tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52639967813173288772024-03-05T01:27:49.848-08:00ExhumedGore Fucking MetalMatt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.comBlogger46125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-32096493223474087682014-08-30T01:34:00.003-07:002014-08-31T22:19:50.899-07:00Thoughts after reading Extremity Retained<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">As I
read through <i><a href="https://m.facebook.com/extremityretained" target="_blank">Extremity Retained</a>,</i>the
excellent collection of Death Metal interviews compiled, edited, and
given context by my friend Jason Netherton, it brings back a lot of
memories and thoughts on the Death Metal scene and my now two-plus
decade long involvement in it (yup, feeling old here!). It's full of
great reminiscences from many of my peers and as well as from guys I
looked up to in the early days of <b>Exhumed.</b> I can't help but feel a bit reflective and look back on the changes and course of the genre in general. The thing that still strikes me the most was the transformation in the sound of the genre between '90 and '95. I thought I'd use my band's blog as a place to spout off a few ideas about how and why the genre went out of fashion in the mid 1990s, much like Thrash Metal did in 1991. I suppose these reflections would have fit in better with my (generously included) contributions in the book, but reading it as a whole kind of spurred me into thinking about all of this and writing this all out.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33z9H7Ufus3DpKIAKFknzTxVAJeywRG1pP_vG8-K1lSJZ_Hm486DsBVChmGeQPz0pfAkfOMno-vReHIjU3oHSJ3RgzJb7S3aPWHN_pIP9iVKGn-oW9DobiIIyZZzqRzcieRyHkszPDyZD/s1600/Extremity+Retained+cover.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi33z9H7Ufus3DpKIAKFknzTxVAJeywRG1pP_vG8-K1lSJZ_Hm486DsBVChmGeQPz0pfAkfOMno-vReHIjU3oHSJ3RgzJb7S3aPWHN_pIP9iVKGn-oW9DobiIIyZZzqRzcieRyHkszPDyZD/s1600/Extremity+Retained+cover.png" height="320" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">If you don't have this book yet, <a href="http://shop.handshakeinc.com/Extremity-Retained-Notes-from-the-Death-Metal-Underground-HI10BK.htm" target="_blank">fucking buy it!!</a></span></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I
don't remember exactly who I was talking to, but I was looking back
on my days as a rabid Death Metaller from '90-'94 or so, and I was
saying that after around '94 I lost interest in the Death Metal scene
and got heavily into Thrash Metal and Crossover from the '80s. They
responded, with a healthy degree of good natured ribbing, that
'93-'94 was when I “gave up on Death Metal.” That sentence kind
of hit me like a glass of cold water in the face. I would say I've
done many things in my life, but one thing I never felt that I did
was “give up on Death Metal.” I felt like by '93 and '94 Death
Metal had lost the vast majority of what made it interesting to me.
The bands that intrigued me the most (<b>Carcass,</b>
<b>Entombed</b>,
<b>Repulsion,</b>
<b>Carnage,</b>
<b>Terrorizer</b>,
<b>Napalm</b>
<b>Death,</b>
<b>Death</b>)
had either moved on creatively to other styles of music or hadn't
existed for a few years at that point (except for <b>Autopsy</b>,
who were on the verge of splitting up by then).
I felt like Death Metal had given up on <i>me</i>.
With the rise to prominence of <b>Cannibal</b>
<b>Corpse,</b>
<b>Morbid</b>
<b>Angel</b>
(I suppose they had always been prominent), and <b>Suffocation</b>
– who, by '95 represented the last high-speed bands standing
(<b>Obituary</b>
had become quasi-groove metal by the time <i>World Demise </i>hit
and <b>Napalm</b>
<b>Death</b>
was dabbling heavily in industrial metal), the punk-infused, loose
and nasty form of Death Metal was in short supply. <b>Unleashed
</b>and
<b>Grave </b>had
both slowed their sounds down by the mid-90s, and even <i>Slaughter
of the Soul, </i>one
of my favorite albums of the period, owes more to <b>Dark
Angel </b>than
it does to the obscure Death Metal of the band's earlier period.
Certainly record labels had given up on Death Metal – with the
exception (mostly) of Relapse, but even they were well on their way
to creating an aesthetic that would enable them to sign a band like
<b>Neurosis </b>(which
was sincere, as well as a savvy business move). Not the best time to
be a <b>Massacre </b>and
<b>Necrovore </b>fan.
</span>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">So, this begs the question – what
happened between '88 and '93 that contributed to the genre's downturn in popularity in the mid '90s and its subsequent stylistic permutations? How did “the end of music as
we know it” become such an over-saturated sub-genre ready to be supplanted as the de rigueur underground Metal style? Like
any question covering an international artistic movement, there are a
lot of answers. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>- Part I: The “real musicians” </b></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">One
thing that I think is often ignored, that still grates me to this day
is that around '91-'92, we saw the the introduction of “real
musicians” into the Death Metal genre. In 1988, every guitar nerd
with a flourescent Ibanez guitar with a handle in it was in a Thrash Metal band of some iteration or other - funk-thrash was gaining a lot of traction around '91. Seriously. That was a thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">When I was growing up, these were very popular rock and metal guitars. Yeah, it's not all "glory days" this and "good old days" that, let me tell you.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Why were they playing Thrash? Because it had
the virtue of being intense and affording musicians more room to show
off their chops but was still comparatively mainstream and had a wide
enough audience that you would be showing off your chops to <i>someone</i>.
<b>Metallica,</b>
<b>Slayer,</b>
<b>Megadeth</b>
and <b>Antrhrax</b>
were selling records by the truck-load and even <b>Coroner,</b>
<b>Voivod</b>
and <b>Kreator</b>
had videos on MTV. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">If you had cable TV and nothing to do on a Saturday night in 1989, you could see this. It was fucking awesome.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">But, as with anything, the popularity of Thrash
Metal faded with its novelty – what was innovative in 1983 was
trite by 1989. When Thrash Metal died out in about '91 or so (the
“Clash of the Titans” tour effectively capped the end of the
Thrash Metal era) fans were divided. Of course, some people no longer
cared about music and became accountants that listened to the radio,
but those who continued as members of a “scene” or avid
record-buyers / concert-goes tended to split in two directions.
Firstly, many younger males moved on from Thrash to Death Metal as
Roadrunner and Earache began to gobble up record store rack space
previously occupied by Noise Records and Combat. Older males and
females across the age-spectrum of thrash fandom however, moved
toward grunge – the logical endpoint of crossover. Grunge provided
the volume and bombast of mainstream metal with the simplification
and lack of pretension of punk, and succeeded in becoming a
watered-down, commercially appealing equivalent of both. While Death
Metal absorbed the far smaller portion of recently displaced music
fans, that influx of audience members was a massive growth spurt for
the previously super-underground genre. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Which
brings us back to our Funk-Thrashing, Guitar-Center frequenting friends I mentioned
earlier, eager for an intense form of music to show off their diligently practiced chops. They were a different breed than the original generation of Death Metal musicians, who never got
into the genre with traditional
ideas of musical development as instrumentalists, simply because
Death Metal was beyond underground, and borderline unacceptable in the mid-80s. People that wanted to pursue "musicality" just weren't into Death Metal. When <b>Death,</b>
<b>Massacre</b>,
<b>Xecutioner</b>,
<b>Morbid</b>
<b>Angel</b>,
<b>Master</b>,
<b>Autopsy,</b>
<b>Carcass</b>
and <b>Napalm</b>
<b>Death</b>
were honing their craft, “real musicians” were just beginning to
admit that Metallica wasn't a bunch of racket – but the sounds
cranked out by the aforementioned bands? That was pure noise, bad
comedy. Every Death or Black Metal band from the early 80s (<b>Sodom,
Kreator, Possessed, Bathory, Sacrifice, Possessed</b>, et al) moved as quickly
towards Thrash Metal as their musical prowess would allow. However,
by '91-'92, these legions of <i>Guitar
for the Practicing Musician </i>readers
were joining, or worse, <i>forming,</i>
Death Metal bands. By 1993, Headbanger's Ball (at least in America) was on its way out. But videos from <b>Carcass, Morbid Angel, Death,</b> and <b>Napalm Death </b>were part of its last gasp. So the genre was as close to mass-exposed as it would ever be in the states. The result was very similar to what happened to
Thrash Metal around '87 or '88 – there was a glut of extremely
competent, utterly uninspiring bands releasing EP's and albums
cluttering up the scene. The terrible paradox was that the records
were performed more competently than ever, but with very little
identity and real passion for the genre. </span>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZh3Nbo58lRfhVRd57s1Hdk2CE81JGLe5b01g6000fd4klwHnxn22eVLEMtxx9WTJePB5QeXl98h8nibkI54mxE7i3VzV1_p092TiSnOL3D7QYme0327_JSQRcQlAED-_ftTXrdhHzWN6/s1600/Nocturnus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZh3Nbo58lRfhVRd57s1Hdk2CE81JGLe5b01g6000fd4klwHnxn22eVLEMtxx9WTJePB5QeXl98h8nibkI54mxE7i3VzV1_p092TiSnOL3D7QYme0327_JSQRcQlAED-_ftTXrdhHzWN6/s1600/Nocturnus.jpg" height="215" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I can't say <b>Nocturnus</b> wasn't original, but I can say they did <i><b>not</b></i> have cool hair.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Certainly
many of the members of the innovative Death Metal bands mentioned
above grew to become excellent musicians in their own right – but
the distinction here is that <i>Death</i>
<i>Metal</i>
was the primary drive, not showing off their chops. As the '90s wore
on, the speed and “extremity” of Death Metal increasingly
attracted “musician” types who were out to prove that they were
the fastest or most technical - which were substituted for intensity and individuality, spawning legions of extremely skilled and marginally listenable tech-death bands. The musically reckless,
punk-infused side of Death Metal was waning by '93, so I retreated to
pastures that more closely reflected my personal flavor of choice: raw 80s
Metal - be it Death, Thrash, Crossover or just plain Heavy Metal, I
spent the second half of the '90s obsessing over records like
<b>Incubus'</b>
<i>Serpent
Temptation</i>,
<b>Razor</b>'s
<i>Violent
Restitution</i>,
and <i>Money Talks </i>by
<b>Cryptic Slaughter</b>.
As much as I wasn't much of a black metal fan (although there were a
considerable number of those records I liked at the time) I
essentially sympathized with the Black Metal scene's attitude toward
what Death Metal had become by the mid-'90s – safe, sterile,
over-produced and over-saturated.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDIpjs02iio8Utrv_YTaTs08nmYAnkczQ-p6QGDu1nOrm8LT12l7WHWij_HLdx1GkR_sbgIhqTUwpsUFwtPrehOreOjLylXSYSiHwo4IyuXJC8m9axBjOdJxr6RfQjIoVLwuwyT97euJZ/s1600/Anti-Scott+Burns.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoDIpjs02iio8Utrv_YTaTs08nmYAnkczQ-p6QGDu1nOrm8LT12l7WHWij_HLdx1GkR_sbgIhqTUwpsUFwtPrehOreOjLylXSYSiHwo4IyuXJC8m9axBjOdJxr6RfQjIoVLwuwyT97euJZ/s1600/Anti-Scott+Burns.jpg" height="316" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The classic "Anti-Scott Burns" graphic from <b>Mayhem</b>'s <i>Deathcrush </i>EP. Even the catalog number of the release hates Earache Records.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Interestingly enough, the same bands
that helped to push the genre's musical athleticism to new heights were also
responsible for spawning it's most knuckle-dragger-friendly cliches.
<b>Suffocation </b>balanced incredibly nimble, nuanced guitar-work with
the simplest, heaviest riffing the genre had see with <i>Effigy of
the Forgotten</i>, not only contributing to the
technical prowess of the genre as a whole, but also providing the
seeds for what would become “Slam” - probably the most
rhythmically simplistic form of Death Metal out there, which seems to
be incomprehensibly, yet intrinsically linked to the subject matter of pot-smoking and
pornography. <b>Cannibal Corpse </b>arrived as a musical force with
<i>Tomb of the Mutilated, </i>but simultaneously dragged the genre's obsession
with gore and violence into a brand of petulant misogyny that only
got more embarrassing with their next album, <i>The Bleeding</i>. Luckily, the band has eschewed
that sort of cheap sensationalism as time has progressed and focused
on horror and gore without overtly sexist themes after the departure of original vocalist Chris Barnes.
</span>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Although this song is admittedly very fucking badass.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>- Part II: The labels</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Of course, the host of mediocre,
uninspired and uninspiring musicians playing Death Metal were far
from the only culprits in the demise of the genre's brief commercial
peak. Equally culpable (possibly more so) are record labels, with
Roadrunner and Earache being the most egregious offenders. Labels,
like any other business, were in a race to produce the most
predictable return on their investment – a business practice that
quickly leads to artistic stagnation. Roadrunner seemed eager to give
all of the Death Metal projects to (the admittedly great) engineer /
producer Scott Burns, who faced with decreasing recording artist talent, increasing
workload, and decreasing budgets, spawned the “Morrisound Sound,”
which while it was a good sound (probably <i>because </i>it was a
good sound), was subsequently beaten into the ground. Between Dan
Seagrave's ubiquitous artwork and Scott Burns' increasingly
homogenous production, Death Metal albums were beginning to sound and
look frightfully predictable. Your <b>Monstrosity</b> became not too
unlike your <b>Resurrection</b> which wasn't that different from your
<b>Brutality. </b>The problem with these albums isn't that they're
awful – in fact they're actually pretty decent, and these records
honestly sound better today than they did 20 years ago - simply
because not every new album that you hear sounds like this anymore.
The problem is that these bands simply aren't remarkable. None of
them will ever have a <i>Slowly We Rot </i>or a <i>Symphonies of
Sickness </i>in their catalogs. And in all fairness, I don't know
that my band ever will either. I can live with that, but just
saying... And if my band had gotten signed in 1991, we would have JUMPED at the chance to record at Morrisound and have Dan Seagrave cover art. Which is one of the many reasons we weren't ready to be signed in 1991. Also, we sounded like crap. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Like I said... Pretty much crap. </span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Exhibits A, B, and C. Not exactly sure what's going on in any of these ambiguously spooky album covers or how they relate to the album titles at all. And 20 years later, I still can't quite muster up the energy to care.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">By 1991, even a marginally savvy
record-buyer like myself (age 15/16) could tell that if it was a
Death Metal album on Roadrunner, it would have the same production,
the same artwork and it would be reliably decent. A genre can't grow
and can't remain relevant on “reliably decent.” Thrash Metal
lasted nearly 10 years because every year you would get a significant, “future classic” sort of record, <i>Show No Mercy </i>to
<i>The Legacy</i> to <i>...And Justice For All </i>to <i>Beneath The
Remains </i>(and those are just a few of only the “commercially
successful” thrash classics). Sure, there are tons of clunkers from
tons of bands in the Thrash genre, but many of the best Death Metal
bands with the most to say only made two or three albums in the genre
before abandoning it for something less aesthetically constrictive.
<i>Heartwork </i>is more closely aligned with <b>Kreator </b>or
<b>Megadeth </b>than with <b>Extreme Noise Terror </b>or <b>S.O.B.</b>
<i>Wolverine Blues </i>is I guess, sort of Death Metal? I dunno...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Still on the fence about this album 20 years later.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Equally as damaging was that by '95-'96, Nuclear Blast, Century Media, and Roadrunner had dropped most of their Death Metal bands. As soon as the genre's comparative popularity waned, most of the bands found themselves unsigned very quickly. Roadrunner even dropped <b>Immolation</b> for fuck's sake, so it wasn't just mediocre 2nd and 3rd generation bands getting the axe. Just as Death Metal had gotten musically complacent, the sensationalism of Black Metal came along and grabbed headlines with tales of arson and murder and a different (let's be honest - predominantly way shittier) sound. Soon treble-knob loving Scandinavians made Death Metal obsolete and the '90s iteration of Black Metal became the "extreme metal" of choice of the (truly awful) mid to late '90s, giving fat / really skinny dudes from Orange County a reason to either wear capes and buy drinking horns. That really sucked. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyi2cEe27_Hk1FMGoTULR3Ya-0toYOQqtRzuTcEaXpC_9mrADJZ6o5GzLT4xxETjT49RRsYQPNEB1Wujfk1trDSBgDffx3Kl4LMaxprkK-3jT9TFHMCsMjHNWrZHp9Rok9uWTc3Hd0FmbU/s1600/black+metal+teen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyi2cEe27_Hk1FMGoTULR3Ya-0toYOQqtRzuTcEaXpC_9mrADJZ6o5GzLT4xxETjT49RRsYQPNEB1Wujfk1trDSBgDffx3Kl4LMaxprkK-3jT9TFHMCsMjHNWrZHp9Rok9uWTc3Hd0FmbU/s1600/black+metal+teen.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Everybody had THAT friend in 1996.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>- Part III: The inherent limitations
of the Death Metal genre</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Which brings us to the third, and
probably most fatal problem preventing Death Metal from having any
breakthrough or sustainable commercial success or aesthetic longevity (as a creative and innovative medium). When your goal is to
put out the most extreme, horrifying and over-the-top record and you
succeed (even if only in your eyes), there's no place to artistically
go from there. You can either a) broaden your style, b) repeat yourself or c) simply
quit, like <b>Repulsion </b>did. When you begin at the musical end of
the line, with no melody, the fastest tempos your musicianship will
allow and the most evil, frightening riffs you can compose, anything
else you do is going to be either a slight variation on a theme or a
watering down of your sound.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The best example of quitting while you're ahead in the history of rock and roll.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">For this reason, to me, Death Metal
represents the ultimate endpoint of the entire genre of Rock Music.
We have to be realistic and concede that Rock and Roll is a 20<sup>th</sup>
century phenomenon. Lemmy is in his late 60s, and most of the genre's
originators are either dead or old enough to be great-grandparents.
Current successful rock bands do little more than parrot genre
cliches and Death Metal is no different. Taking Heavy Metal and punk
to their logical endpoints of gratuitous volume, speed, and power,
the genre effectively killed underground metal as a marketable
commodity in the United States for decade or more. Certainly its
intensity resonated on a larger scale and paved the way for bands
like <b>Slipknot </b>and <b>Deftones</b> to bring heavier (still extremely shitty if we're being honest) sounds to larger audiences
later on in the 90s, but that's hardly a mark of success. But realistically, Death Metal was never designed to be listenable or
sonically acceptable. In fact, it's just the opposite. Not that it
isn't musical or doesn't require talent (even though it really
doesn't sometimes), but it's <i>supposed to be</i> abrasive,
unlistenable and horrifying. It's fucking Death Metal after all. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">That's one of the many reasons I have
a difficult time listening to the “Death Metal” of the late '90s
and beyond. Much of it is simply treading water on innovative ideas that had long
since been thoroughly explored by more inspired practitioners (my band's records probably fall into that category) - or
it's played by capable, well-meaning, but ultimately boring musicians who have
confused “intensity” and “brutality” with the number of beats
per minute in their drummer can quietly double-stroke his kick drums
at or how many riffs they can cram into one “song.” Or, even worse, it's played by capable and well-meaning musicians who think that Death Metal would sound better if only it were blended with Jazz/Fusion or polyrhythms or dubstep or video-game sound effects or whatever the fuck kind of stuff musician types like to play. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">As far as younger musicians, they have always been competitively minded. Today, we live in a world that, via widely available technology, is more and more quantified and quantifiable. The competitive approach to playing at higher and higher beats-per-minute, does follow a specific type of logic (if a dreadful lack of imagination). In the 21<sup>st</sup> century, <i>everything</i> has become
calculable – from how many people click on the links in your press
release and how many fans your band has, to the music itself. Also, everything has become edited - from photo shoots to movies that are more CGI than film, to auto-tune to quantized bass-drum tracks on "death metal" albums. Younger
people see the world in more quantified terms, and view and create art with these standards in mind - and rightfully so. They are a
new generation that has never experienced life without the internet
and cell phones, and they are the youth and should be making youth
music. But the way they play “Death Metal” bears little resemblance
to albums I grew up with like <i>Consuming Impulse</i> or <i>War
Master. </i>Furthermore, is Death Metal or any kind of Rock and Roll really "youth music" at this point? After all, <i>Seven Churches </i>came out in 1985 - almost thirty years ago at this point. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Please don't tell me this is "thrash" - it's literally called "Death Metal." How much clearer can it be?? So yeah - roto-toms are Death Metal as fuck.</span></div>
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I'm not saying that's bad, but I'm
saying that it misses out on something intrinsic to the genre as I
know it. That's why a band like <b>Nunslaughter </b>or <b>Asphyx</b>
will always be more Death Metal than a band with tons of super-fast
blast beats or the “lowest” vocals. The quantifying of everything
reduces art to something measurable and cheapens the expression. Of
course, younger people won't see it that way, because they've grown
up with a different set of aesthetic values than I have, and that's
okay. I'm not saying that there's only one “true” way of Death
Metal for everyone, but I know that there is for me. And I'm fine
with that. </span>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">However... if there was only one "true" way of Death Metal, this would definitely be it.</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>- Part IV: “Classic Rock Syndrome”</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Which brings me to my last point. If
someone had told me when I was sixteen I would be pushing forty and
still playing in <b>Exhumed</b> and that <b>Morbid</b> <b>Angel</b>
and <b>Carcass</b> would still be touring playing “Chapel of
Ghouls” and “Corporeal Jigsore Quandary” every night, I would
have laughed them out of the room. Because really, how long is any
kind of rock and roll movement supposed to last? The majority of the
punk movement sputtered out within five years, Thrash Metal went from
a regional curiosity in San Francisco, Germany and Los Angeles to a
global phenomenon and then to a virtually dead style within eight
years or so. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal went from about
'77-'82. The superstars of the sixties rock world (<b>Hendrix</b>,
<b>The</b> <b>Beatles</b>, <b>The</b> <b>Doors</b>) became
permanently enshrined precisely because they <i>didn't </i>last. </span>
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCW2cjudPfboktlEZkwMBg9lcanqTYdhtevab0urvRIQuKVxFdBHvDvNsdhxZtLRGWlV7F6YSQWo4qV6WEB-VPR8VSx9ZaPu4K7lbfz2f76IA1bDRmh8ON0JPgx07lTqz7GDwU-CnrMg7/s1600/JHE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwCW2cjudPfboktlEZkwMBg9lcanqTYdhtevab0urvRIQuKVxFdBHvDvNsdhxZtLRGWlV7F6YSQWo4qV6WEB-VPR8VSx9ZaPu4K7lbfz2f76IA1bDRmh8ON0JPgx07lTqz7GDwU-CnrMg7/s1600/JHE.jpg" height="280" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">No reunion tours currently in the works, at least according to Bandsintown. Sorry - too soon?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">And yet here we have Death Metal
bands whose creative peaks are long since behind them trotting out
the hits night after night on the tour circuit. Like all bastard
sons, Death Metal killed its father (or at least gave it the old college try) – mainstream rock and metal –
and then proceeded to take on his most repugnant attributes – greatest
hits tours, creative water-treading and, worst of all, <i>artists
giving the people precisely what they want</i> - whether it's
reunions, creatively stagnant but reliably consistent albums, or just
more <i>Altars of Madness </i>shirts. </span>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg943Mh20DtVHRhj0ko0oVyXmUgTP_m4B5pQDJ3SnF7KKc5mGZWJ1TiaJ_OUr_f-j0u9Hgp6fP2njvyCr9TuTUxsjEEj4CaGvU3JBNbR0_b6iv0VI-Gax5PXnv7nWYJysksQzPip8MFyW6Q/s1600/Altars+T.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg943Mh20DtVHRhj0ko0oVyXmUgTP_m4B5pQDJ3SnF7KKc5mGZWJ1TiaJ_OUr_f-j0u9Hgp6fP2njvyCr9TuTUxsjEEj4CaGvU3JBNbR0_b6iv0VI-Gax5PXnv7nWYJysksQzPip8MFyW6Q/s1600/Altars+T.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I can't wait for the reissue with "40 Years of Madness" on the back.</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Ultimately it's bittersweet. Because,
besides playing this music, first and foremost, I'm a fan of the
genre and I enjoy reunion tours and <i>Altars of Madness </i>t-shirts.
Being an optimist, I have to find it encouraging that all of the
hellish racket captured on demo tapes, LPs, 7 inches and CDs in the
80s and 90s has created something that's still with us today. We live
in a capitalist, commercial society, and those avenues ultimately
become the litmus test for an artistic statement's viability. If
there's a market for it, it's still around. And surprisingly enough,
there is still a market for Death Metal, though not as booming or on
the upswing as it was 22 years ago. But it couldn't be any other way.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b>- Epilog: Is music that big of a deal
anymore anyway?</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I'm going to end this on a
question... Certainly in the 80s and early 90s there were large
portions of teenagers that identified specifically as a social group
based around music preferences - metal, goth, punk, rap, whatever. Whether that's the case now, I have
no idea. And if it is the case, does the music mean as much to the
audience when they get it for free from the comfort of their own
computer desk? Or directly to their cell phone? To me – from an old
curmudgeon's point of view – it's difficult to see how a musical
movement can be as personal or mean as much to a teenager today when they haven't
invested nearly as much time, effort and money into finding and
purchasing the music. Or maybe it will mean a lot, but will it mean a
lot for twenty years? They'll never have to ride their bike an extra
five miles because the record store down the street doesn't stock
<b>Napalm Death</b>. They'll never need to make mix-tapes in real
time (they're lucky – that shit is tedious). I don't want to get
into the whole “younger people have shorter attention spans”
bullshit, because every generation says that and I heard it about
Atari 2600 and music videos, so fuck that – but without the effort
of spending your hard-earned money on music, having to actually turn
up to gigs to see bands, needing to memorize information about bands
or hold onto zines and mags, is it really as personal? I hope so, but
the experience is so different today from what I grew up with that I
really don't know.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I'm pretty sure these chicks were <i>feeling it</i>!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The entire attitude toward music in
our society has shifted. It was always seen as financially tenuous and a bad risk, but now it's degraded to something that's nice, but ultimately valueless. It's
something people give away for free. It's something that is so easy
to steal, it's <i>not even a crime to steal it</i>. I've illegally
downloaded stuff too, so I'm not putting myself above anyone here. I
just think that the way technology has evolved, pop music (which
includes rock, metal, punk, R&B, hip-hop, oldies, country, and
anything else you might hear on FM radio) has become a disposable,
public-domain type commodity. That change may open up a host of new
business opportunities for music to someone far more creative and
foresighted than myself, but as it stands now, it has created a
culture that severely devalues music. Even streaming services like
Pandora and Spotify are struggling from <a href="http://www.factmag.com/2012/10/10/spotify-in-serious-financial-trouble-according-to-new-report/" target="_blank">what I've read</a>. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">All of that said, one of the greatest
things about being a “genre” fan and musician (it's the same in
film, books, television, probably other arts as well) is that people
who are really into the genre are lifers. Go to any Star Trek
convention or ask a nerd about the Serenity TV show and you will see
a tremendous outpouring of passion. People into metal –
the more underground the truer this holds – have that same kind of
Trekkie-level excitement about stuff like the <b>Thyabhorrent </b><i>Death
Rides At Dawn</i> 7” EP. They live for this shit and are the reason
that Death Metal has never completely gone away. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Pretty much the same thing.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQJMgHIH6xiiS7wJQ5WNg4ltAI8-2YN4OcfCPDm9Bp5AIXcxHiycp9CRtXbiQNoL4f4hp2V26RDoop6IE3rmp71jTy6kWF6IxVu3qUnUotWPbL0g8tsb66rWFEvw0m6j2PqepwNVW60yR/s1600/Thy+Abhorrent.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPQJMgHIH6xiiS7wJQ5WNg4ltAI8-2YN4OcfCPDm9Bp5AIXcxHiycp9CRtXbiQNoL4f4hp2V26RDoop6IE3rmp71jTy6kWF6IxVu3qUnUotWPbL0g8tsb66rWFEvw0m6j2PqepwNVW60yR/s1600/Thy+Abhorrent.gif" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This is a pretty good EP though.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The fact that Thrash
got pretty damn popular in the 80s (I used to guilt my mom into buying me the magazine <i>Thrash
Metal </i>at the grocery store for
fuck's sake) meant that it's fade from the spotlight in the US was more
pronounced - finding an American High Schooler into <b>Exodus </b>in
1996 was a virtually impossible task. Death Metal's comparative share
of the lime-light was much smaller, so it didn't vanish the same
degree that Thrash's did during the nineties. Instead, it mutated in
different ways, many of which I may not have been too personally
excited about, but at least it was kept alive. And ultimately,
wouldn't it sound weird if the Death Metal of 2002 sounded just like
the Death Metal of 1992, which sounded just like the Death Metal
2012? A genre can't stagnate and survive. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRXpVjseg2Npv55B8ODjNDThgj27iZr-iSf8zouD3xpYpWr88w78sEh_U3Y0LA_hc7012RGIA45XBxI6A4X4e0qAbaFVuBN8QebFiNfe8EsG62xUCc0Wid1PBEtlU1GzBqBKbRyfH1Pmy/s1600/Thrash+Metal+magazine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuRXpVjseg2Npv55B8ODjNDThgj27iZr-iSf8zouD3xpYpWr88w78sEh_U3Y0LA_hc7012RGIA45XBxI6A4X4e0qAbaFVuBN8QebFiNfe8EsG62xUCc0Wid1PBEtlU1GzBqBKbRyfH1Pmy/s1600/Thrash+Metal+magazine.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">All those retro-thrash kids with puffy white high-tops nailed the color scheme, anyway.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">And now, with our nostalgia-obsessed
and (re)cyclical pop-culture, things have come full-circle. The
summer Metal tour circuit looks more and more like 1992 – <b>Obituary,
Carcass, Morbid Angel</b> and many more (including <b>Exodus, Slayer,
Megadeth, Kreator </b>and their influences like <b>Venom, Angel
Witch, </b>and <b>Motorhead </b>as well as a host of 2<sup>nd</sup>
and 3<sup>rd</sup> generation bands influenced by any of the
aforementioned) are on tour and playing to great turnouts. It may
actually be the best time to be a metal fan in the history of the
genre – the originators are still playing, and bands from every
generation and style are active and touring. You can see NWOBHM, Thrash, Death Metal, Black Metal, and
Grindcore at the same festival. With all of that happening,
I can't see how any metal fan isn't excited in 2014. Especially
with 40+ years of history and sub-genres to explore right at their
fingertips. If I could have gotten the <i>Thy Kingdom Come </i>demo
just by typing some shit into a computer when I was a kid, I would
have literally shit my pants with glee. I just hope that in twenty
years, the kids of today will still be as passionate about whatever
shit they're listening to today as I still am about <i>World Without
God </i>by <b>Convulse.</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Never, ever gets old.</span></div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-14255991301948408202014-06-12T11:31:00.002-07:002014-06-12T11:31:29.171-07:00The stories behind, and transcriptions for, "Open The Abscess" and "Sickened"<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Hello, guitar nerds. Here's some more tablature for you, and for those of you not so guitardedly inclined... Here's a little background info on the tunes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><strong>Open The Abscess</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">When we were writing "Gore Metal" Col and I were deeply obsessed with German Thrash, constantly blasting <strong>Sodom</strong>, <strong>Destruction</strong>, <strong>Assassin</strong>, <strong>Protector</strong>, and <strong>Kreator</strong> and shaming anyone who wasn't as excited about wearing multiple bullet-belts as we were. We were zealots, and like all zealots, we were kind of dicks about the whole thing, but our enthusiasm shone through in the record - our "musicianship" definitely didn't. When we were working on "Open The Abscess" I envisioned it being our "Bestial Devastation," which I suppose is sort of <strong>Destruction</strong>'s "Whiplash." </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">In the spirit of the Death Metal / Thrash crossover we were embracing, I stole the title from a lyric in "Out of the Body" by <strong>Pestilence </strong>- "No time to waste, just open the abscess, will you please help me?" Ross and I split the lyrics on this one, like most of the songs on "Gore Metal," although my memory is a bit hazy on who did more of it (probably Ross?). From the get-go, this was my favorite song on the album and we've played it live countless times throughout the varying incarnations of the band that have ensued since '98. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Here's a blast (beat) from the past. "Open The Abscess" live from our tour with <strong>Mortician </strong>back in 2001. Warts and all. Actually more warts than anything else.</span></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">Sickened</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Sickened went through a weird process before making its way onto <em>Necrocracy. </em>Original <strong>Exhumed</strong> drummer Col Jones and I have a Thrash Metal band called <strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Dekapitator" target="_blank">Dekapitator</a></strong> and at different times, we've talked about taking the band in various tangential directions. In fact, after we did the first album <em>"We Will Destroy... You Will Obey" </em>in '99, we wanted to become a vicious, hyperspeed Sadus / Kreator hybrid, but then <strong>Hypnosia </strong>came out with their debut EP that was in that vein and impossibly great, so we scrapped that. At another point, we were considering getting a melodic vocalist and heading in a more Power / Thrash direction a la early <strong>Helloween</strong>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Anyway, I was thinking of taking the band in a more dark Death / Thrash direction when I wrote what would eventually become "Sickened" for <strong>Dekapitator<em>.</em></strong> After it became clear that nothing was really going on with that band (Col's busy with <strong>Cretin </strong>and <strong>Repulsion </strong>as well as adult stuff like a marriage and a career), I brought it to <strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/gravehill" target="_blank">Gravehill</a> </strong>when Rob and I were still in the band and we were writing for <em>When All Roads Lead To Hell</em>. We learned the song, with a different bridge and no blast beats, but Rhett "Thorgrimm" Davis decided the arrangement wasn't particularly<strong> Gravehill</strong>, which I suppose is true in hindsight. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New;">I always liked the riffs for the song, and when I was listening back through my old pre-production recordings while writing <em>Necrocracy</em> I rediscovered this tune. After replacing a few polka beats with blast beats and re-tooling the bridge, I had a "new" <strong>Exhumed </strong>song. Like a lot of our more recent songs that seem to catch on, I thought this was kind of a throwaway tune that would be relegated to being a bonus track or something. Rob immediately pegged it as his favorite song on the album, and it's become a staple of our live set. It also got some nice mentions in reviews, which was cool, and more importantly, it's become one of the key "circle-pit" moments of our whole set, which is very satisfying. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Here's a cool video someone crafted for "Sickened" using clips from the new <em>Evil Dead </em>movie. And yes, I thoroughly enjoyed the remake. Certainly the goriest theatrical release movie I've seen in years. If I was 14 and seeing that, I'd want to start a Death Metal band all over again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So here are the transcriptions for these. I use Guitar Pro 6 to transcribe well, pretty much everything at this point. I've posted the .gpx files from that program and .pdfs of the tab for those who don't have it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">So here are the Guitar Pro files first.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/l464942bxmxtjtm/Open_The_Abscess_Guitar_Transcription.gpx" target="_blank">Open The Abscess</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/2m1547qna3ku4bj/Sickened_Guitar_Transcription.gpx" target="_blank">Sickened</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">And here are the .pdf files.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/kx7mf4abjp3sypg/Open_The_Abscess_Guitar_Transcription.pdf" target="_blank">Open The Abscess .pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/usqdcwc7j17crtj/Sickened_Guitar_Transcription.pdf" target="_blank">Sickened .pdf</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">As far as playing these tunes, they're far from our most technical, Open The Abscess is really just difficult to hear on the recording, which I suppose is why folks have requested the transcription. The tempo shifts are very, ahem... "organic" on the record so don't pay too much attention to the tempos on the transcription. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Sickened is a pretty straightforward Death / Thrash kind of thing, lots of speed-picking going on. I've included the tapping sequence that's my "solo" and the harmony for it. When we recorded <em>Necrocracy</em>, this was the first song Bud recorded a lead for, and what you hear on the album is literally his first take. I have no idea what he did (and he probably doesn't either) but it's definitely beyond my ability to play or transcribe, so... good luck on that one, haha! Anyway, enjoy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Cheers,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New;">Harvey and the usual gang of idiots</span></div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-38445471058246297972014-05-28T23:39:00.000-07:002014-05-29T01:04:42.564-07:00Let's talk about Leprosy<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So, full disclosure, this post isn't about Exhumed really at all. If you wanna read about Exhumed, I'm working on some new posts, I swear. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After getting the deluxe reissue of
“Leprosy” in the mail, I immediately headed for the liner notes.
What can I say, I'm a liner notes guy, and I've heard the
album hundreds and hundreds of times by this point, so this was
something new to dig into (I did enjoy the rehearsal disc quite a bit though). I liked them, but I felt like I didn't quite get
what I was looking for out of them, so I decided to write my own.
That may seem unnecessary, or pompous, or both (probably both), but hey, it's my blog, so fuck it. I'm
going to reitereate some thoughts that I shared with <b>Death</b> /
Schuldiner intellectual property manager / lawyer (also Relapse's
lawyer) Eric Grief when I met him the first time in Calgary. Eric
booked our show there, and we chatted for quite a while about his
involvement with bands like <b>Morbid</b> <b>Saint</b>, <b>Viogression</b>,
<b>Morta</b> <b>Skuld</b>, <b>Num</b> <b>Skull</b>, and the early
days of the Milwaukee Metalfest, but his management of <b>Death </b>was the topic I was the most interested in. The reason this is noteworthy is that my conversation with Eric is (I think?) one
of the things that eventually led to my getting contacted to be part
of the initial incarnation of the <b>Death</b> <b>To</b> <b>All</b>
tour – I'd like to think that that was in part due to the thoughts on Chuck and the band's legacy in general, and
<i>Leprosy</i> in particular that I
shared with Eric that night. At any rate, let's talk <i>Leprosy.</i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJ1iIa5-mmidXrFYITy9wf8AkWRtYXmGW2Lulo7bSHjO2aD3WM-DXXqE2RiJ5jYgHL7SQnTTT2iBmvwmPnyFzIboHqgrhVmK6LmwHU9BntN9Ymrb7x_D7W-Ofo2FijDP2h1jFV1rtaXE-/s1600/Flyer+Death+Dark+Angel+Sadus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJ1iIa5-mmidXrFYITy9wf8AkWRtYXmGW2Lulo7bSHjO2aD3WM-DXXqE2RiJ5jYgHL7SQnTTT2iBmvwmPnyFzIboHqgrhVmK6LmwHU9BntN9Ymrb7x_D7W-Ofo2FijDP2h1jFV1rtaXE-/s1600/Flyer+Death+Dark+Angel+Sadus.jpg" height="320" width="202" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I got this flyer outside my first metal show, Anthrax, Exodus, and Helloween at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium in April 1989. Although my parents didn't let me go see Dark Angel and Death, I had the foresight to hold onto the flyer. I also unfortunately colored it in with crayons - because I was 13 years old. Kids. Sheesh.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When
<i>Leprosy </i>came out in
1988, Death Metal was still predominantly a tape-trading phenomenon.
With the dissolution of the genre's originators <b>Possessed</b><i><b>
</b></i>the
preceding year, there was definitely a sort of Death Metal “Power
Vacuum.” Up to that point, <b>Possessed </b>(along with <b>Celtic Frost</b>) had
been the most visible Death Metal band, even though their swansong
“The Eyes Of Horror” was more Thrash than Death Metal and their sophomore album “Beyond The Gates” was hampered by
terrible production. Other (signed) bands that were arguably part of the seminal generation of Death Metal acts like <b>Celtic
Frost</b>, <b>Onslaught, Sodom,</b> <b>Kreator</b>,
and <b>Sacrifice</b> (yes, I know they're all considered “Thrash” now, but I'm talking
about 1987 “Death Metal”) had unilaterally moved on to less extreme
pastures by 1988. Thrash Metal had successfully broken through to a much
wider audience in 1986, and people were waking up to seek out sounds heavier than
<b>Metallica</b><i><b>.
</b></i>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
was the overall climate that greeted <i>Leprosy
–</i>
a golden opportunity for the right band to step up and put the
burgeoning Death Metal scene on the map. There were thousands of
rabid headbangers slinging demo tapes through the mail from
<b>Necrovore, Slaughter, Morbid Angel, Desecration, Necrophagia, Insanity, Genocide / Repulsion, Master / Deathstrike, Devastation </b>(Chicago), <b>Sadus </b>and
<b>Autopsy</b>,
but <b>Death </b>had
a serious leg up on the rest of the genre – a record deal. That may
not sound like much in 2014, but this was the 80s, and to get out of
the tape-trading scene and into the underground proper, a deal on a
label like Combat Records (Metal Blade or Noise Records would have
done as well) was essential. With all of those factors in place,
Chuck and the recently co-opted <b>Massacre
</b>line-up
(minus vocalist and former <b>Death
</b>drummer
/ vocalist Kam Lee) made what is referred to in the biz as “the
right record at the right time.”
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoThypmngNdpi0KKFPU_PloDC9ZSpb0-qV44FKqFq1M9ClLbjiIwWwn-SyW9F954njZvhRPnHDYoL0Yfhlk5OyxFBl-rzrEQ9fZa5MEBFZ4rXcKp_YlxxUdEgbuSfLQRKm08mfASIQ0Vk/s1600/Power+Metal+clipping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoThypmngNdpi0KKFPU_PloDC9ZSpb0-qV44FKqFq1M9ClLbjiIwWwn-SyW9F954njZvhRPnHDYoL0Yfhlk5OyxFBl-rzrEQ9fZa5MEBFZ4rXcKp_YlxxUdEgbuSfLQRKm08mfASIQ0Vk/s1600/Power+Metal+clipping.jpg" height="302" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Press clipping from "Power Metal," sometime in 1988. "Power Metal" was Hit Parader's Thrash Metal magazine, and every issue featured Metallica, Megadeth or some combination thereof. The "writing" was terrible, but you could find out about new albums and get neat pictures to keep in a box for 26 years and then post on your blog later. Also, Chuck's quote there is endearing. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Scream
Bloody Gore</i>
had been comprised mostly of marginally re-worked (see the
no-longer-Satanic lyrics to “Infernal Death”) tunes from the
band's demo days, but newer tunes like “Denial of Life” and the
title hinted at Chuck's musical ambition. Those
tendencies were prominently displayed on <i>Leprosy
-</i>
the album was easily the band's most “musical” record. It represented, for all intents and purposes, a quantum leap forward in musicality for <b>Death, </b>with articulate solos (and
also solos by Rick Rozz), novel drum parts, occasional unorthodox
time signatures, and sophisticated (for 1988) production values. That
the album sounds so grimy and old-school in hindsight is a testament
to the level of sophistication that (for better or for worse) has
made its way into the genre in the ensuing years. This was
the first widely available Death Metal album that was difficult for Thrash Metal fans
to laugh off as noise – not only due to the album's comparative
refinement, but also thanks to <b>Slayer</b>'s
<i>Reign In Blood, </i>which had
readied the Thrash Metal audience's ears for harsher sounds.<br />
<br />
A couple of observations regarding musicality and extremity in Death Metal circa 1988 are helpful to keep things in perspective, lest we start to laud <i>Leprosy </i>with unrealistic levels of praise. One thing that's disturbing is the cult of posthumous "Chuck-worship" that now clouds serious analysis of the band's musical catalog - I love <b>Death</b>, but crediting them with the "invention" or "revolution" of Death Metal in the 1980's is at it's <i>most</i> accurate, a <i>drastic </i>oversimplification. They were certainly the breakthrough band of the genre, but it's worth noting that <i>None Shall Defy </i>by <b>Infernal Majesty </b>pre-dates <i>Leprosy </i>by a year and boasts a level of musical sophistication and clarity well beyond <b>Death </b>and <b>Possessed </b>albums of the same time (in fact, their demo sounds much better production-wise than <i>Scream Bloody Gore </i>or <i>Seven Churches</i>). For whatever reasons, be it bad promotion / distribution, line-up problems, atrocious cover art, a stupid-looking logo, goofy band photos, or just being a Canadian band, they never caught on the way <b>Death </b>did. I've often wondered if some of the riffs on <i>Leprosy </i>and <i>Spiritual Healing </i>are indebted to <b>Infernal Majesty.</b> Furthermore, by the time <i>Leprosy
</i>was
released, <b>Napalm
Death (</b>on their way to co-opting the Death Metal scene that would shortly return the favor) and
<b>Carcass </b>were
already cranking out far heavier, harsher sounds across the Atlantic,
but wouldn't resonate with American Thrash Metal audiences for a
couple more years <b>(Carcass'
</b>tour
supporting <b>Death
</b>didn't
hurt in that regard)<b>. </b>Ultimately, <b>Death </b>was
extreme enough to be musically shocking and something "new" to the larger Thrash Metal audience, but was still within the average <b>Slayer </b>fan's musical "comfort zone."<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJ1e8bbaY6uFqziqvr3UjkiOk0DfjzQReGWRoFICgENDgDDUV12XGmqmdUjIz-eIKajFj9Y5K3tw1pLLjw9uPzxAFDrciGAOXaApKyyntZ-FZVV0isQVt61kHsQy-RFL72CLsoz6nolpz/s1600/Infernal+Majesty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoJ1e8bbaY6uFqziqvr3UjkiOk0DfjzQReGWRoFICgENDgDDUV12XGmqmdUjIz-eIKajFj9Y5K3tw1pLLjw9uPzxAFDrciGAOXaApKyyntZ-FZVV0isQVt61kHsQy-RFL72CLsoz6nolpz/s1600/Infernal+Majesty.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let's be honest, this cover totally sucks. Great record, but... damn. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Not
only was the album sonically in the right spot, it featured
professional cover art and an extensive cassette j-card, that
even featured the logos of the band's instrument endorsers. There was
no doubt from top to bottom that this wasn't just another
tape-trading basement racket (as much as the aforementioned
<i>Leprosy</i>-era
rehearsals might put that statement to the lie at the songs' core) –
this was a <i>real</i>
<i>band.</i> </div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvB_TwmojGnVlHk-J1kCDWsXSHvGdSRb0QM9LeKheHwBPYl4zEAlC6aXpYPVDMPmfVP_UCmEqSDUSaAbzULvIPuoF73R86TIhPf_yI0EfG8nPpvBRg9LNl2R9kNL9bIEUwr8qTuTyXNkXe/s1600/J+Cards+Outer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvB_TwmojGnVlHk-J1kCDWsXSHvGdSRb0QM9LeKheHwBPYl4zEAlC6aXpYPVDMPmfVP_UCmEqSDUSaAbzULvIPuoF73R86TIhPf_yI0EfG8nPpvBRg9LNl2R9kNL9bIEUwr8qTuTyXNkXe/s1600/J+Cards+Outer.jpg" height="302" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Leprosy </i>and <i>Scream Bloody Gore </i>J-cards compared. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1-Th2bXovWA2QkZL0jo9QUVvhLNzcAv6J_enbYnGGEKHmgQzAo5eH2nQ1thYdud5JXiwifS66o6IHVJzu80Swdv123hs2N4pfUkLBy5uQ8GXQYAcIJIDI57veFhcNr6PG2SgsR6Z1TAQQ/s1600/J+Cards+inner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1-Th2bXovWA2QkZL0jo9QUVvhLNzcAv6J_enbYnGGEKHmgQzAo5eH2nQ1thYdud5JXiwifS66o6IHVJzu80Swdv123hs2N4pfUkLBy5uQ8GXQYAcIJIDI57veFhcNr6PG2SgsR6Z1TAQQ/s1600/J+Cards+inner.jpg" height="313" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Leprosy </i>(above) and <i>Scream Bloody Gore </i>(below)<br />
J-cards, interior comparison</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aubgRMEWyoaFOQXSCqHxocqkN52exg2DYurB1oejvQPIbUFVbMIHQK7lSMukKQQWGnDxWrSixjSWj8jClLsRjNkPhxGbBuIQYUw1zZ-Wziz2HDmt_62y-CNldA3htI7-OPztKuNPSnrJ/s1600/Possessed+J+card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6aubgRMEWyoaFOQXSCqHxocqkN52exg2DYurB1oejvQPIbUFVbMIHQK7lSMukKQQWGnDxWrSixjSWj8jClLsRjNkPhxGbBuIQYUw1zZ-Wziz2HDmt_62y-CNldA3htI7-OPztKuNPSnrJ/s1600/Possessed+J+card.jpg" height="320" width="253" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To be fair, I suppose both of the <b>Death</b> J-Cards are nicer than most Death Metal cassettes of the era, which looked like this - a thumbnail of the square LP cover with the logo and album title below.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That perception was cemented by their inclusion on the <i>Ultimate
Revenge II </i>video tape.
At the time, music videos for Thrash Metal bands, even those on major labels, were scarce, so a music video for
a Death Metal band would be unthinkable. Now, not only were <b>Death</b>
included on a video, which was rare enough, their performance was
actually moderately competent in comparison with the other, more ostensibly "accessible" bands featured (certainly tighter than <b>Dark
Angel</b>'s, although they lacked the polish and flash of <b>Forbidden</b>). Most importantly they certainly stood out as the heaviest footage on offering. Again, all of these
factors, along with positive press coverage at a time when most Death
Metal bands' demos were mercilessly slagged by the press, were
telltale signs that this was a legitimate band to be taken seriously
by Metal fans, a feat as yet unaccomplished by a pure Death Metal band at the time.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxX-P3ol4Oqcj_QYufxSu0tUjVv8Yvjx4RJ2qkYXPI_HZrnk1F1K7lvO6kcE5xv4xksjYKNT5_AbXtpKi71bhvoMDQ6ChLiDSFqQZXFa3P9eqeQnseanp2isCj6EcBVWf73dxwzR6gCdj/s1600/Ultimate+Revenge+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaxX-P3ol4Oqcj_QYufxSu0tUjVv8Yvjx4RJ2qkYXPI_HZrnk1F1K7lvO6kcE5xv4xksjYKNT5_AbXtpKi71bhvoMDQ6ChLiDSFqQZXFa3P9eqeQnseanp2isCj6EcBVWf73dxwzR6gCdj/s1600/Ultimate+Revenge+2.jpg" height="305" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Ultimate Revenge 2</i> in all its analog glory, on VHS and Cassette. And yes, I just happen to have this crap lying around after 25 years. Don't fuckin' worry about it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/H1GFtXKTWNY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
"Forgotten Past" from the Ultimate Revenge 2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3M_7FNP3F_1U_6R68Vcz3-mPH6GX8iQLf5p_MVQKMB7yTX6pm_b0xv1U88AmfGLmEaU17Rvn5sehZNANUcJLzU34lhw8wQHGWbH8SubAWRUDEFMXCsU8RMunZz6S5i7n0NJm-FhioIAf0/s1600/Metal+Mania+Death+article.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3M_7FNP3F_1U_6R68Vcz3-mPH6GX8iQLf5p_MVQKMB7yTX6pm_b0xv1U88AmfGLmEaU17Rvn5sehZNANUcJLzU34lhw8wQHGWbH8SubAWRUDEFMXCsU8RMunZz6S5i7n0NJm-FhioIAf0/s1600/Metal+Mania+Death+article.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Leprosy </i>era article in Metal Mania from sometime in 1988. I had this on the wall at our rehearsal room when we were practicing for <i>Anatomy is Destiny</i>. We practiced so often I used to literally read the article while we were jamming.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The
lyrics also had achieved a level of comparative "maturity" – gone were <i>Scream Bloody Gore</i>'s lurid nursery
rhymes about “Vomit for a mind, maggots for a cock.” In their
place were cautionary (but still morbid - see what I did there?) tales about deadly disease, death by
misadventure, and the inevitability of death and it's impact on life. Okay, well “Choke On It” may not have had much depth, but the fact
that <i>any </i>of
the lyrics had any depth was something in and of itself. Until <i>Leprosy, </i>the entire Death Metal genre's lyrics (except for <b>Master</b>'s quasi-political, apocalyptic material) had consisted of two topics: Satanism (or occultism in general) and horror
movies. Here was somebody at least saying
<i>something</i>.
Sure, the nursery rhyme aspect was still there, but
lines like:</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<i>Life
will never be the same</i></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Death
can never be explained</i></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>It's
their time to go beyond</i></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Empty
feeling when they're gone” </i>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(From "Open Casket")</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
had more to say than:
<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<i>Trying
to escape</i></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>They
torture you by cutting off your cock </i>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>When
you're dead, Upon your bones they'll feast</i></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Your
brains they'll eat and chop.” </i>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(From "Torn To Pieces")</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the
end, I suppose terms like “listenablity” or “maturity”
are all academic if the album sucks. And <i>Leprosy </i>categorically does
not suck. Front to back, it's all killer and no filler. Every tune
oozes aggression and maintains a gloomy, morbid vibe. In short, it
sounds the way Death Metal is supposed to sound, but clear. And the
clarity of the recording only makes it heavier and more authentic.
Where <i>Scream Bloody Gore</i>
sounded like it was recorded in a warehouse in between bong hits (mostly because it was), <i>Leprosy</i>
boasts a clear, balanced and powerful mix. Bill Andrews'
precise and creative (at least in terms of where Death Metal was in
1988) drumming and Terry Butler's dutifully clanking bass-lines fall seamlessly into
alignment with Chuck's cranked Marshall. Songs like “Leprosy” and
“Pull The Plug” exercise a degree of restraint absent in most
Death Metal up to that point, allowing riffs to develop and build effectively (effectively being the operative word) rather than plunging hell-for-leather into chaos. Sure, speed was still
there, but the band's sound had filled out and found a heaviness that
hadn't been as prevalent since the <b>Mantas
</b>days
of bludgeoning <b>Hellhammer</b>-esque
riffs. Was <i>Scream Bloody Gore </i>more deranged? Absolutely. Was it more evil? Sure, in fact it's still my all-time favorite <b>Death </b>album. But was it as <i><b>good</b></i> as <i>Leprosy</i>? Objectively, no fucking way. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;">
To
top it all off, Chuck's leads were downright <i>classy</i> for a Death or
even Thrash Metal band of the day (and were certainly miles ahead of leads by <b>Slayer
</b>and
<b>Kreator</b> at the time in terms of being “musical”). But just in case things were threatening to get "pretty" or overtly "melodic," Chuck was counterbalanced by Rick Rozz's frenzied divebombs and whammy bar
abuse. A quick word about Rick Rozz's oft-maligned guitar-work: the
guy knows how to phrase a catchy, memorable solo, which is no mean
feat when 90% of his stuff is just tremelo bar pull-ups and dives.
His absence on subsequent albums helped cement the band's reputation
for musicality and guitar heroics, but at the cost of aggression in
the leads. Rick Rozz fucking rules, end of story. And no, I'm not gonna call him DeLilo. To me, he will always be Rick Rozz. At any rate, the songs managed to tick all the musical
boxes: heaviness; speed; skill; and they even managed the Death Metal
genre's first real vocal hook with perennial crowd-pleaser “Pull
The Plug.” My personal favorite track is still “Left To Die”
which features my favorite Chuck vocals of all time and the best
kick-snare beat turnaround since “Battery.”</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg181c7l0mVLYoYY0sih2j1YuBKvseqSSpgYr9cO0DnYRf5iC69darb40SOiAjCVL2LWIraBXYbhmiKH5MpmeDVo8Xg9AOPiNoyi-TSFxDj7jlfZbK0JnA5syH0N6obecAco5kwA21L7zkB/s1600/Leprosy+era+Band+Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg181c7l0mVLYoYY0sih2j1YuBKvseqSSpgYr9cO0DnYRf5iC69darb40SOiAjCVL2LWIraBXYbhmiKH5MpmeDVo8Xg9AOPiNoyi-TSFxDj7jlfZbK0JnA5syH0N6obecAco5kwA21L7zkB/s1600/Leprosy+era+Band+Photo.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">So basically, what I'm saying is: "Nice job, these guys"</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now,
twenty-six years later (Holy shit! I'm old!) it's painfully clear
that <i>Leprosy</i>
was the album that not only cemented <b>Death</b>'s
reputation, but put the entire genre of Death Metal, the Florida
Death Metal scene, and Morrisound Studios on the map. Two years later, as Thrash Metal largely dried up creatively (and soon after commercially) the
Death Metal genre was moving from strength to strength. A host of
bands emerged from the same tape-trading scene that had devoured
<b>Death</b>'s
“Back From The Dead” and “Mutilation” demos, and the whole
movement had finally gained serious traction among underground Metal labels and fans alike.<br />
<br />
By
1990, Thrash Metal had been rendered completely irrelevant to my circle of
friends and I, and to many other like-minded kids around the world.
New and more commercial albums from bands like <b>Metallica,
Slayer,</b>
<b>Kreator </b>and
<b>Testament </b>were
met by a collective shrug - our fandom had been wholly subsumed by
the Death Metal movement that began taking the underground by storm with the release of <i>Leprosy</i>.
</div>
</div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-76201797419027216252014-05-01T17:34:00.000-07:002014-05-01T17:36:04.279-07:00Fresh Blood - (Some of) Exhumed's favorite opening bands<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a guy that plays in a heavy metal band, I hear a lot of heavy
metal. Because <strong>Exhumed</strong> is always on the road, I'm attending about 150
shows a year. So one thing that I don't really do is track down new heavy shit to listen to
because I just get to be totally saturated with it – just like the
guy that works at the Twinkie factory probably doesn't eat that many
Twinkies. Okay, who am I kidding? That guy probably eats Twinkies morning
noon and night – I know I would. Anyway, to balance out the heavy
shit I'm bombarded by day after day, I listen to a bunch of different
music – some of it sentimental, some of it funny, some of it
atmospheric, some of it funky, whatever. That said, I always love
listening to the classics, many of which I covered a couple of blogs
ago, and every so often I come across a new band that really catches
my ear. I've decided to dedicate a blog to spreading the love for
some of the coolest regional openers (not bands we're touring with, you should hopefully know who they are by now) we've come across that are
unsigned, marginally signed, or just not that well known. Hopefully I've talked enough about our original drummer's band with our old guitarist Mike Beams <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mortuous/117734498300931" target="_blank">Mortuous</a> enough that some of you have checked them out and the Decibel review for my buddies in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/POORGRIND" target="_blank">P.O.O.R. </a>should have nudged you in their direction (I also did a couple solos on their record), so I kept this to bands that we've played with since last summer. There are always more that I could mention, but I thought 11 was good for the sake of readability, and I'm sure I'm forgetting some of my faves, so please don't think this list is totally comprehensive. One of the questions I get a lot is, "what new bands are you into?" so here's the answer(s). If any of these guys tickle your fancy, please support 'em.
They're all good dudes making good music, so whatever my endorsement
is worth, these bands have it.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Matt and the usual gang of idiots</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://www.facebook.com/angelust666" target="_blank">Angelust</a></strong> – we played with <b>Angelust</b> in the unlikely locale of Peoria, IL – yes, Exhumed plays all the hotspots! Anyway, these dudes were a lot of fun live with their punky Black Thrash. Their demo is a bit lopsided, but the first track “Rock and Roll Funeral” was on heavy rotation in our van after the show for a couple weeks, which is pretty unusual - in a good way. If they can keep writing songs this good, <strong>Midnight</strong> may have some competition on their hands. Let's hope so, cos I can't really get enough of rock-infused Black Thrash. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://bastarddeceiver.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bastard Deceiver</a></strong> – I'm pretty sure this band broke up, which is
too bad. If not, please let me know and I'll edit this post. This Tampa-based Grind band fused a lot of early <strong>Bolt
Thrower</strong> into their sound, which was a cool contrast to the <strong>Terrorizer</strong> and D-Beat stuff that comprises most of their sound. Their “Normal Life
Provides Nothing” EP is a fucking ripper. You can check it out at their <a href="http://bastarddeceiver.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> page and download it for free (or pay if you're a nice person). We played with them
twice in 2012, once in Tampa and once in Houston, and both times,
they totally ruled. Yes, they have a female singer, does it really fucking matter? It's 2014 people. Anyway, check these guys (and girl) out.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/CoffinDust" target="_blank">Coffin Dust</a></strong> – We've become pretty good friends with Coffin Dust guitarist / vocalist Matt “Slime” Ferri. We prevailed upon him to design our recent “Ravening” shirt, as well as to tattoo Bud, Rob and myself with the Ghostbusters logo, which capped off one of the funnest nights in memory. But even if I didn't know him, I'd still think his band was awesome. Taking thrashy Goregrind into weird arrangements with killer melodies, their debut “This Cemetery, My Kingdom” is a kickass Death Metal album that you can actually sink your teeth into and get some repeated listens out of. Check it out for a measly $5 <a href="http://coffindust.bandcamp.com/album/this-cemetery-my-kingdom" target="_blank">here</a>. The songs are kind of long, but in a good way, each riff and melody gets some time to develop and be enjoyed. Very fucking cool stuff. If you meet Matt, ask him to show you his epic <strong>Slayer </strong>tramp stamp. Seriously.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong><a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/kaliya" target="_blank">Kaliya</a></strong> – I actually gave <strong>Kaliya</strong> guitarist Ben Cooper some guitar lessons and the more he told me about his band, the more I figured they must be pretty good. I was right. Metalized D-Beat with a nice touch of melody is what these guys are all about, and they do it really well. We played with them in Dallas on the <strong>Dying Fetus</strong> tour, and they were killer live as well. I was grinning with pride like I had something to do with it all night, saying “that guy took a couple guitar lessons from me, his band is awesome!” To clear the air, they were awesome before I had ever heard of 'em. If this sound is something you're into, give these dudes a <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/kaliya" target="_blank">listen</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/madrost.cryptkeeper?fref=ts" target="_blank">Madrost</a></strong> – from a bit closer to home, these guys are an up and
coming Orange County Death / Thrash band well worth checking out. After
chatting with a couple of the guys before our show at Chain Reaction
with <strong>Iron Reagan</strong>, they asked me to check out some of their set. They were really nice, sincere dudes, so I
agreed just to be polite. To be honest, I get so burnt on checking
out bands, I have a hard time getting the motivation to watch the
locals, especially in an alcohol-free venue like the Chain Reaction
in Anaheim. Anyway, I made sure to check them out and not be a totally jaded dick, and ended up being really
impressed. The demo / EP CD they gave me was also killer, with nods
to SBG / Leprosy era <strong>Death</strong> and mid-period <strong>Kreator</strong>, stuff I still listen to like it was brand new, 25 years later. You can check out their "Maleficent" (wasn't the villain chick in "Sleeping Beauty?" Why do I know that?!?) <a href="http://madrost.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. Their riffs are nice and
simple, which keeps things catchy and makes it easy to get into these
guys right away. Killer stuff. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mangled/270014239690739" target="_blank">Mangled</a> </strong>(Atlanta) – Not to be confused with the Dutch band of the same name - We ended up partying with these guys all day before the show we did with them in Atlanta in December of 2013, and they were great dudes. We all got along really well and they had killer taste in music, so I was really hoping I liked their band. It's always awkward when you get along with someone but don't like their band. Anyway, I didn't have to worry about that in this case at all. Their “Sewer Metal” EP is killer – shades of <strong>Engorged</strong> are present, as well as early (like, really early) <strong>Cannibal Corpse</strong> that make this the kind of crossover-infused, horror-obsessed Death Metal that I really like. Check out their demo for free (or pay for it if you're a nice person) <a href="http://mangledmetal.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. These guys should be making a lot of noise, literally and figuratively in the scene very soon. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="http://maniacband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Maniac</a></strong> – We played a gig with these guys in Madrid in 2013, and we ended up enjoying the shit out of them. These guys (and girl drummer!) churn out Black / Thrash with a serious “Kill 'em All” edge, employing a barrage of killer riffs. Open A string grinding with power chords and tons of attitude always sound great. After their set, I had to pick up their “Black Legion” 12” at the show and I think you should too. Not sure where you can find it, but you can listen to it <a href="http://maniacband.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. I have no idea what they're up to next, but I bet it's gonna be awesome. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://necrot.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Necrot</a> - Our original drummer, Col Jones, is notoriously picky and pretty much hates every band that's not Repulsion, Iron Maiden, or Sodom. He introduced these guys to me as "the best Death Metal band in the Bay Area." Needless to say, that set the bar pretty high in my mind. These guys undeniably fucking rule and they're one of my favorite new Death Metal acts. Down-tuned, Swedish / Finnish early 90s style darkness that you can pick up for a mere $3 <a href="http://necrot.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Seprevation" target="_blank">Seprevation</a></strong> – this Bristol, UK based Death / Thrash hybrid played all the UK dates with us on our 2013 tour, which were several – London, Newcastle, Bristol, Derby, Glasgow, Dublin, and Cork if memory serves, so we got a chance to see them a bunch of times and I enjoyed every one of their shows. Evoking all the right stuff – early <b>Sadus</b>, <b>Death</b>, <b>Atheist</b>,<b> Kreator</b>, <b>Massacra</b>, <b>Dead Head</b> (with occasional tinges of <b>Megadeth </b>and even <b>Morbid Angel</b>) and the like, while managing just the right touch of occasionally 'progressive' bits to keep things interesting, these guys are a great updated take on the most vicious thrash sounds of 1989, which is right up my alley. They have a great EP called "Ritual Abuse" (not to be confused with the classic <strong>Num</strong> <strong>Skull</strong> album of the same name, although I bet <strong>Num Skull</strong> fans would LOVE these guys) that you can get <a href="http://seprevation.bandcamp.com/album/ritual-abuse-ep" target="_blank">here</a>, and a new album called “Consumed” coming out very soon that I would urge anyone into aggressive, energetic Thrash / Death metal to check out. The EP is really fucking good and the album is <i>even better</i>. If there's any justice, these guys should be a lot more well-known in a year from now. They even made a nifty official video you can watch below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/teethingband" target="_blank">Teething</a></strong> – we did a couple shows with these guys in Spain in
2013 and they blew me away with their ferocious, hardcore (not like
<strong>Hatebreed</strong>, the old, fast kind) infused Grind. Filtered through the notorious HM-2 pedal, Teething push everything
into the red and keep it there. They brought a ton of energy to the
stage and their records are just as good. Highly recommended grind, and you can download their excellent split for free with <strong>Ravage Ritual</strong> at their <a href="http://teething.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">bandcamp page</a>! It's<i> fucking free</i>, check it out! They also have some of the best shirt designs I've seen in years and are really good dudes, so win-win-win. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><a href="https://www.facebook.com/xingaia.page?fref=ts" target="_blank">Xingaia</a></strong> – We partied with these guys in Spokane after our show
there with Suffocation and had a great time. They kind of remind me
of <strong>Mangled </strong>(or vice versa, since I heard <b>Xingaia </b>first), but they're a bit more brutal, with some pretty
blistering tempos and some quirky, non-typical technical
riffs here and there. Again, I got a bit of an <strong>Engorged</strong> vibe from their kickass self-released full-length (not a
bad thing by any stretch of the imagination) from these dudes,
especially with the samples between songs and shit (the Aqua Teen
Hunger Force sample here is genius) but they're definitely doing
their own thing, and ruling the shit out of it. You can preview the record <a href="http://xingaia.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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</span>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-81740210223010606542014-04-12T04:25:00.000-07:002014-04-30T09:18:35.265-07:00Inside the Electric Circus: Exhumed's life on the Intoxicated Holocaust US tour, Part I<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Exhumed Intoxicated Holocaust tour diary: the US leg part I</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">When we were approached about this
tour, we were on board as soon as we heard about the killer line-up. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ToxicHolocaust" target="_blank">Toxic Holocaust</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/rammingspeed" target="_blank"><b>Ramming</b> <b>Speed</b></a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MammothGrinder" target="_blank">MammothGrinder</a> are bands that I actually listen to, which is pretty
rare for bands formed after 1985. I liked that all the bands were
different, <b>Toxic</b> doing their crust-thrash thing, <b>Ramming</b>
<b>Speed</b> doing their NWOBHM-infused crossover, and <b>Mammoth</b>
<b>Grinder</b> with their down and dirty caveman-level death metal. After all the touring we've
done, it's become obvious that a good package helps to get
people in the door – we'd already played all these markets with
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/DyingFetus" target="_blank"><b>Dying</b> <b>Fetus</b></a> in October and then played half of them
again with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/IRON-REAGAN/235448059864772" target="_blank"><b>Iron</b> <b>Reagan</b></a> in December. We had our
customary weekend of rehearsals before embarking on the road. We added “Your Funeral, My Feast” to the set – it was the
last song on <i>All Guts... </i><span style="font-style: normal;">we
had yet to play live so we figured we should go for the complete set. We also worked out “Carrion
Call” from </span><i>Necrocracy</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
for this tour but it wasn't coming across live the way we wanted it
to, so we dropped it after a few shows.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">"Your Funeral, My Feast" and "Limb From Limb" live in Santa Ana January 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Mike,
freshly relocated to Tampa, Florida, flew into San Francisco, as did
Bud, albeit from North Carolina. Rob took a train from Santa Ana to
Grover Beach and hung out with my visiting girlfriend and I (speaking
of commuting, she's from the UK) for a night before the inimitable
Dr. Philthy came and picked us up in our battered van. Our van's sliding side door didn't open and neither did one of
the back doors, and it quickly developed an oil leak which you'll
hear more about later. So we started the tour in a rolling death-trap. </span>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;">We
drove north to San Jose to rehearse in the </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Cretanic" target="_blank">Cretin</a></b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(featuring <strong>Exhumed</strong> alumnus Col Jones and Matt Widener) jam space, which was empty since they were recording their new album “Stranger.”
Bud's parents still live in San Jose, in the same neighborhood I and
all the original <strong>Exhumed</strong> guys grew up in, so we crashed there for a couple of nights. After
scraping the rust off on during the first day's rehearsal and raiding Bud's
parents' liquor cabinet that night, we dropped my girl off at the airport and
went back in early for the second (and final) rehearsal so we would
be done in time to catch the 49ers / Seahawks NFC championship game.
The rehearsal was a success, the game not so much, but the pizza and
beer more than made up for it. After plundering Bud's folks' liquor
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">again</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I decided to call it a night when Rob and Bud's wrestling resulted in
cracking one of the walls. The next morning I was feeling pretty hungover as we headed north to Chico for the pre-tour warm up
gig we had scheduled for Monday night. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Our Monday night gig turned out far better than we had
expected, with a hundred people coming out and making us feel very
welcome in their small college town. We headed to the promoter's pad to
crash where we enjoyed his very large dogs and semi-functioning hot
tub. We had the following day off to drive up to Seattle to start the "official" tour, which we spent touring the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sierranevadabeer" target="_blank">Sierra Nevada Brewery</a> in
Chico. The tour is free, informative and most importantly they give you tastes of different beers. All you have to do is book a tour in advance (we booked it the day before). One caveat, make sure your ID is valid, because mine is expired and I
didn't bring my passport, which meant I wasn't able to taste any of the beers.
Ouch. We grabbed In-and-Out Burger and spent the rest of the day
and night in the van. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The badge of shame I had to wear since I didn't have a valid ID with me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">L to R, Bud, Dylan, and Rob testing hops at Sierra Nevada.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Mike with the Sierra Nevada vats as beer gets heated (if I remember correctly) along the way to deliciousness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Yes, that big copper thing behind Mike is full of beer.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSVpfeZq5NdSFaJk6Abzk3GUGFbQ2BPg8ZbmxcrKzZRrYcflCGK4R5sGirPIVR1Zy1ayxLxGHm30ERdizEaHYZBekbioYV6-gTzZkU1rpgM7se0r0y8KBvbPTJcHOyEuQB0GqgFCm2DvE/s1600/20140121_124439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzSVpfeZq5NdSFaJk6Abzk3GUGFbQ2BPg8ZbmxcrKzZRrYcflCGK4R5sGirPIVR1Zy1ayxLxGHm30ERdizEaHYZBekbioYV6-gTzZkU1rpgM7se0r0y8KBvbPTJcHOyEuQB0GqgFCm2DvE/s1600/20140121_124439.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The Sierra Nevada brewing facility is disturbingly clean and sterile.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIYZ_tTPBQe5ZV8rRzPdKLRCkKPrJjWN5pStVuebiFjMcODLmz8Dwk412aSePBBideZO9R5z_qnF4ri5IztxzLbzyg-3wdj2BaZCI4y73tHTZGsmEymQt0MY__GHO8JLGjBpSY36DvipT/s1600/20140121_114549.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIYZ_tTPBQe5ZV8rRzPdKLRCkKPrJjWN5pStVuebiFjMcODLmz8Dwk412aSePBBideZO9R5z_qnF4ri5IztxzLbzyg-3wdj2BaZCI4y73tHTZGsmEymQt0MY__GHO8JLGjBpSY36DvipT/s1600/20140121_114549.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Entrance to the shwag store.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-BAd-m-jqNsjN1L0oUV-t4vvRUTyKA50-MmGPLVMpaoPjMBx3Z_5_CpqbyBwaTe4Wrp0LhuHYUxn7FhyDugpJWs5KHHSVk67qGD7rEfe6KpkOccnhYb-0AFE9V3vjbhuzZMS7HOLeaaO/s1600/20140121_114645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV-BAd-m-jqNsjN1L0oUV-t4vvRUTyKA50-MmGPLVMpaoPjMBx3Z_5_CpqbyBwaTe4Wrp0LhuHYUxn7FhyDugpJWs5KHHSVk67qGD7rEfe6KpkOccnhYb-0AFE9V3vjbhuzZMS7HOLeaaO/s1600/20140121_114645.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The view from the taproom where I enjoyed some really delicious... lemonade. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We
arrived in Seattle with plenty of time to spare and were soon met by
the </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ramming</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Speed</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
guys in their patented rusted-out short-bus. We had met them at the end
of the </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Dying</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Fetus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
tour when we did a one-off show with them in Raleigh. We hit it off with them swimmingly, by that I mean we drank until about 4:00
am with them, shouting </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Iron</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Maiden</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
melodies. We were very familiar with the venue, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Studio-Seven/227133680670292" target="_blank">Studio Seven</a>, which has become
our go-to venue in Seattle, so as soon as doors opened we loaded in,
grabbed showers, and made ourselves at home. We play there so much we've become friends with the owners and always have a great time there. The <strong>Mammoth Grinder</strong>
dudes rolled up in Toyota, which was a bit unusual, but we learned that </span><b>Mammoth Grinder </b>and <b>Toxic Holocaust</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> were using </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ramming
Speed</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'s
backline – so we were carrying about four times the gear of all
the other bands combined. It was the same
case when we toured with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Fetus </b>, I guess we're stuck in the 80s mindset that excessive guitar cabinets and elaborate drumsets are essential. I can live with that</span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The Seattle show was predictably killer and we ended up partying at the venue until about 5:00am. The next day, the other
bands headed to Canada for the Vancouver tour stop. We opted to play it
safe and stay in the good ol' US of A, even though we were admitted into Canada last year with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Fetus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
we felt it was too dicey to risk for one show after getting turned away in 2012 (</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">on our tour with </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Municipal</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Waste</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> and </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Napalm</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Death).</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Even if the Canadian border cops decided to allow us in the country, we
could potentially be charged $800 just to cross the border (Mike,
Bud, the good Doctor and myself all have drunk driving convictions –
leading the Canadian government to require us to each to purchase
“Temporary Residence Permits” each time we enter the country for
$200/person, or potentially not let us in at all as happened </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">) so we opted out and instead headed to Spokane, Washington to do our own show.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">My
favorite thing about playing the Hop in Spokane is the shop <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Timebombcollectibles" target="_blank">Time Bomb</a>
across the street. When we played Spokane with
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Suffocation</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
in April, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">I had spent $60 on Marvel Super Heroes Slurpee cups from the 1970s</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">. Yes I have a girlfriend, and no she isn't imaginary, I swear. This time however, Time Bomb was closed, but a sister store, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/giant.nerd.books" target="_blank">GiantNerd Books</a>, had opened next door. I was able to pick up a couple
of very rare Jack Kirby comic mags from the 70s – </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/spirit-world" target="_blank">SpiritWorld</a> </i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">and
</span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><a href="http://www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/in-the-days-of-the-mob" target="_blank">Days of the Mob</a></i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">.
To say my day was made would be a dramatic understatement. The show
was pretty decent, our friends in </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/xingaia.page?fref=ts" target="_blank">Xingaia</a></b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
supported (and Christine, one of their girlfriends, their pr person
and all around fun gal brought us insanely delicious baked goods to
munch on again, which ruled), playing their thrash-infused hyper
Death Metal with a sneer and some hilarious samples spliced in.
We went to one of their houses for a party afterward, but I bowed out
relatively early after a rapid succession of vodka-and-something
shots. The next day I was still in pretty rough
shape.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Our
van was also in pretty rough shape. The oil leak we'd spotted hadn't
improved - in fact it had gotten worse. We went to a mechanic who
fixed the leak, and then informed us that our transmssion was in
terrible shape – which we kind of knew already. The mechanics were literally shocked that we intended to drive from Portland to Oakland the following
day and predicted categorically that we'd be broken down on
the side of the road than to be enjoying a juicy Nations hamburger in
the home of our <a href="http://www.raiders.com/" target="_blank">favorite football team</a>. Sufficiently spooked, we
seriously considered that our semi-faithful van (we had already put a
new engine in it) might not pull through. We scrambled for options,
and ended up finding a rental van in Portland through <a href="http://www.bandago.com/?src=g&keyword=bandago%20van%20rentals&gclid=CN6_6bW8h74CFZNhfgodmKYANA" target="_blank">Bandago</a> – who
specialize in renting vans to touring bands. Their services aren't
cheap, but inlcude a decent amount of mileage, roadside assitance and
brand new, perfectly maintained vehicles. We decided to bite the
bullet and spend the cash on the rental van, which meant that we'd
all be going home with a significantly smaller amount of money than
expected at the end of this tour, especially since we were planning
on buying our plane tickets for our already-scheduled European tour
with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Toxic</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Holocaust</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
out of the profits from this tour. But we simply couldn't afford to
drop a new transmission in the van right at that moment (we didn't
have time to anyway) and we couldn't risk not being able to finish
the tour in our old van. We hitched the trailer to the rental van,
and decided to drop off our van in San Jose at Bud's parents (who are
total lifesavers). </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Portland show was fun, but because my ID was expired, I wasn't able
to drink any beer at all <em>again</em> (I think between that night and the brewery
tour, I've learned my lesson) and we ended up at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SizzlePie" target="_blank">Sizzle Pie</a>, the
pizza joint owned by Matt Jacobson (who also owns <a href="http://www.relapse.com/" target="_blank">Relapse Records</a>, you might have heard of them?)
for some complimentary slices. We finally left town about 3:00am with
both vans, and headed to the Bay Area. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMTq0vQwzUpZwsM-IUlGQBNitWRlK802gCpUoUFTdzmDYS8er2wRhJSnKyM-ONxyhTgdMG8m19IKWbYDMa9anmf0wIyHjxYCMZVgwm-87pzZnuUK5Og0x-3HJlip8vxu1ZaTS3ip-fSx2o/s1600/20140125_164038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMTq0vQwzUpZwsM-IUlGQBNitWRlK802gCpUoUFTdzmDYS8er2wRhJSnKyM-ONxyhTgdMG8m19IKWbYDMa9anmf0wIyHjxYCMZVgwm-87pzZnuUK5Og0x-3HJlip8vxu1ZaTS3ip-fSx2o/s1600/20140125_164038.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The Oakland Metro Opera House before the show</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGg8qLi2q-H-EkPWCbFUOiYg9kFXYQd_nGr5rBmmus7sbXsHFYpUq4IA565_hk4aK-qjuUQxzOjzl1DeIuuq4Pm1tAnBIyqWFmpXtYWtOd1WmOcxZvyaM6tLim9oExFrkBdbFkZBbt_ob/s1600/20140125_171455.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWGg8qLi2q-H-EkPWCbFUOiYg9kFXYQd_nGr5rBmmus7sbXsHFYpUq4IA565_hk4aK-qjuUQxzOjzl1DeIuuq4Pm1tAnBIyqWFmpXtYWtOd1WmOcxZvyaM6tLim9oExFrkBdbFkZBbt_ob/s1600/20140125_171455.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Mike Hamilton, booze advisor</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmfRXRp7VliU8EqYUvu10mYjrvs-cKUxAF5SlkgOVq3ngpxZ_70eFRxm4Z24VFWTPHpO4ylTxsHzh_HFuBy4m5rCgU0Bb2reDqFP2O8eWOCMSusESnxOHCZYRM1EFnUC8b95UpW3zRoyM/s1600/20140125_173843.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmfRXRp7VliU8EqYUvu10mYjrvs-cKUxAF5SlkgOVq3ngpxZ_70eFRxm4Z24VFWTPHpO4ylTxsHzh_HFuBy4m5rCgU0Bb2reDqFP2O8eWOCMSusESnxOHCZYRM1EFnUC8b95UpW3zRoyM/s1600/20140125_173843.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Turning garbage into gold: Mike's old drum head with some of my scribbles, an old set list (that was there already) and our signatures. This netted us dozens of... cents at the merch table. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
love the Oakland Metro, love the city, love seeing old friends,
hanging with Mike's brothers and assorted family members and even
just driving by the Oakland Coliseum makes me a little misty-eyed,
even if it's been 12 years since I've had reason to be optimistic
about a Raiders season (and yes 510 purists, I know I'm from the suburbs!). We did end up enjoying that delicious <a href="http://nationsrestaurants.com/" target="_blank">Nations</a> cheeseburger after all (salmon burger in my case, if you wanna get technical about it) before the show, enjoying an East Bay tradition. We had
played the Metro with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Iron
Reagan</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and local support from the awesome </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><a href="http://necrot.bandcamp.com/" target="_blank">Necrot</a></b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
on a Monday night in December and it had been a solid show, even
after having been in San Francisco five weeks eariler with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Fetus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
so we were anxious to see how it would go on a Saturday night with a
fully stacked tour package. Suffice it to say, the night did not
disappoint. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"></span></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We had to split fairly soon afterwards, to drop our
ailing van off at Bud's folks in San Jose and then stop by my place
in Arroyo Grande to drop off some gear and pick up some other gear
before the following day's in-store at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/grillemalltruck" target="_blank">Grill 'Em All</a> in Alahambra and
show at the Joint in Los Angeles. We had a great time and a great
meal at Grill 'Em All, who added their first vegan item to the menu
for </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Toxic Holocaust
</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Joel's
been a vegan for four years or so), some TH-themed fries. I went for the
spicy Napalm Death-themed burger and did not regret it at all (as
much as my underwear might disagree). The staff were awesome, welcoming, and generously pulling pints of beer, so it was a great warm-up. The
show at the Joint (where we had hosted our </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Necrocracy
</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">listening
party night) was destined to be packed – the venue was woefully
undersized, really more of a bar than anything and it was quickly
sold out. While we played, I could see kids looking in through the
windows, watching the show from outside. It was a trip. We partied
with tons of friends and familiar faces, then after the show we headed
further south to Santa Ana to crash at Rob's. </span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjojtgG08yIzdqrMbWxO4Xcn-49WwEug4MQOSPi8NyZpYH6iosIKPKZ1iKxZT4fRtwtYQjj4wY8UPfMw2HmOqo_aZtou-rO6SuO-_DB44b9BSEQ-yHs6Jm6iZg48t36jIV65K6l9N2g1jXa/s1600/image.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjojtgG08yIzdqrMbWxO4Xcn-49WwEug4MQOSPi8NyZpYH6iosIKPKZ1iKxZT4fRtwtYQjj4wY8UPfMw2HmOqo_aZtou-rO6SuO-_DB44b9BSEQ-yHs6Jm6iZg48t36jIV65K6l9N2g1jXa/s1600/image.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">The line at Grill 'em All. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4_lPWGxYY8efYTS_CbHiGUjKgRc_3P9apF9JdQbdEm_3DY4yXiDHN14KxT0A566ALYTcHWshPdfBV6g9uZZ_dlGqiDT8KaJ1lzCJ4JEL3nY7mB-7vc35nmN1KhVp98nXyqvi6poBvPMm/s1600/image_4.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4_lPWGxYY8efYTS_CbHiGUjKgRc_3P9apF9JdQbdEm_3DY4yXiDHN14KxT0A566ALYTcHWshPdfBV6g9uZZ_dlGqiDT8KaJ1lzCJ4JEL3nY7mB-7vc35nmN1KhVp98nXyqvi6poBvPMm/s1600/image_4.jpeg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">Exhumed, immediately after gaining 8 pounds at Grill 'em All in Alhambra. 8 delicious pounds.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Mike
was up early the next day to pick up our sound-guy for this tour,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Cephalic Carnage
</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">guitarist
Brian Hopp who was in town for the NAMM convention. While he was being productive, I dragged my
carcass down the street to Charlie's Best, the local taqueria /
burger joint for some much-needed greasy fare. Soon we were back at
the Constellation Room in Santa Ana, where we had just played a
sold-out show with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Dying</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Fetus </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">in
October, and even after that, we had played locally with Iron Reagan
in Anaheim in December which was a killer show in its own right, so
we figured that the show would be a corker. Before the gig we shared
a dressing room with the </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Toxic
</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">guys
and got a taste of just how much they loved awful music (maybe even more than us??). After being
treated to some obscure christian metal jams from the '80s courtesy
of Joel and Phil (Nick just sort of hung his head dejctedly and said
“welcome to the last four years of my life” as Joel and Phil delighted in knowing every cringe-worthy lyric), we had a killer set, feeling much more at ease with a seasoned guy behind
the board. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: x-small;">"Sickened," "Gravewalker" and "The Matter of Splatter" in Santa Ana</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">After
the gig, we piled in the (admittedly much more comfortable) rental van and headed
for Phoenix, where we predictably showed up at Ryan Butler's doorstep
at 9 in the morning. Ryan is a saint, aside from engineering and co-producing our last two records and playing guitar in the awesome </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/landmine.marathon" target="_blank">Landmine Marathon</a></b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
he lets us hang out at his place every time we roll through on tour
(which is about five or six times a year), watch cable TV, shower, do
laundry and hang out with his dog Leia (who makes an appearance on
our split EP with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Iron
Reagan</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">). We had played in the area just five weeks earlier with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Iron
Reagan</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and had a good show, even after just playing there in October with </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Fetus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
so we felt like we were pretty much a glorified local band at this point. We'd been
having consistently good shows in Phoenix, and the package was killer, so we weren't too worried. Our confidence was rewarded, and the energy in Phoenix was killer. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">We always swing
next door to <a href="http://asylumrecordsaz.com/?page_id=64" target="_blank">Asylum Records</a> to hang out and check out the stock, and
I somehow resisted the temptation to buy the Japanese pressing of
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Spellbound </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">by
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Tygers of Pan Tang</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
that they had there, remembering how much extra we were spending on
the rental van. At any rate, we made our traditional stop for late
night Mexican at Filberto's with Buter and a few friends before
packing back into the van to drive to Albuquerque for the following
day's show. But that, as they say, is a tale for another blog.</span></span></span>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-34286890989687704992014-04-05T12:24:00.002-07:002014-04-05T12:25:31.468-07:00Tabs from the slab continued...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's more guitar tablature for you guys to chew on. This time, I've tabbed out the first track from <em>All Guts, No Glory</em>, "As Hammer to Anvil" for you. It's a pretty straightforward tune construction-wise. The verse, chorus and beginning of the bridge is all built around deconstructing the intro riff, which features a bit of string-skipping alternate picking that's pretty easy to master once you get the hang of it. I got the idea years ago after reading something by Erik Rutan talking about string-skipping exercises he did. The transitions are simple hammer-on ascensions that are our takes on the opening licks in "Back in the Village" by <strong>Maiden</strong> - or as we referred to it - the "...And Justice for All" lick backwards. Playing it much faster and against F# key of the song (technically C# in our tuning) gives it a different feel than either the <strong>Maiden</strong> or <strong>Metallica</strong> takes on the lick (that are in Am and Em respectively). The timing of the chorus riff is loosely based off the chorus riff in "Hypertension" by<strong> Razor</strong> and the bridge features pretty obvious nods first to <strong>Slayer</strong> (a bit similar to "Captor of Sin") and then to <strong>Carcass </strong>(riffing off the chorus in "Swarming Vulgar Mass of Infected Virulency"). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've included the transcription for my solo (or a very close facsimile thereof) here. In doing this, as often happens, I've realized how far what I've been playing live every night has wandered from the initial recording. The first half has some typical stuff that I do a lot, interspersing Adrian Smith-worship minor stuff with occasional spurts of bluesy bits with lots of hammer-ons, pull-offs and triplet timing, and then it goes into a total "Creeping Death" type descent that was just too easy and fun to do, before rounding it out with a quarter-note triplet melody stuff that I so often fall back on for feel and vibe. I'm not sure what Wes played here, but his solo is a killer. If you run into him, ask him for me. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The file I posted here is a Guitar Pro 6 file, which is what we use to send transcriptions back and forth internally. I'm not sure if there's a free way to open the (.gpx) files as I'm not the most internet-savvy guy out there, but the program itself is pretty reasonable - something like $45. I highly recommend it for any guitarists, I use it to write midi drum patterns and all kinds of shit. I tried exporting the file as a .pdf, but it turns into a ridiculously long thing that is of no use to anyone, so... Hopefully you have the program if you're interested. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And for those of you who aren't guitar players out there that are still reading (anyone? hello?), I wrote an alternate draft of liner notes for <em>All Guts, No Glory</em> that featured a track-by-track breakdown. Here's what I had for "As Hammer..." circa 2011:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: small/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">I wrote five or six songs for a new album back in 2005, and this is one of the two that we actually recorded for “All Guts, No Glory” (the other being “Cold Caress”). Even at the time, the consensus was that this was the strongest track I had come up with, and it's held up well. Getting it ready for this record, I did tighten up the arrangement (originally there was a weird tempo shift where things slowed to a crawl and there was some atmospheric whammy bar stuff that didn't work that well even then, and definitely didn't jive with the zeitgeist of things in 2011) and shorten the song a little bit to keep it taut and aggressive. One part I kept was one of Mike Beams' old riffs as the tail to the bridge part. I originally wrote this song right before he left the band, and this particular bit was something from his early 90's death metal band<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Burial</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: small/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">. They were a great band, chock full of Mike's amazing riffs, and really good friends of ours in the early days. Their singer, Mark Smith recorded the “Cadaveric Splatter Platter” demo with us back in 1993. Mike was a true gentleman about the riff and was stoked that we used it on the record. Leon</span><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: small/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>actually inspired the title years ago. When<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Satyricon</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: small/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">'s “Nemesis Divina” album came out, Leon would always quote the line “I am the hammer, you are the (you have to say this with an exaggerated Scandinavian accent) anwil” which would crack me up. So I had some kind of Hammer / Anvil thing in mind – plus we had already spoofed the band<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span><b style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Anvil</b><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #222222; display: inline !important; float: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: small/normal Arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>with “Forged In Fire” back on “Slaughtercult”, so it kind of fit an ongoing motif. I had written lyrics back in '05, but lost them somewhere in the many moves I've undertaken since then, so I just kept the title and vocal patterns (as best I could remember them) and wrote new ones that are probably pretty similar, in all honesty. The bridge part is a little homage to a Tolkein poem about dwarves and their “hammer fells like ringing bells” or something like that, haha!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">A</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">ll right guys, enjoy. Tour updates and photos are coming here soon - here's the link to get the tab.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.mediafire.com/download/61f5cngi6cqjau1/As_Hammer_To_Anvil.gpx">http://www.mediafire.com/download/61f5cngi6cqjau1/As_Hammer_To_Anvil.gpx</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">"As Hammer To Anvil" Live at the Roxy at the Scion / Relapse showcase in early 2012</span></div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-33029241375186249052014-03-28T15:20:00.000-07:002014-04-30T02:02:49.763-07:00March 2014 - Under the Influence<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
Hey there, meant to update this while we were on the road, but... you know how things go on the road - Hangovers, layovers, fatigue, lack of internet... Anyway, we finally finished two back-to-back tours with the truly indulgent and most excellent dudes in <strong>Toxic Holocaust </strong>across the western half of the USA and the vast majority of the European continent. We're going to be do something <i>really weird</i> next - take six months off touring (with the exception of the Scion Rock Fest in Pomona, California this May) so we'll actually get a bit of time to relax. Anyway, in between catching up on all the TV I've missed while on tour, I've been going through my computer and tidying up files and such (oh yeah, I know how to have a good time) and I came across something I wrote for a Finnish webzine called <a href="http://imperiumi.net/" target="_blank">Imperiumi</a>. They have a feature called "Pirun Tusina" (which translates to "the Devil's Dozen") where different musicians talk about the thirteen records that have had the biggest impact on them and their musical development. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I love this kind of thing and had a blast writing this up, and it turned out to be pretty long-winded. Anyway, I'm not sure if they ever did translate / post it, but I came across the document and thought I'd share it here. I doubt anyone who knows much about me or the band will be surprised at all, but, if you dig this kind of stuff, hopefully you'll find it a decent read. I'll be back with more new content, tablature and - yes, I have heard your numerous requests - I will resume the tour diaries. Anyway, enjoy this for now.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cheers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Matt </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">#1.
<b>Metallica </b><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Master of
Puppets</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I
first heard this around Christmas of 1987. I had turned 12 a
couple of months earlier and was gettting into </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Dio</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Maiden</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ozzy</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>W.A.S.P.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
and all the requisite 80s mainstream / hair metal stuff. I tried one of
those record club 12 cassettes for a penny deals (remember when that
was a thing?) and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was a name I had vaguely heard of somewhere, so I took a stab in the
dark and ordered <i>Master of Puppet</i> (</span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Peace
Sells... But Who's Buying</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was also in there, which I added on the list because it had cool
cover art). After I had sifted through all the stuff I got (</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ozzy</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“Tribute,” </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Quiet</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Riot</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“Metal Health,” </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>W.A.S.P.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'s
first album, </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Dio</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“Sacred Heart,” and a bunch of other stuff I've forgotten) I came
to the </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Megadeth</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
tapes. I had saved these two for last, since they looked the most frightening
and were unknown commodities. I was at my
grandparents' for the holidays and was the last person awake. I remember sitting
in the empty living room with the tree and all the presents and listening to music in the dark on my Walkman - that's where I first heard <strong>Metallica</strong>. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
At first I thought, “This isn't a
heavy metal tape, this like... Spanish music or something,” until
that angular, aggressive verse riff emerged from one of the greatest
build-ups in Metal history. When the drums kicked in, I was literally
shocked. While I listened, alone in the dark, eyes closed, I literally felt like I was on the most intense roller-coaster ride
of my life. When “Battery” ended, I had to stop the tape to catch
my breath. I remember looking around the room in disbelief –
something fucking amazing had just happened to me, something inside
me had woken up – and I was a little surprised that the living room
still looked the same, because I felt that things had become, well... fundamentally
<i>different</i> than they had been before I heard that song. I took a moment
to collect my thoughts, and then proceeded to get into the second
track. I wasn't sure exactly what the lyrics were about, and I
worried (the pitch-shifted laughter in the
bridge actually frightened me at the time) that I would
get grounded or something for listening to the record if my parents
found out it was satanic (it wasn't). The title track ended and again, I stopped the tape to
try and make some sense of what I'd heard. I
decided that this record was completely worth the risk of getting
grounded and that I would press on through the rest of the album. It was that revolutionary to me, that even listening to the record felt like an act of defiance. And it felt damn
good.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> A
couple of weeks later I saw an issue of </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hit
Parader</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
or whatever rock mag it was, and there were all these guys with huge
hair and sparkly pants, and then there was </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> and they were just... these four guys. They weren't puckering their lips
for the camera – they were scowling, or laughing, or skateboarding.
They didn't look like “rock stars,” they just looked like dudes
from the nearby high school: ratty jeans; band t-shirts; leathers;
puffy white hi-tops. When I saw them, I thought – “Maybe I could do
that.” I had been thinking about picking up an instrument, but I
never quite made the leap of trying it until I saw </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I thought: “they're just regular guys, and they're blowing
everybody else out of the water – no robot dragons, no hairspray,
no music video, and they're the most interesting band on the scene.
Fuck, if they can do it, why not me?” And so I did. And I'm still
playing white guitars, wearing tight black jeans, sleeveless shirts,
wristbands and high-tops 26 years later, so I'd say the influence
can't really be overstated. So much of what I've done musically
stems directly from that night in December 1987.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Even
as an adult, I never, ever, ever get tired of listening to this
album. Each song is great in its own right, and it has just the right
mix of... well, everything. There's youthful aggression, thoughtful
passages, touches of Cliff's emotive psychedelic influence, lyrics
that are just deep / juvenile enough to stimulate a kid in school but
not embarrass an adult, and of course, an endless array of the best
riffs in the fucking universe. To me, this album (and to a lesser
extent </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ride The
Lightning</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)
epitomizes how great Heavy Metal can be. For every defiantly
triumphal melody, there's a lumbering colossus of a riff or a
straight-ahead, face-ripping Thrash section. These guys make using
these seemingly disparate elements look easy. I could probably write
800 words on each song, but I'll leave it at this for now. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#2
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hell Awaits</span></i></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> After discovering
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Megadeth</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
(who seemed to my young ears to be an inferior albeit enjoyable band
to listen to when you were tired of </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><strong>Metallica</strong>) anything seemed possible in the realm of heavy music that was just opening up to me<strong>.</strong></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
And then... Enter </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I got </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reign</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">In</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Blood</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
first, and was of course overwhelmed by the speed and aggression (I
even ruined the “listening to students' music one day a week in
class” in Seventh grade by playing “Altar of Sacrifice” and shocking the “cool teacher” at school who was very nonplussed) but I
ended up spending more time with </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hell
Awaits</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Sure </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reign</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
went for the throat, but </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hell
Awaits</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was fucking scary. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I remember buying that cassette (I religiously bought
everything on cassette back then, which I profoundly regret in
hindsight) very distinctly. I was having a sleepover sometime during early
1988 at a buddy's house, and we went to the record store together where He bought
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Appetite For
Destruction,</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and I bought </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hell
Awaits</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. Back at his dad's apartment, we compared purchases. As I listened to the Gn'R album (which I now
completely love) I was cringing with disgust - all I heard was another generic MTV-ready glam band (again, that's a 12 year-old's opinion), but my buddy was totally into it.
Then I popped in </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hell
Awaits</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and it was clear he just as bummed out with what he was hearing as I
had been with </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Appetite</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
The next morning when I left his house, I knew that we would never
hang out again. And we didn't. I got this feeling that I was on a
different path- keep in mind I was twelve years old here, I was changing and everything seemed new and laden with
significance – leading to someplace darker, faster and heavier than
ever before. </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hell
Awaits</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was pointing the way. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">This album is verging on pure Death Metal –
especially for the time: the dark tremelo picked riffs, songs about
hell, necrophilia, serial killers, vampires, and uh... well, amphetamines. Even the bass was audible in the mix! As much as I love
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Show No Mercy</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(I used to have it in my auto-reverse tape deck to play over and over while I slept), I feel like this is the album where </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
became </span></span><i style="font-weight: bold;">Slayer</i>, or rather <b><i>SLAAAAAAYER</i></b>!!!<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> This is the sound that defined their greatest moments, the sound of
two guitars slashing and hacking instead of soloing, weaving minor
riffs fraught with sinister atonality and quirky harmonies around Dave's breakneck
drumming. They streamlined and perfected the formula on </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reign
In Blood</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
but give me the experimentation and the sinister feel of </span><em>Hell
Awaits </em>any day<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
The rough-hewn production and not-quite-professional-yet vibe of the
songwriting and instrumentation is something unique and very close to
my heart. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#3
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Exodus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bonded By Blood</span></i></span></div>
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</div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I
got <strong>Exodus</strong>' sophomore album, </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pleasures of
the Flesh</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
sometime in early 1988. I liked it, but didn't fall in love with
it. I think I had a lot of company in that analysis. The atrocious
drum sound and hollow production didn't do the excellent songs any
favors. That said, I liked it enough to get </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bonded
By Blood</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
which completely blew me away. It was the missing link between </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kill
'Em All</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Show No Mercy</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
but I think it's quite a bit better than either of those albums. When
I hear that intro – I feel my blood pressure rise and the intense desire to
just find someone to beat the shit out of. And it feels fucking good.
By the time I heard this record I had a few thrash cassettes, and was
getting a feel for what the genre was about. This record
encapsulates what Thrash Metal is perfectly. It may be <i>the</i> quintessential Thrash album. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It retains the classiness of pure
British metal with Holt and Hunolt's articulate, melodc solos, but
pairs it with the nastiness of those... fucking... riffs... Riff
after riff just completely rules. Baloff's almost tuneless vocals
sound like the roar of a guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark
alley. There's a palpable sense of danger and menace bristling
through every aspect of the record, propelled by the pummeling drum
work of Tom Hunting, one of the most criminally underrated drummers
in metal. His fills and fluid bass drumming animate riffs that would
sound stale with the Lombardo Polka beat. </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
I love the lyrics to this album more
than I can express. There's an arrogant cruelty and complete lack of
taste throughout. It isn't about fighting glorious battles or killing
your enemies, it's about stabbing people in the back and raping
people's wives. There are absolutely no fucks given and no holds
barred on this lyric sheet. The lack of refinement and sentiment is
refreshing – there's no pretension there. <b>Slayer</b> used big
words like “abascinate,” <b>Exodus</b> were okay with just saying
“Bloody corpse, makes me feel great.” Because really, what else
do you need to say?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> I
was talking to a friend from the crossover band </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>What</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Happens</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Next</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">?
about </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> years later, and before becoming a straightedge punk, he
was a thrash kid and, being a bit older than I, attended the infamous “dead poseur” show at
Ruthie's Inn in Berkeley - The show where the “Slay Team” (</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Exodus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'
entourage) dragged some random guy in a </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Ratt</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
or </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Motley</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Crue</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
shirt or whatever on stage and kicked his ass pretty badly. The show fell apart and
the band left the stage, but the crowd remained behind, chanting
“Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!” for several minutes. As he related that
story, he ended with “...and that's why I got out of metal.” I
simply responded, “That's why I got </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">into</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
metal.” </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#4
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Celtic Frost</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Morbid Tales</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> When
I saw this tape in the record store, I had seen the band's name on a
couple of compilations, but honestly, </span><b>Celtic Frost</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> didn't seem that cool of a moniker to me.
It still sounds like the name of a soap (maybe Irish Spring's rival?) to me if I
think about it objectively. But between the heptagram cover art and
the cool song titles, I bought it anyway (I found a ton of
great records that way, like </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Force</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> by </span><b>Onslaught</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">).
As soon as “Into Crypts of Rays” kicked in... all thoughts of
soap were banished. Now the words "celtic frost" could only mean
</span><i><b>Celtic</b></i><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i><i><b>Frost</b></i><b>.</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The dark, dingy sound of the record was totally different from
anything I'd heard before. The riffs remain the heaviest of all time,
and this was done without down-tuning and in 1984. That blows my mind.
</span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> What
made the album even more personal to me was that it was one of the
few tapes I had at the time that I could actually play along with on
guitar from start to finish. Sure, I knew all the riffs on </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kill
'Em All</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">, but it didn't
sound like </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Kill 'Em All</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
when I played it (crappily). But when I played “Nocturnal Fear,”
it sounded like “Nocturnal Fear.” I spent
so much time playing to this album, its style became engrained in my
guitar-playing. By the time I heard </span><b>Terrorizer</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and learned their power-chord sliding riffs, my first thought was -
“Oh, it's like </span><b>Celtic</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>Frost</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">, but 4 times as
fast, I get it.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Another
thing I really liked about this record was that the cassette I bought
had no information on it whatsoever beyond the cover art and song
titles. I knew absolutely nothing about the band, the image, the lyrics,
anything. That, coupled with the relentless heaviness of the music,
the grimy recording, and those ubiquitous “unghs!” created a kind
of personal mystique for me (that was promptly shattered when
</span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Cold Lake</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was released later that year). Despite Fischer's attempts to
re-shatter it years later with his probably-too-candid autobiography,
I can still recapture it when I hear those thunderous, graveyard
shaking riffs and every previously “heavy” riff instantly sounds
wimpy compared to </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Morbid
Tales</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;"> all over again. </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#5
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Venom</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Black Metal</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> In
October of 1988, my best friend (then and now) and original </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Exhumed</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
drummer, Col Jones handed me the </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Black
Metal</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
cassette and said “Happy Birthday.” We sat down and listened to
“the band that </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
started out opening for” as we knew them at that time and were
blown away by what we heard. What drew me in was the hell-for-leather
abandon of it all. Behind the inverted crosses, piles of amps, racks
of endless toms, bombastic monikers, and excessive dry ice was
something rare and beautiful – a great sense of humor. Any band
that could write a song like “Teacher's Pet” and also help
inspire teenagers in Norway to burn down churches over a decade later
is clearly covering all the bases.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
sloppiness of the proceedings were extremely appealing to a naïve
young guitarist struggling to master the main riff in “Pleasures of
the Flesh.” It's a lot easier and more fun to just play “To Hell
And Back,” where the verse riff is essentially two chords. I think
by this time we felt comfortable listening to heavy music, because I
remember grinning ear to ear when I heard this record. I felt like I
was in on a brilliant, tongue-in-cheek farce. </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
had already cured me of any religious beliefs, so the Satanic stuff
had become pure theater for me at this point, titillating but no
longer frightening; fear has been replaced
by something purer – stimulation. Not sexual, but visceral. Once I
saw </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The Ultimate
Revenge</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Venom</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
fascinated me even more, and for a good number of years they were be my
favorite band. I loved the bombast and the way they were able to make three guys playing sloppy Satanic proto-thrash seem like the biggest deal in the universe. It wasn't just the pyro and the explosions (although those helped), it was the band's swagger and attitude. A life-long love affair with </span><b>Venom</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> started on my 13</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">th</span></span></sup><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
birthday and continues to this day. </span></span>
</span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#6
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Kreator</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pleasure To Kill </span></i>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Maybe
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Black Metal</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was more fun then scary, but there was no laughter in the room when I
heard </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Pleasure To
Kill</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
the first time. I remember listening to this record in early '89
(still thirteen at the time) while eating cereal before leaving to
catch the school bus. I sat there shoving honey nut cheerios into my cake-hole and thought “holy shit – this is faster
than </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">!”
After randomly catching the “Toxic Trace” video on MTV's
Headbanger's Ball, I had to get a Kreator album. </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Endless
Pain</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was the one that was in stock at the record store around the corner
from my house, but I hadn't quite found what I was looking for until
I picked this one up.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> All
of a sudden I felt like there was a new level of speed available to
bands, and I wondered why they weren't </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">all</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
playing this fast? Why wouldn't everyone want to scream on the verge
of comprehensibility like Mille and Ventor do on this album? Why
stop at </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reign</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">in</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Blood</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">?!?!?
The solos here make </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
look like Eddie Van Halen, the drumming is off-time and sloppy, the
toms sound ridiculous, and some of the riffs are so chromatic they
almost accidentally wander into major keys. But who really gives a
fuck when it sounds this powerful. This album sounds like it's about
to explode out of your speakers and destroy everything in it's path.
You feel like you almost have to </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">get
out of the way</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
of this album, it's so aggressive. If I could sum this album up in
one word, I'd say it's fucking </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">mean</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
Even the sort of nice parts (the bridge in “Riot of Violence”)
seem like a monster giving a girl flowers and accidentally crushing
them in his hand and terrifying the girl anyway. There's an energy to
this record that is uniquely powerful, and although I love all their
early records, this one really pushed me to want to play faster, along
with bands like </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>S.O.D.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>D.R.I.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Cryptic</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slaughter.</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#7
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Voivod</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Dimension Hatross</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It wasn't <em>all</em> about speed and brutality, though (although it mostly was). There was room
for something a bit more... dare I say cerebral? </span><b>Voivod</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
were always the most unique Thrash band, then and now,
and </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hatross</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was THE ONE. The record was completely different from its peers from the ground up: fueled by science-fiction concepts, broken
English, and dissonant, off-kilter guitar-riffs, the instrumentalists of the band had three uniquely bizarre
styles that interlocked in a way that sounded unlike anything else. Maybe if I was jamming </span><b>Killing</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>Joke</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">, </span><b>Die</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>Kreuzen</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">, and </span><b>King</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>Crimson</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> in 1988, I
would have had some frame of reference for what I was hearing, but I
had never heard of any of those bands yet. I was still popping zits
listening to </span><b>Slayer</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">. </span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
record brought something really appealing to me personally, a
long-time comic book and science-fiction reader - a heady and
interesting concept that had nothing to with Satan or any other Metal cliches. There was no treading of the same old waters here –
the paradigm wasn't shifted, but shattered. Still retaining the
heaviness and aggression of their early years and just beginning to
tap into the progressive futurism of the </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nothingface</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
era, the band was (and still is) light years ahead of their time. I
think this album sounds as innovative and unique in 2013 as it did in
1988. I loved the fact that everything was centered around this weird
concept that they could take it in these strange new directions. Best
of all, there's an unassuming aspect about this album: in that it's
technical and skronky without being showy about it. The music sounds
how it's supposed to sound: expressive and personal, whereas most
“progressive” or “technical” music sounds stale, contrived
and overthought. This is Voivod sounding like themselves: unique and
untouchable.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#8
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Sodom </b></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Persecution
Mania</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Growing
up in the Bay Area, even a thirteen year-old could figure out that
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Exodus</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Testament</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
et al were pretty fucking popular in 1989. As much as I loved (and
still love) the Bay Area Thrash movement, I wanted something faster
and more brutal. I wanted that same adrenaline rush that I got the
first time I heard “Battery.” Like any addict, I just <em>needed</em> </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">more</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Sodom</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
seemed like </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Kreator</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">'s
crueler little brother. When this cassette landed in my circle
of friends it exploded like the nuclear bomb sound effect in “Nuclear
Winter.” </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
There's not really anything
innovative or ground-breaking going on this album, it just kicks
fucking ass. Witchhunter's endless tom fills rain down like a hail of
bombs (a “Bombenhagel” - see what I did there?), Angelripper's
sneering growl spits out tales of Armageddon with a movie-villain
German accent, and Blackfire's guitar work borders on tasteful
(especially in comparison with Kreator's solos) adding a sheen of
“musicality” to the proceedings. The cover art alone is worth
buying the album for. We spent lots of time in our parents' living
rooms plodding through cover versions of “Persecution Mania” and
“Bombenhagel” (as well as “Riot of Violence”) in 1989 and I haven't stopped spinning this record (or many of their other ones) since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#9
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Scream Bloody Gore</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> With
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Kreator</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Sodom</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
releasing brilliant but comparatively safe sounding records in 1989
(</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Extreme</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Aggression</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Agent</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Orange</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
respectively) it was time to look elsewhere for brutality: Florida.
The first time I heard </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">SBG</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I was actually a little confused by the extremity and the
basement-level production. After repeated listens I got it: this album was the deranged,
bloody audio equivalent of the B- horror films I
loved. Chuck's voice sounded like someone was literally torturing him
while he played, and the riffs were a less developed version of what
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
had done, but still unique. I quickly set to work learning every
single fucking riff on the album and we added “Sacrificial,”
“Mutilation,” and “Infernal Death” to our semi-competent
repertoire of cover songs. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I remember xeroxing the lyric sheet in the
CD (I only had the tape) so that I could pour over
couplets like “Vomit for a mind, maggots for a cock.” </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Once
again, there was an element of cruelty to the music. Completely un-PC
(and probably regrettable in hindsight) lyrics like “I celebrate, a
faggot's death, human disgrace” were actually shocking. I thought
after </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
and </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><b>Venom</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">
there was no shocking me. Wrong. Another friend of ours had “Leprosy”
which is obviously the better album in all respects, but I loved </span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">SBG
</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">more, then and now, and not just because I could play all the riffs at
thirteen. Even after honing my playing and getting down the
</span><i style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Leprosy</i><span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> (and eventually <i>Spiritual Healing</i>) stuff, the more straightforward arrangements and willfully atrocious
lyrics somehow had wormed their way into my heart and have stayed
there ever since. One of the greatest pleasures of my Metal "career" was playing and singing "Zombie Ritual" with Gene Hoglan and other Death Alumni at Neurotic Deathfest. Talk about surreal. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#10
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Napalm Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The Peel Sessions</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> The
first time I heard </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Napalm</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was towards the end of 1989 and I hated them. It was a bunch of
racket. It was garbage. Questions arose like: “Is this even music?
What the fuck was wrong with them? Why would anyone </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">want</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
to make that sound?” And then, inevitably came the next sentence:
“But... play it again.” I wanted the fastest, the most brutal band
in the world, and I had finally found them. Within a few months, they
went from “the dumbest band ever” to being my favorite
band. More than any other extreme band, they represented a paradigm
shift in my musical tastes and identity. Just as </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
made listening to </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Cinderella</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
un-fucking-thinkable, </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Napalm</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
ended up doing the same thing to </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Metallica</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Slayer.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> As
much as I love (pretty much all) the band's proper records, this recording just
shocked me and made such a massive impression. The drumming literally just
sounds like an explosion, while the riffs benefit from that distinctive
late 80s Bill Steer guitar tone and his great </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Reek
Of Putrefaction</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">-era
whammy bar antics make a few appearances too. At the time I heard
this record, my friends and I had already been talking about forming
a proper band, but before long our original drummer Col and I were
holding our own practices where we were free to pursue our love of
blast beats</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. The other guys were still listening to stuff like </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Coroner</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
and we were ready to embrace the bash-and-crash style popularized by
Mick Harris and the lads. </span></span>
</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#11
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Carcass </b></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Symphonies
of Sickness</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> By
summer of 1990, my pimply-faced friends and I were knee deep in
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Obituary</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Morbid</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Angel</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Napalm</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Bolt</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Thrower</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Entombed.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Earache stuff was still really difficult to find in record stores
(for a fourteen year-old anyway), but on a trip to San Francisco with
my parents, a quick stop at Tower Records allowed me to locate the
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Symphonies</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
LP. I didn't have a record player, so I had to listen to the album in
the living room on my parent's record player. It's worth mentioning that I had to listen to it on headphones, since there
was no way in hell my dad would let me play the god-awful noise I was
into at full volume on his stereo (I would buy blank tapes and record
LPs onto cassette immediately, then shelve the LP). I remember
opening the gatefold and being blown away by the intricately morbid
photo collage. As the brief intro slithered to a conclusion and “Reek
Of Putrefaction” kicked in, I was not exactly hooked yet. The lyrics were printed
in crappy blue font directly onto the gatefold collage and between
that and the medical terminology, it was impossible to figure out
what the hell they were. My initial thought was that it was like
early </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Napalm</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Death</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
gone Death Metal. That of course, doesn't even begin to cover it. </span></span>
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
The lyrics were what hooked me in first.
I've always been a reader, my mom was a nursing professor so the
medical aspect was resonant, and the large words created an
insular nerdiness to being into the band that I wholeheartedly
embraced. A couple months later I saw the band open for <b>Death</b>
and <b>Pestilence</b> in Oakland. They were the first established
band on Earache to play in the Bay Area (as far as I know), and
finally hearing guitars tuned that low and blast beats in person
pushed my friends and I fully into playing the more extreme stuff. That was when everything clicked for me - that this band was fucking amazing, not just an interesting stream of weird words. On
the ride home that night, after being blown away by <b>Carcass</b>,
very, very impressed by <b>Pestilence</b> and disappointed by <b>Death</b>
(the band only played a few songs as fill-in guitarist Albert
Gonzalez of <b>Evildead</b> had insufficient time to learn the
material), we decided to merge our bash-and-crash sessions with our
proper “songs” and thus the concept for <b>Exhumed</b> was
crystallized in the back seat of a Honda Civic on October 14<span style="font-size: small;"><sup>th</sup>,
1990 in Oakland.
</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#12
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Repulsion</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“Horrified”</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
When you're a bit of a nerd and obsessed with bands, a natural question that arises is "what are my favorite bands' favorite band?" In 1990, my favorite bands were <b style="font-style: normal;">Napalm</b>
<b style="font-style: normal;">Death</b> and <b style="font-style: normal;">Carcass</b>, and in both cases the answer to the above question seemed to be
<b style="font-style: normal;">Repulsion.</b> After being intrigued but not blown away by their
track “Radiation Sickness” on the Grind Crusher compilation, I
tracked down the “Horrified” CD, and... almost didn't buy it
because Matt Olivo was wearing a <b style="font-style: normal;">Tina</b> <b style="font-style: normal;">Turner</b> shirt in
the band photo. For whatever reason, I pressed on and bought it, and
holy shit, am I glad I did. After realizing that <b style="font-style: normal;">Napalm</b> had
nicked the opening riff to “Stench Of Burning Death” (for their <i>Peel Sessions </i>version of "Deceiver") I started
paying close attention. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">I realized by reading the liner info that everything was recorded in 1986, was was (and still is) astounding. The record manages to combine Death Metal and
Grindcore before most people even credit either of those genres as
existing. I still think that this is the single most intense Death
Metal or Grindcore album ever recorded, period. It has the killer
<b style="font-style: normal;">Slayer</b> / <b style="font-style: normal;">Death</b> type riffs, with the snarl and attitude
of <b style="font-style: normal;">Discharge</b>, <b style="font-style: normal;">Celtic</b> <b style="font-style: normal;">Frost</b> and <b style="font-style: normal;">Slaughter </b>and
the speed of... well, no one else at the time.
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
Behind all the intensity is some
quality guitar work from Matt Olivo, another criminally underrated
player, and some genuinely catchy riffs and arrangements. Even their
shortest song, “Pestilent Decay” at 1:05 is still a proper song,
with hooks and some kind of musical development. The solos flail
wildly against the ceaseless battering that Dave Grave inflicts on
his drum kit, all beneath the sneering vocals of Scott Carlson, who
manages to infuse Death Metal vocals with attitude. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">That's the thing
that really sets this album apart and keeps it sounding fresh. If it
were simply “the fastest demo of 1986” it would be a novelty. But
it's chock full of great songs and a swaggering, sarcastic rock and
roll attitude that is so sadly lacking in modern metal. It's no
wonder the American metal scene wasn't ready for this band in 1986,
they were years ahead of everyone else and remain totally unique.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">#13
</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Autopsy</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Severed</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Survival</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Every
summer as a kid I would spend a couple of weeks with my grandparents
(until I got a job in 1991 when I was 15). The last summer I spent
with them was the summer of 1990. I spent most of my time at their house by myself in their spare bedroom with a downtuned
Epiphone Les Paul learning the riffs on </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Severed
Survival </span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and
attempting the solo in “Gasping For Air”- still one of my
favorites</span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
If any band makes me think of the adjective “sick” it's </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Autopsy.</b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The lurching doom riffs on the album are literally the sound of a
chill creeping down your spine and vomit creeping up into your
throat. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I know it's Death Metal, but this record sounds really
fucking </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">alive</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
It feels like you're in the room with the band, the oppressive
heaviness of the riffs closing in around you like a coffin lid
shutting. Chris' vocals literally sound like he's throwing up the
entire time, and Stevie D's croaking bass adds a level of real depth
missing on every Death Metal from record from Florida of the era. </span></span>
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">
Just as I thought I was getting away
from “rock and roll” and into something much more extreme and
dark, the solos on this album showed me that it's all still rock and
roll. There are deranged pentatonic leads everywhere, keeping things
loose and nasty, when the entire genre was moving towards being
tighter and tidier. They've never walked that path, and my ears are
extremely grateful for that. The first “real” show <b>Exhumed</b>
ever played was opening for <b>Autopsy</b> in January of 1992 (our
fourth or maybe fifth overall) and just watching them soundcheck was
electrifying. The fact that they were cool guys who were nice to the
sixteen-year old nerds playing with them makes that night even more
special. </span></div>
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</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Honorable mentions:</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Sepultura </strong><em>Beneath</em> <em>the</em> <em>Remains </em>- the perfect Death / Thrash metal crossover </span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Entombed </strong><em>Left</em> <em>Hand</em> <em>Path </em>- the perfect template for Swedish Death Metal</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Possessed </strong><em>Seven</em> <em>Churches </em>- the blueprint for Death Metal</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Bathory </strong><em>Under the Sign of the Black Mark </em>- an album so evil I literally hid it from my parents</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Bolt Thrower </strong><em>Realm of Chaos </em>- the grungiest riffs paired with blissfully nerdy cover art</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>The Cure </strong><em>Pornography</em>
- the most fun you'll ever have feeling completely depressed</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Sonic Youth </strong><em>Daydream Nation </em>- dissonance that's both jarring and fragile</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>My Bloody Valentine </strong><em>Loveless </em>- a whirlwind of obscure, beautiful sounds</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>The Swans </strong><em>White Light From the Mouth of Infinity </em>- the most depressing album of all time</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>N.W.A. </strong><em>Straight Outta Compton </em>- the hip-hop <em>Reign in Blood</em></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; widows: 8;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><strong>Beastie Boys </strong><em>License to Ill </em>- the ultimate party record and the first cassette tape I ever bought with my own money</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-38504394604582162132014-01-02T22:32:00.002-08:002014-01-02T22:32:33.236-08:00Coins Upon The Eyes Transcription<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm going to try and stick with posting a transcription a month here. We'll see how that goes. We use a lot of tab for writing and communicating between the band, since we all live 4 hours away from each other minimum, and Bud and I live on opposite sides of the country. The point there being that a lot of our songs are at least partially tabbed out already, so I should be able to get a lot of them up. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's the first track from <em>Necrocracy</em> - "Coins Upon The Eyes." I figured I'd start here since a few folks on FB mentioned it. I'll post some of the older stuff soon - you'll may be surprised at how bone-headedly simple most of the stuff on the first two records actually is. We use the Guitar Pro 6 program to write / tab in, so I've posted the original .gpx file that the program creates as well as a .pdf. The .gpx file will be far more useful and easier on the eyes, but the .pdf should get the job done if you don't have GP6. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The transcription only includes my solo, as Bud doesn't tab out this sort of thing and he usually incorporates a fair degree of improvisation live as well. My solos are usually 85% planned out by the time I get done recording them. My leads are also easier to play, which makes them easier to replicate both live and in tablature form. At any rate, enjoy and happy shredding in 2014.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Matt and the dudes</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Coins Upon the Eyes" guitar tablature as a .gpx file</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.mediafire.com/?0o2snqsqjb3ogpq"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.mediafire.com/?0o2snqsqjb3ogpq</span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Coins Upon the Eyes" guitar tablature as a .pdf file</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.mediafire.com/?0o2snqsqjb3ogpq"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">https://www.mediafire.com/?0o2snqsqjb3ogpq</span></a></div>
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Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-8414776565566321242013-01-02T00:05:00.002-08:002013-01-02T20:13:35.272-08:00Winter 2012 Tour Diarrhea part IV: The long and grinding road<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the end of Municipal Waste / Napalm Death tour in Tampa, we were feeling good about how everything had turned out on "If You're Not Wasted, The Day Is" jaunt across the good ol' US of A, even though we missed the Canadian shows. The morning after the Tampa show, Dr. Philthy, who out of necessity as our van driver maintains a sober lifestyle on the road, unwittingly ate a pot cookie, and as he is not a stoner at all, ended up being incapacitated for quite a while, so we hung out, cooked some breakfast and watched football for a few hours. Rob had gone to party at some other friends' house, so we picked him up on our way out of town. Mike was staying in Florida for a few days and flying out to meet us in California for what was supposed to be the last show of the tour in Fullerton on December 5th. But plans were about to change. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I woke up in the wee hours of the third of December in Spanish Fort, Alabama. We had pulled over for what I assumed was a routine piss stop, but the reason for our lack of forward progress was actually an engine problem. As soon as Dr. Philthy restarted the van and I heard how badly it was knocking, I could tell that whatever was wrong with it, it wasn't good. Not that I know much of anything about working on cars, but I've owned enough shitty cars in my day to have experienced almost every possible car problem. We were parked a few hundred feet from a Goodyear tire / repair shop and when they opened at seven am the following day, we were there, bracing for bad news. The news was even worse than we were expecting. They got the van in to take a look at it and quickly surmised that we probably needed an entirely new engine. Whoa. After giving us a ride to McDonald's to get some breakfast and coffee, they referred us to a place down the street, told us we could leave our trailer in their parking lot for as long as we needed to, and didn't charge us a cent to run the diagnostic on the van. Truly some stand up people. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfw6g2wrgTxsZUjhj3OGXs4D4vtx1Qgm3mA9T88hT0OznfQ2kBi00CqHnjVpDQjlxR0c26shsBMTypyMOThJq2_IcHzLZGui7UKuMtDSISH1-ZP-6HBNvvV3AvTGsrwRC5FYuh20XjyTIo/s1600/IMG_20121204_154949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfw6g2wrgTxsZUjhj3OGXs4D4vtx1Qgm3mA9T88hT0OznfQ2kBi00CqHnjVpDQjlxR0c26shsBMTypyMOThJq2_IcHzLZGui7UKuMtDSISH1-ZP-6HBNvvV3AvTGsrwRC5FYuh20XjyTIo/s320/IMG_20121204_154949.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Crash course in van surgery</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The van limped down the street to Advanced Transmission. After a little false hope that we would be looking at a $700 problem, they confirmed the earlier diagnosis: we were looking at a new engine. This would be way more than what we could afford, especially after taking a pretty serious financial hit missing the Canadian shows in November. Luckily, we got some crucial help from Relapse - thanks guys! - and signed off on the repairs. To further complicate things, between getting the engine and installing it in the van, we would be in Alabama until that Friday. We managed to reschedule the Fullerton show for February, and since we would be staying in Alabama for a week, we decided to add some shows on the way home to try to stem the financial hemorrhaging we were experiencing. The folks at the transmission shop were also great, they let us loiter there for a couple of hours while we formulated a plan of action and the lady who co-owned the shop gave us her personal car to drive around while we were stuck in town, since both of their loaner cars were already out with other customers. That's what I call Southern hospitality. We gathered our personal luggage, bought a lock for our trailer hitch, and headed off to nearby Mobile, Alabama to set up camp in the very affordable and only moderately sketchy Red Roof Inn there.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNfS3ZEp8OmulFGm8WqjqjnnkdJia7gdUcp4O6VE8IU5seeX6Uo8XnEYvQ7Cx484OvLsc4XZPE4f4SSHqlYyz7oP58hUcGNLfl2JYA-eEVYFCOWzbGYG4oeSzL1gKx4Uv8Xwv8NF7Xy6T/s1600/IMG_20121204_155127.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpNfS3ZEp8OmulFGm8WqjqjnnkdJia7gdUcp4O6VE8IU5seeX6Uo8XnEYvQ7Cx484OvLsc4XZPE4f4SSHqlYyz7oP58hUcGNLfl2JYA-eEVYFCOWzbGYG4oeSzL1gKx4Uv8Xwv8NF7Xy6T/s320/IMG_20121204_155127.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They also had to pull out the front console to get everything set up. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Since we were implementing austerity measures, we stocked up on groceries and hunkered down in the hotel for an incredibly boring few days. At least the weather was nice. We took a trip to the site of the Battleship USS Alabama, which was moderately interesting, ate some continental breakfast at much nicer nearby hotels and watched basic cable. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZEFqqAusVqNXc-AJKNwPr14NcGon-kx2kh4n3NAeLcikaQA-F8hnFCRJuqfJDtxDbcY5QTnWOs76d5OMDqsyF1qK1bCkfb3xb8hGtuq625RBHOfwaSimQLucSKLHgGwf7vxiXbnhYFnf/s1600/IMG_20121204_151336.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRZEFqqAusVqNXc-AJKNwPr14NcGon-kx2kh4n3NAeLcikaQA-F8hnFCRJuqfJDtxDbcY5QTnWOs76d5OMDqsyF1qK1bCkfb3xb8hGtuq625RBHOfwaSimQLucSKLHgGwf7vxiXbnhYFnf/s320/IMG_20121204_151336.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The gang gets America on everyone's asses.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJ-SJaCisEKjC7i8Ba12sD5WAla6AHDppHy9ev9ONPDx4DkNuFqo-00_asrcOItWC5HfqdOYGtSgedHGlBkP_P81z5kwZhVFnI9IX4ZeojvEH9QamSf701oWby5zdCLNHnojo6I93Rkoy/s1600/IMG_20121204_150357.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXJ-SJaCisEKjC7i8Ba12sD5WAla6AHDppHy9ev9ONPDx4DkNuFqo-00_asrcOItWC5HfqdOYGtSgedHGlBkP_P81z5kwZhVFnI9IX4ZeojvEH9QamSf701oWby5zdCLNHnojo6I93Rkoy/s320/IMG_20121204_150357.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rob Babcock, dumbass first class, reporting for doody.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLwYHKhi1zeMESG_iqZPVMicvLLG9S95FDWTusFI-ElbWSC5h2YYRfQ5I82yF4pCJaWzjVHfJamnW4Bu62ecDkqlUjA1OFXOUMB4D3AWXV3Qc5mJu_kyUCuMHiHd8qHCcjQ8gvAZ-HjCj/s1600/IMG_20121204_145556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyLwYHKhi1zeMESG_iqZPVMicvLLG9S95FDWTusFI-ElbWSC5h2YYRfQ5I82yF4pCJaWzjVHfJamnW4Bu62ecDkqlUjA1OFXOUMB4D3AWXV3Qc5mJu_kyUCuMHiHd8qHCcjQ8gvAZ-HjCj/s320/IMG_20121204_145556.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The USS Alabama. History buffs... you're welcome.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We found a nearby record store and hung out there for a while, and it turned out that the guy who worked there knew who Exhumed was and actually used to hang out with Felix Havoc and the whole Minneapolis grind / crust crew back in the 90s. We also bought some very goofy records pictured below.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfe8cm4fN-W32LZGhFfCw7iNXzWvo__BWovLaHajPF7WSPrD7daSicieWraP7AXNRulRs-6Dq-pJXohqDBVwN-J8rT4a15oEvIxbdZV9HGIfAmO5wD6MXKrAFMY9shPjyQZgBccIQ3TRmS/s1600/IMG_20121206_170745.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfe8cm4fN-W32LZGhFfCw7iNXzWvo__BWovLaHajPF7WSPrD7daSicieWraP7AXNRulRs-6Dq-pJXohqDBVwN-J8rT4a15oEvIxbdZV9HGIfAmO5wD6MXKrAFMY9shPjyQZgBccIQ3TRmS/s320/IMG_20121206_170745.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNzoUWHMzQtW8Q0FQOzNimOQ724vyfQRULsKj1FwMPjgg7eTGDSSYCjKquhFAGMxlD8bdIwClVXnzj_pGlGYFeT7BGLLMMCrKQ1FLSYNTPCEVGb_T2bTWE_r1f11h3y5QN8iIH_CvAw8C/s1600/IMG_20121206_170901.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNzoUWHMzQtW8Q0FQOzNimOQ724vyfQRULsKj1FwMPjgg7eTGDSSYCjKquhFAGMxlD8bdIwClVXnzj_pGlGYFeT7BGLLMMCrKQ1FLSYNTPCEVGb_T2bTWE_r1f11h3y5QN8iIH_CvAw8C/s320/IMG_20121206_170901.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Mike arrived Thursday night, and to celebrate we went and watched the Raiders / Broncos game. I should have put "celebrate" in quotes, because that game was awful for the silver and black. We shrugged off the disappointment that has been the constant burden of Raider fans for the past several years and prepared to be reunited with our van the next day. That Friday afternoon, a</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">t long last, our van was back in action with a brand new engine and we were headed out to Lafayette Louisiana to start playing our way back home. Honestly, just to be heading westward was an incredible feeling. The show was predictably small, but we were just having fun playing and not being stuck at the Red Roof Inn. We were also treated to some delicious homemade gumbo and crawfish which was great. We partied with some locals afterward, and ended up grabbing an acoustic guitar and entertaining everyone with some off-the-cuff country covers, Merle Haggard, David Allan Coe, and a few others. Bud is a killer harmony vocalist, so that made us sound like we knew what we were doing. We then crashed at the promoter's house / compound which was awesome and had tons of room before heading off to Space City the following day. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This dude was delicious.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-g1iq9a1W9a5aLDgklSxrHwspaZWLDyffVsmLjquFv4nF4ux8xxito0xMOSPY6605IyAO1nzuCCCppQ7c5CQqctFbmVUOMb02br6JVMPSC0jfgjvyTeiHdpAeW4FESKgXHYx4_aoc7RsV/s1600/IMG_20121208_122527.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-g1iq9a1W9a5aLDgklSxrHwspaZWLDyffVsmLjquFv4nF4ux8xxito0xMOSPY6605IyAO1nzuCCCppQ7c5CQqctFbmVUOMb02br6JVMPSC0jfgjvyTeiHdpAeW4FESKgXHYx4_aoc7RsV/s320/IMG_20121208_122527.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hangover hijinks with Body Bag Babcock in Lafayette, Louisiana.</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYojLRCJbOAeCHW9EAEpdQ7xjDO1ORZugK0BaderESsfxyNpqwD-4ZeC0D54vQYRuqjXmpt5SLj9HknzZbgQzGFoj14HjvDWmmB0nb8wpQMOuNuRLUC50VpLTefeNKK3wiIeYcf-8dK3I/s1600/Christmas+Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Houston was an ideal situation because we jumped on the <a href="http://bastarddeceiver.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Bastard Deceiver</a> show that was already happening. I was stoked to see them play again, especially since the sound wasn't all that great when they played with us in Tampa. They were predictably great. Frank from Turbokrieg set up the show, and they fucking ruled as well - great straight up powerviolence / grind. The guitarist's other band Cervical Mucous Meltdown played right before them and they were also excellent, more of ROP-era Carcass thing. The place was pretty damn full and people were raging. All in all, it was a great night. Even the guy who owned the club was really stoked and gave us a bunch of free shots at the end of the night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We rolled out that night for Austin, Texas. Austin is one of those places that everything runs really, really late. We didn't even have to be there until 7:00 PM, so we had quite a bit of time to kill. Mike got tattooed by John Zig, whose killer artwork should be familiar to just about any Death Metal fan. I drank 7UP and worked through my hangover. While Mike was wrapping up, we headed to the venue and loaded in. Now that we were headlining, we could actually hang up our banners properly, which was cool. Before we played we grabbed some food at "Peruvian Creole" food truck called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LlamasFoodTrailer" target="_blank">Llamas</a> that was ridiculously good. I ate a cow heart. Yeah, a fucking cow heart. It was so good I went back there before we played so I could eat one of their sandwiches after the show. The show was pretty fun and I got to catch up with some old friends, T.A. from <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/hodtheband" target="_blank">Hod</a> and Ancient Wisdom, Jeff from <a href="http://www.birthad.com/" target="_blank">Birth AD</a> and JT from <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Dixie+Witch" target="_blank">Dixie Witch</a>, and we headed back to Zig's place to crash out. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoydjayOnXO_Paw_nlBG9Sy8rNHhJjnh046GW4kY50ZjLBTYCmeg3RT3HjA0NX8NE8FKrfSkhqIlDi5KORHgJWaOf5LS5blpa9UT4koaZHLk4fiI1mMwDa1NWwlRReifJD6EHLmprPDnqZ/s1600/IMG_20121209_135809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoydjayOnXO_Paw_nlBG9Sy8rNHhJjnh046GW4kY50ZjLBTYCmeg3RT3HjA0NX8NE8FKrfSkhqIlDi5KORHgJWaOf5LS5blpa9UT4koaZHLk4fiI1mMwDa1NWwlRReifJD6EHLmprPDnqZ/s320/IMG_20121209_135809.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Medusa Tattoo in Austin.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9xIosdFj5V5dBioG7rgoKOJeYRFIYcy_J1e43p7MUDjnERdnC9PhPcBsvXFNsqHySPKAIpnzqedOyAGuI-J7liaoiQQnzFR_3QYLoIdZDcW2b1zYQc4wXMW4EAIFHO2ZGTns-46Kavwb/s1600/IMG_20121209_135855.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA9xIosdFj5V5dBioG7rgoKOJeYRFIYcy_J1e43p7MUDjnERdnC9PhPcBsvXFNsqHySPKAIpnzqedOyAGuI-J7liaoiQQnzFR_3QYLoIdZDcW2b1zYQc4wXMW4EAIFHO2ZGTns-46Kavwb/s320/IMG_20121209_135855.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mirror, mirror on the wall, why did I forget to frame the shot so my stupid reflection wouldn't be in it?</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50Oy_09KMgx0cyciuAge1Jy32kvo4pymm93uMpKJ9Y0IGjPMa0Vuar4H5_XUBpm0EumI4JEhjDxXp8InuUgSsuecDRfrSUuCTlP25vfqE0hUv4oU1Q5hrHc-U7CaMWX3lrW64ZcEVNRyp/s1600/IMG_20121209_190442.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50Oy_09KMgx0cyciuAge1Jy32kvo4pymm93uMpKJ9Y0IGjPMa0Vuar4H5_XUBpm0EumI4JEhjDxXp8InuUgSsuecDRfrSUuCTlP25vfqE0hUv4oU1Q5hrHc-U7CaMWX3lrW64ZcEVNRyp/s320/IMG_20121209_190442.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fucking cow heart. Yes!!! Soooo tasty!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_m4a566WQ5TILNXZWX9pQInWnB29eCTnGMwD9ooY4SNHbt6lH8jFwB6jDoZGLKAuA31H1ahwSqHEPwsA94mTD5h-DcCzOEA1ZIXssD-Hkzn3lsSpq6KPasXaGt5bYl09Ubi2KvkwSnLp2/s1600/IMG_20121209_153950.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_m4a566WQ5TILNXZWX9pQInWnB29eCTnGMwD9ooY4SNHbt6lH8jFwB6jDoZGLKAuA31H1ahwSqHEPwsA94mTD5h-DcCzOEA1ZIXssD-Hkzn3lsSpq6KPasXaGt5bYl09Ubi2KvkwSnLp2/s320/IMG_20121209_153950.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hamilton in the chair and Zig on point, Medusa Tattoo, Austin Texas.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXZhpymIbPr_1XXaDhFcv_Wl3q-t241olcv61EKG2zwlr0yK_Dh2mLKBKq8Ue9PS3Vwahv079Y0q2G8LcJVWsGh5YKZs-1jdTuQaAC35Lq65F9mtR6kK2uLSsNxlbF09EtVvaOqPwy0mu/s1600/IMG_20121209_193211.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXZhpymIbPr_1XXaDhFcv_Wl3q-t241olcv61EKG2zwlr0yK_Dh2mLKBKq8Ue9PS3Vwahv079Y0q2G8LcJVWsGh5YKZs-1jdTuQaAC35Lq65F9mtR6kK2uLSsNxlbF09EtVvaOqPwy0mu/s320/IMG_20121209_193211.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, the <em>correct</em> way to put up our banners.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The drive to San Antonio the next day was pretty short, so went out to lunch at a sit-down Mexican place in Austin that was pretty good and then hit the road. We were playing downstairs at the Korova, where our old buddy Beer from Hod was working the door which was awesome. We also met Adrian from Cannibal Bitch who brought some much-appreciated barbecue and swag. The show was a little underwhelming, but we usually only play Austin <em>or</em> San Antonio, not both, and considering how last-minute it was, it wasn't a surprise. Regardless, it was fun, <a href="http://www.myspace.com/pillcrusher" target="_blank">Pillcrusher</a> was really good, and we crashed at Adrian's place. He works at the long-running and excellent <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hogwildrecords" target="_blank">Hogwild Records</a> and had a prodigious record collection that we enjoyed nerding out on well through the night. We left early the next morning for Midland, Texas.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We had met the promoter, Jay, in Fort Worth when we played there in November (and where Mike broke the hotel fountain for no apparent reason) as he was a friend of our on-again / off-again merch-slinger Kevin Stewart-Panko. Jay was a stand up dude who put us up in a local motel and brought us beer, water and snacks there. The show was in a totally DIY space, and the only drawback of that was that it was seriously fucking cold. The show was pretty fun, not a barnburner, but far from shitty. And it was in Midland Texas, so we weren't exactly thinking "Wacken Open Air" going into it. We crashed out in the hotel briefly and got some rest for the long drive to Albuquerque. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInDSVoCsBsMC9_Thxnk19h27VIOwgwS2atks2hXwJ4zsoNB9m8m0urGuVxqgHubCVfEbriosRjGadGghga7okSJlQ1poRTB4LUloHBuNwa6oSqnylWn3r_DQo769cIP-wzK8AQhdqbxx8/s1600/IMG_20121212_220947.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgInDSVoCsBsMC9_Thxnk19h27VIOwgwS2atks2hXwJ4zsoNB9m8m0urGuVxqgHubCVfEbriosRjGadGghga7okSJlQ1poRTB4LUloHBuNwa6oSqnylWn3r_DQo769cIP-wzK8AQhdqbxx8/s320/IMG_20121212_220947.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last drum head art I did on the tour... This one actually turned out to be my favorite.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Again, we didn't have to be in Albuquerque particularly early, since the venue, the Launchpad was hosting a wedding for the day / evening. We got there in the early evening, got our usual meal vouchers for the excellent Blackbird Buvette down the street (one of the many nice things about playing the Launchpad) and chowed down before the show. I started getting back on a healthier eating track after all the cow hearts and Texas barbecue I had rashly consumed the preceding week. The show was pretty good, especially considering how last minute everything was. We were all getting anxious to get home at this point, so we headed straight from the venue to Arizona to return our trailer to the U-Haul we had rented it from in Chandler (right near Arcane digital recording) and exchange it for another, one-way rental, trailer for the last few days. That wouldn't have been too bad if we were headed for LA like a sensible band, but we were playing Vegas that night, so it was definitely a detour. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QDp4cSWzU_4KE6QDeZ0JYm6tkP9DxIWWdESL7x5gi2lbhPN__NyoZk-n0hhq-rNoxV26FbC21LHZTCEELayBmQQT5zYdkHUHGNHLAwWOi7vNj0Rac1orR9w22hVIj_8h9BooWkZuATwL/s1600/IMG_20121212_142533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QDp4cSWzU_4KE6QDeZ0JYm6tkP9DxIWWdESL7x5gi2lbhPN__NyoZk-n0hhq-rNoxV26FbC21LHZTCEELayBmQQT5zYdkHUHGNHLAwWOi7vNj0Rac1orR9w22hVIj_8h9BooWkZuATwL/s320/IMG_20121212_142533.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gas Station in Roswell, en route to Albuquerque. UFO conspiracy idiots - you're welcome. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphc7cDJGw3offwQIzNDEszzFJZ08Nns6ubVmNjcIQYL1bASal-ekyGypdDW4CRRU_UH8JAoFdQD1jv-PqR_QrgfIELNr7yECFqHoQ4hWeBhwIFWxWHEn-RxKr6kDVkEKllI1tHm7aVGhi/s1600/IMG_20121212_142634.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphc7cDJGw3offwQIzNDEszzFJZ08Nns6ubVmNjcIQYL1bASal-ekyGypdDW4CRRU_UH8JAoFdQD1jv-PqR_QrgfIELNr7yECFqHoQ4hWeBhwIFWxWHEn-RxKr6kDVkEKllI1tHm7aVGhi/s320/IMG_20121212_142634.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dr. Philthy, a not-so-little green man, and Rob. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_UfwNsAg9RzdA-iLrfq5GAxuy2acWP54ascngx2I7fDAj5lNqs2lNRJQgqXMPci2HiNZ6uJmoXERCF2HT4QQwCrVWnRg33XdDgmnNBYIrxZsbIwNgwV2Y_LprnaOT5bXexgkGZS7xPOaT/s1600/IMG_20121212_153953.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_UfwNsAg9RzdA-iLrfq5GAxuy2acWP54ascngx2I7fDAj5lNqs2lNRJQgqXMPci2HiNZ6uJmoXERCF2HT4QQwCrVWnRg33XdDgmnNBYIrxZsbIwNgwV2Y_LprnaOT5bXexgkGZS7xPOaT/s320/IMG_20121212_153953.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was also an awful lot of this on the way home. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4l1KYU12xqYWIbK0dyb-GoYvoyjvNw3a7tCMnYpxuvCgzGb-WcHiDFd_k7KScL-5NEkjBUIV8jROWUl5n98ZtcTczM1_hUHoL8NbCAylOMWQDAQ38p_0UR07iofzO06tyxDv2mdccb_O/s1600/IMG_20121212_215122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz4l1KYU12xqYWIbK0dyb-GoYvoyjvNw3a7tCMnYpxuvCgzGb-WcHiDFd_k7KScL-5NEkjBUIV8jROWUl5n98ZtcTczM1_hUHoL8NbCAylOMWQDAQ38p_0UR07iofzO06tyxDv2mdccb_O/s320/IMG_20121212_215122.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Rob Babcock garage sale extravaganza! We've got oven mitts, we've got headphones, if it's on the table, we'll sell it. Hugs are still free, though.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Detour or not, I was stoked to wake up in balmy Phoenix. The 80 degree weather was a welcome change from the 20s and 30s we had experienced the preceding few days. We didn't end up returning the trailer, they just inspected it and re-rented it to us as a one-way rental which was convenient. After some pho for lunch, we were on our merry way to Las Vegas. Our show was right near the "Fremont Street Experience" at a really nice venue with a great sound system. That said, the room was obviously way too big for us. We were in the same room Soulfly would be playing. The show was okay though, and <a href="http://spunindarkness.com/" target="_blank">Spun In Darkness</a> are always killer to watch. We were all really tired by this point, and focused on getting the fuck home. As soon as we were loaded out, we were psyched to be on the road into California. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The next day, we were finally back in the golden state. Before we got into LA, we hit a Bass Pro Shop for our free picture with Santa. Luckily we still had the goofy Xmas sweaters we had bought in Atlanta. I think the picture turned out pretty damn good. That night, we played at the Key Club, and the show was moved at the last minute from the small room to the big room due to a cancellation upstairs. We had our friends in <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gravehill" target="_blank">Gravehill</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/POORGRIND" target="_blank">POOR</a>, and <a href="http://www.reverbnation.com/apoplexy" target="_blank">Apoplexy</a> on the bill and we were just super psyched to be almost done. We played a really long set that night, since we had our sometimes front-of-house guy Alejandro with us. The show was a little underwhelming, but we had just played LA less than a month before at House Of Blues, and it was raining (which in LA is a totally normal reason to not go to a show - even the Rainbow wasn't that crowded for a Saturday night due to the rain). Regardless we had a lot of fun hanging with friends and draining a bottle of Grey Goose, some Fireball, and some Schnapps (the last two are Xmas booze, in case you're wondering why our drinks weren't manlier). We grabbed a few more drinks at the Rainbow after the show and headed south to crash with some friends in Carlsbad, just north of San Diego. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNfi7nsNAJuLCwFNqYvO-AkJAZhw0NtFdGivmhPFmDXh3wRyBIdpHcfqgILGeglSyGvByfcoGMd5dg1YjDNJyqyzosSU0WAxANKc3kTVnhcqTk5HnlMFH0BH3YfPL9rXFfzn7AopTd4YD/s1600/IMG_20121214_132539.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZNfi7nsNAJuLCwFNqYvO-AkJAZhw0NtFdGivmhPFmDXh3wRyBIdpHcfqgILGeglSyGvByfcoGMd5dg1YjDNJyqyzosSU0WAxANKc3kTVnhcqTk5HnlMFH0BH3YfPL9rXFfzn7AopTd4YD/s320/IMG_20121214_132539.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talking moose. Yup. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYojLRCJbOAeCHW9EAEpdQ7xjDO1ORZugK0BaderESsfxyNpqwD-4ZeC0D54vQYRuqjXmpt5SLj9HknzZbgQzGFoj14HjvDWmmB0nb8wpQMOuNuRLUC50VpLTefeNKK3wiIeYcf-8dK3I/s1600/Christmas+Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzYojLRCJbOAeCHW9EAEpdQ7xjDO1ORZugK0BaderESsfxyNpqwD-4ZeC0D54vQYRuqjXmpt5SLj9HknzZbgQzGFoj14HjvDWmmB0nb8wpQMOuNuRLUC50VpLTefeNKK3wiIeYcf-8dK3I/s320/Christmas+Card.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stupid picture + clip art + logo = win. You owe it to yourself to view the full sized image so you can be blown away by Rob's sweater vest. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">We had finally reached the last show of the tour... I woke up weakened - hungover and feeling like I had a cold or something from fatigue and all the different altitude / climate changes of the last few days. After a refreshing barf, I spent the early afternoon hanging out on the couch watching episodes of Cheers on Netflix, which should put anyone in a good mood. We got to the venue, The Yard, around 4 that afternoon. The Yard is the ultimate DIY spot - it's a converted backyard. Luckily, the trademark great weather of San Diego came through yet again and it was pretty nice out for the show. We were all really burnt and laid around the green room (a living room) until it was go time, eating delicious vegan shepherd's pie and catching up with friends from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Disgorge-USA/200138000006377" target="_blank">Disgorge</a> and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Noisear" target="_blank">Noisear</a>. Before the show started, we were all feeling like we should have just wrapped things up in LA and gone home, but once we got onstage, we had a great time. The environment there was really like a party, and the kids were going ape-shit. It ended up being the perfect ending for the whole tour, with Dr. Philthy pouring blood on the kids from the roof. We dropped off Bud at his sister's place in San Diego and headed back to Carlsbad and hit the local watering hole where Rob made friends, then enemies, then friends again with some gang members (a guy with a neck tattoo, bandana, and probably a gun, told me that he loved Rob) and then concluded the night with some burritos. The next morning, we woke up stoked that the whole trek was finally drawing to a close. We ate a hearty breakfast, dropped Rob off at his new apartment in Santa Ana, then deposited Deedee, our merch girl for last two shows, at her home in Los Angeles. Then the good doctor, Mike, and myself continued the drive north to San Luis Obispo County.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHdbVUdXlGfPRwZdZQivMouOdarGpwraj0KclbeCVxc6NxGAZhzQF_XUOi20J_6gjXPII5DxTjm2emckTB2Rz6TubvRi8RutX4cGOpGw3D_wSIrsimDprf_NPXR-kIcKi-s_0cEk37qM6/s1600/IMG_20121215_234321.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqHdbVUdXlGfPRwZdZQivMouOdarGpwraj0KclbeCVxc6NxGAZhzQF_XUOi20J_6gjXPII5DxTjm2emckTB2Rz6TubvRi8RutX4cGOpGw3D_wSIrsimDprf_NPXR-kIcKi-s_0cEk37qM6/s320/IMG_20121215_234321.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, a store that sums up my personal philosophy. Who would have thought it would be in San Diego?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">All in all it was a killer tour and a lot of fun. I want to take a minute here to especially thank a few people who made it awesome. First off, Relapse for coming through in the clutch, secondly our agent Dan Rozenblum for throwing two separate weeks of shows together at the last possible second, all the promoters that stuck their neck out for us taking these last minute shows, and most importantly - all the killer humanoids who made it out to in Buffalo, Kent, Denver, Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, Boise, Lafayette, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Midland, Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Hollywood, and San Diego - you guys showed us a lot of love and support when we were in some tight spots and we really appreciate it. Without you guys there, those shows would've sucked! Anyway, that about wraps up our year. Even though I didn't get to write about all of our misadventures throughout the year, you should have a pretty decent idea of what we're all about and our various trials, tribulations, and triumphs on the road. There are definitely more updates to come, so see you next time, true believers! Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Excelsior!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">- Matt and the boys. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-73981651946593605772012-12-18T00:45:00.000-08:002012-12-18T18:59:46.885-08:00Fall / Winter tour diary part III: The never-ending party (?) grinds on, and on, and on... <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Let's pick up where we left off, shall we... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
20<sup>th</sup>, Nashville, TN</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
were playing the same venue in Nashville that we were at a few months
prior with Cannibal Corpse, the Exit Inn, but this time, we arrived
in town much earlier. We decided to head downtown to check out the
heart of music city USA. It was kind of cool, very kitschy. We ran
into the Speedwolf guys at the Ernest Tubbs record store (which
carried both kinds of music, country <i>and</i> western), checked out
an awesome vintage guitar shop and ate some amazing barbecue not far
from the club. I know I started off the last update by saying I was
eating healthier and cutting back on meat, but this was an occasion
that definitely called for eating some serious red meat. I ate
something called Cowboy Sushi, which was a chunk of hot link with a
jalepeno inside, wrapped in a strip of barbecued beef brisket. If you
think that sounds amazing, you are correct. At any rate, we finally
moseyed over to the venue and were still a bit early. Kevin and I
went and checked out a weird old bookstore across the street that had
been closed the last time we were in town. The bookstore was
plastered with right wing clippings, cartoons, Romney / Ryan
stickers, and also had signs everywhere banning cell phone use, loud
children, unsupervised children, etc. etc. Needless to say, it was
not a friendly atmosphere. That said, the place was crammed full of
<i>old</i> books. Almost half the
store was Civil War history (I wonder whose side the owners were on?)
and most of the books were at least 50-60 years old. Between a hesher
in tight black jeans and a leather jacket and a half-black Canadian,
we got a lot of dirty looks from the old man who presumably owned the
place. At any rate, it was finally time to load in and get settled at
the venue. We finally got our whirling saw blade props up and
running, after carrying them around for a couple of weeks since the
Vermont show. The show itself was pretty decent, not mind-blowing but
definitely solid. We partied for a while after the show and Dave
Witte turned me on to some of his private reserve stash of extremely
unusual and unusually strong micro-brews. Somehow I went from kinda
drunk to severely wasted instantly. By the time we got in the van a
little while later I was super riled up and wanted to rage. The other
dudes were seriously wondering if I was on coke, PCP or what. I
started blaring classic Death Metal albums and pounding on the
dashboard screaming along at the top of my lungs and being a very
obnoxious jackass. I'm a bit hazy on the rest of the night, but it
may have involved some random vandalism on my part, and it definitely
ended (for me anyway) with a meal at Waffle House where I finally
started to calm down before the imminent passing-out to come. </span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnWDtDag4xEmwa5PVkHueuokdoHro_XT4PTiUfa9oBl5wokztgSNhIXQuOC0i3L2rJASRf8A5asc1e5mHbXGWT2hrGRNjKWdUfAIws88YXo8aDpVSf7b5mXfPVHly3yJC5bfuP5W09zJD/s1600/IMG_20121120_123824.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnWDtDag4xEmwa5PVkHueuokdoHro_XT4PTiUfa9oBl5wokztgSNhIXQuOC0i3L2rJASRf8A5asc1e5mHbXGWT2hrGRNjKWdUfAIws88YXo8aDpVSf7b5mXfPVHly3yJC5bfuP5W09zJD/s320/IMG_20121120_123824.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I did manage to find this gem among the racks of country. A true diamond in the rough!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dTgKuy9YMKHkCP5njPIbdVsqIcV5xydduuhri90KAnvSQvb7IfA-9DkQJIWOqsXlfPPKeS7gtUinPn-Xmvog0JjgkqMDSlh-zvm93XCInFRxlAUgSP0O_7TdxW29Nv6M_GnQ6Lixu7Al/s1600/IMG_20121120_132842.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1dTgKuy9YMKHkCP5njPIbdVsqIcV5xydduuhri90KAnvSQvb7IfA-9DkQJIWOqsXlfPPKeS7gtUinPn-Xmvog0JjgkqMDSlh-zvm93XCInFRxlAUgSP0O_7TdxW29Nv6M_GnQ6Lixu7Al/s320/IMG_20121120_132842.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">It's okay to eat meat when it's cooked in a giant choo-choo shaped BBQ, right?</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIz-F9YFKWZ-eTw4zDP6HUy3mGZz0dKIASzC7YV2C833zUTwk3cQ-htMN8JUq0bSte-OcGlufnyOKgismUh39r_riTeG8-tyyW9068moO7G7JUfsBT3ZUu73jSEXBCGATVD5GBbAkXKEO/s1600/IMG_20121120_132859.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMIz-F9YFKWZ-eTw4zDP6HUy3mGZz0dKIASzC7YV2C833zUTwk3cQ-htMN8JUq0bSte-OcGlufnyOKgismUh39r_riTeG8-tyyW9068moO7G7JUfsBT3ZUu73jSEXBCGATVD5GBbAkXKEO/s320/IMG_20121120_132859.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">This dude definitely knows what he's doing!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlGlFSKZHcz7c7WZAu644HbQp1r9CO9KYlBTlv4HVDI0Op6jyNT5RmRqmIRdsv1TeFcQR-ydbB7Hsp84vu4lvib6tmkA_xG_b4PX7tFUKGCGfH1K74w4NT1cNxTHZdJ5CxPJvtcO-Sa2E/s1600/IMG_20121121_232523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlGlFSKZHcz7c7WZAu644HbQp1r9CO9KYlBTlv4HVDI0Op6jyNT5RmRqmIRdsv1TeFcQR-ydbB7Hsp84vu4lvib6tmkA_xG_b4PX7tFUKGCGfH1K74w4NT1cNxTHZdJ5CxPJvtcO-Sa2E/s320/IMG_20121121_232523.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Dave Witte - his seemingly bottomless craft beer arsenal will getcha!</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRig5GFG736Ypel9aqk_b5lgKpRd6PfbXUzlVjpfwag405AzAX6O815w2d61Ov_NWjxHnQXzD7RpR6gboF6iiJdkNEPczcLCTzeXfk_UlMIV94KZZ5pXOZK1wbfSNaKI_PNjHKbIAcN8k7/s1600/IMG_20121120_202852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRig5GFG736Ypel9aqk_b5lgKpRd6PfbXUzlVjpfwag405AzAX6O815w2d61Ov_NWjxHnQXzD7RpR6gboF6iiJdkNEPczcLCTzeXfk_UlMIV94KZZ5pXOZK1wbfSNaKI_PNjHKbIAcN8k7/s320/IMG_20121120_202852.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Mike surveys his handiwork, mounting our fancy spinning saw-blades at last.</span></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
21<sup>st</sup>,
Lexington, KY</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
got to Lexington pretty early in the morning and met some folks that
knew some other folks Bud had met in Vermont. We had parked at their
place, which is where I woke up, cotton-mouthed and confused. I met
the dudes that lived there and we walked quite a ways to where the
other Exhumed guys had gone to get some coffee. After killing some
time, we headed to the venue, which was really close by. I learned
that Dave had given me Barley Wine the previous night, which I will
absolutely pin all my obnoxious behavior on. It was Dave's fault!
Whatever it was, whew... Anyway, the show was pretty cool, a lot
better vibe for us than the Summer Slaughter stop there without
Cannibal Corpse had been. After the show we headed to our buddy
Mark's house. We had met Mark when he was doing sound on the Black
Dahlia Murder Canadian tour we did earlier this summer and we hung
out with him, his brother and some of their friends watching Robocop and Poultrygeist and drinking Jack Daniels well into the early morning.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7KZfPUCZPV3lE70zJE4GOghQ-XyY8zhSL5lBWO97R6thfY4Kx7z3TNxru16jLzO7TX77FhLd5H2NiaWjHknYSCriDVPuRP9TCLUzNnyc2GojKAoRwCBi0lyrIE8Lwq51lzLP9i1jdgrV/s1600/IMG_20121122_014322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS7KZfPUCZPV3lE70zJE4GOghQ-XyY8zhSL5lBWO97R6thfY4Kx7z3TNxru16jLzO7TX77FhLd5H2NiaWjHknYSCriDVPuRP9TCLUzNnyc2GojKAoRwCBi0lyrIE8Lwq51lzLP9i1jdgrV/s320/IMG_20121122_014322.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Bud gets cozy in Kentucky</span></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
22<sup>nd</sup>,
Day off</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Holidays
are never that cool when you're on tour, unless you're headlining and
you route to your Mom's house or something. The next day's show was
in Richmond, VA, Municipal Waste's hometown, so they had planned well
and were probably already home by the time we left Lexington around
noon. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for Thanksgiving lunch / dinner,
figuring that would be the closest to a home-cooked all-American meal
we would be likely to find off the interstate. My mom approved of our
choice of restaurants so I guess we did okay. We stopped to break up
the drive and watch some football in Charleston, West Virginia. We
ordered a couple of towers of beer, and ended up meeting a couple of
flight attendants who came over and partied with us for a while. They
had a tower of some fancy beer that we helped them dispose of pretty
quickly. One of the flight attendants got pretty sloshed and then
they went out for some “fresh air” and totally took off, ditching
out on their bill entirely. Luckily the waiter was pretty cool and
didn't charge us for their drinks. When we got gas a little later, we
met a hilarious redneck gas station attendant who was bemoaning the
lack of good methamphetamines in his area and his unwillingness to
use his nephew's drug hookup because his nephew was just a kid. Slice
of Americana right there. Without further incident, we headed out for
Richmond VA.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
23<sup>rd</sup>,
Richmond VA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
rolled into Richmond really early, and I was inexplicably awake at
around six AM. That is not like me at all. At any rate, since we were
so early and it was black friday, I decided it would be as good a
time as any (and hopefully cheaper than most) to get a laptop. By the
time we got to Best Buy around nine in the morning, the real maniacs
had already done their shopping and it was a fairly sane shopping
experience. Since we had so much time to kill, we headed to Barnes
and Nobles for some free wifi. I dicked around on my computer for a
few hours while the guys checked out the mall, got coffee and
whatever else they do. At any rate, eventually I got in a nap, and we
were at our late load-in with plenty of time to spare. This would be
the last day of the tour with Kevin Stewart-Panko along for the ride.
He was unexpectedly called away with a family emergency. This is the
second tour we've done with him, and he hasn't finished either of
them. Was it something we said? Was it my incessant farting in the
van? At any rate, there was a matinee show at the club before ours so
we couldn't even load in until 8PM, and of course it was a total
clusterfuck. But it was worth it. The kids were going apeshit, and
the place was packed. I managed to sneak out for a beer or two with
Albert Mudrian, author of “Choosing Death” and Decibel magazine's
intrepid editor-in-chief. It was good to get caught up and look at
his oh-so-cute baby pictures. After the show, we dropped Kevin off at
the airport in Richmond and headed south for Bud's house in
Charlotte, NC.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
24<sup>th</sup>,
Charlotte NC</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
got there early in the morning and headed into Bud's pad to get some
inside sleep while Bud caught up with friends in town. By the time he
came back I had slept and showered and we were ready to head to the
venue, the Tremont Music Hall. We had done a very underwhelming
headlining show there, but tonight was much better. I think after
coming back with Cannibal and again with Napalm Death we might be
starting to get a little traction in Charlotte. A friend of Bud's
brought us her Thanksgiving leftovers which were much appreciated.
The green bean casserole was great even cold. At any rate, the show
was cool, and afterward we headed to Bud's local watering hole, The
Thirsty Beaver, to have a couple of beers until last call. We ended
the night on Bud's couch and recliner before an early van call for
the drive to Chattanooga Tennessee.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSMBbjMS86nXDc13vV3KiDbQu2TNoTPYRb8NcGuAd6Y53hIpigPI7B1Wulsw99ok0OCXxWvWhpujXxt4DBogiuWX3FXz5R7htekkXOmLN2eriLGbKfn1bO9wsgFjDTgUlTb85OEoz0bu0/s1600/IMG_20121125_010354.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnSMBbjMS86nXDc13vV3KiDbQu2TNoTPYRb8NcGuAd6Y53hIpigPI7B1Wulsw99ok0OCXxWvWhpujXxt4DBogiuWX3FXz5R7htekkXOmLN2eriLGbKfn1bO9wsgFjDTgUlTb85OEoz0bu0/s320/IMG_20121125_010354.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Two of my favorite drummers not named Mike Hamilton, Danny Walker, or Col Jones - in Charlotte, NC</span></td></tr>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
25<sup>th</sup>,
Chattanooga TN</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I
woke up at a Wal-Mart where were getting our oil changed. Now I know
that Wal-Mart is an atrocious corporation that preys on small towns
by destroying local business infrastructure and reducing the average
wage level to below the poverty line, but when you're on tour, it
helps to buy goods and services at national chains because you can
actually take advantage of their warranties and return policies no
matter where you are in the country. At any rate, this seemingly
trivial detail will attain at least a semblance of significance as
you read on. So... This show had been moved from Knoxville to
Chattanooga due to the venue in Knoxville getting shut down. The
place in Chattanooga was a tiny bar with very little PA or any space
for staging equipments, banners, etc. We were all stoked when we saw
it. Especially after having so much fun “roughing it” in Buffalo,
Denver and Cheyenne we were excited for such an up-close and personal
kind of show. Again loading in and out wasn't particularly easy, but
after getting everything figured out as far as sharing equipment to
minimize logistical hassles, we headed off to grab some food at the
Yellow Deli, another find from the Happy Cow app. The food was
killer, and we headed back to the venue ready to have some fun. The
show had a great energy, and when Reed from Speedwolf dedicated “I
Can't Die” to a biker in attendance, things really got going. It
was one of the many nights after Oakland where I kept thinking I
might end up going to get more stitches in my lip. Thankfully, Steve,
who was running sound for us and Napalm Death on the tour, helped me
keep the microphone and my face more or less out of harm's way. I met
a super nice kid named Dave who gave me his band Aortic's cover of
“Decrepit Crescendo” on CD, which was not only accurate but
pretty well done. The place was so small that after we played, I hung
out in the merch area most of the rest of the night where we worked
on a bottle of whiskey and somehow ended up leaving with a mounted
boar's head. Good times. While I was sippin' Tennessee whiskey, Mike
Hamilton was regulating shit next door during the Municipal Waste
set. Mike was onstage trying to help Dave with his kit during one of
their songs, and got dragged into the pit, almost getting into a
brawl until Tony stopped the song and explained the situation. Later
that night, we ended up crashing at some dude's apartment with the
Speedwolf guys. The apartment was a little weird because a) there was
no toilet paper / paper towels / tissues anywhere and b) the room Dr.
Philthy stayed in had a strap-on dildo on the dresser. We had to
split pretty early the next day so we didn't even get a chance to
thank him or get an idea of what kind of freaky shit goes on there on
a daily basis. We may never know, and that's totally okay with us. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
26<sup>th</sup>,
Birmingham AL</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
had to split earlier than we'd planned from the casa de strap-on due
to Wal-Mart never giving our keys back after yesterday's oil change.
After going about 40 minutes in the opposite direction, we got on the
road to Alabama in earnest. Again, we were at the same venue we had
played earlier with Cannibal Corpse, so it wasn't too much of a
surprise. This time we skipped the cool downtown area with the
hilarious statue of the goat man reading books to the little animals
and just hung out at the venue once we got there. The show was cool,
not as intense as when we played with Cannibal, but still a really
fun vibe. Nothing too incredibly interesting happened, so onto New
Orleans...</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfuMi-NJZOgf6bbC92VNhpboQ-EcGxp4kFeZzJqlgmQ7mWL79w9Bd_NKaz7yj3G22N4vHsgSbtO-z3h1e192Dc3DURysHkYOpL0u0m4S8mxEizU6vuYDU3bCS1sT3JA9d6K-tl87hMjNn/s1600/IMG_20121126_234813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPfuMi-NJZOgf6bbC92VNhpboQ-EcGxp4kFeZzJqlgmQ7mWL79w9Bd_NKaz7yj3G22N4vHsgSbtO-z3h1e192Dc3DURysHkYOpL0u0m4S8mxEizU6vuYDU3bCS1sT3JA9d6K-tl87hMjNn/s320/IMG_20121126_234813.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Barney making one of his 1 zillion guest appearances, this one with Municipal Waste on "United Forces" in Alabama. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
27<sup>th</sup>,
New Orleans LA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The
last time we had played in New Orleans we made a grievous mistake
before the show. We headed to Bourbon Street for “a couple of
beers” at around 2 in the afternoon. Needless to say by the time we
played ten hours later, Rob could barely stand and the rest of us
could barely play. We left the show angry and wasted in the pouring
rain. We were determined to <i>not</i>
repeat that experience and to make it up to the folks that attended
the last show – which may have been the worst show I've played
since high school. We instituted a self-imposed ban – Exhumed is
not allowed in New Orleans until seven PM. We killed time about a
half hour away soaking up our hangovers, scouting for more stage
props (unsuccessfully) and of course, sitting in the van. By the time
we got into town, it was time for load-in. Our plan worked and the
show turned out to be really fun. They had totally revamped the
kitchen at Siberia for the better. Dinner was delicious, and after we
played I got a killer asparagus sandwich, anticipating the need to
soak up the undoubtedly copious amount of alcohol in store. After the
show, we headed to the outskirts of Bourbon street with most of the
Municipal crew, Mitch from Napalm, and the Speedwolf guys.
Interesting things that happened that night / morning: Reed from
Speedwolf bounced a guy out of a bar, not sure why; a random dude in
a suit gave me 10 dollars to monopolize the jukebox with; Rob almost
fought a guy because Rob didn't like his bike; Bud got up to piss
after passing out and left his shorts in an alley; and, to top it
off, we saw a bad-ass midget on the ride to a friend's house at
around 7am. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
28<sup>th</sup>,
Day off</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
woke up sometime in the afternoon and headed into the Garden district
to get some excellent Mexican Food (not like barrio style, more like
Mexican fusion, but fucking delicious) at Juan's Flying Burrito,
which is becoming something of a tradition for New Orleans mornings
for us (even though our New Orleans mornings usually start after 2PM)
and hung out loafing until around six in the evening when traffic on
the way out of town died down. It was a long drive to Jacksonville,
Florida that I was eager to sleep through. We did manage to get
pulled over for the first time on that drive, for failure to stop at
an agricultural inspection station. The State Trooper turned out to
be a pretty cool good ol' boy and we went along our way without
ticket or further incident. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
29<sup>th</sup>,
Jacksonville FL</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Now,
anyone that knows me knows that Florida is not one of my favorite
states, classic Death Metal notwithstanding, but in late November,
Jacksonville is an awesome place to be. I gleefully donned shorts for
the first time in a couple of weeks, did laundry and then we headed
to Jacksonville beach for a few minutes of sea and sand before
finally checking out the latest James Bond flick, Skyfall. I love
Bond movies in general and really enjoyed this one as well. At any
rate, after the movie, we headed to the venue which was in a weird
strip mall kind of place. The venue was huge and cavernous, with
multiple stages and rooms but seemed very unorganized and set up
really oddly. At any rate, the show wasn't all that great, but it was
a good day, the weather was nice and we had some good Mexican food
for dinner near the venue where Shane from Napalm ate an enormous
burrito in one go. Now we know how he got the Brujeria gig. We were
all psyched to hang out with friends in Atlanta so we hopped in the
van and got moving pretty soon after the show. </span>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighAZGzTNt17gCAI2maualqJbpD4DbK7nLVZAQbT_4AlwrpVLhEfPjVSi5DE87qlk-xFgiYVWaEZmQ6w1SEUV1ztf414ZUifjPm3bZVf7WYR7jmudiCASlySe6o6rZxZ8q8YxDbUV18ONR/s1600/IMG_20121129_124312.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEighAZGzTNt17gCAI2maualqJbpD4DbK7nLVZAQbT_4AlwrpVLhEfPjVSi5DE87qlk-xFgiYVWaEZmQ6w1SEUV1ztf414ZUifjPm3bZVf7WYR7jmudiCASlySe6o6rZxZ8q8YxDbUV18ONR/s320/IMG_20121129_124312.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Jacksonville Beach, FL. Beautiful place.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQ2erhR3Sw5he8M878p9YcjMAwhuIPci3PVCI3vb2wkEsQ92gxFm6CKA4xAHjtDGIsaM8mm-Ap_6W0tqpq8DnxjOFkb4oLpwAxgiXc3qoI3yVlErDh76_k6QgoV246Qb_4mhK46wgA4uT/s1600/IMG_20121129_192754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHQ2erhR3Sw5he8M878p9YcjMAwhuIPci3PVCI3vb2wkEsQ92gxFm6CKA4xAHjtDGIsaM8mm-Ap_6W0tqpq8DnxjOFkb4oLpwAxgiXc3qoI3yVlErDh76_k6QgoV246Qb_4mhK46wgA4uT/s320/IMG_20121129_192754.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Vern, Napalm's drum tech takes on a formidable burrito challenge in Jacksonville.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">November
30<sup>th</sup>,
Atlanta GA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Again,
we got there very early. It seemed like all the drives toward the end
of the tour were just a bit too long to stay in the town we played
in, but short enough to where we seemed to arrive at around seven or
eight in the morning the following day. At any rate, we woke up and
headed to Little Five Points to hang out for a bit. We picked up some
supremely ugly Christmas sweaters at a thrift shop, poked around some
other stores, ate lunch at an excellent natural foods store in the
neighborhood where I got an amazing jerk-style tempeh sandwich that
was one of my favorite things I've eaten all tour. After that we hung
out with Mike (Longoria) from Withered and checked out their jam
space until it was time to load in. The club was a new place I'd
never heard of or played before but the it was really nice. Next to
the club was an event facility where a swanky wedding was taking
place. Apparently the wedding was being filmed for a reality show
about weddings which was odd, but there were a lot of well-dressed,
good looking women going in and out of there all night which was
cool. I met up with my old buddy John Mincemoyer who writes for Iron
Fist and Terrorizer (among others through the years) who took us to
Mellow Mushroom for some pizza. Their spinach and feta pizza was
killer. The show went over really well, and afterward, I headed off
with Mike (Thompson) from Withered and our Mike (Hamilton, for those
of you keeping a tally of all the Mikes in my life) to another bar
for a quick drink, then we made it back to the venue in time for a
killer beer / meat tasting hosted by micro-brew master Dave Witte and
a friend of his who is a professional butcher. It was cool hanging
with Brann from Mastodon and the Royal Thunder crew as well, all
while enjoying some delicious meat like blood sausage, pork pate with
pistachio and pork skin, hand sliced prosciutto and other exotic
carnivorous delights alongside Dave's extensive selection of beers,
everything from stout to sour to porter to you-name-it. I cracked a
couple more beers with Ryan and Phil on the Municipal Waste bus
before we took off for Tampa that night – our last night on tour
with Municipal and Napalm. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMENAP8wRs1gXJbp0LmOv-nEwXU8eqyfXvQP2d4U2igZFBvhasoXNw4bVJBMGsqlKde1My8bADTCFNb0zn29t-T6lkVAISaudnt2DBBYYPLQleGP8sVrPeaCZrchOkNjk8VeCMrQt03Tv/s1600/IMG_20121130_204046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLMENAP8wRs1gXJbp0LmOv-nEwXU8eqyfXvQP2d4U2igZFBvhasoXNw4bVJBMGsqlKde1My8bADTCFNb0zn29t-T6lkVAISaudnt2DBBYYPLQleGP8sVrPeaCZrchOkNjk8VeCMrQt03Tv/s320/IMG_20121130_204046.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Ted gets a little TLC in Atlanta. Poor guy's been through a lot!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_rrO7fzlJOAtLJOw9Ip9yvGlZhmq_X9LTws5GNJP3MkqHO42xJShV1s7QSNF4GD9z-ZwJRuCEng1jmkHzCmZ9GwhAF7PQqVX_cXniGLhug2W55t2kdDMoZwNIw3VWaIPF4UjLUWOQzXh/s1600/IMG_20121201_012444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin_rrO7fzlJOAtLJOw9Ip9yvGlZhmq_X9LTws5GNJP3MkqHO42xJShV1s7QSNF4GD9z-ZwJRuCEng1jmkHzCmZ9GwhAF7PQqVX_cXniGLhug2W55t2kdDMoZwNIw3VWaIPF4UjLUWOQzXh/s320/IMG_20121201_012444.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Beer and meat tasting prep. Yum!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_BSkWts0mThnTDkAAC98nKThWkcR_uTRGmH3MEHr3LUG1nSTeGr984ByjTl5Up0SK9-kqgglybL8hwsixjhld6wJ5wJnAN7ZJgEEkXaxpAItmyr5-JCEo_HgtVPkgEimR6P-NVr8omj_/s1600/IMG_20121201_015337.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA_BSkWts0mThnTDkAAC98nKThWkcR_uTRGmH3MEHr3LUG1nSTeGr984ByjTl5Up0SK9-kqgglybL8hwsixjhld6wJ5wJnAN7ZJgEEkXaxpAItmyr5-JCEo_HgtVPkgEimR6P-NVr8omj_/s320/IMG_20121201_015337.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Brann from Mastodon and Bud - Contamination tour 1999 reunion!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">December
1</span><sup style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">st</sup><span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">,
Tampa FL</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
woke up in Tampa at Rob Barrett from Cannibal Corpse's place, where
his lovely wife received us and made us an amazing lunch. Rob was on
tour of course, but his lady was a great host. By the time we headed
to Ybor City for load in we were fed, showered and had managed to
watch some Dirty Harry movies. It was the last night of the tour for
us and Speedwolf, and it was definitely a celebration. The show was
kicked off by Bastard Deceiver, an awesome grind / crust band from
Tampa, which was an excellent surprise. We organized another group
stage-dive during “Suffer The Children”, and as I watched
Napalm's last song, “Instinct of Survival” from the side of the
stage, Shane walked over and handed me his bass so I finished the
song out with the band, which was awesome. While that happened, the
other Exhumed and Municipal guys came out and started doing jumping
jacks. It was definitely a party vibe. We were all bummed to not be
continuing on to Miami and the cruise, but looking forward to heading
home and getting some rest. Between the recording, Japan, and the
tour, none of us had really been in our own beds since September. Of
course, that didn't stop us from heading down the street to the
Boneyard for more drinks. Toward the end, somehow country started
dominating the juke box and it ended up being us and Speedwolf
singing along to David Allan Coe (and even a Garth Brooks song, I
admit it) and being drunk idiots. We headed back into town to crash
out at a friend of Mike's and get psyched for the loooooong drive
home. The drive would end up being quite a bit longer than we
anticipated, but we'll get into all that in the next installment of
the continuing adventures of the drunk, dumb and ugly that is our
collective life on the road. </span>
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAQ9tYeDtngrEpBoe9vAakROdLyQ2g2kRj8J6I_gp0xWwa9zDye7Ek8lfJFjkjSG_mabCvvNDopj_mmVRzrdVZS3M2RHFxm-zDjVN5qAL6ReGequWImwQh_NFjGLb3llcXgve_j1QV2ek/s1600/IMG_20121201_123559.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCAQ9tYeDtngrEpBoe9vAakROdLyQ2g2kRj8J6I_gp0xWwa9zDye7Ek8lfJFjkjSG_mabCvvNDopj_mmVRzrdVZS3M2RHFxm-zDjVN5qAL6ReGequWImwQh_NFjGLb3llcXgve_j1QV2ek/s320/IMG_20121201_123559.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Body bag in the swamp. At least his beard is right at home.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIFieOmyyER7g9tLwLxFRTMw5GSj44ljVGo9L5VKZ7rYIAMHh6hJZ6REuRV0r6GVNn6RMCuLwdDhibla0lum1rZBmSZXz75LNKl_-XaXHMQPNKdeU63oyRge7fMNcM63H9yry7JUeeYrh/s1600/IMG_20121201_194049.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIFieOmyyER7g9tLwLxFRTMw5GSj44ljVGo9L5VKZ7rYIAMHh6hJZ6REuRV0r6GVNn6RMCuLwdDhibla0lum1rZBmSZXz75LNKl_-XaXHMQPNKdeU63oyRge7fMNcM63H9yry7JUeeYrh/s320/IMG_20121201_194049.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Barney guesting on "Iron Fist" with Speedwolf in Tampa. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnouFlcZnMwamF55yX01Oy4YjNpAC76ng1nRKRjK6kr9jTrWlp6ou8KynsGC-qG-DKaLPgMzbeYoDUH0raq16cS0qx8QwxAchaFwa8nenrx2a9RLcAKDoFNmIL4JjxhHau2AHQRQX0T4t/s1600/IMG_20121201_194754.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjnouFlcZnMwamF55yX01Oy4YjNpAC76ng1nRKRjK6kr9jTrWlp6ou8KynsGC-qG-DKaLPgMzbeYoDUH0raq16cS0qx8QwxAchaFwa8nenrx2a9RLcAKDoFNmIL4JjxhHau2AHQRQX0T4t/s320/IMG_20121201_194754.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Last pic of Barney, I swear! Barney and I at the afterparty at the Boneyard in Tampa. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">'Til
next time – face front, true believers!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Cheers,</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Matt
and the lads</span></div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-89869201132808063172012-12-03T18:52:00.000-08:002012-12-03T18:52:01.700-08:00"If You're Not Wasted, The Day Is" Tour diarrhea part II: The Wrath of Khan <div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>11/7
Salt Lake City, UT</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
woke up that morning in a Target parking lot, dragged my ass out of
the van and got some snacks from the store. One thing I've really
worked on for this tour has been changing my diet. As you can
probably guess, we don't live the healthiest of lifestyles. Between
binge drinking, unpredictable sleeping / hygiene opportunities, crazy
weather / altitude changes, and everything else, it's pretty tough
to stay healthy on tour. Dr. Philthy had been pulling marathon drives
for most of the tour with a constant stuffy nose, and we are
constantly sore and tired. Not to whine, but just to kind of give you
an idea of what goes on. For me personally, I've always had a lot of
digestion problems and have been bemoaning my inability to fit into
my original Sodom “Obsessed By Cruelty” shirt for some time now,
so I decided to change my diet. Hey, it's way easier than not
drinking. I've been eating about 85% vegetarian on this tour, vegan
when I can. Meat only when it's really good / unusual or I'm
incredibly hungover. It's been working. I've had less intense
hangovers, fewer digestive issues and have been generally been
feeling better. Furthermore Barney from Napalm, who is vegan, turned
me onto an app called Happy Cow that helps you find vegan / veggie
food anywhere on the planet. Pretty badass. Anyway, I digress. The
point is that my breakfast was an apple and one of those Kind bars.
Those things are awesome. We headed into town after trying to figure
out how to mount the two motorized spinning saw blades we picked up
in Vermont and picking up our erstwhile merch guy / tour manager
Kevin Stewart-Panko from the airport. Tonight's show was with
Skeletonwitch, Havok and Mutilation Rites, so we were stoked. The
turnout was pretty good for SLC, but as we were playing, we quickly
realized that it was not a Death Metal kind of crowd at all. Both us
and Mutilation Rites seemed to generate more confusion than
excitement amongst the audience. Luckily, we were able to avoid the
watered down Mormon beer and have a good time hanging out with our
friends in Havok and Skeletonwitch, as well as get to know the
Mutilation Rites dudes as well. We stayed at a house in town and
things got pretty ridiculous. The 48 beers we bought from the store
were slain pretty quickly, as well as some Evan Williams and some
other stuff that I can't exactly remember at the moment. We headed to
the van bleary-eyed that morning and found ourselves in a winter
wonderland. To many of you guys reading, that may not be interesting
at all, but to a bunch of California dudes, there's a definite
novelty factor there. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEiDRfFYc_7Pv7UlvMzxIwSOJ9l6Laa1Ho86clAnDJ_XfvT911K_mBxfjjnrClkhorzqFy4qz8qetrQAId5tGoWWOpqc0PC2VIb59VI3fFERaV7TjPb2gWr9f_SRRXISMLaXCDVfhnXQL/s1600/IMG_20121109_100405+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglEiDRfFYc_7Pv7UlvMzxIwSOJ9l6Laa1Ho86clAnDJ_XfvT911K_mBxfjjnrClkhorzqFy4qz8qetrQAId5tGoWWOpqc0PC2VIb59VI3fFERaV7TjPb2gWr9f_SRRXISMLaXCDVfhnXQL/s320/IMG_20121109_100405+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Salt Lake City Snow Action. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>11/8
Boise, ID</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every
tour has that one show that you expect to be underwhelmed by and
you're right. That was Boise. The show we did there a while back with
Goatwhore was very middling, but fun, and we knew that tonight would
not be a night of rock 'n roll triumph. We did however have a good
time playing for the handful of people that made it out, and they
were clearly stoked on the show. We didn't stick around for too long
as the ride to Seattle might be fraught with snow as well, and being
from California, we try to avoid driving in snow as much as we can.
The drive proved to be a bit nerve-wracking and very fucking cold,
but manageable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>11/9
Seattle, WA</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
show was a combined show, pairing Municipal Waste, Napalm Death, and
ourselves with the Gwar / Devildriver / Cancer Bats tour, which meant
an early load-in, but our intrepid pilot, Dr. Philthy not only made
it with time to spare but also found time to visit the town where one
of his favorite TV shows, “Northern Exposure” was filmed. Of
course, the rest of slept through all that completely. Seeing the
Gwar stage setup was pretty amazing and inspiring. There is <i>a lot</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
of production that goes into a show that elaborate, and it was neat
to see the behind-the-scenes. As much as we try to provide
entertainment along with the music (?) we play, it's not even in the
same universe as what those guys do night after night. Seattle is
always fun and a good show, and this one was no exception. We went on
right before Cancer Bats and had the rest of the night to get into
trouble. We hung out with our agent, Dan Rozenblum and his charming
wife, as well as some friends from Skarp and Scotty from Tank Crimes
Records who joined the tour for the West Coast dates. After a certain
point, I lost large chunks of what happened. I know we went to a bar
across the street where a bunch of Husky fans were partying after the
game. Rob passed out on the floor of the bar, which did not go over
well with the bouncers. The bouncers' displeasure did not go over
well with Mike Hamilton, but luckily for all, a confrontation was
narrowly avoided. We left the bar, and then went on Napalm's bus for
a drink or two... I'm sure there was more retardation throughout the
night but I'm at a loss as to the details. Rob and Bud hung out with
the Gwar guys a bit, which I'm sure was cool. I passed out at some
point, which is probably best for everyone. </span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Gwar Props in Seattle. Sorry, my new phone's camera has no flash.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
11, Portland OR</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: normal;">I
always like to do the West Coast from South to North, because the
party in Seattle is always a corker. Usually if you route your tour
that way, you'll have a day off between Seattle and Denver or
wherever you're going to recuperate. This tour was routed North to
South (which is how it's been the last two times we've been around
those parts)</span> so that usually means Portland gets the hangover
show. This one wasn't too bad though. Plus, I finally got to see
Wehrmacht, a band I've listened to for years and years. They sounded
great and gave me a huge shot of energy for our set, which went down
really well. We got to hang out with the Relapse crew and some old
friends, so that made the night awesome. Matt Jacobson, founder of
Relapse, now owns a couple of kick ass pizza parlors in PDX called
Sizzle Pie and he brought a few pies to the show which were delicious
as always. We hopped in the van to prepare for the long and
potentially treacherous drive to Oakland the next day.
</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEd3NO_DbepwwGFFa6BnSKc5MZTLM4Kyi1dYgCRUnz-HS6YK-iq8VB-E9PgU5X-fmdBDOColEgp-3KrjZQRZi1kEswi1DjQ2Q2mwS7gC6Cl0W1dneJEL-cVT9TBBxB0rk-WegGnUEaCiOV/s1600/IMG_20121112_021847.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEd3NO_DbepwwGFFa6BnSKc5MZTLM4Kyi1dYgCRUnz-HS6YK-iq8VB-E9PgU5X-fmdBDOColEgp-3KrjZQRZi1kEswi1DjQ2Q2mwS7gC6Cl0W1dneJEL-cVT9TBBxB0rk-WegGnUEaCiOV/s320/IMG_20121112_021847.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Hamilton makes a friend on the drive from PDX to Oaktown.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
12, Oakland, CA</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
love playing in the Bay Area. Even though I haven't lived there in a
few years, it will always be my hometown. I was especially proud that
the biggest turnout of the entire tour was in Oakland – over 940
people came out on a Monday night – and that's not counting the
100+ guests of the tour package. The line was around two blocks, and
the Metro was a bit understaffed to handle it, which resulted in our
friends in Impaled playing to not nearly as many people as they
should have been. Attitude Adjustment was awesome, another band I've
been waiting years to see, and then it was our turn. I have to admit
to a certain amount of satisfaction in saying “We're Exhumed from
fucking San Jose” and people actually know where that is and cheer.
The set went over great, and kids were stagediving all over the
place. For the closer, “The Matter of Splatter” which we segued
into our cover of Siege's “Drop Dead” I ended up getting hit in
the face by the microphone, which actually split my lip. I have a
history of trying to be too rock 'n roll about things and it not
having good results. I used to have really straight teeth until I
decided to not take my wisdom teeth out, for example, now my bottom
teeth look like a British person's. This time I figured I should
really spring for a trip to the hospital. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Exhumed past / present - Ross Sewage, Rob "Body Bag" Babcock, Yours Truly, and Derrel Houdashelt</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got in the car with our
original second guitar player, Derrel Houdashelt and headed to the
Alamdea Hospital where I eventually got 7 stitches in my face. It was
not really all that fun, but at least I won't be getting any uglier.
Needless to say with the hospital action, I missed the rest of the
show, but I'm sure it was amazing. Luckily, Eli's Mile High club was
hospitable enough to let us all after-party there, where we drank
well past closing time with a bunch of familiar faces. Needing to
drink with a straw was a great excuse to keep ordering Johnnie Walker
on the rocks, and having my face busted up was a great incentive for
people to buy me drinks. Talk about silver lining! We headed for
Southern California sauced and happy, looking forward to seeing more
old friends for shenanigans and stupidity.
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Check out my rad face.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
13, Santa Ana, CA</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
drove straight past LA and on to Orange County for a show with my
favorite Death / Grind band ever, Repulsion. As if a bill with
Municipal Waste and Napalm Death wasn't awesome enough. Despite my
swollen mouth, spirits were high when I woke up in Burbank. We
finished the rest of the drive and compiled our extensive guest list
at the Observatory. It was awesome to see Gordon Conrad (MW's
manager, and former VP of operations at Relapse for like, ever),
especially since he's such a salty east coast dude and so out of his
element out west. He seemed more relaxed than I've seen him in years
which was nice. I hung out for most of the night with Col and Marissa
from Repulsion as well as some of the Gravehill dudes, our old
drummer Danny Walker, and tons of others. I didn't even see all the
people we had on the guest list – it was a pretty crazy night. We
grabbed some beer and crashed at Col and Marissa's hotel – thanks
by the way! The drive from Santa Ana to LA was very brief and easy
the following day so we proceeded to get plowed and obnoxious. As
usual.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BMZDfR3MXAyLV73mwbg1eZ5UExqR1xy_-SCoIivK1zSElTbM_K59hhaXKJ7XMiVqB3wIxnbVH-7IwMRNdwS9wy0h7_Q8p8vtBBRrcJaNuZkcwl0w_qiqJ9f0FlpyJG2VsYtw9hdC089y/s1600/IMG_20121113_215414.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5BMZDfR3MXAyLV73mwbg1eZ5UExqR1xy_-SCoIivK1zSElTbM_K59hhaXKJ7XMiVqB3wIxnbVH-7IwMRNdwS9wy0h7_Q8p8vtBBRrcJaNuZkcwl0w_qiqJ9f0FlpyJG2VsYtw9hdC089y/s320/IMG_20121113_215414.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Repulsion doing "Maggots In Your Coffin" with Barney in Santa Ana</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNMm2lJRnC3uPCoz-V-8MZLRF81p1Naes8_QhxWaqNKXxJsajP_b6u9WFFN6e1stTPt4VqsWEQjDFKiRhSZxQYrVC66YVgo0pTYnNDlGGK_FF0O99O2RE2D3Hh2xrfqFk3gw6xsdE0vCb/s1600/IMG_20121113_225318.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNMm2lJRnC3uPCoz-V-8MZLRF81p1Naes8_QhxWaqNKXxJsajP_b6u9WFFN6e1stTPt4VqsWEQjDFKiRhSZxQYrVC66YVgo0pTYnNDlGGK_FF0O99O2RE2D3Hh2xrfqFk3gw6xsdE0vCb/s320/IMG_20121113_225318.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Two of my favorite people, Col Jones (Repulsion,Dekapitator, Mortuous. ex-Exhumed) and Mike Abominator (Gravehill, ex-Gasp, etc)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8rYl_drHkOKeyvT8oW9kygKBUrgzGatCwafUti2g3Ny152wCvWQPUxIR4dP6QFk4gwU8iJT94MYO1KiRDBhgIgOTU38g_NjBP2DQEaDQby5Jb9a6TVhyFGbY3VT2zIlx6h8DTb35TWNjH/s1600/IMG_20121113_225117.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8rYl_drHkOKeyvT8oW9kygKBUrgzGatCwafUti2g3Ny152wCvWQPUxIR4dP6QFk4gwU8iJT94MYO1KiRDBhgIgOTU38g_NjBP2DQEaDQby5Jb9a6TVhyFGbY3VT2zIlx6h8DTb35TWNjH/s320/IMG_20121113_225117.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Slaughtercult Cupcakes - Slaughtercups - made by Christina Shaw! Thanks!!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
14, Hollywood, CA</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like
I said, we had plenty of time to kill before the show. We headed to
Amoeba, and I finally got some records I'd been dying to get- new
stuff from Stars, Guided By Voices, Hammock, and The X-X. Sorry,
that's about as non-metal as it gets, but that's mostly what I listen
to. Anyway... after some record shopping, we had lunch and headed
down the strip to the House Of Blues. Between Summer Slaughter and
Death To All, this was my third time that year in that venue, and I
still keep getting lost. At least the decent food served at HOB
offsets the overpriced drinks, totally contrived atmosphere and
cheeseball LA-ness of the place. That and the kids being awesome. My
amp had been continually giving me problems for a couple of weeks,
and my old friend Leon del Muerte was kind enough to loan me his
backup amp for the rest of the tour, a solid state Line 6 which
doesn't have the greatest tone in the world, but is incredibly
durable and dependable. That was a big relief. The show was killer
and we were surrounded by old friends. Another friend, Joel from
Toxic Holocaust hopped on the Municipal Waste bus in LA for a few
days of the tour. It was good to get to see him again and hang out a
bit. Once again, our intrepid agent Dan Rozenblum was there and we
decided to crash his posh hotel at the Beverly Hilton, drink his
minibar, and be total dicks until about 7am. We had the next day off,
so what the heck?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZfyE3gvz4o4hmYzkcRivy5IhJzhTh5zlVRm7cKQJ0bScN5fXWoGMWxnk42DbSFNKbF-yYdjMxBKFrg-mBnkOSFzo1xd1kcTlwkwIhEdMWCHXvMzDTO1PbY7RbiiWUl-0n9msObLWGXCF/s1600/IMG_20121114_194809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQZfyE3gvz4o4hmYzkcRivy5IhJzhTh5zlVRm7cKQJ0bScN5fXWoGMWxnk42DbSFNKbF-yYdjMxBKFrg-mBnkOSFzo1xd1kcTlwkwIhEdMWCHXvMzDTO1PbY7RbiiWUl-0n9msObLWGXCF/s320/IMG_20121114_194809.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dave Witte and Chris Dodge outside House Of Blues in Hollywood. Totally rad</span>!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>
</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
15, Day Off</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
Municipal Waste dudes had talked to us about heading to a Jimmy
Kimmel taping with them on our day off, and we figured it would be
fun. We were all still pretty hungover by the time we got to the
studio (right across from Mann's Chinese Theater) in Hollywood, but
once Mel Brooks, that night's guest came out, I was beyond fucking
pumped! The guy that created Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles,
Spaceballs, and High Anxiety – right there in the same studio! He
was funny, charming, engaging and sharp as a tack despite being 86
years old. After the show, we grabbed food and drinks at Hooters and
I remembered why I never ever eat there and want to resume doing
that. Despite that, it was a good fucking time. Then we all cabbed it
over to the Comedy Store for some stand-up. We were repeatedly called
out by the comedians – one dude called our group “Biker Rapists
On Vacation” which is an excellent movie title that I've already
copyrighted. I'll keep you posted on the script. Anyway, we topped it
off with a couple of drinks at the Rainbow and grabbed a cab back to
the van to head to Phoenix.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
16, Tempe AZ</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
arrived at Ryan Butler's home in the morning, and it felt like as
close as we would get to being home for quite some time. After
recording “Necrocracy” there, I've spent more time at his place
in the last few months than I have at my own house. We took some
quick showers and power naps and then headed to Tempe (basically a
district in Phoenix) for what would turn out to be one of the
strongest shows of the tour. Arizona is hit and miss for us it seems,
but this night was definitely a hit. We played to a packed house of
manic stage-divers, got shitfaced with a ton of friends, and I didn't
eat anyone's hat. Joel Grind joined the Muniwaste dudes for a
rendition of “Nuke the Cross” which was a cool little rare treat.
All in all, an excellent night. We were pretty smashed when we got
ready to leave, having taken numerous shots and whatever else, at one
point Rob, Mike and I were all in the urinal, and Rob decided to turn
his “sprinkler” on us and chase us while peeing. Classy. We were
going to steal a few hours of sleep at Butler's, but Mike got too
drunk and couldn't remember where the key was stashed, so we ended up
passed out in front of his house for a couple hours before heading
off to El Paso.
</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GeZ9-Boyd4FQ1FCkMnu4Ge1AGIxmXfg50LUvs6vVgsAQ7GTR19bDGmt-JI0LBdQe53loF5ADDLo8X0XR0zM0QS-8d-iKR1iNqkthwAh_rgTu1Eh4xG_qeGQzqpUGMfacewOBZxYgAlAU/s1600/IMG_20121116_185918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5GeZ9-Boyd4FQ1FCkMnu4Ge1AGIxmXfg50LUvs6vVgsAQ7GTR19bDGmt-JI0LBdQe53loF5ADDLo8X0XR0zM0QS-8d-iKR1iNqkthwAh_rgTu1Eh4xG_qeGQzqpUGMfacewOBZxYgAlAU/s320/IMG_20121116_185918.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Drawing on Drum Heads - it's what I do in my spare time.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
17, El Paso, TX</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">El
Paso is always a cool place to play, and the House of Rock is a cool
venue. They always treat us well and have pretty good sound, so I was
stoked for the show. The turnout was solid and kids were definitely
psyched, which makes our job pretty easy. As usual, after the show
was over, the bar accommodated the bands and we got loaded, doing
shots and whatever else people were handing us. Good stuff.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November
18, Ft. Worth, TX</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
swear we've only had two really good shows in the Dallas / Ft. Worth
area throughout our entire touring history, and those were with
Morbid Angel and Cannibal Corpse, respectively. Anyway, the show was
okay, but again, for whatever reason, we've never really had a big
fanbase in Dallas. We managed to have a good time anyway, there was
plenty of beer upstairs and some random people to fuck with, so all's
well that end's well. I passed out relatively early that night, and
when the other guys got in the van, we noticed that Bud's face was a
bit messed up. Somewhere, somehow he fell flat on his face. When I
asked him what happened, he simply replied “I don't know, I just
woke up and my pillow was all bloody”. Another day in the life.
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>November</strong>
<strong>19, Day off</strong></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We
pretty much drove all day, stopped for a late lunch in Little Rock
and then watched the Niner game on Monday Night Football at TGI
Fridays. Again, I was reminded why I only order appetizers there.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY4E0Wt4B25CyWPH1fUb3X-megDFSeAPtpq3YIHaIgTN9FsJUsgzf-RUZAVOsMmWKPiyODmroDnSxYHkEnobsJsS8NF9EenPI_CJa9gGJI9BPpGYCF8-sdgBtOdsoTaObVe68HhC1RyV_/s1600/IMG_20121119_133726.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitY4E0Wt4B25CyWPH1fUb3X-megDFSeAPtpq3YIHaIgTN9FsJUsgzf-RUZAVOsMmWKPiyODmroDnSxYHkEnobsJsS8NF9EenPI_CJa9gGJI9BPpGYCF8-sdgBtOdsoTaObVe68HhC1RyV_/s320/IMG_20121119_133726.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dr. Philthy proves that home is where you find it on tour. Rest area somewhere between Texas and Tennessee.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In
the interest of everyone's attention span, I'll pick up in Nashville
in the next couple of days. Thanks for reading and bleeding with us.
Cheers!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">-
Matt and the lads</span></div>
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Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-65814178441500406742012-11-19T17:55:00.000-08:002012-11-19T17:55:25.614-08:00If you're not wasted... the day is... Tour diarrhea Fall / Winter 2012<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-TRAD"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Municipal</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Waste</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> / </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Napalm</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Death</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> / </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Exhumed</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> tour diary</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">October
26, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">We drove up to Richmond, VA from Bud’s
pad in Charlotte, North Carolina and arrived there around one in the afternoon,
after picking up our token-Canadian tour manager / merch guy / internationally
published journalist, Kevin Stewart-Panko. It was good formally meet
a couple of guys in the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">ND</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> / </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">MW</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> crews that I hadn’t had a chance to hang out with just yet. We bought some
new merch racks from Home Depot, picked up a slug of new shirts from indiemerch
that had arrived at the local FedEx location, and were underway. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Vektor</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> got there at the last possible minute, and all proved to be
awesome guys. I have to admit, when I heard their first album, I wasn’t into
it, but seeing them live really changed my mind. The band was tight,
interesting and had a lot of dynamics and stage presence. The show was a lot of
fun, with </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Municipal</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Waste</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> closing this date out. We kept the party rocking at a hotel room
with some old friends. Apparently we all got uber wasted, because we were
awakened in the wee hours of the morning by Bud, utterly blacked out, pissing
all over my shoes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">October
27, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The
next morning, I managed to take a quick shower and find my flip-flops before we
said our goodbyes and headed to the Big Apple. My first order of business was
to find some new shoes. Once we loaded in for a sold-out show at the Gramercy
Theater, I headed to Union Square to pick up some new kicks. I have worn the
same shoes, Vans “Off The Wall” Skate Hi-Tops for the last 15 or so years, so I
knew exactly what I was looking for. The only store I could find within quick
walking distance didn’t have them in plain black (my first choice), blue, or
checkerboard. They didn’t have the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Bad</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Brains</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Maiden</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, or </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Slayer</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> hi-tops in my size.
The only cool shoe I could find in my size (12 isn’t that unusual, right?!?)
was the Spicoli-style checkerboard slip-ons. I have been toying with the idea
of getting a pair of these shoes forever, and I needed something pronto, so I
took ‘em. It was a little weird not playing in hi-tops, but I persevered like
a champ. Oh yeah, and there was a storm coming. The day was played in NYC, it
was very much business as usual, tons of people on the streets doing their
thing. My mom, avid Fox-News watcher that she is, was deeply concerned for our
safety. Like any dutiful son, I called her to assuage her worries and assure
her that the storm was probably not going to be that bad anyway. The show at
Gramercy was awesome, albeit a little early. We had a huge stage to work with,
which allowed us maximum opportunities to ham it up and do our best Steve
Harris impressions. After we wrapped up, got everything in the van, and skarfed
down some extremely mediocre pizza, we hung out with friends at the show for a
bit before heading over to Brooklyn to catch the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Tombs</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> show at St. Vitus. We
fought NY traffic to get there just as they were starting. The band sounded
awesome, and soon alcohol of all types was flowing fast and furious. After the
show, they had a karaoke DJ come out. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Exhumed</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> + drunk + karaoke = extreme
stupidity. The next day someone reminded me of my presumably awesome rendition
of </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Ratt</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">’s “Lay It Down”. Much after that is hazy, people started thinning out,
I puked up a couple of shots, lost a flannel shirt, and four AM rolled around
before I really knew it. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Hz7lt_0RuRs" width="420"></iframe></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">"Necrotized" live in the big apple</span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">October
28, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">I
woke up in Connecticut, not too terribly hung over, but I soon discovered that
I had, blacked-out, pissed all over my phone, ruining it. Two days, two
urine-related accidents. Yikes. From the beginning of the day, my thoughts were
on one thing: Game Four of the world series. After loading in, we grabbed lunch
at a local sports bar a few blocks away and it was nice to see the Raiders
actually winning on Sunday for a change. The local opener for this date was a
power violence band called David Carradine, who were killer. The crowd that
night was basically a hardcore crowd, but our set went over pretty decently,
regardless. As soon as we were loaded out, Dr. Philthy and I headed off to a
bar to watch baseball. Most of the town was shut down due to Hurricane Sandy,
and it was getting windy and drizzly, but not too bad. Unfortunately that meant
the first bar we went to closed at 11:45 instead of 2 AM. Undaunted, we trudged
the mean streets of New London Connecticut until we came upon an Irish pub with
the stones to stay open in the face of impending disaster. Needless to say, the
night on a personal high for me, as my team won their second World Series in
three years. But I digress.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">October
29, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">We
all passed out in the van and got up pretty early to make the drive to Boston.
This is when it started to hit me that the storm was for real. Half the town
was closed, including the UPS outlet where Mike had some new cymbals shipped to
him. While it was nice to be able to find parking in Cambridge pretty easily,
we had to do a bit more walking than usual to find someplace to eat. Lunch was
an Indian buffet, such a welcome change from the usual fast food crap that we
often subject our bodies to on the road. I was pleasantly surprised that the
show was even happening in the wake of the storm, but dubious as to how the
turnout would be. I needn’t have worried, the show turned out really well, and
a good time was had by all. The </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Napalm</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> and </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Waste</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> dudes headed straight
to Canada, while ourselves and Vektor went to Burlington, Vermont for an off
day show. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">October
30, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">We
drove overnight, just to get away from the storm, which by now I was starting
to realice was actually a pretty big deal. It was good to have a day to run
errands and do little shit that we often don’t have time for. I got a new phone
(yay!), and we started to plan our Halloween costumes. Phil from Waste assured
me that their costumes were hilarious and insisted that we participate. After
many ideas were tossed around and rejected, we decided to do something subtle
and classy. Dress as </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Motley</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Crue</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">. After eating some rad gourmet-ish
tacos at Gordijo’s, we killed some time hunting down leopard print spandex,
black and red lipstick, wigs for Mike and Bud, and bananas to stuff our pants
with. Then we headed to the venue, a tiny bar in the Burlington suburb of
Winooski. The guy putting the show on, Jake (of </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Vaporizer</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, who were killer that
night) was a stand up dude, who actually read our rider and had fresh fruit,
veggies and hummus waiting for us on arrival. That was awesome! Then we found
out that </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Vektor</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> was still two and half hours out getting their
transmission replaced and might not make the show – not that awesome. Like I
said, Jake was good people, and he headed out in his band’s van to pick them
up. We re-shuffled the line-up since they were running late, and we ended up
playing second of four. I was just stoked they were going to make it out and be
able to continue the tour with everybody. I wasn’t too terribly sure how well
the Vermont show would end up going, as we had just played there recently with </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Cannibal</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Corpse</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Abysmal</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Dawn</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, and </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Arkaik</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, but the crowd was
killer, the room was packed, and people were crowd surfing inches from the
ceiling. Because the turnout was killer, everyone ended up making a little bit
more money that we had planned on, which was especially cool since it allowed
us to donate some money to the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Vektor</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> dudes to get their van fixed up. We
stayed at a house down the street with a super sweet couple who were at the show.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXH7EJQx2X_S5Lrl18IwDNhm-Umpy12Hpv4y4X_FMUbdu3SomtBiMZKTfie4c2NVLqD9cVmfmdm5Tt9DsQIo65kK6yGwoil1113Mz3f-5c7OAnHoLu3vPNEPFuE4cxumjmgNZwb0hwGwG/s1600/IMG_20121030_191935.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRXH7EJQx2X_S5Lrl18IwDNhm-Umpy12Hpv4y4X_FMUbdu3SomtBiMZKTfie4c2NVLqD9cVmfmdm5Tt9DsQIo65kK6yGwoil1113Mz3f-5c7OAnHoLu3vPNEPFuE4cxumjmgNZwb0hwGwG/s320/IMG_20121030_191935.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bud and Mike decided to start a two-piece Bluegrass band on the side to help make ends meet on tour.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">October
31, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">So
far this blog has been yet another chronicle of our seemingly endless heavy
metal triumphs and wacky anecdotes, but here’s where the story takes a turn,
dear readers. So… here goes. We woke up and grabbed quick showers before heading
to cross the dreaded Canadian border. It’s always a nerve-racking experience,
simply because they can choose to tax you on every piece of merchandise you’re
carrying. Not to mention, if you have a DUI, like four out of six people in our
tour party do, they charge you $200 per person to obtain a “temporary resident
permit” to be in the country, or if they feel like being dicks, they can
arbitrarily decide to just not let you in. Now, most Canadians I know are not
dicks. In fact, they’re some of the nicest folks out there. We’ve never had an
issue getting in, and had already been there on the Summer Slaughter tour for
Heavy MTL and Heavy TO, as well as on the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Black</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Dahlia Murder</span></span></b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> tour, which was mostly
in Canada. Ironically, our tour manager Kevin (one of those extremely nice
Canadians I was referring to earlier) is writing a book about the travails of
various bands crossing over from the states to Canada. Given the lead in to
this paragraph, it should be obvious that we were denied entry into the great
white north. This was extremely disheartening, since the Montreal show was
already sold out, and our headlining show at the same venue had been </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">insane</span></span></i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">, so we were looking
forward to a night of seriously intense mayhem. The woman we spoke to at
customs informed us that we had received too many TRPs in too short of a time,
and had been taking advantage of the largesse of the Canadian government long
enough. She stated that we would </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">not</span></span></i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> be able to apply for any further TRPs until we had all
completed their extremely convoluted rehabilitation process. To give you an
idea how complicated it is, our drummer Mike Hamilton has been trying to
complete it for over seven months. In short, she was a fucking bitch. We had to
sign documents that legally bound us to leave the country immediately, and
stated that if we were found in Canada after being denied entry, we would be
arrested. Gnarly. The US border folks (you have to go through customs if you
get denied entry into Canada) told us that they see this sort of thing all the
time. Then they searched our van anyway, but at least they weren’t dicks about
it. After informing the necessary parties (MW’s tour manager Cartel, our label,
our agent, etc.) we drove to a McDonald’s to use the free wifi and start making
alternate plans. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">So
it was a totally rip-roaring Halloween party. Or something. Anyway, we decided
to hit the Canadian consulate in Buffalo the next day to try to make the four
remaining Canadian dates. Our intrepid agent, dauntless Dan Rozenblum, threw a
show together for us in Buffalo the next night at a DIY venue called the
Funeral Home, which was located in an old… wait for it… Funeral Home. Trying to
not think about all the money we had just lost from losing these dates (not to
mention missing the opportunity to embarass ourselves in our Halloween
costumes), packed into the van and headed for Buffalo. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November
1, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">We
finished the (not particularly long) drive to Buffalo, dropped Kevin off at the
airport so he could go cover Fun-Fun-Fun fest for Terrorizer Magazine (where MW
and ND would both be appearing). We quickly learned that the Canadian Consulate
in Buffalo was closed this summer. So we planned to hit the consulate in
Chicago, where we would be arriving Saturday. Of course, the consulate is… wait
for it… closed on Saturday and Sunday. So we realized pretty quickly that there
would be no more Canadian dates for us in 2012. Then we went to a Napa Auto
Parts to test our van battery, as it had been failing to start sporadically. We
had just gotten a jump, so our battery tested fine, as did our alternator.
There was another part that might have been causing the problem, the neutral
safety switch, which was had replaced just to leave no stone unturned. After
all that fun stuff, we grabbed a big ol’ bowl of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup)
to stave off the upstate NY cold and headed to the venue. There were already
some folks milling about and the place was pretty cool looking. Clint, the guy
that set up the show, was super cool and helpful, we loaded in and set up merch.
The night actually ended up being awesome. The bands Cain and Avulsion were
both killer and great guys and the crowd was killer. Given that the show had
been booked the previous day, it was a total triumph. We ran through some songs
that aren’t in our normal set list like “Vacant Grave”, “Open The Abscess” and
“In The Name Of Gore” with varying degrees of tightness and had a great time
with everyone. It turned out to be a great night. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1Jra9mmGt30" width="560"></iframe></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Here's the entire set from Buffalo. If you have an hour to kill or whatever.</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November
2, 2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">One
of the cool things about heading to Buffalo was that it enabled us to do some
banking. Nothing worries me more than having a bunch of cash floating around.
Plus, once we have money in the bank, we can actually pay some bills, which is
a good feeling. So on the 1st, we had deposited all the money we had on hand. I
went to the bank before we left town to deposit money from the Funeral Home
show, which ended up being way better than we had anticipated (thanks again,
Clint!). I was profoundly concerned to see our band account balance at zero.
Turns out, unbeknonst to your truly, I owe the state of California back taxes.
I also had no idea that the state can simply remove money from your bank
account at will. No notification, no nothing. They may have tried to notify me,
but probably don’t have my current address, and I’m not home anyway, so… Long
story short - because of me being an idiot somewhere down the line, we had </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">a
lot</span></span></i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">
less money than we thought we did. Between the storm, Canada, the van not
starting without a jump </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">again</span></span></i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> that morning (even after replacing the switch
thingamajiggie the previous day), The tour had already been a doozy. We dusted ourselves off and headed for Kent, Ohio - famous for being the place where National Guardsmen shot and killed four Viet Nam War protestors. We got to play with some old penpals of ours, Drogheda for the first time, and hang out with some friends from Hell's Headbangers and JakPrints. The show was not bad either. The people at the bar were awesome and let us keep drinking there until four am or so - serving up various shots of anything and everything. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVEu4iglKyqFPutWrom7QTy28XZwsBmYTzOtyyubganObU1TWxZsrZmx_Ue6DDzdPN3wFNWYRKRMRJhadtMXTL9uyfE27dML0i7N6h6JfiebHYOx80sR6Y41d7AGEZRF8P6R-P9osN0A4/s1600/IMG_20121102_203819.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVEu4iglKyqFPutWrom7QTy28XZwsBmYTzOtyyubganObU1TWxZsrZmx_Ue6DDzdPN3wFNWYRKRMRJhadtMXTL9uyfE27dML0i7N6h6JfiebHYOx80sR6Y41d7AGEZRF8P6R-P9osN0A4/s320/IMG_20121102_203819.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Custom Merch for the kids in Ohio. Grind Bloody Gore - get it?!? Pretty clever, huh?</span></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November 3, 2012</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">We re-joined the Napalm Death and Vektor guys on the 3rd for a sold-out show at Reggie's Rock Club which was awesome. Loads of old friends were there, the Cardiac Arrest crew, the Macabre crew, Bruce LaMont, and lots more I'm sure I'm forgetting at the moment. Not too much to say about the show except that it totally ruled and was super fun. After Napalm left the stage, we headed to the bar attached to the venue and checked out a cool redneck rock / country outfit called the God Damned Gallows who were excellent and a lot of fun to drink with. Then it was a relatively short drive to St. Paul where Municipal Waste would re-join the package. </span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November 3, 2012</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">We rolled into St. Paul without incident and headed, of course... straight for the Mall of America. The largest mall in the country. It's frankly a little scary. Packed with disciples of consumerism with every damn store you could possibly imagine. We headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to catch some football. I was a bit too hungover to deal with all of the bright lights, crowds, screaming children, etc. But a couple of beers and some food softened the blow. The show that night was excellent with friends from Bodies Lay Broken and Black Market Fetus in attendance. From there, we had a day off before we hit a last minute show in Denver that Reed from Speedwolf set up for us. Good times were imminent.</span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl4fneAJINgbMhXlyj9nVcLgleHRC9QMN9OGd3yHvrTtCdju_XmbFGtFRPKTlhnjF6QMMVwNjgyrW8qoJ2t8CSCnSa7W8OVC0gBQRBA9RxWtqsctAfZF3CnhyphenhyphenmYbflnv1AiC1SeI_v0C4/s1600/IMG_20121104_125154.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzl4fneAJINgbMhXlyj9nVcLgleHRC9QMN9OGd3yHvrTtCdju_XmbFGtFRPKTlhnjF6QMMVwNjgyrW8qoJ2t8CSCnSa7W8OVC0gBQRBA9RxWtqsctAfZF3CnhyphenhyphenmYbflnv1AiC1SeI_v0C4/s320/IMG_20121104_125154.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">You can build some crazy shit with legos.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXY5ch1X-JcT4cs_VVuEDzwg8mtSh7ZVVypeKxOSFt67wZjG_AR7LfkEk1NmxcdTxMLEWGxGwiTEmUk_Ng2s0p46qcBU5ROKcwNDzxZItj_NkqmTUr2jrQ02qzS9QIG4vBQ4m5Rp_KifUX/s1600/IMG_20121104_125303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXY5ch1X-JcT4cs_VVuEDzwg8mtSh7ZVVypeKxOSFt67wZjG_AR7LfkEk1NmxcdTxMLEWGxGwiTEmUk_Ng2s0p46qcBU5ROKcwNDzxZItj_NkqmTUr2jrQ02qzS9QIG4vBQ4m5Rp_KifUX/s320/IMG_20121104_125303.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Dr. Philthy meets his dream girl at the Lego Store in the Mall of America</span></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November 4, 2012</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Driving out to Denver through the "fly-over" section of America. We did stop in North Platte, Nebraska and some some cool Wild Bill Cody stuff before hitting Applebee's for dinner and football. IN a weird turn of events, one of the busboys actually recognized us from the show we'd done in Lincoln earlier in the year with Cannibal Corpse. It was flattering, but it did not score us any free drinks. We decided to skip Monday Night Football and charge straight into Denver to hang out with Steven and Brian from Cephalic Carnage and inflict some serious brain and liver damage. We hit a bar called 3 Kings and proceeded to get intensely intoxicated. They let us stay after hours for some ski shots and insanity before the cab ride back to Steve's, where we kept drinking until 5 or 6 AM or something ridiculous like that. </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1OgxXiea9NhXR7kR37Au9qgiayEQ4lhO2gjNjLdxgzRWSPCj_5AZ1cjy3tVF-vSlqRK6FNQLq-4VXkmcHRRfLfk4WxuJ5_KE21cD3Jf4LiXG034MAj2V4t08xhKCadwzQ2gSHuEf__UQ/s1600/IMG_20121105_171032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhw1OgxXiea9NhXR7kR37Au9qgiayEQ4lhO2gjNjLdxgzRWSPCj_5AZ1cjy3tVF-vSlqRK6FNQLq-4VXkmcHRRfLfk4WxuJ5_KE21cD3Jf4LiXG034MAj2V4t08xhKCadwzQ2gSHuEf__UQ/s320/IMG_20121105_171032.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Bud cares about the dental hygiene of our furry friends in North Platte NE</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q6idqsAq9S44rlyLZAolXJp-TMzqeKPD_4DQ2R9ftjveZE4zmQ7P8ndoUHtWN3ODj1E0NNgEYPwL28W6cxlwIb0iK2nu0v-4K2QifXdzmN3FfDBvyX62sdRGywosZ9vfNEmS8DJ7jhzQ/s1600/IMG_20121105_171221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_q6idqsAq9S44rlyLZAolXJp-TMzqeKPD_4DQ2R9ftjveZE4zmQ7P8ndoUHtWN3ODj1E0NNgEYPwL28W6cxlwIb0iK2nu0v-4K2QifXdzmN3FfDBvyX62sdRGywosZ9vfNEmS8DJ7jhzQ/s320/IMG_20121105_171221.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">For some reason, I love those old-timey dioramas. And apparently, Wild Bill Cody agrees.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4pQTFeLpzUvjGKRQeJf0s8hROvw7uEDDabHJLVhIl-kS345ZAwFQHZOEuOxbRr1mzHOJEE-sQSR24NA52qrMsvj7Ss1SzsCFVYbnI47MeQqWmj3ugrPkFZCLzvtqC3jkLzhSoHmDtNgr/s1600/IMG_20121105_171735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_4pQTFeLpzUvjGKRQeJf0s8hROvw7uEDDabHJLVhIl-kS345ZAwFQHZOEuOxbRr1mzHOJEE-sQSR24NA52qrMsvj7Ss1SzsCFVYbnI47MeQqWmj3ugrPkFZCLzvtqC3jkLzhSoHmDtNgr/s320/IMG_20121105_171735.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">'Merica. North Platte, NE</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROnoFOYwixZMe3uQIu0w6oXT09q_UULjU87pqIlAfdc6hZcua-bsrKMSFc-dsQwKKEq5s6bOXvgQHKgV3nBKoYcfmQeKD-llUZq-CZIOuMw5LKgSFHWNCivkQKgKh6S_PXL7te_mY1Ycn/s1600/IMG_20121105_171854.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhROnoFOYwixZMe3uQIu0w6oXT09q_UULjU87pqIlAfdc6hZcua-bsrKMSFc-dsQwKKEq5s6bOXvgQHKgV3nBKoYcfmQeKD-llUZq-CZIOuMw5LKgSFHWNCivkQKgKh6S_PXL7te_mY1Ycn/s320/IMG_20121105_171854.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">If the van breaks down, there's always covered wagon. North Platte, NE</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iz5UDwZ2U1QCIDElYDZSiVDywSIjLS5sTo4n7oRD8xGdPBzV83RHZ9wN4wyvDknEfQGWb7WVMu06b7l2BliZacnowXKTNE2X5EQErHi9rElnPE3QaFVHDzGt_1FWy712c50Y7wRo9TIc/s1600/IMG_20121105_171001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8iz5UDwZ2U1QCIDElYDZSiVDywSIjLS5sTo4n7oRD8xGdPBzV83RHZ9wN4wyvDknEfQGWb7WVMu06b7l2BliZacnowXKTNE2X5EQErHi9rElnPE3QaFVHDzGt_1FWy712c50Y7wRo9TIc/s320/IMG_20121105_171001.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Dr. Philthy makes new friends, North Platte, NE</span></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November 5, 2012</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">By the time we were in a state resembling human, it was late afternoon. Luckily, Mike Hamilton is <i>the ultimate</i> breakfast maker. His staple of fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, chorizo (sometimes soyrizo), and tortillas have cured thousands of hangovers. We ran some errands and putzed around Denver for a minute before heading to the show that evening. The show was in a glorified jam space, but it turned out <i>awesome</i>. The place was packed, we sold a lot of shirts, and had a lot of fun running through songs like "Vacant Grave" and "Waxwork" that we rarely ever play. That night, we picked up a show for the next day in Cheyenne Wyoming at Ernie November - a record store I'd been wanting to go to for years. After the show wrapped up, we hit Chubby's, an infamously greasy Denver burrito spot that I highly recommend and then headed back to 3 Kings, where we once again stayed after hours riding the shot ski into brain dead oblivion. Great times.</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">November 6, 2012</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">The drive from Denver to Cheyenne is a mere hour and a half, so we had time for another epic Hamilton afternoon breakfast before we headed north. The store was smack in the middle of downtown Wyoming, and full of killer vinyl, CDs and shirts. Of course, I nabbed a few things. The turnout was actually really cool and everyone loaded up on shirts and whatnot, making it a pretty damn successful night, especially since the show had been booked the previous day. We headed across the street to (surprise!) a bar where we grubbed on all manner of deep fried appetizers and even some Rocky Mountain Oysters. Hey, you only live once, right? We all passed out in the van for the trip to Salt Lake City for the show with Havok and Skeletonwitch the following day, as well as reuniting with our intrepid merch guy / babysitter / token Canadian, Kevin Stewart-Panko. But that, as they say, is a tale for another day. </span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWk1TEMaZ2dLrfKq390QjsoxithxyVL6nf05IuhFtFdFonyoBah4rY5AqcL3mhP07MOVcnr8c6Nt6YauXy39fzypQaQnRYyeSAzriliivoEWBqa7nqhHQENK1V7t_u-SWAY901ab3yo9wK/s1600/IMG_20121109_141733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWk1TEMaZ2dLrfKq390QjsoxithxyVL6nf05IuhFtFdFonyoBah4rY5AqcL3mhP07MOVcnr8c6Nt6YauXy39fzypQaQnRYyeSAzriliivoEWBqa7nqhHQENK1V7t_u-SWAY901ab3yo9wK/s320/IMG_20121109_141733.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">Vinyl score in Wyoming!!! Yes!</span></span></td></tr>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">More triumphs, trials, tribulations, trephanations, truffles, and trundle beds to follow when we pick this up. </span></span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-37890936502234973742012-11-04T15:17:00.000-08:002012-11-05T09:58:21.810-08:00Suppurating the Studio IV: The final chapter<!--StartFragment-->
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">We had been hammering away at the
new record with uncharacteristic discipline for a couple of weeks and it was
time to take a break. In fact, not only were we in the studio for 8-9 hours a
day, but we were rehearsing most nights after recording, getting our set
together for our impending trip to Japan and subsequent tour with <b>Municipal</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <b>Waste</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> and <b>Napalm</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <b>Death</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">. We found ourselves
staying up later and later in an effort to decompress after 12+ hour days. But
things were chugging along. Our big board was filling up rapidly after the
rhythm guitars were knocked out. After eleven days in the studio (one more day
than we had to finish all guitars and vocals for the 17 songs on <i>All Guts…</i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">) we got a little time
to unwind and cut loose in the form of three shows in Japan supporting <b>Cannibal</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <b>Corpse</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">We
left for Japan from Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix with a rough mix of the 15
tracks we’d recorded, most still without vocals. All the solos were finished,
and it was still exciting to listen to everything, as rough as it still was.
The veggie meal I got on the plane was actually damn good, which was shocking.
Since beer and wine were free on the flight, I drank a lot, listening to the
new Exhumed stuff and watched <i>The Avengers</i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> without sound. I barely dozed off,
and then started catching up on movies I hadn’t seen yet. <i>Moonrise Kingdom</i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> was unsurprisingly
awesome. I love Wes Anderson’s stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">We
landed and made it through customs with our nifty Japanese visas without
incident. Everything was going so well, so smoothly, that something lame was
bound to happen. And it did. We got all of our luggage except my guitar, which
was lost somewhere in LAX. The funny thing is that we actually had the baggage
allowance to bring one more guitar, and I almost did. That would have been a
very good idea in hindsight. We headed to the hotel and crashed out for the
night, after a quick production meeting with Nambu from Smash and Jumbo from
Relapse Europe. Since I use Fernandes guitars (which totally rule – yes, this
is a shameless plug), and their HQ is in Tokyo, I was hopeful I could get
another Vortex without too much difficulty. Nambu was good friends with the
president of ESP’s Japan office and he was speaking with him about getting a
loaner was well. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">The
next day, Mike and I walked around the city for a couple of hours, and then we
all had lunch at a delicious Korean restaurant across from the hotel. I also
found out that everyone in the Fernandes Japan office was in Shanghai for a
trade show – d’oh! Luckily, Nambu’s buddy at ESP came through. I ended up
playing a Kirk Hammet-style strat-shaped guitar, which was a cool guitar, but
it was odd not having a V. The main issue I had was that the guitar was set up
in standard tuning, and I had about an hour and a half to set it up in B before
we were due on stage. Also, all my tools were in my missing guitar case.
Needless to say, it was not my best setup job, but it managed. I also met the
folks in <b>Sigh</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">, who were all awesome. By the time we were ready to go on,
the sold-out show was fucking packed and the vibe was so positive I couldn’t
have cared less. The Tokyo show was one of the absolute best we’ve played since
getting back together with a great positive energy on both sides of the stage.
Before we left, Nambu, the booking agent, advised us to bring 100 shirts for
the three shows. Well, by the time we finished playing, we had sold 96 of them.
Which was awesome, but a bummer for the kids in Osaka and Nagoya. We relaxed
backstage with some old friends while <b>Cannibal</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> was crushing the universe as usual.
After the show, Rob, Bud, and I went to a bar called Rockaholics and had a
great time, drinking ‘til after four in the morning and getting the whole bar
to sing along with <b>Maiden</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">, <b>Fate</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">, and <b>Priest</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UGZ-ydfPcC0" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;">Decrepit Crescendo in Tokyo</span></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">Later
that morning, we boarded the bullet train for Osaka. Honestly, I crashed out
for pretty much the whole ride, and subsequently broke my phone (that will be
explained in the next update) with the videos of the beautiful Japanese
countryside rushing past anyway, so… We arrived in Osaka and took a quick nap
and shower at the hotel, then it was over to the club. I spent most of the time
working on the ESP and finally got it pretty playable. I still didn’t have as
much pull-up room on the whammy bar as I normally like, but other than that, I
was able to play a lot tighter the second night in Japan. The crowd was pretty
decent, definitely not as crazy as Tokyo, but still awesome. I took advantage
of one of the dozens of opportunities I’ve had this year to watch <b>Cannibal</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> <b>Corpse</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">, and I gotta say, I
really enjoyed their set. They have so many great songs throughout the years
and they always sound killer. We owe them for taking us on the road so much
this year. After the show, we headed to a tiny place called Crunch Bar, kind of
a thrash metal pub. We were joined by Pat from <b>Cannibal</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> and then got the
bartender to put on Ultimate Revenge 1 and 2, which was really fun. I turned in
a little earlier that night and got a good night’s sleep before heading to
Nagoya. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">We
were back on the bullet train the next day to Nagoya for the last show in
Japan. The club and the hotel were in the same building, which made getting
back and forth incredibly easy. My guitar finally arrived – thanks a lot Delta.
We were in full-on recording mode when we left, and by show three, we were
getting back into the groove of playing live. The fact that we had been having
an incredibly good time for the past couple of days didn’t hurt either. During
our soundcheck, Rob Barrett hung out and hopped on the drums, and we ran
through some incredibly sloppy versions of “Circle Of The Tyrants”, “Dethroned
Emperor”, and a couple other <b>Frost</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> tunes for a goof, which was loads
of fun. The show was more intense than Osaka, which was awesome, the only
downer in sight was that we had to be at the airport the next morning at 6:30.
After the show, we headed (three guesses where) to another Metal bar whose name
I forgot and partied with Corpsegrinder and our Japanese friends. Even Alex
Webster stopped by for a minute to say hey to everyone. The next morning, we
all woke up still drunk, but made it on time to catch our flight from Nagoya to
Tokyo’s sprawling Narita airport. Our connection from Tokyo to Phoenix, however
was not for another seven hours. Once we got to Narita, we had some breakfast
and passed out on chairs until we could check in. By the time we got on the
plane, I was finally awake and still a bit hungover, and I just couldn’t get
back to sleep. One more movie marathon later, we landed in LA. Traveling to the
states from Japan is the only form of time-travel I have ever done. Thanks to
the international date line, we arrived in Los Angeles two hours <i>before</i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> our flight left in
Tokyo. One more flight and we were in Phoenix again, checking back into the
Extended Stay America to try and finish our new record. Our friends in Death
Angel were playing in town, but we thought going out might leave us
under-rested for the following day’s recording. So instead, we ended up staying
in the hotel room drinking until 3 in the morning like idiots.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">The
following day it was back at Arcane Digital for more fun and vocal tracking.
That night we were finally joined by our mascot / tour driver / personal
shopper Dr. Philthy, who flew in from San Luis Obispo. This time, we actually
had the time in the studio to double-track all the vocals for a little bit more
power. Also, since I’ve been doing harsh vocals for the last year and a half, I
felt like my voice came out a lot stronger on this album. The last album, I
hadn’t even sung like that for over 5 years, so I didn’t really have the
endurance or power in my vocals that I have regained. Like anything else, it’s
just a question of practice and consistency. It was really cool to hear Rob’s
voice recorded for the first time – and he was sounding killer in the studio.
Bud got into the act here and there, doing a few vocal bits in verses and
pre-choruses in addition to thickening up the choruses. We also knocked out a
bunch of band and promo photos while we were there, which was fun and full of
excessive mugging. I’m really looking forward to see how Orion at Relapse will
incorporate the photos into the design concept of the album. By the last day
(day three since returning from Japan, day fourteen overall), Rob just had two
or three more songs to nail down, and our friends in <b>Bereft</b></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;"> were heading back to
LA from Tucson, so they stopped by and did some gang vox on a few songs as
well. By the end of the recording, we knew that we had enough time to get
everything done and the atmosphere was really chill. We reinstated the “pick up
a thirty pack on the way to the studio” policy that was in effect when we
recorded <i>All Guts, No Glory</i></span><span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">. That’s how you know it’s fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="ES-TRAD" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 9.0pt;">We
finally headed out to Charlotte, North Carolina on October 22nd. The drive was
exactly what you’d expect. Long, boring, and not particularly interesting. So
we’ll leave it at that for this time. Tune in next time for all the excitement
our tour recaps usually deliver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-7469611988108527332012-10-09T22:28:00.004-07:002012-10-10T14:30:16.170-07:00Suppurating The Studio III: This time - it's personal.<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Greetings from the Grand Canyon State! We are currently sequestered in our luxurious digs (okay, where we're staying still involves a fold-out couch, but it's much better than the Super 8 we stayed at recording <i>All Guts...</i>) at the Extended Stay America in Phoenix. It's officially the end of day seven of tracking our new album and things have been going swimmingly.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived in Phoenix late Monday October 2nd, loaded in our gear and crashed out at Motel 6 for the evening. Tuesday we began in earnest, dialing in rhythm guitar tones. Since (in contrast to our situation when we recorded the last album) we actually own a decent amount of guitar gear this time around, I was stoked to actually use our road gear in the studio. It's nice to know that what's being recorded is a representation of the actual tone we have onstage. Ryan Butler, who is once more our intrepid and tireless engineer at <a href="http://www.arcanedigitalrecording.com/" target="_blank">Arcane Digital Recording</a>, has a stockpile of killer amps that we employed last time alongside Wes' JCM 800 but this time, we built the tone around my 6505+, bolstered by my Maxon overdrive pedal, the same setup I use live. We also were working wth Bud's Bogner Uberschall, but ultimately ended up using Ryan's which was a little older model with newer tubes (Butler's Ubershcall helped us get the high / mid definition on <i>All Guts</i> as well). We ended up reversing the conventional wisdom about both amps' tones, using the 6505+ and my modified Marshall cabinet (the mod was detailed on this very blog last year) for the darker guitar tone, and the Ubershcall and a Mesa Boogie cabinet for the brighter tone. So far it's already sounding crushing. Ever since <i>Anatomy Is Destiny</i>, we've used four rhythm guitar tracks on all our albums. This time around, I ended up coming up with all the riffs and basic song structures (due to the departure of Wes Caley) so it fell to me to track all the rhythms on the album. </span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0MAXASNfC2IUy-9gY9CGfQJjaY88HYDKa0yJ44F9a-RCjChgQiiLwCfKvmVt8R2F4hTEE2TZeZHVIuwei2Hm87PUdhCV1CQeY3sK3e-FR5Zj30P_Xxq6XJ-6v81lL9lHVYed3XYnZxAzy/s1600/2012-10-09+19.13.24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0MAXASNfC2IUy-9gY9CGfQJjaY88HYDKa0yJ44F9a-RCjChgQiiLwCfKvmVt8R2F4hTEE2TZeZHVIuwei2Hm87PUdhCV1CQeY3sK3e-FR5Zj30P_Xxq6XJ-6v81lL9lHVYed3XYnZxAzy/s320/2012-10-09+19.13.24.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike enjoying the sub-infernal temperatures of the Phoenix evening as Rob and I hack our way through the tracks.</span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rhythm guitar and drums are by far the most time-consuming elements of our albums to record, because they are pretty much always going, all the time, throughout every song. We have always been a very riff-oriented band, so without good-sounding and well-tracked rhythm guitars, there isn't much else for our records to stand on. Needless to say, when I sat down to start tracking, the pressure was on. This time was definitely more difficult than my rhythm parts for <i>All Guts...</i> Not only did everything fall to me, but our very limited rehearsal time meant that I just hadn't had the opportunity to play these songs very often, let alone write / arrange / memorize harmonies and such. I finally wrapped everything up early Sunday afternoon - quadruple tracking every song - an intro, an outro, and thirteen new songs in just over five days. My brain was seriously fried trying to keep track of all the new riffs, the new harmonies and various bits from all the different tunes. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were parts that got changed / written / re-written on the spot in the studio. There was stuff I had totally planned out that "theoretically" made sense but didn't work at all when applied and then had to be re-tooled on the spot, which is really cool and fun, but also a bit nerveracking. Luckily, we're all very laid-back and are so used to working with each other at this point that the inevitable speed bumps in the road of progress are always ironed out quickly. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the end, I'm really stoked with how it's sounding. But it felt like a LOT of work. With brief respites for food and helping Ryan turn all of our song titles into gay jokes (it's actually a lot easier than you'd think), I was probably playing guitar about eight hours a day. I got my first ever hand cramp in my left hand, which is just now subsiding as I'm tracking leads. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhse02uP6SgvJSYlXDQWxBdBnCFTt0lwwV_obUWpeLLTl1O8mM5uBbfNIO_JuNcHmhkta27j9n59FbuzuUiWkzh4vO3mkKaK1sPb1ijCOBEDGVoa2Je3k-8G6AIHS-gv09COLN_frPkoO8N/s1600/2012-10-07+15.39.06.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhse02uP6SgvJSYlXDQWxBdBnCFTt0lwwV_obUWpeLLTl1O8mM5uBbfNIO_JuNcHmhkta27j9n59FbuzuUiWkzh4vO3mkKaK1sPb1ijCOBEDGVoa2Je3k-8G6AIHS-gv09COLN_frPkoO8N/s320/2012-10-07+15.39.06.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that I'm done tracking rhythm guitars, I can get down to what's really important. Reading Butler's comics. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUYzZ6pBaCyKIyP5_klv-aS1HZJ6Uky-C-bjDkgz7N4d8LwagRkmTY_mLpuOJNMn3twRBj4f384uHAobN4zV5sam8nq5bAYsdjV_22-WxukFKHllI0XfX0Vs4d_VkbPUZybeGgy7YM4QLE/s1600/2012-10-09+19.31.01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUYzZ6pBaCyKIyP5_klv-aS1HZJ6Uky-C-bjDkgz7N4d8LwagRkmTY_mLpuOJNMn3twRBj4f384uHAobN4zV5sam8nq5bAYsdjV_22-WxukFKHllI0XfX0Vs4d_VkbPUZybeGgy7YM4QLE/s320/2012-10-09+19.31.01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The live room at Arcane. From L to R: Ryan's amp arsenal, our lead setup (EVH for my leads, Uberschall for Bud's), our live cabinets, my pedal board case, effects pedal boxes, and guitar cases. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been convalescing the last couple of days, thumbing through Butler's extensive comic collection, getting some rest and working here and there to get Rob up to speed on any bass parts he might have any confusion on. Since we wrote the intro and one song in the studio in Corona, CA while tracking drums, as well as two songs in the jam room during our marathon ten-day rehearsal period before recording, this material is really new to all of us. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cool thing about the newness of everything is that the takes we're doing are really fresh and invigorated. They have a spontaneous, open vibe to them, which is really exciting to me. I have always loved to work off-the-cuff and just allow cool shit to happen in the studio. For the first time, we have enough time to record and enough material to allow us to do that to a greater extent than ever before. All the shows we've played together have made us a very tight unit and we all trust each other to come up with awesome shit on the fly and be on the same page and it's working out great. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiZ_I3ZVwmgUiATij4mckMEYxfxKLHD0pQZjg8e1RliDom3zdxKk8pUR9qBXxe-vGjS2b_Z99xI7n7Z4suc_1QBQQwm7_bLAAn1mMXkOcHpF5TbubzU937LGNZ7jxVF67ptHdo4NB3yzJ/s1600/2012-10-09+19.36.51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiiZ_I3ZVwmgUiATij4mckMEYxfxKLHD0pQZjg8e1RliDom3zdxKk8pUR9qBXxe-vGjS2b_Z99xI7n7Z4suc_1QBQQwm7_bLAAn1mMXkOcHpF5TbubzU937LGNZ7jxVF67ptHdo4NB3yzJ/s320/2012-10-09+19.36.51.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The big board sees all. The big board knows all. When everything is crossed out, we have finally won our freedom from the big board.</span></span></td></tr>
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<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our guitarist Bud, was the epitome of grace under pressure and spontaneous genius when he came in to track leads Monday. Having just heard the songs for the first time on tour, and then only as midi versions (as I wrote the songs, I'd tab them out in Guitar Pro 6 just so I wouldn't forget the riffs, I then exported them as midi files to show the other guys. Yes, they sound <i>hilarious</i>, and no, I will not post them). He came in and nailed many of his solos on the first take. Bud is sort of like the ringer on the softball team for us. From arranging Bach pieces for guitar, to chicken-picking and pedal steel guitar with his other gig with the Charlotte, NC-based Wiggle Wagons, Bud is an unsung guitar hero. Personally, I'm hoping this record will change that. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bud
quickly melted our faces with his fretboard gymnastics, which made me a
little intimidated to get started on my solos (in between Rob's bass
tracking). But, any trepidation I may be experienced was overshadowed by
a healthy margin by how excited I am about this record. </span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyc7Tn5AU_MK_7-eC92wUCFS9ZBbKELQkdBGk-rcrMCQA6iNt_9JquT1_TkByZaL_HWYnZlk7BK54Yr_dFIRg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Bud ripping corpses on new track "Sickened" - his first take.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day seven saw Rob continue to punish his tremor bass and yours truly lay down some leads of my own. Before Rob started playing in Exhumed, he was playing guitar in Gravehill (if you haven't checked out the record that he and I recorded with the band, <i>When All Roads Lead To Hell</i>, you probably should - it's patch-jacket friendly old school black-thrashing Death Metal) and since picking up the bass, he's really started to become an actual bass player, which has been cool to watch develop. He started playing with his fingers, and has been actually following kick drum patterns and playing cool root progressions, not just mirroring riffs and shit. You know, <i>bass player</i> stuff. It's going to add an element to the band and this record that has been previously absent. At any rate, we got a bunch more shit done today (as evidenced by more X's on the big board) and we will continue to plow ahead - vocals will start tomorrow. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll keep you updated on our progress as tracking continues. I'm hoping we'll have all the solos and most of the vocals finished before we hop on a plane this Saturday afternoon to head to Japan for three days supporting our buddies in Cannibal Corpse (who have been kind enough to let us ride on their coattails yet again). I'm sure there will be loads of retardation and accompanying photo documentation to fill you all in about when we get back. Until next time, keep on rotting in the free world, dudes and dudettes. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers, </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harvey and the lads</span></div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-610497187091710012012-10-01T02:34:00.000-07:002012-10-01T02:34:21.647-07:00Suppurating The Studio Part II: Decrepit Boogaloo<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the week starts rolling, I'm stoked to report that our resident skin-beater, the affable Mike Hamilton has finished all the drum tracks for the next Exhumed record. Mike did a hellva job tackling loads of blast beats, d-beats, thrash beats, punishing double bass, and all with a smile. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6jzeoSi4TaSDrQjtfuNxWBEq6HOQ22Ih-7gx_OKAWQU3KUZCISjEGON-phImXHMexJj6VCssGmWTaEHIz_tuXhVPtoJyjEqT1vPPpOue1IIdaK8T4cgFT_4Bb51xyqtRSxqlmxIfy74I/s1600/2012-09-24+00.28.17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil6jzeoSi4TaSDrQjtfuNxWBEq6HOQ22Ih-7gx_OKAWQU3KUZCISjEGON-phImXHMexJj6VCssGmWTaEHIz_tuXhVPtoJyjEqT1vPPpOue1IIdaK8T4cgFT_4Bb51xyqtRSxqlmxIfy74I/s320/2012-09-24+00.28.17.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mike getting set up on day one.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This was the first time an Exhumed album has been made recording to a click track - which is really standard procedure for most bands - metal or otherwise. The beauty of the click is that it not only keeps us a bit more on time (as much charm as records like "In The Sign Of Evil" and "Reek Of Putrefaction" have, we never wanted to re-create that level of musical ineptitude - even when we were doing it!), but it allows the drummer to punch in much more easily. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of "punching in" during a recording, it's the ability to begin recording in the middle of a take - continuing to play with a partially satisfactory recorded performance and simply tacking on an additional sections as you go. Punching in has been the norm for guitars even back when we used to record at a 16-track studio with a 2" tape machine back in the early '90s, but it was more difficult for drums (on our budgets at least) - and if you don't have the click guiding your tempos, it can be a nightmare trying to get a song to remain even close to consistent speed-wise. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjulcUsb22yJQbxLwiicmMrt0-JMb-YR_Ml6RZVZPzT3s7zDN_9CnWzF7vuCqTDAfI0h3uazaCgwa2Gb2Ke166mA3-8s9I2XioNKokJTXf-n-ub8gbQYr-KHU-Axz_RB9u5Cgg-FS1zkmm/s1600/2012-09-24+17.01.55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjulcUsb22yJQbxLwiicmMrt0-JMb-YR_Ml6RZVZPzT3s7zDN_9CnWzF7vuCqTDAfI0h3uazaCgwa2Gb2Ke166mA3-8s9I2XioNKokJTXf-n-ub8gbQYr-KHU-Axz_RB9u5Cgg-FS1zkmm/s320/2012-09-24+17.01.55.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Rob hard at work in the studio.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The biggest advantage of all of this for this album is... due to our minimal rehearsal time (two weeks to learn ten songs) we were writing all the clever bits as we were recording. Mike was filling in the skeleton of the drum parts on the fly - constantly coming up with new and different ideas for fills, accents, and beat changes as we went. That added a different level of creativity that can be mentally exhausting in the studio. The studio situation can be stressful even for the most prepared musician (time / budget constraints, recording nerves, equipment problems, weird headphone mixes, hearing your parts being put under a microscope etc. are all very common factors that can stress out just about anyone trying to give their best performance). Add that to the physically demanding level of drumming that playing this type of music entails, and you can see that Mike had a herculean task in front of him. He really rose to the occasion, beating the crap out of his kit, channeling his inner Dave Lombardo for awesome drum fills, and taking the drum parts way further than what I had imagined. The thing that's so appealing about working this way to me is that you are really getting a representation of that particular moment - something new and fresh plucked out of thin air and committed to tape (okay, hard drive) while it's new and fresh to the person playing it. which is just a cool, honest thing to represent as far as I'm concerned. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were knocking out two to three full songs a day, plus we tracked an intro that we put together in the studio, an outro I had been toying with, and we came up with a quick grind tune (about :50 total length) on the spot that got recorded as well. We'll see what ends up making the cut for the actual record, but it was great to have the time to develop a killer vibe in the studio that allows for that kind of spontaneous shit to happen. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12nzWbqk-lzemTLg1WGK2I8xxmdIHN-VyYGgh9xvlu_eGfuBYmZi89bda2onSom0XEhBP66-zNV5AMlSCcBYP9I5FgCFhp9LkqrVW1p8EjEJQyQQpshd3EOyZArYIs-hWp5msDrYerehi/s1600/2012-09-27+18.09.49.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj12nzWbqk-lzemTLg1WGK2I8xxmdIHN-VyYGgh9xvlu_eGfuBYmZi89bda2onSom0XEhBP66-zNV5AMlSCcBYP9I5FgCFhp9LkqrVW1p8EjEJQyQQpshd3EOyZArYIs-hWp5msDrYerehi/s320/2012-09-27+18.09.49.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">It just wouldn't be the internet without more pictures of cats. This one was guarding our guitar cabinets.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was also killer to break up the process with a Friday night birthday party for Rob and Mike at Rob's house with all the Gravehill folks, several dozen beers, some Gentleman Jack and killer bbq. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday night was great as well, as Mike and I celebrated the completion of drum tracking (that day we tracked the final album song, wrote and tracked the intro, wrote and tracked the aforementioned grind number, and got the outro done as well- fucking productive!) by attending Leon del Muerte's birthday party across town in LA for loads more beer and bbq with our friends from Murder Construct, Nausea, Dreaming Dead, DIS, Eat The Living, Panties, and tons of other folks. It's kind of nuts, Rob, Mike and I all have birthdays within three weeks of each other (not to mention Exhumed alumnus Leon's in Rocktober and Ross' in September - but please DO NOT bring up astrology around me - blech!!). So we have lots of excuses to get wasted this time of year. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday was spent being hung over while our ace engineer, John Haddad (who in a somewhat ironic turn of events is about to start recording the drums for the new Intronaut record next week) was going through and editing all the drum tracks - double checking our work, cleaning up little weird studio stuff, and making sure all our i's were dotted and t's were crossed before we take the whole thing across the state line into Arizona tomorrow to start tracking all the other elements of the album. To give you an idea how excited I am about this, e</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">very day this week, I have been waking up from dreaming about guitar solos, riffs, and all things recording. I'm up at eight in the morning all excited and then sit and think about riffs for a half hour before I can fall back asleep until eleven or noon and we get started. It's like I'm seven years old on Christmas morning or something, haha! Although no one has brought me a Millennium Falcon yet (hint, hint!). We're grabbing a trailer tomorrow morning to take all our gear eastward and start looking for a suitably ruling guitar tone. I'll keep you all posted!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Harvey and the boyzzzz....</span>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-58643201085088115832012-09-26T12:07:00.004-07:002012-09-26T12:07:33.324-07:00Suppurating the studio part 1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, I'm gonna wait a bit to finish recapping our (seemingly) endless supply of marginally humorous road stories (that usually begin with, "this one time in _____, I was soooo wasted...") and talk a bit about what we're doing right this second. We are once again in the studio at work on a new record. We've returned to beautiful (and by beautiful, I mean "beautiful" Corona, California) to record drum tracks at Trench studios with engineer John Haddad for album number five. Right now it's the morning of day three, and things are well under way. </span><div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The question I get most often right now is "When the fuck did you guys have time to write a new album? You've been on tour non-stop since February?!?" Well, unlike <i>All Guts,</i> where we were able to write at our leisure and swap pre-production files, this album has been put together in fits and starts. Due to being on the road so much, I have been writing in between tours - a little bit here, a little bit there, and as the deadline neared, I have been clearing out my "riff warehouse" with feverish speed. I always have songs that never get finished, or get finished but only have one or two cool parts, or a riff with nothing to go with it that has been bugging me for years. Luckily, our former guitarist Wes and I were on an intense writing jag when we did <i>All Guts... </i>and I had about six songs written that didn't make the cut. That said, they didn't make the cut for a reason - we recorded the strongest songs for the record. However... there are always a couple of good ideas in those songs that just need to be gleaned, extracted, strengthened and molded into something else. They have been an excellent springboard for new stuff. So between coming up with completely new songs, getting ideas from the best riffs and unused bits I had languishing around, and writing in the jam room, we have about 40-42 minutes worth of brand new material. Again, we're shooting for an album length of about 35 minutes (I feel that with this style of music anything longer starts to drag and sap the listener's endurance / attention span), so we have more than enough new stuff. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we didn't have enough of however, was rehearsal time. Between our liver-destroying and brain-numbing road schedule, disparate zip codes, line-up shifts, occasional bouts of employment, and any facsimile of personal lives, we have had little to no prep time as a band to work out these new songs. Every time we would get in the jam room, we were getting a set list ready for a tour, and if we did work on a new idea, it was neglected for a month or more and never really picked up again. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, we spent a little over two weeks after returning from Summer Slaughter in the jam room, pounding away at the new material and getting the basic framework of the songs down. The details and fancy bits we're honing as we go in the studio. It's been an exciting way to work, and each take really captures the vibe of that particular moment, which I really dig. Mike's drum set is sounding fucking huge already, and I'm itching to get to Chandler, AZ to start laying down guitars and vocals. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day one was spent tuning the drum kit and getting some tones. The vibe of this record is a little darker and more open, so we went for a little lower tones, added a bigger tom, and got a bit bigger and boomier drum sound from the get-go. That took most of the day (which is pretty normal, actually pretty quick compared to most recordings), but we opted to track a song in the remaining few hours. Since our prep time was so limited, we compensated by booking more studio time for everything this time around and we were shooting for getting tones the entire first day and nailing two songs each of the following days. So we were psyched to get a little ahead of the game - the extra cushion always comes in handy. However, it was a bit late to drive out to LA for the <b>Murder Construct</b> CD release show we were considering attending that night, which was disappointing. I would have loved to have time to hang with friends and enjoy some top-notch grind. If you haven't checked out their album <i>Results</i>, do yourself a favor. It features a bunch of my old buddies kicking some serious ass. But I digress... Instead we grabbed a couple of bottles of wine (yes, go ahead and snigger) and retired for the evening. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Day two, Rob and I headed to the Japanese consulate in Los Angeles (about 50 miles from Corona - which means about two hours away in LA traffic) to file for our visas for the Japanese shows we have coming up in October and get one of my guitars repaired. Meanwhile in Corona, Mike got to work on a song recording along with the midi pre-production tracks I had whipped up. By the time we made it back to the studio, several frustrating hours had elapsed sitting in traffic and we were a bit behind schedule. I settled in, got hastily warmed up, and Mike and finished the track. After a short break for a late lunch / early dinner, we decided to try and nail another one. Then one of those killer moments happened when things just started <i>working</i>. The vibe was awesome and great ideas kept coming out at breakneck speed. Even our engineer, John (who used to play drums in <b>Phobia</b> back in the day) suggested a beat that no one had thought of that worked out perfectly. Before we knew it, the song was in the can, and we were all pumped on our day's work left fully stoked! Which brings us to the present. Which means I need to stop typing, and get my ass over to the studio to get this record done.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Harvey and the lads</span></div>
Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-23767114053048908942012-09-20T03:53:00.001-07:002012-09-20T11:46:37.592-07:00Finally, an update. What has it been? Like three months? Jeez...<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wow, I really have not updated this thing in a long time. I can only say to myself, in the immortal words of Tim and / or Eric: "Ya blew it". So... what better way to get things going again then with some news and crap. And then onto the tour diary entries that anyone familiar with this blog probably knows and tolerates. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So... First off, in the "news" category, as anyone who came out to the Summer Slaughter shows undoubtedly noticed, we have a new guitar player whose name may be familiar to you: Bud Burke. Bud joined the band on bass way back in '99 for the Contamination tour we did with <b>Soilent Green</b>, <b>Today Is The Day</b>, <b>Morgion</b>, and <b>Nasum</b> (who were on the first ten shows with us). Bud had always been a guitar player, and we first met him in '94 or so when he was in a local San Jose Death Metal band called <b>Pale Existence</b> (which also featured Lorin Ashton, better known today as international DJ extraordinaire <b>Bassnectar</b> - true story). At some point someone had borrowed his PA and he thought we might have it and he called us up right after we had parted ways with the inimitable Ross Sewage. Instead of finding his PA, he ended up touring with us on and off for the next four years. After our original skinbeater, Col Jones departed the band in '03, Bud also opted to split - probably because he is a monster shredder and would rather be known for that than for playing distorted bass and throwing up onstage. Anyway, when the decision was made to split with Wes, he was the first and only person we thought of for the job. We are super psyched to have him back in the band and had a killer time partying with him on the Summer Slaughter tour. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFI-fSCJ6U89umHoPBwePOVravzv2dEuT2l23dlAt60F4IPRo7p1mQe9BCmSFGd9rUX2sDudTn7gRGH4C4gKMbV7VfTtgMoHYPjPX9gQBVfzZfRZyWIK-luXr4URWuk_5yocaoVo9KpZQv/s1600/15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFI-fSCJ6U89umHoPBwePOVravzv2dEuT2l23dlAt60F4IPRo7p1mQe9BCmSFGd9rUX2sDudTn7gRGH4C4gKMbV7VfTtgMoHYPjPX9gQBVfzZfRZyWIK-luXr4URWuk_5yocaoVo9KpZQv/s320/15.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bud Burke: He's Partying.</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In other exciting (at least to us) news... Mike (Hamilton, drums), Rob (Babcock, bass / vox) and I have been rehearsing nonstop in beautiful San Luis Obispo California for the last couple of weeks in preparation for our next LP since we got back from tour. We enter the studio September 24th and should be done with the whole shebang by October 21st. We have 12 new songs worked up and will be shooting for a May 2013 release. Even though our rehearsal time has been extremely limited due to our road schedule, we managed to come up with couple of new ones in the jam room in the past week and have been having a blast working through all this material (when we haven't been rebuilding my dad's backyard). Our plan for this one is pretty similar to what we did on "All Guts...". We'll be tracking the drums in Corona with John Haddad at <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Trench.Studios" target="_blank">Trench Studios</a> and then heading to Chandler Arizona to do everything else with Ryan Butler at <a href="http://www.arcanedigitalrecording.com/" target="_blank">Arcane Digital</a>. After the tracking is done we'll be sending the whole ball of wax off to get mixed while we're on the road with <b>Napalm Death</b> and <b>Municipal Waste</b> throughout late October and November. Oh yeah, and while we're recording, we'll be taking a quick break to head over to Japan for three shows with <b>Cannibal Corpse</b>. So Fall is gonna be fucking nuts. The plan for now is to take some time off until the new album hits after this last 2012 tour, so if you live in the US or Canada and somehow you <i>still</i> haven't seen us (we've done like 190 shows since last April- c'mon!) this will be an excellent opportunity.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4yWnv3iabXdXGfOjq1jMr0zskzIH21UM2PkxncfZFSy_mzLBkMMt3dQwmWKm5F64M8C_-c-jBlT79BLADNhRbneuZMwHJ-uPu7atesXq5L9WIVFFv7GIyKaY2oGILo6FwKsoTTN4F6fo/s1600/ND_MW_Tour2012_Admat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf4yWnv3iabXdXGfOjq1jMr0zskzIH21UM2PkxncfZFSy_mzLBkMMt3dQwmWKm5F64M8C_-c-jBlT79BLADNhRbneuZMwHJ-uPu7atesXq5L9WIVFFv7GIyKaY2oGILo6FwKsoTTN4F6fo/s320/ND_MW_Tour2012_Admat.jpg" width="207" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This tour is going to fucking rule your face off. </span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So... that's what's new with us. Now, I'm going to launch into one of my tedious reminiscences about our tours. So if that sounds boring, you can go look at internet porn or cat videos or whatever else you do at work. But, if you like stories about idiots being idiots, then by all means, continue reading. In the interest of "staying current" I'm gonna launch into the Summer Slaughter Tour, which in all honesty was a lot less fun than our tours supporting <b>Cannibal Corpse</b> and <b>Black Dahlia Murder</b>, but it was the most recent, the freshest in my mind and the pictures were the first ones in my phone.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The time between the conclusion of the <b>Black Dahlia Murder</b> tour and the Summer Slaughter was really chaotic. I ended up stepping in at the last possible moment to fill in for the Death To All tour, which was exhilarating, humbling, stressful, and nerve-racking all at once. When I get another second, I'll post some pics and tell that tale in its entirety. Basically as soon as I got home from DTA we made the call to get a new guitarist, which was a rough move to make, as Wes is a killer guitar player and a great songwriter, but it was definitely the right move for us going forward. Then we were forced to cancel our show at Obscene Extreme (which we were going to do as three-piece - '97 style!) due to the death in one of the guy's immediate family, so the whole week seemed to be going to shit. Three days before the start of the tour, Bud flew out to California from North Carolina and rode north with Rob from sunny Orange County to sleepy San Luis Obispo for a whopping two days of rehearsal. Luckily, a lot of the older material was still somewhere in Bud's beer-soaked memory banks and things went really well. We did totally revamp the set list we had planned and ended up playing a lot more old songs just due to lack of preparation time. At any rate, we left for Los Angeles on Thursday July 19, as ready as we would ever be for five weeks of sun, fun, and corporate rock. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Summer Slaughter - 1st leg - July 20-31</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To begin with, I'm gonna say that tours like Summer Slaughter just aren't really my thing. As a dude rapidly closing in on 37 years old who's been listening to Metal in some form or other since the end of 1986, the idea of a ten-to-twelve band bill that starts at one in the afternoon is about as attractive as Roseanne Barr's taint. That said, our record label and booking agent, both of whom I really do trust, insisted that we take this tour and that it would be an excellent way to reach new fans. I believe they were correct in that assertion, so please take any subsequent bellyaching on my part (there will be quite a bit) with a grain or six of salt and remember that they are simply the grousings of aging, road-weary crank. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My main concern was that I really didn't want to play first and have to go on at 4:00 in the afternoon every day. Well, we were <i>second </i>on the tour package, and played around <i>4:15 </i>everyday. Obviously, I really need to aim higher. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At any rate, most shows featured a local <i>and </i>regional opener, because hey - on a ten band package tour, introducing as many variables per day will <i>definitely </i>make things run smoother. Yes, italics represent sarcasm. However, Charlie and Redbeard, the production and stage manager really did a bang-up job keeping things organized and on-time. Of course with eleven or twelve bands every day, there is not a lot space, backstage room, catering, beer, guest list spots for friends / family, room to set up merchandise etc. etc. to go around. This would get interesting many times on tour. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first show being in LA was very convenient for us logistically, as it's a three hour drive from where we live. Our agent extraordinaire, Dan Rozenblum was on hand for the tour kickoff, which is always a sign of an excellent time. We were also very stoked that our old pals in <b>Goatwhore</b> were on the tour with us, so that there would always be <i>someone</i> around that wanted to listen to <b>Venom</b> or <b>Judas Priest</b> at any given moment. The LA show was weird, in that it was packed, but not with people we knew or normally saw at our shows. That would be a continuing theme throughout the tour. We hung out with the <b>Abysmal Dawn</b> dudes a bit, met up with Kevin Stewart-Panko, our tour manager / merch Guy / Babysitter-in-Chief / internationally renowned journalist, saw a bunch of friends, and ended up spending a decent amount of money at the bar ($6 PBR, House Of Blues!?!? You guys are dicks.) after finding out that we were only receiving water on this tour. Ugh. That news went over like a Ratt shirt at an Exodus show in '85. Thankfully the next day's drive to San Diego was mercifully short and the tour was underway. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Limb From Limb Live in LA</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">San Diego was fun. We started getting the hang of sneaking friends into the show (which can be tricky at some of these more "professional" type venues), and left after our set to drink beer and watch sports, which was a much better use of our time than hanging out at the venue and seeing the same bands we would have dozens more opportunities to see. Of course, San Diego has probably the best weather in the country, so it's always nice to be out there. And aside from their odious sports teams, it's a pretty great place. Vegas was next... One of my least favorite cities in the US, but we've never had a shitty show there. And I have to admit, the food at House Of Blues (the LA, Vegas, Dallas, Houston, Cleveland, and Chicago shows were all at House Of Blues) is pretty good, even if it is a soulless, contrived, fake, trite, corporate rock in the absolute worst sense of the term, touristy, and overpriced bullshit place to hang out. And they have air conditioning. Vegas was a lot of fun, and the audience was actually fucking great. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After the show, we undertook the first of many all-day drinking tailgate parties with Goatwhore in the van area (which was mercifully covered, but still very, very hot). By the end of the night, we were all tanked. Right as things were winding down, Rob "Wild Card" Babcock somehow wandered off. This is never a good thing. By the time one AM rolled around we were the last vehicle in the parking lot. I was looking forward with rapt anticipation to arriving in Chandler Arizona at the home of the aforementioned Ryan Butler around six AM for a nice four or five hours of non-van sleep in air-conditioned comfort. Instead, I was looking for Rob. By five AM, I was furious and also a little bit worried. I felt like the father of teenage girl who hasn't come home hours after her curfew had passed. Or something similar but less weird-sounding. We called the local jail and drunk tank, who assured us that they hadn't arrested anyone we knew, which was mostly reassuring. By six AM, still sitting in the House Of Blues parking lot, we began considering the drive time to the Scottsdale show. In order to make our load-in time (noon - to give you an idea of our typical day, three or four PM is the average load-in time for a show - so noon feels really, really fucking early on tour. I'm not even usually awake at noon - yeah, I know, I'm a real winner) we would need to depart Las Vegas no later than eight AM or cancel the show. On a show with ten bands, moving spots or changing set times is simply <i>not</i> an option. By 7:30 AM, any worries I may have had were completely replaced with anger - keep in mind, we'd been outside all night in 90+ degree weather, waiting for nearly eight hours. Any reasonable person would be a bit cranky at this point. At 7:40, Rob finally stumbles into view with the sentence, "I just woke up on the roof of one of these buildings... That was weird." At last the van starts moving, the AC comes on, almost everyone passes out, and we push off for AZ. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always considered myself to be a warm-weather, outside-in-the-sun kind of guy, (I mean, I did live in Hawaii for almost two years) but after this tour I have serious doubts about that assumption. Being outside in Scottsdale in the summer is sort of like being on fire, but it doesn't look as cool. We did make it to the show more or less on time, everything was fine and we were already laughing about our night in Vegas. We hung out with Ryan and Matt from <b>Landmine Marathon</b> and Tim from <b>Sorrower</b>, and afterwards, I headed off to go drinking with an old buddy I hadn't seen in years. The day turned out to be awesome. By the time I got back into the area of the venue I still got to knock a couple back with the <b>Goatwhore</b> guys. The next day was a drive day... it's quite a ways between Phoenix and Dallas, let me tell you. Having just played El Paso twice on the Cannibal run, it didn't make sense to fill the off day with a show there, so we just trucked out through the desert. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bud and yours truly in Scottsdale. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Aly Webstar. </span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dr. Philthy presses the flesh in Arizona. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Aly Webstar. </span></span></span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Trying to stop being morons long enough to get some new band photos after the Scottsdale show. Photo by Aly Webstar. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dallas has never been a city I've been particularly fond of either for some reason. I like San Antonio and Houston, hell I even dig El Paso, but Dallas has never done much for me. The show we did at Trees back in '04 with <b>Cannibal Corpse</b> and <b>Hypocrisy</b> was fun there, though. At any rate, I honestly can't remember anything of note really happening in Dallas on this tour. I'm sure it was relatively cool and stuff, but I'm totally drawing a blank. San Antonio, however was a bit more memorable. The show itself was fucking excellent, and the audience was killer. Afterwards, it was soon time for another ridiculous all day / night parking lot rager, where we socialized a bit with some of the other bands that I wasn't all that familiar with and had a great time. We later found out that Rob (surprise!) got a little rambunctious with the <b>Job For A Cowboy</b> guys, so he bought them a bottle of Jameson in Mission TX the next day and any non-consensual roughhousing was forgiven. Mission was fun because we went to the grocery store (HEB) and filled up our coolers with snacks, gatorades, soda and of course, beer (duh). We also met Sally, sister to one of my oldest dearest friends Lily. She was beyond hospitable and helped us run a ton of errands (not as easy as it sounds on tour - especially when you have a trailer and you have to load in at noon every day) and of course eat amazing Mexican food. We left Mission replenished and headed for the cradle of Willie D, Scarface, and Bushwick, H-town. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I finally ate at Jimmy John's for the first time in Houston after we loaded everything in. I had heard <i>a lot </i>about Jimmy John's before finally sampling their menu. A prime example: James Harvey from <b>Goatwhore</b>'s rules are: don't talk shit about his girlfriend; don't talk shit about his motorcycle; and don't talk shit about Jimmy John's. Even without the threat of angering a 6'4" 250 pound man-mountain like James, I would say that the sandwich was pretty damn good. I wish we had Jimmy John's in Cali. But I also with that the entire country had taquerias, taco trucks, good Asian food, In-and-Out, Fatburger, Tommy Burger, and Nations like we do in California. But I digress. After the show (at yet another House Of Blues) and dinner, we headed to the bar down the street. It was actually a pretty fun and cool bar. Here are a couple of pics from the night:</span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7v9ijePbV4ilNRadmm4JB2q7lfBUrC840l3vLvuAAZ6LaA3iN0gqtFRoNuAWAryxFmVkXNIERAxT1uok8yax9zOVbIHjwU3k1kAmvfFtPnS3wVjEwLugdldr2ZiDTzIrjACtScga6kKg/s1600/2012-07-28+22.46.56.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih7v9ijePbV4ilNRadmm4JB2q7lfBUrC840l3vLvuAAZ6LaA3iN0gqtFRoNuAWAryxFmVkXNIERAxT1uok8yax9zOVbIHjwU3k1kAmvfFtPnS3wVjEwLugdldr2ZiDTzIrjACtScga6kKg/s320/2012-07-28+22.46.56.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Rob, Cowboy Space Ace, and Bud.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sl2ZT4e94tGTVhVoMpVynk76P4f1YOK7aLqaPz5EFXEUV0hyphenhyphenNVi10Y1GYYLhgJLMsi14MdKwqY5yHS9mko-OQi1lE4tF13pu7-vGdAFpQXrW8DSAK7Mh-tSA0PKxdZ8t1C-3_qKTb2ke/s1600/2012-07-28+23.36.48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3sl2ZT4e94tGTVhVoMpVynk76P4f1YOK7aLqaPz5EFXEUV0hyphenhyphenNVi10Y1GYYLhgJLMsi14MdKwqY5yHS9mko-OQi1lE4tF13pu7-vGdAFpQXrW8DSAK7Mh-tSA0PKxdZ8t1C-3_qKTb2ke/s320/2012-07-28+23.36.48.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This chick was fucking weird. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">At any rate, after some extremely intoxicated Geto Boys rap-alongs, we passed out as we headed into yet another drive day. This time, en route to Tampa. By this time, we had noticed something was going on with our AC. Thankfully, it was fully functioning, but the entire floor of the van was soggy. That was not too cool. Faced with an extremely long drive, we decided to figure it out in Tampa and charge through the deep south, wet feet notwithstanding. We did make a couple of noteworthy stops. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Apparently our
faithful drummer Mike Hamilton owned a non-camoflaged piece of clothing
and wanted to rectify his oversight, so we stopped at </span>the Bass Pro Shop / Outdoor world in Alabama. This place was fucking nuts. Bud headed to the nearby Hooters for a beer where we picked him up later. Yup, we were in the South. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVFX4FgRaj9y5sVH5k8OpJ4YVs2PORZA9XFIUZoZqfpzjO3WHQ74LShCfwLk5-sqmItylXSC4Zf9hwmoRveHqMBCafmqd6ZCHP3hInhMuqzOQqHqsuOKfqflZyPI5JgQ_MO4FQ4AtSt0T/s1600/2012-07-29+18.57.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOVFX4FgRaj9y5sVH5k8OpJ4YVs2PORZA9XFIUZoZqfpzjO3WHQ74LShCfwLk5-sqmItylXSC4Zf9hwmoRveHqMBCafmqd6ZCHP3hInhMuqzOQqHqsuOKfqflZyPI5JgQ_MO4FQ4AtSt0T/s320/2012-07-29+18.57.47.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This place is bigger than most Wal-Marts and also includes a diorama of stuffed animals (like taxidermy, not like cute and fluffy) in various salient poses on top of fake trees, fake mountains, the works. Lots of cool fucking guns though. </span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXxvUfv2FvTUhVtOc-yWYPYYtyS3KpS0iCkDRmReya-q3RIhitr7tXxSS_DiA3Gs2lD9DKZbHYhrCm8AXFOjuWxv-uf4ixsxUd8SHV4r13ZNGqZD4li-Rr-tNDmKiiqNRKVl7wSHO2KgF/s1600/2012-07-29+19.23.05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPXxvUfv2FvTUhVtOc-yWYPYYtyS3KpS0iCkDRmReya-q3RIhitr7tXxSS_DiA3Gs2lD9DKZbHYhrCm8AXFOjuWxv-uf4ixsxUd8SHV4r13ZNGqZD4li-Rr-tNDmKiiqNRKVl7wSHO2KgF/s320/2012-07-29+19.23.05.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hooters- Where attractive women with questionable self-esteem serve awful food to people of questionable intelligence. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We pressed on to the land of early nineties Death Metal, extreme humidity and my least favorite Pirate-related professional sports team: Tampa. The venue, The Ritz, was in Ybor City, the downtown area, so there would definitely be stuff to do after the show. We loaded in and took the van to Midas for $500 or so of repair work (always a great way to start the day), then Brian Hopp, our dauntless sound guy informed us that he had mono and was leaving the tour after that show. Hoo boy. What a day. I was dying from the humidity, not really getting enough sleep for the past week (the earlier load in times were seriously interrupting the part of the day where I usually sleep though my hangovers - and I am being 100% serious on that), and pissed about the van and losing our sound guy (although the tour stage manager Redbeard stepped up to the plate and did a killer job) so I retreated to the bar across the street, put on some go-to juke box selections (<b>Blue Oyster Cult</b>, <b>Thin Lizzy</b>, and <b>Deep Purple</b>) and had a couple cold beers. The day was starting to look up... Our van was ready, all we had to do was grab a cab across town and pick 'er up. And then... the police arrived and started emptying the venue due to some idiot writing a death threat to <b>Job For A Cowboy</b>. My formerly quiet Monday afternoon bar was packed with people blasting Death Metal on the jukebox and the street was cordoned off so the cab took 45 minutes to get there. So much for relaxation.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8exlBr6Ru3zgWw_Zu2mU3A4WhnLUMAMEMKinYH2SetuuP8J-adjFk46iOhK9F30Yw48bKeMaIQ0uOq15VfsDgzySQPJI_7pnla7vA_GFO7ouZ3HX52Jewh2XfDZt9skx6_sVk29dWrFb/s1600/2012-07-30+18.19.14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy8exlBr6Ru3zgWw_Zu2mU3A4WhnLUMAMEMKinYH2SetuuP8J-adjFk46iOhK9F30Yw48bKeMaIQ0uOq15VfsDgzySQPJI_7pnla7vA_GFO7ouZ3HX52Jewh2XfDZt9skx6_sVk29dWrFb/s320/2012-07-30+18.19.14.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At least I used the time waiting for a cab wisely... Photo by Dr. Philthy.</span></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is what you <i>do not</i> want to see pulling up outside your show. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">At any rate, like any person with poor judgment would do, upon returning to Ybor City with the van and finding out that the show would proceed as planned, I proceeded to ease my fatigue, frustration and general malaise by getting totally blitzed. I remember multiple bars, beers, gay people singing karaoke, scotch, shots, martinis, maybe a slice of pizza? At any rate, I woke up at some point in a house I'd never seen before being told to get back in the van by Kevin. It was a confusing night, and I barely remember enough of it to even make a good story out of it. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next day in Ft. Lauderdale however, I remember with excruciating clarity. I woke up in the van at about 12:45, covered with sweat, wearing only my underwear, ready to throw up. And I did. Many times. By the time we went onstage at 4:00 or so, I was still throwing up. When we got offstage - wait for it... - I threw up. I had two interviews to do after the show, and in between them, I - stay with me now... - threw up again. Finally when everything was done, I - yes, after throwing up - laid back down in the sweltering van. I didn't load any gear in or out, I was just a complete loss for the whole day. This is why I can't get too mad when other band members tell me they woke up on a roof after being MIA for eight hours. At any rate, finally around eight at night, I made it over to hang with our friend chef Bill and his son John and his lovely lady Alyssa for some a-fucking-mazing barbecue, and a couple of drastically needed sodas. I was going to post a video from this show, by my vocals are honestly so terribly blown out that I will let you find stuff from this show yourself on youtube if you want to see / hear me at my worst. Although considering how I felt, I'm surprised they aren't worse. We left around 9pm that night in order to make sure we would get to Atlanta on time... I know it's not much of a cliffhanger ending (spoiler alert: We did indeed make the show and play) but it's a good point to leave off until the next installment, which with any semblance of work ethic should be up in a couple of days.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cheers,<br />Harvey and the lads</span></span>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-38233678927318776222012-07-12T18:23:00.000-07:002012-07-12T18:34:05.771-07:00Grind Over Europe tour diarrhea, I mean diary<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tour diary 2012 Part I...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exhumed has never been a band to shy away from playing live, and since we've been back in action last year, that has held more truly than ever. Since the release of “All Guts, No Glory” last summer, we've played 150 shows, not to mention 12 before the record came out. We've done 75 so far this year, starting with a one-off gig in Los Angeles for the Relapse / Scion showcase, and then embarking on European, UK, American, and Canadian tours straight after. Oh, and we actually ended up canceling 5 shows in Brazil due to problems getting our visas. So 2012 has been pretty damn busy. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Starting off with the Scion show in LA, Relapse stacked a very mixed bill, featuring their new signings Royal Thunder, a gloomy southern doom rock unit with a frontwoman with pipes of steel. Their EP was great, but unfortunately I was really busy catching up with friends and didn't really get to see much of their set. Revocation was next, a tech death / thrash band with chops to spare. They are brutal road-dogs and played a sphincter-tight set. Black Tusk was next, kind of a sludgy Southern-fried Stoner doom act. Their music is great, and they are seriously fun guys to party with. It was a bit of a weird crowd that day, as our fans and Revocation's had a lot of common ground, but Black Tusk and Royal Thunder were maybe not to the taste of a bunch of death / thrash / grind kids waiting to punch each other on a Saturday afternoon. By the time Black Tusk was wrapping up, kids started chanting “Exh-umed, Exh-umed, etc.” between their songs, which was rude, but definitely flattering. We are a band that never does one-off gigs, so I'm always a little nervous about playing cold- I like to rehearse for a week and then start playing a bunch of shows in a row. I never feel like we really hit our stride until about four shows in. We had a good friend of ours behind the sound board, Alejandro from Nausea, Dia De Los Muertos, etc. and also, not coincidentally our rep at Fernandes guitars (yes, that is a plug!), so the sound was killer onstage and the energy from the crowd was definitely there. Until security started clamping down, we had lots of stagedivers, which helps me have a good time for sure. It was weird playing at five in the afternoon or whatever time it was, but it was kind of nice to get the show done early. After defusing any post-show compliments with a myriad of reasons why I thought we sucked, I went back later and saw some of the show on youtube, and it was actually pretty good. At any rate, we headed back to our uncharacteristically swanky hotel down the street, the Grafton (thanks Scion!) and showered and changed before heading for the after party at a bar whose name completely escapes me at this point. It's always good to see our friends from Relapse, since we aren't often in Philly, and they're virtually never in California. The party continued until about 5am when I finally caved in and crept off to catch some z's and wait for the inevitable hangover to descend. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>I Rot Within</strong> / <strong>Death Knell</strong> / <strong>Limb From Limb</strong> at the Roxy in LA </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had already been denied visas by the Brazilian consulate at this point, who warned me that if I applied for the wrong visa again, I would be banned from Brazil for ten years. Needless to say our experience at the consulate was less than enjoyable. We used the unexpected week off to get a bunch of shit done, though – like buying a van, which was huge. So Mike (Hamilton, our peerless percussionist) and I were very busy while Rob (Babcock, bass and vocals) and Wes (Caley, guitar and vocals) presumably were drinking pina coladas and eating bon bons in the comfort of Southern California. At any rate, the time quickly came to hop on our flight to Spain to undertake the first proper leg of our 2012 tour cycle – a run of headlining dates with Rotten Sound and Magrudergrind appropriately titled “Grind Over Europe”. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the 90s, there had been two “Grind Over Europe” tours, the first featuring our friends in Haemorrhage, Dead Infection, and CSSO, and the 2nd featuring Hemdale, German grinders Nyctophobic, and (surprise!) Exhumed! I had always thought those lineups were classic and last year hatched the idea to do something similar. We couldn't have asked for a more brutal, in-your-face package. Magrudergrind specialize in one-to-two-minute bash-a-thons of unbridled fury with a decidedly punk edge, our label-mates from Finland, Rotten Sound generate a Swedish Death-Metal infused racket that has earned them the reputation of being one of Europe's most intense Grind bands. Usually when we tour with Metal / Death Metal bands, we feel like the odd men out, being the only band with punk influences, but on this tour, I felt like the other bands pretty much made us sound like Dokken! Mind you, I do love Dokken, so that wasn't so terrible, but it was interesting being the “least punk” band on a tour for once! We were greeted at the airport by the same driver we had on the last European tour, a delightful Czech gentleman named Mikael Svindelka. He's a great driver, has killer taste in music, takes us sightseeing when possible, and puts up with our foolishness, farts, and slovenliness. He actually was recommended to us by Land Phil of Municipal Waste / Cannabis Corpse – thanks dude!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anyhoo... Our first night in Barcelona was insane. I was beyond jet-lagged, had already lost my iPod on a connecting flight we barely made due to airline delays, and we of course got trashed the minute we hit the club. We arrived the same day as the first show, so there was no time to adjust to the time change, get acclimated or anything like that. We managed to make time for beer, though. The schedule was so tight because we originally were allowing time for the Brazilian dates (which you'll remember were canceled if you've been following along), but the result was that we arrived mere hours before our set. We were thrown straight to the wolves. The energy in the room was great though, and the first show went really well – much better than most of our European shows last year, which was a relief. The next day in Almeria, the madness continued with a trip to the local metal bar (yes, my American friends, those are a thing in Europe) after the show ending in more alcohol-fueled stupidity on our parts. Seville was more of the same. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Distorted and Twisted To Form </strong>in Barcelona</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think by the time we reached Portugal, I was finally starting to get adjusted to being on tour (though the time change still hadn't quite set in yet). I remember curtailing the intensity of the partying a bit in Lisbon, getting it back down to somewhat manageable levels. The sound guy in there told us his favorite band was W.A.S.P., so we treated him to a partial rendition of “Wild Child” during our soundcheck which usually either makes people want to hug us... or vomit. The venue was tiny and right on the water, and the promoter was one of the nicest guys you could ever meet. He insisted on having us try some local seafood (it was delicious) and the backstage was full of all kinds of local delicacies and crazy appetizers. The next day we played in Porto, another city right on the water (I guess all of Portugal is pretty close to the water if you get down to it) where Rob and I managed to get out and explore a bit and take some nice photographs of the local scenery. Either that night or the following one in Santander, we raged extra hard in the hotel room and Keijo from Rotten Sound ended up taping a hotel telephone to his head. Finns are dangerous with their gin and bubble water! </span> </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kristian from Rotten Sound knows how to party.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rob and Keijo are still working on it, however...</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For some reason, every time we've come to Europe since last year, we've only done one show in France. And it is invariably a good show. Last year our show in Strausbourg with Cephalic Carnage was the best show of the tour. This show, in Toulouse was also killer. It was at a youth center type place, but judging by the posters there, they have tons of hardcore shows there. The food was great (French food is delicious – best bread and wine ever!) and the show was too. The jet lag was still killing me, though. I was actually caught taking a nap in the balcony / backstage area during rotten sound's set. We ended up having two shows in Switzerland, which was weird. Swiss people are... how do I say this? Generally pretty reserved. The whole country is clean and beautiful, but very sterile. The audience the first night however, was the exception that proves the rule. The show was in a town called Sursee, and was noteworthy for a few reasons. Firstly, it was a good show in Switzerland, secondly we hung out with a bunch of American Air Force folks who were nice enough to bring us some Cool Ranch Doritos and Double Stuff Oreos, and thirdly, a very nice young lady asked us if we could help her propose to her beau during “The Matter Of Splatter”. I'm a sucker for a good ol' fashioned happy ending, so I brought the guy onstage and called him out on being with his girl for eight years and not proposing yet. Needless to say, they left the show engaged. We don't just melt faces, we melt hearts as well. We managed to do some sightseeing the next day in Martigny at a nearby medieval fortress which was cool, and our hotel was really swanky, so a good time was had by all, probably even the very polite and typically Swiss audience. From Switzerland, we headed South to Italy for a show in Milan. Last year, Rome had been one of the highlights of our tour, Milan was a different story. The show was in a weird club in the middle of an industrial area, and the vibe just wasn't all that happening that night. It was good to catch up with old friends from Brainwash and Cripple Bastards though. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After Italy, we were heading into the home stretch, Eastern Europe. There's something about Grindcore and Eastern Europe that just goes together like beer and pizza, peanut butter and chocolate, sex and violence, cocaine and... well, you get the picture. We hit Zagreb in Croatia first, and despite a considerable amount of difficulty finding the venue, not the least of which was due to Croatian customs officials, we finally arrived, to find a huge spread of delicious food and excellent beer, followed by a packed house of maniacs to play to. We hadn't played in Croatia for years and years, and it had obviously been way too long. Feeling good, we headed to play our first show in Hungary. Budapest was a truly gorgeous city, incredibly cheap, and full of extremely beautiful women. I would move there in a heartbeat. The show was excellent, actually sold-out even, and the energy in the room was awesome. Unfortunately, the promoter turned out to be kind of a shitbag, and some confusion over getting paid in Euros vs. Hungarian Forints (that are worth pennies on the dollar) led to an alcohol-exacerbated shouting match between pretty much everybody and a lot of confusion. The next day, we got out into the city for a bit of sightseeing, which was cool. When the dust settled, we realized that we had been shorted about $150 from our guarantee, which was a bummer. Originally, we were scheduled to play in Romania, but the show ended up getting canceled and we added a door deal show at a local metal bar in Vienna at the last minute. In only a week and a half, the promoter managed to get over 100 people in the door, and we had a great time. That show was more like a party than anything, and everyone relaxed a little and as usual, drank way too much. The next day was further east, in Slovakia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Decrepit Crescendo</strong> in Budapest</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I always get Slovakia and Slovenia confused, but we had played Slovenia in '11 with Cephalic Carnage, which was one of the better shows of that run. Slovakia ended up being killer as well. Like I said, Eastern Europe, man! The last two dates of this leg were in the Czech Republic, which has always been one of our strongholds. The Prague show was packed, and locals Gride were awesome. The last show was in Ostrava, which still has the total Eastern bloc vibe going on. Boxy Soviet-era apartment complexes are everywhere, and there is a lot of urban decay. Regardless, the show was near capacity and fully raging. At one point there were so many stagedivers during our set, there was an actual dogpile on the stage. I caught up with friends from Malignant Tumor, and Wes discovered one of his new favorite bands: Nuclear Vomit. Shots were gulped, beers were downed, and it was bro-hugs all around as the Rotten Sound dudes departed for an early flight from Prague to Helsinki the next morning. That night, the Magrudergrind lads and us were literally the only occupants of an extremely Soviet, extremely 70's hotel replete with faux wood paneling, bizarre light fixtures and long-empty conference and banquet halls. It actually might have been kind of spooky, if you're into that sort of thing. We spent our last night together listening to old-school hip-hop and getting toasted. We piled in the Magrudergrind van to catch a ride to the small village where our old friend Curby of Obscene Productions lives. After bidding the Magruder duders a fond farewell, we had five days off to kill. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Casketkrusher</strong> / <strong>The Matter Of Splatter in Ostrava</strong>, Czech Republic </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We spent a couple days at Curby's house with his longtime girlfriend and their three kids. It was nice to relax, bathe regularly, eat vegan food (Curby is a militant vegan, and serves only vegan food at his awesome Obscene Extreme festival every year in Trutnov – not coincidentally, we were booked to play this summer), and just sit and watch tv, even if it was in Czech. After a couple of days of vegging out, we headed to Pardubice, to hit the Pilsner Urquell pub and watch the local football (aka: soccer) and hockey matches. The next day it was off to Cesky Krumlov to see one of the fanciest castles in the country and visit my old friend Vlakin from Czech grinders Ingrowing. We hit the Budweiser (here they call it Chechvar beer due to copyright restrictions) brew restaurant and had a great time bar-hopping. The bartender at the Singer Pub in town was actually a huge Exhumed fan, and hooked us up with free drinks and a bunch of t-shirts for the pub, which was awesome! Finally we headed to Prague for a day of tourism before we flew out to Helsinki. Curby was an excellent host / tour guide, and we headed for Scandinavia well-rested and ready for some northern comfort. </span><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a lot of this occuring during our time off in the Czech Republic</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had only played a festival in Northern Finland previously, so we really didn't know what to expect for the Helsinki show. The venue, Virgin Oil Co. was extremely nice, great stage, helpful staff, excellent food menu, and pretty big. I always get worried playing someplace for the first time when it's a nice club and pretty big – the opportunity for failure in that scenario is huge. This time however, everything worked out great. The openers, Cannibal Accident and Torture Killer were both good dudes and good bands, and the place was filled out quite nicely. We had a great time, and it was strangely kind of nice to be playing shows again – having a few days off was actually a bit weird. The following day, we left our very nice hotel and headed out into the mid-March Finnish cold to get on yet another plane – this time to London Heathrow. </span><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If ever there was a clusterfuck of an airport, it would have to be Heathrow. Luckily, getting in actually wasn't too bad, after having our work permits cleared by customs. We had the night off and grabbed our bags and gear (we didn't hire the van and driver until the next day to save a couple bucks) and headed to airport Ibis hotel, which was a bit nicer than we had expected. England is great, but it's fucking expensive, even worse than the rest of Europe, especially since the pound is stronger than the euro, which is stronger than the dollar. The next day we were picked up by the affable Mat Hocking, who had been our driver last year when we did a couple festivals and a handful of shows with Atheist. In fact, Mat actually met his girlfriend on our tour in Paris. Between that, the Swiss marriage proposal, and the other marriage proposal during our show in Rochester last year, it's safe to say that Exhumed is a band that helps everyone except ourselves in the romance department.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This would be our first time playing in most of the cities on the UK leg of the tour, but Britain is such a small country, the drives were mercifully short compared even to our Europe dates. We kicked it off in Bristol, where we met up with the Anaal Nathrakh guys, who were doing the four shows in England with us. For whatever reason, they wouldn't be accompanying us to Ireland for our two dates there. Bristol was a fun gig, and the local openers were a great grind band called Merciless Precision that played with us the following night in Cardiff (in Wales). The Cardiff show wasn't quite as good as Bristol, I'm sure the fact that it was on a Monday didn't do us any favors, but it was still a good time and the vibe was there. After the gig, we were on the road that night to catch the ferry to Ireland. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having never been to Ireland, I was a little underwhelmed by just how... British it was. I was also surprised to not see redheads everywhere. But what can you do? At least people did have those charmingly indecipherable Irish brogue accents there. Belfast was a lot of fun, and we even had time to do some sightseeing the next day, including downtown and a lot of the area where the IRA violence took place back in the 80s. Unlikely as it sounds, we actually grabbed a burrito for lunch before heading to Dublin that wasn't half bad. As soon as we hit the club in Dublin and loaded in, we took off to see the statue of Thin Lizzy bassist Phil Lynott, which was about a fifteen minute walk away. We hit the pub where the statue was and had a few beers before heading back for the show. The show was okay, nothing spectacular, but we had a good time partying at the bar with the kids before driving for another early boat ride back to Britain. We met up with the AN boys again in Manchester for a good show, and our second to last before heading back to the good ol' US of A. The run ended on a high note in London, with a tightly packed room of maniacs having a what Mick Harris would have undoubtedly described as a “Total Holocaust Doss”. Unfortunately, our flight left early the next morning and we were unable to party in London on Saturday night... Weak. At any rate, we boarded our flight after some excessive baggage fees courtesy of the assholes at Air France and headed home for four days off before starting our “Bowels Of Goreporate America” run. <br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/csGJt-GjIYs" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Vacant Grave</strong> in London</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm doing the best I can to simultaneously write the new album (five songs in the can, thank you!), design T-shirts for our upcoming tours (Summer Slaughter + more TBA very soon) update this blog, read some books, have some sort of social / family life, etc. so please be patient. Cannibal Corpse / Black Dahlia tour anecdotes coming very soon. Oh yeah, and you may have heard I filled in for five shows on the Death To All Chuck Schuldiner / Death tribute tour in my spare time. So lots to cover. And recover from. To be continued very soon. </span></div>
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</div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-88416733656632240652012-02-15T13:20:00.000-08:002012-02-15T13:26:22.292-08:00Crap From The Crypt: Exhumed live, past, present, future, and distant past<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I'm a firm believer that there are certain criteria you have to fulfill to be in an actual <i>band</i> - and one of the most important is that you have to play shows. That's what bands do: they write songs, they rehearse, they record, and they play shows. If you don't play shows, you're a "project", not a band. Sorry, but that's just the way it is. Our current logistical situation, with myself and affable sticksman Mike Hamilton in the San Luis Obispo area, six-stringer and beer repository Wes Caley in Arizona, and bassist / vocalist / perpetual brunt of height-related jokes Rob Babcock in Orange County California, you can probably guess that we don't fulfill the "rehearsing" criteria I mentioned above too often. That said, we do play <i>a lot </i>of shows. Last year, we played 88 shows in sixteen countries, and we didn't get started until April.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;">In case you live in Europe or North America and somehow missed us, don't worry, because 2012 looks to be just as intense. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We started off February 11th, with a corporate-rock cash-grab extravaganza: a free Relapse Records showcase with our labelmates <b>Tombs</b>, <b>Revocation</b>, <b>Black Tusk</b>, and <b>Royal Thunder</b> sponsored by everyone's favorite car company / bizarre benefactor of free shows, Scion Motors. You can read a review of all the craziness <a href="http://metalassault.com/gig_reviews/">here</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Here's
"I Rot Within" live at the Roxy. You can also get a good sense of what
complete dicks the venue was being to the kids diving. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">As you may have heard, we had to <a href="http://www.earsplitcompound.com/site/2012/02/15/exhumed-forced-to-cancel-brazilian-dates/">cancel</a> our scheduled dates in Brazil due to issues with our visas - it became a total clusterfuck of a nightmare, let's leave it at that. I am totally bummed about the whole debacle, but trying not to dwell on it too much. At least we have a bunch of other tours coming up. Next week, we head to the olde country for our "Grind Over Europe" tour with <b>Rotten Sound</b> and <b>Magrudergrind</b> for three weeks. For those of you who aren't European grindcore nerds, "Grind Over Europe" was a tour that the late, lamented Morbid Records put together in the mid-90s with <b>Haemorrhage</b>, <b>Dead Infection</b> and <b>CSSO</b>. They did a part II in 1997 with <b>Hemdale</b>, <b>Nyctophobic</b>, and... drum roll, please... <b>Exhumed</b>. I thought it would be fun to resurrect the franchise and get on the road with some awesome bands that love blast beats as much as we do (or probably more!). </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Exhumed live on the Grind Over Europe II tour in (the appropriately named) Rotterdam, Holland back in 1997. Don't worry, I have no idea what we were playing here either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">At any rate, once we wrap up that run, we head to the UK, land of tea, crumpets, bad teeth and all of my favorite bands (I'm looking at you <b>Napalm</b>, <b>Carcass</b>, <b>Bolt Thrower</b>, <b>Ripcord</b>, <b>Extreme Noise Terror</b>, <b>My Bloody Valentine</b>, <b>The Cure</b>, <b>Moose</b>, <b>Chameleons</b>, <b>Angel Witch</b>, <b>Diamond Head</b>, <b>UFO</b>, <b>Judas Priest</b>, <b>Deep Purple</b>, <b>Amebix</b>, <b>Discharge</b>, <b>Crass</b>, etc. etc.) for a week with Black / Grind maniacs <b>Anaal Nathrakh</b>. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0d64wpZFTH4Bu36AimyAvH7gv31sLaeqxC-Py8ka1mWbchxH3HJSy0cAl6BlyyOLZG0Qq_0eL8QgTjz4Up-4_CUojspxoVa3kOLJKNJkYqI3t5AB86EYL9iFQ0hLc472klViaCN_cuTW/s1600/UK+tour+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy0d64wpZFTH4Bu36AimyAvH7gv31sLaeqxC-Py8ka1mWbchxH3HJSy0cAl6BlyyOLZG0Qq_0eL8QgTjz4Up-4_CUojspxoVa3kOLJKNJkYqI3t5AB86EYL9iFQ0hLc472klViaCN_cuTW/s320/UK+tour+poster.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">We'll also hit Ireland for the first time, which means Wes and I can go visit the Phil Lynott statue, drink whiskey, and copiously weep at the loss of the greatest songwriter the world has ever known. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WG_IHtEjgE06yRfN-plMUukcjKX-wvt1qnOEIlZKFw3FE7LtQ0p2tBj6OyfzSxOoE5RZy0mOQIl2yLNxtMIzxqBrhJCWWd_kD-lbUvlk2n2Mi4Cgvuf-UcQwPkhfhRkbGqju4da4JGY_/s1600/phil-lynott-statue.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4WG_IHtEjgE06yRfN-plMUukcjKX-wvt1qnOEIlZKFw3FE7LtQ0p2tBj6OyfzSxOoE5RZy0mOQIl2yLNxtMIzxqBrhJCWWd_kD-lbUvlk2n2Mi4Cgvuf-UcQwPkhfhRkbGqju4da4JGY_/s320/phil-lynott-statue.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Ireland dates are basically just an excuse to see this. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">At any rate once we leave Ireland and England, or as I call the UK "basically America, but with castles and shittier food", we'll have a few days off before we hit the road with <b>Abysmal Dawn</b> and <b>Arkaik</b> on our way to meet up for a month of shows as direct support for this band some of you may have heard of. What band, you ask? Fucking <b>Cannibal Corpse</b>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">That's a month-long run, all over the good ol' US of A. Once that's finished, we'll head north from the Sunshine state to meet up with yet another North American tour which hasn't quite been announced yet. Suffice it to say we'll be doing a few dates in the northern midwest and leftward and several shows in the land of the McKenzie Brothers - yup, Canada. After that all wraps up, we'll finally get a bit of time off - and it also will be fucking June. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq6vGYaehk5M928zMl5Ghhh3BuMkPKUUyeLWJReS-Bo_I7lCQ9c2VjJ8k4Jfu5qDuyxwXZVgcYiZnbSUoZvECaKQRYa3GyezkkHNkr7id2wTvG9-MFvbSLmvMPqeIfUBUgquTq88WMZzy/s1600/Great+White+North.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiq6vGYaehk5M928zMl5Ghhh3BuMkPKUUyeLWJReS-Bo_I7lCQ9c2VjJ8k4Jfu5qDuyxwXZVgcYiZnbSUoZvECaKQRYa3GyezkkHNkr7id2wTvG9-MFvbSLmvMPqeIfUBUgquTq88WMZzy/s1600/Great+White+North.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The average Canadian citizen. There is also another guy yelling "Leafs Suck!" behind them. </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Oh, I almost forgot, this July we're doing the Obscene Extreme Festival in the Czech Repubilc - pretty much the biggest Grindcore party in the fucking world, with <b>Nasum</b>,<b> Asphyx</b>, and <b>Discharge</b>. Lineups don't really get better than that, dude. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">And after that, it's back to North America for Summer Slaughter with <b>Cannibal Corpse</b> (again! stoked!) and a ton of other bands that may or may not have been announced yet, so I'll keep quiet about them here. I'm getting way too old for this shit! 2012 may not bring the end of the world, but it just might succeed in killing little ol' me. After all of that madness is concluded, we're going to try to hole up in a recording studio and crap out yet another record of unlistenable garbage in a continuing effort to fulfill our record contract and see just how much of Relapse's money we can waste over a fourteen-year span. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In keeping with the theme of discussing our live exploits, I've posted a couple of live shows for your listening... I was going to say pleasure, but that might be a stretch. How about just "for your listening". That's pretty good broken English - kind of like how people used to always send letters asking to "trade for your stuffs" back in the early '90s. Good times, bad grammar. At any rate, these two shows are almost a decade apart, have 100% different set lists, vastly different line-ups and should be good for a laugh or two. Up first is a live recording from a show we did in 2004 in Vancouver. We were touring for "Anatomy is Destiny" with <b>Uphill Battle</b> supporting, which was convenient since Danny Walker was playing drums for both bands on that tour. The lineup for <b>Exhumed</b> at that show was yours truly on guitar and vocals, Danny on drums, Leon del Muerte on bass, and Mike Beams on guitar and vocals.</span></div>
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<u><b><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18136585/Live%20in%20Vancouver%2C%20Canada%20April%2025%2C%202004.rar">Exhumed - Vancouver April 25, 2004</a></span></b></u></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. Necromaniac</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. Waxwork</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3. Forged In Fire (Formed In Flame)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">4. Bass Solo</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">5. Emeticide</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">6. Casketkrusher</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">7. Slaughtercult / Deadest Of The Dead</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">8. Septicemia</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">9. Nativity Obscene (part 1)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">10. Drum Solo</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">11. Nativity Obscene (part 2)</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">12. A Song For The Dead</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">13. The Matter Of Splatter</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The second show goes waaaaaaaaaay back to 1995, back when there was no internet, people thought that <b>Pitch Shifter</b> were "the future of metal", and I could still fit into my <b>Sodom</b> "Obsessed By Cruelty" sleeveless shirt but could not yet legally drink. One of the best things about this recording is how obvious the complete disinterest of the audience is. I remember this show distinctly because I had asked for the day off of work at my job at Tower Records (remember them? They were a record store chain. Remember those? They were neat.) and they shut me down, so I had to call in sick like a complete dick. A couple of my supervisors tried to trick me into admitting it, but back then I was too good at lying to fall for it. Oh, to be 19 again, when I just didn't give a fuck about anything and worked even crappier jobs that I have in my 30s. Anyway, the lineup for this show is myself on guitar and vocals, Ross Sewage on vocals, Col Jones on drums, Derrel Houdashelt on guitar, and Matt Widener on bass. We had just recorded the "Horrific Expulsion of Gore" demo the preceding summer, which was getting great reviews in tons of fanzines and getting traded all over the world - but no one in the bay area was into it at all, as evidenced by the crowd at this show. You can also observe that the stage banter Ross and I were employing had a really, really long way to go in those days. </span></div>
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<b><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18136585/Exhumed%20Live%20In%20Berkeley%20Jan.%2026%201995.rar"><span style="font-size: small;">Exhumed - Berkeley, January 26 1995</span></a></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1. Ziploc Bodybag</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2. Excreting Innards</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3. In The Throes Of Ecstacy</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">4. The Pallor Of Unliving Flesh</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">5. Pyathrotic Discorporation</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">6. Puke Of The Dead</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">7. Vagitarian</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">8. Radiator Bitch</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">If you want to really dig into the vaults, you can check out a show from 1992 in its entirety <a href="http://killthatcat.com/2012/02/exhumed-september-28th-1992-full-set/">here</a> - if you can make it through the whole thing in one sitting, you're a braver soul than I. In my defense, I wasn't even 17 yet when this show happened - the other guys were 17, Ben was 19 or so at the oldest. And no, I have no real explanation for the shorts. The really cool thing about that link, is that you can check out Phobia, Mindrot and Immortal Fate sets from the same show there as well! Plutocracy also played that day, and almost started a riot when they lit an American flag on fire onstage. Good times! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-46691550460463608842012-01-16T22:42:00.000-08:002012-01-16T22:46:44.834-08:00Tab from the slab - more Exhumed tablature<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Well, one of my new year's resolutions was to post more downloadable stuff here on this blog, so I decided after the Exodus post last week, I should keep it coming. This week we have some tabs for a few Exhumed songs. First up is "The Matter Of Splatter" - the best-known song from the "Anatomy Is Destiny" record, written by departed axe-slinger Mike Beams. This has some signature Beams stuff, tons of rapid-fire non-stop alternate-picking riffs, and jumbled, chromatic note patterns that are a bit difficult to discern and make the fingers on my left hand stumble over each other on the verse riffs. Col and I really insisted that every song have a typical rock song structure - verse, chorus, verse chorus, bridge, verse chorus, and when Mike brought this tune to us, we immediately caught on to its structural simplicity. It was exactly what we wanted to hear, and exactly what the "Anatomy..." record needed. On an album weighed down by some of our longest, often needlessly intricate song-structures (see prime offender "Under The Knife"), "The Matter Of Splatter" sticks out by being nice and straightforward. It was the no-brainer choice for the video single from the album. If you want to work on your alternate-picking technique, look no further, but good luck jamming to the record, as the meter is very, um... "organic". Oh, and the other thing about this song is that the discerning listener will notice an uncanny similarity in arrangement to "Damage Inc." </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gtU0croR56U" width="420"></iframe> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The official music video for "The Matter Of Splatter" - I don't think anyone in the band actually liked how this came out, but what the heck.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?2iinzq1406xcy2j">The Matter Of Splatter</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Next up is one from the first record - "Open The Abscess" - again, jamming to the record for this song is virtually impossible - not only is the timing completely by feel, but the guitar tone is virtually indecipherable. Even immediately after we recorded the record, none of us were happy with the production. But, what can you do? It's one of those "couldn't replicate it if we were trying to" kind of things. Anyway, this song is actually pretty similar to "Matter of Splatter" structurally, but the riffs are totally different. I was kind of trying to capture something like a Death / Grind version of Destruction's "Bestial Invasion" when I wrote this. The whole song is really built around the vocal hook, which is sort of unusual in this genre. Until "Anatomy...", this was pretty much our most well-known song, and we still usually use "Open..." as our set closer. Enjoy grinding this one out, kids. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fd5P_SFTNvs" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">I've posted this version of this song before, but in case you missed it - here's a little "Gore Metal" era nostalgia from the Western US leg of the "All Guts, No Glory" tour, as we're joined onstage by Monsewer Ross Sewage and Mike Beams...</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?py392anha3bw37u">Open The Abscess</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Rounding out this post is a couple moldy oldies... I happened to have these already transcribed, so I figured what the heck. Nowadays instead of sitting around and showing the other guys older songs riff by riff, I just give them the tab, which they then ignore and I end up sitting around showing them the songs riff by riff. <i>But</i> - after that - they have something to refer to and I don't have to <i>keep </i>doing that. We used to do Septicemia in the set when we were touring with Danny, and we actually tried to re-record it as a bonus track when we re-recorded "Necromaniac" and "Forged In Fire" for "All Guts, No Glory", but after bashing out 17 songs in 2 days, Danny was physically and mentally burnt, which was totally understandable. We did however, dust off "Excreting Innards" for the first round of shows we did last year, which was pretty fun. "Excreting..." I actually wrote while I was still in high school, so it's pretty simplistic, which is probably it's second best quality, right behind its merciful brevity. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?33ybrvkvvytl9h2">Excreting Innards</a></span><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Excreting Innards / Slaughtercult / Limb From Limb / Eruction (Wes' guitar solo) / Forged In Fire" live in Norway - my voice is shot to shit from watching Voivod the previous night, but you should get the idea...</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.mediafire.com/?dr5n8tqpxpw804h">Septicemia</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Exhumed live at Baroeg in Rotterdam, Holland in 1997, leading off with an intro that should be familiar to anyone who has the new album, followed by the first two songs from the "In The Name Of Gore" split - "Horrendous Member Dismemberment" and "Septicemia" - back when we were the sloppiest band in the entire universe, and when that Possessed shirt still more or less fit me... Ah, the good ol' days!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">If, for some very odd reason, you're looking for more Exhumed tab, check out this earlier blog <a href="http://gorefuckingmetal.blogspot.com/2011/04/tablature.html">here</a>...</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-63262315128241211072012-01-12T19:25:00.000-08:002012-01-12T19:44:10.081-08:00Crap From The Crypt: Exodus<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I've been meaning to post more downloadable stuff on here, so here you go. Don't say I never gave ya nuthin! Happy New Year, folks! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Cheers! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;">- Harvey</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;">You
know, like most folks out there, I get down on my life and myself and
get frustrated and shit, but really I'm a pretty lucky guy. I've been
fortunate enough to get to travel all over the place playing
atrocious, aggravating music for like-minded nutsos and become
friends with some of my favorite musicians from the underground. On a
few occasions, I've even got to play with them. Most folks know that
I got to play guitar for my favorite Death Metal / Grindcore band
<b>Repulsion</b> for a number of years. That was really a great time.
Scott (Carlson) and Matt (Olivo) are both great dudes and taught me a
lot about music and provided me with a zillion anecdotes and insights
from the origins of the Death Metal scene. And, they also turned me
onto <b>Riot</b>, for which I am eternally grateful. I dug their
“Fire Down Under” record so much that when I started my
Metalli-deth “Arena Thrash” band, <b>Scarecrow </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">we
ended up covering that tune. Playing in </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was a total Death Metal nerd wet-dream come true, and one of the
easiest jobs in metal. Basically, I just showed up, played my
favorite songs, and then got a couple beers and a few bucks. It
really doesn't get better than that. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Scarecrow "Swords And Tequila" - and yes, I know this song is way out of (extremely limited) vocal range. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
want to take the opportunity here to set the record straight on how
that all came to be. I first met Matt and Scott at Maryland Deathfest
in '03 when both </span><b>Exhumed</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> played.
As far as I remember, that was the last </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
show with the original lineup. A couple of years prior, I had,
through my job selling records direct to stores for Necropolis
Records back in the '90s (when that was still a thing), happened to
stumble upon the phone number of the legendary (at least in Flint,
MI) Doug Earp (RIP) – the man who paid for the recording of
“Slaughter Of The Innocent” - or as it's better known today,
“Horrified”. Being a massive </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
fan, I kept Doug on the phone for the better part of an hour, soaking
in every detail he could recall of the recording process, (mostly the
engineer's disbelief at the band's sound) and any other bit of
Repulsion minutae I could wring out of this incredibly nice and
patient man. Doug was obviously bemused and stoked that someone was
so interested in the record and was nothing but a gentleman as we
spoke. I mention that conversation because, by the time I actually
met Matt and Scott I probably knew as much about the recording of
“Horrified” as anyone who wasn't actually present possibly could.
I think their reaction was a mixture of flattery, amusement and
bewilderment when I proceeded to nerd out on their (very gracious and
patient) asses. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Repulsion with the original lineup at MDF '03</span> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fast-forward
a few months later and </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was offered a show in Spain, and for whatever reason, original
drummer Dave “Grave” Hollingshead decided that he didn't want to
travel overseas and opted out of the show. The first person Relapse
recommended for the job was, of course, my best friend and long-time
partner in grime, Col Jones. Anyone who has heard the </span><b>Cretin</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“Freakery” record can attest that Col has perfected and improved
Dave's legendary drumming style, so he was the perfect fit for the
job. Since Matt and Scott both live in LA, Col needed someone local
to practice with, so I set about learning the </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
set to rehearse with him so that he'd be primed and ready to jam with
the elder statesmen when the time came. It was sort of like helping
your best friend get ready for a date with a girl you'd been in love
with for years. You're happy for the guy, but you're also jealous as
hell. Anyway, as the date of show drew nearer, guitarist Aaron
Freeman decided that he didn't want to do anymore shows with the band
either. Well, luckily for me, I was already jamming with Col, knew
all the songs, and was one of the biggest </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
fans on the planet... So Col graciously recommended me to the guys,
and things went from there. Thanks are due to Col for helping me get
my foot in the door with the band, and congrats to my successors (I
quit the band after our shows with </span><b>At</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>The</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><b>Gates</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
right before I moved to Hawaii), two of my favorite guitarists and
people, my former partner in the </span><b>Exhumed</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
twin-axe attack, Mike Beams, and one of my oldest friends, Marissa
Martinez of </span><b>Cretin</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
who has nailed the </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
writing style better than anyone not named Scott, Matt, Dave, or
Aaron. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ji8ilQnAusI" width="420"></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Repulsion with Col and I in LA at the Murderfest in '07. I think we all have much cooler hair now, except Col, who has always had cool hair - at least since 11th grade anyway. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">What
a lot of people don't know is that I actually spent a night fronting
one of my other favorite bands of all time, </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
When I was rehearsing for the first </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
show, I had just started working at <a href="http://www.alternativetentacles.com/">Alternative Tentacles Records</a>,
via the recommendation of their General Manager at the time, Dave
Adelson (who now runs his own awesome label, <a href="http://www.20buckspin.com/site/">20 Buck Spin</a>, full
time). I was living in the South Bay and the AT office was in
Emeryville (right between Oakland and Berkeley) so the commute was
horrible, especially with the Bay Area's notoriously atrocious
traffic. I had some car trouble on the way home Thursday night and I
opted to take Friday off work to get my car fixed, since taking the
bus or train would literally take several hours round-trip. I was
awoken by my phone that morning- a call from an unknown 510 area-code
number. Since I am kind of a hermit and I </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">hate</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
talking on the phone, I let it go to voice-mail and checked the
message an hour or so later once my car was at the shop. To say I was
surprised to hear Gary Holt on my voice-mail would be the
understatement of the century. I called him back immediately and he
told me that Zetro had just quit the band, </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">and,</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
if I wasn't doing anything the next night, </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
had a show in Mexico City and needed a singer. I had to think about
it for a second, because to be honest I was intimidated as hell, but
I knew I would be kicking myself for years if I didn't jump on this
opportunity. </span></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpthPk52rtLM5msunACG54DdAVR8T6E8zNt_F3E2xsfWWSbgUJYHBFtjfH9C8WYg7uAaFL_Vf228OqEAU88mSb4KXau3isK4vAne71LxOWiVAOQpBKX6SO6Mh3uMpJEutFXbPjXq4clcV/s1600/At+the+airport+with+Exodus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvpthPk52rtLM5msunACG54DdAVR8T6E8zNt_F3E2xsfWWSbgUJYHBFtjfH9C8WYg7uAaFL_Vf228OqEAU88mSb4KXau3isK4vAne71LxOWiVAOQpBKX6SO6Mh3uMpJEutFXbPjXq4clcV/s320/At+the+airport+with+Exodus.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">At the airport with the Exo-dudes, I'm the idiot in the middle with the shit-eating "I can't believe I'm doing this!" grin.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">A
bit of quick background, I had met the </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
guys in Europe in '03, when we had a day off in Austria and went to
their show with </span><b>Nuclear</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span><b>Assault</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">, </span><b>Grave</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
and </span><b>Mortician</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">. I got
super hammered, accidentally made out with a fat chick, threw up, and
ended up backstage partying with the Exo-dudes. They had a day off as
well and ended up seeing one of our shows or something, and they
somehow put it together that this kid that was at the front row 13 or
more times during the 2</span><sup><span style="font-weight: normal;">nd</span></sup><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Baloff era of the band, screaming every lyric to every song, was also
the singer for this Death Metal band, </span><b>Exhumed</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
In fact, a week before Baloff's death, </span><b>Dekapitator</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
had played a show with </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
at the Covered Wagon in San Francisco. At any rate, they knew I was a
Bay Area local, sang for a Death Metal band and at least knew all the
words to the “Bonded By Blood” album. So as a last resort, they
rang me and asked me to fill-in for this show. All those years back
in middle school screaming along to my favorite records were finally
coming in handy! Now, when is Voivod gonna call me when Snake has a
sore throat?!?!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I
had a truly amazing time in Mexico City, and the whole show is really
a bit of a blur looking back, but it was an amazing night. One thing
that's really worth mentioning is the kids at the show. They didn't
care that I wasn't Zetro or Baloff, they just really cared that a
band that lost their singer 2 days earlier didn't cancel on them and
did whatever it took to come down and play for them. They were
nothing but wonderful to me, and I can't thank them enough. I didn't
know what to expect, I thought people were going to be really pissed
off or something, but mid-way through the first song, I looked down
and saw a kid with a “Gore Metal” shirt on, and started to feel
like everything was gonna be okay. The </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
guys asked me about going to South America with them the following
week, but I needed to be available for </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and I didn't want to have just started a new job working for an old
friend just to turn around and quit within the first month. If I had
just gone for it, who knows what would have happened... My liver and
brain would probably have been destroyed several times over by now!
When I heard “Shovel-Headed Kill Machine” a couple years later, I
knew that </span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> was
back to full-strength and then some, sounding better than they had in
years. In the meantime, I got to play in </span><b>Repulsion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
for four years or so, and years later, my own goofy band has a new
album out that people seem to like, so I think
everything worked out pretty well all the way around. </span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">I've
had the audio recording of this show for years, but out of respect to
</span><b>Exodus</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">, I've been
hesitant to share it beyond a few close friends, but when I recently
saw them on the </span><b>Slayer</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
tour in Calgary last year (thank Satan they don't have to play at
shitholes like the Covered Wagon these days) Gary and Tom (and Rob
for that matter) gave me their blessing to post the audio from the
show. It's very raw, just a guy in the audience with a hand-held tape
recorder, and my vocals are pretty shredded as the show goes on, but
it's at least good for a laugh – or in case you need to remember
really obscure, random Metal trivia facts, haha! If you want to
nit-pick and critique my performance, go ahead, but keep in mind I
had literally </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">no</span></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
rehearsal with the band, and one day to learn the lyrics to (at the
time) new songs like “War is my Shepherd”, “Shroud Of Urine”
and “Scar Spangled Banner”. We ran through those tunes and
“Blacklist” at soundcheck, “Blacklist” was a little rough so
we dropped it. Everything else was just done on the fly. It was a
pleasure and an honor to share the stage with one of my absolute
favorite bands of all time and I want to thank those guys again for
letting me do it, and for giving the go-ahead and share this
recording with the fine folks of the interweb. That said, I would love to see any video of this show, if such a thing exists. This was before literally <i>everything</i> was on youtube, so I've never come across any footage of it. If you have it, get in touch!</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So here it is:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18136585/Live%20In%20Mexico%20City%209_11_05%20%5BDisc%201%5D.rar"><span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Exodus in Mexico City, 9/11/04 Part 1</span></span></a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18136585/Live%20In%20Mexico%20City%209_11_04%20%5BDisc%202%5D.rar">Exodus in Mexico City, 9/11/04 Part 2</a></span></span></span></span></div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-41311199979937710492011-12-12T04:31:00.000-08:002011-12-12T22:28:00.704-08:00And the tour recap continues...<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFUIfeui1DyonHhHpc2easfIVzBGnemTk0s-zi1JQBn8TSnwJXdOjyqj1Bj5S5XuwuYLF2Lc6Qo6Yo1xl07it0zWLfN1kSiBT0LYfkdk4Op82JYLny5O29ZFuyYK8hkHoFD5phcTBxUmP/s1600/New+shelf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYFUIfeui1DyonHhHpc2easfIVzBGnemTk0s-zi1JQBn8TSnwJXdOjyqj1Bj5S5XuwuYLF2Lc6Qo6Yo1xl07it0zWLfN1kSiBT0LYfkdk4Op82JYLny5O29ZFuyYK8hkHoFD5phcTBxUmP/s320/New+shelf.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">My exciting new shelf. <br />I needed somewhere to put my Shogun Warrior -<br />it really ties the room together.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">And
so we continue with our seemingly endless saga of road warrior-ism...
As those of you who have been following our story so far may
remember... We had spent the summer criss-crossing the western two-thirds of
the US and Canada with <b>Macabre</b> , <b>Cephalic</b> <b>Carnage
</b>and <b>Withered</b>
- topping things off with a trip to Europe for a four-day,
four-festival marathon. We got back from Belgium late Monday night,
August 15<sup>th</sup>, more than ready for a bit of rest. I have to
admit, I was pretty psyched about having a month and a half off the
road. While I was still in Orange County (after Rob kindly picked
Mike and I up from LAX) I went out and bought a new amp, a Peavey
6505+, a new phone that doesn't totally suck, as well as a
much-needed new bookshelf that actually fits all my records (for now,
haha!). When you live on the central California coast, you're hours
away from the nearest Guitar Center and Ikea, so I decided to make
the most of my proximity to mega-shopping during my Tuesday in SoCal.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tqNOukLmkhpCUlEqzjrsgVE-AmrAISw1uep54p4ieKmo4tpK7iP0rzBYFmTNSMtdNHGyZ0xeS0ZNJzvE4vkarT5qsrmChwhCKSWzHZXAiBb2vustEXbKtjeFlxxXt77QeVxtUeEmIwTf/s1600/Amp+mod+in+progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tqNOukLmkhpCUlEqzjrsgVE-AmrAISw1uep54p4ieKmo4tpK7iP0rzBYFmTNSMtdNHGyZ0xeS0ZNJzvE4vkarT5qsrmChwhCKSWzHZXAiBb2vustEXbKtjeFlxxXt77QeVxtUeEmIwTf/s320/Amp+mod+in+progress.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Amp mod in progress. <br />Wes and Rob: Working hard. Me: hardly working. <br />Good times.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Since
I'm talking about the gear I bought, I want to give you a brief idea
of how out of control my gear situation was when we did the “All
Guts...” record: for starters, I didn't even own an amplifier. I
had three guitars in various states of disrepair (now at least one is
functioning at 100%, another at about 75%, while there's still one in
pretty bad shape), some pedals (noise suppressor, tuner, and tube
screamer) and a busted Marshall cabinet. While on the <b>Macabre</b>
tour, I picked up a Line 6 relay wireless system, a delay and EQ
pedal for a lead boost, a pedal board to organize my crap and a new
stand case for the side of the stage. In early June, Wes set up my
old Ibanez RGT-350 so I wouldn't have to keep using my shitty blue RG
270 (that I used at MDF and our first few shows in Europe). The
RG-270 used to be my back-up guitar before the wiring in my RGT got
shot to hell and the bridge rusted beyond usefulness. I got a new,
Gotoh bridge for the RGT-350, which totally rules and stays in tune
perfectly after Wes' expert set-up work. After the North American
tour ended, Wes also fixed my cabinet by removing the circuit board
and replacing all the wiring (I think he removed the circuit board –
I really know next to nothing about all the technical stuff) as well
as doing a really cool mod on it. He and Rob lined the whole front of
the cabinet with caulk that gave it a lot more bottom end and really
darkened up the sound of the cabinet. I think it sounds better than
the rectifier cabinets, to be honest, because it still has a bit of
that Marshall warmth. If you're wondering how we recorded the
record... We recorded everything with Wes' and Ryan's (Butler at
<b><a href="http://www.arcanedigitalrecording.com/">Arcane Digital Recording</a></b>) gear. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdKG8-Zphb_mbAb8YvxgCAihol44C3QQVNKGHePatPahRLScukP4vOPqcuymrzigd7uPyWMOTB6ys9lfBebGykZwsvGljRVCP2-A-Pr3SyXfQtvJs94A3qdK1RH-Y3PAtQS4FYubbiekUj/s1600/Bar+in+LA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdKG8-Zphb_mbAb8YvxgCAihol44C3QQVNKGHePatPahRLScukP4vOPqcuymrzigd7uPyWMOTB6ys9lfBebGykZwsvGljRVCP2-A-Pr3SyXfQtvJs94A3qdK1RH-Y3PAtQS4FYubbiekUj/s320/Bar+in+LA.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">The bar whose name I have<br />forgotten. But I remember the pic<br />of Billy Dee Williams distinctly! </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">I
had enough time in those six weeks to play a really fun free </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Gravehill
</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">show in Los Angeles at a cool bar where I tried Johnnie Walker Green
for the first time. It's expensive, but I highly recommend it! Matt
Olivo from Repulsion came out and hooked me up with an awesome
Genocide LP which totally made my night! The stage was about 6 inches high, and I totally got knocked flat on my ass by someone in the pit - always the sign of a good evening. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">I also went up to my old
hometown of San Jose for Labor Day weekend to hang out with my old
</span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Exhumed</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> and </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Scarecrow</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> band-mates and managed to get a
DUI, which was a bit of a drag to say the least. Luckily, my license
wouldn't become suspended until after we were supposed to leave for
tour so I was free to roam around and get whatever needed to get done
in the interim. One thing that was a bit of a sticky wicket about the
DUI was that my court date was set for October 18</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">th</sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> –
the day we were scheduled to play in Ljubljana, Slovenia, so I ended
up having to spring for a lawyer to go to court for me... Which meant
that on top of the thousands of dollars for the DUI + classes, I had
to fork over another $1500 for a lawyer. Awesome. Needless to say, I
didn't buy anymore gear during / after the </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Goatwhore</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"> / </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Havok</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">
tour we finished in November... But more on that later.</span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FtvA8apBQcAC1qfjncbL0L_Q6KgN5oAZ5FUtWSEwQsiGIsfNty_Y2V1jzmAHjHI6v73FzzHshOrCT-t1fAnhWmQryuy273LSMis78i39-LY8qWSc7eoaRF9XyKfiPfjWAf5NfRuszY44/s1600/Genocide+LP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7FtvA8apBQcAC1qfjncbL0L_Q6KgN5oAZ5FUtWSEwQsiGIsfNty_Y2V1jzmAHjHI6v73FzzHshOrCT-t1fAnhWmQryuy273LSMis78i39-LY8qWSc7eoaRF9XyKfiPfjWAf5NfRuszY44/s320/Genocide+LP.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Now that is a cool record! <br />My Death Metal nerd status: <br />Assured!!!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Our
plan when we did the record was that we would just concentrate on
doing a couple of festivals and then maybe add a few dates depending
on what the vibe was with the band and the reaction to the album,
etc. etc. Needless to say, things grew beyond our expectations pretty
quickly with “All Guts...” and we ended up kind of piecing tours
together around the festivals we already had booked – so our North
American tour ended up being two separate three-week tours, rather
than one five-week tour. Europe was sporadic in a similar fashion.
Having already played a bunch of places with <b>Atheist</b> in April,
and a few more in June, we had some pretty wide swaths of uncovered
ground there. So we made plans to trek back to Europe in September
and October with <b>Cephalic</b> <b>Carnage</b>. As things were a bit
slow coming together logistically, the tour ended up kicking off in
October. In the meantime we decided to hit the California Discord
Fest, since we had been talking about doing a “punk rock” style
show in Los Angeles anyway. Several scenarios were discussed, mostly
revolving around <b>Exhumed</b> + <b>Despise</b> <b>You</b> at the
Boulevard, but this festival featuring <b>Dropdead</b>, <b>Rattus</b>,
<b>Ghoul</b>, <b>Magrudergrind</b>, <b>Lack</b> <b>Of</b> <b>Interest</b>,
<b>Despise</b> <b>You</b> and many others seemed to cover the same
ground more effectively, so we opted to do this instead. Then my old
friend Joe Axler (drummer extraordinaire for <b>Splatterhouse</b>,
<b>Book</b> <b>Of</b> <b>Black</b> <b>Earth</b>, etc.) hit me up
about the Discord weekend. It turned out that his new band, the
killer <b><a href="http://theories.bandcamp.com/album/2011">Theories</a> </b>(click the link to download their record for free, dude!) was playing
some shows on their way down from Seattle with the also excellent
<b><a href="http://www.transientbrutality.com/">Transient</a></b> and was
wondering if we'd like to do a bay area show in addition to the
festival. A few emails to our intrepid agent, Dan Rozenblum at the
Pantheon Agency (who not coincidentally is <b>Theories</b>'
agent as well) and we had managed to squeeze into a last minute spot
at the Uptown in Oakland. I made sure we got my former band-mates'
new band <b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mortuous/117734498300931">Mortuous</a> </b>(featuring
Col Jones on drums and Mike Beams on guitar) on the bill as well and
things were set for a pretty fun weekend. Wes flew to Orange County
from Arizona and he and Rob arrived in time for a couple days of
rehearsal. We worked in a few different songs to the set, adding new
tracks “Distorted And Twisted To Form”, “Death Knell” and
“Necrotized” as well as “Torso” from the <b>Hemdale</b>
split. After a couple of rehearsals (and the aforementioned cabinet
repair / mod) we were ready for a weekend of grind.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFtj7gCArNJAT6afVFVyvpW85icqm2xLHcTMn9YM-6EbvW3UM1XtEGFI4D_hJp0KMZVxs6kUzMKgKb0PoUdABSketWPAOnpWxIOdY-PWLBiZB14o2Fn_MopF0rHlbq-fPNWbWZ_1yfYLzu/s1600/Rehearsal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFtj7gCArNJAT6afVFVyvpW85icqm2xLHcTMn9YM-6EbvW3UM1XtEGFI4D_hJp0KMZVxs6kUzMKgKb0PoUdABSketWPAOnpWxIOdY-PWLBiZB14o2Fn_MopF0rHlbq-fPNWbWZ_1yfYLzu/s320/Rehearsal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Rehearsing in SLO. With any luck, we may have actually <br />been in tune and playing the same song in this photo!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4KMQnjTui7b_1GxNGGBQrCyhfGkH2ZiEAY29MzTFbsTHJeJBun418NQ54yputrlY0Ty70SBKi238JdEXc-si5AYs8fzFFqjNRb7iiZGlHZvTHX1ZK38LSyiMjyaSLIhFmUYnB1Siro1N/s1600/Mike+at+rehearsal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4KMQnjTui7b_1GxNGGBQrCyhfGkH2ZiEAY29MzTFbsTHJeJBun418NQ54yputrlY0Ty70SBKi238JdEXc-si5AYs8fzFFqjNRb7iiZGlHZvTHX1ZK38LSyiMjyaSLIhFmUYnB1Siro1N/s320/Mike+at+rehearsal.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Hammy blasting away at rehearsal.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Since
all this stuff was more or less local (San Luis Obispo is about four
hours south of Oakland and four hours north of Los Angeles), we were
doing the drive in our own cars, my SUV and Mike's pickup with a
minimal amount of gear. Foolishly, the night before we left, Rob,
Wes and I drank some hash-infused rum. I failed to take into account
that the longer hash (or weed for that matter) sits in alcohol, the
more potent it becomes. The last time I imbibed this felonious
concoction, I had a pretty tall glass mixed with Grapefruit juice –
the vitamin C from the juice supposedly makes it hit you a bit
harder. It was pretty intense. With this in mind, I fixed us each a
pretty small glass with ice – about the size of a generous “on
the rocks” drink. Well, it had been a couple of months at least
since the last time I had indulged in this particular libation, so it
had plenty of time to steep in the rum and it hit even harder this
time. This is worth mentioning because when the three of us woke up
the next morning, we were all still very much under the influence.
When we met up with Mike that morning at our jam space, he could tell
we were a bit sideways. Okay, let's be honest: we were <i>still</i>
high as fuck. Rob, Wes and I aren't particularly habitual stoners, so
we were pretty spaced out as we drifted through the trip to Oakland
in a heavy haze of stupefaction. I was still not quite right when I
ate a burrito around 5:00 that evening or so, but the food really
helped a lot. I was slowly coming back to a state resembling
normalcy, which was a relief since I did not want to have to play the
show stoned. I've never done that before, but it doesn't seem like a
good idea and I am stoked that I didn't have to start in 2011. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">A
little bit about this Oakland show: The Uptown is not a rock / metal
club – it's more of a “club” club. Cover bands and dance nights
and shit. So most metal people don't really like going there. Strike
One. Also, <b>Hammers</b> <b>Of</b>
<b>Misfortune</b> was
playing the same night in San Francisco. Strike Two. The club already
had a cover band booked for that night, so our show was schedule to
start at 5:30 PM and run until 9:30. If you know anything about the
Bay Area, the traffic there is terrible, so if you're off work in San
Jose / San Francisco / Concord at five, there's no way you can be in
Oakland by 5:30. Strike Three. Oh yeah, and we had just played a
packed show in San Francisco a month ago, which usually hurts your
draw in a city 8 miles across the bay. So, there goes my baseball
metaphor. The point of all this is... this wasn't looking like it was
going to be a good show. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">And
it wasn't. Things were already off to a rocky start when two of the
<b>Mortuous</b> guys were
caught in traffic (I'm not gonna name names, but Mike Beams is one
that comes to mind, haha!) and didn't make it to the venue in time to
even play their set. They ended up setting up half their gear, and
then tearing it down 30 minutes later without playing a note, which
was a bummer. <b>Transient</b>
was up next, and played an awesome set of powerviolence to a pretty
empty house. <b>Theories</b>
followed and also sounded killer, despite the lack of much of an
audience. By the time we got onstage, some folks actually started
filtering in and the place had gone from sparse to not that bad
(although by no means great). I got to meet Mike's family which was
cool, and we tested out our new set, which went pretty smoothly.
There was another show in Oakland at a warehouse that <b>Mortuous</b>
had jumped on (which probably didn't help the draw either), so we
headed over after we loaded out to actually catch their set this
time. They played their killer take on early 90s Swedish / Finnish
death metal, and sounded heavy as hell. Since we had to be in LA the
next day, we headed back to San Luis for some proper sleep and got
back about three or four am. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5GqFxutDEFeFORuFBUUFmlopZod7f8wXx9Uty56KmtIMwiLrgiwehZ0XEb7dJBPIcN0VL0ThRXMoTaR8SNdSYWCRmkJWGJMdBG8qBX-huMQ4bop4yE0SxNHgf72n8WvHOWL-TInJNG4g/s1600/Mike+and+Danny+at+Discord+Fest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5GqFxutDEFeFORuFBUUFmlopZod7f8wXx9Uty56KmtIMwiLrgiwehZ0XEb7dJBPIcN0VL0ThRXMoTaR8SNdSYWCRmkJWGJMdBG8qBX-huMQ4bop4yE0SxNHgf72n8WvHOWL-TInJNG4g/s320/Mike+and+Danny+at+Discord+Fest.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Exhumed drummers past (R) and present (L) - <br />Mike and Danny at CA Discord Fest (the 1st venue)<br />Truly a meeting of the grinds...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">The
next day it was nice to wake up sober. We headed down to Los Angeles
stoked that the set had gone well, and feeling ready to rock. We got
to the site of the festival, a huge warehouse space, and despite the
show being sold-out, the crowd was a bit sparse. Of course, it was
still early. Since there was no alcohol at the festival, as soon as
we finished loading our shit in, we decided to head to a bar. The
show was in a really industrial area, so it was about a 2 mile walk
to the nearest place that served beer: a bikini strip bar (in
California, it's illegal to sell alcohol anyplace with full nudity,
so there are a bunch of topless / bikini bars that try to split the
difference). It was not a cool <b>Motley</b>
<b>Crue</b> type of strip
bar where chicks that dress like Kelly Bundy dance, but a fancy 21<sup>st</sup>
century hip-hop style one. They had just opened and the place was
pretty much empty – which was cool because we didn't feel quite so
out of place, but not that cool because we were the only people there
for the dancers to harass with their lap-dance sales pitches. After a
couple of drinks we started getting texts from various LA friends
that were arriving, so we headed back to the venue with a plan to hit
a liquor store and drink in someone's van / car / etc. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">We
got back and ran into a bunch of friends, procured beer and headed to
the rear parking lot where we were joined by our friend Deedee, who
had done our merch on the <b>Macabre</b>
/ <b>Cephalic</b> tour. As
we were proceeding to get inebriated, Aimee from <b>Progeria</b>
/ <b>Bastard</b> <b>Noise</b>
happened to walk by and told us that the show was being broken up by
the cops and that everyone was getting all their shit and leaving.
Needless to say, that got our attention. We got back to the venue,
explained to the police that we were one of the bands and we had to
get our stuff out of there. They seemed cool with that, and I didn't
see them beating anyone up or anything, but there was a lot of
confusion. In the hubbub, we managed to lose a toolbox, Wes' backpack
and something of Mike's I can't recall at the moment. I managed to
find the promoter, who didn't have much information for me, but
assured me that steps were being taken to get something going the
next day (Sunday) where us and a few other bands would still play. Of
course we agreed and exchanged numbers so we could (hopefully) play
the next day. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoZ9GmPpUEjVvrRb7WbydIoQ8GiwbNkYXtMxob25GnVixifgq_UgJBCW47ppxTpyN5w1EsXTm4VqJ3JhvAQn3udYHbd193I0G9E4JAmjdNltXBwzzkZG-Qut-vEEc7DuVdkql2eJYx_Ng/s1600/Poor+Kids+Radio+House+Clock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVoZ9GmPpUEjVvrRb7WbydIoQ8GiwbNkYXtMxob25GnVixifgq_UgJBCW47ppxTpyN5w1EsXTm4VqJ3JhvAQn3udYHbd193I0G9E4JAmjdNltXBwzzkZG-Qut-vEEc7DuVdkql2eJYx_Ng/s320/Poor+Kids+Radio+House+Clock.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">You know it's a party house when this is the<br />clock on the wall. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">There
was quite a bit of confusion as to what to do next, as there was a
house show that <b>Magrudergrind</b> was playing, a party nearby, and some
other stuff going on. We opted for the party house, because we didn't
want to try to see <b>Magrudergrind</b> and end up being at yet another show police were going to shut down that night. Luckily for us, we're touring Europe with them in February so we'll have ample opportunity to see them soon. More on that later... Apparently that show went off without a hitch, which is cool,
but we ended up going to the <b><a href="http://poorkidsradio.com/">Poor Kids' Radio</a></b> house in LA. Every Saturday they have a party there while they do their online radio show,
spinning killer punk, metal and crossover. We grabbed some burgers
and more beer and headed over. It ended up being a pretty
happening scene there with a lot of folks cruising by and a lot of
beers drained. We had a bottle of Jack Daniels whose appearance
dictated that we would remain there all night getting stupid. We then
proceeded to get totally blitzed. Wes crashed out in my car around
one, and later, Rob got a bit riled up (as he sometimes does when
things get really alcohol-soaked - hence his nickname "Wild Card") and almost fell over into a bunch
of guitars, which was unilaterally frowned upon. After trying to keep Rob from
fighting people for about 30 minutes, I finally decided I was too
tired to care and passed out on a picnic table outside at about 5:30
in the morning. I woke up cold at some point in the early morning
light and wandered into the house and passed out on the floor, which
demonstrated some comparably sound judgment. I discovered later when I
woke up that someone had punched my windshield and cracked it pretty
badly. I suppose that's a lot better than our gear getting stolen out
of the back of my car, but still... C'mon man. Anyway, it was Sunday morning (okay, morning-ish), so we headed to Rob's house
in Anaheim for football and see if there would actually be a
show to play. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6Cw0tb-44tA0KWjEmdpi1po2xYMatk3bUR0-CcIpWzebfRbmsyM-00QqpzGgTiUnHO_v4P3P4TyT4vlNifYN2p46zDkp_fKsdS0TN8agpV9sXKmPW1_YczgkpqKOC8CckKvvUI27NB4R/s1600/Goofing+off+at+Poor+Kids+Radio+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN6Cw0tb-44tA0KWjEmdpi1po2xYMatk3bUR0-CcIpWzebfRbmsyM-00QqpzGgTiUnHO_v4P3P4TyT4vlNifYN2p46zDkp_fKsdS0TN8agpV9sXKmPW1_YczgkpqKOC8CckKvvUI27NB4R/s320/Goofing+off+at+Poor+Kids+Radio+House.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Hijinks at the Poor Kids' Radio House. There was no<br />lampshade, so Wes made do with a frisbee.<br />Rob in pre "Wild Card" mode...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">I
have to admit that I was very skeptical about our prospects for
playing that day, but my cynicism was unfounded. The Discord folks
had found a place in Fullerton called the Riffhaus (which was conveniently very
nearby Rob's place) and were having two mini-shows. I missed their
first call somehow or other, so ended up on the second show of the
day with <b>Dropdead</b>, <b>Ghoul</b> (who played both sets) and
<b>Mange</b>. We found the place pretty easily and had a few hours to
kill once we got there, so we headed to a nearby bar called Bananas (the name alone
totally sold me on the place) with Leon, Danny, and Ross. It was like
an <b>Exhumed</b> reunion party in there, and we all had a laugh,
several drinks and caught up. We totally missed <b>Mange</b>, and headed
back in time to catch about half of <b>Ghoul</b>'s set, which was
really, really fucking good. I was grinning ear to ear the whole
time. The place was tiny and was totally packed – you would've
needed a shoe-horn to get another person in there, and we had a great
time grinding it out for the kids. <b>Dropdead</b> followed and were
fucking great, I hadn't seen them in years, and they are still one of
the deadliest pure Grind bands out there. I think everyone was glad that there actually was a show to
play and the vibe was good all around. Wes stayed down in Orange
County with Rob for a family wedding the following weekend, and
Mike and I headed back to SLO to rest up for the European run with
Cephalic Carnage we had looming in our very near future – a mere thirteen
days later. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">To be continued at this blog in the same sense-shattering, pulse-pounding manner in which you have become (hopefully) accustomed... </span></div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-67077593375498265742011-12-06T21:37:00.001-08:002012-01-04T14:44:57.074-08:00Tour recap, Part One of many<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tour
recaps are always tough... It's hard to remember everything that
happens, for many reasons. First off, we're usually drunk
most of the time anything interesting is going on. Secondly, the
longer you're on tour, the more things blend together into one
continuous stream of sitting in the van, loading in, sitting in the
van, sleeping, sitting in the van, getting on a plane, hanging out in
an airport, sitting in the van, loading out, sitting in the van,
trying to fix things that get broken (strings, shoes, drum hardware,
boxes, etc.), sitting in the van, eating, waiting to eat, sitting in
the van, well, you get the idea. Oh yeah, we occasionally play music
too. Basically the average day consists of the following: 9 hours of
sleeping, 1 hour total of loading gear and merchandise in / out of
the venue, 1 hour of eating, 1 hour of playing, 1 hour of
soundchecking, and 11 hours of either driving in the van or waiting
around to do any of those other things. Of course, that's still
plenty of time to get into trouble when you're hanging out at a club
/ bar with access to a large supply of alcohol, so we manage to make
the best of things. Sometimes the other guys ask me how I remember
all of the crap I write about in these blogs, and really it's the act
of writing it all down that jogs my memory more than anything, so
while some of the stuff in here is doubtless boring or tremendously
unfunny, it at least helps me to make sense of what the fuck I've
been doing. So thanks for reading these little travelogues and
helping me clear all this shit out of my fairly damaged brain.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Four
Countries, Four Festivals, Four Days, and Four Idiots</b></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Brutal
Assault, Jalo Metalli, Party San Open Air, and Ieper Festival</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>...In
which our heroes endure international travel at a withering pace,
reunite with Leon del Muerte, become somewhat of a (bigger) laughing stock,
and endure other pratfalls, trials and tribulations...</i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyygseasJBlqpyiyN4KLKb2ld_SY98leBCWDTKXxYTAbV4PL2MJHRAoKadmXIg00ZmhIJ_7O0gykHrEal4heVGKRflupJiagbZ_vW6KtFFWN7cqF4gGZ3rY18pKU3iu_b_ADXaKuy-c2GJ/s1600/August+festival+tickets+and+wristbands.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyygseasJBlqpyiyN4KLKb2ld_SY98leBCWDTKXxYTAbV4PL2MJHRAoKadmXIg00ZmhIJ_7O0gykHrEal4heVGKRflupJiagbZ_vW6KtFFWN7cqF4gGZ3rY18pKU3iu_b_ADXaKuy-c2GJ/s320/August+festival+tickets+and+wristbands.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">File under: miscellaneous shit to throw away next time I move. </span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The
last tour recap I finished chronicled our Summer tour with <b>Macabre</b>,
<b>Cephalic</b> <b>Carnage</b> and <b>Withered</b>. The weird thing
is that we did that tour with the lineup of myself, the inimitable
Wes “Sunshine” Caley, Mike “Hammy” Hamilton, and Rob “Wild
Card” Babcock on bass and vocals. We played together for three and
a half weeks and became a well-oiled, highly-trained musical killing
machine (well, as musical as <b>Exhumed</b> gets). Right after the
tour, we headed to Europe for a marathon of four festival shows in
four countries in four days, but with our old pal Leon del Muerte on
bass and vocals. Even though our bass guitar is (lamentably) rarely
audible, it was a bit of a weird dynamic shift playing with two
different bassist / vocalists, especially with minimal (and by that, I mean none) rehearsal time. Of course, I've known Leon since
around '94, so personality-wise, there was no issue whatsoever, and we've all done this many, many times, so it's pretty smooth. Wes,
Mike and myself flew out the Wednesday after the last show (3 days later) to Prague to get ready for
our show at the Brutal Assault Festival in the Czech Republic. Leon
was at a convention for his job in San Diego and would join us in hte land of Pilsner Urquell and extremely hot women on Friday. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We
were picked up by our driver at the airport, and again we used the
great Czech company Fluffwheels, who provided us with a nice Sprinter
van to kick around in as well as yet another friendly, highly
competent driver whose name unfortunately escapes me at the time of this writing. We
headed out to the town Brutal Assault was in and on to our hotel,
which, oddly enough was on a golf course and was called "Nova America". Nothing like heading to eastern Europe for a taste of home. We were
one of the first overseas bands to arrive and looked / felt pretty
out of place amongst the golfers, but the grounds were verdant, rustic and quite pleasant. Wes and I were assigned the “Arizona” room, while
Mike and our driver had the “Indiana” room. There was nothing
particularly indicative of the states themselves in the rooms, but
seeing places from our home country (and not particularly interesting
places at that) re-tooled as something exotic was a bit weird. We ate
a late lunch, had a couple of beers, and then were asleep by 6 or 7pm. We were all exhausted
from being on the road for three weeks in the US and Canada and
extremely jet-lagged, so we crashed out pretty hard. The next day we
all woke up incredibly early and very, very hungry. I was up at about
4:45 am and simply could not sleep anymore. Fucking jet lag. I went out in the hallway
and read a little bit until the sky started to lighten up about 5:30
or so. I figured I might as well put on my headphones and go for a walk out on the
course. In the pre-morning light, I saw a family of deer grazing
pastorally in the meadow near the golf course, which was nice. I got
back by about 6:15 to find Mike wide awake as well. We were soon joined
by Wes, and the three of us proceeded to stalk the restaurant where
breakfast would be served at 8. After an excruciatingly long two
hours of waiting, we hit the continental breakfast with a vengeance.
From what I could infer, the staff was not too stoked that we ate about four plates of food each and drank at least 5 or 6 glasses
of water and juice. Full and relatively contented, we passed the next
few hours changing guitar strings (Wes), reading and napping (me) and
exploring the grounds and napping (Mike).
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That
afternoon we headed over to the festival to make sure our merchandise
had been shipped correctly. Not only had it been received, but it was
already being sold, which was my main concern. We met up with an
American chick from New York who was our contact person for the
festival, and she gave us food / drink tickets, lanyards, and all of
that good stuff that one needs at a festival. We dropped off our guitars and cymbals in the
assigned area, and our driver headed back to Prague to pick up Leon
from the airport. Our set wasn't until after 1:00 am that night/the
next morning, so we had plenty of time for him to arrive. The
festival was organized by Thomas who used to do Bizarre Leprous
Productions back in the 90s, and who I hadn't seen in quite a while,
so it was nice to catch up with him. The festival grounds were an old
military base – and I mean old. There were a number of weird back
passageways and a barracks-type area where there was a gypsy squat.
Not your typical venue for a metal show. The whole place had a weird,
in a cool way, vibe- even though there were some parts where you felt
like if you wandered off you would quickly stumble into something out
of the movie “Hostel”.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Leon
arrived on time and intact and we went for a meet and greet which was fun, and then headed to (surprise!) the artist bar. The artist bar
was equipped with a tv that showed multi-camera footage of the action
unfolding onstage, so we hung out and had a few beers with the <b>Hail
Of Bullets</b> guys while watching <b>Kreator</b> and <b>Suicidal</b>
<b>Tendencies</b> on TV. Suicidal was surprisingly awesome. <b>Motorhead</b>
was on next, and being extremely lazy and tired from all the
traveling, I just stayed in the bar and watched their admittedly
awesome set. Then <b>Morbid</b> <b>Angel</b> hit the stage, and we
would be following them on the left-hand stage (the festival had two large side-by-side stages so that the audience could theoretically see every band, if they had the endurance) so we headed to our
temporary dressing room and got prepared. Going into the show I felt
like it wouldn't really be much to write home about, considering the
headliners of the day had already played and we weren't even going
onstage until just after 1 in the morning. So I was a bit surprised
to look out at around 4,000 kids in the audience when we got
underway. That was a great boost of energy that we needed,
considering how tired we were that day. The sound on stage was a bit
muddy, but by the third song or so we were settled in and hitting on
all cylinders. The festival set wasn't too different from what he had
been playing, but we cut out a few songs from the new record, since “As Hammer To Anvil” was the only new song that Leon had really played with the band extensively.
We sent out “Decrepit Crescendo” to our old friend Curby from
Obscene Productions to close things out and returned to the dressing
room exhausted, but psyched that so many people in the audience were
still up and functioning (let alone cheering) at such a late hour. We
went to grab a Doner Kebab in the food area and ran into our old
friend Jim Mack (who is from San Francisco, so his presence there was an extremely unexpected surprise) on the festival grounds which rounded
out the night nicely. Finally we gathered all our shit and hit the
road back to the hotel so that we could wake up early the next
morning to drive to Frankfurt so we could make our flight to Finland
the following day. Sound convoluted? Probably because it was.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fmgTCGlmyNI" width="420"></iframe></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">"Necromaniac" live at Brutal Assault.</span> </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At
any rate, we made it to the airport in time to fly to Finland, but after our driver dropped us off, we
were informed by the Finnair guy (who was a real dick about it) that
we could only take one carry-on per person, or we would have to pay
over 300 Euro total to check our “extra” bags. Who the fuck ever
heard of one carry-on?!?! Anyway, we called our driver, had him turn
around and come back to the airport and consolidated our baggage,
since we'd only be in Finland one night. We got back and boarded the
plane without further incident aside from some dirty looks when the
same asshole took our tickets when we boarded. Once we were in
Finland, everything seemed a lot nicer. The JaloMetalli festival is
in Oulu, in the north of the country (yeah, in the north of the
north) so we had to catch a connecting flight from Helsinki to Oulu.
The Helsinki airport was ultra-modern, ultra-clean, and
ultra-expensive. It was everything that an American thinks of when
they think of Scandinavia- modern, forest-y, sterile, polite, and very, very blonde. I have never seen so many people with all
natural platinum-blonde hair in my life. On the flight from Helsinki
to Oulu, we were basically the only people on the flight who weren't
blonde. I have never felt so not-white in my life! Oulu is a
beautiful tourist town in the north of Finland where people go to ski
and relax – kind of like Aspen or Lake Tahoe from what I could gather. We were picked up
from the tiny airport by van and drove into town to a very nice hotel
where we immediately went upstairs and went back to sleep. By early
evening we were up and showered and headed to the festival. Jalo
Metalli is a bit of a smaller festival, maybe 1500 people total in
attendance, and we would end up missing basically every band we
wanted to see there (but I did pick up a sweet <b>Oz</b>
longsleeve – “Turn The Cross Upside Down” still totally rules!)
but we got there while <b>Sepultura</b>
was onstage.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Just
like at Brutal Assault, we were playing <i>after</i>the headliners, which wasn't really all that cool, but what can you
do. This night our time slot proved to be more of an impediment than in the
Czech Republic, as the crowd was beginning to visibly thin out by the
time we actually played. The crowd that stuck around was a bit
lifeless, until we ended the set, when they suddenly got really loud
and enthusiastic and demanded an encore. Of course, since we hadn't
rehearsed with Leon at all, we basically had prepared our festival set
(40 minutes) and that was it. We all said the same thing when we left
the stage - “where was all that energy for the first 39 minutes?”
If you want to check out pictures and a recap of the whole day we played, you can check it out <a href="http://demonia.webblogg.se/">here </a></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After our set, we met up with the <b>Evildead</b>
and <b>Napalm</b> <b>Death</b>
guys backstage and made plans to hit the bar in town. We were
scheduled to leave the hotel for the airport at 5am the next day, and
since it doesn't really get too dark in Finland during the summer,
the bars are open until 4am. It seemed pointless to try to sleep for
4 hours when we could be drinking, so we went back to the hotel where
I took a really quick shower and we hit the "Nuclear Bar". Yes, that is the actual name. How badass is that? Several "Nuclear Girl" jokes were made by Wes and I to the amusement of nobody (unless you have the "Drawing Down The Moon" record by <b>Beherit</b> you won't know what the hell we were talking about, and even then you probably won't think that's particularly funny) . The "Nuclear
Bar" is basically the city's rock bar, and it was pretty full of folks
from the festival. We met Antti Boman of my personal favorite Finnish
band, <b>Demilich</b>, and
hung out with him for a while, as well as our aforementioned friends
from America (I say America, since Mitch and Danny were the only <b>Napalm</b>
dudes that made it out to the bar).
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Eventually
4am came around, and we headed to all night food truck to grab some
food. By this point, we were all pretty wasted and feeling good. We
ended up standing in line for well over a half hour with all the
other folks that had let out from the various bars. A really nice local Finnish
dude whose girlfriend oddly lived in Hayward of all places was our
guide around the city. Somehow we ended up talking to some locals who
were also really drunk and found us hilarious. I remember asking
“What is Finnish food anyway? Is it just the shit that Sweden
doesn't want that washes up over here?” Or something incredibly
witty and culturally sensitive like that. A woman behind us was not
amused (her boyfriend seemed to think it was funny, but couldn't show
it) and let us know in no uncertain terms. I apologized and told her
that I knew I was being rude and I didn't mean it, and that of course
everyone knows that the national dish of Finland was “penguin
shit”. This didn't go over too well either. I forget exactly what
happened next, but I think one of us was riding some random Finn's
bicycle around the small park where the food truck was located, and
the woman was eventually dragged away yelling and screaming by her
boyfriend. Of course we all thought we were exceedingly funny and
clever (in our defense, some of the people around us were laughing as
well). We finally got some sandwiches that I have to think tasted considerably better
than penguin shit and we headed back to the
hotel to gather our belongings and get back to the airport. By 7:30am we
were dead tired, sleeping on the floor of the terminal. We wearily
boarded the flight back to Helsinki and sleep-walked our way onto the
connection to Frankfurt. The <b>Sepultura</b>
guys were on the flight as well, but we were so out of it we didn't
even make their acquaintance.
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOEWR4EUlnUDWq10Y_By_jFVHIeu1LgS7r3cTbKpwsJ37uLpgxBOZGMBQnPaliLbJRCs2Rc0khP3LtsvrQVlWhhP9CkKFw7eYssYGgQGggSTFeh7ttiCkKwfdztjpzpXyhTX0xg7PDYzY/s1600/Festival+Passes+from+August+2011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcOEWR4EUlnUDWq10Y_By_jFVHIeu1LgS7r3cTbKpwsJ37uLpgxBOZGMBQnPaliLbJRCs2Rc0khP3LtsvrQVlWhhP9CkKFw7eYssYGgQGggSTFeh7ttiCkKwfdztjpzpXyhTX0xg7PDYzY/s200/Festival+Passes+from+August+2011.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Nothing makes you feel like a proper band douche than copious amounts of lanyards - the fancier the better</span>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We
finally got back to Germany and piled in the van to head out to the
Party San Open Air festival. I don't think any of us remember the
drive there at all, we just slept the whole way. We woke up in a
small town called Bad Berka where our driver was having a bit of a
hard time finding the festival. Usually these European festivals are
in relatively small towns, where there's enough room to set up big stages, tents, etc., so you end up in weird little out-of-the-way
places more often than not. One thing that is a good indicator that
the festival is actually happening is that you'll see a lot of
long-hairs wandering around a small town with patch jackets, and there was a
distinct lack of long-hairs and patch jackets on the streets of Bad
Berka that day. Our driver frantically consulted his notes to double
check the address... And lo and behold, we had two sets of
information, one indicating that the fest was in Bad Berka, and
another indicating that it was in Schlotheim... But the most recent
info we had indicated Bad Berka. A few phone calls and texts later,
we discovered that the fest was indeed in Schlotheim – about 45
minutes away. Of course, the road we were supposed to take was closed
due to construction. This was a night when we were scheduled to play
at around six in the evening – so time was running very, very
short. We had already cancelled the meet-and-greet we had planned for
3:30 that afternoon and it was already after 4:00 when we had arrived
in Bad Berka. The folks at the festival were kind enough to swap our
spot with <b>Taake</b> (who were total gentlemen about it) so we
were still able to get onstage and perform, but they had also
announced to the entire audience that we had driven to the wrong
town. Which, needless to say, did not reflect well on our competence.
As soon as we rolled up, people started ribbing us, asking how Bad
Berka was, etc. Whoever thinks Germans have no sense of humor, think
again. It's not that funny, and it's moderately humiliating, but it
is a sense of humor. We got there as <b>Taake</b>
was taking the stage and we had about an hour to get our passes, sort out merchandising,
our backstage, beer, catering, change clothes, tune our instruments etc. etc. So... it was not the most relaxing day. But by the time we got onstage,
everything was fine and we came out and had a pretty kickass set. I
want to again thank the <b>Taake</b>
guys for switching with us at the last minute so that we were able to
get out and play this killer fest. I got to see <b>Hail</b>
<b>Of</b> <b>Bullets</b>
again, and they had sprung for pyro (which was way out of our budget)
so their set was complete with flames and explosions, making it extra
epic. Luckily, despite the fact that it looked like it was about to
rain the entire day, precipitation was not forthcoming and we were
able to enjoy our day there in the mud without getting drizzled on
the whole time. We headed to the bar for a while and hung out for a
while, then hit the merchandise tents where I got a sweet <b>Witchfynde</b>
hoodie and grabbed a <b>Scorpions</b>
“In Trance” shirt for Wes. By the time <b>At The Gates</b>
was playing, we were all incredibly tired and split a little early to
head to the hotel, which was a bit disappointing, but very necessary.
We finally got to shower and get a bit of sleep before grabbing
breakfast and heading out to Belgium early the next day.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ofbAx_l9Qrs" width="560"></iframe></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Here's an interesting video that kind of gives a sense of the whole vibe of Party San that some dude put to one of our songs. Pretty cool overview of a German Death Metal festival for those of us on this side of the Atlantic.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Again,
the entire trip to Belgium was spent fast asleep. The Ieper Fest was
a bit different, as it was primarily a Hardcore festival with a few
Metal bands sprinkled in for variety. Apparently the fest had been
straight-edge until a few years prior, which would have been a major
problem for us. I think beer was the only thing keeping us going for
these four grueling days. There was no meat served at the fest,
though, which was kind of interesting. The fest itself was outdoors
in a muddy farm area, as it had rained the last few days. Again, we
were lucky weather-wise in that skies were blue and clear. We met up
with Anthony from <b>Tombs</b>
and had a couple of beers with them and their tour-mates <b>The</b>
<b>Secret</b>, both great
bands and great dudes. I caught their set and they were fucking
massive. We played second to last in the tent stage, right before
<b>Decapitated</b>, and the
show went over surprisingly well with the hardcore crowd. It was a
totally different scene from the previous day in Germany, where it
was an exclusively Death / Black Metal crowd, but it was a lot of fun
regardless. Our final night in Europe was spent in a bare-bones
hostel, with all five of us (band + driver) bunking in the same room,
which wasn't as cool as having three hotel rooms like we'd had the last three days but it was by no means terrible either. The only bummer was that there was no delicious European breakfast buffet awaiting us in the
morning. I always love the Muesli, yogurt, fresh fruit, meat,
bread and cheese that most European hotels provide. We left early
that morning for the Brussels airport and eventually California.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CeMI6TOstBs" width="420"></iframe></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">"Forged In Fire" live at Ieper Fest</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We
were shocked when we went to check in at the Delta counter and they
told us that Wes' guitar was considered “oversize” and they'd
have to charge us $250 to check it. I argued with the really hot
chick at the counter first, who then called her
manager over and then I got into with him and started swearing and
getting pretty hot under the collar, but it was all to no avail. We
were stewing over this bullshit while we were getting ready to go
through security and I was already planning on calling the airline to
get the money back as soon as we got to America. I realized (having been fucked over by airlines
several times in the past) that I should probably get the names of
the people I had talked to. They were dicks about that too, but I
was pissed off and not to be dissuaded.
We went through security and were waiting at the gate when Wes' name
was called to come up to the ticket counter. My only thought was
“what now?!?” Having flown Delta (who I DO NOT recommend to
anyone) several times this year, Wes had already had one guitar case
totally smashed by their baggage handlers, and had another bag of his
sent to the wrong airport, and they had lost my guitar and a box of
merchandise on two separate occasions (I eventually got both of them
back, but it was still a major fucking hassle). I decided to go up
there with him, half in an effort to help him sort out whatever
bullshit they were about to conjure, and half just to see what it
could possibly be. Instead, they gave us back the money we had paid
for the oversize charge, stating that they didn't realize his bag was
a musical instrument, which was exempt from the charge. Now, Wes'
guitar case is literally <i>shaped like a fucking flying V</i>. And, three out of four
of us have long hair, and WE'RE ALL CARRYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, but
somehow, they "didn't realize" it was a musical instrument. What a
bunch of assholes. Anyway, feeling moderately vindicated (they had
somehow managed to charge us an extra 40 Euro for some other bullshit
anyway) we finally boarded the plane and headed back to the states
for some serious rest. I for one was looking forward to having a couple of months off, buying some new gear and of course, catching up on some proper sleep.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">To give you an idea of how much traveling we did, we left Wednesday from Los Angeles to Prague (with one connection) - about 5,900 miles, then we rode from Prage to Frankfurt Saturday, about 315 miles, then flew about 1600 miles from Frankfurt to Oulu (with a stopover in Helsinki), then flew out the next morning - another 1600 miles back to Frankfurt, then drove another 175 miles to Party San, played, got up the next day, drove 450 miles to Ieper, played, then drove 90 miles to brussels, and then flew another 5600 or so miles back to Los Angeles. All told, we traveled about 15,730 miles in six days. Gnarly. When we told our friends in America what we were doing everyone said - "That's awesome! You guys are so lucky!" When we told our friends in Europe what we were doing everyone said "That's insane! You guys are fucking retarded!" In the end I think they were both right. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-71341957723295485572011-12-06T19:11:00.001-08:002011-12-06T19:44:12.261-08:00Top 10 of 2011 list<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Obviously, this blog is mostly designed to talk about what's been going on (and what's going to happen) in the weird and wacky world of Exhumed, but since it's the end of the year, I figured I'd throw something a little different up here. People often ask me what new stuff I'm into, random people as well as "journalists", and I frequently draw a blank. Well, now that I'm home, rested and have my thoughts collected, here are my personal top 10 records of the past year - my opinions may not necessarily reflect the views of the rest of the band (or anyone else, for that matter) but here they are nonetheless. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enjoy!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- Matt</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b><br /></b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Best
of 2011</b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
Decibel asked me for my top 5 records of the year, I was on the road
and was not only sleep-deprived and in desperate need of a shower,
but I didn't really even have a particularly good guage for what
actually came out in 2011 (for instance, the Black Nasty “Shark
Tank” album I mentioned actually came out in 2010- whoops!). So
after getting home and having access to my full music library, (and
using the “sort by year” function in iTunes) I decided to make a
more thorough and correct list for the heck of it. I feel a little
weird about it since I haven't heard the new <b>Bjork</b> or <b>Coldplay</b>
yet, and both of them usually put out stuff that I really love, but
time marches on and I should finish this list before the year is
over. And no, I'm not kidding, I really dig <b>Bjork</b> and
<b>Coldplay.</b> That said, as much as I love Thrash and traditional
Heavy Metal, it looks like the Death Metal comeback is in full force,
because most of my picks for this year are Death Metal. So here are
my top ten for the year and nine more honorable mentions. Enjoy and
feel free to add your own picks in the comments or tell me what
awesome / shitty taste I have.
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#1.
Deceased</b> – Surreal Overdose</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-97HS7tgx38_moOjKY2pEFijJ-mYP_UlAZjNGzt9nGNqaiG87Za3GVm8YKueejPO3sH5yXUXFxoNkr8_ymoKQEfKhjKsFnNf6E6GJxxW0DQ2K8pcUWYN0Xgk6iFjggssBSomUQNdOBa-/s1600/deceasedsurrealoverdoselores.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY-97HS7tgx38_moOjKY2pEFijJ-mYP_UlAZjNGzt9nGNqaiG87Za3GVm8YKueejPO3sH5yXUXFxoNkr8_ymoKQEfKhjKsFnNf6E6GJxxW0DQ2K8pcUWYN0Xgk6iFjggssBSomUQNdOBa-/s320/deceasedsurrealoverdoselores.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've
always loved <b>Deceased</b>, ever since our original drummer Col Jones bought the “Gut
Wrench” EP back in '91. It took me a little while to get used to
the blatant Heavy Metalisms that started around “Fearless Undead
Machines” , but I grew to love that record, and its successor
“Supernatural Addiction” slowly became my favorite <b>Deceased</b>
album – until 2011. A band is not supposed to make their best
record 24 years into their career, but, fuck, they just did. Having
King back on drums injects a really intense raw, edge to the songs,
with some really ferocious tempos. I listened to this masterpiece of
“Death Metal From The Grave” for a week straight when I first got
it. Describing this album is kind of pointless – It sounds like
<b>Deceased</b>, but it effectively mixes the ferocity of the really
early stuff (the pre “Luck of the Corpse” era) with the refined
class and confidence of “Fearless...” and beyond. And on the
track “Cloned (Day of the Robot)” the robot voice from the song
“Birth By Radiation” is back – how fucking awesome is that?!?!?
Synthesizing the best elements of classic <b>Voivod</b>, <b>Iron</b>
<b>Maiden</b> and pre-1990 Death Metal, <b>Deceased</b> has created
what is hands-down <i>the</i> metal album of the year for me and I
can't recommend it highly enough.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#2.
Hammock w/Steve Gibley and Tim Powles of the Church</b> – Asleep In
The Downlights EP /</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hammock</b>
- Black Metallic Single</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TcctdGO0iETAbqDhTYgqmzu4AF48Fqzbo3T-To4l29TuizZL-aipq3KnloyjqTdZv6zAO6g14wRT_hU0GNW54F2fp4XyOeRqMkUj9Yi5cgxSXSziMj9rhqX_6SUFTqzFc2bp_qb0qDa7/s1600/Hammock.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9TcctdGO0iETAbqDhTYgqmzu4AF48Fqzbo3T-To4l29TuizZL-aipq3KnloyjqTdZv6zAO6g14wRT_hU0GNW54F2fp4XyOeRqMkUj9Yi5cgxSXSziMj9rhqX_6SUFTqzFc2bp_qb0qDa7/s200/Hammock.jpg" width="194" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When
not listening to metal (which is most of the time, let's face it) I
have been delving deeper into the “post-rock” genre. While I've
been disappointed to discover that there are an army of bands trying
to simply out-<b>Mogwai</b> <b>Mogwai</b>, <b>Hammock</b> is one band
that has really stood out as being amazing. Without the bleak,
totally depressing vibe of the all the post-<b>GY!BE</b> bands,
<b>Hammock</b> make music that is really beautiful and quite
emotional, while being very ethereal and spacey. They cemented their
place in my current favorite bands list with their two 2011 Eps-
first I got the “Black Metallic” single, which is a cover of the
<b>Catherine</b> <b>Wheel</b> song. If you are into shoegaze /
metalgaze / <b>My Bloody Valentine</b> at all, you owe it to yourself
to go back and get <b>Catherine</b> <b>Wheel</b>'s “Ferment”
album, it is a total masterpiece. <b>Hammock</b> did a great cover
that evokes the original, but is uniquely their own. The female
vocals add a totally different dimension to the song. Then on top of
that, they went and teamed up with two of the dudes from <b>The</b>
<b>Church</b> – one of my favorite depressing 80s bands (<b>The</b>
<b>Church</b> are best known for the song “Under The Milky Way”
which most folks nowadays think of as “that cool song from <i>Donnie</i>
<i>Darko</i> that's not by <b>Echo</b> <b>And</b> <b>The</b> <b>Bunnymen</b>
or <b>Tears</b> <b>For</b> <b>Fears</b>”)
for their 4 song “Asleep in the Downlights” EP. This EP has two
quasi-instrumental tracks and two tracks with the guys from <b>The</b>
<b>Church</b> doing vocals. Those two tracks are fucking amazing,
beautiful, heartbreaking, and deep. Great, great stuff.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#3.
Mortuous</b> – Rehearsal tape '11</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN9AQdg38yPeL5oQoYFYzk5Z3Q-61GivkFaTVnWWdgpAH8HPicVD5lWwJOpIXLjM5exvp8cQMXhTtAG3qkX1sbNE6gbI0A3cG0BHG934hKePz8xxo7S7Hh9EHMxHV1LcJg7PkocBp9Cbh/s1600/Mortuous+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSN9AQdg38yPeL5oQoYFYzk5Z3Q-61GivkFaTVnWWdgpAH8HPicVD5lWwJOpIXLjM5exvp8cQMXhTtAG3qkX1sbNE6gbI0A3cG0BHG934hKePz8xxo7S7Hh9EHMxHV1LcJg7PkocBp9Cbh/s200/Mortuous+logo.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
have to admit a bit of bias on this one. Mortuous is the new band
featuring my old band-mates Col Jones (drums) and Mike Beams
(guitar). It's also a bit unfair putting something in your “top
however many records of the year” that no one can buy or hear.
However, you can watch some halfway decent quality videos of this
band on youtube. This is good ol' fashioned Death Metal in the
Finnish / Swedish / British tradition. Tons of murky doomy passages a
la “Lost Paradise” or the slow stuff by <b>Demigod</b> or
<b>Convulse</b> colliding head on with gnarly <b>Incantation</b>
style fast parts – everything is dark, obscure and totally
sickening. Of course, there's a hint of that “Sunlight” guitar
tone going on as well. Overall, this is really fucking morbid
underground Death Metal at its absolute finest – now these guys
just need to finish recording their actual demo and release something
so everyone can tell me how cool I am for knowing about this band
before they did.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURsO4HN-_LPiuq7ADXCo2MdDcptzNHqV5Ua3TfdlXncWyX5S1SXbEcE7kzLS0uaRwy8avfZMnebhQaUJS5geurCfbx3uDWuzJl7IWBtHpoqlzwJG55jSHwUkCpC4cpcugA4fOGY8IbPvF/s1600/zombi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiURsO4HN-_LPiuq7ADXCo2MdDcptzNHqV5Ua3TfdlXncWyX5S1SXbEcE7kzLS0uaRwy8avfZMnebhQaUJS5geurCfbx3uDWuzJl7IWBtHpoqlzwJG55jSHwUkCpC4cpcugA4fOGY8IbPvF/s200/zombi.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#4.
Zombi</b> – Escape Velocity</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
band is awesome and so is this record. This CD stayed in my car for
months and months. The first track in particular is just amazing.
It's music to drive a spacehip through the neighborhoods in “Blade
Runner” on your way to a coke party in 1986. This record has been
the soundtrack to many, many long drives from Orange County to San
Luis Obispo for me in '11. If you haven't heard this band, imagine
<b>Vangelis</b>, <b>Tangerine</b> <b>Dream</b>, and <b>Goblin</b>
forming a band. But only the cool shit from those artists, none of
<b>Vangelis</b>' “Chariots of Fire” stuff or <b>Goblin</b>'s
weird (albeit occasionally awesome) pseudo-Eurofunk. This record, and
really everything that <b>Zombi</b> does is totally badass. And the
cover gets points for having a levitating naked woman and a DeLorean
on it. Choice.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj1LQf1CTtjPd4T5nftD9qubqLxAel35m4GwEmJey4Wjbs7jhguax8OTV6PtPhKtVYDblbNuz0RafCuPgCws-XerPNp2X-xaAe_aKoVyM9hFTHX4ge0tA5TPm6h5YTWF5JAKWM50QitmP/s1600/This+Will+Destroy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZj1LQf1CTtjPd4T5nftD9qubqLxAel35m4GwEmJey4Wjbs7jhguax8OTV6PtPhKtVYDblbNuz0RafCuPgCws-XerPNp2X-xaAe_aKoVyM9hFTHX4ge0tA5TPm6h5YTWF5JAKWM50QitmP/s200/This+Will+Destroy.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#5.
This Will Destroy You</b> – Tunnel Blanket</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
post-rock find, this one courtesy of Pandora (thank you “<b>Sigur</b>
<b>Ros</b> station”!), this record unmistakeably has that bleak,
hopeless edge to it. Complete with ambient noise, almost unbearable
silences and slowly shifting instrumentation that makes me feel like
I'm watching a beautiful tree rot in zero gravity. Contemplative,
layered, and depressing, this is a great album to sit and zone out
to. Or to put on while reading extremely depressing books. That's
what I did during all the drives on our European tour with <b>Cephalic</b>
<b>Carnage</b>: listen to this band, <b>Hammock</b> and <b>Manual</b>
while reading The Possessed” by Dostoyevsky and a collection of
Chekov's short stories. Good times! Their “Young Mountain” album
is a bit happier and more uplifting, and also killer.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#6.
Cianide</b> – Gods Of Death</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3FQ57NKlMFDO4b27-0SU0TmVxqbs8OuBeZlCxQb273Myz8tGZ_RdKa1uxlOFOZ5JX7MB3U6rRFFSUBi2L6qWBZ3mjmlcCZPqXFw-SmR-XExt9i7whm8LbBdW96LYcJKG4CeWibTOGRwl/s1600/Cianide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3FQ57NKlMFDO4b27-0SU0TmVxqbs8OuBeZlCxQb273Myz8tGZ_RdKa1uxlOFOZ5JX7MB3U6rRFFSUBi2L6qWBZ3mjmlcCZPqXFw-SmR-XExt9i7whm8LbBdW96LYcJKG4CeWibTOGRwl/s200/Cianide.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2011
was the year people finally started waking up to how fucking awesome
this band is and always has been. Most of my friends were all abuzz
after finally witnessing <b>Cianide</b> live at MDF this year, and
with good reason. I almost fell over the first time I heard the rough
mix of this album at Scott's house in Chicago, because it seemed like
each riff was somehow heavier than the last. It's fucking insane. I
love Scott's weird wah-wah pedal solos that sound like an even more
fucked up <b>Autopsy</b>. “Dead
And Rotting” is the heaviest song of the year for sure.
While “Gods Of Death” isn't drastically different from most of
their records, that's what makes it so fucking great. With a sound
akin to taking a <b>Hellhammer</b> 45 and playing at 33 RPM mixed
with the most brutal <b>Master</b>-style riffs since 1987 and a
relentless barrage of ridiculous heaviness (even their fast stuff is
heavier than most DM band's “heavy stuff”), <b>Cianide</b> is one
of the ultimate pure Death Metal bands today.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Lb6ggDt1Y8_NQtIUdNXmytZaD3ofgLRP2JKbonOT8Y950umsd6pezNVwXYCgvTxA4vWgveShkgTi5-n25yoYgExOijpWkM46my4XyqCvt09VKmS1zz0FaexqNn2lhW1mgzseozRIgzO0/s1600/Rotten+Sound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Lb6ggDt1Y8_NQtIUdNXmytZaD3ofgLRP2JKbonOT8Y950umsd6pezNVwXYCgvTxA4vWgveShkgTi5-n25yoYgExOijpWkM46my4XyqCvt09VKmS1zz0FaexqNn2lhW1mgzseozRIgzO0/s200/Rotten+Sound.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#7.
Rotten</b> <b>Sound</b> – Cursed</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Swedish-style buzzsaw guitar
tone? Check. Incredibly pissed off vocals? Check. One word song
titles? Check.Totally unhinged drumming? Check. Best Grind album of
the year? Check. Sure everything blurs together on this record, but
it's a Grindcore record. That's what it's supposed to sound like.
Fucking amazing.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#8.
Bullet</b> – Highway Pirates</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUn33wOS7nt9y5oNf07ok3V3BnhiwE72tYFK_8Aa8ZAfCsddNu_5ucBwEiGqyaSx28msbNc4gTbO62DAbYE8A-lCj9qwgCuaRKRPX79ZTbWDri2YfYpOMvLp2LNCAAOv5q8pmwPS2utK-z/s1600/Bullet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUn33wOS7nt9y5oNf07ok3V3BnhiwE72tYFK_8Aa8ZAfCsddNu_5ucBwEiGqyaSx28msbNc4gTbO62DAbYE8A-lCj9qwgCuaRKRPX79ZTbWDri2YfYpOMvLp2LNCAAOv5q8pmwPS2utK-z/s200/Bullet.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While
much has been made of the recent “return” of NWOBHM-influenced
traditional Metal, <b>Bullet</b> have been doing it for years. I got
their “Heavy Metal Highway” EP back in '03 from their guitarist
Hampus Klang (ex-<b>Hypnosia</b> and <b>Birdflesh</b>) and haven't
looked back since. This album is their most sophisticated yet – and
it's not particularly sophisticated at all, haha! The guitars still
have that pure Marshall / Gibson tone and everything sounds super
live and organic. The solos are noticeably more interesting than on
previous albums, but still firmly rooted in the pre-'83 Tipton /
Downing school. <b>Bullet</b> simply synthesize “Restless &
Wild”, “On Through The Night”, “British Steel” and “Highway
To Hell” into a super fun, catchy, and energetic HM experience that
kicks ass from front to back. It's worth saying that these guys do
<b>AC/DC</b> flawlessley – which is a lot harder than it seems. In
fact they do it much, much better than <b>Airbourne</b>'s second
album (check out <b>Bullet</b>'s “Stay Wild” if you doubt me). A
big plus is the voice of Dag Hell Hofer – whose post-Udo / Brian
Johnson wailing is certainly not technically brilliant, but bristles
with energy and personality – something lacking in so many metal
singers these days. The only band that I think is currently as good
as these guys at playing pure Heavy Metal is <b>Enforcer</b> (who
<b>Bullet</b> did a split 7” with for Record Store Day that I would
LOVE to get my hands on), but their album “Diamonds” dropped last
year, so now it's <b>Bullet</b>'s turn to get into my top albums of
the year list. “Back On The Road” has got to be the ultimate
pre-game partying anthem of 21<sup>st</sup> Century traditional Metal
– at least until the next <b>Bullet</b> album.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#9.
Trap</b> <b>Them</b> – Darker Handcraft</span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1VZu1sCyObCFV0Be4NuUqKrKPZXwDIuymhglyUDxlqPcICmZDDBT89J1UeI0rMTUxI1hdLbofrYr3cELmPLgrG0l4zgmXReQ0xQNrbml4PmjCHGyibx3y27eEv6if1mo3XHYNLIq67Yd/s1600/Trap+Them.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1VZu1sCyObCFV0Be4NuUqKrKPZXwDIuymhglyUDxlqPcICmZDDBT89J1UeI0rMTUxI1hdLbofrYr3cELmPLgrG0l4zgmXReQ0xQNrbml4PmjCHGyibx3y27eEv6if1mo3XHYNLIq67Yd/s200/Trap+Them.jpg" width="200" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
am a latecomer to this band (as well as the pretty similar - and
likewise excellent - <b>Black Breath</b>)
and I am gonna call bullshit right now. This band is not really Hardcore.
It's mostly straight-up Death Metal in the old Entombed way with some
cool Tragedy / D-Beat stuff going on that's played by Americans with
short hair. And it's fucking awesome. There is some D-beat stuff, but it just ends up sounding like Dismember due to the production, which
makes it really awesome. Bombastic riffs and inventive drums provide
a nice template for some seriously pissed-off vocals – which are
the only thing that's truly “Hardcore” about this band to my
ears. I guess if a dude is screaming and angry sounding it's
considered HC now and you have to make a monster voice for it to be
considered Death Metal? I'm too old for these kind of distinctions at this stage in the game, and I couldn't care less anyway. This record is great because it's obviously influenced by the
Stockholm sound (the first riff in “All By The Constant Vulse” is
one of the best Swedish Death Metal riffs I've heard since the 90's)
but it takes that influence and then actually does something unique
and interesting with it.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>#10.
Talkdemonic </b>– Ruins</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkqNS67v2WdEfwSUm2CbFgr-ZglIsdKv274IsEIvjXuZ5khFg19zl9hd3b9gnU4votUcp61cVJj2hLin2e6mgPH5qI77BhqfBzmtb_S_SqnHzpXW9YYDM7mf3IQqgqyYxWL6OHb4GFqQM/s1600/talkdemonic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpkqNS67v2WdEfwSUm2CbFgr-ZglIsdKv274IsEIvjXuZ5khFg19zl9hd3b9gnU4votUcp61cVJj2hLin2e6mgPH5qI77BhqfBzmtb_S_SqnHzpXW9YYDM7mf3IQqgqyYxWL6OHb4GFqQM/s200/talkdemonic.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another
mellow, moody instrumental album, this one is a bit more electronic.
What really sold it for me was the synth line in “Midcentury
Motion.” It totally reminds me of something from the music from the
original <b>Legend Of Zelda</b> game way back when. I can't put my
finger on it, but it's in there somewhere, or some NES game or other.
Overall, the music is far more varied than the NES music, featuring
feedback loops, droning melodies, mesmerizing percussion, string
sections, and everything necessary to tune in, turn on and drop out.
This is a great zone / chill / space out album for sure. It's
soothing, textured, and dreamlike, making it perfect background
music, but there's enough nuance and quality there for you to really
sink into as well. Since there are no lyrics, picking standout
tracks is a bit difficult. The album works really well as a whole
piece and definitely will take you into several different states of
consciousness if you let it.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Honorable
mentions:</b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- in no particular order -</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Haemorrhage</b>
– Hospital Carnage</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well,
this is another great Haemorrhage album, and if you like this band,
then you'll like this album. No real surprises here, just a lot of
really fun post-<b>Carcass</b> Goregrinding madness. The video for
“Flesh Devouring Pandemia” is also very well done. Totally
awesome stuff, and it's about time that <b>Haemorrhage</b> and
<b>Exhumed</b> were finally labelmates!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Havok</b>
– Time Is Up</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
record is a bit uneven, but when this band is firing on all cylinders
(on tracks like “Fatal Intervention”, “Get Out Of My Way”,
“Covering Fire” and “D.O.A.”), they evoke everything great
about American Thrash Metal from 1987-1990. The track “Killing
Tendencies” also shows that they have what it takes to head
confidently into “Countdown To Extinction” territory. These guys
are not only one of the few young thrash bands actually worth their
weight in vinyl, but with any luck they're on the edge of a
breakthrough. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Landmine</b> <b>Marathon</b> – Gallows</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ryan
Butler just seems to be able to summon an endless supply of <b>Bolt</b>
<b>Thrower</b> riffs that continue to astound me. Combine those with
the killer crust / d-beat riffs that are all over this record, and
you've got a definite winner. The blast beats being a bit stiff and
Grace's vocals sounding slightly forced in the lower range featured
on this record are the only things keeping this in the “honorable
mention” category. Death Metal is best when it keeps a punk-rock
edge and that's exactly what <b>LM</b> do so fucking well on this
record. Also, thanks a lot for not putting me in the thanks list
Butler. Fucking jerk.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Vomitory
–</b> Opus Mortis VIII</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
leadoff track “Regorge In The Morgue” alone is worth the price of
admission. This is pure Death Metal with strummed, D-Beat via Swedish
Death Metal riffs, occasional <b>Slayer</b>-esque
moments, and a monstrously thick guitar tone dripping with distortion
and attitude. Killer solos add some nice bits of texture and vibe,
but never overdo it. I wish all Death Metal bands had this much taste
and restraint. If you haven't heard <b>Vomitory</b>
before, just Imagine early 90s Swedish Death Metal played at double
speed and tighter. You're there. Now get this album. This is just a
quintessentially aggressive Death Metal album – it fucking rules.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Toxic</b>
<b>Holocaust</b> – Conjure and Command</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is a really, really good album. One problem: It's not quite as good
as their last one. But damn, it is still really fucking good. “Bitch”
is an instant classic, Joel's vocals are still awesome and his rhythm
guitar work is unfuckwithable. I love this band's riffs because they
are so simple that Anybody can play them, but nobody can do it this
well and this convincingly. My only other complaint is that I liked
their old logo better. I hope that Joel at least still rocks that
sweet headband!</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ghoul</b>
– Transmission Zero</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
band is just too much fucking fun. They were beyond great when we
played with them at the California discord fest this past summer, and
this new record did not disappoint. I knew exactly what to expect,
and I got exactly what I wanted. I literally can't listen to this
album without grinning ear to ear. “Transmission Zero” is
chock-full of everything I love about this band: detuned, deranged
surf riffs, gang vocals, catchy solos, drumming that makes you want
to move (not count bpms), endearing and clever lyrics about
Creepsylvania and a cast of goofy, spooky characters, and of course -
the Killbot robot voice effect. If there's anything that makes me
smile it's that robot voice.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Team
Ghost</b> – We All Shine</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
is a great record of shoegaze-y post rocking brilliance – the music
is beautiful, weird and has a lot of great textures colliding.
There's just one problem, the vocals in a few of the songs are the very definition of
“acquired taste”. If the vocals were different in a few key tracks (most notably the first song on the album with vocals, "A Glorious Time"), this album
would have been in my top 5 for sure. After several listens, I still
haven't been able to fully get past all the vocals (although some songs like "High Hopes" have great vocals), which is a shame
because the music is just about perfect. Plus this band has an
awesome band name. If you can get past / into the vocals on a few of the songs, you'll be treated to some seriously awesome shoegaze / indie / post rock.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Volture</b>
– Shocking Its Prey</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This
was a bit of a slow year for traditional heavy metal for my ears. I
enjoyed, but wasn't wowed by that <b>In</b> <b>Solitude</b> record
that everyone was raving about and felt the same about the <b>Portrait</b>
record (which I thought was a bit better with some really great
moments), but I did really get into this <b>Volture</b> record. It's
just straight-up fun and rocking heavy metal in the NWOBHM / <b>Priest</b> vein with
cliched lyrics about racing down the freeway, banging chicks
backstage and all that shit that really only makes sense when you're
totally wasted. The clincher that puts this band ahead of their
contemporaries is that their singer Brent Hubbard can really <i>sing.</i>
An amazing falsetto that thankfully <i>doesn't </i>sound
like <b>King</b>
<b>Diamond</b>
magically turns lyrics about motorcycles and loving heavy
metal from juvenile and silly to completely resonant. For further
illustration of this point, see every <b>Judas</b> <b>Priest</b>
album ever. Tasteful leads and killer riffs don't hurt either. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><b>Mastodon</b> – The Hunter</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm
stoked that this band has finally made another album simple enough
that I don't end up zoning out and forgetting what's going on two
thirds of the way through. I suppose “simple” is the wrong word –
how about direct? There we go. Immediate, stand-alone songs that are
catchy, heavy, intricate and full of bad ass riffs, spacey vibes and
excellent clean singing made this album resonate a bit more for me
than their last two records. Don't get me wrong, I like every
Mastodon record, but this one is probably my favorite since
“Leviathan” - although it might be too early to call. There is
one major sticking point though: the song “Blasteroid” totally
sucks, but the rest of the album more than makes up for it.
“Stargasm” and “Curl Of The Burl” are probably my two
favorites on this one, although each listen kind of makes me think
that a different song should be my favorite. I don't care how popular
this band is, they're popular because they fucking rule, plain and
simple.
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Best
opening bands Exhumed played with in 2011:</b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Transient
</b>(from Portland, but we played
with them in Oakland)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ingrowing
</b>(Prage, Czech Republic)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>B.U.T.
</b>(Prage, Czech Republic)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Theories
</b>(from Seattle, but we played
with them in Oakland)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Hot
Graves </b>(from Jacksonville, but
we played with them in New Orleans)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Coffin
Dust </b>(Wilmington, Delaware)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Things
I got my band-mates into this year that I am stoked about:</b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Johnnie
Walker</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coke
Zero</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tim
And Eric Awesome Show Great Job</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Places
I went to for the first time this year:</b></u></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Norway</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Denmark</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rome</span></div>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5263996781317328877.post-44019871006633399592011-12-01T15:56:00.001-08:002011-12-01T16:41:38.112-08:00Merchandise Madness!!!!!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So we're back from tour and you know what that means! And if you're thinking 14 hours of solid sleep per day for the first week and taking advantage of my newfound privacy to indulge in an age-inappropriate level of enjoyment of internet pornography, you'd be right, but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about liquidating the remainder of our merch. We have a few different things left so, here are our wares.</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZRlcQmkkluec6c6YPDv6Y-2eyjjaHbsQPqSecX7bKtpzf40TwDYmAKrYheKDSzn2ggBcIgDBJG60aoRkphl9bkaIP9KX6PM9k0jR2XhuJqNJTr_2XpbY_WTEUL7EFqtEc2cqwbugARUd/s1600/Hoodie+back+mock+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieZRlcQmkkluec6c6YPDv6Y-2eyjjaHbsQPqSecX7bKtpzf40TwDYmAKrYheKDSzn2ggBcIgDBJG60aoRkphl9bkaIP9KX6PM9k0jR2XhuJqNJTr_2XpbY_WTEUL7EFqtEc2cqwbugARUd/s320/Hoodie+back+mock+up.jpg" width="271" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">First off we have this lovely zipper hoodie. The back design is above, the front design (pocket print on the left) is above. Available in S, M, L...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4I4yhijPxEXGi0jJScQ-ifBAQlnPXGIt3sYNUifyL2RfIlt1nuExruXqGRYCRqnQGVA4shfeZjN1tREoP5Fr71IyRKoMjEykxkd_Ld9j6KQDtDBpnHiSSVPptQ5J4eFss5xbVVML-QsM/s1600/Hoodie+pocket+print+design+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4I4yhijPxEXGi0jJScQ-ifBAQlnPXGIt3sYNUifyL2RfIlt1nuExruXqGRYCRqnQGVA4shfeZjN1tREoP5Fr71IyRKoMjEykxkd_Ld9j6KQDtDBpnHiSSVPptQ5J4eFss5xbVVML-QsM/s320/Hoodie+pocket+print+design+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The hoodie is $35 US / CAD + shipping. Shipping within the US is $7, $12 for Canada and for international rates please email me at harvey_matt@yahoo.com To pay, just paypal me at harvey_matt@yahoo.com - please remember to include your name and address. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Domestic o</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">rders with multiple items pay $7 shipping total (except wholesale orders).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS49PIEZD81lrrwCXmx1Uxa3yQ6yPb0RmK8zsSDMpc3E3QVq-Ek3WF6B2XXbDBtPakqPVZ47dIhLNScIpXcqr9NBm4odGGaWWmTskp7-YNsguq4G4x5Vxb-0SvdJKYBuzld4ECxvuNQDCP/s1600/Torso+Shirt+Front+low+res.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS49PIEZD81lrrwCXmx1Uxa3yQ6yPb0RmK8zsSDMpc3E3QVq-Ek3WF6B2XXbDBtPakqPVZ47dIhLNScIpXcqr9NBm4odGGaWWmTskp7-YNsguq4G4x5Vxb-0SvdJKYBuzld4ECxvuNQDCP/s320/Torso+Shirt+Front+low+res.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next up is this delightful "Torso" tour shirt design. These are available in S, M, L</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Torso shirt is $15 US/CAD + $5 shipping within the US</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, $12 in Canada for international rates please email me at harvey_matt@yahoo.com To pay, just paypal me at harvey_matt@yahoo.com - please remember to include your name and address. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Domestic o</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">rders with multiple items pay $7 shipping total (except wholesale orders).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Next up, we have some lovely designs for you ladies out there. There are 3 different girl shirts below that are all $10 US/CAD + $5 shipping within the US</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">, $12 for Canada, for international rates please email me at harvey_matt@yahoo.com To pay, just paypal me at harvey_matt@yahoo.com - please remember to include your name and address. Domestic o</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">rders with multiple items pay $7 shipping total (except wholesale orders).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqEB4vRCV5P32wBWtn18ZZ6fW-67KcBEEWypDvr4Tw5y-XYVgBdxsbK-_1ZYsAogblHLYZDRXRmrx0s4e5lShD62NlqA3d8lpHEuDrMzHfBrMfkO3phM2Ffi2VMKaYh5MxLKY2bPyQYBs/s1600/Splatter+Slut+Girl+Shirt+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqEB4vRCV5P32wBWtn18ZZ6fW-67KcBEEWypDvr4Tw5y-XYVgBdxsbK-_1ZYsAogblHLYZDRXRmrx0s4e5lShD62NlqA3d8lpHEuDrMzHfBrMfkO3phM2Ffi2VMKaYh5MxLKY2bPyQYBs/s320/Splatter+Slut+Girl+Shirt+copy.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Lastly but not leastly... We have some CDs. We have "All Guts, No Glory", "Anatomy is Destiny", "Slaughtercult" and "Gore Metal". The discs are $10 each, $2 shipping in the US, no individual orders for discs will be shipped outside the US, as the postage will be prohibitive, but if you're getting a shirt already, I'll happily add a disc to your order for $10. Again, to order, please paypal harvey_matt@yahoo.com with which disc you'd like and your address. No wholesale orders on CDs, you can just get them from Relapse at that point.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>Matt Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01288536556373218103noreply@blogger.com0