By Billy Goate

Lists are a ton of fun, and also controversial, so I thought…why not start Monday with a list that will get everyone talking. For the record, there’s a metric ton of incredible sludge out there, so picking one band to represent with, say, the letter D or H was tough (so don’t get your undies in a bunch if your fav isn’t here), while some letters no one really wants much to do with at all, like Q, X, and Z. Also, there may be some controversy about what bands are truly “sludge.” In the last three years of doing interviews, I find that bands are truly not interested in this discussion. It’s more of a nerdy obsession of writers and fans (including yours truly). Musicians are artists and will always paint outside of the boundaries we assign for them, especially in the heavy underground. There’s a lot of genre blending going on, for example, in the Seattle scene right now and this is becoming more and more the norm. The best way to think of sludge, then, may be more as a color in the tonal palate of heavy music. Alright, with that said, hope you enjoy the list and maybe even discover some new bands in the process!

A is for…

Acid Bath

B is for…

Bongzilla

C is for…

Crowbar

D is for…

Deathkings

E is for…

Eyehategod

F is for…

Fange

G is for…

Grief

H is for…

High on Fire

I is for…

Iron Witch

J is for…

Jucifer

K is for…

Kowloon Walled City

L is for…

Leather Lung

M is for…

Meth Drinker

N is for…

Norska

O is for…

Ocean Chief

P is for…

Primitive Man

Q is for…

Quallus

R is for…

Regarde Les Hommes Tomber

S is for…

Sourvein

T is for…

TarLung

U is for…

Undersmile

V is for…

V A I L S

W is for…

Weedeater

X is for…

XATATAX

Y is for…

YOB

Z is for…

Zatokrev

Doomed & Stoned Concert Report

Heavy Metal Parking Lot 3: Day I

Words & Photos by Darren Cowan
Films by Stephanie Cantu

Friday, March 18th: American Icon Records (AIR) presented the unofficial SXSW showcase, Heavy Metal Parking Lot 3. Once again, the annual event offered a mix of some of touring groups and some of the best local artists in Austin, Texas. There were familiar faces like Weedeater, Destroyer of Light and Thunderkief, but this year expanded to two days. The first day featured more touring acts than the second, even showcasing mid-day headliner, Bongzilla.

The AIR-promoted event takes its name from the documentary about interviews in a parking lot of a Judas Priest concert in 1986. I guess the name gives this event a “throwback” sort of vibe, which many AIR events have. The ‘80s really weren’t represented in this event, so forget about the big hair and spandex. There were, however, bands that took it further back in time like Mondo Drag whose accoutrements included tasseled leather jackets and time-worthy ‘staches played music akin to ‘70s groups, such as Uriah Heap.

Having been to The Lost Well several times, I wondered where the parking lot would be. The Lost Well is a dive bar with a nice patio that wraps around the outside. The patio itself appeared to have once been a parking lot, so I guess drinking and smoking on the patio was our parking lot.

Lord Dying

Lord Dying kicked off the whole shin dig at 2:15 pm on Friday. The Portland, Oregon-based group came to town as part of the Weedeater tour that was represented on this day with Today Is the Day and Author and Punisher. Lord Dying’s sound is hard to pin point. It can be very thrashy and up tempo but with hints of sludge and stoner. They put on an energized performance in front of a very small gathering.

Kings Destroy

The crawling riffs of doom permeated through Kings Destroy, but with less repetition than tour mates Bongzilla. Kings Destroy was much more traditional in their take on the sub-genre, though, compared to headliners Bongzilla and Weedeater. Steve Murphy’s clean tongue opened epic pathways not heard in sludge artists. There seemed to be a greater range of emotions with this band.

Author & Punisher

While Kings Destroy’s style of doom stood out, their tour mates Author & Punisher were certainly the most disparate band of the weekend. First of all, Author & Punisher consists of only one person, Tristan Shone, a mechanical engineer who makes and plays all of his instruments. He is a master of sound, pulling leavers, pumping percussion, tapping keys and clicking buttons. Whether pitch-shifting his voice to devilish tones or wrapping his music in dark electro tones, Shone knows how to create extra-dimensional sound waves.

Black Cobra

Although not as individualistic as Author & Punisher (the group contains twice as many individuals), Black Cobra offered a different view point in their being a duo. The group consists of only two musicians: guitarist Jason Landrian and drummer Rafael Martinez. Their style is similar to Lord Dying in that they could bring the tempo fast and in your face or slow down and sludge out. For this performance, the Season of Mist artist started in a frenzy. Being only a two-piece has probably helped keep this band together for fifteen years, just fewer personalities to contend with.

Bongzilla

This being a stoner/doom show just the name alone, Bongzilla, should get stoners off their asses to open their puffy eyes to the massive grooves of one of sludge’s best bands. The amount of people crammed into The Lost Well’s tiny confines was probably a testament to their name and exposure in Relapse catalogues. Bongzilla hasn’t released an album in over a decade and rarely tours, which is a bit like answering the door for the pizza man after massive bong hits. Excitement! The Wisconsin band’s grooves sound more like they emanated from the swamps of the south. They played songs from albums such as their last record ‘Amerijuanican.’ Former member, “Dixie” Dave Collins of Weedeater joined the band on stage, shared some hugs and sparked up a bowl.

Widower & Thunderkief

Once Bongzilla ended their set, a trio of local acts took the stage. In a haze of smoke, Thunderkief kicked off the second part of the day with droning, crawling doom licks. Widower’s blackened thrash metal attack made them another stand apart artist among the down tempo gurus.

Slurr

Slurr walked a perfect straight line between diabolic doom riffs and stoney jams. Clutch is a major influence, these days, on the stoner crowd and it was more recognizable in Slurr’s live performance. Last year’s ‘Reconquista’ was a sleeper for the stoner/doom genre, really one of the best for this genre.

Today Is The Day

Today is the Day provided direct support for Weedeater. The Maine-based group has released albums for nearly a quarter of the century. They were one of the earliest groups on Relapse and are now on titanic sludge purveyors Southern Lord Records. Their sound was, perhaps, the hardest to define, very experimental and often grinding. There was something so fitting yet so uncharacteristic to their performance at Heavy Metal Parking Lot.

Weedeater

Weedeater are not strangers to SXSW. The band played several shows last year including Heavy Metal Parking Lot 2. SXSW metallers tend to enjoy the sludgy, doomy, pot-smoking sounds of bands like Weedeater and tonight’s performance was no exception. 4:20 was in the air as the band crushed the crowd like a steel weed grinder.

Just like last year, though, an unexpected guest took the stage and performed a song with the band. Last year, Bushwick Bill of the Geto Boys joined the band in an impromptu jam. This year, they actually played a whole song. Starting with a single, rumbling note and a lyrical measure, they launched into the Geto Boy’s “Gangster of Love,” then actually played the whole song. Apparently, Bill lives around town and he’ll be conspicuous when his friends are playing a gig.

Up Next: Day II

Doomed & Stoned Gets High With Bongzilla!

By Melissa Marie (Executive Editor, D&S Midwest)

Photographs by Alex Watt (D&S Midwest)

Another epic tour bus interview, as Melissa spends time smoking it up with the guys from Bongzilla during their December stop at The 5th Quarter Lounge in Indianapolis, Indiana.

So, it looks like tonight is the last show for this little Midwest tour. How has it been so far?

Muleboy: Yeah, it’s been good. Minneapolis especially, Milwaukee last night was really good.

Magma: Minneapolis was really fun, it had been awhile since we played there.

Muleboy: It’s been awhile before we’ve played anywhere!

Magma: That is true! But Seventh Street is such an intimate place. It’s so small and it’s packed in there. Half of the people are your friends. It’s just nice.

Muleboy: All the shows since we’ve came back have been great. Better than expected.

What events took place that pushed Bongzilla to get back together?

Magma: Our bass player Cooter Brown moving back.

Muleboy: The marijuana climate in general. Back in the day, it was always so difficult to tour because we couldn’t get enough weed or find good enough weed.

Magma: Now people are realizing that marijuana really isn’t that bad as they thought, so there’s a little more interest in it as well as the culture and the music that goes with it.

Muleboy: Cooter moved back to Madison and we started just setting up gear together and screwing around and that kinda propelled me to personally wanna do it more. Once we started doing it, it was great. Bongzilla always feels good when you’re playing it. That’s the super beautiful part about it. That part makes it easy.

What bands do you think helped keep stoner sludge relevant in heavy metal while Bongzilla was on hiatus?

Magnum: Sleep, High on Fire…

Muleboy: But they weren’t really active. Well, High on Fire. You’re talking bands that were playing. Lo Pan comes to mind. Wo Fat. Elder, way digging on them.

They were here earlier in the year with Mos Generator.

Muleboy: Cool. Black Cobra is another. We’re about to do a tour with them. Torche is another good one.

Magnum: Karma to Burn.

Muleboy: Oh, Zoroaster! Black Tusk. Weedeater, our brothers. Speaking of your last question, that’s probably why [we got back together] too. The music itself is bigger than it ever was.

Oh yeah, there’s definitely an increasing popularity. Which is good…

Magnum: It’s like the second time around and people are way more into it.

Muleboy: You go to some cities and it’s cool to have a beard and listen to Electric Wizard…

Magnum: And have a pocket full of bud! I think as far as the hipster goes - if you’re not smoking weed everyone’s gonna know you’re a hipster.

Muleboy: Well I guess what I meant is, I’ve met kids in Madison that are into Electric Wizard but don’t know who Wino is, which is a very sad thing. They love Pallbearer, but don’t know anything else.

I think a lot of people foolishly worship at the altar of Electric Wizard but don’t know who Reverend Bizarre is.

Magnum: Yeah, like original doom.

Yeah like Cathedral, or…

Muleboy: Winter! You know, Trouble. More of what we grew up on.

So you’ve done quite a bit of touring here lately, any talk for a new Bongzilla record?

Muleboy: I think there’s gonna be an album.

Magnum: We got some riffs that we’ve played around with.

Muleboy: I would almost guarantee it. You never know. Us putting out a record is sometimes it’s like scoring a bag of weed. You don’t know you got it ‘till you get it. But definitely, we’re growing ideas.

Any chance you guys would be interested in working with Dixie Dave again sometime in the future?

Magnum: We already did. He played bass on the last record, ‘Amerijuanican’ (2005).

Muleboy: One thing we’ve also talked about doing was a Weedeater-Bongzilla band…..like Weedbong or ZillaEater.

Mangum: BongEater!

Muleboy: But to some capacity, I would say. He was on samples on “Gateway” (2002), that “Stone A Pig” sample is him. But I think as a bass player, if that’s what you’re asking, no. Cooter Brown is our guy.

Magnum: He [Cooter Brown] wasn’t around for a while but when he moved back home, that was like 70% of it right there. And the fact that people were still interested in it. I personally had no idea that kids were still rocking to whatever you wanna call it, stoner rock or sludgecore or whatever. People still like to play riffy stuff though and kids still listen to it.

Let’s talk about pot. How much do you burn in a day?

Muleboy: On tour, or like personal life?

Just in your normal everyday life.

Magnum: The two can be really different.

Muleboy: I think I smoke a lot more than the other guys in this band. I point out that I never stopped smoking and I never smoked more or less when Bongzilla didn’t play, because this is life to me. To really answer your question, I guess if I’m at home I would probably smoke in two days an eighth and a gram of shatter. You know. Dabs, concentrate.

Magnum: But as a band, we’ll smoke a half ounce a day.

Muleboy: On a Ryder these days, we try to get a quarter every show. It works out a good amount of the time and you kinda build it up a little and people bring us weed. A dude brought us a half ounce in Minneapolis of killer weed and it was super cool.

Magnum: He rolled it all into joints!

Muleboy: He did what I would have done. Like if I was going to see Bongzilla, I would bring the biggest sack ever! But then I would proceed to smoke it all. And that’s what he did! Oh my god, he would just roll fatties! It was great, but I would say he’s right, about a half ounce of weed. When we started [the tour], we played Chicago and just in the three hour drive we probably smoked a gram and a half of shatter.

Magnum: But it slows down the weed smoking because you’re super high, but it’s so…

Muleboy: Yeah it’s so different.

Magnum: But if you don’t have that, we’re just smoking straight. Like, we can burn a half in eight hours.

Muleboy: And God forbid we don’t have a pipe.

Magnum: Ugh! And you know you’re gonna be wasteful, but you still gotta smoke a lot anyway.

Muleboy: And we have dumb rules. Like this is the most stupid idea a band could have but, if you cross a state line.

Oh, you gotta smoke.

Muleboy: You smoke. If you stop and somebody eats - I’m talking even a cookie! Like, “Oh Mike got a cookie, we gotta smoke! “ Because eating lowers your buzz. Oh let’s see. Highway change, smoke. Somebody just woke up, smoke.

Magnum: Someone was asleep and missed the last two sessions now we smoke. On their behalf!

So, are you into edibles?

Magnum: Oh god, yeah!

Muleboy: When we were flying, I would just get tons of edibles, because I don’t like flying. I hate it…about two hours in; it’s super uncomfortable, to me. So, I’ll get these guys tons of edibles. I’ll carry liquid out in Seattle, they got candies. So, just put them in a regular candy tin.

But where you guys are from, it’s legal right?

Muleboy: No, no, no. Not in Madison. It’s weird. You can carry a quarter pound of pot on you and you’ll get a fine and it’ll be confiscated.

Magnum: But you won’t get arrested for it.

Muleboy: I think it’s a $140 fine.

Well, that’s a step in the right direction. You know, that’s progress.

Magnum: Locking up people who smoke pot is like…

Muleboy: It’s all about money. The jails are privatized so they make a lot of money.

Magnum: That’s like putting someone in jail for not wearing a helmet when riding a bike. Well, it’s unsafe.

But it’s on them. It’s not hurting anybody else.

Muleboy: I think it’s cool that pot was legalized in Canada and Holland and the level of THC stayed at between thirteen and twenty for strong weeds. Then suddenly it was legalized in parts of the US and it’s up to twenty five, twenty eight.

Magnum: They’re getting stronger and stronger strains.

Muleboy: There’s a strain, a powerful cactus that’s thirty six percentage of THC! There was none of this back in the day. I mean there was honey oil, but there was no such thing as dabs which are sixty to eighty percent pure THC. Americans just wanna go nuts and make it so pure. If they could make THC snortable, you know we would be snorting it. Make it into the white man’s white powder. THC powder!

Magnum: Yeah, like shatter. It gets you way too high in another direction. You’ll be in the middle of a task and you’ll just not even know where you are. But smoking a really good sativa really snaps you back pretty quick.

Muleboy: You’re layering a buzz to get a super double supremo buzz.

Magnum: The giggling drooling idiot!

Muleboy: Well we call it “cheesing”. Maybe because we’re from Wisconsin. When ya can’t stop giggling.

Oh yeah, we say that here too. Does pot affect you guys in a live setting? Do you find yourselves wanting to improvising more live?

Muleboy: We add some of our own nuances, the volume swell ending in “Stone A Pig” or the one note hang in “Grim Reefer.”. When we’re quiet, we’re really quiet. When we’re loud we’re really loud.

Wgar are your thoughts on the current vinyl resurgence

Muleboy: I guess that’s the thing to do. Collect records.

Magnum: Back then with us it was like, yeah a lot of your records may be scratched up but that shows that you’ve listened to them over and over again.

Muleboy: What does Eyehategod sound like on 78, or Grief on 78 anyway? What’s going on musically is cool, minus not being able to sell records. People are going to shows a lot more, shows are bigger in general.

Magnum: People are getting into rock and roll again.

So, after tonight what is next for Bongzilla?

Muleboy: We’re gonna take about a month off then we go off on a really big tour at the end of February…..from what I know right now it’s us. Black Cobra, Kings Destroy, Lo Pan.

Cooter: Then the other half is with Against the Grain.

Muleboy: Yeah then Against the Grain drops off and Kings Destroy is on. And within that month we’re gonna try to write some songs.

I wanna thank you guys for talking with Doomed & Stoned!