There's not enough room in cyberspace for me to convey the musical landscape that I've seen and heard Tony Reed emote from his being. I've had the pleasure of becoming good friends with him over the past
decade and can say that he lives and breathes music and it shows in his
writing. It has been stated by numerous people that the Pacific
Northwest Music scene would not be what it is without his roll in it.
And that is fact. As the mighty Tad Doyle said " There is a musical institution that is right before you. Right here in the Pacific N/W... Tony Reed is one talented man". And the Mos Generator is where he lets his talents shine.
Mr. Reed is a walking encyclopedia of classic rock and an all things "musically cool" book of knowledge, From playing in the Treepeople in the 90's to recording acts like St.Vitus and writing both Stone Axe albums.
So its no great surprise to me that the new Mos album "Abyssinia" is probably his biggest step into a different direction thus far while pulling from many of his muses and in his own words a "transitional" album. I have listened to this album over and over and each time I find more things to love, just yesterday my family and I drove out to Lake Crescent for a hike when 'time and other thieves' came on, and towards the end of the song it got pretty trippy, which was perfect for the setting. There's plenty of heavy riffs and classic Mos hooks as in 'Wicked Willow' and 'Red Canyons' but there's also some beautiful moments of calm as in "as above so below" and "Outlander" which has a nice Pink Floyd feel.
A little over a year ago there was a heavy and emotional change in Mos, which I know did not come easy....the original lineup for 14 plus years consisted of- Scooter Haslip and Shawn Johnson holding up the stellar rhythm section with Mr. Reed as chief songwriter, but due to conflicts with touring or the lack of, they parted ways and the new incantation was born with Sean Booth (Infinite Flux) on Bass and Jono Garrett hitting the skins, (Did I mention Tony is one of the best drummers I've heard and a multi-instrumentalist, so to be sharing stages and albums with him you have to know your shit!) That being said, Mos Generator have been touring super hard just wrapping up a U.S tour with Year of the Cobra and a headlining slot at the Maryland Doom Fest, this fall they jump the pond for a headlining European Tour with a stop at Heavy Psych Sounds Fest and back to the states for Erosion Festival in Montana this October.
Abyssinia:
1)Strangest Times (Jono-Drums)
2)You've Got A Right
3)Catspaw (Jono-Drums)
4)Easy Evil
5)Wicked Willow (Jono-Drums)
6)As Above So Below
7)Red Canyons (Jono-Drums)
8)There's No Return From Nowhere
9)Time & Other Thieves (Shawn Johnson-Drums)
10)Outlander (Shawn Johnson-Drums)
Mos Generator Standout albums in my humble opinion-
Late Great Planet Earth-
Nomads-
Electric Mountain Majesty
Do yourself a favor, if you haven't listened to them, do it! Then buy
the albums.
http://heavyheadsuperstore.storenvy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/MosGenerator/?fref=ts#
http://ripplemusic.bigcartel.com/product/mos-generator-year-of-the-cobra-tour-split-7-ripple-music-north-american-edition
Monday, July 18, 2016
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Mississippi Bones' Vinyl Release of Songs for the Slackers, Rejects and Rabble-Rousers on Kozmik Artifactz
Snap. Crackle. Pop. That's what comes to mind when I listen to Mississippi Bones. While my purpose here is to discuss their latest vinyl offering, Songs for the Slackers, Rejects and Rabble-Rousers as well as the digital EP The Rejects Strike Back, the elite level of musicianship shines through on all their releases. Big guitars, heartbeat altering riffs, deep, rich vocals, gargantuan drums, and massive bass are wrapped and intertwined with the unrelenting and boisterous fun of each song's lyrics. It's a style that's heavily twinged with a southern flair, distantly influenced by the deep, low tones of Black Sabbath, and deeply infused with the fun and fury of Clutch. I don't even know if any of that is intentional because the sound is certainly unique to these Ohio rockers while simultaneously paying great homage to the very best of ageless metal regardless of country or time of origin.
Mississippi Bones have been quite prolific in the underground metal scene with their juiced and jaunty jams, having released no fewer than 4 albums in the six years since this decade began. They are now part of the those stoner straw dogs, Kozmik Artifactz, who have just distributed the vinyl of
Songs for the Slackers, Rejects and Rabble-Rousers this past June.
So, for a damn good time join
Jackhammer Jared Collins on vociferous vocals
Doldrum destroying Dusty Donley on riff gittin' guitar
Daredevil dynamo Derik "The Moustache" Dunson on pulse pounding guitar
Juggernaut Jason Rector on bubbling bodacious bass
Jet Engine Jason Miller on death defying drums
Heartthrob Heather Collins on vexing vivacious vocals
You can start with their 2015 releases:
Songs for the Slackers, Rejects and Rabble-Rousers
and
The Rejects Strike Back
and then perhaps work your way back through:
Tracks and their self-titled initial release Mississippi Bones
You are bound to have a rollicking great time anywhere you land and spin with these raunchy rocking rippers of southern stoner goodness.
bandcamp || facebook || label ||
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
Infinite Flux S/T Vinyl release on Devil's Child Records
Heavy stoner doom from the pacific northwest! This is one of my favorite releases this year and song 2 (Solar Sacrifice)is one of my new favorite songs. I-Flux is comprised of Members: John Kennedy - Guitar/Vocals Darren Chase - Bass/Vocals Dan Fierro- Guitars Ryder Hoffman - Drums Flux Family- Sean Booth- bassin, Paul Casper- thumpin, Tony Copeland- Fuzzin, Zak Deckard- Inspiration and Moral Compass. If you know your shiz, Darren is also one of the guitar wizards from Ancient Warlocks and Sean Booth holds bottom end duties in Mos Generator (on tour now).
If you live in the Seattle area and want to catch them, they play pretty regularly and will be at the Substation July 7th for D.C.R's Heavy Fest with some killer N/W heavies.
I personally have the Beer colored vinyl edition of this album and its on HEAVY rotation, so go to http://www.devilschildrecords.bigcartel.com/ and pick one up. And while your at it, they're having a sale on all releases leading up to Heavy Fest!
Friday, July 1, 2016
EP Review: The Skull - Self Titled
The Skull EP includes two former members of Chicago doomsters Trouble, including original vocalist Eric Wagner as well as members of both Pentagram and Witch Mountain.
If you’re missing the old Trouble and their newest singer just isn’t winning you over, look no further than The Skull. The Skull is what we’ve come to expect from Trouble, gloomy—almost gothic—yet hopeful in its spiritually-fueled lyrics. A first-rate homage to what once was. Though there is that distinct tone missing that guitarists Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell brought to Trouble, for me hearing The Skull is like cranking out classic Trouble, complete with bouncy Sabbath-influenced breakdowns and Wagner’s somber vocal style.
I was pleasantly surprised by this. While I’d rather have Wagner find himself fronting Trouble once again, this is certainly the next best thing and at this point I'll take it over the most recent from Wagner's old band.
The EP closes with two live recordings. While I would have preferred a few new tracks, these are exceptionally recorded with one of them being a song from Trouble’s 1984 release Psalm 9.