Busch continues, “It’s hard not to borrow from Voltaire, so I won’t resist – ‘Cool World‘ is about the price at which we eat sugar in America.”

Today, album opener “I Am Dog Now” arrives with a music video directed by Will Mecca. Stin (bass, Chat Pile) says, “Will’s vision captures the essence of ‘I Am Dog Now’ by channeling his specific style of low-fi, exploitation cinema aesthetic into a dusty, religious bad-trip exclusive to the southern plains of America. Eagle eyed viewers may actually notice shots of the literal chat piles from which we take our name.”

Stream / playlist / share Cool World first single + album opener “I Am Dog Now”

Like the towering mounds of toxic waste, the music of Chat Pile is a suffocating, grotesque embodiment of the existential anguish that has defined the 21st Century. It figures that a band with this abrasive, unrelenting, and outlandish of a sound has stuck as strong of a chord as it has. Dread has replaced the American dream, and Chat Pile’s music is a poignant reminder of that shift – a portrait of an American rock band molded by a society defined by its cold and cruel power systems.

Though very much on-brand with Chat Pile’s signature flavor of cacophonous, sludgy noise rock, the band’s shift to a global thematic focus on Cool World not only compliments the broader experimentations it employs with their songwriting but also how they dissect the album’s core theme of violence.

Melded into the band’s twisted foundational sound are traces of other eclectic genre stylings, with examples of gazy, goth-tinged dirges to abrasive yet anthemic alt/indie-esque hooks and off-kilter metal grooves only scratching the surface of what can be heard in the album’s ten tracks. “While we wanted our follow-up to ‘God’s Country’ to still capture the immediate, uncompromising essence of Chat Pile, we also knew that with ‘Cool World,’ we’d want to stretch the definition of our ‘sound’ to reflect our tastes beyond just noise rock territory,” reflects bassist Stin. “Now that we had some form of creative comfort zones in place after hitting that milestone of putting out a full-length record, album #2 felt like the perfect opportunity to challenge those limits.” Besides stylistically stretching the boundaries of the Chat Pile sound, Cool World is also the band’s first record to have someone else handle mixing duties, with Ben Greenberg of Uniform (Algiers, Drab Majesty, Metz) capturing and further amplifying the quartet’s unmistakably outsider and folk-art edge.

The proverbial thread tying all of the experimentation on Cool World together is the depth to which Chat Pile dissects the album’s theme of violence, and the record itself is apocalyptically bleak. Sure, Chat Pile’s debut album was plenty disturbing with its B-movie-inspired interpretation of a “real American horror story”; what Chat Pile depicts on Cool World is unsettling not just from its visceral noise rock onslaught, but from depicting how all sorts of atrocities are pretty much standard parts of modern existence.

Cool World will be released via The Flenser on October 11, 2024. See Chat Pile on the road this November with label mates Agriculture and Mamaleek in select markets – tickets are available at chatpile.net/shows.

Chat Pile, on tour:

November 1 Oklahoma City, OK – 89th Street %
November 2 Columbia, MO – The Blue Note %
November 3 Omaha, NE – The Waiting Room %
November 5 Chicago, IL – Thalia Hall %
November 6 Minneapolis, MN – Fine Line %
November 8 Lakewood, OH – Mahall’s %
November 9 Detroit, MI – The Majestic Theatre %
November 11 Toronto, ON – The Concert Hall %
November 12 Montreal, QC – Théâtre Fairmount %
November 14 Burlington, VT – Showcase Lounge @ Higher Ground ^
November 15 Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church ^
November 16 New York, NY – (Le) Poisson Rouge ^
November 17 Boston, MA – The Sinclair ^
November 19 Baltimore, MD – Metro Gallery *
November 20 Richmond, VA – The Broadberry *
November 21 Greensboro, NC – Hangar 1819 *
November 22 Nashville, TN – The End *

% with Agriculture, Porcelain
^ with Mamaleek, Traindodge
* with Mamaleek, thirdface

Keep your mind open.

[It would be cool if you subscribed.]

[Thanks to Stephanie at Another Side.]

REZN open up a dark, doomy “Chasm” with their newest single.

REZN – the Chicago-based band of Rob McWilliams (vocals, guitar), Phil Cangelosi (bass), Patrick Dunn (drums), and Spencer Ouellette (synth/saxophone) – announce their new album, Burden, out June 14^thvia their new label Sargent House. In conjunction, they present its massive lead single/video, “Chasm.” Since their inception, REZN have mined the stark monochromatic depths of underground metal and fused them with the kaleidoscopic delights of psychedelia, prog rock, and shoegaze. With their latest album Burden, they plumb the deepest, bleakest trenches of their sound while retaining a lifeline into the cosmos. Staking a claim at the crossroads of the hazy dimensions of modern psych acts like Black Angels, the cavernous gloom and reverb-drenched guitar of bands like Spectral Voice, and the lurching low-end meditations of artists like OM, REZN have created Burden—an album of immense amp-worshipping weight and intoxicating instrumentation.

Burden was recorded simultaneously with their previous album Solace back in July 2021 at Earth Analog Studios in Tolono, IL by Matt Russell. Rather than release a double album, REZN divided the material into two separate records, each with its own distinct emotional timbre. Whereas Solace was meant to uplift and create a sense of narcotic dreaminess, Burden skews towards the themes of delirium, claustrophobia, and misery. Musically, Burden favors riffs over atmosphere, percussion over ether, dissonance over beauty, but there is still an undeniable cohesion between it and its predecessor. The marriage of brute force and sublime textures has always been a key tactic in REZN’s approach—a duality that may explain their touring history with fellow synesthesia-inducing metallurgists Elder and Russian Circles—but the spectrum of the band’s mercurial temperaments has never felt as clearly defined and fully explored as it does on Burden.

Burden’s artwork is a literal continuation of Solace’s landscape painting, showing the fiery depths at the foot of the mountain range. Even Burden’s most reserved moments feel like the calm before the storm, a gathering of momentum before the punishing closer and lead single “Chasm,” a megalithic weedian crusher further bolstered by a scorching guitar solo courtesy of Russian Circle’s Mike Sullivan. “We wrote ‘Chasm’ to depict the final phase of an existential descent, when you’re on the last few steps of the spiral staircase and realize there’s no going back,” says Rob McWilliams. “We wanted it to sound like walls closing in on all sides and you’re looking at the exit getting further and further away. Mike’s melodic finger-tapping style blurs the section into a kind of dizzying, infernal panic attack. In the final moment of the song you’re faced with the repetitive churning of a molten, fuzzed-out wall of sound that builds until the audio itself starts to singe and catch fire, then abruptly self destructs.”

Watch REZN’s Video for “Chasm”

As knowledgeable gear heads, experienced sound engineers, and seasoned DIY veterans, REZN were able to create an early body of work devoid of any sonic compromises in their speaker-rattling dirges and heady lysergic forays. Their four self-released albums—Let It Burn (2017), Calm Black Water (2018), Chaotic Divine (2020), and Solace (2023)—have all gone through multiple vinyl pressings without any distribution or retail presence, and the international underground heavy psych world has routinely selected the band for distinguished festival slots across North America and Europe. From their inception, REZN have been a fiercely independent band with a fully realized aesthetic and a fervent cult following. Now ready to take things even further, REZN have teamed up with Sargent House to release Burden unto the world.

This summer, REZN will tour across North America with Pallbearer. Following, they’ll tour in Europe with new label mates Russian Circles as well as performing at multiple festivals. A full list of dates can be found below and tickets are on sale now.

Pre-order Burden

Burden Tracklist
1. Indigo
2. Instinct
3. Descent of Sinuous Corridors
4. Bleak Patterns
5. Collapse
6. Soft Prey
7. Chasm

REZN Tour Dates
Sat. May 11 – Oslo, NO @ Desertfest Oslo
Tue. June 11 – Durham, NC @ The Fruit %
Wed. June 12 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy %
Thu. June 13 – Virginia Beach, VA @ The Bunker Brewpub %
Fri. June 14 – Baltimore, MD @ Metro Baltimore %
Sat. June 15 – Lancaster, PA @ Tellus360 %
Sun. June 16 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts %
Tue. June 18 – Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom %
Thu. June 20 -Brooklyn , NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg %
Fri. June 21 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair %
Sat. June 22 – Montreal, QC @ Theatre Fairmount %
Sun. June 23 – Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground %
Tue. June 25 – Milwaukee, WI @ Vivarium %
Wed. June 26 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall %
Thu. June 27 – St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club %
Fri. June 28 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck %
Sat. June 29 – Little Rock, AR @ The Hall %
Fri. July 26 – Indianapolis, IN @ Post. Festival
Wed. Oct. 9 – Berlin, DE @ Astra $
Thu. Oct. 10 – Koln, DE @ Kantine $
Fri. Oct. 11 – Munich, DE @ Keep It Low Festival $
Sat. Oct. 12 – Prague, CZ @ Archa $
Mon. Oct. 14 – Vienna, AT @ Arena $
Tue. Oct. 15 – Bologna, IT @ Estragon $
Thu. Oct. 17 – Metz, FR @ La Bam $
Fri. Oct. 18 – Antwerp, BE @ Desertfest $
Sun. Oct. 20 – Gothenburg, SE @ Monument $
Mon. Oct. 21 – Oslo, NO @ Parkteatret $
Tue. Oct. 22 – Stockholm, SE @ Slaktkyrkan $
Thu. Oct. 24 – Copenhagen, DK @ Vega $
Fri. Oct. 25 – Aalborg, DK @ Lasher Fest $
Sat. Oct. 26 – Hamburg, DE @ Uebel & Gefaehrlich $
Tue. Oct. 29 – Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute2 $
Wed. Oct. 30 – Glasgow, UK @ Slay $
Thu. Oct. 31 – Belfast, N-IRE @ Limelight 2 $
Fri. Nov. 1 – Dublin, IRE @ Button Factory $
Sat. Nov. 2 – Manchester, UK @ Damnation Fest $
Sun. Nov. 3 – London, UK @ EartH $
Tue. Nov. 5 – Paris, FR @ Le Trianon $
Wed.Nov. 6 – Rennes, FR @ L’Antipode $
Thu. Nov. 7 – Bordeaux, FR @ Krakatoa $
Sun. Nov. 10 – Madrid, ES @ Nazca $
Mon. Nov. 11 – Barcelona, ES @ Salamandra $

%= w/ Pallbearer
$= w/ Russian Circles

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Jaycee at Pitch Perfect PR.]

Review: Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol – Big Dumb Riffs

Aaron Metzdorf, the bassist for Rickshaw Billie’s Burger Patrol, described the writing process of their new album, Big Dumb Riffs, as “What if we just played two notes the whole song? What if we tuned down to almost unusable string tension? What if we write a record that will make everyone say ‘Wow, that is dumb.’?”

That record would be a fun ride, that’s what would happen.

RBBP are never short on heavy riffs, goofy lyrics, and projecting a raw, fun energy, and this time they’ve gone all-in with that idea. Right away, “Clowntown” unleashes chugging, charging mania and you can’t help but laugh as you’re moshing. “1-800-EAT-SHIT” is just as fun, and I’m sure causes phone number chants whenever it’s played. “Papa Pop It” has early Primus-like bass licks all over it.

Leo Lydon‘s guitar on “Peanut Butter Snack Sticks” sounds like he’s pulled it out of a deep fryer and is playing it with a belt sander. Sean St. Germain‘s drum groove on “Whip It Around” immediately grab you and make you pay attention. The song transitions perfectly into “Body Bag” – which hits harder than a good number of doom metal tracks.

“Brat” stomps along like an angry elephant as Lydon calls out haters who can’t and won’t back up their words. “El Sapo” is a quick roughie, leading into the almost-panicked “Bastard Initiated.” I’m sure the pits during this song are bonkers (and, really, I’m sure their entire shows are just plain nuts). “Blue Collar Man” throbs, growls, and snarls as Lydon sings about a woman in love with a blue collar worker, but the lovely dream seems to turn into a nightmare.

They save the longest track on the record, “In a Jar” (at three minutes and thirty-eight seconds), for last. “I’m going to fucking kill you,” Lydon almost croons as he and his pals slow down the pace, but don’t relent on the fuzz.

Again, Big Dumb Riffs is a crazy ride that’s over in a flash – a bit like a roller coaster that only slows down at the end but your brain is still foggy from the adrenaline rush and your body is a bit sore from banging around in the car.

Keep your mind open.

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[Thanks to Dave at US / THEM Group.]