METAL ZINE VOL 7 SCIONAV.COM

Down · Saint VituS · ExoDuS · PSYCHiC tV

tHE atlaS MotH · REVoCation

M e t a l Z i n e V o l . 7

Rock Fest edition

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00430-Zin07-Mt

Cover: illustration by French

(funeralfrench.com)

SCion a/V SCHEDulE

MaYMay 15: Scion A/V Presents: Relapse Records Label Showcase

(live recording)

May 19: Scion label Showcase: a389 Records Showcase, featuring integrity, Ringworm, Young and in the way, Seven Sisters of

Sleep and the love Below, at the Glass House, Pomona, California

JunEJune 2: Scion Rock Fest, tampa, Florida

June 19: Scion A/V Presents: Profound Lore Label Showcase

(live recording)June 23: Scion label Showcase: Southern lord, featuring Pelican, Black

Breath, Martyrdöd, Burning love and Enabler at the Glass House, Pomona, California

JulYJuly 21: Scion label Showcase: Moshpit tragedy, featured acts tBa,

at the Glass House, Pomona, California

auGuStAugust 18: Scion label Showcase, featured label and acts tBa, at the Glass

House, Pomona, California

Story by: J. BennettPhotography by: Gregory Bojorquez

Somewhere in the whirling psychedelic eye of

the Atlas Moth’s triple-guitar, quadruple-vocal

maelstrom, there’s a new subgenre being born.

The only problem is that no one really knows what

to call it. “I think people have trouble grouping us

into a genre, and I have trouble doing that, too,”

says David Kush, who handles one of the Atlas

Moth’s soaring guitars and bellowing lead vocal

positions. “But one of the things I really like about

being in this band is that we never set out to play

in a particular style. We all listen to a lot of different

music, and we just kind of trust that whatever one

of us comes up with, another person will come

up with something that fits and makes the whole

thing the Atlas Moth.”

The Atlas Moth’s “we” consists of Kush, vocalist/

guitarist Stavros Giannopoulos, bassist/backing

vocalist Alex Klein, guitarist/backing vocalist

Andrew Ragin and drummer Anthony Mainiero.

The Chicago-based band’s second and latest full-

length, An Ache for the Distance, has been referred

to as everything from “stoner metal” and “sludge”

to “post-metal” and “militantly adventurous heavy

metal,” but members of the Atlas Moth wouldn’t

even necessarily refer to themselves as a metal

band. “The whole question of whether we’re a

metal band or not is kind of tricky because clearly

we started out wanting to be a metal band of some

sort,” says Giannopoulos. “To me, a metal band

is Slayer or Judas Priest. I think we’re a heavy

band, but we’re not really a metal band. If you

call yourself a metal band and then do something

outside of that box, people say you’re not a metal

band anymore and then everyone hates you. So

why not just try to stay out of that category to

begin with? But obviously, you’re not gonna hate

us if you like metal.”

theatlasmoth.bandcamp.com

Hear live songs from the Atlas Moth’s

performance at Scion Label Showcase:

Profound Lore and watch an interview

with the group starting on June 19th at

scionav.com/ProfoundLoreRecords

I Ð e s ø ƒ

G e m I n I

Filled with mesmerizing, doomy

compositions, Constantinople

by ides of Gemini is one of the

most compelling debuts of 2012.

on it, guitarist J. Bennett, who is

also a contributor to many metal

publications (including this one),

is joined by frontwoman/bassist

sera timms and drummer/vocalist

kelly Johnston. While Bennett

handles the lion’s share of the

songwriting, according to him, it is

timms who is the trio’s heart and

blackened soul. Bennett explains

how it all opens up:

The entire inspiration for Ides Of Gemini comes entirely from Sera's voice. The way she sings made me want to start a band with her, plain and simple. The songs have so much space, so she can do what she wants. I feel like my job is to create a reasonably compelling framework that gives her maximum room to exhibit her talents. I wrote about half the songs, musically speaking, during the nearly five months of 2011 that I spent flat on my back and essentially unable to walk. As difficult and painful as it was, it ended up becoming an incredibly transformative process for me. The music’s overall aesthetic—the darkness, the minor chords, the black metal elements and what I like to think is a certain hypnotic quality—is a combination of what we're all drawn to as listeners. as told to Kim Kelly

idesofgemini.blogspot.com

watch performances from ides of Gemini at Scion Rock Fest at scionav.com/rock

I Ð e s ø ƒ

G e m I n I

Photography: Clara Ridabock, Hank Watts, Vitaliy Sholokhov

While Tampa has a storied legacy when it comes to extreme music, its neighbor city St. Petersburg hasn’t offered much. That’s where Flyingsnakes and their crossbreeding of sludge metal and crust punk come in. Started in 2005 by dual guitarist/vocalists Cletis Chatterton and Jonathan Warzybok, their lineup is now filled out by bassist Nick Sibilia and drummer Aaron Walter. After they self-released their debut Bludgeoning Frequency, the group decided to make the band their full-time thing with more of an interest placed on touring. Earlier this year they put out the Despondency EP on No Reprieve Records. In preparation for a summer tour with Boston’s the Proselyte, each band decided to record something new for a split 7-inch. Chatterton tells the story of how their contribution, “Pyre Rite,” came to be:

At least a couple of us in the band are definite

procrastinators. We pretty much wrote the song in the

studio and I’m pretty convinced that it’s one of the best

songs we’ve ever written. We’ve never been in a situation

where we’re under the gun and we absolutely have to

finish. We had a mastering date already scheduled for

the split because we were trying to get it out in time for

our tour. Because there was a mastering date scheduled,

we had to book studio time and record a song. There

was some stuff we had been working on for new songs

ideas, but none of it felt right. We started from scratch

and everyone had their own riffs to throw in. By the end

of the ordeal we had this really perfect piece of music. I

think we’ve learned a new strategy to songwriting.

As told to: Eric Ducker

flyingsnakes.bandcamp.com

Watch performances from Flyingsnakes at Scion Rock Fest at scionav.com/rock

The afternoon is starting to bleed into the early evening and Honor Titus is still barely recovering from the gig he played the night before. His band Cerebral Ballzy opened a reunion show for politically minded Swedish hardcore unit Refused at Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen. Asked how it went, Titus responds,

“It went well. I don’t like Refused. I mean musically. They’re nice guys, so whatever.”

Titus exudes a combination of over-itness and confidence that you can only get from a 22-year-old. When pressed to describe Cerebral Ballzy’s sound, he fumbles around for a while and then says, “We’re a New York punk band,” as if it’s the only description that makes sense.

Titus handles lead vocals in Cerebral Ballzy and is joined by bassist Melvin Honore, drummer Crazy Abe, and guitarists Jason and Mason. The five met while skateboarding and hanging out in Union Square. Titus was 18 when he started the band. At the time the only one of them who knew how to play his

instrument was Honore. In 2011 they released their self-titled debut on Williams Street Records. It’s a manic blast of frustration that barely breaks the 20-minute mark. The 12 songs are about, as Honore puts it on album opener “On the Run,” not dealing with the consequences of being young and reckless.

Cerebral Ballzy is known for their insane touring schedule and willingness to do a show just about anywhere. “We played in the downtrodden basement in an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn a couple years ago,” says Titus. “Two thousand kids came and the stage broke. It was nuts. Nuts. Nuts. There have been so many ridiculous shows in Ballzy’s history.” Some of the other wild ones have involved biker gangs, spots in Bed-Stuy that most bands won’t go to, a trip to Russia, and the type of life choices we can't write about in this publication.

The band is preparing to record its follow-up, which they hope will be out in early 2013. Honore believes that it will be leaps beyond their debut because of the years and experiences he’s pilled on since he wrote their debut when he was 18. Pushed for more details, he simply says, “It’s going to be something really grand.”

cerebralballzy.com

Watch performances from Cerebral Ballzy at Scion Rock Fest at scionav.com/rock and an interview with the band at scionav.com

Story: Eric DuckerPhotography: Dan Kendall

Generally speaking, death metal is not known

for its wild diversity. In a genre obsessed with

speed, extremity, and brutality, rare is the

band that delivers something from outside

death metal’s cramped and narrow blast

furnace. Enter Boston-based death squad

Revocation, who prize diversification above

all else. “Our musical philosophy is to push

limits,” says vocalist/guitarist Dave Davidson.

“We work within the metal genre, but at the

same time, we try to take other elements

outside of the metal genre and incorporate

them into our music—whether it’s jazz or

Latin flavors or more groovy stuff. We’re a

metal band, first and foremost, but we’re

always experimenting.”

That experimentation can be heard in all its

raging, dissonant glory on Revocation’s third

and latest full-length, Chaos Of Forms, which

features songs as disparate as “Conjuring the

Cataclysm” and “No Funeral”: The former kicks

off with an acoustic intro before launching

into a nasty black thrash workout; Davidson

describes the latter as “kinda like Motörhead

meets the Misfits, but with sweep arpeggios

and a Bill & Ted style dual-tapping solo.”

On paper, that might sound like a strange

combination. But on Chaos Of Forms, it’s

a seamless collusion of forward-thinking

musicianship and old-school influences. “I

think one of our primary drives has been

to look back at the history of metal and

incorporate the lessons we’ve learned from

it,” says Revocation bassist/vocalist Anthony

Buda. “To a certain extent, I think the last five

to ten years of modern metal doesn’t look back

on heavy metal history and try to encompass

it. It’s just heavy on its own, which is cool, but

one of our definining charateristics is that as

much as we’re trying to push metal forward,

we want to keep the whole history there.”

facebook.com/revocation

Hear live songs from Revocation’s performance

at Scion Label Showcase: Relapse Records

and watch an interview with the group at

scionav.com/RelapseRecords

Photography by: Gregory Boroquez

Story by: J. Bennett

www.scionav.com/mmc

Grating, distorted, lower than lo-fi, ponderous black

noise. A funeral pyre for vermin. A twisted homage

to the primitive howlings of Les Legions Noires.

Warped, hissing, flawed recordings. Vermapyre is all

of these things, and a bit more. This Flemish-American

hybrid combines influences culled from French sadists

and Japanese noiseniks, conjuring their warped

transmissions via handmade cigar-box guitars and

rusty paint cans.

According to a band spokesperson (the members prefer

to shroud their identities in secrecy), “Vermapyre

set out to create music that could be used as a more

aggressive soundtrack for the old, grainy black-and-

white silent horror films. We were in Warsaw, Poland

on tour with our other band. We were talking about

how the early Delta blues musicians would build their

own guitars and how each guitar seemed to have its

own unique sound and personality. The theory of

infusing your own magic within your creation plays a

role in this. We wanted to make our own instruments

and use them for metal music. Technology has afforded

us many liberties with allowing us to film, record

music, and design our own record covers. We wanted

to take full advantage of these resources and create an

entire world around this project. We are slowly getting

every aspect into place with each recording release.”

Vermapyre’s first release, a split with metalpunks

Parasite, was released via Holy Terror last year, and

now Magic Bullet have stepped up to entomb their

song “Oslo” on twelve inches of wax. Vermapyre

will be sharing that space with Ides of Gemini, and,

more worryingly, have a handful of live appearances

planned.

vermapyre.com

watch performances from Vermapyre at Scion Rock

Fest at scionav.com/rock

By Kim Kelly

Rob Dukes became the vocalist for legendary Bay Area thrashers Exodus in 2005, a quarter century into the band’s storied career. Here, he talks about his journey from teenage metalhead to guitar tech to headlining frontman:

I was a long-haired, Nike-wearing metalhead for years, and I was always an Exodus fan. I saw them a few times when I was a teenager. It was kind of a fluke how I ended up being their singer. I was in this bar band in New York, we were kind of like Sublime. It was punk rock, metal and reggae. They ended up firing me, so I basically gave away everything I owned, got on my motorcycle, and drove out to L.A. I had two friends out there, including one in Hollywood, which is where I ended up. I was working at various clubs out there—the Key Club, the Avalon, the El Rey—being a stagehand, basically. Then I started being a guitar tech. I worked for different bands, different players, and I got to meet some cool people. Exodus was opening for Megadeth on one tour and one of the crew guys that Exodus had brought with them scraped up the

floor at the [Hollywood] Palladium by dragging some amps. He caused a bunch of damage so Exodus was looking for a new tech. Someone called me and I said I’d do it. I got on the bus with them, told them I was a huge fan, and we started talking about some of their shows I had seen when I was younger. We got along really well.

I went out on the road with them and on the very last show of that tour I got up onstage and sang “Deranged” with them. I guess somebody in the band said, “That guy’s got a great voice.” Later on, [former Exodus vocalist Steve] Zetro [Souza] quit in the middle of a tour and left the band hanging, so they had Big Steev from Defiance singing for them for the rest of it. After that, [Exodus drummer] Tom [Hunting] called me on Christmas Eve and asked if I wanted to come audition as the singer. I booked a flight and went up there [to Northern California]. On the first day of the auditions, I was horrible. On the second day, I was better. On the third day, they asked me if I wanted to be the singer. They took a risk on a no-name singer and gave me a shot.

Band Photography: Shannon Corr

It was kind of overwhelming at first because I didn’t know who to be onstage, but I didn’t try to copy anyone. I never forgot what it’s like to be a fan out in the audience, so I sang every show like it was my last. I still do that. I don’t hold back. But in the beginning, I did some songs better than others. When fans would bash me online I took it to heart a little bit. How could you not? But then last year Kerry King told me I was the best thing that happened to Exodus. Then we played a show in the Bay Area earlier this year and Kirk Hammett—who used to be in Exodus—played four songs with us. We were talking afterwards and he said, “You’re great for this band.” From then on, there was no point in reading any reviews. For those guys to say I’m doing well, that’s all I need to hear.

As told to J. Bennett

exodusattack.com

Hear live songs from Exodus’ performance at Scion Label Showcase: Nuclear Blast and watch an interview with the group at scionav.com/nuclearblast

FoRmED two DEcADEs Ago As A siDE PRojEct By somE oF NEw oRLEANs’ most AccomPLisHED mEtAL musiciANs—PHiL ANsELmo oF PANtERA (vocALs), PEPPER KEENAN oF coRRosioN oF coNFoRmity (guitAR), KiRK wiNDstEiN oF cRowBAR (guitAR) AND jimmy BowER oF EyEHAtEgoD (DRums)—DowN HAs siNcE BEcomE mEtAL’s most iNFAmous ALL-stAR BAND. it’s ALso tRANsitioNED iNto AN ALmost-FuLL- timE gig FoR its mEmBERs, wHo REcENtLy wELcomED cRowBAR BAssist PAtRicK BRuDERs iNto tHEiR FoRmiDABLE RANKs. wE sPoKE witH ANsELmo ABout DowN’s LAtEst mANEuvERs.

Interview by: J. BennettPhotography by: Danin Drahos

what can you tell us about the forthcoming Down EP?It’s very raw, when you consider the last two

records. If people think the first record [1995’s

NOLA] is a raw example of what Down was,

I would have to say the EP is more like that,

production-wise and approach-wise.

why did you want to approach it like the first album?On the last Down record [2007’s Down III: Over the Under] I got on this big singing trip. And that’s

all fine and dandy, but, well...this might be a weird

answer, but going through all the different phases

of listening to music, maybe you love a certain

genre for a certain number of weeks or months

or years and then you switch it up and you’re into

something else. With this EP, it kinda worked out

that we were all cosmically aligned in that way. We

went back to the roots of Down, which lead directly

back to Black Sabbath. But really, in all honestly,

we were spurred on and influenced by the bands

that were directly influenced by Sabbath before

we came along—bands like Witchfinder General

and Saint Vitus. That’s where our heads were at,

and with that comes some letting go. Because you

can take a riff, maximize it, trick it out, make it as

slick and polished as possible, or you can leave

it alone and let it do its own work. So instead of

overthinking this thing, we just let the songs come.

And it worked out the best for all of us.

NOLA is considered a stone classic among fans. what comes to mind when you think of that one? It was not an over-thought record. We didn’t have

time to over-think it. We were all in plenty of active,

working bands. We had a certain amount of time

alotted for Down, and most of that was for writing

purposes. Once an idea was formed, it didn’t really

stray very far from that point on—unless it was

lyrically. To me, I think that’s what we attempted

to do on this EP. If the riff was slammin’ right out of

the gate, I would fight tooth and nail to keep it that

way. And for the most part, everyone undertsood

that and executed it pretty damn well.

Do you have a title or a release date yet?No. I know it’s probably up to me for a title, but

lately I’m thinking, why does the record need a

title? The obvious consensus is that it should be

called Down IV, because our previous records

were numbered that way, too. So if people wanna

call it that, I’m cool with it.

there’s a song on the EP called “witchtripper” that would make a pretty awesome title for the whole thing.Really? I thought I’d get the most scrutiny out

of that one. The first song is called “Levitation,”

and that could be a good title, too. I guess the EP

could be named after any one of the songs on it,

but none of them would really sum up the whole

thing. That’s where it becomes a little tough for

me. I’d rather have it speak for itself. As far as the

songs go, I’m actually pretty pleased with them.

We started Down as a side band, and it is still

that in a way, because it’s a genre band. That’s

why you start a side band, normally, because you

want to delve into a specific genre. Unless you

tell people that you wanna start this avant-garde

monster with saxophones and pianos and harps.

Of course, that’s not the case with Down. It’s a

genre band, and with that comes a bit of lyrical

BElIEvE mE, ThERE’S AN INTENSITy WITh DoWN. ANy TImE you PuT A mICRoPhoNE IN my hAND AND PuSh mE oNSTAgE, ThERE’S AN INTENSITy.

freedom. Whereas in the past I may have written

about things going on in my life—the status of

this, the status of that—things I could actually see,

touch and control, with Down I can write in a not

-so -pointed direction and still come up with lyrics

that allow the listener to have their own way of

interpreting it.

is that the idea behind “witchtripper”?That song came about when we were last in Spain.

We were in this tiny little town, and when we got

off the plane, we saw all these witches, like lady-

on-a-broomstick-type-witches, decorating the

airport. We get into town, and there’s all these

little shops with little witches for sale, witches in

the hotel lobby—it was bizarre. So we asked the

locals what was going on, and someone brought

to our attention that there were all these big rocks

on the local roofs and on people’s front porches in

this particular town. They told us that the stones

were symbols to ward off the evil of witches

and the spells they may cast. Now, I’m not one

for believing in curses or any of that stuff, but we

were all out one day and Pepper says, “Damn,

man—them things must be witchtrippers!” Like,

the witch comes to land on your roof, trips over

one of these stones, and it’s over with. So you

hear this whole story I’m telling you, and obviously

there’s no way that I can put into two or three

verses that this is what the song is particularly

about. I basically took the lore of the land and went

from there. But if someone isn’t privy to the story

and they hear the song, they’re not gonna know

what the hell I’m talking about. So let them come

up with their own ideas. It has to work both ways.

Do any of the other songs have any particular stories behind them?Like I say, the lyrics are meant to be open to

interpretation. There are lines in the songs that

make perfect sense and other lines that are like,

“Where the hell is Phil coming from on this stuff?”

And where I’m coming from is a place where

I want to stir your imagination.

why did you guys decide to record an EP instead of a full-length?To be perfectly honest, it’s easier on us and it’s

quicker to get the stuff out to the public this way.

We’ve been sitting on some of these songs for a

while and it’s been five years since the last album.

Once again, we’ve broken our promise of, “Sure,

you’re gonna hear a new Down record before

five years are up!” Didn’t happen.

other members of Down have said in interviews that this EP is the first in a series of four EPs to be released over the next couple of years.There’s definitely a contingent in the band that

wants that to happen. But we’ll see where it goes.

There’s talk of doing an acoustic EP. But is my

head there right now? I’m not sure. It’s a cool idea,

though. But what would we do on the other two?

Speed metal? That ain’t happening. I mean, Down

is Down is Down. We can go in different directions,

and we’ve shown on every record that we’re a

flexible band. We can write metal, we can write

acoustic songs, we can write a “Stone the Crow”-

type song. We’ve done all those things. I think

it’s within our capabilities to do whatever we want.

It’s just a matter of doing it.

Did you write or record any other songs that didn’t make the EP?Two or three things come to mind. Maybe they

didn’t fit stylistically for this EP. But if there’s a

completed Down song that isn’t on any of the

records, I’m all for putting it out. If we have a song

that is unreleased and kinda has a different feel

than what’s coming out or what has come out, I

don’t wanna write around that song. But we can

always write Down material. Down songs aren’t

like science. It’s very off the cuff, and it comes very

easily to us, depending on your definition of easy.

you guys recently split with Rex [Brown, bass, also formerly of Pantera]. is Patrick Bruders the Down bass player from here on in?Pat is a bad mother******, I’ll tell you that. And

I think you’ll hear it on the new EP. He’s really

stepped up big time. He’s really classically and

truthfully a bass player. He plays with his fingers,

and he’s got this particular feel. I’ve played in a

million bands where the bass just basically follows

the guitar riff, but Pat has a knack for hearing the

riff, digesting it, and writing a complementary

bass line that not only doesn’t get in the way but

actually enhances the riff. So the answer is yes.

it seems like there’s no animosity with Rex either. Hell no. I talked to Rex the day before yesterday

and he was telling me how happy he is with the

new music he’s making. I couldn’t ask for anything

more for the guy. If he’s happy with what he’s

doing, that’s the best news of the day for me.

you’re the only guy from Pantera who’s in Down now. was it difficult to lose that connection when Rex left? I’ll put it this way: Rex’s got his ideas of what rock

music is and how it should be created, and I’ve

got my ideas. But if there was ever an amicable

divorce, so to speak, it’s definitely with me and

Rex. We just realized that we both had different

visions happening on many different levels, and

that’s fine. People grow up in ways that sometimes

makes them just different enough to say, “Well,

it’s time for you to go do your thing and me to go

do my thing, and let’s not hinder each other any

longer.” So that’s it, really. We’re letting brothers

be brothers.

it must be pretty different being onstage with Down from what it was with Pantera. It’s very different. There’s a different energy

level. Pantera was a lot more manic, riff-wise, and

there was an intensity there. Believe me, there’s

an intensity with Down, too. Any time you put a

microphone in my hand and push me onstage,

there’s an intensity. There’s an alter ego that takes

over, regardless. But Down is a two-guitar-player

band, and Pantera had just one. That’s obvious. But

when people come to see Down, I get the feeling

they’re there to listen a little more. At Pantera shows,

people were there for the energy, and the crowd

was very physical. Maybe that’s the difference.

down-nola.com

Watch performances from Down at Scion Rock Fest at scionav.com/rock

www.scionav.com/musicvideos

Who initially broached the idea of writing a new Saint Vitus album? It was basically the

fans. When we were doing the reunion shows

in 2009, we actually wrote the song “Blessed

Night” on the road. I was playing the opening riff

at soundcheck, and Wino asked me if it was a song.

I said I could make it one if he wanted to write the

words. Suddenly we had a new song to play on tour.

As soon as we did that, the fans and the press started

asking if it was a new song from a new album. That

made us start thinking about it.

Did you feel a lot of pressure to deliver when you were writing this record? There hasn’t been a new Saint Vitus album since 1995, and there hasn’t been one with Wino on vocals since 1990. Yeah, definitely. The main pressure was hoping

I could get the same attitude and mindset I had

back then, because everything is so different

now: I live in a different place, I’m married, I’m

a little bit mellower. I was really angry when I

wrote a lot of those songs back then, and I’m not

really like that anymore. My main concern was

hoping I could capture that same vibe. But once

I started doing it, everything floated right back to

where I was in the 1980s and 1990s.

Most fans never thought they’d see it, right up until the moment they actually did:

In mid-2012, massively influential doom dealers Saint Vitus returned with their

first new album in 17 years and their first with living-legend frontman Scott “Wino”

Weinrich in 22 years. Titled Lillie: F-65, the record captures every soulful nuance

of the band’s hard times, down-on-your-luck ethos through glacial pacing and

gargantuan Sabbathian riffery. Saint Vitus guitarist and founder Dave Chandler

discusses the band’s unlikely resurrection.

Interview: J. Bennett

Photography: Audrey Jarrett

There was an initial Saint Vitus reunion in 2003, but it didn’t really stick. What happened? We weren’t actually trying to make

it stick. It was purposefully a one-time thing,

because Wino was doing the Hidden Hand at the

time—plus probably two or three other things—

and I was doing Debris Inc. Neither one of us

were interested in doing Vitus full-time, but we

wanted to do the reunion. I had done the Wacken

Festival in Germany in 2002 with Debris Inc.,

and we did some Vitus songs at the end of the

set. As soon as we did that, a bunch of people ran

to the front of the stage and started singing the

songs. When I saw that, I thought it would be cool

if we could get back together and play a festival

so Mark [Adams, bass] and Armando [Acosta,

drummer] could see that. That’s how it got rolling.

We decided to play a show in Chicago as a warm-

up before we played at Full Force in Germany. We

didn’t do anything again until Roadburn in 2009.

You and Wino had to bury the hatchet a little bit before the 2003 reunion happened. Yeah, a little bit. We had talked on the phone

beforehand, so everything was settled as far as

the bad blood we had when the band broke up.

It was a little trippy being back together in Vitus,

though. When we went to rehearsal, we completely

messed up the first song, started again and played

it right. From then on, everything was good.

And then you played Roadburn in Holland in 2009, which ended up being a mixed bag for you guys because Armando wasn’t in the best of health. Yeah, he was pretty much

in denial. He knew he was sick, but he wouldn’t

admit it. He did tell me and Mark that he couldn’t

play the songs right anymore. We told him not

to worry about it and just to play them straight.

But God bless him, he wanted to play them like

they’re supposed to be done. He just couldn’t. I’m

sure you read the reviews of the show, they were

pretty much true. It was kind of anticlimactic for

the fans, and we had to get someone else to play

with us at Hellfest in France. We couldn’t have a

drummer stopping in the middle of a song.

That must’ve been a difficult conversation to have. Yeah. Armando was really, really pissed off

at me. And sadly, he took that anger to his grave.

But I had to be the one to tell him, because I take

the credit for the decisions in this band, good or

bad. So that was really hard. I think he knew, too,

because when I called him and said, “Armando,

I’ve got something I need to talk to you about,”

he got real quiet. I think he knew, because he

definitely knew he wasn’t playing well. It was

not done in anger, it was strictly business. His

girlfriend ended up blasting us on the internet,

but we don’t think he actually said half the stuff

she says he did.

Did you talk to him again before he passed away in late 2010? No, we never spoke again.

He talked to Mark a couple of times, but that was it.

It seems like there was never a consistent story about how he passed away, either. Defintiely not. We heard various things, but the

only thing we heard consistently is that he got home

from work, told his girlfriend that he was really

tired, and went to bed. He was in poor health, and

It was a little trippy being back together. When we went to rehearsal, we completely messed up the first song, started again and played it right.

his job was a physical job, so she didn’t really think

much about it. Then he woke up and told her that

his legs didn’t feel good and he needed to go to the

hospital. He died in the hospital. But we didn’t hear

why his legs felt bad or anything.

How did you hook up with your new drummer, Henry Vasquez? Henry was the last drummer

we were jamming with in Debris Inc., so I already

knew he was a great drummer and a cool guy. Plus,

I think he already knew two or three Vitus songs.

And we needed to get someone quick. Mark and

Wino trusted me, and as soon as we jammed with

him, they knew he was good. The first time he hit

those cymbals at practice, I nearly passed out from

vertigo. They were so damn loud!

What’s it like being onstage with Vitus these days? It’s a lot of fun. We have a super good time,

and the power is immense with Henry. You can feel

it onstage, and you can feel it coming back from

the audience. Generations have passed since we

started, and now people are into us. We used to

come through cities and hope people might like us.

Now, we walk out and people are already yelling,

so that’s a great feeling.

From the stories I’ve heard, it seems like there was a distinctly different vibe at Vitus shows in the ’80s than there is today. Yeah,

it’s way different now. Back then, when Wino first

joined, and even before that, we were playing all

these punk shows. I would’ve never gone into the

crowd and tried to play my guitar on someone’s

head like I do now. No way, I’d get killed. Now,

if I get hurt, it’s only because I slipped in beer or

something. Which I actually did once.

It wasn’t unusual for Vitus to play to hostile crowds back then. Oh yeah, we didn’t play to

metal crowds because they hated us. Being on SST,

they immediately put us into the punk rock scene,

and it took us a while to get the punks on our side.

People would smash the windows of our vehicle

during shows. They’d spit on us, and we’d spit right

back. We’d get almost everything thrown at us, and

we’d throw it all back. Except for coins. Armando

would collect those after the show. A lot of bands,

when they were coming to town, would call up SST

and request us to open for them because they knew

we’d get the crowd worked up. But we took it for

so long—and gave it back to them—that the punks

finally respected us. They still thought our hair

was too long, though.

Recently reunited bands like Saint Vitus, Sleep and Kyuss get a lot more respect and attention now than they ever did back in their original eras. Why do you think that is? As far as us and Sleep, it seems like doom metal

really came into its own while we were away.

People started recognizing it as a legitimate genre

of metal music. The kids who are into the newer

doom bands want to see the old bands that the

new ones were citing as inspiration. A lot of them,

thankfully, cited us. The amazing thing is that now

I’ll meet guys at our shows who came and saw us

back in 1990, but now they’re bringing their kid.

I’ll look down and see this little kid wearing a Vitus

shirt. That’s really cool.

Do you think there’s something about what Saint Vitus does that’s more suited to these times than the time when Saint Vitus didn’t even exist? Yeah, I think so. It seems like

metal people are a lot more open-minded today,

especially in America. It’s gotten back to the

point where they’re deciding for themselves what

they like, instead of just taking what’s shoved

down their throats. That’s a big difference right

there, and I think it makes the scene a whole lot

better. Doom metal in particular is not something

learned. A good doom metal band plays from their

heart and soul, and the fans can feel that. That’s

why I think doom has endured to become what it

is now.

facebook.com/saintvitusofficial

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For a band obsessed with chaos, magick, and change, the discography oF psychic tV is a Fittingly dense warren oF limited-press 12-inches, liVe recordings, mysterious aliases, and endless remixes and Versions oF the same tracks. by the end oF the 1980s alone, genesis p-orridge’s deliciously deViant super group had already released 20 albums, including 14 liVe records in 18 months (a stunt that earned ptV a place in the guinness book oF world records). it can be hard to Figure out where to diVe into in this crystalline miasma oF psychedelic ambient, disturbing neo-Folk, jacking acid house, spoken-word and resolutely altered rock experiments, but here’s a primer on six key albums From the group’s sprawling catalog.

Force the hand oF chance (some bizzare/wea, 1982) Psychic TV’s debut, released only a year after the dissolution of Throbbing Gristle, is a perfect intro to the many styles the band would flirt with over the years. The record opens with “Just Drifting,” a string-driven slice of sweet folk dedicated to Genesis’ baby daughter Caresse, and closes with “Message From Thee Temple,” a hypnotic and cultish spoken-word mission statement from Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth (TOPY), a magickal society that had sprung up around the band. Elsewhere on the record you’ll find post-punk pop (the skronking “Ov Power” and “Stolen Kisses,” which features vocals from Soft Cell’s Marc Almond), but its best moments are “Terminus X-tul” and “No Go Go,” two dark and experimental guitar numbers that sound like strange outtakes from the Apocalypse Now soundtrack. It’s here that the contributions of Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson (of Coil and Hipgnosis fame) seem most obvious, with squall, creepy effects, and exotic soundscapes taking center stage.

Story: Estrella DamnPhotography: Yasuko Shiratsuchi

n.y. scum (temple records, 1984)Of the band’s more than 30 live albums, N.Y. Scum is one of the most legendary. The recording of a November 1983 performance at Manhattan’s Danceteria, it showcases Psychic TV’s talent for turning a collage of industrial noise, chanting, strange samples, and highly layered effects into a ritualistic, haunted, and trancelike live experience. Scum is best listened to paired with two other 1984 live albums: Berlin Atonal Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. These selections are similarly, fuzzed out trips that contain performances of “Unclean” and “Skinhead Moonstomp ’84.” N.Y. Scum’s often-appropriated artwork is also an iconic example of the spare and severe ’80s industrial aesthetic.

allegory & selF (temple records, 1988)One of PTV’s best-loved albums highlights the band’s most disturbing quality: how easily they could write and perform pop songs that even a mother could love. Fitting in rather neatly with the Madchester/Britpop scene of the time, 1960s-influenced tracks like “Being Lost” and “We Kiss” mix with hazier, more experimental numbers like “Starlite Mire” to create a languid road trip from start to finish. The highlights of Allegory & Self are legendary hits “Godstar,” a sing-along tribute to the Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones, and the gauzy and romantic “Just Like Arcadia.” This record also ushered in an amazing era in the band’s aesthetic (and Gen’s overall fashion sense), melding underground occult art with trippy rave influences and shamanic hippie-traveler vibes.

jack the tab/tekno acid beat (wax trax!, 1998)In 1988, Genesis became obsessed with the subversive music and messaging potential of the acid house movement and teamed up with Soft Cell’s Dave Ball and Boston-based producer Fred Giannelli (a.k.a. Kooky Scientist) to create four studio albums of electronic “freakbeats” for your dance floor psyche-out. (Giannelli seems to have since dedicated his life to being angry at the band on the internet.) Jack the Tab and Tekno Acid Beat were originally released as two “compilations,” with the crew operating under aliases including Pearl Necklace, Thee Loaded Angels, and DJ Doktor Megatrip & Mista Luv. Both were reissued in 1998 as one

album by pioneering Chicago EBM/industrial label Wax Trax!, making it easier to cop tracks like “M.E.S.H. (Meet Every Situation Head On),” “Tune In (Turn On Thee Acid House),” and “Sandoz Tabman.” With slightly evil and totally sample-happy warehouse music that sounds as fresh today as it did then, this aesthetic is currently being cribbed by every witch house producer from here to hell.

trip/reset (cleopatra, 1996)Released the same year Genesis’ sample archives burned down in a freak fire at the Harry Houdini mansion (then owned by Rick Rubin) and serving as the first album after a seven-year hiatus, Trip/Reset is a beautiful and shamanistic head trip of vocals that reference themes of the occult and transformation. Words are quietly sung/spoken over hypnotic melodies and jammy, Eastern-influenced percussion. Genesis’ young daughters Genesse and Caresse (billed as the Angels of Light) contribute vocals to the album, upping the disturbing quotient exponentially. This record was released on L.A.’s Cleopatra imprint, a seminal goth/industrial/punk label from the 1990s.

hell is inVisible...heaVen is her/e (northern hemisphere, 2007)After a long break from making studio albums, Genesis reformed the band in 2003 as PTV3 and also started work on the first new Throbbing Gristle album in 25 years. Living in New York and inspired by his pandrogynous relationship with Lady Jaye Breyer P-Orridge, this release is nonetheless a fairly straightforward (by PTV standards, anyway) and often funky psych rock album underpinned by the group’s trademark sense of rhythm. It features jammy cuts like “Higher and Higher,” “Hookah Chalice,” and “Milk Baba”—a soothing cut presumably dedicated to the Kathmandu guru of the same name. The most notable thing about the record are its contributions, including guest turns from Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s Nick Zinner, and cyberpunk author Douglas Rushkoff, who played keyboards.

genesisbreyerporridge.com

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Merzbow

Since 1980, Japanese noise artist Merzbow has put out well over 300 different releases. That is an intimidating discography for any potential new listener. We asked Bruce Lamont—saxophonist in metal band Yakuza and employee of legendary Chicago music venue the Empty Bottle—where to start. Though Lamont notes that Merzbow’s prolific output is probably too much for one person to take in, and he doesn’t normally compare one Merzbow era to another, this is what he thought:

I’d heard bits and pieces of Merzbow over the years. I used to work at a record store in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There may have been one record of his that came in during that time and I was like, What the hell is this? Really knowing who he was and what was going on happened after I heard the record 1930, which came out on John Zorn’s Tzadik label in 1998. It was my first time hearing

anything like that. I was really blown away. Now going back and listening to 1930 compared to other things, I think I like it more than his other stuff. His loops become really percussive and polyrhythmic, in a sense. At times he’ll burst away from it, but at times he even gravitates towards something, even for a minute or so. That’s pretty different, compared to something like Rainbow Electronics, an earlier record that is more jarring, since it has lots of starting and stopping.

I dig the whole 13 Japanese Birds series, particularly Part 5 and Part 7. I think that’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard him do. A lot of the drumming reminds me of an early black metal aesthetic, it’s kind of blown out. That series sounds much warmer than other Merzbow records. There’s still chaos and noise, but it’s got this lo-fi feel to it.

merzbow.net

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MerzbowPhotography: Garfield Trummer

Black Tusk at Scion Label Showcase: Relapse Records

Guests at Scion Label Showcase

Royal Thunder at Scion Label Showcase: Relapse Records

Pallbearer at Scion Label Showcase: Profound Lore

Holy Grail at Scion Label Showcase: Prosthetic Records

Last Chance to Reason at Scion Label Showcase: Prosthetic Records

Guests at Scion Label Showcase

A b o u t t o w n

Scale The Summit at Scion Label Showcase: Prosthetic Records

Guests at Scion Label Showcase

Loss at Scion Label Showcase: Profound Lore

Exhumed at Scion Label Showcase: Relapse Records