THE BYRD’S NEST
SIBYL VS. MISTER EARTHBOUND
First things first: Welcome to the inaugural edition of The Byrd’s Nest, where every now and again I’ll be sharing my thoughts and impressions on the music of the heavy underground. Thanks for tagging along!
Before us is a split between Richmond’s own MISTER EARTHBOUND and SIBYL – Doomed versus Stoned. If I’m honest, ‘Hypnotic Rhythm’ (2020) kind of leaves the listener yearning for more and more.
True to its name, the record is both hypnotic and rhythmic with transitions so smooth between the bands you’d swear the two crews were away on a camping trip to Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp and took a bunch of generators and music gear to set up their studio in the wild, letting the listeners tag along. Harnessing all the backwoods Virginia voodoo that could be mustered, we get a very memorable effort from these riff-borne residents of Old Dominion.
Mister Earthbound is Richmond’s answer to The Doors with the amps dimed out. While still maintaining an Old Skool blues sound, the band has no problem sharing the bed with metal – dare I say swamp metal.
Sibyl continues the guitar-driven motion churning, bringing this record deeper into the depths with what one could only envision as a Siren of the Swamp beckoning the listener deeper and deeper into the foggy abyss.
Will they return mainland to tell the whole strange tale? Only you can find out what they’ve seen and heard by embarking on the journey with them!
BIG BAD BRETUS IS BACK!
Ominous is precisely how this record opens. Hard and heavy riffs meet vocals that recall a young Danzig with that deathly croon from down below. 'Aion Tetra’ (2019) as a record is polished and well laid out, mixed evenly and just loud enough.
The new spin by Catanzaro quartet BRETUS passes all the tests. Car test? Check. Headphones? Check. Home Stereo of Doom? Check.
Instantly classic riffs with a great mix of keys, acoustic guitar, and electric artifacts. A neo-traditional take on all that is doom. The use of modulation is effective and makes the room spin around.
From the entry into the catacombs to the center hall of hell, you’re on an epic trip reminiscent of Candlemass. The drums sit perfect in the pocket. Counter melodies of the bass and guitars intertwine like serpents in a den. A constant barrage of riffs with solos are, surprisingly, not self-indulgent. The keys in “Deep Space Voodoo” add further to the disorienting ambiance, like entering the lair of a creature hidden in a gaseous maze.
With a prologue like “The Third Mystic Eye” and an epilogue like “City of Frost,” the album opens and closes seamlessly. Bretus will keep your heads banging through the entire spin.
Randy J Byrd is a Richmond-based
bassist, photographer, and scene hound
for Doomed & Stoned in addition to
heading up the River City Doom Council.
Portrait of a Band:
SIBYL
Tune down that guitar, foot massage that wah pedal, get that drum a beatin’, and let’s groove together. Introducing SIBYL from Richmond, Virginia. Earlier in the year, the band dropped their first spin, a four-track EP titled, ‘The Magic Isn’t Real’ (2019). With respect to this band, I’d have to disagree. There’s magic all over the place damned place. Sibyl’s narcotic sound radiates like an acid-spiked fuzz trip for anyone who’s had the good fortune of seeing Violet (vox), Chis (guitar), Mike (bass), and Ben (drums) perform live.
Still a fresh name, even within their own scene, Sibyl stands a fighting chance of growing their profile as we near the dawn of a new decade. More on the subdued side of psychedelia, this is music for the late night, when everything is becoming hazy and you need the company of something a little less jubilant, but still upbeat; more serious, but not a total downer. 'Blood Moon’ (2019) just might suit the mood. Here are Randy Byrd’s visual interpretation of the band’s sound and stagecraft, shot on May 7th at McCormack’s Irish Pub in RVA, where the band played with Indy’s Void King. Enjoy the sights and sounds of Sibyl!
Like the blood in our veins
Passing us by in record time
Remember how to be alive?
Take me back to the pasture
Take me back to the river
Take me back to forever
Take me back so I can save her
In between the cries of the loon
We’re diving into the night
To take a drink of the moon
Hoping to feel some light
Take me back to the pasture
Take me back to the river
Take me back to forever
Take me back so I can save her
You can all plead and pray
Time won’t go your way
Wolves cry their solemn tune
Heed the warnings of the moon
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
I am hard to love
There’s a familiar hum dancing in my chest
The one that grips my lungs and steals my breath
Watching as the light slips through the blinds
Remember all that we have lost to time
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
Intimate dreams of tangible hearts
Abandoned tears in parking lots
I am learning how to love
Time is leaving me behind
Your lips are curling
Chasing the smoke from your cigarette
Choking the ebb and tide behind your eyes
Embers aren’t keeping you warm enough
I am starving for better days
I’ve been running out of space
The shoes I’ve had to fill are just footprints
All our dreams buried in basements
I walk with purpose
But do not follow me child
For I am unsure if this is my own
The wind encompasses my being
Spinning spider webs, ground me please
A crane is howling, ground me please
Have you ever heard the whispers of the trees?
The angels were never calling me
Sickness hiding as a gift
A lifetime spent in hiding
You could call this expert timing
I am walking with a purpose
But do not follow me child
I am walking with a purpose
But do not follow me child
Spinning spider webs, ground me please
A crane is howling, ground me please
Have you ever heard the whispers of the trees?
Spinning webs, spinning heads
Spinning webs, spinning heads
Don’t always listen to the trees
You are the one that you need
Don’t always listen to the trees
You are the one that you need