Groove

Overkill, Prong, and Cultus Black at Piere’s, March 9, 2022

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , , , ,

It was a night of thrash in northern Indiana when Overkill stopped by for a little rampage on The Wings Of War tour.

I like the extremes of heavy music – I love doom and I love thrash. New Jersey’s Overkill has always been one of my favorite thrash bands. Starting back in the early 1980s, they have released nineteen (!) studio albums, the most recent being The Wings Of War (Nuclear Blast), which they are supporting with the current tour. My favorite Overkill album is probably The Electric Age, and I have been told many times that it’s a controversial choice. I stand by it, and at the same time, I will listen to any of their albums all the way through any time. The music always cranks the adrenaline up. I was most excited to see Overkill, but two other impressive acts went on ahead of them.

A band that I was seeing for the first time, Cultus Black (or Cvltvs Black), opened the show at Piere’s Entertainment Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. On their Facebook page, they describe themselves as “a dramatic deathcore/Nu-metal crossover.” The photos will give you some idea of what went on. These musicians were fully committed and you have to see them live if you really want to understand the experience.

Like Overkill, Prong, too, have a history that stretches back to the 1980s. They released five albums during their first run, then took a break for a few years. For the past twenty years, they’ve been hitting it hard and putting out new music regularly. The band’s latest full-length album is Zero Days (Steamhammer). The style of heavy metal they play has been described in many ways, ranging from hardcore to punk to industrial to thrash to groove. I am satisfied to call it high energy heavy metal, and they stalked the stage like they owned the place. Great set.

Overkill took the stage and took no prisoners. They opened with “Wrecking Crew” and played one monstrous metal anthem after another, wrapping things up on an tidy encore. Founding members Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth and D. D. Verni led the way and Overkill tore the roof off the place to the delight of screaming fans. I was expecting to see a raucous performance but what the band delivered went above and beyond. Many famous and impressive bands play at Piere’s, and Overkill making the journey there was something extra special; another step up.

The Wings Of War tour continues, with many more dates this month and later in the year. Get out there and see these bands to satisfy your need for speed.

All photos by Wayne Edwards.

Links.

Overkill, http://wreckingcrew.com/Ironbound/

Prong, https://prongmusic.com/

Cultus Black, https://www.cultusblack.com/

Piere’s Entertainment Center, https://pieresentertainment.com/

Nuclear Blast Records, https://label.nuclearblast.com/en/music/band/about/71097.overkill.html

Steamhammer, https://shop.steamhammer.de/artists/prong

© Wayne Edwards. All rights reserved.

Overkill, Prong, and Cultus Black at Piere’s, March 9, 2022

Splintered Reality, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, September 12, 2021

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

This band is a high-energy amalgam of rock, thrash, groove, and a whole lot more. Jump in with them and shake it up.

All photos by Wayne Edwards

Links.

Website, http://splinteredrealitymusic.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/splinteredreality

YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZs23_O7VwG3ZyOyCy-V6_A

Blue Ridge Rock Festival coverage at Ryze-Up magazine, https://www.ryze-up.com/music-2/blue-ridge-rock-festival-2021/

© Wayne Edwards.

Splintered Reality, Blue Ridge Rock Festival, September 12, 2021

Stöner, Stoners Rule (Heavy Psych Sounds Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , , , , ,

The natural progression from Live In The Mojave Desert is Stöner’s first studio album, Stoners Rule.

If you like stoner metal/rock then you like what the musicians in this new band do because Brant Bjork and Nick Oliveri pioneers of the sound and style. Both are founding members of Kyuss and, along with Ryan Güt, they are putting down the smoothest desert stoner groove there is.

The new album was recorded last Fall in Joshua Tree, California, and it sounds like it. You can feel the desert insisting and infusing and simply being there when you listen.

There are seven laid-back tracks on Stoners Rule, covering a range of subjects that appear to have emerged from the flowing consciousness that overtakes you in the desert under the right circumstances. In each, a steady bed of rhythm provides a solid base for vocal and guitar explorations.

“Rad Stays Rad” and “Nothin’” are the first songs that made their way into the airwaves and cyber pathways. They are good representations of the music on the album. I have an affection for “Stand Down” for the way it rambles, and you cannot miss the thirteen-minute closer, “Tribe / Fly Girl” that one takes a deep dive into your psyche. The lead guitar is a mystical spell spoken in six strings that transports you far away from anything that was bothering you on this earthly plane.

Stöner is on tour with Clutch (and King Buffalo in the northeast) this Fall – you don’t want to miss this show if you are a heavy music fan. Let’s go.

Stoners Rule is out now from Heavy Psych Sounds Records with the quick digital at the ready from Bandcamp. Highly recommended.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://heavypsychsoundsrecords.bandcamp.com/album/st-ner-stoners-rule

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/StonerBandOfficial/

Website, https://www.stonerband.com/

Heavy Psych Sounds Records, https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/

Stöner, Stoners Rule (Heavy Psych Sounds Records 2021)

Wedge, Like No Tomorrow (Heavy Psych Sounds Records 2021)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , , ,

The cover art for the new Wedge album is a burning fire extinguisher. That is poetry and the perfect sign for the band’s third set.

Wedge first appeared in Berlin as is made up of Kiryk Drewinski (guitar, vocals), Holger Grosser (drums), and Dave Götz (bass, keys). They play a bluesy heavy psych that puts you in mind of bands like Kadaver, Blues Pills, a little bit like Lucifer maybe, and heavy on the jam. Every song eventually gets around to a solid slab of groove, and that is what cements Wedge in my mind. There were two albums before the new one, starting with the self-titled one in 2014, followed by Killing Tongue in 2018.

Rooted in 1970s rock sensibilities, the eight songs on Like No Tomorrow are a swim through nostalgia while the currents of modern fuzz undulate against you with variegated fervor. The music is absolutely solid while maintaining a relaxed DIY feel to it. There is some social commentary in the lyrics and you can make as little or as much of them as you like because it is the music that is going to be in the forefront of your mind when you listen.

The first song is “Computer,” and it starts with a jazzy vamp on the keys and a pulsing guitar riff. The vocals set me on an Atlanta Rhythm Section spiral is the best possible way. A couple of great bridges later there is the first guitar solo and you know you are in the right place. “Playing A Role” opts for the guitar up front and the thumping bass line lays the rail for a catchy tune that in another time could have been a big radio hit. Each song all the way through has its own perspective and identity.

There are a couple of tracks in the three minute range but most run four to five, breaking the music up nicely. The anchor piece is the nine minute “Soldier.” In the long form, Wedge keeps the ingenuity at full force and stretches out in a further exploration of themes and individuations. I am glad I took the trip. Wedge is going to be in my playlists from now on. Recommended.

Like No Tomorrow is out now, and the easiest buy in the US is the digital download at Bandcamp. Heavy Psych Sounds Records does have an on-line US shop (link below) and you can pick up vinyl there.

Band photo snagged from their Facebook page.

Links.

Website, https://www.wedgeband.com/

Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/wedgeband

Bandcamp, https://wedgeband.bandcamp.com/

Label, https://www.heavypsychsounds.com/shop-usa.htm

Wedge, Like No Tomorrow (Heavy Psych Sounds Records 2021)

Kimono Drag Queens, Songs of Worship review (Copper Feast Records 2020)

Wayne Edwards, , , , , ,

The debut album from Kimono Drag Queens establishes a principle of sound that lends a lesson easy to take in.

This Australian psychedelic band is comprised of Harry Webber (vocals and guitar), Kellie Banyai (vocals and keys), Will Coleman (vocals and guitar), Zeppelin Hamilton (guitar), Amy Yoshiko (percussion), Billy Minett (drums), and William Wood (bass). It is almost a troop instead of a band. If it takes this many musicians then that’s how many it takes – it is the results that matter and here they’re hitting all the right spots.

The music does remind me a little of King Gizzard but with more 60s in there, a little more on the folky side amidst the smoke and desert groove. Also more melody, and a greater intention toward the aural consumability of the final creation. So, maybe not so much like King Gizzard after all.

“Songs of Worship” is a beautiful meditation in a seemingly barren place that is actually full of life. Gentle musicianship and hypnotic vocals are the Pied Piper’s song for the first half leading you into a deeper groove of psychedelic jam. “Hunters In The Snow” goes the other way around having a pulsing rhythm up front with a whispering spell behind it. “Delilah” brings super fuzzy guitars out and “Wild Animals” hones the echo into contemporary art as the spirit of the trance really starts to kick in.

And then there is “Evil Desires” which I heard as a warning about walking too far away from camp late at night. The dual guitar right at the end is as memorable as it is brief. The set closes on “Willy’s World.” This song creates a pleasant warble in your cortex and a lasting gentle throb deeper down, where meaning swims in the ink of delusion. I am going to be hearing this album again, over and over. Recommended.

The digital is out now with vinyl to follow soon. You can scoop it all up at Bandcamp or through the label’s Big Cartel digital storefront.

Links.

Band Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/kimonodragqueens

Album Bandcamp, https://copperfeastrecords.bandcamp.com/album/songs-of-worship

Label Bandcamp, https://copperfeastrecords.bandcamp.com

Label Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/copperfeastrecords

Label shop, https://copperfeastrecords.bigcartel.com

Kimono Drag Queens, Songs of Worship review (Copper Feast Records 2020)