Eye of the Stone Goat 2 fest dooms Delaware

As if Delaware were not doomed enough, Snake Charmer Booking has announced a new doom metal music festival “The Eye of the Stoned Goat 2” for Saturday, February 9. Set at JB McGinnes Pub in New Castle, the show features 10 stoner rock and doom metal bands from the mid-Atlantic. Tickets are $10 and doors open at 5 p.m.

The festival line up includes Delaware locals Wasted Theory and Heavy Temple along with Maryland heavyweights Iron Man, Blackhand and Beelzefuzz. Pennsylvania acts include Wizard Eye, Clamfight, Skeleton Hands, Thee Nosebleeds and Pale Divine.

I spoke with festival organizer Brendan Burns, who is also the drummer for Wasted Theory, about why he decided to put on Eye of the Stoned Goat:

What was your inspiration for organizing this fest?
I wanted to do a smaller version of the Stoner Hands of Doom festival basically. I just love the idea of a three or four day long show where you can see so many great bands at the same time. So, it had occurred to me that between Delaware, Philly and Maryland, that I could do a miniature festival of my own, with some of my personal faves from the area. And that's really what inspired me.

What was the first Eye of the Stoned Goat Festival like?
Last November I did a five band show at Mojo 13 in Wilmington with Black Cowgirl, Borracho, Wizard Eye, Wasted Theory, and Behind the Ghost. It was really just me testing the waters to see if anyone besides me enjoyed this type of music enough to fill a venue. The turnout was decent, not jam-packed like I was hoping, but decent. All the bands had a great time, and I just liked the name of the event so much that I decided to continue with it.

Tell me about the vendors. Why are you including them too?

When I decided I was going to do 10 bands on this bill, I really wanted to bring a festival-like vibe to it. All the festivals I've ever been too there's always lots of great vendors doing some really cool stuff, and I wanted a little sample of that at my show. So, I decided I wanted some record labels to come sell their their records and swag and any other cool music inspired merchandisers. So, at this year's event we have Anthropic Records and Dullest Records from Philly, Red Heart 13, which is a jewelry and photo type company, Useless Rebel Imaging will be there, he does amazing band photo's, and DeadDave from DeadDavesRadio will be there.

What about the venue?

The venue is awesome, it's at a bar called JB McGinnes, in New Castle, DE. It has a sound system that could rival the Trocadero (in Philadelphia) and is seriously one of the best places to have such a show. I think people are going to be blown away by how great the stage and sound really is there. 

What else do we need to know?

JB McGinnes Pub is located at 519 E. Basin Rd, New Castle, DE 19720.

Tickets for Eye of the Stoned Goat 2 are $10. You can find out more about Snake Charmer Booking events on their website or Facebook page. The website has tons of useful links to audio and videos fo the bands playing as well as to listings of nearby lodging and so forth.

Brendan says he is already looking into making next year's ESG a two-day event, so if bands are interested in being considered they should contact him at SnakeCharmerBooking@gmail.com.

Days of the Doom 3 tickets on sale Dec. 1

Unless you are planning a wedding, June 2013 might seem pretty far off. But for the organizers of Days of the Doomed 3 (or III if you like your numerals Roman), June can't get here soon enough.

Billed as the biggest doom fest in the midwest, DOTD3 will take place on June 21 and 22 at the Blue Pig in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Tickets for this two day celebration of the riff and distortion go on sale December 1, 2012 and are expect to move swiftly! A two day pass is $50 and single day tickets are $30.

The lineup so far includes Penance, Victor Griffin's new group In-Graved, Dream Death, Iron Man, Pale Divine, The Gates of Slumber, Chowder, Kings Destroy, Orodruin, Earthen Grave, Argus, King Giant, Whaler, Beelzefuzz, Venomous Maximus, Moon Curse, Hollow Leg, and Gorgantherron. According to organizer Mercyful Mike Smith, one more band will be announced sometime in January. You will just have to trust him that whoever it is will be killer.

I can't think of a better holiday gift for the doom metal aficionado in your life or yourself than some tickets to this event. Besides, Milwaukee in June is reportedly quite lovely. Check out a preview of some of the bands playing in the video below. And then go over to this link and grab a ticket for yourself and a 21+ sexy loved one.

By the way, I wrote about DOTD2 last year. This thing is legit.

Doomantia benefit compilation drops today. Get it!

Earlier this month I wrote about Doomantia.com's founder Ed Barnard and how he had fallen on financial hard times due to medical expenses. Today the 39 song Doomantia Vol. 1 compilation was released and man, I am only four songs in to listening, but it totally crushes.

Bands appearing on this compilation are from across the country and across the globe. Some of the songs featured are available elsewhere on the respective band's previous recordings. Some though, such as Iron Man's acoustic version of Choices, were recorded expressly for this project.

The compilation is available only as a digital download from Bandcamp. But for $7 you get more than four hours of music. All the bands donated their time and recordings and all the proceeds go to Ed. Genres range from stoner to sludge to drone to psychedelic. But if you are a fan of Doomantia or even if you are not, the price is well worth the music featured!

Get it here. 

Doomantia founder must be spared from actual doom

There's a saying that most of us are just one paycheck away from being homeless. In the case of Ed Barnard, mastermind behind the doom, sludge, psychedelic, stoner, sludge metal website Doomantia, it was a $10,000 medical bill.

At last report on his webiste, Ed was indeed homeless in the state of Washington, splitting time between a tent and an occasional motel room.  Somehow he continues to post record reviews and so forth on the site, aided by his companion in doom, Sally Bethall.

The doom community is a tight knight bunch and several members have stepped forth to spearhead an effort to raise money on Ed's and the website's behalf.  Nine bands will gather at a small club called Lallo's in Knoxville, Maryland to perform a benefit show. The line up includes Against Nature, War Injun, Fire Faithful, Ghutt, When the Deadbolt Breaks, Lord Fowl, Foghound, Ninety Ones and Akris. The show starts at 2 p.m. and costs $20. (Note: Ghutt is unable to appear at this show.)

Lallo's, located at 853 Jefferson Pike, Knoxville, MD 21758, bills itself as a pizza joint, but really it is a Mexican restaurant and the food is pretty good. It is located kind of near nothing at all, but once you get there, there will be no reason to really leave because these bands are all stellar. I can personally vouch for Against Nature, War Injun, When the Deadbolt Breaks and Akris since I have seen all of them live. Your doom aesthetic will be rocked at this show.

A digital compilation is also in the works and should be available for order by the end of October. The benefit compilation is slated to include the works of 35 bands who contributed their time and effort. They include Bongripper, Order of the Owl, Demonaut, Halmos, Switchblade Jesus, OceansRainbow, War Iron, Fister, Iron Man, Screaming Mad Dee and Alex Vanderzeeuw, Wizard's Beard, Gorgantherron, Bastard of the Skies, Wolfpussy, Sludgethrone, Undersmile, Beelzefuzz, Vulture, The Departure, Spyderbone, Blackwolfgoat, Low Gravity
Križ, At Devil Dirt, In the Company of Serpents, Hollow Leg, War Injun, Dope Flood, Compel, Heathen Bastard, and Chowder.

I have heard of many of these bands, but several are new to me. I am admittedly less schooled in this subgenre of metal than some others. Either way, both the concert and the compilation are great ways to pay back someone who has donated a great deal of personal time and energy to support the music and bands he loves. Hard times can befall any one of us at any time, so it is nice to know that people care about someone they have never met but who has impacted their lives.

Plus, according to JB Matson, drummer for Hagerstown, Maryland band War Injun, doom metallers have good reason to support Ed Barnard and Doomantia. "The average doom fan checks the Doommantia website for reviews BEFORE buying unfamiliar music," Matson said. As for Ed, Matson added, "Without him forming one of the most powerful media voices for the genre of doom and screaming doom from the mountain tops, the genre wouldn't have nearly the amount of exposure it has gained."

So get out to Lallo's on Oct. 13 for a day of doom then follow that up by getting ahold of the $7 Doomantia compilation download available soon through the Doomantia website. Pay the doom forward.

A dozen years of doom: SHoD fest celebrates pearl anniversary

Twelfth anniversaries are supposed to be celebrated with pearls, a priceless item that takes years of hard work and grit to make. Likewise, it has taken years of determination and musical grit to keep Stoner Hands of Doom (otherwise known as SHoD) festival on track for so long.

SHoD 12 takes over the El 'n' Gee Club in New London, CT from Aug. 30 through Sept. 2. Bigger and doomier than ever, this year's festival features heavy metal hitters such as Earthride, The Skull and Iron Man, along with  37 others. I was able to chat with festival creators Cheryl Williams Levey and Rob Levey about their annul destination event for fans of doom and stoner metal that they created out of pure love for the genre. Rob and Cheryl, former husband and wife, remain bonded by a mutual love of doom. This interview was conducted via email on two separate occasions.  Responses have been edited for length.

How and why did the festival begin?

CWL: The first SHoD was in August 1999. Rob and I had been talking about it for a number of years and it was one of those "why don't we just do it?" sorts of things. He had been thinking about doing something big to promote the doom scene ever since the Hellhound heyday when he fronted Iron Man and that band along with other DC doom bands were on the German Hellhound record label (Wretched, Revelation, Internal Void, Unorthodox). At that time, I was doing a DC-Balt area hard rock newsletter called Word of Mouth, and that is how Rob and I met. Anyway, in 1999, Hellhound was no more, he wasn't in Iron Man any more, and I hadn't done Word of Mouth in years, but we both still wanted to promote the music in some way, and SHoD was born.

RL: The festival was something I had talked about and actually worked on with others for maybe 15 years before SHoD happened. For me I wanted to highlight the scene in DC with so many great bands for so many years. It evolved into the whole scene from all parts of the the US and even parts of the world. 

How do you go about selecting the bands that will play?

CWL: We do it in two ways, primarily. The first is that we both make a list of our first choices, and then we invite those bands to play. These are bands we wanted on previous SHoDs but couldn't for whatever reason, bands we've discovered since the last SHoD, bands who've played before that blew us (and everyone else) away, etc. As we fill the bill with the bands we invite, the gaps are closed with other bands who contact us who have the right sound. We do try to stick to a doom or stoner sound, though we have had some interesting offshoots in sound. Sometimes really good bands contact us that sound great but just aren't the right sound for the blend of bands we have. If you look back through our history, you'll see that SHoDs done in the east tend to have a much more Doom sounds, while SHoDs done further west were more influenced by the stoner-fuzz sounds.

RL: Partly it is bands I know I contact to see if they are interested in doing it. From there we receive tons of requests especially after we announce where and when it will happen in that particular year. I usually will add bands that I dig, ones that are different and unique. Sometimes there are regional reasons. They need to have some melody and if I hear or see them live, they have to give it all they got, whether playing in front of five or 500.

Why do you hold the festival in different locations each year? 

CWL: So that we can attract different bands to play. Different areas of the country have different scenes and different sounds. If you look at the history, doom is concentrated here around DC, like grunge was concentrated in Seattle, psychedelic concentrated in San Francisco, glam in Los Angeles, the southeast has a heavy southern rock flavor, southwest has the fuzz, etc etc. And every one of those genres has a sub-genre/sub-culture that injects the heavy sound. We want to keep it heavy, but promote these different sounds around the country.

RL: In the beginning it was out of necessity. When we were doing the second one we needed somewhere to have it and Nyabinghi (former club in Youngstown, Ohio) was the bar closest to where we lived that would do it with reasonable terms. From there though we wanted to start having it in different locations to see and hear more variety and energy from different locations. Now we are trying to do it in places we haven't before. Hopefully it is appreciated.

What is is that you like specifically about doom metal?

CWL: Wow, this is a very hard question. This is a better question for Rob, really. As for me, the first doom band I ever heard was Internal Void. And the thing is, it just grabs you. There is something about the sound, the way it vibrates up your legs from the floor, the way everyone who is part of this scene is just so cool. People talk about mosh pits and stuff like that, but at a doom show, mostly what you see is the entire audience headbanging in unison. No violence, no pits. Every now and then someone gets too drunk, but for the most part it's very cool when you think about it. 

RL: I have listened to doom since late elementary school and just always have loved the almost gut feeling of the sound the tempo and the atmosphere. I loved  early Black Sabbath and Judas Priest. Then I was was lucky enough to hear bands like The Obsessed and Pentagram (previously known as Death Row), Legend, Angel Witch, Witchfynde and Witchfinder General, then lucky enough to be part of Hellhound Records with Internal Void, Unorthodox, and Blood Farmers. Anyone who has seen me at shows knows that it is in my blood and soul. I love it.

What is your most cherished memory about a past festival? 

CWL: Again, a very hard question, because they all held special memories! Let's see... The first SHoD was held at an outdoor venue in August after an entire summer of drought, not a drop of rain. At the moment Bobby Liebling (singer of Pentagram) arrived, the storm clouds appeared out of nowhere so suddenly that no one could even prepare, and we got what felt like a hurricane. One of the memories of that one was Wino on stage desperately trying to hold tarps down over the amps and everyone crowded under the tent we had and then the incredible coolness of everyone as we moved the whole thing to a club in Wheaton (Phantasmagoria). SHoD Two in Ohio,  Bottom did a mind-blowing set! SHoD Seven in Arizona,  Golden Godz. Shirtless fur-wearing frontman and straight up San Fran fuzz/rock, wow. SHoD Eight in Arizona - this one had way too many, this one was incredible. Electric Magma, Against Nature, Supergiant, Sasquatch, Ol Scratch, oh yes. And then there was SHoD 10 in Maryland. Internal Void, 'nuff said there. The surprise set of the weekend for me was Elder. These young boys show up at my door to stay for the weekend and they were so sweet and respectful and then they got on stage and it was like Jekyll and Hyde and absolutely KILLER! They are a band to watch, definitely. SHoD 11 - the best memory of that one was just the feel-good feeling that prevailed the entire weekend. Before 11 was over, we were discussing doing SHoD 12 in New England. We had noticed a surge of doom sounds and bands coming out of that area, and wanted to focus the show there to give those bands some exposure. So that's where we are now! At each show, one band would just rock my world. I want to emphasize that at our SHoD shows, I think ALL of the bands are good - Rob and I do handpick them, and so many of them I love SO much, and the specialness of seeing some of them is not diminished by being able to see them more often than other bands because they are local. So please do not take that I mentioned specific bands above as meaning I think they are better than others - at the time of their set, they were just really ON and I had just the right mind frame, and all the stars aligned to make that particular set magic. For more info on the history, you can check out http://www.cherylsweb.com/shod/history/index.html.

RL: That's not fair. I have so many met so many great people so many great performances. Saw awesome cooperation from people. It's really an accumulation of moments that I have. Plus I think the best feeling or worst are on Sundays around dusk when I realize its only got a couple hours to go. I will leave it at that and look forward to making many great memories for years to go.

What are some important things that you want people to know about this year's festival? 

CWL: Well, one of the biggest things is that this is the first SHoD that is ALL AGES. We really want to get the word out about that because we have always had to turn people away because of the age restraint. 

RL: Just expect one awesome weekend with a ton of great performances.

Anything else you want people to know?

CWL: We love this music and we love the scene!

RL: As long as this is fun and the music fresh and exciting we will be here to be our tiny part of this awesome scene. We really appreciate every one's support and hope they will support their local scene go see some great music and just have a blast.

For more information about SHoD and to buy tickets for one or all days, visit the SHoD fest website. At just $60 for all four days, it is among the least expensive festivals you can attend. Below is a list of all bands play each day. The first band listed will likely play last (or headline) each day.

Thursday Aug 30thRoadSaw
Black Thai
Ichabod
Raw Radar War
Birch Hill Dam
Rozamov

Friday Aug 31stPilgrim
Earthride
Revelation
Junior Bruce
Wizard Eye
When the Deadbolt Breaks
Stone Titan

Saturday Sept 1stThe Skull
Pale Divine
Devil to Pay
Earthen Grave
Admiral Browning
Orodruin
One Inch Giant
BeezleFuzz
Black Cowgirl
Kin of Ettins
Curse the Son
Stasis
Eerie
Akris

Sunday Sept 2ndIron Man
Elder
Black Pyramid
Summoner
Negative Reaction
Hovel
Gypsy Chief Goliath
War Injun
Skrogg
Fire Faithful
Borracho
Insano Vision
Witchden

At last, new music from doom legends Iron Man

Good things come to those who wait and Iron Man fans have waited a year and a half for a new recording from their favorite Maryland doom band. The new EP entitled, att hålla dig över, features four crushing tunes that the band has only just started to perform live. The EP is now available for pre-order from the band's website (www.ironmanband.com) And no, I don't know what the title means either. Google Translate was not able to decipher it.

Calling all of this music "new" is a bit misleading here, since at least one of the songs has been brewing in the mind of guitarist Alfred Morris III for some time. I was particularly excited to see the tune, "On the Mountain," included in this offering. The group has been including this song in their live sets, and it really leaves the crowd charged up.

Another new song "Quicksand,"  was premiered on the Canadian radio show "Crossing Boredom" on CKCU (93.1 FM). Hosts Derek and Jennifer Bradshaw interviewed Iron Man's vocalist Dee Calhoun. Canadians are in love Iron Man. Yeah, I don't understand that either.  But those Canucks went bathsalt crazy for the doom pioneers during their show in May at Mavericks in Ottawa. You can hear the full interview, along with a lot of other cool metal songs and the Bradshaw's adorable Canadian accents here. 

Other new songs on the EP include "Crucified" and "Suffer the Children." This recording features the band's current line up of Morris on guitar, Louis Strachan on bass, Calhoun on vocals and Jason "Mot" Waldmann on drums. Check out a preview video for the whole EP below. 

The doom metal quartet also has a number of live gigs scheduled for the east coast, beginning this Saturday, Aug. 4 at Wilcom's Inn in Monrovia, MD. Joining them are Against Nature and guitarist Jason Barker, who will be presenting an acoustic set.

Other upcoming Iron Man shows include:

Friday, Aug. 31: The Acheron with War Injun, Earthen Grave and Kin of Ettins. Located at 57 Waterbury Street (Brooklyn), New York, NY. 

Saturday, Sept. 1: Geno's Rock Club where Iron Man and Revelation support the Maine's Orge. Located at 625 Congress Street, Portland, ME.

Sunday Sept. 2: Stoner Hands of Doom, this four-day festival begins Aug. 30 but Iron Man will close the fest on Sunday night. The SHoD fest happens at  El 'N' Gee Club, located at 86 Golden Street, New London, CT. For a complete listing of bands click here. 

Doom rockers Iron Man to play first Canadian show May 12

This weekend, Maryland doom metal godfathers Iron Man travel to upstate New York and then Ottawa, Ontario for their first-ever Canadian gig. Friday night finds them at The Downtown Quarterback in Endicott, NY and Saturday, they will share the stage with Blood Ceremony for the All That is Heavy II festival at Mavericks.

The current lineup for Iron Man includes Alfred Morris III, who has lead the band for more than 20 years, bassist Louis Strachan who joined in 2007, vocalist Dee Calhoun who joined in 2010 and drummer Jason "Mot" Waldmann, who started playing with the band officially in January 2012. Waldmann also took the drum throne during the group's last performance of 2011 on November 5 when the group played a benefit show with many area doomsters and the legendary Pentagram.

"It is a great honor to be invited to play the All That's Heavy festival," said Morris. "Iron Man has never played in Canada! It will be so much fun to see all of our fans. They probably thought they would never get the chance to see us, but the wait is finally over!"

Vocalist "Screaming Mad" Dee Calhoun echoed Morris' enthusiasm about the group's first show for our neighbors to the north.

"Speaking on behalf of the band, it's always a thrill to be asked to play a show like this, with so many other great bands. Speaking for myself, I'm beside myself, as this will be my first show that's not on U.S. soil. This is the realization of a dream for me," Calhoun said.

Canadian radio show host and promoter Derek Bradshaw seemed almost as  excited about the festival as the iron men were. A huge Iron Man fan, he and his wife Jenn host the show Crossing Boredom on CKCU 93.1 FM in Ottawa.

"I thought that the only way I would ever see Iron Man was to buy a plane ticket and make a trip somewhere they were playing in the U.S." said Bradshaw. "Unbelievably, almost one year later, after getting up enough money together to fly to Las Vegas to see Iron Man, here they are travelling to Ottawa Canada only 30 minutes from my house! We are so lucky, because this is Iron Man’s only Canadian date!"

Bradshaw is also impressed with caliper of performers arranged for the All That Is Heavy II festival.

"We have such an excellent line up this year for All That Is Heavy II. Local (Ottawa) bands Loviatar and Monobrow begin the night. Then it’s Revelation (Baltimore, MD), Blizaro (Rochester, NY), Iron Man (Baltimore, MD) and we finished off the evening with Canada’s powerhouse Blood Ceremony," Bradshaw said.

Tickets to All That is Heavy II can be purchased at the door for $20 or $15 in advance from Vertigo Records, Birdman Records or The Record Shaap.

Friday night's show at The Downtown Quarterback features rock/alternative band Mobday (Endicott, NY) and Break of Aggression (also of Endicott), who describe themselves as Southern Metal. $5 at the door.

Iron Man puts spring schedule in motion with videos

The members of legendary doom metal band Iron Man have been getting crafty lately. Recently they spent some time recording video footage to go along with some carefully (demonically) selected conceptual video and have come up with a singular visualization for the song Grown. The song comes from their most recent self-released EP Dominance. If you read the lyrics to the song, the clips go along pretty well with the theme.

The video features founding member of Iron Man Al Morris III on guitar, Louis Strachan slapping the bass, Screaming Dee Calhoun on vocals and introduces newest member, drummer Jason Waldmann.



Iron Man has some shows coming up. One on April 14 at Cafe 611 at 611 (duh) N. Market Street in Frederick, MD. This one is with psyche-doomic rockers Admiral Browning and suspiciously named band Fat Chick Meat Haul. It starts at 9 p.m. and costs just $7. Get your taxes done and go. They made a video flyer for that one too. Check out each band in advance!

They also have a huge gig coming up on May 12 in Ottawa (that's in Canada) at a joint called Mavericks. The show has been dubbed All That is Heavy 2. They will be sharing the stage with Blood Ceremony and a bunch of other cool doomy, sludgey, experimental bands such as Blizaro, Revelation, Monobrow, and Loviatar. I have never been to Canada, so I am looking forward to taking a little road trip to check this out. Look for more Iron Man news in the coming weeks.

Iron Man posts new song video on Facebook

Louis Strachan (left) and Alfred Morris III of Iron Man

Traditional doom metal aficionados will be happy to learn that the legendary group, Iron Man, is working on new material. Today on their Facebook page and YouTube channel, they released a video of a new song performed recently at a benefit show in Brunswick, MD.  The song, “A Whore in Confession,” is still a something of a work in progress, says original Iron Man Al Morris III. “What you hear in the video may not be exactly how it ends up sounding on the recording,” Morris says.  Even so, the band wanted to give its fan base something new since, their last recording, a self-released EP called Dominance, came out in January 2011.  Morris says 2012 looks like a busy year for the doom metal stalwarts. A new drummer, Jason “Mot” Waldmann, came on board in January 2012. The group is slated to perform with Blizaro, Blood Ceremony, Loviatar, Monobrow and Revelation at All That’s Heavy II festival in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on May 12. They will be heading to the studio to record a full-length album and more extensive touring is in the works. Their next local show will be at Lallo's in Brunswick, MD on March 3 with Trifecta and Children of the Grave.